Valentine's Day

I was so grateful that I bought everything for Valentines day back in January. Everything seems to be low in stock these days and moms who went out shopping for supplies the week of Valentine's day, found themselves with empty shelves. 

We did though put our Valentine's day baggie the night before. Lilah was so excited to make a baggie for each of her friends. She even wrote her name down in all of her cards. 

The next day she was so excited to show me everything her friends had given her. Valentine's is so fun when kids are in school. 

Lilah took this very real picture of me, haha! 

Our little neighbor brought some Valentines for our kids. My kids were so happy to get treats from our neighbor. I love that they get to give and share and also enjoy treats they got. 

These pipe things were definitely a hit. 

And Valentines treats from mommy and daddy. Hopefully next year I can get my act together and make a cute Valentines dinner for my family. 

Instead of chocolate dipped strawberries and heart shaped pizzas for dinner like I had planned, we ended up grilling carne asada and having tacos. That's romantic enough, no?

Mike has been so great at helping make meals. Love him! 

The day after Annie woke up every 2 hours I slept most of the day. Poor Mike had the kids all to himself and when dinner came around, everyone was hungry and there wasn't anything ready. So, the following day I got cooking and made a couple of meals to keep us going the rest of the week. I made sure to make enough food to share with some of my friends who just had babies in the ward. We also went over to my neighbors and shared a loaf of bread. I try to help others when I can because some days I can barely help myself, hehe! 

 

Two and a half weeks

Our Annie girl is 2 1/2 weeks old. She is a total delight and everyone in the family is so in love with her. So far, she is a pretty easy baby. She barely fits into size NB anymore and is doing a great job nursing. 

Most of the nights she'll do 4 hour stretches between feeds. I always feel great when she does that. 

Once in a while she'll wake up every 2 hours and mommy will be a little bit wrecked. I am so grateful Michael is home to help with the big kids if not I would be a hot mess. 

Lilah loves her little sister. She is never too far away. She loves to pick her up and give her kisses. So does David. Lilah fell asleep next to Annie and then came into our room to see her as soon as she woke up the next morning. 

Most of the mornings I don't even realize when the Bigs wake up. Mike has been getting Lilah ready for school, feeding her breakfast, and even doing her hair. He washes clothes, folds them, cleans the house, gets the kids ready for bed, he does it all! 

I wasn't sure if the kids would be jealous of the new baby or if there would be big feelings about bringing a new baby home. But nope! They have been so happy and Annie girl has brought so much joy to our family. Daddy did a good job at picking out her middle name. 

Our very first walk was to go pick up the mail. But the big kids were driving to the park so Annie and I decided to walk a little further to the park and then back home. Since Annie was born, it was been so windy here in Beaumont. I will be happy when that darn wind finally goes away. 

Annie is up to eating about 2 oz of milk now. She tends to do 2-4 hour stretches between feedings. She is quite the pooper too. Especially when Daddy is holding her. 

My recovery from my C-section has gone remarkably well. I cannot believe how good I have felt. I am so thankful that I am not in very much pain, just a little sore. This has definitely been the best C-section recovery so far. If only the weather would warm up a bit, I would go on a walk every evening. Lilah joined me on our last walk. She's so funny. She strapped the baby to her stroller and even included a water bottle for herself just like mine and also a bottle for her baby. She cracks me up. 

She's so fun and cute when she's not screaming and being obnoxious. 

I was nursing Annie the other night and I turned around and realized Lilah was nursing her baby. She is too observant. 

I truly hope they have a close bond and that Lilah always looks after her baby sister. My kids being close when they're older is my greatest wish!

My milk has been coming in. Thanks Annie for being such a great eater. It still makes me curl my toes when she first latches on but then she gets the hang of it and the pain goes away. The first two days at the hospital, I was about to throw in the towel with breast feeding. It hurt SO bad. Even after she got her latch on right, it still hurt because of the damage she had caused, ha! 

She always looks so peaceful sleeping. David will come in the room, jump on the bed, open her eyes, give her a kiss on the head and then yell, "Annie woke up!" No buddy, you woke her up. Very different, haha! 

Lilah has been going through alot of diapers with her little baby. Apparently, her baby poops alot too and Lilah thinks she MUST throw her baby's diapers away. Oh, Lilah! 

Now that my mom has left, I definitely realize what a blessing it was to have her here. I usually don't have time for breakfast and it is so hard to make myself a meal. While she was here, she would bring me breakfast in bed and make sure I was always fed. It's so hard to eat when you're a mom! Someone always seems to need me. 

So delicious! 

I took Lilah to the store with me for some alone time. She ended up being a huge help because I realized going to the store might've been a big task. Lilah helped me grab all of the stuff from the bottom shelf so I didn't have to bend over and she helped me unload our cart at the register. Thanks, Lilah! 

I got her a treat for being a good helper and she decided to save some of it for David. She can be the sweetest when she wants to! 

David trying to put my milk catcher on himself. He's a crack up. 

Sweet Annie girl and tired mommy. I try my best not to wake Mike up at night because he gets up with Lilah and David, so it's usually just me and the missy up at night. She is so good though and usually is up for her diaper change and then back asleep with her milk. She'll sometimes wake up as soon as I put her in her bassinet. It's like she knows and her eyes will open up and she'll be wide awake. But as soon as I lay her next to me, she's out again. 

Big girl barely fits in size NB anymore. 

Our first family outing was going to the park. Mike made a picnic and packed up the kid's bikes and we had a great day at the park. 

I have been loving this shake that my friend shared on her instagram. Celery, cucumber, spinach, ginger, lemon, frozen mango, and water. 

David doing an activity. I love when he asks for an activity. Sometimes he'll grab the tablet and go into his room and he'll be lost to the world. Whenever he's watching a show it's like he's in his own world. I hope I can get into a routine again and start doing preschool with him because he is SO smart! 

Daddy and Annie taking a much needed nap. 

And Lilah asleep next to Annie. One day they'll be able to share a room. Lilah is the first one to wake up in this house, after her dad ofcourse, so they won't be sharing a room any time soon. She would for sure wake up Annie at the crack of dawn and this night owl mommy can't do that. 

Annie fell asleep so peacefully in this sling. I remember when I would lay her on my chest at the hospital she would take the best naps. 

David getting his motnhly haircut. He's been asking for one. He loves haircuts! 

I told Lilah I couldn't help her because I was nursing Annie so she brought me the milk and cereal to pour for her. Lilah has a solution to every problem! 

Annie girl peacefully asleep after her milkies. I am nervous about Mike going back to work but I keep telling myself that's how i used to feel when he went back to work after Lilah and David. I know everything will fall into place and thankfully Lilah is at school most of the day. I think that'll help me slowly ease into this 3 kid thing. I love taking my kids on adventures and hope that I can continue to do so once again. 

We love you so much my little Annie girl! 

 

2/2/22 Annie Joy Stewart

This has been such a great pregnancy. With it being my third I wasn't sure how achy I would get but this pregnancy has been smooth sailing. It helped that for the first half of it I was so preoccupied with school that it seemed to have just flown by.  I never felt like I was so huge and uncomfortable. 

My doctor had actually scheduled me for my C-section on January 28th but I asked him if I could hold off a couple of days. I definitely didn't mind being pregnant for another week. Plus, that would mean Annie could have a super cool birth date of 2.2.22

The days leading up to Annie's arrival has been so wonderful. 

I have loved seeing the kids get so excited. 

David has loved being my little buddy at my doctor's appointments. 

We've spent so much quality time with the kids. 

I even got to pamper myself to get ready for Annie's arrival. I cut my hair, got my nails, eyebrows, and lashes done and got a facial done too. 

My David has been talking non stop about how they are going to "cut baby out" after I showed him a video of a C-section. I really wanted him to understand that mommy would not be able to pick him up once the baby got here and he really got the point. We have talked alot about how mommy and daddy would be one for a couple of days and he would hang out with abuelita while mommy was at the hospital. 

I have used up every moment that I've been alone with my kids to play with them. It has been so great spending so much one on one time with both. 

They have loved using the baby's things and testing them out. 

David trying out the bassinet. 

We've been spending alot of time outdoors in the sunshine. So many people were sick the month before my due date so we have been avoiding any crowds and just enjoying family time outdoors. It definitely helped, we never got sick. 

Another outdoor activity we did was to take the kids to mini golf. 

We re-arranged the carseats in the car. I didn't know if Lilah would be upset about being in the back but both David and her have loved taking turns sitting in the backseat. 

Yet another doctor's appointment with my little David. 

Lots of cooking and baking with David. I love that he will yell across the room, "Wait, mom! I a helper!" and will bring a chair over to help me. 

We have also been going on family hikes. I love being outside in the sunshine. It's always so refreshing to me. 

3 weeks left belly. 

We've also discovered lots of fun parks while being outdoors. This one even included wild donkeys!

I'm so grateful we have had such a beautiful winter. The weather has been so warm and sunny. 

Lilah and David trying out the carseats. 

And David even decided to be a big boy and potty train himself before sister got here. 

We've also gotten so much better at baking. We made cinammon rolls for the first time and the kiddos went around sharing with the neighbors. 

I've ben alot more tired lately and on this particular day we were outside playing in the rain and came in to defrost. I made a warm bubble bath and the kids and I had a bubble bath while watching Denise the Menise. 

The morning of my C-section, Lilah went to school early so I was able to hang out with her and helped her get dressed. 

Last bump picture at home. 

And then my little David woke up and ofcourse I needed a picture of him also. 

Mike dropping me off at the hospital. 

Mike had forgotten his COVID vaccine card so he went back to the car and had my mom send him a picture. When I got there, the nurse immediately told me that they were behind schedule so I told Mike just to hang out in the car and go grab some breakfast. I was NPO so I definitely didn't want to see him enjoying his snacks. So he went to Five Guys and had himself brunch. I was looking out the window of my room at one time and saw him walking around. He said he was getting his steps in, haha! 

He dropped me off at the hospital around 10AM but didn't come in until around 2pm. It was so nice to be alone. I played on my phone and listened to music without any interruptions. My nurse was great too. I loved having that time all to myself before Annie got here. 

The nurse came in around 4pm and asked if we had all of our stuff ready to head in to OR. She said it would still be a while but she wanted to make sure we were ready to go. It would be another hour and a half before we went in to the hospital. I was worried about being hungry since I hadn't eaten anything all day. But to my surprise, I was just fine. I was able to keep myself distracted and was never really hungry even though it was almost 5pm and I hadn't had a drop of water or any food. 

Finally, the nurses came and got me. I walked to the OR room and hopped on the table for my spinal block. I liked my anesthesiologist. He seemed very knowledgable. The spinal block hurt a little bit and I even had some back pain for the following week. But, nothing too bad. They laid me back, did my foley, cleaned me up and then Dr. Suong came in and did my C-section. 

I was also worried about the shoulder pain I experienced last time and how nauseous I was. I didn't have any of those things thankfully. Just as I did last time I felt like I was on the verge of having an anxiety attack. I looked over at my vitals and realized when my blood pressure dropped below and my anesthesiologist had to push epi that it was then when I felt a little bit of out of control of my body. 

Thankfully the procedure was quick. Annie girl needed a Cpap for a little bit and some suction due to being a csection baby. It felt like a long time until I heard her cry which was a little scary. But then she cried. She had the sweetest most gentle little cry. 

Finally after all of that waiting, our Annie girl was born at 5:43pm on 2/2/22.

She was 7lbs 11oz

So happy to have her here healthy and with 10 fingers and toes

She seemed so big in pictures but every time I looked at her, I couldn't believe how tiny she was

Look at that double chin! 

I was going to ask the nurses not to put that goop on her eyes but everything happened without anyone asking, oh well. It's hard to control what's going on when you are on the OR table a little out of it. 

After stitching me back up, they rolled us out to the recovery room where Mike was already doing skin to skin. I love this part where I finally get to hold the baby and do skin to skin. She was so calm and content and didn't cry. 

The fundal massages that the nurse had to do were brutal. I was so grateful to be out of there and into our room. 

I really like delivering at Redlands Community Hospital. The rooms are big and spacious and the nurses have all been nice. That first night I had a nurse named Loretta. My pain wasn't TOO terrible so I didn't need too many narcotics once I was out of recovery. 

I had forgotten how I had to get out of bed that first day. Man that is painful. So crazy so have full on surgery and be expected on your feet a couple of hours later. Because my pain wasn't too bad I thought I could atleast walk around the room. But, twisting to turn out of bed proved me wrong and I was only able to stand (and not very straight) on the side of the bed. 

It was hard to keep everyone updated during the whole ordeal because everything was delayed and then all of a sudden everything happened so quickly. I was extremely grateful my mom and brother had the kids back at home without me having to worry about what day or time of the day I would go into labor. Having a scheduled C-section sure made things easier and less stressful. 

The next day by the afternoon I was finally able to facetime David and Lilah. I wasn't sure how he would react seeing the baby but I reminded him that we were at the hospital and they had taken the baby out. David seemed happy to see his new sister. 

She definitely had some chubs on her. I think it was all of the fluids that they gave me while waiting for my C-section. 

Annie loved skin to skin time. She took a long nap comfy on mommy's chest. 

I loved it too. 

Thankfully Mike got to be there with me because I would not have been able to put Annie in and out of her bassinet whenever she was hungry. Daddy also did all of the diaper changes. 

Swaddled burrito. She has always preferred sleeping on her right side. 

Annie's first bath. She came out kinda bloody. I wasn't sure if I'd want a bath 24 hours after being born but she was as good as new once she was all done. 

Wrapped up in a warm burrito after her bath. 

By the time I was able to get out of bed, it was always in the afternoons. I was so tired in the mornings and before I knew it the sun was going down and we hadn't taken pictures of her. The day we left, I was finally able to get up and around enough to change her and take some pictures to post for our family and friends. 

Lilah was so excited to see baby sister on the phone. It has been so amazing to see how excited she is about her new little sister. 

Her going home outfit. I wasn't sure what size clothes she would fit in but she fit just fine in her NB onesie. The afternoon we were supposed to be discharged, we were ready to go around 3pm. The doctor had ordered a urine lab for Annie and she decided she wasn't going to pee for the rest of the day. We had to wait until they got their urine collection and Annie girl did not pee until 10:30pm. So we waited, and waited, and waited and nothing. I was getting so tired and wanted to ask the nurse if we could just call it a night so we could go to sleep. But, the nurse was ready to discharge us and I figured maybe they needed our room for another mom. And so by 11:45pm, we were discharged home. Annie had been eating every hour and was ready to eat when they were discharging us. She was hangry and cried as they wheeled me all the way down to my car. The girl pushing me kept suggesting she burp her but I knew she was just hungry. I was kind of annoyed they were discharging us so late but also grateful for no more Q4 vital signs and tests. So, we got in our car, I had Mike park and I fed Annie for 30 minutes. We ended up getting home around midnight. 

Lilah came into our room at 7:30AM and was anxiously looking for her baby sister. It was better than Christmas morning. She was so excited and happy to see her. 

To say she loves her sister would be an understatement. I sure hope they always have this beautiful bond that I am witnessing. 

An hour later, David joined us and was so happy to see his little sister too. I was so happy to see how positive the kids had reacted to us bringing a new baby home. 

They are both constantly asking to hold her. David loves kissing her. 

My brother came into town and stayed with us to help my mom with the kids. With both of them being here, it was so nice to not have to worry about who my kids were with. All I focused on was on our Annie girl. I was definitely greatful for them. 

We got home and the kids were so excited to tell me everyhing they had done with Abuelita and Tio. 

There were lots of baby snuggles. 

And lots of kisses. 

I wasn't sure how the kids would be with the baby and this has been the best week ever. I love seeing them love her so much. Our Annie girl sure has brought alot of Joy into our house just for simply being here.