2 Weeks!

On Friday, July 4th, Nora not only celebrated her first Independence Day, we also celebrated her turning 2 weeks old!  Time is already flying by - it doesn't seem like 2 weeks since we first met little Nora.  With World Cup going on we have been catching games when we can and the USA-Belgium match was a must see for us.  Not sure yet if she will be a soccer player or fan but she slept right through pretty much the whole game!  Nora has been enjoying baths in her little pink tub and had her first trip to Home Depot! She had her 2 week checkup on July 3rd and weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces - growing like a weed!  Nora started wearing cloth diapers and we are back in diaper washing mode. Nora likes to snuggle and enjoys looking at dark colored furniture and shadows!  

 

 

Sock has arrived!

At 8:08 AM on Friday, June 20th (one day past due date!) we welcomed Baby Sock!  To my surprise (though Jay was quite sure of this already) we had another little girl! - Nora Pearl Well.  Delivery went a bit differently than with Wren - contractions started at 2 AM, water broke about 2:15 AM, to hospital at 4:40 AM, then 18 minutes of pushing and we had our girl.  Phew!  It was an intense 6 hours and we were so excited to meet little Nora.   8 pounds, 6 ounces.  20.75" long.  Head and chest circumference were identical at 14 cm.  While bigger than Wren was, Nora sure seemed tiny after our reference point has been our big 2.75 year old Wren.  

Big sister Wren and Grandma Ramona were our first visitors and our two girls exchanged presents with each other.  Well, Wren opened both presents, but it was a nice way to start their lifelong relationship.  Wren was very excited to hold her baby sister, "pet her" and give lots of kisses.  

I had tested positive for Group B strep and with our faster labor I did not receive the recommended two doses of IV antibiotics prior to delivery, so we stayed in the hospital for 2 days so Nora could be observed for signs of infection.  She had a few checks with high respirations, so there was some concern on Saturday, though by that evening things were calming down and we were given the green light to go home the next morning.  While we would have loved to have been home sooner I have to admit that I always appreciate having my meals provided to me with just a quick phone call.  

On Sunday the 22nd we arrived home at about 11:30 AM.  Nora wore the same newborn size jammies that Wren had worn on her trip home.  

Nora is a sweet little snuggle bug and for her first few days at home we really didn't even set her down, just passed her around or slept with her on our chests.  She started sleeping a little in a bouncy chair and for the last 3 nights now has slept in a pack n' play by our bed.  She is such a good girl and only fusses when hungry, annoyed by a diaper change or wanting new scenery.  

We are really trying to enjoy every little thing with Nora while she is so tiny - we know she will grow super fast!  We won't be having more babies in the future so we want to be sure to take every little phase in. Jay has been home with me so far but will return back to work next week - I will miss the adult company and Nora will miss her daytime daddy snuggles - but we will be more mobile soon and getting out and about will be fun!

Here are just a few of the already hundreds of pictures from Nora's first 11 days!  

 

 

 

39 weeks!

One week before Baby Sock is due!  Wow!  This pregnancy has felt a lot longer than the first one!  I'm not feeling 100% ready for baby but we all know babies come when they like so we will just wait to see what happens!  Tomorrow is my last day of work - seemed easier to just end on a Friday for the person covering for me.  Wren seems pretty excited to become a big sister though how she reacts will be interesting to watch.  We are excited, though, for her to meet her sibling for the first time - we will surely take an excessive number of photos!  I am happy to report that I am still sleeping pretty darn well and feeling good.  My wedding band is a bit tight but I can still manage to squeeze it on and off each day. With Wren and our new house projects keeping us busy there's not a lot of time to sit and reflect, which is probably not a bad thing!
Baby Sock's room is not quite ready - a rug is on order and we have a few things left to hang - but the essentials are in place.  At our OB checkup today we were told that I am dilated 1.5 cm and baby is doing great.  We have finally agreed on a boy and girl name - at least we agree as of today!  I wonder how the delivery of this baby will differ from Wren's delivery and my wonder will soon turn into a reality.  It's crazy all of the changes that we are going through with the move and house and now baby  but it all seems to be working out for us.  We are pretty lucky!
Here is a photo of our little family from this past weekend as we celebrated Jay's cousin's High School graduation.  Soon there will be 4!!

37 weeks!

Today marks 37 weeks in our pregnancy with Baby Sock!  Three weeks until due date and only 11 more working days for Crystal!  I plan to work my last day on the 13th to potentially have a few days at home to rest before baby. But we will see when baby decides to arrive!  I don't believe I made an update post after our last ultrasound - we were happy to learn that the placenta had stretched away enough from the cervix that we have no worries about a natural birth. Phew!  Growth has been right on track and we are happy to be having an unremarkable pregnancy.  We did find out today that I am Group Strep B positive, which means that there is a chance that baby can become infected during birth.  So to try to prevent that from happening I will receive IV antibiotics in the hospital every 4 hours during labor.  We were told that ideally I would receive at least 2 doses of antibiotics before delivery so we will have to think about getting to the hospital sooner rather than later (It's ideal for us to be home as long as possible).  If I do not have enough time in the hospital to receive two doses then there's a good chance baby and I will need to stay in the hospital for 2 days instead of 1 to watch for symptoms of infection in baby.  Just a few things we will have to keep in mind.  

Physically I am feeling fairly ready for baby to come - my body feels so dang heavy!  But I am very glad that I am still sleeping quite well and I haven't experienced the same amount of swelling in my face and legs as last time - at least not yet.  Mentally I am happy to have a little longer to go.  We are still settling into our new house - I have yet to put anything on the walls in Sock's room - and I am not quite ready for the sleep deprivation we will be facing.  This pregnancy has felt long, though now that we are so close to meeting Sock it seems to be going a little too fast!  

Becoming a big girl!

Our Wren is well on her way to being a big girl!!  In our new house we have set up her bunk bed though she has been telling us she will sleep in it after the baby comes (same goes for giving up the pacifier and using the potty).  But over the last week she seems to have had a change of heart!  She tried to sleep in her big girl bed one night last week but I laid with her and there was a lot of talking, so we went back to the crib.  Sunday night Wren said she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and she did!  It took a good amount of time for her to actually settle down (the fact that the setting sun pours into her window since the blinds we ordered aren't here yet isn't helping her get to bed at a decent time) but then she slept all night!  And she napped in her big girl bed!  And then she slept in it again last night!!  We are very excited for Wren and happy to be freeing up Baby Sock's room for preparations. 
Here's a video of Wren on Monday morning after her first night in her big girl bed. 

 

P.S. - Yes - that's a haircut!  Wren got her first ever hair cut on Mother's Day, complete with bangs!  She had been asking for a hair cut and was a model client.  As a treat for her great behavior she received a balloon and her first ever lollipop! (at least as far as we know...)  Wren has been so happy to have her hair out of her eyes and it's nice to not wrestle with her to keep a clip in her hair! 

Big Change Ahead!

For at least the last year we have gone back and forth on the idea of having a bigger house, expanding our current home or just living with what we have. We have a great house - we love our house!  All 960 cozy square feet of it.  Our family of three fits great and we have excellent plans for the upcoming 4th member and for the kids to eventually share a room.  One thing that has been on my wish list, however, is a second bathroom.  Half bathroom.  Ok, just another toilet?  But how to accomplish that in a cost effective way that won't involve changing our foundation or impacting future resale, well we just haven't been sure.
We keep an eye on the local real estate market and even get a heads up on new listings the day they hit the MLS.  We have looked at a few properties that we could maybe have seen ourselves in and some that our realtor asked us to "have an open mind" about (red flag!!) but none were the right fit or location or price.  Good houses have been getting snatched up in this town in less than a week lately so we had to be ready.
On a recent Tuesday a new listing email arrived in our inbox and the house was cute but we disregarded it as it had been purchased recently for a quick renovation. That Friday our realtor called and recommended that we see the home. After a look around we decided we liked what we saw - Saturday we formulated a plan, offer and sweet letter explaining our upcoming family expansion complete with adorable family photo. Sunday we signed the offer and hoped for the best as there were already two offers and an Open House scheduled for that afternoon. Monday afternoon our offer was accepted!  Cue the "You like me!  You really like me!" feeling...or maybe you really like our competitive offer.  But I digress.
Today we signed papers. Tomorrow we pay the big bucks. Friday we get keys! And soon we will be living in a 4 bedroom, 2 (full!!) bath home with an indoor laundry room. What!!?? We feel like this was sort of meant to be since we will be getting in and settled just in time for Baby Sock's arrival and the extra space means visiting Grandparents won't be stuck sleeping in the living room after baby makes 4.  That's not to say that this isn't a stressful time (this coming weekend is the only free one we have for a month - work obligations and conferences are taking us out of town for the next 4 weekends) and topping it off we are going down the path of becoming landlords.  We love our little house so much that we want to keep it for the future - for the kids or for us when we don't need a 4 bedroom house.  So while moving is on the big checklist, so is advertising and renting out this house.  Oh, and getting it ready for someone else to live in by taking care of the imperfections that we don't mind living with.
So hopefully I'll get some good blog posts out about all of these adventures we are about to embark on.

29 Weeks Update!

We had our follow-up ultrasound for Baby Sock (that's the most reasonable name Wren has come up with for baby) last week as we celebrated 28 weeks of pregnancy.  Baby looks great!  On track for growth and all organs are healthy.  The real reason for the ultrasound was to check back on that pesky low-lying placenta. Turns out there has been little stretching (even though my belly is really big!) so the distance from placenta to cervix is still too close for comfort.  We go back again for another ultrasound in 3 weeks and see if there's been any progress.  My glucose test for gestational diabetes came back great so no need to worry about diabetes.
Otherwise I still have sciatica, which has mostly been on the right side though the left has started to be a bit of a pain, too.  But again, everyone is healthy so we have much to be thankful for!

28 week Baby Sock says Hi! (Ignore the creepy reflection of my hand...)