Caitlin Maria McHugh

Caitlin is here!! She's a smidge over two weeks old and we're loving every second of her being here...even the sleepless nights (how easily you forget how hard those were!).

Here's the story of her arrival to our family...

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, May 13th at 11:00. I was frustrated because I was three days overdue and was READY to have her with us. The doctor said that I was 2 1/2 cm dilated and knew that she would come any day. He decided to strip my membranes which hurt like HELL, but sent me into some really nice contractions about an hour later.

I called Rae Ann and told her to come over after work to be here for the night just in case I needed to go to the hospital and thank goodness I did. Sean and I decided to sleep a little from 10-12:45am when I woke up with some major pain and we decided it was time to get on the road. Our hospital was only five minutes away this time, so I felt comfortable waiting a bit before we went. They weren't busy at all, got us right in and I was hooked up to all the monitors by 2:15am, measuring at 4cm and ready to get the party started. At 3:00am I got the glorious, lifesaving, fabulous epidural (thank Christ for the person who invented those!).

I was totally relaxed and having an awesome time for about an hour when I felt some horrific pressure and we knew it was just about time to push. They measured me again and I was 8cm...it was time to call the doctor in to set up. Dr. Alexander was the doctor on call...this beautiful Heidi Klum look alike who had given birth to three children herself and you would never know. She put on a shield and boots up to her knees...would I be that messy??!! lol

At 4:34 I was ready to start pushing...now let me preface this by reminding those of you who read this how overwhelmingly tired and uncomfortable I was this entire pregnancy...we would soon know why...I pushed through two contractions and out she popped! Ten minutes flat, thank you very much :) And she was HUGE!!! 9 lbs 13 oz 21 in!! Holy moly! How I carried her around, I will never know. Not only that, but we were "expecting" a blond child and she came out with a full head of dark dark dark hair!! Wow...just gorgeous and cheeks that went on for days and days, but quite a shock!

She is 100% healthy and is currently weighing in at a nice 10 lbs 1 oz. She's perfect and adorable and the perfect addition to our family. Kiera came to the hospital twice when we were there and loved her up then and is loving her up here at home. She has been such a great big sister...helping with diapers, patting her back to burp her and giving lots of hugs and kisses. The funniest thing is when she watches me pump and wants to do so herself. I'm not sure she'd really enjoy that :)

We're adjusting to being a family of four slowly but surely. Sean's mom, Mom-Mom was here for over a week and it was a godsend. She played with and entertained Kiera every day for hours while I became acclimated with my new schedule. Caitlin has been doing well recently with her nightly feedings, going about every three hours from 11pm on, so that's nice. But in the beginning she would go through spurts of every hour which was SO hard on me! Sean is GREAT and gets up to change her diaper and hand her over, but when you choose to breastfeed, it's all mommy all the time :) Thank goodness for some excellent middle of the night infomercials!

I'm looking forward to writing all about Miss Cate in the coming months...and continuing with more Kiera Khaos...the McHugh Mamas are both here and I'm ready for the journey of being a Mommy of Two!

Today is my Due Date...

and nothing is happening! Blech. I feel so overwhelmed and frustrated because I'm so tired, uncomfortable, hormonal, and done done done! I can't sit comfortably because there are feet in my ribs that make it hard to breathe. I have pains in my legs that feel like pinched nerves and my calves are now itchy with tingling?! I don't know what that might be! I can't sleep properly and have to pee every two hours. I have such a hard time picking Kiera up and when she wants to snuggle on my lap, I can't!! :( Plus, I've been having braxton hicks contractions that are doing nothing but causing complete annoyances. I feel sad and I know that I need to just relax and let "nature take it's course" but I'm just not one of those people. I thought we'd have her by now...or at least today...and I could move on with the next phase of my healing...but alas, no. I'm going to order a pepperoni pizza tonight because that's what did it for my sister Danielle. I have 10 hours left in the day...here's to hoping!

One Hell of a Week (and a half)

I find it ironic that I wrote on my first day of maternity leave when everything was "normal" and then everything went downhill from there...I took these two weeks off before the due date #1 to get everything done that hasn't been and #2 to REST. Work KILLED me near the end. My ankles were swollen, everything hurt, and I was EXHAUSTED! But alas, I haven't gotten everything done in the manner that I'd like as well as definitely not rested. Mind you, Sean, thankfully has been working for a new company, but doesn't get home until after 6...so by that time I am ready to collapse!

Last Tuesday I kept Kiera home for her JcPenney pictures...which she was COMPLETELY uncooperative for. Thank God Aunt Rae Rae came with us or I wouldn't have survived. After two hours we finally got THREE pictures out of her. Blech. But the ones we did get were cute, so que sera sera. While sitting on the couch having a nice leisurely lunch with Rae Ann, Jenn called to let me know that she would not be taking children for the next two days because her son had a stomach virus. Fabulous. Fabulous. FABULOUS! Hence, Kdog was home for Wednesday and Thursday as well. Please don't get me wrong, I WANT to spend time with the peanut alone while I still can, and I had days planned for that, but I had things to do like run around which is hard to do without lugging a two year old with me who has learned how to say, "Mommy, I want to go home!" in every store we enter.

On Friday we reluctantly sent her back to Jenn's because I know how stomach viruses can linger, and hence, Saturday night at 2:07am, Kiera awoke and threw up hot dog all over her crib. *sigh* She threw up religiously until around 5am when we all passed out in our bed and then awoke to vomit around 7:45am. Poor thing would look up at us with sad puppy dog eyes, not crying, but saying, "why is this happening?!" with her face. It broke our hearts! Needless to say she was a mess all day and we felt so sad for her.

The last time she threw up was 10:30am, then she napped for 3 hours and got up with a better outlook. However, after pedialyte at 5:30, she ran about and threw up again at 6:45...so we kept her home on Monday. She slept from 8pm-10:30am! She was so lethargic and rested on the couch most of the day...and then she and I took a three hour nap in my bed...so that was nice :) But, we decided to send her to Jenn's the following day because she seemed much better by bedtime and slept through the night successfully again.

When Sean left for work on Tuesday I felt like CRAP. I hadn't eaten right the day before due to Kiera not eating properly, so I thought it was that, but alas, NO...I dropped Kiera off at Jenn's late and she ended up having diarrhea within the first hour and a half. Again, *sigh*... I had just gotten home and thrown up...oy vey. I couldn't get off the couch to even go and get her...I was so dizzy and seeing things in my peripheral vision, so Sean had to come home and get her. I felt awful! Enough's enough!! Within 12 hours I was feeling a bit better, but now I'm even more tired and run down then ever.

THEN...because honestly, we didn't have enough, Jenn was sick today, so Kiera was home again!! And we think she's going to be home tomorrow too because she still has some remnants of the diarrhea and she REALLY needs to get better before Cate arrives!!

I went to the doctor's today and nothing has changed, still one cm...which I'm actually grateful about. I cannot have this poor little baby and bring her into this tomb. I feel like taking Clorox and dousing the entire house with it! I cleaned the downstairs toilet every single time I even looked at it yesterday and sprayed everything I could with Lysol every chance I got...but it still feels unclean! Plus, I don't want anyone coming into our house to help us with Kiera if I were to go into labor because chances are, they'll get sick too!! So now I really need a day or two to clean and disinfect the whole house before Caitlin's entrance to the world...I'm a touch overwhelmed.

Right now the excitement and anticipation has turned into anxiety and trepidation. What I'm hoping is that Cate stays in until Monday...her due date...that would be 7 days after Kiera originally had the bug and hopefully I can get the house spic and span by then!! Cross fingers for the McHughs...especially my wonderful Sean who needs to remain at full healthy capacity for us to survive!!

OH...and PS...the downstairs toilet just overflowed...Oh joyous day.