My big Little Lady

Colleen had her one month check up today. It's hard to believe she's a month old! She did great letting the doctor poke around and check her out. She's measuring great and growing like a weed. She now weighs 10 lbs 4 oz and is 22.5 inches long. She's breastfeeding like a champ and packing on the pounds to prove it! She's also showing her tired momma some mercy by sleeping 4-5 hours at a time at night. She's not a bit colic-y and doesn't really cry unless she's hungry. I would say she's just about as perfect as a baby can be! God has blessed us with two great little girls.

Little Lady is three weeks old today!

Happy three week birthday Colleen!

Time sure has flown by these last three weeks! Colleen has gotten noticeably bigger. She's breastfeeding really well. She's lost that newborn blotchy-ness and her skin is now clear and smooth. She's sleeping 4-5 hours at a time at night. AJ is getting used to having another child in the house. We've all adjusted really well and have become a nice little family of 4. We really are blessed!

Three Crazy Years!

Joseph and I have been married 3 years today. So much has happened in the last three years. The most amazing events being the births of our two beautiful daughters. Every day just keeps getting better. I love you, Joseph!

Colleen Marie's Birth Story

On Tuesday, September 21, I went to the doctor at 10 am. Since I had passed my due date I was put on the fetal monitor to check the baby's heart beat. She was moving so much that they couldn't get a good strip and sent me for an ultrasound. In that 5 minutes between the monitor and the ultrasound the baby fell asleep and failed the PPD test because she wouldn't move. So... Dr. Hilton sent me to PMC. She told me the Dr. on call would either break my water or set me up for a c-section for that evening. Because I was overdue and trying for a VBAC, she didn't want me to wait any longer.
As soon as I left the doctor's office, I called Joseph to come home from work, my mom to start traveling from VA, and my mother-in-law to let her know I was going to the hospital. I went home to get my bags and to wait for Joseph to get home.
By 12:30 I was on the monitor at the hospital. We got beautiful strips this time. The baby was just fine! The Dr gave me the option of going home and waiting to go in to labor spontaneously, or he could break my water. At 40w4d I was pretty well over being pregnant. I really wanted this baby to be born! So at 3:30 we decided to go ahead and break my water.
I started out at a tight 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced. When the Dr checked me again at 9 pm nothing had changed. I had contractions every 4-8 minutes all through the night, some being pretty strong. But by morning, they had tapered off.
The Dr came back to talk to us again Wednesday morning. He said we could wait a while longer or go for a section. We decided to wait until 3:30, the 24 hour mark. If I hadn't progressed to at least 3 cm, we would go ahead with a section. Unfortunately, after 24 hours, I hadn't changed a bit. Still a tight 2cm. We got the ball rolling on a c-section.
At 4:41 pm on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Colleen Marie Sturgis was born weighing in at 8 lbs 8 oz. She was 21 inches long and had a beautiful head full of dark hair.

She's two weeks old today. AJ loves her and is learning to be gentle. Colleen is breastfeeding very well and sleeping for longer periods at a time at night. She's a very good baby and only cries when she's hungry.
We are so blessed to be given such amazing children. I adore the little family we have created for ourselves!

4 Weeks to Go!!!

My September 17th due date is quickly approaching! Within the month I'll be holding my beautiful baby girl! Last night Baby was moving a lot and had the hiccups. I could see every tiny little hiccup push my belly out. Throughout my pregnancy, every time I tried to let Joseph feel the baby, she would stop moving as soon as his hand rested on my belly. This time he got to feel her for a good 5 minutes. Even more exciting was that AJ got to feel her little sister!

I think AJ may be coming around to the idea of having a sister. When asked, she can tell me where her baby sister is and usually can tell me her name. She affectionately calls her "Connie" or "Collie". I don't think that her understanding of the situation is any deeper than a game of "Where's your little sister?" I still don't know how she will handle having a new baby around taking up much of the attention she has come enjoy all to herself. I don't think she will be too happy about it though. Last night when Joseph was paying too much attention to my belly AJ started acting silly to draw him back to her. If that is an indication of what's to come, we may have a power struggle for a while.

As much as AJ will not like having her thunder stolen, I think she will quickly come to love having a baby sister. Her nurturing instinct is definitely starting to develop. Up until recently she has had no interest in baby dolls and the like. Now she will rock her animal "buddies" and feed them her snacks and water. She also throws them across the room and drags them by there legs so... we may have to watch out for that!

I'm so excited to have this baby! I just cannot wait until this little darling is born!

Nostalgia

My grandmother was a simple woman. She enjoyed simple pleasures. Scribble, Memory, word searches and Wheel of Fortune were fixtures in her home. As were bologna sandwiches. She was probably the last person to make me a bologna sandwich and I'm almost positive I haven't had one since. That's got to be at least 15 years ago. Searching my fridge today for something to make for my daughter for lunch, I stumbled upon some bologna that my husband has been using for his lunch. I cut some up and handed it off to AJ, who scarfed it down like no body's business. "If it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me," I thought and made myself a sandwich. As soon as I bit into that bologna and cheese sandwich I instantly thought of my Maw-Maw. Her pulling that bologna out of her old green fridge, expertly making my sandwich on the Formica counter top, cutting it into triangles and passing it over to me.

I always loved my Maw-Maw but it wasn't until my teen years that I learned WHY I loved her. She was a tough woman. She lived through much tragedy during her life. War, the Great Depression, being widowed, burying children. Yet she still rejoiced in the Lord, still witness of God's love and mercy. She was the most caring individual anyone could every hope to meet.

Maw-Maw passed away this past fall. My daughter got to spend time with her, but will likely not remember her. My soon-to-be-born daughter, who will share my Maw-Maw's middle name, will never know her first hand. I do know that they will know the legacy of their great-grandmother. I can't wait to share with them the memories I cherish.

Who knew a bologna sandwich could stir up such emotion. Perhaps it's the overflow of pregnancy hormones racing through my body; maybe I'm a little home sick. I know for sure that I miss my Maw-Maw. And I will always think of her when I have a bologna sandwich.

11 weeks to go!

So my last post was almost 10 weeks ago... sorry...
We are having a another little girl in about 11 weeks. We've already picked out a name, Colleen Marie. I'm already crazy about her and can not wait until she's born. September 17th is the big day. I'm very curious about what she will be like. AJ is so rambunctious and sassy. Having another little wild child would be exhausting and overwhelming, I'm sure. But I don't know what I would do with a calm, collected child. I'm used to going full force with AJ and couldn't imagine raising a child any other way. I'll have my work cut out for me either way!

AJ turned 2 on the 1st. We took her to see Toy Story 3. This was her first time at the movies. For a 2 yr old, she did really well. She wanted to talk the whole time, but that's expected from her. She is so completely obsessed with Woody, Buzz, and Jessie! She watches Toy Story at least twice a day. It's great for those times when I need to get things done, but it does start to get old after a while. I guess there are more annoying things she could be obsessed with though...

We had AJ's birthday party on 6/26. It was a small family get-together and turned out really nice. I scheduled it for the evening hoping that it wouldn't be so terribly hot. That idea didn't work too well. It didn't start getting tolerable outside until about 7:30. Once we got outside it was nice though. When the sun went do we got the fire pit going and had s'mores! It was so much fun! The kids got to hold sparklers, which they thoroughly enjoyed! The night was a success and a great time with the entire family.