The First Week

We've survived the first week! Cecily is really a dream baby so far. She isn't fussy at all and spends the vast majority of her time sleeping or eating. She is already on a night schedule - she goes to sleep around 11pm, gets up at 2am, and then gets up again at 5am, and is up for the morning around 8am. It's really not too bad at all. Her favorite place to sleep is on Daddy's chest. She seems bigger to us already, but we'll see what her official weight is at her first doctor's appointment, which is tomorrow. Here are some pictures from her first week.

Ian & Cecily 5/20/09

Cecily & Mom: Getting Ready to Leave the Hospital 5/21/09

James & Cecily 5/21/09

The Kids Presenting Cecily with the Presents They Picked Out Before She was Born 5/21/09

5/22/09

You gotta love the flexibility of a newborn 5/22/09

Her favorite place to sleep, day or night 5/23/09

Close Up 5/23/09

Cecily loves her carseat too 5/24/09

Daddy's Girl 5/24/09

5/24/09

I know this doesn't look comfortable, but she slept that way for 2 hours, so it must have been okay 5/25/09

Cecily & Colin 5/27/09

Proud Big Brothers and Sisters

Hero, Allegra, Ian and Colin are relishing the arrival of their baby sister. They absolutely dote on her and argue a bit over who gets to hold her. Hero is such an experienced big sister that she's very trustworthy and I'm sure will be a wonderful help to me over summer break. Allegra just can't lavish enough love on Cecily. Ian is more fascinated than I imagined he'd be, although occasionally he refers to her as "it" LOL. I was worried about how Colin would adjust to the new baby of the family, but he wants to get in on the action as much as his siblings. He calls her "baby sister" (Cecily is kind of a hard name to say) and likes to hold her and pet her. Cecily is very lucky to have two big sisters to teach her about everything and two big brothers to protect her.

She Has Arrived!

Our precious little baby has finally made her debut. After a changeless doctor's appointment on Monday and the scheduling of what I thought was my inevitable induction (for May 28th), I started feeling like things might be happening on Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday night I had my regular routine of nightly contractions, but when we got in bed at 11pm they wouldn't go away. So I got up, showered, and went downstairs to watch DVR'd episodes of A Baby Story because whenever I sit down and watch tv contractions tend to go away. These didn't - they were a little bit stronger than normal (nothing too much though) but very regularily 4 to 6 minutes apart. After timing them for about an hour I decided it was time to wake up James. We left for the hospital around 2am and when they checked me they said I was only 4cm dilated. I knew that I was in true labor at this point and the contractions started intensifying rapidly. I tend to be like that - I go from very manageable contractions to killers within the span of 15 minutes or so. Because I was in so much pain, they checked me again in 10 minutes and I was at 5cm, so they admitted me. After that the next hour and a half was a blur of pain as they did the admission process and put the iv in. Finally around 4:30 I got the epidural and it was wonderful. As soon as it was in they checked me and I was dilated to 9 cm! We started pushing around 5, and it seemed like nothing much was going on but all of the sudden the baby's head popped forward and she was crowning. The nurse ran out to get the doctor, and two pushes later Cecily arrived in the world. She was born on May 20th, 2009, at 5:47 am, weighed 7lbs 5oz, and was 20.5 inches long. It's so amazing that the feelings you get the moment a new life arrives are no less life-changing whether it's your first or fifth. She was instantly ours and we adored her (yes, there were lots of tears). Welcome to the family, Cecily Carys!

Checking In

We made it through the weekend - on Saturday was Allegra's ballet recital which went just fine and then on Sunday it was a HOT 96 degrees. The kids ran in the sprinklers and we had our first cookout. It was actually kind of nice to sit on the patio and enjoy lunch that afternoon - we'll have to do it more often. The heat is not being kind to my feet though - they are grotesquely swollen. I *think* that this shall pass pretty soon. I'm feeling like it might happen in the next few days. And if not, I'm scheduled for an induction on May 28th. That sounds horribly far away though LOL. I really think she'll come on her own before that. Today was Hero's open house for the G.A.T.E. (gifted and talented education) program - we got to watch her presentation on the Eiffel Tower. The kids got extra credit if they brought in some food from the country that their "wonder" was in, so last night, at nearly 10 months pregnant, in 97 degree heat, at 9pm, with killer cankles, I made coconut bisquits for her presentation. As I said to James, she has NO idea how much that shows a mother's love LOL.

Still Here...

I'm still here and still pregnant, to my shock, truth be told. I'm now more pregnant than I've been since my second pregnancy and I have no idea when this baby might decide to come. I had an appointment yesterday and the doctor stripped my membranes to try and bring on labor. She said she was very hopeful that it would work (I'm already 4.5 cm dilated) but also that she couldn't predict my uterus. Well, I had some good contractions and crampiness all day long but when I went to bed I slept the best sleep I've had in a long time, go figure. Obviously she's going to be a "handful" as she's waiting to come til her due date week because we have no one that week to watch her older siblings :-(. The stress is immense at this point. On a side note, who wants a post without a picture, so here's a random one of the boys together this week.

Allegra the Ballerina

Yesterday was Allegra's dress rehearsal for ballet. The actual recital is on Saturday but they don't allow videotaping or pictures there, so we have to do that at the dress rehearsal. She looked adorable and just loves her ballet class. She's still at the stage where you kind of think, and I paid HOW much money for a years worth of dance? You know, little girls running all over and generally looking clueless about where they are supposed to be, with a random wave to parents or, better yet, nose-picking here or there. But I do know that all of the sudden it seems to pay off and you watch them and you can actually see a ballerina - Hero's definitely to that point. Her year lasts two weeks longer than Allegra's, so her recital won't be until May 30th.

Mother's Day

I was so hoping that the full moon was going to help me out and give me a Mother's Day baby but no go. I'm still here as pregnant as ever. 38 weeks 3 days, to be exact (do you like the cut-off head? Hero took the picture LOL). Here's what I certainly hope is our last pre-baby family portrait. Well, James is missing because he's taking the picture, but you get the idea... Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Annual Zoo Trip

For the fourth year in a row, we got to go to the zoo with a preschool class. It's hard to believe that we won't be doing this next year since Ian will be in kindergarten and Colin won't be in preschool yet. It was actually a more fun trip than some past years because we hadn't been to the new African exhibit yet. It was a pretty nice day, although it did sprinkle some during the end of our trip. The boys really seemed to enjoy themselves. Ian told his preschool teachers that the monkeys were his favorite. He was very intent on filling out his sticker chart as soon as he saw an animal that was on his list. I made it through a busy night of teaching last night, and have just one more lesson tomorrow and I'm on maternity leave. Will the baby realize this? I doubt it LOL.

We're Ready

We are now truly ready for baby Cecily's arrival. The house is cleaned, everything important is purchased, the Big Brother/Big Sister tee shirts are made and ready to go, the hospital bags are packed, and the carseat is loaded into the car. Now we just sit and wait, I guess. At least there are other things going on this week to keep us busy. Tomorrow is Ian's preschool field trip to the zoo. It's my last week teaching violin lessons before my 5 week break. We also have an HOA meeting. Will we have a new baby by Mother's Day or not? I'm going to guess not because I'd rather not get my hopes up, but I certainly hope it happens in the week after at least. I know my posts have been baby-centric as of late, but it's hard to think of anything else at this point. While you are going about your daily tasks you keep thinking - wow, in 2 weeks I'll be trying to do this while holding a baby, etc. And every night you go to bed wondering, is this the night? It's a crazy, intense time...