Minnesota Zoo

I drove up to Apple Valley, MN to meet my sister and kids at the zoo. We all had such a great time! Abby and Ryan love it there (although Ryan was getting sick of it by the end) and Emily enjoyed it too. This was a perfect time of year to go...there weren't many people there at all!!!

Miss Independent

It's a slow process but a sad one. Each day Emily gets less and less dependent on me. It of course starts the instant she's born where she once was 100% dependent on me is now more like 95%. Then she moves from sleeping right next to me in the co-sleeper to sleeping down the hall in her crib. Then she plays by herself for longer periods of time without needing me to constantly pick her up and hold her. To now when I am no longer breast feeding. If I think about it too much (the fact that I will never breast feed her again) it gets me sad but obviously it has to end sometime. And since I'm producing very little at this point, it's not worth the extra effort to nurse her anymore. So yet another way she is becoming less dependent on me. It's as if our days are filled with training our children to depend on themselves. From holding the bottle to potty training to driving a car. That's what parenting is though, it's such a weird combination of being proud of your child for becoming self-sufficient and sadness that they no longer need your help. I'm in for much much more I'm aware.

Wanted to include this picture of her sleeping. There's really no feeling better than this...seeing your child fast asleep. I have been so happy with how she's been sleeping!! She's always been a wonderful sleeper (takes after me). These last few days she's been going to bed around 9pm, waking around 6am, I then feed her and put her back down and she sleeps until a little after 11am!! Loving it! My mom warns me that just when you think they're the perfect baby they start teething and it all goes downhill from there (at least for a period of time). So I'm expecting that will happen so I don't get TOO frustrated when/if it does. In the meantime, I'll continue enjoying the quiet nights and pray for my friends who have not-so-great sleepers.

Glorified Formula

So I started on solids today. She seemed to be eating a lot of formula lately and it just felt like the right time. I'm actually kind of nervous to start solids. Partly because I'm afraid of the portions and whether or not I'm going to be giving her enough or too much. Then there's so many options it's overwhelming!! Plus it's just more work than the bottle honestly so I know I'm in for more planning ahead. Like everything else though it will just take getting used to. My sister reassured me that really she's getting most of her nutrients from the formula and breast milk anyway. Starting on solids this early really is just to get them used to eating with a spoon more than anything.

The first batch I made for her was pretty much glorified formula in a bowl. Just a bit thicker than formula. Here's a video and some pics.

Growing Girl - 4 month appointment

Here are Emily's stats for her 4 month appointment (she's quite the little chub):

Height - 25 1/2 inches (85th percentile)
Weight - 17 lb 4 oz (96th percentile)
Head - 16 3/4" (84th percentile)

So all of this on top of wearing cloth diapers means she's wearing 6-9 month clothes. She's starting to grab things much better, becoming more aware of her surroundings (Gus, when we talk etc), she loves to smile, she sometimes laughs but not as often as we'd like and she LOVES chewing/sucking on her hands. That's her favorite past time.

I'm starting to get into a routine now finally. This is a typical day for her not including eating and changing diaper schedules (I want to record this for my benefit later with other children plus I'm always interested in others schedules so hopefully someone out there will find this interesting.)

7-8am - wake
10am-1:30pm (or 2 hours after she wakes) - nap
1:30-1:45 - tummy time
1:45-4:30 play
4:30pm-5:30 - nap number 2
8pm - start getting ready for bed/bath
8:30pm - down for the night

I LOVE that she takes that long nap in the morning because it works really well with my schedule since I'm not only a full time stay at home mom but also a work from home mom!! I need to get stuff done and this is a good opportunity to do that.

Haven't started on rice cereal yet. Honestly, I'm not really in a hurry for this. Many moms seem to not be able to wait for the next stage but I find bottle feeding very easy and convenient...why change that if it's going fine? I will probably start to try to introduce food once she turns 5 months old...which is very soon!!

Movies for baby

Who says having a baby means you have to give up what you want to do? Much to her Daddy's delight, Emily has been to 4 movies at the theater since she's been born. Here they are:

Her first movie: Star Trek - she slept in my arms during the entire movie



Second: UP - she needed to be fed at first but then slept through most of it



Third: My Sister's Keeper - a little whiny during this movie but overall pretty good. Luckily my Aunt Donna was there to hold her outside while we finished the movie.



Fourth: Public Enemies - she slept the entire movie in my wrap while I stood up. What I do for her :)



For reviews of these movies go to my husband's website: http://www.minnesotamoviefreak.com

A day in Red Wing

I really enjoyed my time with my dear old friend, Katie Wells. We met in Red Wing to spend the day together and she got to meet Emily! I also received lovely gifts from both her and her grandmother. I love her family! We spent the day chatting and laughing over coffee, then went downtown to a not so great restaurant :) And then ended it with more catching up and a walk around the lake. It was a gorgeous day!

Emily's photo sessions

Em did well for her debut shoot. It was pretty short because she got pretty cranky. She peed on me at one point ha ha! Then we had a second shoot a month or so later. This one Cat came to help out and brought some props.

Daddy with Em


Mommy with Em


I know it looks like she's laughing but she's not




Crabby baby


A little older

Top 5 can't live without baby items

There are a few things that I absolutely love and cannot live without on a day to day basis. I would recommend these items to everyone (starting with the best):

1. Sleepy Wrap - I love love love this thing so much! It is the best for carrying Emily around. Plus she falls asleep in it all the time and then you can just tuck her little head in and she'll just stay like that for hours. This one is especially nice because it's very long and stretchy. If you get one thing at all on this list, it should be this one!!

Here I am walking with Emily, it looks like she's in my shirt :)


Older kids can go in it too




She was asleep about 5 minutes after this picture was taken


2. Miracle Blanket - Friends of ours kindly passed this on to us and we actually kind of forgot about it until she was a few weeks old. Ever since then she's been swaddled in it for all naps and at night too (if she's not in my wrap). Swaddling is so important to keep babies asleep and this one really works! There are others out there that people like too...either way...SWADDLE your baby tightly!!




3. Bumgenius 3.0 Cloth Diapers - These diapers are the BEST! What a great way to save money and the environment. Plus they grow with baby and they're super cute :) We love using cloth diapers. I could go on and on about this but won't. Haven't had a blowout yet!!



4. Co-Sleeper - So convenient! She sleeps in a tiny little bed right next to our bed so it makes those middle of the night feedings so much easier!!







5. Snoogle - Ok so this isn't something for baby but it's for pre-baby. This pillow makes sleeping so nice while pregnant and eliminates the need for a billion pillows in bed.

Emily's kidney update

When I was pregnant with Emily, they noticed some fluid in her kidneys during an ultrasound. They told us that this was pretty common. I remember we were worried but also glad we were able to see her again (and reassure us that she was actually a "she").

When she was born we went in for her 2 month appointment and she had another ultrasound done. Usually this corrects itself in the birth canal but in Em's case it didn't. There was still fluid in her kidneys. The biggest concern is that they want to make sure her urine isn't getting into her kidneys. So we put her on antibiotics for a few weeks and set up an appointment for a VCUG.

A few weeks later she had the VCUG. It was so sad! We had to strip her down, lay her on the table, and hold down her hands and legs while they put a catheter in her bladder. She was crying pretty hard and it wasn't easy to watch. Her little body was so tense from crying that the nurse requested I put my finger in her mouth so she would suck it a little bit and ease the tension thus making it easier for the catheter to go in. They put black dye in her bladder so they can easily see through an x-ray if it goes into her kidney.

Anyway, long story short her urine is not going into her kidneys so she is a healthy little baby! It's such a relief and a blessing to not have to worry about it anymore!!

Breastfeeding Woes

Ever since I thought about having kids I thought without a doubt I would breastfeed and that I would have no problems whatsoever. In fact when people told me they had problems I used to think "oh you just didn't try hard enough, you must not have really wanted to do it." I even went through the breastfeeding class ignoring anything that had to do with formula because I knew I would just be breastfeeding. Well, I was in for a surprise!! For some reason I just don't produce as much as I thought I would which left Emily hungry for more. So from early on I started supplementing (as recommended by the doctor and lactation consultant even though I was not thrilled about this) and I was supposed to supplement until she started gaining weight. So those first few weeks I was making several trips to the lactation consultant. I wanted so badly to be able to have enough milk for her but it just wasn't happening! So now I am still supplementing with formula but also give her breast milk too. I'm not giving up!! There are advantages and disadvantages to using formula:

Advantages
1. You know exactly how much food she's getting
2. Dad (and anyone else) can feed her too
3. It's much more convenient in public
4. Formula keeps babies satisfied longer (helps with sleeping through the night)

Disdvantages
1. It costs money...LOTS of money!
2. Not the best nutritionally for her
3. Not as much mother/child bonding
4. When going between breast and bottle there's a chance for nipple confusion

I'm very thankful that she didn't have any nipple confusion and takes both bottle and breast very well. Overall this experience has been bittersweet to be honest. I've of course enjoyed the advantages and not enjoyed the disadvantages but you have to do what you have to do.

You mean I can actually go out in public with a baby?!?!

Well I must say that the last few weeks have been a whirlwind! I feel like I'm just a constant breastfeeding machine who's locked inside a cave. Figures it's while the days are now warm and beautiful and everyone on Facebook is talking about how gorgeous it is out there and I'm stuck in my very attractive pajamas all day long. One of the main thoughts that crosses my mind several times is, "will my life ever be normal again, will I ever be able to go anywhere now that I have a baby?" It all seems so complicated right now and so much work to go out of the house with a baby. I distinctly remember the first time I drove by myself. I was worried about how I would put the carseat in the car by myself and how I would hold the carseat without looking awkward (it seems like all moms just know how to carry these things). Well it did feel awkward and I did have a little sense of anxiety the first time I went out by myself. But it kept getting easier and easier and now I am proud to say that I can carry the carseat with one hand very easily now!! Yay, it's the little things :) I forced myself this week to GET OUT and do things. Like go to bible study, go to help out at church and go back to WW. That was hard but helped a lot. Here are some more pictures from her first week:

Sleeping baby


Gus is a little protect dog


Neglected puppy


Grandma Elder


Thanks for the gifts!




Daddy with Em


We both love to sleep


She always presses against the side of her cosleeper


Her warming bear (and apparently new best friend)

Introducing Emily Mae Elder

Emily Mae was born on April 11th, 2009 at 6:05pm. She weighed 8lbs, 11oz and was 21" long. Here is my birth story for those who are interested (sorry if TMI for those who aren't):

Friday, April 10th (my due date) I went in for my 40 week appointment. My doctor did an exam and while she was checking to see how dilated I was she also stripped my membrane and did some massaging. I was 3cm. That night around suppertime I started having contractions but I wasn't sure if they were actually contractions because they were not very regular and they were tolerable or if I was just still sore from the exam.

That night they seemed like they were becoming a bit more regular. They felt like menstrual cramps. I was hoping that I could sleep through the night and maybe be able to time them a bit better during the day. But that didn't happen. I didn’t get any sleep at all. I was constantly looking at the clock to see how far apart the contractions were and they were about 5-7 minutes apart each lasting about 30 seconds.

At about 3am I woke Scott up and called the Birth Center and asked them what I should do. They told me to wait until the contractions were closer together, lasting about a minute and were a little more intense. We waited at home and took showers/got ready to go while I labored for about 3 hours. Finally we decided to head in at about 6:30am.

When I arrived I was 4cm dilated. For the next few hours I laid in bed, walked around, sat in the waiting room with my mother in law, sat in a chair etc while having contractions. I was progressing pretty slowly so they decided to give me some Petocin (sp?) to get me to progress more quickly. After getting the Petocin (just an IV), I was still debating whether or not to get an epidural (by now I was 6cm dilated). My sister was there and telling me I should. I asked the nurse and she said she did with her kids but it seemed as if I was tolerating the pain well so it’s up to me. I finally decided to go for it. I’ve heard that after 6cm they start getting really painful and much closer together.

The doctor came in to give me the epidural. This is a strange experience but really, TOTALLY worth it to get it in my opinion. You all probably know how the epidural goes in etc so I don’t need to go into detail there. When he was putting it in I had two contractions but didn’t feel them at all because I was so focused on what he was doing. He did have to insert it a second time because it wasn’t going into my spine correctly the first time.

After the epidural I felt my contractions a little bit on my right side which sometimes happens but it was very tolerable. Then they broke my water and put a catheter in my bladder and I didn’t feel a thing. Then it was just a waiting game until I got to 10cm. I was extremely tired and almost fell asleep. This is when I was updating my Facebook because I literally was just laying in bed waiting for a few hours. A few times when I was having contractions her heart rate would go down a little which concerned them and myself a little so they gave me some oxygen. Because of this I couldn’t sleep. I was also just thinking about what was to come. Would I have to get a C-section? What if I push for hours and hours? What if the cord is around her neck? Etc etc.

Finally I was at 10cm and ready to push. This was a weird experience because I didn’t feel the need to push at all and really couldn’t tell how I was supposed to be pushing because of the epidural. But apparently I was doing it right because the nurse kept telling me I was doing really well. Scott was there holding up one leg and a student was holding up my other leg (it was her first birth and she was so excited). After about 35 minutes of pushing the nurse finally got the doctor. Once the doctor came in I pushed for another 10 minutes and she was out. What a surreal experience. She came out and was crying instantly and had wonderful color. Scott and I were both crying also just in awe of what happened. They put her right on me and I don’t even know what they were doing we were just so caught up in the moment. Truly amazing!!

I did have a 2nd degree tear which of course I didn’t feel at all because of the epidural also. Recovery is pretty disgusting and you’ll feel like you’ll never heal again down there but believe me you do. I’m already almost 100% healed. I recommend taking advantage of the nursery to get some sleep those couple nights you’re in the hospital. You won’t get that kind of help again and it’s good for your body to recover.

The first night home was very strange. I have to admit it was a huge eye opener…”you mean I can’t just go to sleep with my husband and sleep all night?” The first couple weeks were challenging for me too. It’s different for everyone of course. It’s such a drastic change to your life all of a sudden. It wasn't until about the 3rd or 4th week that I started thinking "ok, I can do this" and really started falling in love with my little girl.

Here are some pictures of the event which I actually now look fondly on :)

Me still pregnant, waiting or her to be born


Our nurse, we loved her! And she's a Bears fan :)


Just moments after she was born (wow, was my face swollen!!)


Hair!






Auntie Laura gets to hold her first niece!


Watch out for the paparazzi :)


Grandma Elder holds her first granddaughter


Ryan whispered in my ear that he "loves" Emily and Abby just loved looking at her




Dad gives her her first bath




All clean :)


Swaddled baby


Going home outfit