Sophia Rose Miller

Sophia Rose is here! She was born on December 28th at 1:05 PM at Rockdale Medical Center. She weighs 6 lb 10 oz and is 17 3/4 inches long. Itty-bitty! She has a head full of brown hair (though all of these pictures show her in a hat) and we are not sure about the eyes right now. Her eyes are very dark, just like Chasen's were when he was born. It took us a few weeks to determine his eye color, so we will be updating everyone as soon as we know!

The birthing experience was completely different from the drama of Chasen's birth. We scheduled a repeat c-section this time and walked into our appointment on Monday. The nurses took their time getting me ready and we were escorted to the surgery room. I have to admit, I was extremely nervous throughout the procedures. I got a spinal instead of an epidural (smaller needle-yippee!!) and it didn't hurt at all. Once given the drugs though, my blood pressure dropped a lot and I thought I was going to be sick. I had a few scary minutes there, but the doctors adjusted my drugs and I began to feel better. Justin was able to watch Sophia come into this world SCREAMING! No need to spank her to get her to cry, she was crying before she even got all the way out! She piddled all over the doctor and everyone laughed! All the doctors and nurses started calling her "Sassy Sophia" because she was so active and loud! We were able to then go to the recovery room where grandparents came in one at a time to see the new addition while I was being monitored.

My recovery has come along better than the previous c-section as well. The first day I felt very bad. I was in a lot of pain and felt very nauseous. I was starving too and couldn't have anything but jell-o and juice. I only got 2 hours of sleep that night and was mentally and emotionally exhausted. The second day I got my spirits back and was able to get out of bed. I walked around the hospital halls with Justin and Sophia and was able to get up and down unassisted. This was a vast improvement from my first c-section. Justin had to push me around in a wheel chair at all times back then! The only major issues we had at the hospital was with the on-call pediatrician there. Sophia had a hard time breast feeding while we were there, which is common in c-section babies. The pediatrician wanted us to supplement with formula while the lactation nurse advised us not too. I felt a lot of pressure from this which added to the anxiety of Sophia not nursing well. On the third day (after being forced to supplement against our wishes) we were discharged from the hospital and came home!

We are all much happier at home now! Sophia is picking up on nursing and is getting better at every feeding. Chasen is in love with "my baby". He wants to hold her ALL THE TIME. He kisses her and holds her hand. Of course, I think he squeezes her too tight and touches her face too much, but she lays in his arms peacefully so she must not think he's being too rough. Justin thinks that Sophia will calm Chasen down a bit, I'm not too sure about that! It will be interesting to see their relationship progress! Things seem a bit crazy and busy right now but I think we will adapt quickly as we figure out all this baby biz all over again!

Christmas 2009

Every Christmas with Chasen just gets better and better! Despite the fact that he was an over-zealous 3 year old tearing into everyone's gifts, we had a great Christmas. On Christmas Eve we spent the evening with my parents. Chasen got a glowing magna-doodle which is awesome for in the car. He loves his regular magna-doodle and always wants the light on at night so he can draw, now he has his own lights! He also received several lego sets for us to step on, I mean play with! At our house Santa brought him gifts and candy (of course). His favorite gifts were the Transformer Mr. Potato Head and pirate ship. More potato pieces to step on! (Noticing a pattern here??) He also got some Buzz Lightyear pj's that look like the real outfit, which will come in handy with what he got from the Millers-Buzz Lightyear wings! He LOVES his wings! He's discovering life is a little harder being Buzz-fitting through doorways and around corners isn't easy for a space hero! But his mission is to bring peace to the universe and destroy the Evil Emperor Zurg, so a few scraped walls are all in a day's work! Of course Justin and I had a nice Christmas as well. We received several baby presents from the Millers and Auntie Joyce, so it was like Christmas and a baby shower all rolled into one! I can't believe in two days we will have Sophia! I'm extremely nervous and excited all at the same time!

On a sadder note, Justin's Grandpa Mag passed away this morning. We are very sorry to hear about this, surely at this time of year and before Sophia arrived. Grandpa Mag was a wonderful and caring man. He will be missed by us greatly and we will be keeping our Seattle relatives in our prayers.

Waiting for Christmas....to be over!

Wow, look! A picture that's not of Chasen! These are rare finds! This is Justin and me at the one and only holiday party this season. But who has time for holiday parties? We have done zero holiday shopping and have zero ideas and zero money to boot! Why does it seem to get harder to buy presents as the years go on? Of course, we are just trying to get through Christmas. This is the first Christmas season that I want to be over! Because as soon as Christmas is through, we will have our Sophia! Maybe that has something to do with why we haven't gone Christmas shopping yet? How can I think of others when all I can think about is my tummy feeling like it's going to burst?

Ho Ho Ho!

We are getting ready for Christmas at the Miller house! The tree is up, the decorations are out, and we've stocked up on candy canes! Chasen loves Christmas! Everything Christmas is "Ho Ho". So we have a ho-ho tree, eat ho-ho candy, and sing ho-ho songs! Daddy told Chasen he was getting a baby sister for Christmas from Santa. Chasen looked up in the sky looking for the sleigh....if only it were that easy!

Gobble Gobble '09!

Yes, I realize it's a week after Thanksgiving but I've been busy-being sick! I woke up last Friday with the flu! Justin and Chasen had been ill the week before, and I guess it was my turn! I've been off from work all week but will be returning tomorrow. The doctor gave me Tamiflu; I think it helped speed the recovery process. Poor Pecan has just been swimming around in a drug-induced haze for a week now! What's ironic is about a month before Chasen was born I caught a stomach bug from Justin and was really sick then too. It's funny how that's happened both pregnancies!

Thanksgiving went well. I tried all new recipes. Some I liked, some I won't do again. Most of my recipes came from "Cuisine at Home" which is an awesome cooking magazine with no advertisements! The stuffing didn't work out, but the green bean casserole from scratch with fresh green beans and the pecan-pie chocolate crust cheesecake were both scrumptious! I have to say even though I had extreme back pain, this Thanksgiving went more smoothly than ones in the past. I think the fact that we had the turkey ready before anyone even walked in the door helped out a lot!

In the pictures is me and my stuffed turkey/baby belly (and Justin), two turkeys (ha ha), Chasen eating dessert (that's all he would eat), and Chasen turning his ball-popper into a hair dryer for Auntie Kim!