Ellie Grace: a 10 day old update

I can't believe our little girl is already 10 days old. Everyone tells you to enjoy the time with your kids because it flies by, but you can't really grasp the reality of that advice until they are actually here. After giving birth we spent two nights in the hospital. Our parents stopped by for one more visit Sunday morning, and then our friends- Joey & Hanna Tuma and Melinda & Christine Easterly- came and visited us later that evening. We spent the two days resting up, starting to heal up, and learning as much as we could from the nurses, lactation consultant, and doctors who popped by. Ever since they suctioned the amniotic fluid out of her stomach, Ellie has eaten like a champ! She latches on the first time, every time. Other than the expected soreness associated with this new activity, breastfeeding hasn't been a challenge for us at all. I'm so thankful for this as I have heard that it is one of the hardest things for new mom's to adjust to.

Leaving the hospital was a little stressful for Jake. It was absolutely pouring down rain/blustery out and our driver's side mirror had fallen off and was just dangling alongside the car. Once we hit the freeway, the mirror started banging the side of the car forcing Jake to roll down his window. This brought the mirror in safely, but  created quite the draft in the backseat where Ellie and I were riding. Ellie was nicely bundled and it didn't affect her, but it stressed Jake out (not wanting to freeze his daughter, and not being able to see very well to merge). We made it home and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Only to find out over the course of the next few hours that our baseboard heat in the main living area wasn't working, that tons of water was leaking from the ceiling on the inside of our house, and that wasps (3 of them) were randomly getting in our house from somewhere. All homeowner woes that we hadn't discovered yet because we hadn't had cold/rainy weather yet. Jake kept his cool pretty well, considering the circumstances. Over the next few days he got up on the roof and tarped off our skylights (which has stopped the leak inside!), sucked up the wasps with the vacuum, and got the heat working (the circuit breaker had been flipped, thankfully an easy fix). He did all this in the midst of completely serving, loving, and taking care of Ellie and I. He has been doing dishes, picking up, making meals, changing diapers, soothing Ellie, giving me backrubs, making sure I rested/lied down, doing laundry, coordinating visitors, and ANYTHING else that I ask of him. Ellie and I are super blessed to have him as our dad/husband/best friend.

Ellie had one check up the day after we got home with a pediatrician (who we didn't care for) for a weight check. She had dropped to 6 lbs, 10 oz. We had a mother/baby appointment 2 days later. The doctor was really pleased with Ellie's overall health, # of poops/pees, and how well she was eating. She had gained 4oz since the previous appointment and now weighed 6 lbs 14 oz.  During the next couple days Ellie's right eye started to get pretty gunky- more so than just a little sleep in the eye. We were pretty sure it was just a clogged tear duct (super common in newborns), but when her eye started getting swollen and red and so gunky she could barely open her eye we wanted to take her in just to make sure. We liked this pediatrician so much better. She assured us it was just a clogged tear duct as we had suspected, and sent us home with a little ointment for Ellie's eye. It's pretty much back to normal at this point.

Other than the appointments and a couple of other brief errands, we've pretty much hunkered down in our cozy little home. We have been resting, cuddling a lot, taking lots of pictures, and just learning how to be a family of three. There have been visitors in and out, and we have been spoiled by friends and family bringing us delicious meals. We are so thankful for our sweet Ellie girl and can't imagine life without her!