Charlotte's Birth Story

Charlotte Nicole Asay was born on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 1:37pm. She was 8 lbs 15 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. We're so excited that she's here! That's the short version of the story.

Here's the long version (with pictures).

I was up several times Tuesday night because I was having contractions. About 5 am on Wednesday, I decided I was finished trying to sleep and got up. I took a shower and got dressed, and Matt was about to leave for work a little after 6 am, but I asked him to look online before he left about how far apart contractions should be before you should go to the hospital. I couldn't remember exactly, and I didn't want to wait too long because I tested positive for GBS and needed to be sure I had time to get antibiotics intravenously at the hospital before delivering.

While he was on the computer, I was finishing getting ready for the day and I thought my water broke. I wasn't sure because the doctor had to break my water with Elise, so I had never experienced my water breaking spontaneously before. And there wasn't very much fluid. We decided we better head to the hospital to get it checked out for sure. We finalized our hospital overnight bags and called my sister. About this time, Elise woke up. While we got her fed, dressed and ready, my sister Holly headed over with her van full of her own kids and got there about 8 am to pick up Elise and take care of her for us. (Thanks, Holly!)

We got to the hospital around 8:30 am, where the woman we talked to seemed skeptical that my water was actually broken. They brought us to the triage center to get checked out.

About 9:15 am, they told us that my water was broken, but it was a "high break." They told us that the sac of waters had burst on the side instead of the bottom, which is why the fluid wasn't leaking very fast. All the labor and delivery rooms were full, so we stayed put for awhile. They put me on penicillin about 9:30 am, and Dr. Beck came in a little after 10:30 to break my water again in a lower place and to check my progress. They had started me on Pitocin about 10 minutes before, but the doctor told them to  stop the Pitocin because I had already progressed from 2 cm when I got there to 4 cm. He wanted to be sure I had 4-5 hours to get both doses of penicillin that I needed for the GBS. He gave me the okay to get an epidural, and I was relieved that I could go ahead with it since I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable. When they checked me again at 11:30, I was at 5cm.

At 12:40 pm, a labor and delivery room finally opened up and we moved there. Just in time, too! At 1:20, I was dilated to 10 cm. I had just gotten the second dose of penicillin in, so we were good to go!

At 1:37 pm, Charlotte Nicole Asay was born (Nicole after her aunt, Holly Nicole Rader). She was 8 lbs 15 oz and 19 3/4 inches. And so beautiful. I even got to watch the whole thing in a mirror, which was a neat experience (not literally, because it was actually pretty messy). That was the first time I had seen a birth. I didn't need an episiotomy, and there was no tearing (just like with Elise, except that Elise was only 7 lbs 11 oz). Pushing only took a couple of minutes.

Charlotte cried so loudly that the nurse kept saying things like, "Wow! She really has some lungs!"

 warming up before her first bath

bathtime

washing her hair

warming up again

The nurse made Charlotte this hat. I really liked my labor and delivery nurse, Tara; she was probably my favorite nurse of all the ones I had during my stay.

meeting her sister for the first time

Elise loves Charlotte so much already.

I hope they'll be best friends.

We had to stay in the hospital for the full 48 hours because the pediatrician wanted to watch Charlotte because of the GBS. I was a little bummed since I was eager to get home to be with Elise, but at least the food was good! I had salmon twice and various other (big) meals that I didn't even have to make myself.

Charlotte's first time outside

This was the day after she was born when Matt and Elise came to visit. The hospital has a cool garden area that you can visit while you're there.

Elise likes to use the Boppy like me.

going home

Elise looking at her own baby book.

tummy time together

My mom came to visit from Wednesday, September 26th till Monday, October 1st. It was great to have her help, and I was glad she got to visit with the girls.

On Sunday, September 30th, we got together with Holly's family and walked around the Mesa temple. It was nice to get out and to visit with family.

Elise has done pretty well with the transition to being a big sister. She is so cute with Charlotte, always wanting to kiss her and bring her toys.

And now I get to spend all day enjoying this sweet face. Don't you just love those chubby cheeks?

Elise at Two

Elise is two years old now, so I thought I'd do a special post about her stats, quirks, likes, and dislikes.

First, Elise's stats. She is 27 lbs 12 oz (70th percentile), 36 and 3/4 inches tall (97th percentile), and her head is in the 50th percentile.

As for likes, Elise loves the Mary Engelbreit Mother Goose book and any Clifford or Arthur books we can get from the library, especially Clifford. Elmo's World is a definite favorite. So is the "Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St. Louis. Peanut butter, cheese, doughnuts, peaches, strawberries, rice with ranch dressing, and crackers (graham crackers or goldfish) are a few of her favorite foods. Her favorite sentence right now is "I want             please," and she doesn't understand when she doesn't get everything she asks for after asking so nicely. She loves playing with baby dolls and all types of balls. She likes finger painting, play doh, and chalk. She also likes buckles and balloons. Playgrounds = heaven on earth. My sister's kids are some of her favorite people. She loves new songs or rhymes, and will always ask me "again" repeatedly when I sing her a new one. She likes one song called "ABC, Music, & Me." She loves to carry around the biggest rocks she can find. She also loves cats, although we don't have any pets. She likes to help me with laundry. Story time at the library, nursery (class for kids 18 months to 3 years at church), and Family Home Evening are the highlights of her week.

This is the "Trolley Song." Seriously, it works like a sedative. It might be magical.

Some quirks: While swimming, she likes her entire face to be underwater. This made swim lessons interesting. She bites her nails, even though I try to keep them ridiculously short. In true toddler fashion, everything must be done independently as much as possible. "Do it self!" is an oft repeated phrase. She likes to cross her fingers. She still climbs everything climbable. Most things still go in her mouth at some point, even when she isn't teething, but not quite as much as they used to. She is into throwing things down the stairs. The toilet is fascinating, especially since we started potty training, and all kinds of things end up in there: toys, balls, hands, feet, and even her face once. She tends to be constipated, even with a high fiber diet. She is still really into undressing, and she still occasionally smears poop (not my favorite). She is also getting into dressing herself. She still likes to drink bath water every time she takes a bath, no matter what I say. Destruction seems to be her favorite way to explore. She is so cuddly right now, and she gives tons of kisses and hugs. She has a terrific memory, and she loves to talk about our trip to see Grandma and Grandpa at the end of April, or when we saw fireworks on the Fourth of July, or our trip to the aquarium in May. She has started singing a lot, and she remembers the words to a surprising number of songs. She knows how to count to 12 (and has known for awhile now), but she seems stuck on learning 13; after 12 she just repeats 14, 15 over and over. She recognizes all of her capital letters. She has known her colors for awhile, and she knows a few shapes. She talks like crazy, and she enunciates very deliberately sometimes, with pauses between words, which makes me smile. She loves to say prayers on her own. Without any help, her prayers typically go just like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank Thee for Jesus Christ, amen." She is always concerned when she hears crying kids; today at story time at the library she  blew kisses to a random crying toddler. Speaking of kissing, when I tell her not to touch something she wants to touch, she generally will blow it kisses and give it an air hug. When she wakes up in the morning or from a nap (usually about 2.5 hours for a nap!), she is usually completely quiet, just waiting for me to come get her. She gives the best hugs. She sucks her left thumb. She still has hardly any hair, with just a little bit of curl above each ear.

As for dislikes, Elise doesn't like her face to be washed or her hair to be rinsed at bath time, me to open the front door without her help, me to help her eat in any way, bathroom doors to be closed to her, or pooping on the potty. She drinks milk a lot better than she used to, especially with her cereal or when I add chocolate syrup, but she still doesn't really love it.

Elise is such a happy, active child, and she really does bring so much happiness to our family. She's going to make a great big sister soon! It's crazy how much I love this gorgeous girl.

Elise's Second Birthday

Elise had a birthday! This sweet kid turned two on Saturday. I can't believe how grown up my baby has gotten.

Thanks for the cute outfit, Aunt Bridget!

We had a lot of fun celebrating Elise's birthday. Holly and her family came, as did a couple kids from church.

(I only posted pictures of Elise and my sister's kids, though, in case the other parents don't want their kids' photos on this blog.)

Elise had a Sesame Street themed party, with an emphasis on Elmo. She loves Elmo's World (as seen on youtube and library DVD's since we don't have a TV), and would watch it every day if we let her.

We started out with some bubbles.

the tables, all ready for the kids to make Fruit Loop necklaces

Elise and Daddy

My hair is crazy from running around (while 8 and a half months pregnant), but I still love this picture because Elise makes me laugh.

Savannah making her Big Bird necklace with Fruit Loops

Hudson really wanted to get to the presents.

Elise in her Cookie Monster necklace

munching and stringing

Then we played place the nose on Elmo. There was a lot of peeking going on. :)

This was supposed to be Ernie's duck pond, but the cheap little ducks I got didn't sit up. Oh, well.

The kids seemed to like it anyway.

Savannah and Leighton choosing ducks

Ryland picking his duck

There were also some other activities, including a musical dots game where the kids had to stop when the Sesame Street music stopped, and then they got candy.

the spread, including Dorothy and friends goldfish crackers and Cookie Monster's cookies

the Elmo cake I made

(which, thankfully, turned out much better than last year's disaster of a cake)

and Elmo cupcakes

Happy birthday to Elise!

blowing out the candles

It was awesome to watch Elise rip into her presents. She was very good at ripping the paper off.

She loves that little CapriSun bag in the background. This present was a set of blocks. Both were from a friend.

Elmo's World DVD

play birthday cake set from Aunt Holly and family

fingerpaints from Aunt Bridget and family

ABC book (and Target gift card) from Aunt Paige and family

Little people airplane

baby doll that can go in the tub

Elmo toy with buttons, snaps, zippers, etc. from Grandma and Grandpa

cute doll with a bowl and sippy cup, from another friend

enjoying the balloons

She also has a balloon with Elmo's face on it that she loves.

Hudson enjoyed the balloons too.

Thanks to those of you who came to the party! We had fun celebrating with you. And a special thank you to Holly and family. I don't know how we could have done it without you guys.

Happy birthday again, Elise. You bring so much joy to our family, and we're so blessed to have had the opportunity to be your mom and dad these past two years. We love you!