Presenting Baby Elsie

Elsie Sue Oberg
Born June 5, 2012

2:13 pm

7 lbs 3 oz

19 inches

Birth Story:

When I went in for my 39 wk appointment we scheduled an induction on my due date even though neither my Dr nor I thought I'd get that far.  He is only at the hospital on Tuesdays and other than that I'd have to have the on call Dr for the delivery. So Tuesday the 5th it was.  My mom flew in Wednesday and it was so amazing to have her here to help with Violet until the big day. I was so sore and ready to have my sweet babe. Then Saturday, Sunday and Monday I felt better than I had in weeks so we thought maybe it was a sign that she was coming. Low and behold after many a morning waking up disappointed I was still pregnant, we headed to the hospital to be induced at 6 AM.

After lots of tears that I was leaving my sweet baby girl behind to go and bring another into this world, I was so excited and a little nervous to get going.  We got to the hospital room which was huge and so nice and more like a hotel room, the nurse checked me, I was a 3. She got me all hooked up to the pitocin and the waiting began. My Dr came in and told me to get my epidural before I was a 5 or I would miss the opportunity because I would likely go from a 5 to a 10 in no time.  I could definitely feel the contractions but they weren't unbearable, the anethesia nurse came in to talk to me and told me to just get it because they weren't busy at the moment. By 9:30 the epidural was in, I was a 5
(perfect timing!) and I was comfortable and ready to go! They checked on me about an hour and a half later and I was still a 5 (apparently it's common to get stuck around a 5) They upped the pit, checked me a little later and I was a 6-7.

The nurse kept telling me to let her know when I was feeling pressure, I was pretty numb, but didn't want them to know that. I had told them that with Violet I was so numb, they lifted my leg into the stirrup and I didn't know whose leg it was! They told me they didn't want me that numb (much to my chagrin) and wanted me to feel pressure, which I was so nervous about because I've heard that it is worse than the contractions!

A little while later I told her I was feeling pressure (even though I wasn't) just so she'd come check me, BAM! I was complete!
She called the Dr in, he said we'd get her out in 10 minutes.  3 pushes later, sweet Baby Sis was crying, I could see her sweet face and he plopped her sweet little body on my belly. We knew immediately that she wasn't nearly as big as Vi was.

It was the most beautiful labor and delivery, I was so nervous because things had gone SO amazing with Violet that I felt like it couldn't be that perfect again. It really was. I could feel when the Dr touched me, and when her head was out (sorry for the visual) and could even feel the tug of the stitches! But I was in NO pain whatsoever, not once, I couldn't feel my contractions, it was the PERFECT epidural. I don't know how I got so lucky!

Not to mention that my beautiful baby was born healthy, perfect and beautiful. I would have gladly taken all the pain and discomfort in the world to make sure she was as perfect as she is, but luckily I didn't have to :) I am so grateful and feel so incredibly blessed to have this beautiful daughter of my Heavenly Father, that he has yet again trusted me to raise a child and get to have her in my life.  She has blessed us so much already in her short 6 days of life, I can't imagine life without her and I am so excited to watch her grow and learn, but lets hope it doesn't go too quickly:)
I probably should have broken this post into two but who knows when I'll blog again so here it goes. Also it's going to be long, but it's for my records so I don't forget anything!
My mom stayed with Violet and then headed up to the hospital around noon. My body looks huge!

 A couple hours later she was here!

 Tiny little thing! Violet was 8 lbs 4 oz. We totally expected her to be at least that big, so it was a big surprise she was so little! Well to us at least :)

 My mom and Violet came in just after she was born, the Dr was sewing me up but the room was big enough so Vi didn't have to see anything. She was probably really confused but just kept staring at her and hugging and kissing her.

 Baby Sis gave Violet a present at the hospital. A Team Umi Zoomi (her FAVORITE) coloring book and water painting book!

 All clean

 When they got me up to take me to the bathroom I had quite the scare. I made it to the potty, but as soon as I sat down, I was in and out of consciousness. I remember saying something like "yay! I peed!" (believe me after having an epidural and just given birth, it's a big accomplishment, especially when you still can't feel your left leg) followed by "I'm going to pass out, I'm going to faint" over and over, holding on to the bar by the toilet, and my head spinning, nurses surrounding me and then suddenly getting back into the hospital bed, being told I'm as white as the sheets. It was SO SCARY. The ringing in your ears is crazy, everything was REALLY loud and I felt like I was in a cave, someone was picking up paper and it sounded like fire crackers right in front of my ears.  I've never passed out, and I never want to again! They told me I failed the test and I needed to eat something before we headed to postpartum.

 My dad left early Tuesday morning and made it just a couple of hours after Baby Elsie was born. It was so incredible having my parents there. I just kept thinking how sad it would've been if we had to have Violet go to my cousins house or a friends, and have no family but ourselves. They were amazing and gave Violet so much attention, not to mention spoiled her rotten! But in a good way:)

 Feeling much better

Violet has been such an angel, she loves "Baby Sisser" and kisses and hugs her all the time. she has been so gentle and so far you would never know that she just brought home a sibling.

 Look at all her hair! So sweet

Favorite picture. My dad took this on his phone, so sweet!

 The next day they came back up to the hospital for a visit. They came with balloons and prizes and Vi was wearing a Big Sister shirt.

 My parents brought my old "Bitsy baby" American girl doll for Violet. She loves that baby! so fun for her to feed and dress her.

 First "bath" at home

Saturday was a really hard day, I was really sick which the Dr said it was most likely due to my milk coming in, was still dealing with bad tears (just tore along my scars from Violet) and something that starts with an H and ends with rrhoids (people... when they say pain killers stop you up, they aren't joking!) I was extremely emotional, my parents were leaving Sunday and I couldn't even think about it for one second or I'd break down in tears. My sweet Violet was so big, seriously I was told that she'd seem so big when we got home, but you have no idea. She is monstrous! so big and so old, she talks even more now than she did Monday night. 

 

My mom was amazing, I didn't have to lift a finger, she shopped, cooked, cleaned, played with Violet, everything and I didn't know how I was supposed to have her leave without knowing exactly when I'd see her again. My dad was also great, Violet sure loves her Papa and he held Elsie early one morning when she was wide awake after eating so I could go back to sleep. Thank you so much again for everything! Could NOT have done it without you.

 

I've managed, Erik has been absolutely amazing as well. He has been working so hard around the house, making sure I'm drinking water, taking my pills, eating right and helping SO MUCH with the girls. He even slept with Elsie in the front room (her in the pack n play) with her Saturday night so I could sleep and he'd just bring her to me when she needed to eat. He took off all last week and this week to spend time with us. I'm going to DIE when he goes back to work next week!

 Last night with Grammy and Papa.

 Sneak peek at her bed. My dear friend Vienna made the "Sleep Pretty Darling" pillow, it is so perfect and I love it so much! She is so thoughtful and knew I wanted something from the Beatles song "Golden Slumbers" in the nursery, it was so sweet. She also sent me a bunch of headbands for little Elsie.

So far things are going so smooth. She sleeps 4 hours at a time at night and is an AMAZING nurser. Today we had her Dr appointment and she has gained .5 lb since Thursday. The Dr was SO proud of her and said she must be a good eater. Yes she is! I honestly think she would nurse all day if I let her. I have to pry her off every time and that's after 20 min on each side at least sometimes! Luckily the Dr said to not let her go more than 12 ish on each side:) I WILL have a life again! So far she is also a big pooper and pee pee-er. Violet didn't poop for a week when we brought her home, it was so scary but little Elsie pooped 6 times on Sunday. She has such a sweet disposition, does cry more than Violet does, but still only cries when she's REALLY mad or hungry.

PS I've been asked where we got her name, I got Elsie from a blog, Erik vetoed it for a long time, until I narrowed it down to that and one other and told him he had to pick between the two. Guess it grew on him! Sue is my middle name and we liked the sound of Elsie Sue (you should hear Vi say it, so cute)