Wednesday, March 31, 2010

March Madness

And no, I am not talking about basketball, I am referring to this ridiculous weather! I love when we get teased with fabulous spring weather and get out to celebrate...And then three days later we are building snowmen...

We really do make the most of it and just hope for sunshine soon!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

One Week Old...

The kids are really starting to love our new little girl and always want to hold her (or as Roman says, "hold it!"):Even Capri has turned into Mommy's little helper (which includes shoving a pacifier into Karoline's mouth whether she wants it or not) and is so interested in how we care for baby Karoline:
We are just so glad they love her!
One week old and dressed in something other than jammies for the first time:
We think she is pretty cute!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bringing Home Baby

Our hospital stay was better than anyone could hope for due to incredible nurses, a great doctor, and one amazingly content baby. I couldn't believe how easy this new little peanut was in comparison to the twins! She slept for a 3 1/2 hour stretch both nights-the longest that either of the twins went was 2 hours and that didn't change for weeks. Because of my previous experience with newborns, I literally couldn't sleep as I would just stay up and wait thinking the nurse was bound to come in with her at any moment to eat. We seriously lucked out with this little angel!Here we are just about to leave and bring this bundle home to the rest of the family. Roman and Capri had come the day before (and I broke down crying tears of joy just because I had missed them so much!), but we couldn't wait to be home all together as a family of five:Check out our orange car seat! Tucker insisted on the orange/light blue stroller and this is the car seat to match. I really tried to "girly" it up by adding this darling cover-thank you grammy! It also led to the perfect coming home outfit in bright pink with little orange flowers-thank you grandma!
We always comment on how awkward the car seats can be to hold and Tucker got really strong doing this:






Saturday, March 6, 2010

Let the Pictures Begin!

Bath Time!She didn't love the bath, but didn't mind getting her hair washed at all:We love the hair...Mommy and a happy clean baby girl:
So many visitors:
Aunt Cheri
Big brother Roman who was happy to hold her and give her pats!
Big sister Capri who really didn't want to acknowledge the new baby...hmmm.
Grammy and Grampy
Uncle Richard, Grandma and Grandpa
I know our little Karoline feels very loved with all of her family coming to see her. Thank you Tanner and Drew for the flowers and I am sorry we didn't get a picture!

Karoline Marie Nielson is here!

How can I put today into words? Love, excitement, family, grateful, blessing, Karoline...just to name a few. It has been absolutely wonderful to welcome our new baby girl and I am in awe of my love for this new little one. I really couldn't be happier and feel incredibly grateful that our sweet Karoline (are you going to start singing the song?) made it here healthy and strong.
I guess I should start from the beginning of our adventure in labor and delivery though it was about as textbook as it comes. We had scheduled to be induced and I was supposed to be here by 7:30am. I woke up after a great sleep (thank you!) around 6:00am and was so excited to get ready, which really isn't the norm for me that early. Tucker got up a bit later and surprised me by saying we had gotten dumped on and it was still snowing. A bit crazy considering we had been having such a mild winter and had been teased with spring all week, but it will be something to remember. Anyway, once we got the ok to come in (thank you again!), we called Grandma to come over to watch the twins while we headed off to Alta View hospital.
Once here and checked in, my nurse Julie (who was the best nurse EVER!) started me on antibiotics for Group B Strep and pitocin to get things going. As great as it was that I was pain free, the contractions caused by the pitocin weren't helping things progress so we started the waiting game. It was actually kind of nice for Tucker and I to relax for a couple of hours and do some serious Sudoku, chat, and talk to family members.
My doctor came in around one and broke my water, finally! I soon started to feel the contractions and after a half and hour of that I was ready for my epidural. By then Cheri and my mom were there to keep me company and for that I am so thankful. Nothing like three people to worry about you and encourage you to skip out on the pain and go for the drugs! Soon after, Susie and Drew came and I had a full team to pamper me. I had been really nauseous so the constant cold washcloths on my head and neck were dreamy-thank you girls.
By 3:00pm, I had my Dad, Grandma Curtis, Richard and Cody there as well and it felt great to have so many loved ones there to support Tucker and I. Plus, Tucker's Dad and brother Tanner were truly the best to stay home with the twins. Then the boys gave me a blessing and I really felt comforted and even more ready to deliver.
Good thing because when they gave me the epidural only a few hours before, I was dilated to a four, but by then I had progressed to a 9. The nurse called the doctor and we were told to wait-no pushing yet! The time soon came at about 3:45pm. My epidural had worn off some so I was able to move my legs and feel some serious pressure, but no pain. It only took 3 sets of pushes and she was out. This adorable peanut was put immediately on my belly while they cleaned her up a bit and while I could simply adore her. She was perfect. The first thing I noticed was her hair. Neither Capri nor Roman had nearly as much (and both Tucker and I were pretty bald) so we were all suprised. The nurses then took her to check her out and she did great. She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and measured 19 1/2 inches long. She scored an 8/9 on the Apgar test and was crying quite a bit to let us know her lungs were working great. The staff was congratulating me on such a beautiful girl with a perfectly round head as if she had been born by c-section instead. I waited in disbelief-she was here safe and sound and I loved her so much already!
It was such a different experience with Karoline than with the twins considering I could actually hold her and keep her to myself immediately after the delivery. It was also really nice to share the experience with my sister and mom who weren't allowed into the OR with the twins. Things seemed just perfect and the best way to describe how I felt was true joy.
Everyone came in to see her and oohed and aahhed, but then left to leave the three of us to bond. She was crying quite a bit and I soon saw the signs of a hungry little girl. Isn't it amazing that they have these basic instincts such as rooting? I decided to try and feed her and sure enough she latched right on! She ate like a champ for a good hour and I was so pleased to know she was already adding some calories. Because she measured small for her age, they had to test her blood sugar level, but she passed (thank you again!) and rather than having to get poked every 2 hours, she will only get poked every 6.
Right after she ate, we moved into the recovery room and she got her first bath. She actually really like getting her hair washed and was so calm after that. The nurse had to take her out and show her off with her new little pink and white gingham bow nestled in that dark hair.
I was starving by then so Tucker headed out for some food...no, I am way to picky about cafeteria food. I sat and held my little girl and she fell asleep around 7:00pm. That must have been a long 3 hours for Karoline because she didn't want to wake up until after 10:00pm! Tanner and Drew came and visited with us and brought us some beautiful flowers, seriously so sweet of them. We had a good chat while they held her and even got her to open her eyes for a minute. Since then, we had to wake her up, feed her again for an hour, change her first poopy and get some sleep...something I should be doing right now at 2:40am, but simply can't get over how excited I am to see her once she wakes up. Life couldn't be better and I feel like one lucky mom!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Nesting...

I have had more fun nesting than anything else this pregnancy! I was so excited to finally have a girls room and a boys room to decorate and I really think we went all out. Roman's room isn't put together yet, unfortunately, because him and Capri are going to continue to share a room until baby #3 is sleeping through the night. Plus, how hard is it going to be to split the twins up?!
Anyway, with A LOT of help from Grammy, Grampy, Grandma, and Uncle Richard, I give you the girls room fit for a princess... or two! (Oh, and sorry for the terrible quality of pictures, my good camera is packed up in my hospital bag!)
Capri's big girl bed:In place of Capri's little pink chair and stool, imagine a white glider with khaki cushions-we are still waiting on its delivery!:Check out my sweet find on ksl.com! I bought this armoire and these two dressers from some guy in Sugarhouse for a total of $300. And never mind the lamp shade on top-we are getting the base fixed right now:Where the toy chest is right now, the crib for baby girl will go.My latest craft project...and only craft project I have done in years. I saw these darling floral balls hanging in a new boutique out here in Daybreak called Oopsy Daisy. When I heard there was a $75 price tag for each one, I decided to make my own. Super easy and I think they turned out even better than those in the store:
Needless to say I have a few finishing touches, but all in all, a success in putting this feminine room together.
And just a sneak peak into what Roman's room is going to look like...