4 weeks

4 weeks already--where does the time go?

She is gaining weight and rounding out well.  Already out of the newborn diapers and into size 1.
Only wakes up twice during the night and goes right back to sleep--
this has been the pattern since her 2nd day home and I am thankful!

I can tell this one is going to grow up too fast (but I guess they all do!)

Little Helper

Ella has become my little helper.  She loves to vacuum, dust, clean mirrors or windows, and mop.  She has been asking me lately if she can start scrubbing the dishes.  Aren't I lucky?  

Of course, initially these desires aren't so helpful as it takes me more time to have her "help". 
However, in recent months she has really figured out a few of these tasks
 and can now do them on her own.  She is especially good at vacuuming.
She will move chairs and small furniture around so that she can vacuum under it,
and if she ever hears a funny sound she will stop, turn the vacuum upside down and call me over
if she needs help clearing whatever got trapped inside.
This picture was actually taken the day I went into labor with Hadley. 
Ella amazed my parents by vacuuming the whole house for me while I did some other cleaning.

If only she enjoyed the simple task of picking up her toys quite as much, but at least I can bribe her with "if you pick up your toys, I'll let you vacuum". . . and most days that seems to work quite well for us! 

She tells me about how she is going to teach baby Hadley how to do everything she can do.

She can't wait to a be a mommy someday and always is asking if I think baby Hadley loves her.

Of course she does Ella, we all do! 

Big Sisters

These girls are loving having a baby to hold and snuggle (and so are we)! 

They are even being good about waiting patiently and taking turns.

Hadley is definitely LOVED by her big sisters!

One Week

Hadley is one week old already.  Our first week as a family of 5 was wonderful.  My recovery was so easy (far better than it was for the other 2), and having Brad around has made everything so pleasant.  He has been able to take the older girls out on some fun outings and I have been blessed with time to just enjoy and snuggle this new little one. 

 Hadley has been a pretty good and mellow baby so far, although she is still really sleepy.  We'll see if her easy going personality continues once she wakes up to the world a little more in the next few weeks.  I sure hope it does! We are so glad to have her here with us. 

 I'm sure things will get a little harder once Brad has to return to work, but right now we are all just thrilled with the time we have to spend with one another.

Hadley's Arrival

I wanted to take a minute and record the events surrounding Hadley's birth. I spent the day on Tuesday doing chores around the house, including cleaning out the garage and mopping the floors. I definitely wore myself out. By about 4 in the afternoon, the regular contractions I have been used to throughout the final 8 weeks or so of this pregnancy had started to turn somewhat painful. I had the feeling that something was happening, but since I previously had 3 or 4 other short spells of painful contractions that then went away after an hour or so, I wanted to give it some more time just to be sure. My parents were in town so I began fixing dinner while they played with the girls.  Throughout the course of fixing dinner my contractions became stronger and closer together.   I was expecting Brad home from work within the next half hour to hour, but decided I needed to page him and tell him to come home more quickly rather than finish up his paperwork at the hospital.  I began getting really nervous when he hadn't returned my page after about 10 minutes, but was relieved when he walked in the door a few minutes later.

We sat down and ate dinner, and then I decided to finish putting my bag together for the hospital.  I then told Brad it was "time" and told the girls that Mommy and Daddy needed to go to the hospital because our baby was ready to come.  Brad gave me a blessing before we left and as we were hurriedly getting the last few things together I noticed Ella standing in the corner, crying with her head down.  It absolutely broke my heart.  When I asked her what was wrong she said that she wanted to go with us to the hospital.  We realized she had noticed some of the pain I was in and was really worried about me.  What a little sweetheart.  I tried to reassure her that everything was fine, but found it difficult to do since I was having strong contractions while trying to get the word out.  We told her we would call her once we got to the hospital and away we went.

Brad called L&D and let them know we were on our way during the drive to the hospital.  When we got there they had a room ready for us (we didn't have to go through triage at all) and they had already called in the anesthesiologist so I could get an epidural since Brad had told them my history of having Maggie very quickly.  I was finally able to enjoy some perks of Brad being in this residency program!  We also paged the doc I had been seeing for my prenatal visits so she could come in as well.  We arrived at the hospital a little after 7, I got the epidural a little thereafter, and then we were able to relax a little before it was time to have the baby.  It was all so nice.  I loved the peaceful feeling we were able to enjoy--with Maggie everything was so chaotic and scary, but this time around everything went so smooth.  I was ready to start pushing just before 11.  Brad got to deliver the baby and after about 3 pushes she was here!  It was such a wonderful experience and I am so glad I had such a great doctor!  :)

At the hospital they have started this new thing to be more "baby friendly" and they encourage skin-to-skin contact with baby and mom immediately after delivery.  So, as soon as she was born, the placed her on my chest (before washing her off, weighing her, or even before trimming the cord).  The goal is to have baby on mom for the first hour of life,which is supposed to ease the transition from the womb to the outside world.  I know Brad didn't like it as much since he wanted to be able to hold her, but it was a pretty amazing experience for me.  I'm used to hearing the babies scream and fuss immediately after birth, but as soon as they placed Hadley on my chest, she was calm and peaceful and incredibly alert.  I was able to just hold her and get to know her while she looked up into my eyes.  I really enjoyed that special uninterrupted time with her, even if she was a bit messy.

A few hours later, we were moved to our post partum room where they weighed her and gave her a bath.  Since my parents were in town we had the luxury of being able to have both of us stay with our new baby at the hospital.  It was so nice!  My parents brought the girls up first thing the next morning so the girls could meet their new baby sister.

I am just SO happy with how smooth everything went and really feel so blessed. The timing of her arrival was perfect, the delivery was so smooth, and I felt pretty much recovered by the time I left the hospital the next day. What a wonderful experience for us all and we are truly enjoying every minute of our time with all 5 of us together!