Drawing a line in the sand

To borrow a line from my husband Billy, I'm drawing a line in the sand....with my photography. From this point on, I'm going to do a project. I've noticed a lot of my friends doing a "365" or a 52 week project. Well, I'm going to do an A-Z project. I got my idea from Digital Photography School. I'm going to try...no, I'm going to do it weekly! I'd like to do it both ways described on the website.

Doing these projects are supposed to make help you with your photography skills. I've had a lot of practice shooting Caroline lately, but there are only so many photos you can take of a cute little girl before it becomes redundant....VERY REDUNDANT! I would switch subject, but Conner is a little hard to catch.

So, here's to (hopefully) improving my photography skills!

She's starting early!

Caroline has already started rolling. She's not quite 3 months old yet. She'll be 12 weeks in two days (Wednesday, November 25, 2009).
I had put her down on her play mat to play while I go to the bathroom. While I was in there I heard her start crying and thought that she was just being fussy. When I came out of the bathroom her cry was muffled a little bit. When I came back to the living room, I saw she had rolled over onto her tummy. I can't believe she's done this so early!

Caroline's Birth Story

*I can’t believe I’ve waited over a month to write this down. I guess it’s because having more than one child makes you so much busier than when you have just one.

Wednesday started very early. Well, I guess technically Tuesday never ended. I didn’t get to sleep until about 1:00 am and had to be up at 3:30 to get ready and be at the hospital by 5.

We left the house by 4:45 and got the hospital right at 5. I checked into the ER because of it being so early. Then, Billy and I walked up to Labor and Delivery. I got into my room and the nurse asked the standard questions and let me change into my lovely gown. After I was settled into my bed my cervix was checked by another nurse. When she checked me she rammed her fingers into my cervix. It felt like she got a running start from across the room. I remember grabbing the sides of the bed because of how much it hurt. I had never been checked so harshly. I was 2 ½ centimeters dilated.

Then, my IV was started at 5:30. Before my meds were given to me, my blood was drawn. When they drew my blood, it gushed down my hand. I don’t’ know why, but I didn’t realize that blood was that warm. It felt like someone had peed on my hand! I was a little grossed out by the feeling of the blood running down my hand.

After my blood was drawn, my meds were given to me. I had to have penicillin because I had tested positive for Group B Strep. The nurse said it might sting going in, but it didn’t. It CRAMPED! It cramped any time my arm was below my head. So, I laid in the bed with my left arm above my head. I even had to go to the bathroom with my hand above my head which was real interesting!

My pitocin was started at the same time was the penicillin. Contractions soon followed, but weren’t too bad. I could actually handle them by breathing through them. I was surprised at myself because with Conner I only had 3 or 4 c contractions before Billy asked for my epidural for me. I was frustrated though because I was having contractions. I could feel them, but they weren’t showing up on the monitor!

Dr. Wells came in around 8:30 to break my water which was earlier than the 9:00 time he said would be there. Boy, was that an experience! It hurt so badly, which was something I didn’t remember from my labor with Conner. He had to try several times to break my water. He first used the hook. He tried and tried, but said Caroline was tucked to the side. He then tried with a fetal probe and still couldn’t break it. The whole time he’s trying to break my water; I’m unintentionally pushing him with my feet. After he tried with the fetal probe he took a break, which I was very thankful for! During the break, I went ahead and asked for my epidural and my nurse called the anesthesiologist and he was on his way up. Dr. Wells then was going to try with the hook again, but Caroline decided to break the water herself (and Mommy is forever grateful for that…lol) I was about 3 ½ centimeters at this time.

Of course after my water was broken the contractions were more intense and it was too long before the anesthesiologist came in to save the day. He asked Billy to step out while he did the procedure. I still don’t understand why Billy was asked to leave, but I wasn’t going to question anything if it was going to delay me getting my epidural! After my epidural was put in, the left side of my body was totally numb, but the right side wasn’t. It wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t as numb as the left side of my body. I could still feel the contractions on the lower right side of my abdomen.

I was checked again around 11:00 and was about 5 cm. After that, I relaxed and let the pitocin do its job. I was checked again around 12 and was 9 cm. My MIL was the first to come back into the room after they checked me and I told her I was at 9. She then went to go get Conner from school so he could be there when Caroline was born. Soon after, I started pushing. I pushed 3 or 4 times and she started crowning. I had to stop pushing to wait for my doctor to get there. While we were waiting, I asked for the mirror. I didn’t use the mirror with Conner, but I’m glad I did with Caroline. It gave me something to focus on and helped me have more productive pushes. When Dr. Wells got into the room, I only had to push 3 times before she was out.

She came out with her hand on her face which is where she liked to keep it apparently because that’s where it was during her ultrasounds too. I tore when she came out, but not in the place most people tear. I tore up top. I thought it would be worse, but it actually was better. I didn’t have any pain post partum like I did with Conner. Dr. Wells had to give me a couple of stitches, but that was it.

She weighed 7lbs. 1oz. (all the nurses thought she would weigh more!) and was 20 ¼ inches long.

I was so happy too because Billy was able to stay with me the whole time and wasn’t sick like he was with Conner.

After Caroline was cleaned up and we spent some time with her, Billy went to get Conner to see his sister for the first time. It was love at first sight for him! I fell in love with Conner all over again when I saw how much he adored his baby sister. We gave him the gift from Caroline and he opened it, but before he opened it he asked, “How did she carry that?” It was precious! I loved being able to have some private family time with just us four.

36 week appointment

Today was my 36 week appointment. We started out doing a weight check and amniotic fluid check through ultrasound. The amniotic fluid checked out great and Caroline weighs approximately 6 lbs. We also verified that she is still in fact a girl! I was glad because a couple of weeks ago I wanted to refer to her as a him! I don't know if it was a dream I had or what, but I'm over that now, thank goodness!

I found out that I lost 2 lbs since last week, but Caroline gained 1lb. I also found out that my Group B Strep test came back positive. I was bummed about that b/c I didn't want to have to have the antibiotics during labor. My group B strep came back negative with Conner and there was only a 15% chance of it coming back positive with Caroline (according to Dr. Wells.) I asked Billy why I couldn't I be lucky and be the small %age that wins the lottery! But, I guess you'd have to actually play the lottery to win, huh?

35 week update

Went to the doctor yesterday. I've started going every week now. Last week I went and Caroline's heart rate wasn't as fast as Dr. Wells would have liked it. It was in the low 120's- to uppper 110's. He wanted to me to do a Non-Stress test. (Woohoo!) I had quite a few with Conner and was wondering when they would start this pregnancy.

Luckily after being on the machine for about 20 minutes everything looked fine. I also had an ultrasound to make sure the amniotic fluid was still where it needed to be and it was. We did get to see Caroline has a lot of hair. :)

This week I went back and had gained 1lb. and did another NST which showed everything was fine. I made sure to eat plenty for breakfast! Last week I had only at a little bowl of cereal. This week I ate a bowl of cereal and had a smoothie on the way down there. Dr. Wells checked me and I am already dilated 1 centimeter.

Next week, I will have another NST and another ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid.

Getting baby stuff!

I'm so excited! We are finally getting baby stuff. It all started Friday when Caroline's bed came. Conner and I had gone to eat supper over at my family's house because Billy was gone to Montgomery for a training class with Toastmasters. We got back to our house around 10:00 (yep, gonna win Mother of the Year Award for keeping my child out that late...lol) and her bed was on the front poarch. I kept looking at it and luckily my neighbor saw me b/c they had just gotten in too and told me I better not thinking about trying to move it myself. :) She helped me slide it in the house where it stayed until Sunday when Billy, Conner and I put it together.

Monday her car seat came from Albee Baby. It's so cute I love it! It's very cushiony (I know not a word). It seems more "cushiony" than Conner's was.

Yesterday, I got a replacement lens for my camera since the other one broke. I know that wasn't "baby stuff" news, but it was a delivery and I'm just as happy about that news too. Now, I can actually take pictures of Conner's t-ball games. I would have liked to have it last week during soccer camp, but it didn't get here in time.

Today, Caroline's changing table and the quilt for her bedding came. We got the changing table from Babies R Us. We got the quilt from Pottery Barn Kids. I ordered bumper pads too, but they are on back order until September 1. That's not a big deal though because Caroline will be sleeping in a bassinet in our room for the first couple of weeks (months..lol) anyway.

I've been so proud of Conner! From the moment we found out we were expecting he has been excited! He knew Caroline was going to be a girl and was very excited when we got the confirmation. He has been SUPER excited when we get deliveries. Especially when we come home and they are on the front porch. I hope the excitement continues after she gets here.

That should be it for the deliveries from UPS and Fed Ex. I guess the next big delivery we get will be the arrival of Miss Caroline Faith! :)

The latest

Since I haven't posted in about 2 months, I figured I'd go ahead and post what's going on...
Caroline is definitely getting bigger! My stomach is proof. Her movements are becoming stronger. I just hope this doesn't mean she's going to be an "active" baby. I hope her infancy is as layed back as Conner's was (without all the spitting up). If not, we'll just go with the flow.
At 28 weeks (June 18) we had a 3D ultrasound done to see our precious Caroline. Here's what we got to see: