Mommy & Me!

Today was the dreaded day in which Mike went back to work...I was fighting going to sleep last night because I knew morning would mean that Daddy leaves and Lila and Mommy were home, just the two of us. Mike has been such an amazing help I really didn't think I could do it without him. Well, here it is 4:20 and guess what...we have survived!

This morning was busy, busy as we had to get both Lila and Mommy cleaned up and ready to go to Lila's first doctor's appointment. Aunt Jen came to the house at 1o:30 to accompany us to the doctor, it was so nice to have her there for an extra set of hands. We met with our pediatrician, Dr. Mersch and got a clean bill of health. He was very pleased with Lila's growth, she has gained 5 ozs. in 5 days and grew a quarter of an inch since birth. She hasn't quite hit her birth weight, but he was thinking that by Wednesday she would have met that and then will bypass it by the end of the week. I was so relieved to hear someone say "everything is good," it is nice to know that we are doing everything right by our little one...talk about unchartered territory for both of us!

After our doctor's appointment we headed over to Jason and Jen's to have lunch with Jen, Celia, Ruby and Sandi. It was a nice time to hang out and a nice time for me to get out of the house without trapsing Lila all over the mall or some other place like that. Celia was able to help Jen feed Lila a bottle...she did a great job! Both girls are enamored with the newest addition to the family, they are the best big cousins a little girl could have! I can't wait to watch them grow up together!

We came home and collapsed on the couch, that is the most either of us have done in one day as far as venturing out, so it took quite a bit of energy out of us both, but much needed! So, here we are hanging out on the couch and Daddy just walked in the door! Mommy, Lila and the puppies are all so happy to see him! We better think about getting dinner started! Hmmm...the life of a true, blue family!

Relaxing on the couch!!!

Settling In!

Wow! What a week we have had! Tuesday we had an appointment back at the hospital to check Lila's bilruibin count. Because of her low birth weight and the fact that feeding was a little bit of a challenge she had been showing signs of jaundice. Her numbers in the hospital were under 12 which is what they like to see. When we went on Tuesday her number was 13.5 which was on the very low end of the jaundice scale. She weighed in at 6.3 lbs, which they were actually happy with because it meant that she didn't lose the full 10% of weight they expect newborns to lose when they go home from the hospital. They weren't overly worried about her numbers and told us that they would recheck her when they came for our in home visit on Wednesday.

Wednesday brought the in-home nurse to the house and everyone checked out good! Lila was right on track, including her weight, she had gained an ounce in 24 hours and her bilirubin test came back lower at a 12.3. They were very pleased to see everything moving in the right direction, her coloring is great too, so I am thankful that thus far we haven't had to do an at home bili light or any other measures to get her numbers back down...just keep her hydrated and her belly full!

We had her very first photo shoot on Wednesday as well! Heidi & Troy of Studio U Photography came by to document Lila's first professional photographs...what a blast! They are so wonderful and had so much fun doing the shoot which made it even more fun for Mommy & Daddy! I can't wait to share the pictures, as usual they did an amazing job and brought some really neat concepts along to use with the shoot!

Yesterday we made our very first Target trip! We needed to get some more supplies and Mommy hadn't been out of the house since Tuesday, so we got all ready to go and stopped and had lunch quickly and then off to Target. We didn't make it a long trip, just in and out, but she did great and it was the fresh air Mom really needed to bounce back!

Here are a few snapshots from the last few days! All in all things are great, living with a baby is quite the adjustment, but we are doing well and seriously could not imagine life without her now that she is here! We still find ourselves looking down at her in awe so proud that she is ours and that she is evidence of our love, in the living, breathing form!

Relaxing in my swing...ahhh!!!

In my big girl bed!

The Journey Home...

It is official, we are now home and somewhat settled in. We spent all morning and some of the afternoon at the hospital, not in any hurry to get home as we had a few more things we wanted to accomplish while being at the hospital...sleep being one of them!

Lila had a rough night last night, which is typical of a newborn on their second evening. We were struggling a little bit with feedings, so it was up and down a lot of the night. They also came in and "borrowed" her for awhile to do vaccinations, pictures and other vital testing during the night so that also riled her up a little bit. We got through the night and this morning Mike's Mom stopped down and we went to the Mercy medical supply store and picked out our breast pump and then my Aunt Kathy stopped by and gave us some MUCH needed support and advice on a lot of baby things, especially feeding...thank you Kathy, you made Mike and I feel SO much better about coming home.

Lila is officially eating well and you can tell how much more content she is. She has been enjoying every gulp which in turn makes a very happy baby...so Mom and Dad are happy too!

We packed up our hospital room, including the tons of gifts we received from all of our visitors...thank you! Mike took off to head to Camp Bow Wow to pick up Baxter and Luca and Lila and I held down the fort at Mercy. I was able to enjoy a 15 minute back/shoulder/neck massage (lovely) and Lila was able to go through her discharge testing. It was excruciating having Mike gone for about an hour considering he was by my side for the last 42+ hours, but we knew we wanted the puppies to be home when we brought the baby home, so it was worth it.

We left the hospital around 2:00, loaded Lila into her car seat for the first time, got checked out by the discharge nurse and off we were! We both have to admit it was quite an emotional ride home, Lila didn't make a peep, but Mommy and Daddy found ourselves in tears a few times overwhelmed with the fact that we were indeed taking home our little girl!

All snuggled in...home at last!

Welcome to the World!!!

Saturday, April 18th at 11:40 am Lila Louise Eddins entered the world! After a LONG process in the hospital and what we thought would be a Friday delivery she was finally here and worth the wait!

We were sent to Mercy hospital on Thursday night to get started on cervidil. So far so good, we had dinner and a good rest on Thursday night assuming that Friday would be "labor" day! They checked me on Friday morning and I had only dilated 1.5 cm, but they were encouraged and thought maybe we would be delivering by dinner time or a little later that night. They decided to get me started on pitocin right away to see if they couldn't get me to 3 cm or so sbefore they decided to break my water.

At 1:30 I was feeling some effects of the pitocin, but nothing debilitating, I didn't feel it was time to get the epidural, but the nurses encouraged me to go ahead and get one as Dr. Feller was already here and doing a few others. Wow are they great! Little did I know at that point it was not the last time I would see Dr. Feller. The epidural was wonderful for two hours and then boom, it was literally like someone flipped a switch and the whole thing shut off. At this point my contractions were getting more intense, so until they could get Dr. Feller back up to the room to do another epidural I struggled through a good two hours of solid contractions. When he came back up he decided to completely redo my epidural...so the second epidural of the day.

This time, the epidural worked again, but only from my hip bones down...for those of you who know anything about having a baby...you don't care about your legs so much, it is more about your stomach and abodmen...well either way, I couldn't feel my legs AT ALL, but could feel everything else...OUCH!

After a second epidural and then two more visits by an anesthesiologist we got through Saturday night, but barely...it was a super long night for everyone, but luckily the baby was keeping her heart rate right on track...it was just Mom who was suffering...and still only 2 cm dilated. Dr. Olson came in and said...that if we hadn't progressed by morning that I would need to think about a c-section, I was not overly excited to hear that news.

At about 5:00 AM our nurse came in to check me and low and behold I was 5 cm. You could hear the nurses cheer out at the nurses station because everyone was so happy that I had progressed. At this point I was starving, sleep deprived and worn out from all the contractions and pain, so I didn't feel like 5 cm was all that much to be excited about, I wanted to hear 10!

By 10:00 that morning though we were ready to push, but low and behold my contractions had really slowed down and I was experiencing them abougt 3-5 minutes apart, so the delivery doctor, Dr. Olson (J. K.) told us that we were going to be pushing for a good 2-3 hours...again, I didn't have it in me, at this point I thought do I just take the c-section?! Well, luckily I am a great pusher, because it only took about an hour and half of pushing, which really equated to about 12-15 rounds of pushing when all was said and done due to the contractions being so far apart...and there she was!

Even though I have just endured a marathon of pain and discomfort she was worth every bit of it and her Daddy feels the exact same way. It is pretty amazing what a couple goes through emotionally when they have a child together and then to go through the birthing process is absolutely amazing...you truly experience new levels of respect and love that you never knew possible.

A special thank you to my husband and now father of my child! Without you I could have never gotten through the last 9 months and the last 48 hours and I know I will continue to need you even more now over the years! I can't wait to watch our little girl grow up and watch you become the best Daddy in the world! Thank you to my Mom as well for sharing in our special day and being there for love and support! I am excited to have a daughter because of the relationship that I have with you!

Well world, here she is...Lila Louise Eddins. 6 lbs. 11oz., 19 1/2 inches long...with a full head of dark hair! Sheer perfection!

Welcome to the world Lila Louise!

Love at first sight!

Grammy & Lila

Grandpa & his girls!

First Bath

Full head of hair

The Happy Family!

Sweet Baby!

The Countdown Begins...

Well it is official ladies and gentleman, we will be induced on Friday, April 17th. We had a doctor's appointment this morning due to a trace of protein in my urine that I submitted last Friday. I had a gut feeling when I got off the phone with the doctor's office on Monday when they asked me to come in on Wednesday to meet with the doctor that we would be discusssing induction on Friday. I asked Susan the nurse practioner on Monday if we needed to be worried about anything and she of course reassured me that if Dr. Olson was worried they would have had me in on Monday. But again, I had this overwhelming feeling that we were going to have this baby by the end of the week.

We went in for a typical appointment and once again, I tested out fine and the baby passed her NST with flying colors. We then met with Dr. Olson and she said that everything looks good and we have two options. One being we can induce at 37 weeks (Friday) or we can hold off until around 39 weeks. She essentially gave Mike and I the opportunity to put in our two cents and we had both agreed that if we had the option we were going to let them take us on Friday. I told her that if everyone is healthy now I rather have this baby on a high note instead of wait 10 days to potentially risk something happening and she agreed 100%.

We will head to Mercy tomorrow night around 6:00 to have cervidil implanted which will help dialte and efface my cervix. On Friday morning they will then start by breaking my water to see if I will progress naturally and if not we will move things along by administiring pitocin.

To be honest, I am nervous about the whole labor and delivery process, but I am very much at peace with the fact that we have decided to move forward. I am not sure how much longer I can take of the up's and down's and the you are fine, oh wait we should maybe look into this more routine. I am thankful that we are at a point in which they know for a fact we are all healthy and we will have a "normal" labor and delivery.

We have a few minor things to finish up to get "ready," but all in all we are ready as we are ever going to be when it comes to the nursery, baby items, etc. The puppies will go to Camp Bow Wow and enjoy a nice weekend playing with friends, which will be nice as they will be tuckered out when we bring home the new addition!

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support! We can't wait to introduce our new baby girl to the world! Keep checking the blog as we will definitely document her entrance and the moment Mike and I truly become a "family!"

Oh, how our lives will be changing in the next 48 hours!

36 Week Check-up

Another great day for the Eddins family! We had a wonderful doctor's appointment. The baby passed her NST with flying colors, yet again. The urine test and blood panel all came back great and my blood pressure was 122/64...the lowest yet, so they are VERY happy! That in turn makes us VERY happy and relieved that all is going well.

Dr. Messenger and Dr. Olson were able to talk last week and determined that they will indeed shoot for a 39 week induction if we haven't gone naturally by then to insure that we don't go "over" (think sometime around the 27th). Again, this is precautionary considering there was some high blood pressure in the prentatal phase, so there is no reason to chance any kind of infection, etc. and she will be 2 weeks beyond "full-term" at that point.

They believe the baby is measuring in at about 6.5 lbs and that if we make it to 39 weeks we will probably have a 7.5 lb baby which is great for Mom and the baby!

We thank you all for your love and support! It truly has been a very easy pregnancy, even despite this little glitch, we feel very blessed to know that both myself and the baby are healthy and that we have two great doctors watching over us!

Happy Birthday(s)!!!

This week in April is always a big one for us!

Yesterday, April 7th, was Mike's 32nd birthday! We have been celebrating with family for about a week, isn't it nice that when you get older you truly do get a birthday week?! Yesterday though for the real day I picked him up from work and we had lunch at Vito's just the two of us, it was nice, we don't get to do that very often. As a surprise, I knew that the baby bedding was being delivered yesterday (which we have been anxiously awaiting), so I got everything all washed up and put together before he got home from work. When he got home I told him I had done some rearranging in the nursery and wanted his opinion. He was stunned when he walked in! We are both so happy with it, it really completes the room! I even caught him sneaking in and out of the room several times just to look at it again!

We ended the evening having a great dinner with family at Jiamen...great food, great conversation and great company! It was a really good night! Birthdays are a big deal with our family and I think Mike would agree that this one was very special. He looked at me last night as we were standing in the kitchen and said "this is my last birthday before I become a father!" We both know that birthdays will be that much more special when spent with our little one!

Today is Taylor's 27th birthday! Happy Birthday Tay! Usually we spend Mike & Taylor's birthday together the weekend before or after celebrating with a little tradition we like to call the Tiny Town Tavern Tour. Well, this year because of me and the stipulations put on me by the doctors, we didn't think a Tiny Town Tavern Tour would be something I should participate in, so bless them both, they decided to forego the festivities this year and settle for a Tiny Town Grill Out at our house in Robins last weekend. We still had a great time, but I have to admit it isn't quite the same when all of us remember exactly what went on!

Here are a few pictures from the first annual tour! Ah, the memories...

In all seriousness, Happy Birthday to both of you! I promise next year we will be OFF the wagon and ON the bus!

35 weeks and a baby shower!

This post is a littel overdue, things have been rather eventful for us the past few days!

Friday we went to our 35 week check-up and got even better news than we did the last week. The baby once again, passed her NST with flying colors, my urine came back negative and my blood pressure was in the NORMAL category! The doctors were even more encouraged than they were last week and told us that the earlier issues we were having may have just been something weird my body was going through. YAY! It was such a relief to hear that everything is "back to normal!" I am still working from home as they feel that it doesn't hurt to keep doing that if possible and work has been so great to me, that I am able to continue doing that. Quite honestly, it is amazing the stuff you can get done while being at home without the daily interruptions, but as I said before some human interaction every now in then is also good for my sanity!

They are still planning on letting me go until the baby is ready to come, so no more week of the 13th induction...at least as of now, so back to the May 5th due date. We will continue our weekly visits from this point on as we would have started them this Friday anyway, so we will continue to keep a good eye on everything to make sure that indeed it was just a fluke.

On Saturday my sister-in-law Jen, my nieces Celia and Ruby and my Mom all hosted a family baby shower for me/us at the Smith household! It was a beautiful shower, they truly outdid themselves on the decorations, the flowers, the food, everything! We had around 35 people there to help us celebrate the arrival of Baby Girl Eddins...it truly is overwhelming when you look at the people who love and support you during times like these!

As you can imagine we got showered with lots and lots of gifts! Outfits, toys, diaper bag, nursing pillow, stroller, blankets, picture frames, diapers, etc. The group gift that was given was our car seat, so she is officially able to come home now, they will actually let us leave the hospital with her! One very special gift was from my Grandma Smith. There was a piece of buttefly artwork we had registered for online and she purchased that, which will go over the changing table (look for a picture once it is hung up). With the art though, she stood up in front of everyone and sang a lullaby:

"A little catepillar in its

cradle went to sleep.

She wrapped herself so snuggly

that she couldn't take a peek.

But when she took the covers off

would make you say "Oh my!"

Because the little catepillar

was a pretty butterfly!"

There wasn't a dry eye in the house! For those of you who don't know...butterflies are my favorite, so it truly was personalized just for me! - Thank you Grandma, that was a very special moment for me and it will be cherished forever!

A big thank you to all of our family that attended on Saturday and to those who couldn't be there, you were definitely missed! A very special thank you to Jen, Celia, Ruby and Mom for throwing an amazing shower, there was not one detail left undone! Mike & I are so lucky to have all 4 of you in our lives. And I am especially lucky to have 2 amazing women to learn from as I head into motherhood and 2 amazing children to help our little one learn and grow!