It's a Wonderful Life

I love my life! I am happily married to the best husband in the world and we will be celebrating 4 amazing years this October, and we already have a wonderful  home and the smartest and sweetest dog that has ever been! And now we have the sweetest, most beautiful baby girl that I ever could have asked God for. And I am SO lucky, that I get to spend 100% of my time with her over the next six weeks, snuggling, kissing, rocking, staring and just plain loving on her. Some people may think I'm crazy, or maybe sleep deprived (which I'm surprisingly not), but I think I am the lucky one- I don't know what I did to deserve any of this but I am thrilled that God has blessed me so much :-)

So enough about me, I know you all want to hear about Charli. We have been very fortunate that she (like her momma) likes to sleep. We have to spend our energy waking her up to eat on time, which is so much fun because you can pick her up and kiss all over her and she doesn't wake up, and hardly any energy getting her to fall asleep. We started supplementing with a couple formula feedings per the Dr. and I must say I think he's a genius! Once we started that, I felt mounds better and started healing and resting well and just had a better sense of relief knowing she was getting some good full feedings. Michael and I also put together a schedule to start her on- its pretty flexible but its a great guide for us to try to stick to and is helping her get her body regulate. She now sleeps about 3 1/2 hours, eats, and then sleeps another 5 hours during the night and goes right back to bed after each feeding. Then when she wakes up at 9, she has a long wake time, which is wonderful because its just mommy and baby and we get to talk and play :-) I think daddy really enjoys the schedule too because he now gets the 6 am feeding while mommy sleeps, so he gets some great daddy & Charli time too.

On Monday we had our newborn picture session with Melinda Solfronk Photography. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to do any photo shoots, whether for whole family, school pics, babies, maternity, wedding, etc. She is amazing- you can see both our maternity pictures and the preview of Charli's newborn session with her on the right side of the blog- I can't wait to get the rest of Charli's session and will add those to the slideshow once we have them. Charli did wonderful- she slept and let you move her around as much as you wanted though she would them go back to the same sleeping position on her side :-) After she woke up and ate we got in a few more shots before she was just done and wanted us to leave her alone, but I think we got plenty of great pics! We have had lots of visitors and continue to welcome them to love all over her as well. We don't want to be selfish- we'll let everyone else see how amazing she is too :-)

We added a bunch of photos to the Picasa albums- check them out! Some of the quality isn't great as its hard to take pictures by yourself while your holding her, but I didn't want to hold any back because she just looks so dang cute in everything she does!! :-)

With love,
Michelle

We Are HOME: The First 48(ish) at Home Report

So we have been home for over 48 hours now, so I figured it was time to post an update. We got home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon and Charli loved the car ride home- I guess most infants do. We brought her inside in her car seat to let Izzie get accustomed to her and Izzie ran un to her and rubbed her cold nose all over her face :-). We had our first bath Wednesday night and Charli hated it! Well I think it was a combination of her being hungry already and also being cold, but she was really happy when we dried her off! I then braced myself for our first evening alone, but to my surprise she did amazing! She slept 4 hours in between both middle of the night feedings, and actually would have gone longer if I hadn't woke her up to make her eat. Then she went back down in her pack 'n' play and laid there quietly until she fell back asleep. I was the proudest (and probably best rested on night #1) mamma ever!

Thursday was a quiet day filled with cat naps and baby watching. Michael and I have quickly found that we could stare at Charli, whether sleeping or awake, for hours on end. From day 1 at the hospital we have found that she is pretty gassy and needs quite a bit of help moving the air bubbles around, and evening 2 was mostly remembered by a pretty fussy baby. Poor little girl could not get comfortable, and Michael and I wanted nothing more than to make it go away :( Its so sad when you can not do anything to ease their cries. Needless to say the night went about the same and mom was up most of the night just trying to calm her down.

Friday was a fun and entertaining day as it was our first family trip out of the house. We had Charli's first Dr. Appointment. Michael and I really like the pediatrician, he keeps things simple and obviously loves baby's. He gave Michael and I quite a few tips that we both have found very useful. Daddy set Charli on the scale to see her weight, and as soon as diaper came off, the peeing started, all over daddy's shorts and shirt. :-) Good day! Of course it didn't phase her at all. Unfortunately she still has a little yellow coloring so we had to redo her jaundice test which meant wandering over to the hospital and waiting for 30 minutes and then her getting her heel pricked again- like we said before, she's definitely got some good lungs on her! We got her home and during her after-lunch nap, daddy got peed on again :-) Obviously I'm enjoying this! We gave her bath #2 which consisted of the same cold cries, and ended with mommy getting pooped on- I guess I deserved it after all the laughs a daddy. Again, Charli didn't seem too concerned where the poop landed. Daddy got some good bonding time with 2 evening bottle feedings, while I went to bed early so we both were able to get some good sleep! We are very blessed that Charli loves to sleep!

We couldn't be happier to be home and feel so blessed with what God has given us. We definitely think she is the cutest little girl that there has ever been and just can't seem to love on her enough! Here are some lessons learned in these first few days (hope you get some good laughs) as well as some snap shots of the Little Lady! Enjoy!

Lesson 1: When you hear the poop, go ahead and wait another ~15 minutes before changing- or you might end up with poop everywhere!
Lesson 2: Not only does baby need more than one outfit when we leave the house, but best to bring a change for mommy and daddy too.
Lesson 3: Never assume a closed diaper is a good diaper :-)
Lesson 4: Spit up comes fast

Lesson 5: It is not only boys that pee while being changed

Charli Looks Like....

   It was an inevitable question, i guess. My thought has always been that newborns don't resemble there parents anymore than they resemble the baby next to them! However, apparently I am in the minority! As soon as Charli Came out, many of our guest began sizing up her facial features in comparison (Cough, Grandma Joan, cough) to her parents. So The question is simple, Who does Charli resemble?

Below is a picture of each of our newborn pictures.  I have created a poll on the side.
Feel free to weigh-in!

48hr Recap

   Following the "decision" post, we talked to friends family, doctors and of course prayed. Our decision was to induce labor on Monday August 1, 2011.

The check In

   Michelle and I arrived and checked into Methodist Hospital Katy @ 9:00 PM Sunday July 31, 2011. Our nurse checked us in immediately and we all began prepping for the days ahead. I immediately set up camp, Michelle attempted relax and read, and the nurse did... well..... the things Nurses do to set up for an upcoming induction.
Guest in attendance: Just one, and they may or may not have stayed until 1 A.M.

The Big Day

   After a decent nights sleep (conditionally speaking) Michelle woke up ready to take on the world :). Dr. Schmidt came in at approximately 9 A.M. At that point we discussed the itinerary and she broke Michelle's water. At  9:45 they began the medicine to induce. Michelle progressed rather quickly, with no hang up's at any particular dilation. Before I knew it, it was 5:20 and we were asked to clear all of our guest from the room. With just the nurse and I remaining, Michelle began pushing with every contraction! Charli crowned around 5:50 pm. At that point we decided to wait for Dr Schmidt to come in from a previously  scheduled C-Section . With Charli ready to arrive Dr. Schmidt entered the room, and WALAH Charli was born @ 6:05 PM. The staff, Michelle and I stayed in there a little while as the baby was weighed and the room was cleaned up. After a little bit of quiet time, I rolled out Lil' Charli to meet her extremely loving friends and family in attendance. Around 8 PM the room was open to all as Charli greeted many. The nursery soon took Charli and bathed and warmed her before her return to the room. 

Guest in attendance- Relatives: Grandma Joan, Grandpa Robert, Uncle David, Granny Jackie, Aunt Melissa, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Jeff, and cousins Jacob, Jeffery, Brooke, & Megan. Friends: Christi, TJ, Megan, Angela, Kristen, Debbie, Jimmy, Roy, Sharon, Travis, Ashli, Kirby, Victoria, Kaylin, Josh, Jonna, Zoe, Dave, Craig, Linse, & Eli

The 1st Full Day with Charli!

   It was a long first night! (primarily for Michelle) Charli was pretty fussy and seems to be dealing with a lot of gas. We soon realized she had her momma's lungs! :) Michelle awoke to feed and sooth Charli quite often. I attempted to sooth Charli in the morning to allow for Michelle's first real rest in a while. With the constant evaluations it was hard for her to sleep long. However, Charli was happy! She was very peaceful and happy almost all of day 1. We again had many guest to come visit her and love on her, from 8 months to 90+ years. A pretty incredible day! She did extremely well and was only fussy for a stint during a photo session and the 10 o'clock post feeding (gas issues again). We are going home TOMORROW!!!!!

Guest in attendance: Family: Grandma Joan, Granny Jackie, Great Granny Moon, Great Uncle Merle, Great Aunt JoCarol, Uncle David. Friends: Christi, Avery, Trey, Donna, Jimmy, Lisa, Jeremy, Kristin, Brooklyn, Edna, Jonna, Josh, Jacob, Travis, Ashli, Kirby, Victoria, Rob, Ashton, Tara, Linse, Lucas, Kristen, Angela, Pat, Toni, & Debbie

Here are some snap shots from the "48"  

Charli has arrived!

Charli Nicole Westermeyer:

• Born- August 1, 2011
• Time- 6:05 PM
• Loc- Houston, TX (Methodist Hospital Katy)
• Weight- 7lb. 9 oz.
• Length- 20.5 "

Both Mom and Baby are healthy! Charli is more beautiful then we could have ever imagined!

This is Charli's first ever Photograph, it was taken just minutes after birth!