Friday, 31 January 2014
Grammie Getting Some Snuggles Before She Goes To Ottawa
My mom went off to Ottawa on January 9th, so she wanted to get in some last minute snuggles before she left! It has been hard to keep her away!!! She loves to come out and snuggle with Everly! I am sure she would probably stay forever if she could! I often have to ask her not to wake the sleeping baby as she is so eager to pick her up and cuddle her!
One Month Old!
January 4th, 2014
I can't believe how fast time is flying by! Everyone always tells you that it goes by too fast and to enjoy every minute... boy were they right! Everly is now one month old and weighs 8 lbs 5.5 oz! She is growing like a weed! We have had a few midwife visits over the past few weeks and they are very impressed at how fast she is growing! There is no need to worry now about her weight gain! She is turning into a little chunker! She is now starting to coo and make noises that almost seem like she is interacting with us! We just love her soooo much!
I can't believe how fast time is flying by! Everyone always tells you that it goes by too fast and to enjoy every minute... boy were they right! Everly is now one month old and weighs 8 lbs 5.5 oz! She is growing like a weed! We have had a few midwife visits over the past few weeks and they are very impressed at how fast she is growing! There is no need to worry now about her weight gain! She is turning into a little chunker! She is now starting to coo and make noises that almost seem like she is interacting with us! We just love her soooo much!
Nothing Like a Daddy`s Love!
Everly officially has Darren wrapped around her little finger! I love to watch them interact with eachother! For such a rough and tough guy, Darren melts pretty fast when it comes to Everly!
Everly's First Road Trip!
On December 28th, we decided to take Everly on a road trip to Victoria to meet her Great Gramma Birnie! She was just over 3 weeks old when we went down there. She was a trooper the whole trip! We left after her morning feed and she slept all the way to Goldstream (just over 2 hrs from home!) We parked in the Goldstream Park parking lot and she had a snack and Darren cruised around the trails for a bit. She fell right back to sleep as we kept driving down to Victoria! Once we got to Darren`s gramma`s condo, she was wide awake and alert! We had lunch with Great Gramma Nonie and Everly had some snuggles! We spent a good part of the day there and started the trek home around 3:00pm. We made it all the way to Horne Lake before Ev needed to eat again! By the time we got home, we were all exhausted! It was a wonderful trip! We were really glad that we got down there during the holiday season too!
Sleeping Beauty
Originally, Everly hated to be swaddled up when sleeping. She loved to have her arms up by her head at all times! Unfortunately, she often startled herself awake at night by hitting herself in the head... I tried swaddling her up again for nighttime sleeps and she loved it! That is when it all turned around for us and her sleeping!
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Merry Christmas!
We have been looking forward to Christmas since the day we found out we were pregnant. With struggling for so long to get pregnant and being told by the specialist that it probably wouldn't happen, we weren't sure this day would ever come! Well, that day came and it was absolutely amazing. I am sure Christmases will just get better every year from here on out! We had both sets of parents come to our house and we had a low key morning and had breakfast. After lunch, we packed up Everly and headed off to Uncle Dave's "Happy Hour" gathering... yes, on Christmas Day, happy hour starts pretty early!!! We got to come home for a quick rest and then went over to Auntie Denise's for dinner. Everly was an absolute champ the entire day! And... it was a wonderful break for me because everybody wanted to hold her! She slept most of the day away in everybody's arms! We went home shortly after dinner and had a relaxing evening. Everly gave me the best present of all by sleeping for 5.5 hrs in a row that night too!!!!
I didn't know how small she would be when I ordered this "baby's first Christmas" sleeper! She was not a fan of it right off the bat!
The best present of all!
Cute onsie given to Everly from Auntie Sly!
Our beautiful little baby girl in her Christmas dress!
Gaining Weight
When Everly was born, we were very surprised at how small she was! We were worried that something might be wrong and that was the reason she was so small for being 12 days overdue. Well, we monitored her weight gain very carefully over the first few weeks of her life. She was born 5 lbs 11 oz. and went down to 5 lbs 3 oz. a couple days after birth. From that moment on, she has been growing like a weed!!! Two days after her lowest weight, she was already back up to 5 lbs 8.5 oz. Two days after that, 6 lbs exactly! Fast forward a week and she was already 6 lbs 12.5 oz... apparently, all she needed was to be out in the world and she would gain weight like crazy!
One day old (no extra flab)
3 weeks old (getting pudgy)
Hank Loves His New Baby Sister!
One thing people always asked us when I was pregnant was... How do you think Hank will be with the baby?... I guess it's just the question that comes to mind with Hank being a pit bull. Anyone that has ever met Hank knows that he is just the biggest, sucky baby ever and all he wants to do is lick and be cuddled by everyone! We have been very careful about Hank being around the baby... mostly because his tail is like a whip and it would really hurt Everly if he accidentally hit her with it! It has been amazing to watch how he behaves around her! Hank is so gentle with Ev and very concerned when she is fussing. He is constantly checking up on her to make sure she is doing well. If I come downstairs in the morning without her in my arms, Hank won't leave the bottom of the stairs and whines looking up towards her room. He very much loves his little baby sister! He is also very good at letting us know when she has filled her diaper!!!! Blackjack, on the other hand, pays no attention to the baby... hence why there are no photo ops with them together!
Sunday, 19 January 2014
The First Visit With Santa!
We went to see Santa on December 17th, 2013! Everly will have to remember it with pictures because she slept right through it! She was a hit with all the ladies working with Santa. Santa was very good with her too! My friend gave her the dress a few days before, so I figured it was the perfect outfit to show off to Santa!
Family Time
Everly is a spoiled little girl! So many people want to come and snuggle with her! She loves every minute of it! She already has daddy and grampie wrapped around her little finger!
Great Uncle Dave came for a quick snuggle too!
Getting Used to Daily Life
Well, it has been quite the adjustment learning how to be parents. No one ever said it was easy... but we now see that it is a steep learning curve. It would be nice if they came with a handbook telling us how to do everything!!! Everly has spent most of her days sleeping. Her awake times last for about 45 minutes at a time and then she is wanting to head back to dream land. She is loving to sleep in her swing! She is sleeping really well at night as well! On average, she is having 3.5/4 hrs stints of sleep at night! This has been really nice for me! Darren usually wakes up in the morning and has to ask how the night went as he has slept right through it!!!!!! Ha!
Friday, 17 January 2014
Relaxing At Home
Everly has started to get used to her new surroundings. In her first few days, she slept most of the day and night away... and we never wanted to put her down. After wishing for her for so long, it was amazing to finally have her in our lives.
Getting To Know The Family
Everly has had a busy couple days with family members chomping at the bit to come meet her. My grampie came with auntie Denise and she was very happy to cuddle in the arms of both of them. I have a feeling this little girl is going to be super spoiled in her life time!
First Play Date!
On Dec. 5th, 2013, Everly had her very first play date. Alli came over with Hunter (who is six weeks older than Ev) to meet Everly. Hunter is a much bigger baby than Ev... as you can see in the pictures. He also liked to have a little taste of her head!!! Hunter was born 3lbs heavier than Everly! They are going to be really good friends:)
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Coming Home From The Hospital
It was a wonderful feeling being discharged from the hospital on Thursday, Dec. 5th! The snow was falling and it looked beautiful outside. Darren got to the hospital at 6:30am that morning to spend some time with us while we waited for Joanne (our midwife) to come check up on us. Joanne got to the hospital at 11:00am and we were cleared to go home! We bundled Everly up and got her ready for her first car ride! Our first stop was going to be a store to buy premie diapers! Being 12 days overdue, I never expected to have such a small little baby girl! Even the coming home from the hospital sleeper we had for her was way too big!
Monday, 6 January 2014
Welcome Everly Lyn Birnie
Darren and I are very excited to announce the arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Everly! She joined us at 6:52pm on December 4, 2013. After 22 hours of labour total, 10 hours of that hard labour and 2.5 hours of pushing, she came out at 5 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long!
Here is the full story of how it all came to be...
Tuesday, December 3rd:
I was 11 days overdue and VERY ready for this baby to come. Being so far overdue, my midwife requested I get an ultrasound and a non-stress test done at the hospital to make sure baby was still doing fine. I went to the hospital hoping for good news. The ultrasound technician didn't say anything out of the ordinary to me and all she said was baby was going to be 7 pounds (give or take 1 pound)... I then went upstairs to the maternity ward for my non-stress test. That test showed that baby seemed very happy and content. I was sent home to wait for baby to come.
It was Darren's mom's birthday so we had dinner plans to go out with her. We went to White Spot with Cheryl and Darren joked about it being "the last supper!"... well, he was right!!! We got home to numerous messages from my midwife and my best friend Alli (who also saw the same midwives as me and they knew we were close)... I listened to the message from my midwife Amy and it said I had to go in to the hospital that night to be induced!!! It was 7:15pm and I had to be at the hospital at 8:30pm! Eek! Needless to say, my blood pressure sky-rocketed! Darren calmed me down and we got everything ready to head to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 8:20pm and met Emma (our other midwife) there. Up we went to the maternity ward where I was hooked up to the monitoring machines and they inserted cervidil to ripen my cervix. If contractions started within 2 hours I had to stay in the hospital and if they didn't I could go home and rest. Well, they started pretty much right away! I got "comfortable" in the hospital bed and they turned out the lights and I was to try to get some rest!!! Ya, right! The contractions were not that bad, but enough to be annoying and they were coming every 5-10 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. I did, however, get to listen to Darren snore away as he slept in the big lazyboy chair in the delivery room!
Wednesday, December 4th:
By 8:30am the next morning, I might have gotten 1.5 hours of sleep in total throughout the entire night. Emma, our wonderful midwife, spent the entire night in the hospital with me constantly monitoring the readings from the machine. She recommended breaking my water to the OB as I was 2cm dilated. He agreed and broke my water. Hard labour contractions were pretty much immediate! It was bearable as I knew I would get to meet my sweet baby soon! Emma checked me at 10:30am and I was 4-5cms dilated. I was happy at how fast it was going! Then Emma checked me again at 2:00pm and I had only increased to 6cm! I was pretty sad that it had slowed down. At this point, I had been in hospital for 17.5 hours and had not eaten since "the last supper"! They didn't want me to eat anything as there was a chance of getting the Oxytocin drip for more induction. Emma was worried I wouldn't have enough energy to push so she recommended I get an epidural to be able to rest. I agreed. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist couldn't get there until 3:30pm! Emma also wanted to start me on Oxytocin right away... that was NOT fun! Contractions with Oxytocin are CRAZY PAINFUL!!! Until I could get the epidural, Emma injected Fentanyl into my IV to take the edge off the contractions... I guess it helped a bit! My contractions were constant and extremely painful. I was in full body shakes and I was soooo ready to be done! Emma checked me at 4:00pm and I was 9cm dilated!!! And the anesthesiologist still hadn't gotten there! 10 minutes later I was telling Emma that I felt like I needed to push... she didn't think I was fully dilated yet so she quickly checked again. Sure enough, I was ready!
I started pushing around 4:15pm... this was not a quick process! The baby was pushed way over on my right side so it was not an easy go to push it out. After 2 hours, I thought it was never going to end. I remember asking Emma if I was even close or if progress was being made. She kept reassuring me that little by little we were getting there. My mom was holding one leg and foot while Emma did the same on the other side. Darren was amazing and such a wonderful support person. He had a cool cloth on my forehead and constantly reassured me that I was doing great. Finally, I felt a big shift and the pushing became a bit easier. She had shifted to the center to be a more straight shot down. Eventually, by 6:52pm, Everly came to join us! My mom said "it's a girl!" and I responded with "what?"... I was convinced throughout the whole pregnancy that I was having a boy! She was absolutely gorgeous... and small! Based on the look of my placenta, it was a good thing I had been induced. It had lots of calcification and scar tissue. This would explain why she was so small for being 12 days overdue! She had to be put in the warmer while the pediatrician sucked out meconium from her lungs.
Eventually, Darren cut the cord and she was put on my chest. We were in love from the minute she joined the world! The rest of the night was a blur... I ate a bit of food (it was terrible hospital food) and nursed her. We had to stay another night in the hospital so they could monitor her sugar levels since she was so small. I was whisked away to my private room and Darren went home to be with the dogs. I lay in bed all night staring at such a beautiful little girl that we had waited so long for!
Joanne (another one of our midwives) came the next morning and checked us over. We were discharged from the hospital at 11:30am and we could finally go home! We walked outside and it was the first snowfall of the winter! What a perfect way to get to go home!
This was the beginning to a life-long story of Everly Lyn Birnie!
Here is the full story of how it all came to be...
Tuesday, December 3rd:
I was 11 days overdue and VERY ready for this baby to come. Being so far overdue, my midwife requested I get an ultrasound and a non-stress test done at the hospital to make sure baby was still doing fine. I went to the hospital hoping for good news. The ultrasound technician didn't say anything out of the ordinary to me and all she said was baby was going to be 7 pounds (give or take 1 pound)... I then went upstairs to the maternity ward for my non-stress test. That test showed that baby seemed very happy and content. I was sent home to wait for baby to come.
It was Darren's mom's birthday so we had dinner plans to go out with her. We went to White Spot with Cheryl and Darren joked about it being "the last supper!"... well, he was right!!! We got home to numerous messages from my midwife and my best friend Alli (who also saw the same midwives as me and they knew we were close)... I listened to the message from my midwife Amy and it said I had to go in to the hospital that night to be induced!!! It was 7:15pm and I had to be at the hospital at 8:30pm! Eek! Needless to say, my blood pressure sky-rocketed! Darren calmed me down and we got everything ready to head to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 8:20pm and met Emma (our other midwife) there. Up we went to the maternity ward where I was hooked up to the monitoring machines and they inserted cervidil to ripen my cervix. If contractions started within 2 hours I had to stay in the hospital and if they didn't I could go home and rest. Well, they started pretty much right away! I got "comfortable" in the hospital bed and they turned out the lights and I was to try to get some rest!!! Ya, right! The contractions were not that bad, but enough to be annoying and they were coming every 5-10 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. I did, however, get to listen to Darren snore away as he slept in the big lazyboy chair in the delivery room!
Wednesday, December 4th:
By 8:30am the next morning, I might have gotten 1.5 hours of sleep in total throughout the entire night. Emma, our wonderful midwife, spent the entire night in the hospital with me constantly monitoring the readings from the machine. She recommended breaking my water to the OB as I was 2cm dilated. He agreed and broke my water. Hard labour contractions were pretty much immediate! It was bearable as I knew I would get to meet my sweet baby soon! Emma checked me at 10:30am and I was 4-5cms dilated. I was happy at how fast it was going! Then Emma checked me again at 2:00pm and I had only increased to 6cm! I was pretty sad that it had slowed down. At this point, I had been in hospital for 17.5 hours and had not eaten since "the last supper"! They didn't want me to eat anything as there was a chance of getting the Oxytocin drip for more induction. Emma was worried I wouldn't have enough energy to push so she recommended I get an epidural to be able to rest. I agreed. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist couldn't get there until 3:30pm! Emma also wanted to start me on Oxytocin right away... that was NOT fun! Contractions with Oxytocin are CRAZY PAINFUL!!! Until I could get the epidural, Emma injected Fentanyl into my IV to take the edge off the contractions... I guess it helped a bit! My contractions were constant and extremely painful. I was in full body shakes and I was soooo ready to be done! Emma checked me at 4:00pm and I was 9cm dilated!!! And the anesthesiologist still hadn't gotten there! 10 minutes later I was telling Emma that I felt like I needed to push... she didn't think I was fully dilated yet so she quickly checked again. Sure enough, I was ready!
I started pushing around 4:15pm... this was not a quick process! The baby was pushed way over on my right side so it was not an easy go to push it out. After 2 hours, I thought it was never going to end. I remember asking Emma if I was even close or if progress was being made. She kept reassuring me that little by little we were getting there. My mom was holding one leg and foot while Emma did the same on the other side. Darren was amazing and such a wonderful support person. He had a cool cloth on my forehead and constantly reassured me that I was doing great. Finally, I felt a big shift and the pushing became a bit easier. She had shifted to the center to be a more straight shot down. Eventually, by 6:52pm, Everly came to join us! My mom said "it's a girl!" and I responded with "what?"... I was convinced throughout the whole pregnancy that I was having a boy! She was absolutely gorgeous... and small! Based on the look of my placenta, it was a good thing I had been induced. It had lots of calcification and scar tissue. This would explain why she was so small for being 12 days overdue! She had to be put in the warmer while the pediatrician sucked out meconium from her lungs.
Eventually, Darren cut the cord and she was put on my chest. We were in love from the minute she joined the world! The rest of the night was a blur... I ate a bit of food (it was terrible hospital food) and nursed her. We had to stay another night in the hospital so they could monitor her sugar levels since she was so small. I was whisked away to my private room and Darren went home to be with the dogs. I lay in bed all night staring at such a beautiful little girl that we had waited so long for!
Joanne (another one of our midwives) came the next morning and checked us over. We were discharged from the hospital at 11:30am and we could finally go home! We walked outside and it was the first snowfall of the winter! What a perfect way to get to go home!
This was the beginning to a life-long story of Everly Lyn Birnie!
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