Friday, September 30, 2011

Birth Story From Another Perspective

Happy Friday bloggies!

My name is Heather from

One Fisch, Two Fisch and today Megan has thoughtfully asked me to stop on by Los Dos (Tres?) Daubertos as a guest blogger. I also happen to be Megan's sister... her youngersister she often likes to add.

Today I am going to recount a short story that is near and dear to our hearts, and will be one that we will tell Little Miss over and over throughout the years to come: the birth story of sweet Carmen Isabelle from my family's perspective:

When September 6th rolled around, I could hardly believe the day had come that my sister would bring a new, precious baby into the world. All the months of dreaming about what Carmen would look like and how she would act, had finally come to an end. This was the day we would get to meet her ourselves

I could barely focus at work Tuesday morning because I was counting down the hours until noon when I would leave town and head to Fairfax hospital in Virginia. How long would Megan be in labor? Would she deliver before I got there? Would Carmen come quickly or would she make us all wait for hours in suspense? These were the questions running through my mind as I raced down I-95 in the pouring rain. Baby Carmen, here I come!

I arrived at the hospital around 3:00 and met my mom in the cafeteria so she could fill me in on Megan's progress up to that point, while Megan and Michael tried to rest. Was this really happening? It seemed like yesterday that we were all gathering at the hospital to welcome baby Brianna into the world. And now it was Megan's turn. How time flies.

Mom and I then took a quick trip up to Megan and Michael's room to see Megan and say hi one last time before the two became three. Megan looked tired and calm and seemed a bit out of it, but was still beautiful with her perfectly curled hair. It was obvious they were both so ready to meet their little one.

Around 4:00 dad arrived with Preston and Brianna still dressed in their school clothes, but too excited to care. Next Ashleigh and Amanda arrived and we all sat in excitement and anticipation, hanging onto our cell phones for any word of Carmen's arrival. Just as we were preparing to leave for dinner, we got a text from Michael saying that Megan was fully dilated and had begun pushing! We knew that Megan could be in labor for awhile and that we'd have to wait at least an hour to see Carmen ourselves, so we set out for a quick dinner at Sweet Water Tavern. The food was delicious, but we were all distracted by the thought of sweet Carmen being born. So we scarfed down our food and rushed back to the hospital.

When we arrived at the Birthing Center waiting room, we saw Bill, Lissa, Sarah, and David Daubert already there. It was a large waiting room but we all somehow made it feel small by our loud, happy chatter, the massive baby girl balloons we had ready, the several baby gift bags, and all the video camera sitting on the floor. I'm pretty sure everyone in the waiting room heard our entire conversation and knew quite well that a Carmen Isabelle was being born; we were way too excited to be considerate of the noise level.

Sometime around 7:00 we saw nurse Lynne McLoughlin who we've known for years from church, come into the waiting room with a big smile on her face. We all held our breath while she said "Well, I'm happy to announce that as of 6:34pm, Megan and Michael became the parents of a healthy, perfect, 7 lbs, 13oz baby girl!" There was a quick pause, and then "AHHHHHHHH!!!" was all you heard as well all jumped up, cheered VERY loudly and clapped our hands in-between hugging one another. The excitement was priceless; the moment was precious; and I'll remember it for the rest of my life. It was such a fun, loving moment that it left me thinking "I hope that when this day comes from me, I will be near all my family and have them right there anxiously waiting for my baby too."

We tried to wait patiently to get the message that it was time for us to see the baby and Megan and Michael. Our Worthley family all fought over the Daubert's cellphones as Michael (accidentally?) sent a picture text of baby Carmen to his side of the family and not ours. We all grabbed for the phones and within one second of looking at the little image, said "Oh my goodness, she looks just the Megan! And Preston, and Brianna!"

Holding Carmen in my arms made my heart melt. It is so incredible to hold a new baby who is so tiny yet so real and alive; it really speaks for what a miracle it truly is. Megan looked great overall, and despite the fact that her face was a bit swollen and she appeared to be out of it, her hair was still perfectly curled.

The end :)


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

3 Weeks Old

It seems like Carmen is changing everyday. She is so adorable, we can't stop looking at her. I think I need to work on some other phrases to say to her besides, "You're so beautiful. You're so pretty." We've really missed Daddy this week. He's been on a business trip in Austin, TX and it's been so hard having him gone. We both miss him too much.

I can tell that Carmen knows full well who I am now. She calms down when I'm near and loves to for me to hold her. It's so precious. We are starting to work on falling asleep on her own for naps and it's painful for me - but I know it's best for her. I have great support and encouragement from our beloved Mallory and of course, Michael, but he's just been gone for a bit now. Here's some recent photos:
Our first time at church as a new family of 3
Carmen's first shopping trip to the mall. Had to get her some colder weather clothes. And an owl hat...pics of that to come.
First time spending the night at Grandpops and Nonni's house - with Mommy of course! Plenty of people to hold and love on her here.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Two Weeks Old

(This is the only topic my brain can handle at this month, so this is what you'll get)

Carmen had a wonderful two week old doctor's appointment yesterday. To my surprise, she weighed in at 8lbs 14oz! Nearly 9 pounds, but she still looks so little. She's a growing, healthy girl. Her doctor was so impressed. She has grown .25 inches longer which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and length. Her perfect little head is in the 25th percentile - I'm delighted! Her doctor said I could let her sleep as long as she'll go during the night since she's healthy. I still woke up to feed her last night, she was ready for a midnight meal.

Michael also gave her the first bottle yesterday evening. She did great with it. I wanted to introduce breast milk in a bottle sooner than later so that she would be sure to take it when I have the weddings in a couple weeks. I did feel pretty jealous of him while he rocked her and fed her. Feeding is still mommy's time with Carmen. She also rolled herself over from her tummy to her back while on the floor yesterday - twice. I was a bit surprised but my friend with a daughter a month older than Carmen said that was normal until she gets too heavy to push herself over. She's such a doll.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Nathan

Happy First Birthday possible future son-in-law! Carmen should be more interested in you someday.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Heavenly Perfection

Our little Sleeping BeautyCarmen is eating and sleeping SO well! We are very thankful. We have her two week appointment on Thursday so we'll see how much she has grown. I can already see and tell a difference in my sweet newborn.

Monday, September 19, 2011

The Stork

My sweet parents had this sign waiting for us when we got home from the hospital:




It was really fun to watch all the neighbors and dog walkers stroll slowly past our house and read the sign. The stork stayed for a week but I've still gotten some "congratulations" from people when I see them outside. It's kind of fun!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

First Week Photos

Going home from the hospital on Thursday afternoon:Snug in her car seat about to get in the car for the first time. Finally get to use our car as a baby mobile! Michael was so sweet; he had classical music playing when we got in the volvo. It was such a nice contrast from the monsoon that we were driving through. Carmen snoozed the whole way home.
Loving tummy time and the quilt Aunt Bek made for her
Michael couldn't wait to take her on a walk - I'm pretty sure this was our second day home. He was so cute, I couldn't be selfish and ask for him to wait until I was able to join. I missed them terribly while they were gone.
One of Daddy's favorite things
Beautiful girl
After her first bath at home. My pink little worm
All fresh and clean in her ducky outfit
Opening day for the NFL. Daddy took her next door to our neighbor's house and mommy got to take a little nap.
Getting sleepy, we're working on learning to sleep at night!