Celebrations and other one month stuff

In the Vietnamese culture after a baby is approximately one-month old, there is a party to celebrate the baby’s one-month birthday. My parents hosted Ellie's the party for the Vietnamese side of our family to meet and celebrate Ellie.



This month Ellie has been smiling so much! And has even given us the occasional laugh (or high pitch shriek). It's been great that the weather has been warmer so I've been able to take Ellie out a lot more. She usually sleeps on our walks. Today we brought Ellie to Quiet Waters Park for the SPCA Walk for the Animals. We were really testing her patience since we were out for a few hours, but we got to take a nice walk and see some friends! Here are a few other pictures I've taken this month.

One Month Tomorrow!

Has it already been a month?!? We had our 4 week well-baby visit today. Ellie is now 9 lbs 5 oz! She's doing great! We were told to wait until Ellie was a month old to take her out to public places. We took our first trip to the grocery store on Tuesday, Ellie did great, she was intrigued by her surroundings and then fell asleep. This weekend we're taking our first trip to PA with Ellie. We are going to visit family and Brad has a race to run on Saturday. More updates later!

Almost 3 weeks old

Wow time flies! Last week we had our two week well-baby visit. Ellie weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches tall. Brad and I have been living by Ellie's schedule, hopefully she'll be able to keep a more regular sleep schedule soon. She still confuses her days and nights.
I've read that newborns should start smiling in response to us around month 2, but Ellie already smiles at us! She has such a precious smile, hopefully I can catch it with the camera soon! Here are a few pictures, she's already changed so much!

Ellie Bower

Introducing Eleanor "Ellie" Mai Bower!
Born March 3, 2009 at 4:25 am
7 lbs 2 oz - 19 inches

I was scheduled for an induction late Monday night but had to go to the hospital at noon Monday for a gel to soften my cervix. After the monitored the baby for half an hour they told us to go home and we would see them at midnight for the induction. About an hour after getting home I started to feel strong contractions and started timing them. The rule of thumb of when to call the doctor is when your contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting for a minute, for an hour. I was having contractions 3-7 minutes apart for over an hour so we called the doctor who told us to come back to the hospital.
Luckily my labor started without the pitocin! I quickly progressed and got some medications for the pain, including the epidural. A little before 3 am we started to push. After about an hour and 45 minutes of pushing, Baby Eleanor greeted me and Brad with her precious cry. Brad cut the cord and the nurse laid Ellie on my my chest. Everything happened so fast, Brad was a wonderful labor partner, getting me ice chips when I needed them and reminding me to breathe!


If you asked me if I would do it again right when it was over, I may have said no way, but after recovering for a week and spending all this time with Ellie, I definitely would. She has brought us so much joy already. We feel so lucky to have such an adorable healthy little girl. I'm sure she will grow fast, so I'm trying to cherish every moment while she is still a little peanut. Brad and I couldn't be happier!


Ellie still has so many people to meet, let us know when you want to meet her if you haven't already!

Due Date!

Today is our official due date! I really thought Baby Bower would be here by now, but I guess she's pretty comfortable. Hopefully she decides to make her appearance soon because Brad and I are very anxious to meet her.
My last day working was on Friday, now I am resting, nesting and getting ready for Baby Bower as I wait for signs of labor. I took a few more pictures of the nursery tonight. Here they are!

PA Shower!

The last weekend of January we had another baby shower! This time in PA at a restaurant called Moselem Springs. Betty, Kate and Sue did a great job making it such a wonderful, memorable shower (Thanks!). The room was so nice, and decorated beautifully in pink and brown. I'll include a photo of the beautiful diaper cake that Betty, Kate and Sue made. At the shower there was a play-doh baby contest, where everyone had to make a baby from play-doh and I had to pick the winner, Nichole won. Everyone also had to fill-in a "time capsule" sheet for Baby Bower so she can read them one day when she's old enough. There was also a "Sox Box" where guests brought socks or booties and their gifts were drawn for prizes, Baby Bower's feet will never be cold, and she has some adorable booties to wear! Baby Bower was once again showered with wonderful gifts from everyone, thank you so much!

VA Shower

Brad and I were surprised when we showed up to Vi and Laura's house for Tim's birthday party, only to find out it was a shower for Baby Bower! We had a great time guessing different baby foods, figuring out what was in the diapers, and playing a baby/pregnancy game where Brad and I had to see if our answers matched. There was also a girls vs. guys relay where everyone had to drink from a bottle and dress a flour and balloon baby. The girls won. Once again Baby Bower has been spoiled! Thanks so much it was a blast!