1 week old!

Alaina is one week old today! Hurray! Last night she finally slept well thanks to the swaddle me we bought yesterday (we actually had to wake her for feedings). It worked so well that we went and bought another one today "just in case." We also finally got a carseat to replace our borrowed one.

Somehow we have made it out of the house every day this week, but we never do as much as we think we will. Going out always sounds like a good idea until we actually hop in the car and are almost immediately exhausted. Still I think we are doing an okay job of getting back into life. Last night I made it to a PTA meeting (am I really that old that I'm joining the PTA?). It was Drew's first night alone with the girls. Tonight was my first night home alone. I survived. The following are shots of Lizzie and Lainey in the BYU shirts Uncle Dave sent them:Recent Liz developments: she has started singing her nightime prayers because it is "more beautifuler" that way and will only sleep on top of her quilt because she doesn't want to "mess up" her bed.

We made it out of the house today . . .

It's kind of funny that we did the most today after our most sleep deprivation (so far). Alaina is still not sleeping at night unless we hold her. Last night I tried to get her sleep in her bed. I gave up at 3 a.m. and handed her off to Drew. It would have been nice to just take turns napping today, but Lainey had a doctor's appointment and Lizzie had an early dismissal from school, so while we were out we went ahead and ran a few errands. We even went out to lunch and ordered enough food to cover us for dinner. Yum. It was nice get stuff done and even nicer to nap when we got home in the afternoon.

The following is a little bit of Alaina's first sponge bath at home. Lizzie was really excited about helping out, but when it came down to it she didn't want to actually get too close to the baby while she was naked because of the "gross" umbilical cord. Instead she opted to film things. I'm hoping the camera wasn't too shakey.

Bringing Baby Home

We have been home a little over a day now and things are going well. We really appreciate all the support, gifts, food, hospital visits, and well wishes we have received from family and friends. Thank you all.

For the record, I think Drew did a great job describing Alaina's birth, but he did leave out one fun detail: When we were in the triage area and I was feeling contractions (instead of enjoying the epidural like I had requested) he sweetly stroked my hair. I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep in between contractions. Then out of the blue Drew announced that he found a gray hair and right as a contraction started he asked if he could pull it out. No! Luckily for him I was somewhat amused.

He was absolutely wonderful during every other moment--even when I was yanking on his shirt and crying about how everyone was lying to me and I was going to have to give birth naturally.
This is my favorite new baby purchase so far. We went without a glider or rocker when Liz was a baby, but decided to splurge this time around. Andrew picked it up yesterday. This was just in time because, although Alaina seemed to sleep fine in the hospital nursery, she would not sleep last night unless one of us was holding her. So, we took turns sleeping in this surprising comfortable glider/recliner (we did the same today).
Our first full day home has gone well, in part because the Pomeroys graciously took Lizzie on a day trip to Pennsylvania with them. We really appreciated this because we were so tired from last night and while we are glad that Lizzie is excited about Alaina, she is all over the baby and it gets hard to handle sometimes. Last night she threw a fit because we wouldn't roll the bassinet into her room so Alaina could sleep in there. This morning she threw another fit because I wouldn't let her carry the baby which she thought was unfair because Drew and I carry her all the time. On a lighter note, last night Lizzie asked why Alaina didn't have to wait till after the prayer to eat her dinner and later asked me to nurse her baby doll for her.
So far Lizzie is super sweet about her little sister. She constantly wants to hold Alaina, she compliments the baby regularly, and is often concerned about her sister's comfort. Yesterday she asked us to avoid driving over speed bumps because she didn't want the baby jostled. It reminded me of when I was pregnant and she caught me drinking soda. She said, "Mommy! You are not supposed to drink that! Babies don't like soda!" The following are a couple videos of Liz with her new little sister on Alaina's first night home:

Welcoming Alaina Marie Nielson!!

OK, so here's the baby story:

Jill woke up on Wednesday morning at about 6:45 a.m. and realized that her water had broken. She called the advice nurse before waking me up, but it didn't take us long after that to get Lizzie packed, finish packing our own bag and get into the car. We dropped Lizzie off at Wendy's house (her daughter, Jordan, and Lizzie are in the same kindergarten class this year) and headed to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, the nurse from Jill's OB/GYN clinic suggested we turn around and get checked out at the clinic in Springfield, just to be sure Jill's water had actually broken. We respectfully declined the suggestion and kept heading to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, we spent a significant amount of time in the Labor and Delivery Triage area before they had a room ready for us. Unfortunately, that also meant that Jill couldn't get the epidural started until then either. Even once we got to the labor and delivery room, it took some time, and Jill had a very uncomfortable couple of hours. Thankfully Jill finally got the epidural, and things were mostly smooth sailing after that. Below is a video of Jill, post-epidural.



Once Jill was feeling a little more comfortable, we both were able to take a couple brief cat naps, and I sent a couple text updates to some family members. Since Jill had taken one of her anti-contraction pills the night before, we thought there was a chance that they might need to give her pitocin to stimulate contractions. Fortunately no pitocin was necessary; Jill's contractions continued to increase in strength and frequency, and labor progressed naturally. At about 3 p.m., the doctor had Jill start pushing, and at 3:18 Alaina Marie Nielson was born.

We did have a bit of a scary moment, unfortunately - the cord was wrapped around Alaina's neck, and apparently fairly tightly. Fortunately, the doctor was able to slip the cord over Alaina's head, and she didn't seem to have gone without blood or oxygen. She did have to be stimulated fairly vigorously before she really responded, but she started breathing, and Jill and I started breathing again too.

Since Alaina is technically premature (at 36 weeks and 5 days) the hospital had NICU nurses attend in order to assess the baby's health. Thankfully, they were quickly able to determine that Alaina was well developed and healthy, and there was no need for her to take a trip to the NICU. The nurses finished up all the measuring and testing, and soon enough, we were able to hold and kiss our new baby.

Here are a few pictures of the new baby:


I spent the night at the hospital last night with Jill while Lizzie stayed the night at Wendy's (thanks again Wendy!). By the time evening rolled around, we were all pretty tired. We tried to get some sleep with the baby in the room, but Jill's paranoia wouldn't allow her to sleep for more than a minute or two without checking to make sure that Alaina was still breathing. So we had the nurses take Alaina to the nursery where we could be sure that she would have the constant attention of one of the nurses.

Jill was able to begin breastfeeding soon after Alaina was born, and she continued every few hours through the night. Of course, Alaina is so sleepy that she has tended to fall asleep soon after she begins nursing. So far, that has been the routine - a little bit of nursing, and a lot of sleeping for Alaina.

I left Jill and Alaina mid morning today to get a few things ready at home. That took me a little longer that I thought it would, so I didn't get back to them until this evening when I brought Lizzie to see her new baby sister. Liz was very excited to see Alaina. I think it might have helped that we bought her a new Ponyville set (a la My Little Pony) as a new big sister gift, but I think she still would have been excited. I absolutely loved seeing my three girls together tonight. What a beautiful sight!

New Baby!!!

Apologies for not sending an email to all of our friends and family, but I only have my PDA with me - I don't have all my personal contacts with me, but I can post on our blog.

We haven't quite decided on a name, but that will come soon. Our new baby girl was born at 3:20 pm. She is 7 lbs and 19 3/4 inches long. She looks a lot like Liz did.

I can't even describe how happy we are. Thanks to all our friends for your wonderful support.

We'll post some pics once we get back home.

"Spanish Emergency" school

Today was Lizzie's first day of kindergarten. Despite our best efforts she went to bed a couple hours late last night and we had to wake her up for school (I felt a little guilty when I saw her yawning as we pulled into the school parking lot). Also despite our efforts we had clothing issues this morning. We tried on and laid out an outfit last night and she dutifully put it on this morning. Then, shortly before it was time to go she decided she wanted to wear something different. She also had to try on a couple pairs of socks before she found a set that was satisfactory. So typical Liz.

Elizabeth is in a partial Spanish immersion program that she refers to as "Spanish Emergency" despite my attempts to correct her. I wanted to do a traditional first day picture, but she was not cooperative. She ran to the van and once in, hid her face (she seemed to find this very amusing). So, this is what I ended up with: We left Liz at the "kiss and ride" and felt a little sad that we couldn't walk her all the way into her class. I felt sadder still when I found out that other parents were actually allowed to do just that. Argh! Oh well. I thought maybe Lizzie would cry when we left her, or I would or maybe Andrew, but there were no tears. Still, Drew and I certainly felt nervous. I felt like I was handing over a lot of control to the school. Now there is so much that we will not be able to protect or shelter her from.
I intended to pick Liz up right when school ended, but the traffic going into that place was crazy! I waited in line for almost twenty minutes before I could get her and I'm pretty sure that she was the last kindergartner to be picked up (which was the last thing I wanted to have happen). She didn't seem to mind though. Once in the car Lizzie happily told me about the wonders of the cafeteria, where she sits in her English and Spanish classes (yellow triangle and red circle tables respectively), and that she got to play on the playground but that the monkey bars were off limits. I decided to treat her to an icecream cone in honor of starting school. I tried to make it perfectly clear that this would not be happening on a regular basis (McDonalds is just down the street from school) so hopefully I won't have a problem tomorrow.

Once home I tried to interview Liz so that I could preserve some of her early impressions of kindergarten and public school, but she was more interested in playing with her My Little Ponies.

School Prep

This afternoon I napped while Andrew took Liz to buy her kindergarten supplies. While they were out, Drew decided to also get her some new school clothes and shoes. I woke up to Lizzie's whining and trantuming when Drew insisted she try on the clothing upon their return. I thought it was pretty sweet of him to think of new clothes. I hadn't bothered getting anything for her. I figured she wouldn't know the difference since I didn't make a big deal about "school clothes" for preschool (and I have plenty years ahead when she'll demand them so why rush it?). Drew got her stuff because he said he didn't want her to only have her old summer t-shirts to wear and wind up as the raggedy kid in class.

Along with talking about what to expect at her new school, Drew also had another "safety" talk with Liz about private places and what to do if a stranger asks her to get in their car and so on. I thought the discussion went pretty well, but naturally Liz was a little shaken up (knowing her, I'm sure no one is surprised). She asked if she could keep her eyes open while she said her nightly prayer so she could "watch out for bad guys" and was too scared to sleep in her own bed.

Andrew and I have our own worries. I thought I was the only one, but maybe I was just the most vocal. This afternoon Andrew said that he just wished he could observe her at school so that he could have some peace of mind. Ditto.