The Last Potty Present

We took Cora to her favorite toy store to pick out her last potty present!  She has done so well this weekend, even staying dry during nap and night time.  I'm so proud of her!  Of course, I know we still have a lot left to learn but I feel like she got the idea and it has "clicked" with her! 

Checking out a new ride... unfortunately, this was not in our potty present budget!


She decided on a "Belle" dress up outfit and hair brush set!



Looking so beautiful!



Oh we spoil her! We got her McDonald's for dinner too!

Meeting Charlotte

To catch up a little bit, here are some pictures of family and friends meeting Charlotte! Also, you can see how much Charlotte has changed from 1 week to 9 weeks!

Pictures from Oct. 19th - Dec. 17th.
Charlotte Age, 1 week - 9 weeks

Great Grandma Bell


Mema and Papa Bell


Mema and Aunt Kat Kat


Aunt Heather


Bryce, Laura and Ben


Aunt Jennifer


Great Aunt Rocky





Carla


Amy


Uncle Eric


Chad and Erica





Papa Phillips





Sarah Kate and Lynn


Emma and Lynn


Daniel and Michelle


Great Uncle Berry


Great Aunt Diane


Uncle Cory


Uncle Kevin

Potty Training Take 2

I think Cora is finally ready to say "Buh Bye" to diapers and "Well Hello!" to big girl underwear!! We started yesterday by having a day at home, totally focused on using the potty and in her princess underwear. I asked her many times if she was still dry and if she was, she got a piece of candy (fruit gummies were her choice). She was really motivated to keep her "Belle" underwear dry. I also had a bigger prize out on display and she was told that if she was accident free ALL DAY she could earn it. The prize was.... Cinderella doll with a horse. (really small one. on clearance from Toys R Us.) My girl made me proud. She stayed dry ALL DAY, even during nap. I'm actually kind of surprised that she was able to do it but I guess when they are ready, they are ready. So she earned her big prize!!


Cora with her new, well deserved toy!

I had my doubts about this but we decided to go ahead and keep her in her big girl underwear even during the night, just to see how she would do. I moved the potty into her room, with a night light, and also gave instructions to her about if she had to go during the night, that she could go there. I also told her if she was able to keep her underwear dry all night, we would take her to the toy store for a new toy. I seriously doubted this was going to work. About an hour after she went to bed, she began calling out to us and I knew we were going to find a wet mess in her room. As we opened the door, there she was.. Holding her little potty cup, asking us to dump it for her since she has just used it. We heard from her 2 more times that night. Once at midnight, where she used the potty again, and then again at 2 am for a snuggle. Didn't hear from her anymore until 7:30 am. And she came out of her room, DRY!


We celebrated with a pancake breakfast!  William made some "special potty pancakes" for Cora!









Complete with Chocolate Chips! Yum!!


Cora immediately goes for the chocolate chips...




I would like to say we had a wonderful morning, eating pancakes and a fun outing to the toy store to pick out her toy but we did not. Cora was extremely fussy all morning and didn't even eat ANY of her pancakes.  When we tried to get her dressed to go to the toy store, she just cried and cried. So we skipped it. It wasn't until after a really short nap that we discovered she was running a fever, sigh.  So not sure how today will continue to go with potty training.  So far, so good.  We had one small accident but once she realized what was happening she stopped and we made it to the potty.  She really hasn't had to go since she is running a fever.. Better keep her hydrated!

Watching "Toy Story", recovering...

A Baby Story - Charlotte Elisabeth

Okay.. Girls are in bed and I finally have a second to sit down and remember Charlotte's Birthday! Let's see how many details I can remember from that day.. (insert flashback music here)

 My last post on Wednesday, October 12th, I put that my "official" due date would be that following Monday, the 17th. Reason for that was I had talked to the appointment secretary that morning and that was the first spot they had available for an induction. I was really okay with that because I knew, knew I would go into labor before then. I really did not want to be induced if possible, I really wanted to go into labor on my own and now I had time for my body to do that. Well a few hours after that conversation, I received another phone call. This time from one of the midwives, Freida. She was on call at the hospital and was talking to the other midwife (Carolyn, who would be on call the 17th) and said that there was actually an opening for tomorrow morning at 6 am with her. Did I want to go ahead and be induced then? My heart literally skipped a beat and I did not know what to say. I think I was at peace with waiting and now I was being told you have ~15 hours to go into labor on your own! EEEKKK!!! I felt really nervous about deciding so I was honest with Freida and said "I really think I need someone to make this decision for me." I really liked her response - "You are 8 days late.. I think it's time you had that baby. Let's do it tomorrow."


I want to just back up and say that I had a few certain requests that I prayed to God about Charlotte's delivery. First request was that I really wanted Freida to be my midwife. I just felt the most comfortable with her and knew she would give me the support I needed. I loved how God answered that prayer with her being on call that day and also being the one to reassure me with going ahead with an induction. The second request that I had was that I would have a certain nurse, Michelle O. and even though she was not originally scheduled to work that day, God worked it out to where she had rearranged her schedule to be there and I was blessed to have her as my nurse for most of the day! 


William took notes on our iPad, so here is a break down of the day (I copied and pasted so forgive any spelling errors!)

Came in at 6 am
Had M davenport.  Talked about last time and picture on wall.
Dr. Gay came in and talked with us.
M's came in and Frank prayed for us.
7:15 MOverby started the  petosin.
Called and checked on Cora at 7:40 doing well.
Frieda came in and checked, 75% effaced and a loose cm.
8:30 Frieda placed the EASY cath.
9:45 FaceTime with zach.
9:50-10:00  MO gave a tug, social visit from Frank. More petosin.
10:10 Frieda came and checked maybe 2 cm.  Contractions 4-5 min
10:30 rocking chair & apple juice yay midwives
11:30 EASY cath came out
11:40 Frieda checking and breaking water, 3 cm, 80%, -1, clear fluid no meconium
moved to side A room 7 !!!
12:20 face time with Casey
12:40 Joni stopped by for some encouraging words. And see pics of Cora.
12:50 called and updated dad in-between contractions.
Contractions 2-3 min apart
12:55 lip exfoliation ;)
2:20 check -4-5 cm 90%
2:30 IV med for pain
3:30 epidural.
3:55 feeling pressure.
4:00 10 cm +1 started pushing
4:16 Charlotte born






I loved having Michelle and Frieda!  My favorite memory from that day was sitting with the 2 of them, just having normal conversations about families, shoes, and babies, etc and they would help me through each contraction.  William had left to go eat some lunch so it was just girl time.  There we were, Michelle sitting on the bed, Freida sitting in front of me and me just relaxing in the rocking chair. As soon as a contraction would start, my eyes would close and they would just tell me how great I was doing and how to keep going and just breathe.  Soon it was over and our conversation picked up where we left off until the next contraction came along.  When the rocking chair became uncomfortable, Michelle got me a ball to sit on and just rubbed my back and helped me find comfort wherever possible!  It was just a sweet time, being cared for that way.


Around 2:30, Frieda came in to check me.  At this point, I hadn't had any pain medicine yet and it was starting to get really tough.  Contractions were coming every 3 mins or so and I was getting pretty exhausted. When she told me I was 4-5 cm, I was so discouraged as I knew I couldn't do it anymore without some pain relief.  After all that time and pain, I just thought I would have progressed further so I was really disappointed.  Plus, Michelle had to leave!  She was really only scheduled to work until 11 but since she was helping me, she stayed as long as she could but had to leave by then for a family obligation.  So I was so sad that she did all that work to help me and yet I still hadn't had the baby yet.  So Freida recommended I get some pain meds to help me rest and relax a little. First it came through the IV and relief was immediate.  It was wonderful.  But pretty soon, I started to feel each contraction again and they started coupling, like I was having 2 contractions back to back with no break in between.  It felt like an eternity waiting for the epidural.  Once the anesthesiologist got there, they had some issues with the bed, getting it level.  They ended up making me sit indian style on the bed while he gave the epidural.  Once that got put in, I finally was able to rest and I was looking forward to that.  In my mind, I was thinking okay take a nap for a few hours and then I'll be ready to push.  But pretty soon after I got the epidural, I started feeling pressure.  No pain, just pressure like I was ready to push.  So after a quick check, I was ready to go. 10 cm!  Couldn't believe it!  I guess I just needed some relief in order to help my body relax to get to 10. 




So at 4pm, the pushing began.  With Cora, I pushed over 2 hours so when Freida kept saying I would have this baby soon, I didn't believe her.  I really enjoyed having an epidural as I felt no pain.  It was a great experience to actually enjoy having a baby.  After ~ 15 mins of pushing, Charlotte was born!



I had these doubts all through the day that I wouldn't love her as much as I loved Cora.  I expressed these concerns to Freida and I remember her saying that once I saw Charlotte those thoughts would disappear and somehow my heart would expand to love them both. She was right!  As soon as I saw her and held her, I fell in love with my sweet daughter.







Pretty soon after William cut the cord, he came down with a stomach virus!  Since Cora had tested positive for strep a few days earlier, we weren't sure what he had so the nurses thought it best if he left to go to the doctor since he wouldn't be safe to be around Charlotte.  Talk about God's perfect timing.  Not that I wanted him to get sick but if he had to, God allowed it to happen after she was born and not when I needed him most.  So thankfully, it wasn't strep, just a 24 hour bug and he was able to come the next day with Cora.










I was so happy to see Cora when she came to visit!  It had only been 24 hours but she seemed so much bigger!  I missed her so much! She did great meeting Charlotte. She was interested in her and wanted to hold her for a little while. I think she was very excited about eating her "Dora" cookie that her MeMa had got for her.  They also brought some cupcakes and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte. 





Our first new family picture!

We actually headed home the day after she was born, on the 14th.  I wasn't sure if I would want to go home so early but I was ready to be back with Cora and I felt a lot more comfortable in my own bed. 









If you can believe it, I actually left out SOOO many details!  But I figured this post was long enough as it was and you get the basic idea.  Charlotte's baby story was just full of examples of how God perfectly worked everything out.  We are so thankful it all went so easily that day.  I also want to say a special thanks to our families! William's mom came and took care of Cora while we were at the hospital so I did not have to worry about her.  My sister took William to urgent care once he became sick and sat with him for those long hours.  And William's sister stayed with me at the hospital despite not having ANY overnight necessities.  I could go on and on..I think I'll stop there. 



Frieda with Charlotte at 6 weeks.


We invited Michelle and her husband over for dinner to celebrate!

Since things got a little crazy at the hospital with William getting sick, we forgot to get a picture of Charlotte with Freida and Michelle so I snapped them when I saw them again!

Apology to all my Faithful Readers....

Well if you haven't figured it out yet.... I had Charlotte!  Yes, she arrived and everything else got put on hold.. It's been tricky figuring out how to handle life with 2 little ones, I just can't seem to find the time to blog not with all the sleep I need to catch up on ;) She is a super sweet little baby and she has fit into the family pretty well.  I guess we will keep her!  To catch up real quick, she is now 2 months old and is growing fast.  She is a good eater and somewhat of a good sleeper.  She'll fall asleep anywhere and she sleeps pretty well.  She hasn't quite mastered the art of letting mommy sleep at night yet but I think any day we will be there.  She has her own look about her but you can tell she is Cora's little sister.  They have some big differences, like Charlotte really isn't attached to the pacifier (Cora couldn't sleep without it), and she doesn't have to take her naps in the swing like Cora did.  I think she actually prefers the quiet of her crib and room.  She has already celebrated her 1st Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas.  Hopefully I can update the blog with pictures from all these events just so we don't forget and also so we don't succumb to the stereo-typical "No pictures of the 2nd child" syndrome.  Because believe me, we have plenty of pictures.  Just lack of time to get them off the camera to the computer! First things first though... Her Birth Story!  Coming soon!


Couldn't resist adding a updated picture of our little one!