12 Weeks!

I don't know where the time goes, but my baby is 12 weeks old today. It feels like I was just bringing her home from the hospital! My 8lb newborn is now a giggling, smiling 14lb baby. These past 12 weeks have been life-changing to say the least. I think that I have adjusted very well :) I wouldn't take anything back, not even a minute of it. Luke doesn't know it yet, but we are having numerous children! It's just too much fun. That's not to say it isn't super challenging as well.

On August 17th we took Ella to the pediatrician to get her routine vaccinations (the doctor was taking forever) and as soon as I returned I could tell by Luke's face something was wrong (yes, he comes to most of the appointments with me :). The doctor had checked her heartbeat and was recommending that we see a cardiologist as soon as possible. When Ella was first born the pediatrician had thought she heard a murmur but then didn't hear it again until that day. Like any new mom, I was very emotional and eager to get her in right away. The next morning, the cardiologist at Mission Hospital called and got her in at 9am. The stethoscope wasn't even on her for 10 seconds before the doctor told me she definitely had a hole in her heart. Right away they did and EKG and an ultrasound on her heart (Echo). The bad news was she had two holes, a PFO (Patent foramen ovale) which is a normal opening between the left and right atria, and a VSD (Ventricular septal defect) which is a hole in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles. The PFO was normal and should close soon. The VSD was intimidating, but the good news was that it was in the best location in could be and was only 2mm. There is a really good chance it will close on it's own and as long as it doesn't affect her weight, they won't do anything surgically. About 2-6/1000 babies have the VSD and it's genetic. I didn't realize that a heart murmur is the sound produced by turbulent blood flow. The doctor wanted me to go home and find out exactly what family members have had heart issues. Numerous people on Luke's side have had heart problems, heart attacks, and bypass surgeries. The cardiologist also had me look at anyone with high blood pressure and/or cholesterol which we have on both sides. At least we know early on and can take extra precautions. By some crazy chance one of my best friends, Lindsay, has a son who also has a VSD. She's a doctor so she knows absolutely everything there is to know about this and totally made me feel ten times better.

On a totally different note- Luke & I have both decided that it is best for me to stay home with the baby, at least for the first year. This was a HUGE decision considering that I actually love working and transitioning to one income will be, to say the very least, an adjustment. The only thing that might change this would be if I got a public school job last minute (benefits and retirement would be awesome to have again). Change is always scary, especially since I have been working consistently since I was 15. I started at Tony's Seafood Landing, then Islands (Laguna Hills), Alcatraz, Yard House (Irvine & Newport), Islands (Beverly Hills), The Counter, and then finally into teaching I went. I am now going to be filling my days teaching Ella (the poor thing is going to hate me, we already practice the alphabet daily) and working on sweaty t-shirts (yes, it's as odd as it sounds). You must check out the website, http://www.sweatyt-shirts.com/, Andrew did a fab job and is super talented :)

2 Months Old!

Can't believe that my little, baby girl is already 2 months old! Every day feels like a new milestone and I am enjoying every minute of it! Her biggest accomplishment thus far would definitely have to be that she is sleeping through the night. We were getting 6 hour blocks of sleep around 6 weeks, but on August 2nd she slept for her first 8.5 hour block and has been going strong ever since. I swear I really believe that the key is knowing how much they are taking in at each feeding which is hard for moms who breastfeed exclusively. Full tummy= sleeping baby!

I think I have finally figured out why she poops through her clothes once a day and I'm pretty sure that I have not been putting the diapers on tight enough. We have had to do WAY too much damage control in that arena. My mom just found my growth/weight chart from when I was a baby and I weighed as much as Ella does now at 6 months old. Ella, you are way ahead of mommy :) Everyone always ask me what I do all day with the baby and it's funny because you would think staying at home means relaxing, but we are surprisingly busy most days. It's nice having my sister and my mom on summer break as well. Our days are filled with errands to Costco, Target, the cleaners, and In 'N Out :) Luke has put me in charge of the financials (I always was anyways just not formally :) and assisting him in the launch of his new t-shirt company which has been entertaining, to say the least. I'm totally copying Melissa Cash by documenting the baby's growth through these pics, but they are too cute and fun to stop :)

7 Weeks

I threw a headband on her when her & Daddy were sleeping!

A stranger says to me, " You got the next linebacker there!" I quickly corrected him and said, "You mean cheerleader :)"
Our family photo by Kelsey SteindlerMy little baby is growing up so fast! The past week has been absolutely nuts. My mom & I took Ella to to the doctor and she is already 12lbs 10oz which explains why she needed to upgrade to Stage 2 diapers. My doctor was at a conference so we got a "substitute doctor" who informed me that I should decrease the amount of ounces per feeding. He also asked me if I was a teen mom which horrified my mother. I get that I'm not wearing my wedding ring but I had to get it sawed off in the ER because my finger swelled up like crazy the second I tried to squeeze it on. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper when we left. When I spoke to my pediatrician she said that Ella is gaining weight appropriately and to keep everything exactly how it is, phew :)

Our schedule is getting much more predictable. She continues to feed every 2.5-3 hours and is hardly spitting up at all. We switched bottles because her suck is super powerful and inverted the nipples causing the milk to go everywhere. Now we are good to go. Nights are not bad at all. I'm fortunate to have a husband who enjoys participating in the AM feedings (especially since he hardly sees her during the day). It has actually become their bonding time (he feeds, I pump). We put her down now around 9:30pm and, if we feed her right before bed, she won't wake up until 3am-ish. Luke and I have been trying to get up at 6:30am so we have an hour together to chat and catch up before Ella is awake for good. Our favorite thing is to go into her room in the morning and look at her in her crib. She gazes up at us and we say together "good morning" in super high voices. Without hesitation, she gets this huge gummy grin from ear to ear and it makes our entire day! The smiles are constant and I just can't get enough. The one benefit to her crazy poops is that she LOVES the changing table and smiles as if she's saying "thank you for changing my diaper".

We have had numerous photo shoots which have been SO much fun! We won a free photo shoot from Mac 'N Madi and it was awesome! The same photographer (ingrace) had Ella & Julian (Lindsay's 10 month old) model for the store (she is definitely her father's daughter :), hence my favorite photo ever on the surfboard. Then Katie's BF, Kelsey Steindler, took some family photos for us which are just to die for. We are so lucky!

4 Weeks Old

Life has changed so much in the past 4 weeks, it's hard to even know where to begin. When we first brought Ella home from the hospital she developed abnormal jaundice immediately and had to be treated with phototherapy. Suffice it to say that she basically had to be attached to a tanning bed for 48 hours. Her blood bilirubin level reached the high-risk zone so we had to go back to the hospital the next two days after we brought her home so they could test her. I cried every time they gave her a shot and probably took it harder than she did. The doctor thinks this happened because the amount of formula we were giving her to supplement the breast milk (mine hadn't come in right away) was not enough and our blood types were incompatible. This meant that my "o" blood destroyed some of her red blood cells leaving her with more bilirubin than the average newborn and it was more difficult for her body to break down. Needless to say, it was not a fun way to start our lives together.

We quickly got into a routine as a family and the baby was on a 3 hour feeding schedule in no time. She spent the first week pretty much sleeping 24/7 and now is only sleeping about half of the day or less. We had visitors every day for 2 weeks straight (and no, I am not exaggerating). This might sound annoying, but it was actually really helpful and made it easier for me to adjust to my new life with a baby. On the days where I am totally alone it is easy to get depressed about being inside all day. I have to constantly remind myself to take walks and get outdoors no matter how difficult it is to drive or travel with her. Last week we took our first 2 hour trip to Grammy & Poppo's in Ventura. Johnny was amazing and drove us so that I could sit in the back with Ella. She slept the whole way there and the whole way back (it is all about timing :). She is so lucky to have 4 great-grandparents who absolutely adore her. I've been horrible about taking pictures and videotaping so I am really going to work on that this month (especially with the grandparents).

Nights are getting easier every week. She tends to go down around 8pm-ish and, about half of the time, won't wake up until 1am giving us a nice little block of sleep (we are super lame and go to bed around 9pm every night). Because we do it together (he feeds her, I pump & change her) we can be back in bed in about 15 minutes. Our only issue at this point is that she has a 4am feeding and then wakes up every morning at 5:30am for no other reason than she wants to be in bed with us. We (actually it's kind of Luke's fault because he gives in to her) now have created a very demanding child who is in our bed every morning.

I absolutely love watching her grow and change everyday. She smiles now on a regular basis, coos, and farts and poos like it's nobody's business (sorry Kara :). She is so big that every where we go people always think she is at least 3 months old and are shocked when I tell them her age. She has outgrown almost all of her newborn stuff and is wearing 0-3 month clothes. I can't believe she is nearing 11 pounds! My little baby is getting so big so fast and I just want the time to stop.

We had her first formal photo shoot today (I won a free photo session with my Mac 'N Madi basket) and I am DYING to see the pics. I have to post her 4th of July pics too because her outfit and bathing suit were too cute for words.

Labor & Delivery

View from our labor & delivery room
And so it begins....
Luke announcing Ella's birth

Dedicated family hearing the news!

Watching Ella & Daddy in the transition nursery

Ella Grace Carlson

Aunt Katie & Uncle Joe

Aunt Nikki, Uncle Drew & Gamma

Some of the clan after delivery

June 8th was by far the best day of my life. The birth of my first baby was the most magical experience in the world. My last week of pregnancy was difficult. I was huge, uncomfortable, waddling everywhere, tired, and suffering from severe heartburn and acid reflux. Needless to say, I was ready to have her. My doctor (and Hoag Hospital in general) will not induce labor until 41 weeks and I didn't want an elective C-section. In all of my pregnancy books there are all these suggestions for naturally inducing labor (walking, doing squats, sex, and drinking castor oil). Well, I was willing to do almost anything and, needless to say, the castor oil worked for me. I took the castor oil at 11pm, Tuesday night (June 7th). On the bottle it says that it takes approximately 6 hours to work and, right on cue, I started contracting between 5:00am-6:00am the following day. We just kind of assumed it was false labor and that we were having Braxton-Hicks contractions. We were laughing through them and kept saying, "What if this actually works!" After about an hour of consistent contractions we contacted Hoag who connected us directly to our doctor. She was shocked because she had seen me the day before and not much was happening. We asked if we should stay home and try and labor ourselves for a while to make sure we were progressing into true labor before we went to the hospital and our doctor thought that was a good idea. I took a hot bath and started watching my reality t.v. (16 & Pregnant seemed appropriate). Two hours later I was still contracting consistently (3 minutes apart) and now they were really painful and I couldn't talk or laugh anymore during them. Luke was convinced this might actually be real so he started frantically loading all of our stuff into the car. (We had everything ready to go the night before :) I quickly put my face on, brushed my teeth and hair, and made it to the car. We were both beyond excited and hopped on the toll road to Newport. Once we arrived I could barely get out of the car. It was about 9:30am, we pulled up to the valet, and quickly made it to the 5th floor. (The one benefit to going to the hospital at 20 weeks was that we knew right where everything was.) When you first arrive, the receptionist has you fill out paperwork, which seems somewhat inappropriate given the fact you have to stop every 3 minutes to have a contraction. Luke pressured the staff to get me into a room asap and they finally did. Our first nurse was training another nurse so it seemed to take a while to get me hooked up to the machines. Apparently I was pretty calm, because when she finally checked me the nurse said, "Oh wow, you are 3cm dilated and 70% effaced. You really are in labor." They called my doctor (she had the day off) and she instructed them to go ahead and break my water. About 30 minutes later this giant, burly man comes in and breaks my water. It wasn't super painful, but it did not feel good. They started me on a narcotic to reduce the pain. It immediately made me start seeing double and I began throwing up everything I ate (mostly ice chips and popsicles). We called our families and my mom left work immediately and joined us. My dad had flown to Sacramento that morning and was flying back at 2:30pm so I had both my parents in the hospital fairly quickly. The nurses switched shifts and the new nurse, Jodie was the best. She told me that she thought that she would be the one delivering this baby and her shift ended at 7pm. I was super excited to think that I could have the baby that quickly. She encouraged a second dose of the narcotic since I was starting to feel my contractions again and my doctor didn't want me to have an epidural too early because she believes it slows down labor more than the narcotics. They wanted me to get to 5cm so that I was in active labor. An hour later I was in a lot of pain and feeling all of the contractions. The graphs were showing that my contractions had hit the top of the charts so they started prepping the epidural. I was now 5cm and 80% effaced. Luke was able to hold me while I got the epidural and I didn't even feel it because I was in the middle of a contraction when they poked me. Once the epidural kicked in (which was almost immediately) my sister and Joe were able to come and see me. I slept for about 45 minutes but then started to feel sick again so I couldn't relax. It felt like hardly any time had passed when the nurses came in and said, "Okay we are just about there so we are going to start getting you ready to push". All of the equipment started coming in and eveyone left the room except Luke and my mom. I started crying and feeling nervous and super anxious. It was hard to see everyone leave. Once everything was ready to go, the nurse wanted me to do some practice pushes to see what I was capable of. I did one set of 3 pushes, each 10 seconds long, and the nurse says, "Okay, I see the head and the baby has hair. Go ahead and stop because we have to wait for the doctor." I really didn't want to stop because pushing was actually a relief. The doctor took about 30 minutes and we were ready to start again at 6:50pm. At 6:59pm Ella Grace Carlson entered the world :) My mom and I were crying hysterically and Luke had immediately focused on the baby because the cord had wrapped around her neck and she was having trouble breathing. They weighed and measured her (8lbs 12oz and 20.5" long) and then rushed her to the transition nursery with Luke to get her on oxygen. I hated that Luke had to leave but was so relieved that he was by Ella's side. It took them an hour to stitch me up, I tore everywhere possible. Once everything was cleaned, my family was able to enter the room. An hour or so later, they wheeled me up to recovery. I asked to see Ella so they were able to take me in for about 5 minutes or so. Luke was by her side, but it broke my heart so see her hooked up to all the monitors. She was finally able to come back with us to our room around 11:30pm. We stayed up all night learning how to burp and feed her and just hanging out as a family. The nurses come in about every 20-30 minutes throughout the night so it is absolutely impossible to get any sleep. We had a million visitors the next day and finally, on Friday, we were able to go home.

I've been loving my first week as a mom. It's definitely a lot of work, but worth every minute. The night shifts aren't so bad if you prep for them and split them up. Thankfully, my hubby is amazing at helping and is always involved in everything. Little Ella looks different and changes every day. Everyone keeps saying how they can't wait for her talk, crawl and walk but I'm at a point where I just love her as a newborn :)

38 Week Update

Our little girl's room is finally 100% ready, woohooo :) Our bags are packed for the hospital and my last day of work is tomorrow. I seriously could not be more excited to meet our little girl. We found out last Friday that she is 7lbs 8oz so she is probably past 8lbs now. I still have not dropped or dilated at all...bummer. My doctor is confident that she will stay with mommy until her due date but I am really hoping to meet her sooner. June 10th just seems really far away. The good news is that my fluid levels are great and her measurements dropped from the 90th percentile to the 70th percentile. We were a little concerned that we were having a gigantic child. I've heard a million people say that the doctor's weight estimations can be totally off, so maybe she won't be as big as we are expecting. My goal next week is to do everything possible to induce labor (Noah and Katie were both gone this week so I had to wait). I'm going to ask my doctor about a membrane sweep and working out (well, walking up the hill on our street). I'm excited to catch up on all of the things I've been postponing like scrapbooking and organizing all of our photo albums. I'm determined to just leave TLC on all day as I reorganize the house probably a hundred times. There are some books I've been dying to read for a long time that I will finally have a chance to open. I'm sure there are more thank-you cards that I need to write and I definitely want to make time to catch up with friends :) I think I'll stop by my hubby's office for lunch at least a couple of times. I love surprising him at work even though he might feel differently, ahahaha!

36 Weeks

We were laughing hysterically when Luke wanted a turn!

Baby Care class at Hoag

Assembling the pack and play!

Ladies night! My margarita was a virgin :(

Cutest Children's Bakery in Newport! $9.75 per Cupcake, CRAZY!
So excited to be 36 weeks and almost to the end! I absolutely cannot wait to meet our little munchkin :) It's been really nice continuing to work because it keeps me distracted from the back pain and allows me to focus on the kids at school. I'm going to try and make it until the 27th of May (assuming Ella doesn't come early). I feel so fortunate that things are going really well. Luke has been working his butt off and it's paying off..... the timing couldn't be better :) Not to mention, a couple of our best friends just moved back from the East Coast and will be nearby again, woohooo! Andrew & Kara, your timing is impeccable!

Every weekend Luke is putting together another baby project. This weekend we assembled the pack and play and are working on installing the car seat bases. Those are pretty much the last things and then we are ready to go! My mommy friends have all recommended getting everything ready before baby comes so it's not super stressful when she's here. I'm determined to do just that! We did our baby care class at Hoag and it was awesome! They are pricey but I definitely recommend them because they are so informative :) I wish we had done the labor class there as well. We got to swaddle and diaper the dolls. Luke was much better than I had anticpated and is an expert swaddler! We just have to work on not covering up the belly button nugget when diapering :) We have two doctor appointments this week. Tuesday is to see the status of the kidney infection and on Friday we have an ultrasound to make sure the baby has not gotten too big! I can't wait for Friday, I just want to see her again SO bad. This week was especially tough and uncomfortable so I am looking forward to having a better week starting tomorrow. I had a great ladies night on Saturday which is just what I needed. I love you Kimi & Janelle :)

34 1/2 Weeks!

Here's the gift basket we won, woohoo!

My baby shower at school! Thank you so much for all of the wonderful gifts!!!!

I am feeling the baby now more than ever. Every twist and turn is amazing and it's so cool to watch my stomach move from the outside. Ella loves kindergarten and always starts moving when we do our morning & math songs. If it's true that babies can hear in utero, our munchkin should come out knowing her alphabet, days of the week, & numbers 1-100 because we do it everyday together :) I haven't quite accepted the fact that she will be here next month....sometimes I feel like I'm still not ready. On the other hand, I can't possibly imagine getting any bigger at this point since I'm so uncomfortable. Luke was laughing at me because, even in the mall, I want to drive to the next department store because they just seem so far from eachother (and to think I used to enjoy jogging!) The exciting part is that I get to fall asleep every night just thinking about the first time I get to hold her and how magical that will be :) I'm just so unbelievably excited to be a family of three. Luke and I will have our 10 year anniversary this August! I feel so fortunate to truly be married to my best friend and now we get to start this whole new chapter of our lives. I can't think of anything better :)

This past weekend I had some serious upper back pain for the first time. On Monday it was still bothering me so my doctor had me come in right away. Much to my surprise, I have a kidney infection and now have to take medication that will affect the baby :( The doctor is adamant curing the infection is the first priority because it can cause preterm labor. Fingers crossed that all will go well this week and we can have a full term munchkin!

Check out our baby shower video at http://vimeo.com/22710878

32 Week Ultrasound!

We are 32 weeks and counting! Yay! On Friday we had our 32 week ultrasound and our little munchkin is actually a very large munchkin. She is just under 5 pounds which puts her in the 87th percentile for weight (compared to other OC babies) and her head size and overall length were both above the 90th percentile, CRAZY! The doctor and ultrasound technician are estimating her birth weight at over 9 pounds assuming she makes it to term. This should be interesting! It's just so funny because everyone was so worried about our little baby because I'm a picky eater but her weight is definitely not an issue.

The really good news is that my placenta has moved up significantly above the cervix so we are planning for a vaginal birth now (assuming there are no complications). Good job pushing it up Ella! My doctor also told us that most women have larger babies with subsequent pregnancies so I may be in trouble if we have multiple children.

Last week we had our breastfeeding class which was much more informative that I expected. I know it seems kind of obvious what to do but there are numerous sucking techniques and holding positions to make the experience more enjoyable for the mom and baby. According to our teacher, breastfeeding is only painful if the baby is sucking incorrectly. I don't know how many women agree with this. We were supposed to have our baby care class on Friday but it was overbooked so we got pushed back a couple of weeks. I'm really excited for that one too! It worked out well because we got to meet Noah & Nikki for dinner at Rusty Pelican, my favorite. I seriously eat an entire loaf of butter garlic bread drenched in oil & vinegar every time we go. Maybe that explains my oversized fetus :)

30 Weeks, Maternity Shoots & "Nesting"

We had such a blast doing our maternity shoot with Kelsey! She is AMAZING! The weather was super cloudy and you can't even tell. We were seriously laughing the entire time!

Ella's Bedroom

I just love the little knobs that add so much to the dresser. Liz, you inspired this with Juliet's room :) Luke really wanted her room to have a nature theme so we did our best!

The pottery barn birdhouses are pricey so I got this for $1 at Michael's and painted it myself. I am not very good at arts & crafts but this was super fun to decorate :)

I can't believe that I'm 31 weeks tomorrow, the time is now going by really fast. It's incredible to think that in only 9 weeks or less our little munchkin will actually be living with us. I have had such an amazing time "nesting" and getting her room ready. In fact, I'm kind of obsessed with it. Who knew that decorating a baby's room could be so much fun! Every day I'm thinking of new things to add or change. It's been really nice to have Spring Break this week so that I can relax and enjoy the pregnancy. When we go back next week I'll only have 6 weeks left which will be awesome. I can't wait to spend the whole summer with her. Luke and I love to daydream together about what we think she's going to be like, but we will know soon enough.

Last weekend we did our maternity shoot with my sister's best friend Kelsey. She is so great at what she does and we were cracking up the entire time. Of course, Luke has the photography thing down and I'm the retarded one who is always looking the wrong way and constantly needing direction. Apparently, he demonstrated his best Zoolander pose in the above picture, haha!

I can't wait for next week because we have our 32 week ultrasound and we'll find out what our chances are of having a c-section versus a vaginal delivery. Hopefully the placenta has moved up :) If not, at least we'll be able to schedule her delivery. This actually would be okay because one of my closest friends just had a surprise pregnancy announcement and had to move her wedding date up to Ella's due date, June 10th. Since I can't be a bridesmaid anymore, at least I would be able to go to the wedding. So much is happening in early June, it's crazy! My lovely hubby also turns 30 on June 3rd so we are going to have a very busy couple of weeks :) We will also find out Ella's estimated birth weight within 6 ounces. My family thinks she's going to be at least 8 pounds since my mom had such large babies. I'm hoping for somewhere around 7 lbs. Next Friday is also our first "child-care" class. Everyone laughs, but I signed us up for "breastfeeding basics" and "delivery techniques" as well. At least Luke is excited!

Baby Shower

Luke and I are SOOO unbelievably grateful to have had such an amazing baby shower and no rain, phew!!!!! We got so many incredible gifts and had such a blast! I still think that decorating the onesies is the best thing ever :) It's so fun to have such an eclectic group of people in the same backyard. The food and cupcakes were amazing! Katie, thank you so much for treating us all to Sprinkles :) Everyone stayed late to help clean up which was awesome. My Grandma has a huge yard so this was no easy task. Nikki & Noah were kind enough to come home with us and help us open all the gifts and get everything organized. Ella's room is almost done, we are just waiting on a couple more furniture items. I seriously sit in her room and just stare at everything for at least 20 minutes everyday. I love picturing our future life with a little one. We always talk about how in a year from now, we will know her so well and everything will just seem like second nature, but now it's all still a mystery. 10 more weeks to go!