around the house, week 2

For Celeste's 2nd week I still stayed near the bedroom, but I was definitely up and about more.  At the 1-week mark, Marcus went back to work about 4-6 hours a day.  Most of this was in the morning, but he made sure the kids were fed before Mrs. N came to take over--so I still got to sleep in, which was important to me.  I started venturing downstairs in mid-morning and stayed thru lunch, then I took naps in the afternoon when Gemma and Sedric were also napping (so Marcus could work if he needed to).  We also had dance, RE, etc.  Big thanks to my in-laws for taking the kids to these places!!!  It took all our effort just to get the kids ready to go.  By the end of the 2nd week, I was feeling a lot better and spent most of my time downstairs.  But I still take my afternoon nap!!

Celeste's first trip: Marcus took her to Mariposa's
Little Flowers meeting so the leaders  (my friends
Fanny and Florence) could meet her. :o)

Thanks for the meal, Auntie Meghan!

chore time

random pre-baby Nov pics

I thought I would get these posted before moving on to more IMPORTANT topics…like more pictures of Celeste.  :o)

Ultrasound the day before Celeste was born (since I was officially
1.5 weeks overdue).  The monitor shows a head-down baby.
What happened???  ;o)

Grandma did a puzzle with the kids.

Grandpa was very impressed with this squash
from our neighbor Gene.

Being monitored the day of the birth…still no idea that little
gal was now head-up.

View from my window on birth day.  Apparently, it "takes
a village" to give birth to a baby.

more of Celeste's first week (Nov 4-10)

I finally uploaded the photos from my camera (as opposed to the photos from Bunny's camera, which Marcus uploaded and I shared).  Here are some cute ones of Celeste's first week:

First check-up with midwife Tracy (Penelope
is helping as well ;o) )

She looks like a little old man!  (All my babies do…)

Sedric's first attempt at FaceTime, with cousin Greyson
(it didn't go too well: Sedric was fixated on his OWN image
on the screen, hence the silly face).

watching TV in bed with my baby

my view

the new normal: daddy doing work :o(

All the kids are great, but Mariposa is my
biggest helper!

A typical room-service breakfast for the new mama.
(Have I said how awesome my husband is?)

Mariposa and I spent quite a lot of time in bed that first week,
sometimes watching shows (Amazing Race is on now).

Fr. Juan came to visit in between his travels.

Mariposa thinks she found a "sweet spot" behind Celeste's
ear, to make her fall asleep.  I will admit that it did work.

The new "normal" (Celeste's first week)

Sedric likes to come in and hold Celeste.  If I'm ever without
her, he is really concerned!  "Where is baby Ai-est?"

These girls are in love with their sister.

The first week looked a lot like this.  :o)  I ate every one of
my meals in bed for almost 6 days!!!  (I love my husband!!)

All good things must come to an end.  :o(  Grandma and
Grandpa left last Friday afternoon.  I'm so grateful that they
got to be here for Celeste's birth!

One last cuddle session before leaving for home/Ohio.

…and even more visitors!

On Thursday, Auntie Coley and Uncle Brian also came to meet Celeste:

 At this point I was still exclusively in the bedroom: I don't think I even left the room until maybe Friday.  Even then I only ventured around upstairs (straightening up kids' closets mostly).  It was so nice to stay in my "birthing suite" for that long!

Emmett was a natural.

Eliot as well!

With all these pictures, you might think that we had a revolving door at our house!  But no, we mostly just had one set of visitors a day, which turned out to be a really good plan (although it wasn't a "plan" at all, it just happened that way).  We were able to get a lot of rest while still having family meet Celeste while she was still a teeny newborn.

More first visitors

Celeste met big brother James in the morning.  :o)

good girls doing chores outside

In between her child-care duties, mom held Celeste so I
could take a shower.

Mrs. Novak was also one of Celeste's first visitors.

The R family came that first day as well, with Sophs while
the boys were at school.  Here Mariposa put her American
Girl doll's hairpiece on Celeste.  :o) 

Lukie came to visit later, after school the next day.

Cousin Aidan as well.

Question of the day

James:  "Mom, do you know English?"

Me:  "Yes, I know English."

James:  "I mean the English they speak in England."

Me:  "James, they use the same words only they speak with an accent."

James:  "Oh.  Ok."


baby pics coming soon, in between loads of laundry…back to reality already…

Celeste's first visitors

Celeste had a whole crew to greet her upon her arrival.  :o)  The first to see her was my mom, the dad and the 3 older kids, but those pics need to be photo-shopped before I release them!!  Those were magical moments, though.  I had just delivered Celeste and she was skin-to-skin on my chest, all wet and slimy :oP and still attached via the umbilical cord.  After about 5 minutes, I said, "Can someone go get my mom?"  Mom had 5 c-sections herself so I figured this would be a neat experience for her.  And I wanted her with me!  So, still lying on the floor half-naked and in total post-delivery bliss, I welcomed everyone in.  Instead of being overwhelming to me, it was invigorating!  They left the room after a few moments so I could deliver the placenta (one of my least-favorite parts), get checked, and crawl into bed.  We had maybe an hour-plus? of cuddling while the grandparents took the grandkids to dinner, then we brought everyone in to see a now-burrito-wrapped little bundle for a few minutes.  Here are the photos:

grammae and papa had watched Gemma and Sedric for the
evening (my good friend Rosina had them for the daytime) 

First reaction was "baby go downstairs" and "Seddy sleep"
(Sedric has his own bed, but naps and falls asleep in our bed).
But his reaction changed quickly to "I pet gentle?"
Yes, Sedric, you can pet her gently.  <3

Texting was a great way to communicate during these exciting
days (on Marcus' phone, of course!).

the four sisters

By this time James had fallen asleep on the couch :o) so he had to wait until morning to hold his new baby sister.

Celeste's first moments

Celeste was born at 5:19pm on November 4th.  Here are her first moments out of the womb:

Just born!  Is there anything better?? 

First time nursing (I am one exhausted mama after about 1 hour
of full-on pushing--that's what it took to get this breech baby out!)

 I should note that it was SOOOOO nice to crawl into my own bed after delivering Celeste!  That is what everyone says about a home birth, that you get to be in your own bed.  And it really was heavenly.

Apprentices Megan (doing the exam) and Saige (watching).
They were fabulous, I love them!

Notice, Mary, that we did not remove the white comforter
:o) but there isn't a single spot on it.  The midwife team
was THAT good.

What a pink little piglet!  She was alert and healthy from the start.

Tomorrow I will try to post pictures with her first visitors….