Home & thriving!

Eliya is finally home and we couldn't be happier!

She came home at 5 days old on Tuesday March 27th.

Here she is all dressed up in her Ducky outfit!

A very tired and ready to be home mama with her girly!
Daddy and his princess..

Ellie snuggled in with her Ducky set and her elephant rattle that big brother bought her!

When we got home the first thing Logan noticed was that Eliya had the rattle he gave her!

This really impressed him!

He got to hold he right away and his completely in love!

He calls her his baby and wants to snuggle and love on her all the time.

Getting to know eachother, he says that Ellie is his best friend, melt my heart!

He's in love with her toes! He likes to play with them and sing "this little piggy"

Here are my two sleeping babies, looking at them reminds me how completely blessed we are!
Finally little miss Elle all cozy in her beautiful hate and blanket a dear friend made for her.

Birth story & one week photos coming soon, I hope!

Eliya Update

Eliya is doing great, however we are still in the hospital.

Its been really tough on me to be away from Logan for so long.

Tonight he called and said he wanted to go to our house with mama and Ellie,

he wanted to know why his sister had to stay at the hospital instead of in her crib.

Its so hard to answer that question, she's just not ready buddy!

Here's my pretty little girl! I already bouht her some sweet little bows, and my mom and sisters

have started the girly shopping!
We thought we would be leaving on Sunday, and then Ellie's bilirubin level came back.
She has jaundice. We thought after 24 hrs of treatment we would be headed home
today, but her levels went up despite the phototherapy.
I am one emotional mama about all of this. I know me sweet girl needs this time and attention and I will do anything she needs. But its hard. Really hard.
My sister, Dee had to leave without getting to hold or spend time with Ellie, she only breifly met her in the delivery room. My sister Nee came to town yesterday and has to leave by Wednesday morning, I really hope that Ellie is ready to go home tomorrow and we can enjoy this time as a family. I am very lucky that I was able to get a care by parent room in the NICU, however its isolating. Only grandparents are allowed to visit. My mom has L all weekend so she couldn't. She came up for sometime tonight and that was really nice. But I want to be home.

Logan was allowed one visit. He was excited to see his sister. He kissed her and helped LEs give her supplement. He was very sweet and he is continuously asking for her.
I am absolutely overjoyed with my daughter, I still can't believe I have a girl!

I feel incredibly blessed by my family. These last few days have been very stressful and emotional but it hasn't in the least taken away from the joy Eliya has brought our family.
We figure she is trying to be just like her big brother, wanting to experience all the things he did when born! One thing she's taking after her brother in is her eating skills!
Yesterday, Day 3, her weight loss was 3.9% and today she GAINED weight. That is amazing at 4 days! Clearly my milk is in LOL. She's not being supplemented at all and we are feeding on demand, I'm waking her at 3 hrs if she goes that far. She sleeps well in between and has had some alert time in the evenings the last two days. I hope that time is spent at home with her aunties and brother tomorrow!

Ducky is here!

Logan is a big brother and he was absolutely right! Its a sister!!

Introducing...

Eliya Deborah Joy

March 22, 2012 at 1:33pm

5lbs 12 oz 18 & 1/2" long

Me meeting my little girly! My dreams and mama instincts were right as well!

We are thrilled and over joyed!

Daddy totally teared up when we introduced Logan to his sister just moments after

her birth!
Ellie was 4 weeks early, and perfect. I will share my birth story very soon!

For now our princess is in the NICU but is doing wonderfully,

we are hoping its a short stay.

Big brother is so excited and Miss Elle got him EXACTLY what he wanted, Toopy, Binoo and Patchy Patch Dolls (his favourite TV show!)

We are truly blessed.

A little about my big boy

I thought it would be nice to spend a little time talking about my big man before he becomes a big brother!
He is growing so quickly, its definitely bittersweet for me. My heart soars with pride at what a bright and sweet BOY he is becoming, but its just happening so quickly.
It makes me wonder WHERE my baby went!
In one week he will be 2 years and 8 months. Crazy.
He is about 35 & 1/2" tall and just broke the 30lbs mark!
He is wearing mostly size 2 clothes and some size 3 shirts. I am buying 3 for the summer.
He wears size 7 or 8 shoe.
He is STILL in diapers, a size 5 and despite my very best effort he is showing NO progress with potty training. He just doesn't want to at this point. He will when he's ready.
We think he is smart, LOL.
He can spell his name and recognize all of the letters in his name.
He can count to 15 in English and to 10 in spanish. He randomly did this last week and amazed us, and they say TV isn't good for kids (thanks Handy Manny/Dora, LOL).
He can sing his ABCs and is getting better at recognizing letters NOT in his name.
He knows all his colours and loves to sing.
He is a bit of a ham and says the funniest things.
He is kind hearted and if I say I'm not feeling well or sad he hugs and kisses me and
asks if that made me better.
He loves other children, and I've been feeling a lot of guilt about keeping him home from daycare the last few months. Financially I just can't justify it when I am home.
I have been making an effort to take him to the early years centre at the end of the street.
He loves it there and they have a lot of great early education activities.


He loves to be a helper, which I think will be useful when baby is here! This is him helping me make dinner this week. His favourite saying is "I do it by myself" for EVERYTHING!

He is a pretty good little swimmer too! HE wears a puddle jumper and is completely independent with it. He can jump in and swim the entire length of my dads pool! (my dad just bought a house with an indoor pool! Such a nice option for frequent swimming, which we all love).

He's getting excited about being a big brother! He has his own baby that he has been testing all the baby toys with! He still insists Ducky is a girl, which I just find hilarious.

He is still a great napper, typically napping 2-3hrs a day. Lately he has been asking to "nuggle" me and nap in our bed. It hasn't affected our new bedtime routine, and I feel like I should snuggle him all I can right now before I have a little nursling again in a few weeks!
Him and Calvin are good friends, and Calvin likes to join us for naps as well!

He is still happy and comfortably rear facing in a Graco MyRide 65. We aren't really sure when we will turn him. We know its safer, and he's just so content it doesn't make sense to make the change. I'm thinking once baby is back there and also rear facing he will be even more content! As you can see there are still several inches above his head for growth before he "outgrows" rear facing. He's enjoying his favourite treat, starbucks hot cocoa!

Back in January we decided to transition L from our bed, cosleeping to a toddler bed. We felt the transition would be easier if we put him into a toddler bed in our room. He has done great! He's still in our room and doesn't seem quite ready to move to his room yet, but he will get there.
I found him UNDER his bed one night a few weeks back! What a funny kid!

This is our little family last week on my 29th birthday.

Last week when I took my belly pic Logan wanted in on the action, here's his baby bump! LOL

And a quick pregnancy update, here I am at 34 weeks.

I'm 35 weeks tomorrow. Still on "watch" for my blood pressure, its pretty consistently 130s/90s, no protein in my urine, and minimal swelling although I have frequent/consistent headaches. I've been very uncomfortable this week and having lots of cramping and even a few episodes of contractions. Nothing to get me overly concerned but I think my body is practicing.
I'm really hopeful I will hang on for another week or two! Three would really be ideal, LOL!
I have 3 more weeks of classes and then my final is two weeks later. An Easter Baby fits best in my schedule but as long as he or she is healthy it doesn't matter when the big day is!

33 weeks & Deja Vu...

My two handsome men! This is the only photo I have back from our family photos last week, and I love it!

I asked the photographer to rush it for me so I could use it to surprise Les
with a birthday announcement for his 29th Birthday this week!

And because I think he's so darn cute dressed like a little man

here's a photo of Logan from last week:

I was 33 weeks on Friday, here I am, getting big! And uncomfortable!

I had a BUSY weekend, it was my sister's birdal shower and I was up on my feet Friday, Saturday & Sunday doing WAY too much!
The shower turned out great and I will be sharing photos as soon as I have some!

Did I mention I am the MOH in my sister's wedding April 28th THIS YEAR, as in 8 days past my due date!? Yup stressful! I'm hoping for an easy delviery and quick recovery!

I saw Dr.J today, I've been monitoring my blood pressure and watching it slowly creep up since Friday. In the office today it was 144/103, thats HIGH. After some rest and switching arms it was 138/89; better but still elevated from my 120s/70s. I've noticed some minimal swelling in my hands and feet, but nothign overly concerning.

I was very open with Dr.J and told him how much this scared me. I reminded him that I was induced at 35 weeks with L for pre-e and how quickly I got very sick. I told him perhaps I was paranoid. He thinks my history and symptoms warrant closer monitoring, so I will be seeign him weekly now and getting an NST this Friday as well.

I have NOTHING ready for this baby, so its going to be hard for me to "stay off my feet and relax" as he instructed. I will do my best but I'm thinking if I get everything including my hospital bag organized this weekend perhaps I will truly be able to relax (minus the basement renos underway, advanced stats course I'm taking and having a 2 year old!).

32 weeks & doing well!

Here's Mr.Logan on Valentine's Day. My sister (Auntie Nee) loves to spoil him and sent an edible arrangment for us! We all loved it, especially L!

This boy is non stop fun these days! The things he says and comes up with blow me away. He is beyond "talking" you can have full conversations and he can articulate very well. His manners are great, he's busy tho! And he has the memory of an elephant! Seriously!

He truly is my world, and as the big day apporaches I'm starting to worry about just how this new little person is going to affect him. I know he will transition OK, and that he will do fine, in the end. However I hate the thought of missing any moments with him, and I know in all of reality, I will.

He talks about the baby a lot, he still says its a girl. He seems excited, I hope thats a good sign!

Time if flying by! And we are BUSY, we are officially working on the basement, I am trying so hard to get this upstairs in a working order. I have been sick for over 2 weeks with a nasty cold/cough I just can't shake. Plus remember grad school!? LOL I have a midterm next week! We have a few other exciting things going on as well, and I really HOPE to start writing my, even if no one is left reading I love looking back on my memories of L and need to do the same for Ducky!

Some pictures to catch us up!

30 weeks

31 weeks

32 weeks

I'm carrying much lower then I was with L. This has been a much different pregnancy altogether! I will do the survery since its been awhile:

How far along? 32 weeks!

Total Weight Gain? 15 lbs, this is a few lbs less then with L, however I started out a bit heavier

Maternity Clothes? Oh yes, everything! I bought myself a few new cute things and thats it!

Stretch Marks? I don't think I have too many new ones yet!

Sleep? Not good, I'm exhausted all.the.time. Luckily L still naps well so I nap most days, nights I'm up every 2 hrs and havign a VERY hard time falling asleep.

Best Moment this week? We did maternity family photos! I didn't do any with L so I'm so excited to see these!

Food Cravings? applesauce, grapes, sweets in general.

Gender? I still think girl, maybe!

Labour Signs? Nope sore and crampy, not sure if thats normal or not. Nothing consistent tho, lots of pressure and BHs!

Belly Button? The right side sticks out a bit!

What I miss the most? sleep, not having heartburn!

What am I looking forward to the most? Seeing L be a big brother, finding our if Ducky is a he or a she!

Milestones? making it this far and juggling school, home, work!

29 weeks

umm wow! I don't think I realized how much bigger I am this time!
I'm carrying much differently!
I'm feeling well, I'm tired and getting uncomfortable but trying to enjoy it, this may
be our last little baby and I may never get to be pregnant again, and that
makes me SO sad!
I failed my one hour gestational diabetes test and had to do the two hour,
what an awful ordeal! I passed out at the lab and was SO sick.
That was a week ago and I haven't heard back so I assume that all is well.
I think I'm measuring big seeing as my doctor measured me 3 times last week! I'm afraid to ask.
He said my weight gain was good, I'm right around 12 or 13 lbs up from pre pregnancy but since I weighed a little more to begin with I'm creeping close to my delivery weight with L.
I'm trying not to stress and to just focus on being healthy. Its hard since I still have restrictions
due to the cramping and such.
We are busy trying to get everything ready for Ducky, Logan keeps me on my toes as well!
I need to start taking more photos of him to share!
I will do the Q&A next week for 30 weeks!