Elle passes her hearing test

We had to go back to Sibley Hospital today for Elle's follow up hearing test. She "failed" her hearing test before we got discharged at the hospital. She had a lot of debris in her ears so the doctor was not able to do the necessary test. It did not necessarily mean that she had hearing problems. We were asked to come back after a few weeks to reschedule the test so we went back today. As expected, she passed the hearing test with flying colors She did not cry one bit on our way to the hospital which was surprising!

Elle says goodbye to her Lolo and Tita

Today is a sad day. Elle's lolo and tita left to go back to Manila :-(. We'll miss you Lolo Ed and Tita Elie. See you again soon!

Lolo's girl

Tita's favorite niece

Visitors from Canada and NC

Our relatives from Canada and North Carolina arrived today for Elle's christening tomorrow. Elle met her Lola Elma who drove to DC all the way from Toronto. Lola Elma happens to be my godmother and my offsite doula when I was in labor. My cousin Tim also drove up from Charlotte! We all had lunch at a Korean restaurant and did a little shopping at Pentagon City mall! Elle loves being out so as expected, she slept the entire time :-).

1st Thanksgiving as a family

We definitely have a lot to be thankful for this year and one of those is being blessed with our little darling, Eleiana!

With my sister

Elle with her Tita Elie

Our little family's 1st Thanksgiving

With cousin Kaitlin

Thanksgiving dinner at Daddy Jarbs' sister's house

First bath

In honor of Thanksgiving, Eleiana had her first bath today! She loved it! We thought she would freak out but she did not cry one bit! She loved it so much that she poop'd soon after her bath so we had to put her in the tub for the second time! And yeah, there were poop on Daddy Jarbs' shirt :-).

Elle loves shopping!

We took advantage of the great weather today and got out of the house. We started off the day with a walk to our neighborhood coffee shop. Daddy Jarbs carried Elle in the Ergo carrier which she loves! After that, off we went to Pentagon City mall to check out some baby clothing stores. Elle slept most of the time until it was time for her to eat! She started fussing so we had to stop at Nordstrom's lounge to feed and change her diaper. A few strangers stopped by to say how cute and tiny our baby is! They thought we were holding a doll!

Shopping at Nordstrom

Elle loves being out. The noise and the crowd does not bother her one bit

Many faces of Elle...

It's amazing to see how Eleiana's looks/face changes everyday. Here are some of the photos I took today as she was chilling in her carseat while we're on our way out to the Korean restaurant to have lunch and then some shopping at Babies R Us. 

Look at her chubby cheeks! And yes, she smiled for the camera :-)

Elle loves her swing and vibrating infant seat!

Eleiana loves to be rocked and our swing and infant seat are our life savers! These two are our "can't live without" baby gear considering we did not register for them in the first place!

Elle sleeping on her Fischer Price My Little Lamb Infant Seat

She loves the music and the vibrating seat!

Taking a nap while in her Graco Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Swing. The swing vibrates, plays music and you can even hook up your mp3 player!

Say 'Bye' to the Dress

Today, I bid farewell to my wedding dress :-(. It's been a couple of years since our wedding and the entire time, the dress was just sitting in our guest room closet. I was close to donating it to Brides Against Breast Cancer but Daddy Jarbs told me to hold on it and perhaps use it later for our child's baptismal dress. I am glad I kept it because now, I am having Elle's baptismal gown made out of it! I never had the intention of preserving my dress and having my future daughter wear it for her wedding ~30 years from now. Now, Elle gets to wear my Paloma Blanca wedding dress whether she likes it or not :-). Having her "wear" my dress for her baptism makes it even more special. We dropped off the dress at the seamstress today. We'll pick up the baptismal gown next week!

2 weeks old today!

 Look at my chubby cheeks!

Fun facts....

* Hiccups a lot just like when she was still in Mommy Jarbs' tummy

* Has GREAT head control! She can lift and turn her head from side to side when snuggling on Mommy & Daddy Jarbs' chest. 

* Has outgrown her snorting. When she was a born, she used to snort a lot whenever she cries. The nurse said it's normal and it's because babies do not know how to breathe through their mouth. It was pretty funny to hear her snort and it would always crack up both Daddy Jarbs and myself. 

* Smiles during her sleep

* Makes the funniest faces which always cracks us up

* Has peed on both Daddy and Mommy Jarbs and thrown a projectile poop on her Tita Elie! lol

* Likes being swaddled but hates having her arms restricted. We now have to swaddle her with both her arms out.

* Loves snuggling and falling asleep on Mommy & Daddy Jarbs' chest. I think it's sweet but not at 1 am when we're trying to get our sleep :-P.

* Loves being carried and cries when you put her down

* Had her 1st (and hopefully the last) naked photo shoot at 4 days old

* Sleeps on 3 to 4 hour stretches

* Hates being buckled up in her carseat but LOVES being in a moving car. She cries when we're on a red light :-).

Elle's follow-up weigh in

We went back to the pediatrician's office today for Eleiana's follow-up check up. They checked if she's gaining weight as she should since she lost more than 10% of her birth weight a week ago.  At last week's appointment, she weighed 6 lbs 2 oz. Today, she weighed a whopping 7 lbs 8 ozs!! She gained a full pound in ONE week! Whoa! Even the doctor said that's a lot to gain in a week but what can I say, our little girl has a HUGE appetite! lol. The doctor said breastfed babies don't really get overfed so she is not alarmed with her weight gain. She was born one pound short of 7 lbs so I think her current weight is just about right.

Today was also the first time that we went out of the house without Daddy Jarbs so I was a tad nervous how things will go. Surprisingly, Elle behaved really well and did not even cry at the doctor's office. Yay! Our next doc's appointment is for her one month check-up where she'll get another Hepatitis B shot :-(. Not looking forward to it!

Daddy-daughter bonding time

While I was napping last night, Eleiana and Daddy Jarbs had a little bonding time. They watched the Redskins-Eagles game together!

Elle wasn't happy with how the game was going

So..she just slept through it :-)

Daddy Jarbs goes back to work :-(

After 2 weeks of vacation leave and staying home, Daddy Jarbs went back to work. Elle and Mommy Jarbs will miss you Daddy!

Daddy Jarbs and Elle before he left for work

Elle meets her Tita's

Elle got a visit today from my friends, her Titas/Aunties and Titos/Uncles. Most (except for Ana) of us now have our own kids! Boy, we're getting old!

THEN

This was taken two years ago during our wedding

NOW

This is us now with our babies!

L to : Dulce (minus her 2 kids), Barbs with 6 mo. old Lara, Mommy Jarbs with 11 days old Eleiana,  Haydee with 2.5 yr old Hayden & 11 week old baby on the way and Ana

Proud daddies

 New moms. Our babies are 6 months apart!

 Daddy Jarbs on baby duty. Elle was knocked out from the breast milk!

This baby can EAT! She can finish 4 ozs of breast milk in ONE feeding considering she's only 11 days old! I can't keep up!

Our little family

Thanks for visiting and for bringing food :-)

Elle meets MORE family members

We had a pre-Thanksgiving get together in our house so Eleiana got to meet MORE family members.

With Grand Aunt Amy and Auntie Angel who came from North Carolina.

 Elle with her Great grandma "Nanay"

Eleiana's 1st trip to Costco!

We braved it out again and took Elle grocery shopping at Costco. She enjoyed being pushed in her Snap 'N Go stroller and slept the entire time!

Happy one week birthday, Eleiana!

Our little girl is already one week old! Time did fly by fast. The first few days after her birth were a blur. I guess that's what sleep deprivation does to you :-). 

We had a follow-up appointment at the pediatrician today for Elle's weigh-in. She weighed 6 lbs 8 ozs! She was up 0.6 ozs from Monday's appointment. Daddy Jarbs and I were so happy.

Since Elle was well-behaved all morning, we went straight to Babies R Us to buy Eleiana her  one week birthday present :-). Since Elle LOVES to be rocked/bounced/moved, we got her a swing! We originally did not plan to get one thinking it may just be a waste and would not need it. We were totally wrong! Our high maintenance little girl loves to be rocked/bounced/swung all the time! In fact, when we arrived at Babies R Us, we put her car seat on the Snap-N-Go and she hated it! Daddy Jarbs had to hold her car seat and manually swing it!

Daddy Jarbs shopping for a swing

We got poop!

I never thought I'd be this excited about poop :-). Elle has not pooped since we got home last Friday. Yesterday, we started supplementing each breastfeeding session with pumped breast milk and today we ripped the rewards! She pooped three times! Yay! It's a great sign that feeding is going well. Happy baby means happy Daddy & Mommy Jarbs :-).

Elle's first visit to the doctor

We had our appointment at the pediatrician today. It was our first time to take Elle out after bringing her home so we were a bit nervous how our first outing will go. As Daddy Jarbs was waiting for me to finish getting ready to leave for the doctor, he took Elle to a quick trip to our neighborhood coffee shop. Daddy Jarbs walked to Big Bear Cafe with Elle in the Ergo baby carrier! Daddy Jarbs has long been waiting to try out this carrier with a baby in it. Elle loved being in it and did not fuss one bit!

At the doctor's office, they checked Elle's weight. She weighed 6 lbs 2 ozs. She lost ~11% of her original weight :-(. The doctor was concerned she was not eating well. We were advised to supplement breastfeeding by giving her pumped milk or formula. Since my milk already came, we planned on giving her my expressed breast milk and forego the formula. 

Eleiana also had her Hepatitis B shot today. I had to have Daddy Jarbs hold her as I couldn't stand looking at the nurse poking my little girl. As expected, she let out a bloody cry. I immediately had her breastfeed and it helped calm her down. 

When we got home, my cousin Anabel swung by to visit Eleiana and brought treats not only for Elle but also for Mommy & Daddy Jarbs. Thanks so much for all the help Auntie Anabel!

Elle meets more family members

Elle had more visitors today.  She finally got to meet the rest of the Jarbs family. Her cousins were thrilled to meet her! They all want to babysit her :-).

Elle's future babysitter, cousin Kaitlin

Cousin Kelly

Grandpa Jarbs

Cousins Kyle, Zach & Uncle Willie

Home sweet home!

After a 2-night stay at the hospital, we finally took Eleiana home. She's so tiny so she was not able to wear the going home outfit that I have for her! 

Elle also took her first car ride home! She would fuss whenever we're stopped on a red light and would be calm when the car was moving. It was pretty funny.

First car ride

Finally home!

Eleiana's first visitors

Eleiana was able to meet some family members today!

With Aunt Anabel, Great Aunt Marissa, Great Grandmother Nanay & Aunt Elie

With Aunt Kim, Aunt Terri & Grandma Jarbs

Introducing Eleiana Makenzie aka Baby Jarbs

Baby Jarbs is finally here. We named her Eleiana Makenzie. At 41 weeks and 3 days, she was born on November 3rd at 6:47 pm. She weighed 6 lbs, 15 oz and was 21 inches long! Both Daddy Jarbs and I are in love :-). Birth story to follow..

Hi..ho..hi..ho..Off to the hospital we go!

Finally, we are in the hospital! We thought this day will never come!  Tonight, I am scheduled to get administered with Cervidil which is suppose to help soften the cervix. Tomorrow morning is the actual induction. I am still feeling great. I haven't had any contractions or anything though :-/.

We were told to report to the hospital at 7:00 pm but I got a call from my doc's office around 3:30 pm to tell me that I need to get to the hospital at 5:30 pm instead! My doc wanted me to get to the hospital early because apparently, the hospital was busy and she wanted to make sure I get  my own room. All the "snow storm" babies are being born at this time which explains why the hospital, particularly the Labor & Delivery floor has a full house! Daddy Jarbs was still at work  when I received the call from my doc's office so I had to call him to tell him he has to go home asap. We arrived at the hospital close to 6:00 pm.  After getting registered, we were told to come back to L&D at 7:00 pm to wait for a room to free up. Since we had an hour to waste, we left the hospital and drove out to  Palisades and got sushi to-go for Daddy Jarbs. We also stopped at Safeway to get me some crackers and popsicles. It's now 8:00 pm and we are still waiting for a room! Darn snow storm babies! lol

8:20 pm  - Finallly got a room! Have the fetal and contractions monitor around my belly. Cervix was checked and still fingertip dilated and no effacement :-(. Baby's heartbeat is strong..150 bpm.

9:20 pm - Cervidil was inserted. It did not bother me at all.

10:00 pm - The nurse checked on me. Apparently, I am having contractions (according to the monitor),  but I do not feel anything! I do not know if that's good or bad?