9 months and other fun stuff

I'm almost embarrassed about how long it's been since I have posted. My sweet Caroline is getting jipped! Really, she is such a sweet thing, I feel bad that I haven't posted in her last several months. My work schedule has made it so that I don't get home until much later than I had been, so the minute I walk in the door, it's go time and I don't have any free time until both girls are in bed and by that time, I'm ready for bed :)

Well, what has happened in 4 months?! Caroline started daycare in August with the same lady who kept Meredith when she was little. She was the only baby for a brief period, which made me happy, but then another little baby started. I'm not sure that we'll keep her at this daycare as long as we kept Meredith there, but it works for now. It is also a big part of why my work schedule is messed up. I can't get her there until 8:30 am, so I don't get to work until close to 9am, which clearly pushes the end of my day much later. Caroline is doing well though, at that's what matters.

Caroline has been such a different baby than Meredith was. I try not to compare, but that's my only other experience, so it's going to happen. Caroline didn't really sleep consistently through the night until she was about 8 months old...that was rough. She would go for a few days or even a week and then she'd be up in the middle of the night again for several days/week. Another difference is that I'm still nursing Caroline. It has gotten so much easier now that she is older because she only nurses about 4 times a day and sometimes she doesn't even want it then. I now regret that I quit at 5 months with Meredith-mother guilt for sure, but it was also a different time for me since I was in school at night etc. Ok, can't dwell on that. Anyway, I'm not sure if that contributed to Caroline's sleep habits, but I'm happy I've been able to make it this far and at this point she is over 9 months old, so I think I can make it another month or so and I have so much frozen milk that she should make it to a year without formula! Woohoo! I honestly never thought I'd be able to say that!

Caroline has also taken her time with things like rolling over and crawling. She has been able to roll over for awhile, but never did it with much frequency until the past month or so. That is how she can really get around- that or her cute little butt scoot! She is very close to crawling now. I feel like she has just gotten the upper body strength to give it a whirl. She gets up on all fours and just rocks back and forth- super cute!

She popped her first two teeth at 7 1/2 months and I think she's working on her top ones now. I won't be surprised if they pop through in the next few weeks. She has been putting those teeth to good use with food! She loves to eat. I introduced cereal a little before she turned 6 months old and just gave her that for a while, then gradually introduced baby food at 6 months. She has really loved it. I think since I waited longer to give her the baby food, she was ready sooner for soft finger foods. She gobbles up bananas and sweet potatoes- tries to jam it all in at once sometimes. They have these new rice cracker things called mum-mums that she just loves. She grabs that thing and just crunches right into it.

Her other favorite thing to do is to blow raspberries...all the time, especially with a mouth full of food. She thinks it is hilarious! It really is her 'happy sound'. Poor baby had the croup last week (really her first real illness other than a couple runny noses) and she just looked at my crying because she felt so bad and sounded horrible (first sick visit to the pediatrician too), but when she finally started making her raspberries, I knew my girl was back :)

By the way, at her 9 month checkup she weighed a little over 21 lbs, which was 80th percentile and her length was 70th and her head was 95th! Meredith weighed the exact same, but was a little longer and her head was a little smaller :) I'll have to dig up her 6 month stats- I do remember she was more in the 90th with her weight, so her growth has slowed down a bit.

She has started babbling a lot more recently. For the longest time, she has just been a rather quiet baby. Her first real sound was Ba, which has moved to Da and now she is getting Ma more now. It was sad, but it actually really touched me the night she was really sick last week, at 3am she cried out 'Maaaa, Maaaa' in that sick raspy voice. I really believe she was calling for me :) She has also gotten the high pitch squeal down pat- she loves making noise, especially in church or reacting to her sister's silly antics!

I think this post has gotten long enough for now- lots to cover! I will post more about Meredith's comings and goings too!

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5 months and a few days

Somehow, the last month has flown away. Caroline is a precious little thing right now. She is smiley and sweet 90% of the time. It seems like her teeth are really bothering her sometimes now though. She constantly chews on anything and everything and drools galore! She officially rolled over for the first time today from tummy to back, but she really isn't in a hurry to do it again though! We still haven't started cereal yet. To be honest, I think a big reason is because our schedule has been crazy mad lately and it's something I don't want to rush. She is sleeping fairly well, but still has the occasional night of waking up at 2am, but generally she is sleeping 9-5. I wish it was a little longer, but it's not too bad. She adores playing with her feet lately too. She can even get those toes into her mouth! It is so cute to see those chunky little legs curled up over her while she plays with those kissable toes :)
A few weeks ago, we met Judy, Joe, Kaci & Evan up at Tweetsie Railroad in Boone. Meredith had an absolute blast riding the rides and would have ridden the big ones if she had been tall enough. She was dying to ride the one that just drops straight down, but alas, she wasn't tall enough! Next year, we might be in trouble! She went to Tennessee for the week and then we went up the next weekend to get her. The week was a little easier just having Caroline, but it definitely wasn't like in years past when Meredith was gone for the week when we'd go to dinner and movies and celebrate a week of freedom!
I hosted a big bridal shower this past weekend for Allison. It was a coffee theme and we had a coffee bar with hot and cold coffee and all the fixins. We had a great turn out and I think everyone had a really nice time. She is down to a month and a half until the big day!
Chris went back to school today for teacher workdays, so it is the end of Daddy Daycare for the summer. I am taking some time off, so Caroline won't start daycare for a few more days. She will be starting with Prissila and she will be keeping Meredith for a few days as well before she starts Kindergarten. I'm heading to Charleston this weekend for Allison's bachelorette weekend, which should be a lot of fun, but the timing is a little crazy! Meredith's first day of Kindergarten is August 24th, but then is off for a few more days due to the staggered entry.

4 month stats

Caroline's 4 month appointment was on 7/18, so about a week past her true 4 month birthdate bc the Pediatrician had to reschedule...anyway, she is super healthy and is tipping the scales at 17 lbs, 10 oz!! That puts her in the 97+ percentile! The doctor was pretty surprised to hear that she hasn't had any formula yet!! Go Mommy! She is 25 inches, which is 75th percentile and can't remember the head measurement, but it's 95th....so, all in all we have a pretty big girl :) I looked up Meredith's numbers and she was a bit smaller at the same point, 15.3 lbs and 25.5 inches. She also got the 4 month round of vaccinations, which were terrible, but not as bad as last time. She slept most of the afternoon and we gave her Tylenol for the discomfort, but she never got much of a fever at all.

Caroline is really turning into such a sweetie. She laughs and smiles all the time now and her favorite entertainment is her big sister- Meredith has definitely gotten the best giggles so far, despite the fact that Chris and I constantly think she is smothering the poor thing! She has also just found her voice in the past week. She had been almost silent outside of crying and a few coos here and there, but not anymore! You can hear her testing out her vocal chords and gurgling and blowing bubbles and making raspberries. It's all very cute unless it is at 4:30am, which seems to be her new time for waking up. Usually she's happy and might go back to sleep on her own, but when it's almost 5am and my alarm is going off by 6, it's not worth my time to try to go back to sleep (that's why I've been at work since before 7am this morning!). Sleep is definitely not consistent at all yet. She IS getting through the core of the night from about 9-4 or 9-5, so I can't complain too much, but according to the pediatrician she should be able to go for a solid 10-12 hours at this point. I'm pretty sure Meredith was sleeping longer at this point, but I shouldn't compare :) (M was getting a lot of formula by now though...)

We also talked to the doctor about starting cereal soon. We can wait all the way til 6 months if we want to, but I think we'll start a little sooner than that. I'm not in a huge hurry though. No rolling over yet either, which is totally fine with me and as the Dr said, 'bigger babies usually take longer to roll over'...I love my sweet, pudgy, adorable, kissable baby just the way she is :)

4 months

We have made it to 4 months! Miss Caroline continues to develop her little personality, but she seems to still be on the quiet side. She is starting to blow bubbles, giggle and make a few sounds, but outside of crying, she is really just a sweet girl taking in the world around her. She seems to be sleeping better, but still gets up in the middle of the night quite often. Meredith also seems to get up and come to our bed in the middle of the night as well. So, our house seems to be musical beds at 4am! I'm hopeful that she is close to sleeping consistently through the night, but who knows! She still dislikes her carseat, a lot. Her napping pattern seems to be a lot better these days. I am also still exclusively breastfeeding, so no formula yet! I know the day will come, but I'm proud to have such a beautiful healthy girl fully on mommy's milk :)
Chris has been home with the girls for about a month now and they are doing well. I think he's figured out that it is a lot harder with two than one, but he is managing well. Meredith is in a gymnastics camp this week and she really loves it. She gives me a show every night when I get home and she seems to be getting a lot of good exercise, which makes me happy. I also think it's been good to get her out of the house and away from the tv since she has become an infomercial addict- it cracks me up because she knows that if you buy one, they'll throw one in for free or whatever the tag line is about organizing your cabinets or that the knife can cut through metal and still cut a tomato! She also informs me on a regular basis that I need whatever skin cream is being advertised- I try not to take it personally :)
It's hard to believe it's already July! It's also hard to believe that almost exactly one year ago I was quickly figuring out that I was most likely pregnant :) We were at Myrtle Beach when I was putting two and two together. Now a year later, I have a beautiful baby girl and I feel so happy about my wonderful family and knowing that we are complete. I didn't know this sweet baby's sweet face a year ago, but loved her the moment I found out she would be coming :)

Sisters

15 weeks!

Well, I have been back to work for 3 full weeks now and it has totally flown by. The first few days were nice bc I could just claim ignorance since I had been gone so long, but by now I am full fledged back in the trenches. It has been kinda nice to get back into the groove though.

Caroline slept through the night for about a week before I went back to work and I was so relieved since I kinda need sleep to function. Well, she hasn't done that since I went back to work (ok, maybe once or twice total). She generally wakes up between 3:30-4:30, I feed her and change her and she usually goes back to sleep without any issues. Total time is about 20-30 minutes, so it isn't too terrible, but I do long for the days of staying in bed all night.

The few nights Caroline did sleep well coincided with the same nights that Meredith has gotten up- it's like they are in cahoots! Meredith was up those nights because poor thing was dealing with a UTI and she wanted me to come to the bathroom with her every time she went bc it hurt :( We were at urgent care the morning of her dance recital. She did a fabulous job, but since her little bunny dance was the very first dance of the show, we opted to leave at intermission. She is much better now after a round of antibiotics :)

In the past two weeks, Caroline has turned into the smiliest, sweetest little baby! She doesn't eat all the time anymore and just hangs out and is so pleasant! Besides the night time sleeping, she has become the perfect baby! She obviously has her issues sometimes, but it doesn't seem to last too long.

Chris has been home with both girls since I went back to work and he is doing well. He has fully admitted that it is really hard work and even said he may be ready to go back to work early :) He has ventured out with both girls a few times- once was to a golf store that he loves. He described the scene for me which I think is just hilarious- Meredith was wearing a pink sundress and a pink Easter hat that was way too small and she was hitting golf balls on the little putting green in the store while Chris sat on a bench and fed Caroline a bottle! Such a picture!

Speaking of bottles- Caroline hasn't turned back on the bottle. She happily takes them while I'm at work and she even took a Dr. Brown's bottle yesterday, which is what we had for Meredith. So it seems that after the initial hurdle, she is doing just fine.

Caroline is also chewing on her hands constantly and drooling like crazy. She hasn't rolled over yet, but keeps pushing up on her feet, but can't get her other arm over yet. I don't think it will be too long before she can really roll over though.

Back to work

Well, Caroline is 12 weeks old, which meant it was back to work for Mommy. It was a Friday, so it was just enough time to get caught up on some emails and chat with folks about things I missed. It really wasn't bad at all. Mom kept the girls today and I was still a bit concerned about Caroline and her total dislike of a bottle, but amazingly, she took the bottle like a champ today for Mom! She must have the magic touch! (Meredith even helped with the bottle, which is something she has been begging to do for awhile, so she was pretty happy too!) So, today was a huge milestone and I'll feel so much more better about leaving her during the day. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better first day back! Next week may be a different story, but it's time!

I think I can officially say that Caroline is sleeping through the night now, since it has been a week of solid sleep. There were a few mornings where she was up at 5am, but that still counts in my mind! She's been sleeping for 8-9 hours a night, which means I am getting pretty good sleep too- although, I still seem to wake up around 4am and have a hard time getting back to sleep. I'm sure that will fix itself over time, especially now that I'll be working again. Last week seemed to be a pretty big week for her. She seems to be much more able to just hang out for longer periods of time without getting upset and she is also able to go longer stretches between feedings. She definitely still has her moments of being pretty hysterical, but it seems to have a lot to do with her car seat. It has been incredibly hot this week and I think she just gets really hot in her seat in the car. She is loving her hands and sucks on them all the time. She seems to try to suck her thumb a bit, but it's nothing consistent. She smiles a whole lot more these days- just in time for me to miss them while I'm at work :(

10.5 Weeks

This past Sunday, May 22nd, was Caroline's baptism day! It went really well overall. She slept quite well Saturday night and we got to church right on time. Caroline slept for the first part of the service and then was wide awake during the actual baptism. She made a few good cries, but did pretty well! She has 4 wonderful godmothers- Elizabeth, Hillary, Allison and Kaci. After church we headed over to Mom's for a wonderful brunch spread. I think Caroline was totally worn out that night because she slept for 7 hours! Unfortunately, the following two nights have been far less.

What else has been going on? She has found her hands! She has been really chewing on them and almost finding her fingers for about the past week- Will we have a thumb sucker afterall? We shall see! Her movements are becoming far less jerky and she is moving her arms and legs like crazy! She is also growing so much! She is already into her 3-6 month clothing and that doesn't seem like it's going to last too long.

Big weekend!

Elizabeth will be here tomorrow to meet Miss Caroline, yay! Caroline is also being baptized on Sunday, so we have a big weekend ahead of us!
Caroline went back to sleeping for almost 6 hrs last night after about 3 nights of only 4-5 hours. Maybe it was a growth spurt (how much more can she grow?!?). So, I hope it sticks this time, especially knowing that we will be having a house guest for a few days! Elizabeth will be staying with us and then Saturday night we will likely have Judy, Kaci & Evan too! Full house!
We have also had a rude awakening this week about kindergarten for Meredith. Unfortunately, after months of waiting on our financial aid package, we found out that we will not be getting any funding since they offered us the same rate they offer to parishioners (Poorly handled in general- he had to hunt someone down to finally get an answer after we heard through the grapevine that the award letters had already gone out). It basically boils down to the fact that we aren't Catholic, nothing to do with our actual finances (which proves we should be eligible as compared to the families that has 3 kids there and a beach house and drive luxury cars, yes, apparently that is who gets 'financial aid'). It is just really disheartening that Chris' almost 12 years of service there have been ignored. We are thoroughly frustrated and saddened by this turn of events, mostly because Meredith has been so excited about 'going to Daddy's school'. He has appealed to his principal (aka begging) and we hope there is a change of heart. In theory, my recent sale of Biogen stock could cover the majority of the tuition, but we really wanted to actually have some savings- imagine that! Plus, we have to consider the fact that we will have additional daycare expense in a few months. So, we have some big decisions to make very soon. Our public school will be just fine I'm sure, but I think we will have one disappointed girl on our hands (mommy & daddy too!!).
By the way, I'm down to about 2 weeks before I go back to work :( Eeek!

Jinx

I think my last post jinxed me for last night. Back to 4 hrs of sleep...

Sleep Success?!?!

So, for the past 3 nights, Caroline has slept for around 6 hrs! Since it has been more than one or two nights, I'm thinking this could be for real! It's generally 10pm-4am and then she eats and goes back down for another 2 hours or so. If she can just get even one more hour in there before I go back to work, I think I will feel relatively human! 3 weeks from today I'm back to the grind :(

2 month checkup

Today was Caroline's 2 month checkup. She was being so sweet all morning, even slept a whole 6 hours last night!!! I felt bad because she had no idea what was coming- 3 shots! Meredith really wanted to go with her so she could comfort her after her shots :) I kinda think she was just excited that she wasn't the one getting the shots! So, I decided to keep Meredith home today and have her tag along.
The stats:
Weight: 13 lbs 12.5 oz- 97th percentile (Meredith was 13 lbs 2.5oz)
Length: 23.25"- 80th percentile (Meredith was 23")
Head: 40cm- 75th percentile
She really cried when she got her shots. Red face silent cry until she let loose! Poor baby, I even shed a few tears. Meredith wasn't quite as brave as she thought she'd be when it came time for the shots. She had wanted to hold Caroline's hand, but opted for sitting in the chair a safe distance away instead.
Caroline has been sleeping ever since we got home. Hope she doesn't end up with a fever. The things we do for healthy kiddos! At least I know she will never remember it!

My girls

8.5 weeks

So, what big things has Caroline been up to this week? She has started giving me hopes of sleeping better. She actually had 2 nights in a row of 5-6 hrs of sleep! Of course, on the 6 hr night, Meredith came in and woke me up an hour before Caroline woke up! I was a little bummed and her reasoning was that she wanted her music on at 3:30am! Let's say that last night I came kinda close to threatening her about waking me up for her music! Although, Caroline dropped back to 4 hrs last night, so it wouldn't have mattered much!

She continues to refuse any sort of pacifier. I mean to tell you that I have bought at least 5 types plus the one from the hospital and there is only one that she even remotely seems to be able to keep in her mouth and that's only by holding it in there! Basically the same is true for bottles. She pretty much hates bottles. We have tried at least 3 kinds and have struggles with each one. The Playtex bottles with the drop in liner thing seems to be the front runner right now. She also seems to take formula better than my milk from a bottle. Guess she really just wants it from the source! We are down to just a few weeks for her to figure this one out!!

She is still kicking away and even acting like she wants to roll over! She's got a ways to go, but she is actively trying to get those legs over like she wants to roll. Oh boy!

She still has some pretty rough times with crying, but it seems to be getting less and less and her awake time is more active and semi-happy. I'd say we are making major progress and hope she settles into a more predictable sleep pattern sometime soon!

Mother's Day was this past weekend. Chris had given me a beautiful pendant with both the girl's names on it a few weeks ago. Meredith made me the little teapot in the picture. It was so cute to get a gift she had made at school...love it! He made breakfast and we went to church and then over to Allison's for brunch...yummy shrimp and grits! We were both too tired to cook that evening, so I think I ate a hotdog or something. I did get a kid-free trip to Target for about an hour, which was lovely. Of course, I only bought things for the kids while I was there :) So, my first Mother's day as a mother of two was pretty quiet, but I am so thankful for being blessed with two healthy, beautiful girls!

7.5 weeks & Easter

Well, here we are, 7.5 weeks. I'd like to say that a lot has changed since my last post, but sadly, not so. Caroline took a step backward around week 6 and only slept for 2-3 hours at a time for several days. She has had a few nights of 4ish hours of sleep, but mostly it's betwee 3-4 hrs. I think I have really just gotten used to it, but I'm feeling especially tired today.

She has started giving us a lot more smiles and almost laughs during her awake time, all of which is gladly taken! It never lasts for more than a few minutes, but I'll take it! She has also found her arms and legs and just kicks and punches all the time. She still has her hands clenched into a little fist most of the time, but she's starting to loosen up a bit.

She doesn't seem to be eating all the time anymore, but there is little that soothes her when she is upset other than nursing. She won't take a pacifier, well let me clarify that if you hold it in her mouth, she somewhat tolerates it and stops the crying momentarily in a pinch. She just can't keep it in her mouth and pushes it out with her tongue every time. She still doesn't much like the bottle either, which is going to have to change in less than a month when I go back to work.

She has been to church twice now and managed to sleep through the service both times. Her baptism is scheduled for May 22nd while Elizabeth is in town. Hope Caroline behaves!!

I know she has grown a lot. I put her in s 3-6 month outfit yesterday and it fit perfectly! Her 2 month checkup is on the 11th and I'm fully expecting that she gained a few more pounds. She also gets several vaccinations, so I'm not looking forward to that part.

Easter:

At the last minute, Chris decided that it would be a nice idea to spend the Easter weekend down at Myrtle beach. Thanks to Chris' mom, we were able to stay at a time share condo and ended up having a great time. I was quite apprehensive about taking a 6 week old out of town, but she slept the whole way there and back! The first night didn't go well, mostly because Caroline is such a loud sleeper (grunting and groaning and sighing and crying) and having her in the room with us didn't allow for much sleep. So, I decided that her crib would fit in the adjoining bathroom! The next two nights went much better and she didn't know the difference!! We spent one good day on the beach and she napped in her crib under the tent and I was able to soak up a little sun. Meredith had a blast and made all sorts of friends on the beach. In the end, I was glad that Chris nudged me into going. It was really nice to get out of the house for a few days and see the ocean :) (We were also able to Skype with Hillary and Joey and 'show' them the beach too!).

Part of why Chris wanted me to be able to go to the beach was because he spent most of the next week back in Myrtle beach for a golf tournament. It was my first time solo with both girls for more than a few hours and overall it went well. Meredith stayed with mom one night and I had lots of visitors and tried to keep busy, but I was really ready for him to get back by Sunday.

Well, that's enough for now. Hopefully by my next post, I'll be a bit more well rested. Fingers crossed!

5 weeks!

Well, Miss Caroline is 5 weeks old today! In some ways it seems like it's taken forever and other ways it seems like it's been a flash! So, what is our 5 week old up to? She still cries a good bit, mostly in the evenings when Chris and Meredith are home. She's pretty good during the days with me and we even seem to have a bit of a nap schedule figured out. So, I feel kinda bad that while Chris and Meredith are home tends to be her fussy time. Although, that seems to be improving slightly. She still won't really take a pacifier either, so tends to just nurse a lot for soothing, but I think that is getting a little better too. She is a pooping machine! I forgot how a new clean diaper must help a baby poop! Let's just say that her insides work well! We've gone through a ton of diapers...used a few newborn size, but basically went straight to size 1. She also seems to be pretty sensitive about having a dirty diaper on and tends to holler until she gets a new one. Meredith also thinks that is the cure-all for when she's crying...'Mommy, just change her diaper!' She has a love hate relationship with her carseat...mostly hate. We still have been keeping up our routine of going to pick Meredith up after Chris gets home and trying to run some errands. She usually cries quite a bit and then passes out and sleeps for awhile. Chris has discovered that she likes to be carried in her carseat instead of being pushed in the cart or stroller. So, he carries her around the store and it generally helps. He'll have great arms soon! We even had our first meal out at a restaurant (she slept the whole time!) this week at Fat Daddy's. It's just nice to pretend to be normal people again! We're still far from normal, but we're seeing sings of normalcy! She's been sleeping in her crib for almost 2 weeks now. It was a bit of a battle since she really hated sleeping on her back, but we got a sleep positioner and an inclined wedge for her bed and after the first night, things got better. She is sleeping a little over 4 hours some nights, which is fabulous for me! Overall, her nights are pretty predictable now, so even if it isn't much sleep, I generally know what to expect. I still long for the night that I can sleep more, but right now it really isn't too bad. I'm getting good at it :) Ok, little girl is waking up from her nap, so I'll post this for now and try to add more later. Happy 5 weeks Caroline!

Life as a family of 4

There's no doubt about it, life with a newborn is hard. If it wasn't for the whole sleep thing, it wouldn't be so bad, but the lack of sleep makes eveything tough. We are now into our 4th week and seem to be finding a little bit of a routine developing, but it's still really loose.

Caroline definitely tends to have fussy evenings, right around dinner and on into the night. She is happy as long as she is nursing, but I tend to feel like a pacifier and I know I may be promoting a bad habit for her, but it's the only thing that keeps her from crying! The whole nursing thing has gone better for sure so far with Caroline than with Meredith, but it's still hard. It's good to feel needed, but it also makes me feel a bit trapped too! She has had 2 bottles from daddy and did ok with them, but everything else has come right from the source!

She also refuses to take a pacifier, just pushes it right out with her tongue. Maybe she'll grow into liking one, but not sure. It's a little frustrating considering she really needs soothing a lot and I think the pacifier will help so that I'm not nursing her constantly. She's sleeping about 3 hrs max at night right now and sometimes goes back down pretty well after eating, but other nights she's up for 2 hrs before she'll go back down. Makes for a long night for me!

I will say that the nursing has helped me drop the pounds already. I only gained a little over 20 lbs during my pregnancy and considering Caroline was almost 9 lbs, there wasn't a whole lot left after that. By one week post delivery, I was already into pre-pregnancy jeans and I've lost another good 10+ lbs since then! I'll need to be really careful with what I eat since I'm sure I can't keep up this pace, but it is a good feeling since I really needed to drop weight before I even got pregnant! One silver lining to nursing 24/7!

Meredith is great. She adores her sister and wants to hold her all the time. Caroline has even given her a few grins here and there. We are still sending her to school every day, which I think is good for her and me! I haven't seen any evidence of jealousy at all. She has gotten a little frustrated with her crying in the car, but nothing too much. She is just such a sweet girl and I have to say I kinda miss spending time with her like I used to be able to, but she seems to be taking everything in stride. She also sleeps like a rock, so hasn't heard any of the nighttime crying!

So, we are slowly adjusting and are hopeful for the weeks to come to see our Caroline grow and develop! Hard to believe that my maternity leave is already 1/3 over! Yikes!

Caroline Elizabeth is here!!

March 11th was the day! We got the call around 6:15am to head into the hospital. Allison came over to get Meredith ready for school and Chris and I headed out. We stopped for a bagel on the way since I knew I wouldn't be eating for a long time and ended up getting to Rex around 7:30.

Of course, as soon as we got there we were told that two women had come in since they called and were in active labor (darn them! ha!), so we'd have to wait a bit for our room. We chatted with another couple who were in the same boat and within about 30 mins, we were called back to our room. They started my IV (ouch!! I know a little ol iv seems odd to be so painful considering the whole childbirth thing, but it really hurt a lot!!) and by about 9:15am they had started the pitocin and the waiting game began. UNC was playing in the ACC tournament that day at noon, so we kept joking with the doctors and nurses about how we hoped the baby would come before noon or wait until about 2:00 after the game (Ha, if it had only been so quick!).

So, the game came and went and we had very little progress. Chris was really good about trying to stay calm because it was a really close game! I tried to use the labor ball for a little while to see if I could help get things moving, but it didn't help and all of my monitors kept screwing up while I was on it, so back to the bed. I was definitely getting more and more uncomfortable as the contractions finally started to come. They broke my water around 3pm and then I finally decided to get the epidural since it was clearly going to be awhile and I might as well be comfortable. This time, the epidural was a totally different experience and I was much happier. My legs didn't feel like such dead weight and the whole procedure went much more smoothly, so I was happy. Around 5pm, Chris went out to the little kitchen area to get me some ice or something and he ran into the couple that we had checked in with that morning and they were on their way to recovery with their new baby...he came back and told me this and it made me really sad since I was maybe at 3 cm by this time! So, feeling quite discouraged, we continued to wait and wait. Around 7pm I told Chris that he needed to go get some dinner and while he was gone, the nurse came in and determined I had made major progress and things were finally moving along. So, around 10pm we started prepping for delivery and the nurse had me do one 'practice' push and with that she decided to call the doctor immediately since this baby was coming quickly. So, Dr. Groff came in and I pushed for two more contractions and Caroline Elizabeth came into this world at 10:53pm, 8lbs 14 oz, 21"! I was thouroughly amazed at how easy the actual delivery was, but I've been saying I deserved that since it took me 13 hours to get to that point! It was still about 10 hours shorter than Meredith's birth though! I was able to hold Caroline immediately following her delivery, all mucked up and all! I wasn't able to do that last time since there were a few concerns about Meredith and they whisked her over to be checked over. We got to our recovery room around 1am and I finally could have some food. That was the best ham and cheese sandwich I have ever had!! I was so hungry!

Our stay in the hospital was pretty uneventful and we did use the nursery when we could to get more sleep. We came home on Sunday and life with a newborn has set in. Chris' mom stayed with us for the first week, which was incredibly helpful and Meredith has been a wonderful big sister! I have been having some serious emotions over her no longer being my only child...the guilt of having to share my time and attention, especially with a needy newborn, but she has been really amazing and I'm so thankful for that.

Caroline has been pretty good so far. She doesn't like to sleep for very long and sleeping on her back has been a big challenge too, but she is nursing well and all the time! She has not taken a pacifier yet, which is ok in some ways, but I feel like she's just using me instead! The hardest part is just the lack of sleep in general. She is already 3 weeks old and she has certainly changed already. She was back up to her birthweight by the time she was 10 days old, and I can definitely tell that she has grown quite a bit.

So, life in the Elliott household has been a little nuts lately, but we are adjusting to life as a family of four and we love our new little girl so much! It's already hard to remember life before her :) Hopefully this post isn't too long and drawn out. I've been wanting to get the story of her birth documented and it's taken me awhile. She is actually sleeping in her crib for the first time right now, so I've had some time to think even though the ol brain is pretty tired!

March 11th is the day!

Well, my Doctor's appointment today brought some big news...looks like we'll meet our baby girl on Friday, March 11th! The ultrasound estimated her to be at 9.5 lbs now and they really just don't want her to get much bigger. They gave me the option of a c-section, but I really don't want to go there unless I really need to. So, this will definitely be another pitocin baby! I'm praying that it goes much faster this time around, but I'll do whatever I have to do to get this baby girl here!!
I was really expecting to have another weekend and go in on Monday, but guess that isn't an option. I'm on my second load of baby clothes in the washer right now and I suppose I should pack a bag for the hospital...there is still SO much to do! The nursery is a disaster and the guest room is the 'junk room' as Meredith calls it since we have shoved everything in there while we get the other two rooms situated. Oh yeah, and we should decide on her name!
Meredith and I had a girl's night out at Red Robin while Chris saw a movie with his boys. Tomorrow night will be the real throw down night to get as much done as possible!

My big girl

Today we went to Rex Hospital for the Big Sister class they offer. It wasn't anything too spectacular, but Meredith really loved being able to take a tour of the 'hosipal'. She is old enough that she has a lot of questions and is just generally curious about the whole thing. She is also so sweet because she is concerned for me and wants to be sure I'm going to be ok...so sweet! They watched a cute video, toured the birth center, saw a newborn baby, got to hold a baby doll and practice changing a diaper. Meredith wasn't afraid at all and offered up a few really cute things for the group like, be sure to hold the baby very carefully and sing her a lullaby if she is sad. On another note, Chris was driving her home from school yesterday and he reminded her that she had this class today and she said she already knew about the hospital because she watches General Hospital with mommy! I think that is so hilarious bc I really haven't watched that show in forever, but she associates any 'doctor show' with General Hospital. Funny girl.

We also officially have her moved into her new room. It is still a work in progress, but she is at least sleeping in there and really seems to love it. We still have a long way to go on the nursery, but it will all come together I suppose...we've got about a week to get it done, eek!

The other big transition Meredith has made this week is that she is starting to take showers! It has become increasingly difficult for me to bend over the tub for obvious reasons, so we gave it a try this week and she really seemed to like it. I still make sure she's rinsed all the shampoo out of her hair and things like that, but it will really help me out if she can start doing that more independently!

I am now 38 weeks pregnant and feeling every bit of it. I am getting more uncomfortable by the day and there is so much that I want and need to get done, but I just can't make my body do it! I have another ultrasound on Tuesday, so we'll see how much this baby weighs by now!

SIck kiddo

Last night Meredith started complaining of a stomach ache. Sometimes she does this and I'm pretty sure it's just for attention and a children's Tums, but this one was persistent. She had a really active morning at a birthday party at Monkey Joe's, so I was hoping she was just tired and cranky. She voluntarily went to bed early on a Saturday night, which was my first clue she wasn't right. A few hours later came that dreaded sound of a vomiting child. And so it went every few hours until the poor baby was empty of everything. I suppose it is better to happen on a weekend since none of us got any sleep last night. Also better to happen now rather than a few weeks from now when we have a newborn in the house!
I was hoping she would be much better this morning, but she is definitely lethargic. Fortunately, no more vomiting, but she's not herself at all. I also think I have a bit of the bug myself. I just got over a nasty cold (still lingering a bit) and now for a round of stomach yuckiness. My week is way too busy for this! So, Meredith and I are having a low key Sunday on the couch while Chris is busily getting Meredith's new room finished up.

8+ lbs Already!

It's really hard to believe that I'm 36 weeks pregnant and in the home stretch! It has been pretty weird that tons of people at work have only just realized I'm pregnant at all. I know I'm not huge, but come on folks, I'm 8 months pregnant and you think I'm just now showing? Although, I have also been told that I have the pregnancy waddle going on too!

I had another ultrasound today and found out that this baby is already measuring over 8lbs! (Meredith was 8lbs 5 oz at 1.5 weeks overdue) Of course, it can be off a little bit, but they feel pretty sure that this is going to be a big baby! Considering I have about 3 weeks left, I'd say they are right! They looked at the femur measurement and it is right on track, if it had been long, they would deduce that she would be long and skinny, but not this girl. The belly is what is telling them that she is going to be normal length, but chunky. Guess I don't make little babies!

I've also been dealing with a nasty cold for the past several days. I really want to get over this since I know what is just around the corner. The thought of going through labor while feeling like this is just a terrible thought. I got some antibiotics today, so hope it helps quickly!

5 yr stats

Meredith had her 5 yr well visit today (despite the fact she had a little cold). She was a real champ and went right in with no fear at all, unlike last year when we had to literally drag her in and bribe her with every toy in the store. She has great vision and hearing and is 46.5" (97th percentile) and 57 lbs (97th percentile). The doctor did make me a little nervous about her weight. She's obviously well proportioned, but doesn't want it to get out of control. So, we will be more careful with what she eats and is a good lesson for all of us. She also had her finger pricked to check her iron and was amazing and so brave! She did get a bit nervous about her shots and we had to wait for awhile after seeing the doctor, but she still was awesome about all three shots. She got teary eyed, but was so strong and brave :) The only thing we didn't get done was to get a urine sample bc she had just gone when I picked her up at school. So, I'll have to bring a sample by another time. All in all, I'm so proud of my super brave girl!!

My big girl!

Meredith got her first major haircut last week (she's had two trims in the past) and absolutely loved it! I had an appointment scheduled, so made one for her at the same time. She sat really well while I got mine cut and then it was her turn. She kept saying she wanted it short, so we settled on just below her shoulders. She didn't even flinch when the girl cut off a 9" ponytail (we're donating it)! She just grinned and grinned and looked at me and said, 'Mommy, I look like a grown up!' She really does look a lot more mature and it almost makes me sad. I guess there is no denying that she is growing up since her 5th birthday is less than a week away. I even went and toured Chris' school today to do the whole parent thing to see if we want to send her there for Kindergarten. Knowing that my baby is old enough to be going to Kindergarten in the fall is a hard pill to swallow. It seems like I've wanted this for so long, but now that it's here I wish I could back peddle a bit!

Here are a few pictures from her haircut:

Beautiful baby!

Last Friday I had an extra ultrasound and we managed to get some great views of our baby girl's face! In past ultrasounds you couldn't see much of anything because of her placement, but now she has moved head down and she couldn't hide any longer! We just got print outs, so no digital images, but maybe I can try to scan them and post later. We could see her scrunched up nose and lips and her round full cheeks that look just like Meredith! Yes, it appears this baby will look just like her daddy too :) She measured at approx 4 lbs, 12 oz, which places her in the 66th percentile and one week ahead. Everything looked great, so I can't complain! The only hard part was that Chris barely made it, but the ultrasound tech was really sweet and kinda took her time and wrote up her report so we could wait for him to get there. He finally made it and we were happy to get some of the best pictures after her showed up. Guess the girl was waiting on her daddy to perform :)
I'm 33 weeks tomorrow! We're down to 6-7 weeks! WOW!

Good Wheels

We have gradually been cleaning closets, the attic, drawers, going through bins and bins of clothes etc in preparation for our impending arrival. We've only recently gotten really serious about it though and it has entailed multiple trips to Goodwill to drop things off. It's amazing how much of a packrat I used to be...my wonderful husband who moved like 8 times before he graduated high school has taught me the beauty of getting rid of stuff and boy does it feel good! Chris and I both had the day off yesterday for the MLK holiday and we really dug into the attic to a) start getting baby stuff down and b) to purge and make some room in the attic in general. So, we ended up with a massive pile in a short period of time and Chris was packing up the car to drive up to Goodwill and Meredith kept saying something and we realized she was calling Goodwill, 'Good Wheels'. At first I thought it was just a major southern accent, but no, she has renamed it Good Wheels :)