Our Little Miracle

So I've been meaning to get on here for a while now (ummm...like a week, haha) but as you can imagine, life at our house has been a little crazy! So here it is, Charlotte's story:

I had gone to the doctor the Friday before she was born and she told me I was (finally) dilated about 1.5 cm so we went ahead and scheduled an induction for Wednesday the 20th. She warned me that that weekend was a full moon though so I might come in sooner. I blew that off and Timothy and I spent all of Saturday doing his favorite things since I knew at that point that that would be our last weekend as a family of three. We had orange rolls for breakfast and we played outside and went to the mall (he loves the kids play area there) and then we went down to the Tacoma waterfront and he threw rocks in the water and that night we took him to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. He had a blast.

That night, we had a huge thunderstorm, which is really really rare for Washington, so I was up all night waiting for Timothy to wake up and be scared and I noticed that Charlotte was being unusually active as well. Then, about 5:30 that morning, my water broke. I called Labor and Delivery at the hospital and they told us to come on in so of course, I took a shower and shaved my legs while Brandon packed up the car and we waited for my parents to come over to stay with Timothy. I'm told he was very happy to see Grammy and Grumpy and Tyler when he woke up and I don't think it bothered him one bit that mommy and daddy weren't there.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, they checked me said I was still only at 1.5 and only 30% and the baby was a -3 so I knew we were in for a long day. They unhooked me from all the monitors and told us to go walk around the hospital for an hour and come back. We did that twice and finally I was so tired from being up all night and walking for two hours that I had to lay down. They moved us into a room and we were there for the next almost 12 hours. I did everything I could to make that baby drop, I walked, rocked, bounced, prayed...you name it, I tried it! They started me on pitocin around noon and by 4:30 I was begging for an epidural...they got it in around 5:00 and it helped for all of maybe half an hour...by the time my mom got there I was in some serious pain and ready to push...I don't know how long I pushed for, but thankfully she came quickly and before I knew it she was laying on my belly and I finally got to see my baby girl.

I have to say...Brandon and my mom handled it extremely well...I had never been in so much pain and I know it was scary for them and they were so great, I couldn't ask for better coaches!! That room was so crowded (we had my doctor, two residents, two nurses and then the three of us) and everyone in there was so supportive and helpful - except one nurse that kind of freaked out for a minute when she couldn't find Charlotte's heartbeat, but I was thinking, hello...she's on her way out, you're checking for a heartbeat too high up!! My prayers were truly answered though and I am so blessed to have this little girl.

Life at our house has been pretty fun, we spent the first couple days going to see the pediatrician and the lactation nurse and we made a trip to Target. We went to church Sunday morning and everyone there was happy to see her. Timothy is adjusting surprisingly well...he pretty much ignores her, but every now and then he wants to "touch it" but he's very gentle with her. Brandon has been great about spending time with him playing baseball and walking with him while he rides his bike.

Charlotte is doing great, she's a good sleeper so far and she's eating great. She's so funny, she makes the funniest faces and she's just so darn cute I can barely stop looking at her. I still don't know who she looks like, but I'm sure once she fills out a little more we'll be able to tell more. She has the skinniest legs and ankles I can't keep any socks on her feet, but she's so long, she actually fills out a couple outfits...she is pretty fun to dress up though, I wish it would warm up a little more here though, she has so many cute little dresses and short sleeved outfits, I don't know if she'll be able to wear them all before it really gets cool.

I'm doing just fine too, still sore and all, but not too bad. Timothy is going to daycare three days a week so I'm getting plenty of time to rest. It feels weird not going to work, but trust me, I'm ok with it :) And my mom has been so great bringing us meals and taking Timothy to church last Wednesday night, it's been such a huge help. She took care of him while we stayed in the hospital and I think Timothy has grown quite attached to his Grammy now! My parents brought him to see us last Monday night after they had dinner and when it was time for them to go he just grabbed their hands and said, "my Grammy, my Grumpy...bye bye!!"

Anyway, I'm sure there's much more I'm leaving out that I'll want to remember someday, but I'll just have to blog about it later...here's some new pictures!

Brandon said she looks like "such a girl" in this picture

Heading out to see the pediatrician

Timothy and my mom hung some balloons outside our house and he kept one inside to play with...this is him hitting it in the air and watching to see where it will land

The car seat head slump...I've tried everything to fix it...nothing's working yet

First sponge bath

I love it how they sleep all curled up like a little ball...but I can't believe that something that big was inside of me just barely a week ago!

Waving hello...isn't she cute?


Sleeping in the bouncer



This is what happens when boys play too hard and skip their naps...they fall asleep right before dinner (and then Timothy decided to sleep at the dinner table as well)


She makes this face a lot, I think it's so funny!

Pretty girl all dressed up for church...this is the chair we used to take pictures of Timothy in each month to see how much he had grown his first year so now it's been changed to pink and we'll see how Charlotte grows!

Our children...such sweet blessings!