She's Here!

Just in case you were wondering where we've been...the title of the post says it all. Our little princess(and her two brothers) have been keeping us plenty busy, to say the least. When you have a 2-year-old(as your youngest), it's hard to remember how demanding a newborn is! She reminded us pretty quickly.

Our little Chubette came into this world about 6 weeks ago early in the morning(like middle of the night) and weighed over 8 lbs! Almost double the weight of each of the boys(preemies are like that). And of course that meant double the pain and double the intensity of contractions, but I was still able to deliver without an epidural just like my other two deliveries. And whew! I'm not sure I'll be such a "Natural" advocate after that. It was really hard work for my body.

But alas, I cannot have a normal delivery. It must not be in the cards for me & my babies.

(1)I have too small a pelvis for that "healthy" of a baby and because of which, gave our little girl bruises that covered her entire face(and blood vessels to pop in her eyes). And that's not all, (2)she had the cord around her neck(the midwife called it "jewelry"), so they had to get her out ASAP. So the nurse pushed(on my belly) and the midwife(with the help of the Hubby - so cool!) pulled her out. Her body turned pink immediately when she came out, so she had no loss of Oxygen to the brain(which causes Cerebral Palsy). However, (3)the nerves above her right shoulder were stretched causing Erbs Palsy(temporary paralasis) in that arm. But she improves everyday with the Physical Therapy exercises we do. So if that weren't enough of a story for you, (4)the bruising on her face (and our family history) gave our Chubette Jaundice, so after getting our hopes up of taking our baby home from the hospital after only two days, she had to have triple phototherapy in the Nursery for one more day(because we were able to do more lights when we got home). It was quite the emotional roller coaster...but we are so happy to have her home! But I still get asked by the boys if they can come visit me & the baby at the hospital...three days of visits must have set them into a routine of some sort.


The picture above is during her first bath(I didn't have the heart to post the painful looking pictures of her with her bruised face - they went away fully after a week). I got to give her first bath to her...right in our room. The CNA said that in her 6 years as a Nurse, I was the first Mother she'd witnessed doing this. I felt proud. The Hubby got to bathe the boys and I got to bathe our girly.

This is documentation of our first "photo shoot." I could not wait to get pics of her when the bruises went away...so prepare yourself for more pictures as I have 6 weeks to catch up.

2 weeks exactly. Plus or minus a few hours. This onesie cracks me up. No, it wasn't an inappropriate gift, Lindsey. And I'm so glad you guys brought it to the hospital...because after we had her dressed to come home, she literally "pood" all over everything and we were grateful to have a back up outfit. It was perfect! (Looking at this picture I'm already a little sad at how fast she's growing!)

My Chub. He loves his little sister and is so great around babies! Probably because he's had practice since he was 11 months old! (You can say it...I'm crazy...but I wouldn't have it any other way). He wants to shower her with kisses so much, that we almost have to give him a daily ration.

2 1/2 weeks. If Chubette was giving just a little more flare of the nostrils and a little more pucker in the lips, you'd see the face she gives us when she's workin' on filling her diaper. It kills me so much that my abs hurt just thinking about how it makes me laugh.

Ta-da! Look what we can do assisted! I know this won't be the last time I try to have all three looking at the camera and get the majority of them smiling. But we got this little ditty after only 4 takes, and Chubette is almost looking forward, so this will be my desktop wallpaper for weeks to come. I know you're dying at the deliciousness spilling out of this photo of my "3 under 3." They say that trials come in threes, but I seriously beg to differ. They are a huge source of my never-ending joy(don't get me wrong, I'm still adjusting).

One Month to the day. She's such a chunk! She's also starting to get a receding hair line, so I know it's in preparation for new hair. It's sad to see it go...I still stroke the fuzzies in the back that are still in tact. I hope you got a taste of our little "Cherry Bomb" as she is just as sweet as she looks.