4 Weeks

Can't believe our little girl is getting so big! I can't say how much she weighs, but I can definitely tell she is getting bigger. Not too many new things to report this week. She is getting older and staying away more and more right now. She loves to look at fans and her new car seat mobile. (here is a link to her car seat mobile http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Love-Mobile-Animal-Friends/dp/B003U6HCGQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336512151&sr=8-1) I'm excited to see how much she likes the one on her crib now that we are home. Have I mentioned how much this little girl likes blankets? We call her our blankie girl. She has also started to take to her pacifier more for some self comfort. I appreciate this since before she was looking to her fingers. 

Love cuddling this little girl! Can't wait to see what is in store this week! :) 

The long drive home....

I think the older the kids get the longer the drive home (both to and from Houston) feels. Not by any means because Ella is bad in the car, she is great!! But every so often we hear this voice from the back say, "uh! I stuck!!" And she doesn't quite get that yes, you are stuck but you are supposed to be stuck.

Some of the fun things about the car ride is seeing friends a long the way that you definitely don't get to see often enough. Thanks again Sean and Krista for letting us invade your house for the night. The girls had so much fun playing together. I love hearing a household full of baby giggles!!

We have also had the pleasure of hearing Ella sing along with her movies. I didn't realize she knew that many of the songs words! It is too cute to listen to.

(Ella and her shows)

(Ella after we got her long awaited toy... she played so hard she fell asleep) 

Charlie has done fantastic this trip as well. We have only had one time period of crying when she was hungry hungry but 10 minutes from our stopping spot. I promise she is no worse for wear and ate ASAP after we stopped :)

We had some much fun with family, but we are also ready to get back to our regular routine....or at least figure out what our new regular routine is. My girls are troopers and I'm so proud of them on our long journey. :) 

3 weeks

She might not look too much bigger with those tiny little legs, but this little girl is getting bigger and bigger by the day! Those legs crack me up because they look so tiny compared to Ella's when she was a newborn. 

Charlie is such a sweetheart and just loves to be held right now. She did have one night where she had a 5hr stretch of sleep and let me tell you, it was AMAZING! I do love that my girls are pretty great sleepers at night (knock on wood). 

During this week Charlie gave us quite a scare with some vomitting, but have since figured out the source and we all feel better knowing it shouldn't be an issue. But she definitely gave momma a scare! She must have a flare for the dramatics!  Love that sweet girl. 

And here is a picture of me 3 weeks postpartum. I didn't technically gain anything from this pregnancy and I've lost approx. 20lbs and feeling great so far! I've been indulging on the sweets as of late, but I can't wait to get to working out and losing a few more pounds! :) 

Houston Zoo

Today we went to the Houston Zoo. They have a fantastic military discount- FREE! :) For 2 adults/3 children. We thought this would be a great, fun trip for Ella. She is definitely so much more observant of animals lately and loves to make animal sounds. For some reason she thinks that most animals say "RAWR!", including giraffes....She is such a silly little girl! :) 

We had such a great time seeing the animals, regardless of the large amount of school fields that were there. Unfortunately, the lions were napping in the afternoon sun and she didn't get to see them :( I'm sure she would have loved to see them. 

I think the most amazing part of our trip to the zoo was the ability to be SO close to the giraffes and feed them! They have this amazing experience where you can buy lettuce and feed the giraffes from this platform. It was so so awesome! Maybe because I am in love giraffes. Ella also seems to have gained this love for giraffes. At first she was a little bit afraid of the giraffes, but after she and daddy had feed the giraffe she wanted to go back and hug them. It was pretty amazing! In the gift shop she some how managed to convince Daddy that she needed a giraffe figurine that she held on to tightly!

Our zoo experience was a little short due to the heat... well and size. The Houston Zoo is definitely not the largest. But it definitely served the purpose we were looking for and I think that Ella definitely enjoyed her experience. I love seeing that little girl happy and excited :) Enjoy these Zoo pictures!

One Week Old

I think I am still in denial that she is already here let alone the fact that she is already a week old.

Her sister isn't quite sure about her still, but like I said before- she isn't mean to her, so there isn't much more that I can ask. :) 

In the last week baby girl has slept alot and we see her eyes more and more each day. She took her first trip to the city (and Target too, of course!) Her Aunt Caitie and Uncle Carl came to visit for the weekend, which means she got lots of extra snuggles :) She also had her picture taken by a friend, the wonderful Melissa Joyce Photography. (She was able to be a model for her to try some new tricks after her mentoring session with Keri Meyers) The photos turned out amazing! She isn't quite the amazing sleeper her sister was, but she is still quite an amazing sleeper! We tend to still get 3 solid hours between feedings during the night and there is not much more I can ask for :) 

Oh! She also had her after hospital follow-up appointment on Thursday. Her bili was still good (they were surprised how low it was wahoo!) and she didn't lose too much weight- coming in at 6lbs. 12oz. But my milk is officially in so I'm sure that will change soon. 

As far as how recovery is going for me, it's been pretty fantastic. Better than with Ella, and my recovery with her was no big deal. I'm feeling great and have a lot more energy than I did the last few weeks of pregnancy.  When we were at her follow-up appointment I weighed myself out of pure curiosity. I have already lost 12lbs! Wahoo! I'm hoping for some more, but won't be too concerned if I don't given I didn't gain anything past what I lost. 

Excited to see what she has in store for us in the next week :) 

She's here!

Charlotte Anne Walch

April 9, 2012

7lbs 2oz.

18 inches

I think I am still in shock how this day has gone! Once she decided to come she came super fast! At my appointment last Thursday my dr. told me that if I felt like it could possibly be labor to go into. Her words were something to the extent of: "we don't want to have Andy using any shoe laces to clamp the cord." :) Yea, I think Andy would appreciate not doing that as well. 

Well on Easter (post to follow later) I had an hour or so of mild contractions that petered out and we went about our day and just relaxed mainly. Than Sunday night I had some contractions that woke me up. I didn't think too much of it. Than decided that maybe I should get up and decide if they continued. They kind of disappeared again. Soon there after I told Andy lets go in just to get check just in case. I was almost 5cm and thinned out. We walked around for a bit and than my doctor was there doing her morning rounds. She checked me and I was a solid 5cm and there went my water. 

After that we went straight to a room. I called my mom and told her this was it, so she started getting the kiddos ready to  drop off at our friends so she could come to the hospital. I had already expressed my desire for an epidural so we went ahead and started an IV. The first try resulted in a blown vein.... ummm- OUCH! Did I mention that the contractions were coming way way harder and way way faster at this point? I was definitely getting uncomfortable. The only thing that seemed to help is do some counter pressure against Andy's arm. I kept asking the nurse and Andy if the fluid bag was at half way so we could get that epi!! I felt like it too so long! 

Then, I got up to potty and boy was moving uncomfortable! I felt like the next couple contractions were just one LONG never ending contraction and the pain was ridiculous. The nurse said the epi was on it's way so I walked about to the bed and doing so was difficult at best. Once I got on the bed and they were prepping me for the epi the contractions were coming fast fast and hard and the urge to push was overwhelming to say the least. I may have said a few choice words at this point. Did I also mention that the anesthesiologist was actively trying to do my epi at this point? We were all concerned that she was going to have to deliver a baby herself! 

After 3 tries the epi was finally at place and as suspected I was definitely at 10cm. Thankfully my doctor had not left the building since she checked me (only one hr previously) and was able to get back asap. Having the epi in place made it possible for me to resist pushing and both the doctor and my mom were able to get there. Charlie was born all but 5 pushes later. 

Her reaction to the outside world was so similar to her sister's. She didn't make a peep really and just rested on my chest listening to my voice and Andy's. One difference was that she opened her eyes almost immediately while Ella took her sweet time opening those peepers! I couldn't get over how much she looked like Ella did when she was born! And all that hair (just like sissy) She was able to stay on my chest for almost a half hour before they took her too get her weight and what not. The nurses that came in afterwards talked about how we were just there for a drive-by delivery and frankly, that is what it felt like for me too!

Since the epidural was only in for max 30 minutes (30 minutes that I loved!) I was up and walking within 30-40 minutes of her being born. I immediately felt amazing and was happy to be up and moving. Yay for no stitches! (TMI but peeing without a baby on your bladder felt amazing!!) Shortly after we switched over to our postpartum room and I was able to shower and get dressed into my own clothes. 

After we got word that Ella was up from her nap Andy went and grabbed all the kiddos. They were so excited to see Charlie! Ella didn't want too much to do with her, but she wasn't mean and that's all that counts at this point. From than on the guest came flowing in. It was so great to see all the excited friends to celebrate Charlie's birth! She is such a blessed little girl! Can't believe she is already here! 

37 Weeks

Weight Gain: I think I lost 2oz. so still at pre-pregnancy weight. 

Cravings: Not really hungry still-- if so it's for cereal. Yum! :) 

Sleep: Doing good. Indifferent at this point. 

Movement: Out of room, but moving constantly! Silly girl. 

Labor Signs: More contractions. Ones that are waking me up again in my sleep. At my appointment today I was 4cm already! 

Milestone: 37 weeks and "full-term". Little girl can come anytime now!! (please? :)  ) 

Next Appointment: April 9