Three Weeks Old!

I can.not. believe that Cora is already three weeks old! This newborn stage is going by way too fast.

Cora is a sweet sweet baby so far. So is very patient & a pretty good sleeper. Not sure where we stand on the eating thing yet. We are still having latch issues, but she seems to be getting full after eating & her belly is huge. ;) Next week is her weigh in at the pediatricians so we will see how much she has gained then.

Here is Cora at 2wks 5days!



Hungry baby!

Shuttle Fly-By

Here is a blurry/fuzzy picture of the space shuttle piggy backing on a 747. It did a low pass over Tucson in honor of Gabrielle Giffords' service in Congress on 9/20/12, while on its way to a museum in LA.



It was neat to see & June was excited by the "big airplane". Unfortunately it was pretty far away from where we live, but there was no doubt in what it was, either by how it looked or how it sounded. It was LARGE & LOUD even from a great distance. :)

Argh!

Pirate June! :)

Frustration

We were supposed to go to a neurology appointment today...

Well, my hand-me-down minivan has been quite unpredictable this summer. It usually starts after several attempts, but recently it has had several instances of not starting at all. Well, today was one of those days.

Today was supposed to be my first time taking all four(!) kids out on my own. I had it all planned out & felt well prepared. I was gonna rock that sh!t! ;) It is frustrating to put so much thought & prep work into an aborted outing (you moms out there understand), plus the need to reschedule an appointment is quite annoying for both me & the doctors as well. I have had to reschedule Lincoln's neurology appointment twice this summer due to issues with the van not starting. Grr...

The van has other bugs as well. This whole summer it has been doing this strange thing where it will just stop shifting out of first gear randomly. So I am then driving across town at no more than 40mph and 5000rpm. The car starts to overheat & the a/c fails. So then we are all sweaty & I pray the whole time that we just make it home. We took it in for a tune up & they did not find any issues. We are also sporting a brand new battery which doesn't seem to effect the start-up problem we have been having. Sigh. I am grateful for my parents gift of the van & am so glad to actually own a car that can transport the entire family at once, but I really hate not being able to rely on it.

Hello Sun

One of the benefits(?) of getting up multiple times during the night, is that occasionally I get to catch the sunrise. Today it was beautiful!

Cora's Weight Check

Cora had her weight check yesterday. At birth she weighed 7lbs 5.5oz. The next evening she weighed 6lbs 13oz. At 5 days old she was 6lbs 14oz, and at 13 days old she was up to 7lbs 5oz. So a gain of 7oz in 8 days. Pretty good! She also gained a centimeter in her head circumference and she is up to 20in long already!

Here is Cora. Such silly baby faces & crazy eyes.



Cora's first bathing experience at home was when she was 9 days old (we had to wait for her cord to fall off, which happened when he was 7 days old). She did great during the shower, no crying at all, even when I accidentally splashed her in the face. She was not happy, however, about getting dried off afterward. ;)

Swing Fun

Big kids' swing time with Daddy. They are loving it! (And how weird is it for me to now consider Roxy one of the "big kids" -- just last week she was still a baby!)

The Real Professional Photos

Here is Miss Cora at only 1 day old. Love her expressions & alertness in these!















There is one more, but I will post it later as part of her birth announcements. :)

Sisters

"Of all the toys I have to play, I'd choose my sisters any day."

A Newborn Photo Attempt

This one is the only keeper. I have a lot of respect for the professional newborn photogs (or at least for their props & cameras). I still have the best subject out there though. ;)

Here is Miss Cora at 6 days old.



Cora thought that it was very bright outside. Maybe next time I will try for evening instead of mid-day light.

Final Belly Shots

Knowing that this could be my final day pregnant - ever - I had Andy take a few pictures to document just how big my belly actually got. These were taken at 6:45am on the morning of my induction with Cora, at 39 weeks gestation, which is actually the most pregnant I have ever been with any of my kids as well.

Pretty big watermelon under my shirt, huh? ;)

Cora's Check-Up

Cora got to go to the pedi for her 5 day check-up. She was discharged from the hospital weighing 6lbs 13oz, and today she weighed 6lbs 14oz. My milk came in yesterday, so I am glad that she is finally gaining weight again. Her bilirubin levels were low at the hospital at only 7.9, and the pedi doesn't think that they are much higher than that right now. He expects her yellowness to decrease rapidly now that she is getting some milk from me.

We have a weigh check again next Friday just to make sure she is still gaining. At that point she will be almost 2 weeks old, so I am hoping to be very close if not past her birth weight. Today she was 19.5 inches long. It is highly doubtful that she grew an entire inch in 5 days (4 of which were days without anything but colostrum). It is pretty likely that they mis-measured her at birth. But 18.5 inches is the official length, so that is what is going in all of her paperwork.

Here are some pictures of sweet little Cora taken yesterday at 4 days old. Love her!

Biggest & Littlest Sisters Meet

Today June got to come to the hospital to meet Cora. She thought that it was all pretty special (Roxy & Lincoln are too sick, and could probably care-a-less about the baby at this point in time, so they stayed home). June did a lot of smiling & said that she was happy. The visit was during June's nap time, so she was a little tired, but she was actually very well behaved.

I think because my belly is still pretty big, June is still struggling with the idea that the baby Cora that used to kick her hand through my belly is the same baby Cora that is now on the outside. I guess she will figure it out as time goes on. I was very happy to see how gentle she was when touching Cora. I am hoping that the protective instinct remains once we get home as well. :)

Cora Is Here!

We had a very successful VBAC induction today & Cora Josephine Blatchford arrived at 1:52pm. She is 7lbs 5.5oz & 18.5in long. It is amazing how tiny they are when they are born & how fast they grow. Right now she is such a cute little pixie with tiny little facial features & really long fingers, toes & eyelashes. She has the same hair that Roxy was born with, long & dark. I am thinking that this might fall out & grow back lighter, just like Roxy's did.

The delivery itself went well. My epidural was not nearly as good as my previous epidurals for my other kids. It took most of the contraction pain away early on, but did not numb anything between my legs or my butt. I could even feel the catheter that they have to put in when you get an epidural. So needless to say, I could feel the pain of delivery quite acutely. And when I was completely dilated, it was impossible for me to avoid pushing during each contraction, even though the nurse & doctor where not ready. Because of this I got a little panicky & was not nearly as controlled as I have been during past deliveries.

Andy thought that this delivery was the easiest of them all, because labor was short (around 5hrs), she came out quickly (less than 9 min according to the nurse - about 6-7 pushes) & there was no worry about her health (APGARS were 9/9 & she looked perfect) or visits to the nursery for observations...so in that way this was the best delivery. But on my end, this was the hardest delivery yet. I am so glad that I VBACed though, because my recovery should be much easier than with a c-section.

Cora nursed for about 2.5 hrs off and on after delivery & then passed out for almost 10 hours. We will see how the next feeding session goes, but I don't expect any more long stretches of sleep like that from her anytime soon. ;)

Picking Her Own Day

Last night I had 2 hours of contractions 6-8 min apart. Before they went away, I was thinking that perhaps Cora had decided that Sept 6th would be her birthday instead of the 8th. I guess it remains to be seen if she will pick her own birthday...she only has a couple more days to choose from. ;)

Some Progress

At today's OB appointment there has finally been some progress! I am 3cm dilated, 50% effaced & baby has dropped to the -1 station. The induction is still set for Saturday!

Happy Labor Day

Today was a good day. We spent the day laying low here at home. The kids had fun playing outside, in the pool & in their playroom, as usual. No baby news yet. We are all coming down with our first school-season cold, but it doesn't seem that severe. Yay, lol.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Some photos of our day. :)