Like sand, slipping through my fingers...

Summer is slip-sliding away... which is why, although I have 600 new photos on my hard-drive, I have yet to share them with you. And why, although I am recently back from an AWESOME vacation, I have yet to tell you about it! I'm trying to enjoy every beautiful day outside with the girls, and when we're stuck inside for whatever reason, I'm catching up on housework and working to get my photography business off the ground...

But anyway, about that vacation... *sigh* wish we were still there!

On Monday, July 6, the girls and I (and Russ!) headed to Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at the Wilderness Resort for 4 nights with my mom, and my brother Erik & his family. Jason & the crew were also supposed to come, but last minute, Tracy lost her vacation time (jerk of a boss!). Samara & the gang are too busy this summer...and they were missed.

To start our Dells adventure, we caught up with my long-distance pal, Heidi! Stupid me, brought NO camera! Then, it was sun, sun, sun (a little touch of rain) and WATER for the rest of the week. See the slideshows below to experience it with us - wave pools, water slides, swimming, sunning, sleeping... My birthday was absolutely fabulous (the big 3-0!) and it was great to spend some time with not only my mom (of course!) but also with my brother, whom I rarely see.

Then on Friday, we traveled a mere 30 minutes from the Dells to Castle Rock Lake, where Russ' uncle has a summer home. Besides his aunt & uncle, we spent the weekend with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law (and wife & daughter), and Russ' cousins Mark & Chrissy (and C's hubby & daughter). We did a sunset cruise, trips to the beach, campfire (with s'mores), and fishing... Abbi & I got to ride the wave runners and Russ took Abbi on a speedboat ride. All in all, it was a trip of many firsts for our big girl, Abbi!!!! And it was SO MUCH FUN!

So, peruse the pictures at your leisure while YOU try to enjoy your summer to its fullest!!! I'll try to update more soon - returning to work 2 days a week, Millie's incredible progress with her bp injury, Photography by Kimberli going legit, and all-too-soon, Abbi starting preschool!!

Busy bees...

So, we're nearing the end of a week full of doctors' appointments.

Tuesday, I had my 6 week OB follow-up. All clear! Yay! Another unnecessary (but appreciated) apology from Dr. Cannon, and Dr. Siegel got to meet Amelia, too!

Wednesday, Amelia had her first occupational therapy appointment at the Children's Memorial Hospital rehab facility in Westchester. Her therapist, Gina, was such a nice lady. She taught me some ways to get Amelia to use her right arm more... I am supposed to mimic her the movements of her left arm with her right arm. So, if she is lifting her left arm, lift her right arm; if she is chewing on her left hand, bring her right hand to her mouth. I need to get her to recognize her right arm more... one of the ways to do this is to stroke her face and touch her mouth with her right hand. I also need to focus on tummy time. Because she hasn't been able to do tummy time until now, its very important to make it a big part of her awake-time. 50% of her awake-time, to be exact! She hated it the first time, but has done well on my last few attempts. The girls accompanied me to the appointment and enjoyed playing on the physical therapy tools - mats, pillows, and other "gymnastic" type materials. Gina was so patient with the girls being in there and playing rowdy... I was very impressed.

Today, Amelia had her 1 month well-baby checkup with Dr. M (although she is 6 weeks TOMORROW!). She is 10lb 15oz! My big girl. She is now 22 3/4". Dr. M said she is perfect. I knew that... No shots this time!

So, we'll be doing therapy appointments biweekly at first. That may change following our appointment with the brachial plexus appoinment next week, but that's the plan for the time being. And we'll follow up with Dr. M in another 4 weeks (shots! OUCH!).

In the meantime, I need to also schedule dentist appointments for Russ, Abbi, Lexi and myself. I'm not going to embarrass myself and admit how long it was been... I also need to schedule an eye appoinment for myself... And did I mention I return to work next week?!

Things are picking up!! Summer has barely begun (technically, its not even summer yet) and I already feel overwhelmed, like I'm going to miss it!!!!

On a happier note, Amelia's personality has really begun to emerge. She is a sweet, sweet baby. Today she smiled and my heart almost exploded. Her eyes just light up and her whole face smiles. She loves to talk and coo...even when she's whining, its adorable. And she has so much energy...

I'm a lucky mom. That's for sure!!!!

Its finally summer!

Although it is a chilly 50-something degrees right now and very wet out, the weather is finally warming up. Sunday was the nicest, warmest day we've had in a while, so we took advantage of it and headed to the Campton Hills Splash Park in St. Charles. I LOVE that place. For $3 per child (parents and babies are free) we get to splash in the water (geysers and fountains, dump buckets and sprays, all on a soft foam floor), play in the sand, and lounge. RELAX. Now that Abbi & Lexi are old enough to play alone in the sand, I sit on a lounge chair with Amelia and read, people-watch, and just chill.

It was also Amelia's first time out in a summer outfit. Cutie patootie! I love when she can show off her chubby arms and legs! She loved laying in the warm breeze.




Oh no!!! Lexi has "caught" whatever Abbi has... the performing and posing "bug"... I'd be worried, but as a photographer, I'm just going to enjoy her willingness to be in front of the camera for now!!!

Unbroken!

Amelia is one month old today. So hard to believe, but true!!! She's starting to smile at us and makes lots of cute noises... coos and goos and whatnot. And as of today, she is no longer broken! Yay! Her fractured arm is healed.

We met with the pediatric orthopedist today and she took an x-ray that showed Amelia's arm to be healing nicely, so we no longer have to immobilize her arm...no more pins, and she can start wearing onesies and short sleeved tops! WOO HOO!! We also got to see the original x-rays from the day she was born and all I can say is thank goodness I didn't see the x-rays at that time... we learned today that it was a 38 degree break. Yup... the bones were at a 38 degree angle. OUCH.

What's next? Well, we'll be starting physical therapy as soon as we get the go ahead from the doctor we saw today, and then we'll need to see a brachial plexus specialist at Children's Memorial Hospital. She told us that we'd be hard pressed to find a better doctor in this specialty in the Midwest. Thank goodness I stayed with my hospital throughout all 3 pregnancies... I always hoped not to need their affiliation with CMH, but I'm thankful for it.

Dr. Carl was unable to give us much information about Amelia's particular brachial plexus injury, but I've done a little bit of reading and I'm optimistic. I'm anxious to see how she responds to the therapy and what movement we'll see now that her arm is no longer immobile.

Tomorrow, I plan to take a picture of Amelia with her free arm! I'm so excited!!

Two weeks!

Amelia is two weeks old and I have to say, time is FLYING. We're doing well, though, settling into a schedule and establishing some good eating and sleeping habits. The girls love Amelia's alert times...when she looks around, sometimes looking at her sisters; hand in constant motion, grabbing at Abbi's hand or her shirt. Lexi loves to pet Amelia on the head, and both girls insist on giving smooches to Amelia before bed (sometimes forgetting me!!).

Although I was unable to take the newborn pictures I had envisioned, I have taken Amelia's newborn photos on two separate occasions, and they are now posted on my other blog. Each photo shoot had to be done quickly and carefully, followed by a dose of tylenol and an extra long nap.

I'm also hoping to finally shoot Lexi's 2nd birthday pictures soon. I'm just waiting for an evening when we have the time, and a clean kid, and the right amount of sunlight!! And of course, Miss Amelia has to cooperate so I'm not in the middle of a feeding...

So, check out the pics on my photography blog and keep an eye out for Lou's pics as well!!

Settling in...

Well, its been six days since Amelia joined us and I have to say, things are going well!! She's an amazing baby. Although she has an attitude about nursing (mainly, that its not easy enough for her!), we're persevering...most of my days are spent pumping, nursing, then bottle-feeding. Oy... I'm tired. Her arm is doing well, as far as we can tell. We won't see the pediatric orthopedist until June 8, but in the meantime, we're just pinning her right sleeve to her torso, which stabilizes the arm. And other than me picking her up too roughly this morning (half asleep), she rarely seems to be in pain. So far (knock on wood) she's my best sleeper... I'm enjoying 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night (in two shifts).

The girls are doing so great with her! Surprisingly, Lexi is willing to share me with her baby sister. She loves to watch me pump and ask questions about what I'm doing. She's a little too wild around the baby, but I can't blame her. She just doesn't know. Abbi is my little helper - when she wants to be. She likes to hold the bottle when Amelia eats and is willing to run around to get diapers or burp cloths when I can't get up. The best part is when they both sing a lullaby to Amelia. The windows shatter and the neighborhood cats howl in approval, but its a beautiful gesture all the same...

The plan is to take Amelia's newborn photographs within the next few days (I need a happy, sleepy, well-fed baby), but in the meantime, here are some pictures from coming home and Abbi's first time holding the baby.

More Amelia - and the big sisters!

Amelia joined us in our room around noon today, and her sisters were able to visit her shortly after. So, I took a couple quick pics and Russ got one of the girls and me sitting on the bed. I can't wait to photograph the three of them together! Abbi thought her sister was very cute and gave her some smooches. Lexi was unsure of who was sitting in HER spot on mom's lap. But, she was happy to share my lap when all was said and done.

We'll be going home tomorrow! I can't wait...

Amelia update and more pictures!

Although Amelia spent last night in the NICU, she should be joining us in our room this morning. The pediatric orthopedist said we will not be doing anything extraordinary for her arm...we just have to be careful of how she is handled and try to keep it as stationary as possible. For now, we're doing that by safety-pinning her sleeve to the front of her shirt. That will hopefully keep her arm supported against her chest and not allow it to roll back under her shoulder, which would cause more pain and harm. Babies' bones heal quickly, though, so she should be as good as new in 4-6 weeks.

She's doing great, all things considered. She whines a bit when picked up, as I'm sure the change in position jars her arm. But, she settles quickly. She has been sleeping great. She's not loving the formula and I don't blame her. Hopefully this morning when she joins us, she can begin to nurse. Its going to be difficult for me; supporting her 10 pounds and being careful of her arm. I just don't want to cause her any more pain!!

A couple more pictures from when we visited her last night:

Her hair! Although its already starting to lighten up - I swear she has a few blond streaks in there. And that's exactly how Abbi's hair started...

Her smooshy face... sleeping on top of her pacifier!

Sleeping peacefully... I love her little mouth and nose. So, so, so cute!!!

Amelia Rose is here!

My baby girl has arrived and thank goodness she didn't wait a moment longer...

Many of you know its been a rough pregnancy for me... worries of prematurity, loads of contractions since early in the second trimester, lots of pain these last couple weeks. We've had 6 ultrasounds, 2 of which proved we were having our third daughter. The last of which guesstimated the baby's weight at 7lb 4oz (which would have put her around 9 pounds today based on the assumed rate of growth of a half pound a week). So, when my water broke at 4:24 this morning, I was beyond thrilled. She was finally on her way, and on her own!!

So, we waited for my mother-in-law to come watch the big sisters and made it to the hospital around 6am. Due to my contractions coming just 2 minutes apart, we had to bypass breakfast for Russ. I'm so glad we did, because we got checked in to L&D triage and the nurse checked me... I was already 6 1/2 centimeters dilated and barely able to stand through the contractions. At 8am, I had enough fluid pumped into me to get my epidural, but was warned that my platelets were low...which carries more risk for the epidural. Great. In the midst of a very painful contraction, I said, "Screw the risks. Give it to me." THANK GOODNESS I did.

For the next hour, I relaxed... feeling definite amounts of pressure. The nurse (Cheryl, you ROCK! And btw, she also helped with Lexi's labor!!!) wanted my epidural to work as much as possible. She checked me at 9 and I was complete! Time to push!!! So, we went to work...and work I did! (Anyone remember the meaning of the name Amelia?!) The mood would shift from joking (Dr. Cannon is awesome and he and Cheryl did so much to help me out emotionally AND physically) to serious and back... at 9:45, the NICU team was called in, 3 nurses jumped onto my bed, and the mood definitely turned serious. Cheryl had pissed me off enough to get me pushing to avoid a c-section, but Amelia's arm was stuck behind my pubic bone and the cord was wrapped around her neck. So, Dr. Cannon had to basically break Amelia's arm, pull her head out and hand her off to the neonatologist (whose dad was Abbi's neonatologist!) at 10:00 am on the nose.

I got to kiss Amelia before Russ held her, and then she left for the nursery. News of her weight has quickly made the rounds of the maternity ward... my "little" lady weighed in at 10 pounds, 2 ounces. She's 21 inches long. And she is HUGE. Already bullying the other kids around. lol!

Actually, we're waiting on news about her arm. Xrays show that the right humerus is definitely broken, but we're waiting on a pediatric orthopedist from Childrens' Memorial in Chicago to decide how we're going to proceed... and once we make that decision, we'll know when she can join us in our room.

Here are some pictures that Russ took of her, and one that our NICU nurse Ruth took for us as a family. The girls will come to meet baby sister once she leaves the NICU. And then we'll have a billion more pictures!!!!!!