One Month!

Her first month has flown by and baby Caroline is growing and changing!  She is definitely filling out and looks a ton like Harper to me.  She has lost a ton of hair on top of her head and as I was taking her 1 month pictures it reminded me so much of Harper as hers did that too.  She is getting so much more alert, loves to raise her head up when she's laying on my chest to try to look at me.

Life with three doesn’t feel entirely different, primarily because Caroline is super sweet, sleeps all the time and is very flexible as we try to keep up with the big girls’ schedules.  I’m trying to figure out what her ideal schedule is too but it’s hard when she’s never able to wake up from a nap on her own due to having to pick people up, get to dance, gymnastics, etc.  Fortunately she sleeps well in her carseat too at this point which makes traveling around town pretty easy!

She’s a great eater, she was up to 7 lbs 6 oz at her 2 week appointment and I would guess she probably weighs 8.5 lbs by now at least.  Her legs were so wrinkly when she was born just because there was no fat underneath them but they are definitely looking fuller.  She usually eats at least every 2-3 hrs during the day.  Overall she has been sleeping relatively well though we’ve had a little trouble just getting her to sleep initially.  She has been basically wide awake from about 8-10 at night and then finally settles down for good sleep at 11.  That’s a little too late for me so we’re trying to move her up earlier.  The plus of going to sleep at 11 is that she usually only wakes once at night, around 3AM.  Last night we got her to sleep around 8:30 and she was up from 12-1230 and again from 4-430 which really isn’t too bad!  She’s still in newborn clothes, diapers.  I have a lot of short sleeve newborn onesies but it’s been so cold that we really haven’t been playing outside much so she has about 6 sleeper outfits that she wears on repeat J   Fortunately it’s finally starting to warm up so we’ve been able to spend a lot more time outside

She’s not a fussy baby at all, may fuss for a little bit when I lay her down for her nap but it only lasts a couple minutes and is the no big deal at all.  Otherwise she fusses a bit if she gets really hungry and from time to time in the car as she’s about to pass out for a nap.  The chaos of hearing 3 kids simultaneously in the car just makes me laugh because if not it would probably make me cry ;)  Typically the big girls are really good about saying ‘shh’ to try to calm her when she cries but if they are tired too then all bets are off and the odds are everyone will end up in tears. 

She’s had two sick sisters over the last few days so fingers crossed she stays healthy!!  Adding a third has been fun in the aspect of how much more Harper and Emma Kate are playing with each other.  They definitely do their fair share of fighting/picking at each other but for the most part they play really well which is pretty sweet J

We were so happy to have her around for Easter celebrations - of course she mainly napped for easter egg hunts, etc. but still fun to have her here :)  We also celebrated her baptism last weekend though technically that belongs in month 2 ;)  We’ve got 3 birthdays coming up to celebrate in the next few weeks and are super excited! J  Emma Kate is basically pumped for her birthday cake only J

 2 'superhero' big sisters assisting dad with a bath!

 First real bath, giving me the side-eye

 hunting easter eggs

this doesn't look safe..

 caroline looks like a little doll next to those giants!

 mid-yawn

 Baptism - 4/17

Caroline's Birth Story!

Well our sweet Caroline is now 3.5 weeks old and I’ve been meaning to get to writing her birth story before it starts to slip from my foggy mind.

I raced from my office over to the OB for a routine appointment on Monday 3/14 at 11:15.  I was expecting everything to be normal and to get back to my office for a meeting by 12:30.  Caroline had other plans for us!  I spent the majority of the appointment discussing induction vs going naturally and ultimately we decided just to wait for everything to happen naturally.  The very last thing she did at the appt was check for her heartrate which oddly was around 110-120 which was not normal at all for Caroline.  My doctor was somewhat concerned so sent me down the hall for a quick NST to make sure everything was fine.

The NST office felt like total déjà vu.  I’m sitting there watching contractions on the strip every 3 minutes though they were not painful at all.  I was texting Andy telling him I knew they were going to end up keeping me if only for all the contractions.  Her heart was initially reactive but then was somewhat unreactive for the rest of the time.  The doctor came back after about 30 minutes, showed me one spot where she had a deceleration and told me I needed to go to OB triage for further monitoring.  She said that if they saying anything else then that would be ‘it.’  This made me cry because I thought she as implying a csection immediately but she quickly explained that’s not what she meant but that they would induce.

I headed over to the hospital, called Andy who ran home to grab the cord blood kit and called our nanny to throw a couple things into my hospital bag that I had not completed packing.  At OB triage I continued having nonpainful contractions about every 3 minutes, was still dilated about 3-4cm which was unchanged.  The attending there said that she had talked to my clinic doctor who felt they should keep me for an induction.  Basically, they were like, you’re full term, we’ve seen two things that are somewhat weird with her heartrate so how awful would it be if you go home and something happens.  We called Dad who also said the same thing and then ultimately decided to stay!  I was excited when I found out that my regular OB would be the one there all night too J

Around 5PM they finally moved me back into a room in labor and delivery.  After answering a ton of questions they started antibiotics at 6PM.  I finished up tasks from clinic for a couple hours then settled in to watch the bachelor finale… haha J  At 10 they started a very low dose of Pitocin that didn’t do a whole lot but their goal was to move her down a little prior to an epidural/breaking my water.  At 1230, anesthesia was free from the OR so came to do my epidural.  It was a second year resident, whose name was Dr. Doctor! Haha… he did a great job and it really wasn’t bad at all.

The pitocin got cranked up a bit while the epidural was kicking in and then the resident came in to break my water around 2AM.  Everyone took predictions of when I’d deliver after that- Andy guessed 3AM, the nurses guessed after shift change… I had no clue.  The numbness feeling was just so weird that I really had no idea what was going on.  After breaking my water the resident said just to call when I wanted her to check me again or if I felt like I wanted to push.  I told her that I couldn’t feel anything at all so I really wasn’t sure if that would happen but she assured me it would happen but to just try to take a little nap for now.

Andy settled in to nap but after about 20 minutes I was having a ton of pressure with every contraction.  I didn’t know what to do so just laid there in the dark and tried to relax.  I didn’t want to call and ask them to check me so quickly and nothing have happened.  A nurse came in after about an hr to check on me and I told her I was having a ton of pressure with each contraction but she said to wait until the pressure was basically nonstop. 

Around 4AM the resident came back in to see how things were going and said that she would go ahead and check me since I had delivered so quickly previously.  Sure enough I was fully dilated though she said to wait to push until the attending came in from home.  After only about 15 minutes the attending got there and they took a couple minutes getting all gowned up.  After everything was ready they said to push with the next contraction and with one push, there she was, born at 4:23AM - 6 lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches!  She came out crying and they immediately handed her to me.  We were so excited to meet her and I got tearful – I was just overwhelmed by everything and it’s just such an awesome thing to meet this little person that was in your belly just moments before.  I do believe Andy got a little teary eyed also J  I couldn’t believe how quickly it happened and was just relieved that she was there and seemed healthy!

We immediately thought she looked a lot like Harper, was very tiny and had a lot of dark hair.   Holding those sweet brand new babies is one of the most special things and something I never forget about each of my kids.  I especially love it after everyone finally clears out of the room and it’s just me and Andy and the babe J  Such a special little time.  We were exhausted not from the labor itself but just the process of being up all night getting antibiotics, epidural, etc.  While it was totally different than delivering quickly like the other two, it was still a great experience.  And I’m definitely on team epidural if there’s time!! Haha J

We took turns snuggling sweet Caroline and dozing off and on throughout the morning until all her visitors started pouring in.  I was so excited for both of her big sisters to get there though they might have been even more excited than me.  They both took turns holding her and kept saying how she was ‘so cute.’  They sang rock a bye baby and it was the sweetest thing J  Caroline was so content and would kind of ‘purr’ leading to Harper deciding to call her ‘Caroline Kitty cat’.

We were released from the hospital the following day and I was so anxious to get home and get settled.  Though being in the hospital seems like a total break from the real world I just do not rest well there at all so could not wait to get into my own house!  The big girls were excited to have us all home and we were excited to settle into life as a family of 5!! J

 Snuggles with Dad!!

 Getting weighed! 6 lbs 15 oz, 19.5 inches

 Andy documenting the last pregnant picture :)

 One set of proud grandparents!

 Somehow the big sister always ends up eating a snack in my bed ;)

 First family pic!!

 my girls!! :)

 Her first day at home! :)

with her bunny :)

23 Months

Emma Kate is just one short month away from turning 2!! Hard to believe.  Of course this last month has been pretty big for us with EK officially moving to middle child status :)  This transition has not been without some little bumps but overall we are doing well.

Emma Kate loves, loves her 'baby e-yine' but there has definitely been some acting out, testing boundaries, etc.  Whenever we take Caroline somewhere that attracts attention, EK usually does her best to put her arms around Caroline and says 'My Baby'.  She tells anyone and everyone that she is a 'big sister' and is super proud of that.

For a girl that was so shy for such a long time, she is really coming out of her shell.  She talks nonstop… like really, nonstop.  Andy and I joke that she has two volumes - on and off… and on is very loud.  She is so expressive when she talks and makes the funniest faces.  She is also a little parrot and will repeat basically everything. Harper has gotten into Batman and other superheroes thanks to her school friends and this has ended up with EK requesting a batman birthday party :)

One of her favorite things to say is 'one more minute' basically in relation to anything - when she is asked to share she will say, 'just one more minute', if it's time to go to bed or stop reading a book, 'one more minute.'  If you ask her a question the first thing out of her mouth is 'no' and then she proceeds to answer the question.  I'm not sure if she's really mumbling 'I don't know' or if she truly is just saying no…. i.e., EK do you want to go get ice cream? 'No, yes, I go get ice cream now!!'… haha.

She has gotten a lot more snuggly since Caroline has been here, of course.  The hardest part of my day is when EK or Harper get tired and whiny and really just want to be held by Mom and unfortunately I cannot always do that :(  Emma Kate in general has been prettttty ornery since Caroline's arrival.  She gets put in time out regularly and while she is unhappy to be there, she comes out cheesing and immediately gives the sweetest hug to whoever she has just offended.  Even when she is misbehaving, as soon as she is caught she tries to 'undo' whatever just happen by smothering whoever with kisses/hugs, etc.  It's hard to stay upset with her happy little smiling self.

Thankfully she is sleeping much better though definitely not as good as she could be.  She loves to yell for us to wipe her nose, cover her up, etc.  We've gotten a sticker chart going in both girls bedrooms for when they sleep well without any yelling so hoping that starts to help things.  She is at least sleeping until her alarm clock light comes on which is 6:30… which is a huge improvement from a couple months ago!!

She still loves gymnastics.  Harper just moved up to an older class so unfortunately they don't go at the same time which is very, very sad for Emma Kate.  I think this summer EK will do a little dance camp which I think she will like as she is always begging to go into Harper's dance class.

The Easter bunny brought the girls new hooded bath towels and EK is very into being a 'kitty cat' super hero and running around in hers all day.  She will say, 'I save the day to the rescue!'  She loved easter and was talking about Easter eggs for many days afterwards!!

She weighs about 29 lbs, will go to the doctor next month and find out exactly as well as how tall she is.  She wears mostly 2T clothes, has a mouth full of teeth except for her canines so hopefully those appear sometime!  We're looking forward to her 2nd bday party which unfortunately will not be a Batman party but I think she'll still like it ;)  She is very excited for her birthday cake that she repeatedly tells me about ;)

 Playing in Caroline's new crib and helping dad assemble!