Elise- Three Months Old (June 2013)

At three months old, Elise:

-wears 0-3 and 3-6 months clothing, size 2 diapers, and size 0 shoes
-loves to smile and is cooing more
-loves to watch big sister
-likes to sit in the bumbo
- is exclusively breast fed. She nurses about every 2 ish to 3 hours
-sleeps through the night in her bassinet in our room. She goes to bed around 10:30 and wakes up about 6 ish to eat and goes back to sleep. Yeah, I'm blessed!

So behind!

I'm so behind on updating my blog! Elise is going to be 7 months old tomorrow! SEVEN. That makes my stomach turn a little! I really need to keep up with her monthly posts...but those of you who have two children, know how it goes! Here are the girls last night:

Elise- Two Months Old

At two months old, Elise:

-wears size 0-3 & 3-6 months, size 1 diapers, & size 0 shoes

-weighs 12.4 lbs and is 23 inches long

-rolls from tummy to back (at 7 weeks 1 day)

-loves her Baby Einstein play gym

-sleeps a good 7 hours every night. AWESOME!

-still has blue/gray eyes

-is still very fussy. Her smiles warm my heart, though!

-is fascinated by big sister!

Elise- One Month Old

At one month old, Elise:

-wears size NB diapers, newborn & some 0-3 month clothing

-smiles and it melts my heart! 

-was breastfed for the first week and then got exclusively pumped breast milk in a bottle for three weeks and is now back to being exclusively breastfed.

 

-loves getting a bath

 

-is sleeping through the night

 

-weighs 8lbs. 14oz. (at 3 weeks old)

 

-is a more "high maintenance" baby I should say haha. She's a fusser!

 

-loves to be held <3 p="">

Elise's Birth Story

***I started this post when Elise was a month old...she's now almost four months old! I'm a little late, but you could say I've been a bit busy!***

I'm FINALLY going to post Elise's birth story! I really can't believe it's been a month since she was born. Insane. Anyway, I'll get right to what went down on March 27th:

Actually, I'll start with saying that I talked to my sister in law a few weeks before my due date and she mentioned that a lot of women go into labor on full moons. So, we looked up when the next full moon was and it was March 27th. I told her that I bet Elise would wait until then to grace us with her presence, and sure enough she did! I actually looked up the exact time of the full moon and it was 5:27 a.m. so I jokingly told my mom the night before "I'll talk to you at 5:30 a.m.!"

On March 27th I woke up at about 3 a.m. with cramps and contractions. I wasn't sure if it was the "real deal", but I couldn't seem to go back to sleep, so I took a bath. The bath didn't really help and my contractions were getting stronger. I gave my mom a call and sure enough it was 5:30 a.m.! I told her that things were definitely happening, but I didn't want to go in too early. I rested on the couch trying to get a little sleep (which didn't work) until 7:15 when I called my mom to come over. The only thing that was helping the contractions was the birthing ball! I called my husband to come home from work and we headed to the hospital at about 9:00. On the way to the hospital (about 45 mins away) the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds.

We got to the hospital and they monitored me in triage. At 10:50 they checked me and I was 3 cm "soft & stretchy" and about 70% effaced. The contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and starting to be more painful. At 11:45 I was already 5 cm with a bulging bag of water, so they took me up to labor and delivery. By the time I got up to labor and delivery they checked me again and I was already 7 cm! I couldn't believe how fast it was going! I got an epidural at 12:35 (which I kind of regret doing now, because I was already 7 cm and I think I could've done without it). At about 1:30 I was 8 cm and by 2:30 I was getting ready to push!

The first push I did, we could see her hair! I pushed about 3 more times and she was out! Elise Faith Boucher was born at 2:42 p.m. It was so different from Avery's delivery where I was completely numb, but this time the epidural really didn't work on the left side too well. So, I could feel it all on that side! It all went by sooo fast! I got a small episiotomy and stitches, but it wasn't bad at all. I am so blessed that everything went so well this time! I told my husband that if it would go this well every time, I'd have 10 babies! I don't think he'd agree to that haha ;)

Elise Faith is here!

Elise Faith

7 lbs. 4 oz. 20 " long

March 27th, 2013 2:42 p.m.

We are madly in love!

Birth story & details to come...

40 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 43 1/2"

Hello, March 25th! I've been looking forward to seeing you! So far, you're not very exciting. Still no baby yet. I don't think Elise got the memo.

39 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 43 1/4"

Weight: 152 lbs (+19 lbs total weight gain)

Well, here we are! 39 weeks and 4 days today and baby is still cozy! Wednesday night I had some really sharp pains on the right side of my belly to where I was just miserable so I called my doctor's office and they told me to go in to the  hospital to get it checked out. So, my mom and my husband took me there (45 min drive...blegh) while my dad watched Avery. We took our bags just in case! They monitored the baby's heart rate and movement and checked me. I was 1-2 cm, so a little more than the 1 cm I was at my last doctor's appointment. Of course once we got there, the pain subsided (go figure!). So, they had me get up and walk around for a bit and then they would re check me. Well, once I started walking around the pain started again. It turned out to just be muscle pain. What?! I guess my belly is just at full capacity and can't take much more. It was quite painful where I didn't even want to walk or move around. They re checked me again just to make sure if there was any progress and I was still 1-2 cm and about 60% (halfway) thinned out. So, we went home and hoped that we didn't have to make the drive there again that night ha!

Yesterday at my doctor's appointment, I skipped getting another cervical check because I knew there wouldn't be any change from just the night before. The doctor came in and asked if I was interested in being induced to which I declined (but really wanted to say "HECK NO!"). There's no way I'd do another induction, unless it was absolutely necessary, because of my experience with Avery's induction. I could've stayed at the hospital the other night and just gotten induced (which is crazy to me because I'm not even at my due date yet!). He then said "That's fine, your pregnancy, your choice." That's what I like to hear! I was afraid he was going to try to pressure me to do it like they did with Avery. It was a really quick appointment. He listened to the heartbeat, measured me, and sent me on my way. My next appointment is next Thursday (so 3 days after my due date) and they'll do a non stress test also. So, we'll see if I make it to that one. Hopefully not! I feel like a ticking time bomb. I'm not too much of a fan of the unknown and it's a little nerve wracking (ok, a lot nerve wracking) that it could really be at any moment. 

Hopefully, my next post will be a picture of my sweet Elise in my arms!

38 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 43"

Weight: 149 lbs (+2 lbs since last appointment, 16 lb total weight gain)

I had my doctor's appointment today and I'm 1 cm dilated. That's better than nothing! At least I know my body is making "some" progress. I've still been having cramps and lots of braxton hicks contractions. I'm hoping that I don't make it to my next doctor's appointment in a week! It can't hurt to hope, right?

Maternity Pictures

These were taken at 35 weeks and 5 days. I love how they turned out!

37 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 42 1/2"

Weight: 147 lbs.

Hello, full term! At my doctor's appointment today, Elise's heart rate was in the 160's when it's normally in the 140's so they sent me to do a non stress test. The test came out fine, her heart rate just goes up when she's moving around (which makes sense). She was moving around a lot when they initially listened to her on the doppler so they just caught her at an active time. I gained 2 lbs since my last appointment. That puts total weight gain at 14 lbs so far. Not bad! I gained 30 lbs with Avery, so this is awesome!

I've been having cramps here and there every day and more braxton hicks contractions. Maybe some progress is happening? They offered to check me today, but I said I would just wait until the next appointment when they'll definitely do it. I'd rather not go through the pain (ouchhh). 

I noticed that she definitely looks lower to me than she did last week:

I'm getting so anxious to know when she's going to come! Since I was induced with Avery and it was planned, I have no idea what it's like to go into labor on my own. Ah, the unknown. I have a feeling she'll come before my due date though (25th). We'll see! Maybe that's just wishful thinking, ha!

36 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 42"

Weight: 145 lbs.

36 weeks?! Wow! I had my doctor's appointment today and we got to see our beautiful girl. She is precious and I cannot wait to kiss her sweet face. The tech said that we have a "perfect baby" in there and everything looked great. Praise God! Oh, we also double checked that she's still a girl. No surprises here! I also only gained one pound since my last appointment!

Without further adieu, here is our littlest love:

          

Here is a comparison from Avery's 36 week sonogram. They're definitely sisters!

And here is how much my belly grew in a month:

Here is a comparison from when I was 8 months with Avery:

We can't wait to see our Elise in 3 1/2 "ish" weeks!

Sneak Peek!

Here is a sneak peek of our maternity pictures we had taken today!

I'll post more of them when I get them. I can't wait to see the rest!

35 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 41 1/2"

There's not too much to say about this week. I've noticed she is moving a lot more than before. Her movements seemed to slow down for a bit, but she's making up for it now. I can't wait to see her at my ultrasound in 6 days!

34 Weeks

Belly Measurement: 41 1/4 "

Weight: 144 lbs 

I'm a little late posting this, considering I'll be 35 weeks on Monday. Better late than never! 

So...yeah, that's an inch of growth in a week. I knew that I felt bigger! We had so much fun on our little weekend getaway! It's not easy walking around a mall all day at 34 weeks pregnant though. I was BEAT at the end of the day. I definitely enjoyed swimming in the pool and soaking my feet in the hot tub. Avery absolutely loved the pool and had so much fun swimming!

I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday. I gained another 2 lbs since my last appointment, so that's a total weight gain of 11 lbs. Not too shabby compared to how much I gained at this point in my pregnancy with Avery. We get a sonogram at my next appointment on the 28th and I am so excited! I can't wait to see her adorable face. After that, it's weekly appointments. Eek!

So, we're having a bit of a problem with the new house. Apparently, the seller owes back taxes to the IRS and now there is a lean on the house. That means he can't sell us the house until he pays/gets things sorted out with the IRS. Major bummer. We have no idea how much he actually owes and how long it's going to take to get it figured out. We were supposed to close on the 14th. Oh, and we signed a contract stating that his ex wife that lives in the house could have 30 days after closing to get out. Well, we signed that thinking the closing date would be February 14th and we would take possession of the house on March 17th. Now that it's delayed (for who knows how long), she still is going to get 30 days after the closing! We're going to ask her to still go with the original date of March 17th, but I'm sure she won't go for it. Unfortunately, it's a divorce situation and she's trying to drag it out as much as she can. Prayers for this to all be sorted out would be appreciated! Everything happens for a reason, so we're just trusting God's plan and not stressing over it.