::times 4::

What a week (and a half)!!

We had our baby girl on Monday, March 21. We went into the hospital just before 6 in the morning. By the time all the paperwork was done, blood drawn, IVs run, machines turned on, it was 6:45. We were hoping to have a baby by noon. Then, as time went on, we pushed our guesses further and further back. My dr. didn't break my water until 1ish, and by about 5 I was only 5 cm. By that time, I was just hoping she'd be born sometime that night! Then in about 45 minutes, the nurse did an exam, and started laughing. I said "what?, nu uh." She said, "you're complete." I said "stop it!!" It was funny because there were twins being delivered at the same time, and they'd been saying all along that luck would have it that I would be ready at the same time as the twins, and we were. So we had to wait a few minutes for my dr. to get done with the twins. The nurse told me not to cough! The labor was long, the epidural was not great (I blame that on the anesthesiologist), but the delivery was perfect! It was so easy and quick.

(whoa I was big!)

It was a looooong day! Chloe was my little buddy all day. We had all the kids there with us for most of the day, but the little boys got bored of the iPads and Vsmiles, so Grandma Snowman took them to her house for a while. We called her while I was waiting for my dr. to get done with the twins, and they got there right after she was born. Chloe didn't leave my side the whole day! She didn't go to school, and didn't even want to leave to have lunch. She was so excited to meet her sister.

(I love this picture. My face describes how "fun" it was to sit in a hospital bed for 12 hours. And Chloe laying by me is just precious)

And here's our girl!! As soon as she was out, I felt the best relief in my stomach! I could breathe for the first time in months! She cried right away. I asked if her cord was wrapped around her neck-I was pretty worried about that. It wasn't, by the way. When they handed her to me, she was just perfect! 10 fingers, 10 toes, and completely perfect! She has dimples-one of the very first things I noticed about her, she had lots of dark hair (especially in the back), she has the LONGEST feet (they're skinny and flat just like mine) and fingers. She is completely beautiful!




Our whole family is pretty in love with her. We all think she's beautiful and sweet and can't imagine life without her. Matt was holding her in the hospital and was a little teary eyed at the whole experience, and he said "aw, are you sure we're done? Look how sweet she is!"


There are SO many pictures of Chloe holding Baby Ava. She just can't hold her enough. She just loves her so much. She was so sad at the hospital when she had to go home with Da-da. She cried. She wanted to stay there with me. I would've let her if there had been a bed there for her (even a couch bed would've been fine), but all there was was a big recliner. She'd had a long day and needed some sleep. So she stayed while Matt took the boys home and got them bathed and in bed, and then he came back to tell us goodnight and take Chloe home. They came back the next morning-no she didn't go to school Tuesday either. She mostly stayed at the hospital with me ALL day. She even ate some of my hospital food! Anyway, she just couldn't bare being away from her new sister.




Portie is a sweet big brother. He love baby sister too. When I was holding her right after she was born, he said "Mom! She likes you!" He's learning how to be gentle and how not to prove how strong he is by lifting her up off his lap. He gives her lots of kisses and likes to touch her hair. He holds her a lot. He's pretty curious about nursing too-hmmm I guess we'll have to figure that one out.




Cooper-what a sweet boy. He calls her Bee Aevuh. He likes when she squeaks. He loves to hold her, but he tells her not to touch his foot/jammies/mumma or whatever. He talks to her a lot. He likes to honk her nose-gently. He tries to show her stuff too. He loves when she doo-doos and always wants to see her diaper. Our first morning at home, he came into our room just before 7 (which is pretty normal-he does that a lot). He cuddled up to us. Baby Ava squeaked, and he said "whassat??" I said "I don't know, what was that?" He sat up and looked in her little bassinet. I guess he forgot about her! When he saw her he said "BeeAevuh!!" It was cute.





She's a pretty good baby. I think she's the spittin' image of her big sister when she was teeny. It's so fun to look at her and watch her because she reminds me SO much of Chloe. Her stretches, squeaks...she was even "baby snake" (where she sticks her tongue out over and over) when she was born just like Chloe. Ava's hair and skin are darker, like Port's was, but other than that, she's Chloe-part 2 (we tell Chloe that a lot, and I think she likes it). She sleeps a lot. She likes to eat every 2-3 hours during the day; except for sometimes when she wants to eat an hour after her last feeding. She's not a huge fan of the binky (also like Porter). She'll take it if we really make her, but she's not a fan. She's really cuddly, and I just want to hold her all day long!

It's weird that it's already been almost 2 weeks, but at the same time, I can't believe she's only been with us for that long-it feels like she's always been here. Does that make sense? Probably not. These last 11 days have been pretty great. I feel so good! I can breathe, going to bed is relaxing and nice (even though I have to wake up and feed her about 3 times during the night), and I just feel so much happier. Matt was home all week the week she was born (which was really nice), and I've been on my own this week. It's been good though. I got the big kids everywhere they needed to go on time (for the most part), and life's been good.

I'm so thankful for my "little" family. I can't properly put into words how much they mean to me. I feel so blessed and lucky to have 4 beautiful, fun, healthy kids, and a supportive, loving husband. I'm so thankful and appreciative of the help we've gotten from family in the last week and a half. We've had lots of support and lots of visitors. Thanks, we love you all!