Six Weeks With Elise

I am proud to say Wes and I have survived our first six weeks of parenting. Elise becomes more interactive every day. She is particularly cute and interactive first thing in the morning or while she's laying on her changing table. We catch little smiles pretty often, but I'm sure in the next week or two we'll have some great big grins to post! Elise is somewhere between 9.5-10 pounds, growing steadily. And, I am very pleased to say that she had a new milestone sleeping six hours straight last night. I hope that becomes a pattern! Elise was spoiled for Christmas, with too many gifts to list. She is enjoying her new "Rain Forest" swing right now. Wes and I also got a video camera :), so we'll be able to post short videos of Elise as she learns new tricks!
Friends Tracey (with Andrew) and Kim (with Rebekah)


Proud Grandma E and Uncle Tim

I'm sorry. I can't help it...

I am a proud papa!

More Pics - Week 4

The many goofy faces of Elise.

Many changes....

Adjusting to life with baby has been interesting. Quite honestly, those first two weeks were really, really tough! I felt completely confused about what Elise wanted at any given time. It seemed like all she wanted to do was eat - I couldn't believe she was that hungry. She also only wanted to sleep being held, which made it difficult for Wes and I to get any sleep. On top of all of this, I kept crying for no apparent reason, which was about the only part of the whole ordeal that stressed Wes out.
Week three has been a bit more manageable. Elise and I are starting to know each other a bit better, she has some semblance of a routine, and she is beginning to sleep for longer stretches at night in her bassinet. Wes has been a saint of a husband so far. He never complains when I wake him up at night, even though he usually has to get up for work in the morning. And, despite his pre-Elise claims that he wouldn't touch a diaper, he is tackling his fair share of those as well.

Enjoy the pictures of Elise!

The game continues...

More pics!!!

Some more pics of our little model

Here are some more pictures. Erin, Elise and Ihave been asked to pose for some photos to be used in some new hospital marketing materials. So, we will do that, shortly, and then get to go home in a few hours. I need to get out of here. I am beginning to feel like a zoo animal.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Drumroll please...

We would like to welcome Elise Noelle Erwin into the world. Elise was born, November 18, 2007 at 4:35 p.m. She weighs 7lbs., 1 oz., and is 21 inches long. Sized just right!

The day started like every other, except Erin knew something felt slightly different. There were some strange feelings below, consistent, but not strong. We took Sam and Abby for a 1.5 mile walk, and then Erin sent me to the IU basketball game (I offered to stay, but she insisted). When I arrived home, the games had begun. Within an hour, we were on our way to the hospital due to the ever increasing contractions. When we arrived at the hospital, we signed in at 3:45, and Erin was 10 cm. dialated. We got into the room, Erin put on her gown, and Elise was born about 35 minutes later. I was still in shock about 3 hours later. Due to her dramatic entrance, Elise had to be on Oxygen for a few hours, but now she is healthy and beautiful! The Grandparents are all here and for now, everything seems right in our world. Have a look!!!

Change of Plans

For the last several weeks when Wes and I would go for my weekly check up, our midwife kept talking to us about inducing labor. I shared with a few of you that I felt like she was pressuring us to induce. So, while I really wanted the baby to come on her own, I finally just decided I would be okay with being induced. When we went to our appointment this morning and brought it up, we got a very different response - that we don't want to induce unless we absolutely need to. Needless to say, Wes and I were confused because it seemed so different than what we had been hearing for three weeks. But, ultimately that is something I am much more comfortable with, and even though I'd rather not be pregnant anymore, we're going to wait for Elise to come when she is ready. Liz, our midwife, thinks we probably have another week, so we'll keep waiting. I can't promise our waiting will be patient, but we'll wait. However, I am going to make today or tomorrrow my official last day of work - I need something to look forward to in the very immediate future! We'll continue to keep you posted.

No baby yet!

In the last entry, Wes talked about time flying and at the same time standing still. Now, we've moved beyond time flying - it simply is standing still. So, as you have guessed by now, I am still indeed very pregnant. With Thanksgiving looming just a week and a half away, Wes and I get more anxious by the moment hoping that Elise will arrive soon. In the meantime, we are trying to enjoy our last few weeks of being childless - going to movies, going out to dinner, etc. We also have pretty much all the preparations done that we can. We have diapers, wipes, tons of adorable clothes, the carseat is installed, and the nursery is complete.
In addition to being finished, the nursery is more pink than Wes is used to growing up amongst boys. My mom made the valances for the windows and the cover for the glider for us in pink gingham - so sweet and girly. I enjoyed bargain shopping for the furniture (gotta love those garage sales) and then finding all the accessories.

That is about all the news! If Elise doesn't come on her own by the due date, we plan to induce on Monday the 19th, so we don't risk spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. We'll be sure to post when we go into labor and post some pictures after the birth, so be checking back over the next week! The pictures below are from weeks 38 and 37, respectively.