Winter Hibernation-Another Marathon Blog Post

After we arrived home with Ella we entered into what I like to call, hibernation. I seriously did not leave the house that whole first week. I wish I would have blogged about that week sooner because I have completely forgotten how tired I really was. Trevor was so wonderful and supportive of me that first week. It was just the three of us and I am so grateful for that time we had together. Trevor and I quickly became like a well oiled machine when it came to baby care. We were diapering, feeding, and sleeping like pros. Well, probably not but it was amazing how quick our parental instincts kicked in. Admittedly I was nervous about coming home to a house with a baby. Thankfully we were blessed with some extra energy and felt that Ella had been a part of our lives all along.

(Ella and Trevor getting ready to go home! She was less than thrilled...)

We had a nice quiet Christmas with just the three of us. It was so wonderful! We slept in and opened presents together. Santa brought us a Diaper Genie! I never thought I would be so excited about a diaper pail! In my humble opinion it has been one of our best purchases (Especially living on the second floor--who wants to dump a dirty diaper downstairs in the freezing cold? Not this girl! )Thank you Santa!

(Ella on Christmas Day)

 (Snuggling with Dad)

 My mom came out to help out after the first week. It was perfect timing--the adrenaline of being new parents had started to wear off and we needed a break! It was so wonderful having my mom with us. She made me feel so much more confident in my abilities (especially nursing--ouch!). We were so grateful for her help and for her sacrifice in spending time with us for a few weeks.

(Grandma Capps and Ella meeting for the first time!)

(Ella's first bath--she LOVED it and still does!)

After my mom left we started to get back into the swing of things. Trevor went back to school and church and I was left at home to snuggle our new little one. We decided early on to not take the baby out for at least 6 weeks to avoid the nasty flu and RSV season. We were super careful about washing our hands and making sure the few visitors we had were not carrying any yucky germs. Wellllllllllllll then a funny thing happened. Ella got RSV.

To say I was devastated would be an understatement. First I was terrified, then upset, then Trevor and I played the blame game of who got her sick (this game is dumb and leaves you with no answers to your questions--how can you possibly trace something like that? Unless you are Kate Winslet from Contagion). Ella had some congestion that the doctor had brushed off as a normal newborn symptom--dry air + small airways = congestion. Well that sounded good to me but then she got this little cough so I took her in only a few days after her 4 week appointment. She also developed chest retractions which scared me a little bit. I took her to the doctor and they gave her a breathing treatment with a nebulizer. They did a little swipe of her nose and the results came back quickly to confirm that she had RSV. To top off her illness Trevor was up to his eyeballs in exams that week. Ella was waking up almost every 1-2 hours at night because of her struggle to breath so we quickly decided that I would sleep on the couch and give her breathing treatments/feed her so that Trevor could have a decent chance at passing his exams. It was a rough week for all of us but we survived! The pediatrician said several times that we could hospitalize her but that they wouldn't be doing anything different. I REALLY didn't want her to go to the hospital with even more viruses and bacteria so we did everything we could to keep her breathing well at home.

Ella became a pro at holding her nebulizer at 3 am!

We did a lot of snuggling those few weeks!

Here is my product plug. The NoseFrida. This thing is amazing. I swear it kept us out of the hospital. If your baby has a cold or bad congestion this is a lifesaver. I bought it as a last resort because all of the bulb suction and steam baths in the world were not making a difference so I bit the bullet and bought this thing. At first it was gross but it made her feel so much better--get it, buy it, use it. It is amazing! Ok, that is my little advertisement of the day. (oh and it works great with a little saline spray )

So fast forward to 3 weeks later and Ella is better and back to her happy and healthy self! I also got to go outside! As mentioned above--I literally was in hibernation for almost two months. She finished her last breathing treatment the week that our family flew in for her baby blessing. We feel so blessed that we were able to keep her at home with us during her illness. I know that it could have been a lot worse. As a first time mom I was a little terrified at times and I'm sure many thought I was being a wimp--and they are probably right. However the meals and support that were provided by our dear friends here were such a relief during those rough couple of weeks. The whole experience made me appreciate our family, friends, and the health that we had enjoyed. I also feel so grateful for the priesthood and the comfort that those blessing brought our family.

So that is why I haven't blogged in a month--hopefully we will have no more of that! More posts and pictures to come! If you read this entire thing you deserve a gold star or a cookie!