Estee's Birth Story Cont.

That first night in the hospital with Estee was not very restful. They let me rest for a while and then brought Estee in when she needed to eat and after that I just kept her with me. They kept coming in and taking her to check her glucose levels, and then they came in checking me and taking my blood and whatever else, and I was feeding her.....so in between all of that I tried to sleep a little, but let's be honest there wasn't a whole lot of that. But my friend Abby said she would hook me up with a nice quiet room and that she did. Thanks Abby!

 Now I don't remember all the details of the next day because I am writing this second half of the birth story 5 months after Estee was born. That morning my parents, Chris's parents and Chris and Aili came to visit. I was really interested to see what Aili thought of the whole thing. She came in and sat by me and said hi to the baby, but didn't seem that interested. I think shes just didn't understand why everyone was together and in the hospital. It was all a little overwhelming. We gave her a little gift from the baby which was some princess crowns. My mom gave her a little toy violin. Ever since Aili saw a performance of the song "Say Something" by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera being performed on TV she has loved pretending to play the violin with sticks outside or whatever, so my mom thought that would be fun. My nurse loved it, she thought Aili as so cute playing the violin. The nurse took her out to the nurses station to have her perform for them, because she is just the cutest.

We had a bunch of visitors this day. Logan, and Kristen came and visited. Josh, Kyla, their kids and Amy came and visited. And later that night Jen visited.

I had Estee in the room with me the whole next night. I just felt like getting the hang of taking care of her on my own and I didn't think I would be getting that much sleep anyway. The next morning the doctors came in and checked on me and Estee. We both looked good. Estee's glucose had stayed good, and she had passed all her tests. I asked the Pediatrician when we were suppose to go in for Estee's first appointment and he said 2 weeks. "2 weeks!" I said. That was a big change for us. We were at the hospital or doctors office constantly with Aili so that seemed forever for me. I asked if I could go in at a week just to have piece of mind and he said that was fine. I asked the nurse how soon I could check out, she said if the doctors said we were good to go whenever I wanted to. I wanted to get out as early as possible so she said she would start working on the discharge papers. I think most people enjoy the hospital stay, like having the extra help. I hate it. I think I have just stayed in the hospital way too much with Aili. I much rather be in the comfort of my own home, with my bed and my family anyday.

 I called Chris and told him we were checking out soon after they got to the hospital. I felt like I waited forever for Chris and Aili to get there. Chris said that Aili had been asking for me a lot. Asking where I was. I was actually kind of surprised because she loves her daddy, but she has never not had a day without me, so that was weird for her. She came into the room and I picked her up and hugged her. I just started crying she walked into that room and I just felt like she had changed so much, it wasn't the same Aili. She was so big, and just seemed different. This new baby thing is a big change for a family! Not long after they got their we packed everything up and headed home.

I actually felt really good. Tired but good. I felt a lot better than I did with Aili. And can I tell you how amazing it was to go home WITH my baby! Hallelujah! The most wonderful happy feeling! Such a nice change from last time. I got home and felt really good, until I started walking around too much and then I could feel my legs swelling.

Logan, Kristen, Olin and Aanders came to visit us on their way out of town. It was nice to have them here to see Estee. Neither of my brothers were in town when Aili was born....not that they could have seen her. And Sean was out of town for Lacrosse for Estee's birth so it was nice to have Logan and Kristen there so I didn't feel like an only child.

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE newborns. The are so yummy and cuddly. I just could sit and rock in my chair holding Estee sleeping on my forever. It is one of the best things in the WHOLE world. I tried to cherish it as much as I could. I realized how much I missed out with Aili. We didn't get to enjoy her as a newborn. She was in the hospital during that whole fresh newborn stage and I didn't get to cuddle her and hold her enough. So I didn't care how tired I was, I was just so happy to be able to have my baby home holding her, and taking care of her. I love my babies so much. My heart really just feels like it could explode sometimes. And I'm so grateful to have a healthy baby!

Aili has been great with Estee. Not overbearing, but likes. Her She likes to get her stool and stand with me at the changing table and help me. She hands me the diaper and the wipes and the "baby cream". She talks to Estee in the sweetest high pitched voice. I love it. I really hope they love each other forever.