Eighteen days...has it been that long already? Days blur into sleepless nights as we adjust to having baby Evie with us. She really is a good baby, but is just has her days and nights confused so since I have one awake all day and one awake all night I don't get much sleep anymore! When Evie does sleep at night she is so noisy--she grunts and makes all kinds of noises as she wiggles around. She has a lot more spitting up issues than Aubrey ever did, so we bought a reclined sleeper/rocker bassinet made by Fisher Price. It does seem to be helping somewhat, she still is a noisy little thing though.
Aubrey is doing wonderfully with her new role of big sister. She is always kissing and hugging and wanting to hold Evie. Every time the baby makes a bit of fuss she tells me, "pick her up, Mom, she needs some "mom milk." One benefit of having Evie sleeping a lot of the day is that I still have plenty of time to devote to Aubrey. When it is nice out I pop Evie in my Hotsling and we can take a walk or Aubrey can play on her swingset. I do confess on rainy days I have resorted to allowing Aubrey a 1/2 hour of Veggie Tales or Thomas the Tank Engine--sometimes I run out of entertaining creativity. :)
Each day that passes I am gaining more confidence as a mama of two--I am sure pretty soon we will be out and about like we were before Evie arrived. I am thankful that the first three weeks have just about passed with their rollercoaster of hormones and emotions. Having been through all this before I know just how fleeting these newborn days are, and while I am grateful that I won't be up all night forever, I also am clinging to the sweetness of the wee hour cuddles with Evie who won't stay so little for very long.

Mother's Day 2010

She's Here!

Evangeline Emma Crane was born at 5:58pm on May 1st. She weighed in at 6lbs 15oz and is 18.5 inches long.





Birth Story

(warning, don't read if you don't want to know all the details, might be tmi for some, haha)

May 1st I woke up at about 2am with some contractions. They were too serious to sleep through so I decided to go upstairs and start timing them rather than tossing and turning uncomfortably in bed. I watched Food Network TV and had a heating pad on my back as my contractions were ranging from 4-8 minutes apart. I woke Bill up around 6am and let him know that I had been up for 4 hours and I thought that today was the day! We slowly started getting ready, packing the stuff for the hospital in the car, etc. Contractions were pretty steady all morning, not terribly uncomfortable, but enough to make me have to stop what I was doing and concentrate through them. Walking intensified them and made them come only about two minutes apart. Around 10am we called the dr. and she said to come in and get checked. We got to the hospital to discover that I was still only one cm dialated (same as at my dr. appointment earlier that week). So, we turned around and headed home. At that point I was rather discouraged that all the contractions I was having were not being productive!

We decided to eat a yummy lunch and see where things went. By one pm contractions were getting a lot more painful, I needed Bill to apply counter pressure and help me breathe through them. They were all four minutes or less apart at that point. We headed back to the hospital, arriving around 3:30pm. In the car and on the way into the hospital I was starting to really hurt during the contractions--and was starting to be pretty vocal about it!

Our doctor met us and checked me and said I was 3cm. Again I was a bit discouraged that all the pain I had been through hadn't gotten me too far yet. However the doctor said that she could tell by how I was acting I was going to progress a lot faster from there on out.

Per our birth plan I wore my own clothes, didn't have an IV. I didn't even get in the hospital bed until after the baby was born! Our nurse was amazing, she would find the baby's heartbeat in whatever position I was in, helped me with my breathing, and encouraged me.

Our doctor was right! It took me 1.5 hours to get to 8cm, and then only a little bit longer to make it through transition to being fully dialated. These two hours I was experiencing the most intense pain of my life, that is for sure! Bill was the best birth coach ever, supporting me, rubbing my back, helping me breathe and focus. The dr. even asked afterwards if he had taken a class on how to be a birth coach.

The dr. moved me off of the birthing ball I was on onto a birthing stool. She just let me feel the urge to push, and it took over. I pushed for only about 12 minutes (a bit different from the 3 hours it took with Aubrey!) My water broke as I was pushing--then came the ring of fire. Let's just say I hope that memory fades soon. As Evie came out I reached down and pulled her up into my arms and couldn't believe she was finally here. I remember thinking how much smaller she looked than Aubrey did when she was born. We waited a few minutes to cut the cord as I just half laughed/half cried and talked to Evie. Then I moved to the bed and Evie started nursing. Everyone just let her do her thing and we waited almost an hour before we even knew her weight and length.

Overall the experience I had was great. Everything went like we planned and requested of the hospital and the doctor. Our doctor was so much more hands off, but still present than I had expected. She was there most of the time that I was in labor in the hospital (probably because she could tell Evie was coming fast!) Natural childbirth was the most insanely painful and intense thing I have ever experienced, but seeing the wonderful difference that it made in how alert and calm Evie was compared to Aubrey made it all worth it.

the waiting game

Not too much going on here, we have been pretty ready for baby to make her appearance anytime now, but she seems pretty content to stay put for the time being. :) Less than a week until my due date, and I do expect I'll see it come and go before baby arrives. That's okay though, I want her to wait until she is ready! May is a nice month to have a birthday in.

She is still as active as ever--I think sometimes it feels like she is participating in a one baby break dancing marathon. Praise God she is healthy in there and everything has been going well with this pregnancy. I have gained 24lbs, my blood pressure is still low, no swelling--lots of aches and pains, but nothing that is keeping me from doing what I need to do (except sleep!).

Hopefully the next post I make will be a birth announcement!

Ultrasound Tech: "In all my 30 years of doing ultrasounds I have never seen or felt a baby move so much!"

Baby girl two is looking quite happy and healthy in there--measuring about 6lbs, 6oz which is right on track for being about the same size as Aubrey was when she was born. I guess it is just me that is measuring small for some reason. Oh yes, we did double check that she is a girl--they were right with the first ultrasound.

Recently I have been saying to Bill that I just don't remember Aubrey moving as much as this baby. I am glad to know I am not just forgetful--this little one is a very active baby! And her nose and chin definitely look different than her big sister, more like daddy and less like mommy I am guessing.

Only about 3 weeks now until we get to meet her! Very exciting. :)

Now I am past the 36 week mark--only about a month to go--provided she comes on time. I just had a doctor's appointment yesterday that went well. We had an encouraging conversation with the doctor about our birth plan: she is very supportive of our desire for a very low intervention birth. I won't need to get an IV or even a Hep lock (yay for no needles!) and as long as everyone is feeling good after the birth we can check out of the hospital in as little as six hours.

I am measuring on the small side so I am going to be having an ultrasound on Friday. They want to check the fluid levels and her growth. The doctor, after feeling the size of the baby, said she expects her to be much smaller than Aubrey was--around 7lbs vs. 8.5lbs. I am looking forward to having another peek at her (and having them double check that she is a she), just praying that she is growing well in there and that there are no problems. Maybe I'll have some more ultrasound pictures, but at almost 37 weeks it will probably be too crowded in there to get a good view.

For now we are enjoying this nice spring weather we have been having and savoring the last few weeks of just one child. Aubrey is such a sweetie and is so excited about her baby sister coming, but I know her world is going to be rocked. It will probably be really hard at first, but having a sibling will be so wonderful for her. I am just getting a little sentimental that my first baby won't be the baby of the family for much longer. (with as good as she is at being bossy, she probably won't mind the older sister roll all that much.)

Marching along

March is filling up, time is flying by! We ordered new carpet--exciting (but yikes lots of money). Once that is in I'll post pictures of how the rooms are looking. I have been waiting for the carpet to be put in to get most of the baby stuff out of the attic. I also ran out of steam on the trim painting, I got the baby's room done and haven't done any since, even though our's and Aubrey's rooms need it. I guess I need to get going on that again...

With plans for a hospital tour, dr. appointments, celebrating St. Patty's day and Mom's birthday before I know it, it will be Easter! I think I am not going to make my self imposed deadline, but that is okay. This baby will probably not be early, although there is a full moon only 5 days before my due date...

We did decide not to get a double stroller and just see how it goes, then once the baby is 6 months I'll look for a second hand double jogger so I can get back in good shape. The stroller that I wanted to get was just so expensive, not a cost I could justify thinking about the handful of times Aubrey has actually sat in a stroller in the past year. I think I'll be fine putting the baby in a front carrier and Aubrey in her stroller if I really needed to have her in one, but she is such a good walker, I think that will only come up rarely.

Winter is dragging on here, I am looking at a forecast with snowflakes on the next five days straight! Happily February is almost over, and March has to be the last month of snow, right? Now if we were in Virginia still we would be looking forward to cherry blossoms and daffodils next month, but spring comes a bit slower around here...

I am really looking forward to getting outside more with the warmer weather. It was "nice" today: sunny and 36 degrees so Aubrey and I went for a walk and spent over an hour outside. It helps the day go so much faster and neither of us get as cranky with a good dose of fresh air. :) I am counting the days until I can trade in my boots for flip-flops.

We are getting closer to getting ready for the baby now, I have one more coat of paint to put on the trim in the baby's room, a lot of stuff to wash, and a few more things to buy, but I feel like it is under control now. Ten weeks to go (provided she comes when she is expected). I'll have to take pictures of her room when it is done, definitely after the new carpet goes in next month.

Aubrey said something really cute today. We were sitting together and I was reading to her and she was looking at my tummy and asked, "The baby can't hear us, Mommy?" and I replied that she could hear us. Aubrey tried to figure out how that worked since she was inside of me. Her solution, "She listens through your belly button?"

I guess I should post more Aubrey updates too: she is getting to be such a big girl so fast! She knows all her letters and can tell you what most of them say. She loves to sit and read each word, letter by letter, out of books with me. Besides books and reading she loves art, just about every day she colors, draws on her chalkboard, paints, and plays with playdoh. Little princess that she is, she hates going outside when it is cold and windy, so she has only enjoyed a few of our winter outings lately.

I' ll leave you with a picture of her latest outdoor fun: building a giant snowman with Daddy.