Happy 2nd Birthday, Abigail!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Miss Abigail!

We celebrated Abigail's birthday with a bubble themed party at our house, complete with swimming. gigantic bubble juice and a collection of bubble making toys. 

~Abigail continues to be a happy, cheerful young lady!  It's rare to see her without a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.
~Her vocabulary is growing at rapid speeds.  She frequently speaks in short phrases, sometimes up to 4-5 words.  She also has longer phrases, but she includes some unintelligible words.  When asked to repeat herself, she use the same phrases--she has a lot to say! 
~Abigail is a great helper!  She enjoys helping us, including without being asked.  She'll do tasks such as throwing away trash, carrying in groceries, helping with laundry, retrieving items and emptying the dishwasher!
~ She is quiet a girly-girl and enjoys her babies, baby gear, purses and other stereotypical "girl toys".  However, she also enjoys playing with trucks, balls and blocks!
~Abby is a great sleeper.  She typically sleeps from about 7:30pm-6:30am.  She'll also nap for 2-3 hours a day.  Abigail goes to sleep easily and enjoys a story and song before bed.
~Abigail is being quiet independent!  She likes to do things herself, such as putting on her clothes and shoes.  She'll often state, "Abby do it!" or "I got it!".  If unsuccessful, she'll politely ask for "Help".
~She likes to count, although she'll state random numbers rather then actually counting
~Abigail has acquired many nicknames.  Some common nicknames include Abbas, Abba-giggles, Giggles, Abba-goos, Abba-Dabba, and Abbers

Current Stats:
27 lbs 2 oz (58th Percentile)
34 1/4" (71st Percentile)

1 Month!

Our adorable Natalie is already one month old!  It's hard to imagine our family without her!  She's such a joy!

~Natalie loves to snuggle!  And we love to snuggle her!
~She's a champion eater!  Nursing has gone wonderfully.  She eats every 2-3 hours.  Natalie is also champion burper.  Her burps rival those of grown men!  She's started to spit up some, so we're always prepared with a burp cloth!
~One of our favorite milestones -- her first smile!  She began to smile just before turning 1 month old.  We anticipated/hoped it would be coming soon as we could see her happiness through her expressive, beautiful blue eyes!
~Natalie is a great sleeper!  Most naps are in our arms (see previous comment about loving to snuggle), in a bouncer, or in a swing.  Overnight, she sleeps in a Rock 'n Sleep in our bedroom.  She typically wakes once a night to eat and then returns to dreamland.  She has slept as long as 6-7 consecutive hours overnight! She even snores sometimes!
~She's doing a great job of holding her head up.  She's not the biggest fan of tummy time, but will tolerate it for a few minutes.  She is able to hold her head up when on our chests.
~She's starting to coo and enjoys to be cooed at.
~Natalie lost her belly button stump at 9 days.  She had some residual bleeding, but it's quite the "inny" belly button, so part of it did not get much air to dry out. 
~She enjoys rolling to her side.  When we put her on the floor for exercise, she often rolls to her side, just as she did right after she was born and was being assessed.

1 Month Stats:
10lb 13oz (83rd %tile)
22 inches (82nd %tile)
15 1/2 inch head circumference (99th %tile)
She was determined to be perfect, beautiful, happy, and doing great!

One of her first smiles caught on camera!  She's such a happy girl!

Summer Break!

It's officially summer break!  Today was Brennan's last day of kindergarten.  He was in Mrs. Boose's classroom at Furry Elementary.  He did an amazing job and absolutely loves school!  When asked his favorite part of the day throughout the year, his answer was always "Everything!"  He's reading books, spelling words and doing addition and subtraction.  He seemed to especially enjoy his units on dinosaurs and community helpers.  Brennan made several friends within his classroom and other kindergarten classrooms.  We're so very proud of him and his accomplishments this school year!

Gavin also completed his first year of preschool!  He was in Miss Angela's preschool classroom at St. Ann's Little Blessings Preschool in Fremont.  Gavin also did an incredible job and loves school!  He knows all of his letters and numbers, frequently recites the alphabet (repeatedly...) and can count to 100 independently.  He also made many friends in his classroom.  Mommy frequently heard comments from his teachers about Gavin being a great student and kid.  Goofy Gavin, however, did not talk or barely acknowledge his teachers when Mommy was at school at pick up or drop off, but would start to talk as soon as she wasn't around.  Miss Angela explained that he has great academic skills, but would rarely talk during circle time and, instead, saved his skills for when he was working one-on-one with her.  We're incredible proud of him! Unfortunately, we didn't get an end-of-the-year picture of Gavin.  He attended until the week of Natalie's birth when Mommy started her maternity leave, with the thought that he would continue to attend occasionally throughout the summer.

23 Months!

Little Miss Abigail is 23 months!

~Abigail is talking up a storm!  She's saying more spontaneous phrases and new words.  She also repeats a lot of what we label for her.
~Abby is an incredible big sister!  She adores her baby sitter and is usually near her side.  While she had an interest in her baby dolls before Natalie was born, she enjoys playing with them even more including carrying them around, putting them to bed, giving them a pacifier, and giving them kisses.  She's never far from Natalie, frequently requesting to see what she's doing ("I see?), giving her kisses, giving her a pacifier, talking to her/greeting her ("Hi Na-ne!"), etc.
~She's continuing to work on her colors.  While not always consistent, she knows blue, green, orange, pink, yellow, red, and purple.  She does the  best job labeling pink and purple.
~Abby has cut both of her bottom two year molars.  We suspect the top two aren't far behind.
~Walking through grocery stores is entertaining with Abigail.  She enjoys labeling nearly everything she sees!
~Abigail is quite a helper around the house!  She enjoys getting things for her sister, putting away toys, dumping diapers in the diaper pail and throwing things away after declaring them "Yucky".
~Like most toddlers, "No" is common in her vocabulary.  To counteract, she also frequent says an adorable "Yep!"
~Taking after Mommy, she's a fan of chapstick.  When she seems a tube around the house or Mommy applying it, she'll ask "Have some!?" and allow Mommy to put some on her lips.
~She's quite polite, including saying "bless you" after others sneeze, "excuse me" and "please"
~Abigail seems to be able to sense when a camera is on her.  She'll stop what she's doing and flash a cheesy grin almost every time!

Our Time At The Hospital

Our hospital stay for Natalie's birth was brief and relatively uneventful.  We stayed in the delivery room for a few hours, waiting for Mommy to be able to walk independently after the pain medicine wore off.  Grandma and Grandpa Mealy brought Brennan, Gavin and Abigail to the hospital to meet Natalie.  They were all interested in her, especially Abigail, who wanted to hold and kiss her.  After taking the kids home to go to bed, Adam went home to allow Grandma and Grandpa to visit again.  Brennan and Gavin were confused by Mommy, Daddy and Natalie didn't come home with them, but enjoyed extra snuggles from Daddy.

Natalie underwent a series of tests and procedures during our stay, including vaccines, a hearing test, and blood draws to check her sugar levels due to her larger size. She passed all of her tests without difficulty, including passing all 3 consecutive blood sugar tests.  Several of the medical staff commented on her easy going demeanor, as she rarely fussed, or very briefly fussed before calming herself.

Natalie was a sleepy girl during her first night.  Despite Mommy's attempts to feed her and nurses coming into the room for checks of our vitals, she continued to snooze.

Mommy and Daddy expressed interest to hospital staff to leave the day after Natalie's birth, wanting to be home and begin our life as a family of 6.  Nearly every doctor/nurse commented that we were "old pros" due to having 3 other children and the on-call OB and pediatrician didn't have concerns with us leaving after Natalie's 24 hour tests.  We were discharged and on our way home at about 5:30pm.

Natalie's Birth Story

Every birth has a story.  Here's Natalie's!

After being induced with Brennan, Gavin and Abigail, we predicted throughout this pregnancy that it would also end with induction.  As we neared closer to her due date, it was discussed again, especially since Natalie wasn't always head down and enjoyed dancing around in Mommy's belly.  At her 39 week OB check on May 6, Mommy was instructed to keep Natalie's head down over the weekend, eat a light breakfast in the morning and show up at the hospital at 6:00am on Monday, May 9.

Daddy and Mommy arrived at the hospital, registered, and were escorted to the Labor and Delivery ward.  Mommy was hooked up to monitors and asked a series of medical questions.  Dr. Rinkes performed an ultrasound to verify Natalie's position.  Luckily, little lady cooperated and was head down!  Mommy was 3-4 cm dialated but Natalie was still very high.

Previous deliveries had taught us that Mommy has "valve-y veins", causing IV placements to be difficult.  Two nurses attempted to place an IV, but were unsuccessful.  This is not a very pleasant experience.  They explained that Mommy has "deceivingly beautiful" veins -- they appear to be cooperative and then, boom, the IV fails.  They called in the CRNA, who performed his CRNA tricks and was able to insert the IV without difficulty.  Pitocin was started at 8:00am.

9:10am: Dr. Rinkes broke Mommy's water.  No sign of meconium.

11:30am: 4-5 cm, 70%.  Time is passed chatting, watching a television show, and playing card games.  Mommy is offered an epidural several times, but Mommy declines.

12:00pm: Epidural is administered.  Contractions were still tolerable, but enough to cause Mommy to stop briefly stop her card game and grimace.  It was decided to get the medicine before things accelerated.  Mommy was assured by the nurses that she wasn't "cheating" by getting the epidural so early in the game.  It was administered without incident by the same CRNA that worked his IV magic.  It provided relief, but Mommy was still able to feel some contractions.

12:45pm: 5-6cm, 70%.  Mommy was still able to feel the contractions and Dr. Rinkes' check.  The CRNA was called back and administered additional medicine through the epidural line.  The same situation occurred with Abigail's delivery.  Mommy quickly becomes completely numb from the waist down and her legs feel very heavy.

2:00pm: 6cm, 80%.  Mommy is placed on her side, occasionally switching positions with the help of the nurses, with a peanut ball placed between her legs.  She feels better laying on her right side than her left side.  Natalie's heart rate occasionally drops during contractions.

3:00pm: 7cm.  This check took a while -- a check by Dr. Rinkes, a learning check by the nurse new to Labor and Delivery, draining Mommy's bladder, and another learning check.  Mommy began to feel very light headed and nauseated.  She is given oxygen to help with her blood pressure and Natalie's heart rate.  Mommy feels better when she is returned to her side.  Mommy has the "shakes" and wonders if it's almost time for Natalie's arrival.

3:55pm: 10cm!  It's go time!  Mommy is prepped for delivery and needs prompting on when to push as she's unable to feel contractions.  Three pushes during the first contraction.  We converse and laugh while waiting for the next contraction.  "Whoa!  You may laugh her out!", exclaimed Dr. Rinkes.  We continue to laugh and Natalie continues to move.  One more push during the next contraction, Mommy helps to pull Natalie out and she's here!

4:08pm: Happy Birthday, Natalie!!  Welcome to the world!  Natalie is placed on Mommy's chest and has several minutes of skin to skin contact.  Daddy cuts her cord.  It was explained that her cord was loosely wrapped around her neck once, possibly causing her decreased heart rate during contractions.  Natalie is weighed and measured -- 9lb 7oz and 21 inches long!  Everyone is amazed with her size and beauty.  It's love at first sight!

What's in a name?
Natalie: Frequently known to mean "Born on Christmas", but also means "Gift of God".  She certainly is a gift from God and such a blessing!
Elizabeth: Mommy's middle name is Elizabeth.  It's also a name used frequently in our family history.

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our newest miracle!  Natalie Elizabeth was born on May 9 at 4:08pm.  She weighs 9lbs, 7oz and is 21 inches long.  She's perfect and we are blessed to welcome her to our family!