2 Months

So I’m a week late on the monthly birthday post, sorry! I’ll do better next time, I promise.

This past month has been a blast. She is smiling and talking(coo'ing) more than ever. The best time is in the morning before we get out of bed. She recently had her 2 month check up and the girl weighted in at 11 lbs and 14 oz! Needless to say, she is growing like a weed and getting cuter by the minute. We absolutely adore her.

This month she likes…
While sucking on things is still at the top of her list, she has moved on to the pacifier, thank goodness.
Car rides
Watching Andy and I make funny faces
Talking
Her swing with lullabies playing
Mirrors
Being outside

Things she hates this month...
Getting dressed and undressed
Car seat – yes I know, she loves the car but hates her car seat.
Waking up – it takes her an hour or so to actually wake up from a nap.

Welcome to Parenthood

Andy and I are sitting down to dinner with Caroline in her bouncy seat right next to us. Half way into dinner, I hear a choking sound under the table, yep that’s Zoe, our cat, throwing up. Wonderful! As Andy gets up to assess the damage, Caroline decides to start screaming. So, I’m dealing with the baby, Andy is on his hands and knees under the table cleaning up cat throw and then the phone rings. Andy and I stop what we’re doing, look at each other, smile, and start laughing.

One Month

One month, already? I have a feeling I will be saying that a lot. These past weeks have gone by so fast; it’s amazing how much she has grown. At her one month appointment she had already gained 2 lbs and grew 3 inches. It truly amazes me that just a few weeks ago she was still inside me, kicking away and now she’s here, in our arms. Andy and I are truly blessed that she’s are in our life.

Things she loves

Sucking –she loves our pinkies. I think she would suck on our fingers all day long if we let her.
Tummy time
Smiling (on purpose) No it’s not gas. She actually smiles when she sees us. This has to be my favorite thing she is doing right now
She found her voice – she is a grunter and a screamer, no cooing here.
Bath time – she looks so relaxed sitting in the sin

Things she hates
Pacifiers
Changing her clothes
Waking up

I guess there’s not much she doesn’t like these days, I’m sure that will change though.

Happy One Month Birthday Pretty Lady! (aka Daddy’s little burrito)

Birth Story

Memorial Day weekend begin like any other weekend with the exception of a little nausea. Didn’t think too much of it, just one of many pregnancy symptoms. Sunday morning, Andy was away at work and I decide to have breakfast with my sister, Ashley, (who by the way is also prego), at Cheesecake Factory. Well it wasn’t much of breakfast because I was afraid to stick anything in my mouth with the fear it would come back up. Not to mention that the waitress wouldn’t let me order the kids french toast. The nerve! So I stole bits and pieces of Ashley’s Eggs Benedict. Sooo good! Anyway, back to the reason why I’m writing this post. After breakfast, I ran a couple of errands and headed home. While sitting in traffic, I notice I’m having strong contractions and decide to time them. Well wouldn’t you know it they were 7 – 8 minutes apart. I picked up the phone and called Ashley, “I think I’m in labor!” is the first thing out of my mouth. She calms me down and tells me to call the doctor when I get home. Which I do and he tells me to call back when they are 5 minutes apart. I then call Andy and update him on “the situation,” as my dad likes to call it. I decide to take my mind off of the contractions and work on a nursery project that needed to finished. After an hour or so, the contractions gone; I had my first taste of false labor. Not fun. Talk about getting your hopes up and then nothing.

The next few days were completely normal, no symptoms what so ever. I was beginning to think this baby was never going to come. We all know that’s not going to happen, Miss Caroline was just patiently waiting to make her debut.

Early Wednesday morning, and I mean early, we’re talking 2:45 am, I woke up with contractions. I was thinking no big deal, this happens quite often. For whatever reason, I decide to start timing them. Lo and behold, they were 7-8 minutes apart. I told myself if I still had them at 4:15, I would wake Andy and then take a shower. Why a shower? I don’t know, it just sounded like the right thing to do. Really, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary, to get my mind off the contractions. I was afraid I was experiencing false labor and didn’t want to get my hopes up. Anyway, after the shower wouldn’t you know it; the contractions were still there and getting stronger. We decide to call the doctor around 5 am and were told to come in. We were excited, I remember thinking “This could be it, we are having a baby!” Andy and I quickly, jumped out of bed and starting gathering all our stuff. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall watching two never-before-parents running around the house trying not to forget anything. We finally made it to the hospital around 6ish and were placed in triage. After being hooked me up to the machine that measured my contractions and the baby’s heart rate, the nurse checked to see how far along I was. I thought for sure, I was at least 3 or 4 cm along. Nope, I was wrong. The nurse said, in a very flat even toned voice “1 cm and 95% effaced.” What! That can’t be right, something is wrong. I’m having painful contractions!” She went on to say, “Since you’re not 39 weeks, we can’t help you. You will have to labor on your own.” I immediately looked at Andy and then back at the nurse. With tears forming in my eyes, I said “I don’t understand; you can’t help me?” She explained that they don’t help woman with their labor before 39 weeks and since I was 38 weeks and 7 days, there was nothing they could do. I would have to show them I was in true labor. She suggested that we walk the halls for an hour and then come back for more monitoring.

After about an hour of mindless walking, I entered the triage room with the thought of “they are going to send me home.” There was no way I could show enough improvement in an hour for them to admit me. The nurse came, checked me and said, with a smile on her face, “You’re 4cm.” Yay, I get to stay, we are having a baby!

After receiving the epidural, I was comfortable and relaxed. Around 5 pm, the doctor broke my water in the hope to speed things up a bit (I was stuck at 7 cm). That did the trick. By 7:40 pm, I had begun to push. The nurse had told me earlier that day, that first time mom’s usually push for 2 hours but since I was in good shape (all that running and walking paid off) she thought the process would go faster than that. So when the hour and half mark came around and no baby, I was getting frustrated. The doctor came in around that time to check my progress. He starts rambling about an old practice of using forceps and maybe the possibility of c-section. I looked at him and said, “I don’t understand, what you are saying?” I suddenly felt the urge to push and before I knew it, the doctor had disappeared. What doctor does that? He just left without telling me what was going on. I looked to the nurse for an explanation. She said he was worried about the baby because the heartbeat would dip with each contraction and that they would be wheeling me into the OR. Either the forceps would work or I was having a c-section. Before I could even think about what was going on, Andy was dressed in scrubs and I was being detached from machines. The rest is really a blur; it felt like a million people were surrounding me as I lay on a skinny board with my arms stretched straight out. I remember seeing the end of the forceps and then a nurse telling me to stop pushing. Seconds later, Caroline, is lying on my chest and Andy is leaning over me kissing my forehead. We’re now a family of three.

Stats:
7 lbs 2 oz
19 inches

Little Things

I was on my way to work this morning and the thought of Andy cutting the grass came to mind (stay with me!). I know you wondering why this random thought, well, as you know we have an actual house now with brand new grass, oooh ahhhh (they laid sod about a week ago). Andy has been excited to actually cut the lawn and purchase all those manly yard toys, like a weed eater. This made me think that its really the small things in life the matter the most. Like this past weekend, I was working long hours at work, no day off… anyway, Andy had to play house wife and go grocery shopping. He surprised me with watermelon and raisinets when I got home. I was so happy, it not only made my day but it reminded me that I am married to the best husband in the world. I’m sure everyone can relate to a similar situation. The little things in life reminds us what really matters.

Eggstravaganza!

Andy and I decided to have some Easter fun a few weeks ago. Of course we dyed eggs but we also went a step further and painted my belly like an Easter egg. Yes I know what you are thinking, “who does this?” Nerds like us! So after many requests, here are the photos from our eggstravaganza!

Before


After




Andy did such a great job didn't he?

3D Ultrasound

On Saturday, Andy and I had our 3D ultrasound, where we caught a glimpse of our little girl. The pictures are amazing. You tell me but I see fat lips and chubby cheeks. Too cute!

I can't believe that in 9 short weeks she'll be here. I feel like Andy and I have so much work to do. We are hoping to have the nursery paint this week and the all the furniture in its place. I promise I'll post pictures soon.