Welcome to the World Sweet Eleanor Beth

Eleanor Beth was born at 4:33 PM on April 30th in Hong Kong. She was 7lbs 1oz and 20.2 inches long. She has dark brown hair and blue grey eyes. I am so eager to see if the color will stay or change over the next few months. 

Her birth was quite the whirlwind experience. It's taken me almost a month to process it all since I ended up having an emergency c-section due to Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (which we didn't know at the time). All that matters is that she's here and we're both healthy. I feel incredibly grateful for that because I know not everyone is as lucky and I can't even begin to imagine what other mommas out there have gone through.

We have been adjusting to life as a family of four (sounds so weird to type that). Sawyer has been nothing but sweet to his baby sister.  I am so proud of the little boy that he's much too quickly becoming! Eleanor is laid back and a little cuddle bug. I feel such a strong bond with her already. She's already growing so fast! 

My hope is to write Eleanor's birth story over the next few weeks. I want to share it partly for me (therapeutic?), for Eleanor, and also for my family and friends. In the meantime, here are a few photos of our Sweet Pea. Follow me @shannabanana2710 on instagram to see more! 

39 Weeks... Going on 40

.... Eleanor's still baking and pretty cozy in my tummy. We had a doctor's apt. last Friday and she doesn't look like she's anytime coming soon, but who knows? We will go back to Hong Kong Friday to reassess the situation. 

I realized this past Friday that when I was pregnant with Sawyer at this point in time, he was already here. 

 We are hoping to keep the plan of trying for a VBAC unless it's medically necessary to have another C-Section. I'm honestly not set one way or another, as long as she's healthy... that's all that matters to us. I would like to let my body try to do what it was made to do, so I'm going to let this lady come on her own time. Patience and enjoying surprises are not my  most redeeming qualities, so I am starting to get anxious about her arrival.  Also, our doctor will not induce me because I've already had a C-Section, so hopefully she will come in a "somewhat" timely manner.

Below is a picture of Sawyer & Eleanor's 4D ultrasounds. Is it just me, or does she look like Sawyer's twin?! I remember looking at his ultrasound thinking, "He looks like an alien!" Now looking at it, I definitely see Sawyer, even though his face is a bit smooched. 

Sawyer (left) & Eleanor (right)

Gender: Girl 

Weight gain:  64.1 kgs at my last apt. or 141 lbs

Maternity clothes: Yes! I cannot wait to wear normal clothes again, although they will have to be "nursing" friendly.

Stretch marks: Still in the clear, hooray! I read that stretch marks are genetic, if this is true, thanks mom and grandmas! 

Belly button in or out: Outtie

Sleep: Waking up 1x a night usually to pee, then our little rooster  sweet son has been waking us up at the CRACK of dawn (between 5:00-5:40 every morning) Come on kid, you're killing me! 

Best moment this week: Spending lots of one on one time with Sawyer before his little sister gets here.

Worst moment this week: Navigating Ikea with a toddler in tow (I feel like I'm in the Hunger Games when we go there. Seriously, it's an experience!)

Miss anything: Let's see...where to begin? Honestly at this point, just sitting comfortably would be a nice change.

Movement: She hasn't been as feisty. Slower movements, again I think she is running out of space to karate chop me.

Cravings: Lots of fruit (apples, grapes, oranges, passion fruit) chocolate, waffles, pretty much any breakfast food.

Queasy or sick: nope :)

Looking forward to: My family gets here in 2 days from today...AHH! And of course, meeting Miss Eleanor literally any day now!

Doughnuts & Diapers

This past weekend my teammates and lovely friends threw us a sweet baby shower brunch for Baby E. The theme was "Doughnuts & Diapers." Those are two things you don't expect to go together... ;) We got plenty of diapers that will come in handy when this little lady arrives. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a a great group of friends and colleagues here in China. 

Also, you may have noticed that we changed our minds on our baby girl's name.. I told Kurt a few weeks ago that I just wasn't "feeling" Rosalie and he then told me that it wasn't his favorite either... ah just when I thought we finally agreed on a name! For some reason we had a really hard time with girl names but boy names are so easy for us. Anyway, we both are loving our new choice, Eleanor. My friend had mentioned that there's a song by the Avett Brothers called Eleanor (I know there are many other "Eleanor" songs as well) but this one is especially sweet because one of the band members wrote it about his eldest daughter. Totally made me tear up... that and a mix of pregnancy hormones. 

Things are definitely starting to feel real. I can't believe in about a week (give or take) I will be snuggling with my little girl! 

We literally took 1 picture on the day of the shower, so the following are courtesy of my friends.