Hooray for baby Hallie being here!
Hooray for a safe and healthy labor and delivery!
Hooray for a healthy, happy and thriving little girl!
Hooray for family coming to visit!
Hooray for cute little outfits and bows and lots of pink!
And maybe.... just maybe... most of all....
HOORAY for not being pregnant anymore :) (But really...)
Well, little Hallie Grace Hillam has been here with us for 5 days now. Oh my gosh. Who knew a newborn baby could bring you so much joy!
Labor and Delivery will go in a post of it's own (mainly because I don't remember any of the details and Eric isn't here to fill me in). This post is just about what it's been like to be parents to an angel for the past 5 days.
We've learned a lot about baby care these past few days, Hallie has been an excellent teacher. She's incredibly patient with us and doesn't mind too much when we do these wrong, but she lets us know so we can fix it.
We've learned that Hallie likes to eat about 20 minutes after she wakes up. Do it too early and she'll just pretend to eat. Do it too late, and she's too tired and won't stay awake long enough to eat.
We've learned that Hallie loves tummy time! The first time we did it (Day 2) she just lifted up her head and turned it from side to side. The next time we did it, she kept her head down and focused on getting her knees up underneath her. She looked like she was ready to take off.
We've learned that Hallie sleeps amazingly when she's swaddled tight. (I'm not talking muslin blanket swaddled, I'm talking those awesome velcro swaddle pod things. LIFE SAVER!) The first time we swaddled her in that, she slept from 11 pm til 5 am! It was incredible! Last night, we did it again and she slept from 2 am until 8 am. Those are 6 hour intervals you guys. So lucky. Hopefully this keeps up, cause we are loving getting 6 + hours of sleep every night.
We've learned that little Rock n' Play sleepers are incredible. We don't have a Fischer Price one, but we bought something similar from Ingenuity (cheaper and more awesome, get it at Walmart!). It vibrates and rocks, puts stars on the celing and plays music, we love it and she loves it.
We've learned that Hallie only really gets fussy when she's gassy. If she's hungry, she won't cry, she'll just stick her toungue out or suck on her fingers and wait patiently to be fed.
We learned that Hallie loves to hear her Mom and Dad's voices. If someone else is holding her and she gets fussy, all she needs to hear is a few words of affirmation from her Daddy. She quiets right down and turns her head to whatever direction she can hear them from. She also knows instantly when she is in her mom's arms and will settle down right away. I love finally being "the mom" the only one that can make that baby settle down no problem simply because I'm her mom. I've been around little kids my whole life and have ALWAYS thought about how great that would be one day.
Hallie has been talking/singing in her sleep from day one. It melts my heart. She will be sound asleep, but go on for ever just cooing and humming and singing. It's adorable.
So far Hallie loves riding in the car. It kind of confuses her I think because the second the car turns on, she freezes! She'll stay completely still and just take it all in. It's so cute!
Something Eric and I have yet to figure out, is the proper time to change Hallie's diaper. We'll check and see that she has a dirty diaper, so we'll start to change her. About 50% of the time, we are unsuccesful. We'll start cleaning her up, and then out of no where, she'll start going potty in the middle of her diaper change. Poor Eric has been dirtied up quite badly several times. One time, in effort to keep her from making a huge mess, he just cupped his hand and caught everything.... that was still in her Meconium days... so it wasn't pretty.
Oh man, I could go on and on. We've learned so much and have had so much fun doing it. Last night, Eric, Hallie and I all just laid on the bed together for an hour and just soaked each other in. I love those moments. No rush, no fuss, just loving being together.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Our Fourth of July
First of all, I love the 4th of July. It's my very favorite holiday of all time!
Our plans for this fourth were as follows:
We were going to drive down to Provo on the 3rd to go to a "Welcome Home" party for Eric's mission president, President Martins. They live in Hawaii, so Eric was really excited for this opportunity to see them before they're thousands of miles away. We were then going to drive back to Idaho Falls and celebrate the 4th with Daniel and Emily and Eric's family. It was going to be perfect.
And then...plans changed.
Because of the holiday/long weekend, Seasons medical (where I go for my pre-natal appointments) was booked solid. The only time I could find to go in was on Wed (the 2nd). However, my normal doctors weren't available, so I was informed that I'd be seeing the midwives on that day. It was just a routine 37 week check up, so it was no big deal that I wouldn't be seeing my Doctor.
My mom was in town that day and Eric had class, so my mom went with me to my appointment. Things started out just like normal, the took my weight, blood pressure and urine sample and then my mom and I waited for the midwife to come in and tell us that everything looked great and that we could go home!
She didn't do that.
Instead she came in, asked a few questions about who was delivering this baby, and then told us that she was 90% sure that we were going to have this baby that very weekend. The fourth of July to be exact.
WHAT?! She explained that my blood pressure was extremely high and that they had found protein in my urine. Two strong indicators of Pre-eclampsia. She was very concerned about it, called the doctor and decided to have me go to the hospital to do some blood work and start on a 24-hour urine test. Basically, I had to collect my urine in a jug for 24-hours and if the results came back with high protein levels, I would be induced the morning of the 4th and have my baby that very same day.
WHAT??!
I was shocked! I knew Eric was in class, so I just shot him a quick text that said, "Soo.... we definitely can't go to Utah this weekend, call me when you get out of class....and we should maybe get that carseat installed...like today."
Part of me was so excited that we would be meeting this little girl so soon, but the other part of me was scared to death! I hadn't mentally prepared for labor and delivery yet, that was still 3 weeks away! And the chances of a C-section were pretty high and that scared me too.
Well, we did what the midwife said and the next morning I started collecting all my urine in a jug. Lovely. We also spent the day cleaning and organizing my house to make way for a baby. Thank goodness my mom was there, cause Eric had school and I was exhausted! We got all her clothes washed, her bassinet set up, her carseat installed and everything vacuumed and cleaned. It looked great, and I started to get really excited at the thought that we could be bringing home our little girl in just a few days!
At about 7 am on the 4th of July, Eric and I drove down to the hospital to give them my jug of urine. They said they'd have the results by the end of the day and that a Doctor would be calling me to let me know what to do next.
Yeah.... no doctor ever called.
We just spent all day waiting and waiting to hear back/get the results of the test... but nothing! Finally at 5 pm, we called the lab to see if the results were in. They said yes, they had gotten the results at about 8 am that morning. Thanks a lot guys! Since they aren't allowed to give results over the phone, and the Dr. hadn't called us yet, we drove down there to see for our self. Turns out everything looked fine and there was no need to be induced or have a baby that weekend. :( Boooo!
I was kind of sad, kind of relieved. We then tried to salvage our 4th of July with yummy coconut chicken with mom, Daniel and Emily and then a fun trip to Kiwi Loco. It for sure wasn't the way we'd have liked to celebrate our 4th... but it all worked out for the best.... we think.
Our plans for this fourth were as follows:
We were going to drive down to Provo on the 3rd to go to a "Welcome Home" party for Eric's mission president, President Martins. They live in Hawaii, so Eric was really excited for this opportunity to see them before they're thousands of miles away. We were then going to drive back to Idaho Falls and celebrate the 4th with Daniel and Emily and Eric's family. It was going to be perfect.
And then...plans changed.
Because of the holiday/long weekend, Seasons medical (where I go for my pre-natal appointments) was booked solid. The only time I could find to go in was on Wed (the 2nd). However, my normal doctors weren't available, so I was informed that I'd be seeing the midwives on that day. It was just a routine 37 week check up, so it was no big deal that I wouldn't be seeing my Doctor.
My mom was in town that day and Eric had class, so my mom went with me to my appointment. Things started out just like normal, the took my weight, blood pressure and urine sample and then my mom and I waited for the midwife to come in and tell us that everything looked great and that we could go home!
She didn't do that.
Instead she came in, asked a few questions about who was delivering this baby, and then told us that she was 90% sure that we were going to have this baby that very weekend. The fourth of July to be exact.
WHAT?! She explained that my blood pressure was extremely high and that they had found protein in my urine. Two strong indicators of Pre-eclampsia. She was very concerned about it, called the doctor and decided to have me go to the hospital to do some blood work and start on a 24-hour urine test. Basically, I had to collect my urine in a jug for 24-hours and if the results came back with high protein levels, I would be induced the morning of the 4th and have my baby that very same day.
WHAT??!
I was shocked! I knew Eric was in class, so I just shot him a quick text that said, "Soo.... we definitely can't go to Utah this weekend, call me when you get out of class....and we should maybe get that carseat installed...like today."
Part of me was so excited that we would be meeting this little girl so soon, but the other part of me was scared to death! I hadn't mentally prepared for labor and delivery yet, that was still 3 weeks away! And the chances of a C-section were pretty high and that scared me too.
Well, we did what the midwife said and the next morning I started collecting all my urine in a jug. Lovely. We also spent the day cleaning and organizing my house to make way for a baby. Thank goodness my mom was there, cause Eric had school and I was exhausted! We got all her clothes washed, her bassinet set up, her carseat installed and everything vacuumed and cleaned. It looked great, and I started to get really excited at the thought that we could be bringing home our little girl in just a few days!
At about 7 am on the 4th of July, Eric and I drove down to the hospital to give them my jug of urine. They said they'd have the results by the end of the day and that a Doctor would be calling me to let me know what to do next.
Yeah.... no doctor ever called.
We just spent all day waiting and waiting to hear back/get the results of the test... but nothing! Finally at 5 pm, we called the lab to see if the results were in. They said yes, they had gotten the results at about 8 am that morning. Thanks a lot guys! Since they aren't allowed to give results over the phone, and the Dr. hadn't called us yet, we drove down there to see for our self. Turns out everything looked fine and there was no need to be induced or have a baby that weekend. :( Boooo!
I was kind of sad, kind of relieved. We then tried to salvage our 4th of July with yummy coconut chicken with mom, Daniel and Emily and then a fun trip to Kiwi Loco. It for sure wasn't the way we'd have liked to celebrate our 4th... but it all worked out for the best.... we think.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Oh the Irony
Last week, we had one of our tenants come and interview Eric and I for a paper he is writing. The topic: Communication in marriage and the differences between husband and wife.
As we started talking, a specific theme became clear. Women are more sensitive than men and men need to do a little bit better job of being observant, sensitive and caring.
We talked about how women notice and remember all the little things while a lot of that stuff goes right over most men's heads. Anyways, the interview was going great, we were both feeling pretty good about the roles we play in our marriage and felt like we were doing a great job.
Then... the interviewer asked us how long we've been married.
And I, the sensitive-observant-remembers-all-the-little-details, wife that I am, confidently replied "It will be a year on July 25th."
WRONG!
Eric had to correct me. We haven't even been married a year yet and I had already forgotten when our anniversary was. Granted, I was only two days off.... but still! What on earth?!
As we started talking, a specific theme became clear. Women are more sensitive than men and men need to do a little bit better job of being observant, sensitive and caring.
We talked about how women notice and remember all the little things while a lot of that stuff goes right over most men's heads. Anyways, the interview was going great, we were both feeling pretty good about the roles we play in our marriage and felt like we were doing a great job.
Then... the interviewer asked us how long we've been married.
And I, the sensitive-observant-remembers-all-the-little-details, wife that I am, confidently replied "It will be a year on July 25th."
WRONG!
Eric had to correct me. We haven't even been married a year yet and I had already forgotten when our anniversary was. Granted, I was only two days off.... but still! What on earth?!
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