Monday, April 26, 2010

First doctor visit

Today RainbowBaby had her first visit to the doctor. We combined her visit with a sick visit for EasternStar (she had an allergic reaction to our disposable wipes a month ago and her rash won't go away). While we were there EasternStar also got three shots. She's a little behind on her vaccinations but almost caught up.

It was an experience taking both of them at once. 8 ) TinyDancer opted to stay with Grandma and do something fun instead of going. About half way through, I was wishing that I was with them instead of at the doctor's office!

RainbowBaby looks great - but she is still 4 ounces short of her birth weight. She and I have been working hard at nursing - but we'll have to work a little harder. She has five days to get back up to her birth weight or we have to go back and see the doctor.

A year ago.......

A year (and two days) ago, Stranger and I accepted our referral for the sweet little girl pictured below. The instant we saw her cute face and crazy hair, we fell in love. We were hooked, regardless of what her medical information showed. We had our international adoption doctor look at her medical information - not to see if she was healthy enough to accept - but to make sure that we understood what her needs would be - to make sure that we had access to the resources that she might need.


We are so grateful that God choose us to be her parents. I know that she was made for us, just as we were made for her. It's only been a year since we first saw her face, but is feels as though she has been with us forever.

We love you sweet EasternStar.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Pictures

Some pictures from the past few days:











There is no place like home

RainbowBaby and I came home late yesterday afternoon. Everyone is adjusting as well as can be expected.

Which, translated, means ...... everyone is very tired! 8 )



Actually, it is mostly Stranger and I that are tired. EasternStar slept like a champ last night, TinyDancer was decent, waking only once at 4 am, and RainbowBaby slept like a baby, meaning she and I were up every 2 hours. 8 )


The girls are adjusting into their new roles beautifully. I am so proud of both EasternStar and TinyDancer. TinyDancer has been a great help with changing RainbowBaby's clothes and diapers and holding her and EasternStar has been very gentle and loving with her new sister.


Pics to follow tonight ...... unless I pass out from exhaustion first. 8 )

Saturday, April 17, 2010

A few more pictures from today

RainbowBaby is having some trouble keeping her body temp up so she got sent back to the nursery to sit under the warming lamp. To kill some time, Stranger and I transferred some more photos to the laptop.

These are of the girls meeting each other:

True to her word during my pregnancy, TinyDancer was very eager to hold RainbowBaby.




And give her kisses.




The four of us.







EasternStar did fantastic meeting her little sister! She rubbed her head as gently as she knows how and put her face close to her - her version of giving kisses. I am very proud of her. She really wanted to hold her and she got one chance. I'm not sure that either one of them is ready for too much of that yet!
Do you see how proud the girls are in their "Big Sister" shirts?


The newest princess has arrived!



Stranger here,



That's right, at 12:39 pm today we added our newest little princess to the family. She weighed in at a staggering 6lbs, 6oz and was a whopping 18 1/2 inches long. Apparantly we make small babies. Everything went well, and both mom and baby are doing great and looking beautiful. Here are a few pictures:






We will be adding more updates soon!!!


The big day is finally here!

Well, RainbowBaby decided that she wasn't going to come early after all - at least willingly. 8 )

We had a few false alarms this week - intense contractions that were too far apart (40 minutes) for hours on end and then weak contractions that were close together (8 minutes) for more hours on end.

But, today is the BIG DAY!!! Surgery is at 12:30 and Stranger will post an update and pics as soon as he can - assuming that the wireless internet in the hospital will cooperate. If not, he'll post an update tonight.

Yay!!!!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Laundry is expensive!!

It cost me $3.00, but I just talked my 5 year old into

- transferring a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer and starting the dryer
- carrying a load of laundry up from the basement to the top floor of our house
- bringing a load of laundry up from the basement to the main level and helping me fold it



Now she wants to know what else she can do for money. 8 )


I think I need to start carrying smaller bills!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sadly.......

Sadly.......my bladder has just given up.

We were sent home after a thorough checkup. My fluid has rebounded to almost 12 cm and RainbowBaby's NST looked perfect. And my water has not broken.


On the up side, only six more days until the c-section.



However, Stranger has taken this as a personal challenge to get me to go into labor early. For dinner he gave me some spicy Indian food. And will be forcing a second helping in a few hours. If you'll excuse me, I need to find my tums.

Either my water has broken.......

Either my water has broken.......or my bladder is tired of being used as a pillow by RainbowBaby and it has thrown in the towel.

Stranger is on his way home from the hospital to take me in and get me checked out.

There will either be a really really disappointed post in a few hours.........or no post because we're having a c-section today!

Cross your fingers for broken membranes!!!!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Just a quick update...

Just a quick update - we're doing fine. The girls and I have been enjoying the nice weather so we haven't had time to blog or download pics from the camera. Maybe tomorrow as it is supposed to rain - although I promised TinyDancer that if it did we'd go out and play in the rain.


RainbowBaby is still cooking - although I think that she is done and ready to come out. I've had some contractions but they keep stopping. Darn it! My fluid was on the lowest end of normal possible on Friday afternoon and I was hoping that they would take her out......but no luck. Her NST was fine so I was sent home. The lowest acceptable amount is 7.0 and I was at 7.2 I think. Better luck on Tuesday!