Big Sister

One of the questions we've heard most in the past 3 weeks is - "How does Carsen like being a big sister?"

The answer is... she loves it.

First thing in the morning she asks to see her baby sister. I usually bring Reagan in with me and let them lay in Carsen's bed and talk to each other while I get Carsen's clothes for the day. Whenever we see friends or family, she excitedly introduces them to Reagan and holds her hand out Vanna White style to say, "See my sister? Her name is Reagan!" She talks to Reagan when she's fussy and stops mid-play to give her a little kiss on the head. She loves sitting next to her in the car and sings her songs while we're riding. Sometimes she even gets upset and cries if Reagan is really mad about something. So far I haven't gotten Carsen to change any diapers, but she does think it's awesome if I need her to help me out by holding something, bringing something to me, or talking to Reagan to calm her before I can get there. A lot of times even when one of us is holding Reagan, she'll run over and ask to see her, talk to her, or hold her. She has started designating two items {like stuffed animals} as "Carsen" and "Reagan" whereas she used to identify them generically as a mommy and a baby. And while it may be short-lived, she often tried to share what she has with Reagan - everything from raisins to Barbies. It's pretty adorable.

Of course, being 3 and a first child, Carsen also has moments where she wants us to hold her instead of Reagan. This usually happens when Reagan is fussy or hungry and needs to be held, or when Carsen is tired and particularly needy. Otherwise she is happy to play independently just like before Reagan arrived. I still make a point of holding her whenever I can since she has always been a snuggle-y girl. I hate for her to fee like she never gets to have that anymore now that there's a baby in the family. After all, she's still my baby, too :)

Two Weeks Old

It's hard for us to believe, but our tiny Reagan is two weeks old already! Actually 2.5 weeks by this point as I've been composing this in opportune increments on my phone over the past several days. We are all finally feeling better from our colds which makes getting to know her even more fun. Carsen can finally kiss and snuggle her as much as she wants. It's really adorable to see her getting to be a big sister after we talked about it for so long.

Reagan has been to two check ups at the pediatrician so far and has done great at both. At 12 days she was already above her birth weight and otherwise looking perfect. Her percentiles were 80th for head circumference, 86th for weight and 97th for height. She is a great eater so I wasn't too surprised ;)

Here are some photos from the past two weeks that happen to be on my phone . I can't believe how much she's changing already. Everyone says she looks like Josh. She also looks almost exactly like Carsen when she was a newborn which is kind of fun :)

Reagan Iris

Well, if you haven't guessed by now, Reagan has arrived! She was born last Saturday morning March 30th at 2:34. Here is a quick recap of her birth story...

I had been having contractions that would come and go for about a week. Finally on Friday the 29th around lunch time it looked like I had a good pattern going and was actually in labor. I timed them for an hour and called the hospital. Lucky me, the one midwife I had chosen to see throughout my pregnancy {who also delivered Carsen} was also the one on duty that night. We got to the hospital around 4 pm and did some walking and dilating. A few hours later I got an epidural and we slept {you know, as much as possible while hooked up to monitors and IVs and waiting to meet your cute baby} for a little while. At about 2:15 a.m. I called my nurse back in because I was feeling lots of pressure. Sure enough, it was baby time... like right then and there. The nurse and midwife quickly got everything ready and in two pushes {roughly 90 seconds... maybe a second longer because they made me wait at one point while the midwife turned around to grab something} I was looking at a baby. We all had a good laugh because it was a ridiculously fast delivery. Reagan was perfectly healthy at 8 lbs., 14 oz, and 20.5" long.

I don't know if it was the fast delivery or the fact that it was my 2nd baby, but my pain and discomfort afterwards was minimal {and I think mostly a result of the horrible hospital beds}. Since I was feeling pretty good and our pediatrician had already given Reagan the all-clear to be discharged the next day, we chose to go home Sunday. Carsen was so excited to have us home and to be able to see Reagan. Unfortunately I had started a head-cold while in the hospital and Carsen quickly came down with it. A few days later Josh was sick too and we've all been sick ever since, which is almost 2 weeks by now. Carsen seems to be improving, Josh just went to the doctor Tuesday and has bronchitis, and I feel like my cold just started over in the past couple days. It has definitely made our transition to life with a newborn a little more of a challenge, but overall I think we're doing well. Reagan is a peach. She's a great eater and so far has been a good sleeper - though I know all of that is subject to change :)  Other than fighting colds and having to remind Carsen not to get too close to her baby sister :-/, it has been a fun two weeks.

Since I live my life on a 2-hour timer these days, I don't have enough time to post a bunch of photos, but here is a preview of Reagan's birth announcement. More photos coming soon :)

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.