What a sweet month this has been.  Chandler has been an absolute blessing to us and we are having the best time watching her grow. She loves to snuggle and absolutely loved her first official bath [however she hates to be sponged off with a passion]. She also hates to have her diaper changed but also hates to have a dirty diaper so that's a lose lose situation; she also hates to have her clothes changed so we don't unnecessarily change clothes [no fashion shows for her!]. She nurses every 1-3 hours for 45-60 minutes at a time and hates to burp. She is very alert and can hold her head up but she doesn't have much control putting it back down. She still purrs in her sleep like she did when she was first born [cutest thing ever!]. She hates her swing and bouncer and almost always refuses to sleep in the pack and play but sleeps pretty well in her bassinet. She did have her first bottle this month and was slightly confused at the fact that she was getting food from her dad haha! We also have the worst luck with socks and mittens; she generally is missing one or the other. You can also catch the occasional smile from her but they're brief; however she smiles and frowns in her sleep which is adorable to watch.

At her one month checkup:

Height- 21 1/4in

Weight- 9.8lb

 



 

first official bath

Chandler's Birth Story

So this past month has been absolutely crazy, in such a good way, but it has just been a whirlwind!

We welcomed our sweet baby girl into this world on June 19th at 2:38 pm at 8lbs 6oz and 19 inches long! She is absolutely breathtaking and we couldn't feel more blessed!

So on Thursday June 19th at 10:30 we headed to St. Thomas Midtown in Nashville for our scheduled c-section at 2 p.m.  We had to be there by noon to check in [I think we actually arrived by 12:30 but everything ran on schedule even though we were slightly late].  We were scheduled for a c-section since Chandler was breech and wasn't moving into position.  I was ok with this, whatever it took in order for her to get here safely.  So we checked in 

[last picture before we went back to get ready- I didn't realize I was so swollen]

and they took us back to our room to get ready for surgery.  My mom and dad were right behind us when we arrived to the hospital and everyone else arrived in spurts after that [Spencer's parents, my sister and her husband and my dads parents].  They started my IV, hooked me up the fetal monitors and started getting vitals and blood, asked me a million questions [more than once], we spoke with the anastegiologist and then met with my doctor before surgery.  

[last picture as a family of 2]

About 30 minutes before they took us back they let our family come back.  They were only supposed to allow 4 people [besides Spence] back but in true fashion they all just came back without checking in lol so we had a room full of people to see us off.  My grandpa said a quick prayer with all of us for a safe delivery for us and a healthy baby and we were off. 
They had Spencer wait outside of the operation room while they prepped me [thank goodness because I don't know if he could have handled seeing me get the spinal block and getting prepped].  Once they wheeled me in they had me move to the operating table and then sit up on the side of the bed.  My doctor had told me about a man named Lonnie that they worked with that was amazing at stitching women back up after c-sections and he was the one that helped me while they administered the spinal block.  It kicked in almost immediately and within 10 minutes I was completely numb [absolutely freakiest feeling in the world, imagine numbing like from dental work but from the chest down].  Once they had me prepped and the drapes were up they had Spencer come in- everything was moving so fast and at one point I asked them if they had forgotten about him haha.  They brought him in, sat him at my head and started with everything.  At about 5 minutes in I did feel a little nauceous and I said something to them about it [I didn't want her to get here and me get sick so I asked ahead of time for something], whatever they gave me kicked in instantly; it was great!  They then started telling him to get ready with his camera because they were about to pull her out, I think we were both confused since we didnt think they would let him look/ take photos of that part. 

When she finally came out and started crying I lost it; it was the most breathtaking/ beautiful sound that I have ever heard!!  They immediately started commenting on her full head of hair and saying what a big baby she was [this caught me off guard because our doctor had prepared us for a 6 1/2-7 lb baby].  They quickly put her over the curtain for me to peek at and then took her over to the NICU station for them to check her out.  I could see her to my left and I told Spencer to go with her since I didnt want her to be by herself. 

The nurses had forgotten to bring in scales so they called for some to be delivered so while we were waiting on those they brought her over to me for Spencer and I to spend some time with her while they finished up with me.  She was bright eyed and alert almost the whole time.  When the scales came they took her over to be weighed and when they told me she was 8lb 6oz I was in shock; I even commented on it to my doctor and had them repeat it just to make sure I heard them right!!  

They then brought her back to me and I got to spend some time with her doing skin on skin while Spencer and I loved on her.  At that time they finished up with me and passed her back to Spencer so they could move me to a transport bed.
We spent roughly 2 hours in recovery, just the 3 of us.  

[we were both a little tuckered out]

During that time they noticed that Chandler was "chirping" every time she took a breath.  They had someone from the NICU transition team come down to check on her and they determined that she had some fluid left in her lungs since she didn't pass through the birth canal [that usually gets rid of it from natural born babies].  They said that they would give her an hour and if it didn't improve that they would take her to the NICU transition for a couple of hours to watch her.  I was a nervous wreck at this point but while we waited we did skin to skin and even tried nursing; she latched on immediately and hasn't had any latch problems since [knock on wood!].  When they came back she was still doing it but it wasn't constant so they decided to let her stay with us and they would just keep and eye on her but to be on the safe side they told us that once we left recovery that no one else could hold her and I had to keep her skin to skin with me through the night.  

The selfish side of me loved this since I didn't have to share her for awhile but when everyone left for the night Spencer did skin to skin with her and she loved it [daddy's girl from the get go ;)].

She stared at him for the longest time

Here are some more pictures from the hospital:

[meeting cousin McKenzee for the first time]

[heading home!]