Pip's "Birth Story"

I'm not one for an emotional birth story, so here goes. My due date was on the 29th and I wasn't expecting anything to happen until at least the 26th because that was when my next appointment was and I was planning on having my membranes swiped (which helped me go into labor with Charlie). We went to bed around 10:30 on Christmas Eve after celebrating and had no idea that I would have a baby within a few hours. I woke up around midnight with my first contraction and slept on and off for the next 30-45 minutes, until I couldn't sleep through them anymore. I got up and took a bath to see if the contractions would stop but they only continued to get stronger and stronger. I had started timing my contractions around 1 and they were pretty steady around 2 1/2 minutes apart. I ended up waking Andy around 1:20 and had him call my parents to have them come stay at our place to watch Charlie. They weren't far away and got to our place within 10 minutes. We ended up leaving for the hospital around 1:30. 

The hospital is only about five minutes away and on the drive my contractions started getting worse. Once we got to the hospital we had to check-in at the emergency room and halfway through the check-in I started to feel pressure to push. Thankfully two nurses had just come down and were there to wheel me up to the delivery floor. There were two very odd gentlemen in the ER who gave us their congratulations across the room, which was weird, but kind of funny. Anyways, as they were wheeling me through the hospital my contractions were getting worse and I really was starting to feel the need to push, which the nurse was telling me not to and I did not appreciate (I do understand the reasoning and I didn't push). As soon as we got to the labor floor they took me to the triage room and found that I was dilated to 8 or 9 centimeters. They then wheeled me to my delivery room and the nurses started setting up for delivery right away. All this time I was screaming and moaning throughout the halls and everything. Thinking back to it makes me feel silly but it really seemed to help in the moment. I'm sure the other patients did not appreciate it, but thankfully there wasn't many people having babies that night. 

Andy was a great help by letting me do my own thing. He had my water ready when I requested it and that was the best thing because my mouth got super dry. 

We had gotten into our room around 2 in the morning and a few minutes later I began to start pushing. I definitely was bummed that I couldn't have an epidural but at least it went fast because she was born at 2:27. I apparently push harder than my body can handle because I ended up having a nose bleed during the process and popped blood vessels all over my face and in both my eyes. It really looks like I got beat up a bit, but at least I get that baby out, right?

With Charlie I had an epidural and I had just upped my dose right before I started pushing so I really couldn't feel much of what happened. With her I did feel it all, but It wasn't as bad as I thought (maybe I built it up so much in my mind? or maybe it was just less painful than back labor?). She ended up coming out sunny side up staring at the nurses. I was able to hold her on my chest as soon as she came out. Andy cut the cord and after about 20 minutes they took her to be weighed and checked. She weighed 7lbs 13 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long and a head circumference of 14 inches. Everything happened so fast that we didn't get a chance to tell anyone that we had left for the hospital (except my parents) and so they were quite surprised to receive the news that she had been born! After she had been checked over they moved us to our recovery room and I nursed her for the first time and she latched like a pro. She has been an awesome sleeper and a champ of an eater since. We are so happy to be home with our little Pip and enjoying this first few days as a family of four.

Also it turned out that Philippa was the first baby in the city of Spokane to be born on Christmas so we got a special little santa outfit and lots of diapers and wipes as presents! Also the local news station came and interviewed us! Here is the link for the clip.

 When Charlie first met Pip he held her for a minute and kissed her on the head and then promptly showed us where her nose was. He then wasn't really interested at all.

She looks just like baby Charlie with that little grumpy face

 Grammy Julie

 Grandbaby numer thirteen

Philippa Jane is here!

We had our newest member join our family early Christmas morning. Philippa Jane came at 2:27 am weighing 7lbs 13oz and 18 1/2 inches long. She is perfect. Charlie is doing quite well, other than a few tantrums here and there (but that could also be attributed to not having his normal schedule and not taking his second nap). We just had her first doctors appointment yesterday and she has already passed her birth weight! She is eating great and sleeping at night (at least for now). We are enjoying our time together getting used to having this new little baby. It has worked out great for timing with Andy's work because he has been able to take the last week off and won't start his new job until the 5th! 

Lefse Making '14

This is quite late, but better late than never, right? Our Thanksgiving was very laid back and chill this year. We had a smaller family get together this year and it turned out to be very nice. We had WAY too much food and then proceeded to eat way too much food. It was delicious.
These photos are of us making Lefse, which unfortunately I didn't have any brown sugar to eat them with. Charlie was a fan either way though, and also decided to color on his face using hi-liter.

Granville Island

Last but not least of our Vancouver trip photos is from a day we spent at Granville Island. We enjoyed this little area and would definitely come back to visit this place. They have a market that has lots of restaurants and food booths that you can choose from. After we ate we walked around some shops around the island and then ended up at the kids market, which is filled with kids shops and an adventure zone. Charlie was loving it.

Charlie loves to climb down from his stroller by just sliding down 

Vancouver Aquarium

One of the most fun parts of Vancouver was going to the aquarium. Apparently the Vancouver Aquarium is the largest in Canada and they had quite a few things to see, including sharks, jellyfish, dolphins, beluga whales, and sea otters. Charlie was pretty impressed with all the fish at first but kind of got over it when it came to nap time. They also had a 4-D theater that Charlie was not a huge fan of (I had to leave after a few minutes with him). The movie was about wild salmon and the seats would rumble and you would get water sprayed at you, so it wasn't a huge surprise that Charlie was not thrilled. The bubbles were fun though!

In pregnancy news I have only 4 weeks left! I had my doctors appointment yesterday and I am 50% effaced and dilated to a 1, which doesn't really mean much other than its getting closer. 

Vancouver

Last week we were able to take a little baby-moon trip to Vancouver and it was just plain wonderful. We did bring Charlie with us, but we didn't mind having him, it gave us more to do. Without him we probably would have just stayed in the hotel watching HGTV all day, which doesn't sound horrible to me, but I'm glad that we did get out and do some fun stuff. One of the most fun things was actually to just walk to a local park and let him play. It had an awesome playground and I kind of wish we could go back to it in the summer because they had this amazing homemade creek for kids to play in. Charlie would be all over it. In fact, he already kind of was. 

Now that we're home and that Thanksgiving is tomorrow(!!!) I get to slave in the kitchen preparing some yummy food. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!!! (and maybe scores some great deals on Friday)

MAC Visit

Last weekend we were able to go to the MAC with all our cousins and it was a very successful trip. Last time we went they were all babies and it was definitely easier to walk around the displays but this time they had kids activities and they LOVED them. Charlie was a huge fan of the Marble Works station, so were Hudson and Daniel. While the girls were very into the coloring, painting, and embroidering (so funny how different boys and girls are). They also had a button making station that the kids thought was the coolest thing ever. Mostly Charlie just liked watching the girl make them in the machine thing, no interest in them after they were made though, it'll be good for the save box, right?

Here is the link for last years visit.

The kids decided the best way to go down the stairs was backwards

 We call them the twins

 They were a little disappointed it wasn't a cartoon.

 Charlie is never sure about Hudson

Getting Ready

We have been getting Charlie and baby girl's room ready. And by that I mean I keep moving stuff around and trying to figure out the best way to have it fit. We did move in a twin bed that Charlie will eventually be moving to, but that won't be for a while. I'm hoping we can get her to sleep through the night before trying to switch him. I haven't quite figured out the layout for sure but then once that is done, I will get to move all the pictures, garlands, and what not. Also we are making an IKEA trip next week so I should have a few fun things to add, but not too many because I'm running out of space as it is!
It definitely doesn't feel like this little girl is going to join us in the next month and a half (!) but I know that it will come quick and I'll regret not getting stuff done ahead of time. Especially the room because it took me over a year to finally say I was done with Charlie's room, and then we switched rooms with him and it hasn't been "done" since then. Oh well. He doesn't mind, and it doesn't bother me much. We are heading to Vancouver on Monday for a little vacation and I for one am very excited about it. 

Park Time

The weather has definitely been chillier around here lately and this week it's supposed to get down to the 30s! Ah! Park days may be fewer and fewer but I think we'll still try and bundle up and get out of the house. Charlie loves going down the "lide" and climbing up the play structure any way that he can. I try not to help him so that he only does the ones that he can do on his own, but it sure does make me nervous. He mastered the two scary ones this trip and made some other parents nervous as well. One dad tried to help him at the top, but as soon as he tried Charlie stopped in his tracks and cried. He's a little emotional. He also cried when another child unzipped his sweatshirt. We're working on it though. Just more interaction, right?

The scary one is the one on the right. It's not a parents best friend, but the kids do love 'em.

Lazy Town

I am officially 32 weeks pregnant today! I have been feeling pretty exhausted for the past week and I think its really starting to wear on poor Mr. Charlie. He just wants me to play with him, but I just want to nap. Here's to hoping that these next 2 months go fast and that I get some energy back! 

Pumpkin Carving

 We finally got around to doing something that had to do with pumpkins! Unfortunately it didn't include going to the pumpkin patch, hopefully next year. We got around to carving the ones that I picked up from the grocery store a few weeks ago. I thought Charlie wouldn't have an issue with sticking his hand in the pumpkin guts but he was not interested at all. We rolled up his sleeves and asked him to do it and his response was "no!". Also he wanted his sleeves rolled down, he is not a fan of them being up, too bunchy I guess. He did grab the guts once when they were outside of the pumpkin and he didn't seem to grossed out, but I guess he just couldn't put his hand in the pumpkin. Too much.
I decided to carve a kitty for Charlie since that is one of his favorite animals to spot. He yells "itty at" when he sees them and then tries to chase them while they scurry away. Andy decided to go with a more modern take on the pumpkin and did some stripes.

 "Cheese!"

This baby girl is getting bigger and bigger.

Excuse our pumpkin guts

Greenville Zoo

Before we left Greenville we hit up their local zoo, which isn't huge, but it's at least twice the size of ours. And they had more than just tigers, which was nice to look at. The zoo was all decked out and decorated for halloween with blow up animals and wooden signs, which Charlie actually thought was way more interesting than the animals. They also had a very fun playground that I would have loved to spend all day at when I was younger.

This was his favorite animal to look at. It moved its head from side to side and he was very curious.

He's getting the hang of these things.