Breastfeeding VIP pass

Dear Elodie,

We just received today your "Breastfeeding VIP membership card". All these hours of feeding finally pay off!

Congratulations!

Dear Jennifer and Patrick,
Congratulations!

Elodie, welcome! You are so cute! I can see a lot of your daddy in you, I bet you're going to have your mom's great sense of humor!
I can't wait to meet you, but understand I just have to wait until the time is right :)

6 days and counting...being parents

Amazing that it has already been 6 days since Elodie was born. It actually seems longer, but that is probably because the days are stretched with cuddling, feeding, changing diapers, making faces, or making up silly songs where we forget the lyrics (but hey--it calms her down when crying).

Some things we have already understood or are finding out as we go along:

1. For labor, I was against an epidural, but opted for it and I'm so glad I did!
2. In the hospital, no one tells you this, but expect to be interupted during the night and day, at least every 45 minutes (no kidding), from Nurses, Doctors, Pediatricians, Orderlies, and everyone else. This will drive you to absolutely no sleep when you expect to have some peace before you go home and really lose your sleep. Make sure to ask your nurse to put a sign on the door to ask the front reception before entering.
   
3. This being said..Yes, we lost a lot of sleep due to the hospital stay, then after we returned home, but we are slowly getting it back with taking turns on help and taking naps here and there.
   
4. Take naps with Elodie when she sleeps. We can each usually can get at least an hour in and that makes a world of difference later.
   
5. I made the mistake of starting to wash Elodie, but didn't have all of my wash equipment to properly do so, so I learned to make sure I have all of my baby equipment in front of me before I start anything. Even items being located across the room can be troublesome when giving a bath or changing a diaper. I basically needed to pick her up and take her with me to get that item.
   
6. Carrying a diaper bag with us in each car or remember to take it with us, like I would my own purse. In this diaper bag are the essentials: diapers (go figure), diaper wipes, changing pad, Purell, change of clothes, socks, and/or mittens, and always have some sort of receiving blanket and/or soft blanket ready. Bottles will come later since I am breastfeeding.
7. If we have to take Elodie out in public or to the doctor's, we made sure to cover her car seat carrier with a blanket, as so to keep germs and weather away from her and muffle any disturbing sounds.
   
8. While I was watching Elodie sleeping, she ended up kicking her thicker blanket that was at her feet, all the way up to near her face (within seconds), so needless to say, I really keep an eye on her and try not to look away too long.
   
9. Having good communication and an understanding with Patrick is great, especially when passing Elodie to each other (i.e. "I have her head and okay to let go").
10. Good support from each other is so essential. Help one another out for even the little things.
    
11. Elodie (and seems like babies in general) usually will cry for the following things (which makes it easier to deduce what she needs): 1) Hungry (breastfeeding time) 2) Gas Pain 3) Diaper change needed 4) Sick or not feeling well 5) or my favorite--Just wants to be held.
12. I found out that I love breastfeeding. Partially because it is just the most wonderful thing I can do for me and her. It is very rewarding and gives her not only the most natural and best food to help build her immune system and fight off colds and germs, but it helps my health as well, and gives me a great opportunity to spend some one and one time with Elodie.
    
13. It is okay (and best) to wait a while until you have guests coming over and holding her. People are usually good at understanding this.
    

It's a Girl!

Hey Everyone,

She finally is born! Elodie Olive Vilain, 9 lbs 9 ounces, and 21" long, was born today at 12:40pm, at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford, Ca.

Since she was so big, she had a little trouble coming out, and it was even a close call at one point, but our little girl is so strong and she luckily made it into this world!

She is beautiful and looks JUST like her Dad when he was a baby, we could see that right away. Her eyes, nose, lips, and even feet are really identical to Patrick (see Dad's baby pics in the center and compare it to her), but I'm still holding out for her to have my dimples and I think her hands look like mine, but that might be because mine are still swollen and poofy like hers. ;o)

We are so happy to have her finally be here with us, and look forward to all the days we will spend with her by our side. This is really wonderful! xoxo Jenn, Patrick, and Elodie!

Une nuit avant le debut de ta vie ("officielle")

Eh oui, ouh la la, c'est deja le matin du grand soir. Ou plutot le soir du grand jour, enfin je ne sais plus trop car il est 23h58 et ta Maman navigue entre le sommeil (preparateur) et les visites de l'infirmiere (qui lui a copieusement servit une pilule pour la faire dormir...)
Des sondes sont placees sur son ventre et on peut entendre ton coeur battre-battre-battre.

Quand arrives-tu?
Bientot fini le temps d'amerrir et bientot celui d'atterrir (oh le poete).

L'infirmiere revient dans 2h30 pour un nouveau medicament.
La nuit est calme a Stanford ce soir. Il y a des gens tout autour, mais on est vraiment la que tous les deux, ton Papa et ta Maman, a t'attendre.
Quand arrives-tu?

It is just all so surreal..

Here I am, 6am in the morning, 1 day past your due date, you hiccuping and kicking, and thinking about my pregnancy and your upcoming birth by induction, starting this evening.

I'm sure other mothers or pregnant women can attest to this. That it is all so strange and surreal that you developed inside of me, that an actual human being grew, like a plant, starting with a seed, and now here I am, with you moving around in my tummy more than before, feeling very big and so heavy. And, because I know that you can see light and hear sounds, I like to think that you actually interact with me when I touch your protruding foot.

Even with all the typical (and not so typical) pregnancy symptoms I went through these past several months, there were times where I would actually forget that I was pregnant, and then I would look down or feel you moving and I'd remember that all this is so worth the chance of actually seeing the day where I can hold you close and connect with you on a completely different level. And the fact that I'm checking myself into the hospital this very evening to start the induction and actually see who has been with me this whole time, is the most surreal part of it.

You have already been medically recognized as being bigger in weight than you should be at this stage of pregnancy, and so the past week has been an emotional rollercoaster for both me and your Dad. I am not one to worry, and I always thought it was sappy when expecting parents would say, "I just want a healthy baby", like "who wouldn't?", but now I really understand that wish. All of the tests up until now have passed with flying colors, but there are still last minute problems that can happen to you and I won't know until you actually come out. I'm such a positive person and tend not to think of the negative things in life, but I am also a realist and therefore, for the first time, in a big way, I worry about you. How much will you actually weigh? Will I be able to give birth naturally or only by C-section? Will you be injured? What will you look like?

Then there is the question of what do we do with you once we return home? I keep having the funny picture in my mind of setting you down on the bed and us just staring at you and you starting back. Other than what we do know is necessary (breastfeeding, diaper changes, baths,sleeping,etc.), do we just plop you down in your little Boppy pink chair and use our mental telephathy to figure out what it is that you want or need? You are not like a pet, that is for sure. We cannot let you in and have you clean,eat, and put yourself to sleep. This is so much more, and we are actually curious about what our new lives will be with you and how this is going to feel and affect us both. The good thing is that we've been frightened (I mean "told") ;o) by our friends and family the truth about babies and how different our lives will be, so although it appears a bit scary, we are looking forward to the challenge.

One thing I know for sure is that we've spent the past 9 months preparing for you, mostly materially, but also mentally, and between your caring Dad and your loving Mom, there is just a lot of attention and love that is just waiting for you. Whatever you look like, whatever problems arise, we will still love you as much as we can, and either worried or not, I am just so excited to have this opportunity to meet you.

xoxo
Mom

What's in a name? Apparently ALOT!

OK, so here we are on the Friday before your due date, and we know that we are down to the wire on officially naming you (which by the way is not really that easy).

I've spent the past couple months going through French and American baby name books, watching the credits on movies for interesting name ideas, looking online for popular and unique baby names, and I came up with about 50+ different names (see below):

Aussile (Aus-eel)
Aussile (aus-sille)
Aya (eye-ya)
Bejou or Bijou (Bee-Joo)
Belal (bee-lall)
Bisous (Bee-zou)
Bonamy (Bon-a-mee)
Bonne (Bon)
Danae (dan-ay)
Eanne (eee-anne)
Edonie (ED-don-ee)
Emile (EM-Meel)
Epiphanie (ep-phif-any)
Eulalie (u-lay-lee)
Faustine (fos-teen)
Finney (fin-ney)
Fusciane (foo-she-ann)
Gaelle (gay-elle)
Jael (yey-all)
Laelia (lay-lee-ah)
Lalie (lay-lee)
Larlene or Larleene (Lar-leene)
Lilou (lee-lou)
Linney (lin-ney)
Love
Manis (Ma-niece) or Manisse
Manon (man-non)
Marlow (mar-low)
Nais (nai-eese)
Nilla (nil-la) (however, this is a popular, milk-dipping Vanilla cookie in the US)
Nine (neene)
Ninon (nee-non)
Obeline (ob-bel-leen)
Olivia
Paquerette (pac-qu-rette)
Pasiphae (pas-ah-fay)
Pepin (Pep-in)
Photine (fo-teen)
Pience (pee-ence)
Pinae (Pin-nay)
Ponce
Pyrene (peer-ren-nee)
Ronin (Ro-nan)
Sancie (san-cee)
Searlait (Seer-lay)
Selisse (sell-lease)
Sidonie (SID-don-ee)
Sinope (sin-ope)
Solal (so-lahl)
Solyane (sol-yan)
Yvelise (eve-leese)
Zea (zee-a)

And your Dad, with some help from his co-workers and friends, came up with a whopping five, mostly American names:

Clara
Emilie
Jeanne (but pronounced the French way of "SCH-john")
Louise
Zoe


As you can see, because my name, Jennifer Reynolds, has always been a typical American name and not very unique, I've spent a long time wanting a unique name for whenever I had a child. But, with your Dad, and understandably so, he's always had a very unique last name of Vilain (VIL-ANN), which as simple as it looks to spell and pronounce, he has had to consistantly repeat the spelling of it almost every time he says it to someone here in the states.

We've been back and forth on what to name you, worrying a bit about you having to spell it in school, or having to explain it twice. Therefore, we wanted to agree upon a name that is both unique (for me), but easy to spell and hear (for Dad), and flows with your last name. And, since your Dad and I only seem to agree upon the first name, Elodie or Elody, we decided to keep it as your first name, but spell it as ELODEE, in order for others not to think you left off the M and it is "Melody", which is sort of a common American name.

This way, there is no mistaking how to pronounce it, and I think it flows a bit better with your middle name, OLIVE, and last name, VILAIN, which comes out better than naming you a longer version of ELODINE.

So, when the person in the hospital comes around to ask for your name on your Birth Certificate, we will proudly tell them it is: ELODEE OLIVE VILAIN, extraordinaire! (ok, maybe not the "extraordinaire" part, but the rest remains. ;o) )

Another SURPRISE Baby Shower!!!

OK..it is affirmative. I am even luckier than I thought before.

Patrick invited me to a small meeting with a co-worker today, "some cake and coffee", to meet Haifa at his work and I was very excited to come.

Well, he led me into the cafeteria but took a detour into a larger, darkened room and I started to see balloons and peeked around the corner. To my surprise I see about 20+ folks hiding and saying "SURPRISE!!". It turned out to be a surprise Baby Shower for us..but Patrick knew and helped plan this for awhile now. SNEAKY MAN!! Let's just say thank God I made an effort to dress up and put some make up on. I can't imagine if I showed up in sweats, my Crocs shoes, and a t-shirt, with no make-up.

Of course I started to tear up a bit, all while people (including Patrick) were taking pictures of me. I felt like the star of the show..and a little embarrassed because I had never really met most of his co-workers before.

They had a sheet of cake with "Congratulations Patrick and Jennifer" written on it, as well as drinks, veggie platter with dip, fruit platter, and a bunch of gifts on the table. I met everyone so quickly, but remembered some folks from Patrick's Intuit X-mas party, and a lot that I was looking forward to meeting (and just heard great things about them from Patrick).

Turns out that Haifa (the Exec Admin and friend of Patrick), had organized the whole thing, and with a collection of money from everyone, bought a bunch of necessities off our Target.com Baby Registry. She also started off with a few Baby Shower games (that I didn't do so well at), but it gave me a chance to laugh and talk with Patrick's friends. It was fun and I really couldn't get over it all. It was truly a surprise.

This baby is truly spoiled!!...and so are we! Thank you Sweetie--and thanks everyone for making me feel very special. :o)

Labor..schmabor!

So my OB/GYN finally called today to go over the Birth Plan.

She says that the Ultrasound showing your weight of around 9 lbs is probably pretty accurate because of my birth weight history and the fact that you haven't shown me any signs of coming out.

What we all decided was to give you a chance to show up by your official due date of Saturday, 2/16/08, and if you don't show we will make an appointment for us to check in on Sunday evening to the hospital for an induced labor. She says that we can try for the natural "pushing" labor, but if there are any complications, we can always do a C-section at the very last minute to get you out safely.

My hope is that you won't wait until then and this can all get started sooner than later. COME ON Elodie!! xoxo

Soooo close to your birthday..but where are you??

Hi cutie pie,

OK, so you are supposedly a BIG baby, just like your Mom was when she was born (she was almost 11lbs!). You seem to be taking your sweet old time and relaxing in my warm belly, still kicking and moving, but refusing to come out.

The ultrasound I had last Wednesday, 2/6, says that you are approximately already 9 lbs! (babies are usually born around 6.5-8lbs, but you haven't been even born yet, so you can imagine my impatience and anxiety. Plus, you have already grown out of your cute newborn clothes.

You've supposedly been gaining about 3/4-1lb a week, and your due date is set for less than a week on 2/16/08, so if you don't show signs of coming out soon, we will just have to induce labor and get you.

We are so curious to what you look like and what you will be like. Everything is ready and everyone is waiting for you..so please come soon! ;o) xoxo Mom and Dad.

The moving belly...

Since you are such the kicker and mover in the belly, I thought I'd try to capture you in action. It was tough because as SOON as I took out the video camera..you stopped, but I got a whole second glimpse of your movement-woo-hoo!. It is at the VERY beginning of the video, so watch the left side of my belly, but don't blink. Enjoy! ;o)

Homemade tees for you

I bought these Calvin Klein onesies and decided to add a little homemade felt item on each one. They turned out kinda of cute.

BTW..we modified your first name a bit to Elodine, instead of Elodie. It is a little more formal, and we can always nickname you the shortened version.

Someone is warming your chair for you...

I was so proud that I took this older Glider rocking chair that is meant for you and me, and made some homemade avocado green fleece covers on it.

As SOON as I put on the bottom pad cover, I turn around for just a moment, and who has already found her place there?...yes! Zazu. I took some pics to catch her in the act (not like she looks like she is going anywhere soon).

Now, if Zazu is not there..Luigi is. They think I made it soft and colorful just for them, but maybe they are just keeping it warm for you.