Nora's First Month

Here are some pictures from Nora's first month of life. Enjoy!!!

Here I am at last!

Many of you are probably wondering how am I (Andreja) doing and are waiting for the blog update. So here i am going to try to be "short" and fast. Both girls are sleeping and I am not sure how much time i really do have. And laying on the couch sounds much more attractive at this point then writing an update-sorrry:(

I can't believe that it has been 4 weeks since i had Nora. She will eb 4 weeks old tomorrow and one month old this coming sunday. She has been through so much already in her short life. This week feels like the first normal week since she has been born. Having to go back to the hospital threw us all back a bit. It was like we have finally started figuring things out and then the fever came and we were back at square one. The third week was the most challenging for me. Nora had screaming episodes in the afternoons and evenings for a few days and we were not even sure what is going on. Right when we were going to diagnose her as a colic that stopped. Then she did not want to sleep too much during the day as much as she should. But life is getting more normal. We believe all this has been caused by her body still reacting to the medicines and treatment she had while in the hospital. She finally seems to be cleared of all that from her body. I am so glad to have my 83 year old neighbor who has rescued me on a few ocassions last week when i thought i will go crazy trying to soothe a crying baby and also tend to Emma's needs.

In the last month i have said many times that i wish i am in Croatia, or that my mom is here. The overwhelming task that was ahead of me seemed to be too much for my exhausted body to handle. I simply felt like i can't do it. I only have 2 hands- most of the time they are not free. Eventhough my community has come through big time through meals and visits, it still felt lonely at times. I would spend good bit of my time on the phone with mom, trying to keep sane and ahve a good perspective.

I am getting used to the task of being a mom of a toddler and a baby. some days are better then others but i learned that not only do i need God to sustain me each day but each hour. I never know what will happen. I started enjoying spending time with my baby. She is so precious; And has already grew so much. I know time will go by so fast. I mean she is already almost a month. I go back to work in 2-3 weeks. Crazy. So it is good. Life is in a surviving mode but it is good. Chris and i are figuring these things out. And i love that i have Chris. He has been such a help in so many ways to me. he knows me, he knows what pushes my buttons and he knows how to help.

Anyway, i hope to keep this updated more often. I am excited to see this new baby grow and what she will be like. I LOVE watching emma and how proud and excited she is about her sister.

Giving us a scare

Last Saturday night, Nora gave us a scare when she came down with a high fever. We rushed her to the Emergency Room, where they did a number of tests to try to determine if she had some type of bacterial infection. Because Nora was only eight days old when we brought her in, the doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital for 48 hours, until certain test results came back. Nora's fever was gone by Sunday afternoon. As a result of the antibiotics that she was given, she had a lot of stomach pain and did not sleep or eat well on Monday or on Tuesday, when we returned home. It ended up that Nora had some type of virus.

We are thankful for all the people who were praying for us. We saw and felt God's influence on this situation, as He gave us strength and energy throughout an exhausting few days. We were also blessed with wonderful nurses throughout our stay at Scottish Rite. Thanks also to my parents, who were a great help with Emma as I was going back and forth from the home to the hospital.

Coming Home

Emma was sooooo excited when we took Nora home from the hospital. When I put Nora and her car seat down in the living room, Emma and I had a short dialog that went something like this:

Emma: "Nora, get up walk around!"

Chris: "Nora can't walk yet."

Emma: "Nora, play with Emma's toys!"

Chris: "Nora cannot play with your toys yet."

Emma (in a sad, crying voice, with tears running down her face): "Nora, walk around, play with Emma's toys."

One Emma realized that Nora could not walk around or play with her toys, she was okay with it and was satisfied to touch Nora, give her hugs and kisses, and show her all of Emma's toys.

Here are some pics of Nora at home when she was two days old.




Emma loves talking to Nora and here she is telling Nora what different animals say.


Emma loves to "carry" Nora.

Nora's Birth Story

Andreja had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Friday (June 26, 2009) and during her appointment she was told that she was already 5 cm dilated and had to go straight to the hospital. If she had gone home and her water had broken, then she probably would not have made it too the hospital. I (Chris) was all for having the baby in the hospital, not at our house:) As Andreja headed to the hospital she called me and I left work immediately. I didn't want to miss Nora's arrival into the world. I got to the hospital around 10am and Andreja was already in the delivery room. Because he water had not broken, Dr. Angus (the doctor who was on call) decided to wait to break her water until he could deliver a couple more babies. He ended up delivering six babies on Friday. No wonder Northside Hospital is known as a baby factory:) Dr. Angus was actually on call when Andreja went into labor with Emma, but since the epidural slowed down Emma's arrival, he headed home before Emma was born. Andreja and I enjoyed some Wimbledon while we waited for her water to be broken. Dr. Angus told us that Nora would be born before dinner. Andreja was wondering when was dinner time for Dr Angus. Was it 5pm, was it 9pm??? As time progressed, she began having more and more contractions. The next time Dr. Angus came to check on Andreja, she asked him when was dinner was for him. Although he normally told people that they would have their baby before dinner time, Andreja was the first expectant mother to pin him down on when exactly that was. The nurse and I were cracking up. At 1:30pm the nurse started the pitocin, which induces labor. At about 2:30 pm, Dr. Angus came and broke Andreja's water (at this point, he had delivered two babies in the last two hours). Andreja was increasingly more and more uncomfortable. A little before 3:30pm Andreja started pushing. After only about 30 minutes, Nora was born at 3:58pm. We were joking that if she was born after 6pm then she and Emma would have the same birthday in Croatia.

God was watching out for us with this entire event. We didn't have the baby at home. It was a pretty quick process. Although Andreja felt more pain than with Emma, it only took 30 minutes to push Nora out. We are so excited that Nora is part of our lives and can't wait to see what she is like, as she begins to develop a personality, as well as likes and dislikes.

During this entire process, Emma was with her Grandma Sue (Chris's Mom), and he Aunt Pam. When grandma, grandpa and Pam brought Emma to the hospital, Emma was so excited to see her little sister. She wanted to touch her, hold her, and point out all of he facial features. Emma kept telling Nora, "Open the eyes, Nora." When Nora's eyes didn't open, Emma thought she would assist. We had to put a quick stop to that. It was fun to see how excited that Emma was to see and touch her sister. Around 7pm, I took Emma home and put her to bed. Then my parents came to stay with Emma so that I could be with Andreja for a while before heading home to be with Emma.

We are home now. We got discharges around 11am sunday morning. We were greeted with some of our friends almost as we were exiting the hospital. They are lucky that we were not already gone. It was good to see them. We are so glad to be home all together. It was different this time with having a kid at home already. We know we are on our own during the night but excited to figure out our new family dynamics.

Happy Birthday Emma!!!! Can't believe that she's TWO!!!

Today was Emma's second birthday. We had planned a party, but Nora's arrival postponed that for at least a week. Emma did get a couple gifts from her Aunt Ruth and Aunt Faith. Ruth gave her some play food, which Emma was very excited about. From Faith, she got some Duplo Lego animals and a girl. She wanted to show it all to Nora and she let Nora hold all of her animals.

Some exciting fruit!


What's inside?


Here you go Nora.


Nora enjoyed being covered in animals:)

Sweet Sisters

This morning Emma came to see Nora in the hospital. She was very excited to see Nora. She wanted to give Nora a little gift. So we brought her a little rabbit.

Emma loves to touch Nora's face.


After seeing Nora's feet, Emma wanted to show her her toe nails.


What a beautiful picture!!


How happy!