One Week

I can't believe it has already been one week since Charlotte was born. Granted I feel like I have overcome a wall with my recovery which makes me glad that the week has passed, but I just don't want her to grow up so fast. I love this newborn period. Last night was a better night in terms of breastfeeding. She only woke up every 2-3 hours, and fell back asleep with little effort. The past two nights remind me of something I learned with Joseph, and that is you can't expect a baby to act the same way and do everything the same, every day. Just like we have good days and bad, so do they.
This morning the family traveled to the peditrician's office for baby girl's one week well baby exam. And basically we needed to make sure she was gaining weight. When we left the hospital on Thursday,Charlotte weighed 9 lbs. 13 oz. Today she weighs 10lbs. 4oz. Babies are supposed to gain one ounce per day, and she gained seven ounces in three days, so our doc seemed quite pleased. I was a little disappointed because at one week, Joseph had gained his birth weight and then some. But she didn't lose any weight, so really there is nothing to fret about.
Below are some one week pictures. Charlotte wasn't all that thrilled with the process, but I had fun, and got one or two decent pics. I just wish her face didn't look so squished in some of them. I may try to get some more tomorrow, when she is in a better mood and had a big meal.

Zinnias from our garden.

She is wearing a 3-6 month onesie.

I like this picture. Because it shows her multi-faceted personality.

Great Grandma Vonnie

Today my mom brought over my grandma, who I don't get to see very often. This was the second time my grandma has been to my house. It was a casual, relaxing visit. Joe was the center of attention and Charlotte slept the majority of the time. Then my mom brought over a chocolate cheesecake. Below are several pictures of the four of us girls.

Charlotte is my sweet, little girl, and I am totally in love with her. It makes me sad when I think about her teenage years, so I try not to think to far into the future, and just cuddle and love her as much as I can now while she'll let me. Surprisingly, I am not totally exhausted today. Last night was not a good night. I stopped keeping track of how many feeds, but it seemed to be every hour and half, with her spitting up on me once, and peeing on her pajamas twice. She finally slept around 0545 until 0800. With her inconsolability at night I am worried about my milk supply. She has plenty of wet and dirty diapers. Tomorrow we go to the doctor for her one week appointment and we'll see how much weight she has either gained or lost.

Another Update

The transition to a family of four has been quite smooth, and there really is only one person to thank for that, and that person is David. Dave has basically taken over the house, and care of Joe - allowing me to stay on the couch and focus on Charlotte. My biggest issue has been my pain tolerance and inability to do much around the house. On Thursday night I went up and down the stairs one too many times because on Friday I was in pain practically all day. So Charlotte and I are camped out in the living room for at least a week. It's a slumber party!

This is a common position for baby girl: passed out on my shoulder or chest after eating.

Joe holding Charlotte for the first time. She's yawning not crying.


Our first family picture. Not quite the motherly glow I hoped for. I look a bit pale. My hemoglobin dropped from 12.4 to 8 from my blood loss.

Every year on the third weekend of August, Bonner Springs holds the Tiblow Days celebration. Henry Tiblow founded the city of Bonner Springs. This morning Dave took Joe up to the parade, and I sent him with the camera to get some good pics of Joe. I don't think I made my intentions clear, because he took pictures of all the cars in the parade and none of Joe.

One of many parade pics. A Shriner on a motorized toilet.

This is a float for Kerby Farm, my favorite pumpkin patch. I have only been to two pumpkin patches in my life, but this one is owned and operated by the Kerby family, and the reason I like it is because it isn't about sucking up all of your money like some pumpkin patches (like ones with ATMs in the barn). Their prices are reasonable, and the atmosphere is very quaint. Going to Kerby's is one outing I look forward to in the fall.

Tomorrow my mom is bringing my grandma over to see the baby. David pointed out that there will be four generations of women in the house.

Home

Our new family arrived home together around 12:30 this afternoon. It was quite uneventful, and that is how I like it. David, Joe and I ate a quick lunch. We all went upstairs, and I fed Charlotte, then everyone took a nap. Charlotte and I slept for three plus hours, Joe slept for 3-4 hours, and Dad laid low watching TV. These pics are from the hospital, but I still wanted to post them.

This is Charlotte shortly after birth and her first bath.

Day 0 of life.

This is Day 1 of life. At this point she had lost almost 6% of her weight, and swelling has subsided in her face.

This is the second time Joseph saw Charlotte, and he is focused on her feet.

Here Joe is focused on her belly button. I am not sure why?

As of this morning Charlotte had not lost anymore weight. I had to supplement her with formula and a method of breastfeeding called tube assist - I will explain sometime if anyone is interested. It required lots of attention and coordination. But as of now, the flood gates have opened and I am starting to hurt. For some reason I can't get my breastpump to work, which I was hoping would help relieve some of the pressure. A note to all of the guys who read the blog, you are going to have to deal with some "boob talk" for probably a couple of weeks. It will be good for you. It can help you sympathize with your wives, daughters, nieces and what they go through, and how much work breastfeeding can be.

On a slightly different note, Joseph still occassionally grabs his ear and or base of his neck on the right side, and turns his head funny. Any future PNPs with a diagnosis? Our peds office thought he was fine, of course right? He still is actively playing, eating, drinking etc. So I guess I should just keep watching right? Well, I will be starting dinner. Be on the lookout for more pics. They change so fast.

Oh and Sherri, I love the perfume!

Complete

Well, today I am feeling much, much, much better. I finally got to eat this morning, and take a shower. It's so daunting right after having a baby. Initially, you can't take care of yourself, and you've just brought this new life into the world, in which you are responsible for but can't take care of. Needless to say I am starting to feel more capable-as long as I have Percocet on board.
I titled this entry "Complete" because I have this euphoric feeling that our family is now complete, and a whole new part of life has begun. Yesterday, my dad brought Joseph up to the hospital, and I was so surprised at Joseph's reaction to Charlotte. I thought initially Joseph would just ignore baby girl, but he seemed totally enamored with her. He kept asking to see her feet and belly button. He tried to pick her up saying, "Joe carry Charlotte" and he sat on the bed leaned up against me, and next to her with his "B" blanket resting on her legs. He did poke at her eyes and nose, but not aggressively. Today Dave went home for the afternoon, and will bring Joe up after his nap and stay for the evening. Hopefully we can have our first meal together as a family. Thank you to my Dad for staying with Joe for the past two and half days, especially when he didn't feel well. As for more pictures they will have to wait until we get home because of the hospital internet connection.
Also, thank you to everyone who came to see us yesterday. It felt so good to see our friends and family, and share our new baby girl. We just love her so much, the second she arrived I couldn't imagine life without her.

Charlie

Sorry it took so long to post. We've had issues with the network here, on top of all the busy, hospital stuff. Baby girl is big and beautiful, and doing quite well. Sweetheart is the first word that comes to mind. Anyway here are the pics, I wasn't able to post all of the ones I wanted.

Cutting the cord.

Good apgars and a strong cry.

Bright lights

That's right 10lbs 8ozs

Beautiful, cherub face. I really thought she looked like Joe right after he was born

I have been a little slow to recover, with initally having lots of vomiting anytime I moved head, and then excessive bleeding, which I have been on a Pitocyin drip for twelve hours now.

Joe came up yesterday for a short visit, but hasn't been feeling well, and is headed to the peditricians office today. I miss him a lot, and really can't wait to go home. I am somewhat afraid my stay might be extended past the normal three day stay.

Charlotte's Corner

Well, anyone who knows us, knows that we have a fairly small house. Small as it may be we love it all the same. Anyway, for Charlotte's first six months of life she will share a room with us. Then sometime next spring, or whenever she is sleeping well through the night, we will move Joseph into the room with Charlotte, and Dave and I will move into the smaller of the two bedrooms.
All day yesterday David finished putting down new baseboards around the floor of the bedroom, and placing finishing touches on the paint job. Then today we rearranged the furniture, cleaned and placed all the bedding on the crib. We still need to carpet the floor, but that will have to come later. Both Dave and I: always the procrastinators. Here's Charlotte's little corner with her whimsical mobile. The green is actually darker than appears in the picture, and the bedding is red. It actually has a very soothing vibe, when you can see the stark white trim against the green and the blinds are open.
I have spent the majority of my day washing laundry, making sure everyone has clean beds, and bedrooms for that matter. I cleaned Joe's room and rearranged some of the furniture. Meanwhile, David mowed the yard. I plan to go to the grocery store tonight, and finish packing. Then David and I are off to the hospital in the a.m. Hope everyone has a great Monday, I know we will!

Did I Say Yikes?

Well, I had a video of Joe catching bubbles in the bathtub, but it took forever to download, and I gave up. Tomorrow, my mom is picking up Joe and keeping him overnight while I work and, so David can work around the house. Sunday, I am hoping to tidy up the house and finish packing, but also spend time together as a family. Then Monday is the big day. You have nine months to prepare, worry and anticipate the day, only for it to seem surreal. No matter how much you dream, plan, prepare, you never feel ready. Physically, I am more than ready. Mentally, I am excited to add to our family, but I'm oh so scared to take on two kids at one time.
For the past couple of days, I had Joe go diaper less around the house - just to air out his tush. And, all be darn, he used the potty chair several times, every time he needed to void, without being prompted. He would be in the middle of playing, and then stop himself, run into the bathroom and "go". While I was at my doctor's appointment, David put on his Elmo underwear and that is when he had an accident. So what do I make of this development? Right now, I don't plan to do much, but at least I know, he knows when to "go".

I feel like there are so many more things on my mind, but it's late, and I have to work tomorrow. I'm definitely not feeling up to par, but I don' want to use up any of my time off. So I called them tonight, and asked for an easier assignment. We'll see what happens.

Six and half days to go

Yikes, one week to go. Lots of happenings here around the house. David started painting the room this past week, and had the ceiling done and one coat of paint. The paint job was great but I hated the color. It was called Corn Husk Green, and a little too neon green/key lime. My sister Shelbe said, "it really jumps out at ya". It matched her bedding well, but my gut just kept telling me this isn't the color. So this morning we ventured (David was not so enthused) to Home Depot to pick out a different color. This one is a more adult color, but beautiful. It's called Mother Nature. Definetly, a more soothing color.
I worked this weekend, and stayed fairly busy. Meanwhile at home, Joe had some type of sore throat/runny nose with a fever. I couldn't find any of my thermometers, but I think his fever finally broke sometime after midnight, early this morning. David did an excellent job of staying on top of the Motrin, keeping fluids in him and babying him the way a mama does. Being at work, I felt very relieved. You can tell Joe loved the attention that comes with being sick; like drinking lots of Gatorade, watching TV constantly, eating on the living room floor, basically getting to do whatever he wanted, when he wanted. Because this morning, as I tried to reinforce some baseline rules, I was greeted with an immediate screaming fit. At least I know he is feeling better.
Lots to do this week, from packing our bags, stocking the house, getting Joe and David haircuts, getting my toes done, washing some baby clothes, putting bedding on the crib, meeting at work, playgroup, doctor's appointment, and work on Saturday. Like every week, I hope to post pics. At least a final pic of us as a threesome. Someone at work reminded me, this is my last week with only one child, which made me kind of sad, because I won't be able to give Joe all of my attention. But to have another little one, to love and watch grow into a little person will be worth it.

Elevated Sugar and Spice?

Just a quick update. I try to consider myself a fairly laidback person, but every week that my OB doctor measures my abdomen, she seems genuinely impressed, shocked, amazed, or whatever you want to call it. So when she seems shocked, I do get a slight sense of apprehension. Today my abdomen measured 43cm. She is wondering if I am a very late onset gestational diabetic, so she wanted to check a HgbA1c, and just a random glucose. Hopefully, I will get the results tomorrow. She says that by controlling my diet for at least the last week of the pregnancy, we won't affect the baby's size, but should stablize and prevent any glucose issues with the baby. Might I mention, that when Joe was born he was hypoglycemic. Hmmmm?

Nesting

Well, at this point I am pretty sure I'm nesting. I don't really remember nesting with Joseph, I guess just getting married was nesting enough for me at the time. Ha Ha! But this time around I have cleaned out and organized the car, all of the baby clothes -including the 3-6 month and 6-9 month. I have cleaned out all of my dishes, cleaning products, Joe's clothes, my clothes, Joe's toys, I am now tackling ominous laundry (which is my least favorite), stocking up on things like cleaning products, toilet paper, paper towels, and starting to plan a menu for at least the first week, and made a few minor changes to the blog. I wanted to totally overhaul the background, but I am looking for just the right color schemes. So it will most likely wait until fall.
I have been pretty good about not splurging with the baby, but below you will see a pic of my most recent purchase. I stumbled upon this website called ETSY (don't know if anyone has heard of it) where people sell handmade items. They sell anything from jewelry, clothes, baby items, toys, home decor, books, stationery. It reminds me of a little boutique. It is the coolest website. Anyway, I just happened to find this mobile, and thought how classic, simple and beautiful, and perfect to go above the baby's bed. This mother of two makes these pinwheel mobiles, and even does custom orders. I went with the one pictured because the room will be a celery green, with ladybug bedding so the red and polka dots are perfect. I have posted a link to ETSY on the side of the blog. Plus she is sending me lots of business cards for all of my pregnant friends. Hope to post some pics by Friday. I am taking Joe to playgroup tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday, and a family get together on Thursday night, to go through my grandma's family photos. I have three more shifts at work before maternity leave, and I am hoping to take off 14 weeks. Fall is my favorite time of year, so my head is swimming with all of the things I want to do together as a family. If anyone ever says your life is over when you have children, they are sadly mistaken. It is just beginning!

Sleep, Huh? Who needs sleep?

Tick tock, you never think you will get to this point, but here we are the month of. Just wait until the night before, right? Well at my OB appt yesterday, she seems very proactive (couldn't think of a different word) about me having a VBAC, should I go into labor early. But anything after 39 weeks she is guessing 9 lbs, so we scheduled the c-section for August 18. At this point I am miserable, but things just aren't ready at home (story of my life) so I am willing to wait.
As for sleep, some nights I may sleep for 3-4 hours at a time, but I have to be fairly dehydrated and not have any heartburn (which depends on dinner). Most nights, like last night I am awake every hour. I even tried a bath before bed and read a book about baby sleeping habits, but nothing works. I know everyone goes through this, but since it is morning and Joe is raring to go I have to bitch.
I tried to take pics of Joe last night when he was eating corn on the cob, and an ice cream cone on the front porch, but he is more interested in looking at the pics on the camera than letting me take some. Besides the ice cream was extremely messy, but fun none the less. Lately, it seems that Mondays are whiney, hyperactive days for Joe, then by Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I have him straightened out. Hmmmm, wonder what goes on during the weekends?
Today I am going to get my hair cut and darkened. Not sure how dark, knowing me it will probably be subtle, but getting my hair cut is one of my favorite things to do. Glad to work the weekend, since there is a heat advisory, and it rained all week long.