Okay, so I'm a terrible mother...

 

I know, I know, I haven't been the quickest at updating my blog. I haven't taken the time to actually get on here and publish, but I am taking the advantage of a quiet house right now while the kids are sleeping. I just want you all to know that I am foregoing my nap today just to do this, so you should feel so proud of me... I'm exhausted. ;)
Most of you already know this, but our sweet baby girl was born Aug. 5, 2009 at 2:15, weighing 6#8oz and 20 1/2 in long. She is so precious and we are just loving on her all the time. The boys really love her and they ALL love to kiss and hug her. When we first brought her home, I wasn't sure how Hudson would react to her and I stayed really close to him when he came around her because he liked to throw things at her. Anything he could find: a toy car, a ball and even he went over and grabbed his shoe and came back to her with his hand held in the air ready to strike... I, of course, was able to stop the object before it hit her. He hasn't tried that since and now all he wants to do is come over to her and rub his face in her hair and "kiss" her. He just comes at her with his mouth wide open, full of slobber and puts his face on her head, leaving a rather large wet spot on her head. It's so sweet. :)
Well, her first week was eventful here at home. She had jaundice pretty bad and had to be put on bili lights, well actually it was one light that she could still be wrapped up with... thank goodness, because I know some people are not so fortunate. When we went to the doctor the first time to get her first little check up, like 3 days after she was born, her bilirubin count was 19.4. I didn't know how serious this was, but they sent the people out with the lights and set us up immediately. A nurse came everyday and she was so wonderful. After 4 days, her bilirubin came down to 10.7 and our dr. said she was finally able to be without the light. We were so excited! Since then, her color has improved and she is doing great!
Another thing we had to do was switch to strictly formula after only 6 days. She just never got the hang of nursing and she was losing too much weight. Our ped wanted me to nurse her for 20 min on each side, then give her 2 oz. of formula and then she wanted me to pump. I tried this process that afternoon and into the night and decided, with many tears, that I had to switch her to formula because I just didn't have the time to do this routine. With three active boys running around here, I didn't have an hour and a half to devote to nursing without stopping. It was a very hard decision, because I wanted to nurse her, but there really was no other option that was best for all of us in the family. Since then she has gained weight and is doing wonderful and I feel so much better about the decision and a lot less stressed out. We are all doing great around here!
Well, that's pretty much up to date with Ella. She goes in this Friday for her first set of shots... SO not looking forward to this! I am going to post more later. I have some adorable pics a sweet friend took of her when she was a week old, but I can't do it right now. I also have some great pics of the boys that I am going to post soon. So, come back later and check it out!