Sunday, March 27, 2011

ONE Month Old


Rylee is one month old as of March 22, 2011! It's hard to believe that this little girl has been in our life for 4 weeks! We are beyond blessed with a wonderfully sweet baby girl. Robbie, Reese, and I are so in love with Miss Rylee. Reese adores her little sister and is a great help! Both girls have lots of family that love them so much! We have had many friends and family coming to see and meet our new princess, and family staying every weekend. The extra hands have been nice, especially to entertain Reese and give her some of their undivided attention. Thanks to everyone that visited!!

feb-rylee's bday 163

Rylee is HOME!!

rylee1 036
Big Sister & Little Sister!


Rylee has been such a good baby! I had in my mind that having a second baby may be difficult at first, but it has actually been easier than I had anticipated. She has been sleeping peacefully at night and eating like a champ! Rylee can have her little diva moments in the morning, once we are all awake. It's not every morning, but sometimes you have to walk around with her, bounce her, feed her a little more, or just hold and cuddle her! I think these are times when she wants the extra attention!!  It has been decided that Rylee looks more like me.  We got the baby pictures down and she definitely favors me more than her daddy.  Her eyelashes are really blonde and her hair line is identical to mine as a baby.  It will be interesting to see how Miss Rylee changes over time.  We all knew from the beginning that Reese was her daddy’s twin, so it will be neat to see Rylee’s traits such as her hair color and eye color.  This first month has been one of learning our new normal and how to care and provide for two children. There has been a few trying moments, but I would have to say that our first month as a family of four has been a success!!

rylee1 090

rylee2 012             rylee2 061
One Week old                                                       Two Weeks old


We decided to keep Rylee inside for a little while due to the big influx of flu and rsv in the month of February. So, after Rylee turned 3 weeks old we decided to venture out. Her first outing we ate lunch at Chili's, shopped at Target, and went to a Mom group dinner! She had a BIG day! Now, Rylee has been out and about...taking her big sister to preschool, Chickfila, the park, afternoon walks, and friends' houses. Hopefully, she will experience her first baseball game soon!

Three Weeks Old

REHonemonth 022             REHonemonth 025

REHonemonth 026             REHonemonth 027

REHonemonth 031              REHonemonth 052

REHonemonth 091           REHonemonth 054

Rylee had her ONE month checkup with the pediatrician on Friday. She weighed in at 9lbs 15oz and measured 22 inches...75th% on the growth chart. Her birth weight was 7lbs 15oz and she dropped down to 7lbs 7oz at our first peds visit, so she gained 2.8lbs, yay!!!  Everything looked great, however, the pediatrician felt hip clicks on her exam. Reese had a hip click, too. We were followed by an orthopedic surgeon for her first year, which consisted of an ultrasound and x-rays. But in the end everything turned out to be perfect. Hopefully, Rylee's clicks will go away by her 2 month checkup. If not an ultrasound will be ordered. I hope and pray the clicks disappear.

REHonemonth 066            REHonemonth 067


Since spring has arrived, I know this next month we will have a lot more outdoor time!! I'm so blessed to have 8 more weeks at home with my two sweet girls. I am definitely cherishing these moments and memory making time!

REHonemonth 094

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rylee's Arrival Part 2

So, when my midwife told me that I was being admitted I made all the phone calls. Luckily, my friend Carolyn & her mom were going to help with Reese until my family arrived at the hospital. A HUGE thanks to the Whitfields!! Reese was able to go and play at the playschool while Robbie was able to be with me.

My Labor and Delivery nurse, Maria, introduced herself and walked me over to my labor room. When I was settled in my room my contractions were every 2-4 minutes and starting to hurt. I started to grimace and was not able to continue talking through the pain. I decided to wait until Robbie arrived until I got my epidural. I didn't want it to speed things up and Robbie miss the delivery. Thank goodness he arrived by 8:30ish and my epidural process started a little after 9am. Unfortunately, my epidural slowed things down, but after working all night I needed some rest!! Once my epidural was in place, I was super comfortable and was able to take a nap...lasting about 1hr 30mins max. I know an hour and half isn't that long after working all night, but I felt like I had slept for hours...EPIDURALS are wonderful!! My family started to trickle in a little after 11am. Reese arrived along with my Mom and Stepdad. I had packed a little present for Reese to play with while we waited. She opened some "nerds" smell good nail polish and Baby in my pocket toys. Thankfully my friend, Kendra, had given her a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book that was a big hit with Reese and her cousins! The family that arrived for the big event included my mom, stepdad, niece Graclyn, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew Blake, and niece Claire. I was able to visit with family, watch TV, update friends and family via texts, and eat popsicles all while trying to remember this special moment.


The family of 3 almost 4!!!



Ganga, Grammy, & BIG sister Reese



Aunt Mandy



Grandma




My midwife checked me again around 1ish. I was 7cm and station +1. I wasn't too impressed, but my midwife reassured me that it was great progress because Rylee had descended more in the birth canal. I started feeling a lot of pressure around 3 o'clock. Before I wasn't feeling anything. My left leg even felt dead. However, around this time I had more feeling in my left leg and started to really feel some pain. I called for the Anesthesiologist to come in my room. When she did her little ice check, I could feel everything...I wasn't blocked at all! I was in LOTS of pain to the point of tears. I was squeezing Robbie's hands and the side rails. For those women that have babies without epidurals...Bless Your Hearts!! I had two choices 1) pull the epidural and replace it for pain relief or 2) push the baby out without an epidural. I actually contemplated pushing Rylee out...I could feel that she was so low. My midwife checked me and I was 10cm, station +2. I was ready to start pushing. However, I buried my head in the pillow with tears coming down my face and accepted the Pain Relief option!!! The whole process of getting the second epidural was so uncomfortable. It was so difficult to sit up on the side of the bed in labor having strong, painful contractions and knowing that Rylee was ready to make her entrance into this world. Thankfully, the anesthesiologists worked diligently to give me pain relief. The second one was in, medicine was infused, and then I hear there is blood in the line. They have to pull the second one and try for a third!! I was able to get some relief, but the third one was inserted by the Attending in seconds. He gave me an extra dose of fentanyl and I started to feel relief. In minutes I was becoming comfortable and was pain free...Thank God! After the epidural event, I was completely relaxed and ready to push this baby out!!! My nurse said "I will let you rest for about 20 minutes and then we will start pushing". So, it was 5pm and I was ready. Well, at this time my midwife was tied up, so we had to wait for her. I believe around 5:20ish Jenny arrived in the room and the pushing began!! As soon as I started pushing, the sun started shining for the first time on that cloudy Tuesday. My nurse had suggested that I try pushing on my side. She said that for years women pushed on their sides and had a less chance of tearing. I rolled over on my left side first and pushed then I rolled over to my right side. The pushing did not hurt at all thanks to my great epidural!! Again, Robbie was a great coach at counting during my breathing and pushing. My nurse grabbed my hand and said feel this...It was Rylee's head she was coming out!! I was so overwhelmed with emotion...I think after one more push the nurse and midwife told me to reach down and I helped bring Rylee to my chest. The moment of laying eyes on my daughter for the first time was amazing. I remember tears streaming down my cheeks, looking at Robbie with so much love, and cries of joy from my Mom, Mother-in-law, and Sister-in-law. I remember hearing Rylee's sweet, sweet cry for the first time and the touch of her skin...she was so soft and delicate. She was beautiful and perfect. She was our sunshine!! In that moment my heart grew even bigger. I was holding my baby girl, kissing her, and wishing her a Happy Birthday!!

Rylee Ellis



Poppy, Reese, Ganga, Rylee, & Daddy



Cousins Graclyn, Claire, & Blake


After Rylee and I were cleaned up, Robbie went to get the BIG sister. I could hear Reese out in the hallway saying, "Rylee's out, She is out!!" You could hear the excitement in Reese's sweet voice. She walked in and saw Rylee for the first time and said "Awwww." Then she revealed that she liked her!! Reese was so very proud. She was able to hold her on the bed with me. I asked if she wanted to sing her a song. Reese started singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and then Happy Birthday. It was all such a precious moment of sisters meeting for the first time. A memory I will always have and thankfully we have it captured on video!!



Proud BIG Sister adoring her baby Sister!!!




The NEW family of Four!!!!




So, here we go! Our life has forever been changed and we are madly in love with our newest little princess! I can’t wait to see the memories that we all get to share as a family of FOUR!

Welcome to the world, Rylee Ellis. We are so blessed to have you in our arms and in our lives for always!


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Rylee's Arrival Part 1



Little Miss Rylee Ellis made her debut on February 22, 2011 @ 5:49 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. Our baby girl is beautiful, healthy, & perfect in every way!

Her birth story is one to remember. I worked Sunday and Monday nights. Monday was my last shift before starting my maternity leave. Since her sister was a week late, I figured I would work up until my due date which was that Thursday! My sweet co-workers had brought all kinds of goodies for me. One food was a mexican dip that i devoured! Well, by midnight I was having cramp-like pain every 30 minutes or so. By the end of my shift all my coworkers were concerned that I was in labor. I walked myself up to L & D. The nurses asked if I thought I was in labor. I said, " I don't think I would be this happy if I was!" They said go home and get some rest, which I did.

I woke up Monday afternoon feeling fine, so I planned to go to work for my last shift. I started experiencing cramping again around midnight. The cramps would come and go every 20-30 minutes. By 4am the cramps or contractions were very consistent...every 1o minutes. While I was sitting at the computer charting at 6am, I noticed that my contractions were coming more frequently. They were now every 6 minutes apart. I paged my Midwife. She told me to come up to L&D but take my time...go eat something, etc. The midwife coming in at 7am would check me...Stephanie, the midwife, said you are probably not a keeper...you are most likely experiencing the early stages of labor. I continued to finish my shift, give report, call Robbie, and tell everyone good-bye. I was not hurting, but I was becoming uncomfortable. I walked myself up to L&D and checked into triage. A L&D nurse walked me to a small triage room and had me change into a gown. I was thinking I am so tired I just want to sleep. My nurse midwife, Jenny, came to the triage room and checked my cervix. She says, "You are a 4 no 5 cm, 80% effaced, and station 0...You will be admitted." I really couldn't believe it!!! I had seriously labored in the PICU!
Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker