Elijah James Orr

Our sweetest blessing. 

The past 5 months have evolved around the tiniest sweetest baby boy. 

Birth Story

On August 17th I was having some back pain that actually turned out to be labor. So after Jeremy and I both took our time showering and packing everything we headed to the hospital. It was three weeks prior to his due date so I wasn't convinced that this was "it." After being examined at 4cm dilated once arriving I was quickly convinced that indeed, Eli's coming! It was about 5:30 pm at this point. I was extremely afraid of an epidural slowing down the process so much that Eli would need to be cut out of me, so I labored naturally until I couldn't handle it anymore! Sometime in the naturality of my labor Jeremy's grandparents came to say "hi." Soon after they witnessed my water break in the middle of the hallway and things got serious, they said "bye." My level of pain increased immediately and I was the annoying patient that lost her IV and the pain just became unbearable. So I caved and got the wonderful epidural from the wonderful anesthetist. It was wonderful. I am proud though to say that I made it to 8cm dilation not with out the help and support of my patient loving husband. In the middle of my water breaking and my epidural I am also proud to say that I was the crazy 8s card game champ! I'm not sure though if my husband was just letting me win, if so, good call babe. They called in Dr. Hart and I began pushing... and pushing... and pushing. I pushed for maybe a little over an hour. Then, that wonderful last push our sweet baby arrived! At 1:18 in the morning, August 18th 2013. He was 6lb and 6oz 19inches in length and absolutely amazing.

laboring- with a smile :)

Elijah right after his entrance into the world

right after his first bath

 It was the most incredible experience Jeremy and I have ever had. My mom was the only one in the room, she was very good about letting us have our moments and keeping all the other folks in the waiting room updated! She was also the best motivator and kept telling me how great I was doing during the pushing. I am happy she was there with us! I held my baby for two hours in the delivery room then they took him for his more extensive tests and bath and wheeled me to our huge wonderful suite. Thank you GMC! After his tests and having his first bath they brought him back to me. I think that was my favorite moment. He was bundled up sleeping and I could really sit up and take my time to soak in it. We spent the next two days at the hospital holding our baby the entire time and just living this surreal new reality.

taking sweet Elijah home!

Eli's first doctor visit

On the evening of August 20th we brought our baby home!! We were so ready to come home and stay there. Unfortunately at Eli's first check-up they noticed he was jaundice and losing too much weight. So we had to drive back to the hospital every single day that week getting Eli's heel pricked. So sad. Not the way we planned on spending his first week but God was our comfort. Unfortunately Eli just kept losing weight to the doctors confusion. So he got down to 5lb 14oz. Eli was also miserably colicky. We decided to switch doctors and they recommended going dairy free and also saw he had bad reflux and that was keeping him from nursing well. Then Eli began gaining his weight and started to become himself, a happy, sweet-hearted, bright-eyed baby boy!! There was this really rough almost hopeless dark period at the beginning when we thought everything would be so joyful. I think every parent goes through this, it is really survival mode at the beginning. Then it was like the gray clouds parted and the Lord shined his grace and mercy on us. Everything turned completely around when Eli was about two months old. His weight gain was great, he was happy and we were so proud and so happy. Everything since then just keeps getting better and better! Our baby will be five months old in just one week and he had filled our home with so much life, laughter, and joy! He is a lot of work but every second is a blessing and I don't even remember what life was like before him. Only five months of my life so far and it is so weird to think there was a time with out him. Every prior memory I have I always ask myself,  "where was Eli?" He is definitely the biggest part of our lives and we wouldn't have it any other way. I'm working part-time now and it is so hard to be away from him but I love seeing how precious he is to his sitters, Jeremy's Mom and his Nanni. Our baby really is so precious and loveable! We are so thankful to Jesus for this wonderful life. On another note all of our chickens escaped in the craziness of Eli's first month. We still have one that stayed around, she is now free-range and she is happier than ever. We are still getting used to this huge change in our lives, so we aren't really sure what we can handle other than what is on our plate. This is so much harder and so much better than I ever imagined.