Christmas and one week!

I'm going for once a week, though I can't make any promises!!

Zach is adjusting just fine so far to Melanie. I'm not sure he cares one way or another all that much. We both try and take time out to spend with just him. He and Chris have been a team though, for the most part, and Melanie and I have been as well. It's been good father/son time though...not just for the fun of it, but Zach is listening better...Daddy is a better discipliner than Mommy!!

Chris goes back to work on Tuesday-oh no! Zach's still been going to preschool. I'm going to move him to part time eventually, just not sure when...maybe when Melanie sleeps six hours a night and I regain some sanity? =D

You wouldn't believe Zach if you saw him. Although there are a lot of bad things we get from being in pre-school with up-to 5-year-olds, the good is that his vocabulary and speech has drastically improved-he sounds so much older than he is, it's crazy.

It's zero degrees outside and we're all cooped up inside...good thing we have all these Christmas presents to keep us busy! =D

I just love these three!

Sleepy baby!

Christmas was pretty hectic! I have to tell you we were so blessed with many presents-especially Zach! And we're so grateful! I honestly don't really know what came from who too much, here and there I caught it but it was pretty crazy between a toddler, a newborn, no sleep, trying to make breakfast, etc, etc!!! Thank you to everyone though! =D

We read Zach the night before Christmas each Christmas Eve.

Looks like Santa brought a train for someone!

Yay! Umm, Zach there are more presents to open!

Yay, now to just get photos in it!

Cool colored heavy duty brush for my awesome car!

I hid the DVD in the pillow---ahahahaha-for once he didn't guess it.

That's what I call a hot mess!

Well, Melanie pretty much sleeps in her carseat. She's sleeping a few hours a night, but I get most of my sleep from like 8-11 when Chris watches her. Haha. She's eating like a champ though, hopefully gaining lots of weight!

She got to wear her Christmas dress from Grandma!!

Christmas was so hectic we didn't even get a decent photo of us all...but my friend Emma will hopefully be fixing that this weekend-hoping to get family photos done then!

Emily ate dinner with us for Christmas dinner...which was saved by Emma after breakfast was kind of fail and then I spilled the sugar mix all over the kitchen trying to make a pie...it was a breaking point...Emma saved the day! And it was awesome b/c the ham I had bought lasted us all week! woohoo

There's a pretty girl.

Lol, this is a mean photo, but it's funny too. She has milk coming out of the side of her mouth! lol

Her umbilical cord fell off on her one week birthday!

She likes to sleep in my neck, not on my chest like Zach did. It's cute, but it's also hard to sleep like that!

Meghan, Emma, Bobby and Avery came to visit. Avery gave Melanie all the tips on being a darling little princess!

Hello!

Look at those monkey feet folded in!

We got some belated Christmas presents, yay! Here's Zach opening one!

Melanie video

My Christmas present presents Melanie to you!

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Announcing Melanie Marie!

Well, it's a long story. If you're here I guess you might be interested in hearing it. =D

I was scheduled to be induced Tuesday. I was to call at 5am and see what time they wanted me to come in. Well, I called all day and they kept getting in a bunch of pregnant women who had fallen (really bad weather here that day). They have to monitor those women for four hours. They only have five beds. And oh yeah, some women had babies naturally. Lol, basically there was no room for me.

I was crushed. I was also having contractions all day. I stayed on my feet and did all the things you can do to induce labor naturally. I considered "falling" but did not. To counter my sadness, my girlfriends Emma and Meghan took me to dinner at Red Robin. It made me feel much better! And, as we were paying the bill the hospital called and said I could come in! Yay! It was then that my friends informed me she could be a solstice baby!

Chris and I rushed over to the hospital while Meghan came to watch Zach overnight. WE got there around 9 I think and got checked in. They immediately blew two ivs on me. One of them hurt really, really bad. Holy smokes. I know people need practice, but it's so annoying that every team has that one person that is really good at it, but you never get them until someone fails. ANYWAY...

Once they got everything set up they told me the game plan. The hospital is really small...they don't have anesthesiologists overnight, nor do they have an OR team. They have to be called in. Based on that, they let me come in so I could save my spot, but they weren't really going to start "inducing" me until closer to the morning when they knew someone would be in in case or CS and for my drugs. =D They would call in if needed, but they didn't want to push it.

But they acknowledged I was in early labor anyway. I just needed to push it along. So I got up to go walking. I made it about 30 minutes before I had to come back because I was feeling really really awful. I laid down because my nausea was so bad. I think they thought I was just making it up or it was just normal. No, no. It was the same bug Zach had two days earlier as we found out all night as I threw up five times...even water! That kind of messed up my labor and it slowed down. As soon as I stopped throwing up though, I started up again with contractions and they gave me a little pitocin. I got a useless epidural (I don't think I'd get one again if I have another child)...felt everything waist up, couldn't move my legs...super frustrating.

Anyway...They didn't believe me that the contractions were the real thing-they wouldn't even check to see how dilated I was! That is...until they tried to move me and my water broke. And finally she checked me and I was ready to go. She asked me if I was ready to push and I said yes. They couldn't get ready fast enough! Once they did, I pushed Melanie out in two pushes, which I'm kinda proud of. =D

She was born on Wednesday, 12-21-2011, 10:51am, 7lbs 7oz, 20 inches long! She is a solstice baby, born on the shortest day of the year! She also has a pretty cool date. And she's here for Christmas, yay!

Nothing much to report after that. Everything went pretty smoothly, they let us out a little over 24 hours later! Meghan and Emma came by and visited us (Zach was at daycare). Meghan stayed with Zach the whole time and we're eternally grateful! Since we've been home, Emma has made us dinner twice and our other neighbor Molly fed us too! We're so blessed with great, helpful friends.

Zach is gentle with Melanie and minimally curious. He is very helpful. He gets the diaper and the wipes and brings her her binky and blankets. Otherwise it is business as usual. But he has really been a handful just because there is so much to manage-the house, the dogs, two kids, ourselves. They have the exact opposite personality right now, lol. She's so mellow and quiet and he is...the exact opposite!

Nursing is going okay, I'm hoping we can make it the long haul this time. Any encouragement is welcome.

We had to take Melanie back in because she was high risk for jaundice (Zach had jaundice too). She was still high risk yesterday and she had lost a lot of weight, at 6.13. But I am optimistic when we go back in tomorrow (yes, Christmas day) she will be free and clear of all of those problems. She's eating (and other non-ladylike things) like a champ!

Zach is doing well. I can't wait for Christmas! We were so blessed by everyone this year, he has a bazillion gifts to open! I am so happy my little family can be together for this Christmas, though I miss everyone that makes my bigger family.

Also, btw...I'm a stay at home mom again-I quit my job and I am going to school next semester, but mostly just to have something intellectual to do. So I will be going back to updating the blog. I expect payment in the form of babysitting to be repaid to me by Kathy since this is basically forced blog labor. =D

Below are pics/videos!

Here we go!!!

Daddy got some great first photos this time!

Yay! Really, that is a smile!

My sweet baby girl!

A brand new baby!

Daddies first picture!

She's looking for something Daddy doesn't have. =D

A rare alert moment.

Caught in the act!

Although it looks like she's throwing gang signs, I assure you she is not.

OMW home!

We got a visit and some presents from elves!

I didn't want to post this picture, but I did! That us about to go home!

Peekaboo, there's a baby!

Zach loved how she would wrap her fingers around his! He said, "Its great!"

My favorite moments!

Daddy is pretty tired.

She was sleeping like this, lol.

She doesn't want her picture taken at this time, thank you very much!

Out like a light!

Chris says holding her puts all the chaos into perspective and makes it all worth it.