Life as we go it

CHLOE ~ Blooming

ELISE ~ God is my oath

Chloe's Zodiac sign is Aries. People born specifically on April 9th are perceived to be a fine balance of fun and commonsense, have a charismatic insightful nature that is good at compromising, artistic and eloquent with a forward looking attitude and have a concern for the welfare of others. (sounds great to me!!)

Chloe Elise was born on Wednesday, April 9th at 1:05 in the morning.

She weighed in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces. She is 20 inches long.

Her due date was April 22nd, but she arrived two weeks earlier than expected. I developed high blood pressure during my last few weeks of pregnancy. I did not develop preeclampsia, but my doctor was worried that my raised BP could result in it. I was admitted to the hospital the Thursday prior to Chloe's arrival so they could monitor my BP. I was sent home and put on "light bed rest" until a follow-up appointment the following Tuesday. At the follow-up appointment my BP was still a big concern, so my doctor decided to induce labor that afternoon. Matt and I headed home from the clinic, packed our bags, gave Liam snuggles and then headed to the hospital. Both my mom and Matt's mom watched Liam while we were at the hospital.

My labor was induced around 4:00 pm on Tuesday evening. Chloe was born 9 hours later, bright and early in the morning! She was born naturally and she cried immediately. We didn't know if we were going to have a boy or a girl, so we were amazed when the doctor yelled out "it's a girl!" When they put her in my arms she opened her eyes and stared at me. We were relieved that she was born healthy and happy. Matt was there supporting me the entire time (as well as a visit from my mom) and the nurses that helped out during delivery were awesome. Overall the experience was pretty amazing (despite the pain and recovery).

We brought Chloe home on Friday the 11th. The grandmas were relieved of their babysitting duties and Matt, Liam, Chloe, the cats and I settled into our new groove at home. We had limited visitors that Saturday and Sunday. We took a few "family car rides" along the lakefront, rented some movies (the 4 of us piled on the couch together), enjoyed some meals that were dropped off by friends and neighbors (thank you Meal Train!) and pushed through some sleepless nights of nursing/diaper changes/crying that weekend.

Of course I had my crazy crying spells the first week. Oh my goodness, I was crying constantly, about everything. I'd wake up crying, cry while eating breakfast, cry while nursing Chloe, cry while hugging Liam, cry while folding laundry. I couldn't help it. I had no control over it. This worried me a lot because I dealt with postpartum depression after Liam was born. But the crying jags have mellowed out now (I cried once today and I'm only 3 weeks postpartum) and I think I'm going to be okay this time around! But I'm definitely aware of the feelings/emotions/seriousness of PPD and am trying hard to stay positive and just be the best mom I can be to Liam and Chloe :)

I've learned a lot in the last few weeks about what it is to be a mom to two kids now! I've been jotting down random thoughts and will share those with you at a later date. But until then....here are a few photos of Chloe from when she was born and shortly after we brought her home:

My friend Sarah took this photo of us at the hospital

(check out Sarah's photography at www.sarahdohertyphotography.com)

Liam meeting his sister for the first time...

Chloe's first time in the car seat, ready to go home from the hospital...

Liam welcomed us home with this sign...

I love these little fingers...

More "brother love" for Chloe...

Siblings...