Thanksgiving

Ethan's mom made a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.  This was the first time we took Julia somewhere for an extended period of time.  She did really well!  It was the first time for our nephews and niece to meet Julia.  I think they enjoyed meeting and holding their new baby cousin.  :)

Ava got to hold her first.  :)

Eric got to hold her second.  Look at Julia's face!  It appears she likes her cousin, Eric.  :)

Cousin Jared

Aunt Lisa - she absolutely loves holding Julia...  :)

Thanks, Teta (Grandma) for having us all over!  We really enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal and time of fellowship.

Video Clips of Julia

Ethan took this video of Julia while he was with her in the nursery (waiting for me while I was in recovery from my c-section for 1 hour).  I love how alert she was!

When I was pregnant with Julia, she used to get the hiccups several times a day.  She still gets them several times a day.  The nurses at the hospital explained that the hiccups don't really bother babies all that much - it's more the parents who get bothered by them.

Here's one more video of Julia.

Professional Hospital Pictures

While in the hospital, a professional photographer took Julia's pictures.  We absolutely loved them, so we went ahead and purchased the cd that gives us full rights to copy/post the pictures.  Here are some of my favorites:

Silly Poses

In the hospital, the nurses would come in and say, "Awww, look at the breech baby."  They explained that babies who are breech often lay with their legs out like Julia did.  We thought it was funny and called her a frog when she would lay this way...

Another thing Julia would do is stick her legs up in the air and leave them there.  :)  The nurses said this was also another evidence of her being a breech baby.  We thought it was so funny...



Julia makes us laugh.  One funny thing about her is that she really likes to have her hands near her face.  When we first started swaddling her, she liked it.  However, it was just a few days before she would fuss, grunt, and strain until she could get her hands free whenever we tried to swaddle her.  When we try to swaddle her with her hands inside, she gets very upset.  So, we have just started to partially swaddle her, where her hands can be free.  She seems to really appreciate it.

Here are some classic pictures of Julia!  You can see some of her personality in them...

Home with Julia

My mom got to stay for a few more days.  It was so nice to have her here and she got to really bond with her newest grandchild.  I'm so glad she was here for Julia's birth!

It has also been such a blessing to have Ethan home.  After coming home from the hospital, he has been able to stay for 2 more weeks.  I get to have him home for one more week.  I love having him home.  He helps me so much with Julia and also loves bonding with her.  She brings us so much joy!

Mom took this picture of us on Sunday morning.  We listened to Grace Community's service on LiveStream.  In this picture, Ethan and I were singing a hymn along with the church.  If you're ever home on a Sunday, check out the LiveStream.  It is such a blessing to be able to participate in worship even though you can't be present...  Here's the link:  http://www.gracechurch.org/live/default.aspx

Enjoying my precious daughter.

My good friend, Joanna, brought us a meal.  She got to hold Julia for the first time.  Several of our friends have visited and brought meals.  Thank you so much, everyone!

Grandma and Julia's hand.  So precious!!!

Have I mentioned that I love my daugher?!

Ethan and I gave Julia a bath.  It was absolute torture for her!  We have decided that we can't give her a bath late at night because she will wake up our poor neighbors.  Since then, I have given her 2 more baths and she was better...  But, she still isn't crazy about her bath time.

Ethan drying off Julia after her torturous bath.  Poor thing!

Going Home

On Saturday, November 13, we went home.  I really enjoyed our hospital stay, so I wasn't anxious to go home.  However, once I got home, I was so relaxed and realized how nice it was to be back in my own home, bed, etc. 

I dressed Julia in her "going home" outfit which was actually a little too big for her.  :)  But, she looked adorable anyway.

Our nurse gave us a lesson on how to put Julia in her new car seat.

Look how tiny Julia is in her car seat!  We were laughing pretty hard about this.  :)

The Trepepi family, on their way home!

Before we left, we went next door to visit our friends Jeff & Elizabeth.  The 4 of us had taken a 6 week "Bradley" class together to learn how to have a natural child birth.  The ironic thing is that both of us ended up having our water break within days of each other and then ended up having emergency c-sections!  Nevertheless, the information we learned in our classes were so valuable.  It was fun to be able to meet each other's babies in the hospital.  Her baby was born just 2 days after Julia.

Mom had straightened up our home (we had left in such a hurry and had left it in such a mess!) and prepared everything for the baby.  It was great to come home to a clean home and get to relax.  Thanks mom!!!

Grandma holding grandchild #10.

 











Hospital Stay

We stayed in the hospital for 4 nights.  We had such a wonderful experience.  There were some wonderful nurses.  I also appreciated the lactation consultants who helped me with nursing.  Julia was a very sleepy baby, especially since she was a preemie.  So, nursing was difficult at first but I got some wonderful help.  Because of all the advice and help from the consultants and kind nurses, Julia has become a wonderful nurser and is really thriving.  I'm sooooooooooo thankful to the Lord for this.

When Julia was born, she was 5 lbs. 14 oz.  While in the hospital, she went all the way down to 5 lbs. 7 oz.  Although this is normal, I was concerned and was praying she would pick up weight so that I didn't have to give her formula.  God answered our prayers and Julia started picking up weight even before we left the hospital!  Now, she is steadily gaining weight.  We are so thankful for her good health.

Many of our friends and family got to come visit us in the hospital.  It was always such a joy to have people meet little Julia.

Both Grandmas enjoyed holding Julia.

"Teta" (Grandmother) - Ethan's mom

Happy Daddy

Ethan was the expert diaper changer...

My dear friend, Angie came to visit Julia.  In this picture she's trying to imitate Julia's expression.  Julia is always making funny faces.

My friends, Josh & Janella came and visited.  Janella and I were due within days of each other.  So, we'll see when Janella's baby comes.  Can't wait for them to meet each other!

Our friend, Alan, brought Ethan some Chic-fil-A.  Ethan was very appreciative.  :)

Ethan got my mom some Chick-fil-A and he was craving a cheeseburger from The Habit.  :)  Believe it or not, I preferred eating the hospital food although I love both fast food places...  The food really wasn't too bad.

Another sweet picture of daddy with his little girl.

This is probably my favorite picture of Julia and me.  I just love holding her!