Elleanor's arrival!!!

I just knew that I would have this post finished and put up before we even left the hospital.
not so much.
and now at home, never enough time to get on the computer.
It will probably take me several attempts to get on here to actually finish the post,
but I needed to get started so that I did forget everything that I wanted to put on here so that Elleanor will know all about her delivery date!

As I had posted before, we were scheduled for a csection Monday morning (June 20th) at 7am.
well this little girl had plans of her own.
for some reason I can never wait until I am scheduled to deliver.
with Caraline we were suppose to be coming in Sunday night for an overnight induction, well I went into labor (that lasted about 14 hours until we ended up having a csection) and we delivered on that Sunday instead (which was actually my due date)!!!!
same with this little one.
One of the perks of having a scheduled repeat csection was that I wouldn't have to deal with any of the pains of labor.
Well that didn't happen.
I started having some contractions (which I had been for weeks) on Sunday night before we went to bed.
Not too bad and I just figured they would stop once I went to sleep like they always did.
At about 1230 they were becoming a little too strong for me to handle and I couldn't sleep through them at all, they were 3 to 7 minutes apart and increasing in strength, and then came the bloody show when I went to the bathroom, so off to the hospital we went.

We ended up having C with us since this wasn't a part of the plan but Tim's parents were coming to the hospital to meet us and take her back home with them, but after they checked me everyone ended up staying.
I came in dilated at a 3-4 and 80%, my nurse figured that they prob wouldn't wait too long at all to come in and do my csection, the time now was 2am.
So got my IV going, lab drawn, doctor on call was paged and now just waiting.
Nurse was right, the doctor said we needed to go ahead and go back for surgery and that she was on her way.
I was a little bummed because not coming in at my scheduled time meant that it wouldn't be my doc that would be doing my surgery, he didn't get to do Caraline's either, it would be whoever was on call that night, which happened to be my doc's wife, but when the doc showed up it was mine who came to do the delivery instead.
So back to the section room we went.
Got a spinal this time, had an epidural last time since I had been laboring, let me say for me the spinal was heaven compared to the epidural, I was way more comfortable and didn't feel nearly as much as the first time!

Things went very quickly and at 4am Elleanor Claire Maxeiner had arrived.

She started crying and turned a great pink color very quickly!!!
My fluid was stained with thin meconium but it didn't seem to effect her one bit!!! Her lungs were just a going and going!!! Tears came as soon as I heard her!!!
She had one of the best baby nurses ever taking care of her, one of my besties Mary had came in the middle of the night to be with us for our delivery!!!
I was very worried about having a repeat csection bc many times the babies have to go to the nursery for transitioning but Elleanor was just perfect and got to stay and be with her mommy and daddy from the get go!!



Elleanor was 7lbs 12oz ( a whole lb bigger than C was) and was 18 1/4 inches long!!!
Couldn't believe the rolls that this short and stalky girl had on her, loved them!!!
She doesn't have much hair, but what she does have is dark, her eyes look very dark right now, which I know can change at anytime.
And this time our little gal is looking like her mommy!!!! And that is what most are telling me also!!! I have to admit I love hearing it too bc C is pretty much a spitting image of her daddy!

As soon as I got back to my L & D room from surgery, I nursed Elleanor and she did great, it was so amazing!!!

When we were done feeding, daddy went to get big sister so that she would get to be the first to see E and so we could have a little family time, just the 4 of us!



Caraline loved her big sister necklace that she got from baby E too!

By this time my mom had made it, so after family time our parents came back to see Elleanor!!

After they all got to hold her it was time for E to go get her bath done, everyone left at this time and I got some much needed rest!

We stayed only 2 days in the hospital, we were ready to get home with Caraline! But if I had foreseen how the next few days/nights would go we might have been staying the whole 4 nights, but that's a whole other post in itself! Hopefully I can get on here more often as we get the hang of this whole 2 kiddos under 2 thing!

 

 Big sis, little sis outfits to go home in!

Loaded up and ready to head home!

last night as family of 3....

it is now our last night being a family of 3, just me, Tim and Caraline.
tomorrow morning, in less than 10 hours we will have Elleanor in our arms and become a family of 4!
for Tim and I it was a very important day, not just that it was Father's Day but also that it was Caraline's last day being just her with her mommy and daddy.
I have to admit that I shed a few tears off and on throughout the day thinking about that.
wondering how Caraline was going to do with a new baby at home.
also thinking about how I wanted to make sure that we didn't take anything away from C and made tomorrow her special day too!
she is such a sweet and loving little girl and I imagine that she will be just as sweet with her little sister as she is with her mommy and daddy.
but I do think that tomorrow is going to be a tough day for her and I see her being very unsure of the whole situation and not really understanding what is going on......I can see it now, thumb in mouth and other hand digging in her little belly button.lol!
but I cannot wait to see how she does with Elleanor and what she thinks when we show her little sister to her and let her hold her!!!
can't wait to have both my sweet girls in my arms and our family of 4 together for the first time tomorrow!!

tonight has also been extremely stressful bc we came home to soaking wet carpet floors in our hallway outside of our bathrooms, ughhh.
we are definitely trying to not let it get us down but it is so hard with the horrible timing and all.
plumber coming out tomorrow so Tim will have to leave the hospital for a while to come and take care of this.
really hoping that it can be fixed before we come home from the hospital, although it may be a big fix, don't really know how long it could all take, especially if stuff is needing to be replaced to finish it all up the carpet pad, carpet, etc:(

right now I am just trying to relax.
think sleep will be difficult tonight.
so anxious, nervous and excited!!!
just did my cleaning thing with 6 cloths that is now required before a csection, have to do tonight and tomorrow morning.
bags are packed and being put in the car.
krispy kreme's are here and ready to go for the L and D girls tomorrow.
hair is dried and straightened, since scheduled I actually get to look a little more decent than last time.lol!
now I just need to pack our computer so that it can be loaded into the car, of course I have to take it with me so that I can put pics up of our little new gal Elleanor for everyone to see!!!

last dr.s appt....

so today is my very last dr.s appt before Elleanor's arrival on Monday.

it is my 38th week, today 38w4d to be exact, and my doc and I decided together

that we would section at 39 weeks, which puts us having this little gal in just 3 days.

my feelings/emotions are now just jumping around all over the place.

I go from being ecstatic 1 minute to freaking out the next!!!

mostly freaking out because I feel like we have had more than enough time to prepare and get

everything ready before E's arrival but of course there is still plenty to be done but the last 3 weeks

I have not been feeling up to doing much at our house but taking care of C, resting, and then of course going to work.

Tim has been busy since school let out for the summer at his part-time job so that we could save up a little extra before the baby came, which means he has been unavailable to take care of the house projects that we needed to get done because he is working all the time.

and this is where most of my frustrations comes from.

I never finished C's nursery and now her new big girl room is left unfinished also.

E's nursery, not done, even though we already had most of the stuff for it.

maybe one day (when my girls are say 10 years old.jk) they will have finished, decorated rooms!

and let's not even get started on the organization of our kitchen, cabinets, pantry, etc., as I can feel the tears coming on just thinking of what a mess all this is!!!!

just as I am writing this blog post this morning, I am having some contractions just going through these things in my head that have been stressing me out! (also drinking a cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks at the moment so that could be the cause too.lol)

yep the contractions continue, they come on, last for a couple of hours at times but then always go away, getting more painful but I think this little gal is still going to hold out on her appearance until Monday.

now it is the afternoon.
dr.s appt done.
everything was good: measurements, bp, heartbeat.
my total weight gain this pregnancy now comes to 38lbs, 3 over my goal but I'll take it!
pedicure done.
loved it. could go every week and get this done. I've never been one to keep up with pedicures but think I'm going to have to make it a habit!
and some progress was made at the house today.
we got Elleanor's bed for the first few weeks set up in our room.
we absolutely love our pack-n-play that we got for Caraline, it is one that has the bassinet with it and a changing table, perfect for our bedroom! 
breathing a little easier now that this is ready to go!

however, through all this freaking out I am still totally excited and over the moon about welcoming our 2nd little girl into this world on MONDAY!!!!  I love her so much already and can't wait for Caraline to have a little sister!!!

10 more days to go!

only 10 more days until we have Elleanor in our arms!!!

can't wait.

I am so so excited to meet her!

this past week was a rough one.

contractions coming on strong, especially at work.

my boss let me take off my last day this week and make my shifts for next week available shifts,

so I will only have to go in if needed!

had contractions all day thru work on Wed then they continued 2 to 3 hours after I got home.

almost called the doc but they stopped and I went to sleep.

they are really starting to hurt too.

actually, everything is starting to hurt.

my body is very sore and this gal's movements are starting to make me hold my breath.

think she's just running out of room in there!!!

37 week and 4 day baby belly!

today is my 37 week appt with my doc,

also going to do my pre-op today!

everything is so close now!

we are now 37w4d!!!

csection remains scheduled for the 20th at 7am!

we have to be at the hospital at 5am, which is a little too early for me but I doubt much sleep will come the night before anyway!

I had been stressing over this scheduled csection thing, the anticipation over coming in for surgery was getting to me,

but now I am pretty calm about it,

just ready for the time to be here,

and praying everything goes smoothly!
as for my appt., it was the same 5 minute appts that I have had.
BP great, weight great (put me in a much better mood bc I was 4 lbs lighter than last week),
and Elleanor's heartbeat great!
I then headed over to the hospital for my pre-op, got that checked off my list,
and got my instructions for the night before/morning of my csection.

we have gotten quite a bit done at the house to be ready for miss Elleanor,

not as much as I had hoped, but I haven't been up for too much activity lately,

entertaining and taking care of Caraline takes all I've got!
her room is almost finished except for a few things to go on the wall and a rug for in front of the crib.
poor Caraline's room is sad, it will definitely need some focus after the baby gets here and I am feeling more like myself again!

Elleanor's bed, all ready for her!

speaking of Caraline,
I am so excited about our new baby and already love her with all of my heart,
but I am having those feelings of, uhmm, I guess a little bit of guilt.
for the past almost 2 years Caraline has been my whole world (I have to admit that I am actually pretty stinngy (sp?) with her) and I get kind of sad thinking about it not just being her anymore and my attention being taken away from her, especially here in the beginning.
but I know that Tim is really excited about getting to spend more time with her this summer and to give her special daddy time/attention.

rock'n her 2 piece!

they have season passes to the zoo (he plans on taking her several mornings so that E and I can have some alone time together) and he is going to take her to diaper dolphin lessons at the swim school!
and I fully intend on and hope that I can keep up with it, to have special mommy/Caraline activites/time each day, that is after we get rested and into the swing of things with a toddler and a newborn and learning how to manage their individual needs at these different stages!

just because she's so cute!

well anyway, think its time to wrap this up, 10 days, I can't believe how close we are to becoming a family of 4!!!! 

embrace the camera - June 2, 2011

haven't been embracing the camera very consistently lately, but hopefully we can get back on track!

these were taken at  C's cousin Melinda's birthday party at Purple Glaze:)

now your turn to embrace!

36 week appt, short and sweet....

went today for my 36 week appt.

36w3d to be exact.

was kind of dreading this appt bc this is when the usually start doing the vaginal checks, right?

nope, not for me.

no one had mentioned to me that if you are a repeat csection you don't get those wonderful checks for the next few weeks!

that was a nice surprise.

we talked about the happenings of last week,

Dr. G of course wasn't too excited/concerned about it.

his words, "if you go into labor, you'll have a baby"

and "if your water breaks, you'll have a baby"!!

he feels we are in the safe zone and said that everything was good.

and now to my weight gain, ugh!

thought I was safely going to stay under my goal of  35lbs, not so much.

41 lbs to date, but now to the point where I just don't care about anything except June 20th!!!

on the brighter side, I can't wait to have Elleanor here!

we are so excited to meet her and can't wait for the next 2 1/2 weeks to fly by!