3 Weeks

Sweet Isaac is 3 weeks old today! That is hard to believe. He's still doing great.

Everyone is very divided on who Isaac looks like. Some people think he looks like Tom, some like me, some like Alana and some like Peter. I think he favors Peter more than anybody, but in a lot of ways he just looks like himself. My mom and I think he's a bit of a hodge-podge of all of us. However, when you compare these 2 pics (above-Isaac, below-Peter), I do see a lot of Peter in him. We'll be able to tell more as he grows.

It's also interesting to compare these pictures because Isaac is 3 weeks and Peter was 3 months! Having a healthy baby is a constant reminder to us of what God did with Peter. He has come a LONG way.

2 Weeks and Echo Results

On Tuesday, Isaac turned two weeks old. I really wanted to post these pictures that day, but life is much more hectic with a baby.

We took him on Tuesday to get his echo. I had a fetal echo done at 20 weeks gestation and the cardiologist didn't see anything he was too concerned about. He did see a mild VSD (hole in the heart like Peter had), but he was fairly certain it would close before birth or shortly after. The Dr. said on Tuesday that Isaac's heart was "perfectly normal in every way." Music to our ears! However, we weren't surprised. This little boy can EAT. It is his favorite thing to do.

We took him to the pediatrician yesterday for his 2-week appointment and he's gained 9 oz. and grown 2 and a quarter in. since birth. Staggering.

We are having a blast with this little boy!

Scripture Memory - June 15

In light of what God has recently done in our lives, we have taken a detour from the Proverbs 31 woman for this Scripture memory. We will come back to that.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. - Psalm 127:3 (ESV)

A reward, indeed!

One Week Old

Yesterday, Isaac turned one week old! I cannot believe that. If the rest of his life goes by as quickly as the first week has gone.........

He has already changed so much!

Miscellaneous Isaac Pics

Isaac is doing really well. He is eating really good bottles about every 3 hours. He sleeps great, at least during the day. I think he still has his days and nights mixed up some.

So far, Peter is adjusting well to having a baby brother. When we first brought Isaac home from the hospital, Peter kept showing him all his toys. It was so sweet. I'm not counting my chickens just yet that this is going to be so easy.

My mom came over today to give me hand and while she was holding him, he started sucking his thumb. It was so sweet. I know a lot of people hate thumb-sucking, but I don't mind. To me, a thumb is much easier than a pacifier because I don't have to keep putting it back in his mouth. We can break the habit later.

Tom went back to work today so it was my first day with all three by myself. I was REALLY nervous about it, but it was fine. Alana was a huge help. Today has greatly boosted my confidence that I can do this!

Alana's Morning

This is how Alana wanted to spend her morning.

I think someone has fallen in love!

Tom on Hospital Duty

This is what Tom does best in the hospital.

I took the above picture today and couldn't help but remeber this one of Tom and Peter when Peter was first in the hospital.

And just because he's so beautiful.......


So precious.

Isaac's Birth - the Details

I want to put the details of Isaac's birth into writing before I forget them.....

At my last Dr. appointment (Wed. of last week), I was dialated to a one and zero percent effaced, which was where I had been for the previous two weeks. Obviously, not much in the way of labor was happening. My Dr. said they would not consider induction until I was 41 weeks unless my body showed more signs of progression. She gave me the option of going ahead and scheduling an induction for June 14th because my favorite Dr. (who delivered both Alana and Peter) was on-call that day. I took her up on her offer because it encouraged me to have a definite date to look to for Isaac's birth. However, I was really hoping and praying I would go into labor on my own. Alana and Peter were both induced and although my experience with them wasn't at all bad, I wanted to experience going into labor on my own at least once. Also, the pain can be excruciating with Pitocin to induce labor and I wondered if I could handle it better the natural way.

Over the past weekend, I had a few small signs and symptoms of labor as well as contractions that would come and go, but I didn't know if things were really starting or not. By Monday though, all of these began to pick up in intensity. I'm not sure if this is any type of labor sign or not, but I was ravenous all day Monday. We sat down to dinner around 6:00 and I had to constantly pause in my eating as contractions came. After dinner, we cleaned up and I folded some laundry, contractions coming all the while. I was pretty sure at that point that Isaac was coming in the next day or so. We put Alana and Peter to bed and tried to get some sleep ourselves. I was trying to weigh at what point I should go in to the hospital. Tom slept for a little while, but I couldn't sleep at all. I woke him up around midnight and we watched some TV and timed contractions. They weren't coming extremely close together (about 10-15 min. apart), but they were terribly painful so I knew these were the real thing. Close to 2:00 a.m., I decided to call the Dr. and go in to the hospital. My mom came over to stay with Alana and Peter.

I was so worried all the way to the hospital that they were going to tell me I was still at a one and send us right back home. I couldn't imagine that could be the case though, because my contractions were SO painful. We got checked in and the Dr. quickly evaluated me with the news that I was 3-4 cm dialated and definitely in labor. I can't put into words how relieved I was. I felt like Tom and I have been sitting on "baby watch" for 2 months and Isaac was finally really going to arrive.

They admitted me and moved me over to a labor and delivery room at about 4:00 and started an IV and drew blood. My contractions were coming much closer together (about 2-4 min. apart) and I was in pain to the point that I could hardly breathe. Tom kept telling me it was okay to cry, but I honestly couldn't get enough air to cry although I really wanted to. The nurse told me that I could have my epidural as soon as my labs came back and she asked if I wanted her to go ahead and put in the order. I was so glad I didn't even have to ask. The anesthetiologist came and began my epidural around 5:30. It took awhile to have an effect, but little by little I thought I might would live again. My thoughts about natural labor being less painful than induction were WRONG. Although not for very long (about 2 hrs.), I was in the absolute worst pain of my life. Maybe that's not the case for everybody, but that is how it was for me.

Sometime in there, the nurse checked me again and I was about 4-5 cm. At 6:30, my water broke. Again, this was something new for me. Always before, the Dr. broke my water when they began the Pitocin - and it always hurt. This time, it broke on its own and after my epidural, so this experience was much better. The Dr. (my favorite - the one that delivered Alana and Peter) came in about 7:30 and checked me again. She said what she has said to us twice before, "Are you ready to have a baby?" I couldn't believe it was time already!

It took a few minutes for the nurses to get things ready, but after five pushes Isaac came into the world at 7:56 a.m. Tom thought he looked like our biggest baby yet, but I wasn't so sure. It turned out Tom was right. Isaac was 8 lb. 2 oz. Alana was 7 lb. 12 oz. Peter was 6 lb. 11 oz.

Isaac is doing well, although he gave us a very rough night last night. Nothing major, just typical newborn mix-up of days and nights and gas/stomach issues. It was a LONG night, especially because we had been up all night the night before.

I'm feeling like a human being again today, which is nice!

In a quick nutshell, there is Isaac's birth story. I will post some more pictures soon.

He's Here!!!

Isaac Lewis Ellsworth was born on June 7, 2011 at 7:56 a.m.

He weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and is 19 in. long.

We are tired, but thrilled!

Isaac is healthy and sweet.

More details tomorrow - hopefully.

Scripture Memory - June 1

I'm running a bit behind this week. Better late than never, here is our verse for the first half of June:

She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. - Proverbs 31:20 (ESV)

On the pregnancy front, I am 39 weeks and 3 days. I went to the Dr. on Wednesday and there is really nothing at all happening. It is SO HARD to be patient at this point, but I'm trying. I have to constantly remind myself that this is God's child, not mine and he will be born in God's time.

Have a great weekend!