Helaina!

I am feeling a bit guilty that I am just getting around to posting about my darling little niece’s arrival, but I’d rather spend time visiting her than blogging about it.
Helaina Nicole Martin arrived on Thursday, November 12, at 10:16 am weighing in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and 21.5 inches long. I am so stinking proud of Valerie. Her water broke around midnight, so she and Kane headed to the hospital since they were scheduled for an induction that morning anyway and there was some question about how clear the amniotic fluid was. They got Valerie started on the pitocin drip. It is my understanding she was at 4 cm and a couple hours later, asked for an epi, got it, got checked again and she was at 10cm already and ready to push. She got a little rest while the medical teams for the actual delivery got in gear then pushed for about an hour before Helaina was born. Whoohoo!
We went to go visit her the Saturday after she was born and then again the next weekend. She nurses like a champ and is growing like a weed. They were monitoring her bilirubin there for a bit, but as soon as Val’s milk came in, that all fixed itself. She has this lovely pointy chin just like her mother and her coloring reminds me of her father. She makes those sweet little newborn noises and when she cries I have to resist the urge to go love on her and nurse her. I think she may have been put down once or twice in her life so far because everybody loves holding her.
She already has definite moods and lets us all know when she is unhappy. She likes to be snuggled up tight and squeezed when she’s held. Diaper changes are pretty noisy since she protests having herself embarrassed and put into such an unladylike position. She reminds me of an accordion when she cries as she vocalizes on both the exhale and the inhale. It’s very easy to tell when she’s eating as well, since she makes sweet little vocalizations with every gulp and breath. Valerie says she sounds like a chicken.
Thomas got a big kick out of holding Helaina in his lap. I’m not sure why, but he has the tendency to put her butt higher than her head. He’s very gentle with her and enjoys loving on her. And then he’s off to play with his siblings or uncle who can run around and wrestle with him.
Daniel has come up several times while I am holding Helaina and pronounced her a baby. He hangs around looking at her without touching as though he wants to interact with her but isn’t quite sure how. When invited to hug her he gets all tickled looking, grin, leans in with a big “oo-wee,” and walks off looking quite pleased with himself.
Gloria merely informs us of when Helaina is crying and tells us to fix it. She doesn’t seem to have much interest in getting too involved with her at this age. I have a feeling that once Helaina starts smiling and laughing that Gloria will spend a great deal of time figuring out how to entertain her and keep those smiles and laughs coming.
Michael has gotten to hold her several times during our visits. He enjoys being able to hand her off when she has a dirty diaper or needs to eat and gets to enjoy the sweet, snuggly, sleepy Helaina.
I have had the pleasure of burping, rocking, snuggling, and even “slinging” little Helaina during lunch. For those of you not familiar with the term, “slinging” simply refers to carrying the baby in a sling type baby carrier. Slings are lovely, simple contraptions that snuggle baby up close to Mommy. There are numerous positions that you can use from the cradle position where they feel all swaddled up to sitting up to riding on the hip. I found it extremely comforting for my little ones when they were newborns. They felt secure and swaddled, and the motion of me walking around doing daily chores helped to rock them to sleep and keep them content. There was much less fussing when they were in the sling.
Back to Helaina! I will have to take pictures this Thanksgiving while I am here. I am terrible about forgetting to grab my camera. I prefer to enjoy the moment I am in rather than spend them all behind a camera and miss out!