Oh glorious day!

So, this is probably going to sound really vain but today the most wondrous thing happened!

So, I'm getting dressed (even though it's 2pm) and am putting on some jeans when the thought occured to me...I went to my laundry basket and dug my pre-pregnancy jeans out of the bottom...I buried them after I tried them on two weeks ago and couldn't get them above my knees...and decided to temp the hand of fate and promised myself that I wouldn't cry if they never made it up...Well...I'll be darned those things went right up around my waist! I almost did cry but this time out of utter elation! Granted, I couldn't zip them. Fortunately, that wasn't one of the conditions. Size 2 here I come!
It's been a rough 2 1/2 weeks. every morning when I look in the mirror, I just want to puke! It's been getting better. I promised myself I wouldn't rip myself apart everyday. I have never been one to have very much patience. Joe is awesome, he's a very good liar. Whenever I ask hime if I look really fat :) Oh the woes of being female. If I was a guy this would probably be nothing!

Well on a better note...Twilight comes out tomorrow!!!! I am so stoked! I re-read the series this week in commemoration. It's amazing how giddy I still get the second time around. I keep having dreams that I'm having an affair with Edward Cullen. Weird! It's so easy to get wrapped up in their story. It's a good thing Bella sleeps pretty much all day. Otherwise, I'd feel pretty crappy. I did at least load the dishwasher in between chapters yesterday.

Well, I'm off to AT&T to return the stupid phone I got brand new on friday and doesn't work!!! I can't receive any calls or messages. It's been really annoying. So, if anyone reading this has tried to call me...Sorry. Call Joe's phone 360-901-2979 or call me later at my number!

We survived week one!

So, Bella is a week old. It makes me kind of sad. I wish she could stay this little forever. At the same time I'm excited for her to be old enough to get excited about things like zoo trips, ice cream...you know.

I hope I'm not counting my chikens before they hatch, but, she's a pretty easy baby. She never cries. She's got a pretty good routine going as far as eating and sleeping are concerned. She's just the happiest little girl. I love watching her face when she hears new sounds. Her eyes get so big and she draws her mouth into a pucker. She loves listening to music. So far we've experimented with: Brahms, Norah Jones, Twilight soundtrack, hymns on strings and Andy Williams christmas album. She's definitely starting to look more like Joe. Nose and all. We joked before she was born that she'd be good as long as she didn't have the Wilcox nose. Poor kid. We have a lot of fun together. I thought I would be stir crazy staying home all day by myself but it's not so bad. I'm actually pretty busy. I have a million projects that I started over the last year and am determined to finish them all.

It's been a pretty eventful week though despite my easy going bambina. I've learned some critical lessons that they don't tell you in birth class:

1.Baby poop has the same force as rocket missiles. I was changing Bella at 3 am and she literally shot poo across the room. I tried to catch it in my hand. (I know genius) It splattered all over me, the bassinet and the bed.

2.No matter how many times you look yourself over before leaving there's always a spot of spit-up, pee or poop somewhere on you! I was making pumpkin bars early one morning and discovered I didn't have any pumpkin. So, I decided to run to Safeway super fast and just threw on some jeans leaving my PJ top on. As I was walking into safeway I looked down and saw a huge streak of baby poop all down my shirt! Of course my milk had just come so my boobs are monster-sized and I couldn't even wrap my jacket around me. I felt officially initated into motherhood at that moment.

3.No matter how well you time it babies will always pee or poo the instant that clean diaper is on! I went through 70 diapers in a week!

4.Even a week after delivery you still look like you have a built-in personal flotation device around your middle. I haven't given up hope. Everyday I can pull my jeans up a little bit higher. We're about to the hips right now! Whoo-hoo!

5.Don't try and save money and buy the little box of nursing pads just go for the super value pack. I was at enrichment last week and kept feeling wet. I thought maybe it was fro the rain outside, that it had gotten on my sweater. As the evening continued I started to feely really wet. I thought Bella had leaked through her diaper onto my shirt. When I got home I discovered I had leaked all over myself. I was so embarassed. I have no idea how many people saw. There was a giant black circle on my shirt.

6. You will pass so much gas the first few days you'll even gross yourself out. Enough said on that one. I never thought I'd give my husband a run for his money!

7. Your hormones will not just be out of whack they will take over! So, Monday day after we got home. We had to go to Wal-Mart. I never realized how LOUD it is until I took my sleeping 3 day old there. I wanted to scream at every person that walked by us. I kept saying to Joe, I can't believe how loud they are, can't they see she's sleeping! Later, I was getting really frustrated because I couldn't find hand sanitizer! Joe said something to me, that I'm sure to the normal non-post-partum woman would've been pretty funny, but to me the sleep deprived hormonal whack job...I started to bawl! Right in the middle of the aisle! I tried to escape down the discount candy aisle so I could cry in peace but it was packed which made me cry even more! Finally Joe grabbed me and gave me a huge hug. There we were in the middle of housewares, me sobbing and Joe probably wondering who the heck he married!

So, yeah it's been wonderful having her home with us. We're totally those cheesy, over-the-top parents that you want to make fun of when you see them. We can't help ourselves. We just love her to death. I love watching Joe with her. I have fallen head over heels for him all over again. Every night when he comes he goes into peek on her (she's almostt always asleep) He sits and rocks her and talks to her about life. it so darling. Whenever she hears his voice she instantly turns her head to follow it. He always has to push the stroller or hold her when we're in public. He's smitten. This is her favorite thing to do with Joe
I call this her fairy princess dress

Isn't she darling!

Pictures of Bella

Isabella Grace Wilcox

So, here's a few more pictures.

such a proud daddy

We couldn't believe she only weighed 7lbs!

she has the sweetest cry

Bella's first bath

I love that face


Joe loves his baby!

So do I


She's perfect

Her newborn clothes are too big!



We're home!

Our beautiful Bella Bambina

Our beautiful Bella

Well we're finally home from the hospital. I am ecstatic to be home. What an extraordinary trip I've been on. So, I'll start from the beginning.

(My last pregnant picture)

Wednesday we got the results back from the amnio that everything was awesome and to head to St. Vincent's at midnight. So, I got everything packed and ready to go. Around 9 or so the labor nurse calls and says they're chock full of women in active labor and we need to come in at 7am. I was so crushed. Then decided to stay positive and went to bed.

Thursday morning bright and early we headed to the hospital. It was very surreal. We got to the hospital and got all checked in. It took a while to get everything going. They let me eat some breakfast and I was very happy. Joe and I played card games and wartched "Nightmare on Elm Street. At noon they finally started the pitocin! Whoo-hoo. I started having regular contractions within an hour. They started off relatively mild but, holy cow it did not take long for them to pick up.

The dr. broke water soon after and things really took off. I felt like 10 lbs lighter right after they broke my water. My contractions jumped up to every 2 min apart lasting about 45-60 seconds. I spent most of the time on my knees leaning against a chair in the shower. It was heaven. I was stuck at 5 cm forever so they upped the pitocin and suddenly my contractions were every minute. I was in excruciating pain. I wanted to wait as long as possible for an epidural by now it was 2 am and I was shaking so badly from the contractions that the whole bed was shaking with me. I only had 30 seconds between contractions and because I was shaking so badly and dry heaving the whole time I couldn't relax in between. I finally asked for an epidural. It was magical! I instantly fell asleep. They woke me up at about 5:30 to check me and I was finally 10 cm. dilated. It was time to push. I had them turn off the epidural and waited for it to wear off before I oushed. I wanted to be able to feel the urge to push and be a dead log.

Here comes the real work. 24 hours later and we're finaly pushing. I was utterly exhausted. I decided to use a mirror to see and I'm so glad I did. It helped me keep going. Joe was amazing all throughout labor. He was so encouraging and always holding my hand. He was right there with the midwife urging me on. Bella's head was stuck in my pelvis and maling its way by millimeters. By about 9:30AM I didn't think I had anything left in me. I could see her head but she wasn't moving. The contractions were doubly strong now. I just started crying and pushed even harder because I was so exhausted. Joe kept whispering in my ear, that I could do it and well....24 hours of hard labor and 4 hours of pushing later Our Bella was born at 10:20 AM weighing in at 7 lbs. even and 20 in. long! It wsa such an emotional moment. When they placed her on my stomach I just started bawling hysterically. I was so happy to finally hold her and feel her in my arms. She was just perfect. Joe couldn't stop staring at her. She knew his voice right away. I can tell she is definitely going to be a daddy's girl.