Fourth Trimester

Greetings all!  I have emerged from the complete and total energy suck that is two children/recovery from childbirth to bring you this blog post.  We have been, by and large, keeping holed up together figuring out this family of four thing.  For those of you not immersed in the world of babies like I am, the "Fourth Trimester" refers to the first 3 months after the baby is born, when he is still basically an extension of my body.  We are smack dab in the middle of the Fourth Trimester.  It is a really beautiful time, so I thought I would share with you some snapshots I have taken in the most dramatic way possible: in black and white.

Lest the pictures below fool you, our transition to a family of four has not been entirely seamless.  There have been days when it is just hard.  Those are the days when I throw my hands up and say "we are absolutely not having any more kids!"  There have been days when Elliot gets overwhelmed and tantrums like no other.  And there are days when I wonder if I could go back to work, just for the day, and let these kids be someone else's problem for a few hours.

But then there are the other times.  The ones that fill my heart more full than I knew was possible.  Those moments when I see Erik tenderly holding both of our babies, or Elliot gently putting Liam's pacifier back in his mouth and kissing him on the forehead.  The times when Liam curls into me when I pick him up or lays his head on my chest and falls asleep.  These moments so overpower the tantrums, the long nights, the endless laundry.  It is such a special and short time.

During this time, Elliot has started preschool!  She goes two days a week in the mornings.  She was so nervous the first day I thought she was going to make herself sick.  But she did very well. And, I'm not going to lie, I really enjoy the break and the chance to bond one-on-one with Liam.

My baby bear.

 

This is Liam on January 10th, one month old!  I can't believe soon it will be two months!

We are not always sleeping peacefully!  Ironically, I was attempting to get a shot of him in his shirt that says "Awesome" but he was having none of it.

Even though some days are difficult for Elliot dealing with her new brother, she absolutely loves and adores him.  One of my very favorite things is watching their relationship develop.  I am so glad they have each other.  Every night Liam gets in Elliot's bed for prayers and story time.  It turns out, that is a golden opportunity for me to grab the camera.  The following photos are from those times and I love, love, love them.  Almost as much as I love the people in them.

Well, I better get back to the fam.  Stay tuned, we've got something exciting coming down the pipeline.  I can't say what it is just yet, but I suspect the next blog post will be the big reveal :).  

Liam Gil

He's here!  He's here!

If we are Facebook friends, you know the newest Rammelsberg made his appearance on December 10, 2015, making him just over a week old today.  We are so in love with him!  This is the first opportunity I have had to make a post since D day, and I am somewhat sleep deprived, but I will try to hit all the major events/answer all the most common questions I have been getting.

Liam's Birth Story

As you may recall if you have been following my blog since Elliot was born, she was delivered via emergency C-section.  This left us with a choice to make with this birth.  We could try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian) or schedule the repeat C-section.  It was a very difficult decision I struggled with for most of my pregnancy.  My OB was amazing throughout the whole process.  He was supportive of whatever I wanted to do.  He said given my previous birth experience I probably had about a 60% chance of successful VBAC.  He didn't encourage either the VBAC or the C-section, but said four words magic words that stuck with me and made me feel good about our ultimate decision: "Either choice is reasonable."

After a lot of thought, research, and prayer, Erik and I finally decided that we would schedule the repeat C-Section for December 10, but if I went into labor before then I would try to VBAC.  The reason I decided this was mainly because my birth experience with Elliot was generally terrible.  After laboring for 26 hours and pushing for 3 hours, I was completely exhausted when we finally did the emergency C-section.  I don't remember meeting her for the first time, or the first time I fed her.  I didn't want to risk that happening again.

Well, as you can see, I did NOT go into labor before December 10, so the C-section went forward as planned.  And it was really beautiful.  The hospital where I delivered was very supportive of everything I requested, including immediate skin-to-skin contact and holding off on the bath.  As soon as they pulled him out and made sure he was okay, they put him on my chest and he started nursing, while I was still in the OR being stitched up.  I was present for every part of his birth, and not exhausted this time around.  I do not regret my decision at all.

He was a perfect 7 pounds and 14 ounces.  Much smaller than we anticipated!  I was expecting a nine pounder!  Elliot was 8.5 pounds when she was born, so I just assumed he would be bigger.  But he was the teeniest, cuddliest little bundle of curled up legs and squishy cheeks.

What's in a name?

Liam Gil is named after our fathers.  Erik's dad's name is William, so we took the end of his name.  Those of you who know my dad are saying, "wait, isn't your Dad's name Cres?"  Yes, it is.  But our entire family calls him "Gil" and for a lot of reasons we decided to go with that rather than his "real" name.  I know Liam is like the most popular name for boys right now, but going with the family names was ultimately more important to us than being more original.

And then there were four.

One of the most beautiful moments of my life was when Elliot met her baby brother.  She came in, all smiles, wearing one mitten, and immediately fell in love with him.  They are so cute together.

She brought him all kinds of toys and cards from her own collection, and placed them carefully in his little crib at the hospital.  (Pictured above.)

The perks of having a Christmas baby.

EVERYONE has mentioned how awful it is to have a birthday so close to Christmas, so I have been a little bummed that his due date was in December.  However, the hospital does super cute things for babies born at Christmastime!  For example, they gave him a stocking to wear with a matching hat!  Have you ever seen anything so adorable?!!

Since we have been home...

Despite having a C-section, I was discharged from the hospital the day after he was born because I was recovering so well.  For us it was a relief to be home, with Elliot, all of us together as a family.  It was also nice to be home in our own bed!  And the little guy let us get a decent amount of sleep for a newborn.  He has been sleeping about 3-4 hours at a time through the night, so I typically only have to get up twice a night to feed him, then he falls immediately back to sleep.  On nights when Erik takes a turn feeding him on milk I pumped earlier in the day, I get around 7 hours of sleep in a row!

How is Elliot handling it?

Elliot is, as always, a champ.

She takes things in stride very well.  But this.  This was a huge adjustment for her.  She loooooves her brother.  He gets frequent kisses and requests to be held from his sister.  But she is also feeling the jealousy of lost attention, has had a little sleep regression, and a little bit of toilet training regression.  We feel so guilty sometimes about all the adjustments she has had to make and will continue to have to make.  But we are told she will adjust and I just keep reminding myself that I have a younger sister and I don't even remember a time without her.  So we hope that will be the case here.

She is the best big sister though.  And so proud to show off her brother!

I am going to leave you with some out-takes from the first photo shoot with both of my kiddos.  These are the ones that didn't make the cut for this year's Christmas card, but are too stinkin' cute not to share.

Thanks for reading this long post all the way to the end!  We wish you all a wonderful holiday season.

With love,

the FOUR Rammelsbergs

Fall Frolics 2015

We have already established that pregnancy has made me have zero energy to write.  So I am going to take this opportunity to photo dump basically everything we have been up to this fall.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right?  In the past, I would have had a separate post for each of the events pictured below, but let's be honest, that's not happening.

It has been an odd fall here in the Tri-Cities.  At first it was soooooo hot.  Have you noticed there have been no pictures of my garden this year?  That is because it was the most pitiful it has ever been.  Usually, by the time fall rolls around I am collecting the majority of my summer bounty.  No such luck this year.  I had prolific carrots, beets, Swiss chard, and herbs and that is about it.  It finally started to get a little overcast around Halloween, we had a few rain showers, and now it is cold, cold, cold.

So, without further ado, here is what we have been up to this fall!

Baby Shower!!

My amazing bestie, Lauren, along with her mom, Pat, threw me a gorgeous baby shower in September.  She really went all out, especially considering she herself was pregnant with Baby Ramm's bestie.  (She has since given birth to Isaac Peter and I get to meet him next week!)

 As you can see, the weather cooperated and it was a perfect fall morning for an outdoor baby shower brunch.

 We were really spoiled and babykins got lots of awesome swag.

 There were a few baby bellies present that day!  My friend Hailey, on the left, is due basically hours before me.  It has been nice to commiserate with her this entire pregnancy.  The latest complaint we both have, at 36 weeks now, is "What is with all the pelvic pressure?  Are we going into labor?!!"  (We aren't.)

The Best Big Sister was obviously present for the shower.  She was a champ.  I love her.

Pre-Halloween Shenanigans

 Due to Erik's work schedule, many of our pre-Halloween festivities were done the day before Halloween.  But we managed to squeeze in most of the traditional activities.  Like...

 ...carving pumpkins!

 ...and going to the pumpkin patch!

Halloween

The main event was Halloween, and it was by far the most fun Halloween yet.  It was the first year Elliot has been super into it.  We went as a family of pumpkins to a local church Trunk or Treat and really lived it up!

 She was convinced this was THE Ariel, and still talks about meeting her.

That night, after the festivities, Aniiah came over and helped Elliot overcome her trepidation over venturing out in the dark for some good old fashioned Trick or Treating in the neighborhood.  They were SO cute, holding hands and bursting out into song together.

Of course, there is still one of the main events of fall coming up.  Thanksgiving!  And what a time to be pregnant!  Sure, I will have thirds!  Pass more of that pumpkin pie please!  I have every intention of posting about our last holiday as a family of three, but as we have seen, sometimes the best-laid plans and all that...

So the next time you hear from me it will either be accompanied by a pic of me smiling ear to ear, a drumstick in each hand, or beaming with a fresh Rammelsberg in my arms.  Either way, you don't want to miss it.

Happy Fall, Y'all!