hard worker

working hard on lifting her head :)

i

its tough being a baby.....

xoxo
Ashlea

One Month

  Today Charlotte is 1 month! I cant believe it, it has both been the longest and shortest month of my life. I cant remember not having her here with us everyday but it also seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital moaning through contractions.

She was fairly cooperative during our photo shoot this morning :)

This month you.......

• are wearing size newborn diapers and clothes
• weigh almost 9 pounds
• love being worn by Mama and Daddy in your baby carriers
• sleep up to 7 hours at night
• like to be sung to and danced around 
• are starting to be able to hold up your head during tummy time

xoxo
Ashlea

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was great. I always look forward to having Tony home more; he gets more time with Charlotte, I get more free time to get some things done and we get family time which is the best!

Charlotte hung out on her Boppy while I caught up on laundry

We spent some time practicing looking at things and stretching little legs

She had Sunday morning naps outside while we had a yummy brunch- bacon, eggs and toast

And there were lots of baby cuddles. Lots of baby cuddles.

Milk drunk baby :)

I was able to finish my wreath for the 4th of July that I started earlier in the week.

We did a little shopping as well. We got the cutest summer hat for Charlotte, I cant wait to show it off at the lake house in August with the family.

We also had awesome cinnamon rolls from the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, Skyped with Grandma, did some lawn work, grilled some hotdogs and had a family movie night.

We hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

xoxo
Ashlea

Photo Dump

So maybe a picture a day is unrealistic to try and do with a new born :) I promise at least a once a week "photo dump" of pictures from throughout the week. Here is the latest....

Broke down and gave a paci after she used me as a human paci for 4 hours and sucked a bruise on her arm. She doesn't love it but it saved either of us from bodily harm do to sucking.

Nakey baby

Full and feeling sleepy

Sleepier...

and asleep :)

Sweet baby dreams

baby toes!

xoxo
Ashlea

DP

    Yesterday was a bit rough thanks to Little Miss having a stuffy nose so we didnt get a chance to grab a picture. But today we tried out a new wrap to wear her in and she loved it. She took a great nap in it and I was able to do this dishes, eat breakfast and a load of laundry.

We are going to the farmers market later and will try this out instead of navigating a stoller in the crowds.

xoxo
Ashlea

Picture Catch Up

Monday

The morning after deciding it would be fun to be up from midnight to 3:30 in the morning. She doesn't even look remorseful......

Tuesday

Charlotte's first bath! She didnt love it but didnt hate it either :)

xoxo
Ashlea

DP

One must look their best when going to the Target.

xoxo
Ashlea

DP

Our first tummy time was a great success!

xoxo
Ashlea

DP

Baby mullet

Business in the front...............

Party in the back :)

xoxo
Ashlea

DP (daily picture)

Ill let this picture speak for itself :)

xoxo
Ashlea

Due Date!

June 5, 2013 was supposed to be the day I had my baby, but as you know she was eager to come out and join the world. She had lots of big things to do here on the outside.......

like sleep all day :)

xoxo
Ashlea

Daily Picture

Little Miss is very sleepy today, I had to wake her up to nurse and she wasn't thrilled. I love her expression and tiny arms folded up.

xoxo
Ashlea

Charlotte Elise Sukhwani

On Monday May 27, 2013 Charlotte made her entrance into the world.

I was 38 weeks and 5 days and late Sunday night I started having this painful lower back ache, pregnancy comes with aches and pains so I didnt think much of it. It was keeping me from sleep so I went upstairs to bounce on the exercise ball to hopefully get her to move out of whatever position she was in that was killing my back. I let Tony sleep as I moved around and tried to sleep on the couch but my back was getting worse so I decided to get in the shower to see if that would help. It didnt.

Around 3:00am I was having trouble dealing with the pain by myself and I realized maybe this was labor and I was experiencing back labor. I never felt a contraction in my uterus but as I timed my "back aches" they were already about 3 minutes apart. Tony got up and helped me deal with the pain and time the contractions, now they were 2-3 minutes apart and he thought we should call the doctor to confirm this was labor and see what we should do. As soon as he explained to him what was going on he said "yes that is labor and yes go to the hospital - now"

I had mine and Charlotte's bag packed for weeks so Tony just had to throw in last minute items and we were off. It was the longest 10 minute car ride of my life, sitting put even more pain and pressure on my lower back and made the contractions 20 times worse. We got to the hospital and got checked in, when the nurse checked me I was only at 4 cm, it was 4:00am. I was so upset because I wanted to labor at home as long as possible and I was worried about being in the hospital for so long and possibly dealing with decisions for interventions like epidural, internal monitoring etc. But since it was clear I was in active labor and the contractions were so close together, they admitted me and I agreed.

We got settled in our room and I labored for 2 hours, the pain was BAD. Still all in my back, the only position I could handle was squatting down and using Tony or the bed to hang off of and moaning through them, they were consistently 1 minute apart which was tough because it didn't really give me time to recoup and catch my breath.

They checked me again at 6:00am and I was 6cm, I was so happy I had made such quick progress and it made me know we made the right decision to stay at the hospital. My doctor arrived around 7:30am and wanted to check me himself, I was at 8 cm. My water still hadn't broken so he broke it and within minutes I went to 10 cm. Next thing I know they are getting me ready to push - 20 minutes of PAINFUL pushing later ( I thought I was breaking my back with every push) out she came with a full head of hair and weighing 6lbs 12oz, 19 inches long.

I have never felt so emotions all at once - shock, love, joy, exhaustion, scared, proud. It was overwhelming. I had an amazing birth experience and cant believe I was lucky enough to get to do this. I am so blessed to have had so much support during all of it - the nurses, my doctor, my friends and family and most of all Tony. Not a single person doubted that I could have her and do it the way I wanted with out medication.

We are home now and after a week of Mama, Daddy and April being here to love on her and help me out we are on our own for a couple days then Tony's mom will be here for a week. I plan on posting a picture a day for everyone to keep up with her :)

Here is todays.....
                                                                One Week Old

xoxo
Ashlea