Gift from heaven: Meet JAE

Well, it's been a very busy week. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that we welcomed our newest addition last Friday.
Jenna Oyesade E. (to be known as JAE in the blog) arrived last Friday (04/10/15) morning at 2:28am weighing in at 7lbs 4oz and 19.25 inches long.
We really feel so blessed and words cannot describe how much love we have for JOE and JAE. It is true what they say...your ability to love multiples with each child and your heart expands to accommodate the new addition.

For me, the old wives tale about subsequent labor experiences being much faster than the first also held true. This one occurred at what seemed like lightening speed!

I went to work as usual on 4/9/15 and had no labor pains.
When I got home, I did notice that baby girl was a lot more active and I was having maybe one good contraction per hour. I told J I suspected that baby girl would be here by Sunday or Monday at the latest. Little good I know how right I was.
I went to bed as usual and was woken up at 10:25pm by what I thought was a stomach cramp. But then about 6 minutes later, I had another one. J was in the basement working out so I decided to go to the android store and look for a contraction tracking app.
When J came up, I told him to take a shower and that I was likely in active labor.
I tracked my contractions and to my utter surprise, they were consistently 5 minutes or less apart! We immediately called our neighbor who had agreed to watch JOE should I go into labor at night. Then we contacted J's mom who would relieve our neighbor.
I called my parents and told them my mom wouldn't be here in time since she was scheduled to arrive the next day. They prayed with me and my older brother who happened to be in town also gave me a pep talk. He told me to focus on the outcome and not the process and those words certainly helped during a very PAINFUL labor.

Off we went to the hospital afterwards. I should add that in the middle of all this, JOE was sleeping and didn't even get up once. I was concerned that she would panic when she woke up and we weren't there but she did great from what I have been told.

We arrived at the hospital a little after midnight on 4/10/15. By the time I was admitted and checked, I was told I was at 7cm! That certainly explained what I called "rolling contractions."
By the time we got in the birthing room a little after 1am, I was at 8cm. My water broke shortly after and JAE arrived after ONE push at 2:28am. And if you were wondering, my fear of needles kicked in again. No epidural for me. But ouchie! With JOE, I labored all day so the pain was more tolerable. With JAE, the labor was so short that I felt like I was having contractions on top of each other. It was certainly more intense.
From the start of my first active contractions to the delivery, it was 4 hours!

On to the meaning of her names.
Jenna means "gift from heaven" and
Oyesade means "Crown of royalty".

We feel so lucky and blessed to be parents again for the second time.
JOE loves her sister so much! She kisses on her, talks to her and always wants to carry her. Watching her with her little sister makes me smile.

We are slowly but surely adjusting to life as parents of 2 and even though it's been a little challenging sometimes, it's been more rewarding most times.

I'll try to keep up with the blog but I'll likely post pictures more with brief explanations than full on blogs.

Have an awesome weekend!

JAE's  first picture.

JAE at 8-days...today!

Talk about multitasking. I was pumping, rocking JAE to sleep and catching up on work emails.

Gosh...starting over. I forgot how disappointing it feels to spend 30 minutes on the pump (15 minutes per boob) and barely getting anything. This was at day 6. We are also experiencing latching issues with JAE so for now, I am primarily pumping and we supplement with formula. I do know supply increases over time so that's my consolation. I am hoping we resolve it relatively quickly because I don't want to primarily pump for 10.5 months like I did with JOE. That was a lot and would be near impossible with 2 kids.

If this picture looks familiar, it is because I have a similar one with JOE.

JOE and JAE. They are going to be best of friends. I already can see the love between them.

"Milk coma."

Her first carseat ride!

Our first picture as a family of 4.

JAE's going home outfit. The hat is the same one JOE wore home.

Pregnancy update @ 40-weeks

We are finally in our 40th week of pregnancy! I feel like as soon as I hit 39-weeks, I suddenly got really really tired! I felt a lot bigger and felt like I had to "carry" my belly at night whenever I got up. Does that even make sense? Needless to say, the discomfort has kicked in. Its no longer easy to get in my car and bending down to pick up something I've dropped can sometimes be a challenge. 

As of my appointment on Tuesday, baby hadn't dropped and I wasn't dilated. I guess this baby is taking her time. 

Anyways, I am skipping right to the at home maternity session we did.
J took the pictures and I think he did a fabulous job.

So here they are!

My next post will likely be about baby's arrival. Stay tuned!

Catching up! Last week and Easter Weekend.

We had a lovely week and weekend. On Thursday, Jordan's child care provider had an emergency which required that I leave work early to relieve J since he had an important meeting he couldn't miss that afternoon. 

While it was a bit of a pain, it was also nice for me to savor my last few days with my baby as an only child. She will be getting a sibling soon and soon, she'll have to share my time. It was definitely an opportunity to enjoy my baby and see how much she's grown/changed. 

Anyways, here is my little Ms. Sunshine in her tea party outfit. Fit for a princess :-). We made several practice Easter egg hunts around the house to get her ready for Easter Sunday. She is actually pretty good at it. I just love the squeal she makes when she finds an egg.

Then it was time to select a book to read in the glider J put together for me. Funny story about the glider, I figured it would be a good way to get JOE to sleep. So we got on there and while I rocked, I read her a couple of books. 

After the 3rd book, she turned to me and said "momma, I don't want to sleep! I am going to build blocks!"

Clearly, she was on to me. 

And off she went to build her blocks. Yeah...we're still working on her smile when I say "cheese!" :-)

My very thoughtful "baby" sister sent us a beautiful and delicious Edible Arrangements in addition to a gift for baby. She thought of everyone in the house and got each person something. It definitely made our day on Friday evening to have some yummy treats.

And here's JOE's style for the week. I wanted her to only get 2 braids but she insisted on 4. Since we don't do 4 often, I obliged her. Her hair is growing so much! I love that we now have a mostly peaceful time doing her hair. It has truly saved us time, energy and tears.

Since we're still working on the smiley face, I figured I'll get one of her crying face. I asked JOE to pretend cry and this is what I got. How cute!

For Easter, after Church, we took JOE to McD to play around for a bit (aka...burn off some energy) and then we came home and J placed the Easter eggs around our front yard for JOE. Here she is all excited about going out.

But before heading out, JOE got to open her Easter basket. 

JOE likes to play pretend jump rope so we got her one. It serves a dual purpose. As her jump rope AND her lasso. Score!

The Easter egg hunt was a success. JOE had a great time. Pardon my sniffling in the video. I am having serious allergies which has me fully congested. Ick! 

JOE and her loot. She really enjoyed it.

Smiling with her dadda who helped place the eggs around and also helped her along the way.

JOE's "masterpiece!" 

JOE's child care provider worked with her on this piece below. I love that her child care provider is teaching her some biblical lessons. 

J thinks I am nesting and he may be right. It was another weekend of cooking multiple dishes. I made some Nigerian beans and rice and topped it off with fried stew and chicken.  

 

Then sauteed some broccoli for JOE. She loves it.

And then finished up with some macaroni and cheese. I figured if the baby arrives this week, JOE and J won't starve :-).

Overall, it was a blessed weekend. Now, we're just taking it one day at a time as we await the arrival of little miss sunshine...aka "baby sister." 

I know we need to come up with a blog name for her. She'll likely share the same initials as JOE so that's out. 

Do you have any thoughts/ideas? If so, I'd like to hear them. 

Have a fabulously blessed week!

Pregnancy update @39 weeks

We are finally in the home stretch. Now, we're counting in days not weeks. Wow! Time is FLYING BY so fast. J, JOE and I are excited, nervous, happy and a mix of all 3 emotions. We're excited to meet the newest member of our team. We're nervous of the changes that'll bring and we're happy for this blessing from God. 


How Far Along? 39 weeks. By the new standards used, I am now considered FULL TERM!!! Woohoo!!! I am fine with baby staying until her due date.

Size of Baby? Now about 20-inches long. For comparison, baby is now about the size of a  mini watermelon. Per my last OB appointment, this baby will be slightly larger than JOE so we're still talking under 7-lbs. I didn't gain any weight between weeks 37 and 38+. So my current weight gain to date for this pregnancy is still at 3.2-lbs. I have been hungrier lately though but the numbers on our scale at home hasn't changed.

Maternity Clothes? Still in them and also still able to alternate maternity clothes and pre-pregnancy clothes. 

Stretch Marks? So far, nothing new has cropped up. But I can't always see around my round belly anymore For now though, I haven't noticed any new ones.

Sleep? It was better a couple of weeks ago but we're back to peeing 8-times per night. #TIRED!!! 

Food Cravings? I still love my cups of ice. Now, I have my JOE slurping on ice too. I am also a lot more thirsty these days. 

What I Miss: Being able to get things out of the oven without burning myself. Chuck that up to forgetting I have a bump in front of me. I miss playing with my baby JOE. I miss being able to give her a bath without struggling to get up. But even with all the things I miss, I am excited that we will have a new blessing joining us soon. 

What I'm Looking Forward To:  I have decided I do want a maternity photo session. J doesn't know it yet but he'll have to take the pictures this weekend. I found some inspiration online (see below) and can't wait to put him to work. 

Symptoms? Sleepless nights, swollen fingers and feet. 

Movement? YES! Much slower but stronger movements now. 

Belly Button In or Out? Still very much in. It never came out last time with JOE's pregnancy so I don't think it will this time. However, due to an old belly button injury, I have a funny thing going on in that area so it sometimes makes it look like I have a popper but I don't really.

Labor Signs? Braxton Hicks!!! Still manageable. I plan on starting on the same raspberry tea leaves regimen I did with JOE next week Tuesday after my next OB appointment. And also doing jumping jacks if little miss sunshine isn't showing signs of making her debut :-).

Best Moment of the Week? I already know that JOE and her sister will be best of friends. She talks to her all the time and gives her kisses. See one of the pictures below. It really melts my heart.


Pictures? Yup. Here are a few pictures below.

39+ weeks taken this morning.

39+ weeks taken this morning.

Inspiration for my photo shoot session this weekend. 

Inspiration for my photo shoot session this weekend. 

Our weekly mommy/daughter selfie. 

JOE sure does love her sister!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to be kind to strangers!