Welcome, Zelie Rose!

Just under two months ago, our little family grew by one as our little Zelie Rose arrived on the scene. With dark hair and brilliant blue eyes, she captured our hearts instantly and has already acquired a large number of devoted admirers. So far she has a fairly easygoing temperament, enjoys long naps snuggled in her mama's arms and is starting to reward us all with the sweetest most heartfelt smiles.

The good Lord does not do things by halves; He always gives what we need.

Let us then carry on bravely!

-St. Zélie Martin

Zelie's baptismal candle with an image of St. Zelie with St. Therese, next to an icon of the entire Martin family.

Readers of this blog will probably recognize the name Zelie as the same as St. Zélie Martin, my patron saint and the mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Though there is some debate over how to pronounce the name, we decided to give her an American pronunciation (rhymes with Kelly), hoping to avoid too much confusion for her throughout her life. Her middle name Rose is given in honor of St. Thérèse, the youngest of the Martin children, who is known as the Little Flower.

After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints.

-St. Thérèse of Lisieux

My pregnancy with Zelie was not an easy one. I knew I was pregnant before being able to test because of the sudden unrelenting nausea, which lasted long after the end of first trimester. Several weeks in I had to switch from my usual water glass at home to a closed top plastic water bottle, because the stench of clean glass was too much for my nausea!

Chef Josie and her new sous chef.

Also in the first trimester I started experiencing the same restless leg syndrome that plagued me in the last third of my first pregnancy, and it only got worse from there. My sleep deteriorated quickly and I became incapable of sitting or resting at all due to the extremely uncomfortable crawling, prickling and jerking sensations. Visits to my obstetrician, a sleep specialist and neurologist proved fruitless, and we quickly exhausted the medication options that were safe to use during pregnancy. We had some success with combining scalding hot bath with Icy Hot balm, a TENS unit and a leg compression device usually used for poor circulation, but even with this complicated regimen sleep was extremely difficult to come by. In the very last month of my pregnancy, my OB gave a last ditch effort and prescribed a medication we had already tried, but at a much higher dose and I was finally able to get some relief. As a result of this miserable condition throughout the pregnancy, we entered into the newborn stage as chronically sleep deprived, depressed shells of our former selves.

Due to my birth injuries with Josephine and the increased likelihood of another shoulder dystocia, we were recommended and chose to schedule her birth via cesarean section. Especially with the difficulty of the pregnancy, it was a relief to have a sure date set for when we would meet her, and to know that we wouldn't have to relive the long labor and terrifying delivery we had the first time around. I was very nervous walking into the operating room, which was made more overwhelming by the large number of people bustling around and talking to each other, with multiple people asking me questions simultaneously. I tried to focus by praying the rosary, but all the commotion made it pretty much impossible and before I knew it, the doctor was holding up my beautiful little girl for the first time.

The first thing I noticed was the loud cry she had, which made me cry with happiness since that did not happen when her sister was born. She was taken to a table to one side of the OR while they started patching me up, where she evidently decided two breaths were enough for her until the nurses convinced her otherwise. She ended up being taken to the NICU for observation because of this short lived breathing delay, but Paul was able to bring her to me right before they left so I was able to cover her sweet little face with kisses. I was quite heartbroken to have her taken from me for even that short while, but it hasn't haunted me the same way as did her sister's four hour separation at birth. The next two days were spent recuperating in the maternity ward, where every nurse was attentive and caring and where we could watch or snuggle our little Zelie as she slept. The restless legs mercifully ceased torturing me that very day. Overall it was a much more peaceful and positive start than our first, a trend which has continued for almost two months.

From the moment I first latched her in our hospital room, I could tell that this little girl had tongue tie just like her sister. The lactation consultant was able to confirm the tongue tie, as well as lip and buccal (cheek) ties, all of which prevent her jaw from opening adequately or her tongue to move properly in order to get a pain free and efficient latch. Thankfully we were able to contact the same breastfeeding medicine specialist who had revised Josephine's tongue and lip ties around three months, and she was able to squeeze us in the afternoon we got out of the hospital. The early revision prevented the extensive damage I had experienced with Josephine, and allowed her to correct her suck quickly. Within days things were going smoothly, and now we have the happy, snuggly breastfeeding experience I had so wanted.

Josephine and her new baby sister.

Never one to do things halfway, Josephine has jumped headlong into her new role of big sister. The moment she met her little doppelgänger she started heaping baby toys upon her, and has been very sweet and attentive ever since. She loves to tell me how cute she thinks her sister is, she enjoys helping Paul change diapers, and she kisses and caresses her throughout the day. Watching Josephine dote upon her little sister has only made me fall even more in love with her and her deeply feeling, very affectionate nature.

C section recovery hasn't been easy, but then again it has been faster and more peaceful than recovery from my first traumatic birth. Being almost completely incapacitated with a needy newborn and nutty preschooler did mean that Paul's workload during his paternity leave had him running pretty ragged, and he has expressed much appreciation now that I am finally on my feet regularly and starting to take back my load of the the housework. The two of us are now trying to adjust to the craziness of having not one, but two little girls with constant and competing needs. I can see more than ever the wisdom in God sending children to us (usually) one or two at a time, and live in awe of all the parents we know who are outnumbered by their children! Though I am sure we will eventually get the hang of it, prayers would be appreciated as we settle into life as a family of four with these two sweet, beautiful, fiesty, and endlessly sanctifying daughters.

Photo credit: Rain Drop Photos

https://www.instagram.com/rain.drop.photos/