Charlotte: Month 2

+Getting very vocal
+ Full of smiles, especially in the morning. I am not sure where she gets her "wake up smiling" gene!
+ Sleeps 7-8 straight at night.
+ Started to blow bubbles
+HATES tummy time
+ Becoming  a lot more content these days.
+ Still loves her Ergo carrier and has a new found love for the bouncy seat.
+ Likes to lay on her back and kick her legs.
+ Bath time is growing on her. I can't wait to take her in the pool :)

Have a mentioned I love being this little girls mommy?

Tulle Turkey Wreath

A few weeks ago I came across this pin on Pinterest. I LOVED the wreath and decided I had to make my own. That very day, I loaded up the baby and we went to Joann's. On a side note: The carts at Joann's are not car seat friendly!!

The supplies were pretty minimal: foam wreath form, tulle, brown yarn, a Styrofoam cone and balls, and one sheet of red craft foam. You would also need craft paint if you didn't have any on hand.


Before beginning, I prepped my supplies. First, I painted the cone yellow with craft paint and a sponge so that it would be dry but the time I finished my wreath.

I also did the same for the eyes. I used a smaller foam circle and it worked out perfectly! Since you will be attaching the eyes to the wreath with toothpicks, I went ahead and used those to help keep them from rolling while drying.

Before starting, I also prepped all my tulle. When I first went to Joann's, the only tulle I could find was in the fabric section...the kind that would be used to make tutus. This would work and may be cheaper but I found it much easier to use the spools of tulle ( located down the wedding aisle). It's the perfect width and requires less work.

I purchased 3- spools ( red, yellow and orange) which each had 25 feet. 75 feet of tulle provided me with enough for 2 wreaths! My method for cutting this was also easy. I had a treatment planning book I was using for work. I simply wrapped the entire spool around the book and then cut both edges. Then I repeated with the remaining two spools.

Now that all the prep work was done, I was ready to start my wreath. While watching TV I simply wrapped 1/3 of my wreath form with yard. Very much like my H "wreath" only a lot less hot glue. Next you will start tying the tulle around the remaining 2/3 of the wreath.

I used 4 pieces of tulle before switching to the next color. I used a double knot to tie on the tulle. Keep repeating...

I found the tulle tying to go much faster then wrapping the wreath with the yard. I like to start and end with the same color. I made two of these now and it had worked out perfectly each time.

The last thing you have to do it attach your eyes and nose with toothpicks. Then I just folded my red craft foam in half and cut out a gobbler. That I used hot glue to attach. To be honest, I tried tacky glue first and it did not work so go straight for the glue gun.

Relatively easy to make and adorable!

Charlotte: One month

+ Sleeps on average 6 hours straight at night. I am a lucky mama!
+ LOVES the carseat and moving: walking, running errands, etc.
+ Only takes cat naps during the day unless being held
+ Loves to eat
+ Loves the Paci but cannot keep it in her mouth. Cries when she loses it every time.
+ At her 5 week checkup, she weighed 9lbs, 9 oz ( up three pounds from birth weight).

Charlotte's Birth Story: Just Born

I started writing this post 6 weeks ago and just wrapped it up. Clearly having an infant changes how you can spend your time :)

On Friday (9/20) when I left the office, I tried to make sure things were as wrapped up as possible. The state of not knowing was really starting to get to me. I made sure I had a backup for all my scheduled appointments on Monday "just in case".

Friday night, Tim and I went to Bealls to return something. My upper thigh cramps were SO bad because baby girl's head was putting pressure on my femoral artery. I could barely walk around the store. Even though I had wanted to go to 3rd Friday, we decided to come home. I took a bath, something I never do, which did help the pains in my thighs. I fell asleep rather early, maybe 10ish? However, I woke up at 2am with mild cramps. I was up and down with irregular cramping most of the night. Tylenol did nothing to alleviate the pain and I knew this was "prelabor".

Saturday I took it easy. Still irregular cramping. I went to Publix and tried to go about my normal Saturday routine but I was tired. I did wrap up a bunch of work stuff, confident that I would not be at work on Monday. Around 4pm, my pants felt slightly damp but I had been outside walking so I didn't think too much of it. Tim and I had dinner, straightened up the house and packed any last minute things for the hospital, knowing we would be there before morning. I took a shower around 8pm, laid down and when I stood up, I knew I was leaking fluid. We took our time getting ready and made it to the hospital around 10:30pm.

Once we were checked into Labor and Delivery, I was advised to put on a gown so that I could be checked before determining if I would be admitted. I was SO excited that one of my favorite OBs was on call for the weekend. As soon as I put the gown on, my water officially "broke" and the nurse declared that I " wasn't going anywhere". I was disappointed to learn that I was only at 2cm, as I did not want to come to the hospital before I was at a 4.

The Doctor came in and they went over my timeline. Since I hadn't slept much the night before and they suspected my water broke at 4pm, they decided to let me rest and see how I progressed until 3am at which time they would start Pitocin. At 3am I decided to get an epidural. Contractions were pretty regular and I simply could not get comfortable in any position.  The epidural was FABULOUS and Pitocin was pushed off till 6am. Tim slept on a cot beside me and we both got some rest.

Shortly after starting Pitocin, we had the 7am shift change meaning I got a new nurse. Before introductions could even be made, she was rushing into my room throwing my bed back into a flat position and putting oxygen on me. Apparently, baby's heart rate had dropped when they increased the Pitocin. After her heart rate went back up, they reduced my Pitocin back down to the lowest level until the doctor came in. Right before 9am, the doctor was monitoring me, they increased the Pitocin and sent Tim for breakfast. Immediately, I was again flat on my back with oxygen and I even heard the doctor say " We need to get dad back in here". At this time they began talking about a C-section.

I was not ready to give up just yet. I was removed from the Pitocin completely. If I continued to progress on my own and everyones' heart rate remained stable, I could still go for a vaginal birth. If I did not progress or a we had any more dips in the heart rate, I would need to have a C-section. Because my water broke at 4pm Saturday, they wanted baby born by 4pm Sunday as she would be without amniotic fluid too long which increased her chance of infection.

I progressed well on my own. My mom got to the hospital shortly before 12. Baby girls heart rate dropped and I was put on oxygen permanently. The nurse checked me and I was at a 10. My epidural had worn off and they did not want to give me any medications until the doctor came in and it was decided if I would be pushing or having a c-section. I was in A LOT of pain. The contractions felt like they were one on top of the other. The nurse told me to tell her if I felt pressure to push. Baby's heart rate continued to drop on and off. The doctor came in and told me she did not feel comfortable with me pushing due to the unstable heart rate. They began prepping the OR for my C-section.

Waiting for this was THE worst part. Not only was I in pain, but I began feeling the pressure to push...which I was told not to do. I was also SO thirsty and they would not let me drink. There were numerous C-sections going on that day but eventually I got down to the OR. The whole thing is kind of a blur... Tim was taken into another room until they were ready. I remember them prepping my stomach and then someone accidentally touching it and they had to start all over. I remember having a death grip on Tim's hand the whole time. Then we heard the sweet sounds of our baby girl. Turns out her cord was wrapped around her foot, making her like a little bungee jumper every time she decided to come out, hence the drop in heart rate. Despite this, Charlotte Grace was born perfectly healthy on September 22, 2013 at 2:37pm weighing in at 6lbs, 9 oz and 20 inches long.

The staff were great about taking lots of pictures for us. They called Tim away to cut the cord while they began "putting me back together". I felt A LOT, not sure if that is normal. The whole time I kept saying "ow, ow". The anesthesiologist stayed by holding my other hand the entire time. Because my pain was not under control, they opted for staples at my incision site in order to get me into recovery faster.

At this point, I was handed my little baby girl. I remember feeling drowsy and having to concentrate to hold onto the baby as they took me back upstairs. Once I was back in the room, I threw up but immediately felt better and was ready for skin-to-skin with my little one. My parents and Tim's parents both were invited back one by one for a quick visit. The nurse then suggested no more visitors until the next day which was a blessing as it gave us lots of time to bond as a family of three and get to know our sweet Charlotte.

We were moved to a "mom and baby" room and we were lucky enough to get a water view room. I was still not allowed to eat or drink as they didn't want me to get sick again. It wasn't till after midnight on Monday that they FINALLY let me have juice and ice pops... my first "food" since Saturday. It was phenomenal! :)

I was pretty much bed bound so I just spent lots of time snuggling my baby girl. At 4 in the morning, I was finally allowed up. It was painful but not unbearable. I was still hooked up to all sorts of wires which made it more difficult but those got removed later that day. I really pushed myself because I wanted nothing more than to go home with my baby. Monday was full of lots of visitors and doctors. I was told I was one of "the best C-section patients" by my nurses, so much so that we got to go home a day early! The next few days were filled with lots of "firsts" and it has been such an amazing adventure so far. I LOVE being this little girls mom!

Since I love having the weekly updates from my pregnancy, I am going to being photographing baby girl monthly and writing up a post to document her growth. Here is the first photo, taken the day we got home from the hospital.

I hope to get her one month post up this weekend so I will be all caught up going forward :)