Welcome Penelope Gabriella Franses: Her First Week!

Ladies and gentlemen, our little family is proud to announce the arrival of our darling peanut Penelope Gabriella Franses.  She made her grand entrance on October 13, 2015 at 5:08 p.m.

It all started at 4:30 a.m. on October 13 when I woke up, ran to the bathroom and quietly announced (so as not to wake up Alex, William, and my in-laws) to Joseph that my water broke.  We called Newton Wellesley hospital and they told us to come right away.  I knew that I was going to have a full day of hard work, so I quickly took a shower, threw on some makeup (gotta be picture ready, am I right?), and got into some comfy clothes.
We got Alex's school lunch ready for him and let Joseph's parents know that they were in charge of getting the kids to and from school that day.  As we were driving to the hospital, I quickly e-mailed both Alex and William's teachers to notify them that my in-laws would be doing the drop off and pick up that day.
Joseph and I got to the emergency room and they admitted me at 5:30 a.m.  My contractions were starting to get stronger, but were tolerable.  I couldn't believe that our third child was actually arriving on the day she was supposed to and I didn't have to get induced!  This was very different from the other two births.

Getting admitted into the hospital.  Ready to rock and roll
at 5:30 a.m.!

As soon as I got to the labor and delivery wing, my contractions began to intensify but I wasn't dilated.  This happened in the past with the boys, too.  A few hours later, my contractions began to become unbearable and my doctor allowed me to get an epidural even though I was only 1 cm dilated.  An hour later, I was already 3 cm dilated and then things began to progress.  I was in and out of consciousness and the nurses that were working with me were convinced that I would deliver before 5 p.m.
To pass the time, the nurses chit chatted with me about Real Housewives and other shows that are on the Bravo network (the trashy shows that I looooove!).  It was nice because it kept my mind off of everything and helped me to pass the time.  Joseph, however, was not too interested in the conversation and apparently busied himself with making trades for his Fantasy Football team.  Ha!  The hubby had to stay entertained, too!

Passed out in between contractions.  I hadn't eaten
anything other than two graham crackers with peanut butter
and was pretty exhausted.

Around 4:30 p.m., the nurses told me that it was time to begin pushing.  I couldn't believe the time had arrived already!  I was used to my labor experiences lasting for 24+ hours.  Instead, baby girl was going to make her arrival in 12!  I began to push and as she got closer, the nurses said she could see that our daughter had a full head of black hair!  WOW!  Hearing that news gave me enough motivation to push once more and our darling daughter entered the world at 5:08 p.m.
The nurses placed her on my chest right away and Penelope and I bonded immediately.  It was so nice to have her warm and tiny body on mine and to feel her take her first breaths.  What an incredible experience.

Meeting Penelope for the first time

Getting some skin to skin snuggle action.

Our little girl, fresh out of the womb and snuggling with mommy.

So happy to welcome our baby girl into our little family.

Welcome to the world, Penelope Gabriella!

Penelope getting cleaned up.

Penelope, chilling on the warming table.

Princess Penelope and me

Penelope getting weighed.  She was 8 lbs 1 oz. right in the middle
of her brothers' birth weight.  (Alex was 7 lbs 13 oz. and William was 9 lbs 8 oz.)

Daddy's turn to hold her.  He was smitten right away. 

She had her Daddy wrapped around her little pinky
at first sight.

Her cute and tiny feet!

Here's Penelope getting her footprint taken by the nurse.

She was not a happy camper.

So precious!

Time to put some clothes on this little girl.

Woo hoo!!  After a full day of labor, I was finally able to order some food!!
I got a cheeseburger, fries, tomato soup, and a salad.  I was absolutely
exhausted and famished.

Mommy and Penelope, ready to be rolled into the recovery wing.

So happy to have her safely in my arms.

Our squishy little Buddha girl :-)

Time to add her Tiffany's charm to my necklace!  :-)

Our first night together.  :-)

My favorite part of having a newborn is exactly this:
Feeling her warm little body curled up on my chest, hearing
her little breaths and squeaks, and feeling love all over.

Our little darling

Penelope, peacefully sleeping in a milk coma.  :-)

Our sweet little girl

I love when the newborns come out and they're still
curled up like this.

I was still in awe of how much hair she had compared
to her brothers.

Such a peaceful little angel in her first few hours of life.

I love newborn yawns because it looks like their entire
head unhinges and opens up, their yawns are that big.  :-p

Penelope getting her first sponge bath

She was not a huge fan of this.

Squeaky clean, jelly bean!

Our fuzzy little chick

So fresh and so clean :-)

She enjoyed snuggling with me, skin to skin, after her first bath.

Getting some skin on skin interaction to comfort her
after she had her first bath.

One milk drunk little girl with super fuzzy hair.

One very smitten Daddy.

He couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

And now it's time to meet her big brothers!

The boys brought their presents for her and literally showered her with
the gifts.

Time for Penelope to meet her brothers.

The boys presenting their gifts to her.  They each picked out an outfit
and a headband for her.

They filled her bassinet with the presents.

They were so sweet and beaming.

Two very proud big brothers.

Big brother William holding Penelope.

Our first picture as a family of five!

Joseph's parents were very excited to meet the newest addition of our family
as well.

Alex's exact words were, "Mommy, I fell in love with
Penelope as soon as I saw her."  This boy is over the moon
in love with his little sister.

One very proud big brother.

Alex and William were very excited to get presents from Penelope, too!

Joseph introducing his parents to our dear little Penelope.

Joseph got some popsicles from the break room for the boys.

Linda holding Penelope in the hospital.

Elias holding Penelope in the hospital.  They're two very proud grandparents.

Alex wanted to hold her again.

Proud big brother William

Penelope lounging after a tough night.  Joseph had to leave to
take Alex to the ER for an allergy flare up (he was fine),
so it was just me and baby girl in the hospital room.  Of course, that was the
night that she decided to cluster feed from 9:30 p.m. to
midnight.  By 12:30 a.m., I called the nurses to take her
to the nursery because I was absolutely exhausted and knew
that I needed to rest because I was planning on going home
the next morning.

Alex in the ER playing with some toys that they gave him.
He was a real trooper and was there until 2 a.m.  By that
point in time, he was asking Joseph if he could go home
so that he could go to sleep.  Alex was completely fine
and stayed home from school that day so he could get some rest.

Penelope at two days old

A little smirk in her sleep.

This is how the nurse rolled Penelope into my room at 5 a.m.
I was well-rested and so was Penelope and we were ready to tackle the day.

Our sleeping beauty

Our sleepy girl

What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?!  :-p

Before we were discharged, we had to get the approval of the OB and
the pediatrician.  Dr. Gwon, Penelope's pediatrician, came into the room
and examined Penelope.  Dr. Gwon took this picture of us before she left.

Penelope, getting ready to go home!

Our little Boilermaker, ready to go home.

Penelope snuggling with Daddy before we went home.

Now it's Mommy's turn to snuggle.  :-)

One tired little Boilermaker

Sleepy Penelope in her car seat

Our little sweet pea

As soon as we got home, Oscar greeted Penelope
enthusiastically as if she were a long lost friend.
He accepted her into our pack immediately and showered
her with kisses.  Oscar loves all of our children so much.

Happy to be home

Our squishy-faced little princess

I loooooove newborn snuggles!

Princess Penelope sleeping in her bassinet

Penelope on October 16

Trying to get snuggles in as much as possible.  Our
family is complete and this is our last newborn that
we're welcoming home.

If you look toward the top of this picture, you'll
notice that Oscar curled himself up in between my
legs as I was nursing Penelope.  He's very protective
of our children and also likes to snuggle with me.
Oscar did this when I nursed our other two children, too.
He's a funny dog.

Loooove her bitty feet!

A darling newborn face.

Alex couldn't stop staring at her.  He kept wanting
to hug and kiss her all day.

Love her little splayed toes.

Joseph looking at Penelope with so much love.

Joseph playing with Penelope

While we were eating lunch one day, Oscar jumped
into Penelope's bouncer.  He wanted to be the baby I suppose.  :-)

Love those little fingers and toes!

Snuggle time with big brother Alex

Alex hugging his little ball of a sister.

Linda looking at Penelope before she left for her flight
back to Indiana.

Penelope on October 18

I explained to the boys that newborns eat, sleep, and poop.
They were very surprised at how much this newborn slept.

Wake up, sleepy head!

I can't get enough of her little toes!  Her feet were
soooo much smaller than her brothers' feet when they were born.

Penelope on October 19

It's time for Penelope's first check up outside of the hospital!  Thankfully Joseph was able to accompany me to the visit, as I was unable to walk well and would have struggled carrying her car seat by myself.

Joseph snuggling with Penelope and keeping her warm
after she just got her height and weight check.

He loves our little girl.

Penelope getting examined by Dr. Gwon, her pediatrician.

Joseph snuggling with Penelope while Oscar
sat in Joseph's lap.

Joseph on bottle duty.

Our baby burrito (we refer to this as a "Babe-a-rito").

Time to wake up, Babe-a-rito!

Happy 1 week birthday, Penelope!  We love you
to the mooooooooon and back!

Our hearts are so full of love and joy that our darling baby girl made it safely into the world.  We're so happy to have Penelope Gabriella with us and our family is now complete.  She was the best birthday present I could have ever asked for. 
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki