Caroline’s Blessing Weekend

Apr 022012
 

Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul joined us last weekend! Then, my brother and his family and my mother and father came up on Sunday for Caroline’s blessing in church. None of these picture are very great (and I’m sad I didn’t get any pictures of my brother or his wife or Grandpa S with Caroline either!) but we were too busy enjoying each others’ company and holding that cute baby to take pictures, I suppose.

IMG_2775 IMG_2777

IMG_2781 IMG_2783

IMG_2791 IMG_2797-2

Paul was very excited to host a “party” for our Friday Fun Night with Grandma and Papa. It was full of made-up games that he enjoyed inventing for us. Here is one of them.

Blessing Day Pictures
IMG_2798 IMG_2803 IMG_2800

IMG_2807 IMG_2806

IMG_2813 This picture is very out of focus but I love Paul’s ear to ear smile, so I had to include it!

IMG_2815 IMG_2816 IMG_2817

IMG_2818
IMG_2819

IMG_2822 IMG_2826

(I promise, we will get real family pictures in the next few months.)

IMG_2831

Paul saw me warming the bottle and asked, “But how are you going to get that back in to you to feed her?” So I had to let him give her her first bottle.

IMG_2834

IMG_2835

IMG_2841

Reading bedtime stories with Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul.

Caroline’s Blessing Dress

Mar 222012
 

Grandma Peggy made Caroline Rose her blessing dress and slip. What a talent! Here is Caroline Rose in all her cuteness! She slept through the photo session.

_MG_2695

_MG_2724

Thirty-one years and two months ago, these fake roses and the heart were given to a different little baby with the middle name of “Rose.”

_MG_2764

And with her brother, of course, who felt a bit left out of the picture taking. He gave her the doll when he first met her.

_MG_2681

More pictures of Caroline with family to come this weekend!

One Month Old

Mar 222012
 

All day long I’ve been close to tears: my baby is already one month old! I cannot believe how quickly that time passed by. I pick up Caroline and she is heavy (comparatively). Her tummy is chubby and her face is squishy. Today, I saw her eyes have tears for the first time when she cries. She is smiling more regularly at me and staying awake — happily — more frequently. Her going-home-from-the-hospital outfit is almost too snug for her. She’s almost no longer a newborn!

I just want to sit and cuddle her a long while. I can’t believe I’m losing the newborn baby stage so quickly! I miss her little crooked legs and her newborn innocence already.

IMG_2668

Spring has sprung this week in Chicagoland. It’s been in the 70s and 80s all week, so Paul, Caroline, and I have tried to get out a little bit each day to enjoy it! Here Paul is telling about the city he drew on the driveway.

I know this is new Mommy emotion, but I’m choked up as I type this, thinking about how big my little girl already is getting. On to month two for her, despite my desire to cling to the newly newborn baby!

This weekend Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul and more family are coming to celebrate Caroline’s recieving a name and a blessing in church on Sunday. We’re so grateful that Daddy honors the priesthood and can give her that special blessing.

An Early Spring

Mar 182012
 

It has been an incredibly mild winter here in Chicagoland. Here it is, the middle of March, and it’s been in the 70s and 80s. Paul has enjoyed playing outside this week.

IMG_2644

IMG_2646

IMG_2650

Three-week old Caroline has been outside with us too, of course. I’m a bit concerned about her being out in the sun, so we’ve been going out in the later afternoon. She usually stays under wraps in her carrier in the shade.

IMG_2645

She is wearing a boyish outfit from Paul’s infancy. Most of Caroline’s newborn clothes are pink outfits, long sleeved and footed. I thought it would be cold this time of year! Silly me. So when it’s warm, out come the short-sleeved blue outfits. Again, who’d have thought that it would be so warm already?! Not that I’m complaining.

Ryan and Paul were sick with colds this week. Paul was still in good spirits for the most part, although he did have a day or two of temper tantrums and unpleasantness. Ryan was out with a flu-like cold for two days of not feeling well. So I tried to keep everyone else away from Caroline, which resulted in me be exhausted. I felt like I was in a daze all week.

And then, of course, I got sick too. So now I feel pretty icky. Caroline and I stayed home from church this morning and took naps.

Better this week than next, however! This week, Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul are coming. Next Sunday, Caroline will receive a name and a blessing during our Sacrament meeting! What a special day it will be.

IMG_2636
IMG_2637

I think it looks like she is smiling in the second picture here. It is said that babies don’t smile with meaning until six weeks or older. But, as happened when Paul was newborn, I am certain she has smiled at me because I am me. She sees me and smiles. It feels great to be recognized. She is so beautiful!

All pictures on this post taken March 14, 2012.

Two-Week Checkup

Mar 072012
 

Caroline had her two-week check up yesterday. (Already!) Since her five-day appointment, she gained a full half a pound! So her stats yesterday were as follows:

Weight: 7 lbs 8.5 oz (She was 7 lbs 0.5 oz last Monday, eight days previous)

Head circumference: 35 cm

Height: 20.25 inches (she grew a quarter inch)

In other, less statistical, updates, she’s given me at least one night of very good sleep: she woke every three hours to eat and otherwise slept soundly! That was just one night, however. Other nights she’s remained awake after feeding, or awaken every hour, or pretty much just wanted to be held. The doctor reminds me that a newborn cannot be spoiled: it’s only after a month or so that a baby has the ability to self-comfort. She needs interaction at this point.

Paul seems a bit bored by Caroline, as well as a little jealous at the amount of time I spend holding her. “She has eyes!” he says when they are actually open. And “you need to put her back in her crib now” has also been said at least once. He suddenly finds himself bored with playing by himself. I think he was expecting Caroline to be a bit more interactive, or at least smile at him. Soon enough, dear. Too soon, from my perspective.

All this is a wonderful reminder to keep cuddling her some more! I’m off to do that before she gets too big too soon!

 

Caroline’s First Week

Mar 042012
 

My Brother and Me

IMG_2560 IMG_2565

IMG_2570 IMG_2572

IMG_2581 IMG_2582

IMG_2584

IMG_2585

IMG_2586 IMG_2588 IMG_2593

Daddy and Daughter!

IMG_2601 IMG_2602

First Bath

_MG_2603 _MG_2604 _MG_2605 _MG_2609 _MG_2608 IMG_2614

Pretty as a Princess

IMG_2617 IMG_2619 IMG_2620

IMG_2623

Caroline has proven to be a very eager eater and a voracious pooper. Way to go, new baby!

She still has to learn that night time is for sleeping four hours at a time, while day time should be when we wake up every hour or two. But, she’s only a week and a half old, so I suppose I should give her a little longer to figure that out. *Yawn*

Caroline’s First Days

Feb 282012
 

Caroline didn’t cry when she was born. She went from swimming in amniotic fluid to completely born in twenty minutes, apparently gulping lots of fluid in the process.

They gave her to me immediately. My only thought was that she was pink and looked well. But she didn’t cry. Paul didn’t cry either, but this was a bit different. Something seemed odd.

IMG_2531 IMG_2532

After just a few moments, the nurses took her back from me. They wanted her to cry, so they gave her a shot she needed, gave her a bath, and proceeded to give her a vigorous rubdown. She had her eyes wide open, but she did not make a sound. I was stuck on the delivery table getting stitched up and I couldn’t see her, but Ryan stood by her. I remember starting to get a bit concerned after about ten minutes or so of this.

IMG_2540 IMG_2533  IMG_2537

Shortly, Ryan and the nurses left with her “for a little while” to take her to the special care nursery where she could get further attention.

I can’t recall thinking much other than “a little while” isn’t very long.

I was still running on adrenaline. When I was discharged from Labor and Delivery we went straight to the special care nursery. Because she was born so quickly, Caroline had developed TTN (Transient Tachynea of the Newborn) which meant that she had liquid in her lungs and as a result was breathing quick shallow breaths.

IMG_2541 IMG_2542

Because I’d been up more than 24 hours at this point (well, except for the brief, contraction-filled two hours I’d had at home), I was incredibly the first day. The three days Caroline spent in the Special Care Nursery were rather draining on me; I like to know what is happening and I felt pretty out of control for my little girl’s sake. Anyway, let’s not dwell on those days. You’ll notice I didn’t take many pictures. The nurses were great and Caroline is fine: there are no long-term issues from TTN.

IMAG0012 IMAG0010 IMAG0008 IMG_2545 IMG_2546

Caroline came home on her third morning.

IMG_2548 IMG_2547

Paul came with Grandma and Grandpa (where he stayed Friday night to Saturday) and he was so excited to finally meet her. He’d seen her through the nursery window. “That’s my sister!” he said with pride. When she and he were finally together, he was so excited to read her a story.

IMG_2550  IMG_2552 IMG_2553 IMG_2556 IMG_2559

Paul is a great big brother. He’s feeling the stress of new rules and less attention, but overall, he seems quite pleased to be a big brother now!

Caroline Rose

Feb 232012
 

Caroline Rose Reid

Born February 22, 2012 at 6:25 a.m.

7 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches

IMG_2535

IMG_2543

Mom with the new big brother!

Caroline is spending some time in the NICU now so Paul hasn’t seen her yet. She’s doing great and will probably come home with me tomorrow morning.

More pictures when I have a real computer!

Pictures from the Past: Newborn Paul?!

Jan 062009
 

There was no memory card in my camera today and I found a few pictures on the internal memory. These must be from last October, because Paul is quite a newborn.

100_3476[1] 100_3477[1] 100_3478[1]

I can’t believe how tiny he is in these pictures. I miss my little boy!

Week 4 Checkup

Nov 082007
 

On Wednesday, 7 November, Paul went in for his four-week checkup. He was also one month old!

Here are the stats:

Weight: 3525 g (10th percentile)
Height: 53.5 cm (25th percentile)
Head circumference: 36 cm (10th percentile)

He also successfully did the other things one-month-old babies should do, such as

  • He holds his head up momentarily when pulled upright.
  • He momentarily lift his chin off the table when on his belly.
  • When on his back, he regards dangling objects brought into his line of vision “but not otherwise when in midline.” He follows them “at less than 90 degrees.”
  • He is quiet when a bell is rung.
  • He is interested in faces.
  • He is social—he regards the examiner and reduces his activity.

Overall, he is well. Because he is measuring small for his age, we’ll be back in on November 20 for another weighing. Then, I’ll go in at the beginning of December for his two-month checkup. I’ll also take him to his first round of immunizations in early December. Poor guy! I don’t think he’ll like his shots.

 Older Entries