Our Little Beastie Blog: May 2021

Itsy Bitsy Beastie arrived April 30, 2021 - and she fit right in.

Welcome, Adelaide - Shannon Wight Photography - May 7, 2021

Chris and Elizabeth had prepared for a long-ish, COVID-protocol stay. Mostly that meant A LOT of food since Chris was discouraged from leaving the hospital. We didn't say it out loud, but there was always the low key preparation for a NICU stay.

Turns out, we were in the hospital under twelve hours when Itsy Bitsy was born. It was not a drama-free delivery, but this time the excitement centered more around Elizabeth than baby. High blood pressure, surprise bleeding, and from 3cm to "time to push" in under an hour. It was a totally different experience this time around (::cough:: they were too slow on the epidural ::cough::).

Happily, Itsy Bitsy looked perfect on the monitors the whole time. Elizabeth had to get some extra bloodwork and was counseled significantly for high blood pressure-related symptoms to watch for, but she's recovering well now too.

Just born - April 30, 2021

And she's HERE! Itsy Bitsy Beastie, also known as Adelaide Agnes Fiorani Thoma. In keeping with the tradition of using middle names in memory of loved ones, she has "Agnes," Elizabeth's paternal grandmother's name. May she have her great-grandmother's adventurous spirit and fierce loyalty.

We're all very happy to put the labor (and truth be told, the whole pregnancy) in the rear view mirror. Pregnancy is a crazy emotional time under the best circumstances, and Itsy Bitsy's pregnancy had a lot of scares. After three successive miscarriages, we've been holding our breath for a long time - and it feels like we can finally exhale.

Now it's just garden-variety newborn anxiety.

Bringing Her Home

It was the cutest thing ever. Yes, we had envisioned Everett and Imogen coming to the hospital to meet their wrinkly newborn sister, but that's not how it worked out during the pandemic. Instead, we kept pictures to ourselves until we could bring Adelaide (Addy) home to meet her siblings.

Meeting Addy - May 1, 2021

We're only a month in, but so far big brother and big sister are sweet and gentle with Adelaide, or ignore her to do their own thing. That is totally fine by us! We want to avoid any jealousy so as long as they are happy and getting the attention they need we are GREAT.

Storytime - May 9, 2021

Big sibling shirts! - May 21, 2021

Getting out the toys - May 30, 2021

The First Month

The first month is the only month we had with Oberon. Any of the things that will be done "with all four" had to be done this month. That meant thinking ahead, making sure, all the things. It's emotionally draining and sometimes simply overwhelming. We compartmentalize or disassociate just to get through it, because we know we'll want it later.

Koala photo on the blanket Elizabeth made for Oberon - May 12,, 2021

The emotions related to Oberon swell more towards the end of the month. As Addy transitions from "the littlest" to "the last born, but outlived Obie," there are a lot of feelings. Of course, we want Addy to have a full, long, healthy, happy life. Even so, there is this twinge that Obie is being left behind. The newborn phase is ending - how do we reconcile that with our son who was only ever a newborn?

All of that said, we are in a better mental and emotional place than we were when Everett was this age. Maybe slightly worse than with Imogen. We were never in a headspace that Imogen would be our last baby when she was newborn. It feels different with Adelaide.

The Good Stuff

It's not all super-serious emotional stuff. Chris took a full four weeks (!) of parental leave and it feels LUXURIOUS. We take walks, we get stuff around the house done, we shower at semi-regular intervals. Can it always be like this? Is work over?

Addy is an adorable baby. She's starting to make more faces, interact more, and she's packing on the ounces (at least one pound, but not yet two). She isn't super fussy (yet), she sleeps okay (for a newborn, most nights), and feeding is going pretty well for everyone.

We've had a couple outings with all three car seats filled, we've rocked our doctor's appointments, and we're ready to take on the next big changes. Can anyone remind us what an office is?