Harper’s Birth Story

First of all, thank you for all of the comments, tweets, texts and well wishes over the past week!  It’s hard to believe that we have already been a family of four for a week.  I guess I’d better get used to time flying by, though.  So before I forget it all, I wanted to document Harper’s birth story.  I thought I’d separate this post out from her announcement in case anyone wanted to just skip over the details… although there will be more pictures in this one.  Feel free to just skim the pictures if birth stories make you squeamish. ;) 

On Wednesday, February 6th, I woke up around 2:30am to go to the bathroom.  This was pretty par for the course at that point in my pregnancy; I think Harper was just camped out on my bladder.  When I laid back down, I had a contraction, but this was also nothing new as I’d been having them randomly for a week or so.  About 10 minutes later, I had another one, and given that my doctor had warned me at my 38 week appointment that labor would go quickly this time, I decided to stay awake to time them. 

After an hour or so of relatively easy contractions coming every 5-10 minutes apart, I decided to call the doctor and text my mom and dear friend Courtney. {Sidenote: Courtney is a college friend of mine who is more like an aunt to Hadley & Harper than just a friend – she volunteered to be the one to come stay with Hadley until my mom could get here whenever I went into labor.  And I kid you not, she responded within a minute of my texting her at 3:45am!  She is a true example of what friendship should look like.}

I woke Matt up and called the doctor and they said to go ahead and come to the hospital.  I showered and Matt loaded the car up while we waited for Courtney to get to the house.  We finally left for the hospital around 5am and I made Matt stop at the McDonald’s drive-through so I could get a bacon & cheese bagel and water for breakfast. (Totally unnecessary detail – yes, but I never said this would be short!)

We had to go to labor & delivery triage at the hospital since it was so early, but my doctor came down to check my progress and said I was around 3/4 cm and 50% effaced.  We had to be monitored for 20 minutes to track my contractions, and then they told me to go walk around the hospital for 20 minutes or so, and then come back.  After we got back, they put me back on the monitor to watch my contractions for another 30 minutes and then sent us to go walk again.  We got back from the second walk around 8:30a and they checked me again.  This time I was almost at 5cm but still 50% effaced.  We had to wait a little bit, but finally around 9:30a they came back to tell me I was going to be admitted and they were waiting on a room for me. 

We both breathed a sigh of relief to finally know that we weren’t going to leave the hospital without a baby; although my relief was also filled with anxiety about what was to come.  My contractions were still not unbearably painful and weren’t coming that much closer together, so I wasn’t sure when I should get the epidural.  I didn’t want to be a wimp and get it too early, but when my doctor came back to check me again after we were admitted it almost brought me to tears from the pain.  When she said at the next check she was also going to break my water I decided I wanted the epidural before that time came! 

The epidural hurt more than I remembered this time, but that’s probably because my labor wasn’t as painful as it was with Hadley,  By 10:30a the epidural was kicking in and I decided to try to take a nap.  My doctor came in to break my water around 11:30 and told me I was between 5 and 6cm and to rest for a bit.  They left and just said to call if I felt any pain or pressure.

Well, I didn’t get to rest much as around 12:25 I started feeling pressure like I needed to push.  I called the nurse and she came in, did a quick check and said “well, let’s do a practice push… you’re ready!”  I laughed, assuming she was joking, to which she replied that no, I was indeed ready to push.  After one practice push she told me to stop and called for the doctor.  I started pushing at 12:38 and Harper was born 8 minutes later at 12:46pm!  Much nicer than my hour and a half of pushing with Hadley. 

Letting the nurse know she was NOT happy about being away from momma.

Sleeping in daddy’s arms :) Much better than the giant pout Hadley gave…

Heading home with our newest little girl! Feeling so blessed.

One more post of when Hadley met Harper (also known as the moment Hadley became a little girl instead of my baby – cue the tears) coming soon.

Announcing…

Miss Harper Kate made her arrival into the world on Wednesday, February 6th at 12:46pm. 

8lbs 5oz and 20.25in

She is perfect in every way and we are feeling so blessed that God would entrust these two precious, sweet little girls to us!  More pictures and Harper’s birth story to come…

Me and My Girl

These pictures are extremely blown out and not processed well at all, but I still love them.  Hadley had a rare day of sleeping in yesterday and was generally in a good mood most of the day so we took advantage of it and had a fun girl’s day!  We spent a lot of time outside, did a little shopping and had a lunch date.  I’m not sure how many more days we’ll have just the two of us, so I wanted to be sure to capture this one!

Harper’s Room

This will likely be the last “decorating” post on here for awhile.  For some reason I just don’t foresee myself having a lot of time to work on the house with 2 little girls to keep alive love on all day! Hopefully, some day in the not so distant future, I’ll get back to it, but for now, I’ll leave you with Harper’s nursery!

I thought it might be fun to see quick before and after, too.  The before has the seller’s things (and is eventually probably similar to what this room will look like again, as it won’t stay Harper’s room once she and big sister are on similar schedules).  This is also the reason we didn’t paint in this room yet; I don’t know how long it will stay Harper’s room before it goes back to a guest room.  Hadley’s room has a jack & jill bath that connects it to another room, so long-term, the girls will both be upstairs, but for now, I am so thankful to have an extra bedroom downstairs to use as a nursery!

Here’s a source list for most of the things in the nursery…

• Crib: Delta Sedona Classic Crib – White (Babies R Us)
• Dresser: Hemnes dresser – white (Ikea)
• Glider: Little Castle Swivel Glider – Green (Target)
• Nightstand: Hemnes – white (Ikea)
• Rug: Mandara Hand-woven pink shag rug (Overstock.com)
• Curtains: blackout liners from Pottery Barn/ white drapes from Ikea
• Shelf: Hobby Lobby
• Bedding: Kumari Garden custom set by Etsy shop KozyKidzShop {sidenote: I cannot recommend Kathy ENOUGH! She was so great to work with!)
• Monogram above crib: Etsy shop ScrappinPlus (this is the 30” vine monogram and I painted it with craft paint from hobby lobby)
• Prints above dresser: Ordered from The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy on Etsy
• Shelf décor: Large framed print (this was a gift from one of my dear friends and college roommate, so I don’t know details but the print was bought on etsy); blue frame – Target; pink H – hobby lobby (again, painted with craft paint); green & pink birds – hobby lobby
• Lamp: Home Design on Amazon

A house update: paint!

I know I have been awful about posting pictures of the house now that we are in and settled, but moving with a two year old when you’re pregnant doesn’t make for a lot of down time and decorating. 

That said, as our Christmas present to each other this year, Matt and I decided to get some painting done (as you might remember me mentioning, I basically want every inch of this house repainted at some point – walls, trim, doors, shutters, you name it!)

We decided to start in the kitchen.  Even though this isn’t finished yet, because I haven’t finished making the new valances (even though I have all the fabric – I got distracted by the nursery), I still LOVE the change the paint made!

So, here is the first set of house before/afters (with a sneak peek at the valances).

Before:

During: (Although the trim already had one coat done, you can see the difference between the two walls pretty well in this picture below.  Just for reference – the color of the door is the color of the old trim.  The door will be painted one of these days, too! One thing at a time!)

And AFTER: (sort of – minus the new valances)  The paint colors used were Sherwin Williams Universal Khaki on the walls and dover white on the trim.

And here is a quick preview at the fabric for the valances – this one is just pinned up there, will have ties, etc…

Hopefully the valances will be finished soon and I’ll have better “after” pictures for you then!  With a new baby on the way, though… I’m not making any promises!

Hadleyisms

With Harper almost here, I know I won’t have time to write the long update posts on either girl like I’d want, but Hadley is at such a funny (and exhausting and trying) age that I want to be able to remember some of the funny things she says and does, so this will serve as a brain-dump type of post with our most recent Hadley-isms!

• We went to CVS recently to get some medicine and buy some colic-calm to have on hand before Harper arrives.  We were in the baby aisle and I turned around to find Hadley holding a giant package of diapers.  She held it up to me and said “here, momma – baby harper prob-bee need dis.”   {ha – yes honey, too bad they were pull-ups for kids your size!}

• Our little negotiator constantly tells us “two minutes” and holds up her finger (with only 1 finger, mind you) anytime you tell her it’s about time to do something else (time to change your diaper, time to go take a bath, time to eat dinner, etc…)

• Still learning pronouns – anytime Hadley wants you to do something with her she uses “you” instead of “me” – for example: carry me upstairs becomes “carry you”; chase me daddy becomes “daddy, chase you”

• Hadley will bring me my phone randomly during the day and demand: “mommy – tall nana” (call).  And if nana isn’t available for facetime… a meltdown ensues

• She loves to comment on the weather outside.  If it’s breezy at all, as soon as we walk outside she exclaims “oooh! windy out-tide!” “burrrrrrr!”

• This one has me a little worried for when baby sister arrives… Hadley will be playing with her baby doll and then will “drop” her or “accidentally” slam her head into the ground, then she’ll say “wah wah” like the baby is crying, all so that she can pick her up her baby to console her.  And there are usually about 20 “momma, momma”s thrown in there to make sure I see that baby is hurt and that she is consoling her by hugging and rocking.  Let’s just hope she doesn’t stage those “accidents” in order to console little sister

{we were watching Elmo on the couch together and sweet girl just laid her hand on my stomach and said “hi bay-bee haw-purr”}

A Bump-date (of sorts)

I won’t even pretend to make excuses for how poorly I’ve been keeping up with the blog lately.  But seeing as how I’m due in 2 weeks with little sister Harper, I figured I should post some type of pregnancy update along with a bump picture or two to document this pregnancy!

When I was pregnant with Hadley, I posted this survey every time I did an update, so I figured I’d use the same one, and try to include a little summary in each section from the majority of the pregnancy!

How Far Along: one day shy of 38 weeks

Total Weight Gain: Oh gosh, this one is bad.  I think I’m close to 40lbs now?  Crazy to think that at the beginning of this pregnancy I lost weight and didn’t even start gaining some back until around 13 weeks.  Also – I can’t believe I’m posting that for all the world to see – but I do want to be able to look back on this and remember where I was at each point in the pregnancy…

Maternity Clothes: I think I started wearing maternity clothes around 20 weeks this pregnancy.  Because I lost weight in the beginning, a lot of my maternity clothes from last time didn’t fit until then.

Best Moment this week: Spending 2 hours with a girlfriend getting our nails/toes done, sitting in a massage chair and chatting about our little girls! (she has one 5 months older than Hadley and is due 3 days after me.)

Gender: Still a girl for all we know!  - Harper Kate:)

Movement:  If Harper’s movement on the inside is any indication of what type of baby she’s going to be on the outside, we are in for it!  She is CONSTANTLY moving.  Those kick-count things the doctor tells you to do – takes me about 5 seconds to reach the movement count they want you to feel in an HOUR.

Food Craving: After being sick until about 20 weeks this pregnancy, I really didn’t have any true “cravings.”  I cut caffeine out of my diet cold turkey for the first half of the pregnancy, but since then I’ve been allowing myself a chai tea, sweet tea or diet dr pepper when I want one!

Sleep: I had some insomnia in the beginning of this pregnancy, but chasing a toddler around while pregnant definitely helps with that.  The biggest issue I have now is that Harper is so low that I think she’s just camped out on my bladder.  I was up 5 times the other night to go to the bathroom. 

What I am looking forward to: Actually holding our sweet girl in my arms and seeing Hadley meet her baby sister

Belly Button: Has basically been non-existent since about 30 weeks. 

Symptoms: Aches, pains and more aches and pains!  I think I’m carrying Harper a lot lower than I carried Hadley, and because of that, my hips are constantly hurting.  Walking around the grocery store is quite a feat these days! 

The last (and only) bump picture I posted was from 16 weeks(!) here - http://brittanyandmattcoleman.blogspot.com/2012/09/boy-or-girl.html 

Here are the others I’ve taken since then!

That last picture is only 2 days off from the one before, but I was wearing the same outfit as one I wore in my pregnancy with Hadley so I thought it would be fun to compare.  I think it’s pretty obvious how much lower I’m carrying Harper, yes?!  Yikes!

Alright, now to continue checking things off my to-do list before little sister arrives!  I have just a couple more final touches on her nursery and then I promise to share pictures!