Ashley's Newborn Pics and Trevor's 3 Year Pics

Nothing like having family pictures 5 days post c-section birth but what else can you do when you need to have Ashley's newborn, Trevor's 3 year and family pics for our Christmas card pic done??  Wear black and call it good :)  

Trevor wasn't so sure about having his picture taken even though he's seen Kacy 4 times now.  He warmed up when he realized she brought candy though!

 

 One would think that in November it would be a little cool in AZ but no...we were all roasting in these pics!

 Our happy family of four!

 Our ham ball was all smiles! 

Trevor was SO excited to hold his baby sister.  He's fascinated with her!!

 What a funny smile!

 We took Ashley's pictures in her room because there is good light.  Plus she loves her room.  Kacy's newborn style isn't the same as what we were used to with Trevor's newborn pics but we still got some cute ones and they are still memories!

Month 0 Onesie Pic

 Well we missed taking Ashley's Month 0 onesie pic in the hospital on her true birth day, but we got in on her 5 day birth day :)

What a cute chunk we have!  And thanks to our old neighbor's the Pederson's who gave Ashley these cute onesie stickers!

 

What did Ashley think of her photo shoot with Daddy?  This pretty much sums it up - he he!

Ashley's Day 4 Check-up

Ashley had her day 4 check-up on Friday and passed with flying colors.  Her jaundice is better, she's eating well - although she lost 2 oz since hospital discharge and is now 8lbs 2oz (63rd percentile) but the doctor said all is well!  Still 20.5inches long (80th percentile) and a head circumference of 35.5 (61st percentile).  Even though we live in sunny AZ we still need to start her on Vitamin D drops.  She has a clogged tear duct (her right eye - Trevor's was his left eye) but no antibiotic drops are needed yet. 

Settling in

Ashley is settling in at home just great!  The girl can sleep and that is pretty much what she does day and night!  We'd like her to follow a eat-active time-sleep routine but she eats, sleeps and then wakes up to eat again.  Maybe eat time is considered awake time?  No matter, she is a great baby!

Just like Trevor, starting her first night home she sleeps in her crib.  We usually put her down around 8:00 and she's up around 1:00 to eat and then again around 5:30 or 6:00am.  Not too shabby!  See big babies sleep!  So that she continues to keep days and nights what they are supposed to be, we spend our days downstairs where it is nice and light.  We haven't yet had her nap in her crib, it's much too fun to cuddle or where we can see her in her pack-and-play or swing. 

No real fussy time these first few days.  We were expecting hers to be like Trevor's from about 10pm-midnight but that isn't the case yet.  Nana Jeanne always took that shift with Trevor so she's probably missing out on that time with Ashley ;)  She did cry once around 9pm after just feeding and couldn't settle down for about 20 long minutes.  Turns out she was hungry.  So she cluster fed for the next hour or so and then went to bed in a food coma.  Hmmm....maybe that was Trevor's 'issue' - oh, to be able to go back in time!

There is one thing for sure though and that is that Trevor LOVES his baby sister.  He proudly tells anyone that asks that her name is baby Ashley!

Last but not least for today is this picture of baby Ashley loving on her Mommy :)

Day Two Professional Photos

Here are the pics we purchased from the 'First Day' photographer who came to our room on Wednesday morning.  She took a few photos before Ashley was done with that!  We purchased these because we liked that Ashley's eyes were open.  So pretty!

See Ashley is fascinated with her hands.  We had to remember that too!

Day Two and Going Home!

On Wednesday Sara was up walking around again and was ready to go home!  The pediatrician arrived early and agreed that Ashley was ready to go home.  She even said she was ready to go on Tuesday but that seemed a bit crazy :)  Ashley was a little jaundice but never had to be under the light or wear a bili blanket.  Dr. Engle (pediatrician) said just lots of indirect light.

Later that morning the hospital photographer came in to snap some pics of Ashley.  She wasn't really a fan of having her picture taken by some stranger but she didn't mind Mommy and Daddy taking some pics after she left.

Our little Daddy's girl:

Who is already wrapped around his little finger...

 ....literally!

Our sleeping beauty.  

We'll have to dig out a picture of Trevor at the hospital because they look pretty similar!

She loves having her hands wrapped around a finger.

Mommy's turn to hold her little princess:

 

 Mommy and her little chunk.  Cute chunk!

  

 Sara will never forget that while Brian was taking these pictures Ashley was 'talking' and looking so intently at her.  A bond that will never be broken.  

Around 12:30 Sara's OB-GYN came by on rounds and Sara surprised him by meeting him at the nurses station where she announced she was ready to go home.  The look on his face was priceless and he said 'really?  you're joking right?'  She assured him she was ready along with the nurses who said she was an amazing patient with everything she was doing.  Most c-section patients don't do what Sara was doing...and with no pain meds!  Sara does have a high pain threshold though :)  After looking at the nursing reports, he agreed that she was cleared to go home.  Woo hoo!  Here is Dr. Desanto - best (and fastest) c-section doctor in Phoenix!

They said we'd be discharged in a few hours so Mommy and daughter got a little snooze in while Daddy packed up all of our stuff.

Trevor even came back to join in the festivities.  Every time he visited us in the hospital he'd ask if Mommy was coming home yet and we'd always have to say no.  He was so happy today when we said yes, Mommy (and Daddy) were coming home!!  After a quick nursing session, while Sara was standing, we were ready to go. 

Ashley thought her new ride was pretty comfy!

On the way home Trevor kept telling us that baby sister's head was flopped over and he wasn't kidding.  Not sure how comfy that really is!

Home sweet home!

Inside we were greeted with a pretty little area welcoming us all home. 

 

Our sentiments exactly...'welcome home precious Ashley!'

  Sara's parents made dinner for us but Sara was a bit overwhelmed with emotion and needed some time upstairs in bed.  Probably a little sleep deprived because of those nurses always coming in to check on her or Ashley....not any more though!  So Brian, Trevor, Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve enjoyed their feast while Mommy slept with baby Ashley for a quick 45 minute nap.  That was all it took!  Sara was back to her chipper self and Ashley was back to sleeping...this time in her swing.  Sweet dreams angel!

Some memories from our first night home include Trevor running to get a bottle from his toys - all excited - when Sara said Ashley was hungry.  He got the bottle and proudly announced he could help.  Broke Sara's heart to tell him that she feeds from Mommy.  He looked so sad but seemed to understand when Mommy said in a few weeks he could give her a bottle.

As Mommy was feeding Ashley before bedtime in her room, Daddy was trying to get Trevor to bed but Trevor wanted Mommy to do his bedtime routine with him.  We tried to explain to him that Mommy couldn't because she was feeding but that she'd do it another time.  He wasn't having it.  Mommy could only say 'I'm sorry' as he walked away and Sara cried to herself :(

Ashley was a super sleeper that first night home.  Sara put her to bed around 9 and she got up at 1:30 to eat and then again at 5:30 then up for the day around 8.  Not too bad for a breastfeeding newborn!!  However Trevor is another story.  He kept coming into our room saying that he heard baby sister crying and wanting us to go get her.  He is a very protective big brother but we might want to get his hearing checked.  According to the video monitor she wasn't crying.  Maybe we'll just turn up the music in his room to see if that will keep him in bed!

Ashley is 1 day old!

Day two in the hospital had Sara up and walking - doing laps around the hospital floor at 6am!  Boy did that feel good but the nurses were in shock.  Apparently that's not typical 18 hours after a c-section.  Little did they know that Sara only had one goal in mind and that was to eat normal food.  She didn't want any more broth or jello.  She wanted real food.  After a few laps she got the all clear to order whatever she wanted, and she did!  Pancakes!!!! Yum!!

 Trevor, Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve visited in the morning before Trevor went to preschool.  Trevor was very into baby sister but this time baby sister wasn't having it!

 He's like, what is wrong with her??

 Make her stop crying please!

 Well after school the gang came back and Ashley was happy to see her big brother and Trevor was SO excited to see his baby sister.  Kisses all around!

 He just kept looking at her and touching her hands.  She grabbed right on to his fingers.  Precious!

After all of the visitors our princess was tired so we put on the first outfit we bought her.  We bought a gender neutral outfit even though we knew at the time we were having a girl so as to not let on to anyone that we knew so early!  Love the touchdown pose!

 Lots of rest and walking the rest of Tuesday at the hospital.  Mommy would walk and Ashley would rest in her bassinet being pushed by Mommy!

 We brought our sleep sheep music so that Ashley would get used to the ocean sound.  She loved it just like Trevor and the girl would sleep.  At night the nurses would swaddle her up and after a non-stop feeding frenzy for 3 hours, she impressed us all and slept for 4.5 hours!  Now if only the nurses would stop coming in to monitor Mommy we would have all gotten some sleep!

 Mommy and Daddy weren't so good at swaddling with the hospital blanket so in the middle of the night we broke out the HALO swaddle blanket that Trevor's hospital used.  Gosh is she a cutie.  Blessed!!

Her name

On our 4th of July road trip to Las Vegas we brought the good ole baby name book and started 'discussions' on our baby girl's name.  Sara would read off names and Brian would say yes or no and Sara would say no to his yes's if warranted :)  That method yielded quite a list like Whitney (one of B's top names), Nicole (but how do you keep it Nicole because we already have a Nicci and Nicki in the family), Tiffany, Erica, Ella and Ashley.  We both agreed that Ashley though felt right, Trevor liked it and from that moment on she was always Ashley.  Trevor was so smart and kept it quiet even when people asked him what his baby sister's name would be!  Sara though was able to tell a few of her closest friends 'the name' when she was back in MN in late July.  All agreed that Ashley was the perfect name....and they all kept it secret too!

The middle name was a bit more difficult however.  Well, mostly for Sara because she kept wavering between two names.  Brian always knew what he wanted it to be.  Just like with Trevor we agreed that since she will have the Hillins last name, she will have a middle name honoring Sara's family, and we get to decide her first name.  

You may remember that Trevor's middle name was changed from Steven to Kelly after Sara's Grandma Kelly passed away days before he was born.  Kelly is Sara's Mom's maiden name and both her and her brother Jim's middle name.  Sara's Mom's middle name is Marie so we thought Ashley would be Ashley Marie or Ashley Kelly.  Sara really liked how Ashley Marie sounded but in the end both Sara and Brian liked the tradition of continuing with Kelly as a middle name!  Ashley Kelly Hillins....sounds perfect, just like she is!