Five days: Photos of Viviana and her mom and dad

Today (Monday, April 12th) we are celebrating one week of our new baby's life! Viviana has brought so much happiness into our world already in this short period of time. Mirabella continues to be a little sweetheart to her baby sister which of course, we are eating up like crazy. The kisses, the cheek rubs, her giggles when she sees Viviana, all of them keep us smiling to no end. Here are some photos of Viviana, Jeff and me taken at the hospital.















I have a few more posts coming before this blog closes, so check back for details of our time at the hospital, the first meeting between Mirabella and Viviana and more. Thanks to everyone for all of the love and support we have received thus far!

Lively. Lovely.

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome another baby girl into our family!

Viviana (Viv-ee-on-uh) Colette was born at 9:54am on Monday, April 5th. She weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is perfect to us and we are all doing very well here in the hospital. Viviana looks a lot like Mirabella did as a baby, not so long ago, and Jeff and I love that we'll get to watch two sisters grow up together. We were able to introduce the two for the first time tonight and that meeting was in a word, precious. As soon as Mirabella was in close enough distance to Viviana, she gave her a big kiss! It was awesome and so touching. More smooches followed, along with more precious moments.

We have a bunch of photos to share once we are able to upload from our camera, so we'll get some of those up when we get home. In the meantime, here are a few below from our first day with Viviana taken from a couple other cameras and my phone.

From the recovery room (along with the one at the top of this post)...






And a few from my phone once we got settled into our room...






We have more details and photos to add ahead, so please check back if you are interested. Jeff and his girls...

...sure has a nice ring to it, huh?

Our new baby has arrived!

More details to come...

In just a few hours...

...we'll have a new baby! (Oh, and it's early in the morning on Monday, April 5th, not Sunday as the post says.)

My c-section is scheduled for 9:30am and we are supposed to arrive two hours before it. We'll be at Abbott again. Last night I missed a call from a private number and when I listened to the voicemail, it was my doctor. He was calling to check in and see how I was doing, if I had any questions...seriously, on Easter Sunday no less, who does that? How awesome! I was sad to have missed it.

Jeff and I are taking Mirabella to daycare on the way this morning; our parents are splitting the time taking care of her while Jeff stays with me at the hospital which is so nice. My parents will be staying at our house to be with her at night and to take her to daycare in the morning and Jeff's parents will be picking her up from daycare each day. She'll get to meet her new sibling for the first time on Tuesday!

Both of our families will be at the hospital with us today and thanks to you all who we know will be with us in spirit.

We're heading out the door...stay tuned!?

Photos: 39 weeks

I just had my last hot fudge sundae and some water before I have to give everything up until after surgery. I'm having a baby tomorrow! Wow! I don't know how we are supposed to be expected to sleep tonight knowing what lies ahead in just about 12 hours from now, but whatever the amount, it'll be more sleep than either of us had the last time. We had a wonderful Easter celebration with both sides of our familes today and then Jeff and I were able to spend the rest of the day and night alone with Mirabella. We read her big sister book to her before bed and then we put her down together for the last time as an only child. I didn't know it was possible, but I know I held her just a little tighter today.

Thanks for all of the unbelievably kind well wishes and prayers we received today and previously. Your thoughts mean a lot to us and we're excited to share the news with everyone tomorrow!

Study time for the soon to be big sis

Mirabella is fine tuning her big sister skills, and thanks to this book from the Levys that she received soon after I found out I was pregnant, she is sure to be in good shape come Monday.

At just 13 months old as of Thursday (Thursday, April 1st), Mirabella is getting so big, yet she is still just a baby in our eyes. She is bound to look like a giant next to our newborn though. We are getting so excited to see how she interacts with her sibling. She has been such a lover to him or her in my belly, lifting up my shirt to get to the baby/belly and kissing it without any prompting at all now. We joke that Mirabella won't even recognize her mama without this basketball attached to her!




The last pages in the book read, "Our baby is so lucky Mirabella," her mommy says with pride, "To have a big sister like you"...as she begins to cry. She's crying because she's happy, not because she's sad. Sometimes mommies cry when they are feeling extra glad. I want you to remember Mirabella, one thing that's always true...that nobody can ever, ever take the place of you.

I'm sobbing even as I type it out. Just sobbing. I can't get through reading it without doing so! I'm so unbelievably happy to be welcoming our new child in just two days, but I can't help but to wonder what all this addition will mean to Mirabella. My heightened emotions are getting the better of me, but deep down I know that once we all get settled, Mirabella will be just fine and what we hope will be even better is that she will love having a playmate all to herself so close to her age. The words of the book ring true, nobody will ever take the place of you, dear Mirabella. And to our new baby cakes, of course nobody will ever take place of you either! We know there will be plenty of love to go around, and we just cannot wait to have two kiddos to share it all with.

Photos and doctor appointment: 38 weeks

Wife: Do you think for my size and for having a single baby that I have the biggest belly Dr. Chow has seen?

Husband: (pause) No (uncertain)...but you're definitely right up there (in all seriousness).

Wife: (succumbs to the truth unconcerned. chuckles. thinks about hot fudge sundae.)




Five pounds. In one week I've gained five pounds! The news was broken at my doctor appointment today. My weight gain had been fairly gradual, especially in the last several weeks, so today I was not expecting what the scale read. I'm blaming it on the fact my doctor was running late which caused me to swell in my waiting room chair. That, and the scarf I was wearing. Although it was silk, it was very large and flowy and quite obviously weighed me down some. Surely it had nothing to do with the breakfast from McDonald's this morning, or the chocolate cake right after (and yesterday), or the Mexican feast, or...

Seriously though, I can feel myself swelling and I swear I feel it more and it has gotten worse since my appointment. There isn't much concern about it right now because as with my first pregnancy, my blood pressure is good. My legs are heavier, but the swelling still is not as bad as it was in the last couple of weeks with Mirabella. I'm catching up quickly now to the weight gain that time around, however.

My doctor let me know which doctor would be on call this weekend. If I have any signs of labor, or if my swelling gets worse, I am to call right away. We talked about any questions I had, which weren't many. He went to do my exam and before he told me anything else while he was checking me out, he again mentioned which doctor would be on call. This made me nervous---what did he know? I was able to breathe a little easier when he said I was dilated to one and a half centimeters, versus one a couple weeks ago. My nerves kicked in a bit more though when he said it wasn't out of the question that I could go into labor before Monday, but what's that mean really? 10% chance? 30%? Whatever the odds were, I felt they were pretty much the same as before he did the exam, so all was decent again in my mind.

I asked him very nicely to use caution about having too many mimosas the day before my c-section, Easter Sunday, to which he obliged. I expressed my concerns about a shaky handed doctor if he were to overindulge; I'm his first surgery of the day on Monday, of the last week at a minimum I think since besides his day in the office today, he has been off to spend time with his kids while on spring break for the week. Hopefully that means he'll be very well rested...not rusty. I suggested a two mimosa limit, but he impressed me by saying there would be no alcohol for him that Sunday. Good man...until he asked Jeff on his way out what time they should meet at the bar that day. Then he reiterated his commitment, "Wait, I guess it'll have to be Saturday since there'll be no alcohol on Sunday." Good, good man. A touch of a smart ass, but a good man nonetheless. Ha!

Ever since I left my appointment, I've felt different. Monday seems so far away and I'm questioning whether I'll make it. I know I've questioned that before, but this questioning is based on how I'm feeling physically and not emotionally, as it has always been before. My body is tingly, my feet need propping, my belly is even more sore and it's been really tough to walk and move around easily (or comfortably). Our little precious is antsy, moving a ton and feels like he or she is coming on down faster than the next contestant on The Price is Right. Could it be that baby #2 wants out and Monday is just not going to fit into his or her plan?