Happy, happy birthday

...to my precious baby girl.

Sweet Caroline is one today. Ok. I totally didn't think this would happen but as I type this I'm tearing up. Ugh. I'm such a girl.
Let's see where we were this time last year...

Caroline's Birthstory

I had an appointment with my midwife, Lindsay, on Monday afternoon at 2. I was 5 centimeters dialated and 50% effaced – not much change from what I’d been for weeks. After the appointment, around 3 pm, the contractions I’d been having for days and days began to get stronger and more uncomfortable.

I went to pick up Jack from a friend’s house and headed home after visiting for a while. I tried to play with Jack as much as possible once we got home but my contractions were about every 10-12 minutes and quite uncomfortable – not unbearable by any means but I certainly didn’t want my toddler bouncing off my tummy during them. Jason got home from work and we had dinner and put Jack to bed. I let Jason know what had been going on with me and that I really thought this was FINALLY the labor we’d been waiting on.

Around 8:30 I decided to try to relax and get some rest. I took a shower and got ready for bed, contractions were now anywhere from 6-10 minutes apart. Jason spoke with my mom, who happened to be in Fort Worth, and told her it’d be a good idea for her to come on over, that we thought this was “it”. I got in bed and watched TV instead of going to sleep. I was too excited to sleep. Finally, around 11:30, Jason and I went to sleep – he slept, I was up every 10 minutes with contractions.

Around 2am I couldn’t stay in bed any longer and told Jason it was time to get up and get ready to head to the hospital. We’d decided, since we were 40 minutes from the hospital, that we’d head in as soon as we were “sure” and labor there. Our hospital is very natural birth friendly so we weren’t concerned with having any unnecessary interventions pushed on us once we were “on the clock” at the hospital. Poor Jason, he was very concerned about my water breaking before we arrived since my labor progressed so quickly once my water broke with Jack. He kept telling me “after this contraction, we HAVE TO GO!” Mom stayed at home with Jack till our friend, Erin, could get there to be with him. Then she left for the hospital. Jason took full advantage of the “my wife is in labor” card and drove as fast as he could, only slowing at stoplights and stopping when he HAD to.

We arrived at the hospital at 3:16 am. Upon arrival, my midwife checked me and I was 6 centimeters dialated and 80% effaced. She walked the halls with me and allowed me to labor on my own for quite some time. My contractions were now coming every 5 minutes and stayed that way for several hours. At 10 am my contractions hadn’t changed much and my water hadn’t broken yet. I had my midwife check me and I was still 6 centimeters, now 90% effaced. I didn’t want my water artificially broken so I decided to labor for another hour or so and see if I made any more progress. At 11:30 am, Lindsay checked me again and I was still 6 centimeters and was now 100% effaced. Apparently my bag of waters was bulging and not allowing the baby’s head to press down to cause me to dialate effectively. Jason and I talked it over with the midwife and, since I was exhausted already, I decided to have my water broken. Once we did that, Caroline’s head moved down and I dialated another centimeter immediately. With my mom and Jason by my side, I continued to labor until I felt the urge to push.

I grunted through pain and pressure and Lindsay reassured me I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Mom and Jason stroked my hair and held my hands. Jason was wonderfully supportive and let me know what a great job I was doing. I pushed when I needed to and screamed a lot! I wasn’t screaming in pain though. My voice gave me power. With each push, my voice got louder and deeper. With a big roar, Caroline’s head was born, and with another roar, the rest of her body came out. Jason was supposed to catch her but she came so quickly he didn’t have time and was just able to help the midwife place her on my tummy. We were so amazed to see this beautiful creature God had given to us. We are so blessed and she is perfect!

So, here we are, one year later, and the littlest Maurice is growing so fast. She loves to talk and "read" books. She just opens them up and babbles and giggles while she looks at the pictures. Caroline can say... hi, bye bye, Jack, Dada, Mama, and makes tons of lovely baby noises. She waves all the time and gets a kick out of Peek-a-boo. She's taken her first step and is walking while holding the hand of anyone who will walk around with her. Recently, it's been her preferred mode of getting around and she'll scream if you don't fulfill her desire to stroll around the house. She's pretty easy and laid back but she does have a dramatic streak in her and is developing a little attitude. She's got this gleam in her eye that we most often see at the dinner table when she's done eating - one look at Mama or Daddy and whatever is in her hand is launched to the floor with great glee. Stinker. Caroline loves to sleep and snuggle with anything soft. She LOVES to be held. She greatly prefers being "worn" when we go to the store than sitting in the cart and will protest after a few minutes of cart-riding. Her current favorite foods are cheese (any and all types), peas and carrots, green beans, bread, Pirate's Booty, any cracker, corn, and raisins. She's not too into fruit right now which is strange to me but I'm sure she'll come around - she ate some fresh blueberries this morning and that was a victory!

Sweet Caroline,

I can't believe a year has passed since we got our first glimpse of your beautiful face. Smelled your sweet head. Nuzzled your wrinkly neck. This past year has brought so much joy to all of us and we're so thankful that you're here. You were the best surprise the Lord has given us. You are truly "fearfully and wonderfully made". We love you so much and look forward to the future with you, our sweet Care-care.

Love eternally,

Mama