Lazy day!

It is a great pool day today. Air temp is 67. Pool temp is 90. Hot tub temp is 104! Analese enjoyed some pool time with her Aunt Amy today:





Mariele enjoyed a nap in the sunshine in Mommy's arms:



Lee and I are amazed at what a good and easy baby Mariele is. We are thinking that she is much easier than Analese was, but it is hard to tell whether it is because we are so much more relaxed the second time around. Mariele has been a really sleepy baby the past couple of days. I am enjoying it while it lasts, because I know they do wake up eventually!

Then Analese enjoyed stories read to her by her Grandma before she took a nap:



Analese seems to be totally recovered from her illness, but Lee is still fighting his. He had fever yesterday. None today, but he still has a bad cough and the bad cold symptoms. I'll be glad when everyone is all well again!

Blog Award

Lara awarded me this Love award. Thanks Lara! I love your blog too!



I'm gonna spread the love now to:

Carrie at http://mamasgoingtobuyyouamockingbird.blogspot.com/

Another Carrie at http://domesticmoments.blogspot.com/

The same Carrie as the one right above (I love both of her blogs!) at http://vintagefrugalmom.blogspot.com/

And Joanna at http://joannasmommyblog.blogspot.com/

More visitors......

Mother-in-law and sister-in-law arrived last night. I had made crock-pot chili (from dried, not canned beans) and a tamale pie. It sure felt good to cook again. And it tasted fabulous! I think I have a hankering for some for breakfast! Anyway, MIL and SIL came bearing gifts for Mariele, Analese, and me! SIL (Amy) put together this beautiful "big girl basket" for Analese, with all kinds of cool big girl stuff in it. She especially likes the sparkly lip gloss! My gift bag contained lots of pampering beauty products, a perfect gift for a post-partum mom. Mariele was the recipient of some very cute outfits, including a bundle-me SNOWSUIT from one of MIL's friends HEE HEE! We need to make a trip back to Colorado now! One of Mariele's outfits from MIL says "Off to Grandma's" on it. I think that is a hint that we need to be making a trip to Arkansas soon. Oh, another one of my gifts was 2 pairs of Bally total fitness yoga pants. I slipped into a pair right after my shower this morning. These are the perfect post c-section recovery pants!

Unfortunately, 50% of my family is still under the weather. Lee and Analese both feel like cr@p. It was such a blessing that Lee actually got a call-off day today, so he was able to stay home from work. And it means a three day weekend for him, so hopefully he will be able to recover as he visits with his mom and sis. Analese still has intermittent fever. When she gets a fever she cries and cries and says, "I need pink medicine!" She is referring to Tylenol. And when her mouth hurts from the teething molar (yes that is happening at the same time), she says, "I have a molar. I need I-pofen." She is referring to ibuprofen here. Poor baby, oops I mean toddler girl.

A comparison......

My mom pointed out to me the similarities in these two photos. The first photo is Analese 12 days old. The second photo is Mariele 7 days old:




Sisters or TWINS? You decide!

Update on Analese........

Even though she had this crazy high fever, she insists that she does not feel bad or hurt anywhere. She does, however, have the sniffles.

Here is a cute story about her: She recognizes logos, sort of this pre-reading thing. Lee was putting her in the car yesterday and there was a Home Depot receipt in the seat of the car. She picked it up, pointed to the logo at the top of the receipt and said, "Daddy, that says Home Depot!" Well, she did the same to me when I was cleaning today. We have the spray bottles from Home Depot that we keep our cleaner in. She pointed to the bottle and said, "Mommy, that says Home Depot!" And later as I was spraying down the kitchen counter with this same bottle she said, "Mommy I RECOGNIZE Home Depot!" It was the word "recognize" coming out of the mouth of my 32 month old that floored me!

Analese is SICK!

I just went into Analese's room to wake her from her nap. I put my hand on her face and it felt like FIRE! I took her temp and it is 103.7!! This is not alarmingly high for her. Anytime she has had fever (even just teething) she has fever this high. She said she feels OK, but her entire body is burning up! I gave her Tylenol and a cup of gatorade. She has coughed a couple of times. UGHHH I called Lee at work and hopefully he will be able to come home soon. She has barely left the house in the past week! She went to the pool store yesterday with her Daddy and I took her to the playground this morning. OH I hate the winter sickies. I know some of my fellow blogger families are also affected.

More pics - She's a week old!

This morning while they were sleeping:




After breakfast I took the girls to the playground right down the street. Here is Mariele chilling out in the New Native (which rocks by the way)!



And here they are playing on the baby gym mat!




I'm trying to help Analese through the adjustment of being a big sis and having to share mommy. She never shows any hostility toward Mariele, but she does regress a little. All of a sudden she is incapable of doing things that she could previously do without mommy's help. And usually she needs mommy the most when Mariele is attached to mommy's boob or mommy is otherwise busy with Mariele. Hopefully it will get better. She really does love and adore Mariele and I'm glad she does not display any hostility. She is so sweet to Mariele all the time. I'm trying to give her special time when I can. This morning I cuddled with her in her bed since Mariele was still sleeping.

How we are doing PLUS lots of pics!

Lee had to work today until about 1:00. We had a good morning though. Last night (well actually early this morning) as I was nursing Mariele, I was browsing recipes on the internet on my iPhone. I decided I just had to have these oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. I get so hungry nursing in the middle of the night. So this morning Analese and I got the muffins mixed up and into the pan before Mariele woke up. They turned out really good! And I attacked this GIANT pile of laundry that needed to be folded and put away. I almost did it all! But seriously, it was almost to the ceiling! Analese and I had a fun photo shoot with Mariele. Here are some of my faves! Well, first this pic was taken last Wed. night when we brought Mariele home from the hospital. Analese was exhausted and asleep already (in our bed cuz we had family in the other beds):



Now here are the pics that Analese and I took this morning:







And I took a few more this afternoon:




And a couple of my beautiful firstborn daughter!




And I enjoyed spinach quiche for dinner, complements of the Yng Yng catering company! She said it would be good for me to get the iron from the spinach. It was very tasty and she even brought brownies for dessert! I must say I am getting quite spoiled. Although now that I am no longer pregnant and I have this breastfeeding appetite, I think I am ready to get back into the kitchen myself. When I'm pregnant I really avoid cooking because of all my stomach issues. But YAY! No more of that mess!

The only think I have not figured out how to incorporate into my new lifestyle is a shower! I guess I will have to shift from morning to evening showers for awhile.

All is well!

I just enjoyed a yummy lunch of veggie "meatloaf" that was delivered by my own personal, private catering service. Really, my dear friend Yng Yng, assisted by her oldest daughter Alanna, has been bringing by all of this wonderful food! And I do feel my strength coming back. I left the hospital a little anemic, but I know I will not be that way for long.

Yesterday we took Mariele to the ped for a follow-up. She left the hospital on "jaundice alert" which simply meant she was in the low-intermediate risk category for developing jaundice according to her bilirubin result. So that was tested again yesterday and the result was in the acceptable range. The ped said yesterday would be the highest result, and since it was acceptable he does not need to follow her for that anymore. And her weight was also good. Of course, she had lost in the hospital. Born 6 pounds 8 ounces and left the hospital at 6 pounds 1 ounce. Well, she was 6 pounds 1 ounce yesterday so she had not lost any additional weight. And now that my milk is in and flowing freely that number will only go up. She really enjoys my milk and wants it all the time!

I was so puffy yesterday. All those fluids from the IVs and the leftover fluid from pregnancy I guess. I felt really bad and uncomfortable. Today I feel better puffiness-wise. I lost about 4 pounds of fluid over the last 2 days and I know I am still shedding some more fluid.

Analese is adjusting to big sisterhood. She is doing well for the most part. Occasionally we can tell she is acting out a little for attention. I'm trying to make sure she still feels very loved and special.

We are planning on taking some photos of Mariele. May have to wait until tomorrow at this point to get some natural daylight. I want to get a good photo to mail out in an announcement.

I'm not really looking forward to Lee going back to work next week. I think I will only be flying solo for 3 days though, because his mom and sister are coming in.

Mariele is really a very good baby. She loves a warm body though. Much prefers being held to sitting in a bouncy seat or lying awake in her bassinet. I don't really blame her for that, though. She does not fuss much, and when she does she is very easy to soothe. She is so cute when she is alert with her eyes open. Her eyes seem to be tracking well. She loves to look at our faces. Her eyes are dark blue at this point. Not sure if they will change to brown/hazel like Lee's eyes or if they wil stay blue like mine and Analese's. Either way, she has beautiful eyes. She has less hair than Analese had at birth, and Analese did not have much at all. I do remember that Analese had a small duck tail in the back, though. Mariele does not even have that. She is such a cute little baldie! Well, as soon as we take more pics I will be sure to post some up.

Pics - Part 2!

So here we are in the recovery room. I had requested to nurse Mariele in recovery. Turns out they wanted me to anyway because she was born with a 38 glucose!



And here are some pics taken in my hospital room. First, my reunion with Analese (we were apart like 6 hours at this point):



Here is Mariele with her Grandpa (Lee's Dad):



And here she is with her Meemee (my mom):



And here she is with her Daddy and her big sister. Analese is so proud! She was calling Mariele her "little tiny big sister"!





Here are a couple more. The bow was hilarious to me! The folks in the nursery actually tied that around a sprig of hair - I have no idea how they did that. I mean she really does not have any hair to gather up there:




And here is Analese so tired because she missed her nap:



And one final comparison. Check out these 2 newborn photos. The first is Analese and the second is Mariele:




And I wanted to add a pic of my mammaw. We got her in a video, but I think this is the only still we got of her with our friend Billy:




So Analese's nickname has always been "Monkey." Mariele's is "Peanut." She is a peanut, but she seems to be eating well and sleeping well and she is a very good baby!

The birth story with pics!

Got up early early (after not getting that much sleep) to go to the hospital.  Here is a final belly shot of me and we are on our way out the door:




Ready to start! I don't know why but for some reason I was more freaked out this time than last time. I really had the shakes. It was partially from being cold and maybe even more from nerves. I don't know why I had that reaction, but I got through it. The clear drape thing did not pan out. It was the wrong type of drape and it was opaque instead of clear. I did not mind, though, since I did end up with lots of great photos and video.




And here are some pics of the birth:




And a couple of newborn Mariele:




Don't ask me why, but I was really curious about seeing my placenta (I'm weird, I know). Didn't get to see it last time. So here is the placenta in all it's glory!



I have many more pictures to share! But it is time for Mariele to wake up and eat. And I need to go spend some fun time with my family this evening. So stay tuned for part 2 of the pics, beginning with the recovery room.

We are home!

We got home from the hospital last night. I have a ton of pics to share, and I will eventually get around to sharing them (hopefully tonight). But as an "appetizer" I will go ahead and post this video of the actual moment in the c-section. WARNING: not for the faint of heart. Lots of blood and gore. Think extreme surgery LOL! But I am so pleased to have this video (which is just a small portion of a very large video of the WHOLE procedure!)  Enjoy and I promise to post lots of stills later.

déjà vu.....

I think I will have to wait til I get home to post pics. Not a good way to do it from iPhone. But I will say that she looks so much like newborn baby Analese. I have this surreal feeling of doing it all over again with the same baby. Although Mariele is a bit more of a peanut than Analese was. Recovering well. Hope to make it home soon.

She's here!

Announcing Mariele Kara

Born at 8:10 a.m today.

6 pounds 8 ounces

19 1/4 inches

Apgar 9/9

Healthy & cute! Nursing well. Will try to get some pics up later.

Countdown - Day 1!

Well, took some cute pics today but blogger is not wanting to upload right now. So I will just say that my mom and grandmother arrived. Had lots of fun today. Showered with gifts (Analese too). Now I need to pack my bag because I have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. YIKES! Tomorrow is Day 0!!

Countdown - Day 2!

Here are pictures of the "pre-Mariele's birthday" pool party!

Splish Splash she was takin' a bath.........

Long about a Saturday night!

And mommy got a little crazy with the bubbles!

My baby size concern........

Those of you who have been following my blog lately know that my doc and ultrasound seem to think this baby will be smaller at birth than Analese was (7 pounds 2 ounces). I have been disagreeing as I feel pretty full of baby and she is a very pokey baby at that (parts trying to poke out all the time). However, I'm getting concerned when I really think about this now. Compare the pics of the last post (38 weeks 4 days) with these pics taken during my pregnancy of Analese at 35 weeks 5 days. These pics are the last pics that I took in my pregnancy with Analese. I had her by c-section at 39 weeks 1 day.





Is it my imagination or do I look the same or bigger at 35 weeks last time than I do at 38 weeks this time???

Here is the weight history:

1st pregnancy: started at 120. Ended at 142. Total weight gain was 22 pounds.

2nd pregnancy: started at 115. Was 136 at my last appointment (after peaking at 139 the week before). So weight gain so far is 21 pounds.

I mean, I know it is possible to have a smaller healthy baby, but I am so hoping and praying that she is at least the size that Analese was at birth. Hmmmm..... I know people are different sizes and maybe this baby will be even more petite than Analese. I guess I just don't have big babies. But I just pray that she is healthy!! Analese was so very healthy and I just want Mariele to be healthy too. Sorry - freaking out here.