Two months old!

Hi, peeps, I'm two months old!

I started smiling and cooing this month- it's pretty cute!

I've got skills- I can hold my head up really well, and even prop myself up on my arms when I do my tummy time. 

I even started ROLLING OVER from my tummy to my back. At first my Mommy thought this was a fluke when I did it the first time, but it wasn't, and I've keep rolling! My big sister, Lucy, thinks it's fun to roll next to me on the floor. 

Here's the obligatory monkey picture my Mommy makes me take.

My big sister loves me a lot. She likes to hold me, likes to come up to me and say, "Hi, sister! How are youuuu?" in a high voice. She still can't (or chooses not to!) say my name right and calls me "Amy." But Mommy has tricked her and has started calling me Annie Bear, and Lucy will now call me Annie Bear as well.

My Mommy loves that I wake up once a night, most nights! I usually go to sleep for the night around 9:00 pm, then wake up around 2:00 am and go right back to sleep after I eat, then wake up for the day around 6:30 am. 

I take lots of cat naps through out the day- one or two of them lasts an hour or more, but most are 30-45 minutes.

I sleep really well in the car seat as well as in Mommy's Beco carrier. 

I typically sleep in the Fisher Price bassinet and seem to really like it.

Here I am with my Mommy and big sister, Lucy. 

I still have my blue eyes! It's one of my Mommy's favorite things about me!

I'm also usually pretty happy, except when I'm hungry or tired. Prevacid is kind-of working for my reflux- I'm not screaming like I used to after feeds. 

When I went for my 2 month appointment today, I weighed 11 pounds, 8 ounces (50th percentile) and was 22.5 inches (50th percentile) and my head circumference was also in the 50th percentile.

I am currently wearing size 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. 

I love my paci when I'm upset or tired, and I fall asleep best when Mommy rocks me in the glider. 

I'm pretty sweet-spirited! 

Trying to get caught up

Warning- lots of pics because I'm trying my best to get caught up in the blogging world since my crazy Photostream has now decided to work again. :) 

Life with two- well, most days it goes pretty well. We do have our moments, though. 

Lucy has been so sweet with Annie- loves to come up to her and say in this high-pitched sweet voice, "Hi, sister, how are youuuu?" She also either can't say correctly or is choosing not to say Annie's name correctly and still calls her Amy. For this reason, I too, occasionally call her Amy. 

But we're working on it. 

There's been more movies, Veggie Tales and PBS Kids shows watched than I'd like, but some days, it's survival mode, and Mommy needs her shower to feel like a human. 

I find myself praying more and more for patience, wisdom and a "happy heart" as the days can be hard and long. We all look forward to Daddy coming home in the evenings- Lucy gets a break, gets to play outside, go on walks, etc- things that are hard to do with a new born. And Mommy gets a break as well. :)

I find that as long as I can get all of us out once a day to run an errand or go on a play date or something, things run smoother. This can be challenging, to get everyone out the door, but I am finding it's completely worth it. 

Over all, though, I think we've transitioned well from one to two kiddos. I go to bed bone-tired, but if everyone is still alive, has clothes on, has been fed and bathed, and most importantly, loved....it's been a successful day in my book. :)

Lucy holding "Amy"

Finally getting a pic with GG!

Some days, I feel like this too. 

Little concert pianist in-the-making

Getting kisses from big sister

blowing bubbles outside while Annie was napping

sometimes licking the peanut butter off the cracker is just
the best way to eat PB and crackers

sistahs!

watching the rain in her new rain jacket
(and also playing in said rain)

Mommy needs this quite a bit more these days

How can you not love this sweet face?!

DATE NIGHT!!! First date night post-baby, thanks to Liz and Billy for babysitting for us!!

playing with her new ride that Oma and PapPap got her! So fun!

Mother's Day 2013

I love that one of my names is "Mommy."

This Mother's Day I was so thankful to have both girls to celebrate with!

Lucy's school had Muffins with Mommy the Friday before Mother's Day. You would have thought Lucy had won the lottery with the smile she had on her face while I sat next to her at her little table and ate breakfast. It was so, so sweet! She made me a precious hand-print heart and her teachers made these paper flowers made from her traced-hand cut-outs.

During Mother's Day weekend, both Mike and I got bitten by the GI bug, in one form or fashion (thanks to Lucy, who had a mild form of it earlier in the week), so I spent most of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning feeling ill (which is not fun when you are nursing, much less, when your infant is going through her  6 week growth spurt, and you're feeding her every 1-2 hours. Just saying). 

Thank goodness for some extra Zofran I had left over from the first trimester. :) 

By Sunday afternoon, I was feeling well enough to go to my parents' house, where we had dinner together and celebrated Mother's Day as well as Liz's birthday.

Here's the best pic I could get of me and my girls on Mother's Day. 

Love, love my sweet girls!!

One month old!

Little Miss Annie is one month old! (Well, she was on May 2nd- I'm a little behind on posting because a) I haven't had time and b) I've had major issues with not getting my phone pics to upload on Photostream). 

Anyway, Annie has been SO much easier than her older sister so far (at least on most days). I don't know if it's because she's the second, so I kind of know what's going on/what to expect, or because she's just an easier baby.

At her one month appointment (which she was actually almost 6 weeks when we went), she was 10 pounds, 8 ounces (67th percentile) and 21 inches long (50th percentile), and head circumference was 50th percentile. 

That's a whole two pounds and two inches of growth from when she was born! 

As Dr. Randles said, those percentiles are numbers big sister Lucy has never seen!

Maybe that's why Annie is a better sleeper. :) 

For the most part, Annie will wake up about once a night (usually going 4-6 hours between feeds). She's down for the night around 9:30 pm, wakes about 2:30-3:00 am, then up again for the day around 7:00 am.

We're on the eat- play- sleep cycle, where she usually goes down for a nap 1.5 hours after eating, sleeping for about 1-2 hours. 

She likes her paci when she's upset or tired and sleeps in her bassinet (thanks, Treadaways!). We've tried the crib a couple of times, but she didn't like it that much. She will sleep in the pack and play, usually. 

We started having "bewitching hours" around 3-4 weeks, where she'd be fussy, but consolable, in the evenings. Then the crying episodes started to happen after feeds during the day as well, and she also started to have this dry cough after feeds, as well as becoming rigid and screaming sometimes. I chalked the cough up to a lingering cold she got at 2 weeks old (the joys of having a 2 year old sister!). When we saw the pediatrician for her well-check, she thought it might actually be silent reflux, but told me to watch it for a couple more days before starting treatment.

So, I watched her over the weekend, and after watching her, agreed that it might be reflux (I honestly felt really dumb for not realizing it on my own! but it's a different story when it's not your patient, but your child). So, we started Zantac earlier this week. Haven't seen a whole lot of improvement yet (wanted to start on Prevacid, but insurance won't cover it until we tried Zantac- boo!). We might be switching meds next week, we'll see...

Not happy with reflux

When she's not fussy from reflux, she's usually pretty content. She's holding her head up when held, does pretty well with tummy time and is on the verge of smiling. She has BLUE eyes!! And I think they're here to stay! She loves bath time (and Mommy has mastered giving both girls a bath at the same time!). Lucy thinks it's so fun to have her sister in the bathtub at the same time. 

She's done a great job of taking a bottle (even from me!)- this means date nights can now happen! 

I've mastered the art of going grocery shopping with both girls- Lucy sits in the cart seat and Annie gets strapped to me in the Beco carrier (my favorite carrier!). Not going to lie, shopping takes a bit of effort, but I've really tried to continue life like normal as much as possible. I can usually do Target and Sprouts but then we've got to go home. I've also figured out the best way to put up the groceries is to keep both girls strapped in the car and give Lucy a snack to keep her occupied while I unload the car. Tricks of the trade, I tell ya. 

I'm enjoying my time at home with my girls. Lucy is still going to school twice a week and I really am thankful to be able to have two days a week to have just Annie, to be able to have some sweet, undivided time with her, to catch up on housework, nap, run errands, etc. Major blessing. 

Annie's Birthday!!

Warning- long, long post with lots of pictures. :)

So, the story of Annie's birth began about 2 weeks prior to my delivery date. I went to my 38 week appointment (technically it was 38 weeks, 6 days) and, of course, my blood pressure was elevated. I truly believe it was due to white coat syndrome (as it's typically high in the dr's office, but then usually comes down- but this time it didn't). 

So, my OB sent me down to labor and delivery triage, where they monitored my blood pressure, drew some labs (which were normal), and monitored the baby. Everything came back down to normal, but my OB didn't want me going back to work (the next day, Friday, was supposed to be my last day in clinic at work, the day I turned 39 weeks). While in triage, they did see that I was having contractions every 4-6 minutes (not super-painful, more like really strong Braxton-Hicks), and I'd been dilated 3 cm for the past 2 weeks. There was talk about inducing me that day or the following Monday, if my blood pressure didn't stay normal over the weekend....

So, home I went (actually, I went to church for a Foundation Group leaders' lunch!). During the lunch, I started to track the contractions again, because they were getting a little stronger, and were becoming 3-4 minutes apart.  

Mike and I headed back home from church, and I continued to track the contractions, then decided to take a nap and see if they persisted. One of the contractions woke me up about an hour later, so I continued tracking and they were still 3-4 minutes apart, but not super-painful. I called my OB and she said to come back to L&D, so back to the hospital we went!

I had the same nurse in triage that evening as I had earlier that morning! She hooked me back up to the monitors, checked me again, but I hadn't progressed (still 3 cm, baby was way high up). We decided to stay another two hours to see if I would make any more changes and then decide if we should induce vs. go home and wait it out. 

Two hours passed, and no change. We decided that we wanted to go ahead and induce, since we were already there, Lucy was taken care of, and the surgeon that was going to also do an umbilical hernia repair while I was still in the hospital was in town and pre-booked an OR for two days later (we had called her while on the way to the hospital, thinking I was going into labor). 

Well, come to find out, L&D got really busy during the two hours we waited and there was no room in the inn for an elective induction. So, home we went again, thinking that surely I'd be going into labor on my own in the next day or so.

And Mike and I promptly went to Matitios to have the Bob Armstrong dip. :) Then I took an Ambien that the doctor gave me and I slept really well that night. 

We kept Lucy at my parents' house for the next two days, and Mike wouldn't let me leave his side that Friday for fear of me quickly going into labor, so I joined him for a couple of meetings he had scheduled as well as tried to be as active as I could (climbed lots of stairs, walked a lot, etc).

This baby did not come for the next week and a half! 

Week 39 and 40 came and went, Easter came and went, and I saw my OB at 40 weeks, 4 days (a Monday). I had progressed to 4 cm, still having occasional bouts of regular contractions, but they would fade away. The decision was made to schedule an induction for the middle of the week (Wednesday), due to the baby not having much more room, and the surgeon rescheduled the hernia repair for the Thursday after I would deliver. 

Well, the next day, Tuesday, was my last day as a mom of one, and I wanted to be super-intentional with Lucy. So, we played inside, painted, colored, just had a fun morning at home. We played outside with our neighbors and I pulled the little girls in the red wagon up and down the driveway multiple times, hoping it might bring some labor on. :) 

We came inside from playing around noon, made Lucy some lunch, and put her down for her nap. Around that time, I noticed some contractions and was feeling uncomfortable. I thought to myself, if this is really going to go into true labor, I need to eat something because they're going to starve me in labor and delivery, so I made myself a quick lunch and started timing contractions again. They started about every 5-6 minutes, and then became stronger. At this point, I texted Mike that I was starting to count contractions. I called Mom, and asked her if she could come and watch Lucy if things progressed. In the 10 minutes or so that I'd been calling and texting Mike and Mom, the contractions were getting stronger and became every 3-5 minutes, so when Mike texted back, asking if he should wait at the office or come home, I texted back, "come home!" and called Mom and asked her to come. 

One last pic of the belly (40 weeks, 5 days)- taken in between contractions, while Mike was loading the car to go to the hospital.
We measured my belly a couple days before- it was 43 inches around!

My parents live 10 minutes away from us and Mike's commute is about the same, but in that 10-15 minutes, I started to get worried that we weren't going to make it to the hospital in time for me to get an epidural! These contractions were getting painful! This was how I remembered going into labor with Lucy! Very quick and very painful!

As soon as Mike showed up, he started loading the car. Mom showed up about 5 minutes later, and we left!

When we arrived at Presby, it was about 2:00 pm. I checked in the front desk and the front desk attendant called the charge nurse, telling her I looked like I was in pain and this was my second child (code for "she might deliver fast!"). Well, all the rooms in L&D were full (again!), so while we waited for one to get cleaned, I had to labor out in the waiting room, with three other women who were also in labor. I got moved up the wait list because my contractions were so close together. 

After about 10 minutes of waiting (it felt like longer!), they moved us into an observation room, because that's all they had open. I changed into a gown and waited for someone to come back and get my IV started, because I knew I had to have a bolus of IV fluids before an epidural, and I was still scared that I would be too late for an epidural. The contractions were every 2 minutes, lasting about a minute, and I was in so much pain- couldn't talk through them, was not breathing correctly and was feeling tingly from exhaling so much CO2. 

Let me just say here that anyone who has a natural delivery without any drugs is amazing in my book- there is no way I could do it!

Ok, so we're still waiting for someone to come in and get my IV in- I ask Mike to go out to the nurses' station and find someone to come and start my IV. A sweet nurse came, got me hooked up to the monitor, got my IV started (on one attempt!), checked me (I was 6 cm) and then we waited for an L&D room to get cleaned. 

Maybe 10-15 minutes passed, while I'm still having these terrible contractions, and another nurse comes in, says she will be our nurse and says our room is ready and she will wheel us down there- as I opened my eyes from the contraction that just finished, I see the nurse is the same nurse that I had a week and a half ago in triage- I was like, "Hi!" She goes, "I remember you! I'm surprised you hadn't had your baby yet!" 

And off we went to our L&D room.

About 10 minutes after getting in the room, the wonderful anesthesiologist comes in with his magic cart to put in my epidural. I was SO GLAD to see his face!! They gave me a little fentanyl to take the edge off the contractions and relax me while he was getting the epidural in- he was super-fast and got it in the first time, and it started to take effect and I felt GOOD. Praise the Lord for pain medication.

Feeling good after the epidural!

So, epidural is in, I'm feeling pretty good, at 6 cm dilated, baby is still up high. So, we wait it out. 

I played on my iPad, Mike read a book, I watched the news, he watched a movie...we chilled. 

The OB on-call came in to say hi.

Around 5:00 pm, we switched nurses because my original nurse, Amy, had another patient about to deliver. She was so awesome, and we had bonded over my previous two trips to L&D triage a week and a half ago, so I was sad to see her leave. But, our new nurse, April, was so sweet and wonderful! We chatted, found out we had girls about the same age, talked about parenting, etc... She checked me again, and I was 8 cm, with the baby moving down.

Around 6:45 pm, Dr. Woodbridge came in and checked me and said I was complete  (10 cm) and the baby had moved all the way down! My water still had not broken completely, although we thought the fluid was leaking, so she left the bag intact.

April came back in the room and we started pushing at around 7:15 pm. By 7:50pm, I was about ready to deliver. Because L&D was so packed, we had been put in a very old room, one that hadn't been re-done yet. When my nurse went to pull out the stirrups to push, we found that the right stirrup didn't work; some of the lights in the room weren't moving correctly, and some of the supplies were missing.....it was one of those days. :)

Last pic before we started pushing.

We made it all work eventually. The CRNA came in and gave me one last dose of meds via epidural, since it was wearing off a little. Dr. Woodbridge ended up breaking my water completely, and I pushed a couple more times (total pushing time was 40 minutes, as compared to 3 hours with Lucy!), and out came sweet Anne Grace at 8:01 pm!

She was 8 pounds, 7 ounces, 20.75" long. I could not believe how much she weighed! 

My initial thought when seeing her was, "Man, she looks like Lucy!" And, "how did she get blue eyes?!" (not the muddy blue eyes, but lighter blue eyes that I think will stay blue!)
They placed her on my belly and then she started to cry and pink up a little.
Mike cut the umbilical cord, then they cleaned her up a little and we were able to have some skin-to-skin bonding time for about 30-45 minutes. So sweet!!
Also, unlike her older sister, she took to nursing like a champ! So very thankful for that blessing!

Daddy cutting the cord.

Getting checked out

Proud Daddy!

Love my girl!

Anne Grace ("Annie")

Could not believe how big she was!

After we had our bonding time, our parents both came into our room and got to meet sweet Annie! 

The paparazzi taking pics

After about 2 hours in our delivery room, we were moved to the postpartum floor and got settled in for the night. The nursing staff was great in clustering our care, so that we had minimal interruptions at night and we also sent Annie to the nursery at night so that we could get some sleep. Well, Mike got some sleep. I could not sleep that first night- too much adrenaline pumping from delivery or something. 

The next two days, we basically hung out, laid low, enjoyed our (mostly) quiet room and had a few visitors. A lot of our family and friends were sick, so we didn't have a whole lot of visitors this time. (Thank you for sparing your germs!)

Hanging out in the hospital

 My parents brought Lucy up both days to meet Annie. Her first reaction to her was so sweet- she knew Annie was her sister and wanted to sit on my bed and point out all of Annie's body parts. We had gifts for them to give each other, which I think helped. Lucy was very gentle with Annie, but after about 10 minutes, she was done and wanted to see other things in the room (play with the gloves, sit on the couch, go for a walk down the hall, etc). She was totally freaked out by any person coming in the room or in the hallway dressed in scrubs. 

Sisters!

On Thursday afternoon, I was able to have the scheduled umbilical hernia repair (I got the hernia from my pregnancy with Lucy, but didn't realize I had it until I was pregnant with Annie). I think most of the nurses thought I was crazy for scheduling surgery two days after giving birth, but we felt that it would be the best option for us, to maximize the recovery time. I was sent home with basically c-section restrictions (no lifting anything over 10-12 pounds for two weeks), so we wanted to take advantage of having Mike and home and family around to help take care of Lucy while I couldn't lift.

The surgery went smoothly (I'd never had surgery before, so it was a first for me to be on the patient side of this). We opted to stay one more night, since the surgery was late in the day, and I was having some post-op pain. After some morphine, though, I was feeling much better. :) 

Due to hospital policy of the baby only staying two nights, Annie was discharged to us Thursday night, even though I was staying the night, so no more sleeping in the nursery for us. 

That last night was a little more sleepless for us both, not to mention I had to wear those leg compression devices to help prevent blood clots after surgery, so every time I had to get up and nurse, I had to call the nurse to come and take them off and put them back on after I was done- definitely not my favorite thing.

By Friday morning, I was ready to go home and get some rest. 

We were discharged Friday morning before lunch and headed home to start life as a family of four! 

All ready for the ride home! This is the same outfit Lucy wore home from the hospital!

Maternity and Family Pics

I know...finally an updated blog posting. I've been just a little busy nesting before our sweet baby girl arrives...

One of the girls in our foundation group that Mike and I have led over the past year offered to take maternity/family pics for us, as she is starting out with her photography "hobby." 

Um, she did an awesome job, and would consider this more than a hobby!!

Enjoy!!

This captures Lucy's personality so well! 

Yes, I know I'm huge....and this was at 35 weeks....

Yes, she is enjoying this...

Oh, be still my heart!! Love this!

This was one of the few where she wasn't flashing us while taking her picture....lessons on modesty will be next. 

The best family pic we could get- we were at the end of the session and only a sucker would appease...

Love this pic- it is such a true representation of life sometimes- stealing a kiss while  Lucy is whizzing by in the back...

Lucy LOVES to look at my belly and pat it, saying hi to her little sister. So sweet!

My sweet girl...