More cuteness

Yesterday I posted some cute pics of Luke and Charlotte together. Luke has taken more interest in her at times the last few days, so its fun to see him interacting with her! He still makes me a little nervous when he is wanting to touch her and be close but he did a good job being gentle. He did come at her nose once with the bulb syringe since we have had to use that a lot to suck out her nose the last few weks! But I got to him before he could shove it up her nostril! I am already adding more pics of them last night together and a few videos. Luke was super cute and gentle with Charlotte on the couch. The other video is of him going "night night". He has a book called "You Can Count at the Lake" he just started completing some of the phrases in it and it makes me laugh every time and he loves it... I say "eight slow snails..." and Luke says "creep creep creep!" and then I say " Nine ducks march..." and he says "Peep peep peep!". That's our favorite part!

So Happy Together!

Babywearing?!?

A few weeks ago, I had never heard of the term "babywearing". In learning how hard it is to handle a toddler and all his needs, along with a newborn who loves to be held, this may just be my new lifestyle! One of my mom's coworkers recently had a baby and has other small children and told her about a wrap-style carrier she uses to keep the baby cuddled and her hands free to tend to her other children. This style of carrier is supposed to be more comfortable for mom and for baby. When checking out websites and other blogs about these carriers, I read about several mom's who refer to themselves as "babywearers". It's supposed to be great for bonding and have other health benefits for baby. Plus the mom's love it! So I bought myself a sleepywrap. It is basically a piece of fabric 5 meters long.... yes 5 meters long!!!... that you wrap around yourself in various ways and tuck the baby inside to tote them around. It was a little confusing as to how to wrap the fabric the right way but I think I am already getting the hang of it. My mom and I have both worn it now on some walks and so far it's pretty comfy and Charlotte falls right asleep in it. Here's a picture from their website... (I have pictures of my mom wearing it but she would probably kill me if I posted them!) Now- walking on the road or in the woods is one thing. Today I needed to go to Walmart and JW was staying home with Luke and I was going to take Charlotte with me. I tried to take her to a store once before thinking she would sleep in her car seat if we kept the stroller/cart moving.... and she screamed until she was held (very embarrassing in a store!). Luckily, that day Aunt Kathryn was with me and she could hold Charlotte while I pushed the cart and got my groceries. Today I would be on my own. I thought I would try the sleepywrap. I managed to get her in it okay in the backseat of the car and she slept wonderfully the whole shopping experience. However, I was not prepared for hundreds of people staring at me and wondering what the #*!! I had strapped to me! Kathryn said in Oregon people were always wearing baby wraps/slings etc. But ummm not in Indiana so much. It does look a little strange I think. I sort of felt like a character in Star Wars with all this fabric wrapped and hanging. Let's just say it caught a lot of people's attention and I was a little embarrassed. A Walmart worker (older man) who was arranging ground beef asked me how I liked that kind of baby carrier and we had a little chat about it! Then a cute little girl with magenta sequin shoes said "Mommy, she has a baby in her belly!"... and other's just stared and sometimes smiled. By others I mean every person I walked past, and Walmart was packed! I get self-conscious easily so it was a little challenging for me to remember all the items I needed, but I managed to get through it! In other news, Charlotte is 3 weeks old! She is already getting bigger and changing so much. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 20.5 inches at her 2 week check up. Those were at about the 40th percentile and the doctor thought she was doing great! She still has somewhat of a stuffy nose from the illness that went around, but the doctor said her lungs sounded good and wasn't worried about it. She likes her baths now and they make her pretty alert but calm. She enjoys tummy time, although I've learned I have to guard her carefully when she is on the floor since Luke doesn't seem to notice her or tries to get a little too close! She cries a little more during the day (that's why JW preferred to stay with Luke and have her go with me!) haha but I think overall she is still a pretty content baby. Luke is cracking us up on a daily basis. The tantrums have lessened and he is acting more lovingly towards the baby so that is nice. I have been taking him out to walk in the woods in the afternoons and the kid can run/walk/jog for miles and never get tired! Here are some recent pics of our adventures!

Diego Shoes

Here's Luke modeling his famous Diego shoes. He hasn't wanted to take them off since he first got them! It's funny to see a kid so excited over some shoes.
The weather has finally gotten to be warmer so earlier this week Kathryn and I took Luke and Charlotte to the park. Here are a couple cute videos of Luke and his antics. I love the way he ignores me and does a funny quick turn around in the first video lol What a weird-o! Then on the second video he says "I got shocked!" which he discovered static electricity earlier this year. At the babysitter's house he was going around shocking kids and saying, "I shock you!" and laughing when he gets a reaction.

J.W. went to the orthopedic surgeon's office Friday and they removed the staples from his leg. He was relieved to find out that didn't hurt at all! They said it would be another 4 weeks in the immobilizer brace and no bending his knee. When he goes back in a month they will tell him about starting physical therapy. It sounds like he will be recuperating at home for another 10 weeks. For now he has his whole leg in a tight brace and walks with crutches. He is still keeping it elevated as much as possible. He was able to lay on the floor for the first time and play with Luke tonight and that made Luke a very happy little boy! Which two weeks into being a big brother a happy little boy seems like a miracle! :)

2 weeks old and an almost 2 year old

Wow, Charlotte is already 2 weeks old today! She is growing fast and changing a lot already. When I look back at pictures of Luke it is amazing to see how fast he has grown. Charlotte is SUCH a good baby so far. I am really lucky so far! She is sleeping good stretches at night and during the day she is very content. She only screams when she is being bothered (baths, diaper changes, and clothing changes). When she was born we noticed right away how long and skinny her fingers and toes were! She also had very long fingernails (which was kind of creepy!). She still has a little bit of dark hair, similar to what Luke had when he was born. Her eyelashes and eyesbrows are showing up more but they are light colored right now. Her eyes are blue but may turn brown on us. They don't seem as dark as Luke's. It is soooo cute when she is falling asleep and her eyes start to flutter and she gets a cute gummy smile off and on. She is calm and observant right now. Luke was active from the start and she seems to take things slower so that is nice for a change! I think Charlotte looks a lot like her daddy right now. Something about her eyes, nose, and mouth remind me of J.W. so it will be fun to see how she changes over the next few months!

Luke has been lucky to have lots of people come over to play with him and take him on walks lately. He is experiencing some terrible two's behavior and jealousy/frustration with sharing his parent's attention with the new baby. Daddy can't get up off the couch much to play and often Mommy has things she has to do with Charlotte or the dog or the house so that is hard for Luke. He is talking more and more all the time which is very fun to hear. He constantly points things out to me "Mommy hoop!"... "Mommy bird!"... "Mommy motorcycle!"... "Mommy car!"... he keeps repeating these phrases until you comment that yes, you see the basketball hoop too. He found that he LOVES Milkshakes from McDonalds now. Daddy had one and he got to taste it and now we hear "more shakey" all the time. He has been getting to go outside now that the weather is nicer. He doesn't always find it easy to be patient and wait until Mommy is able to go outside with him and he definately does not like to be told that it is time to go inside! We have a slight obsession starting with the cartoon Go Diego Go! It is about a little boy who is an animal scientist so we learn all about animals. Luke got a dvd of 4 different episodes and we have watched it a million times already! Mommy and Daddy can't get the songs out of our heads now! Last night, Nanny (my mom) came over and brought him new shoes with Diego on them! I have never seen Luke look soooooooooooo happy! He was giggling with excitement and once they were on his feet he started running around our living room non-stop! He kept yelling "Go Diego Go!" and running and jumping and falling down on purpose. His cheeks got red, and he got all sweaty but he didn't stop running! I think those shoes gave him some special Diego powers and he had to show them off. For the first time he said "Mommy, watch.... I jump!" and then showed me a big jump in his new shoes. He gratefully gave hugs and said Thank you to his Nanny and Aunt Kaki for bringing him these wonderful shoes. It was hilarious to watch how excited he got. I think we may have to have a Diego themed birthday party if this keeps up. I want to get a picture of him in his Diego shoes but I don't know if I can get him to hold still long enough. I will try later on tonite!

J.W.'s Surgery... rest of the week drama

So.... we got to come home from the hospital Sunday night. Luke smacked his sister on the head soon after we arrived home. So that let us know what he thought about this new baby thing! He also has been very needy and when I am trying to relax and get her eating right then he decides to freak out about something. Charlotte was nursing good Friday evening and part of Saturday and then seemed to stop! She coughed up some stuff Sunday morning and then she did a little better with eating then Sunday before we were discharged from the hospital. Monday nursing became really painful. Monday in the middle of the night I woke up really cold and then by 4am I had severe chills and then high fever. I started boiling bottles and syringes and parts for my pump because I felt like I couldn't nurse again anytime soon because it was too painful. Plus I was shaking violently and that wasn't going to work either! I wanted Charlotte to still have the breastmilk though to give her antibodies and hopefully protect her from the virus I had (oh and Luke had it as well so he was not feeling his best either). The discharge paperwork said to call the doctor if you had fever or chills... my whole body was aching and my back and legs felt really tired and I thought I had some horrible infection either from the delivery or from nursing. I called the doctor on call and they said make an appt. once they open at 8am. I finally got the fever under control by the time I was at the doctor at 8:55 and was drenched in sweat and all clammy. They decided the fever/chills was probably just part of a virus/flu and not related to the delivery or nursing pain and sent me back home. Soon after I got home, it was time for JW to go to the hospital for surgery. Our brother-in-law Chad took him. JW was nervous and not really wanting to talk about it beforehand. He had completely torn his ACL, partially torn his MCL, and then also damaged the lateral meniscus so they had a lot to repair. He didn't get home until 6:30 and then Chad and our friend/neighbor Chad carried him down the hill (Of course this day it was pouring rain ALL DAY!). So JW has been couch-bound and groggy since Tuesday evening with his leg needing to stay above his heart as much as possible and on a pain pump and vicodin. We had a nurse visit to check both Charlotte and myself that afternoon. Charlotte was 7 lbs 7 ounces so she hadn't lost too much weight- she is still a little sluggish on pooping but I think she got a little dehydrated when she didn't want to eat for that day so hopefully things will pick up here! That was the only concern. She didn't seem to be jaundiced and it was nice to know she was still at a good weight.


I continued to get fever and chills that evening and through the night. My poor mom stayed around and helped us with Luke and Charlotte and listened to me blubber in misery! She also took a day off work Wednesday to help us and entertain Luke, hold the baby, walk the dog, etc. I think the fever finally was gone by late night Wednesday, now just have a scratchy throat and cough. Luckily, Charlotte hasn't shown signs of being ill and Luke didn't have the high fever/chills part so that was a big relief.
Thursday was rough because Charlotte didn't want to be laid down at night and would wake up every 10 minutes from 11pm-3:30am and only sleep if you held her. I finally fell asleep with her in my arms on the couch by 4am and was then very tired Thursday. Luke was also tired and needy and JW isn't able to get up to help so it has been difficult. Everything always seems to happen at once... the dog needs let out/in, Charlotte is nursing, Luke is crying for something or needs to be fed/changed/etc/, oh and Daddy will say he needs a drink when I get a chance! :) So it has been very overwhelming when I am not feeling good myself. Plus I think the postpartum hormones and emotions don't help that either.


So now we are to Friday. Luke went to his babysitter's so he could run around and play. Charlotte slept much better last night with the help of the MIRACLE BLANKET! Let's hope it works tonite as well! My headache finally went away. JW finally got up for a sponge bath and some new clothes on. His pain pump has run out but he is feeling better and is able to at least get up and go down the dining room stairs to use the restroom a few times a day. So things are hopefully looking up! Here are some pictures of his set up he has on the couch for now.

Here are pics from this morning- He is doing much better today!- The pain pump which is now on EMPTY! And the first time we unwrapped the giant brace to see what was underneath!

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What a week! Sorry I have not been able to update the blog but we have had a long week. First of all...

Charlotte Knox Kompagne was born Friday, March 6, 2009 at 4:43pm and weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. We were scheduled for an induction at 9:00am. They gave me cytotech at about 9:40 and that was enough to make contractions more regular and stronger. By 12:00 the doctor came in and said I was making progress and quickly broke my water. I was surprised this was done so quick. Then he had a surgery to complete and they said hopefully he will be done by the time the baby wants to be born! This doctor also does his own epidurals so that was something to consider as well... I knew I probably wanted one but I wasn't feeling anything painful so I didn't want it yet. The nurse said they had to pump IV fluid in for about an hour before the epidural could get hooked up so I had to keep that in mind. So around 2:30 it started getting more painful so I didn't want to wait TOO long to request the epidural since it would be over an hour before they could probably place it. I wasn't very worried about getting one since I had one with Luke and I didn't remember it hurting. When I was checked I was only 2cm so that was disappointing but the baby had moved down some so they said that was at least good. So around 3:00 or 3:30 an anesthesiologist with a thick polish/ukranian/ russian? accent came in (the doctor was still in surgery). I had a hard time understanding what he was saying and whether he was telling me to do something or asking me a question! He took one look at my back and said I had scoliosis and that may cause a problem getting the epidural in and working. With Luke by the time I got the epidural I was out of it and with this delivery going a lot faster and requesting no loopy drugs before the epidural I was much more aware of what was going on. And that sucker hurt! I couldn't tell what was supposed to be happening and what was supposed to be hurting and I felt like it was hard to hold still through the contractions and then the little strange pricks and stings and sensations going on from what the anesthesiologist was doing. It took longer to do because of the scoliosis... I started crying because I was freaked out by that hurting so bad and not expecting it to. I started thinking about Luke and worrying about if something happened to me so then I was a hot mess to say the least! My blood pressure got very high during this time and once it was 151/133 which could be why I was feeling really overwhelmed and emotional...?? I dont know! But then of course they waited 5, 10, 15 minutes and the epidural only made my right leg numb... no pain relief. So the anesthiologist was very discouraging and said he would try to give me a booster of medicine and if that didn't work they would call him back and have to try it again. Again, freaked me out thinking of having to go through that. I thought maybe I shouldn't get one then, but they checked me and I was still 2 cms!! So of course the booster didn't work so he came back and tried it again. The second time was faster and didn't hurt as much but I was scared and tried my best not to anticipate what I would feel because then I thought I would move and do damage or something. Anyways, second time worked and helped with the pain. That also helped me relax and by 4:00 I was 9 cms and they called the doctor and said I could start pushing. By 4:15 they made it sound like I was doing so good pushing and the baby was moving each time and JW and I were like Wow this is going really fast! (With Luke it was 6pm for induction and 2 and a half hours of pushing- used forceps to get him out since his head was turned face up and was stuck and then he was born at 6:30am). So I am assuming everything is in the right position and she is doing well! Then we pushed some more and they decided she stopped moving... was stuck behind the pubic bone- suspected face up (I was like NOT AGAIN!!!) and I heard the doctor ask for forceps (double Not AGAIN!!!)... I was so bummed. So they turned her to get over the bone and I heard them all yell "yep! O.P!" which meant she was facing the wrong way. Apparently something in my anatomy makes that more likely to happen. Which once they told me that I seriously had the thought that maybe I will look into adoption next time! Luckily, Charlotte was not as bruised or beat up looking as Luke was. Her Apgar scores were 9/10 whereas his were 6/10 for health after birth. She made little "eh-eh-eh" whining sounds and definately sounded more girly right away!
So that is the long and short of her delivery. I have a few more posts to make on Daddy's surgery and our drama since coming home but I will try to add that later (I have to go give JW a sponge bath... seriously..) Here are some pics!

Labor???

Right now I am sitting at home... halfway watching The Bachelor... thankful that Luke went to bed fairly well and wondering if I am going into labor tonite! Yikes! JW hobbled his way up the hill to go to his class in Elkhart. He should be home in about an hour. We don't have his surgery approved yet by the workman's comp. insurance so that is still an unknown. I went to the doctor this afternoon and he said I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and the baby's head is at -1 station (+4 means it's out!). So then without telling me he did something called "stripping the membranes" which I don't really know what that means but I had heard it's painful and is supposed to start labor soon. He said "if the baby's ready" it may start soon. I wasn't planning on having this done but I'm glad he did it without asking me or warning me! My blood pressure was the same as last week 124/86 so he said not any worse but not any better. So I think that is why they want to encourage labor along. Since coming home I have had cramping (which I guess is what contractions are SUPPOSED to feel like- I never quite had that with Luke since it was all in my back) and so that is happening off and on. I think you can go to the hospital if contractions are 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 full minute with the same or worse intensity. Hmmmm so I am just wondering what will happen the rest of the evening as I wait for DeAnna to show up on The Bachelor and ruin it!!! I am hoping we can at least get a good night's sleep tonite but at this point I am not sure what will happen! We will keep you all posted!