Baby Stella is here!

I figure that now is about the time I should be blogging again. We've been home with our new arrival for over a week now, which means that Stella is over 2 weeks old already! This delivery was a scheduled c-section so I was pretty prepared for everything. I'm not really sure how long I would've lasted if my doctor hadn't been so awesome as to schedule it a week early. Given the amount of swelling and water retention I had with my last pregnancy, he was more than willing to help me out.

We were scheduled for June 28th, one day after our 8th wedding anniversary. For the anniversary, we spent some time with Jameson at a bounce-house place while he went totally nuts. Then we spoiled him with a happy meal while we feasted on some sandwiches from The Noble Pig (amazing place if you live in the area, you must go there). That afternoon we dropped Jameson off at my parents house while Spencer and I headed out for sushi at Sushi Zushi (our waiter recommended some awesome rolls that weren't on the menu) and we left super happy and full. We walked over to the Gold Class theaters and settled in for our showing of Green Lantern (I didn't follow the plot very well, but our options were limited). I love these theaters because they have gigantic leather recliners, plush blankets for you to use, and a waiter that serves you delicious food while you're watching the movie. We had a nice chat with our fellow movie-goers (a couple who gave us advice on transitioning to 2 kids) before the movie started as we were the only 4 people in the theater for that showing (it was a Monday night so not a lot of movie traffic and not a great movie either). During the movie, we ate more - popcorn, virgin mojitos, Creme Brulee Cheesecake (heavenly) and an ice cream brownie sandwich (also heavenly). It may have been a little overkill, but since it was my last meal for a few days, I wanted to make it a good one. No pictures from that night (I'm not keen on pictures that make me look ginormous) but we had a fantastic evening.

We showed up at 5am the next day for our surgery, which was scheduled at 7:30am. We waited and waited and watched others come and go before us and we were finally sent to the OR around 8:30am (almost 2 hours late). Normally I wouldn't care, but I was a little hungry after fasting and the longer I'm awake, the hungrier I get. My last delivery was an emergency c-section and so since this one was planned, everything went a little differently. There's a whole pre-op process with IVs and medications and then you walk yourself into the OR and sit down while they get your epidural ready. Wasn't horrible, but wasn't my favorite. Then you are laid out like a frog which is about to be dissected (I actually told the doctor that when he asked me how I felt right before we started the surgery). This operation didn't go as smoothly as the last one, but I won't go into the details. Let's just say that there may have been some issues with the anesthesia and my body didn't react very well. I don't want to scare anyone (not that it's really that scary) who may be having a c-section in the future because my last one went perfectly and this one is probably just an anomaly. If you really want to know, you can ask me and I'd be happy to tell you.

Other than that, the baby came out just fine. We had been expecting her to be around 7 lbs based on the last ultrasound we had had a few weeks prior, but she weighed in at 9 lbs even (21" and born at 9:06am). Big baby, bigger than Jameson by about a half pound (and a week early if you recall). The only part of the surgery I recall hearing the doctor's voice was when he was trying to work our little bundle out of the womb. If you know our son, you probably know that our children don't have the smallest of heads. This is not my fault - I wear child-sized hats. I blame my husband's genes :) But our doctor's conversation went something like "Wow, this is a large head. Gee, she's really in there good. Man, this baby does not want to come out!" These are all very reassuring things to hear when you're lying on the operating table. But she came out just fine and was taken to be attended to, followed by her very watchful dad. After a while in the OR, again because of problems, I was finally released to post-op. Things are pretty foggy for a while because I'm fairly certain they gave me some sort of sedative to keep me calm while they fixed the problems. You have to stay in post-op for a while until you can move your feet and legs on your own, so you can imagine this takes some time. I don't remember much because of the aforementioned sedative.

Anyway, Stella was given a clean bill of health and sent off to the nursery while I recovered. The three of us had a wonderful time at the hospital, we stayed the full four days to take advantage of the wonderful gift that is the nursery and the awesome night nurses who take care of your babies for you while you sleep. Most of my nurses were rewarded with homemade chocolate peanut butter cookies (to die for). And because of that, I got great care. So thanks Mom for baking the cookies that basically ensured I had all my medications on time and lots of attention and favors from nurses.

Now that we're at home, it's been a bit of an adjustment. Jameson absolutely adores his sister, though he's not quite sure on how to handle her. Anytime she cries, he's the first one to call my attention to it and want to help her. He has suddenly become very helpful in other areas too and should eventually mold into quite the big brother. Stella is great, though she's much different than Jameson was as a newborn. Her digestive system is more active, and so we get our share of sleepless nights due to her colic. Spence is such a trooper and makes sure that I get at least one nap a day to make up for lost sleep. He's fortunate to have a job and supervisors that allow him to work from home on an as-needed basis to help take care of me, Stella, and Jameson. We're hoping that in a few weeks, the fitful nights will turn into more restful nights for us. Despite her fussiness, she's absolutely adorable and craves attention and human contact from her family whenever she's awake. I have yet to set up newborn pictures for her - mostly because we're in a new ward and I don't really know anyone, let alone who takes pictures and who doesn't. I may end up hiring someone I don't know just to get them done, but we'll have to see.

In post-pregnancy news, I've already dropped over 25 pounds (yay for dropping water retention) and am only 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Not trying to brag or anything, but after having such difficulty losing the baby weight last time, I'm thrilled to be doing so much better this time. Besides, this is my blog and if I can't toot my own horn here, where can I?

Just for fun, I tried on a pair of my regular jeans today... and they fit! I would actually wear them except that my incision is still a bit tender and I'm not quite ready for regular waistlines on pants. Still loving my stretchy pants, plus you have to love the fact that there are no zippers and buttons on most maternity pants.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures that follow. We have quite a few more than I will post, but I refuse to post pictures where I look more like Sloth from The Goonies than myself. Pitocin does me no favors.

My portrait - 37.5 weeks along - 1.5 weeks before delivery

My sweet Jameson giving his preggo-faced mommy a kiss so she doesn't feel like a total mess

Pre-Op photo opp, the gown looks weird, but it was awesome. It had this little part where a heater hooks up to it and basically your gown becomes like a little sauna for you during the surgery. LOVED IT.

Stella's Debut! She is quite the large baby, right? I mean look at her compared to the nurse!

First Pictures with the new baby!

Mother-Daughter Moment

Daddy-Daughter Moments too.

Stella with Grammy

Stella gave Jameson a learning laptop. He was immediately obsessed and it was all he ever wanted to do when he would come visit us at the hospital every day.

Grumpy with Stella - he missed Jameson's birth because of a business trip to Australia so we were thrilled to have him there this time around.

Cute close-up

Grumpy with our kids (still getting used to that word)

Daddy/Daughter Bonding

Okay, I admit that this was taken on probably day 3 of the hospital. No, I did not look like this on Day 1 or even Day 2. I choose not to post those pictures because it's my blog and I get to pick what you see and what you don't. BTW - Stella rocks some serious double chin in this picture.

Grammy helped Jameson "hold" Stella for the first time.

Second attempt at family pictures - the first attempt wasn't pretty (thanks to Pitocin and no makeup).

Auntie Sarah with Stella - Sarah missed Jameson's birth as well so it was fun for her to be around too.

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

Stella in her take-home outfit. They had a machine that took newborn pictures that you could choose the best ones and take as many as you wanted. I liked it so much better than the actual people who come around and take them.

Jameson holding Stella

What happens after Jameson has been holding Stella for about 5 seconds - boredom. Stella is promptly repositioned and then Jameson wants pictures of only him.