One month





When I started this blog, I used it to keep track of belly pictures and how much I had grown each week. Now that Carley is here I can't just quit! I certainly haven't kept it up each week, but my goal is to update at least once a month to keep up with how much she changes and grows. 

Last night was the first night she slept for 5 straight hours! She is slowly realizing that nighttime is for sleeping and daytime is for playing. I wasn't sure I was ever going to sleep again there for a couple of weeks. She loves bath time and gets so calm while she's in the water. She has started to make some sweet cooing sounds, instead of just grunting and crying. She's not too sure about tummy time. She starts off pretty calm, but then gets really mad when she realizes she can't actually go anywhere despite all of her frantic kicking. She's already rolled from her tummy to her back twice. She weighs 8.5 pounds. Her facial expressions have Chris and I laughing all the time.

More pictures to enjoy...

  

Getting ready for bed!



I love bath time!



Kisses for Daddy





Before and After




Life with a Newborn



First bath!



As I sit here to update what has gone on in our lives in the last couple of weeks, I can’t help but smile and stare at my husband as we whistles and dances his way around the living room with Carley. I am so blessed. Although tonight is calm, the last couple of weeks haven’t been the easiest by any means. We are exhausted, we’ve already made our first trip to the ER, and sometimes we just don’t even know what to do. And we are only 3 weeks in! Neither one of us would trade it for the world though. Here’s a bit of what’s been going on...

On Tuesday night, Carley wasn’t acting like herself. I monitored her temperature throughout the night. At 5 am on Wednesday the 8^th, her temperature spiked to 100.5, which is considered dangerous for a newborn. We got up and went straight to Children’s Hospital. Because they can’t be sure exactly what causes a temperature in a newborn, they run a full workup to rule out any possibility. Carley had to have a spinal tap, a urinary catheter and blood work. She was started on an IV and given antibiotics as a precautionary measure. I was in tears. We were admitted so they could observe her for 48 hours until the lab work came back. She had to have a second IV started because the first one collapsed the vein in her arm. The second one lasted 24 hours in her leg before it went bad, too. The doctors agreed to take her off of the antibiotics after that, but we still had to stay so they could monitor her vitals. We were finally released on Friday morning. She was diagnosed with viral meningitis, which just has to run its course. We are so grateful that she is healthy and nothing was seriously wrong with her. It was an exhausting and trying experience.

Friday night, I felt pretty tired and not the greatest. I chalked it up to spending the past two days in the hospital. By the time I woke up on Saturday, I had a fever of 101.8. I had chills during the night and felt like I had the flu. Late in the afternoon, we finally figured out I had mastitis. After a phone call to my doctor, he called in some antibiotics that I was able to start the next day.

My mom came to stay with us the week after we came home from the hospital. The BEST help I could have ever asked for. She cooked, cleaned, organized, and made me rest. She was here through us being in the hospital and while I was sick. It was great to have her help through it all. Chris and I are so grateful and really appreciate all that she did for us.

We are finally all starting to feel better and slowly settling in to this new life. Like I said, it’s been a little crazy, but it’s so worth it when I wake up to my sweet little girl every morning.

She's Here!!!!

Proud, sleep deprived, dad



The going home outfit I wore when I was a baby and a bonnet made from my Granddaddy's hankerchief.



We are so proud to introduce our daughter, Carley Sophia!

Birthday: July 29, 2012
Time: 12:03pm
Weight: 6 lbs. 3 oz.
Length: 19.5 inches

Birth Story: I woke up at 1:45am to some mild cramping and what I thought was my water breaking. Chris was just getting off from work so I called him to let him know not to waste any time making his way home. He called my back 3 times, I think, to check on me. While I was waiting for him to get home, I got in the shower to help me relax. I planned on staying home as long as I could to labor, but called the hospital to let the doctor on call know what was going on. He asked me to go ahead and come in since I thought my water had broken so i could be checked out. Contractions were annoying at that point, not painful. Chris got home and hopped in the shower as well. He was such an excited dad-to-be! He was telling me "We're having a baby!" in between "I love you" and "You OK?" He was throwing all of our stuff in the car as fast as he could, and almost made the mistake of losing the keys. He came in and asked if there was a way into the trunk from the inside of the car. He had shut the trunk with the keys inside. It took him a good 10 minutes to try and move the stuff around and get the keys.

We made it to the hospital a little after 3 am. I was 3 cm dilated, but my water wasn't broken. The doctor said we still had a little while. Contractions were picking up, but still space out and sporadic, and I could still give short answers to the nurse during one. I begged to go home to labor where I was comfortable. The doctor agreed to let me go, making me promise to give ourselves enough time to get back. We left and made it home by 6am. I tried to get some sleep, but couldn't sleep through the contractions by this point. I got up and went in the living room so that Chris could try and get some sleep. Being on all fours and using a birthing ball were the most comfortable positions.

By 9:30am I decided we needed to go back. Contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and I couldn't talk through them at all: however, the biggest reason I wanted to return was the thought of being in the car for 30 minutes and having to deal with contractions on the way in and I wanted to go before they got any worse. In between contractions I did try and wash a couple of dishes but Chris made me stop. I really am my mother's daughter.

Once we arrived at the hospital the second time, I was 5 cm dilated, but the nurse felt something that just didn't feel quite right. My OB had been telling me that baby was head down since about 30 weeks, and the two checks I had earlier in the morning were normal. She ordered an ultrasound just to confirm. I told myself it was nothing to worry about and let myself get excited that it would be one more chance to see Carley before she would be born. It took a few minutes and two more nurses to confirm that Carley was, indeed, breach. I panicked. I wanted to try going as far through labor as I could without medication and now was looking at a C-section. I was scared of the surgery and what kind of risk it would pose to me and the baby. The nurses had to sit me up so I could breath. My husband, the nursing staff and Allison, my doula, were great. They calmed me down and reminded me that it was best for me and baby and that it didn't mean I couldn't try for a vaginal birth in the future.

The doctor came in shortly after to let me know that I was too far into labor to try and flip her, and on top of that, it looked like there may be an issue with the cord. By 10:15 I was scheduled for a c-section at 11:45. I continued to labor unmedicated until 11:25. At 11:25, they rolled me back to begin. I was given a spinal block and then they let Chris come in. The procedure was started at 11:59 and by 12:03 Carley came into the world screaming. I was so afraid that it wouldn't be as joyful since I didn't deliver her myself or wouldn't be able to see or touch her right away, but it was every bit as beautiful as I hoped it would be. My daughter was healthy and I could hear her screaming. They held her up for me to see, let me touch and kiss her before they sent her back with Chris so they could check her and finish with me. I was back in the room with Chris and Carley by 12:45 and was able to hold her skin to skin and nurse her right away.

We came home on Wednesday, and boy was it great to be back in my own bed and not have someone come in to check my vitals every 4 hours! Carley has done great. She makes the best faces and Chris and I feel so blessed. I am recovering from the c-section really well. I cry at the dumbest things. I cried when we left the hospital because I was glad to be going home and I cried when we got home because I was standing in my living room holding my daughter and was so happy. Looking back, I am so glad that the nurse felt that something wasn't right. We found out that the cord was wrapped around Carley's neck twice, and that her body was pretty tangled, too. A vaginal birth would have been even more risky. All in all, we are truly blessed and so happy to have a healthy baby and look forward to the journey of parenthood.