Month 3

Better late than never! Ellie's third month was so fun. It was my last month at home with her before returning to work. We really enjoyed being together the whole time. She went everywhere with me (duh) - the gym, on walks, shopping trips, lunch dates, etc. Ellie continued to sleep a full 12 hours throughout this month with very few exceptions. We are SO lucky and I am very thankful for the sleep. During month two we had the witching hour every night between 5-7pm. That went away in month three!!! Thank goodness, those evenings were rough. Ellie continued to smile at us and ham it up. Since I am writing this later it's hard to remember if her first giggle was month three or four - but it was somewhere close. And it's SO STINKING CUTE! Our love for her surprises me every day because I think that I can't love her anymore, then the next day comes and it's even more! We are such a very blessed family.

*The first picture below is with Ellie's bff- Lola Harper Hutchison! They will be friends forever.

 

Ellie Month 2

Our second month with Ellie has been so fun! Words really can't describe the joy of having her. It's so fun to wake up to her smiles in the morning and to listen to her coo throughout the day. Not to mention that we're getting a full nights sleep now! She's been sleeping for a solid 12 hours for a little over a week now.

At her two month check up she weighed 10 pounds even and has grown to 22 inches long/tall. She's in the 25th percentile. It's so funny how large she seems when comparing her to newborns now. Where did my small little girl go? I know she's still small, but I'm just saying :)

Like I said above, we're just over the moon to share each day with her. In the next month I will be returning to work and that will definitely be an adjustment but a good one. I know she'll love the daycare and will soon make many friends there!

Until next month!

Ellie - Month 1

Our Ellie is already one month old! She has been a joy to have around the house. I am certainly cherishing my time at home with her (thanks to work for letting me take the time off!). We've been blessed with many visitors who have been so thoughtful to bring us meals and love on Miss Elle. Our lives now revolve around poopy diapers, gas which equals fussiness, long nights, etc - but it's all been worth it! Somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks she blessed us with a 5 hour stretch of sleep. Oh thank goodness! That trend has thankfully continued throughout the month and we're looking forward to longer stretches whenever she is ready.

In the first month she's gained over 2 pounds and grown almost an inch (actual stats are 8 lb 7 oz and 20 inches). She's finally filling out her newborn onesies. We thought we had our first smile just a few days ago, but quickly discovered it was only gas! Ellie lights up when Josh comes home from work - and so does he! I love watching him with her, he's truly such a natural wonderful father. We joke about her poor boyfriends one day and how embarassing it's going to be for Ellie. We've got lots of time before that happens though...right??

It's bittersweet - sad that those first days are already gone but SO looking forward to the next month. I cannot wait to see her smile, to see more of her personality and possibly even get some more sleep. I won't push it though, because we can't get it back. Until next month or the next milestone!

Ellie Grace Durst has arrived!

Our beautiful daughter, Ellie Grace Durst, blessed us with her arrival on August 18th 2011 at 9:33pm. She is everything we prayed for and beyond. Words cannot describe how in love Josh and I are with her. Children are truly a blessing from God and we feel so fortunate to have received her. We look forward to many, many years of laughter and love! Above are a few pictures from Ellie's first days.

NURSERY!!

Finally, pictures of the nursery are posted! It is now complete (until I come up with another project). Makes everything seem so real now. We're so ready to meet Ellie! So many questions run through my mind - what/who will she look like, will she have hair, etc.

I'm not sure if I mentioned the due date confusion last time I posted. Our doctor mentioned that she had originally dated her as August 10th, but based on a sonogram it was pushed to August 17th. Well, since I know the earliest possible date that we conceived I actually counted the weeks and August 17th would be 40 weeks. So I've gotten myself into a frenzy thinking that I was really due this week when in fact I am not! It's ok though, we will be patient and let Ellie get all the time she needs in there. She will be here soon enough. The picture of me was taken today, at 38 wks 5 days.

Hopefully we'll have one more post before the big day!

Week 37 (or is it 38?)

It seems like I'm losing count of the weeks these days! Here's a little update: We went to the DR last Wednesday for my 36 week checkup. She informed me that I am 1cm dialated and 40% effaced! Of course I'm thinking, does that mean I should go to the hospital?? She and my amazing Doula both have told me to keep on business as normal...even working out :(

Our DR did remind me that when we first found out we were pregnant she put my due date as August 10th based on my last cycle. It was then scooted back to August 17th from the sonogram. Sooooo, she's thinking that I'm possibly closer to the August 10th due date which is fine by me!

Josh and I did make the decision to hire a Doula last week. She is absolutely awesome and comes highly recommended from many close friends. I hope that she will give me peace during labor and help me get through it without getting that needle in my back! I have already gained so much comfort from knowing that I have someone I can always call or text with any questions. No more worries that we're going to get to the hospital too late!

As far as how I'm feeling lately - I have no complaints. I do feel like I've doubled in size which is just uncomfortable but that's to be expected. No sickness, horrible braxton-hicks contractions, etc. I am so blessed to have such an amazing pregnancy thus far and I can only pray it will continue to be that way.

We head back to the DR on Thursday for another progress report. I'll make sure and update this as soon as I can now that my to-do list is shortening a bit. Thank you all for the support you've given Josh and I throughout this journey. We are so close to meeting Ellie and we can't wait to introduce her to all of you!

Week 34

WEEK 34!!! Wow, this pregnancy is flying. I cannot believe that we will be meeting Ellie in just 6 weeks or so. I have been blessed with such an easy pregnancy thus far. No sickness, no heartburn, no feet/ankle swelling, etc. The only thing I can complain about is the constant need to pee and compromised sleep.

This past week has been pretty big for us. We had our 34 week doctor appointment on Friday. The doctor says that Ellie is head down (yay!) and all is well. No signs of early labor yet. We'll start going to the doctor once a week from now until she's here. With the Texas heat, I'm hoping for an early August delivery...but I don't think it's my call :)

We also had our prepared childbirth class at the hospital this weekend. It was an all day event, but so informative and well worth it. We saw the labor and delivery rooms and also the room that we'll stay in until being released from the hospital. Everything is starting to seem more real now. We're definitely getting closer and becoming very excited about meeting our little girl!!

I will try to update as much as possible from here until the end. I think that my belly will probably start to expand at a much faster pace over the coming weeks so weekly pictures are in order!

Week 30!

Week 30 is here! Only 10 more to go...which is just unbelievable to me.

Everything is still going very well so far. I have had more insomnia this past week making sleep very hard to come by. Josh and I went to see the doctor on Friday and she told me to take some Unisom on those restless nights. I did not try it out until Saturday night, but I did finally sleep fairly well! I'm hoping that continues to do the trick when needed. We also had a surprise sonogram on Friday!!! It was SO reassuring to see her (and confirm that she is still a she!). We saw her kidneys, lungs, brain and much more. She looks very healthy and is weighing in at 3.5 lbs.

We also had our Dallas shower this weekend. WOW - we are so blessed and fortunate. It was so wonderful to have friends and family gathered to see us and shower Miss Ellie with all the necessities. It has been so fun to go through all her things today and find a home for them! A BIG THANK YOU to Susan, Jan and November for hosting the shower for us.

See you at week 32!

Oklahoma Baby Shower

I'm fresh off a trip to the wonderful Sooner state! Big thank you to Danielle, Jenna and Niki for hosting a wonderful baby shower for Ellie (and thanks to Tiffany as well)! It was so great to see all my Aunts/Cousins/Friends/etc and catch up. Ahhhh, it's good to go home :)