Good Charlotte

Ironic that I would name the title of this post 'Good Charlotte' - seeing as it is a name of a band, but it is fitting. Our little one is doing so well and we can't believe how much she has changed in such a short amount of time. I thought I would use this post to blog about some of the details of the delivery, post some more pictures, and brag on our little girl's good behavior. I am hoping that this info will suffice for some of the questions many of you have emailed me. Sorry, but it is nearly impossible to respond to everyone.

All the photos you see above were taken by Charlotte's Aunt Melissa -and yes, we are calling her Charlotte. The little outfit she has on was the one I wore home from the hospital. She wore it to meet her Poppa (my dad) and her great Mommy (my grandmother). Both came for a visit - which was quite a trip for my grandmother who is 87 years old. It was special to have four generations all together. I am just happy that my grandmother got to meet her.

Many of you have asked who she looks like. We believe she is a pretty good combination of both of us. There are times she looks just a like a Moore baby (with red hair) and there are times she looks just like her father. I see her dad a lot in her eyes. That mouth and chin are mine through and through (poor little Moore mouth. We are definitely looking at braces. :) ).

A little about the delivery... I woke up ready to work on Tuesday, November 13th. I started work about 10:00 a.m. at home. I had slept in because I was feeling so tired. The night before I had been crying telling Doug I didn't know how much longer I could stand being pregnant and I didn't sleep well. Around 11:15 I stopped working and decided to lay down. My back had started hurting and I was starting to feel very uncomfortable. By noon I was in the bed and crying because my back pain (and stomach pain) was so bad. I had a routine dr's appointment that afternoon and my mother suggested that I call Doug and get him to come home to take me - I was in so much pain I couldn't drive.

I just knew I was having a gallbladder attack. It did feel a little different, but the pain was constant and it definetly didn't feel like the contractions I had previously experienced, nor did they feel like the labor contractions that had been described to me.

We left for the dr early. We went ahead and took our bags - just in case. They let me see the dr early and when the midwife checked me she said I was in labor. The pain was awful at this point - constant, mainly hurting in my back. We went to the hospital, got admitted, and by the time I got to my room, the pain had subsided. My contractions were coming irregularly and I just knew that they were going to send me home.

By this time, I was still showing signs of labor. I was five centimeters dilated, but the contractions were still not intense or regular. The dr decided to give me patossin (spelling is probably wrong). I was not excited about this. I had heard horror stories about how strong this makes the contractions come. After about an hour the contractions were still managable. I thought to myself, "I can do this!" Boy was I wrong. About the time this thought passed through my mind the contractions got worse and within about three contractions I was asking for the epidural. It probably took 30-45 minutes before I could get the epidural so I was really ready by the time the anethesiolgist arrived.

I will spare you the details of my pain. All of you who have delivered naturally have endured much worse than myself and let me say, more power to you! I couldn't do it. I wound up having a great epidural without any real side effects and the rest of the delivery went great. It wound up being much more pleasant than I imagined. The only real set back was a 2nd degree tear, which occurred when little Charlotte's not so little shoulders had a hard time coming through.

Recovery has been reasonable, but let me warn you against the effects of 800 mg of Motrin. This is what I took for my pain for the tear and by Monday of the following week we thought I was going to have to go back to the hospital - it tore up the lining of my stomach. Thank God my mother was hear along with Doug - who both nursed me back to health. I am feeling much better and glad to have that behind me.

Just a few more notes and I will wrap this long epistle of a post up. My mother stayed with us until this last Wednesday - I hated to see her go. All my sisters came over at some point and I had help from all. My mother really helped us get Charlotte on a schedule. She is such a good baby - a sleepy one - and has been sleeping from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and then until 9:00a.m. Doug and I are actually getting some sleep.

The baby is also nursing really well. I had heard horror stories about this as well. Our little Charlotte came into this world loving to suck - we saw her doing this to her hand on the ultrasound a few weeks before she was born. I have also been told I have really good nipples. :) With the help of the lactation consultant and Charlotte's ability to latch and suck well, breastfeeding has been relatively pleasant.

So... we have a lot to be thankful for. We are doing great and looking ahead to our next transition - Doug going back to work on Monday. We will have some help from his sister, Kate, for a few days when he goes back and possibly from my mother the following week. Eventually I am going to be on my own during the day with this. Hopefully by that time I will be completely adjusted. I guess we will see.

I leave you now with a few more photos (more recent) of our little princess. Enjoy!

Mo, our poodle, believes that Charlotte is his baby. He is her little protector and does not let our other dog, Jemison, get too close. :)