Three Weeks

Rosie went to the doctor yesterday and is fabulous.  She is just shy of 21 inches, measuring 20 and 7/8.  Her head was 15 inches around and she weighed exactly 8 pounds.  I worried she would be underweight, since she doesn't nurse nearly as long as Charlie did at each feeding, but the doctor said she is ahead of the target weight.  She is getting what she needs, just is nursing faster than Charlie did.  She should stop pooping as often soon, which will be wonderful.  This girl has been a pooping maching, and is a squirter!  We have gone through 200 diapers in 3 weeks and everyday, she poops on some article of clothing, blanket, changing pad covers or me.  Last night, at about 2am, she pooped on all of the above at the same time.

Sleeping with Daddy

Meeting Lullabelle

Since Rosie's arrival at home, Lullabelle has been a most attentative Mama Dog.  She stays by her side and gets very concerned when she hears her new baby crying. 

And she lets us know about dirty diapers.

Baby's First Bath

We have been giving Rosie sponge baths until her umbilical cord fell off (which happened yesterday!)  Here is her first bath - she still is not a fan.

Airplanes

The week before Rosie was born, Charlie and I went out to the Athens airport to look at the planes.  He has become interested in airplanes and is always looking for them in the sky.  The airport also has one of the large, decorated bulldogs that you can find around town.  So we spent almost an hour looking at the planes. . .

. . . and then running to talk to the bulldog.



And then going back to see the planes. . .

. . . and back to the bulldog again. 

And then back to the planes. 

Really, the planes and the statue are not that far away - I stayed in one spot to take the pictures - but Charlie ran full speed back and forth. Didn't want to miss anything. Next time, I hope he can see a plane take off or land. But the excitement he had over planes that were just parked was amazing.

Two Weeks/Twenty-Two Months

Yesterday Rosie was two weeks old, and today Charlie is 22 months. I think I had forgotten - or blocked - lot of the details of Charlie's birth. Like how cold the operating room was or how I needed two doses of Lidocane to numb the spot where I would get the spinal (because of the scar tissue from my back surgery.)

So I am going to write down some memories, of the births of both Charlie and Rosie. So I won't forget again.

I did remember that it took a loooong time for the spinal to work with Charlie and this time I was able to make everyone aware of that so we weren't waiting around.  It seemed last time the anesthesiologist  thought it should have happened faster and was impatient.  This time we knew it would be longer and everyone was fine with it.  And I had a different anesthesiologist - that may have helped. 

And I remember with Charlie being able to feel my legs but not move them and being totally freaked out by that, triggering a good attack of anxiety. This time there was no freaking out. I was much calmer and able to joke with everyone.

This time, the spinal was not able to completely numb my left side, so while Rosie was delivered I had more pain. Scar tissue strikes again, this time from Charlie's delivery.  They couldn't completely numb me without putting her at risk, so there was a little hollering on my part when they took her out.  But I was given good drugs once she was born and I ended up falling asleep once she and Marc were taken to the nursery.

With both Charlie and Rosie, a nurse took some great pictures for us while they were born.  And we are so grateful for that. 

After the birth of Charlie, I didn't get out of bed until day 2, and walks around the floor were slow and required heavy dependence on the wall railing. This time, I was ready to walk just a few hours after her birth and once I was up, walking was not a problem. I was slow but not wobbly.  The nurses commented several times about how well I was doing.  I ate solid foods faster and felt ready to go home earlier, although we stayed three nights again. 

The only hiccup with my recovery with Rosie is that I evidently have a sensitivity to latex, as I learned once the catheter was removed and I couldn't pee. Did you know catheters are latex?  I didn't, and didn't have a problem with it when Charlie was born.  this time though?  Yeesh.  I'll spare you the details but an IV bag of liquids + drinking lots of water + a dinner of broth, juice and a Popsicle - a catheter = an very uncomfortable Mary.  It took almost 12 hours for the swelling from the latex catheter to go down before I could pee on my own. And before the nurse figured out it was a reaction to latex, they were trying every trick in the book - running the water in the sink, warm towels and peppermint aroma.

As I mentioned before, Rosie was delivered a little early because I had not gained enough weight and my fluids were close to being in a bad range.  So I got a little curious - when a pregnant women gains weight, what is it exactly? According to the Internet, it is:

Baby: 7-8 pounds
Placenta: 1-2 pounds
Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds
Uterus: 2 pounds
Maternal breast tissue: 2 pounds
Maternal blood : 4 pounds
Fluids in maternal tissue: 4 pounds
Maternal fat and nutrient stores: 7 pounds

I am guessing I lost any maternal fat to make up for the pounds that are tissue or blood, and maybe I was lower on the fluid weight.  But I am SO enjoying eating anything and not throwing it up!!!

Going Home

My mom made the loveliest going home outfit for Rosie.  And she took the blanket that Charlie went home with (made by my Aunt Susan) and changed the ribbon from blue to pink.  We had the best dressed baby in town!

Can you tell I was excited to go home? :-)

ABCs

Watch Charlie sing!  Such  a smart boy.

Our Pretty Little Princess

Uncle Michael

I think the highlight of his little sister's birth was a visit from Uncle Michael.  Charlie loved all over him and is still walking around saying, "Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael!"

Happy Father's Day!

I'm a day late on this, and I hope it doesn't lessen the sentiment.  But we LOVE all the fathers in our lives and hope they had a fabulous day.  We especially want to say we love Uncle Michael,

Papa Chuck,

Papa Kirby,

and Daddy Marc!

Thank you for all you do to love and care for us. We can never repay it.

One Week

Wow - time really does fly.  Rosemary Nell  was born a week ago today.

This time last week, we were here - just waiting.

Tired of the pictures

Ready to take off for the delivery room

In Recovery

Here I am World!

Another member of Team LaMotte. 

Rosie was born with a rash on her cheeks, but it cleared up after 5 days.  She was also born with a lot of dark hair and long finger and toe nails.  She was much bigger than we expected.  We thought she would maybe be 6 pounds.  Our doctor was pleasantly surprised to have her be over 7.  But it was funny - Marc and I had the same reaction to the doctor asking, "Now how big did we think she would be??"  It was as if she had not made the incision big enough from which this big-little girl would emerge!

Check out all that hair!

Already decked out in flamingo wear

Rosie has done so well with nursing.  But she doesn't eat as much as Charlie did.  She will nurse on one side and fall asleep.  And sometimes, about 30 minutes later, she wants to nurse on the other side.  In the hospital, she slept 6 hours at night.  We aren't having that kind of luck now that we are home, and she seems to have her days and nights confused.

We went to the doctor yesterday and she is already back up to 6 pounds, 14.5 ounces and has grown to 20 inches, so she is drinking milk like a champ!  Her head was 15 inches as well.

She is lovely and wonderful and we are so happy to have her here!

Charlie's Animals

One of my favorite things is to hear Charlie say Animals.  He puts such emphasis on the first syllable - ANNNNNimals.  When he talks about his annnnimals, he is either referring to a wooden puzzle with zoo animals or to his Noah's ark, filled with duos.  He loves the llamas, especially since we have been reading Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Meeting the Family

Papa Kirby

Papa Chuck and Grandma Janice

The Grandmas



Papa Kirby and Grandma Dot

Grandma Dot

Uncle Michael

TV with Daddy

What's more comfy than a couch?  Daddy, of course!

Charlie Meeting Rosie