Friday, December 20, 2013

More babies!

I can't believe I forgot to blog about my cousin's 2nd baby!  

On July 26th 2013 my cousin Amy gave birth to her second child, Nathan Robert.  He was 8lbs 7oz and 20.5 inches long.  If I have my relationships correct (because let's face it, it gets confusing), then Nathan and his sister April are my 1st cousins once removed.  Ryland & Carsyn and April
& Nathan are 2nd cousins.


Congrats to the proud parents Amy and Rob!  




New cousin, our 1st nephew!

Congrats to my little brother & SIL Stephen and Christina on their brand new baby boy!  They are proud to announce the newest member of their family - Mason Wilhelm Freund.  Ryland and Carsyn have their first male cousin, and mommy and daddy have our first nephew!  :)


Mason was born on Thursday, November 21st at 9:02 am and weighted 7 lbs and 4.6 oz and measured 20 inches long.  Welcome to the family and happy Thanksgiving!






Friday, December 6, 2013

1 Month

1 Month Young - 11/28/2013


SMILE!
Our little tater tot turned 1 month on 11/28 (Thanksgiving) and she's already grown so much!  Carsy is now up to 8 lbs 13 oz and consumes 4 oz a feeding.  She's a great sleeper as well, going between 4-6 hours at a time.  This works out perfectly as she'll only wake up once during the night.  She'll take a bottle around 10/11pm (the hubby's turn) then again around 3/4am (my turn), and then will sleep until 7/8am (my turn again).  You go girl!

So far Carsyn has had 2 showers and plenty of sponge baths.  Her belly button stump fell off around week 3 which allowed us to give her a full bath.  She loves shower time with daddy but is not too happy with sponge baths.  I also noticed that she really hated cold wipes, so I broke down and bought a wipe warmer.
This has been a saving grace!  She very rarely cries/screams anymore during diaper changes and with the colder weather moving in I'm sure this will make it much more comfortable for her.  ;)

Carsyn seems to be following in Ry's footsteps.  Since the day of her birth she's been picking up her head and moving it from side to side without a problem.  She's a strong little girl!  So far she's done well with tummy time.  She has fallen asleep a couple times on her stomach and seems to really enjoy it.  She also likes laying on her side on the couch.  Her favorite thing to do is fall asleep in daddy's arms or on our chests.  There's been several nights that I've ended up sleeping on the couch with her just so she could snuggle on me.  ;)  Carsy is also a bit more fussy in the evenings, just like Ry.  So far it hasn't been too bad and gripe water helps. 

Carsyn is such a sweetie and Ryland just adores her.  I love dressing her up and putting bows on her head.  Who would have thought I'd be so girlie with her!  ;)

We are Spartans! 11/2/2013

sweet dreams 11/18/2013


11/23/2013

Happy Thanksgiving!  11/28/2013

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Carsyn's 2 Week Check-up

Carsyn's 2 week check-up was last Wednesday (11/13) and she made great progress.  She's steadily putting on weight, coming in at 8 lbs 2 oz.  You go girl!  She also measured 20 1/2 inches and her head circumference was 36.5 cm, putting Carsy in the 50th percentile for everything.  The doctors also had to take more blood from her heel for a second newborn screening.  They needed to fill five circles on a piece of paper with her blood.  Poor tater tot (as my hubby affectionately refers to our little lady) just didn't want to give up that much blood!  They had to poke both her heels and only managed to fill three spots.  They decided that would be enough and wouldn't put her through anymore discomfort, thank goodness!

Resting comfortably at home 11/18/2013

Friday, November 15, 2013

Carsyn's Newborn Pics

Here are the pictures from Carsyn's newborn session when she was just 12 days old.  Thank you Noelle Kai Photography, I love the sweetness of these photos!  She took some wonderful pictures of our little girl and big brother Ryland.  Below are some of my favorites.  :)

Sneak Peek on Noelle Kai FB page

















Sunday, November 10, 2013

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

C's 1st wellness check-up

Carsyn's first check-up was this past Friday, she was 5 days old.  The doctor said she looked great!  She almost completely gained back the weight she lost.  She went from 7 lbs 7 oz at birth to 6 lbs 13 oz when she left the hospital, and was back up to 7 lbs 3 oz at her checkup!  She also shrank from 20 inches to 19 3/4 inches and her head circumference was 35.1 cm.  Overall she's running in the 50th percentile for everything.  Way to go baby girl!

My first outing 11/1/2013

Carsyn's debut

The time had finally arrived!  On Sunday we made sure we had everything ready to go for the hospital.  That evening we took Ry over to Opa & Juju's to spend the night and have dinner.  My mom made me liver and onions (high in iron) since I've had to take iron supplements.  It was interesting.  She also prepared spätzle and meatballs for those not tempted to try the liver.  :)  By 8pm we gave Ry a kiss goodnight and headed back home.  I think we finally went to sleep around 10:30pm, but I kept waking up throughout the night.  Finally by 5am I went to the living room so that I wouldn't disturb Malek and watched some TV as I waited for our 7am departure time.

We arrived at the hospital just past 7:30am, there was a bit more traffic than we anticipated.  However they checked us in very quickly (pre-registration rocks) and took us straight back to the pre-op room.  I didn't realize we wouldn't be going to the über nice delivery rooms.  The nurses had me change into a gown, took vitals, set up my IV (the nurse in training missed the vein the first time, OUCH!), placed monitors on my belly to hear baby and gave me some horrible nasty tasting meds that apparently reduce nausea.  It tasted like sour candy gone wrong.  Then we waited.  This part felt like it took forever!  I was supposed to be wheeled back by 9:30am but they had an emergency c-section come in right before me.  While I was in pre-op Nana, Opa & Juju came back to say hi and wish me luck.



Finally around 10am they took us back.  They had Malek wait for me outside the OR until they had me all set up.  They gave me a spinal (not an epidural), the shot really burns and stings despite the numbing agent, luckily it passed quickly.  It was crazy how fast my lower body went numb.  One minute I could wiggle my toes, the next I couldn't.  I felt like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill "wiggle your big toe!".  Soon Malek was by my side and the doctors began.  Since I couldn't move my arms during surgery, my poor hands went crazy numb and started to swell and turned deep red.  Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it until I was back in recovery and could re-position my hands to relieve the pressure.  The doctors took their time.  Heck even Malek was sitting there all at ease.  This was very different from my first c-section with Ry, which seemed to go much faster, probably because they weren't sure what was going on me then.  Apparently baby girl didn't want to come out, they really had to do some pushing and ended up applying suction to her head to pop her out.  She was face-up (posterior position) just like Ry.  I also found out later that they had to cut some of my ab muscles as they were too thick for them to get through.  And then she was here!  Carsyn was born at 10:12 am, weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 inches long.  She also had dark eyes and some brown hair, not quite as much hair as Ry did when he was born, and some of her hair in front looked blonde!



Daddy went with Carsyn to the nursery while the doctors finished up with me and moved me to recovery.  They brought Carsyn to me very quickly and I was able to hold my sweet baby girl for the first time.  Juju and Malek also came in to check on me.  I was in recovery for 2 hours before they discharged me to my post-delivery room around 1pm.  


Family came by the rest of the afternoon/evening to meet our newest addition to the family.  She's super sweet and Ryland couldn't wait to meet her!  Right away he wanted to hold her and give her kisses.  Carsyn also had a gift for her big brother, a tool belt with tools.  However I think Ry was more delighted with Carsyn.  :)  The second day she had even more visitors from friends.


Malek clan


Juju & Opa

Aunt Emily and Uncle Kamran

Aunt Bea

Uncle D

Isabel and Baba

Nana

She has arrived!

We are proud to announce the newest member of our family –
Carsyn Alexis!


Born: Monday, October 28th 2013
Time:  10:12am via C-section
Weight:  7 lbs 7 oz
Length:  20 inches

Family 10/28/2013


Sunday, October 27, 2013

39 weeks

10/27/2013 - 39 weeks and 1 day

39 weeks and 1 day.  10/27/2013

Ready to meet baby sister

How I Look -  Baby got front and more front!  However my hubby says from the back you can't tell I'm pregnant at all.  :fistpump:  :)

Weight :  +30.5 lbs.  


How I Feel - Overall uncomfortable, same ol' same ol'.  

Symptoms - Belly pressure, swelling feet/hands and hand numbness.  Still no contractions.  Lots of potty breaks throughout the night.

Cravings - Popsicles. 

Exercise - None

What I'm Looking Forward To - Heading to the hospital Monday morning.  I'm super excited!!  We get to meet our baby girl tomorrow.  ;)  

What I'm Not Looking Forward To - Recovery and getting back on my feet after surgery.

Odds & Ends - Everything is ready to go.  We even have Ry's gift from Carsyn ready when he meets her for the very first time.  Tomorrow everything changes, again.  Now we'll have two littles under 3 yrs old.  It'll be interesting adjusting to the new family dynamic.  Here's to new adventures and even more love than I could have imagined!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

38 weeks

10/23/2013 - 38 weeks and 4 days

38 weeks and 3 days. 10/22/2013
How I Look -  I look like I have 40 weeks worth of belly going on here!  Clothes, mainly pants, are uncomfortable.  I prefer to be in sweat shorts or sweat pants and tank tops.  I can't wear any of my shoes except for flip flops.  I finally broke down and wore my husbands tennis shoes this past week, however my ankles swelled like crazy above my sock line.

Weight :  +28 lbs.  


How I Feel - Baby girl has been kicking like crazy at night.  At one point I really thought she was going to burst out of my belly with all her ninja kicks and punches.  The hand numbness has become worse, but at least I'm at the tail end of this pregnancy!  Feet and hands are still swollen and I feel like a pressure cooker about to go off.  At this point in my pregnancy with Ry I was still wearing my wedding ring, wow, I gave up wearing any jewelry really early this time around due to all the swelling (like week 20 or something!).  I'm also feeling anxious and excited and so so ready to meet our baby girl!

Symptoms - Pressure, swelling and hand numbness.  Where are the contractions!?!?!?

Cravings - Indoor smores, milk, Cheetos, popsicles. 

Exercise - Nonexistent.  Just chasing Ry around and taking him to the park.

What I'm Looking Forward To - I'm super antsy for Monday, this week can not go by fast enough!  Oh and Thursday is my last day of work, woohoo!  I'm taking a vacation day on Friday and then heading to the hospital early Monday morning to meet our baby girl!

What I'm Not Looking Forward To - If my water breaks at work....but at this point I'm guessing that won't happen at all.  I think my body is gonna hold in this baby until D-day!

Odds & Ends - I keep dreaming that my water breaks and we head off to the hospital early.  Guess that's just wishful dreaming.  ;)  I also keep finding more and more things to do at the house before baby comes.  Last night I remembered that I still hadn't printed off any of my maternity pictures to hang up!  Bad mommy.  

My last doctors appointment went well.  Baby girl is measuring between 7.5-8 lbs and had a heartbeat of 141 bpm.  We went over the events of my c-section for Monday and then I was on my way.  Only 5 days left!