New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was an uneventful evening for us. We rang in the New Year at home with both girls sleeping. Jeremy and Eunice had come over and we had chinese food for dinner and hung out at home. Aubrey fell asleep very early and we didn't get to take her yearly photo wishing 2011 good-bye and welcoming 2012 in. Hopefully next year we'll be on a better schedule and get both girls together for a picture. We did however manage to get a picture of Ciara wearing her "My First New Year" onesie which was a gift from Katherine.

Christmas

We had a busy Christmas. Christmas Eve we went to Linda's house for brunch. Aubrey had a great time playing with baby Payton while the adults enjoyed the yummy food. Ciara slept through most of the visit. Aubrey had a great time checking out the tree ornaments and opening presents. She got a fun 5 Little Monkey Puppet book and Ciara got a soft cloth book.

Later in the afternoon we went to Don and Laurie's house for dinner. They had made a turkey with delicious sides. Again, Aubrey wasn't too excited to eat but Brian and and I were. Ciara slept through dinner so she missed all of the fun we were having. After dinner we went to the living room to open gifts. Don and Laurie had a whole Santa bag filled for the girls. They each got a music kit which Aubrey promptly opened and tried out. Ciara got a Target gift card which will come in handy very soon. Aubrey got a few coloring/sticker books, a few books about winter and Santa, and an electric dog that she can walk on a leash. The dog was her favorite gift of the day and she walked him all over their house with a huge grin on her face.

We came home and got the girls ready for bed. We had bought Aubrey a pair of Santa pajamas that she liked to look at but was scared to wear. She had been admiring them in her room for a few days but always balked when I pulled them out for her to wear. Surprisingly, on Christmas Eve she decided she was ready.

Christmas morning we woke up and got ready for Church. Grandpa met us there and both girls did well. Ciara slept through most of the service but was happy hanging out when she was awake. Aubrey stayed with us as there was no childcare available. She usually talks and wants to play during the service so we were a bit hesitant but she did great. She played in the aisle for a bit but she sat still for most of the service.

When we got home it was present time! Ciara nursed and then promptly fell asleep. Aubrey got to open her presents as well as Ciara's. Ciara got a few cute little outfits from Nana and Papa. She got a ball from Brian that sings and talks about shapes and numbers. I got her a hand print and footprint wall hanger and some blankets as well as two Christmas ornaments. Aubrey got a paint set, CandyLand, Memory, two Christmas ornaments and silly bands from us. Nana and Papa sent her a whole new wardrobe, some books a puzzle and a pillow pet. She made out like bandit and was super excited about all of her new things.

Later in the afternoon we went to Alice and Bob's for dinner. Aubrey played with Payton and had a few pictures taken with her. After dinner Maddie and her family came to the house and she and Aubrey had a blast. They did laps around the house, shared shoes and shared toys!

We had another chance to open presents and Aubrey had a great time passing presents out and opening her own. She got a cute pink track suit and an electric train. Ciara got some swaddle blankets and a little dress set with a matching sweater. The girls certainly lucked out this Christmas.

We left Alice and Bob's house late and Aubrey fell asleep in the car. Once we got home Brian put her in bed and we sat down on the couch to relax. I said to Brian, "We finally got through one holiday where Aubrey wasn't sick." Just about 2 minutes later she woke up crying so Brian went in to see what was going on. He took her into the bathroom where she vomitted several times. We got her cleaned up and settled and she went back to bed with no problems. We were so close to making it through a healthy holiday!

Coming Home

Aubrey was super excited to take her baby home. We loaded both kiddos (one big and one very little) into the car and had only one hiccup over a shared blanket. Aubrey wasn't too thrilled that we had one of her blankets covering Ciara. Easy fix - I just gave Ciara a new one. It didn't seem worth a fight at that point.

We came home and Osito was excited to see everyone. He sniffed at Ciara and poked around in her seat to get a good wiff of her and then he was done. I attempted to get a picture of Brian and both girls. Aubrey was fooling around with an Ipod and wasn't interested in smiling for the camera. As you can see the after bath pictures are Ipod free and Aubrey was pumped to be holding her sister.

The Sisters Meet

Aubrey had stayed overnight at Don and Laurie's house. Brian and I were both pretty anxious because she's never been without me all night plus she is not the best sleeper in the world. she however surprised everyone and did fantastic!

She slept in her pack and play and went down with very few tears. At one point she started yelling for her Daddy and then for Osito but then went to sleep. In the morning she was a happy camper and Brian joined them for breakfast. After they filed their bellies Brian called to say that they were on their way. I told him to call me when they were outside the door so that I could get a video of Aubrey seeing Ciara for the first time. He called, the camera was rolling but the only problem was Ciara was sleeping so the excitement wasn't at it's full potential. However it is a super cute video but too long to upload here.

Aubrey was so excited to see Ciara. She came tiptoeing over to the bassinet and peeked in at her baby sister. She came up to sit with me on the bed and we leaned over to see Ciara. Aubrey bent over to kiss her on the head - way too cute! Once Ciara woke up Aubrey got a chance to hold her and you can see the HUGE smile on her face. She was so proud! The other two pictures in the chair were taken as we were packing up to go home. Aubrey was still so excited to see "her baby".

And baby makes 4....

So my due date was November 28 and there was no sign of baby. After seeing the doctor I agreed to an induction at 41 weeks if there was still no bambino. Although I didn't think the due date was accurate I really didn't want to take any chances since things can get risky for the baby after 40 weeks.

I was scheduled for a stress test on December 1 and all looked good.The baby's heart rate looked normal and then all of a sudden it jumped and wouldn't go back down. They kept me on the monitors until the heart rate settled - the 10 minute test turned out to be 45 minutes because the baby was playing games. After the baby settled I went in for an ultrasound. Again things looked good! Fluid was where it needed to be and the baby was doing some practice breathing. We could see the baby sucking on fingers and the ultrasound tech said she could see some hair floating around on the back of the head. No wonder there was consistent daily heartburn!

I saw the doctor on the 5th and she scheduled a c-section for the 6th. We were supposed to check into the hospital at 8:00 am. I wanted Aubrey to sleep in as much as possible so Brian and I woke up and got ready and then woke up Aubrey. We got her dressed and ready and then we all jumped in the car. We made a quick stop off at Dunkin' Donuts so that Aubrey could get her white "donos". They then dropped me at the hospital and proceeded on to school.

I checked in with my little suitcase in tow. The woman at the desk said, "You don't have anyone to carry that for you?" Sure made me feel like a moron! I explained that my husband was dropping off our 2 year old at school and would be in shortly. I got all checked in, went back into the waiting room and then got called into the labor and delivery room. I met with the nurse, Carole, who was going to be working with us until 6:00 pm. She was super nice and really took care of us! She was able to find a humidifier for me because I had a nasty cough that would not quit. She showed Brian where the snack area was and was just wonderful!

Carole was in charge of giving me the Cervadil which was supposed the ripen the cervix so that I would start to dilate. I was about 60%-70% effaced and was dilated to between 1 and 1.5 centimeters so clearly I still had some work to do. She gave me the first dose of Cervadil at 9:30 am then it was just a game of wait and see. Brian surfed the Internet and I graded for the class I was teaching and caught up on work emails and cases. After an hour I got to get up and walk around the room for awhile. It was so nice not to be chained to the bed the whole time! I even got to eat as well - added bonus!

Somewhere around 1:00 I got round two of Cervadil. Carole said there were some changes to the cervix but still no labor. Brian went off to get some lunch and I clearly stayed put! I put the tv on and hung out. I could feel some contractions but nothing significant or consistent. Around 2:00 I was able to get up and walk around. That got the contractions going a bit more. They seemed to be coming every 4 minutes and were a bit uncomfortable. I though this meant we were in business. Wrong! Once I got back into bed they tapered off and were very inconsistent. The doctor was supposed to come in around 4:30 to break my water to get things moving. Also at that point they decided that they would add some Pitocin into the mix to get things going on a consistent basis.

I was starting to get really tired and the contractions were getting to be uncomfortable but 4:30 was coming so I figured I would hold off on the epidural since the doctor was supposed to be coming in at any point. She finally came in a few minutes before 6:00 and at that point I was super tired and just wanted a nap. She broke my water - super painful - don't want to even think about that again! They found meconium in the water and so they decided that they would have the NICU in the room for delivery in case they needed to intubate the baby. It was scary stuff to hear and there was nothing to do but wait at that point. It was then 6:00 and I knew Carole was leaving.

At around 6:20 the contractions started to become painful and I really wanted a nap. We called for the nurse who turned out to be a woman named Fran. I explained that I was ready for epidural and she said she'd call for it. She came back to let us know it would be about 15 minutes as there was 1 other woman ahead of us. I thought to myself, " I can do 15 minutes". Well 15 minutes came and went. The contractions were very strong and were about 2 minutes apart. Fran kept talking and talking about nothing at all! It was really hard to pretend as though I was even listening to her never mind cared about whatever she was saying. I was at about 8 centimeters dilated at this point.

Finally at 7:30 the anesthesiologist came in. He explained there had been 4 women ahead of me that had asked for epidurals. Fran said that she didn't want to let me know that so she had told me there was only 1 - thanks a bunch! Anyways within a matter of minutes the epidural was in and things started to feel a whole lot better! I was feeling a good amount of pressure but Fran said she didn't want to check me to find that I wasn't ready because she didn't want to get my hopes up. Brian and I continued to try and decide on names for this new little baby. Awhile later I told Fran that I had a good deal of pressure and she asked me if it was strong enough to push. I told her I didn't really know but that there was a lot of pressure. She said she didn't think I was ready but she decided to check. Yup, I was ready! She called Dr. Kimmel in and she assured me that she felt as though I wouldn't push any more that 15 minutes. Four series of pushes and Ciara came flying out screaming her head off. It was one of the best sounds I have ever heard. The cord was wrapped around her neck which was really frightening so I was glad to have the NICU team there. Brian got splashed and wasn't super excited about that. They held her up a bit and I was able to see we had another girl! Brian cut the cord and she went off to the table to be evaluated by the NICU team.

They checked her out and scored her APGAR as a 9 out of 10. That was awesome! They announced her stats as 6 pounds 13 ounces and 20.5 inches tall. Her official time of birth was 8:59 p.m. As they were cleaning her up she pooped so they had to re clean her. She finally got to come over to us and I got to hold her. I looked down at her asking her what name she wanted as we still hadn't decided on Ciara or Caydence. Brian said that this new little baby was Ciara and so she now finally had a name! I nursed her for a bit and she latched right on.

After we were both cleaned up we were taken to our room in Couplet care. Brian headed home to get some sleep. Ciara was taken for a bath and came back with a cute little red and white hat which reminded me of Where's Wado? She nursed for a awhile and then finally fell asleep around 1:00 am. She had been wide awake up until this point - I guess she didn't want to miss anything!