Happenings

As mentioned before, today was Audra's dance recital. I almost had to miss it due to a check-up scheduled for Camille (more on that in a minute), but was thankfully able to change that so we could go. I would have been really sad to miss her recital! As it was, it took all of my energy and necessitated a nap upon return, but it was great to be able to watch her perform.

Here's our little ballerina in action:

It was our first time taking Camille out, so we had to stock the diaper bag for a newborn (a feat in and of itself), but thankfully she slept the entire time- not a peep came from her. It was wonderful! And, Claire was also fantastic. She danced in the aisle for the first little bit, then played Angry Birds the rest of the time. She was in Heaven.

And, here is a little update on Camille.

Just like our other two kiddos, Camille is having a hard time gaining weight. This is nothing new for us. My milk takes awhile to come in, so for the first few days Camille wasn't getting enough to eat. Our insurance does this awesome thing where they send nurses to your house to make sure the baby is doing OK, so per usual the nurse came over and weighed Camille and she had dropped weight. She got as low as 5 lb. 11.5 oz. And another visit was scheduled- for today right during the recital. Luckily, the nurse was accommodating and switched the time so I could go to the recital. Even better, my milk came in last night/this morning and Camille started gaining weight. She was up to 5 lbs. 14 oz. this morning, and is now doing really well. She is eating great. She still mostly just sleeps and sleeps. Except at 3:30 am. That is her "party time"- oh, lucky me. Nights have been hard- but what is new about that? Newborns are always tough, there's no way around that. Hopefully now that she is eating better she will start sleeping better at night.

Which brings me to Ben. Thank goodness for him! He has been so great- he does EVERYTHING. Dishes, laundry, playing with the kids- even taking Camille at 6:30 in the morning when I can't handle being up anymore. I am so lucky to have him- he is the greatest. He has one more week off, and then I have to step up. I am not looking forward to it.

 I'm not doing too great. This recovery has been harder than Claire's. Audra's recovery was terrible, but I didn't have older kids to take care of so that helped. This time around I feel nauseous, light-headed, tired, and in a lot of pain. Plus with the milk coming in- well, that hasn't been great. Again, thank goodness for Ben- I seriously lucked out with him.  But, once again, this all begs the question: why do we women do this to ourselves? This SUCKS! But, I guess in the end you end up with something pretty great, which makes it worth it:

The Best Laid Plans

This week was supposed to be all about Audra. Wednesday was her pre-school graduation. Today is her Birthday. Tomorrow is her dance recital.

Then Camille came early and things no longer became about Audra.

I suppose this is just the beginning of the siblings vying for their parents attention.

Ben got to go to Audra's pre-school graduation. I got to see the video. Audra wasn't too traumatized that I missed it.

Then today I missed out on the circus with the girls, Ben, and grandma and grandpa. I bought the tickets a month ago for us all to go to celebrate Audra's Birthday. I had to miss it, but I'm pretty sure they all had a great time. We did have cake here and opened presents so I saw that.

Here she is at graduation- doesn't she look so excited?

 And at the circus:

 She picked out her Birthday cake- she liked the purple.

 She got this doctor outfit:

 And both girls had to be doctor to Camille:

 This doll quickly became a favorite for both girls:

Happy Birthday Audra!

Meeting the Baby Sister

So far the girls seem to really love their baby sister. Neither one of them can remember her name, so it's always just "baby" but they are really good at being gentle and they keep wanting to touch her.

Camille and I came home from the hospital today. I wasn't planning on coming home until tomorrow, but this morning one of the doctors came in and I told him that I was hoping to be discharged Thursday morning. He said, "that sounds great. There are some crazy women who want to leave after only a day." I thought, "well, I'm kind-of crazy. Maybe I should go home early." I was feeling pretty good, and I realized that I could be uncomfortable and on meds at the hospital or uncomfortable and on meds at home. I might as well be home. So, we came home.

I feel like it is surreal that we now have a third child. I've  had 9 months to prepare, but it still feels weird. But, I am super excited to get to know this little one and to have her in our family!

New Arrival

We got a surprise early visit from our new little one early this morning!

I'll start with the fun stuff and then tell you the nitty-gritty.

Name: Camille Marie
How did we decide on the name? This was actually a really tough decision. We have a list of about 20 names, but none really stood out to both of us. But, Ben really likes Camille, and he got to have the bigger say in the name because I chose Audra, and we both chose Claire- it was his turn to get the most say. I am the one who came up with the name, and I really do like it- I'm glad Ben  chose that one, and not Elaine like he really wanted.

Plus, Camille fits into a family "theme" in two ways:

1. It's French, as are Audra (a variant of Audrey) and Claire.
2. It starts with a "C" so it fits into our names of all being A, B, or C names.

Weight: 6 lb 7 oz (the dr. thought she was going to be an 8 lb. baby, but when you decide to come 3 weeks early, you don't get to get all nice and fat. Now she is our smallest baby we've had.)

Height: 19.5 inches

Hair color: black.

Looks like: She definitely has my nose (poor thing), my ears, and Claire's face shape. She actually looks a lot like Claire did as a baby. She has Ben's long toes and fingers.

Eye color: We think blue, but she rarely opens her eyes, she just sleeps and sleeps so we're not totally sure.

 Look at that hair! And I had ZERO heartburn my whole pregnancy, so I really thought she would be bald.

Now for the story:

Last night Ben and I were having a really sweet moment putting Claire to bed. Instead of yelling, "NO! I don't want to go to bed!" or "Leave me alone!" or "Don't hug me!" she was saying sweet things like, "Mommy, I want a hug. And a kiss. And a tickle." I bent down to give her a hug and my water broke.

We didn't even have our hospital bags packed. We did at least get all the baby stuff down from the attic on Saturday and got the carseat installed, so that was good.

We called Ben's parents and they came and picked up the girls (who I have NEVER seen so excited- they were so happy to be able to spend the night at their house).

We got our bags packed and headed to the hospital. They checked us in.

Since we wanted a c-section and I had just eaten a large dinner- not knowing I was going to go into labor- we had to wait 8 hours before they could do the surgery. We were planning on the surgery being at 5 AM. But Camille had other plans. Why do my girls always have to do things their way instead of following basic instructions- like staying in the womb until the scheduled time.

At midnight I started having contractions, and by 12:45 AM they were prepping me for surgery.

At 1:49 AM she was born. And she didn't make a sound- she is the quietest little baby. Which is good- we have earned an easy baby! Hopefully she remains this way. Today she spent most of the day sleeping and learning to nurse- which she figured out immediately. She is a great eater! And when she cries, it is only for a minute until I change her position.

The c-section went well, even though Ben couldn't be there at the  beginning while they got me all drugged up. I hated not having Ben there- it was a little scary at first, but everything went well.

Today, we are now just exhausted from a long night! But, Camille is perfect in every way. The big sisters will be here in just a few minutes to meet their new sister.

I love having a newborn to hold! I'll post more pics and info later.

Just Clowning Around

 Audra made this little "outfit" at pre-school and the girls have had lots of fun being a clown.

 Claire put this creepy bunny outfit on the other day and was so proud of it- she insisted 

on me taking a picture of her.

Summer Fun

After a super long and cold winter (with only very little moisture), it looks like we are now headed for a super long and HOT summer. It was 89 degrees yesterday, and it felt like it was over 100 degrees. With Ben working super long hours, I decided to take the girls to a local park that has a little river and some sprinklers. They had a blast. It was fun watching them, but I definitely felt VERY pregnant and VERY hot! This baby can come any time now- I would not mind at all.

An Update

I figured it was about time I gave a little update on this whole baby thing.

I'm at about 35 weeks, and as you can see- I look like it! I am definitely in "whale mode" and there is no doubt that a baby is coming. Audra's friend was over today and she said, "you have a really fat tummy." Don't I know it!

Our due date is June 3rd, but we have a scheduled c-section on May 27th. I am hoping I make it that long. Some of you may remember that I had a scheduled c-section with Claire, but my water broke at 2 AM the morning of the c-section and we had to rush to the hospital and it turned into an emergency c-section. Hopefully that will not happen this time, though I do not hold out much hope. Both my babies came a week early- which is the earliest they will schedule a c-section- so we will see if I can hold out long enough to make it without any labor pains.

The doctor has said the baby is measuring a little big, so we may have an 8 lb. baby- which would be the biggest baby of ours.

Some differences of this pregnancy to the others are:

-I am very much out of breath all the time. I was never out of breath with my other two, but with this one I always am.
-I itch everywhere. All the time. It sucks.
-Braxton hicks. Ughh! At 26 weeks I had very bad contractions- like, really bad and I thought I was going into pre-term labor. I laid down for a couple of hours and they went away, but then came back the next day. I was pretty worried, especially because it was right before our trip to Utah. I have tried to drink lots and lots of water and that has seemed to solve the problem. Now I just have to go to the bathroom 5-7 times a night. I'm not sure how to solve that.
-Swelling- or lack thereof. Unlike my other two pregnancies where I got the largest cankles on the planet, this pregnancy has been quite swelling-free, which has been nice. I attribute it to the fact that I never took a plane flight. I did with my other two, and that's when my bad swelling started.

Most frequently asked question:

We get asked all the time about baby names. Here's the answer:

We have absolutely NO idea! We have a list, but nothing on it really stands out. At this point, I have no idea what the name will be. Trying to come up with a third girl name is proving most difficult.

Audra has new names everyday. Her latest names are: Sally and Ronna.

Claire has changed her favorite name from "Baby Poopy" to "Poopy Doggy." Unfortunately, as Ben and I have nothing better, they are included on our list.

I am still tired all the time, but I am hoping in 3-5 years I won't feel so exhausted.

We have not gotten any of the baby stuff out of storage yet, but the clock is ticking so we will be doing that within the next couple of weeks. I can't believe we're less than a month away! I am excited to see this new little one and hold her in my arms!