EMC:: 1 Month

I love when we make it to the one month point.

Things start to get a lot more doable.

It is a combination of the extra sleep and that the baby has figured life out a little more.

Elsie is still my petite little baby.

We had a weight check at one month for her reflux meds and she is 8 lbs 15 oz.

FEEDING

Elsie is eating six times a day 2.5-3 hours apart.

She doesn't like to eat earlier than 2.5 hours and usually only eats from one side.

She is not nearly as obsessed with food as her brothers!

Elsie has acid reflux but good news is the meds are really helping.

She doesn't have any huge projectile spit ups and is more comfortable laying down.

We have her crib inclined which is also helping.

I have cut out chocolate (boo!) which has made a big difference as well.

I also try to limit my onion and broccoli intake.

SLEEPING

Elsie is only waking up once per night!

I feed her at around 8pm and then it takes a couple hours to get her to sleep but then she sleeps until around 2-4 am. 

If she wakes up closer to 2 she is up again around 6:30-7am which isn't a big deal since the boys are up at 7am anyways.

She is hard to get to sleep for naps.

Part of it is I have a hard time watching the clock and her sleep cues while watching her brothers.

If I can time it right though (50-60 minutes after waking up) she goes down without a problem.

Another issue is the boys just can't be home all day so usually she has to do one nap on the go which throws things off for the day.

She loves the binky and to be held and walked around.

Late at night the swing can also put her to sleep.

SCHEDULE

We aren't perfect here but we shoot for feeding her at 8/8:30 am, 11:30 am, 2:30 pm, 5:30 pm, and 7:30/8pm during the day.

SIBLINGS

The boys are obsessed with Elsie.

They always want to hold, touch, kiss, and hug her.

They love to pick out her clothes too.

She is definitely more relaxed around Jake.

Logan stresses her out (He stresses me out when he is around her too!)

He is just an aggressive lover.

PERSONALITY

Elsie is so mellow and up for whatever.

She rarely cries even when she is exhausted.

She has started to smile and it is my favorite.

She has this cheeser grin where she squints her eyes and it melts my heart.

We love you Elsie!

Labor Day at Eden

The annual Labor Day trip to Eden, UT was a success.

It was great to have some baby holders and the boys had an awesome time.

I even got to go on a couple adventures due to our baby fans.

We had a great time swimming, riding ATV's, and eating great food.

When we got home there was a huge slip and slide set up in the park behind our house.

Ryan took the boys for one last adventure for the weekend.

Elsie May Calder:: A Birth Story

This was by far my hardest pregnancy.

I'm not sure exactly why it was so much harder but it was.

I was in a lot more pain.

Not just with sciatica but I had a lot of pressure in my pelvis.

The summer heat definitely didn't help either!

Plus I actually had a lot of false labors.

I never had any contractions until labor was starting with the boys.

This time around I had two hours of time-able contractions once a week starting at 36 weeks.

So after getting my hopes up week after week I had finally talked myself into the fact that I was going to go past my due date.

So the day before my due date I tried to make the most of the day.

I did our laundry, took the boys to the library and two parks.

So when I laid down for a nap around 1 pm and started having some contractions I didn't think much of it.

They were more painful than the past few weeks but I was still able to nap a little bit.

After 45 minutes I let Ryan know they had been 6 minutes apart but I still didn't stress.

I got up to move around because in the past that stopped the contractions.

However this time around they immediately dropped to 3 minutes apart.

Now I started panicking a little!

I let Ryan know this was the real deal then I hurried and did some dishes, switched laundry, and put the last minute items into my hospital bag.

I had set Jake up with a show because when I did have a contraction all his 4 year old questions weren't helping!

When Ryan was about 10 minutes away I called and told him we were going to need to go straight to the hospital when he got home.

He frantically called a neighbor (thanks Raquel!) so that we could drop the boys off until his parents got there 10 minutes later. 

In between contractions I got Logan up from his nap and rushed him to the bathroom.

Then Ryan took them to Raquel's without shoes and came back for me.

We rushed to the hospital (well I kept trying to get him to slow down because for some reason going faster seemed to hurt more or maybe it just stressed me out more..).

I had to go up to the maternity ward in a wheelchair :( because I felt like I need to push.

They rushed us right to a delivery room, I threw on a hospital gown and laid in bed.

They were trying to check me in and we were arguing about an IV when my water broke, then her head just popped out.

Ryan asks one of the nurses to catch her.

I pushed one time and out she came.

We were at the hospital for a total of 3 minutes!

Needless to say my doctor didn't make it.

He got there about 10 minutes later.

Elsie arrived with a bang after only 2 hours of labor at 3:14 pm weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz and measuring 20 inches long.

Cabin Retreat

We took advantage of the fact that we are living in Utah and spent the weekend at my family's cabin.

It was the perfect vacation for our family.

The boys loved playing outside all day.

I loved the cooler weather.

We could just sit and relax while watching the boys play.

Jake loved driving his truck around.

He even started a delivery service.

He would deliver water and wood to chair laid out across the lawn.

The boys both loved the play house and throwing sticks into the water.

The also enjoyed our hikes.

Our as Ryan says we weren't hiking we were weeding!

The Calders and Jenna joined us and we had a great time hiking, four-wheeling, playing horseshoes, and napping!

Since it was the week of Logan's birthday we took advantage of having everyone together and had Logan's birthday party.

He loved being sang to and got a new bike from Nana and Papa.

It was an amazing weekend!