Sisters

Cuddling a new baby is fantastic.  They're so cute with their little fingers and toes.  I love the funny faces Baby#2 makes and the adorable noises...

But seeing MiniM.E. with the baby almost brings tears to my eyes.  They are so sweet together.

Our First Week at Home...

With a new baby...

There has definitely been a lot less sleeping than usual.  A lot more crying than usual.  And a lot of change.

But there have also been a lot more cuddles and kisses and smiles.  All of us are so happy to have a baby in the house.

MiniM.E. is a great helper and is so excited to have Baby#2 be a part of everything she does.  There are times when there are a few more tears from MiniM.E. than as she adjusts to having to share our attention, but she certainly hasn't been taking it out on the baby-- HER baby.

It's been just over a week, and Baby#2 has stolen all of our hearts.

Coming Home

After two nights in the hospital, I was definitely ready to go home.  Even though I started the process at 7am, we were still waiting at the hospital at 1... 

MiniM.E., Daddy and Gram came to pick us up.  While we were waiting there were lots of cuddles... 

And of course we had to put Baby#2 in her coming home outfit...

Now that we are home we are adjusting to our new addition.  MiniM.E. is so in love with Baby#2 and wants to hold her and help with everything all the time.  It is adorable to see my girls together.  MiniM.E. can't wait until Baby#2 starts sleeping a little less though- she is always eager to wake her up to change a diaper or pick out a new outfit or show her something she's doing.

 She is a great helper- always bringing diapers and wipes and holding Baby#2's hands when she doesn't like diaper changes.  She was beyond excited to wash her this morning and did a great job cleaning her gently.  If this keeps up Baby#2 will be the easiest baby ever because MiniM.E. will take care of her for me!

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?

MiniM.E., Proud Big Sister

Compared to MiniM.E., having Baby#2 was easy... Bob and my sister did a great job helping me through it though there are probably some residual bruised hands, and it was so nice to be in postpartum recovery with Baby#2 instead of in the ICU.  

so in love

Hi Daddy!

Hi Auntie Jen!

Almost as exciting as having a baby was getting to see MiniM.E. when she came to visit Tuesday.  It was the first time I'd been away from her overnight.  I guess she didn't suffer much since she slept through the whole thing and was so excited to meet her baby sister when she woke up in the morning.

Hi Mom, enough with the hugs- where's the baby?!

so proud to be a big sister

hi Gram!

hi Grumpy!

kisses

It was sad when MiniM.E. had to go home, and Bob left to be with her for the night.  It was a little lonely (though its hard to be lonely with all the nurses and doctors that have to check in on you and the baby every 5 minutes) but it was nice to spend some quality Mommy-Baby time.

So happy to be a family of four!

Welcome Baby#2!

Woke up Monday.  Felt fine.  Went shopping in Albany.  Hung around.  Waited… 

3:30: Started to feel some contractions.  Didn’t get too excited because it already happened a few times and always stopped.

4:30: Contractions feel more like I remember labor.  Called Bob.  Let him know this might be it and could he come home on time.

5:30: Decide this is probably it and I don’t want to eat dinner.  

6:30: We should probably go to the hospital.  Contractions are closer together.  But all the talk of what to do has MiniM.E. upset and she doesn’t want me to leave.

7:00: Call hospital.  They say I should probably come, but I decide to stay to put MiniM.E. to bed.  Fortunately she is exhausted and it doesn’t take long.

7:20: Leave for hospital.

7:30: Driving to hospital contractions are 3 minutes apart.  How did that happen?  Just a little worried things are progressing too quickly.  Hoping not to have the baby in the car.  Good news, this is definitely it!

8:15: Arrive at hospital.  Phew.  No baby in the car.  Very relieved.

8:22: Checked in.  Wheeled to delivery room.  Make sure epidural is on the way.  Told there are lots of things we have to do first.  Starting to decide this isn’t as fun anymore.

9:30: Finally, after being checked (6cm!) waiting, contractions getting much closer and much worse, hanging over the edge of the bed for what seemed like hours, and waiting for the medication to kick in, the epidural finally takes the edge off.

9:37: 3 contractions later, its time to push.  WHAT?  Epidural not really helping.  Fortunately, pushing does.

10:09: Less than 7 hours after going into labor, an hour and 47 minutes after arriving at the hospital, delivered a beautiful, healthy, baby- all 9 lbs!

While We Are Waiting

Waiting for a baby is exciting, but especially with a preschooler, probably the most stressful thing I’ve experienced.  When is it going to happen?  What will I do with MiniM.E.?  Will I have time to wait for my mom to come watch her, or will I have to fall back on friends to cover until she arrives?  How will the labor go- long, short, painful, less painful?  When will I leave for the hospital?  Will I have complications like last time?  How will MiniM.E. do while I’m gone?  How will she adjust when we come home?  How long will we have to stay at the hospital?

All the unknowns make me more than on edge so we’ve been trying to keep busy, but not too busy because carrying around a 40+ week baby is making me exhausted and uncomfortable.

We went to a going away brunch for our friends that are moving to California.  It was bittersweet- nice to see all our friends because we haven’t seen everyone together in a while, but sad that one was leaving.

We went to Sunnyside Gardens again.  I was hoping the bumpy train ride might induce labor, but no such luck.

Over the weekend my mom and sister visited since my sister had the week off from work, hoping I would have the baby and she could be here… again no such luck, but it was nice to have them.  Definitely peace of mind knowing my mom was here just in case and a good distraction from waiting on Baby#2.

We painted faces… 

went to Flavorfeast in Saratoga… 

on the trolley

and managed another trip to Ellms where again, I was hoping the walking would induce labor.  No such luck. (Maybe it was because I really wasn't feeling that well and I sat most of the time and let Daddy and Gram and Auntie Jen do all the work.  I didn't even take pictures...)

My sister had to drive back to NH for work Sunday night, but had an inkling that something would happen and didn’t want to miss it so once she got there she rearranged her work schedule and drove back here with my dad.  She has until Wednesday off so the pressure is on Baby#2- time to come out!

A School Update

So it's been a month since MiniM.E. started preschool.  I am so proud of her for how well she's adjusted to it while she's there, but the mornings before, the drive there and drop off are definitely emotionally taxing.

BUT, yesterday we had our very first NO CRYING day.  No crying all morning (a few "I don't want to go"s), no crying in the car (even though there was some fussing), and no crying at drop off!

I say HUGE progress!  (Just in time for the introduction of Baby#2... oh well...)

To celebrate, we went downtown for frozen yogurt (shhh, MiniM.E. was convinced it was soft ice cream) with sprinkles.