Ella May!

Well I FINALLY sat down to update. It's been so long, I think I forgot we even had a blog. Well, Bleu was able to be home in time for the birth of our baby girl. Let me tell you, he was an amazing help. I'm so so so glad he was there. I also had my friend, JoAnn come to be my Douala. Between the two of them constantly rubbing my back and coaching me through, we did a completely natural delivery in under five hours. HOLY COW!


Bleu and I went to my 40 week midwife appointment together the day before my due date. I was really tired of being pregnant. Anyway, that night we were laying on the couch watching a movie when I heard a felt a great big *POP* from my tummy. Bleu even heard it, too! My water broke at 9 pm. We talked to the midwife and she said to relax in the tub until the contractions are 5-6 minutes apart. So I got into the tub and started timing them. They were 2-3 minutes apart, but I wanted to stay home a while longer. After an hour, Bleu noticed that it was time to go to the hospital. So we packed up and checked in before 11 pm. I was on a monitor for about 20 minutes, and then back into the tub to take the pressure off. JoAnn showed up around midnight and she and Bleu were my coaches and cheering section. Seriously don't know what I would have done without them. The contractions progressed and I was doing great, and then they just kept going longer and faster. The midwife said that I needed to get out of the tub and into bed. As soon as I was there, it was time to push. Again, Bleu and JoAnn were amazing coaches. We pushed for about half an hour and Ella May was born at 1:46 am on May 19. Her due date.
6 lbs and 13 oz. and 20 inches long.


It was wonderful having Bleu home for so long! I had quite a few complications and set backs in my recovery, so we were able to get a 10 day extension on his leave. He is such a good Daddy and just adores his sweet little girl.
It was much harder on both of us having him leave this time. He misses his girls lots. We still talk on Skype every night, but sometimes don't get to talk very long when Ella needs my attention. She has a fussy time that's almost like clockwork. I'm fine with that, but it just usually lands right when Bleu gets home from work. So I don't get to talk to him very long and he doesn't get to see Ella.

Mom was able to come down and stay for a few weeks to help with Ella. That was another life saver. I was still in quite a lot of pain when Bleu left and it was hard to get up and down, but Mom was able to be here the day he left.
Ella sure loved having Grandma come to visit. The day after Mom left was a little rough on both of us, and Mom said that it was because she missed her Grandma. Haha. I know I sure did.

Here are some things that I've learned about Ella:

• She is very beautiful and smart.
• She doesn't like being on her tummy unless Grandpa Dixon is underneath her.
• She has a temper and shouts in short little bursts when she wants attention.
• She likes to wait until she's naked on the changing table to pee.....and sometimes poop.
• She likes to poop in freshly changed diapers.
• She likes to cuddle, but loves to see what's going on.
• She hogs the bed just like her mommy.