One Month old!

Seriously!?!  Is it already a month??  I know I always say this but I just can't believe how quickly time goes.  I swear it was just yesterday that I left the hospital.  Anyway, our sweet little baby turned a month old yesterday.  She really is the sweetest thing.  I just want to snuggle her all the time and unfortunately I can rarely do that when I have a toddler who demands my attention.  It's sad how much the second child gets neglected when you have another child to worry about.  I remember with Trey all I ever did was hold him, and now I've become reliant on the swing, vibrating chair, etc.  It's a good thing she's such a good baby or else I'd have to figure something else out.  She does LOVE to be held and is usually very happy when she is being held.  I've recently started using the moby wrap which has worked great except for when Trey brings me his blanket, whining for me hold him the same way.  Ha, if only my back were that strong. :)

Some things to note for the first month:

~ Kate smiled for the first time at 3 weeks and now smiles at me all the time.  I love it.

~Just in the past couple of days she has started talking to me a little and making little baby noises.

~She LOVES her baths.  Even the annoying sponge baths!

It makes bath time way more pleasant when you have a baby who doesn't scream through the whole thing.  (Trey hated his baths for the first little while)

~She takes a binki like a champ!  (Well mostly)

I didn't have this luxury last time and now I love it!  Hopefully it lasts.

~Kate isn't consistent at waking up at night but I can't complain.  Most of the time she will sleep a 5 to 6 hour stretch and occasionally even sleep a 9 hour stretch.  Holy smokes!  Her record is 10.  I'll take it!

~Kate likes to be swaddled at night but I don't think she is dependent on it.

~Poor baby got her first cold at 3 weeks.  WAY too early if you ask me.

I don't sleep well when my kids are sick.  I wake up 10 times a night to go check on them, especially when they are this little.  The good news is she has handled it like a champ.  Hasn't been extra whiny and still sleeps good at night.  The poor thing just can't breathe very good! :(

**Praying for healthy kids this month!!**

Kate really is such a happy baby.  I love her so much.  Trey has been such a helpful big brother, I love seeing him interact with her.  He sometimes likes to be a little too helpful and often tries and gives her her binki while she is sleeping.  Luckily she sleeps through it most of the time.  I love being a mom of 2, though it has its challenges, it is the most rewarding thing.

Remember this??

BEHOLD......

THE MUSTACHE.  

Part 2.

It doesn't get more sexy than that ladies!!  Back off!!

In an effort to re-create the senior class pictures from the 70's, these boys decided to grow out a mustache.  

 (Jeff had to be cropped in if you couldn't tell)

And this is the picture that will be hanging on the walls of his school.  Lovely.

Turns out picture day happened to be the day I got induced.  Jeff actually considered leaving me... in active labor... to go get his school picture.  I left the decision up to him.  Good thing he used his better judgement and decided against it... if by chance I had the baby while he was gone he knew he would never live it down.  NEVER. (he was right)

Lucky for me he got to leave the 'stache for another week until picture retakes.  Now he is cleanly shaven and back to his handsome self. :)  Thank goodness!

The Baby Story

It's about darn time I start catching up on all my blog posts I need to do.  So much to do... so little time.  One of these days I will master being a mom of two... it's hard work!!  Especially when I'm not getting enough sleep.  When I am getting enough sleep, everyone is much happier and things seem to go much smoother.  Lets hope this month brings with it more sleep.  Is that too much to ask?!? 

Well for those of you who care to hear the birth story... Here it is.

As expected, I didn't go into labor on my own.  I had to basically beg the doctor to let me get induced.  I was starting to panic that my mom was going to leave and I was still going to be pregnant!!  That was NOT okay.  My doctors told me at my 39 week appt that they wouldn't induce me unless I was dilated to a 3 and fully effaced.  Unfortunately at this point I was only at a 1.  My mom showed up the day after my 39 week mark (I had mistakenly assumed my doctors would induce me at 39 weeks, so had previously told my mom to book her ticket a week before I was due).  That was a mistake.  Anyway, to make a long story short, my mom and I marched into my next doc appt. with every possible excuse to convince the Dr to induce me.  The good news is, I was dilated to a 2+ and 90% effaced.  That is probably the ONLY reason the Dr was even willing to consider it.  That, and my mom and I practically pleaded.  (Glad I won't be going to those doctors again.)  I'm going to chalk that up to all that walking we did the 3 days before my appointment.  I was exhausted and SO ready to have this baby!!

My doctor agreed to let me come in the following morning and get induced, on the condition that if they were full and had lots of people in labor, I would be the first to get the boot.  I tried not to get my hopes up.  I couldn't sleep all night, worrying that my phone was going to ring and they were going  to tell me I couldn't come in.  Luckily that didn't happen.

 This is the last pregnancy pic... leaving to go to the hospital.

Jeff and I showed up at the hospital at 7am.  They were quick to get me hooked up to an IV and pitocin.  I decided to hold out for a little while before I got my epidural (why?  I'm not sure).  After a bit I started having some pretty intense contractions and opted for the epidural.  Wishing at this point I wouldn't have waited.  By 11am I got the epidural.  Heaven.  I wasn't sure after my last experience whether epidurals were that great. (Never really worked with Trey) But I am now here to testify that this epidural was GREAT.  I could still feel the pressure of the contractions coming and going but I wasn't in pain.  Nothing like with Trey.  Thank goodness.  Probably an hour later the doctor came in to brake my water.  The contractions started really picking up.  Then I just sat there... waiting...

 
I started wondering when the doc was going to come in and check me.  It felt like it had been a long time.  I was feeling lots of pressure so I asked the nurse if she would check to see how far I was dilated.   I think it may have been my nurses first week on the job and I was a little leary of her assessment.  She said I was about a 5 or a 6.  Umm... what!?!  I waited another 10 min before I asked to have the doc come check me.  The nurse came back with a catheder and said the doc would be in shortly.  While she was putting in the catheder I started feeling nauseous.  Jeff grabbed the closest thing he could find and I lost my breakfast and anything else that could have possibly been inside of me.  (Sorry if that's more info than you care to know)  The best part about it was the doc had to stop mid-catheder to help me, and well... you get the idea.  Awesome.  Might as well come out both ends, right!?  The doc came rushing in to see what was going on... she checked me and said I was at a 10 and ready to start pushing.  (Note:  I was at a 5 maybe 6, 15 min before)  Yeah, the nurse was either way off or I dilated WAY fast.  Either way, I started pushing and 15 or 20 minutes later we had a beautiful little girl!  The whole labor experience was so much better this time around.  I couldn't believe it.  They handed me Kate immediately and it was such a neat experience.... as opposed to being in so much pain when Trey came out that I actually said no to holding him.  Lets hope the rest of my deliveries will be as pleasant as this one was.

 (Getting her bath)

I was a little surprised when they told me Kate was 9lbs.  I thought that with her being a girl and a few days early she'd be smaller... I was wrong.  The first thing the nurse said when she handed me Kate was, "wow, she's heavy!"  Good thing they induced me when they did!

(Right after they handed her to me)

 Daddy and Kate

 Grandma Wendy and Kate

 Aunt Ash and Kate

Trey seeing Kate for the first time.  He was very skeptical... but I think he understood that she was the baby in my belly.

Opening his gift from Kate.  He loves firetrucks!

 He was so sweet with her... but then after being there for 10 minutes he wanted to go!  He kept bringing me my purse.

Kate leaving the hospital.
Apparently she wanted to stay. :)

Although I did tear, I felt pretty good (minus being exhausted) by the first week.  It amazes me how quickly women can heal from delivering a baby!  You'd think we wouldn't be able to walk for months after!  Nursing was a bit of a struggle at first but is now going great.  Our little munchkin is growing like a weed and already weighed 10lbs at her 2 week appt.  It will be interesting to see if she grows as quickly as Trey.  We may have another little chunker on our hands!

Kate is such a sweet little girl.  She has a little different temperament than Trey and is more easy going.  She has her moments for sure, but overall she's a dang good baby.  I love having a little girl and am already sad that a month has almost come and gone.  The cuddly newborn stage does not last long enough!!  It really is crazy how fast time goes and how fast they grow.  I almost have a 2 year old for heavens sake!

I'm so grateful to be a mom of two beautiful little babies!  It's crazy how much love you can have for each of your kids.... my heart is ready to explode!

Introducing....

Kate McKinley Wegener

Born on January 11, 2012 at 2:23 pm. 
Weighing a whopping 9lbs 5oz and 20.5 in tall.  Yep, we make BIG babies!!

Kate and I are both doing great.  I can't get enough of this snuggly newborn stage.  It really is the best thing.

I am currently in survival mode, so when I get some time I will post the birth story... because we all know everyone wants to hear it.  Ha. ;)  

And because I love them ALL... I couldn't just pick a few....  so please enjoy these pics of our sweet baby girl in all her chubbiness.  I could just eat those chubby little cheeks!

I can't forget about the Mr.  I could just eat this little man right up!  Too bad he wasn't willing to get in any pictures with Kate.  Little stinker does NOT like the camera.  We were lucky to get this one.  It's called.... fruit snack bribery!

**Photos are courtesy of my awesome friend Carlee.** 
She did an AMAZING job.  I couldn't be more pleased with the way they turned out. 
THANK YOU CARLEE!!!