Family of Four

We have officially been a family of 4 for 11 days now. It doesn't seem that it has been almost 2 weeks since Chloe came into our world. We have all had to make adjustments to our lives since her arrival. I've had to get used to nursing again. It seems I'm nursing around the clock. This girl is a great eater! She is an ounce away from her birth weight, which means she's gaining weight like a champ. She has slipped into somewhat of a routine, although I use that term VERY loosely. We all know that babies love to fool you into thinking they are on a 'routine' and then decide to change things up just as soon as you grow to depend on that routine.

But, for now, Chloe is eating a TON during the day, takes a 3 hour long mid day nap (that, of course, never really seems to coincide with Grace's nap) eats a TON in the evening and goes down about 8pm. The past few nights she has gone almost a 5 hour stretch and doesn't wake up till around 2am and then again around 5am for a snack and then is up for good around 8am. This is a huge difference to Grace, who seemed to eat every 2 hours around the clock for several months. I chalk it up to Chloe being so much bigger. Chloe is 60th percentile for weight and 75th for weight. Grace was 25th for both.

Grace has been adjusting as well as can be expected. She has meltdowns multiple times a day which are probably part "terrible two's" and part "Mom brought home a baby who just won't leave". Any little thing will be horribly tragic in the world of Grace. However, she hasn't really acted jealous or been directly upset with Chloe. She LOVES Chloe and loves to hold "her bebe". She has endless kisses for her baby sister, and also enjoys showing Chloe how to play with toys.

Here are a few shots of Grace in Big Sister mode.

Wow, what a difference 26 months makes! Check out that size difference.

Grace and Chloe have been enjoying bath time together the past few days. We fill the tub up for Grace and then plop the baby tub in with Chloe and add a little water. This is a great evening activity for the whole family. Grace thinks it's great to bathe with Chloe and helps wash her feet. This usually results in our newborn being totally covered in soap. Chloe loves her bath and is usually in a great mood during bath time. Afterwards, Grace can play in the baby tub. This is bathtime fun at its best!

Aaron has been home for 2 weeks and gets ready to return to work next week. Sigh. I'll miss him so much! He's been a great help and has been the 'primary parent' for Grace while I've been taking care of Chloe. Divide and conquor! Grace has loved the extra daddy time and has gotten very attached to him.

Luckily, I won't be alone next week. Grandma is coming! Yippee!

That's all from the Gore family of four!

It's a Girl!!!

We were so excited to welcome our little girl on Sunday! She was born at 10:42am on Sunday morning and weighed in at 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 inches long. That's about 2 pounds and 2 inches longer than Grace! So, in Gore terms, she is a 'huge' baby :-)

I actually had an ideal labor this time. And, by 'ideal' I mean quick! I woke up Sunday morning around 1:30am with some contractions. Because I've had so many false alarms, I didn't think much about it and figured they would go away. I didn't bother timing them or anything and just tried to go back to sleep. I'm guessing they were about 15 minutes apart because it was just enough to go back to sleep between contractions.

When I finally decided to look at the clock it was already 3:30am and I timed the contractions which were now about 8 minutes apart. Eeek! At this point I woke up Aaron and told him to call my parents. I just hoped we had enough time for them to drive the 3+ hours to my house before we had to go to the hospital. My contractions stayed about 7 to 8 min apart till about 7am at which point I decided to get out of bed and into the shower. Wow, what a difference standing up made. I started getting them about 2 to 3 minutes apart in the shower and they were so intense! Aaron and I started talking about our 'Plan B' for Grace and he told me to get back in bed to slow the contractions down. I did and it worked. My parents arrived a little after 8am and we were at the hospital by about 8:40am. By the time I got to the hospital I was only at a 5-6cm and was so irritated because I really wanted to be farther along that that. I was only at a 5 when I was admitted with Grace and she didn't arrive for another 10 hours. By the time I got to my actual room I was at a 7 and went into the shower again to help relieve the pain and keep the contractioons coming. It was so PAINFUL! I cannot even explain it.

By the time I got out of the shower it was a little after 10am and I was at 8-9cm and the contractions were coming one on top of another. My nurse was telling me that I was going to have that baby within the hour and I wanted to believe her but just couldn't. After being in labor and pushing for so long with Grace, I didn't think anything about this labor would be quick. I was wrong. The next 40 minutes were a total blur, but I remember telling my nurse that the baby was coming and was pushing even though they hadn't given me the OK. They broke the rest of my water about 15 minutes before and that really spead things up (who knew you could break your water more than once? News to me, but I didn't bother to ask about it. I had more important things to do :-)

Long story short, I started pushing and had Chloe only 4 contractions later. It was less than 10 minutes total. The doctor almost didn't have time to get ready for the catch. I couldn't believe it. She was a SHE! They put her on my chest and said "It's a Girl" and Aaron did a double take and we both just said, "Really?!" What a surprise! We were even more surprised to find out she was such a big girl. She came out a little purple. The cord was wrapped around her next twice but it wasn't tight, so the doc wasn't concerned about it. She got some color back right away and we were just sitting there in awe of our new little girl.

Cut to 4 days later. We are exhausted but loving our new role of parents of 2 girls. Grace has been a wonderful big sister and she takes this job very seriously. She loves Chloe and wants to hold her all the time. Oh, and by the way, Grace was the only person who consistently told us we were going to have a baby girl...the entire pregnancy! Maybe she knows something. Maybe I should let her pick out some PowerBall numbers?! :-) Grace is very involved with Chloe and likes to be a big helper. It also helped that Chloe brought Grace home some Big Sister presents from the hospital. That was a big hit!

That's all from the Gore house. Almost time to feed the baby!

xoxo,

the Gores

More ramblings from a 40+ week pregnant woman

Yet another post without pictures. At this point, it's actually less about showing you all my massive girth and more about being too lazy to walk into the bathroom, stand in front of the mirror, take a picture and then download it that actually prevents me from posting a picture.

I hope my interesting, informative and possibly witty thoughts keep you intrigued enough to finish this blog post. Here are a list of a few things that have been on my mind:

Random Thought #1 - My Induction:
Love the idea for planning purposes but hate it because I'll be strapped to an IV and will probably have much more painful contractions. I was hoping to have a non-medicated birth this time around, although I swore I would never try that again. You see, when I was in labor with Grace it took FOREVER and finally after 21 hours without drugs, I got an epidural. Directly following the epidural I was ready to smack myself for not getting one sooner. I mean, what was the point of 'holding out' for 21 hours just to have an epidural for a few more hours before the pushing began? Totally pointless. I vowed to order an epidural and a meal right after checking into the hospital for the next delivery. My feelings have changed. Maybe I'm crazy?! Who knows. I pushed for such a long time with Grace and felt so clumsy because I couldn't really feel much. I think it might have gone faster without the epidural. So, this time if I have a fast labor and can make it to 10cm in a reasonable amount of time, I'd like to do the whole thing without drugs to help speed up the process. We shall see.

Random Thought #2 - TV
Now, I'm not a huge tv watcher or lover, but I do enjoy unwinding at the end of the day to an hour or so of good shows. Is it just me or does the Fall Season Lineup seem to start later and later every year? Seriously! These actors and studios make a boat load of $. Why do they get the same holiday vacation as kids and school teachers? Hello! One of the major perks to becoming a teacher is understanding the ratio of pay:holidays. In other words, low pay = lots of days off. I don't think it's rocket science. So why do actors who have high pay = lots of days off? I don't care if they work long hours. Welcome to the real world and please consider working year round like the rest of us. I think America is actually getting dumber by watching the summer reality shows.

Random Thought #3 - Chocolate Chip Mint Ice cream
Really, is there anything better? I haven't craved ice cream at all this pregnancy until today. I had a craving that could only be satisifed by Chocolate Chip Mint ice cream. Oh, and make that Umpqua Dairy Choc Chip Mint. I need to stick by my Roseburg roots. I picked up a 1/2 gallon on the way home from story hour at the library with Grace and have thus far enjoyed 2 bowls while she naps. I think the only thing that might be better than this is finishing up my ice cream afternoon with a sample of Espresso Madness, my other Umpqua Dairy fav. I actually haven't gained weight for the past 3 weeks and lost a pound this past week. Instead of starting off my post-partum slightly thinner than I originally expected, I'd rather treat my pregnant, aching body to a vat of ice cream. I think it makes total sense.

Random Thought #4 - I miss my house cleaner
Dear Charlotte,
It's been almost 2 years since we said our goodbye's. I think of you almost every day and miss you terribly. If I ever win the lottery, you will likely be the first person I call :-)

Random Thought #5 - I never thought I'd say this, but I don't miss working AT ALL
Becoming a stay at home mom was THE HARDEST transition I've ever had. It was a real loss of identity and appreciation for me. I think being a recruiter for one of the biggest names out there really had something to do with it. Candidates loved getting calls from me. They thanked me regularly and were so appreciative. Hiring managers were also happy to have a great partner in staffing their teams, etc.

Cut to being at home, not talking to an adult all day long and having a baby who you sacrifice everything for and never says thank you. It was SO hard. I had this horrible internal struggle of 1) being too much of a control freak to ever let anyone care for my baby and 2) wanting nothing more than to not have to care for my baby every waking hour of every day.

Now, I couldn't imagine life any other way. I don't miss getting up and going to work at all. Because, at the end of the day, work is so secondary to my family. We have been lucky enough to be able to make the financial decision for me to stay home with out kids and haven't ever looked back. I couldn't imagine having to try to be an All Star mom and employee. I just don't think I could personally do it. I'll stick to attempting to be an All Star mom. I'll let you know in 18 years how that turned out :-)

Now off to the Espresso Madness ice cream. I can hear it calling my name from inside the freezer.

Random Thoughts

I will have more to update tomorrow after my 40 week appointment, but for now I bring you a few random thoughts:

• The only thing more dangerous than watching Food Network 9 months pregnant is watching Food Network 10 months pregnant! I want Key Lime Pie!
• Where did summer go? It's pouring outside. At this rate, I think our home garden probably cost us approx $5 per tomato by the time you consider the amount of time and water we used all summer for only a few good tomatoes.
• Speaking of tomatoes. Ensalada Caprese is THE BEST salad ever. I mean, can you really go wrong with a salad that is 50% cheese?

Things I will miss about being pregnant:

• 1:1 time with Grace. I love being able to take the time to sit and color with her, or do a sticker book or just curl up on the couch and read with her. She's at such a fun age and reall into coloring lately. I looove it!
• Using it as an excuse when complaining. For example, calling Hillsboro Garbage and complaining that I had to go pick up spilled garbage from the street that the garbage man knocked out. It just seems to pack more of a punch when finishing that sentence with "and I'm 9 months pregnant!"
• Using it as instant justification for a pedicure! They will soon to back to a luxury as opposed to a necessity. Sigh.
• Getting a donut at the grocery store while shopping 'just because'.
• THE SLEEP! Enough said.

Things I WON'T miss about being pregnant

• Swollen feet, hands, cankles and face. Ugh. I miss my wedding ring!
• Getting up 3-4 times a night to pee. Of course, peeing takes much less time than actually getting up to feed an infant.
• Constantly being out of breath. I mean CONSTANTLY.
• The heart burn. Seriously.
• Finally being able to see what I've been cookin' up for the last 9, I mean 10 months!

An INDUCTION date? Are you kidding me?

I made my weekly trek to my doctor's office yesterday for my 39 week checkup. I remember scheduling this appointment about a month ago thinking I'd never make it that long. Much to my surprise, I'm still pregnant...or large and in charge as I like to call it.

Everything checked out just fine. I'm STILL 2cm and 80%. I think I've been like that for over 3 weeks now. Despite lots of contractions over the past week, I'm not dilating one bit. Oh well. I'm sleeping like a champ and am trying to take advantage of the 10 hours a night I'm currently getting. If only there was a way to save the extra sleep I'm getting now to lessen the blow the sleepless nights with an infant will have on me. Can't I just bottle that?

I remember during my 2nd trimester when I was having multiple contractions, rapid heartbeating and some other complications my doctor jokingly told me, "You'll probably be one of those women who we try to keep pregnant for 9 months and then end up having to induce to get that baby out!" We both laughed. Ha, Ha, Ha. Cut to yesterday in her office when she told me she'd like to schedule an induction date for September 15th (one week past my due date). WHAT?! Are you kidding me? She told me that since the hospital allows you to schedule 2 weeks out, she'd like to get it on the books 'just in case' but also added that she didn't think I'd deliver on my own before then.

I still can't get over it. What if I actually have to be induced? This was not something I had ever considered an option. I always hoped/figured that I'd just go into labor at home, hang out at my house as long as possible and then show up at the hospital just in time to pop that baby out. Getting hooked up to an IV with meds that make you start contracting like crazy is not my idea of a good time. Plus, I've heard the contractions are so painful that it makes you want pain drugs right away. Hmmm, things to consider. I'm keeping an open mind. On the plus side of things, it would be great to have a 'date' when I know the baby will arrive. It would make planning and care for Grace so much easier.

Couldn't end this post without my lovely 39 week pictures. I didn't even make it this far with Grace, so I don't have much to compare it to. Although I'm beginning to think that silver top is a bit hippo-ish. Grace, of course, wanted to be in the photo shoot in her church clothes too.