Annabelle Kimberly Blood

Annabelle Kimberly Blood

Oct 11, 2017 12:38 AM

8 lb 2 oz

20 inches

Our Annie is here! After several days full of false alarms, we decided to head up to the hospital on Tuesday night. We dropped Elliot off at the Hays (he was very excited to have a sleepover) and got to the hospital at 7:20. My contractions were pretty strong and regular. Unfortunately, the woman checking us in was very similar to Flash the Sloth from Zootopia. She even had super long fingernails that slowly tapped our info into the computer.

Eventually I was admitted to triage. I was only dilated to a 4. Dr. Eisenberg was on call that night. He had me walk the halls for an hour. It did exactly what it was supposed to! By the end of our walk at 9:30, I was dilated to a 6, had every detail of the rather short hallway memorized, and was most certainly in labor.

I got all set up with the IV and Epidural. A little after midnight, Dr. Eisenberg came in to check on me and break my water. He said the baby would probably be here in under 2 hours, and that I should page the nurse when I started feeling pressure. 15 minutes later it was show time! I pushed for about 10 minutes, and out she came! My nurse Wandra was a terrific coach, and I appreciated Dr. Eisenberg being really mindful about tearing after having such bad tears last time. I only needed a few stitches.

Aaron and I were thrilled to see that she has a full head of dark hair! She is also completely tongue tied. Just like infant Ashley on both counts!

Babies look good on him

I am SO excited about this hair!

Annabelle took to nursing quickly. She had no problems latching, but we think her tongue is making her swallow more air. It is rougher on me too. We are going to get it clipped.

We moved to a recovery room where we had a peaceful day that flew by fast. Aaron went to get Elliot and spend the night at home. The plan was for the two of them to come back the next morning to take the female half of the family home.

I had a scare with Annie gagging on some spit up while I was using the bathroom. I told the nurse that I was afraid to fall deeply asleep in case it happened again. They volunteered to keep an eye on her at the nurse's station between nursings. This was AWESOME. I got two three-hour stretches of uninterrupted sleep!

It was super fun watching Elliot meet his little sister. We told him in advance that when Annabelle was born, she would take the locks off one of his favorite apps. He switched between playing the new levels on the app and going through all of the fascinating items around the room. He did favor his new sister with a few kisses on her head. He also told her all about how he was going to teach her how to build towers and talk, and that he would show her our Halloween decorations when we got home.

Here's Annie buying the paid version of the app for her big brother

Elliot tried to calm her down by kissing her head while we were getting situated for our attempted family picture. I have some sweet kids. 

The best family picture we were able to take

Heading home!

Other Things That Have Happened

Here's a hodge podge of pictures/activities from the past couple of months that don't warrant their own post.

We ventured back to the Madera Canyon waterfall with some friends. The water was cold and we found a very intimidating aquatic bug with huge pinchers, but we had a blast. 

This is Elliot's best friend, Mr. Peanut Jar. Elliot will go into the pantry to tell him things. 

Seriously. He has whole conversations with Mr. Peanut Jar. He also eats a ton of peanuts. 

Many forts have been made

Also cities

Mixing colors together

Another great class sponsored by the community garden

We ran the cotton candy booth for a shift at a stake activity

Hanging out at the Zoo

Elliot liked this frog statue that squirts water far more than he liked any of the real animals

Scissors. Every. Day. 

We got invited to our neighbor Liam's birthday party at Fantastics Family Fun Center

We were all confused by the aesthetic choices on this one

Elliot insisted on blowing his arcade credit having Daddy play skee-ball

2nd Pregnancy Thoughts

My due date is next week! Pretty crazy. To sum up the experience, I would say that this pregnancy was harder in the first trimester and easier in the third. I was mildly to moderately nauseous pretty much every evening for the first trimester. It was great getting to the second trimester where I felt walking around and living my life- except no running. My body did not appreciate my few attempts at any level of speed above a walk. I played volleyball once or twice a week (with far less jumping and hustling than my norm) up until 36 weeks. I might have kept going longer, but I was already dilated to a 2 and my doctor told me to take it easy. At this point, I get Braxton Hicks contractions whenever I bend over or go on walks. Or sit still. Or sleep. They are way more frequent and strong than I had with Elliot, but I will gladly take them over the non-stop feeling of discomfort and back pain from last time.

I remember being far more uncomfortable at this point with Elliot. I feel like I'm a bit smaller, and I'm more at liberty to change positions throughout the day than I was last time. A big part of it is also mental. Last time around, I mentally moved my due date up a week when I was dilated to a 2 a month early, which made it incredibly frustrating as my due date came and went (he was 3 days late). I was also super anxious about having his birthday be as far away from Christmas as possible. This time around, I'm mentally preparing myself to go late again. It makes a HUGE difference!

New on my "prep for having a baby" to-do list this time around is getting Elliot ready to be a big brother. We talk about it all the time, and he's sweet about it. He will already put blankets on my belly saying that they are for Annabelle. He helped me put her clothes in her dresser and likes to talk about how she will like to watch him do all sorts of stuff. I'm just as excited for Elliot to meet Annabelle as I am to meet her. 

Just a few more days!