Photo Shoot - Take One

I'm not really sure how serious photographers do it. I tried to take some naked shots of Charlotte this morning - but she would have no part of it. I want a good naked pic so I can always remember her cute little behind and buddah belly. I tried to do it after she had just finished eating, hoping that she would drift off to sleep and then I could position her just the way I wanted. Nope. As soon as I took her clothes off she perked right up and wiggled the entire time - ending with her peeing all over my legs and then total meltdown. It took me about 20 min to finally get her calmed down. Here are a couple pictures that turned out ok:

These are the "best" of the full length naked. First of all, the lighting isn't so great. Whenever her body was positioned somewhat the way I wanted, her head would turn the wrong way and vice versa:

So, after this traumatic experience for both mom and child, I'll leave it to the professionals.

On another note - Charlotte went down last night at 10:15 and didn't wake up until almost 3am!! Then went down at 3:30 and slept til 5:50. Our best night yet!

Weekend at the Lake

This past weekend was Charlotte's first weekend at Grandmother's and Grandaddy's. And let me tell you, the red carpet was rolled out for our arrival. We got a call as we were close to the house from Judd's mom saying that she had pulled her car out of the garage and we were to park in the garage because it was raining and she didn't want the baby to get wet. Then we get inside and Charlotte has a new beautiful bib and a "first baby doll", as well as a new fishing pole. We are shown to our room that now contains a new crib with new pretty bedding.







We also find that we are stocked with diapers, wipes, blankets, and bottles. It was a wonderful welcome.

The next day, Charlotte hung out with her cousins:




and her great-grandparents:

as well as Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike: (sorry, Pam, somehow I didn't get a pic of you :( )

To say the least, the child was held the ENTIRE weekend. But, she didn't seem to mind:

However, I have had to type this post entirely one-handed, because she has not let me put her down all morning. :)

Happy Baby

Judd's acting debut

Judd is now famous - or will be. Anyone flying on a Delta flight and that is fortunate enough to be on a flight that has video monitors, will see my handsome and talented husband in the in flight safety video.

Make sure to keep your eyes peeled when the seat belt light comes on - that's Judd in the background looking very intently up at the light.

Is that a dinosaur on your nose?

We had a bit of a scare on Monday morning. Charlotte was congested on Sunday and very lethargic, so we took her to the doctor on Monday morning. The doctor listened to her chest and diagnosed her with bronchiolitis. She was pretty close to sending us to the ER to have Charlotte monitored. After about 2.5 hours in the doctor's office, the sent us home with a nebulizer and breathing treatments to give whenever we saw that her breathing was labored. After a long day of watching Charlotte's chest - we ended up only giving one treatment. She had an OK night on Monday night, up a little bit more than usual, but not too bad. Yesterday we took her back to the doctor to check her lungs, and the doctor said they sounded much, much better. She tends to do a lot of coughing while eating, the doctor said that might be due to reflux. So, I have been trying to feed her at an incline - which is a little tricky breastfeeding. Today we have had a good day so far - she has seemed more herself. She is still congested, but she is eating better. Last night we put her in her car seat to sleep, and that seemed to help keep her head clear.

Judd had a cute moment with Charlotte last night. Charlotte and I were sitting on the couch when Judd came home, she was just sitting on my knees looking at me. He came in the room and said hello to her, she immediately turned her head and looked right at his face. That was really the first time she had responded to his voice like that. She really loves her dad.

Busy Day

We had a busy day yesterday filled with family. Emily, Frank, and the girls came to our house around lunch time to visit with Judd, Charlotte, and me. Then, Mrs. Davis and the girls left to go see Cinderella at the Fox. Later in the afternoon, Pam, Mike, and their new dog Sadie came, and a little while later Clayton and Anne Marie came. Judd grilled burgers and hot dogs and we all had dinner together. It was a nice opportunity for everyone to visit with Charlotte. She didn't seem phased by any of it and slept most of the way through the visit.





Yesterday, we noticed that Charlotte was sneezing and coughing more than usual. She sounded a little congested from time to time. Last night she started to sound a little worse, and was feeding for shorter amounts of time. Unfortunately, it seems as though she has her first cold. She doesn't have a fever, and doesn't seem too bothered by it - she is just sleeping a litte more than usual. So, if she isn't better tomorrow we'll take her to the doctor.
























Judd has the day off tomorrow for President's Day. So, we are looking forward to a nice relaxing day with Charlotte.

2 weeks

We had our two week doctor appointment today. Charlotte was 8lbs 12oz!! She gained 14oz in 7 days. The doctor was a little amazed. I was thrilled. I was worried about her since I'm exclusively breastfeeding, but it looks like she's getting all she needs!

Be Mine?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tummy Time

After the morning feeding, around 9am - 10am, Charlotte is happy and awake for an hour and a half or so. For the past couple of days we have done tummy time on one of her play mats. She'll pick up her head and turn it to the other side a couple of times. Then she starts to get tired and frustrated so we flip her back over. We sit and talk to her while she lays there looking up at the stuffed giraffe that is hanging from the top of the mat. This morning she even cooed back a couple of times.

Alone

Today is my first day alone with Charlotte. Judd went to work today and we were both very sad to see him go. He is such a big help around here with the baby. He holds her, changes her diaper, does the laundry - whatever I ask him to do so I can get some rest. Judd's mom was supposed to be here today, but she was unable to come because her mother went into the hospital yesterday. We pray that everything is going well with them today. We hope that she can come later this week to spend some time with her newest granddaughter.

Charlotte hasn't slept very much today - maybe about 2.5 hours total. She hasn't been very cranky, just an hour or so of fussiness. She started getting really fussy this morning and I put hr in her car seat, and took a trip to Target. That seemed to do the trick, she was asleep as soon as the car started. She's sitting in her car seat now, I'm hoping she'll sleep for another half hour or so.

What a week...

It has been a week since we came home from the hospital with Charlotte. What a week it has been. I can't even describe the emotions that I have felt over the past week. I never knew I could be so happy and feel so much love towards someone else.

Last Thursday I went into Northside to be induced. My contractions began about 2am Friday morning and were every minute or so and were lasting about 30 seconds, so I wasn't ever able to feel a break between them. I opted for the epidural about 8am Friday morning, and it was the best decision I've ever made. At 11:45 am I was 4 cm dialated, at 1:15 I was 9cm dialated. We were thrilled that things were moving along at the pace that they were, we thought we would have a baby by 4 or 5. However, at 4:45, I was still 9cm dialated. They started pitocin and told me that if the baby didn't respond well to the pictocin that we were going to have to have a C-section. The baby tolerated the pitocin, and around 5:40 they checked me again. They said that I still had a little cervix left, but felt I could probably push through it. I did, and Charotte was born at 6:26. On the way down the birth canal Charlotte aspirated amniotic fluid. She was a little purple when she came out and was then taken to the transitional nursery for 2 hours. I did get to hold her before they took her, but it was really hard to sit there in recovery without my baby. Around 9:00 she came up to my recovery room.


My parents were here for the first week she was home. Aunt Sally came on Wednesday as well. I'm not sure what we would have done without them. They cooked every meal, did the laundry, bought food and baby supplies, took the dog for a walk, etc. It allowed me to concentrate on breastfeeding, sleeping, and getting to know Charlotte. It was so nice to share this special time with them.


Charlotte is doing really well. Her weight has started to go up and her little tummy is getting fatter. She is sleeping well at night, only getting up for feedings. Her birthweight went down about 5.5% when we were discharged from the hospital. Since then, we have had 3 weight checks at the pedicatrician. At the last weight check she was up 3 oz. We go for another weight check on the 15th, she hopefully will be back up to her birth weight by then.

I can't believe how much she has changed in a week. It makes me sad to think that the first week is over. Here is her 1 week picture:

Charlotte Anne Davis

Born Feb 1, 2008 at 6:26 pm. She was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. And just about the cutest thing we've ever seen.