One.Month.Old

I'm a couple days late! Our sweet Natalie is one month old!

We have had quite the month!

We brought Natalie home on a Thursday afternoon and that evening it started raining. And it didn't stop. It literally did not stop raining until late Monday. It rained for four days straight. Record rainfall in Oklahoma. It rained so much it pulled the whole state out of a four-year-long drought. Something like 19in of rain in the month of May - and most of it was that weekend. Now why have I mentioned all this rain? Well if you know what its like to take a newborn home - slightly chaotic - and be stuck inside the house with an almost two year old it made us all a little crazy!! But our sweet Natalie was a trooper through all that crazy. For the most part, she was a mellow happy baby that weekend who was figuring this whole being in the world thing out!

Natalie's first week or so home we spent time outside [after the monsoon rains stopped!], visited the pool for big sister, ventured out to dinner, and thoroughly enjoyed our Natalie.

She is quite the [welcomed] opposite of her sister - at this newborn stage at least! She has a lot of nice quiet awake time, she only wakes up once or twice at night [most nights!], and she is pretty relaxed. She does have some reflux trouble and isn't always happy after mealtimes, but that is quite minor compared to what we dealt with when Evelyn was a newborn.

We had great visitors in Natalie's first month. My parents came down when she was about 2 weeks old and stayed for a whole week. My sister Katie was able to come over from Nashville and hang out with us too! We went to explore the Oklahoma Salt Plains and the OKC Zoo. I bawled like a baby when my mom & dad had to leave us!

Jordan's parents came down the following week along with his sister Megan & her boyfriend Caleb. We hung around Enid and they took in all the sights & sounds of living on a busy Air Force base. We hung out at the pool a bunch while Grandma got to spend time with Natalie inside (it was 95 & humid all weekend!)

We were certainly blessed by our family making the long drive to meet Natalie and visit with us!

This month went by in the blink of an eye and I'm sure the months will continue to move quickly past us.

Natalie's sweet smiles & her sweet personality bring me so much joy. She is starting to find her little voice and having even more awake time. I can't wait to watch her continue to grow and change as the months go by. She is just a bundle of love!

Love you sweet girl! 

Welcome, Baby Girl!!

On May 20, 2015 at 11:20am we welcomed our second daughter, Natalie Jane. 

6lbs 14oz of pure perfection! 

Our sweet girl had quite the arrival, and we learned a lot about my body & labor in the process! 

At the end of my pregnancy, around 37 weeks my blood pressure creeped up high enough to warrant bi-weekly appointments for non-stress tests with baby heart rate checks & blood pressure checks. I wasn't so hypertensive that we needed to deliver urgently, but was high enough for close monitoring and my doctor wasn't comfortable letting me go past 39 weeks. My body was saying enough is enough! It worked out well because she came just before Memorial Day weekend and Jordan had a 4 day weekend, so he didn't have to take any time off of work. 

I was super nervous about having to be induced if she didn't come on her own. Evelyn came a week late, so I had no hope that she would come anytime before my due date. The time came and it became a reality that we would need to be induced. All I could imagine was a long day/night/day/night with terrible pain from piton and a bad epidural and then a c-section. But thats just my worst case scenario nurse mind going crazy. But every one of those scenarios played out in my mind over and over again. I just couldn't help it! The plan was to head in the evening and get cervidil to help the cervix along and then do pitocin in the morning. The night before we headed in I woke up with some pretty good contractions which helped calm my nerves about a worse case scenario induction. I saw my doctor that morning before the induction and turns out we were dilated to 3cm, so things seemed even better! 

That afternoon I was so sad. And excited. And nervous. 

Evelyn had no idea what was coming. And I was heading in earlier than we expected, Jordan was stuck at work, so neither of us were able to put Evelyn to bed on her last night of only-childhood. I was devastated and mad at Jordan's work for not being more flexible, even though I knew the more he got done before she was born, the less he had to do after she arrived. Thank goodness for our good friend Kelly who stayed overnight with Evelyn and put her to bed with no troubles! Evelyn LOVES Kelly and it worked out great for her to be with Kelly while we were in the hospital. All that didn't make me any less sad & nervous for what all was going to change in our lives. 

The time came to head to the hospital and it was  an absolute MONSOON outside. Serious thunder & lightening with monsoon rains. Seriously. Another great friend of mine {Kate} offered to drive me to the hospital and stay with me until Jordan could get there. She has two kiddos of her own and it was incredibly wonderful and I was so grateful she took the time to hang out with me! The cervidil went in around 6pm with no trouble and we were officially getting induced! Jordan got to the hospital around 9:30 and we got settled in for the long haul! 

Now this cervidil isn't suppose to induce contractions or anything like that. It is literally just suppose to "ripen" the cervix. Well for me apparently that wasn't the case. I was having some pretty good contractions every 2-3 minutes. They weren't THAT bad and I was talking through them, but nonetheless, I was consistently contracting and they were gradually increasing in intensity. I was able to sleep, but overtime baby girl and I got checked out, those contractions kept up and weren't going away! When the time came to take the cervidil out, my contractions kicked up like crazy! This is when I consider our labor started. It was about 7am. I took a shower before they started the pitocin and we were settled in to have our baby! 

My doctor came in and broke my water and we started the pitocin at 8am. They started very low and ended up only increasing it one time! My contractions were strong, changes were happening, and I was hoping it wasn't going to take much longer! When I was starting to not relax very well, I wanted to know our progress because I was getting close to wanting relief with an epidural. Turns out I was at 5cm, and it was now 9:30. I decided it was time for an epidural. With my first experience of an epidural not really working and had trouble with it, my nurse promised me she would troubleshoot if there were problems and would take it out and start over if it didn't work. So the fluid started and we got ready for the epidural. That process started around 10-10:15. I could tell it was a good epidural, but I had a weird pain on the right side of my abdomen near my pubic bone and they told me it was my bladder. They would come and put in the catheter in about 30 minutes to make sure the epidural medicine went where it needed to go and then we would figure out the weird pain I was feeling. That half hour passed and the catheter went in. My nurse checked me when she put the catheter in and I was still at 5cm. My pain went through the roof! My whole lower abdomen was on fire and I was shaking uncontrollably with each contraction. My nurse went to go get some positioning tools, another nurse, and grab the CRNA to troubleshoot what was happening. When they got back 10 minutes later, they were baffled. I was becoming that crazy pregnant lady in labor who cried and screamed and all of the above. They seemed to have no idea why all this pain was happening. The new nurse to came in decided to check me again. Turns out I was at 10cm and the baby was coming! We were all shocked!! I was just relieved that I knew it was time to push. All this pain was because it was time to push, and the end was in sight! 

My doctor ran over from her office and her appointment and made it just in time. 

One contraction, one push and our sweet girl was born at 11:20am! It was instant love. 

During the confusion of my pubic bone pain, the CRNA dosed my epidural again giving me more medicine to see if I was tolerant to the medicine. Knowing I was checked just 10 minutes before and not close to delivery, that was a safe bet. Until I progressed fast. Really fast. So that meant my epidural worked AFTER our sweet girl was born. Meaning, it worked for, like, 5+ hours after she was born. My legs were useless. So that was fun. When it was time to try and get out of bed, we had some deja-vu back to my labor with Evelyn. My first couple times of attempting to get out of bed after delivering a baby are not successful. Turns out, my body likes to pass out and my blood pressure plummets and I scare all my nurses and my husband when my blood pressure drops to 60/30. But now we know, it happens when I have a baby and the next time we can be prepared! 

When it was time to decide on a name for our sweet girl, Jordan and I were not totally prepared for what happened. We talked about two names the whole time we were pregnant and I liked one a little better and he liked the other. When she was born, neither of them seemed to be the right fit. We were a little shocked and had to start all over. We had a longer list of names that were rarely discussed and were names that we jotted down when we heard a name we really liked. So we turned to that and the first name on the list was PERFECT. Natalie. This little bundle was the perfect little Natalie. 

And we couldn't be more in love. 

Pregnant.

Written 4.22.15

This pregnancy is almost done. How is that even possible? I know I'm busy with a toddler this time around, but seriously - how are we 35 weeks pregnant this week?! I haven't taken as much time as I did when I was pregnant with Evelyn to enjoy and soak up the pregnancy. I have enjoyed being pregnant this time around just as much, but its so different. I have nothing to complain about - just some typical heartburn and the usual aches of growing a human. She has been so good to me and I can't be more excited to meet her.

There have been more questions this time around for me. Maybe its because we're away from our families and in a different state, away from the hospital and doctors that I knew so well. But I think my biggest sense of questions and 'fear of the unknown' is the fact that we are flipping Evelyn's world upside down and she doesn't even know it. Its not that I'm sad for her, I'm super excited she will have a sister so close in age. But I worry about the adjustment. I can ask my friends and family who have more than one kiddo and everybody will have a different response of how it went for them. And truthfully, some have horror stories and I don't care to hear them. I don't need to be more worried than I already am.

I am so confident in my ability to care for an infant that with Evelyn I didn't have the 'fear of the unknown' feelings. I knew what to expect for the most part. I taught families how to take care of their infants on a regular basis at work, and I had seen many friends take babies home. The baby thing is easy for me. And this time around I'm still not worried about the baby stage. A little newborn is comfortable to me and I find comfort and solace thinking about taking care of a baby. Taking care of a toddler AND  baby - now that scares me some.

This whole toddler world is so foreign to me and I worry about navigating this unknown toddler landscape. Every week - heck every day - seems to be a different phase, or a different battle, and definitely a different mood. No day is predictable and while that is fun, I wish I knew more about navigating this toddler world. I am constantly wondering if I'm doing the 'right thing.' Am I teaching her enough? Am I missing anything? Is this stage/phase/milestone normal? Is she suppose to be this sassy?!

I think about the change from a family of three to a family of four. With one kiddo, yes, our world is different and we are living in a toddler tornado, but for the most part we can bring her along with us, and after the initial shock of having a person to take care of, the adjustment was pretty darn easy and felt so normal. Will this transition feel as normal? This unknown is a major source of stress for me when I dwell on it for too long. I'm good at that - dwelling on thoughts that I have no control over. I've heard people talk about the difficult transition from one to two children, so I might have some justification in these thoughts, but I know I shouldn't dwell too long.

I need to trust the process and trust that we have given, and will continue to give, Evelyn enough love and grace to get through this adjustment. Although I have been occupied with our toddler tornado and thoughts of the transition to come, I have been blessed by a beautiful, wonderful pregnancy and I am so grateful for that. This may be our biggest challenge as a family to date, and we may not have any clue what is about to hit us, but I am confident in our family and I know we are capable of welcoming this little girl into our lives with as much love and excitement as we welcomed Evelyn.

Did I mention we only have 5 weeks left?!

Coming our way, A Baby.....

We are so thrilled to welcome another GIRL!!! 

I have to say that I was totally shocked by this. Jordan wasn't so much.

I know each pregnancy is different, but things have literally been opposite of my pregnancy with Evelyn. And I would have put money on the fact we were going to have a boy. 

Buuuuuut I was so, so wrong! 

I am seriously so excited to have another daughter. I can't wait to meet her and kiss her sweet cheeks! 

Jordan knows he's in trouble with another girl coming his way. But he is so gentle and sweet with Evelyn and I can't wait to see him with this sweet girl! 

We didn't find out if we were expecting a boy or girl when we were pregnant with Evelyn and we absolutely loved being surprised! This time around, with being in a new state, new hospitals & doctors, family being halfway across the country, and the fact that we were surprised by this sweet girl in the first place, we decided we wanted to find out this time around. I was curious to know if I felt different and bonded differently while pregnant knowing versus not knowing. So we went for it, and I'm so excited to have a different perspective this time around! 

We officially found out we were having a little girl on New Years Eve, but we were truthfully a bit sneaky about finding out. A couple weeks before we headed home for Christmas, on 12.13.14, we went to a local company who specializes in prenatal ultrasounds. Sneaky, and so out of character, but we went for it. My sensibility kicked in. We had literally at least six bins of girl clothes & gear back in our storage unit in Michigan. It would have killed me to find out we were having a little girl with all that stuff back home, and no easy way to get it to Oklahoma. I thought it was a waste of time that we were finding out because I was so sure it was a boy, but man am I glad that we went for it and found out about our little girl! So now that we know we are having a little girl, its time to go through bins of clothes, figure out what we need for a newborn again and prepare ourselves for two girls under two! Yikes!

 In the mean time, we will be getting Evelyn into a toddler bed so we have a crib for baby girl. We won't be able to keep her in our room very long due to Jordan's busy work schedule and his need for sleep. We moved Evelyn into her crib around 6 weeks, so I figure we'll do about this same this time around depending on her sleep habits. Evelyn is starting to act interested in potty training too, so we may take that on before baby girl comes along. 

We are going to be busy, busy in the next few months leading up to her birth and then even more so once she's here. I'm excited to experience a different approach to pregnancy knowing that we have a girl and not left to wonder the whole time (which was still super fun!). I pray that everything continues to go smoothly with this sweet girl and that I continue to love being pregnant the second time around! 

Oh, and lets work on not being frank breech little girl, alright?! Its not as fun as it may seem right now, just wait until you're bigger, you won't appreciate the cramped space hanging out like that! 

Eight Whole Months

8 months old!

Wow. Wow. Wow. 8 months sounds old. I recently got an email saying "Your baby is almost a toddler" My jaw dropped to the floor and I tried not to cry thinking about my baby being a toddler. This month has been a month of lots of changes for our family, and I have come to realize that my baby IS becoming a toddler!

Jordan left us for 8 weeks, and Evelyn and I have been working on getting into a routine of our "new normal." I have learned that she is a quite a flexible baby and quite agreeable with whatever we happen to throw at her.

Most of this month she has spent trying sooo hard to get the crawling forward thing down. She can crawl backwards with great form and can get anywhere she wants by log-rolling, sitting up and crawling backwards. No army crawls here. We were pretty sure she was going to crawl forward before Jordan left. Unfortunately, she missed that deadline by about 6 days.

Yup. That's right. My baby girl started crawling. And she is fast. And super coordinated. She can crawl on our hard surface floors and the carpet. I think because she was working on her technique for so long {almost a month of rocking on all fours, reaching hands out with no movement} she is so good at it! I came home from work last Friday March 28th, and she was reaching up for me, noticed the remote laying on the ground, and went for it! I texted my babysitter asking if she had crawled yet {because I knew she was close}, but she said Evelyn hadn't crawled yet. I was so proud of my baby girl! I recorded her repeatedly crawling for the dang remote so Jordan could enjoy all of her greatness! I can re-direct her in a moment and she turns right around and comes back the other way. She IS becoming a toddler. *tears*

I have realized how fast I have to child-proof my house. I have to constantly scan the floor to see if there is a piece of paper {why does she love paper so much?!} globs of dog or cat hair that the vacuum might have missed, because everything and anything she can find will go into her mouth!

Evelyn has increasingly become vocal, not so surprising considereing who her mother is! Said her first word "dada" March 20th. She will babble "dada" all the time, but she was very purposeful when she said it at Jordan. She sees pictures of Jordan and says Dada. I'm so glad her first word was Dada. I'm pretty sure she's working on doggy to be her next word! She IS becoming a toddler.

Five Amazing Months

Just a few days ago my little babe turned five whole months. Seriously.

Evelyn's first Christmas was the highlight of her fifth month. But she seemed to change before my eyes over this past month.

I know I've said things are going by fast and I'm sure time will continue to go faster than I would ever choose it. But since I've been back to work, my days off go by at super-sonic speed. Everyday I work I barely get to see my girl, so my days off are even more important - and they are over too fast.

But enough sulking about time. I have to deal with the fact that she is constantly growing and changing and I've just got to enjoy the ride and soak up every. single. moment.

Look at that face. So Serious. That is an Evelyn face at its finest. And it made our Christmas card. The only picture on our card this year. What more do you need on a card to make you smile? That face sure does make me smile! 

Evelyn started playing in her jumper this month. She LOVES it!
She started SITTING on her own. Yes, seriously sitting. She just started doing it one day. I couldn't believe it. She is actually very sturdy and likes seeing the world from that point of view now!
She has found her voice. She is constantly making sounds. I wonder where she gets that from?!

Her first Christmas was great. We had many celebrations. With all of our grandparents it means lots of family get togethers and celebrations. The week of Christmas she had 3 days of presents!We celebrated our family Christmas on Monday, drove to Jordan's parents that evening. Tuesday was Christmas Eve and we were at my parents house to celebrate with them, then we celebrated with extended family and grandparents that night.  I had to work on Christmas Day, so it was up to Jordan to celebrate with her Christmas morning. Evelyn was busy and had so much fun with all her presents and family time!

Everyday it seems like I can see the wheels turning in her little head learning from the world around her. Watching her take the world in is magical. 

Happy 5 months baby girl!!