Welcoming Home Elliott! The Baby Has Arrived.

The lack of recipes, crafts and general posts have been all because of this little guy! We welcomed Elliott into the family (officially) last Thursday. Being the third baby in the the family and second boy, nothing much surprised me.

Well, except that, once again, despite what everyone guessed, he was not a 10 lb baby at all! He came in right at 8.1 lbs. A very respectable size, but still able to slip into all those newborn clothing I tempted fate by purchasing. He also is currently sporting a great head of hair, with a slight reddish tint just like his big brother.

The C-section went smoothly and I am back up on my feet and feeling better everyday. Even in the 4 short years since my daughter's birth much had changed about births. One I was most excited about was the choice for narcotics or not. There were pain relievers, but one nurse described my "hospital stay fog" perfectly. Now with lower doses of alternative pain medications I should remember more of those first few days. Okay, I thought it was just me and "Mommy brain" that made me forget so much!

My only issue, and also biggest fear, is over getting the IV and blood draws done. I was so good about following instructions not to eat or drink from midnight the day before that I was dehydrated and hard to poke by the afternoon. I think this time it took 5 pokes to get the job done. My arms look pretty worked over.

Another couple changes to note about hospital policies were the absence of pacifiers used, I didn't miss them, and the skin-to-skin stimulation so shortly after birth. With my son, he was wheeled away and I didn't see him for almost 2 hours. I still think that was the most horrible wait ever. With my daughter, she was cleaned and checked in a bassinet right next to the operating table. I could see and hear her as they stitched me up. But this time was amazing! They didn't even clean off the baby following birth. Sponge baths are available the following day, but the trends all seemed to be for a more natural and simple birth. I loved it.

Despite my original intentions to stay a few more days at the hospital, we ultimately decided to come home just short of 2 days because I wanted a full night's sleep. All the baby checks and blood pressure tests didn't allow me to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time. I was just ready to come home and start to recover.

I am sure that little Mr. Elliott will be making regular appearances here on the blog. Stay tuned to watch him grow!

Until then, I am happy to be home with my family, itching to get back into the kitchen and working my way through some great reviews and posts that I plan to share with you over the next couple of days. Once we settle back into a routine I plan to resume all the kitchen fun, too. Currently my heart, and schedule, are running over.