Survival

The first 6 weeks with a newborn are all about survival. What I am noticing is that survival this time around has been much different than it was with Brooke. Of course there are a few similarities thrown in there but it is with expected things.

With Brooke I was trying to survive emotionally. I remember crying every time I nursed her, when I was in the shower, when I went to the bathroom, when I went to bed, when... well you get the picture. I was so overwhelmed. Here I was with a brand new baby and I had no idea what I was doing. I was positive she was going to die if I turned my head for a second. I would lay my head on the side of her bassinet while she slept at night, and during the day I just held her and stared at her. I didn't want to leave the house with her and forget letting people hold her! Everything made my bottom lip quiver. As you can see, we both survived. Brooke made it through the first few weeks, and now on to 20 months, even though we went to Target when she was 2 weeks old and I let someone other than myself hold her.

With Molly it is about trying to survive physically. I am proud to say that I have only cried once, or twice, since Molly was born and it really was more out of exhaustion than anything else! I know that she can sleep in her bassinet each night with out me needing to stare at her, I know it is okay to let her sit/sleep in her bouncer or crib during the day, and we had our first trip to Target when she was a mere 4 days old. But boy am I exhausted physically! Between trying to entertain Brooke through out the day, trying to keep a clean house, and feeding/caring for Molly... I am wiped out. Couple this with a newborn who is up every 2 hours at night and will only sleep when cuddled, and you have yourself one tired mama. I am not even ready to type out my first grocery trip experience with BOTH girls.

All in all, we are surviving. I know that the sleepless nights will pass and schedules will form. I am cherishing the newborn cuddles while I have them and looking forward to what the future holds for our family.

And just because, here are two new pictures of the girls.

Birth Story

Both girls are sleeping and cupcakes are in the oven! My bedroom and bathroom might be a disaster but I wanted to sit down and write the rest of my birth story.

As I ended with last time, we were off for the hospital around 12:30am. The contractions were pretty painful and regular but I still wasn't convinced that this was it. I alternated between telling Dustin I wanted an epidural and telling him I was going to feel really dumb if it was false labor. We got to the hospital and into triage around 1am and they hooked me up to the monitors. I was definitely contracting regularly and when they checked me I was 4-5cm with a "bulging bag". This was it! We were staying and having our baby girl!

We got into our room around 2am and starting the "admitting process". I had asked for an epidural in triage so they got the blood work they needed and brought up the CRNA. Putting in the epidural took about 30 minutes but I was so grateful when it was in. There is nothing better than a numb abdomen during contractions. Unfortunately my blood pressure kept dropping but the CRNA was able to give me a couple shots that brought the room back into view.

The next 3 hours consisted of painless progressing and Dustin and I watching Avatar to make the time pass. We probably should have been sleeping since it was the middle of the night but I was way too excited and wound up. Around 6am I was 9cm with the urge to push but get this... my water was still intact! I didn't even know that was possible. I was still somewhat comfortable so I sat like this for another hour before the doctor came in and broke my water. The next hour and a half was the longest of my life, but it was worth it. Little Miss. Molly was face up just like her big sister so it took a bit more effort. At 8:29am she entered the world screaming her little head off. She came out of the ordeal with a pretty bruised up head but she has recovered nicely.

Recovery was MUCH easier the second time around and I felt ready to conquer the world right away. I showered, wore normal clothes, and even put hairspray in my hair that first day. We are home at settled now and things are going great. I will still update the blog but it may be sparse for a week or two while we adjust and get used to new schedules.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! To my Dad for always working hard so we could have the best. To my Father-in-Law for raising my husband into the man he is today. To my brother on his first Father's Day. And finally, to my husband, Dustin. Thank you for being such a wonderful father to our TWO little girls.

She's here!

Molly Grace entered the world on June 15th at 8:29am. She weighed 6lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. I will write my birth story later but first I will write a little bit about the "lead up" to labor.

Last weekend I had a ton of irregular contractions but nothing that made me think real labor was coming. By Monday morning I had my bloody show (sorry readers!) and started to feel off, like maybe my blood pressure was up again. I called my doctor and she wanted me to come in to L&D for a quick check to make sure things were okay. I got a good report and was sent home in time for dinner! A couple hours later I started to feel contractions, except these were painful. And regular. I downloaded a contraction timer onto Dustin's iPod (I highly recommend this if you are pregnant) and started keeping track. By 10:30pm by contractions were 8 minutes apart and I could not talk or walk through them. I waited an hour or so and decided to call the on-call doctor. He said it was time to come in and have our baby girl! I woke up Dustin and we did some last minute hospital bag packing, called his mom to come stay with Brooke, and at 12:30am we were off to the hospital...




To be continued.

We had quite the busy weekend for my birthday and I cannot wait to write about it here! But for now, my weekly pregnancy post.

Pregnancy: 37 Weeks

Weight Gain: 38 maybe? I like food, okay?!

Sleep: Has been off and on. The other night I woke up at 2am with 4-1-1 contractions. I was one contraction away from calling my doctor when they stopped. Then there are nights like last night when I sleep like a baby.

Gender: Girl

Name: Molly Grace

Feeling: Frustrated. I am having lots of contractions and other early labor signs and they are starting to wear on me.

Health: Great this week!

Belly: Dropped.

What I am looking forward to: Hospital food. I'm weird, I know.

What I miss: Shaving my legs comfortably.

Zebra Chick

I love the animal print fashions going around for babies and toddlers right now. In fact, I am obsessed with it! If I had an infinite amount of spending money for the girls' clothes they would probably own all of Baby Gap's new line, some of Gymborees, and of course lots of Carters.

Run run run!

She loves to roll around on the floor

She found a carpet fiber apparently!

Strut it!

36 Weeks

I am due in less than a month! Wow!

Pregnancy: 36 Weeks

Weight Gain: I am up 35 pounds, which they think is a lot of water weight with my blood pressure issues. Oh boy.

Sleep: I have been having contractions every night at bed time to it is taking longer and longer to fall asleep. And of course with Brooke to take care of in the morning I do not get to make any of it up!

Gender: Girl

Name: Molly Grace

Feeling: Pain. I am so uncomfortable already. Her movements are painful, contractions are painful, and I can't seem to catch my breath!

Health: My blood pressure seems to be back to normal but I meet with the OB Thursday to hopefully clear things up and talk more about my issues.

Belly: Huge and full of stretch -- I mean LOVE marks.

What I am looking forward to: A 32oz frozen margarita from my favorite Mexican restaurant.

What I miss: Sleeping on my belly. Being able to bend over.

Friday Night in L&D

Thursday morning I had my weekly appointment at the OB and everything checked out almost normal. My blood pressure was up a little, reading 135/85, and I had protein in my urine. The OB said that since I do not have a history of blood pressure issues they would just continue to check it weekly as normal. Well, that afternoon I started to feel sick. I was nauseous, dizzy, and my heart was beating rapidly. I went to bed early in hopes of feeling better and was able to fall asleep, but all of the same symptoms returned in the morning. I felt horrible even lying down and I was drinking a ridiculous amount of water to stay hydrated. I called the OB and made an appointment for that afternoon.

I took Brooke in with me thinking it would be routine and I would get diagnosed with a virus or something simple. The nurse came in and took my blood pressure and we both were taken aback when it read 167/117. She said that since I had been talking to her while they were doing it we should try it again. The second reading was 147/104. Better... but much too high. The OB came in and said, "Do you have someone to stay with your daughter? I am sending you up to labor and delivery...". What?! People go to labor and delivery to have babies! And quite frankly, I am not ready to have this baby just yet. Maybe next week.

I called my Dustin who in turn called his mom and they both met at the hospital. His mom took Brooke home with her and he stayed with me while they got me set up in triage. I had to get blood drawn and an IV put in (lovely), and they put on the baby monitoring belts and a blood pressure cuff. I even got wheeled down to Radiology for an ultrasound which was nice since we got to see our baby girl again! Of course all of my labs came back perfect and my blood pressure was back down, so I was discharged within a couple hours.

It was an eventful night but thankfully they were able to bring my blood pressure down with out medicine. I have been feeling awful on and off all weekend but I have a follow up appointment tomorrow where I can address my concerns. Hopefully this is not the start of pre-eclampsia!

Five Question Friday

I love to participate in these weekly posts from other blogs. Of course I don't want them taking over my blog but one or two a week would be okay. So today I bring you something new!

1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?

I would choose to stick with Nursing instead of switching to Elementary Education. I made this decision about a year before I entered college which helped me decide where to go, so I declared Education going in and never skipped a beat. Now that I am out in the real world and not even teaching, I wish I had done Nursing instead.

2. What do you love most about your home?

I love a lot of things about our home but one of my favorites is our neighborhood. There are a ton of young couples with kids, sidewalks to play on, big yards, and we are in a great school system. It is funny how priorities change when you have kids!

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?

I LOVE Young Adult books, mainly Fantasy or Science Fiction. To give you an idea some of the favorite series are Harry Potter, Twilight, The Uglies, and Percy Jackson.

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

I am a creature of habit so I stick with simple foods I know I love and have trouble trying anything out of the box. Honestly, so far cold shrimp is the grossest thing. I must be in a small percentage of people that hate shrimp but it creeps me out.

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be?

I think I would play a smaller role on One Tree Hill. It is one of my favorite shows and I would love to know some of the actors. Hopefully it wouldn't ruin the magic. Maybe I could be another one of Haley's sisters.

Memorial Day Weekend

Wednesday afternoon we packed up the car and headed east to Philadelphia! I am not sure if it is mentioned on this blog but I grew up in the suburbs of Philly and my whole family still lives there. Normally I would not choose to travel so close to the end of my pregnancy but I was a bridesmaid in my high school best friend's wedding, and I deemed it important. Thursday we ate at my favorite hoagie place and then went shopping with my mom, which was nice. I cannot explain how much I miss the shopping in Philly.

Me in my bridesmaid dress... 34 weeks pregnant

With the hubs

Brooke's wedding attire

Friday and Saturday was tied up with wedding activities. We had the rehearsal on Friday night and thankfully my parents watched Brooke so we were able to enjoy it in peace. Saturday I headed over to the bride's home bright and early in the morning for hair and make up (sounds like a movie set!) and to start off our day. It was a great wedding and I wish I had had time to take more pictures!

Sunday we went to my brother's house for a cook out and just to hang out. Here are some pictures of Brooke and her cousin Luca.

Isn't he adorable?