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| Here she is world--Alice Margaret Heinrich! |
On Friday, February 7, 2014 at 7:44 a.m., Alice Margaret Heinrich was born. She weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. and measured 21 3/4 inches in length! Her head circumference was 14 1/2 inches. She was delivered at Florida Hospital Tampa by Dr. Wilkerson, and she is perfect in every way!
We feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful experience here at FH Tampa. The nurses are so attentive and kind. Our doctors have been excellent and on-top of things. They have treated Alice so well, and they give her so much love and attention. We couldn't have asked for a better experience!
It has, also, been so nice having a lot of visitors coming to welcome Allie and to hold her. We have been blessed to have Billy's parents in town watching our kids, as we stay at the hospital getting to know our sweet new arrival (as well as, recovering from my surgery).
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| At the hospital ... 5 a.m.--ready to meet Baby Coconut! |
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| Daddy & Mommy ... ready to get this thing started! All prepped and waiting in the LDR to go into the Operating Room. |
Even though this was my third c-section, I really have never experienced it like this before. My two previous c-sections, I labored first before I was sent to surgery. This time, it was like drive-thru baby time! I woke up early (4 a.m.!), and we headed to the hospital. They prepped me, and we waited in the recovery L&D room for about an hour. At 7 a.m., they wheeled me back into the operating room. They gave me my spinal and my pain medication, and they brought Billy into the room. Then they went to work. By 7:44 a.m. (after cutting through and cleaning out a lot of scar tissue), I could feel the "pressure" ... like an elephant on my chest ... and they announced,
"It's a girl!" I was shocked, because I thought it was going to be a boy. But Billy had kind of thought all along that she would be a girl. He had a dream prior to me getting pregnant that we were going to have another girl. Maybe the Lord still sends signs in dreams! We had both a boy and a girl name picked out, so she immediately had an identity. The first thing I heard was a nurse say,
"That's a big one!" And Dr. Wilkerson followed by saying,
"She's a hefty one!" Billy went into the corner of the operating room with her, cut her cord, and watched them take her Apgar score and vitals. They announced across the room her weight ... which was
EXACTLY Khloe's weight at birth. Then Billy came over to let me hold her and tell me her other stats. Apgar score was 9_9, as was Khloe's ... I don't remember Colton's off the top of my head, but I think it was the same, too! She is super healthy and doing very well.
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| Dad was heading into the OR ... |
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| Time of birth ... 7:44 a.m. |
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| Dr. Wilkerson pulls her out to meet us! "Hello, World!" |
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| Daddy cuts Alice's umbilical cord. |
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| There she is in all of her glory ... weighing exactly as her big sister, 9 lbs. 4 oz. |
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| Cleaning her up ... |
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| Getting that lanolin cleaned up. |
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| She has ten little toes! |
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| Getting all wrapped up to meet Mommy! |
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| Meeting my baby girl for the first time ... she is adorable and perfect! |
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| Daddy holds his precious baby girl, Alice Margaret! |
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| The newest Heinrich! |
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| Baby Coconut finally arrived! And it was a girl! |
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| A very special doctor ... Dr. Wilkerson ... he took great care of me and Alice for the past 40 weeks! |
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| Sweet girl gets her first bath. |
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| She seems fond of the water ... ha! |
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| Alice is warming herself under the heat lamp after her first bath. |
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| Changing her diaper after her first bath. |
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| Daddy changes her first poopy diaper! A good Dad! |
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| Changing that first poop can be pretty yucky! |
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| A bundle of sweetness! |
After I was put back together again, they wheeled us to the recovery room. We stayed there for nearly 2 hours before we were wheeled to the mother and baby room. Billy had been preparing, pre-birth, for a joke he would tell when the baby was born. He wanted me to take a picture of Alice and announce that we had our baby ... Alice Cooper! The funniest part was that it seemed like a lot of people weren't getting the joke! Everyone kept saying,
"What a beautiful name!" Billy gave a nod to our "favorite Manning brother" (who most people don't even realize that there is a Cooper Manning!) ... still, people were very supportive of our name. Some of our family who knew it was a joke posted things about her being like "Alice Cooper", the American rockstar ... and still, it felt like no one was getting the joke. As soon as I got an announcement email from my MOMs Club congratulating us on our new baby "Alice Cooper Heinrich", I knew had to set it straight. So, our nurse convinced me to hold out until we got to the Mother-Baby room before I set the real name straight. Once we were wheeled upstairs, I took another picture, and posted that Billy had had enough fun ... and we were proud to announce the birth of Alice MARGARET Heinrich.
PAUSE: Let me tell you about our choice of a name for her. This summer, Billy's maternal grandmother passed away at 96 years of age. She was a wonderful woman. She was so patient, kind, giving, caring, hard working, and strong. She had 9 lovely children (one of which is my mother-in-law). She was an inspiring woman, and we wanted to honor her and our family by naming our second daughter after her. Her given name is Aslaug Petra Jarnes. She immigrated to America from Norway when she was nine years-old. Upon attending school in Minneapolis, MN, the teacher asked her if she'd like to be called "Alice". She said that she would like that ... and she had gone by Alice ever since (at least outside of her home growing up). Her middle name, Margaret, is the name of my maternal Grandmother's sister. My Great-Aunt Margaret passed away, even before my Mother was born, from cancer. My Grandmother always spoke so fondly of her sister, and I always wished I had been able to know her. My Grandma named her baby girl after her sister. My Mother's name is Victoria Margaret, and we wanted to honor my Mother ... a wonderful Mom whom I am proud of and am delighted to name my child after. So, we named Alice Margaret after two very special people in our lives: Billy's Grandmother and my Mother. They are both wonderful women whom we know our Alice will honor well.
Friday afternoon, Billy's co-workers and staff stopped by to meet Alice. It was so nice of everyone to see us. We had a lot of visitors that day! Our nurse kept saying how wonderful it was for us to have all of those visitors, and how Alice must be famous with everyone wanting to meet her. It was cute! Late on Friday afternoon, we got a visit from two Tampa Bay Lightning players: Nate Thompson and Teddy Purcell. It was super nice of them to stop by our room to see us. They were at the hospital to visit the PEDS unit ... sometimes, it's nice to be VIP. Billy had just been on a trip with the Lightning at the beginning of that week, and it was fun to get a picture of Alice with some players.
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| Alice meets some professional NHL hockey players on the day she was born! Teddy Purcell (on the left) and Nate Thompson (on the right next to Billy). |
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| A frame-able one! |
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| Joking around ... |
On Friday evening, Grandma and Grandpa brought Colton and Khloe to the hospital to meet their new baby sister. Both of them were very excited to meet her, and they were so sweet to her. Colton was the first one to ask if he could hold her. Then Khloe wanted a turn, too. Grandpa and Grandma had taken the kids to the gift shop to get a little gift for her, and Khloe picked out a little kitty to give to Allie. It was very sweet to see Big Sis give Little Sis a gift. Grandma and Grandpa had a nice time meeting their seventh grandchild, and Grandma really enjoyed getting some newborn baby snuggles.
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| This is my family whom I love so much! I am so proud. |
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| I am blessed to have three little bits! |
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| Our three kids ... the youngest to the oldest. |
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| Our three kids! That's so strange to say! How cute are these shirts? |
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| Grandpa and Grandma Heinrich meet baby Alice. |
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| Named after Grandma's mom (Alice (Aslaug) Ellstrom), Grandma H meets Alice for the first time. |
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| Grandpa Heinrich holds Alice for the first time. |
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| Allie gives Grandpa H a little sour face! |
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| Grandpa and Grandma Heinrich with all of their Heinrich grandchildren. Colton (4), Khloe (2), and Alice (1 day old). |
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| Colton holds his littlest sis for the first time! He's the BEST big brother! |
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| Khloe holds her baby sister for the first time. |
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| Khloe bought her baby sister, Alice, a gift ... a stuffed kitty. She is giving it to her here ... and instantly, Koki is in love with her new "dolly". |
Sabbath morning, I woke to reality ... my powerful and amazing drug that they gave me with my spinal before surgery on Friday morning had finally worn off! I was feeling the pain ... and getting up to use the restroom, or just sitting for that matter, had begun to become a little more difficult and painful. I, also, realized that through my drug induced ecstasy the day before, I probably over-did my movements/walking/bending, etc. That made me sorely aware of my previous day's actions ... and I was ready to get my pain meds amped up! (Since I had taken none the day before.) By lunch, I was starving and never wanted to get up again, but in the middle of the night, they had taken out my catheter ... so I had no choice about that! Our good friends, the Adams, brought us lunch from our favorite Thai restaurant (Ploy Thai). I had some amazing Red Curry! It was so thoughtful of them to think of us and to bring us some fabulous food. Alice enjoyed being doted on by Uncle Brian and Aunt Gwendy. She was even wearing an outfit Aunt Gwendy had bought for her.
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| We got a visit from our good friends, the Adams! |
Later that evening, Billy's family came to visit us. It was nice to see them! I was a little more sore that evening, and I wasn't feeling the best. That second day out from surgery is NOT a fun one! It's probably the worst of them all ... which has only one positive: it could only get better from there. But it was still very nice visiting with Brenda, Gerson, and Mom and Dad. Of course, the kids were thrilled, again, to see Alice.
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| Colton and Khloe loving on their baby sister, Allie. They can't get enough of her! |
It was nice to spend some time together at the hospital ... just the three of us. Alice will never know our complete attention ... she and her big sister, Khloe, will always know life in a family of brother(s) and sisters. Unlike Colton, they won't ever get our undivided attention for so many months of their lives ... so it's very nice to have those first few days in the hospital--just us and her. We soaked up the love!
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| Daddy and his littlest girl! |
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| This love forever warms my heart. |
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| Just me and my second baby girl ... she is loved so much! |
On Monday morning, we received some news about my iron levels that proved we might have to stay a little longer. Luckily, the doctor worked it out, so we could go home. But he said that I would need to get my iron levels up, and that's what we would be working on postpartum. I am taking two pills a day now for iron, and hopefully, we can avoid a blood transfusion by getting those levels to where they should be! Billy was the most ready to go home. He had been sleeping on a comfy, but not bed-comfy, fold-down couch. We were packed and home just in time for lunch! It was a great feeling.
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| My little sweetness on her way home from the hospital! She had a little "gassy" laugh for us, too. |
When we got home, it was nearly lunch time. The kids were so very excited to see Alice and Mommy and Daddy. Colton immediately wanted to hold Alice. Khloe just wanted to kiss her and talk to her and hold her hand. It was cute to see how much they were excited that she was finally home! They even made us all a welcome home sign. It was adorable! Alice got to see her new room, and all of her new things. She, of course, slept through it all! We enjoyed our stay at FH Tampa, but we were definitely excited to be home to start our lives as "Heinrich: Party of Five!"
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| Ready to go home! LOVE YOU! |
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| Saying goodbye to the hospital ... ready to head home. |
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| My kids with their welcome home sign. |
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| Adoring his baby sis ... |
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| He so wanted to hold her! |
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| Koki was happy that Allie was holding her hand. |
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| She wanted to keep kissing her. |
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| Welcome home baby Alice Margaret! |
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| Allie with her stats in her room. |
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| Visited at home by Caleb and Elizabeth. |
P.S.--Here is a picture of my three babies all at the same age. We make them from the same DNA, that's for sure!
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| My three beauties! Colton (at 3 days-old), Khloe (at 3 days-old), and Alice (at 1 day-old) They all looks SO similar to me! |
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