Monday, July 31, 2006

Have I Ever Been This Busy?

A whole week has passed and I survived! We were home alone on Monday and Tuesday (the four kids and I), then John was home with us the rest of the week. Although having him home didn't really "count" because of his little surgery on Wednesday and subsequent recovery. Yes, folks, it's official. We are not going to have any more children. John sent an email to his classmates from the Air Force Academy that said, "Charlotte Ivey was born 2 weeks ago and is doing well. For those of you keeping score at home, that is Lodmell child #4. This will be the last edition of Lodmell children. The production line is being disassembled tomorrow. Wish me luck!"

I have to say I'm a little sad. I sure do love having a tiny baby. I love giving birth and being in the hospital and picking a name. I love the smell of a freshly bathed baby and I love baby noises. I love nursing a baby and rocking a baby and watching a sleeping baby. But one thing I do NOT love is being pregnant. I can't even count the number of times during this last pregnancy I said, "I am so done. I am NOT doing this again." So, four is a good number. This is a good place to stop ... our family is complete.

So, after telling, oh, about a hundred or more people who have asked, "Oh, she sleeps great - she only wakes up once during the night to nurse then she goes right back to sleep!" Charlotte made a liar out of me. Last night I was up from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. Let's back up. I usually try to make her have some "awake" time in the evening. But yesterday we went to church and she just slept in the infant carrier from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Then I woke her up and fed her and she went right back to sleep until I woke her up and fed her again at 10 p.m. I should have known that I was in for a long night. Because when she woke up at 2 a.m., she thought it was time to be awake! If the lamp was on, it was all good, but as soon as I would turn the lamp off, she would get mad! She finally ended up falling asleep on my chest about 5 a.m. I think I feel a nap coming on this afternoon.

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a pediatric dermatologist for Mitchell. It's not a big deal, except for the fact that all four children will be going with me. This should be interesting.

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingHere's a new picture of Charlotte. It amazes me how much she has changed in just one week.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Home Alone

Today is our first day home alone (just the four kids and me). Grammy and PawPaw left yesterday and boy, are they missed! We're doing okay, though. We may even try to go somewhere (SuperTarget) to help the day pass a little more quickly.

Charlotte is actually starting to fit into some 0-3 mo. clothes. Thank goodness! I only had a couple of things that fit her, so we were doing a lot of baby laundry in Method detergent!

She's alert a lot more these days - just looking around with her big blue eyes. We are all enamored with her! Mitchell likes to surround her with toys when she is in a bouncy seat or in her car seat.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

2-week visit

We went for Charlotte's two-week appointment today. She gained 13 ounces in 7 days - she's now up to 6 lbs. 13 oz. The doctor said that it's fine to let her sleep until she wakes up during the night since she's gaining weight so well ... which is good because that's what I've been letting her do! She generally eats at 10 p.m., 3:30 a.m., and then 7 a.m. I consider myself very lucky to only be getting up once at night.

We are using a Miracle Blanket with Charlotte and it's awesome. I've never been able to swaddle a baby this well. We highly recommend it, since it's like a little straight-jacket!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

The Dairy

The other night I was nursing Charlotte and Holly Grace wanted to hold her. She said to me, "Can I hold baby Charlotte after she's done milking?" Moo.

Hospital pics

Charlotte and Mitchell. He calls her "My Baby" - never "Charlotte".

Holly Grace kissing Charlotte's tiny fingers

Jack and baby sister

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

First Doctor Visit

Charlotte was down to 5 pounds, 10 ounces when we left the hospital. Today she is up to 6 pounds even, just three days later! Hooray for our good little eater.

Monday, July 10, 2006

All the Gory Details

And I mean all the details. If you are "faint of heart" you should just skip this post and know that everything turned out beautifully.

So, my last post before she was born just said that we were on our way to the hostpital. We got to the hospital about 6:30 p.m. I was having contractions all the way there about 4 minutes apart, but they really weren't painful. My cervix hadn't changed any since my appointment that morning, so the doctor gave instructions for me to walk around the hospital for two hours, returning to my room to be monitored every half hour. John and I did three half-hour walking tours of the third floor (my feet were killing me) and returned to be monitored for about ten minutes each time. The baby was doing great, but after the third round, there was a dip in her heartrate after one of the contractions. Normally, I don't think this would have been a big deal, but it happened with Mitchell and he ended up having a knot in his cord. So, John and I kind of got uptight.

The nurse checked me again, and I still hadn't made any progress. She put a call in to the doctor, who decided to go ahead and keep me there (they had been planning on sending me home if I didn't make any progress) because of the dip in the heartrate. We definitely felt like it was a two-edged sword. On one hand, we didn't want to see that dip because of what it could mean. On the other hand, we were glad to be going ahead with labor and delivery.

Meanwhile, the kids were with friends and my parents had flown in to town and picked them up. They took them home and put them to bed and we promised to keep them updated through the night.

They finally started the pitocin (to get the contractions going stronger and more regular) about 11:00 p.m. We started the epidural process about midnight, and by 1:30 I was feeling no pain at all. John got comfortable on the couch and promptly went to sleep. I slept a little on and off, but I was being checked pretty frequently.

At 2:00 a.m. I was at 4 cm.
At 3:00 a.m. I was at 5-6 cm.
At 4:15 a.m. I was 7 cm. and my water broke as the nurse was checking me.
At 5:00 a.m. I was complete and the nurse had me do a practice push. I didn't really put alot into it because I didn't want to deliver without my doctor there. So, the nurse counted to 10, then told me to take a deep breath and start pushing again. So this time, I "wrapped up around the baby" and put some effort into it. She said "One ... two ... okay you can stop pushing and I'll go call the doctor. You really moved the baby down with that."

The doctor arrived about 5:10 a.m and started "gowning up." They removed the bottom of the bed and put my calves in the supports. The doctor got into position and then started talking to John about our recent vacation. Then she looked at me and said, "Okay, well, here's the head if you want to give a little push."

So I started to push and she immediately said, "Okay, stop pushing." John looked down and said, "Wow, lots of hair, and she's face down!" (Babies are supposed to be born looking at the floor, but our last two have been born looking at the ceiling. I would have put money on this one being "sunny side up" as well.)

So then, she just slid out and there she was, all covered in vernix (since she was only 37 weeks) and pink and beautiful. She did have lots of dark hair and she was so tiny!!! John cut the cord right away.

They put her on my tummy and dried her off, then took her to the warmer to do the assessments and clean her up. Her 1-minute APGAR was 7, the 5-minute was 8. Meanwhile, the doctor was marvelling at the cord. Apparently, it was "hyper-coiled" meaning it was coiled more tightly than most cords. This can result in smaller babies as it inhibits their growth. The doctor commented about the large amount of blood in the amniotic fluid and, once the placenta was delivered, found a small tear on it. She called this a "possible partial abruption", which is pretty scary, since an abrupted placenta can be serious for both mom and baby.

At that point, my doctor said, "Let's just say I'm glad we went ahead and delivered this baby." Yikes!

John held her for a bit, then I held her for a few minutes, but she was working really hard to breathe, so we kissed her and sent her off to the nursery for a little assistance. She did great and we had her back in our room within four hours.

Charlotte is nursing great and we go to the pediatrician tomorrow to see how she's doing. She lost weight down to 5 pounds, 10 oz. by the time we were discharged, so hopefully she's gaining it back now. Tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of her with the siblings, who are completely enamored with her.

Friday, July 07, 2006

One Day Old

My daddy loves me!

Newborn


Well, here she is! Charlotte Ivey made her grand entrance at 5:19 a.m. on Thursday, July 6, 2006. She weighed 6 pounds, 1 oz and was 18.5 inches long. The labor and delivery were easy (no pushing required!). I'll update with more details later. She's nursing well and has already found her fingers and thumbs.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

"Contraptions"

We're leaving for the hospital ... contractions are about 5 minutes apart but not terribly painful. The doctor wants us to go on in.

Jack asked me today if I was having any "contraptions." If only I were having contraptions instead of contractions!

Delivery is Imminent

Well, of course it is! I can't be pregnant forever!

I went to the doctor today and I'm 3 cm. and 80% effaced. Since she can't deliver this baby this weekend and I'm (as she said it) a "ticking time bomb," we decided that she would strip my membranes. If the baby is ready, this can jump-start labor. If you want to know what "stripping of membranes" is, click here. It's a pretty painful procedure, but it seems to have worked. I'm having contractions every 8 minutes or so. Mom and Dad are on their way into town, and we think we'll probably be headed to the hospital sometime this evening. We'll try to labor at home as long as possible.

The next update may be after the birth!

Singin' In the Rain


It's been so long since we had rain, when it rained yesterday, the kids just sat at the window watching it. They reminded me of the kids in The Cat in the Hat. Of course, they remembered the time last winter when they wanted to play in the rain, but it was too cold and I said they could do it in the summer when it was warmer. So, they put on old clothes and their raincoats and rainboots and headed out. I wish I'd thought to take a picture as they were headed back in, covered in mud from head to toe.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Tall Tales


This is Jack, "Captain Gil" (the fishing guide) and Jack's northern pike that he caught fishing on Lake Champlain in Vermont. It was one big fish!