Family resemblance

Well tonight our plan was to go out for a fun shopping trip, but it is sooo windy and rainy here and since both girls still have the sniffles we decided to put it off until tomorrow.

Meanwhile my mom comes up and hands me a picture of Brooke. Only....it wasn't a picture of Brooke, it was a picture of me! What do you think, do we look alike?

Me

Brooke

This got me thinking of family resemblence in general and I went back for some old pictures. I personally feel that Brooke and Summer look alike, at least as infants.

Brooke as infant

Summer, of course.

Then I got curious of what Jason looked like as an infant. Back to the old photo albums, and this is what I found....

hehe..don't worry, he gets happier ;o) Day of Birth.

He was quite the chub-a-lubba, like Summer.

Awww...wasn't he adorable? 8 months old.

It's interesting to look back and see what people looked like as babies. I love looking at baby pictures, especially when the babies are now adults, and especially when the pictures are of family members and you can really see the resembelance.

Well that's it for my little walk down memory lane. Ciao!

 

Brooke's birth story

I'm a big fan of blogs, especially ones written by mothers. One thing I have noticed while reading them is that when a child's birthday comes up, often the mother will post the child's birth story and write a letter to the child. I thought this was a nice idea. Although Brooke's second birthday was over a month ago, I've decided to post her birth story anyway. I figured better late than never, and also to provide a perspective on the differences between my two birth experiences. So, without further ado, the birth of Brooke Sarah:

Birth Story of Brooke Sarah

 

I started feeling back pain on September 2nd. Brooke was already four days overdue, so I went to the doctor. He hooked me up to the fetal monitor and told me that I was not in labor, and that I probably wouldn’t go into labor for another 48 hours. When Jason got home I told him what happened and how the back pain was now much more worse, and felt more like cramps then back pain. We put pillows and blankets on the living room floor and lay down, watching all the Batman movies as the night progressed and my cramps got worse. Finally, around midnight, I somehow fell asleep. I was woken up at 2am by the cramps, which had gotten much worse. I rolled over to wake Jason up and that is when my water broke. I told Jason that my water broke and he asked me if I was sure. At this point I stood up and another gush of water came and I said, “Yes, I’m sure.” I went to change my clothes and get my bag while Jason called the doctor to tell her we were going to the hospital. We also called my mom because I wanted her in the room with us, and she said she would meet us there.

We got in the car and drove and the cramps were really bad and I was yelling. We got to the hospital and I was shaking, the pain was so bad. We got to the hospital and after filling out paperwork the nurse said, “OK we’re going to hook you up to the monitor now to make sure you are in labor” but the doctor walked up and said “It’s obvious she is in labor, get her ready” They brought me to the private room and had me change, then had me lay in the bed. They gave me medication through an IV, which didn’t take away the pain, but made me feel really drunk so that the pain was tolerable. My mom was already there and she sat with Jason in the room with me, talking me through the contractions. I remember one point laughing because of the way the medication made me feel. About a half hour later they gave me the epidural. They kept saying how I was progressing really fast, especially for a woman who has never given birth before. Right after the epidural hit I told them that I felt the urge to push. They checked me and said I was close to ready, and that I would be doing 3 hours of pushing. The nurse took one leg and Jason took the other and the nurse said I could do a little push “for practice.” So I gave a little push and all of a sudden everyone started yelling that they could see the head! I kind of freaked out because it was all happening so fast, and I asked for a mirror so I could see what was going on. They lugged this huge mirror down the hallway and when I looked in it I got scared and asked them to take it away. After 45 minutes of pushing, Brooke Sarah  was born into this world at Memorial Hospital on September 3rd, 2004 at 7:33am, after only 5 hours of labor and 45 minutes of pushing. They placed her right on my stomach and she was crying so loud and she was so beautiful!! She weighed 7 pounds, 9 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Her eyes were blue, she had thick black hair, and angel kisses on her eye, forehead, and back of neck

So there you have it. And, of course, what birth story would be complete without pictures? Here are some pictures of Brooke as a newborn:

new pics

Here are some new pics of me and the girls. Not bad, considering all three of us were sick as dogs when the pics were taken!

 

inspired

A truly inspirational video. One you must watch.

 

Sick babies :o(

The past couple days have been a little hectic around here. Brooke came down with a horrible cold on Sunday while at the IL's. She had a runny nose, cough, and slight fever. By the time she went to bed she was absolutely miserable. She kept waking up all night screaming because she was frustrated that she couldn't breathe. Also because her throat hurt. I know her throat hurt because I now have her cold, and so does poor Summer. Brooke is almost totally recovered, she only has the sniffles now, but it looks like this is one of those things that has to run through the entire family before going away :o(. Summer and I were up all night, poor Summer was so upset that her nose wasn't cooperating and my throat was killing me. Thank God Brooke is feeling better, with the way she was acting when she was really sick I couldn't handle taking care of them both at the same time.

Last night I went to my first La Leche League meeting. The women there were very nice. The meeting was a tad boring, b/c they were just answering questions about nursing and most of it I knew already. But I did get invite to the daytime meetings, which are more like playgroups, and to the other meetings at people's houses. So it is nice to finally meet other breastfeeding moms, yay!

Well poor Summer is starting to get fussy so I have to go. I do have more pictures of Summer, but I will have to post them later when I find the time. Ciao!

Differences

Well Summer will be three weeks old on Tuesday and it is still hard to believe that she is really in our lives. She brings such a joy to our days and she really does add to our family.

It's funny because Summer is my second child and I find myself comparing her to Brooke a lot. When Brooke was born I didn't really think of her having a personality until later. I just assumed that everything she did was what all babies did. Now that Summer is here I find myself seeing her personality already because she acts differently from how Brooke acted, which made me realize that all baby behavior is not the same and that her personality is shining through already. I think it's fun to think back and remember how things were with Brooke and compare them to how things are with Summer.

Differences:

One major difference, of course, is size and other physical characteristics. Brooke was 7 lbs 9 oz when born and had trouble with weight gain in the beginning. Summer was 9 lbs 4 oz and has already gained a pound, no trouble there. Although Brooke and Summer do look alike, Summer had my eyes while Brooke has Jason's, and Brooke had huge feet for an infant while Summer's feet look tiny to me. Brooke never got diaper rashes, ever, and yet Summer has had one since day 2. I have yet to use all those cute cloth diapers I bought her because I keep having to use Desitin on her rash. Her skin is definately more sensitive to things than Brooke's ever was. Summer is also more sensitive to what I eat. With Brooke I could eat what I want, drink five cups of coffee a day (and being in school at the time, I often would) and it wouldn't effect her. With Summer, I can't have caffeine (or she won't sleep) and I can't have anything carbonated (she'll projectile vomit).

I think these other differences show the differences in their personalities. Brooke hated to be held like an infant. She always wanted to be held so that she was sitting up. She liked to look around. Summer is the opposite, she hates being held sitting up and loves to be held like a typical infant. Brooke was never a crier per say but she didn't have qualms with crying. Summer is almost three weeks old and I've only heard her cry four times...she loves to communicate in other ways. Brooke hated being swaddled, Summer loves it. Brooke slept more than Summer does, Summer loves to have times where she just looks around and absorbs things.

Similarities:

There are a lot of similarities that I notice. Both love(d) to cluster feed then spend long blocks of time napping. Both sleep really well at night. Both love the boobie milk. And finally, the most striking similarity I find between the two is that they are both major Daddy's girls. That's right, Summer is barely three weeks old and she is a major Daddy's girl. If she isn't eating, then she wants to be in Daddy's arms. She is most content in his arms (unless she is hungry, of course).

Right now Summer is napping and Brooke is out with her Daddy to pick up a few things for tonight. We are having two couples come over for a poker/hang out night. It will be nice to interact with other adults. Ciao!

Long Friday

Well I was so proud of myself yesterday. I had both girls up, dressed and ready and in the car by 9am, a huge accomplishment considering I usually don't even fully wake up by 10am. I was excited and rearing to go to the playgroup. So, how was it? I don't know, we never made it.

I got lost.

Hopelessly lost.

As in we drove around for two and a half hours before I found my way back to someplace I recognized.

That pretty much put a huge damper in the day. Luckily, by some miracle, Summer slept through the entire trip and Brooke slept through most of it. The rest of the time she kept herself pretty occupied. But I still felt horrible because I had gotten her all excited by telling her we were going to a playgroup and I think she didn't understand why we never went. But we did end up going by Jason's work and taking him out to eat on his lunch break, so that was good. Later when he got home we went to Target and then just hung out at the house.

I still want to go to that playgroup, and when it happens next month I plan on trying again. Jason and I have examined his maps and we pretty much figured out where I went wrong, so next time I should actually get there (fingers crossed).