Charlie Alexander Porter turned 7 weeks on Monday! Every day those 7 weeks, I've been trying to finish this blog entry and just never could. Geez, am I busy! And time has already gone by so fast.
Charlie is a little doll and I am enjoying him a lot. It has been a while since I have taken care of a newborn and I am learning everything all over again. It's weird how much I forgot how to do. Taylor is really loving being a big brother! He is such an incredible help to me. I am glad that I waited 4 years to have another one. Taylor is big enough where he can do a lot of things by himself, which is totally awesome :)
Taylor took this picture :) These pictures are a couple weeks old and he already looks way different! Charlie is such a big boy, a lot bigger than Taylor was, by almost a whole pound. He's almost 2 inches longer than Taylor was too. Every morning Taylor says to me, "Mama, doesn't he look bigger this morning?" It's so cute :) But he's exactly right- he really does look a little bigger each day. He is already wearing his 3-6 mos clothes. Charlie has some of the same features that Taylor had as a baby but a lot of his looks are so much different. Charlie's complexion is a lot darker than Taylors was. I remember Taylor being so fair skinned. Charlie is a bit of a stubborn sleeper. He did really well the first 2 weeks, sleeping in his own crib in his own room the very 1st night. He is still in his own room but has grown to be real catnapper. He sleeps on average for about an hour a day, unless I go out somewhere. I find myself quite often packing him and Taylor in the car or taking the dog on a walk just to get him to sleep most days. So needless to say, my house is a total mess, you know, muddy dog prints all over the wood floor, carpet total nastiness, the works. I'm trying not to care but I like to have a neat house! Oh well, anyways, Charlie smiled at me and Taylor around 1 mos old and rolled over from his stomach to his back at 6 weeks! It's too cute. I stressed out so much with Taylor as a baby and I am really trying hard this time around to enjoy Charlie and to enjoy being a mom more.
My mom was able to come and help for a whole month. I came 2 weeks early with Taylor so I had her come early, just in case I came early again. My dad also came down for a week to do some projects around my house. He built me an awesome fence for my backyard! Pictures to come soon. It was fun to have both of them around for a while. I realized how much I miss being around family. I feel like I'm out of the loop up here in the Northwest.
Well, as far as the birth story goes, I have to say that this time around was a whole lot better! Everything happened so fast with Taylor, with the c-section and all, that I had no time to think about anything or enjoy the process. This time around was the complete opposite. I found it a little nerve wracking just waiting around for the signs to go in to the hospital but in general, a lot more relaxed. I was out and about doing things with my mom until the day before I came. I made sure I was a lot more prepared and it made the big day go way more smoothly and peacefully. I had had a few contractions at night for a few days and then on Sunday, the 28th, I started having them like 1 every 1/2 an hour or so. They weren't very strong at all so I just kinda decided to wait it out. As the day progressed, they became stronger and closer together that by about 10 pm, they were about 5-10 minutes apart. I was watching Masterpeice Mystery, one of my favorite shows, I found myself not able to concentrate on the show (which hardly ever happens with my Masterpeice shows, hee hee). I felt like it was time so Sonny and I headed to the hospital while my Mom stayed home with Taylor. We checked in around 10:30 and was evaluated in the triage area of labor and delivery. They determined that I was at a 3 and about 50 % effaced. They told me that I needed to be a little more dialated in order to be admitted. The nurse suggested that I walk around the hospital for about 2 hours... I was like WHAT? 2 hours? I seriously thought they were joking. But I gave it a whirl- Sonny showed me some of the departments he had worked in and stuff. I made it to about 45 minutes and then couldn't walk around anymore. I returned to the triage area and they told me I was at a 4-5. Wow! that happened quick! I told them I wanted to bet the pain meds started right away and they informed me that they would get all the paperwork/orders submitted etc. They transfered me to the delivery room soon after that. I still hadn't received anything, no epidural, nothing yet so I was dying!!! It took them another couple hours until the anesthesiologist came. Before she came, they did give me some kind of pain med, a short lived one, that didn't really help at all but was enough to tie me over until the epidural. Once the epidural was administed, I grew really dizzy and nauseated. They told me this happened to a lot of women so I spent the next 2 hours or so vomiting off and on. SO MUCH FUN. After that calmed down, I tried to get some sleep but what with all the wonderful nurses bugging me and checking me, I didn't sleep a wink. Anyways, so to finish up the story, around 7 am that morning, the 29th, they told me I was ready to push and by 8:43 am, he was out. Madigan being a practicing hospital, there were what seemed like millions of people in the room watching me give birth. But at that point, I didn't care, just wanted it to be over with. I was very proud of myself for doing the Trial of Labor after C-section and it being a success. Did I mention that it was totally awesome to be able to hold Charlie right after he came out? Didn't get to do that with Taylor. So neat :)
So that's the story. About a 12 hour labor- not too bad. I'm still not fully recovered but almost. I had a little bit of tearage and have experienced a bit of incontinence so the doc says that'll be a while to recover from all that. But I am so happy to be a mother of 2. New pictures to follow- hopefully sooner than later :)
He was pretending he was a cowboy
This last one is my favorite. Such a sweet little guy- he is such a happy baby, like seriously all the time :) He is a huge smiler and wakes up every morning with a cute smile on his face. I love him so much. 
Love this one.
My mom was also able to come up for the blessing. So proud of her second grandson!
Doing some crafts with Bami (that's what Tay calls my mom).
We visited Lattin's Country Cider Mill back in October. What's better than eating a carmel apple and checking out some baby ducks?
So snug :)
My bat and ninja boys!
This is where Charlie watches me make dinner every night. He is such a happy baby, wakes up with a huge smile on his face every morning, and is starting to laugh now. Such a little cutie! I can't believe how big he is. He's so incredibly long!
