Baby Julia

Yesterday we had a visit from a little baby!

Avery's BFF from daycare (Josie) became a big sister right around Cassandra's birthday!  We hadn't gotten a chance to meet the new little baby yet, so last night they came by for some pizza!  Baby Julia is just over 2months old now but is still so tiny (about 10lbs!)!

Cassandra was obsessed with her-she was whining to touch her and I don't think she was very fond of me holding her. This was the first time she was around someone smaller than her and I think she was very intrigued by the whole thing! It was pretty funny!

This is the only pic I remembered to take while they were here-and it was just before they left!

Lisa, Cassandra, Julia and I

My Recovery

Now that Cassandra has been with us a few weeks,  I thought I would touch a little bit on my own recovery from the birth.

I will say that the recovery from a vaginal birth has been a cake walk compared to my c-section recovery!

In the hospital it was so weird for me to be able to get up and walk around less than an hour after giving birth. Once I was all stitched up, they had me get up and use the bathroom and move to the wheelchair so they could transfer us to our room. Once in our room, they had me up and using the bathroom immediately and I wasn't restricted from doing anything. The funny part? I kept thinking I couldn't move because of the delivery. I was afraid to get up and move around because I expected it to be like my c-section. My butt was sore from sitting in the same position for so long and my Mom was like "so roll over or get up and walk around" and to be honest, the thought never dawned on me to do those things because with Avery I couldn't! 

Of course this time around my pain was in a different spot-with my c-section it was my entire stomach and core area. This time it was my lady parts of course.  I'd say it took a good week or so for things to feel back to normal. It was uncomfortable and slightly painful at times, but Ibuprofen and ice really did help a lot. Sitting was uncomfortable for the first week, but now it's like nothing ever happened.  The only thing that's still not 100% is bowel movements-they are still painful at times even though I'm still taking stool softeners. I'm hoping that gets back to normal soon!

The one scare I had was when I got mastitis a week after having Cassandra.  And the big deal with that was that it made me nervous more than anything. Before the diagnosis, I was paranoid that my fever was because of something related to having the VBAC-I was afraid that it was something with my uterus-an infection or something....so that scared me more than anything. Even with that I wasn't in a lot of pain-it was more the fever that made me feel a little "off" at times.

I still was restricted from driving for two weeks (although I drove a week after having her) and wasn't supposed to lift more weight than the baby-which I did my best to follow. That was hard just because I still pick up Avery a lot. So it was hard telling her that I couldn't pick her up.  I'm also not supposed to take baths because of bacteria, which isn't a big deal to me.  I'll go to my OB at 6wks to get the "all clear" from them so hopefully things will go fine until then!

As for weight loss....I gained a total of 21 lbs (last I knew). As of today, I'm down 17lbs in two and a half weeks. I'm pretty surprised once again at how fast the weight came off. I'm sure it's mostly from breastfeeding and I will say that I've been eating like a pig these days so thankfully I'm burning off those extra calories or else I'd be in big trouble!  We'll see what happens with the weight now-after having Avery, I never got back down as low as I wanted to so we'll see if I get back to where I'd like to be. It was  just a few pounds that I hung onto, but it's still something! 

So those of you considering a VBAC, I highly suggest trying it! I never thought that the recovery would be so different, but it really is! I thought my c-section recovery wasn't bad, but this has been a breeze compared to that!

Week One

We have officially survived our first week as a family of four!

Gabe had the whole week off last week which was such a huge help!

Wednesday was coming home day (ironically on my actual due date)!  I can say that this time we were ready to come home! With Avery, we wanted to stay (and have help) as long as we could in the hospital, but this time we were ready to get out of there!  I missed being home with Avery and of course you don't really get much sleep while you're in the hospital because someone is in your room every hour or two to check on something!

So Wednesday late morning, we got packed up and ready to head home!

My Mom was convinced I was having a boy-hence the boyish outfit! I still love it!

With her hat and booties to keep her cozy!

I just had to get a shot of her little toes and hands. This girl has the longest fingers and toes I've ever seen!  Hopefully she'll use them for something good-future piano player?  And hopefully she grows into them a bit!

In her carseat and ready to go! She looks like a peanut in her carseat (versus Avery on coming home day!)!

Avery and my Mom were waiting for us when we got home! Avery immediately wanted to show Cassandra all of her toys and play with her!

Sorry it's turned!

And the big sister wanted to hold the baby as well. I somehow missed this happen-I think I was taking a nap. But look at that girl's face! Could she be any happier?! I guess while she was holding her, she sang to her as well. Gabe recorded it and I watched it later-yes I bawled my eyes out!

Our first night home went well. It took Avery a little longer to get to bed at night because of all of the excitement. Cassandra did well overnight-woke up every 2.5 hours or so to eat then back to sleep.

Thursday we sent Avery to daycare like usual. Gabe did some running around during the day and I was home with the little one. Took a little nap and just relaxed most of the day.

Thursday night was hell. Gabe and I got a total of one hour of sleep! Yes, ONE hour!  Cassandra was in some funk where she'd get up to eat then would fall asleep. We'd put her down in her crib and 10min later she'd be up again acting like she was starving-she was "rooting" like crazy!  This happened all.night.long.  We tried giving her a pacifier and she would take it randomly, but not for long.  Then the kicker? Avery decided to wake up at 5am and so Gabe went in to be with her and it took a few hours to get her back to sleep.

Let's just say that Friday was a very rough day! Avery was miserable from being so tired (yet still didn't take a nap!) and Gabe and I were like zombies all day long!

Cassandra had a checkup at her doctor's that morning.  Everything looked great! When she was discharged, her weight had dropped to 6lbs. 3oz and on Friday, she was up to 6lbs. 8oz! So that was good news!  She was a great patient-didn't cry once the entire time! And Avery brought along her doctor kit to play along during the check up as well. She'll be going back in another 2 weeks for a routine check up.

Here's a cute picture of her from Friday:

Friday night went a little better than Thursday night. Cassandra was up every 2.5-3 hours and some of the time she took longer to fall back asleep. We definitely got more than one hour of sleep though-more like 5 or 6....enough to be functional!
Saturday we went and got our carseats installed at a local fire station. The one fireman let Avery look in the fire trucks and everything-she had a blast!  After, we stopped by Gabe's parents' house so that they could meet Cassandra! 5 days later and she finally got to meet them! It just happened that when we showed up, all of the Aunts and Uncles were there too so they all got to meet her! It was a very nice visit. 

Cassandra did great Saturday night-I think I somehow got 7-8 hours of sleep! I felt like a new woman! When she would eat, she'd go right back to sleep every time! Good girl! Now if only it would stay that way!

Sunday I decided to take her first monthly photos (the hat courtesy of the hospital):

My Dad came out around noon to visit for a few hours. We had lunch and they got to eat up the baby and Avery.  Doesn't she look ridiculously small in his hands?!

Papa and his girls

After my Dad left, we decided to give both girls a bath since they were way overdue for one!  I gave Cassandra hers and Gabe did Avery's. Since her cord is still intact, we just did a sponge bath on our bed on a few big towels. She screamed her way through it but I think it was because she was cold (despite me covering her up and just washing parts at a time). But boy do I love a clean, soft baby!

Soapy head

All clean!

Gabe went back to work today which bums me out. It was so nice having him home. Avery went to daycare so at least I only have to take care of Cassandra today. My Mom will be coming out tonight and spending the week with us. It'll be nice to have another set of hands around here for a few more days!!

....Is Now a Family of Four

We knew this past weekend was our last weekend as a trio, but we had no idea that Sunday really was our last day as a family of three. I truly thought I'd last until my scheduled c-section on the 27th. I had the week planned out in my head-work my usual shifts and a special Mommy/Avery day on my day off Wednesday. 

Well, someone had other plans for us!

Here's our story.....

Sunday night we went to bed gearing up for work on Monday. I went to bed around 10pm like usual. 

I woke up around 3:30am to use the bathroom (big surprise when you're pregnant!), got back in bed and realized that the baby wasn't moving much. This was pretty unusual since normally when I get out of bed then get back in bed, the baby would be very active. So of course my mind starts racing and I start to worry something is wrong.

I couldn't fall back asleep and then at 4:30 I had a shooting pain across my back that was very familiar. My doc had told me on Friday that she thought the baby was posterior like Avery was and that I'd probably have a lot of  back labor again. As soon as I felt that pain, I knew what it was. I'm sorry, but you never forget that type of pain!

I just stayed in bed waiting to see if anything would happen again and sure enough, about 12 minutes later, I felt it again. I decided to come downstairs and get my iPhone. I downloaded a contraction timer right on the spot to keep track of things. I had another contraction while downstairs then headed back up to bed.

Around 5am, Gabe was semi-awake so I told him I was having contractions. We debated what to do since they were still about 12 minutes apart.

My Mom gets up for work at 5:30am so I knew she would be awake then. She wanted to drive in from Buffalo for the birth so I decided to call her right at 5:30.  Of course she said she'd be on her way ASAP! I ended up calling my Dad too (also in Buffalo) but knew it might be hard for him to get out of work so quickly that day. He told me to keep him posted and if things progressed, he'd try to head out here.

Around 6am my contractions were a little closer-around 8 minutes apart. We both decided to get in the shower real quick in anticipation of having to leave soon. By the time I got out of the shower, they were coming about 6 minutes apart and getting a little more painful.

As I continued getting ready and packing last minute things in my bag, the contractions were around 5 minutes apart. I decided to call the doctor's office and see what they suggested. It was now 7am and we decided to wake up Avery and get her to daycare. I felt awful waking her since we usually let her sleep until she wakes on her own (around 8-830) but we thought it was the best thing to do.

My doctor called me back shortly after 7am and asked how I was doing. I told her the contractions were about every 5 minutes but they weren't super painful. She told me to head to the hospital but that it wasn't a huge rush. She was more concerned about my prior c-section and the risks involved with that.

My Mom showed up at our house around 7:15 and all of a sudden I was like "we need to get going." I could tell the intensity was picking up and knew we had a drive ahead of us. We had to drop Avery off at daycare and then get to the hospital-we were looking at a good half hour in the car.

Let's just say the car ride was horrible. My contractions were coming roughly every 3-4 minutes and were really bad. It was all back labor too. The best way to describe it (sorry this will be TMI) is it feels like you have to have a bowel movement rightnow and you're trying to hold it in. Multiply that times 10 and that's how I felt. Needless to say I was basically climbing out of the passenger seat with each contraction and pounding my fist on the door of the car (yes it's comical to think of now!).

And the worst part? We hit rush hour traffic! It never crossed my mind but there were times we were in a stand still and I was not a happy camper at all. I think by the end of the car ride, my contractions were closer to 3 minutes apart.

So we drop off Avery then head to the hospital-of course I'm still climbing out of the chair and pounding my fist on the door. Gabe called the hospital and asked for a wheelchair to be waiting for us. That was a fun ride too (NOT!). As they're pushing me towards the elevator, one of the doctors from my practice (who I happened to see quite a bit for my appointments) walked by and was like "Hey! Looks like something is going on here! I won't go too far!" (My doctor was on call all weekend and her on call ended at 8am so she did tell me this doctor would be the one on call today). 

We got up to the check in desk and it was now 8am.

They took me to triage and had me change into a gown (seriously-I can't even sit still and you want me to change my clothes?!). A doctor came by to check me and I was 5cm dilated.

The doctor said "So I see you had a prior c-section. Were you going to go for the VBAC or do a repeat c-section?" I was in so much pain that I was just like "I don't care just get it out!" Then they told me that either way it would be at least another 20 minutes to get things started. And I cried saying "I can't wait that long! I can't do it!" And of course they told me I really had no choice at that point and that they were going to call anesthesia about an epidural.

I have no idea how much time passed, but it wasn't long. I all of a sudden felt like I had to push and I told them that. Next thing I know I'm wheeled to another room (a labor/delivery room) and they want me to get out of bed and get into another bed (again, seriously?!). The same doctor came and checked me and told me I was already at 7cm.

I still had a very strong urge to push and they kept yelling at me not to because it wasn't safe. That was the hardest thing ever. I was lying on my side death gripping the bed rails and just moaning/screaming in pain with every contraction. I remember being very hot and very thirsty-they kept giving me cold washcloths for my forehead and Gabe was giving me water throughout. I kept telling them I had to push and so they checked me again-I was 8.5cm.

They were going to give me Nubain to help with the pain since they didn't know how long anesthesia would take. but for some reason I hadn't gotten it yet. At one point, I heard a doctor ask the nurse, "Did you give her the Nubain?" and the nurse said, "No, I haven't had time." What the hell the nurse was doing, I have no idea! 

Anyways, the anesthesiologist comes up and starts to rattle off some long list of garbage-I didn't hear a word she was saying as I was writhing in pain. Gabe was answering all of her questions and I was just like "Just give it to me!"

Again I told them I had to push and they checked me-9.5cm! At that point they were like, "Sorry, we can't give you anything right now for the pain." I started to cry again (I should say I tried to cry-I was crying but no tears were coming out-maybe from it being so dry in there?). I went through a few more contractions and they decided it was time for me to push (THANK YOU!).

And let me tell you that pushing is not as easy as you would think. There's way too many things to think about....legs out to the side and relaxed, elbows out, chin to chest, push down and not with your face. Yeah, try doing that 3-4 times every 2 minutes or so!

At some point the doctor from my practice showed up-I have no idea if I was already pushing or what, but she did show up. I pushed roughly a half hour and we sort of ended up like I did with Avery-they could see a very small part of the head with each push, but nothing was really happening. I remember saying to Gabe, "I can't do this anymore! I'm so tired." and of course he was like "Yes, you can do it!" When I spoke to my doctor in the morning, she had told me that I got to call the shots as for how long I wanted to push. Basically she said if I hit a half hour and nothing was happening to elect for the c-section. She didn't want me as fatigued as I was with Avery's birth. So at this point, Gabe said to the docs, "Her doctor said to push for a half hour and that's it-if it's not going to happen, we just want the c-section."  The doctor from my practice was basically like, "I really think you can push the baby out-if I didn't think you could, I'd call it but I really think you can do this. I think what we'll do is help you out a bit and use forceps."

So, the forceps went in (yep, not comfortable, especially when they tell you not to push when you're having a contraction) and they said on the next set of contractions that I could push. So I pushed my little heart out and yes there was a lot of pain. They say without meds it feels like a "ring of fire" when the baby crowns and they are right. It felt like someone lit a match to my nether regions for a few seconds.  The only thing I remember is saying "Oh my God it HURTS!" (which Gabe told me after that that's when he thinks I tore a bit).

With a few pushes, I looked down and there was the baby in my doctor's hands! I saw them cut the cord (they had to do it since the baby had a bowel movement inside), then the baby got whisked away to be checked.

She was born at 9:46am. So if you're keeping track, my labor started at 4:30am, I got to the hospital at 8am, the nurse told me I went from 5cm-10cm in 40 minutes and ended up pushing for roughly an hour. Yep, very fast labor...5 hours from start to finish!

After about a minute I was like "wait, what is it?" and the nurse shouted "It's a girl!" I started to not cry again and looked at Gabe and said "Avery was right, that little shit!" and the doctors laughed at me!

At this point they started putting me back together-delivered the placenta (painful again) then I had to get stitches (yep, more pain at times). Because of the forceps, I had almost a 3rd degree tear so it took them a good half hour to get me all sewn up. Gabe got to hold the little peanut and brought her over to see me. I got to hold her once I was all put back together and of course we were immediately in love!

I will say that 99% of the time I was in my own little world. From the time we got to the hospital and through most of the delivery I was just in a zone.  I remember at one point near the end of pushing, I had my eyes closed and just saw darkness and I asked God for help. I'm not a very religious person, but sometimes there's a time and a place for it and I felt it in that moment.

 Gabe was obviously by my side and such a great coach but I think I only looked at his face once and I'm sure it was to cry about something!  I remember squeezing the life out of his hands and wringing the chest of his shirt several times, but really, I was zoned out (sorry honey!). I will say that there was no way I could have gone through all of this without him. I wanted to throw in the towel numerous times, but he kept talking me through it and all I can say is I did it!! I never expected to have a VBAC, let alone a med-free VBAC! I've heard of people doing it, but it never crossed my mind that it would be me.

So, without further ado.....

Please meet Cassandra Grace! Born Monday, January 23rd at 9:46am. She weighed in at 6lbs 10oz and was 19" long.

First photo!

6lbs 10oz

The new addition!

My Mom and the peanut

Proud Grandpa

After Avery got out of daycare, Gabe brought her by for a quick visit. Of course I was nursing her when she got there so I don't think she knew how to react at first.

Avery entering the room

After a few minutes she said "I want to see the baby!" and climbed up on my bed and wanted to touch her and look at her.

Big sister

Our family of 4

All swaddled up!

My Mom and Dad of course were there for the birth. Gabe's parents unfortunately couldn't be there. His Dad recently had surgery so they had to stay home. Of course they got a phone call right away but we missed having them there!

Our friends Richie and Julie stopped by in the evening to meet the little peanut:

And that was the end of day 1!

(I also realized that I never got a belly pic before leaving the house so I don't have any proof of how big I was! I was a little pre-occupied at the time!)

T Minus 1 Week....

In one week from now, we will have another baby.

One week.

Yes, it could be earlier than that, but no matter what, in one week he/she will be here with us.

I can't wrap my head around it.

Today I took Avery to my doctor's appointment-the last one she'll be accompanying me to. In fact, my doctor told me I could cancel next week's appointment since I'm scheduled for the c-section on Friday. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to-if I should go or skip it. So, today  might have been my last check up.

Then I took Avery to our last story time before baby.

And we're gearing up for our last weekend as a family of three.

It's weird having an end-day in sight. It's hard to explain, but it's just a weird feeling.

Physically we're ready-the room is as ready as it's going to get at this point. I want to put up shelves, but we don't even have any yet so I know that's not going to happen anytime soon.  Baby's laundry is done and clothes are put away. My hospital bag is packed and pretty much ready to go. Bottles, etc have been cleaned and put away in the cupboards.  My body is ready to be done-just not comfortable lately and ready to have this baby out.

Mentally I don't think we're ready. Can you ever be?!

It's a weird mix of emotions this time around. Of course we're excited to meet this baby (and know what it is!) and have it in our lives. I'm nervous about how Avery is going to do with the whole transition-with me not being home a few days, adjusting to the baby, etc. And part of me is sad that these are the last few days that my baby girl will be just that-my baby girl. Yes, she'll always be my baby, but she'll now be sharing the spotlight with another. She won't be getting 100% of the attention on her now which will be a change for everyone. And of course I already feel bad for #2 because he/she will never ever have 100% of the spotlight like Avery did. I also am nervous about the whole newborn stage again. It feels like forever ago that Avery was a newborn and honestly I don't remember it much (hello sleep deprivation?!). It'll be hard getting used to sleepless nights again and really not being able to nap this time around since Avery doesn't really nap anymore.

It's going to be an adjustment, that's for sure.

I have a week (at most) to prepare for it....

Last Date Night

Last night, Gabe and I went on our last date night before the baby's arrival.

I had a gift card to use at the Melting Pot, so that is where we went.

Dinner was very good. I opted not to do the whole 4 course thing and instead just got the cheese fondue and chocolate fondue along with a salad. Gabe did order an entree, but said afterward that next time he probably won't-we were just too full at the end of the meal! 

It was very nice and relaxing and we were in a very secluded table so it was like we were the only ones in the restaurant. It was nice getting a break and just enjoying each other's company. I know in just a few short weeks that we won't get much of that anymore! 

And a special thank you to my Mom for coming out and babysitting for us! We appreciate it!

Names

So now that we're officially in the month and year of our baby's birth, we have to get crackin' and think of some names!

We're pretty set with a boys' name since when we had Avery we didn't know what we were having. Luckily the boy name we picked out then is still our top boy name so we don't have to think of that at all. Of course I'm not sharing just in case ;)

Girl names however, we're stumped.

Since we have an Avery, we want a name somewhat along the same lines-not too plain-Jane and not too "out there" weird. It's hard thinking of something that fits along those lines that flows well with our last name, etc.

And I think Gabe and I have different tastes when it comes to names. He tends to gravitate towards more traditional names where I tend to gravitate towards more uncommon names. I think I have a list of about ten names and I don't think he really cares for any of them!  And I can say that some that he has suggested I haven't been to fond of either. 

We do have a few girl names that we're tossing around, but are still unsure-definitely a work in progress! I think if it ends up being a girl, she might be nameless longer than Avery was!

Welcome Baby Leigha!

We went to Buffalo yesterday so that I could see a new bundle of joy!

My friend Megan and her husband, Todd (and big brother Noah) welcomed a new addition to their family on Thursday!

Welcome baby Leigha Reese! She was 6lb 12oz and 20.5" long.

And what a peanut! I totally forget how tiny newborns are and she was almost a pound and a half less than what Avery weighed! She seemed so small to me!

I went up to visit them at the hospital-all was going well and they were looking forward to going home in the next day or two!

Here's Leigha and I:

Precious girl! I loved the hat the hospital gave her!

Congratulations Megan and Todd!!

Welcome Baby Brayden!

Yesterday our friends Julie and Richie welcomed their second child into the world! It just happened that I had to work today (my usual day off) so my Mom came in last night to watch Avery. Since she was here, we had her watch Avery for a little bit so we could sneak up to the hospital to see the new addition!

Brayden Alan was born August 3rd at 7:16am. He weighed in around 7 1/2 lbs. He seemed so tiny to me-it's hard to remember Avery being that little....you just forget so fast how small they really are!

Big sister Carly was so excited about her brother. She kept walking around pointing to him and saying "my baby brother". It was so cute!

Here's Carly holding him:

Of course I had to hold the peanut!

Gabe even decided to hold him!

First family photo:

Congratulations Julie, Richie, and Carly! Happy Birthday Brayden!!

A Visit From Cousins!

Today we had some visitors!

My cousins Joe, Eileen and Giada were in town from Florida for vacation. They are spending most of their week in Buffalo, but Joe's Mom recently moved about 20min away from our house. So when they came out here to visit my Aunt, they decided to stop by and visit us as well which was nice! The last time we saw them was when we went to Florida back in March (right when Giada was born!). Now she's almost 4 months old already and she has changed quite a bit!

She enjoyed Avery's playmat:

I don't know what Avery thought about her. She kept pointing to her and saying "ba ba" for baby. It was cute. Of course she has no idea what being gentle means-she just wanted to grab at her and go to town! Gabe was holding Giada for awhile and Avery wanted to keep touching her! Here she is checking things out:

Gabe and Giada:

My Mom came out late in the afternoon for a visit as well and she got her before Joe headed out so she got to meet her new neice!

Avery was all about giving her kisses too...so sweet!

They stayed for a few hours and we enjoyed some Wegman's subs for lunch and relaxed and caught up a bit. It was a nice time and great to see them and their new addition! The little ones change so much the first year so it's nice to get and see them at different stages. I'm sure the next time we see them Giada will be about as big as Avery is now! That's crazy to think!

Cousins

Joe, Eileen, and Giada were nice enough to make a trip to visit us before we had to leave for home. It was their first big outing with the baby so we appreciate that they came out just to see us again!

Giada slept a good portion of the time:

Avery and Bianca were sharing some hugs:

Attempting to wake Giada for a meal:

Avery checking out things with Joe:


Owen:

Bianca playing:

Proud new Daddy!!

It was great getting the chance to see Joe, Eileen, and Giada again! We usually only see them a few times a year so it's good to catch up whenever we can! Thanks again for coming by!!