Here you go Cari

Here are some more pictures for everyone that wants to see little charlie.

2 Weeks Today

So our darling daughter is two weeks old today. There are moments that it has flown by and then there are hours that never seem to pass, but those are the wee hours in the morning and they don't really count. We are learning a lot as parents such as deciphering her cries. We are still struggling through some things such as how to take care of the baby and do other things such as laundry ect. Mom still does a fair amount of sleeping during the day while Charlie naps or spends time with great grandma Becky(GG). Feeding is also a struggle. The first week we struggled with pain and latching. I have a yeast infection in my ducts and it is a bit painful (actually a lot but I am trying to be modest). Week two we are struggling without nipple shield (she refuses to use it) latching and pain. We are doing a little better but I think mom is tolerating a lot more as well. I have accepted pain is a way of life. People say that means she is latching wrong but I don't know how to teach her to latch correctly. She refuses to open her mouth wide enough for a good latch. Nothing is wrong with her mouth, she is just stubborn. Dad says that is one of mommy's inherited traits. Enough of our struggles onto our joys. Some of our favorite times are bath time and when she is awake. She smiles constantly, and we melt. People say she can't be smiling yet but she is. She did from day 2. I know it is just a reflex and not a reaction but it is still a joy. One of my favorite times is when she wakes up hungry. She starts looking for food anywhere and it feels like she is giving me kisses. She has no middle ground for sleep/awake time. When she sleeps it is like waking the dead for feedings, and when she is awake she is wide eyed and always interested. She loves to be talked to. She is the most content baby. When we went to the doctor she didn't cry once, even when she was stripped, gagged, measured, poked and prodded and just content as a clam. You hear the other babies screaming and I smiled and said a thank you prayer to Jesus for our baby. It may change but we are counting our blessings for now.
Dr. Report- we went to the Dr and she is 4 oz bigger than her birth weight. So yeah we gained it back. They said we can go for longer times at night but to continue feeding during the day a lot so she can stay awake and sleep at night. Today she had her first tummy time for five minutes and did great. She tried to lift her head and did a lot of looking from side to side. Now is the time that she should start looking at mobiles ect. Her belly button is still healing because her cord fell off so soon, mom and dad have been giving her baths (which wasn't helpful for healing bb). She also has a little bit of diaper rash and we are watching her for acid reflux. (Lots of fun spit up lately) Her Dr. said he would prescribe something if we need it even though we will be in transition for the next month or so. He is a nice man and we liked him for the two weeks we saw him.
Mama Pajama- I am doing better. The first week I could barely walk but the second week it has been better. Healing takes a while. Yesterday I got out of my pj's for the first time as we went to the Dr. We also went to visit dad at his office and dressed specially for him (pictures up tomorrow). I do sleep a lot in the morning to catch up on what I missed the previous night. GG is on baby watch during this time, and gets me when Charlie's hungry. She has also been doing the cooking and dishes for us which is such a blessing. But I will say that I did laundry today at the urging of my husband.
I would like to thank people for the gifts, phone calls and comments. I am sorry if I did not answer the phone, I was a little overwhelmed the first few days or it was a bad time. I do want to call you back in the next few days as I am awake more. Please have patience with me. Thanks Grandma Barb for the books. We are starting to read to her to keep her awake.
More tomorrow.
Mom

First night at home with Charlie

So, we finally made it out of the hospital at around 4:30pm on monday afternoon. We had spent a lot of time with the lactation consultant (who was amazing by the way) and she felt that we were ready to handle feeding on our own. Sara had been doing great with feeding but little charlie is very good at sucking and causes sara great amount of pain. We got her all packed up and made it home with no problems. At the time of leaving, she had lost 10oz which was 2 oz short of 10 percent of her body weight. After arriving home and feeding charlie, the grandparents came over and stayed for about 2.5 hours. After saying goodbye we both looked at each other and said "we are on our own". It was a weird feeling because this was the first time that we were on our own and had no one to help if we needed it. I am sure I am not the only one of the parents reading this that have had that feeling. Im sure it happens to everyone on there first night with their first baby.

Overall, the night went better than expected. We only had one time during the night where she cried for about 15 minutes. This was of course my fault. I heard her cry and went into to change her becuase it is still hard for sara to get in and out of bed due to the incisions. Charlie is a warm blooded baby. She hates when she is undressed. Obviously I had to undress her to check to see if she had a dirty diaper. This started the first wave of crying and fussing. If I change her fast, usually she just complains and whines and does not scream. Well, I checked her diaper and it was dry and clean. I put her clothes back on her, which was good because her paients was runnig out, and picked her up. As Iwent to place her back in the crib, I noticed that her back was wet. "Great I thought", she is really going to cry if I have to change her agian. Well I had to dig out a new outfit and change her and that is when all crying broke loose. I just figured that it is good practice for her lungs since she is usually a very quite baby. Well after getting a dry diaper (which I am 100% sure it was dry to begin with) on her and a dry outfit, she finally eat and went back to sleep. This all happened at around midnight so she got to sleep at 1am or so. We also went to bed and did not hear her for the rest of the night. I had set my alarm to wake up to help sara feed her at four but I must have turned it off in my sleep or something because it never went off (at least that I can remember). I woke up at 5:45 and she was sound asleep. Sara was upset with herself for letting her go 5 hours without eating but the doc said that it was ok as long as we let her go that long only 1 time every 24 hours. It was nice to get some sleep.

Today we went to the baby doctor and everything went well. Charlie has gained 1 oz since leaving the hospital and is perfectly healthy. She should be gaining a lot of weight in the future as sara's milk has come in and charlie is being more gentle with the feeding. Well below are some pictures from the last couple of days.

More pictures from the hospital

So we got some more pictures from the hospital.

Yawning, not crying don't worry

More pictures

The Third FINALLY Arrived

Well, charolette caden detig finally arrived into this world after many weeks of waiting and praying. So that was a preview and now I will tell "the rest of the story" (thank you paul harvey). Sara woke up Friday and thought that her water had broke at around 5 am. We decided that since there was not much fluid that it was probably not her water breaking. We went back to bed and got up a couple hours earlier. After calling the doctor at around 9am, we decided to go to the hospital to make sure things were ok. Being nieve and thinking that it was probably going to be a false alarm, we only brought her purse and the clothes on my back (which I am still wearing). After getting to the hospital we found that she truely had ruptured and we were to be admitted.

After getting to the bed and getting settled in, the doctor came in and we found out sara was only 1 cm dilated (which she has been for the last two weeks). After realizing that it was going to be awhile and that we hadleft all the "stuff" at home, I decided to go home and pick up what was needed for after delivery. So, I get to the apt and run up and down the stairs like 10 times to make sure I have everything. After loading up my arms with 2 bags, 1 boppy pillow, and 2 blankets, I headed down to my car to make the 15 min drive back to the hospital. As I get off the elevator and head for the exit, I realized that i had left my keys in the apt (door locks when you leave). Great, perfect timing tryan. Being that it was a holiday weekend, the leasing office was closed so they could not let me back into the apt to get the keys to my car. All this is taking place as sara was at the hospital by herself. I called the emergency number that was posted on the office door and of course the guy did not answer. That turned out to be ok becuase they would have charged me $100 to let me back in. 3 fireman did it for free. Thankfully no damage was done to the door and i got my car keys and was on my way back to the hospital (only an hour later than planned thank you). Well, Back to the hospital, sara had gone from 1 cm to 1 cm, Zero Progress. That is when I knew that we were in it for the long run. So fastforward. After about 8 hours and a couple of great pain shots, sara got an epidural whcih let her relax and get some sleep. I slept ok for those of you who care about my rest. At about 8 am, after sleeping on and off, i awoke and the doctor said she was at 4 cm. yayayaya not 1 cm, that was good news for me. Things went veryquickly after her body decided that it was time. By 11:20 am, she was 1ocm and after about 10 to 15 mins of pushing, charlie arrived. Right now charlie is clean and sara is holding her getting ready to feed her. Ok so it took so long to finish this blog that we have successfully started breastfeeding. yay. Below are the pictures I tood and some video (if it works). Thanks for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. Me and Sara both appreciate it.

This was our great nurse.