February

Alisha says: February has been all about adjusting to our new normal with two kids. I was able to get out for my first bike ride a little after two weeks postpartum and it was wonderful! I could actually bend over and my tummy wasn't touching the nose of my saddle and my knees weren't hitting my belly as I pedaled. It was awesome, I also felt much lighter and nimble. My mom stayed with us for a few days to help out while Dave was busy with a conference and on her last day we even got to go on a mountain bike ride together. I was nervous about leaving both kids and that they would both be fussy but they did fine and my mom did awesome with them.

Some days are great and I think I am rocking this two kid thing but then others are more challenging. We had one particularly bad day where Skye was just being wild and disobedient, even trying to hit Jade a few times and we were all in tears by the time Dave got home from work. We have been so worn out that usually after we put Skye to bed at 7:00 we will get ready for bed ourselves and then watch the Olympics in bed until I fall asleep.

Jade will usually sleep a good chunk of 3-4 hours until about midnight when she wakes up for a feeding but after that it seems like she wants to nurse the rest of the night or only sleep on or next to me. Most nights we end up sleeping for a few hours in the recliner in the living room. She is already getting out of the newborn stage as she tries to hold her own head up and puts on a little more weight.

Although Skye can be challenging being a two year old and adjusting to a new baby she can be also very sweet. She is a great sleeper and has gone back to sleeping from 7-7 which is great. She still takes a nice afternoon nap. We took her to the park the other day and she was so cute chasing the pigeons saying "catch it, catch, it". She is also getting better with her colors and is slowly starting to work on potty training. I have also found a babysitter in our neighborhood that she just started going to for a few hours two days a week. The woman has an almost two year old daughter so it is great and she has enjoyed it the few times she has gone. Skye loves the show Tumble Leaf right now and especially likes the episode about a kite. She also loves to sit at the little table in our kitchen.

Dave also had his 35th birthday. It was pretty uneventful as he had a long day at work so we planned on celebrating with his family on the weekend but his mom was sick so we ended up canceling that plan. I had ordered him an ice cream cake from Cold Stone and when I picked it up they had goofed on the name and put "Gabe" instead of "Dave" and the handwriting was terrible but we all just had a laugh about it and hopefully it will taste good.

Dave added a new addition to the fort

My brother and his family came to visit and see Jade

We went on an outing to the arboretum

Love me some baby snuggles, and she is sucking her thumb!

Jade's first bike race. We went to watch Lauren race the criterium at Valley of the Sun stage race.

Chasing birds at the park. "Catch it, catch it", so cute!

Sisters!

Christine and family finally got to meet Jade when she was one month old. They had been sick for a few weeks so we stayed away. Christine is also pregnant and was due 7 weeks after me but she was admitted to the hospital the night this picture was taken and had her baby a few days later at 36 weeks so Jade and her new cousin are only four weeks apart.

Happy Birthday Dave, or Gabe?!

Neighbor walks with baby Jade

I took both kids to the aquarium at the mall and survived!

Jade's Newborn Photos

Alisha says: Be still my heart!!! We had some professional photos taken of Jade when she was 8 days old. They turned out so beautifully that I seriously can't pick a favorite as they are all my favorite. Skye cooperated so well and we got some adorable pictures of the two of them. I truly hope that they will be buddies their whole life and have a close relationship as sisters.

Jade slept really good for the first part of the session and then was awake and wanted to eat and it took us a while to get her back to sleep. The photographer usually doesn't take many pictures of them when they are awake but Jade wouldn't go back to sleep so she took a few and I'm so glad she did because I love seeing her eyes in the ones she got.

2 Weeks

Alisha says: 2 weeks, 2 weeks!! Where has the time gone. I can't believe that Jade is already 2 weeks old. We have been doing okay, things are a bit more crazy around our house as we figure out our new normal. Skye has had a bit of a hard time adjusting and is also a typical 2 year old so that has been hard. Skye is only semi interested in the baby and has only held Jade a couple of times. Skye wants to be a baby again and has tried out the baby's bassinet, pacifier and bottle. Dave has been great to try and give Skye some one on one attention by taking her biking and to the park. Jade had her two week pediatrician appointment and is healthy and gaining weight. She has been a good nurser and we haven't had to supplement her with any formula yet. She is sleeping okay, she will usually sleep about 4 hours when we first go to bed but then it seems like she wants to eat almost every hour after that. As long as she gets to nurse she is fine. She seems to like her mother the most so far and tends to only tolerate her dad in small doses before she gets a fussy. I affectionately call her my little piranha for reasons I'll leave unnamed and Dave affectionately calls her "rooter baby" because she always is rooting around wanting to eat. I have loved snuggling her the past two weeks, I love the newborn stage and they grow out of it too fast. Just this morning Dave said that she was looking a little bigger.

2 Weeks Stats:

Weight 7 pounds 2 Ounces (25%)

Length: 20.5 Inches (50%)

Head Circumference: 13.75 (50%)

Multitasking with two kids

Skye trying out all of the baby items

Jade's pointer and middle finger on her left hand are much larger than the rest of her fingers, including the same fingers on her right hand. They also are double jointed and curve at the end.

Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!!

Baby Belly

Alisha says: Being pregnant is an amazing and special season of life. Your body goes through so many changes in 9 months. There are times when it you don't feel good, have to go to the bathroom all the time and are super uncomfortable but the end result is so worth it! We are very blessed to have been able to add Jade to our family.

10 Weeks

 15 Weeks

 20 Weeks

24 Weeks

27 Weeks

30 Weeks

 34 Weeks

38 Weeks

39 Weeks +2 Days (The Day Before I Had Jade)

February 4th, My due date. Jade was 4 days old

Jade's Birth Story

Alisha says: She's here! She's here! It's crazy how you wait and wait to meet your baby. There is so much uncertainty of when the baby will come and how labor would go and at times I felt like she was never going to come but she did and now it is all a great memory and we are so in love with our new baby daughter, Jade.
On Tuesday January 30th I had a doctors appointment. It was pretty standard business and I knew the routine as I had been having weekly visits for the past four weeks. I was 39 weeks +2 days pregnant and still only dilated to a 2 (I was a 2 at my 36 week apt.). The baby was fine and measuring average size but I was ready to meet our little girl so I had Dr. Beck sweep my membranes to see if that would help bring on labor. I left feeling fine and continued on my way. I was up in the night feeling a little crampy but mostly just uncomfortable from being pregnant.
Wednesday started off as usual. I slept in a little and Dave ended up working from home just in case anything was going to happen. Skye was being a bit wild and needed to get out of the house so I texted my friend and we met up with her and her little girl at the park. We stayed until a little after 11:00 and I was still feeling a bit crampy but nothing too bad. We went home and as I was getting lunch ready I started having a few stronger contractions. Around noon I was having fairly regular contractions about 10 minutes apart so I called my mom and had her head our way. In the meantime we put Skye down for a nap, I took a shower, finished packing the hospital bag, got ready, and then laid down for a little rest. I started timing my contractions again and they were around 7 minutes apart. I even went 15 minutes without one so I thought it might be false labor. My mom arrived around 2:00 pm and so I got up and started moving around again and the contractions started coming fast and hard. I stopped timing them but it felt like they were one right after the other. We headed to the hospital and arrived around 2:30 pm. We walked into the lobby and went to check in. The receptionist was already helping someone and even though Dave told her I was having close contractions she told us to have a seat in the lobby and she would get us when it was our turn. There was a number of other people in the lobby and as we would come to find out that the maternity ward was very busy that day. I made my way to a couch but couldn't even sit and ended up kneeling crouched over in front of the couch as I struggled to breath, stay quiet and not make a scene it the lobby. The contractions were crazy intense now and really close together. After a while Dave went and talked to the receptionist again and finally she came out and talked to us and realized that I needed a room or I might have this baby in the lobby. She said that they didn't have a room but were working on it. So finally after 20 plus minutes in the lobby I bypassed the actual registration desk, triage, and went straight to a delivery room. It was just after 3:00 when I got in the delivery room, the nurse asked me what I wanted to do about pain management and at this point I wanted an epidural. I got changed and in the bed asked the nurse how realistic it was that I would have time to get and epidural and she said, not really. I was checked and was already dilated to a nine and the anesthesiologist was in the operating room so I was going to have this baby the good old fashioned way. I panicked a little but soon Dr. Beck arrived and I was ready to push. The baby was head down but face up and the doctor wanted to try and flip her over and that was painful. I don't really know if he was able to flip her or if I delivered her face up but the next thing I knew I was pushing. On my very first push I was still fighting the pain but I just told myself to give in to the pain and just do it. So after 2 contractions our sweet baby Jade Mae Welsh was born at 3:27 pm, weighting 6 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. She was so beautiful with a lot of dark brown hair and long fingers. I couldn't believe that she was here, how fast it happened, and that I did it without pain medication. I always wanted to go natural but I didn't know if I would be able to do it so in the end I was glad that I didn't have the option of an epidural. I was amazed and proud that my body had created this little baby and then delivered her into the world. It was a very empowering moment.

 We recovered for a few hours in the delivery room where I got to breastfeed and bond with Jade before I was moved to my recovery room. I ordered some dinner and then Dave and I snuggled with our new daughter. Her first visitor was my mom, the next day her great grandparents Ivan and Venice came to visit and then Dave's parents also came back early from their vacation to see her. The hospital was still very busy and we were doing great so we just stayed the minimum of 24 hours at the hospital before checking out and bringing Jade home. We arrived home around 5:00 pm and introduced Skye to her new little sister. She was interested and kept saying "baby, baby". Now the real fun begins figuring out how to juggle a newborn and a toddler but right now, my heart couldn't be any fuller.

Welcome Jade Mae Welsh

January 31, 2018 (Wednesday)

Birth Time: 3:27 pm

Weight: 6 pounds 13 ounces

Length: 20 inches

Jade's first bath

Jade's first visitors: Grandma Bezanson, Great Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins and Grandma and Grandpa Welsh

 Getting ready to go home: 1 Day Old

January

Alisha says: January was a pretty routine month (besides January 31st, which was a huge exciting day). Really I was just counting down the days until my due date. I was still getting out almost daily for a road or mountain bike ride. My goal was to ride my whole pregnancy and my last ride was a road ride the day before I had Jade so I was happy with that.

Skye has started a bad habit of waking up between 5:30-6:30 (one time at 4:58) and starts talking. It is still really dark outside and we wish she would sleep until 7:00.

Things she has started saying that she thinks are hilarious; taco, taco baby, diapee (like diaper but with a long e sound on the end).

She sings more of her nursery rhymes

Counts 1-10 almost all by herself

Working on her colors, when asked what color something is it is usually yellow that she first responds with.

Skye's last picture as an only child.