Delivery Story with Baby #2

My delivery story is COMPLETELY different this time than with Baby #1.

I was scheduled to be induced on July 24th at 4:00 am. But Gracie June has other plans. On Monday morning around 1:00, I woke up and had a gush of fluid run down my legs and I thought that I had just peed on myself because it wasn't a ton of fluid (like u see in the movies)... So I told Chance and since I wasn't positive, I just went back to sleep. I noticed a little cramping but nothing major. Then at around 3:30 I got up to go to the bathroom again and felt another gush of fluid... This time I just knew I wasn't peeing on myself. So I called the dr. and she told me to go ahead and come in. At this point I was starting to have real contractions that were pretty painful. We called my mother-in-law to come watch Caycen while we went to the hospital. 

We arrived to the hospital around 5:90 am and the contractions were getting more painful and close together. After doing some tests and confirming that my water was broken, and that I was between 3-4 cm dilated, we got a room. 

At about 7:30 I got to get the epidural and was feeling much better. The time from 7:30 to about 9:00, I just relaxed. My dr. came back in to check on me around 9:00 and said that I was fully dilated and ready to push... 19 minutes later (after only pushing about 5 times) Gracie June Darley was born.

I only had a stage 1 tear (last time was a 4 which was horrible). Honestly, compared to my first delivery, this felt like a piece of cake!!!! 

Of course, the first thing I heard that morning, rolling down to my delivery room, was that Kate Middleton was also in labor...so after Gracie was born, the advertising manager of the hospital came and asked if we would do an interview with WTOC about our baby being born the same day as the royal family. At around 3:30 they came to interview me and take some pictures of Gracie June.  It was pretty cool because we had our little princess on the news that night. 

Here is the link to the story on WTOC:  http://www.wtoc.com/story/22904978/area-newborn-shares-same-birthday-as-royal-baby

I enjoyed the rest of the day just loving on our new bundle of joy! Caycen got to meet Gracie June that evening as well and he just wanted to kiss her over and over again! It was SO sweet!!!

Of course Gracie's grandparents and Aunt Sissy came to visit too.

Then I took my own advice and took a shower the first chance that I got!

Gracie June got a bath too :) I don't think she liked hers at much as her Mommy...

We got to go home the next day because we were doing so great.

Overall, this was a great delivery!

We are so happy and we praise God for all of the wonderful blessings in our lives! Thank you to all of our friends and family for your prayers, help, love, and support!

~Amy

Reality Check

I'm writing this post to remind myself of what the first couple weeks is like with a newborn and a two-year-old.

Outside looking in:

Awe they have a cute little family of four now! One boy and one girl. Caycen is so sweet and always wants to give Gracie June kisses. They look like they've got it together.

Reality:

This morning I wake up at 6:30 to feed Gracie June and also need to pump, but waited until Gracie got done eating. Started pumping at 6:46 and usually need to pump for about 20 minutes. At 7:00 Caycen starts crying for mommy because he's ready to get up and get out of his crib. I have to stop pumping about 5 minutes early and go get him out of the crib. LUCKIlY Gracie had fallen back to sleep. Caycen got in the bed and snuggled with Me for about 15 minutes. Then he was ready to go play. I had to brush my teeth so he went in the playroom and played with some toys for a few minutes while I did that. We let Gracie sleep while we went downstairs and ate breakfast, watched Caillou and played a little. I had to wash tons of bottles and pumping parts. That was actually very nice getting to spend some one-on-one time with Caycen. Then Gracie woke up... I had to Change her diaper and Caycen came in the room. He saw her cute outfit and picked it up. I was ready to go downstairs so I asked him to put the outfit back and he wouldn't let it go. I finally had to break it free from his hands and put it up. He cried... Then we went downstairs and I fed Gracie. He gave her kisses. A few minutes later he grabs our camera bag and tries to shove it on Gracie's head... I took it away and told him no and he needed to be gentle. He cried and hit Gracie in the leg. He got put in timeout for the longest he's ever been there (which was probably like 4 mins cause I had to change Gracie's diaper again). He got out of timeout and I had to change his poopy diaper since he's refusing to poop on the potty. We go outside to play and I am holding Gracie June and he gives her a kiss...

Now it's only 10:30 am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't get me wrong... I'm truly blessed!!!! Just praying that it gets a little easier soon!!!! And for PATIENCE!

A Trip to the Fire Station

A few weeks ago, Caycen got to take a little trip to the fire station with his two friends Noah and Ella Kate. Our neighbor, Ira, is a firefighter and invited Caycen to come for a visit to see the big fire trucks. Caycen was so excited!

When we got there Caycen was not shy at all and ran straight to the fire truck. Ira let then get in the fire truck, play with the buttons inside, push the horn, and Caycen even spoke on the intercom (is that what you call it?). He was so sweet! He got on there and said "Hey Noah, Hey Ella Kate, hey Mommy, love you Mommy". It made me tear up!!! (but hey I was 9 months pregnant at the time too)

dirty hands!

dirty hands and a dirty face!

Thanks to Ira the kids had an awesome time!!! And thank you to Amanda and Julie for letting his best friends tag along! :)

Third Trimester with Baby #2

This pregnancy has truly FLOWN by! Maybe it's because I didn't go on bedrest with this baby, or because I have a toddler who keeps me SUPER busy and I don't have time to think about being pregnant!!!

I'm not gonna lie though... these last few weeks have gotten tough being so pregnant with a toddler. It's gotten hard to keep up with him, clean up, and then not feel bad about not being able play rough with my little man! Bending over to pick up his toys is even hard!

Here are my third trimester details...

How I feel:
Well I don't feel TOO bad... I am a little more tired lately {but I am trying to keep up with a 2 year old}, it's harder to sleep, and I think I just feel BIG.  People keep telling me I'm not that big for 37 weeks pregnant... but I feel like it. This bump is just always in the way :)  But really, when I think about how I felt last pregnancy, I think I'm doing pretty good for 37 almost 38 weeks pregnant. I am feeling her move a LOT more than in my 2nd trimester, but she really doesn't have much room anymore, so any tiny movements I can feel.  She doesn't move as much as Caycen did when I was pregnant with him.

Cravings:
ok... so I think I still crave things I see on commercials.  I saw a Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercial the other day and you better bet that I had me some to eat the next morning :) I haven't eaten Cinnamon Toast Crunch since college!!! haha! But it sure was good... I'm also back in a chocolate donut kick, wanting them for a snack or something sweet after dinner. Other than that, not too many cravings.

Body:
My stomach has gotten SUPER tight! I feel really big... I have gained about 30 lbs total so far... hoping I don't gain too much more.  I don't really have any swelling this time either, which is great. I pray that I don't swell like I did when I was in labor with Caycen.  Here are some pics of the 3rd trimester belly growth:

30 weeks

35 weeks

37 weeks

here is a comparison of 37 weeks with Caycen vs. 37 weeks with Gracie June:

I think I poke out about the same, but Caycen was definitely a lot more of a curve and Gracie is more at a point in the middle of my belly! It's fun to see the difference :)

Best Moment:
My best moment in the 3rd trimester is probably my 36 week appointment where I got to see our sweet little girl in the ultrasound one more time before she makes her appearance into the world. She was just precious. They measured her to be about 5 lbs 12 oz from the ultrasound. I'm so excited to actually be able to hold her!

Worst Moment:
TOUGH... probably anytime that Caycen wants me to play on the floor with him and I just can't move around the way that he wants me to. I feel horrible when I can't play with him and give him, especially since his whole world is about to be rocked.

Well, this may be my last "pregnancy" post before giving my delivery story... being pregnant a second time has definitely gone by fast, but it's been a challenge {especially toward the end} having a two year old to chase around at the same time.  We are planning that this will be our last baby {we think 2 is a great number for us}.  I think I've said this before, but I'm just not one of those girls that absolutely LOVES being pregnant... nope... not me at all... so I look forward to bringing this baby into the world and I am so excited for her to meet her big brother!!! I just know he's going to LOVE Gracie June!!!

Hope you enjoyed all of my pregnancy posts :)

Packed for the Hospital

Well we may not have the baby room ready, but we have our bags packed and ready for the hospital (also done a lot later than last time!). We had to pack three bags... Gracie June's bag, Mommy and Daddy's bag, and then we have a "big brother" bag for when Caycen gets to come up to the hospital to meet the baby.

Since this is my second baby, it was a little easier for me to figure out what I needed to pack for the hospital. I'm trying to pack lighter this time... 

So here's a look at Gracie's bag:

I'm actually using the same diaper bag I used with Caycen... It's still cute and functional. Contents of the bag: Gracie's hospital door hanger, paint pen to fill out the info. on the door hanger, baby book to do the footprints (and of I feel up to it I can fill out some of the info.), burp cloth (it's too cute to not put in there!), socks, hand mittens so she doesn't scratch herself, little hats, a white onesie and her onesie stickers so we can take the "newborn" picture at the hospital, a couple of receiving blankets, a couple of onesies, a cute going home outfit, and I'll probably throw in a couple of headbands just in case. (ok so I probably still overpacked her bag... But whatever it all fits in there haha)

Mommy and Daddy's bag:

For mommy: a couple of bras, a couple pairs of underwear (just in case I don't wear the mesh ones they give you), a pair of pajamas, a light housecoat, flip flops, an outfit to go home in, toiletry items. I added my tummy wrap, which I used last time and it just made me feel so comfortable because it holds the belly in. I am also adding a few breastfeeding items like lanolin cream, a nipple shield (just in case), and a few nursing pads.

For Daddy: boxers, a pair of comfy shorts, tshirt, flip flops, toiletry items.

Caycen's bag (the big brother):

When Caycen comes to meet Gracie for the first time, we will have a little "big brother gift" for him: a big brother book, his "big bro" tshirt, and I'm going to add a coloring book and markers to keep him busy after we take some pics and of course some snacks (goldfish, caprisun, gummies, etc.).

Things we will grab as we go out the door: phone charger, camera, camcorder

I THINK that's all we need... I'm sure I probably forgot something... but I think this is a pretty good list.

Maternity Shoot with Baby #2

Jerina (who is absolutely AMAZING!) has been doing our family photos since Caycen's one year shoot. She is so great! I send her ideas that I like, then she takes those along with her own fun ideas, and we always have a great shoot!

Here are some of my FAVES from my maternity shoot with Gracie June:

Thank you, Jerina, for always being amazing!!!