7 Months!

Our Sweet Caroline is seven months old today!  She is already our trouble maker, tearing heads off of ornaments, pulling any and everything off the tree she can reach.  Crawling all over the place like such a big girl.   Chasing sister, chasing the cats, chasing momma!  You are a hand full.  Laughing your head off at sister, makes us all so happy.  You have such a great laugh and are developing such a great voice by all the vocalizing you are doing.  You are learning to squeal to prepare you for all the talking you will do.  It will have to be a lot to keep up with sister.  Your teeth that we thought you were getting last month have yet to arrive.  You have stopped acting like they bother you so if you start being fussy around people again I'm just going to tell them you don't like them.  Not that your teething :)
You make us so happy with that pretty smile of yours :)
We love you so much!!!



MOMMA!

Our girl is 3!

To our beautiful girl as you turn THREE!

I know it gets said constantly but I cannot believe you are already three years old.  It seems like yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital.  Momma got to bring you home on your due date December 14, 2011.  It was such a nice day outside; the temperature was in the 60s.  It had snowed just three days earlier on your birth day.  You have had such a big year this year.  It is amazing the things you were accomplishing and you were only TWO!  You are completely potty trained and have been since about March.  Daddy was weird about making you were pull ups to bed until at least June.  We wasted about 2 bags J  You have gotten to bond with your baby sister and have done so well with her.  Momma is so proud of you for so many reasons.  She loves you so much, and just smiles when she sees you.  I love to see how you two interact with one another and I know you will be best friends when you grow older.  You have the vocabulary of a grown up, always using big words and phrases.  Sometimes the things that come out of your mouth blow us away.  You are so intelligent and clever, I hope so much that you stay that way.  You have always seemed so much older than you really are.  We went on our first family vacation as four this year to Carillon Beach in Florida.  You and daddy caught a crab and petting on it, then it spit on daddy J    You covered sister in sand (accidentally) and we had to hose her down our first day at the beach.  You are such a beautiful girl inside and out.  Momma never wants you to forget what a beautiful heart you have.  You are so caring and loving, those are traits I feel that you got from your daddy.  You have actually gotten a lot of traits from your daddy, your intelligence, your comic ability and your sneakiness.  Your hair has grown out a lot in the past year and its still curly.  Momma doesn’t really know what to do with it but I will learn before you get older.  I wish you would let me put a clip in it but you are too stubborn to let me.  Its always in your face but you say “I like it that way.”  Oh, you are so silly!  We love you so much.  We are so proud of you and happy that we get the pleasure of being your mom and dad.  We never know what to expect from you, always keeping us on our toes J  We love you so much!

LOVE

MOMMA!

6 Months!

Happy six months to my beautiful sweet Caroline!!

My big girl turned another month old today, six more months and you will be a year!  I can't believe it.  Sister will turn THREE next month.  Momma's babies are already getting so big and so old.  You are doing so great at sitting up on your own. You haven't started crawling yet but you get up and in the ready position and start rocking.  It is so adorable, you are ready to go!  Momma gave in and gave you some carrots and some peas this week.  You loved both, but we knew you would.  Your eyes have been pleading with us since you were tiny to give you some actual food.  You were so happy that each time we feed you, you try to steal the spoon and feed yourself!  Sister has had to take turns feeding you and she does such a great job at it I just let her keep doing it.  You are both such special children.  I love to see your little grins when you see me or daddy or sister.  You are so sociable and friendly.  Your cheeks are so big everyone always comments on them.  We have a well baby next week, I"m guessing you will be about 20 lbs.  You are such a big girl length wise!  I'm actually excited to see how much you have grown in the past 2 months.  Thanksgiving is coming up next week and I"m looking forward to you getting to eat some mashed potatoes :)  Your fascination this month is the remote control and putting everything in your mouth.  I know its normal but sister didn't do it so we aren't used to it!  You are really big on pulling hair too, seems like you have been that way since day 1.   You are just so special and beautiful.  We love you so much!

Love
MOMMA!

5 Months!

To my beautiful big cheeked girl on your fifth month of life,
You are on the move ALREADY!  You are rolling all over the place, you actually rolled over a couple days after turning four months old.  You are sitting up BY YOURSELF!  You are almost a full month ahead of sister on some things.  You actually ENJOY tummy time and I credit wearing you in the moby for this.  You love to be worn and momma loves to wear you :)  I love to see other mommys and daddys wearing their babies too.  It is just so sweet.  When you are in the floor dadda and I expect to see you crawling any minute and you sure are trying as hard as you can.  It won't be much longer.  We are so very proud of you and big sister too.  We couldn't have asked for better babies.  You are so laid back and LOVE to laugh.  You also love to jump in the bouncer we got from Amy.  You laugh and laugh at sister and daddy.  Normally our house is a big laugh factory.  You and sister get along so well, you love her and she loves you.  I am so proud to be the mommy to you both. You are growing so fast that sometimes I can't believe you are only five months old.  We love you so much, we are so thankful you are here.  Sister is so happy to have you to play with and all her waiting is paying off because you are almost big enough to play with her.  She carries you around sometimes "gently" as she says but it looks like your eyes are going to pop out she squeezes so hard.  All you do is smile the entire time lol

You are and will continue to be so special :)

We love you

MOMMA!

4 Months!

To my beautiful girl on your fourth month of life,

You are so precious, such a great baby girl :)  I am so lucky to have you and your sister as my girls.   You are so close to rolling over and to sitting up.  I am so proud of you and your big eyes and your big grin.  You just love your big sister so.  Always smiling even if she is being too rough with you.  We had your well baby visit today, you exceeded our expectations in both weight and length.  You were 16.98 lbs and 26.25 inches long.  You will be our long girl and sister our petite girl :) You are so happy and so bright.  You always look at our food like you want to take a huge bite of it. You are so alert and active, so very special :)  Daddy just bought us a van last weekend so now when we do fun things others can ride with us.  Granny and Veronica are excited!  They missed not being able to ride around with us.  We are going to the indoor water park this weekend.  You enjoyed the ocean so much I hope you enjoy the water here too! I am so excited for the life ahead of you and for us.  We love you so much!

MOMMA!

3 Months!

To my beautiful girl on your third month of life!

You are growing like a weed! Up to around 14 (or more!) pounds. You are such a beautiful little girl, so happy and relaxed. I never expected to have another baby that was so happy. In fact you may be happier and a better baby than your big sister. You try to talk now, sounds like a dinosaur. I don’t worry about you having a delay in language due to being the second child. I really don’t think you will do anything later than your sister. In fact you may break her milestone records. You are a nurser but unlike your sister you don’t have to nurse around the clock. I think that’s why mommy is so well rested. You wake up and are immediately happy, you smile and just look around. Daddy and I are so lucky to have you as your little baby girl. We are so happy. For the first two months you weren’t really a daddy’s girl but things are a changing. You love your daddy so much; you will look at him and just smile until he looks back. You also love your big sister. No matter how unintentionally mean to you she is you still smile and love her. Sometimes she pulls and squeezes a little too hard but you really don’t mind. You will be best of friends as you get older :)  it makes mommy’s heart feel so good knowing that.  We love you :)

LOVE,
MOMMA!

Adjusting

It has been two and a half months since we brought home our newest addition.  If someone had asked me before she was born if I would have felt this rested, this relaxed, this calm at this point I would have said "no way."   But I am rested, relaxed and calm so much in fact that I had to say it in fear of jinxing it somehow.  In all honesty I feel more rested than I did when I only had one.  I remember how I slept most of Annabelle's first three months.  I have not had a nap during the day since Caroline was 2 weeks old.  Annabelle has only napped for me one time during the entire 2.5 months we have been off.  Caroline is a good napper, she is also a great night sleper.  She has slept through the night since we brought her home.  I have to get up before she does every morning and pump. I currently have almost 300 ounces of breastmilk in my freezer.  Luckily I found a deep freeze and it will be here Saturday.  Breastmilk stores for 6 months in those and only 3 in regular freezer plus I'm running out of room in the freezer for food.  My maternity leave will be over in 5 weeks and I dread it like the plague.  I start a new job and my girls start a new sitter.  I am not as nervous about either as I am about Annabelle's reaction to leaving me that first morning.  She NEVER cried for me EVER when I left her with Jennifer (the old sitter).  She has turned a little dramatic since the birth of Caroline so I think there will be tears from the both of us that first morning.  She will be fine as soon as I'm gone and I know that but it will still hurt like hell to leave her. 

I was anxious to see what kind of personality Caroline would have.  So far it is very similar to her sister's.  maybe she is a little more laid back than Annabelle.  I am actually able to lay or sit Caroline down for periods of time.  Sometime I couldn't do with Annabelle, she required constant holding.  I didn't mind but thought it would be harder to do that with this one and a 2 year old.  So far we have had zero problems.

Something I have been trying to prepare myself for is the developmental differences that may exist in the two.  Annabelle did a lot of things early and did them well.  She could talk in sentences before 15 months, potty trained at 2 (but daddy is just now letting her sleep in panties over night - silly man!), crawled at 6 and is just an overall intelligent child if I do say so myself.  The only thing she didn't do early but did on time was walk.  She did that three days after turning 1 - I blame myself and Jason for never letting her down.  All children are different and develop on a different schedule.  Just by what I have seen from Caroline so far she will develop the same if not faster in some areas such as crawling and walking.  Annabelle was very stought as an infant but Caroline it seems is stoughter. 

In the next 5 weeks I am really hoping that what is supposed to happen happens and I get to stay at home.  But this has been supposed to happen for months no so I'm not going to hold my breathe  There is absolutely nothing I want more than to stay home and care for my own babies.  If that were to happen and we are still financial secure there will be more Welch babies in the future :)

2 months!

To my beautiful Caroline on your second month of life!
     You have gained your weight back and then some.  You are now at 13 lbs and some ounces.  You are 23.5 ounces long.  Grew a full 1.5 inches in just the past month.  Still sleeping through the night, you sleep so good that momma has to get up in the mornings and pump.  You are warming up more and more to your daddy.  That makes him very happy.  Your sister is still rough as ever with you but we try to get her to leave you alone.  We have told her that when you are big enough you will get her back.  You don't mind though, you just give her a big grin when she is in your face.  Speaking of grinning you have a huge one. You are trying to talk to us mostly you just sound like a dinosaur but its so adorable.  You have full head control and we have started tummy time with you.  When we do that you try and crawl off.  I want you to grow but not that fast!  I want you to be a baby for just a little while.  Momma likes to do things with you in the Moby.  You are so snug inside of it that you normally fall asleep within just seconds.  We go to story time, the arboretum, picnics, parks, the aquarium and just walking in the neighborhood.  Everything says you are so cute :)  I love you baby girl :)

MOMMA!

1 month!

To my beautiful Caroline on your first month of life,
    You are an awesome baby.  You are able to self soothe (not cio), hardly ever cry, and most importantly you sleep through the night.  I am so blessed that you are my child.  Your sister loves you so much, maybe sometimes she loves you too much.  She is a little rough with you and we have to watch her.  Daddy gets onto her a little bit over it.  Speaking of daddy, you aren't quite sure of him yet.  You prefer momma but I guess most breastfeed babies do for the first little bit.  You are growing so well - you lost almost a pound in the hospital and have almost gained it back.  Mommas milk is fully in now and you enjoy nursing and being close to me.  You are such a stought baby.  Almost can already hold your head up, you try to jump out of our arms sometimes.  We have to hold you tight!  I could not ask for a better baby.  You have slept through the night since we brought you home from the hospital.  I have gotten so much more rest than I did with your sister. I can't wait for you to grow and be able to play with your sister, she wishes for it on a daily basis.  I love you little one.

MOMMA!

Caroline is here!

Caroline Tate was born Monday May 16th.  She weighed 9lbs and 9 ounces and was 20 inches long.  Oddily enough that is the same measurements as her sister.  My doctor has told me I am notorious at the hospita for big babies, whatever that means.  I have only had two, maybe I can see that if I had three or four which I am contemplating, ha! 
Caroline's birth story goes something like this -  but first a little background on my vbac situation.  My doctor was very against it, mostly due to the size of my first baby, the expected size of Caroline and the fact I had a c-section the first time.  All of which are nonsense in regards to having to have a second csection.  I can provide links but do not have the time at this moment.  She and I kind of argued back and forth.  She wanted to schedule my csection, I was not going to have that.  I didn't know the time of conception due to my cycles and for one thing did not want to risk that my baby was not as developed as she was expected to be.  Secondly I just personally would rather not schedule something like that.  Anyway, she gave me until May 18th (40 weeks) to go into labor on my own.  May 13th I saw another doctor at my doctors practice.  I was dilated to a three which gave me some hope on the vbac front.  May 15th - three days before my scheduled csection I start having contractions.  They are coming pretty fast, but I do not feel much pain.  As I was induced with Annabelle I never really had contractions and these were the same pain wise.  I thought about going to the hospital but I wanted to make SURE that they were real.  Anyway, they kept coming and would lengthen a little then start back within a few mins of one another.  Anyway, the next morning May 16th Jason goes to work and I stay home with Annabelle.  We cuddled for a little bit when we got up and I am thankful for that as it was the last time it would just be us.  The contractions were still going strong just not too painful.  I called the doctor thought she would want me to come in and just get checked to see if i had dilated anymore.  I felt sure I had, sadly I had not.  They have me come into the hospital and hook me up to the machines.  My doctor comes in and says we are having a baby either way that day.  Her attitude pretty much pissed me and Jason both off.  The nurses were wonderful, they knew that I wasn't sure I wanted to be there and they offered support if I were to leave.  I debated on it, we talked it over and just decided to go ahead with the csection that day.  I was given two time choices but by the time we had decided to go through with it both of those were filled. I laid around all day in the bed and was to the point I was tired of laying around.  I told the nurse if I had to wait much longer I was just going to go home.  Annabelle was excellent through all of it.  She is such a wonderful child :)  They finally rolled me back after 5 pm.  Jason had to wait until they were ready for me.  Once again the anesthesiologist was awesome.  I think he was a different guy than I had last time but just as good.  There were two doctors in this time both cutting on me.  It took a little longer since they had to go through scar tissue this time.  The smell of burnt flesh grossed both me and Jason out.  I guess I'm just impatient but it took forever to finally get her out.  When they did everyone in the room knew it, she screamed and screamed.  For whatever reason both Jason and I cried this time when we saw her.  We didn't with Annabelle, well I don't remember him doing so but he may have.  Of course they all started talking about her size but I thought she looked smaller.  Imagine my surprise when they call down and say she is the same size as her sister.  When Jason went with them to clean her up I got to stay and be stapled up.  That took forever too.  Then I went to recovery for just a little bit and they brought Caroline to me.  Annabelle was so excited - she loves her sister so much.  They told me later that she cried when she wasn't allowed to go in with her to watch her get weighed and bathed a little.  When Jason gave her to me she immediately started to nurse.  Latched right on just like her sister.  She changed so much in her looks while at the hospital. Some moments she looked just like Annabelle, others she just looked like herself and no one else.  She did have more hair than her sister, not a lot but more.  It was love at first sight for all of us :)

6 month check up

Last Friday I went in for my six month check up.  I saw my regular doctor this time, I hadn't seen her for three months. I have had reservations about my new doctor just because she isn't my old doctor.   I had wanted to transfer my care to an office with midwives and who knows I still might but I just felt different about this visit than any other.  I felt more comfortable with my doctor.  There are things I don't like, like for the fact we have discussed having a VBAC at every visit I have seen her but it was never put in the computer.  She said it is now, so that is a good thing.  She doesn't try to discourage it just says that she can'd induce me again which I already knew :)  I do think that if she suspects this baby is going to be big that she will push for a c-section.  Just because a baby is big is not a reason for a c-section.  My BP was 118/68 this time, last time it was 90/62 I think or maybe the top number was even lower.  I have normally low blood pressure to begin with and thankfully haven't had a problem with it either pregnancy.  My swelling is pretty much nonexistant this time around, I can actually still wear shoes!  At this time in my pregnancy with Annabelle I was slowly outgrowing regular tennis shoes but since it was warm and all I normally wear are flip flops that wasn't really a problem. What was a problem was when my feet wouldn't even fit in my crocs when I was 8 months pregnant. Over all this pregnancy has been so much different than my first.  We will see how I feel in four more months :)

News!

I realize I have neglected to put our news on the blog.  We are going to have another baby May 18th! We found out she will also be a little girl.  This pregnancy has been so much different than my first.  No sickness other than some heart burn, just a little nauseated every now and then.  I have been feeling this baby move since 15 weeks, I think. Jason was able to feel her at 17, we were able to feel her entire body at 18 pressing on my belly.  I have gained zero weight, you can barely tell that I am even pregnant.  If I wear maternity clothes it is obvious because they are made to show off the belly.  In regular clothes you can barely tell.  I've had zero swelling at this point, I had started swelling at 4 to 5 months with Annabelle. I am been incredibly lucky and blessed both pregnancies but this one has been such a breeze. I would love to do it again or even for a fourth time.  Especially if I knew it would be like this.  This baby sits in a different position than Annabelle did.  She puts pressure on organs or something and thumps me causing some pretty sharp pains sometimes.  At her 21 week ultrasound she was measuring at 1 lb and 2 ounces.  Annabelle measured 13 ounces at that time.  I wonder if she will be bigger as most of the time the second baby is but I kind of feel she may be smaller.  I guess my opinion on that might change the closer we get to May.  I can't tell if Annabelle is really that happy about having to share our affections with another baby.  Sometimes she is all mine mine mine and says she will not share with baby butt but other times she rubs my stomach and tells baby butt that she "loves her so much."  I guess we will see when she gets here.  I am looking forward to having two little girls to grow up together.  I enjoyed having my sister even if I did want to kill her at times :)