Friday Favorite

One of each this week...

♥
Happy Friday!

Newborn(ish) Pictures

These are from the newborn shoot I attempted to do three days in a row the first week we were home. Let's just say I was tired, I wasn't feeling very creative, A would not cooperate, I forgot, oh and I was recovering from having a baby. Anywhoo, I got a few that I absolutely love, but next time I think I'll have someone else take the photos...at least the first week out of the hospital.

 LOVE!

 

 One of my absolute favorites

 

 

 Love her squishy face!

Of course she was asleep when I wasn't taking pictures, but the second I started posing her and got her undressed, she was too curious to know what was going on! Silly girl. It's ok, there will be plenty more photo shoots in your future!

1 Month

So this post is almost a week overdue and there really isn't any good excuse other than I haven't had the time. I could probably find the time during the day when the girls are napping but most of the time that's when I eat lunch and sometimes nap with them. Does that make me lazy?! I suppose I could blog after I put A down for the night but that's usually when I eat dinner and spend time with B. Does that make me selfish?! Oh well. I do need to make blogging a higher priority for sure though. I documented A's first year of life so well and I want to do the same for S. Clearly I'm not off to a good start since this post is so late! Agh.

Anyway, can you believe Samara is already a month old?! So crazy right?? It's hard for me to believe it and I see her every day! She really is a good, easy going, sweet baby. The only thing I think I would "complain" about is that for a while she had her days/nights confused so she would sleep hard all day then be up hanging out after her feeds at night. She's gotten much better though and is now only getting up once during the night to feed (then going back to sleep)!

At one month you:

- are very strong! You like lifting your head up as high as you can to check things out. You also like to try and stand whenever we hold you up a bit. You might have tiny legs, but they are mighty!

- are now sleeping 4-5 hours at night, which means we get up once for a night feeding!

- are still wearing newborn clothes/diapers. Like your sister, you're still very petite.

- are a fabulous eater! You eat every 3ish hours during the day but you can chow down.

- love to be held. You would be content to be in the carrier all day long if I'd let you...or if my back wouldn't break first!

- are very easy going when it comes to putting up with your sister. I'm sure it's only a  matter of time before you two are going at it!

- are very alert and aware of what's going on around you.

 

It's hard to not compare her to Anayah but I do it often since A is the only other child I have, hence the only other experience I have to compare it to...that totally made sense in my head! I just need to learn to not compare them to each other out loud I suppose. I can't believe how much she has changed in a few short weeks...to me she looks completely different now! Everyone says she looks just like me, but I still see so much of A (as a baby) in her. It will be interesting to see how she changes in the months to come.

Samara, you are a delight and a blessing to us and we are so thankful and honored to be your parents. We love you baby girl!  

Just In Time

As many of you know, our newest little blessing arrived last Wednesday night at 10:39pm. Life has been a bit chaotic this last week as we're all adjusting to being a family of four so I haven't had a chance to tell her story...I barely posted her "announcement"! Things have started to calm down a bit around here though so I'll write what I can while I have a quiet moment!

SAMARA: 

of Hebrew and Arabic origin meaning, "guardian" or "protected by God"

So from early on we had planned on having an induction because of the distance that we live from the hospital. This momma was very concerned that we wouldn't make it in time especially if she happened to come during rush hour traffic or something like that. My dr. was ok with it as long as everything was healthy and normal, but wouldn't schedule anything until I was 39 weeks. I got a call Monday afternoon to schedule my induction for the following day. What?! I wasn't quite ready for that so I pushed it to Wednesday (yes I know, huge difference a day makes...whatever). The plan was to come in at 4am Wednesday morning unless we heard differently. I hung up the phone and immediately started crying. Why? I have no idea. I think it became really real at that point. No, the bulging belly wasn't evidence enough that I was about to have another child. I was anxious, nervous, scared, excited, worried, happy...all at the same time. It was actually happening.

Tuesday afternoon we took A down to San Diego to stay with my parents for a few days then got back around 9 to pack the car and try to get some sleep. Around 11pm I got a call from the hospital saying that all their beds were full so instead of coming it at 4am to call back at 8am to see if anything has opened up. On one hand I was a bit relieved that we didn't have to wake up at 2am to drive there but on the other hand it was just prolonging the process which made me even more anxious. At 8am I called back and they said they were still full but that they had several women who were about to deliver so beds should be opening up in the afternoon and to call back at 11am. At this point it was just comical to me and I couldn't do anything but laugh. Brian on the other hand was just annoyed and wanted to go and camp out in the lobby and make them admit me. Instead, we just decided that we would take our time and head out to OC and if they had room for me at 11 great, if not, I had a dr appt scheduled anyway and maybe he would do something to jump start labor then the hospital would be forced to take me. So we headed out, stopped at Ikea did some last minute shopping, had some lunch, did a few errands, and by this point they had said to come in around 1pm. Finally at 1pm, we made our way up to labor & delivery only to be told that the room wasn't quite ready and we could wait in the lobby or walk around to kill time. We opted to walk. As we were playing tourists wandering the hospital taking pictures we came across a man in scrubs who offered to take our picture. I'm not sure if we looked totally lost and pathetic or maybe it was the Filipino kinship but he took us under his wing and decided we shouldn't have to wait anymore and marched us in there to "get us a good room." Not quite sure who he was or what his role at the hospital was but sure enough we were signing papers and being escorted (by him!) to our delivery room within minutes. Sweet!

By this point it was after 2pm and my anxiety level was through the roof. I was just ready to meet this little girl and it seemed like it wasn't going to happen that day. By the time the nurse came in, did all the routine stuff, and started my IV it was after 3.30. They started the pitocin around 4pm so we weren't expecting her to arrive until early the next morning. About an hour into my pitocin somehow I banged my hand and dislodged my IV so the fluid was flowing into somewhere other than my vein...and it hurt. So they stopped my IV/pitocin until the nurse could come back and re-do it. She was in the middle of a delivery though so an hour or so later they got it all hooked up again only to be started back at the beginning with the pitocin.

Around 7:30 Brian left to get dinner and my contractions were slowly getting stronger. My night shift nurse came in and checked me around 9:30pm and I was still around 3cm dilated and we were chatting about when they baby would arrive, how big she'd be etc. when my water broke on its own. "Oh good" she said "you'll really start progressing now." She also began to tell me how the contractions would become much sharper and stronger. "Let me know when they get too strong and we can give you some pain medication if you're not ready for the epidural." Those were the last words I really remember her saying. Within the next 15 minutes or so my contractions were so strong I honestly thought I was going to break Brian's hand while squeezing. He calmly said, you should probably let them know you want some pain meds. Yeah, thanks babe. So I called for my nurse to bring me some meds. Once she saw how much pain I was in though she decided to check me again to see how far I'd progressed. Umm yeah, I was at 7cm and my contractions were almost back to back. In an instant she started moving at lightning speed, prepping me for my epidural while she's calling for the anesthesiologist. Who, by the way, was JUST about to step into a c-section. I literally had minutes to him walking in there. It was kind of a whirlwind in there as people were rushing around to make sure I got that epidural and that they were ready for this baby to arrive. As he's finishing my epidural she checks me again and I'm at 10cm. And I start to feel the need to push. Things start moving even faster. They call my dr., bring in all the tools, get me in position..."You're going to have a baby!" is what my nurse said. My response to her was "noooooo!" I think she was baffled because she laughed and said, umm isn't that why you're here?! What I meant to say to her was "nooooo, not until my epidural kicks in completely!" Honestly if we had waited even a few more minutes to get that epidural he would have been in surgery and I would have had that baby au natural.

I think I pushed twice and Samara Jade Spottsville was born at 10:39pm. I literally had an hour from the time my water broke to the time she was born. It's a good thing we weren't at home when it happened. I would have had her in the car!

Since she arrived late Wednesday. she didn't get to meet big sister until the next afternoon. I was anxious about how A would react to actually seeing baby sister as opposed to just talking to my belly but she was so excited!

 

She just wanted to hold her and kiss her which made me teary eyed of course! I cannot wait to see their relationship grow.

Sorry for such a long post! I'll try to be back soon with updates and more pictures but don't be mad if I take a little hiatus to enjoy my new addition. Until then...

She's Here!

She's officially here!

Samara Jade Spottsville
Born February 20, 2013 @ 10:39pm
5lbs  6oz  19in

I'm exhausted and am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. I'll be back in a couple of days to tell you her story.

Almost Time

I feel like this pregnancy has flown by and we're totally not prepared for this little girl to arrive very shortly. I'm now 38 weeks and 2cm dilated. I asked our doc if we can schedule an induction since we're so far from the hospital and I'm concerned about making it there in time or her coming on a day when B is in OC working and me being here by myself etc, etc. Doc says we can schedule it at 39 weeks which is next Tuesday. SO, she could potentially come as early as next week unless she decides to come on her own before then! Crazy! Her nursery hasn't been worked on other than being painted, a rug, and the furniture from A's room. I just washed her clothes but not her bedding, heck, I don't even have bedding, and I just packed her bag and A's bag. Bri and I haven't even packed our hospital bags yet and her carseat is still sitting in the living room rather than in the actual car. Hmm, I really need to get on it huh?!

At this point in my pregnancy, I've gained about 35lbs (which seems absolutely mortifying in comparison) but I feel good. I didn't have any of the "issues" I had the first time around (gestational diabetes, low amniotic fluid) which has been a relief and a blessing! I most definitely feel baby girl kicking and moving since my placenta isn't in the front this time...even B has been able to feel her all the time which has been fun since he only felt A move like once or twice. Anayah seems to grasp the idea that she's getting a baby sister and seems excited about it more now that my belly is totally obvious but I don't know how much she truly understands what having a baby sister really entails! I suppose we'll find out very shortly! I just keep praying that they will really bond and get along and be the best of friends. 

I think I'm ready. I've been anxious and worried that I won't know how to be the same type of mom to a second child now that my time will need to be shared or my attention won't always be focused only on her. I've struggled with trying to figure out how I'll be able to love another person as much as I love now, but I know it will just happen. I know that people do it all the time, I know I'm not alone in feeling this way. I think I'm just being paranoid. Arrive soon, little girl, we can't wait to meet you!

The pictures posted our from our recent maternity session. I'll post a few more soon but you can also check out the album here. A big thank you to Jessica for taking them and doing a fabulous job!

A Baby Sprinkle

Last weekend one of my bestest friends threw us a baby sprinkle to celebrate this new little girl that will be joining us very soon. With it being our second daughter, a traditional baby "shower" wasn't necessary as we will be using a lot of the same gear, clothing, furniture, etc. so it was just a small "sprinkle" instead. That didn't mean it was any less fancy though! For those that know Erika, you know she loves throwing parties and she's really good at it! Everything was beautiful and matched baby's nursery so well. I didn't bring my camera so here are some shots of the day that I stole borrowed from Carrie.

 Every center piece was a different cute outfit for baby girl:

Games & favors

Of course we had "sprinkles" cupcakes!

 

 My lovely guests:

It was so special to have so many friends and family members all together to celebrate this memorable time in our lives. Thank you Erika for such a wonderful sprinkle and thank you to Mindy and Carrie who also helped out a ton in order to make this day so special for us. We are beyond blessed to have you all in our lives and I can't wait for our newest little blessing to meet you!!
xoxo