Enslies first bath.

 It seemed like we waited for ever for Enslies first bath. Im guessing its because of Erilyns nicu stay that she seemed to loose her umbilical cord faster. Enslie lost hers but it still bled for a few days I was so excited when I finally stopped. I just love the smell of a freshly bathed baby. Erilyn was pretty excited to have baby Enslie in the bath with her and kept trying to help me clean her.

Her hair is super fuzzy when it first drys it cracks me up!

Mini-golf.

We decide to take Erilyn to play mini-golf one day we went on a thurs because its half off at Hollywood Connection that day. It was pretty funny Travis tried showing her how to do it right but she kept on doing it her way. Her favorite was to hit the ball once at the beginning then she would go pick it up and put right by the hole so she could it in easier.


Making sure she hits it in the hole.

Daddy showing her how.

We LOVE our pediatrician!

I don't know if I have ever talked about our pediatrician, but she is the best! Since Erilyn came early we hadn't picked a doc for her yet so we kinda rushed and chose one that was based out of St. marks where she was born and honestly we picked her because her name is awesome! ( Doc. Da La O) We have since grown to love her. She has 2 little boys her youngest is around Erilyns age. I think this is part of why we love her so much she is young and going through the same thing we are hahaha. She can Easily relate to us and knows all the latest tips, tricks and can give us advice from her personal experience. When we took Enslie in for her 2 week check up the first thing she did when she walked in was apologize for not better preparing us for having to take Enslie to the RTU. I could tell she was genuine and felt really bad. She said that was part of the reason we were sent right to the RTU rather then having to go thru the ER first. She didn't want us to have to deal with that as well as have to go to the hospital un-expectantly. I thanked her for that since it also meant that our new-born baby didn't have to sit next to every other sick child In the ER and get who knows what. I then told her that I had to stop nursing. She asked why and as I was telling her excuse after excuse thru tears. She said... "you know I can tell how badly you wanted to nurse and how much it hurts not to be able to. That shows how great a mom you are that you knew that what you wanted wasn't best for your family in the end." She then told me that formula is just as good for them as my milk and that Enslie would more then likely be just as healthy as Erilyn. That some babies just wont nurse, its wasn't my fault, And that The fact that I had a hard time pumping because I felt that Erilyn wasn't getting the attention she needed, showed again how Great a mom I was. And that My decision in the end was the best for my unique situation. And gave me praise for trying so hard to nurse. And this is why we love her she knew exactly what to tell me to make me feel better about my decision. Erilyn LOVES her, and doesn't mind going to see her. And her tips and techniques are always what I my self would do.

Our impatient little girl.

One of my goals of this year was to nurse little miss Enslie longer then I did Erilyn well that didn't happen. :-(  When she was born she ended up with a bruise on her head no one knows for sure how or why. Usually babies who are suctioned out, had the use of forceps or were in the birth canal for to long have them, none of those were the case. My guess is its from how low she was sitting the last couple of days it hurt so bad to walk!! Any way because she has the bruise on her head its filled with excess blood and as its breaks down it creates the bil-rubin that if not absorbed and passed thru her system and out fast enough it causes jaundice or the yellowing of the skin. Anyway because she had this bruise that was giving her body bili ruben, she was extra tired for the first couple of days and would just fall asleep nursing. Because she fell asleep nursing she was not getting the amount of fluids she needed in order to pass the bili-rubin thru her little body and because she wasn't able to pass it she wasn't getting the nutrients to stay awake to eat so it was just a never ending cycle. I ended up pumping and giving her my milk thru a syringe at the breast hoping that she would learn to stay latched on and suck. She would latch on and suck for a few seconds then pull away or fall asleep. I worked for 2 hours with a lactation specialist while I was in the hospital after having her and another 2 hours at primary children's with a different one. Both times they were stumped!! We tried every trick in the book from nipple shields to pumping before nursing to get my flow going nothing helped. They even checked to see if she was tongue or lip tied witch she is not. The second specialist said that she is just impatient like her daddy and my flow wasn't fast enough. I tried to nurse and then pump and give her what I pumped for the next few days. It seemed like every time I sat down to pump Erilyn needed/wanted me for something and was tied down. Pumping was also bringing back bad memories of when Erilyn was in the nicu and having to pump constantly. Every time after trying to nurse and Enslie fighting it would cry, Every time I thought about the fact that she may have to be given formula I would cry. Knowing that part of the reason she got jaundice so bad was because she wasn't getting the nutrients she needed I would cry. I was crying machine! Infact im crying right now as I type this. Nursing was one of the things I was looking forward to most and it only lasted a week. I cried when she had her first formula bottle. And cried even harder when I made the decision to stop nursing all together. But in the end I know I made the right decision for me and my daughters. She is now staying hydrated and getting the nutrients she needs from the formula. She has been able to keep her jaundice under control while her bruise heals. And have come to terms with the fact I made the best decision not only for my daughters health but for my own well being. I'm no longer stressed about trying to get her to latch on and weather or not she is getting what she needs. Im also able to be a better mom to both my girls because im not tied down pumping, crying or worrying about weather Erilyn is getting the attention she needs while I pump. Enslie is happier as well. I am still able to pump a few oz. at night once Erilyn is asleep for the night and Enslie is napping. ( I figure alittle is better then nothing).

Rapid Treatment Unit.(RTU)

We noticed when we were having Enslies pictures taken that she was a little yellow luckily we had an apt. with her doc later that day. She took one look at her and immediately ordered a bili ruben test so we could see what her levels were. She said they would call weather the news was good or bad. When they called about 2 hours later to my surprise it was our doc (I was expecting it to be one of the nurses). She first made sure that It was me then said that they had gotten her results back and it was high enough that she needed to be treated asap. She had all ready called primary childrens to tell them we were coming and asked how long it would take to get there. I told her it was about half an hour drive she said that's what I told them. 

Your going to the RTU they are waiting for you. I asked a few questions about weather or not I would be able to nurse and how long she would be there for, then we were on our way.  

See how yellow she looks next to her sister.

As a precaution since she was so little they put heart monitors on her to keep an eye on her vital signs the whole time.

Poor little thing also had an iv in her arm that they had to tape up real good so she wouldn't pull  it out accidently. They tried her foot first but the vein kept on moving (she's got her moms veins). By the time they moved to her arm she was not happy so I had to help hold her down. :-( 

All her pretty lights.

Finally after 22 hours in the hospital we got to go home. Hopefully we wont have to go back there any time soon!

Enslies newborn pictures.

Besides her" little sister" shirt Erilyn picked out everything including the blanket colors.

Enslie Jaylynn Shorts Birth story.

Starting at about 37 weeks I started to get contractions they would start to get about 10 min apart then stop for hours or even days. It was quite annoying and painful, I had a growth ultra sound on the 20 they said she weighed about 7lbs 10oz. This made me nervous I was scared I was going to deliver a 10lb. baby I told my doc this and he agreed to induce me because she was measuring big, it was my second pregnancy, I was already dilating and I was ready. So we scheduled it for Feb. 3. I had a doctors apt. on the 29th I was hoping I would be dilated enough to induce I was a 4 but because I wasn't having regular contractions he said we would have to wait till I went on my own or the 3. The next day I started to get contractions  after some morning ummm... "fun". They were about 8 min apart I was trying to figure out how to keep them coming when I noticed that it had snowed. I threw on some jeans, a t-shirt and my coat to shovel  it rained then snowed on top of it so the snow was more like slush witch made it kind of heavy witch was even better since there wasn't much. I took my time making as many shovel strokes as I could I even shoveled the drive way in a spiral. When I came inside they were closer like 3 min apart but weren't as painful as I remembered so I thought they would stop again. We decided to play some horse with a little basketball hoop that Travis got from work. They were starting to get stronger but I still wasn't sure. By this time it was about noon Travis had to be to work at 1245 he said he was going to go get dressed I thought he was getting ready for work and I would call him if something happened..... nope he came up with my hospital bag and pillow and said we were going to the hospital to get checked out. I still wasn't sure if this was it but agreed to go get checked out. When we got to the hospital I had 3 pretty good contraction while filling out the short questionnaire and getting my insurance card scanned. They didn't have any clean open rooms so they put me in a triage room and had me change into a hospital gown while they cleaned the room and monitored me for a few min. They came back in and checked me I was a 4 and half to 5 so they admitted me. When we got to the room the nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural I said I did but wanted to wait she said since I was going so fast I might miss my chance if  I didn't get it so I agreed about 5 min later the anesthesiologist came in and as I was getting the epidural my doc showed up the nurse asked him if he was going to break my water he said I had to finish my anti-biotics first because I tested positive for group b strep. So we had to wait my doc came in at about 545 to check me (I was at a 6) and break my water. An hour later they checked me and I was at an 8 that's when it started to hurt. It hurt on my lower belly but only when I had a contraction so the anisethiologist  came and gave me another dose of medicine the nurse decided to try letting me lay on my side we did the right first  I could tell it was going to be soon so everyone left the room besides Travis. The nurse then had me turn onto my left side that's when the pressure started and it HURT. My contractions were about 1min and a half apart I had 3 then she checked me the head was right there, so she called my doc who luckily was in the parking lot he came in and got all prepped. It was time to push the first push you could see the top of her head the next alittle more then alittle more then we waited and waited for the next contraction when it came I pushed her head out then one more for the shoulders. When he broke my water there was merconium so they had to take her to get checked out right away by the nicu so they could clean out her lungs before she cried. She let out a nice scream it was an awesome sound to hear since Erilyn didn't cry. They then cleaned her up and brought her right over to me to do some skin to skin and try to nurse before weighing and measuring her. Erilyn was the first to meet her then everyone else. I have to say that this labor and delivery was a complete 180 from last time  and Im very happy with how it turned out. Now for the good part.... pictures :-D

Big sister when she first got to the hospital.

Erilyn made sure we were all entertained.

They gave Erilyn this cute im a big sister now band to wear.

She fell asleep to grandma tickling her back.

Then had lots of energy to entertain us after.

There she is

They left her cord long so Travis could cut it once they were sure she was ok.

Skin to skin this was the best thing ever!

7 lbs. 3 oz. 19 inches long born at 748 pm on Thursday Jan. 30 2014

Proud Grama

Checking her out.

Proud daddy!

First bath. This is something I was looking forward to this time also we didn't get to do this with Erilyn.

Cousin Madyson meeting her for the first time she liked her and didn't cry till Aunt Ashley took her back.

My collection of wrist bands.

Ready to go home.

Travis put this around his neck to carry it in so Erilyn had to try it.

Holding baby sister for the first time.

She grabbed her leg on her own

Proud sister

Enslie got Erilyn a few presents a new baby doll and accessory's so she can help with her own baby.