This week has been full of good days and not so good days. Today has been pretty good so far. The office is moving to Fayetteville Arkansas this Sunday, so I've been busy running errands and packing. I'm not sure how the internet situation will work once we get there, so I thought I better make a quick post while I cam :)
Capri loves to be on her tummy. Even when she's wide awake, if I flip her to her tummy she usually will fall asleep instantly.
I've been having fun trying out my new nail polishes on Capri's toes :)
Calin likes to give Capri things that he's playing with. This time it was crayons. He just stacks things up on her belly.
And Calin has finally learned to smile and say "cheese" haha, I stopped using the phrase "say cheese" with him a long time ago since he would go look for real cheese instead of pose for the camera. But he picked it up somewhere (maybe my mom??) and I just realized I can now get him to stop and smile for the camera. Hopefully I can get some cute pictures of him soon. For now, here is his first "cheese" pictures (that I have taken anyway)
Speaking of firsts, Calin had his first happy meal yesterday. HA! We had to wait an hour in Walmart for our oil change, so I thought, what the heck, why not?! I got him apples instead of fries. And guess what? He didn't even want his chicken nuggets, he just wanted the apples! When he finished the bag he kept asking for more apples :) No worries though, he did eventually chow down the nuggets.
He got home close to midnight last night, and we had him all to ourselves all day today.
It's been a long day, but it has still been nice having him home after him being gone for so long.
This next week he will be gone at least Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully he'll be home the rest of the week so I will have his help packing up our apartment. We move to Fayetteville, AR in a week.
(I forgot to take a picture of Jordan today, but this one with Calin and Capri is from a week ago)
My mom flew home today. I'm going to miss her lots! I don't want to get back to doing my own housework again, and running errands by myself with two kids.
Capri was awake when my mom started vacuuming, but it didn't take long for the soothing sound of the vacuum to pacify her to sleep :)
We drove down to the river so my mom could take some pictures of it before she left. Calin had a blast running around and exploring. It has been so hot here that he hasn't had much outdoor time, so this was good for him.
He was NOT happy when it was time to leave
This was the only picture I got of my mom with both kids. Calin was putting stickers on Capri's head
I love her crossed eyes in this picture below :) Jordan hates it when I cross my eyes, I mean hates it! I wonder if he feels the same way when Capri does it? I doubt it, come on, she looks so funny in this picture, how could seeing that not put a smile on your face?!
Capri is growing so fast! I feel like she has almost doubled in size already! She's still an excellent baby! I honestly don't think she cries more than a total of 5 minutes in a 24 hour period. It's amazing! I still feed her twice at night, and she goes right to sleep after each feeding. And she still likes to eat every 3 - 3.5 hours. She's just so happy and easy going, I love it! I'm still waiting for her to start smiling so I can gawk at her cute dimples all day long :)
Until recently she seemed indifferent when it came to swaddling. She slept well either way. But the past few days she has definitely preferred to be swaddled. She also has been taking different pacifiers now. Though I still think she prefers the mam ones, she will take a different type to hold her off till we find the "right" one.
Calin still LOVES her! Still gives her kisses and hugs every chance he gets. And we'll see how his attitude is this week with my mom gone. Hopefully it is better!
Jordan is gone this week and took our computer so I thought I would try using my phone to make a post. We'll see how it goes.
There is a man named Willie who is a greeter at the Walmart down the street. Everyone around here you knows Willie, especially the kids. We heard about Willie our first day here before even going to Walmart, that's how famous he is around here :). And Calin loves him! He usually has his fist out and ready to go before we even enter the store.
I haven't been brave enough to get it on video, but my mom was :)
For all you non-little-rockers, meet Willie . . . BAM!
Oh how we are loving Capri! She is almost too good of a baby that sometimes it worries me a bit. She has cried a combined total of maybe 1 minute since she's been home. Really. She sleeps, and eats, and is only awake a few hours during the day. And while she's awake, she's perfectly content just looking around and taking everything in. She eats every 3 hours or so, but I usually have to wake her up to feed her. At night she goes closer to 4 hours, and still doesn't cry when she wakes up hungry. I usually hear her starting to smack her lips, pick her up, feed her, and she goes right back to sleep.
We took her to the doctor today for her checkup and she is already 7lbs 5oz (25th percentile) and 20" long (44th percentile). The doctor said they like them to be at their birth weight by 10 days, so since she's already surpassed that by quite a bit at 8 days, it's clear she's getting plenty to eat.
Pictures from her first bath. She looks so tiny in her little tub!
My recovery is going great. The only pain/challenge was nursing. But it's been a week and is getting tons better! She's a super fast eater (compared to Calin as a newborn anyway) which helps.
Little details:
Her hair is dark
She has teeny tiny blonde eyelashes
Her eyes are a dark blue/gray
She will only take a MAM pacifier. Juts like Calin. She loves that brand, but hates all the others.
My mom is here staying with us which has been a huge help! I'm loving that I don't have to do the dishes, or laundry, clean my house, or even run my own errands :)
It's a good thing Capri is so easy, because Calin has been a challenge lately. He deffinitely notices some changes going on, and hasn't been the happiest camper while adjusting to them. He LOVES Capri though. He's so soft and sweet with her, and gives her kisses.
Holly Capri Spence was born July 5th, 11:38pm. She was 6lbs 14oz and 19.25" long. Healthy, beautiful, and sweet.
The long L&D story is at the bottom, but here are lots of pics to enjoy first :)
Capri's Labor & Delivery Story
I started having rather painful consistent contractions Sunday evening, then they stopped once I finally got up for the day. Monday night was the same thing, just stronger and further apart. Tuesday the contractions continued during the day, but were usually about 20 min apart, so I was sure they were braxton hicks contractions. When I laid down for a nap the contractions got closer together, and at 3:17pm my water broke.
I called Jordan a few minutes later to tell him. He had taken our car to work that day (1 hour away), so he jumped in the car and headed home. Calin was still napping, and contractions were still at least 10min apart, so I took my time getting things ready. I called Chelsea to see if she could come over when Calin woke up to watch him, and she came right over, before he woke up, and painted my toes while Jordan finished packing our hospital bag (and vacuuming and sweeping, and dishes . . . same thing with Calin, he felt like he needed to clean everything before we left).
We arrived at the hospital around 6pm. I was already dilated to a 6, and by that time my contractions were 2-3 min apart. Finally around 9 they got my blood work back and the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural. By that time I was at an 8, and miserable! Jordan took before and after pictures. I really was trying to look happy in the "before my epidural" picture but I don't think it worked.
Around 10:00 I started feeling lots of pressure like it was time to push, and had Jordan get the nurse to check me again. I was a 10 and 100%, but Capri wasn't quite low enough to call the dr yet, and my epidural was starting to wear off (they didn't tell me about the button). So the anestesiologist came in after the nurse pushed the button and put even more in, so I was super set. I pushed with the nurse in there a few times then she told me to stop and wait for the Dr. Once he arrived (aound 11:00) I pushed for about 30 more minutes, and little Capri was out. She cut it pretty close to midnight (my birthday), a little too close :)
I pushed the same as I did with Calin, but I had lots more energy than I did with him. This time I was actually able to see her as the Dr pulled her out, and was able to have lots of skin to skin contact with her right after. With Calin my body had shut down the second he came out, and I couldn't even enjoy those precious first moments with him. So I would say this L&D was much better (except for waiting till I was an 8 to get that wonderful epidural). We stayed in the L&D room for 2 1/2 hours after Capri was born, then moved into the mother/baby room around 2:30am.
I hardly got any sleep in the hospital with all the staff that kept coming in and out every 10 minutes (or so it seemed at least). Jordan stayed with me the whole time though, so that helped a lot. Calin stayed with Chelsea the whole time we were in the hospital. He loves her! I think he thinks of her as a toy, someone he can just play with all.day.long. She brought Calin in to visit us, along with another wife, Karen and her two kids. Calin LOVES Capri. He climbed right up on my bed to get a good look at her. The first thing he did was grab her nose. When we told him to be gentle, he started kissing her, and kissing her, and kissing her. We had to ask him to give mom and dad kisses so he would stop :) Then he would ask "that nice?" He's been very sweet with her!
Below: Me, Chelsea holding Capri, Karen and some of the cute outfits they brought for Capri :)
My recovery this time has been pretty good. The only pain meds I took in the hospital were 2 percocets right after the epidural wore off to help with the back pain and cramping I was having from the pitocin they gave me afterwards. But it didn't do anything for that, and that was the only pain I had. Now that my muscle soreness has kicked it, I have been taking ibuprofen though.
We checked out of the hospital last night, and got home around midnight. Chelsea and her husband were over while Calin slept, and had gotten me some gorgeous pink roses and a chocolate cake for my birthday! So sweet! I feel so blessed to have so many friends and sweet people out here that I can trust Calin with, and who are so helpful and thoughtful! The girls have already set up meals for the next week and a half! Capri came at a time when Jordan was working still reletively close and was able to stay with me the whole time. And I was so worried about complications with this one, thankfully things went smooth and we are healthy and already home enjoying our new life as a family of 4.
I wonder if I'll make it a whole week. Probably. Though lately that seems impossible. I've been up all night the past two nights with contractions. "Fake" ones apparently. The ones that aren't supposed to hurt. Well, they sure hurt alright! I don't think I ever had braxton hicks contractions like this with Calin. Anyway, Sunday night they were 60-70sec long and 5 min apart for over 3 hours. Then they finally slowed down to every 10 min or so for the next 6 or 7 hours. Last night they were even more painful than the night before, luckily they were 10min apart, but they still lasted ALL night again.
No changes to report from my Dr apt last week. But Jordan and I did make the decision to change my induction date to Monday the 11th, 7am. The office is traveling starting Monday, which means they will be working 2.5-3 hours away and staying in hotels. I'm not ok with being at the hospital in labor without Jordan. He needs to be there. And the thought of him missing it terrifies me. So we both feel better about Monday. But hopefully she'll come on her own before then.
I've deffinitely been feeling the "nesting" phase kick in. I just wish it came with a desire to keep my house clean. I have all of her stuff ready and most of my hospital bag packed. And even though I don't need much for her, I still find myself going out almost everyday and getting things. I think of a new thing that I "need" every day just so I can go out shopping for her. I've been making some hair accessories finally, and my s.i.l. Mickie sent me a ton of hair bows, so now I'm finally in need of some sort of hair bow holder :)
We toured the L&D unit at the hospital a few weeks ago. All the nurses were really nice and the rooms were enormous with lots and lots of windows. But the postpartum rooms are super tiny. They do have a pull out bed sort of thing for Jordan though, so I guess it will work :)
Last Thursday the girls here threw me and another wife a Tea Party baby shower. Lots of feathers, and pink, and doily's, and of course FUN!
Everything had it's own little doily.
And I won the this cute little tea set (perfect for my little girl's tea party) for my hat - I think they just felt obligated to vote for me since it was my shower :) See it in the back of this picture below?
It was a lot of fun! Everyone brought such delicious treats! Cucumber sandwiches, tea (aka cucumber punch), petite fours, and even a cake shaped like a tea pot!
Maybe our last family picture before our little girl makes her appearance :)
The guys started work early so us wives and kids went out to breakfast. We were going to head to the pool afterwards, but it started sprinkling so we headed in for naps. It was too hot for me to go to the parade so Calin and I stayed in until Jordan got home from work a little after 6. Then we headed to the pool for some social time. We weren't planning on going swimming, but Calin has gotten over his temporary fear of water, and we couldn't keep him out.
After the pool we went to watch the fireworks in Maumelle over the lake. They were pretty good, and lasted a good 30 minutes. Calin loved them! He even started pulling up the grass and throwing it above his head while making a firework sound :)
Oh, and did you notice Calin finally got a haircut?! One of the wives came over and did it last week. He cried the whole time, but I love it! He looks so much older to me now.
