"Life Saver"

Having a newborn in the home is GREAT!!!! I love newborns, the smells, the tiny clothes, the little noises they make, and their crying,

BUT, it can be hard and frustrating...

loss of sleep.

being physically drained.

unable to focus 100%.

etc.

Miss Charlotte is at the stage in her life where she likes to fuss. I was reminded of this stage by my Relief Society President, when she visited and I told her how life has been going. She reminded me that at two weeks the fussiness in babies begin (which it did, once all our family left). Then it peeks at six weeks and starts to go back to normal after that. This comforted me so much and made feel like it's not me that is doing something wrong.

I had a "life-changing, life-saving" motherhood experience today and just have to share it with everyone. I'm on cloud nine right now with all of this and am just overwhelmed with happiness and joy.

I told one of my good friends about Charlotte's fussy stage and asked to borrow one of her books that I read with Zoie, and that I loved and would recommend for any mom of a newborn to read, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. Then she told me that she heard that moms who have read this book also loved "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp. I looked into it. I asked Ryan if they had it at the library, and they did. He checked out the DVD and requested the book for me.

I love these two books and plan on rereading them with each child we have. They are amazing and I've found all the information to be true and work with my children. I recommend these two books!!



This afternoon, I watched the DVD while Zoie napped and tried all the techniques he mentioned on Charlotte. It was a MIRACLE!!! Charlotte stopped fussing within a matter of seconds. I couldn't believe it. I told Ryan he has to watch the video and learn everything. It was the happiest moment of my life (well, one of the happiest).

sleeping with eyes half open like grandma erinn

and aunt blythe

The gist of the book is to help moms calm their crying baby and help their baby sleep longer. He uses five techniques. He calls them the five "S's".

1. Swaddling (Down, up, down, up technique aka DUDU)
2. Side or stomach (while holding baby in arms)
3. Shushing
4. Swinging or jiggling
5. Sucking

I HIGHLY recommend this book and DVD. It has been a "life saver" for me. I am able to get more things done around the house and hopefully get a couple extra hours of sleep at night.

Read the book, watch the DVD, try the techniques out and tell me how they worked for you. I'll post back in a week and let you know how Charlotte is doing and how our life has been since using these tips.

"Choosing a Name"

Ryan and I took forever to decide on the right name for Miss Charlotte. With that being said, Sunday morning Zoie wanted to read a book full of poems. So we sat on the couch and went to town reading poem after poem.

While reading we came upon this poem by Mary Lamb, "Choosing a Name". When reading this aloud to Zoie, I couldn't help but think that was, in a way, our process for choosing a name. Thought it was funny and thought I'd share the poem with you.

Choosing a Name

I have got a new born sister;

I was nigh the first that kissed her.
When the nursing-woman brought her

To Papa, his infant daughter,

How Papa's dear eyes did glisten!

She will shortly be to christen;

And Papa has made the offer,

I shall have the naming of her.

Now I wonder what would please her,

Charlotte, Julia, or Louisa?

Ann and Mary, they're too common;

Jane's a prettier name beside;

But we had a Jane that died.

They would say, if't was Rebecca,

That she was a little Quaker.

Edith's pretty, but that looks

Better in Old English books;

Ellen's left off long ago;

Blanche is out of fashion now.

None that I have name as yet

Are so good as Margaret.

Emily is neat and fine;

What do you think of Caroline?

How I'm puzzled and perplexed

What to choose or think of next!

I am in a little fever

Lest the name that I should give her

Should disgrace her or defame her;

I shall leave Papa to name her.

I thought the poem was funny, especially when "Charlotte" was the first named mentioned. W really said we like this name, but it's too common, it's to weird, etc. In the end we did decide on a name (obviously), and Ryan was the one that added Charlotte to the list and I chose her middle name, Leigh.

Do you guys have a process on deciding names for your children or any funny stories?

Zoie's Big Girl Bed

Today, I organized Zoie's room to get it all ready for her new big girl bed. A lady in our ward was giving away twin beds and we decided to take her up on that free offer and get one for Zoie. Zoie helped me put the sheets and everything on. She absolutely LOVES her new bed and is very excited to sleep in it.

Now onto the adventures of her falling off and not staying in her bed. It will be a fun, challenging experience for us. Here goes, wish us luck!!!

Charlotte's Blessing

Sunday, July 15th we blessed Charlotte. It was a wonderful blessing. I made Charlotte's Blessing Dress. I made one for Zoie and debated whether or not I should use the same one for Charlotte. I thought about it for a while and decided not to use Zoie's and make Charlotte her own. Charlotte has a different personality than Zoie did while she was inside of me and Zoie's blessing dress just didn't fit Charlotte. Also, when they grow up and get married (in like 20 years, hehe) and have kids of their own, if they so desire to use their own dress for their girls they each have one.

So enough said about that here is Charlotte's blessing dress. It is really long. It has four layers and the top layer is lace. I love the flowers, I cut out different size circles and held them above a lit candle, to give the circle a little curvy look to it. Then hot glued some pearls and silver beads in the center, then hand sewed them to the bodice of the dress. I am really pleased with myself and how the dress turned out. I think it fits Charlotte perfect!!! It took two of us to get her into the dress and she looked beautiful.

Charlotte Leigh was blessed by her father, Grandpa, Papa, and Uncle Shea. It was fun to have our families in town to share in this special occasion.

3 Weeks Old

Today Charlotte turned 3 weeks old. I can't believe it's already been that long. She is such a sweet and precious little girl. Charlotte has already started to develop her own little personality. I love it!!!

She looks a lot like me and also her own little self, if you know what I mean. At 3 weeks she weighs 7lbs 12 oz. Already way past her birth weight, which is great!!!

Here are a few things about Charlotte:

• LOVES to grunt and stretch all the time!! (even while she is sleeping)
• Doesn't cry much unless I wait too long to feed her.
• Doesn't fuss during diaper changes.
• LOVES to sleep on her stomach. She's a tummy baby!
• Her hands have to be up by her face while she sleeps and/or cuddles.
• Likes to be rocked to sleep.
• She sleeps for a good 3-4 hours all day and all night long. (longer if Zoie is napping while she naps, which is great! )
• Enjoys being outside.
• Puts up with the large amounts of kisses and loves from her older sister, Zoie :)
• Has a lot of patience with Zoie, touching her and being in her space

I am sure there is more that I am forgetting about, but this pretty much sums most of it up. We love Charlotte so much.

I am slowly getting the hang of having two kids. I have been alone with them all day only once, yesterday. It wasn't that bad. The only thing I struggle with is that Charlotte likes to get up while I am putting Zoie down for bed. That's a little hard to deal with and it's frustrating. Luckily, Ryan is now home every evening and can put Zoie down while I feed Miss Charlotte. I'll get the hang of things soon enough. So far it has been pretty good and Zoie has been a big help. She loves to help me with Charlotte. She is such a good big sister.

We love our Miss Charlotte!!!

They love each other!! :)

4th of July

My mom has been in town and it was fun to spend the 4th with her. We went into Lexington and walked around and ate watermelon. Zoie had fun running around and following all the kids. She had a blast. It wasn't what I expected, but that's because I grew up with the 4th being a big deal. But, we did have a lot fun.

We let Zoie stay up way past her bedtime, so we could do sparklers and poppers. She had a blast with the poppers and loved the sparklers, until she burnt her hand. Poor girl. Then some of our neighbors were lighting off fireworks and we stood in the street and watched. Zoie enjoyed them, a lot and got way excited when one went off. Charlotte did too, she didn't even flinch or cry. What a sport. :)

Charlotte's Birth Story

Thursday morning I woke up around 4 am with contractions. I tried to go back to sleep, but I just couldn’t. I looked at my phone when I started to get a contraction and for that whole hour I had contractions every ten minutes. I wanted to wake Ryan up and tell him, but didn’t if it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. So I waited. Five o’clock came around and the contractions got a little stronger and occurred every seven minutes. Five-thirty rolls around and contractions pick up to five minutes apart. At this point I decided I should wake Ryan and tell him what is going on. Woke him up, he rolls over; I tell him I’ve been having contractions since four and thought he should know. He said “ok. You okay?” Then went back to sleep. I obviously couldn’t go back to sleep, so I grabbed the lap top and started to watch “Scrubs.” (Our weekly date-night show, hehe). I ended up watching half an episode, because the contractions got so strong, the only way I was able to breathe through them, was to be up walking around. Its six o’clock and my contractions are now three minutes apart. I tell Ryan and he asks me if we are going into the hospital, so he would be able to take care of things at work. I told him it was a good possibility, if the contractions kept going at the rate they were going. For the next hour I cleaned the kitchen and made blueberry muffins. A quarter to seven I called my Relief Society President told her I was in labor and if we could drop Zoie off at her place. We got things together and taken care of for Zoie, then took off to the hospital.

I read a couple hypnobirthing books. I worked on the breathing techniques during my last trimester, especially when I was in early labor and they really helped me stay relaxed. It was about an hour drive to the hospital and those breathing techniques really helped me get through the contractions. Ryan was a big help and kept reminding me to breathe and relax my body. Something that works for me to help me not tense my body during a contraction is to have Ryan squeeze my hand while I focus on my breathing. Oh man, it works wonders. It’s weird I know, but what a difference it makes.
We get to the hospital and go up to the Labor and Delivery floor and get checked in. I checked in at 8:30am. They took me to my room; I changed into my gown and crawled into the hospital bed. My amazing nurse Linda had to ask me all the routine questions while another nurse was trying to put the IV into my arm. I tested positive again for Group B strep, except this time it was in my urine, so they needed to get the antibiotics in me as soon as they could. With Zoie, it took them six times and three different nurses to put the IV in my arm, this time around it took two nurses and three times. I HATE getting IV’s!!!!! The IV ended up in my elbow again (where they draw blood from normally). It was very uncomfortable and hard to move my right arm. Once all the necessary things were taken care of my doctor, Dr. Jensen came in to check my cervix. At my appointment Tuesday I was dilated to 3cm, so I was really hoping for some progress. It was about 9:45-10:00am when she checked and I was dilated to 5cm and 70% effaced. I was so stoked and started smiling. I was so happy and kept telling everyone how happy I was.

Of course, now all that was left to be done was to wait until my body and this baby girl was ready to go. I asked Ryan to give me a priesthood blessing. One of the things he said in his blessing stayed with me during the whole labor and delivery process. He said, “The Lord will be with you and will help you stay strong.” At that moment I knew I was going to have the strength and endurance to deliver my healthy baby girl.

After the blessing, I found that the only way for me to get through each contraction was to be up moving around and then to get down on the floor onto my hands and knees and rock back and forth. Then once the contractions picked up and got even stronger, I sat in the Jacuzzi. Man that was AWESOME and the BEST decision I made for this labor. I sat in that Jacuzzi for 40 minutes, during these 40 minutes Ryan talked to me and read the entire menu to me. Then I had to get out, so Linda could track the contractions and so Dr. Jensen could check my cervix. At this point, 11:00am, I was dilated to 7cm and 100% effaced. We just needed to wait for me to fully dilated to 10cm. I was excited, but so ready. The contractions were starting to really hurt me and making it hard for me to relax.  

I told my doctor and my nurse that I wanted give birth 100% naturally, no medicine, no epidural, nothing. After Doctor Jensen checked me she had to go do a surgery and said that she’ll be done in an hour and when she comes back we’ll have a baby. I was very excited to hear her say that. After she left, I jumped back into the Jacuzzi, but this time, it didn’t help me as much. Ryan was there holding my hand, and I kept telling him each contraction, “I want to push, I’m ready, she’s ready, I want to push.” He went and told Linda this and she came in and helped me out and checked my cervix. I didn’t have much change in my cervix, about 7.5 cm almost 8cm dilated, but the baby’s head had dropped a lot and was ready. So she was ready to come, but my body apparently wasn’t ready to help her enter this world. J It was 12:00pm and Dr. Jensen should be about done with her surgery and coming this way to deliver this baby girl. Linda, kept paging Dr. Jensen, because I kept telling her I was ready to push and was going too. I also kept telling them that Zoie was born at 12:19pm and it would be funny if I had this girl at 12:19pm too. J Dr. Jensen showed up at 12:15pm and they got me all ready to deliver. Dr. Jensen broke my water. After she broke my water, I was all ready to go and get this girl out of me. But nothing happened. The contractions weren’t painful anymore and I was all relaxed. Needless to say I was a little bummed. It was about 12:20pm and nothing was happening. Dr. Jensen told me this was normal, and just to wait. It’ll come soon and it’ll come fast and strong. So while we waited, I talked a lot and laughed a lot. According to my nurse, I was high on carbon dioxide, from all that breathing I was doing through my contractions. J I told them I must be a really strange and weird pregnant woman about to give birth, because I was laughing and kept saying I wanted to get her out so I can eat. I was starving and hadn’t had anything to eat since 7:00pm Wednesday evening. I really liked my nurse and doctor. Ryan was great the whole time. Then 12:25pm came around and BAM everything started to happen. I’m going to be completely honest, pushing hurt so bad. My doctor and nurse would tell me when to push, once I told them a contraction was coming and Ryan kept telling me how great I was doing and that I could do this. At one my point all three of them told me one more push, and hearing that I dug deep and pushed as hard as I could and for as long as I could. When I was done, I was expecting to hear my baby girl crying, but no, that was one last push so my doctor could see her head. Oh, it made me so upset. I was in so much pain and I had no more energy to push. I just couldn’t get myself to do it. Ryan was great and very supportive. A few times, my hips started to cramp up while I was pushing and that just made my pain shoot through the roof.  To recoup and get a little energy in me, my doctor told me to just breathe through a contraction instead of pushing and I did and it helped a bit. After that contraction, I told Ryan and Linda, that they were going to have to yell at me to push. That was one of the ways I was able to get myself to do it. Weird, I know. Crazy? Yes. But, hey don’t judge me, it worked and I saw my little girls head and with one more push she would be in my arms. At 12:47pm on the 28^th of June 2012, I heard my little girl crying and she was in my arms. My labor was eight hours long, only an hour in a half longer than Zoie.

It was the most amazing and happy feeling ever. She was covered with blood and all that white gunk, but to me she was the most precious and beautiful little girl. Ryan and I looked at her for a while, and decided on her name. Charlotte Leigh Congdon. We named her after my mom. Charlotte weighed 6lbs 9oz, her height is 20 ¾ in, and her head circumference is 12in. She’s just a tiny little girlie.

The spirit was definitely felt as she entered into this world, and I can’t help but think of the wonderful opportunity we had to be in the presence of the Lord moments before her arrival. We are so excited to have Charlotte part of our family. Zoie loves her so much, sometimes a little too much. We love her so much and are excited to be the parents of two amazing, wonderful, sweet little girls.