First Day of School

Both Harper and Charlie loved school last year.  Harper has always loved school and we definitely missed it over the summer.  I am no teacher, so I love sending them somewhere to learn all the things that they are not learning at home.  This year is pretty important because it's Harper's last year before kindergarten.  I enrolled them in a program before we moved back to TN.  Even before we sold our house in Austin.  I wanted to make sure they were on this list somewhere, even if it meant driving a good distance to get them there.  Fortunately, we moved less than 5 minutes from where they are enrolled.  They are actually going to the school where my youngest brother, Stuart, went for a bit when he was a toddler!  I was only able to put Harper in school 2 days/week.  She would like to go more, but I'm kind of glad to have her home, since it's my last year with my first baby.  Sadness!

We visited the school shortly after we moved in, just so they would be familiar.  Here they are ready to meet their teachers!

Of course, my wild man, Charlie, did not want to take pictures before the first day of school.  He was also a little apprehensive when I dropped him off.  But he warmed up to it pretty quickly and hasn't had a problem going the past few days.

One thing that is new for Charlie (and Momma) is napping at school.  His school in Austin let out at 1:00 and he would always come home and take a three hour nap!  I loved those days.;)  This school goes until 2PM, so he naps at school.  He usually only naps about an hour, so the rest of the day is full of lots of whining and tantrums and ends with an early bedtime.

I so wish the picture wasn't blurry.  It might be one of my favorite pictures of her of all time.  She has to sign herself in this year.:)

I love Harper's teacher.  She is from Dallas and is the cutest little Southern Belle.  You can tell she loves her job.  She has a (private) Instagram account that she posts to everyday for the parents to see. She has also texted me pictures on the side.  I've never received that type of communication from a teacher and it makes all the difference!

Hope everyone else is off to a great school year!

I'll be posting back to school pictures through tears next year when Harper goes to kindergarten!:(  

June's Birth Story

I was so convinced that my third child would come early, be laid back and make this whole "Mom of three" thing easy/breezy for me.  I should have had zero expectations when it came to this labor and delivery, and in some ways I did, but one thing I did expect out of June, was for her to come early!  Evidently, I make it way too comfortable for my children, because June was due on February 23rd and we were still waiting on her as we drove to the hospital on the 27th to be induced.

My Mom flew in the Friday before my Monday due date.  We walked, ate eggplant parmesan, cleaned house, played outside and rested in preparation for a newborn.  And then we waited.

On my due date, I went in for an appointment.  I had decided with my doctor that I did not want to be pregnant past the 27th, since both my Mom and Kyle were scheduled to leave the following Sunday.  My doctor was going to let me be "induced" as opposed to scheduling a c-section even though technically I was still a VBAC.  Since I had birthed Charlie vaginally, a bigger baby than Harper, without pitocin and had no complications, she was pretty optimistic about my ability to do it again.

I was certain I would go into labor spontaneously again, but the signs that were there with my first two were completely absent with June.  I was also certain of June's date of conception, so I knew my due date wasn't off.  June was just too comfortable.:)

On my due date.

I was nervous as we left for the hospital to be induced, mostly because I knew I was making this decision and would have to face whatever consequences came with it, even if that meant I ended up with another c-section.

I was assigned an experience nurse with a brand new orientee.  It took them a while to get things going, so when my doctor came by at 9 to break my water, I asked her to wait.  She came back around at 12:15.  I had not made much progression and I felt comfortable with the nurses being a little more aggressive.  My doctor instructed them to up my pitocin more and she would come back in an hour.  Exactly an hour later, I heard a pop!  I was certain it is my uterus rupturing!  Turns out it was just my water breaking!
There was no going back now.

When my doctor came by thirty minutes later I was only 3cm.  I was pretty discouraged.  The contractions started coming on strong after my water broke and they had to turn the pitocin back down.  Around 2:00, I was begging for my epidural and swearing that I would never put myself through this again!;)

I got my epidural at 2:45.  It was a prefect epidural!  I could still move, turn, feel my legs, but I could not feel any pain.  When my doctor checked me at 3, I was only at 5 cm.  I decided to try to rest and turn from side to side a bit.  I was feeling a bit of pressure, but convincing myself it was nothing.  I mentioned it to the nurse around 4:30, she checked me and I was complete!  My doctor came in at 5:00 and I started pushing.

June was born at 5:21pm!
She looked so tiny, but was actually 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 19 inches long.

Horrible picture of me, but that is my wonderful doctor who counted my baby's fingers and toes to assure me that she had them all, cried at my postpartum check-up because we were moving, admitted that she also dealt with guilt related to my first delivery, and went out of her way to be there for me in every way she could, including delivering my next two babies during her off hours.  That is a good doctor right there, y'all!

My heart almost burst seeing how excited Kyle was when June was born.  Sweetest thing!

Recovery was fine with June.  We didn't sleep for a couple of nights because she swallowed a bit of fluid and would choke occasionally.  Once she cleared that, we both slept better, but I definitely wouldn't say that she's my best sleeper.;)  Breastfeeding was super difficult with June!  Even six months later, I'm not sure her latch is right, but she's gaining weight and we're both happy (for the most part;)).

Even though she made me wait, June definitely took it easy on me during her labor and delivery.  She is the perfect complement to our family!  We all love her so much and we're so glad she's here!

Charlie's Birth Story

Charlie was due on May 4th.  My Mom flew in on Friday, the 3rd, even though we were convinced I would carry late again.  On Saturday, my due date, we took Harper to a birthday party and went on a long walk.  I felt great!  I definitely didn't feel like I would go in to labor and I didn't.;)

On Monday, the 6th, I went in for a doctor's appointment.  Charlie's heartbeat was really low, so they had to monitor him for quite a while.  After some juice and some water, he perked up and they let me go home.  My doctor stripped my membranes at that appointment.  I had had that done with Harper also, but it didn't do much.  My repeat c-section was scheduled for that Friday.  I was definitely feeling the pressure to go into spontaneous labor, but trying not to get my hopes up.  That night, I ate some "labor inducing eggplant parmesan" and went to bed.  I slept for about an hour and then woke up around midnight with constant pain.  I called my girlfriend, who is a labor and delivery nurse, and was going to act as my doula, and let her know what was going on.  She said to call back in an hour if it doesn't go away.  About 30 minutes later, I called her back because I was having regular, painful contractions, 3 minutes apart.

Once she got to my house, I was in enough pain that I knew I wanted to go to the hospital and get an epidural.  After my delivery with Harper, I thought I would try the natural route again.  Then I went in to labor and immediately knew that au natural is not for me.;)

We arrived at the hospital round 2AM.  I was 4 cm.  I was begging for the epidural, but of course, we had to do a bunch of paper work first.  Then they stuck me about 17 times before they got a good IV in me.  The anesthesiologist had to stick me twice to get the epidural in the right spot.  It was all scary, but I didn't care.  I didn't want to experience the pain that I had experienced when I was in labor with Harper.

By the time I received my epidural, I was 6 cm.  They kept wanting to break my water, but I was scared to let them.  I continued to progress and was at 10 cm around 8AM, but my "bag of water" was still intact.  I wanted to wait to see if it would break on its own, but eventually let them break it around 9AM.  Charlie was still up pretty high, so around that time, I decided to take a nap and let him "labor down."

My epidural was one-sided.  They kept offering to replace it, but I wasn't about to let them poke my spine a third time!  It worked on the left side, but I could feel everything on the right side.  I turned side-to-side pretty often so that it would drip down onto the right side and I would have relief for a bit.

I woke up a little after 11 and we decided it was time to push.  It was a work-out!  But it was also so calm and controlled.  My contractions never sped up.  They were 3 minutes apart for my entire labor, so I had plenty of time to rest between pushes.  Charlie was doing great and no one was in a hurry.

My doctor had the day off, but my nurse had been in contact with her all day.  She came in around 1 and asked me if I could deliver Charlie by 1:30, so she could take her daughter to the dentist.
Charlie was born at 1:29! Ha!
He was 8lbs. 7oz. and 21 inches long!

 I couldn't believe that he was bigger than Harper and I was able to push him out!  I was so worried about him the entire time.  I felt selfish for wanting a VBAC and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get him out and would have to go for a c-section anyway.  When he finally arrived, I was so emotional, grateful, happy, exhausted!

It was pretty much a "text book labor" which was exactly what I need after Harper's labor and delivery.  The recovery was definitely easier this time around and breastfeeding was a breeze.  I was so grateful for a positive experience all around!

I'll go ahead and get June's birth story out shortly, while it's still pretty fresh!

Harper's Birth Story

I am forever going back and looking at Harper's pictures and what she was doing when she was Charlie or June's age.  It has made me realize that I really want to get back to blogging!  So, here goes!

I have been wanting to write about Harper's birth since she was born, but I've had so many emotions about it, I needed to be a little further removed before I dove back in to all the details.  Now, I don't even remember some of the details, so I better go ahead and record it, before I forget it completely.:)

Harper's due date was October 25th.  I worked that night and had intended on working the 26th as well, but called in so I could get my house clean before my Mom came into town.  I was banking on the baby being late, so my Mom didn't arrive until that Wednesday.  On Thursday, we did some shopping, went on a long walk and made "labor inducing" eggplant parmesan.

I went to bed at about 10 that night.  One funny thing: I asked Blair to take my picture which was only the second intentional "bump" picture I had taken my entire pregnancy.

About 4 hours after I went to bed, I woke up.  This wasn't unusual for me.  I'm always starving when I'm pregnant and usually wake up in the middle of the night for a snack.  Most nights I stay up for a couple of hours and watch TV and then head back to bed.  Although this particular night, while I was up eating my cereal I starting having some pain in my back and stomach.  It was so uncomfortable for me to sit, so I just started walking in circles around my kitchen island.  

After about an hour of that I was guessing that I was probably in labor, so I woke up Kyle to start timing my contractions.  They were pretty far apart and very irregular.  Around 4:30am I decided to a shower and then lay down for a nap.  I think I napped for a couple of hours and when I woke up my contractions were the same.  I got up to start walking again and then Kyle and I decided we would walk around the neighborhood.  I went to the restroom before heading out, felt a big gush and thought it might have been my water breaking, so I called my doctor's office and they told me to come on in.

We immediately got in the car and hit the interstate in the middle of morning rush hour traffic.  About 45min-1hr later, we were at my doctor's office and I could barely make it through a contraction.

Some back story.  I have been with my OB/GYN since 2006, trust her completely and really wanted her to deliver my baby.  She told me at 20 weeks that she was about 19 weeks pregnant.  She was due five days after me.  She gave me the opportunity to switch physicians but reassured me that she had carried her first two babies to term and would be working up until her baby decided to come.  Unfortunately, when she saw me on my due date, she let me know that her baby was having some cardiac arrhythmias in utero and she was going to be induced the next day.  I would see whichever doctor was on call for the remainder of my pregnancy, labor and delivery. 

I got lucky on the day that I went into labor because one of the founders of the practice was on call and she was so sweet and encouraging.  She checked me and told me I was only 3cm dilated.  I really didn't want to go to the hospital until I was 5cm, so I told her I wanted to go home.  She saw a couple of my contractions and felt like it was best if I went to the hospital.  My OB/GYN office was across the street from the hospital and I was really wanting to walk, so I walked to the hospital and up to labor and delivery.  

Once settled into my room I was in quite a bit of pain.  The nurse offered me fentanyl and I took her up on it.  That was a mistake.  It made me feel so horrible that all I could do was sit or lay in the bed.  I was foggy and still in pain and already feeling pretty defeated.  It was so hot with each contraction that I needed the fan on, but freezing and under blankets in between.  I was having stacked contractions and a lot of back labor.  They informed me that Harper was face up when they checked me at the doctors office.  I was hoping she would turn and the nurses gave me some tips on how to try to get her to turn.  In hind sight, I think walking would've been the best thing for her, but I was feeling unmotivated after the pain meds and uncomfortable in the hospital setting.  I didn't want anybody outside of my room to see me going through a contraction.  Kind of silly, I know.  At about 1:30pm the doctor came in to check me.  I was still 3cm!  I was so much pain and in shock.  How could I still be at a 3?  She encouraged me to get in the shower and try to relax.

While I was in the shower, I literally thought I was going to die from pain.  I know that's impossible, but my pain was definitely a 10/10!  Once I got out, I knew that I couldn't stand to be in that much pain for 7 more cm, especially since I had only gone 3 in 12 hours!  I called my nurse for the epidural.  At about 3:30, I received the epidural.  At that time I was 4cm and the doctor thought breaking my water would speed up my labor and would be okay.  She told me there was no reason that I shouldn't be able to have the baby vaginally.  I let her break my water.  At 4:30, I had not progressed and my contractions were becoming less intense.  One of my 8 nurses (I'm not sure that I even had a primary nurse at some points) suggested pitocin.  I didn't want it, but I was afraid I would be in labor all night and they would make me have a c-section, so they started it.  Shortly after, Harper got tachycardic, so they stopped it.  She never recovered.  She started having decels.  So she would be tachycardic and then her heart rate would drop with each contraction.  

Around this time, the new on-call physician came in and let me know that I needed to have a c-section.  We discussed it for a bit and she agreed to let me have a little longer.  Harper continued to have decels and my contractions weren't as strong as they would have liked, so around 9pm the doctor came in and told me if I was not 10cm dilated I would need to have a c-section.  Unfortunately, I was only at 8.  I'm not sure if I was having a panic attack or actually transitioning, but as they wheeled me into the OR, I was having the most intense, painful contractions and throwing up.  They made Kyle wait outside until they had me adequately numb from the waist down.  I hated anytime during my labor that Kyle left my side and this time was definitely the hardest.  The OR was scary and I felt very little support or sympathy from the nurses and doctors.   Eventually, they let him in and by that point we were both so ready to meet our baby!

At 10:02pm, Harper was brought into the world.  She was a perfect 7lbs, 14 ounces and 21 inches long.  I was surprised at how pink she was!  You could tell by her swollen face and cone head that she had been trying her hardest to get out!  We had been convinced my entire pregnancy that she was a boy.  Kyle really wanted a girl and we were thrilled!

Recovery was easy physically, but extremely difficult emotionally.  I was walking around the next morning and even left the hospital the following day, but emotionally I felt un-fit to be this perfect little being's mother since I was unable to birth her myself.  I felt like a failure.  It took me about 10 months to work through Harper's birth and even then, I had a ton of anxiety about how my delivery would go with subsequent babies (more on that later;)).

I have since moved on and know that it really doesn't matter how Harper got here, just that she got here safely.  Plus, I have to give myself some credit for carrying her for 40+ weeks and being her sole source of nutrition for that long and six months after, right?:)

Charlie's is up next!

One Year!

Our little Charlie made it to ONE!  He's been obsessed with Mickey Mouse for a while, so we had a little Mickey themed party for him while we were visiting Nashville in May.  On his actual birthday, we celebrated with dinner and cupcakes at Chic-fil-a (the one place I know my kids will eat dinner:)).  

Our sweet neighbor friends joined us.  We've been so grateful for their friendship and hours of entertainment this year!

One year check-up.

Granddaddy long-legs.

21 pounds, 15 ounces and 30.5 inches long.

Charlie is cruising like crazy and has taken a couple of steps here and there, but he's not walking yet.  He babbles quite a bit, but not real words that we can decipher.  He says "Mama" and "Dada" a lot.  It seems like he is talking to us, but still difficult to really tell.  He loves fruit and cheese.  He's still not big on carbs.  He loves whole milk.  He and Harper play together and it is so adorable!  Charlie is happiest on my hip, with Daddy nearby.  He loves being outside and bath time.  We call him our little bug-a-boo, so he's "Charlie-boo" and "Bug" a lot.  

We did a joint party for Charlie and Matt.  Matt turned 4 on May 21st and wanted a Spiderman party. We were so glad our family and a few close friends could join us to celebrate our two sweet boys!

He loved the Mickey Mouse/black icing part of the cake!

The other birthday boy!

Momma and Daddy love our little Charlie so much!

So thankful for my sister who helped me with all the party prep and loves my kids so well!

Getting all hopped up on sugar!

Thanks to everyone that came out to help us celebrate Charlie's birthday!

Happy birthday sweet boy!  We love you so much!

Can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you!