1 Week Old

I thought I would start Baby J's pictures in the green chair a little earlier than with Little A to show just how drastic the changes are in the first year. So here she is at just 1 week old.

Baby J's first week went so fast! I know they all will, but this week seemed especially quick. We were in the hospital for two days, and we came home on Sunday. Nana stayed until Wednesday which was a HUGE help! We were all sad to see her leave, especially Little A (she kept asking, "Where Nana is? Where Khloe (Nana's dog) is? after they headed home).

Baby J spent most of the week sleeping. I forgot just how much newborns sleep. Like her big sister, Baby J doesn't like to sleep laying flat. So she sleeps the first few hours of the night in her swing, and the rest of the night she sleeps on Mommy. When she is awake, she's eating. I feel like she's a good eater, but she spits up a lot after she eats. She's also a little "tongue tied," so we are going to take her in again at 2 weeks old to make sure she's gaining weight okay.

Overall, the first week was great! We're all in love with the new addition to our family!

39 to 40 Weeks

At 39 weeks I was big. I felt big and uncomfortable. During the last few appointments with my doctor, we had been discussing a possible induction before my due date because baby girl seemed big, I was progressing well and we were worried about what to do with Little A when it was time to go to the hospital. At my 39 week appointment, we decided to schedule the induction for 7am on Friday.
I felt good about the plan. We had friends to watch Little A in the morning, and then Nana would pick her up and stay with her while we were in the hospital. Little A, E and I had a low key Thanksgiving at home. We made dinner together, went for a long walk around the lake and did a little cleaning and organizing for baby. We definitely had a lot to be thankful for this year. One sweet little girl here, and another to come the next day! I went to bed feeling like I was as ready as I was going to get for baby's arrival (although we still hadn't decided on a name).

Then came 3am, and I woke up having a contraction. At first I thought it was just a fluke, but when they continued, I figured I was probably in labor. The contractions were 9-10 minutes apart though, so I tried to relax and get a little more rest. My contractions moved pretty quickly to being only 4-5 minutes apart, so I got out of bed and moved to the couch, hoping E could sleep a little more, and I would be more comfortable. I was thinking that I would be able to stay at home, and just go in when I was scheduled. But the contractions picked up, so I got in the shower. (Side note: I had downloaded a free contraction timer app a few weeks earlier, and it was really helpful to keep track of how far apart my contractions were. However, after 10 contractions, the app wouldn't work any more. I was very frustrated when trying to find my credit card to buy the full app while having contractions. Not cool app creators, not cool.) When I got out I called the hospital, and the doctor said to go ahead and come in.

E called his friend who was going to watch Little A (who only lives a few blocks away), and had him come over so she could keep sleeping for a bit. We packed up a few last minute things, and when M got here, we headed to the hospital. When we got there, I think there was a little confusion. Several times people who came in to my room made comments like, "Oh, it looks like you're already in labor." Apparently it wasn't communicated very well that I did not need to be induced.

After what seemed like a really long time to me, probably an hour or so, the nurse finally checked to see where I was at, and told me I was already at 6-7. I let her know that I was going to want an epidural, so she started me on fluids. I think this was right around 7am, because after that new nurses came in. After getting some fluids, my new nurses called for the epidural, but it took 3 tries before the anesthesiologist responded. He finally came to my room, and got the epidural started around 8:30am. The nurses left for a little while then to give me some time to relax. One nurse told me she thought I was probably ready to go, but to take some time to relax. I tried to relax, and it was nice to have a little quiet time, but right around 9am my water broke. Such a strange feeling! I had E try to find someone after that because I was really feeling like it was time to push. My doctor and nurses came back, and at about 9:10am I started pushing, and at 9:29am baby girl made her entrance into the world!

My doctor and nurses got everything cleaned up, and gave us some time with baby girl. We got out our name lists, and quickly decided on a name for our new little girl. Later, one of the nurses came back to measure her, and we found out how big Baby J was. E and I were very surprised to hear she was bigger than Little A. Baby J seemed so small! (And when Nana brought Little A to visit later, we were surprised again by how big our first baby suddenly seemed!)

Overall, things went about as well as I could have imagined. It was nice that we already had plans in place for Friday, but I was so thankful that I went into labor naturally. And I was relieved that everything went so quickly after a much longer labor with Little A.

Introducing Josephine Janeen

Josephine Janeen was born at 9:29am on Friday, November 25th. She was 8 lbs, 15 oz and 22.5 inches long. We're all home and spending lots of time snuggling our new addition!

Leaves!

Our yard is not especially big, but we do have a lot of trees. So a couple of weekends ago we headed out to rake and play in the leaves before it got too cold. Little A didn't really like being in the leaves too much unless someone was in the leaves with her, but she was happy to "help" (E and I think it's really cute that when she needs help, she says, "help you.") She didn't like that the rake kept getting "stuck."When Daddy jumped in the leaves, Little A wanted to know, "What's Daddy doing?" Also, that hat, she's obsessed. It worked so well for her Halloween costume, and she wears it every chance she gets. If she can, her mits and boots now too.

38 Weeks

38 weeks means (hopefully) less than 2 weeks to go now! I'm very ready to meet the little lady (and shed some of this tummy). The past week I've had a cold, so my nose has been really stuffed up. That along with baby girl crowding me has made it really hard to breath, especially at night.

As you can see from the pictures, my belly is HUGE (I think this dress makes it look extra big). Little A is having more and more trouble sitting by me now. There's just not enough room on my lap with the belly now. I feel kind of bad for her when she keeps sliding off the couch as we try to read together. Plus, I know one of these days we're going to put Little A to bed at night, and the next day her whole world is going to get rocked.

Besides picking a name for baby girl, I think we're ready for her arrival (I'm starting to worry that we'll be stuck at the hospital forever because she won't have a name). I have all of our newborn stuff washed, organized and ready for a baby girl to use it!

Hoo Hoo

Here's my little owly on her way out trick-or-treating last night. Once she figured out that she got "treats" at each new house, she thought it was a lot of fun. She would act so shy at the door, but between houses she was chatting up a storm. Such a silly girl (who ended up with lots of candy for Mommy and Daddy)!

36 Weeks

We headed to a Halloween party on Saturday night, so E and I had to come up with some quick costumes. I ended up going as an 8 ball, and E as a pool cue. I don't have any pictures from the party, but I did put my 8 back on for my 36 week pictures because it was Halloween, and I've reached the 8 month mark in my pregnancy. I can't believe I (hopefully) have less than a month to go!
I feel extra big right now. I move slowly, especially when I need to get off the couch. Little A thinks it's fun because she can get away much more easily now. I'm also having some trouble sleeping, but my biggest complaint right now is the near constant heartburn. I have Tums with me 24/7. Not kidding, I sleep with a bottle right next to the bed because I wake up many nights with terrible heartburn. No fun when I'm already not sleeping very well.I had an eventful 34 week check up a little over a week ago. I mentioned to my doctor that I had fallen down a few steps one morning, so she said I needed a stress test (and to call right away if I fall again). For the stress test, I had to sit in a recliner with monitors strapped to me for 20 minutes. Sounds pretty relaxing until you factor in the toddler who was with for my appointment. I had to stay sitting down, which Little A thought was really fun. Especially after filling herself up with graham crackers and apple juice from the nurse. Pretty sure stickers are covering the recliner in the room now (another treat from the nurse). Everything checked out fine with the stress test, so Little A and I packed up to head out. Unfortunately, about that time my tummy got very upset. So I took Little A and headed to the bathroom, where I got sick. Little A thought that looked like a lot of fun, so after I was done, she had to go pretend she was sick too. She is such a little mimic these days!