First Photos

The Arrival of Baby Elle Jolie Meyer

She's here, happy and healthy!

September 12, 2009 at 8:55pm

7 lbs 11 oz, 20.5 in

On Saturday afternoon around 2:15 my water broke after a day full of cleaning and laundry. I was supposed to be to work at 2:30, but Elle was ready to meet the world! This time the water just started trickling out, rather than a big gush, and then continued to leak each time she would move upwards or if I moved in a certain way. Ross took Aila and Coral to his parents and I jumped in the shower. We packed our bags and got ready, stopped for some Wendy's, then arrived at the hospital around 3:30. They verified that my water had indeed broken and that I was about 3.5 cm dilated. I started feeling contractions around the time we arrived at the hospital. They did continue to get more regular and stronger, but they weren't too bad. We moved to our labor and delivery room and got settled in. We walked around the hospital for about an hour to try and get things moving along. I had a few good contractions while walking around, and I felt pretty ready for an epidural by the end of the walk! However, once we got back and I settled down on the bed they decreased in strength. It was getting towards 7pm and my contractions weren't progressing, so the doctor recommended starting pitocin. I was eager to get started, as I was really wanting to have her before midnight, and the way things were going, it didn't seem likely! So the nurse put in an IV and started the pitocin at 0.5 strength. The attending physician came in and introduced herself and told the nurse to crank the pitocin to 1 to get things going. The contractions started to get really intense and I was quite ready to get the epidural. The anesthesiologist came pretty quickly and put it in. He jokingly said, "Usually patients have their babies within an hour after I put in the epidural." We all laughed and thought that was pretty funny. The time my epidural was put in was 7:55pm. After about 15 minutes I started feeling a lot of relief, but it was short-lived. The epidural was only affecting my right half, so I still had full feeling on my left. They were able to fix it, thank goodness, because all of a sudden I was feeling a ton of pressure and the nurse decided she would check me. Surprise, I was at 9cm! At this time it was 8:40pm. They were shocked, and had to scramble a bit to get ready. Two residents came in and they got everything set-up and as they were working I started feeling the urge to push, it all went so quickly! They checked me and I was fully dilated, and Elle was at station +2, all ready to go! With about 3 pushes she was right there, one more push and she would have been out but I had to stop and wait for the attending physician. It seemed like forever, but she actually came really fast. I pushed once more and her head was out and continued pushing to get her shoulders out, and then she was here-at 8:55pm, exactly one hour after my epidural! She was covered in vernix still, so she was all white, which was really surprising. Ross cut her cord and they laid her on my chest. She didn't open her eyes for a while, she laid on my chest and whimpered a little bit, then seemed like she went right to sleep! We rubbed her back to get her to keep crying, she had the sweetest little cry. It was so amazing meeting her finally, she was absolutely adorable. From her light strawberry blonde hair to her long fingers and sweet little toes, she's amazing! She looks so much like me as a baby, it is crazy. She definitely has my nose. While she laid on me they delivered the afterbirth and it only took like 5 minutes, I was amazed. Everything just happened so fast, it was almost unbelievable. After laying on me for 20 minutes or so I noticed she was showing signs of wanting to nurse, so I tried it and she latched right on! She nursed on both sides like a champ! It was such a beautiful experience all-around, everything was perfect. After a while the nurse took her off of me and got her weighed and measured. She had to warm her up a bit, and then gave her her first bath right there in the room. She didn't like that too much! Ross finally got to hold her after that, he was so happy. I got her back and just enjoyed holding her until we moved to our final room. I nursed her a couple more times and she slept like a champ. We ended up keeping her in the room with us the entire time we were there. Grandma and Grandpa Meyer were the first to meet her on Sunday morning and brought Big Sister Aila to meet her baby sister. Aila was so excited and kept calling her "Sissy" and wanted to hug and kiss her and point out her nose, eyes and ears. It was so sweet to hold them both in my arms and have Aila be so excited. I had been imagining that moment for a long time, wondering how exactly Aila would react. Later on that day Missy and Erica stopped by, along with her Great Aunt Marcia and Great Uncle Rich. Papa and Nana McKay came with Uncle Keaton, her Great Aunt Carolyn and cousins Megan and Madison. Everything was just great, it couldn't have gone any better. We cuddled, we slept, we nursed, enjoyed our time. We were discharged on Monday around noon and were definitely anxious to get home. So anxious in fact, rather than waiting around for a wheel chair, after a while we just up and left and I walked out! Getting home felt great, Elle and I went straight to napping while Ross went to a doctor's appointment. When he got back we went to pick up Aila but she had come down with a cold so she couldn't come home. It ended up that she had developed an ear infection along with a cold, so she wasn't doing very well at all. She didn't end up coming home until Wednesday night. I missed Aila and felt terrible that I couldn't be there when she wasn't feeling well and wanted me so badly. It was a huge wakeup call to what it was going to be like having two kids, only being one person I will have decisions to make and I'll just have to do my best. It was nice to sleep and get some alone time with Elle, but I absolutely adore my two girls and having them together.

Week 37

I'm officially full term now, crazy! It's 2 days and 2 weeks until the due date! I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since I've blogged, it has all flown by so quickly. My last doctor's appointment was on the 1st of this month and she checked me and said I was 2-3 cm and 60% effaced. I have been having really strong Braxton Hicks contraction in increasing amounts, especially when I'm at work. Work is killer, but I am so close to being done! My last scheduled day is a week from this Thursday, the 17th. I had today off, I work tomorrow and Thursday then have Friday off and finish out working 6 days in a row. But them I'm DONE! And of course it could be sooner, one never knows when Elle is going to make her debut! I have reached that point in the pregnancy where I am ready to be done. I really can't complain, my back is holding up ok, and my baby sling has really been helping at work. I get a decent amount of sleep, I wake up 2-3 times a night to pee, but am able to get right back to sleep. I've gained a total of 15 pounds so far this pregnancy, which isn't saying much because I still had weight to lose from my previous pregnancy, but I'm happy. I am way more comfortable this time around not lugging around so much extra weight, I'm like 30 pounds lighter than last time which is crazy. The worst part of it all is peoples' comments every day at work. People are so annoying, it's driving my nuts. People are already saying, "You haven't had that baby yet?!" (And I haven't even reached my due date yet.) And then there's the "Oh you've dropped even more today" or "You're really big." I just want to say, SHUT UP! I'm big, for sure, because I'm NINE MONTHS PREGNANT! But I'm really not big for how far along I am. Granted, Aila gained a ton in just the last 2.5 weeks or so, ending up being 9 lbs 1 oz, but I'm predicting Elle is going to be in the 8 lb range.

Ross was in Arizona for almost 3 weeks and while he was gone I got a ton done on the house. Mike and Cheri helped me so much, it was amazing. When Ross got back we picked up the furniture and put it together and in just the past couple of days we put finishing touches on the room. It is absolutely beautiful and I love it! I have all of her clothes washed and sorted, organized and put away. I just need to bring my little girl home!

I painted this picture for Elle's room

I got all of my breast feeding supplies together and cleaned up!

31 Weeks

Almost 8 months, 9 weeks max (hopefully!!) left--it's just unreal how quickly the time is going! Elle is over 3 pounds, about 3.3 to be exact, and about 16 inches long. She can turn her head from side to side and still has room to do sumersaults and I can definitely tell. This baby is so active! She's all about being up in my ribs and stretching out from time-to-time. I love looking down at my stomach and all of a sudden seeing a limb bulge out from my belly and watching the shape of it change. These last months are all about growing, and I am going to venture a guess and say she's got at least 5 more pounds to gain, we shall see!

I'm still feeling well, but definitely slowing down a bit compared to before. Tired, I'm just all-around tired, but Aila and work keep me on the move. I definitely know this is a good thing, it's so easy to just lay around and I swear I could sleep all day every day away, so I'm grateful to have Aila to keep me busy and occupied, and work to keep me on my toes and have somewhere to be, passing the time away so quickly. I can't express how much I look forward to meeting Elle and seeing Aila interact with her and having some time to just be home with my girls, it's the motivation that keeps me going each day. I'm up to the bi-weekly doctor appointments and each appointment is still "quick" and easy, and all is well. Her heartbeat is consistently in the 140s and I am measuring right on, with very little to no weight gain each week. Aila has come to a few appointments with me and she is showing some interest in my growing belly. She is mainly interested in my strange looking belly button though! She listened to Elle's heartbeat very intently, looking a little confused at Tuesday's appointment. She can't comprehend what's going on, but it's definitely great to see her interest peaking a little, and I definitely think by the time she's 18 months and Elle is born, Aila is going to have a descent grasp as to what's going on. I think she's going to be a wonderful big sister and will be a great helper. :)

I am super excited, I finally have all of the furniture for the room picked out and found a great deal. I have had the bedding picked out for a while, and Cheri bought us a great crib at a garage sale a while ago and I've been searching for matching furniture. It is a beautiful crib and I was so grateful that she got it for us, as we really have started with nothing for this nursery! However, there are only 2 matching pieces that exist and they have been sold out everywhere. I think the collection may be discontinued. So we started considering buying used furniture and refinishing, or just buying pieces that didn't match. After looking at many different places though, we began to realize that for the price of something used, we may as well just buy new. So I've just been looking and looking at different websites on-line, watching out for garage sales, checking Craigslist, but I really hadn't found anything. Then yesterday I found exactly what I've been looking for: Nursery in a box! It's a 3 piece set--crib, changing table and dresser--that are in cherry, which is the color I had wanted to do from the beginning. It's 3, brand new, matching pieces all for $230! Here is a picture:

Here's a picture of the bedding again:

And here is a picture of the rocker I have picked out:

I know exactly how I'm going to set up the furniture and I am definitely going to paint the walls light blue with the matching border around like in the picture above. I am really excited, we finally have Aila's room all settled, so now we are starting to prepare Elle's nursery. Yay!

By the way, I did set up a registry on babiesrus.com. It's consists pretty much of the coordinating decorations and such that go with the bedding set, some storage/organization items, stuff for feeding/breastfeeding, and some other random stuff. The only things not on there are a crib mattress and a changing pad for the changing table, because I didn't find any reasonable ones on their website. I found that Walmart has GREAT prices on baby stuff. I just thought I'd put a registry together just in case. If anyone wants to get us something and they don't see anything on the registry, something as simple as diapers or wipes would be so appreciated, as we will have 2 in diapers very shortly! Anyway, the Registry Number is: 46008638 or you can find it by searching for Ashley Meyer as the registrant or Ross Meyer as the co-registrant at the babies r us website or store. :)

30 weeks

Baby Elle is nearly 3 pounds now and is about 15.7 inches long. She still has a fair amount of room to move around compared to the coming weeks as she gains another 4 to 6 or so pounds (what I am estimating, hopefully she'll be around 7, no more than 9!) Her eyesight is still developing although her eyes are closed much of the time. She can see some light that may filter through my belly. Her vision right now is 20/400!

I am feeling large and pregnant at this point! People aren't telling me that I'm small anymore either...I still have 10 weeks or so to go and I already have people asking me if I'm ready to pop soon! People really can be kind of annoying, the worst comment is, "Oh, you still have the WHOLE summer left." I donno, it's just kind of annoying. I actually enjoy being pregnant in the summer, Aila and I have been going for as many walks and trips to the park as possible and trying to enjoy the weather. I'm still able to do my 3 mile walk a few times a week, so until I can't do that I don't have much to complain about. Getting comfortable at night is getting increasingly harder, and my back is starting to hurt after being at work for a few hours. It was especially brutal this week, as I had to work 9 days in a row. I'm just generally tired all of the time, but I can still push through it and do everything I need to do. Every now and then I get indigestion and heart burn, but it's not too bad (yet). Elle continues to be very active and as always, I enjoy that! I really feel good about being at 30 weeks. Chances of survival at any time after this point are very high, and just being in the 30s we're really in that final stretch! I can't believe I've been pregnant for over half a year!

28 Weeks-3rd Trimester Begins!

Reaching the third trimester, I really feel like we're hitting the home stretch, although there is a fair amount of time left. Hopefully a maximum of 12 weeks, we definitely don't want to be over-due! I am so curious to see how big she actually gets because I still feel pretty small for how far along we are. Aila grew a couple pounds in the last like 2 weeks though, I'm sure, so you never know!
By this week she weighs around 2 and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches long. Her blinking eyelids now sport eyelashes. She may now be able to see some of the light that filters through my belly. Her brain continues rapid neuron development and she is adding more and more body fat.
She sure is a strong little thing, and I continue to enjoy her continuous movements. Rather than moving away when you poke her like Aila did, Elle likes to push right on back. She squirms around in protest if my bladder gets too full or if I lay on my side and put pressure on her, she likes her space and I don't blame her! It's only going to continue to get more and more cramped! I was realizing today that I have yet to develop the linea negra that most women get when they are pregnant. I did get it with Aila's pregnancy, I wonder if it will still happen. Anyway, I'm feeling great, Aila and I even went for a 3 mile walk the other day. The worst part for me is the restless leg syndrome. Sometimes it is unbearable at night when I am trying to get to sleep and I toss and turn over and over. There's not much you can do for it either, except try to stretch or walk it out, but it is so hard when you're tired and just trying to get to sleep. I definitely won't miss those horrible sensations! Tuesday I have my 28 week appointment, and until 36 weeks I'll now be going bi-weekly. I have hopefully a maximum of 9 check-up appointments left, but who's counting?

27 weeks

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I have posted! Time is absolutely flying by, as I am super busy pretty much every second of each day it seems. A week and a day after my last post I woke up at about 6am feeling awful. I got out of bed and went straight into the bathroom to throw up. I was confused at first, wondering why morning sickness would randomly be flaring up, but then I realized I had come down with the flu. It was really awful, I haven't had the flu in years and years, and pregnancy definitely isn't the time to be so sick. I went to my doctor who prescribed some anti-nausea medication, but it didn't really help. All I could stomach was toast, and it was even hard to drink water. I sucked on ice cubes of water and pedialyte as much as I could stand to try to stay hydrated. I was supposed to work that Friday and Saturday, but obviously couldn't. I was feeling better by Sunday, but still weak, especially since I still couldn't eat or hardly drink. I had to go to work that day, and towards the end of my shift I threw up again and was feeling progressively worse. I had to stay at work another hour before I could come home, and by the time I got home I was absolutely miserable. I was doubled over with incredible pain, I was so scared that I was in labor. I had never felt such pain before or since labor with Aila. I called my OB/GYN office and talked to the doctor on-call who told me to go to the Labor and Delivery Triage at the hospital. I was so scared, I really thought I was going into labor, the awful cramps kept coming in waves and I honestly couldn't tell if it was my uterus or my stomach/bowels cramping. At the hospital I was immediately hooked up to the monitors and saw Elle's strong heartbeat, and that it was not contractions, thank goodness. They said that I was dehydrated and that it was probably just the last of the flu virus working its way out of my system. I received several IV bags of fluid, as well as some anti-nausea medication that really helped. They did some blood work and found that I had critically low potassium levels so I had to stay to get an IV bag of potassium as well. I ended up being there for about 5 hours, and I felt much better by the time I left. I was just so relieved that Elle was okay, that is all that really mattered. The next day, Monday, I luckily had the day off, and Aila had been taken by Ross over to the Meyer's when I went to the hospital, so I ended up sleeping literally all day, I didn't even finally get out of bed until close to 3pm! I was so worn out from being sick, it was so nice to finally get some restful sleep.

Anyway, so I have a lot of catching up to do! Let's start with 24 weeks...

At 24 weeks, she had gained about 4 ounces from the previous week, putting her just over a pound and over a foot in length. Her brain was continuing to grow quickly and the taste buds were continuing to develop. The lungs started developing branches and the cells that produce surfactant.

Here's the 6 month mark belly shot, still pretty small!

25 weeks

This week she was about 1.5 lbs and 13.5 inches long. The baby fat began developing this week, which smooths out the thin, wrinkly skin. At this point hair texture and color was discernable.

26 weeks

As the network of nerves in the ears continued to develop, this week marked the point when she may have began hearing voices outside of the womb, so not only my voice, but possibly Ross' as well. She continued to inhale and exhale small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is critical for lung development. These breathing movements are also good practice for when she finally takes her first breath of air. The fat continus accumulation under the skin, and weight was a pound and two thirds, while her length was about 14 inches.

27 weeks

This week she is nearing 2 pounds and is about 14.5 inches long from head to toe. She is sleeping and waking at regular intervals (which I can't tell, because it seems she moves constantly.) She is now opening and closing her eyes, and even sucking on her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, her brain is now very active.

In the past week my stomach has really popped. I've been measuring normally at each doctor's visit, but I have felt really small. People were always commenting on how they couldn't believe I was 6 months along because my belly was so little, but that quickly changed overnight it seemed! I am still pretty comfortable, but all I can say is I "feel pregnant." I am much more aware of the growing bump and its weight. I'm getting to the point where it's getting more and more difficult to get comfortable at night and get to sleep. I absolutely can't lay on my back, it's not comfortable at all, and even rolling over from side-to-side is harder. I still have a ways to go though, and I am definitely still enjoying my fair amount of mobility. I can still shave my legs, reach my feet and bend over fairly easily, so I'm happy. Elle moves so much, and I absolutely love it. She is always adjusting and doing who knows what in there. It's really obvious when she changes position now, as she's getting bigger and bigger. My belly flattens out and gets so much smaller when her back is against mine. Then when she has her back to one side, you can see the uneven bulge. If her back is against my stomach, I am really sticking out then! I just really notice how much I change shape, sometimes I have a tiny little ball, other times i have a big torpedo belly. From time-to-time I am experiencing heartburn, which is not fun. Colostrum has started developing in the past couple of weeks, but it's not bothersome. I must say, I definitely enjoyed my break, but I will definitely breastfeed again. 89 days to go...I can't believe it. So far so good, just normal, healthy and uneventful, just the way we want it. I can't wait to meet Miss Elle, every day I am getting more and more excited for that day in September. We have so much to do before then! I've really had to fight off some of those nesting instincts, because we're just not at a point where we can really concentrate on a new nursery just yet. Soon enough though, it's flying by so fast!!!!