Life with baby

We brought Isabel home on a Friday, the boys got home from school, ooed and awed over her then quickly packed their stuff for a weekend with cousins. Marc met my sister-in-law, Codi, at his work on Friday and she took the kids. He stayed for Broadview's graduation then came home so it was just us and Isabel. Baby had a rough night. She decided to scream and cry off and on from about 1:30-4:30. We were sure grateful to be able to stay in bed in the morning as long as we needed to without having to take care of other kids!!

 Saturday was just a laid back day taking care of baby, napping, experiencing life with just one baby. We had a few visitors stop by to see her, My Dad, our neighbors the Hawkleys and Deanne Gatfield from the YMCA. We had to take Isabel in to the hospital to do a biliruben test. She was starting to get quite jaundiced. The doctor who had seen Isabel in the hospital said her levels were still really high and that we needed to bring her back the next day. Just what we wanted! Our big kids enjoyed the day going to soccer and football games of their cousins, then had their own flag football game in Horseshoe bend. They went home from the game with my sister-in-law Jen, and stayed the night with their family. 

Baby got a bath on Saturday night. She wasn't sure what to think, but immediately started trying to comfort herself by sucking on her hands. 

 Here she is all dressed up on Sunday ready to meet visitors. We took her to the hospital in the afternoon and fortunately her biliruben levels were going down. My milk finally came in sometime between Saturday and Sunday so that made a huge difference.

 Here's my niece Ellie with baby Isabel. She couldn't stop grinning. 

Our big kids came home late Sunday afternoon with Jen's family. The big girls couldn't get enough of the baby. Everyone wanted turns holding her, they had to be right next to the person holding her. Natalie was so cute, she just kept squealing over the baby and calling her an "it", "It's got it's eyes open!" We couldn't believe how loud it was when our other kids came home. Our little baby moon was definitely over!

I had to take Isabel in to our pediatrician's office in Boise on Monday morning. The appointment was at 10, and who would have thought it would be so much work and require so much effort and planning to get there on time! I dropped Lexi off with Christy so she could take her to preschool and rushed down to Boise to make sure we were there on time. While driving on the freeway I realized I had forgotten to bring all of Isabel's medical records from the hospital with me....ugh. Felt like such an idiot at the doctor's office when I couldn't answer the easiest of questions. What's baby's blood type, did she have a hearing test done? what was her weight when she was discharged? I was completely exhausted and not thinking clearly anyway. Thankfully, they were able to call West Valley and get the information they needed over the phone. Isabel was looking better with her Jaundice, she had lost quite a bit of weight, she was down to 8 lbs 4 oz. They wanted to see us in 10 days for her 2 week checkup. I picked up Lexi when I got home and absolutely crashed. 

I don't remember much else about the week. The days and nights definitely blurred together. Baby had a few other bad nights where she just wanted to be up and partying at 2 in the morning. There was one morning we missed the alarm to get boys on bus. Marc woke up with just enough time to drive them out to school on time. I'm so grateful for Marc! He gets the boys read for school every morning,. If it wasn't for him, I don't know how they'd ever get to school! Isabel eventually started getting her days and nights straightened out and at least went back to sleep every time she woke up to eat. Marc took Lexi to a field trip to Costco. The kids got to tour the bakery, watch a cake decorating demo and then got to decorate their own cookies. Lexi was thrilled and thought it was lots of fun. She was excited to show me the hair nets they got to wear.  

General Conference was that weekend. We tried to watch all the sessions with the kids. Easier said than done. Marc went to priesthood Saturday night, I got pizza for the kids and myself at Little Ceasars and we ran into Walmart for a few things. I wanted to buy a few different pacifiers to see if there was a brand that Isabel would take. I don't do well with being treated like a pacifier. That night, all 3 of the big kids were up throwing up. It was horrific. I felt queasy myself, but never actually puked. I think we must have gotten food poisoning from the pizza. A couple of days later, as I was feeding Isabel in the middle of the night, I felt so sick and just went and sat down in the bathroom next to the cool bathtub. Next thing I know, Marc is joining me and we proceeded to spent the rest of the night sick in the bathroom together. I thought it might have been the dinner I made, but none of the kids were sick. I checked the milk we had drunk with some cookies before we went to bed....it had expired several days ago. 

Size comparison of Isabel and baby doll Sophie:

 Being up at night with a baby and working full time giving presentations is exhausting!

 4 beautiful children! How lucky am I?

Pouty lips, one of Marc's favorite expressions:

 Sweet baby!

Right after Isabel's birth, my mom had a Chronic Fatigue attack and was stuck in bed. She felt so terrible because she wanted to help me so badly but just couldn't. She kept calling and offering to take the kids, but that was the last thing I wanted to do to her. We took Isabel to see her one day and I think that helped lift her spirits a little bit.  

 Sisters :)

This has turned into a lot longer post than I had intended! We are slowly adjusting to life with a newborn at home. If we can stop eating toxic food than life will be a lot easier! Yeesh!