JJ is awesom with her. If he isn't ignoring her, running off doing his own thing, he is kissing her and talking to her. I have very few requests of my children, I want them to be happy, love one another and truly be the person they want to be.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
What's Charlotte up to?
Charlotte is a true joy. She is a super easy baby and super sweet. Her favorite things to do are laugh, smile, watch big brother and get kisses. She rolled over at 3 months and 10 days old, she sad Dada at 1 day shy of 5 months and is starting to sit up unassisted. She truly makes having a baby easy.
JJ is awesom with her. If he isn't ignoring her, running off doing his own thing, he is kissing her and talking to her. I have very few requests of my children, I want them to be happy, love one another and truly be the person they want to be.
JJ is awesom with her. If he isn't ignoring her, running off doing his own thing, he is kissing her and talking to her. I have very few requests of my children, I want them to be happy, love one another and truly be the person they want to be.
JJ turns TWO!
With my rush to post a birth story and update about Charlotte, I realized that I didn't post about JJ's second birthday. We had it at paradise of fun a month before he turned two because I was super nervous I'd go into labor early and not be able to celebrate my main man. It was so much fun! Dawn made cupcakes, we got pizza from Costco and the kids jumped and bounced. Here are some pics to highlight his special day:
His actual birthday we had cake (I baked him a lemon cake with lemon icing) and kept it small with family. The Fitches and my Mom, Gram and Aunt Libby came to celebrate. The kids played outside and we all enjoyed a nice day together.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
And a girl makes four!
Wow, major mother guilt is kicking in. I am just now writing a birth story and updating on 5 months worth of...
CHARLOTTE RITA FITCH
Charlotte was born on Monday, March 19, 2012 at 8:05 a.m., weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces and a long (for a Fitch) 20".
With a very uneventful and easy pregnancy, my RCS was scheduled for Monday, March 19th, one day after JJ's 2nd birthday. I will never forget the feeling after I put JJ to bed that evening of his birthday, March 18th. I sat in the living room and cried to Jonathan, my Mom, Grandmother and Aunt Libby. I knew his life would NEVER be the same. It wouldn't be just us two throughout the day. My undivided attention was going to soon be divided. I cried and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. After 2 years of it just being us, having a routine and doing our own thing, JJ had no idea that things would be totally different once he woke up. I am happy to say I look back now and know we gave him the greatest gift Life. A baby sister to share his life with. I think about my brother and although we didn't exactly get along when we were kids, I couldn't imagine my life without him.
After many reassuring words and the support of my family, I turned in for the night because we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. since my RCS was scheduled for 7:30 a.m.
Enter Hospital
I was SO happy that I didn't go into labor early because I REALLY wanted the same OB to deliver my baby girl who delivered JJ. Dr. Amy Heyman at CWC. Once I was prepped in my hospital gown, socks, etc., she came into my room SO excited and happy to be delivering Baby Fitch 2.0 that her attitude most definitely calmed my nerves (well, as much as they could be before getting cut open). I remember her saying "we are going to have fun"! She was genuinely excited to be there for me because she knew how much it meant to me that she was there. So a bit of crying/shaking, they take me into the OR room. Since I had a CS with JJ, I knew what to expect. After Dr. Monroe, who btw, is the sweetest and most patient anesthesiologist ever gave me my spinal block (honestly, the numbing needle which is only a little pinch is the most painful, the spinal itself you don't even feel) I was ready to go! I'm not sure how long it took, but after some cramping, tugging, feeling like your body is floating on a super wavy ocean, I heard her. I HEARD MY BABY GIRL SCREAM AND CRY and it is by far a sound I will never forget. I can remember JJ's exact cry to this day as well! It's heaven and relief rolled up together. I got to watch them while they cleaned her off and checked her out. She was brought over to me by Jonathan about a minute later where I got to see her and kiss her. After a brief meeting they took her to check her height and weight. I requested she not get a bath until I got to nurse her and bond with her in recovery and FMH happily obliged. Jonathan went with baby girl while Dr. Heyman closed me back up. I must just add in here that I understand that you want to hold your baby right away, but trust me, CS mama's (or soon-to-be), you cannot while being sewn up. It's simply not safe. I felt a little crampy because I requested my spinal not be so "heavy" for lack of a better word. With JJ it was so much it numbed my entire body, causing me to panic a lot. This time around, I felt some cramps which was fine by me! I'd take that any day over not feeling myself breathe. After what seemed like forever because all I wanted to do was nurse and cuddle my baby, I was in recovery. I must have been in recovery maybe 15 minutes and she was brought in. Just to give a timeline - RCS started at 7:30 a.m., baby born at 8:05 a.m. and she was nursing with me, skin to skin at 8:40 a.m. It was awesome! Getting her on me only 35 minutes after birth made me so happy. My doctor and the staff at FMH were incredible about honoring my wishes and I truly appreciate every single one of them.
Mind you I am writing this blog while baby girl sleeps and JJ is following his Daddy around while he vacuums, so my alone time is super limited I am going to highlight what went down after this.
I believe it was when we got back to our room with both agreed she is a Charlotte. We were torn throughout the pregnancy between Evelyn Rita or Charlotte Rita. Evelyn being Great Grandma Fitch's name and Charlotte (named after Charles, Jonathan's Grandfather and my Great Grandmother's name (on my Dad's side).
My OB nurse that was with me while JJ was born, and now whom I called a friend came to visit me while I was in recovery. Nurse Kathy Sullivan, God bless her, is truly the best.
I eventually went to my room where lots of bonding time with baby girl and Jonathan happened.
By 11:30 my Mom, Grandmom, Mother-in-law, Aunt Libby and JJ came to meet the princess.
JJ was incredible - he "held" her and kissed her head so gently. We gave him a present that the baby got for him which was a bunch of cardboard tower blocks with letters on them. He had so much fun playing with them as the baby met some of her most important and special family members.
My friends Robyn, Bryan, Dawn, Echo, Jenny and Kathy came to visit Charlotte. It was so nice to have people come and spend time with us.
I stayed in the hospital for 3 nights, although I could have left by the second night OR opted to stay for a fourth night. I was loving the chance to relax, but I really wanted to get home to JJ.
Now this moment, as I'm about to write about it, already has me choked up. I have never had a moment in my life that happiness literally took my breath away. I get goosebumps even thinking about it. Once we pulled up into our driveway JJ was out on the front porch waiting for us. I get out of the car and I hear that beautiful little voice yell "MOMMY!" I looked up at him and fell over onto the car. I felt like someone knocked the wind out of me. I knew I missed him, but I saw him every day at the hospital, so this was all really unexpected and quite shocking. Anyways, my entire body involuntarily fell as I leaned on Jonathan's car to support my body. I was breathless. I was SO happy to see that beautiful, sweet angel that my joy was just overwhelming my body. I moved as quickly as I could and hugged and kissed him and savored that moment. I swear that with everything I have that moment was by far one of the most life changing moments. I still to do this day can't put my finger on what exactly it was, but it was a moment I had with him that I'll never forget.
Being at home was great. Unlike with JJ where I was scared out of my mind and hit with raging postpartum blues, I was so happy to be home with a beautiful and healthy Charlotte Rita. I have been super lucky to have family willing and able to help me out postpartum. Jan stayed with me until that weekend, my mom and dad came for 2 weeks, Jennie and Phil came for a week, my Grandmom came for a week, then Jan came back here and there to help out. Taking care of C wasn't bad at all. When you are a second time Mom, everything is so much easier, your confidence level is higher and you can truly enjoy things that a lot of first time mom's don't enjoy the first time around.
So here we are, Charlotte is 5 months and 1 week old today and I am FINALLY getting back into updating my blog. So what do you want to know about Charlotte? SHE IS INCREDIBLE! She's absolutely adorable. She looks just like her Daddy. I think the only thing I've given her is fat thighs (SO SORRY!) and she does have my bubbly, sassy, goofy personality. We are working on getting her to take a bottle which we have had problems with, but it will all work out. She will only be a baby once so I have vowed to not stress out about it, just go with the flow. She is rolling over, saying DaDa along with other jibber jabber. She LOVES her Grandmom. There is something very special between her and my Mom already. When she hears or sees her, she gets the biggest smile ever and starts rocking back and forth. JJ is the best big brother. Ever! He is gentle, kind, sweet and loving towards her. He does understand he needs to be gentle with her and treats her with kid gloves. She is a super awesome sleeper like her brother, but even better. I've been very lucky and I know it. I don't take it for granted for one second. She is starting to sit up unassisted for a good 30 seconds to a minute. She likes to just be put down her in crib to sleep (just like JJ). Before I was able to nurse her to sleep, but now she stays awake and when I lay her down she will close her eyes and go to bed. It's something JJ has always done that I thought was odd, but she is doing it too. She has impeccable style! The girl can pull of a cheetah print outfit with a hot pink headband like no other!
Ok, looks like my rambling is coming to an end. I want to apologize for the spelling and grammatical errors. I just typed and I'm not proof-reading. Time does not allow for such :)
Here are some pics to highlight my angel:
CHARLOTTE RITA FITCH
Charlotte was born on Monday, March 19, 2012 at 8:05 a.m., weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces and a long (for a Fitch) 20".
With a very uneventful and easy pregnancy, my RCS was scheduled for Monday, March 19th, one day after JJ's 2nd birthday. I will never forget the feeling after I put JJ to bed that evening of his birthday, March 18th. I sat in the living room and cried to Jonathan, my Mom, Grandmother and Aunt Libby. I knew his life would NEVER be the same. It wouldn't be just us two throughout the day. My undivided attention was going to soon be divided. I cried and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. After 2 years of it just being us, having a routine and doing our own thing, JJ had no idea that things would be totally different once he woke up. I am happy to say I look back now and know we gave him the greatest gift Life. A baby sister to share his life with. I think about my brother and although we didn't exactly get along when we were kids, I couldn't imagine my life without him.
After many reassuring words and the support of my family, I turned in for the night because we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. since my RCS was scheduled for 7:30 a.m.
Enter Hospital
I was SO happy that I didn't go into labor early because I REALLY wanted the same OB to deliver my baby girl who delivered JJ. Dr. Amy Heyman at CWC. Once I was prepped in my hospital gown, socks, etc., she came into my room SO excited and happy to be delivering Baby Fitch 2.0 that her attitude most definitely calmed my nerves (well, as much as they could be before getting cut open). I remember her saying "we are going to have fun"! She was genuinely excited to be there for me because she knew how much it meant to me that she was there. So a bit of crying/shaking, they take me into the OR room. Since I had a CS with JJ, I knew what to expect. After Dr. Monroe, who btw, is the sweetest and most patient anesthesiologist ever gave me my spinal block (honestly, the numbing needle which is only a little pinch is the most painful, the spinal itself you don't even feel) I was ready to go! I'm not sure how long it took, but after some cramping, tugging, feeling like your body is floating on a super wavy ocean, I heard her. I HEARD MY BABY GIRL SCREAM AND CRY and it is by far a sound I will never forget. I can remember JJ's exact cry to this day as well! It's heaven and relief rolled up together. I got to watch them while they cleaned her off and checked her out. She was brought over to me by Jonathan about a minute later where I got to see her and kiss her. After a brief meeting they took her to check her height and weight. I requested she not get a bath until I got to nurse her and bond with her in recovery and FMH happily obliged. Jonathan went with baby girl while Dr. Heyman closed me back up. I must just add in here that I understand that you want to hold your baby right away, but trust me, CS mama's (or soon-to-be), you cannot while being sewn up. It's simply not safe. I felt a little crampy because I requested my spinal not be so "heavy" for lack of a better word. With JJ it was so much it numbed my entire body, causing me to panic a lot. This time around, I felt some cramps which was fine by me! I'd take that any day over not feeling myself breathe. After what seemed like forever because all I wanted to do was nurse and cuddle my baby, I was in recovery. I must have been in recovery maybe 15 minutes and she was brought in. Just to give a timeline - RCS started at 7:30 a.m., baby born at 8:05 a.m. and she was nursing with me, skin to skin at 8:40 a.m. It was awesome! Getting her on me only 35 minutes after birth made me so happy. My doctor and the staff at FMH were incredible about honoring my wishes and I truly appreciate every single one of them.
Mind you I am writing this blog while baby girl sleeps and JJ is following his Daddy around while he vacuums, so my alone time is super limited I am going to highlight what went down after this.
I believe it was when we got back to our room with both agreed she is a Charlotte. We were torn throughout the pregnancy between Evelyn Rita or Charlotte Rita. Evelyn being Great Grandma Fitch's name and Charlotte (named after Charles, Jonathan's Grandfather and my Great Grandmother's name (on my Dad's side).
My OB nurse that was with me while JJ was born, and now whom I called a friend came to visit me while I was in recovery. Nurse Kathy Sullivan, God bless her, is truly the best.
I eventually went to my room where lots of bonding time with baby girl and Jonathan happened.
By 11:30 my Mom, Grandmom, Mother-in-law, Aunt Libby and JJ came to meet the princess.
JJ was incredible - he "held" her and kissed her head so gently. We gave him a present that the baby got for him which was a bunch of cardboard tower blocks with letters on them. He had so much fun playing with them as the baby met some of her most important and special family members.
My friends Robyn, Bryan, Dawn, Echo, Jenny and Kathy came to visit Charlotte. It was so nice to have people come and spend time with us.
I stayed in the hospital for 3 nights, although I could have left by the second night OR opted to stay for a fourth night. I was loving the chance to relax, but I really wanted to get home to JJ.
Now this moment, as I'm about to write about it, already has me choked up. I have never had a moment in my life that happiness literally took my breath away. I get goosebumps even thinking about it. Once we pulled up into our driveway JJ was out on the front porch waiting for us. I get out of the car and I hear that beautiful little voice yell "MOMMY!" I looked up at him and fell over onto the car. I felt like someone knocked the wind out of me. I knew I missed him, but I saw him every day at the hospital, so this was all really unexpected and quite shocking. Anyways, my entire body involuntarily fell as I leaned on Jonathan's car to support my body. I was breathless. I was SO happy to see that beautiful, sweet angel that my joy was just overwhelming my body. I moved as quickly as I could and hugged and kissed him and savored that moment. I swear that with everything I have that moment was by far one of the most life changing moments. I still to do this day can't put my finger on what exactly it was, but it was a moment I had with him that I'll never forget.
Being at home was great. Unlike with JJ where I was scared out of my mind and hit with raging postpartum blues, I was so happy to be home with a beautiful and healthy Charlotte Rita. I have been super lucky to have family willing and able to help me out postpartum. Jan stayed with me until that weekend, my mom and dad came for 2 weeks, Jennie and Phil came for a week, my Grandmom came for a week, then Jan came back here and there to help out. Taking care of C wasn't bad at all. When you are a second time Mom, everything is so much easier, your confidence level is higher and you can truly enjoy things that a lot of first time mom's don't enjoy the first time around.
So here we are, Charlotte is 5 months and 1 week old today and I am FINALLY getting back into updating my blog. So what do you want to know about Charlotte? SHE IS INCREDIBLE! She's absolutely adorable. She looks just like her Daddy. I think the only thing I've given her is fat thighs (SO SORRY!) and she does have my bubbly, sassy, goofy personality. We are working on getting her to take a bottle which we have had problems with, but it will all work out. She will only be a baby once so I have vowed to not stress out about it, just go with the flow. She is rolling over, saying DaDa along with other jibber jabber. She LOVES her Grandmom. There is something very special between her and my Mom already. When she hears or sees her, she gets the biggest smile ever and starts rocking back and forth. JJ is the best big brother. Ever! He is gentle, kind, sweet and loving towards her. He does understand he needs to be gentle with her and treats her with kid gloves. She is a super awesome sleeper like her brother, but even better. I've been very lucky and I know it. I don't take it for granted for one second. She is starting to sit up unassisted for a good 30 seconds to a minute. She likes to just be put down her in crib to sleep (just like JJ). Before I was able to nurse her to sleep, but now she stays awake and when I lay her down she will close her eyes and go to bed. It's something JJ has always done that I thought was odd, but she is doing it too. She has impeccable style! The girl can pull of a cheetah print outfit with a hot pink headband like no other!
Ok, looks like my rambling is coming to an end. I want to apologize for the spelling and grammatical errors. I just typed and I'm not proof-reading. Time does not allow for such :)
Here are some pics to highlight my angel:
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