Protection

The pillow is protection from Nana, or Elliot, or whatever else might try to eat Elsie. She's pretty little. And pretty edible.

Polka

Michael wants to call her piglet because she makes these little piglet noises. It's cute now, but somehow it doesn't seem like a good deal. A girl, in the American culture, named piglet? Surely she'd have an eating disorder by age 9. Today I've been calling her polka dot.

She gets fussy once or twice a day, but is quieted if I put her in the Baby Bjorn, a type of sling that attaches her to the front of me. She doesn't immediately fall asleep, but first just looks around for awhile, like she wonders at life from this different vantage point. Her eyes are wide open while I sweep the floor, empty the dishwasher, do the laundry, or whatever. Then eventually I look down and she's out. It's pretty cute.

Birthdays and pants

Well, Elliot is in Georgia with his grandparents. I have to say, it's very quiet here. Elsie just doesn't make that much noise. Before Elliot took off, we (Michael, Jessica, Elsie and I) had a small birthday celebration for Elliot. I'm not sure whether his favorite part was the icing or the trains and train bag that came after the cake. It took him a minute to get into the cake, but once he figured it out, the kid ATE the cake. Followed, of course, by a hot dog. And noodles.

Here's Elsie, in her first pair of pants. Her papa picked them out - thus the pink and ruffles. They're a bit big, so I had to roll them up, but she's definitely gaining weight! Her little thighs are getting rounder, as is her belly. The kid has personality, as you can see from the picture. If she's anything like her mama, it'll come out as attitude - which will probably get her in trouble...

Clean

Yes, she was dirty. You know that gunk that gets caught in small babies' necks? Like old milk and lint and whatever her older brother hid there? Yeah, it needed to come off. So we washed her. And her hair was like a black baby chicken afterwards - soft and wonderful. Of course, now I've played with it enough that all the oil from my hands has matted it down again.

She didn't like the bath. She got all red and angry, and then pooped, IN the bathwater, just like her brother did. So we hosed her down and laughed and warmed her back up. She's been sleeping most of the day, content to ignore most of us until her stomach wakes her up again. We sure like her a lot.

Waking up

Elsie's slowly staying awake more and more. Sometimes it happens to be at 1:30am, but that's ok. She seems curious. She stares a lot. Elliot is enjoying being a big brother, from what we can tell. He often looks for Elsie and gets upset when he can't find her. She's kind of a new toy. He loves to see how hard he can push her in her swing. I think he must get points for getting the pacifier in her mouth, because he does it with much vigor.

So far, it's fun having two. Ask me again when grandma leaves...

Little

This is obviously out of order from the last post, but I think it's a funny picture. This is how little she was looking coming home from the hospital in her carseat. Elsie's eating a bit better today. She slept from 10:30pm to 3:30am! Kinda freaked me out, but she seems fine today. Friday we go to the doctor just to weigh her. More later.

Here's Elsa

Hey everybody. I hear there's an impatience growing out there for some pictures. Here she is! Notice her gigantic brother next to her. I swear he wasn't this big when we went to the hospital. She's wonderful. Her hair is incredibly soft and she makes fabulous little feminine noises. Of course, she eats about every hour, and we didn't sleep much, but she's very sweet and we think we'll keep her. It's been a little bit of a crazy day, but we're enjoying each other. We're so thankful for everybody's help. Some good friends kept Elliot the first night we went to the hospital. Michael's parents were here for a couple of days and kept Elliot the second night, bought us all kinds of supplies and even had a little birthday present opening session with Elliot. My mom is here now, cleaning, cooking, entertaining Elliot, buying us groceries, etc. We are rich with friends and help. Call us or stop by! We'd love for you to meet Elsie!

Labor 2 - out

So, I figured there would be several labor posts. Elsie didn't take much time, though. Here's the scoop: I got an epidural around 10:30 and they broke my water at 11pm. Let me just say, whoever invented the epidural deserves something REALLY good. My GOSH those are good drugs. So glad I don't have access to something like that. I'd sell my children for it. Anyway, I progressed from 5 to 10 cm in about 2 hours, without anyone knowing. The nurse came in and was a bit startled at the fast progress, as was Elsie. Her heartrate dropped a bit b/c of the quickness of moving through the birth canal. But it came back up and we started to push. It was totally surreal, being so fast. I started pushing at 1:06am. 7 minutes later, at 1:13, she was here. I pushed twice. We were waiting for another contraction to push through, and I felt her moving, on her own. I said, Michael, is she moving, b/c I'm not doing it! Uh, yeah, you guys, she's moving! Michael was trying to get the attention of some of the 6 people now in our room who had suddenly appeared when her heartrate dropped. They were all trying to get gowns on and tables ready, etc. The resident turned around and pretty much caught Elsie on her way out. The doctor was walking in the room, still trying to get his booties on. He didn't quite make it...

So, 6lbs 7 oz, 19" long, full head of BLACK hair. She looks very much like Michael's mom. So far she's quiet and cute, eats well and squeaks with very feminine little squeaks. Thanks so much for all of your prayers - it was a GREAT delivery! Even the staff was amazed at how easy it was, and how alert she was when she was born. Today we're just hanging out, trying to get some sleep since we really didn't sleep last night, and enjoying Elsie. Stay tuned for pictures. And thanks for your comments!

Labor 1

So, labor has begun. The epidural is on its way, followed by the breaking of the water. I'm around 4-5 cm with regular contractions. We've got cranberry juice and jello. We're good to go. Stay tuned for updates. The wireless at the hospital is fast!