Some Portraits

We had way too much fun taking pictures of Ellie this afternoon:

One of the lesser-known techniques of Kung Fu: Ellie-mantis

Angst

Sweet Eyes

Too Cute for Words

*Sigh*

Queen Ellie the First

Peace!

Ewww!

Ellie-Yo, the DJ

Our Little Sweetie

Have you ever tried to clean a loaded gun?

(Did you notice Mom's blue topaz pendant from Dad?)





Check out this Harry Potter - type picture of Grandma and Grandpa:




Ellie's cord fell off last Sat. or Sun. and healed enough that we were able to give her an immersed bath for the first time yesterday (Sat). She seemed delighted to have the nice warm water around her. She has been growing nicely. She regained her birth weight by last Tuesday and has been eating vigorously and regularly.


I try to wake up and burp Ellie and change her while Sarah gets some more rest right after middle-of-the-night feedings. Diapering has been mostly uneventful except for a couple of blow-outs and a noteworthy experience a few nights ago... I was sitting on the edge of our bed, twisted to the left to help Ellie change what appeared to be a harmless, wet diaper. We noticed that she grunts and mumbles a lot, but especially as she's trying to pass some gas - or worse. However, she makes these little grunts often enough that it can be hard to differentiate them. So, it was like the "Fire Swamp" in Princess Bride. They hear a bit of a "Kkkk Kkkk Kuh" noise before the "Fooooosh" explosion of deadly fire. Well, I thought I heard a bit of grunting from Ellie, but didn't think much of it. And before I knew it, * FFFOOOSH FFOOOOOOOOSH * -- Two explosion-backed streams squirted a foot or so onto my left thigh. It was like someone had stomped on an open bottle of mustard aimed right at me. I just stared at it in shock for a while as the heat of it soaked through to my skin. Being half awake made it worse. Plus, I felt strangely betrayed that absolutely none of it got on the diaper or even the bed. Now, every time I change her I feel like I'm cleaning a loaded gun.

More Pictures!

Day 2

Hello!

I'm writing from the hospital. We will be going home tomorrow morning before 8:00. Sarah's brother Mike is letting us borrow his computer. I'm really grateful.

We feel so happy to have Ellie join us. We're glad that she has such a loving extended family.

Mom and baby are still doing very well. Sare mentioned that she is in a fair amount of pain. The postpartum contractions are what's bothering her, but she has been dealing with them well. She's trying to sleep while I hold Ellie and try to type with one hand.

We met Dr. Kendall today. She is Ellie's pediatrician. We thought she was delightful, helpful, and professional. She said Ellie was doing great, a bit jaundiced, but not more than normal.

The muconium diapers are a sinch. I'm trying to enjoy the lack of odor while I can. Feeding is still going just fine. Sarah saw a lactation specialist today just to make sure. It helped a bit, but Sarah and Ellie had already figured out most of it on their own.

Barb and Sarah think they saw dimples last night. They are also suspecting curly hair. We look forward to seeing some smiles soon.

We were very grateful to have Barbru back at the hospital today. We have been feeling like the nursery is just too far away and there are just too many babies around for Ellie to get the kind of attention we want her to get. Of course, that has meant that we have not slept much. It was nice to finally get a couple solid hours in this afternoon. Sarah is still sleeping off and on, but usually not more than an hour at a time. We're going to try to get what we can while we can because we know sleep will be hard to come by in the next several weeks.

Our love to all of you.

Meet Ellie Babcock

8 lbs 1 oz.
19.5 inches
Born 2:57 a.m. on 1/28/09

Mom and baby are both doing very well. Sare went into active labor at about 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and was admitted to the hospital at 4:30. Upon examination we learned that she was dilated to about 4cm. She received an epidural soon after admittance and gradually progressed (with the help of pitocin) to a 10 at about 12:30 am. After that she just waited a bit in order to "rest and descend." At 2:30 the nurses came in to set up all the gear. The doctor showed up at about 2:45. After some foreceps, an episiotomy, and some amazingly powerful pushing from Sarah, Ellie left the womb to begin her mortal experience. She produced the most beautiful, piercing cry. It was gentle, but intense. It came up into my ears and out my eyes. Her messy little body looked so perfect. She looked so innocent. A couple of the nurses remarked that her lungs seemed to be very strong. She and Sarah have been sleeping off and on since then and have had great success with nursing. I was able to sleep for about two hours in the afternoon, but I've spent most of my time just staring at her.

At about 8 p.m. we celebrated her 0th birthday with singing and cake. Since we couldn't light a candle in the hospital, Ben pulled out an iPhone app of a zippo lighter. Sarah and I "blew it out" after the singing. We wish all of you could have been with us to share the moment, have some cake, and meet our beautiful baby girl. We hope you enjoy the pictures. Feel free to call.

Waiting...still.

For those of you who may not know, the doctor gave us the option of inducing this Wednesday. We talked to a lot of people, prayed and discussed it. We've decided not to induce. We feel that is best. Let the baby come when she is full ready.

The waiting game is hard, but we know it will be worth it. Thanks for all your support and input.

Update on Us

We sent emails out and made a few calls, but we wanted to make sure that everyone knew the latest news. We went to the doctor last Tuesday and found out that Sarah is about 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. The doctor said that sometime in the next two weeks we'd have a new baby. It's now Sunday and we are getting more and more excited. We have another appointment on Tuesday to see/track progress, but it could happen at any time. - Hopefully soon. :)

Progress

We are going through several changes. They are good changes, though, so it is progress. Sarah finishes work on Friday the 19th. It is coming quickly. Our anniversary is on the 17th. We were planning a trip to Vegas, but, as many of you can attest, pregnancy and long trips don't jive. We're planning to stay in Salt Lake somewhere. We will have been married 3 years! Is that no longer newly married? Not that I mind. I don't care how new it is as long as I'm married to Sarah. She does so much. The 5:30 am alarm and the daily 45 minute-each-way commute has been challenging for her, but she's not one to complain. We're glad we decided to have her be work-free for these last 8 weeks. She looks so good. I'll see what I can do to get recent pictures of her progress.

I'm currently taking a course on tax planning. I have a final and a big paper due on Monday, and then I have a break until January 15th. I'm contemplating job possibilities. We're planning to use COBRA for a while until we get that sorted out.

Our OBGYN, Dr. Gordon, passed away a few weeks ago of Lou Gehrig's disease. We are trying to decide if we are going to go with the other doc in the same office, Dr. Judd, or if we will go to Dr. Thorpe, who we hear has a good reputation, too.

The quote on the tile in the background of one of the birthday shots is a quote from Helaman 5:12. The part we have displayed is in italics:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Happy Birthday to Mom/Jane and Roger

We just had the pleasure of hosting Mom's ___ (irrelevant #) birthday. Becca made a mouth-watering, shrimp pasta. Yummy garlic and butter sauce. We also had a salad with three kinds of lettuce, avocado, basil, tomato, cukes, and mini sweet peppers; garlic bread; and OLIVES. For dessert we had a delicious strawberry shortcake with ice cream. Here are some more pictures:











We hope Roger had a happy birthday!