How it's going

This post may mean nothing to any of you but I know that if I don't write this stuff down I'm going to forget. I forgot so much about the twins being babies because I didn't write any of it down. So, here goes. If you're a guy, you may wanna skip this post because I talk about boobs and breastfeeding...a lot.

We are doing well. Ella is such a sweet baby. Really, there is no other way to describe her. Just SWEET. The 2nd and 3rd night home were rough, with Ella pretty much staying awake from 1-5am. Then, Saturday night she did fabulous, waking up every 4 hours to nurse and going straight back to sleep. Last night was okay, since she woke up about every 2 hours.

I'm not a schedule person. All of our babies have put themselves on a schedule within the first couple weeks and I just nurse on demand and watch as they schedule themselves out. I'll help them transition from day to night with a warm bath and usually swaddle them at night and for long naps. It seems to have always worked well for us in the past, so I'm gonna stick with it until I need adjust.

Speaking of nursing, my milk came in very quickly. Very, very quickly. And a lot of it came in. I wouldn't go so far to say that I was engorged but I was close. I had to pump once to relive some pressure and I considered using ice packs one night (but didn't). Since I'd had milk supply issues when nursing Elizabeth and nursing the twins, I really didn't want to do anything to hinder my supply. Unfortunately, my body took over and starting yesterday my milk supply dramatically decreased. I'm sure it is just my body over compensating for the over abundance and within the next day it will all level out. Or at least that's what I'm praying it is. I know that breastfeeding doesn't make me a better mother but I truly LOVE to breastfeed and I think I would be crushed if it doesn't work out. So I'm drinking tons of water and praying it resolves quickly.

We went to an Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday and also to regular church services on Sunday. Everyone was so astounded to see us there. But, I can honestly say that I feel great. I'm tired but physically I feel fine. And, truthfully, it's more work to keep our people at home than it is to go to church and send them into their Sunday school classes. And, our other children need life to be normal as well (and so do I). Keeping them cooped up at home wouldn't help them with transitioning to our new life with a new baby.

I wrapped Ella onto me with a khanga that my friend Lindy gave me and gave people the stink eye if they acted like they were going to touch her. I'm not afraid to tell people that they need to keep their hands off my new baby. And I tell them nicely, of course.

I will post about my birth story sometime soon, in case anyone out there cares. But for now, I'll tell you that I can honestly say, with assurance, that I believe Pitocin is extracted from the veins of the Devil himself and and slowly dripped into the blood stream of laboring women to give them a taste of what hell must be like.

And Epidurals are like God's gift of salvation. And, I'm totally not kidding. Except that I am.

Das Not Funny! Friday: Baby Ella Edition



It's Friday! What an awesome week we've had! Welcoming our sweet Ella Joy has provided us with some seriously hilarious moments courtesy of Lucas and Ashlee. So, welcome to this week's edition of Das Not Funny! Friday: Baby Ella Edition

For the first one, let me set the stage for you. After Ella was born, our wonderful baby sitter brought 4 of the 5 kids to the hospital to meet their littlest sister (Aaron was still napping and missed all the excitement). When they arrived, Luke and Ella were already in the nursery. Luke snapped the following photos of the 4 kids seeing their baby sister for the first time. My friend Lindy provided us with the commentary from the other side of the nursery's glass...

Luke tells the kids through the glass that they have a baby sister. See the smiles on their faces?
(click to enlarge)

Also be sure to note that there is another baby laying up there near the windows, close to Ashlee. Clearly this isn't Ella since Luke is nowhere near that baby. As Luke snaps photos of the kids smiling and waving, Ashlee's eyes wonder over to that other little baby. See her eyes in the photo below?


Suddenly, she realizes it's a REAL baby there, points at said baby (see the photo below)...

...and squeals..."Wook!! MOMMY HAD TWINS!!!"

-------

Lucas was clearly smitten with his littlest sister the first time he saw her...

...even though he REALLY wanted another brother so that he wouldn't have "4 sistas and still just one brudder."

I think he changed his mind when he finally got to see Ella because before he left the hospital he leaned over to me, patted me on my still-numb right thigh and said,

"Momma, you take care of that baby. Okay?"

-------

Finally, last night Lucas was holding Ella. He started to raise her off his lap and Luke corrected him, "Oh no Buddy. Don't raise her up okay? You might drop her."

To which I add, "Yeah. You just hold her until either Mommy or Daddy come and take her, okay?"

He looks at us and asks, "To jail?"

Y'all have a great weekend. I KNOW we will.