Chlo and Eve

Just wanted to add a few pictures of the girls since we've been home.

I have been switching off between nursing and formula so that Ben and Chloie get a chance to bond with the baby and I get a break. :) Wish I would have done this Chloie!

Chloie LOVES to help I let her hold the baby's bottle today and I kept trying to help her hold it but she would swat my hand away and say "No no, ma, no hands!" then whisper "I loves you" to Eve. She is in love with her sister!

She is constantly asking to hold her, she'll sit next to me on the couch and hold her arms out and say "hold pwease!" and smile at me. So I let her hold her for a few mins at a time then when I take her back Chloie starts crying and says "why?!". It's sad and cute at the same time.

I had been really worried the past few weeks about how Chloie would handle having a baby around 24/7, she is a little girl who LOVES her mommy and daddy and NEEDS our attention constantly. But she is adjusting really well so far. There have been a few fits and some naughtiness (trying to get attention) and Ben and I have been trying to switch off between the girls so they both get equal time.

Then we went to their pediatrician today for Eve's first appointment (which went really well btw, She is down to 5lbs 14ounces BUT is really healthy despite her size. good blood sugar, no jaundice, she is really alert and has no problem letting us know she's hungry :) ) Dr Jopling said that instead of trying to give Chloie constant attention (which will wear us out and could result in the baby not getting enough attention) we should set aside 5 mins every couple hours where it is all about Chloie, make a HUGE deal about what ever it is she's doing and give her lots of hugs and kisses. 

So we tried this today and it works really well, Chloie LOVES her 5 mins where both mom and dad are cheering her on while she crazy dances and hugging her and kissing her every chance we get. It made her very happy and she was really good for the time between her "Chloie time". :)

Here are some pictures!

 Eve's binki takes up the whole face I love it!

 At the Dr's office Chloie hid under the desk til he came in then yelled "BOO!"

 On the way home!

 Cheese!

And holding baby sisters bottle. :) She is the BEST big sister ever! :)

We had a baby!

Evelynne Alice Andrus

I cannot believe I had a baby today! I'm sittin in my hospital bed just watching her sleep in my lap right now. it really has been a crazy couple days!

I tried to take a nap on Saturday around 3pm, Chloie was already napping so I just snuggled up on the couch with her an fell asleep. At 330pm I woke up to strong contractions about 3minutes apart. Around 5 I decided to head out to my parents (Ben was working a 10am - 10pm shift at the fire station) I stayed at my parents til Ben got off work and came to pick me up at about 10:30pm. By that time I was having a hard time even breathing through the contraction but I was surprisingly calm. Next thing I knew we were at the hospital, admitted into L&D and I was getting an epidural!!!! Unfortunately the got a blood vessel with the fist epidural so my heart rate started dropping so I got an epidural twice, which was not bad at all surprisingly, I barely felt anything!
I stayed dilated to a 5 til my water broke at 6:15 am. It was so weird, I heard my water break. There was an audible "pop!" It kinda scared me, I had no idea where the noise came from or what it meant so I paged the nurse. Sure enough my water literally popped!
Less then an hour later I was at a ten and the baby was coming! From a 5 to a 10 in less then an hour and one push and we had our second baby girl in our arms! Easiest labor ever!
And recovery so far has been a breeze, I just barely asked for something stronger then a Motrin and I was up walking around and taking a shower about two hours after Eve was born. (My epidural had pretty much worn off right as I started pushing so I felt it all, which surprisingly was not that bad. I survived) so I was up walking within an hour. With barely any pain. :)
And Eve is a little on the small side so they keep checking her blood sugar, but so far so good! She is healthy and perfect! She is already sucking her thumb (not to thrilled about that but oh well!) she already LOVES her daddy, she seems so much more content in his arms then she is with me :( but Ben is already wrapped around her finger he ADORES her! So it's a good thing!
Chloie LOVES Eve's hair she just wants to pet her! It's cute and she kept kissing her and whispering "it's alright. Shhh" to her, it's adorable!
Ben took Chloie home to get some sleep before Eve and I go home tomorrow, so Eve and I are getting some one on one time. :)
It still doesn't feel quite real, it all happened to quickly I just can't seem to wrap my head around it!
Due to all the excitement I haven't slept at all yet, so I'm going to let them take her to the nursery for a couple hours so I can get a little sleep(hopefully).
So thank you all for all your sweet comments on our pictures and thank you to those of you who have visited us, it means a lot to us to have so much support and love from everyone. It's a little scary to go from just one kid to two so it has been amazing to be surrounded by so much love and support! I have been overwhelmed by emotion today, I cried when I held her for the first time, I can't even look at Ben with out smiling. I was unbelievably excited to see Chloie, iTs been a day of pretty much complete BLISS! I don't think today could have possibly been any better! I am on cloud 9!!!! I didn't think I could possibly have enough love to split between Chloie and eve but I love this new little girl the exact same amount as I love her big sis! All my fears were completely diminished the second I saw Chloie kiss her baby sister on the forehead and say "I lub you".
These girls are more then Ben and I could have ever dreamed of and we are THRiLLED!
Once again thank you all for all your love and support we really appreciate it! :)

Registered, Early Labor, Belly Bandit

When I was pregnant with Chloie I went into Labor before I got a chance to pre-register with Labor and Delivery at IMC. So I was a little confused when I received a call from IMC today to get registered, I've officially made it further along in my pregnancy this time then with Chloie. :) Which is a good thing.
So I'm registered and won't have to answer a million questions when I arrive and am in full blown labor. (talking while in labor is not easy... thinking while in labor is nearly impossible for that matter. haha) So it will be nice to not have to deal with that this time around! :)
I am in early labor (which I went through for about 2 weeks before I started active labor with Chloie) Which means I'm having pretty strong contractions (I can still walk and talk through them but definite pressure {nothing I can't handle}). They have been coming every 5 minutes since Sunday Morning but instead of increasing in intensity and getting closer together they are staying about the same. They did stop for about 2 hours yesterday, which was a nice break. But they came back with a vengeance ha.
 I'm hoping that instead of letting me be in early labor for 2 weeks this time my Dr will just help move things along and induce me. (Doubtful but fingers crossed, we will find out tomorrow)
Unfortunately I'm not one to complain to my Dr, partly because the walls at IMC are paper thin, I swear. so I can ALWAYS hear the lady in the next room complaining and asking a billion question about just about everything under the sun and I can tell my Dr is at his wits end by the time he walks into my room. So since my pregnancy is low risk and I'm really not that uncomfortable, and I have a mom who can answer just about every question I have :), I tend to just say I'm doing well and my appointment is over in about 10 seconds. And because of my lack of complaining I'm betting I will not be induced. :( I will have to wait it out, again.
Which I'm sure I can handle (only 16 days til my due date anyways). :)
Also I've been reading reviews for this thing called a "Belly Bandit" it's supposed to help you shrink back down to your pre-pregnancy shape super quickly. It's just a constriction band so it fits tight around your abdomen, hips, and rib cage to help them go back to "normal". I decided to get one this time cause I never felt like my rib cage went back to the way it use to be after Chloie (I swear the kid lived in my rib cage the entire time and this next one is living in my lower back and hips lol). So I'm excited to try it out and see if it helps at all.
If any one else has tried this, or something like it, let me know how it worked for you I'd love to hear about it. :) Thanks!