Audrey as Big Sister

When I went to the hospital to have Shelby Claire, I left a sweet little toddler in her bed sleeping soundly. It feels as if she somehow became a little "girl" during the time I was gone.

I worried and worried over how Audrey would respond to having a sister in the house. Someone else to get her mommy and daddy's attention, that would need LOTS of attention, and that would not be able to play with her. When we first came home, Audrey was pretty ambivalent toward Shelby Claire. She liked her and loved on her, but for the most part, ignored her. Which was completely fine with us. The nurses at the hospital warned us that even though we knew all about Shaken Baby Syndrome and how to treat Shelby Claire, the two year old in our house wouldn't understand all that. So, we watch them like a hawk and we never leave Audrey alone with her. I can just see Audrey thinking that she is going to "change baby's diaper" or something innocent like that!

At random times Audrey will ask to hold "baby sister". If I come to get her from nap and I don't have Shelby Claire, she'll always ask where she is and tell me she wants to "see her". She helps me by getting diapers, throwing diapers in the trash,washing pacis, bringing me blankets, socks, burp cloths or anything else I can think of to send her after.

We've not had to deal with a whole lot of jealousy on Audrey's part. I completely give Clay the credit for making sure Audrey's love tank is full to the brim. He and Audrey have a very special relationship and he's been very good about making sure Audrey has lots of "daddy" attention. She's been in heaven the last few weeks because she has had her Daddy all to herself!

Although Audrey's transition to Big Sister has gone wonderfully so far, she has had her two year old moments but they are not nearly as frequent as we thought they would be. One thing she did say just the other night that made my emotional self want to bawl my eyes out was that she wanted me to put Shelby Claire down. She said, "Put her down, Mommy. You hold me?". What made me so emotional about that was not that she asked me to put Shelby Claire down, it was that sweet Audrey felt like she had to ask her momma to hold her. I practically threw Shelby Claire to Clay and jerked Audrey up! I spent the rest of the night holding and cuddling her. It doesn't matter what kind of relationship you have with your daddy, sometimes you just need your momma!

I am loving being the mommy to these precious girls. They are such a treasure to Clay and I- our most valued gifts. We love these girls and pray that we are doing what is right with them.

Already One Month old...

Shelby Claire is one month old and like every other mother.. I am sitting here looking at my precious baby wondering where the month went. It was a complete whirlwind of a month but a wonderful one still. It's been fun getting to know our newest little one. So far, she has quite a laid back personality. She didn't cry (other than for heel pricks and other painful procedures) until one day when I delayed feeding her. We were at the park and I was trying to get home in order to feed her but we were running behind. She found her voice that day!! She was well over a week old! Now, it sounds good that she wasn't crying but the baby can do some serious grunting. Notice I didn't say "cooing". She can GRUNT better than a grown man. She has no reason to cry-- she is still communicating her needs to us very well!

On the way to the doctor for our one month check up.

Currently, she is on a "eat every 3 hour" schedule during the day and an every 2 hour one at night. Ha! Some nights she can stretch it to 4 hours but we are not consistent with that just yet. She's becoming more and more alert as each day goes by. It looks like she's going to be a morning person because she pretty consistently gets up around 5:00 a.m. and then stays up a couple of hours. If she is being held, all that sleep a couple of hours stuff goes out the window. The girl loves to snuggle! If one of us is cuddling her, she will sleep and sleep and sleep! So, Clay and I have worked out a system where I take care of her until 3:00 a.m. every night. Then, he gets up with her at 3:00 and snuggles/cuddles until time for him to go to work. That gives me a good 2 (sometimes 3) hours of grunt-free sleep. We are hoping that she will begin to stretch out her sleep schedule soon!

At her one month check up, she weighed 9lbs 11 oz and was 21 and 3/4 inches long. She was in the 70th percentile for both height and weight! We were amazed at how big she was!! At her one week check up, she was 8 lbs 3oz! We are so proud of our little chunk!

She does still have her chord so if she still has it at 6 weeks, we have to schedule an appointment with a surgeon to remove it. The appointment will be made for when she is 7-8 weeks. My pediatrician said that in all the years he's been practicing, that he's only made appointments for about 5-6 babies. None of them have actually had to have surgery. Audrey's chord remained until she was 6 weeks so I am hoping Shelby Claire's is just like Audrey's. The doctor said she just wanted to hang on to the last little bit of Momma that she could! Ha!


She (like her sister) despises the swing. It doesn't take her long before she will let out a wail when she is put in it!

*Update: Lost her cord at 5.5 weeks! YAY!

Looovvveee.....

Shelby Claire's Birthday

Monday, February 21st, Clay and I started our day at 3:00 in the morning. We'd scheduled a c-section for 7:00 am and were told to be at the hospital by 5:00 am. Clay didn't want to risk being late so we left our house at 4:15 for the 20 minute trip. Ha! It never hurts to be early!

39.5 weeks, on the way to the hospital to have Shelby Claire

When we arrived, we were taken to the pre-op room and there we waited. We waited for our nurse to arrive who wasn't scheduled to be there until 5:00am. Hee! When Melissa did arrive, she prepped me for surgery and was super efficient. We loved her. I was in a room with another pregnant woman and we were both being prepped. The other nurse kept poking her head into our partition and asking for our nurse's supplies. I was so glad that Melissa was my nurse and not the other one! Our nurse was from London and was here studying at UAB. She was working on her master's degree in neonatal safety and delivery or something like that. As soon as she told me that, I was more relaxed. By 5:30, she was completely done with all she had to do to me so we waited... again.

At 6:30, she walked me to the operating room and told Clay to wait outside. She said, "It won't be but just a minute.". At that point, I became very nervous. They didn't want him in there while they gave me the spinal but I would have loved to have him there. It took them awhile to get everything ready and for the anesthesiologist to arrive. During that time, I tried not to worry, but I was so nervous I began to shake. The anesthesiologist finally arrived and began cutting jokes with all the nurses and flirting up a storm. He was driving me crazy! He tried to joke with me about him being the best anesthesiologist and how lucky I was to have him but I wasn't feeling it. I did muster up a smile for him, but GEEZ, get on with it! Admittedly, he did do a great job with the spinal. I barely felt a thing-- just a little pressure and then it was over. As soon as he finished, the nurses got worked up in a frenzy and started telling me to "lie back, lie back". Apparently it only takes like 10 seconds or so for the spinal to work. My legs swiftly began to feel like jello and then I couldn't feel them at all. I was slanted slightly on the table (bed?!?) and I kept asking the nurses if I was falling off. They all responded with, "no, no, you are just fine" but I couldn't get that thought out of my head. I just KNEW I was about to fall off that table!

About this time, Clay got to come in and he was all smiles and very calming. He started talking to me and holding my hand and I wasn't nearly as scared as I had been. They had put a cover up right under my chin making it where I couldn't see anything that was going on (not that I wanted to!). I was talking to Clay and he was taking pictures and the whole time, Shelby Claire was being born and I didn't even know it. I asked Clay when were they going to get started and he said, "Oh, they already have! She's coming!". I was so surprised! The next thing I know (at 7:06), I hear the precious cry of a newborn and the tears started streaming down my face! It's such a wonderful sound!! 

They moved her over to her own little table and started cleaning her up and making her presentable. They gave her an Apgar test and she passed with flying colors. They took her foot prints and weighed her-- all this I got to see! At 8:00, I was back in my room, holding my new baby girl and showing her off to our family. It was all such a wonderful experience and I am so glad we chose to schedule a c-section this time. One day, I will write about how Audrey came into the world but for now, just know it wasn't nearly as calming, peaceful, or stress-free as Shelby Claire's entrance!

Now, we are two weeks past Shelby Claire's birthday and we are settling in nicely as a family of four. Audrey loves her little sister and has transitioned very well to not being the only child. Life is good.