First Week

We're loving every moment. I want to bottle up every snuggle, every funny face, and every whiff of her sweet-smelling head so that I can revisit these moments for years to come. Since I don't have that ability, I'll do my best to describe some favorite moments on this here blog. No order. No rhyme or reason. Just a download of things I hope never to forget.

[And feel free to pass this post by if basic baby-related info is boring to you. I understand.]


Josh as a new dad.
Coming into parenthood, I have had the lion's share of baby-related experience. I've been relatively comfortable and confident around infants for years. Josh? Not so much. But he's jumped right into dad-hood and is eager to learn how to take care of his precious girl. I love watching the two of them together. Especially when she starts to root around and attempts to eat his arm.

Feeding her.
I'm incredibly blessed to be able to say that nursing this baby has gone really well. I didn't know what to expect going in, and have heard that this can be really difficult for some moms and babies. But with us, by the time she was a day old she was eating every 2-4 hours, and she hasn't slowed down since. It's such a special time for the two of us to snuggle up, skin to skin, every couple of hours. It gives me another excuse to just drink her in.

Sleep.
She's a pretty good little sleeper, praise the Lord! Hopefully she continues this way. While she does wake up every 3 hours or so in the middle of the night, she's usually happy to nurse and then go back to sleep. Every night she gets wrapped up in a velcro swaddle blanket (bless the person who designed those!) and it seems to keep her nice and content for a few hours in her crib.

Outings.
I'm not one for staying inside the house, and Caroline has been quite a few places in her first few days. Her first outing was to North Market, a old warehouse-turned foodie paradise downtown Columbus. It's her Daddy's favorite spot to grab a Belgian waffle. She's also been to Easton mall, Buy Buy Baby, Whole Foods, the doctor's office, and Old Navy. Those first couple of days the weather was unseasonably warm (some days at 65!) so we could take her outside without worrying she'll be too cold.

First Checkup.
We were pleased to find that she'd gained 2 oz since leaving the hospital. Way to go Caroline! Pack it on. As of Monday, she was at 7lb, 14oz. Nice and pink and bright eyed, too. Our very nice doctor answered all of our new parent questions and assured us that we have an extremely healthy girl on our hands. The only small bummer is that Caroline has a decent sized cephalohematoma on the back left part of her head. They're pretty common in infants; they sometimes develop as a consequence of birth. We're thankful that it's not at all dangerous or problematic for her, and will fade away on its own over the next couple of months. If that's the worst problem we have, we're doing well.

Diapers.
Rolling through them like a champ. Josh has been grossed out to find how baby poo can seep up her back AND all the way up her front to her belly button. At the same time. We're holding off on cloth diapers until after Christmas, since A) we're new at this, B) they'd be a little big on her, and C) we were given lots of disposables as gifts.


Visitors.
Oma and Opa were first to visit in the hospital, just a half hour after she was born. They stayed for a couple of days, went home, and then returned for a day to celebrate Thanksgiving. The second visit they brought Uncle Ben, Montoya, Aiyannah, and Aiydan as well. We all had much to be thankful for this year! Caroline has also enjoyed visits from friends and neighbors here in Columbus. We hope to introduce her to her other grandparents (who are unfortunately dealing with illness right now, and can't travel to see us) around Christmas.

Snuggles.
Our favorite moments with her are simple. They involve a sleeping baby and an adoring parent who gets to hold her. We love it when she sleeps all curled up in the crook of an arm, or else stretched out on one of our chests. We've watched a lot of football together this way in the last week - and it even makes us feel better about Michigan's awful season.

I get all sappy/teary-eyed just thinking about this past week with our treasure. I'll try and hold it together for future blog posts. But for now just chalk it up to post-pregnancy hormones coupled with a incredible sense of awe and thankfulness.

Wordless Wednesday: Lazy Morning

Caroline's Birth

As you know, I was overdue. And large. And a bit impatient. My induction was scheduled for Wednesday night, and I was so looking forward to it.

And then Wednesday morning rolled around. I was surprised to wake up to contractions. Contractions? Me? Could it be true? It was around 4am, so it actually took me the better part of an hour to realize what was actually going on. By that point I was wide awake and watched a few episodes of 30 Rock to pass the time. Eventually I crawled back into bed and told Josh I'd been having contractions for the last two hours, and that they were coming every ten minutes.

And then?

I fell back asleep and stayed that way until 8. Weird.

But they kept right on coming - regularly, but not super strong or long or painful. I told Josh I wanted to get out of the house and stay on my feet to keep things moving. No use walking in circles around the living room - too boring and not nearly distracting enough. So we took Riley out around the neighborhood. And then I convinced Josh that a shopping trip would be a nice way to pass the time. He thought I was crazy. But we went anyway.

Target was the first store to provide some much-needed distraction. We bought cleaning supplies, hospital snacks, and Christmas presents. And the contractions kept coming... and started to get closer and closer.

Josh: How long now?
Me: That one lasted 30 seconds.
Josh: Time between them?
Me: Um... 3 minutes.
Josh: 3 minutes? I don't mean to be dramatic here, but shouldn't we do something about that?
Me: They're not lasting for a full minute yet. We're still good.
Josh: [worried/annoyed/unbelieving look]

Then I told him I wanted to go out to lunch. You know, to pass more time. So we headed to Panera.

Worker: What would you like today?
Me (mid-contraction): Cheese broccoli soup [breathe breathe breathe] in a [breathe breathe] regular bowl with a baguette. And a [breathe breathe breathe] oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
Josh: [scowl]

It wasn't until we spent 20 minutes at Barnes & Noble that he finally convinced me to go home and pack up for our hospital trip. I just didn't want to go in too early and get sent home. That would have been depressing. But eventually I gave in, and by 3:30 we were getting checked in.

I was 4cm, 90% effaced.

YIPEE!!

By 6, my epidural was in place and I was blissfully unaware of any more contractions. I read. I watched TV, chatted with the nurse, and ate ice chips. I even took a couple of naps. It was wonderful. I know there are lots of opinions on this subject, but let me just say this:

EPIDURALS ARE AWESOME.

My parents showed up around 10 and kept us company during the labor progression. Every once in awhile I'd glance at the monitor and see contraction after contraction in the shape of regular bell curves. And I didn't feel a thing.

I woke up from nap #2 around 1 am, and was given the go-ahead to start pushing at 1:15. While not painful, they were still a lot of work! But well worth every moment. She was "sunny side up" so the doctor worked to flip her around, little bit by little bit. As she was emerging, we discovered that her umbilical cord was wrapped around her little neck twice. Thankfully they got her untangled quickly and the rest of her little body came right out. It was 2:30 am.

She was beautiful and healthy and pink and blessed with a great set of lungs. They put her right on my chest, and then quickly tucked her right into my hospital gown.

Love.

Her daddy go to hold her soon after that.

Love.

She's so beautiful, we whispered to each other. We marveled at her perfectly formed hands and soft, sweet cheeks. A line from a hymn soon came to mind:

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me
bless His holy name.

We know we've been blessed beyond measure. We're praising God for this little miracle.

Introducing...

Caroline Hannah
Born on Thursday, November 18 at 2:30 am
8 pounds even, 20 inches long

We're head over heels in love and on cloud nine.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I went in for my post-40 week check-up today.

And it appears, as it has for weeks, that Nugget is perfectly comfortable and happy staying put.

She still moves around. Her heart beats normally every time they check it. We're so thankful for those things. Praise Jesus she's made it to full term and that she continues to thrive in her warm little cocoon.

And yet she is not making any effort to join her loving parents in the outside world. As my mom would say, "little stinker."

However, we have a date. An induction date. Next Wednesday evening, if she hasn't already arrived, she'll be given a little kick in the pants in the form of Pitocin.

I'm not thrilled at the prospect of 6 more days of waaaaiiitting. I'm a big, fat (pun intended) impatient wimp. I also don't love the idea of circumventing my body's natural process. And yet, I know there are risks associated with waiting too long. So, a Wednesday induction it is. Barring any action prior to that point.

For me there's peace knowing that the end is in sight. The end of the waiting game. The knowledge that we'll get to greet our little Miss mid-next week at the latest. We're so excited to meet her that we can hardly stand it.

Thank you for your excitement, your support, your prayers, your good wishes. We can't wait to introduce her to the world.

Taggie Blanket

Continuing on with my sewing streak...

We've got a "taggie blanket." Blanket seems like a stretch to me since it is somewhere around 1 foot long. What else do you call these things?

Easy, easy, easy to make. Try one. Directions here.

All you need is 2 small pieces of fabric + some ribbon. I had these fabrics on hand, and ribbon was 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby this week.

I think I'll wrap this one up and give it to her for Christmas. Just for fun.

Baby Bump Progression

We've seen - and passed - the 40 week mark 'round here. And we're so, so thankful for a healthy and safe and uneventful pregnancy! Lately I've had my share of grouchy "will my baby EVER come?!?" moments, but over the last few days I've absolutely felt a heaping dose of God's goodness to me in the form of trust, patience, and an overall joyous attitude.

Praise Him for that. I know it doesn't come from inside me.

As I was working through our Europe pics I came across a number of belly bump shots, some of which I've already shared. But to celebrate a full 40 weeks, I thought it'd be fun to see them all together.

Clearly, I put zero thought into taking these in any regular intervals or in any consistent location.

10 weeks. My first belly shot. I could tell there was a little more... something... 'round the middle. But clearly no one else could. I was proudly wearing brand new maternity pants here. I made that switch early on! I couldn't make my normal pants button after about 7-8 weeks.

14 weeks. A leeettle more to show off here. We went to visit Josh's parents in Phoenix, and he snapped this shot while we were out there. I was in all maternity, all the time by this point.

And yet, looking back, I'm oh so small!

17 weeks. Next to the harbor in Oslo, Norway.

18 weeks. Just a week later. It was somewhere between these two weeks that a stranger first asked me about my pregnancy. Meaning that it was obvious to more folks than just me.

25 weeks. Me in my messy bathroom with my iPhone. Really out there by this point.

29 weeks. In a hotel in the Chicago area. Bowling ball time. This black shirt from Gap Maternity remains my single favorite item of clothing.

34 weeks. In a hotel in Tennessee. My last business trip. And clearly, my rain coat wasn't working so well.

35 weeks. On my own doorstep. Looking and feeling absolutely enormous. Hardly anything fit anymore (even my maternity clothes) by this point.

This was the effort it took to look at my own feet.

Yesterday. 40 Weeks. What you can't tell is:
A) I have a sty in one eye. Yuck.
B) My sweater is technically too short, and I have to bridge the gap with a tank top. See comments on the 35 week shots. But at this point, I'm not purchasing any more maternity clothes.
C) I'm wearing black work out pants. I rarely wear anything else.
D) I'm not wearing make-up AND having a bad hair day. Thus the reason I blurred out my own face :).