2 Month Update

Dear Hannelore Joy,
Today you are two months old. You had a Drs appointment this morning, and got your first shots. You took them like a champ and only cried a little bit.
You are 23 1/4" long (almost 2 feet!) And you weigh 11lbs and 1.5oz. Dr. H said everything about you looks perfect. Just what I wanted to hear.
You smile a lot, mostly at your Daddy. We all love you so much, especially Liam. He gets very protective of you when other people hold you.
You are starting to coo and talk, and enjoying spending time in your bouncy seat and on your play mat.
You got dedicated this past Sunday, such a special day for us.
We love you so much Baby Girl!
Love,
Mama and Daddy

Love

Snuggled up into Nate, with Hanners on the other side, making myself the middle spoon. Nate has his arm drapped over me, protectively, keeping me close.

My mind wanders to our earlier pillow talk, where I told him I wanted to date him. I want to romance and be romanced again. I want to get butterflies in anticipation of getting to spend time with him.

Everything is going right for us, and at almost 3 years, and two kids later, I know I want to spend more time learning about him, and with him.

Late night thoughts

It's nights like tonight, when everyone else is sleeping, and in their own spot, and my mind just keeps on going. I can't help but think of how blessed I am.

Liam has been learning so much, he copies everything,  the good and the bad, it's definitely making me watch myself. He has learned to say, "nose" "no no"  "hi bi" (high five) "bye bye" and knows how to sign (in his own baby way) "please" "gimme" and "thank you". He communicates so much more than that, too, through screaming,  pointing, hugs, kisses, and facial expressions.
On top of learning to communicate, Liam is also learning to dance, and cannot resist at least a little head bang every time he hears music.
He loves playing outside. It's good because he encourages me to get out in the fresh air every day. He also loves toy cars and is creating quite a collection of them.

Hanners is quite a colicky baby, and she's definitely teaching me patience as I spend a lot of time with her strapped to me, or in my arms. She cat naps a lot during the day, but I cannot complain because she's been sleeping through the night (at least 6 hours) since she was 2weeks old.

Nate continues to work hard at Coleman American, and make me proud. He's been enjoying the new Pokémon games that came out, and I learned how to play to,  so I can play with him.

Like I said,  I am so blessed.

A little me update

Hanners turned 5weeks old today. That marks two weeks since I have actively started to live healthier//better.
I have started stretching and doing sit ups every night (I want my toned high school stomach back) and I try to walk or do a work out DVD as well.
In two weeks there isn't a huge visible difference, but I can pinch less flab off my belly,  so I know it's making a difference.

1 Month Update

Dear Hannelore Joy,

You've been in our lives for 4 weeks now, and a Month Tomorrow. Sometimes it's hard to believe that it has been that long, and other times it feels like you have been here forever, not just a month.

You're still beautiful and perfect. You have your fussy times like any baby,  but nothing a little swaddling and rocking can't fix. You love to be swaddled when you're upset. It's a good way to calm you down when we're in public and you look overwhelmed.

Liam is protective of you, and some times a little to loving, but he's getting a lot better. He doesn't get jealous of you as much,  mostly just at bedtime when he wants to snuggle.

You're still an excellent nurser, and weighed 8lbs7oz at two weeks old.

You only cat nap during the day, and rarely sleep more then a half hour at a time, but you already sleep through the night most nights,  so I really can't complain.

You still have your dark hair, although I think it's starting tip fall out =[. You have these perfect little rosebud lips,  and almond shaped eyes, which lead to many "teeny tiny Asian baby" jokes with your Aunty Bay.

You wear a mix of new born, and 0-3 months clothes. You almost always have an adorable outfit on, as it should be.

You don't do a lot of tricks yet,  but I have a feeling you might be an early roller.

We Love you so much Baby Girl!
Love, Mama and Daddy

Hannelore's Birth Story

Wednesday night as we were watching a few episodes of Castle before bed, I thought maybe I was starting to have contractions. I didn't want to tell Nate and get his hopes up unless I was sure, so we went ahead and climbed in bed. Enough was going on that sleep was just a nice thought for me, and nothing more. Eventually I gave up on getting any more rest and got up to wash the dishes and straighten things up so the house will be clean when I get home.

About 1:30am I woke up Nate and told him to get ready to go. We dropped Liam off at our friends' house, and ended up staying and talking for about an hour. At that point my contractions were getting stronger, and I didn't know how much longer I would be able to drive, so we headed to the hospital.

Arrived At the hospital about three am. We filled out the paper work as I hadn't pre registered this time. After that they put me on the monitors, and after 10 minutes for a cervix check. I was only dilated to a three, so they wanted to wait an hour and check again, before they decided if I was starting or going home (I knew I was staying). After an hour, (Thank God for sudoku and Angel reruns on TNT) I was still only dilated to a three which was incredibly disheartening news as the contractions had only gotten more intense. The on-call doctor went ahead and had me admitted, it was about 4 am at the time, and said if things hadn't progressed anymore by 6am, they wanted to start pitocen.

After awhile I asked for something for the pain, and decided on fentanyl. When I got checked at six, I was dilated to four so I didn't need the pitocen (or to convince them I didn't.) At 7:45 my ON/GYN was there doing rounds, and checked me. I was dilated to a 5, 90% effaced, and at 0. She said "I'll come back and check you at lunch time, or maybe I'll even be here when you were supposed to have your appointment (10:50am) to deliver her." Little did either of us know she would be back in an hour.

After she left, I sat on a yoga ball for awhile, focusing on breathing through the contractions since I hadn't taken anymore fentanyl (it gets less effective with each dose). After a bit I was tired and wanted a third dose of fentanyl so I could rest. By that time though it really didn't do anything for the pain, but it did help me relax between contractions. 

At about 8cm dilated, my water broke and it was impossible to keep quiet after that, lol. The nurse came in, took one look and called my OB/GYN. Turns out she had just left and ended up turning around to come catch my Baby. 

I very quickly progressed to a 10, and had the urge to push. No one told me to push, I just knew it was time. Dr. L was actually still getting ready when I started pushing. There was nurse down there, so I wasn't worried. I seriously pushed for less then five minutes. I could feel her crowning, and one more push it felt like she flew out. 

Thinking back I felt like I was in hyper speed, and once she was out I needed to push pause.  Dr. L quickly cleaned out her mouth and put her up on my chest. It was magical and awesome. The baby nurse did everything she needed to do without picking he  up, so I got to hold and even nurse her for about an hour before they weighed or measured her. 

I got to cut the cord as Nate didn't want to, which was cool in my opinion. I again lost a little more blood than they were happy with, so they kept me in L&D longer, and gave me a shot of pitocen. I tore so little I didn't need stitches, which is awesome, and has definitely helped me recover faster then from Liam's birth. 

Hannelore is perfect, and has been an over achiever in the pooping department. She is an excellent nurser, like Liam, and eats every couple hours or so. 

Cutting the cord.

Nursing

Daddy holding her for the first time.

Skin to skin snuggles.

Perfection

Liam meeting his sister.

Introducing ...

Hannelore Joy Rudolph (Hanners for short)
Weighing in at 8lbs and measuring 20" long, she was born at 8:42am on September 5th, 2013.