Merry Christmas to All!

Christmas morning was incredibly relaxing. We woke up, opened presents and went to church. Elena got to enjoy some quite time with Grandma and Pop-Pop and Mom and Dad played hours and hours of board games with Aunt Becca and Uncle Dave.

Elena loved her new things... she conveniently "opened" her Bumbo chair first so she had a place to sit while we opened her other gifts. She got some classic Christmas books- The Grinch and 'Twas the night before Christmas. She also got her new favorite stuffed animal- Bunny Foo Foo. Her favorite gift of all though is the new play mat that Aunt Becca gave her.

A Polish Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, Elena celebrated her first Christmas Eve in keeping with Swaintek traditions. We traveled to Wilkes Barre PA to Babi and Dzai Dzi's house. Dad and Pop-Pop and Uncle Dave left immediately to go fishing (thats code for head to the same Polish dive bar that the adults have snuck off to every year for as long as we can remember).

Babi waited patiently for Elena to wake up before everyone came home from the bar. About five minutes after she got to hold her, everyone came home and then pass the sack of potatoes began! She managed to fall asleep for nap time just in time for Christmas dinner and wake up just in time for presents! Elena got some great gifts and got to meet some cousins and great aunts and uncles she hadn't seen yet.

Elena's Primera Navidad

The weekend before Christmas we celebrated the holiday (as well as a few family birthday's) with the Vargas clan at Uncle Jose and Aunt Ruth's house. Elena didn't really know what all the commotion was about and was more upset that she couldn't take a nap. She was a trooper. She got some great gifts... a baby laptop toy so she could be just like her daddy and the best gift of all- DIAPERS from Ito and Ita!

Gonna find out who's naughty and nice.

This morning we got up nice and early to go visit Santa at the Towson mall. It scared me to face the mall this close to Christmas and didn't seem quite fair seeing as my shopping has been done for over a week now. Anything for our little lady.

Elena LOVED Santa. I think it was something about his fuzzy soft clothes. Juan asked Santa how long it took him to grow his beard. He told us it takes one year. Yes, that's right... Santa shaves right after Christmas and starts all over again. According to him, the growing isn't the hard part. It's the bleaching to a nice white that is really uncomfortable.

Oh, and in case you were concerned, Elena is on the nice list.

'Tis the Season!

After last weekend's jam packed schedule and visitors, we were looking forward to kicking of our first Christmas as a family with an outing to a tree farm. Juan had never chopped his own tree and Elena, well Elena has never even seen a Christmas tree! Little Elena was a trooper and let us bundle her up to brave the cold temperatures. She was just like Ralphie in a Christmas story.

We headed out to Freezer's Organic Tree farm in Marriottsville MD and were so excited to get started. We quickly learned that we picked the wrong tree farm. There were literally no acceptable trees on the field. They did however have great Fraiser Firs that were cut in from PA yesterday. We decided to go with one of the pre-cut trees.

Once we got back home and started decorating for Christmas, it started snowing-- the first flakes in Baltimore this season. I'm very happy with the outcome of our adventure and Elena is fascinated by the lights and shiny ornaments.

Every perfect gift is from above...

On Saturday, Elena was joined by 50 members of her family as she was baptized at Holy Cross Church in Federal Hill. Her Aunt Becca and Uncle Jose were her godparents. Little Elena wore her mom's christening gown and her grandmother's christening shoes.

The event was very well documented... between Great Aunt Beth and Uncle Felix we walked away with 273 pictures of the event. The best 65 have been posted to Picasa. Thank you to everyone who traveled from out of town to be with us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elena doesn't have to wait long to celebrate her first holidays! On Thursday, we traveled to Tio Alex's house in Silver Spring, Maryland to celebrate the big day with Juan's family. Elena decided to sleep through 90% of the day. Here is a shot from the small amount of time he was actually awake.

Two Months Old!

It's hard to believe that Elena is already two months old! She and Juan celebrated birthdays together this Sunday with some of Juan's family. She has definitely mastered the smiling thing and is working on new tricks daily.

Today she had her two month check up with her pediatrician. Elena was all smiles as she showed off for Dr. Fitch. When the doctor put her on her tummy, she held her head up high (without arm support) and impressed everyone. We then moved her hands to her front to help hold herself up, and she proceeded to be a big show off in front of Dr. Fitch. For the very first time ever, Elena ROLLED OVER from front to back. The doctor (as well as mom and dad) were amazed. As for her stats... she weighed in at 11 pounds, 11.5 ounces (75th Percentile). She's still a tall little girl, 23.5 inches long and in the 90th percentile. Her brain has been growing too. her head has increased from the 25% percentile to the 50th percentile.

She also had to get two shots today. She was a trooper. Although she was clearly not feeling well today, she was such a good girl. She was content with some cuddles and infant Tylenol.

Mom and dad are also hoping for a third night of her sleeping through the night. Fingers crossed!

Real Smiles!

Today is mom's last day of maternity leave. I can't believe how fast the past 7 weeks have gone. On Wednesday, Elena and I visited the office and got caught up on all the happenings since I've been out. It will be nice to be around grownups again, but is going to be impossible to leave Elena all day. Grandma Swaintek is coming down for two weeks to stay with her so she won't head to Tide Point until Dec. 1.

To reward mom and dad for all their hard work over the past 7 weeks, little Elena decided to treat mom and dad to her first real smiles. Sure she's smiled while passing gas, but these were Mom and Dad I'm so happy to see you smiles. She even let me take pictures of the smiles. I posted them on Picasa for all to see!

Red Hot Chili Pepper

Happy Halloween! Here's a picture of Elena celebrating her first Halloween dressed as a Chili pepper.

She enjoyed the evening in her toasty costume helping mom and dad hand out candy to our trick or treaters... sleeping through the entire event.

1 Month Old!

Today is Elena's one month Birthday! I can't believe it has been so long since she was born. She's been sleeping very well for mom (I say mom because dad has as pass on the nighttime feedings until mom goes back to work). The other night she actually strung 6 hours of sleep together. Unfortunately for mom those 6 hours started at 8 PM so mom didn't get 6 straight hours of sleep.

Elena had her one month check up at the doctor today. She was weighed and measured and got one shot. She passed her first test with flying colors. She now weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces, and is 22 inches long. That puts her in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height. After getting checked out she had her hepatitis shot... she did not like it very much at all.

Ater dad gets home from work we will head to Grandma and Pop-Pop's house in Pennsylvania for the weekend to celebrate Aunt Becca's 18th birthday. I can't believe Rebecca is turning 18... I remember changing HER diapers!

City Baby in the Country

This weekend Elena took her first trip out of Baltimore. Juan and I had to go up to Pennsylvania to House/Dogsit for my parents. Elena was awesome in the car. She fell asleep as soon as we pulled away from our house and didn't wake up until we pulled in the driveway at my parents 2.5 hours later.

We took advantage of the good weather on Saturday and took our little pumpkin to the pumpkin patch. We were able to take some great pictures of her a la Anne Geddes. We also picked a 48 pound pumpkin to bring back to Baltimore for carving. In case anyone is doing the math... 48 pounds is roughly 7 Elenas. The pumpkins she is laying on are about half the size of the pumpkin we brought home.

Flying Solo

Today Juan had to go back to work so mom and Elena were on our own for the very first time. I totally underestimated how much work this would be! Juan had spoiled us with all of his midnight feeding/ diaper changing help in the past two weeks so when I had to tackle the whole night on my own I was struggling. Luckily, Elena did sleep from 10:30-2:30 and 3:30-6:30 so I shouldn't be complaining at all.

I was brave today and took Elena AND Bindy on a walk at the park. It took us a while but eventually Bindy figured out how to walk with the stroller. It definitely cramped her squirrel chasing style though. If she pulled her leash to chase something she inevitably had a paw run over by the stroller.

No new pictures from today's activities... handling the baby and the stroller and the dog all at once was challenge enough :)

Meet the Great Grandparents

Today Elena was very lucky to meet three of her four great grandparents. Grandma drove Lauren's two grandmothers and her grandfather to Baltimore to meet their first great grandchild. Everyone agreed that she is beautiful.

Elena stayed awake extra long this morning to make sure she was awake when they arrived. She kept her eyes open for her photo op and then promptly slept for the rest of her visit.

Grandma tried her best to wake her up before everyone had to leave, but she was not interested in the whole "awake" thing.

One Week Old!

Amazing that a whole week has gone by! Mom, dad and Elena are all coping well and settling into a routine. (Just in time for dad to go back to work next week.)

Elena's first week was a busy one...
Saturday saw her first sponge bath at home. Boy did she hate it. Well, everything except for pouring the warm water on her head to rinse out her hair. She really liked that part. But the whole being cold and wet thing was not so fun.

She was a little spoiled on Sunday and Monday when she was able to take her afternoon nap cuddled up on a grandmother's shoulder both days. Mom's parents came to visit Sunday and Dad's parents came to visit on Monday. She is one lucky little girl.

On Monday, mom was going a little stir crazy so we took Elena out on her first shopping trip. Without even blinking an eye we ended up spending the rest of our Babies R Us gift card (I insisted on buying her some smaller clothes... she was DROWNING in most of her hand me downs). She loves being in the car and her stroller. She slept through the entire trip.

Bringing Home Baby

What a long 48 hours at the hospital! Grandma Elaine and Aunt Becca came back to spend the morning with Elena and Lauren while Juan went home to deal with the other baby... Bindy. He brought home the blanket, hat, and outfit Elena wore on Tuesday to introduce the smell. He got creative and dressed up a teddy bear in the getup and put it in Elena's swing. Bindy was then treated to an extra special long walk in the park.

Today was the day we had really been waiting for. As nice as it was to have all the support at the hospital, all we really wanted to do was bring the baby home and have her in our own house. This morning she was taken to the nursery and given one more bath. Mom and dad attempted to dress her in the beautiful dress we bought her. Unfortunately, it was HUGE. The tights were literally the length of her entire body and the bloomers could have fit three of her in them. She still looked beautiful... although she was not happy to be wearing a dress. We put some pictures up on the picasa site.

Bindy has taken quite nicely to the baby. She is treating her like a puppy-- she keeps licking her and stands guard next to her. We all took a nap this afternoon and with every peep out of Elena, Bindy was at the bassinette checking on her, and then nudging me to wake up.

We are so happy to be home and looking forward to our first night with her!

Announcing Elena Grace!

I can honestly say giving birth was the most amazing experience ever. The past three days of laboring have been miserable, but the pushing-- the actual birth... incredible. When I got to 10 cm and it was time to push, they actually turned my epidural off, which surprised me a bit but in the end feeling everything was incredible. After the last push I was able to catch Elena myself and pull her up onto my chest. The doctor and nurse were shocked how quickly I was able to push her out... it was under 1 hour. I was up, eating breakfast and showering less than 2 hours after delivery.

Elena had a busy day today. Ita and Ito (Dad's parents) arrived at the hospital right after she was born so they were the first to meet her. Grammy (Mom's mom) arrived at about 10:00 am. Uncle Jose stopped by after work, and Pop (Mom's Dad) and Aunt Becca came after Aunt Becca finished her Physics test (oh the joy's of high school :) . So she has officially met all her grandparents and her god parents.

Mom and Dad are going to try to get some sleep while she is sleeping... but paparazzi dad updated the photos on the link... so check them out.

At the hospital for good!

So we are at the hospital finally! We got here around 10:30 PM. When we got here Lauren was having intense contractions every 5 minutes or so. As soon as they put us in her room they checked her and she was 5 cm! So immediately they started the process to admit her.

After being admitted, the first step was to get an IV bag in her. After which, it was the moment she had been waiting for, the EPIDURAL! When they gave her the epidural she was all smiles, no pain. With the ambien still in her system Lauren quickly fell asleep.

48 hours of labor and counting...

Contractions started Saturday night after I went to sleep, and by Sunday morning had picked up to about every ten minutes. The Redskins played at 1:00, so I knew nothing could happen until like 4:00 pm regardless... Juan would have none of that (It was worth it, they won 24-17!)

By 8:00 pm the contractions were super painful and coming every 7 minutes or so, so we called the doctor and she had us go over to labor and delivery. They hooked me up to the monitor, contractions showed strong. They then checked me for dilation and I was only 1.5cm. 18 hours of contractions and no dilation. Makes a woman in labor happy. I was sent to walk the halls for nearly two hours to see if we could get anything going before they would admit me. 2 more hours, contractions at 5 minutes... checked me again... about 1.5 cm.

I'm not talking braxton hicks contractions. I'm talking stop you in your tracks can't talk through need special breathing contractions. Every 5-7 minutes.

Nurse comes back in, and sends me home. "Get some rest," she says.

We head home to "rest". Needless to say I got no sleep, contracting every 7 minutes all night long. We got up this morning at about 5:45 am and as soon as I was out of bed they dropped closer to 3-4 minutes apart and were much more painful. I held out until 8:00 am and then we called the doctor again. She said to go over to the hospital to get checked out.

36 hours of contractions. 1.5 cm dilated. Sent to walk the halls again. You don't move very quickly when you have to stop for a 1.5 minute contraction every 3-4 minutes.

We finally ran into the doctor in the hallway and she could tell by the look on my face I was not a happy camper. She asked if I was ready to throw in the towel and get the induction started. I briefly saw a choir of angels over her head singing Hallelujah. Little did I know....

So we went back to the room to be checked again... still no dilation. 40 hours of consistent contractions... and no dilation.

My doctor comes back into the room with bad news. The L&D Floor of the hospital is undergoing renovations. They aren't doing any "elective" inductions today or tomorrow because the nurses station is being moved and they need all hands on deck. The earliest they can start the induction is my scheduled time of WEDNESDAY at 8:00 am. So I will just have to go home and wait it out, unless my body progresses on its own, or my water breaks.

"Do you want a shot of Morphine before you leave?"
"Is it safe for the baby?"
"Yes."
"Hell yes."

An hour later the nurse arrived and shot my thigh with 15 mg of morphine and i headed home for an hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep (contracting, but able to ignore them). And then relaxed in bed with only the mild pain of morphine masked contractions for the next 4 hours.

The Morphine has worn off. The Contractions are still at 5 minutes. 36 hours until induction. Not a happy camper.

Send the fairy dust my way please

Someone missed the memo

Dear Elena,

In case this hasn't been communicated to you clearly. Today is your due date. However nothing seems different. You seem to still be very content hanging out in my belly.

The weather is beautiful. Our favorite doctor is on call. Today would be a good day.

Love,
Mom and Dad.

You've been served...

This week at the doctor, they did an ultrasound and the doctor reaffirmed what I already knew... Elena is very comfortable on the inside. She still has plenty of fluid, her heartbeat is perfect, and she is floating high in my belly. (DROP BABY DROP!)

Our practice doesn't like to let the pregnancy go past 41 weeks so an eviction notice (induction) was served to little Elena for Sept. 24th. Both mom and dad are hoping she decides to come on her own prior to then, but it is nice to have an end date in site.

If she waits until induction day... my sister wins the baby pool. She's been saying Sept. 24 for weeks and weeks now. With a Sept. 24 birthday in the mix, our family would celebrate birthdays on the 24th 4 months in a row (Grandma Swaintek Aug. 24, Little Elena Sept. 24, Aunt Becca Oct. 24th, and Dad Nov. 24th.)