Closer

Having a baby has brought me and Brad closer together in ways I never thought it would. He has seen more of me now that in the four and a half years we have been married (how many times do you get to see someones insides?). I knew having a baby would change our lives but I didn't know how much that included our relationship with each other. Having Brad studying medicine has allowed me to open up to him about things that are happening to my body post pregnancy. It has been so nice for me to be able to ask him questions and get his reassurance about things with my c-section recovery, side affect with my pain meds, and even new mom pains. Plus seeing him as a daddy has made me love him so much more. I always knew he would be a great dad, but to see him when he gets home and he is so excited to have his Charly time even with his studies, make me know that he will always make time for our family.

Staring contest, looks like Charly won this one.

Brad is in charge of Charly's tummy time

He also likes to cuddle with her (don't worry Brad is not asleep here, you can tell by his smile)

More photos of Charly's big day

Here is a little collage of pictures from wed. (click on it to see the pictures better) My goal here is to write out our experiences from the day, but i am coming to realize how tiring this is to wake up all night long and have my only chance for typing during the day be with one hand. So it may be a while...

Charly is Here

Just wanted to post a little teaser as we are here in the hospital recovering.

Charlotte Pearl Roberts 6lbs 12oz 18.5in

Brad coming to show off his new daughter to Mom (I am hiding behind the curtain)

Proud new mommy seeing Charlotte for the first time

Proud Father

Proud Grandmother

The Day Before

It is so weird to think that tomorrow life as I know it changes. It almost feels like I have gone through this moment before, in fact it was May 4^th, 2006. I have prepared for this day for a long time, you could even say since I was a child envisioning my future, and now that it is here I feel like all I can do is let everyone else take care of things and try to remember everything that happens. How is it that knowing that you will not get much sleep the next night in fact keeps you from sleeping the night before? This time I believe it will be due to leg cramps and bathroom breaks in addition to the feelings of anticipation. I think it is funny when people ask me “Are you ready?” We have diapers, clothes, the car seat, the crib, we have taken the birthing class and I even watched U-tube videos of breech c-sections (probably shouldn’t have done that one). But is anyone ever really ready for becoming a new parent? I think being ready includes knowing that you aren’t ready and that she is going to change your routine (or what you thought was going to be your routine) and challenge you in new ways every day. I liked the advice I was given recently, just take it one day at a time. It is much easier to think, I might not get very much sleep tomorrow than to think I might not get very much sleep for these next three months.

Just Like Mommy

So if we were keeping track of how many things our little girl did that come from mom or dad, I would be winning so far. First of all she is a girl so sorry Brad that just makes her more like me from the beginning. But this week she is starting life the same way I did, breech. I went to my regular appointment on thursday thinking it would be the same as the others: come in, say I am doing fine, have the regular baby checks on size, heartbeat and...position. When my doctor checked the position he felt the hard lump on the top of my tummy, had a concerned look on his face and said he was going to check my dilation and to see if he could feel the head from the bottom. Well I am dialated to a 1, but he did not feel the head as he suspected. I had to go over to Children's Hospital then to get an ultrasound to see how much fluid was around the baby to see if my doctor could turn her around. (now if you have never tried getting from Froedtert East clinics to Children's without going outside it is really confusing, luckily I looked lost enough that I had someone walk me almost the entire way). I first had a technician come in and look at the baby, she measured her weight at approximately 6 lbs 8 oz. She told me the baby was Frank Breech, which means her legs are curled up by her head and her bottom is positioned to come out first. She then left and next to come in was the doctor, who came and looked at the same things. It wasn't until the doctor left and was gone for a while that I realized that things were not as easy as I was thinking they were going to be. The ultrasound Doctor consulted with my OB Doctor and it was decided that it is too risky to turn the baby. Two major reasons, my fluids are too low and and the baby's head is in an upward tilted position. They do not was to risk getting the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck or causing stresses on her that would cause me to need an emergency c-section. The doctor asked me if I had any questions and I felt so overwhelmed and was wishing Brad was there, she let me call Brad to have him come up and she explained the whole thing over again to him. (Luckily Brad was at Froedtert and after telling his residence that his wife was in labor and delivery and needed him there, they let him go pretty quickly). So now what this comes down to is that I most likely will have a little girl on the 19th now. A week earlier than I was counting down to, but also luckily my mom had not bought her plane ticket yet so she still will be able to come in time. And Brad and I have some things to buy today to get ready for reals.