Bedtime With Max

One night, I put his jammies on and went to get his teddy bear. Upon returning to his room, I saw he had his rain boots on and his tools ready to take to bed:)

Sophia's 1st Month

It's been a busy, busy month! On one hand, it seems like she just arrived, but on the other, it's amazing how much she has changed and how many memories have already been formed in the past 4 weeks. Although I am still working from home, teaching my online classes, I have been really enjoying my maternity break and taking things moment by moment, enjoying my time, and Sophia, more. With Max, I was learning about taking care of a newborn, getting the hang of breastfeeding, and learning what it meant to become a mom, and this time around, I feel much more confident and can just enjoy each day more.

Sophia really seems to like baths, particularly getting her hair washed. Max hated them from the start, so it's nice to be able to wash a baby without screaming:)

When she was a week old, we hired a professional photographer, who shoots newborns in their homes. This was our living room for an afternoon. Her set ups and props were amazing, and I can't wait to see the final prints, which we should receive in the next week:

She also seems to really like tummy time, something else Max hated from the start. And she's strong! He has been briefly lifting her head from birth.

She has 2 very adoring brothers! Max has been so wonderful with her, constantly asking to see her, kissing and hugging her, and continously bringing her things, including his toys, which he is quite dismayed that she can't play with yet. It will be wonderful when they can play together.

She continues to be a good eater and sleeper, loves to be held, and is a laid-back, content little princess:)

Here she is at 1 month old, in her Thanksgiving sleeper:

I truly love having a daughter!

Halloween

Sophia may have been only 3 days old, but that didn't stop her from dressing up! I wasn't sure how I would feel, but I went out with Charly and Max for a bit and then helped hand out candy at our house. It was a great night!

Sophia Bella:)

Sophia Bella arrived on Friday, October 28th at 4:38 p.m. after a scheduled induction, one week past her due date. At 5 days past, she failed her non stress test and the amniotic fluid was low, so they gave me a choice of whether I wanted to be induced, but they didn't want me to go long. I was pretty darn uncomfortable, and I didn't want to take the chance of anything going wrong, so I opted to go ahead with it.

The labor and delivery were very mild until around 1 p.m. Once the pain started, I had a stadol I.V., along with a soak in the hot tub, but things pretty quickly got bad, so I headed back to my room for the epidural. However, by the time the anesthesiologist arrived and administered the test dose, it was time to push, so I had VERY little medication while in active labor which flat out sucked. I was begging the dr. for more medicine, but there was nothing that could be done at that point, and I was yelling, "I will NEVER do this again!!!" And I meant it!!!:) It was 18 minutes of pushing, but they were the longest moments of my life.

All was well though, and she arrived in a cute 7 lbs. 11 oz, 20 inch bundle. It's funny; looking back at these pictures now, I see the eye drops and messy newborn state, but at the time, I honestly didn't notice that at all and just saw her beauty. I remember having the same memories of Max, too, for when I looked back at his first photos, I thought, "He never looked that funky...he was adorable from the start!"

Not her best shots here....:)

She's looking a bit more camera ready here..

 And then the hospital visitors began...

We were worried about how Max was going to react, being a momma's boy, but all seemed to go well.

Sophia brought gifts for Alex and Max:)

 I love ordering room service; I truly do like hospital food!

 2 night in the hospital...Charly is looking pretty tired!

Max's 1st Big Boy Bed!

He has a convertible crib, so we just took one of the railings off. For the past couple of months, he has been slowly but surely getting closer to crawling out of his crib, and bedtime has become a struggle. The nighttime rituals have been drawing out in an effort to settle him down, and he would often fuss for awhile once we finally said good night and shut the door, so we were pretty apprehensive about this switch. What would he do? Constantly try to escape his room? Play until he passed out on the floor? We weren't sure, but once again, he surprised us! Both naps and bedtimes have been going smoothly, with minimal fussing, and best of all, he's staying in bed! Even when we hear him get up in the morning, he's quietly playing or "reading" a book....still in bed! I hope this lasts:)

Things We Do for a Clean Child

We are still having desperate times when it comes to getting Max to engage in any kind of hygenic act other than taking a bath (and then washing his hair is still a struggle).

For the past week, he has been actually brushing his own teeth thanks to Charly's new electric toothbrush. He calls it "Daddy's Magic Toothbrush" and is excited to use it! Of course, it's only been a week, so this may not last long.

In order to trim his nails, we've had to resort to flat-out bribery. A couple of pieces pf chocolate, and he'll do whatever we want. Sure, I feel bad, but his toenails were about to cut someone.

1 Day Overdue

My hips and back hurt constantly, even after the chiropractor, I'm always peeing, my braxton hicks, pressure, and pain, are just getting worse, and I can't even put on my own socks, so I'm getting pretty uncomfortable.

Overall, though, I realize it's not too bad-many people have pregnancies that are MUCH worse, so I'm trying to enjoy the last few days with Max. That, and get things done. I've been doing a lot of grading this week!

Sleeping is horrible though, and yes, I know it's going to get much worse. At least now, even when I can't sleep and I'm constantly up due to peeing, heartburn, leg and foot cramps, and sore hips, I can still lay there. Poor Charly hasn't slept in the bed with me for about 6 weeks; I wake him up way too much, so at least one of us should get some sleep!

I've been dilated at 2 cm for a couple of weeks, still 90% effaced, and the doctor says the same thing every time, "It could be any day!" I just don't place much stock in that anymore:)