Rebekah Tummy Time

Rebekah lifting up her head:

Faces

I took some pictures today as Rebekah was waking up from a nap. She was making quite interesting faces. You might notice the chubbiness of her face too- she was 10lbs 6oz. and 22 inches long at the Dr. today. Her head also grew almost an entire inch to 15 inches.

And here is Grammy, Luke and Rebekah:

I took some pictures today as Rebekah was waking up from a nap. She was making quite interesting faces:

2 weeks

Sleeping in her "nest."

Bath

Here is Rebekah's first bath in the baby bath tub. She lost her umbilical cord two days ago and was smelling a little like sour milk. :)

More of Luke and Rebekah

Here is a cute video from this morning. I am amazed that my wild boy can be so sweet with his little sister:

Day 5

A full body picture:Long legs:
I had another video of Rebekah and Luke both watching the mobile go around (and watching each other), but it won't load. I hope I can get it up soon.

Luke and Rebekah

My sister-in-law, Bethany said once that when you have your first baby, the biggest adjustment is the adjustment in your marriage- from a couple to a little family. When you have your second, the biggest change takes place in the relationship between you and your first child.

This has definitely been true for me. The afternoon when I was in labor, Luke woke up cranky and bewildered from his nap and could not stop crying. I really wanted to comfort him, but I had something else taking up my time and energy. I began to cry and decided that I needed to hold him anyways. We sat and cried together and I really felt the weight of the coming change.

In the hospital, I was away from Luke for two nights. I have never been away from him over night. That was hard too, even though I knew that he was in very capable hands at home- thanks Grammy and Papa! So, I really welcomed his visit the day after Rebekah was born. We took a little snipet of their first encounter which you can see below. In the video he is saying something like "we ate mommy's shirt and she popped out." I still don't know how all of that fits together, but it was so cute to see them together- Luke made a giggly sort of noise upon seeing his "chubby baby," and has been calling her, "baby Gobekah." It is so cute that I'll admit i've called her baby Gobekah once or twice now.

Today we had a first Dr. appt. too. Rebekah is 8lbs 11oz and 21 and 1/4 inches long. They must not have measured her very well in the hospital because the Dr's office took great care to make sure that they had accurate measurements. That puts her in the 92% for height and 75% for weight.

Rebekah Ruth Jones

Rebekah Ruth was born at 11:04pm on Saturday 7/9/11. She weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 20 inches long.


Rebekah Ruth was born at 11:04pm on Saturday 7/9/11. She weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 20 inches long.

The birth story:

I began to have contractions on the Tuesday morning before she arrived, but they stopped. Then Friday morning, I began very slight contractions that got stronger around 9pm. They were about 10-15 minutes apart and I was able to sleep through them for a little while. The long slow process continued throughout Saturday until 4pm. I was about to give up hope and expected them to go away, so I went to take a nap. I woke up from the nap with a much stronger contraction. For about two hours I had strong, regular contractions about every 4 minutes. Nathan and my doula (Kristi) helped me through each one and got us prepared to go to the hospital in between. At 7:15pm we left for the hospital.

Houston's roads are terrible and I was not very nice to Nathan on the car ride over. The contractions and the roller coaster like ride were not fun, but we eventually got there. At the hospital I labored in water and with the birthing ball until about 10pm. The contractions were so close together, strong and long, that I was sure I was in transition. However, the midwife checked me and said I was only 6-7cm dilated. At that point, my panic set in and I looked at Nathan and told him that I wanted to get an epidural. Our original plan was a natural birth, but this really had been a long ordeal and I needed some help. **

Epidural in, I relaxed for the first time in a long while. It was only 45 minutes later that I was ready to push. She came out (all nearly 9lbs of he little self) in about 5-10 minutes. I hardly tore and was able to push efficiently since I could still feel a bit. It was so wonderful to have her. They put her on me, Nathan cut the cord, and she began to nurse for the next 45 minutes. She also lifted up her head right away just as Luke had done.

She is a beautiful, healthy little girl and we just want to look at her all day long. Luke has had a very positive reaction to his little sister and likes to say that she is "my chubby baby." He also says, "We ate the shirt and the baby popped out!" That one is confusing.

**Note: Not that this is a debate, but I wanted to explain why I did what I did. This time I was ready to take an epidural if I ran into a similar situation to Luke's birth. Since I had so much postpartum anxiety troubles from the traumatic birth experience with him, I decided that it was the right thing for me to do. I have to take care of Luke and Rebekah this time and I felt it more important for me to do all that was possible to be the most functional mother that I can be. I don't regret the decision.

Last Pregnancy Pictures

Before I *try* to go to bed tonight, I am going to post some last minute pictures of our little girl in utero. Here she is at 41 weeks:

Hiding from the front:


Side view- wow, there she is:
Contractions are getting heavier and more regular, so I think tonight is the real deal. The next post will be pictures of our new little girl- stay tuned. :)

No Baby News, But Here is a Cute Luke Video

I went to the yard sales this morning. (Why not? No contractions yet :) )

One sale had all the things that Luke would love. We got an easel with a chalkboard for $3, a HUGE set of tinker toys for $3 and this lovely tent/house for $2.

When you live through Texas in the summer time, you begin to realize how important it is for kids to have indoor play items. And after rearranging the playroom, everything fit again too.