We were so excited on May 3rd to finally meet Gabriel Joseph. He was born on 3:44 pm, weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 22 inches long. On Monday, April 28th I went for my weekly appointment and I was 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I of course knew from Madelyn that while in most people this usually meant labor around the corner my body liked to sit like this for awhile and my babies liked to stay put! My doctor decided that if he hadn't come by Saturday, May 3rd they would schedule an induction.
All week, we anxiously did last minute things to get ready for Gabriel's arrival. On Thursday my dad flew in and would stay with Madelyn while we were in the hospital. Saturday morning we woke up early and had to be at the hospital at 8am. By the time we got there, checked in, me all set up, iv's going, etc. my doctor came in around 9:30 and broke my water. The hope was since I was so far dilated she would break my water and that would send my body naturally into labor. So the waiting game began. I started having contractions but they were not regular at all to signal labor beginning. Therefore, after 2 hours my doctor started a small dose of pitocin to help regulate the contractions. Soon after that I received the epidural which of course made everything much easier. The doctor came back in around 12:30 and I had dilated to 5 cm. At first it seemed this labor was taking more time than Madelyn's and we started to wonder if he was going to come on Saturday. About this time the contractions started to really pick up but I still didn't have a lot of pressure or pain. When my doctor came back in at 3:15 she said she was hoping I was at least 7-8 cm but to our surprise she said "Oh my you are fully dilated and he is right there, we need to start pushing!"
After only about 3 pushes they said he was almost out and then the nurse put oxygen on me. I didn't know why but she said breathe to help the baby get air. The doctor had me pushing on each contraction and finally after 10 minutes said "Rachel he is almost out and I just need you to push really hard because his heart rate is dropping." I of course started to panic and a push later he was out. Apparently as I started pushing the cord got wrapped around his neck. Derek said he watched the monitor and his heart rate went from around 120 down to 60. I had no idea and the doctor and Derek stayed so calm to not to freak me out. I realized after this is why they put the oxygen on. Luckily it was such a quick labor and he was out in 12 mins total so they were able to immediately cut the cord and he was fine. He gave us a nice little scare for a minute.
We of course were in love with him and so happy to finally be able to hold him. Madelyn came to the hospital a couple hours later and was very excited to meet him. She wanted to hug and kiss him like crazy. She hasn't shown jealousy towards him but of course we have to watch her like crazy as she is to young to understand things like we can't put the blanket over his face :) I also have tried to give her some Mommy and Madelyn time each day to help.
We came home Monday morning and have been getting adjusted to having two! It was much easier to adjust to the little sleep this round and are very lucky to have a lot of family visiting to help. Last Thursday my dad left and my mom flew in and next week Derek's parents will be coming!
Here are pictures of our adorable Gabriel and his bis sister!!!
Dinner out with Grandpa, the night before Gabe was born!
Here we go!
LOVE this little boy!
One happy Daddy!
First time meeting her brother!
Love this family:)
Uncle Carter came to visit!
Madelyn loves holding her baby brother!
Lots of kisses
Grandpa with Madelyn and Gabe before leaving
Such a cutie!
It's tough being a couple days old!
First outing out as a family of 4, only took about an hour to get packed up! Mads was to excited to look at the camera!
Mother's Day!! So happy we got to have Nana here for it!
If you know me at all you know how much I love holidays. Though I have reached the point of this pregnancy that I have little energy and am miserable I still was so excited to do all the Easter festivities with Madelyn. It started off last weekend by taking her to Easton's Eggstravagansia,
an Easter event filled with food, rides, games and best of all Easter egg hunts for each age. We went with friends who have two girls that helped Madelyn with her first Easter egg hunt. She was a little overwhelmed until she realized the eggs had chocolate in them. She was NOT a fan of the Easter bunny who was there to take pictures, she was so scared even a crying picture wasn't an option. On Friday we had friends over for the kids to dye eggs or as Madelyn calls it "paint eggs" and though she didn't have patience to let the eggs sit very long in the dye she had a really good time. Today, after Mads woke up she headed outside and find the eggs the Easter bunny left along with her Easter basket and then we headed off to an Easter brunch. Derek and I cooked our first Easter dinner tonight. Though we missed family this was the first holiday that we didn't travel so it was fun for us to enjoy time just as a family at home and start traditions with Madelyn.
This past Monday we went to the doctor for our weekly appointment as well as an ultra sound. Everything looked great and based on the ultra sound the baby weighed 7.9 lbs. That means that if he goes to 40 weeks he would be around 9 lbs (yikes). During the ultra sound he was very active and sucking away on his thumb which we loved :) He has definitely dropped and is head down ready to go so just the waiting game of when he is ready. We go again this Tuesday for our 38 week appointment.
Baby W's adorable footprint on Monday's ultra sound!
Checking out her eggs at the Easter egg hunt!
Madelyn, Campbell and Anderson ready to find eggs!
Dying eggs with Mama!
Easter Morning!
Easter baskets (one from Easter Bunny, one from Nana and Papa)
Being silly with Daddy Easter Morning
Headed to brunch, way to cover the BIG belly Mads :)
Daddy and Mads:)
Family picture
Our Easter cutie!
There is always time to stop and smell the flowers!
All ready in our new double stroller thanks to Grandpa!
Filling our piggy bank (and giving our brother a head start in his), don't show your change when you come to our house and Madelyn will rob you!
I know it has been a long awaited post with an update of our move but to say the last 2 1/2 weeks have been crazy and exhausting is an understatement. I have the personality type to take on more than I can and never admit I can't do something and the weekend of the move in Charlotte I was fully aware this was going to be way to hard for Derek and I to handle alone with a toddler and being 34 weeks pregnant. We could never be more thankful for my Mom and Richard who I called that Sunday morning and told them how much we need help and by that afternoon they had tickets booked to come help!
Sunday the movers showed up and what a day it was. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful, pouring rain and cold, lol and about half way through the day it was clear all our stuff was not going to fit on the large moving truck. We ended up renting a u-haul that Derek would then drive and Bo, Madelyn and I would drive the car. The movers headed out around 3pm and after cleaning the house and getting our final things packed we headed out of Charlotte at 7pm. The drive was a little harder since Derek and I weren't in the same car to keep each other awake but we finally pulled into our new driveway at 3:15am and got to bed at 4:00am. Three hours later our alarm went off because the movers would be showing up anytime. Luckily everything went smooth that day and Derek's brother, Carter came to help us for 2 days get furniture put together and moved once the movers left.
On Wednesday, Mom and Richard showed up and for the next week we all literally worked from 7am until midnight at least. One night even mom had swollen ankles. I am not sure how I didn't go into labor other than this little boy was to scared to come out and be put to work, lol! We can say by the time they left our house was "a home" and almost all boxes were unpacked, pictures hung, rooms painted and cleaned! We honestly never would have been able to do it without their help and Madelyn was on cloud 9 having Nana and Papa here. For the next couple days after they left Madelyn would grab her toy suitcase and purse, head to the door and say "see you" and when we asked where she was going she would respond "Iowa, to Nana and Papas" We even got out to two nice meals to enjoy a little break from all our work:)
Since they have left Derek and I have been trying to finish things around the house, get everything ready for the baby and all the fun things that come with a move (DMV, finding new doctors, learning our way around, etc)
I have found a new OB here and we really like her thankfully. I am now on weekly appointments and have gone twice. As I feared the doctor thinks this is going to be a big baby boy, considering Madelyn was 8lbs 11oz as a girl I thought this might happen. Next Monday I am getting an ultra sound to see what he weighs but the doctor says she probably wouldn't let me go past my due date because at that point he is adding weight fast. Hard to believe in three weeks he will be here! Though this has been another easy pregnancy, you can ask Derek that I have become miserable. I think between the stress of the move and chasing a toddler I am ready to meet our little boy. I am having a lot of braxton hicks contractions so hopefully he will come on his own soon.
As for Miss Madelyn, she is adjusting really well. She not only has a new home but a new bed:) We switched her to a big girl bed and moved the crib into the babies room. It has gone really well and most nights she sleeps through the night just fine. We have a had a few nights that she wakes up and comes in our room. She LOVES her new room though and has come to terms that the crib is for the baby (we will see about that once he is actually here, lol). It is amazing how her speech has really taken off and she is trying to use sentences for everything. She can count to 14, recognize the colors; blue, green, red, black and orange, and can identify a rectangle, square, oval, circle, triangle and heart. Of course she is still sassy as no other and has a personality of a 5 year old:)
Will update more often now that we are settled, here are a few pictures from the past 2 weeks! I will post house pics this week, need to take them still!!
First night in "Big Girl Bed"
Madelyn's new room:
Nana got her a cute new chair to read in since her rocker was moved to the babies room:)
Quick dinner out, pretty sure we hadn't even stopped to shower this day but we did get dinner :)
Kissing "baby brother"
Loving having Uncle Carter so close, we meet him in Annapolis this past weekend :)
Madelyn's favorite thing to do, color (especially Minnie)
Who needs Starbucks... lol!! Apparently we have drank to much coffee in this house!
It is hard to believe but after almost 8 years of living in Charlotte we will be moving in just over a month to Easton, MD. It is a very bitter sweet move for us. Derek received an amazing opportunity in the Chesapeake Y Association that we couldn't pass on. We are so proud of him and this huge promotion although there are a lot of friends and coworkers that are going to be very hard to leave. We are excited for our new adventure on the Eastern shore and of course pretty excited about the delicious seafood to come!
Last week Charlotte had the biggest winter storm since both Derek and I have lived here. It couldn't have come at a better time as we had just gotten back from visiting MD and needed time to really talk and make decisions. The snow started Wednesday morning and went strong until Thursday late afternoon. We got around 11 inches of snow by the end and of course, Charlotte is not use to this weather so everything was shut down meaning we didn't leave the house Wednesday-Friday! Madelyn LOVED playing in the snow or most of all eating it! Of course only in North Carolina do we have a big winter storm last week and this week it is 60's and 70's.
It is so hard to believe we are already in the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy! With two moves in 3 months we are very excited to get settled and to start getting everything ready for our little boy! Madelyn says "hi brother" to my belly often, however, she definitely has no idea what is coming! Luckily this pregnancy, like Madelyn's, has gone very easy so far! The only big difference is the amount he moves and kicks, several times a day he kicks so hard I swear he is about to kick right through my stomach! Hopefully all this movement isn't a sign he never sleeps. Derek and I have a few names and one we are leaning towards but YES, we again are not sharing until he comes:)
Right now Madelyn's favorites are counting (counts 1-8 with no problem) cooking in her play kitchen, reading (in her russian talk she will read you a book) and dancing! She is obsessed with dancing and even holds her arms in the air like a ballerina. There is no doubt she is 100% girl and diva!
I have to end this blog with a cute story. Last Sunday when Derek and I went to pick her up from the nursery at church she was standing there ready to go in this adorable pink pea coat on. I looked at one of the teachers and said I love the coat but it's actually not ours. She laughed and said that Madelyn ran over to the cubbies grabbed it out, brought it to her and said "mine" and when the teacher asked do you want me to put it on Madelyn said "yes" thinking it was hers! We laughed so hard, only our little diva would be checking out all the other girls things and trying to steal a cute coat at church non the less, oh Mads!
playing with my new "choo-choo"from Nanny and Poppy
snuggle time with Daddy over the snow days!
Valentine's Day breakfast!
cutest little Valentine!
Valentine's Day 2014
headed out to play in the SNOW!
so excited to see snow!
learning to build a snowman with daddy
our street during the snowstorm
nothing better than baking on snow days! (ignore the crazy hair, this was after nap, ha!)
Miss Hollywood with her new Valentine's Day goodies
