Hi Ladies!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm still on cloud nine here but Poppy is sleeping, Charlie is nearby and I am taking a moment to give you the update on my c-section....
So last Sat night, Charlie and I went out for a lovely nice quiet dinner as we laughed and said this MIGHT be the last weekend we have to ourselves for awhile! Well, we had a great time but the next morning, I woke up with some cramping pain....Not that this was new, I had been getting TONS of braxton hicks all along, esp last week, so I brushed it off. But when I went to get up for church about an hour later, I was still getting the contractions but they were so random. Charlie asked if we should time them and I said there was nothing to time! So I decided not to go to church but Charlie did and left me a pen and pad of paper and said just write down the times they start while he was out. When he got back home an hour later, I had a bunch written down but they were 8 mins, 12 mins, 37 mins, 9 mins....all over the place! The OB said to call her when they were 5 mins apart and I didn't see that happening. Charlie looked at my list and said, honey, we're having a baby either today or tomorrow! I started to cry and said "NO we are not!" It was my brother's bday on Sunday and I share my bday with another brother and I didn't want Poppy to share a day with anyone! Sounds crazy I know, but since I share a bday and I'm not a twin (we are 9 years apart) I just wanted Poppy to have his own day (besides that brother isn't very nice!). The rest of the morning and early afternoon gave me the same irregular contractions but by the time dinner time came (and the superbowl), they had stopped and I only got about 2 more before bed. So I convinced both of us they were the false ones.
HA.
I slept poorly as usual, and at 3:20 when I had only dozed for about an hour total, I got a contraction. It passed pretty quick and they at 3:30, I felt like a CLUNK in my pelvis...I said outloud "OH" and sat up. Immediately, my water broke! Charlie had stirred with my OH and when the water broke I yelled his name and he was instantly up when I said, MY WATER BROKE and ran to the bathroom in the midst of the huge gush.
Can I just take a moment to say here that it is SO not like they show in the movies....where they have a cupful of water and women go "oops, there it goes". This was like the Poland Springs 6-gallon JUG of water that burst and you CANNOT STOP IT.
Anyways...all over the rug and bathroom floor.....then it started coming in fits, trying to empty fully, I guess.... so in between more gushes, I open the bathroom door to Charlie dressed, phone in hand saying what do i do?? I asked him to call the OB and thankfully our OB was on call. She called right back and asked me a few questions, one of which was "do you feel the baby move?" I said no, should I??? She laughed and said, you are prob all freaked out, don't worry, go to the hospital Now, I'll meet you there.
At that point, I was calm, water mostly gone out of me (although had a few more runs to empty out) and we got to the hospital quick - we are 5 mins away anyways. The nurses were great, got me in a room, ready and 10 mins later, our OB was there. They had the monitors on me measuring the contractions and once I spoke with everyone, They walked me to the OR at 6:11am. Got the spinal, immediate numbness, Charlie came in with his scrubs on (handsome!) and sat by my head looking very nervous for me. The OB was great, talked us through everything, telling me she had to make the incision bigger because he was breech....and then she asked what we thought either a boy or girl and we said boy, she laughed and said "yep, it's a boy!" He came out bum first and then promptly peed! That's my boy!!!! The OB kept saying, oh he's so chunky! Then she said if we lasted to the delivery day, he would have been 9.5 pounds.....what a chunk!
So Charlie got a few photos and then got to hold Poppy and looked so happy! I was wheeled back to the room and did just fine for awhile, but then the gingerale they gave me just came up over and over. Poor Charlie was holding and swapping the buckets for me.....he really is a peach. I was able to move my legs pretty quickly and I kept doing it to speed up the recovery. I was taken to the final room we stayed in for the next 4 days and was able to get some much much needed skin-to-skin with Poppy while Charlie made some phone calls.
They took the catheter out the next morning at 5am and got me out of bed. Because the incision was bigger and the baby was big, I have a burning sensation on my right side of the incision but it's getting better.
The incision also started weeping on the second day and for the next day and a half I was just told it was normal but when it started getting heavier weeping they got another OB to look at it and I have a pocket of fluid between one of the staples that MAY become infected if it doesn't drain. And the more I move, the more it drains and hurts like hell. So they put me laying down flat and the OB stuck a huge q-tip between the staples and dug around to open it more to drain. IT HURT SO MUCH! I was in tears for about 2 hours afterward and I am still draining now. My OB came in Friday morning and checked it out saying she wasn't going to stick me with the q-tip but would take the staples out on Tuesday and at that time she would decide if it was draining well or if she needs to do something else to it
The good thing was that we didn't need to stay in the hospital any longer and went home Friday morning!
Charlie stayed with me all week in the hospital and was SOOOO awesome to me. He is so in love with Poppy it brings tears to my eyes. He loves holding him and held him just as much as I did in the hospital! And got up with me every feeding to fix the pillows and when breakfast time came, he would sit on the bed and feed me while I fed Poppy. And he has been doing every diaper change so far - even when at home - because it hurts the incision to bend over even slightly.....and he does every burp after I feed! He loves to hold him and always says "just a few mins longer" when I offer to relieve him.
Poppy makes us both laugh all the time as he's so alert and looks around so much and picks his head up all the time!
So I am breastfeeding exclusively. And I have quite a porker on my hands! We had a TON of cluster feedings one night before the milk came in - almost 4 hours straight! I would feed for about 50 mins, put him down and 10 mins later he was wanting more! My milk came in with a vengeance, let me tell you! So much so that he has a hard time latching on because I'm so full! I have started pumping after some feedings and have pumped an extra 6 or so ounces AFTER a 30 minute feeding session (even offering both breasts!)! So I have no issue with milk production.....but I do feel very cold after I feed...no fever or red streaks but just cold. I di have a call into the lactation and OB people to make sure it's just hormones.
Our first night home was a rough one, I was a bag of hormones, convinced SIDS was going to happen, convinced he was cold and shivering and he slept so poorly we were up ALL NIGHT LONG! Charlie was groaning he was so tired and too old to do this and my hormones, already so over the top, couldn't take it and I was in tears most of the night! Then Poppy was having biiiiiig poops and peed all over the bed and Charlie was SO frazzled! The swaddle we did with the blanket didn't work, he kept getting out of it! The next night we put him in a sleep swaddler sack and he slept straight for a few hours until each feeding and went right back to sleep. We were all able to sleep!!!!!! God knew what He was doing when He made babies so adorable - all the frazzled feelings and lack of sleep go away when you look into your baby's beautiful face and they are looking back at you.
One last cute thing about little Charlie - when he gets really hungry (which is about every 2 hours!) he makes a sound that sounds like an OINK!
Charlie and I laugh and call him our little piggy and then he feeds with a vengeance! We already have a little ritual we started right away in the hospital....when Charlie hands me Poppy to feed in the cradle hold, I say "hello my angel" and kiss his face and then he raises his little foot to my mouth and I kiss that too! Sometimes I forget because he's so frantic to feed but he still sticks his foot up until I kiss it and then will settle down and feed....and stare at me! My heart melts.
Charlie is home for this week too then will be part time from home for awhile and his work is about 5 mintues from home anyways. I have such support from him and I feel blessed. Doubly blessed with little Charlie Jr. and Sr.
The pictures are so cute to me - and I love the one of Charlie holding Charlie - he just looks so happy.
Ok love to you all ladies.....just want to say that Jules, little Gabby is SO GORGEOUS!!!!!!! Amazing! I want to scoop her up and kiss that perfect little face! She is a beauty and how wonderful our babies share a day! Happy birthday to our babies - they are a week old today and have learned so much in a week!
I'm writing up my birth story which I will post when ready, plus I need to read back a few pages and catch up with you all!
I hope you are all doing well!!!
LOVE it! This was the prime time to get her photo's done. She is REALLY photogenic!
and yep, the poo gets NASTY as you move into solids, and especially noticeable if you have been bf'ing only (bf poo doesn't smell as much as all the other kinds). I will admit we have had to relocate our diaper pail to the garage! 
What a horrible thing to happen. However, I loved your paintgun idea - that is genius! Congrats on the mortgage approval! 
I love the picture of Amelia you posted - her smile will break hearts when she is older
