Happy Mother’s Day

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.  ~Author Unknown

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.  ~Rajneesh

This is my first Mother’s Day as a mom of two!!  It’s amazing how your heart expands to love and cherish two little beings!  I am so blessed and happy to be Reese and Rylee’s Mommy!!!  I LOVE you girls!

 

 

  

The NC ZOO

We went to the zoo back in April.  It was an absolutely beautiful day.  Most of the animals were out and about and the people were too…just at lunch!!  I guess there was a feeding frenzy!  Reese had lots of fun riding in the stroller with her baby sister.  She enjoyed every exhibit and was full of excitement seeing all the different animals!  Her favorite animals of the day were the elephants.  She also like the baby baboons.  Reese kept a tight grip on the zoo map and wanted to know what’s next!?  We went to every exhibit and had two tired little girls!  Reese was asleep before we drove through the zoo exit!!  I think next year Rylee will enjoy the zoo more!!  She slept most of our visit.  We had a great family day!!  Enjoy the pictures!

 

     

   

 

   

 

TWO Months!!!

As I sit here looking at my sweet baby, I can’t believe that 10 weeks have passed since her arrival.  Rylee is definitely having more periods of being awake and is finding her voice!  I love to hear her baby coos and babbles.  She slept for 6 1/2 hours at 5 1/2 weeks which was welcomed by her Mama!!  Thank the Lord we have been blessed with two sleeping babies.  I usually get a good 5-6 hour stretch at night.  She still feeds every 2 hours during the day, and she knows when it’s been 2 hours almost to the minute…it’s amazing!!  At her two month check up, she weighed 12.2lbs and measured 23 1/4 inches.  Rylee was 75th-90th% on the growth chart.  Overall, we have a healthy baby girl!!

I love watching Reese adore her baby sister.  She is an excellent big sister and is truly a great helper. Rylee follows Reese with her eyes and will just smile and coo.  The sight of their sisterly bond developing in front of you definitely warms my heart.  I’m so happy we have added to our family!  Reese and Rylee are the best gifts ever!! 

5 weeks old

6 weeks old

7 weeks old

8 weeks old

  

Big Sister Reese

 

Reese is dressed in her Rapunzel gown…thanks to the Easter Bunny!! 

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!!

Rylee is HOME!!

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!!

            
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

            

            

             

          

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.

           

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!

Rylee's Birth Story

Rylee's Arrival Part One

Rylee's Arrival Part Two

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!