First Sponge Bath!

I don't know if it was because it was something new or if this is how she will be every time but Hannah loved her first sponge bath!! She just layed there calmly looking around and watching each step with her curious eyes. She is so observent, I can't believe how much she tries to take in each day. Her favorite part of the whole thing was getting her hair sprayed, she just layed back and got totally relaxed...I think we have a future diva on our hands. After the bath her hair was a big ball of fuzz, so cute. I will be excited when we can give her, her first real bath. Each day brings us a new adventure...I am loving every moment!!

Hannah's First Easter

Well at only 5 days old Hannah got to celebrate her first Easter. The Easter Bunny brought her 2 baskets full of toys and other goodies!! My parents gave us the best Easter gift a new family could ask for... they went to the store and stalked our cabinets with food and snacks not to mention they bought everything to make dinner for the entire week they were out here. Best Easter gift ever, we are so thankful!!!

I am so in love!!!

Our family!!

Dad meeting Hannah for the first time!

Daddy playing with his little girl.

Home at last!!

All ready to go!!

Well we are finally home and getting settled. Hannah is the most amazing gift I have ever received. I still can't believe how in love I am. It still seems a little unreal that I am a mother and responsible for something so important. We have started to get our schedule down which has been helpful for me. I am still learning what each cry means and how she acts when she is tired or hungry. It has been nice having my mom around to help out, she has been a great advice giver!! I don't know if we would have made it though the first week without her. My Dad came in last weekend to spend a few days with us as well. It was wonderful having him here...he is a fabulous cook so he made us lots of dinners to freeze. It will be interesting to see what things are like when everyone is gone, I am sure that is when the real fun will begin.

Hannah Nicole Ellis Has Arrived!!

Hannah

I know that many of you have been waiting and checking our blog since you heard that Hannah has arrived. It took us a few days to get settled but we are dong well and are finally getting into a routine.

We went into the hospital on Tuesday night expecting them to say we had a long road ahead of us. However, to our surprise Lauren (my nurse and good friend) checked me only to find out that I was 2 centimeters dilated and about 60-70 percent effaced. We called the doctor to see what he wanted to do. He said to go ahead with the cervidil in hopes that I would start labor on my own. Well I woke up around 3 with some contractions and around 5 or 6 they started to get pretty bad. When they checked me again I was about 4 centimeters dilated. We decided to go ahead with the epidural but had to wait until around 9 because there were several surgeries ahead of us. By the time I got my epidural I was definitely ready!! I had dilated to a 7 and was having contractions one on top of the next...so not enjoyable. Once I got the epidural the pain was gone which was a big relief. And I must say..Shawn picked an awesome job, anesthesiologists are fabulous!!! We thought everything was going to happen pretty quick from there but miss Hannah decided she wanted to stay in just a little while longer.

At around 1 my doctor came in to break my water and said it would probably take around 3-4 more hours before I needed to push. Lauren came in a little while after that because my contractions were getting closer together and more intense (which of course I had no idea of...gotta love the epidural). To our surprise I was fully dilated and ready to push. We started to push around 2:30 thinking it would take about an hour, but this time miss Hannah was ready to arrive and I only had to push for about 4 sets. Lauren called the doctor, who was surprised and not quite ready to be hearing from us yet. It took him around 15 minutes to get down to my room. Once he got to the room he and Shawn scrubbed up to prepare for delivery. Shawn got to help with the delivery of our baby girl, which was pretty neat. When we got started again we pushed for about 3 more intense sets and out she came!!! She was a little stunned at first and they had to get her breathing, she was soo blue and it was a little scary waiting to hear that sweet cry. After what seemed like an eternity I heard my little girl belt out the most beautiful sound in the world!!!

Hannah Nicole Ellis was born at 3:16 p.m. She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. I have to say that I am completely in love and could not imagine life without her beautiful face.

Our family!!

Daddy checking out his little girl!

Getting to hold her right after she was born.

Shawn taking Hannah out. She was sooo blue!!

39 Weeks!!!

Well as you can see, miss Hannah is going to be one healthy baby. I am grateful that there are only 3 days left until the induction!! I am really not sure if I can make it much longer. I have had such a wonderful pregnancy but will be glad to hold that sweet girl in my arms. I was telling Shawn today how amazing it is that you can love someone so much even though you haven't even met them. I would do anything for this sweet baby!! I am so excited for the new adventures she will bring in Shawn's and my life.

I have been working hard on the nursery and I think it is almost finished. The only things we have left are to fill the picture frames. I am really looking forward to the newborn session we have set up. It is going to be the same lady that did the maternity pictures I posted...she is amazing. We have to get the pictures done if the first few weeks. She says they are still really bendy at that stage so you can put them in lots of different positions. I thought that was really funny. I can't wait to post some of the pictures from that session!!! I just love going into her room now that it is all finished. It just feels so relaxing and inviting. I am sure the relaxing part might fade a little when there is a crying baby in there, but either way it is a happy place to be. I think being in there makes me feel close to her and helps make everything a reality. Sometimes I still don't think it is really going to happen. But that will all be over on Wednesday. I know everyone will be waiting for pictures and I will try to post them as soon as possible once we get home.

One Week and Counting!!

Well I can officially say that we will have a baby girl one week from today!! The induction is set and we could not be more excited!! I have frantically started making lists of things I cannot forget to take to the hospital, things I need to do at home, people Shawn needs to call or text once the baby comes, and my list of lists goes on and on ha ha. We have the camcorder and camera batteries charging and all the bags together so that we don't rush out and forget anything, I am pretty sure Shawn thinks I have gone insane. When I ask him about something or pack something else he just roles his eyes. I know she may just stay in their until we force her out on Wednesday but I am ready just in case she decides to come on her own time line.

This week has been pretty tough at school. I did not know your back and feet could ache so much and that one could run on such little sleep. Although I am pretty sure the sleep thing is going to get much worse. But I think it will be a lot more exciting to wake up and see my baby than to get up and go to the bathroom every 2 hours. On Tuesday I woke up around 4:30 and by 5:00 I just decided my time would be better spent doing laundry rather than laying there trying to fall back to sleep when I knew very well it wasn't going to happen. I was hoping to get a few good nights of sleep before the baby but I just don't think that is in the cards. Speaking of bedtime, I think I will head the way and hope that I can actually fall asleep at a decent hour...I just have to work on relaxing and clearing my head of things to add to my lists ha ha :)

The Count Down Begins!!

36 Weeks

Shawn messing around with the camera, but I thought the shot was kind of good :)
37 Weeks
(one of my little boys held up a ball to my tummy the other day and said they looked the same, not to mention we are learning about 3-D objects and several of my students said that my tummy was a sphere ha ha)

Well we are at 18 days and counting. Although my mom keeps telling me Hannah cannot come early due to scheduling plane flights and time off my body is saying something completely different. I am pretty sure that if it was up to my back, ankles and feet Hannah would be arriving as soon as possible. I am very grateful for Spring Break arriving. This will allow me to rest and keep my feet up much more than being at school with 21 first graders.

Today I went and purchased the last few things I needed for mine and Hannah's hospital bags. Now everything is packed and ready to go!! I am not sure if this is wishful thinking or just my OCD kicking in ha ha, but I know I am ready for anything :)

Not much else is happening in the Ellis household. Shawn has actually been working OB Anesthesia this month, he says it is exciting to see all the babies and know that we are expecting. He has been giving me the run down on what to expect when I get my epidural, which has been kind of nice. I think it helps to calm my nerves just a bit, although I must admit that I am still a little nervous. It is hard going into something and not knowing exactly what to expect, especially being the planner that I am. But, I know everything is going to turn out great and in the end I get to bring home our beautiful little girl!!!