the "Stud"mans: Ellowyn's Here!

Our newest baby girl finally arrived just over a week ago!

I had a repeat c-section scheduled for the morning of March 7th. The night before, my youngest sister Clara came over to spend the night so that she could be with the kids in the morning until my mom could come and get them (since we had to be at the hospital by 5:30 am). That night, I had a hard time sleeping because I was so anxious (same thing happened the night before I had Daniel), but I was able to get some sleep. Then, at 4 am, Mike and I pulled ourselves out of bed, got ready, and headed off to the hospital.

(the last pic of me preggo with this baby!)

We delivered at Centennial Hills this time (we've been at a different hospital each time - St Rose San Martin with Diana [HORRIBLE!], and Summerlin with Daniel [overall nice experience, very nice nurses]), and it was DEFINITELY our best experience overall! Anyway, getting back to the sequence of events...
So, we arrive at the hospital about 15 minutes early and head up to the maternity ward, where we were immediately met by an awesome nurse who took us back to our room and got us started. She was GREAT and we had a lot of good laughs with her as she was getting everything all set up. She put my wrist IV in and did a FANTASTIC job! I make a big deal of that because the last two times my IV was SOOO painful and I absolutely HATE getting it done! When she was done and while I was waiting for the next step, I decided to put on my makeup, because, hey, I can! Why be makeup-less for my delivery and post-delivery photos if I didn't have to be? That's one of the joys of c-sections that make up for being sliced open!

At 7 we got a new nurse (shift change) who would be there with me at my delivery and afterward (my surgery was set for 7:30 am). She was 32 weeks pregnant (and she looked AWESOME!) and she was so sweet and funny, too. She was having a bit of a rough morning, but didn't let it affect her attitude or her work. She was so good to us the whole time and made my delivery experience awesome. In fact, the entire team of nurses, doctors, and anesthesiologist were ALL funny, amazing, and positive. It was the most non-instense, relaxing, casual experience I've had yet. DEFINITELY a good thing for me, as I'm someone of HIGH anxiety.
Around 7:30, they walked me back to the OR, got me all prepped, gave me my spinal block, oxygen, catheter (ugh), and then they brought Mike in and got going. It didn't take them very long at all before I felt them yanking on me (no pain, don't worry!) in that tell-tale way and telling Mike to get his camera ready. Seconds later, I hear a gurgling screech and I start to tear up. My second princess is here!

(7lbs 9oz, 18.5" long, born at 8:08 am)

The doctor pops her all the way over the tent and sticks her right in my face so I could say hello..it was awesome! She was so sweet..and yucky. :) They clean her up and Mike goes over to take pictures and watch over her. Once she's done, they let Mike bring her to me so I can look at her and say some more "hello's".

After some pictures, they and Mike (with my permission) take Ellowyn back to my room to give her her first bath so she'd be all ready for me when I got done. Finishing up my surgery took a little longer than normal because I had a LOT of scar tissue from my last delivery (I scar very easily and have had lots of scar tissue each time), but the doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologist all kept me plenty entertained the entire time I was there. Finally, I was done, and they wheeled me back to my room where I was greeted by my husband and my sweet new girl.

The rest of the day was pretty calm. I took a nap (all that shaking from surgery does a number on my body and exhaustion quickly sets in) and Mike went and got me some beautiful white & pink Gerbera Daisies from the gift shop (LOVE!!!).

A little after noon-ish, they took me from my LDR room to my new room where I'd be staying until discharge. We let our families know where we were at and just chilled the rest of the day. I struggled with my nausea for most of the day, but luckily never upchucked, as I did so many times when I had Daniel. That evening, I got to eat my first meal of clear liquids (mmmm....yeah, not horrible, but definitely not a steak) and my mom brought my kids by to see the baby/drop them off so that Mike could take them home and get some sleep. My mom snapped some pics of my little family while she was there and then she and Mike & the kids left, and my sister Clara spent the night in the hospital with me, helping out with the baby (she did the same when I had Daniel and it's so fun to have her there and nice to be able to send Mike home at night with the kids to get some real sleep and a break from the hospital). I had a good night with a great nurse who didn't come in too often to bug me, so I was able to get some rest in between feedings. The next morning I was allowed my first REAL meal (YAY!) and I devoured it! Mike came by with the kids later that morning and Clara took them for the day while Mike spent it with me.

At lunch, we got our celebration meal of filet mignon, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and sparkling apple cider, with a dessert for each of us (I got a chocolate bundt cake, Mike got a cheesecake). It. Was. DELICIOUS!!! Oh my goodness, it was heavenly from start to finish! It was my very first celebration meal and it was awesome! That day was very calm as well. The night nurse had removed my catheter earlier that morning, and the morning nurse came in first thing and removed my wrist IV (WOO HOO! I LOVE not having that thing sticking out of my arm!) and I got to get up and shower and pee like a normal person..it was beautiful! The pediatrician came by and checked Ellowyn out and set her discharge so she could go home when I got discharged, and the night before and earlier that morning, they had run all of Ellowyn's tests. The only visitor we got that day was Mike's coworker who was close by getting an eye exam and decided to stop by and say hi. It was fun visiting with him and seeing him and Mike interact. They work together in IT and so their interactions are so casual and funny as they talk about work issues. While he was there, my doctor came by to examine me, so Mike's coworker took off and the doctor did his exam. Afterwards, when the doc asked if there was anything he could do for us, Mike said, basically, yeah, could he discharge me so we could go home. While we had an AMAZING, AWESOME, WONDERFUL experience this time, it's always nice to go home to my children and husband and sleep in my own bed. The doctor looked surprised at first that we were asking to go home already (it was around 4-ish), but then agreed and said he understood, being home is always nicer. We thanked him profusely for everything and off he went.

Within an hour or two, I had my written prescriptions, my baby, and some goodies from the hospital and we were on our way home! I told our discharging nurse what an absolutely amazing experience we had and how it was SO much better, from start to finish, than my other two deliveries. I'll definitely be having an future kid(s) at that hospital..it's definitely my favorite!! Every nurse I had, all of my experiences, everything was perfect and awesome and I can't gush enough about my experience! It helps having a good doctor, too (Dr Harter! He delivered both Daniel and Ellowyn, but like I said, Daniel was at a different hospital). By the time I got home, though, my medicine had worn off and I was in large amounts of pain, so after Mike got the kids to bed, he drove around and found a 24 hour pharmacy and got my prescriptions filled. Life-saver!!

The kids have loved having a new baby around.

Diana took to her instantly, but that wasn't surprising as she has been looking forward to her arrival for many, many months. She is ALWAYS asking to hold her and wants to talk to her and give her lots of kisses all day long. She's very anxious for the day Ellowyn gets to join her in her room, as now she's sleeping in a bassinet in my room with me.

Daniel seemed indifferent at first, but then took to her really well and loves to give her hugs and kisses constantly. We were concerned about Daniel having issues with jealousy, as he was VERY clingy before the baby got here, but he adjusted extremely well and loves his new sister, affectionately referring to her as "baby". Thank goodness for sibling love!

This past week, Mike has been off from work and it's been GLORIOUS having him home! He only stayed home from work one day with each of my past births, so I've always had to rely on family to help me out for the first couple of days, or just figure things out on my own. But now having the experience of having him home to help out around the house and play with the kids and seeing how much joy it's brought to all of us, I can't believe we were able to survive the last two times without him!

He goes back to work tomorrow and I KNOW the kids are going to have a VERY VERY hard time not having him home anymore, but it has been heaven having him home this week. I've had a much harder time this time recovering for some reason, so having him home actually turned out to be essential for me. Now I'm fully functional (though I'm not supposed to be doing any housework, because of my incision, until I get the all clear from my doctor in a couple of weeks..hahaha, yeah, that's not happening, I'm going to have to break that rule. I've done it in the past and have survived, I can do it again.), but I'm not looking forward to 'losing' Mike to work again tomorrow, though I am SO GLAD I have a hard-working husband who's willing to put in unholy hours at work each day in order to support us and be a good employee. I'm very grateful for his sacrifices and hard work, especially this past week. This past week has been amazing and an experience I and the kids will never forget.