Thursday, June 29, 2006

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Ellie meets her grandparents



Marily and Kit came to visit Ellie and Katelyn and to celebrate Alan's birthday.

Ellie turns 3 weeks old


Picture of Ellie turning 3 weeks old around 6/26/06.

Monday, June 19, 2006

2 Weeks Old


I can't believe Baby Ellie is already two weeks old. She seems to be growing so fast.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Fun with Fingerpainting




Katelyn had a blast fingerpainting today. I think she got more on her and her clothes than on the paper.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Ellie's First Bath



Ellie didn't like her first bath much.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Katelyn and Ellie

This is my favorite picture. Katelyn is so interested in everything that Ellie does.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Loving on my little sister



Ellie and Katelyn got their pictures made today in semi-matching outfits. Afterwards, Katelyn loved on her little sister outside.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

First Outing--to the Fountains




Took Ellie on her first real outing to the fountains w/Nashville Mamas.

Ellie napping

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Ellie's Birth Story

Her actual due date was June 7, but since Katelyn was born three days early, I had in my mind that Ellie would be born on Sunday the 4th. I worked the whole week up to the 4th trying to finish what I had to get done at my job before delivering my little angel. Apparently, God approved of my plan because he set it in motion Saturday night, June 3. Around 7 pm, I started feeling some contractions in my back. They got progressively stonger and closer together. I took a nice, relaxing bath to see if they would go away, but they didn't. Around 8:30 pm I called my mom and told her that I thought I was in labor so she could be ready to come up. I was reluctant to tell her to come right away out of fear that I was wrong and she would be half way from Louisville to here when I realized it was a false alarm. My sister had already come into town to take care of Katelyn should the need arise.

At 9 pm, I called her back and told her that the contractions felt like they had with Katelyn and I thought we'd be going to the hospital soon. She had my niece for the night, so she dropped her off and started heading to Nashville for the birth of her second grandchild.

We left for the hospital a little before 10:00 pm and were admitted at 10:20. I was a little disappointed to find I was only 4-5 cm when I got there because the conractions seemed stronger than they had initially with Katelyn, yet I was already 6 cm when I arrived with Katelyn. So I figured that we had 5 or 6 hours until delivery. I did decide to go the epidural route. We had not practiced any natural breathing techniques for this one and felt completely unprepared. Plus for some reason, I was a little more apprehensive about the pain involved in childbirth with this one. It was a decision I had struggled with for the last few weeks, but felt that I was not mentally aware for much of Katelyn's birth and wanted this one to be more imprinted in my mind.

And am I glad we did the epidural. It was the best decision I have made. I hardly felt it when they put it in and had no adverse side effects. I was able to deeply breathe through the contractions with very little pain. I was actually talking through contractions which did not happen at all with my previous birth. I progressed quickly to 7 cm and they called the doctor. they decided to go ahead and have the doctor come in since my first labor went pretty fast and that was with a face up baby. They found that this one was also face up, so they did some magic with pillows and positioning to turn her down for a more easy delivery.

When she checked me next, my water bag was bulging, so she just stopped checking out of fear that it would break and the baby would slide right out without the doctor. The doctor arrived, checked me and I was 10 cm and ready to go. He broke the water and the pushing began. I actually watched part of it in a mirror which was amazing to see a little head coming out of me. I couldn't watch during much of it because I tended to push with my eyes closed. Ten minutes later, I pushed her on out.

So at 12:26 am on June 4, 2006, Eleanor "Ellie" Grace Calhoun entered the world at 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 3/4 inches. She was a healthy, active baby with a 9.9 apgar score. I had a wonderful birth experience and felt completely connected and aware during the entire birthing process. It is truly a miracle the way the body works to produce such a perfect little person.

On a side note, my poor mama got lost and made it to the room just as they were stitching me up.

Katelyn's Second Birthday


Amy and Ellie got out of the hospital right in time to celebrate Katelyn's second birthday. Boy does she love cake!

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Heading Out!

We're going to head to the hospital in a minute. I am still debating the merits of natural vs epidural, but think I may cave and do the epidural. Part of me feels like why sit here in pain for the next hours when modern medicine has a means to relieve that pain. Pray for me that I am not making a bad decision. Will post pictures later on the blog.

I may be in labor!

Am having pretty strong pains about 3 minutes apart for about 35 seconds!

Friday, June 02, 2006