This post is the biggest ever for the Wittmann Family News Blog. Eliana Kate Wittmann has arrived to our family in perfect health and 3 weeks early. Our joy and love for her is never ending.
Here are her birth stats:
Girl, 7 lb 2 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. She has a little bit of darkish hair, and is the most beautiful baby we have ever seen.
We have quickly taken to calling her Ellie. We love just watching all her little movements and getting to know her. I am sure that she is often smiling at us, either that or she is laughing because she knows we have to change her diapers. She really surprised us by coming 3 weeks early, especially Michaella. She was about to give a presentation over dinner to about 20 of her co-workers when her water broke. That might have spoiled a few appetites. Michaella quickly came home and we scrambled and got together our things for the hospital. After getting checked in at the hospital it as apparent that getting this baby out was going to take a lot of work. We had induce labor to get contractions going. It took a bit of time to get labor really going, but when the contractions got strong Michaella showed how strong she was as we worked together with our Midwife and our Doula to try an for a natural birth. As well as we might have planned and praticed sometimes nature will dictate the out come. Since it had been quite a few hours since the water broke (~28 hrs) we had to move to a C-section. The most important part of our birth plan had been to have a healthy Baby and Mother at the end of day. So the way we see it, mission accomplished! Everone came out healthy and ready for some much needed rest. Michaella and I let the hospital staff do what they needed to as we just savored every moment with our Daughter.
We left the hospital on Monday the 14th. We were both very excited to show Ellie her home and get her introduced to the house, cats, and the neighborhood. Michaella is taking 2 full months of work off and then will work part time for a another month or two. I am taking off this week and then will work part time for a week or two. I am jealous of Michaella. The hardest part of going back to work will be not being able to take care of my daughter and my wife.
THANK YOU!
Michaella and I have a lot of people to thank for all the support we have recieved over the past 5 days. But a few people really stand out. The first person is Molly Schlife, our Doula. We want to thank her for getting us prepared for the birth process and being by our side during the entire labor and delivery. She showed confidence in us and was always there to offer encouragement and advice. She also help to take care of a lot of the little things so we could concentrate and focus on the birth. If you are thinking of having a child get a Doula to help, you will not regret it. Second we want to thank our mid-wives for guiding us all through the pregnancy. They always took the time to listen, inform and find out what was important to us. CeCe Norton the mid-wife that was with Michaella and I during the 5 roughest hours of labor, was the rock that really helped Michaella. She was quick with a joke, a smile, an order, or a piece of advice, always at the right time. I am not sure what we would have done with out her knowledge, caring, and genuine love for the process of birthing. Third we want to thank the entire staff at Methodist Hospital. We were treated like the most important patient for every hour of all 5 days we were there. You would think over the 5 days we would have at least one nurse who was a crab apple, but amazingly there was not a one. Personaly I think it was because Ellie is the best baby they ever saw:>) As always thanks must go out to Bud & Eileen, Michaella's parents, they helped us recover with food, love and anything we might have needed. Last but not least, A thank you to all of you, our friends and family who said a prayer, wished us good luck, or sent a positive thought our way.Those thoughts, wishes, and prayers can be felt and they helped. Thank you all.
Stay tuned to the Wittmann Family news for more updates soon. I am sure that with the 3 of us, 2 fat cats, and a few crazy neighbors that a couple funny stories might get posted on the blog along with some great pictures of Ellie.
Dan, Michaella, & Eliana
