Charlie's First Month

Wow!  Charlie's first month really flew by.  He is such a good baby and is getting so big!  At his one month appointment, he weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces (90th percentile), he was 22 1/4 inches long (75%), and his head measured 15 1/2 inches around (98%).  The doctor said he looks perfect, and I have to agree.  Everything at home is going great!  I am still on maternity leave until May 12 and trying everyday to talk Nick into letting me be a stay at home mommy.  ;)  Most days Henry, Charlie, and I just hang out at home.  We have kind of settled into a little routine at home, and I am still a little nervous about taking both boys with me to run errands.  Charlie is awake most of the day now.  I love watching him look around, and Henry loves it when he is awake.  Henry will always yell "eyes open!" when Charlie is awake.  Henry will get right up in Charlie's little face and talk baby talk to him.  It is the cutest thing ever...just melts my heart!  Charlie likes taking his baths now.  I think it relaxes him before bedtime.  He is a really good sleeper.  He usually goes to bed around 9 and then gets up around 2:30 and 5:30.  Nick and I each take a night shift and that is working well for us.  With Henry, I remember being so so tired all of the time.  It is not like that this time around and I don't know if it is because Charlie sleeps better, if Nick and I just have a better middle of the night routine this time, or both.  Everyone refers to our Charlie as our little laid back baby.  He is really laid back!  This little babe can sleep through anything...a vacuum, Oscar barking, or our wild little tornado named Henry. ;)  I am just loving life right now being at home with my boys!  I could not be more blessed!

The Birth of Charles Edwin

I was originally due with Charlie on February 28, 2014, but I was convinced throughout my whole pregnancy that he would come two weeks early just like Henry did.  I guess that's because my pregnancy with Charlie was so similiar to my pregnancy with Henry.   Both boys measured almost exactly the same throughout my pregnancies...both big boys :).  I was so convinced that Charlie would come early that I had everything ready at work and home weeks before his due date.  Sub plans were written at work, and my house was cleaner than it had ever been.  I was shocked when Valentine's Day came and went, and we still had not met our Charlie bear.  Every morning I would walk into work, and everyone would be so surprised that I had not gone into labor yet.  Every night I would leave work, and at least one person would convince me that I would go into labor that night.  I was just so anxious to meet my little boy!

Monday, February 17, was a horribly icy day, and school was canceled.  I had been patiently waiting for Monday to roll around all weekend because we had another doctor's appointment.  At this appointment, we were going to get another ultrasound of Charlie since he had measured so big at our last ultrasound in January.  Henry and I woke up and went downstairs to let Oscar out and make breakfast.  I grabbed an umbrella because it was pouring rain outside, and Oscar won't go outside when it's raining.  Our puppy is so spoiled that I was going to stand outside and hold the umbrella over him.  I opened the door to our back patio and as soon as I stepped onto the first step I slipped and fell in the middle of the patio.  Here I was nine months pregnant, in my pajamas, and laying in the middle of my patio in the pouring rain.  Henry and Oscar were just standing in the doorway staring at me.  I think that they were in shock of what just happened.  I called my doctor to tell her that I had fallen, and she said that she wanted me to go to the hospital for observation to make sure everything was alright with Charlie.  Nick came home from work to pick Henry and I up and head to the hospital.  On our way there, I told Nick that I hoped that I would go into labor while we there.  After two hours of observation, we were sent home.  Thankfully everything was perfectly fine with Charlie.  He was apparently very comfy in my belly and still not ready to come out.  Later that day, Nick and I headed back to the hospital for my doctor's appointment.  The ultrasound estimated that Charlie was over 10 pounds!  My doctor said that she had some concerns about me delivering due to Charlie's size so she suggested a scheduled c-section.  Nick and I left the doctor's office with a c-section scheduled for Friday, February 21 at 7:30 A.M.

I took off of work on Thursday because I wanted to stay home with Henry and make sure that we had everything ready for Charlie's arrival.  On Thursday night, Nick, Henry, and I went to dinner for the last time as a family of three.  After dinner, we took Henry over to Katie and Eric's house to spend the night.  Henry was SO excited to spend the night with his "Chae Chae", Eleanor, and Uncle E.  They even had a big brother cake waiting for Henry when we got there!  I could not sleep at all on Thursday night.  I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve.  I was so excited to meet my little Charlie!

Nick and I got to the hospital at 5:30 A.M. on Friday morning.  When we got there, we were told that another patient needed an emergency c-section so our c-section was pushed back to 9:00 A.M.  Charles Edwin came into this world at 9:41 A.M. weighing 8 pounds 15 ounces and measuring 21 inches long.  Our little boy was not quite as big as everyone had thought, but he was absolutely perfect!

We left the hospital on Monday and went straight to mom and dad's house to pick up Henry.  I missed my little boy so much while I was in the hospital.  I could not wait to get home and start our life as a family of four!

Henry has been an amazing big brother from the moment we told him that we were pregnant and he was going to have a little brother or sister.  He loves Charlie so much and is so wonderful with him!  I just know that my boys are going to grow up being best buddies.  I am one blessed momma!!!!