Happy 2 Week Birthday!

Elsa is 2 weeks old today :) I wonder how long it is going to be before I don't spend each Sunday morning thinking about what I was doing on the morning of Sunday the 17th?

Grammy left this morning :( Aaron & I are now grammy-less and it's sad. We had a fine day, though - Elsa slept most of the afternoon and then we went to a cookout for his lab. It was Elsa's second cookout this weekend - she is a champ! She did start today by pooping through 2 outfits, one after the other...exciting stuff!

Elsa & Tecumseh

Elsa & Grammy

Elsa in her seat. Aaron really liked her expression. She was just sitting like this for a few minutes without moving...it was odd.

Updates

Here are my thoughts from this week so far:

*I love Elsa ridiculous amounts
*All I do is feed this girl non-stop
*I miss going to the doctor, which I know is stupid, but I miss going every week and having them tell me that everything is going OK...now I just constantly feel like something is wrong or I am doing stuff wrong. I wish I could just stop by the dr. everyday...or better yet, they could just stop by my apartment once a day. That is weird.
*I really hate waking up in the middle of the night and I hope I get used to this...I kind of dread the nights right now
*I really don't want Grammy to leave on Sunday because then Grammy time will be over & Aaron will go back to work and I'll be all alone with Elsa :(

And now, here are some pictures:

Elsa doesn't exactly fill up her crib yet!

Daddy & Elsa hung out in the game day chair for a minute or so.

Elsa doesn't always like her sponge baths, but she had to have this one because she was covered from head to toe in poopy-doops.

She is constantly chomping on her hand, fist, finger, thumb...whatever she can get in there.

Here she is stretching and waking up from a nap.

Happy 1 Week Birthday!

Elsa turned 1 week old today! She has had a good first week. It is a lot of fun taking care of her and loving her. It is truly amazing how much you can love a little baby. I am very ready for various parts of my body to stop hurting...I suppose they will someday. It really doesn't seem fair that the mom has to be pregnant for 9-10 months, go through childbirth, and then try to breastfeed on top of that while Aaron just gets to have a cute little daughter!!

Grammie Kathleen had a good stay for a few days, but she had to go home on Saturday. Grammy & Grampa McKernan came on Friday. It is really great to have our parents taking care of us! It is such a big help to have someone cooking and cleaning so all we have to do is take care of Elsa! Thanks Grandparents!

It has been a great first week! I get all teary immediately when I start to think about all the events of the birth and seeing Elsa for the first time. It has definitely been the most incredible week of my life in every way. Enough cheesiness...here are some more photos!

More Pics

Elsa is doing a good job at being an infant. She eats, sleeps, and poops. She also lets us just hold her and stare at her a lot. Grandmother Thorner is here this week so Elsa is getting time with her too--giving her baths and, more importantly, making us meals. : )

Waking up from a nap

Another nap!


Hanging out with the Parents and Grandmother

Elsa at Home

We have been fairly busy with Elsa for the past few days. She came home from the hospital on Monday. The first night was a little rough getting her to sleep, but Tuesday night was much better. She is so well behaved! I've posted pics of Elsa from her first few hours at home. It's so difficult to decide what pictures to post because we love every single one of the zillion that we've taken.


Elsa with Wild E. Cat in the Game Day Chair


Hanging out with the Parents


Asleep in her swing


Eyes open

Lil' Pea is Born!!!

Welcome Elsa Katherine Alexis Thorner!!

Born at 11:55 on August 17th. 7 lbs, 14 oz.

More to come later... :)

Update

Still nothing...no contractions, no baby coming out...she's comfy in her uterus, I guess. I have been doing everything I can: taking long walks (even though they hurt), eating spicy food, I drank papaya juice, ate pineapple, I sit on my exercise ball all the time (which is really comfy, btw), I am trying to tell her to smash her head into the correct places, but she just isn't there yet...

It is really weird that is it less than 1 week until the induction now, so everything I do, I'm like "this is the last thursday I won't have a baby", etc. blah blah blah...

Not much...

...excitement from the doctor. 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced...no baby for awhile

40 Weeks

Happy Due Date, Lil' Pea! :)

Inspiration

My parents sent me this picture to help inspire Lil' Pea - will it work or will it scare into staying in even longer?

Not yet...

It is REALLY hard to be patient waiting for this kid to come out. I know her due date isn't for a few more days, but seriously, how does anyone handle the anticipation?? Not to mention that everyone keeps telling me I don't "look ready" to have a baby - what the F does that mean?? Trust me, I'm ready! It's like - at the beginning of being knocked up I had people telling me I didn't look any fatter than normal and I was lucky I had large birthing hips...then I guess they got impatient b/c after about 4 months everyone started telling me I "didn't look pregnant enough"...and it hasn't stopped! I was in Kohl's yesterdy and the cashier asks me when my baby is due and I tell her and she looks me up and down and is like "no way." What is that?? In school on Monday I saw a teacher I work with and she asked me when I GOT pregnant??? SHE DIDN'T KNOW!!! Let me just set the record straight for everyone:

#1: The doctor has told me that the baby's head is "engaged" and has been for a few weeks - she is ready to come out whenever she gets off her butt and decides to.

#2: Trust me - I am large enough - the scale will explain that to us all quite clearly.

(I think Andrew would call this an "explosion of pregnancy hormones" or something...I don't mind blaming it on that...)

Updates

Ok - here are the bets as we currently have them:

3rd: Paul (I don't think he won...)
4th: Lil' Pea (We don't think she knows what "being born" means...)
5th: Katie
8th: Andrew
9th: Jennifer R.
10th: Kathleen (Is she allowed to have 2 days??), Jane S.
11th: Aaron, Jon
12th: Jaime
13th: Alexis
14th: Shelley, Kathy, Jess, Richard S., Lauren (but she wants to see my cervix first...)
15th: Kathleen, Kara
20th: Chrissy
21st: Andrew S.

I went to the Dr. this afternoon and there isn't really any news - she said everything looked exactly like it is supposed to look - all measurements and heart beats and stuff. She said I just need to relax and let Lil' Pea do her thing - that is too hard to do! She says the head is in the right place and the baby's size seems good...that is all good news. Now if I could only use that to help me stop obsessing over her health, that would be super...

Week 39

Shelley could give you a better update of week 39 than I am about to, but I'm the one posting the picture. The baby is making her very uncomfortable, and we want her to be born ASAP. The two pics below are in no way linked. I just liked the bug.

Week 39



Camouflaged Cicada

Step Right Up

Place your bet! When is Shelley going to pop out our kid? Do you have a good feeling about a particular day? Post your best guess on the blog. The following people have already made their choices:

Shelley: Aug. 14
Kathy: 14
Kathleen: 15
Katie: 5 (black hair)
Paul: 3 (red hair)
Chrissy: "A Wednesday"

The winner(s) will get an autographed picture of lil pea!