What a relief!

Every week I get an update from a few online baby sites. I started getting them when I found out I was pregnant so I could see how the baby was developing. This week I was so reassured to read this article about the 6th week of postpartum recovery:
Back To Life As Usual? Hardly! It's probably no surprise by now that life will never be the same. Not only does your schedule (what schedule?) look very different, but the world will look different, too. Even simple chores such as grocery shopping will take on new meaning now that you're responsible for another human being. As busy as you're going to be, it will be that much more important to take the time to pay attention to the choices you make.
Thank goodness this is normal! I was beginning to feel like a failure since I can't seem to do anything anymore. Because I feel so far behind I decided to ask my mom if she could come help me out. She has been offering to come stay over night with Ella so I could get some sleep for the last few weeks. So on Tuesday afternoon she came to my house and stayed for 24 hours. It was so nice to have help for that long. She helped with cooking, laundry, sleeping :), and mainly holding Ella so I could actually clean my house. It was incredible! Since I don't know how long my house will stay clean, I decided to take some pictures as evidence that it really can be clean.


I love having a clean house! It is so nice to walk around without being constantly reminded of the hundreds of things I need to do. When Gustavo got home I begged him to help me keep it clean. We'll see what happens.

I know most of you check the bog for pictures of Ella so here she is...

Good Day

Today my little sister Eleanor came over because her professors are all in New York this week so she had a little free time. It was SO nice to have company and an extra set of hands (2 things I don't get very often anymore). Even though my house was embarrassingly messy I was able to get a few things done and have a great conversation with my little sister who I love, but rarely get to spend time with because she is a very busy girl. She helped so much. I was able to shower and later give Ella a bath after she had her first blow out (gross!). After Ella's bath El did her hair and we put her first headband in. I'm very excited that headbands are no longer too big for her. Doesn't she look so cute!

Update

Well, I had my 6 week checkup today. I have still been in a lot of pain so I was glad to see the doctor, but also worried about what I would find out. He said that a lot of my stitches hadn't dissolved yet and that they were causing discomfort and irritation so he removed them while I laid on the table and cried. They are all out now and he said that should give me a lot of relief. He gave me some medicine and told me that I should stay home and work on recovering for 2 1/2 more weeks. He wrote a letter to the district and they seemed to be fine with it. For those of you who didn't hear that story, the district tried to discourage me from requesting extra recovery time by saying that even if my doctor wrote a note I would need to see "their" doctor for a second opinion. After I inquired more, the same woman told me that my doctor's letter may be sufficient as long as it met specific requirements, but if they questioned it then I would have to get a second opinion. Gustavo delivered the letter to her today and she said it seemed good so I don't think I'll need to go see anyone else, but if that is what they need me to do then I'll go and cry some more while another doctor checks me out! I realize they are running a business and don't want to be taken advantage of, but it was kind of frustrating and seemed a little cold when she was telling me this at first. It will all be fine though and the doctor gave me new hope that I will feel better eventually.

Ella has also had it rough lately. This week she has extended her fussy/colic period from three hours in the middle of the night to at least four hours and a few other times throughout the day. Poor baby. I decided to cut most dairy from my diet and we'll see if that helps her feel better. It has only been five days and I am realizing how much I LOVE cheese and milk. I'm sure we will figure something out. I'll end this post on a positive note: I get two extra weeks to get better and be with my adorable baby. (I guess it hasn't been approved yet, but I'm being optimistic... right!)

I will post with pictures soon

One Month Old

Gabriel was blessed on Sunday so it was my first time back at church with Ella. I was very excited to dress her up and bought this cute little dress the first time I was out since having the baby. She doesn't fit very many 0-3 month outfits yet, so this was the first time she was dressed in anything other than pajamas. As you can see from the pictures, I had lots of fun. I also realized that we haven't posted any pictures of alert Ella. Look at those CHUBBY cheeks! I think she was just going through a growth spurt and all of the extra weight went right to her cheeks.
Now that Ella is getting bigger everyone says she looks like Gustavo. I still can't see either of us in her, but I will love it if she looks like her daddy! My mom is certain that her eyes will be blue and that excites me. One of the children at the blessing was looking at Ella and commented on her "bad hair day." I thought it was very funny. Yolanda was sweet as she replied, "No, it's a good hair day." I just laughed!

I love it when she yawns! I just wish it meant she slept more.

If you look closely you can see that I painted her nails and put her bracelet on for the first time. I am so excited about having a beautiful little girl!

I still can't get over how adorably peaceful she looks when she sleeps!

Gonzalez Relatives

As many of you know, my sister in law had her first baby two weeks before I had Ella. These were the first grandchildren for Gustavo's parents. Needless to say, this has been a very exciting time for Gustavo's family. I figured I would post some pictures at least for Em and Laz who still haven't been able to see the babies. Hopefully the rest of you will enjoy them as well.

Even though they look like they are the same size in this picture, Gabe is definitely bigger. He is adorable. I am so excited for them to be so close in age. It will be lots of fun to watch them grow up together.

Gustavo's mom was the first person at the hospital for both babies. She loves them so much. She only speaks Spanish to them so hopefully Ella will learn from her abuela.

Gustavo's dad came to see Ella when she was about 2 weeks old.

He was hesitant to hold her since she is so fragile, but he agreed to for a picture!

Gustavo's cousin Natalie and Aunt Jilda came to see Gabriel and Ella after we'd been home for a week. Natalie had her son Nicholas in September so she had lots of advice for us. I must admit that when we get together with Gustavo's relatives I tend to get lost in the conversation since at least half of it is in Spanish so it took me a while to realize that Jilda kept referring to Ella by different names like Bella Mya. I never would have guessed their initial reaction to the name Ella, but they made it very clear! It was pretty amusing. I'm sure they'll get used to it soon and they will definitely love her. After taking a Spanish class and realizing that ella means her/she I understand the confusion, but if they always pronounce the "l" sound like the English word that seems to make it less confusing (what do I know though!)

sleep?

Sleep? I need it, but hardly remember what it feels like to have real sleep. I haven't slept for more than 3 hours straight since February 9th. I miss it. Ella doesn't sleep at night. She was great one night and waited 4 hours between feedings so that night I got to sleep in 3 hour increments. Usually she doesn't even let me sleep for 1 hour during the night because she is fussy or needy. I love her, but I would love to have some sleep every now and then as well! Yesterday felt good and I accumulated 4 1/2 hours of sleep during 3 naps. If any of you are those mom's I'm incredibly jealous of who have babies who sleep during the night let me know your secret!

2 Weeks

Ella had her two week check up on February 26th. We found out the she is doing WONDERFUL! She weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. was 21 1/4 inches long, and had a head circumference of 36 1/2 centimeters. She was in the 40th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height, and 60th percentile for head circumference.
In other words, she is perfect!