Life with Two

I think the last time I wrote, we were two weeks out from moving into our new home. My how time has flown. And my, how difficult I've found it to write down anything on this blog. But, still, even if it's once every three months, I'd like to document our life so I can look back. So, here it goes!

We moved into our new house on March 7. It was the most chaotic, stressful move I've ever done. 37 weeks pregnant. With a toddler. And a dog. And a husband. Whew! But we did it. And we are so very happy in our new place. The dog has a yard to run in, the kids have a basement to play in, and I have a gourmet kitchen to cook in. (Let's be honest, though, there hasn't been a ton of cooking going on lately!)

On March 26, at 7:20 am (about 10 minutes before Rick leaves for work in the morning), my water broke. I was 39 weeks along exactly. We loaded the car with Campbell, Maizey (our dog) and battled rush hour traffic to the hospital as my contractions began to intensify. One hour later, we arrived downtown at the hospital where my mom and sisters met us. They took Cam and Maizey for us, then came back for the party. When I checked into triage, I was only 3 cm, but I was admitted as my water was broken and we were having a baby that day! So up we went to our room, and after trying to be brave for a couple of hours, I finally decided to get my epidural. I felt great afterward and was really just anxious and bored. I wanted that baby to come, but I was stuck at 5 cm for over 5 hours! At about 7:00 my epidural completely wore off on my left side. I mean I could feel everything and it was brutal!! So the anesthesiologist came in and replaced it for me, and said it would take about 20 minutes to kick in. Those 20 minutes were excruciating, but once it worked again, I started feeling some pressure. I told my nurse I needed to push and she assured me I wasn't ready yet as I had just been checked and was only 5 cm. I told her I needed to push and she said she'd get the doctor and see if she wanted to check me again. As the doctor strolled in (sadly, not my OB) she was smiling and asking me how I felt and I just shouted, "OMG she's coming out!" And, I was right. That baby girl just slid on out and the doctor had to literally leap to catch her. No gloves. No pushing. No nothing. I went from 5 cm to delivery within 20 minutes. It was insane! But at 8:12 pm, our little Teddie Diane was born.

She was 6 lbs 1 oz and 16 inches long (though I really think she was about 18 inches). She's a little peanut and her small size proved to make things a bit complicated at first, but she's been such a great baby! She's got the sweetest personality, loves to smile and coo and talk to anyone who will listen.

Because Campbell was such  nightmare as a newborn, Teddie has seemed like a breeze. Don't get me wrong, we have our hard days, but she eats and sleeps and only cries if she's hungry or tired or needs a good burp. I've never been unable to stop her crying, which is SO different than how Cam was. She was sleeping 8-9 hour stretches up until about 10 days ago when she got a cold. Last night she gave us an 8 hour stretch again, so we're hoping she's back on track, but truthfully, I don't really care. I don't find myself analyzing her eating and sleeping like I did with Campbell. I just don't have time. And I know how quickly this baby phase passes by, so I really am just enjoying it.

If there are moments in the middle of the night when I get frustrated that she won't stay asleep, I repeat the following sentence to myself, "It is a privilege to be rocking/feeding/snuggling this baby right now." And it's so true. I know so many people who wish they could be in my position -- awake at 2:00 am feeding a baby. And I am privileged to be able to do it. 

We've had the best summer so far. Tons of space in our yard to play outside, lots of play dates with friends, camp, sleepovers and BBQs galore! Our 4th of July was one for the record books. It was such a perfect day of family time, friends and fireworks.

Our days are chaotic. So very chaotic. But it's beautiful chaos. I look forward to 6:00 when Rick comes home, but I also don't find myself waiting at the door like a little puppy like I did when Cam was a baby. It's just so different. I am more confident, more in control of my emotions and thoughts, and just feel all around happier this time around. It has made such a huge difference to just be content with life at this moment, rather than wishing away the bad hours/days. This transition was so much easier than I ever thought it would be. I'm exhausted, but I'm not stressed out. We have really just settled into our new routine so smoothly, and I'm so grateful. Life is good right now. Oh so very good.

Our little peanut is now three months old. I plan to write a post about what our typical day looks like at this stage of life, but for now, here's a picture of the little beauty. Our TBear, Teddlesworth, Teddles, Tedderella... we love you more than you'll ever know. Now stop growing up. It's going too fast!!