Our Family

Our Family

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Update

So, Karaline has blessed our home for the past two weeks. I think we have settled in nicely, and even though you hear everyone say this...I cannot imagine our life without her. She is a great baby. She is content most of the time and usually only fusses when she's hungry or being changed.

Our biggest challenge to date is that I DO NOT want to put her down. I like to sleep with her on my chest. I've tried the bassinet several times but I always end up picking her up. It's probably more of my problem than her's. I want her with me at allllll times.

On Monday we took Karaline to the pediatrician. She weighed eight lbs, three oz. She is a healthy girl. While I was waiting to be called back, another mother and her husband, toddler, mother-in-law and baby were waiting, too. The mom asked me how old Karaline was and I told her two weeks. I asked how old her little one was and she said, "He was born last night." Of course this caught me by surprise and I can only imagine the look on my face...I said, "So, how'd you come home so quickly?" DUH...she had a home birth, but I could not wrap my head around it. I feel that I had a fairly easy delivery and all, but I cannot imagine coming home the very next day. In fact, I kept telling Joey that I'd love to stay at the hospital. Our nurses were wonderful and we had room service...HA...you can't ask for more.

We also took our family pictures on Monday. I can't wait to see them. It's the first time Joey or I have had real, professional pictures taken. Karaline was quite the trooper, too.

This week, we've had lots of visitors each day, too. On Sunday, my mom, sister, and nephew came down for a few hours. Nikki came down on Monday and stayed the night. It was a quick but great visit...I miss her soooo much. Tuesday, Sam came over and then my friend Janine came with her three kids, too. It is so sweet to watch the little ones with my little one. Today, my friend Meg brought her two boys over, too; and now, my friend Jenny is coming. We are beyond blessed with friends and family who share in our excitement over Karaline. I tell her everyday how much she is loved by so many.

Well, I wish you all a wonderful, HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I know this year Thanksgiving has a much greater meaning for us. We have always had much to be thankful for, but this year is definitely the greatest Thanksgiving to date.

Monday, November 15, 2010

She's Arrived

Karaline Adele Oglialoro arrived on Tuesday, November 9 at 12:06 am. We couldn't be happier!!! I'll walk you through the sequence of events:

Sunday 2:00 am-9:30 am-- I began having regular contractions that were 10 minutes apart. I had weaker contractions that were in between the strong ones, so Joey called the on call doctor who said we may be coming in that day. I called my parents around 5:30 or 6:00 and they headed our way. Thankfully they were planning on making the trip anyhow because once they got here my contractions stopped. My mom and I did some shopping, she cooked a big lunch, and then they headed home.

Sunday 11:45 pm- I woke up with strong contractions. I began counting again but still tried to sleep.

Monday 3:00 am- Contractions continued to get closer together. I woke Joey up around 4:00, but we both decided that he should sleep while he could. I kept keeping track of the contractions that were getting closer and closer together.

Monday 6:00 am- I called the on call doctor. I was hoping he would tell me to wait and go into my doctor's office when they opened, however, he told me to come in. Panic began to set in. I woke up Joey, called my mom, and we frantically began to gather our things. It's amazing how many things we still had to get even though I've been packed for weeks! I told my mom to wait on coming because of the incident the day before. I was sure it was a false alarm.

Monday 7:00 am- We arrived at the hospital and went to triage. They said we were 4-5 cm dialated. Joey called my parents and they headed down. I was admitted and moved to the labor/delivery unit.

After this, I met my doctor (who is not my ob) and my nurse for the day. I really liked them both. Everything was moving along nicely and I got my epidural around 11:30. After my epidural, the doctor broke my water. Unfortunately, things began to slow down once I got the epidural. I stayed at 8 cm for 3 or 4 hours.

Our family made it down in the early afternoon. It was nice to have visitors to help pass the time for both me and Joey.

Time continued to pass, and my doctor and nurse's shift were over. I was beside myself! However, I did grow to really love my new doctor and nurse. I am very thankful for the doctor who did the delivery because we could have easily had a C-section with the amount of time it took. However, he held out and we were able to begin pushing at around 11:15. Karaline made her debut at 12:06.

The nurses allowed everyone to come back and it was quite a group! Everyone was very excited to meet our new addition.

Joey and I were moved to the mother/baby unit around 1:30 or 2:00 am. By this point, I was exhausted. Sleepiness aside, we had a great first night.

We were able to leave the hospital on Thursday to come home. My mom, sister, and nephew came down for the day. We had a few more last minute things to pick up so my mom was able to help with that. She ended up staying the night and leaving early on Friday morning.

We are so in love. I keep looking at her and thinking that I can't believe she's really here.

We've had lots of visitors, calls, emails, and cards. Thank you all for your continued prayers throughout the pregnancy, and thank you for the continued prayers as we embark on this new journey in our lives. We pray to be the best parents for our sweet Karaline.

Ready to go home

Waiting on Daddy to pick us up.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Baby Story

So I think I should ban myself from watching A Baby Story. I become far too emotional when I see the births. Before I was pregnant, I was never able to watch the "yucky" parts. I couldn't stand seeing the needles, the epidurals, and especially the deliveries. However, now, I am fascinated. I can't stop watching. The best part is that I don't get freaked out like I thought I would. Joey always tells me to close my eyes or not watch but I'm fine! But, I'm telling you, once the baby is out and given to his or her mom, I cannot stop crying! It's such an overwhelming feeling. I wonder how I'll feel after Karaline's born. We'll know soon enough! :)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Weekly Appointment

Today was our weekly appointment. It was a big one because we were able to get our sonogram! I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited :) The only sad part was that Joey couldn't take off of work so he had to miss it. He was very bummed, but thankfully Sam was able to go with me.

Karaline was very active during the sonogram so it was difficult for the tech to measure her at first. However, we did find out that she's measuring at 7 lbs. 3 oz (give or take a pound). My doctor thinks that she's closer to the 6 lb range because of my size. Her head is in the 70 percentile and her belly is in the 98 percentile! I LOVE chunky babies so that is just fine by me!

Because she was so busy, I was worried that we wouldn't have too many great still shots, however, we got lucky! The tech took two 3D pictures which turned out really great. Again, it showed that she definitely has my nose. She also got a cute foot shot and Joey says that she has my feet for sure, too! :)

When I dropped Sam off at school, I showed the pictures to some of the girls I work with. One immediately said that she looks like her daddy and the other said it's a good mixture between the two of us. I knew Joey would love to hear that so I called him right away. His response was priceless: "What, she has your nose, profile, and feet, and she has my belly?" HA! I didn't say it, but it could be true :)

We're still on the week by week appointment so we'll go back next Monday. I cannot believe how close we are to seeing our baby girl. It's crazy how quickly time has passed.

On another note, I found this verse yesterday while waiting in the deli line (in my riding cart- can't wait for that part to be over!) at Publix. It's in a prayer book for little girls, and I think it pretty much sums up my prayer for Karaline:

"I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God." Phil 1: 9-11 (New Living Translation)