Family of Four

Charlotte Elaine was born on February 19, 2010. She was 8 pounds, 15 ounces and she is 20 3/4 inches long. We decided to induce labor a week early after doing a sonogram on Thursday. Charlotte's head was already measuring at over 40 weeks gestation and they were guessing that she was in the high 8s and that she could be up to one pound up or down from there. After the very long and very hard labor with Carter, who was 9 pounds at 40 weeks, we decided that the best thing would be to induce labor since I was already dilated to a 3. We were both so ready to meet Miss Charlotte and wanted to avoid a giant baby delivery if possible. We got to the hospital at 7 am and I was finally hooked up to the pitocin by 9 am. It took a while for contractions to get going and then I asked for the epidural. I went very quickly from a 5 to a 9 and they called the doctor in the early afternoon. When she got there, I started pushing and Charlotte arrived before I broke a sweat. I think I only pushed about 5 or 6 times. This experience was vastly different from my hours and hours of pushing with Carter! It was so fast that Shelby just kept laughing and saying that she couldn't believe that she came out so quickly. Charlotte's head is so round for a newborn and her hair is so full and dark. I just knew that she would look like her Aunt Tierney and knew that she would have dark hair!

Charlotte has been a pleasure in every way. She is feeding well and sleeping well too. Charlotte has begun to cry a little today, but she prefers a good whimper over a scream or cry. She loves to look around and she seems interested in her big brother. Carter has been interested in her and has greeted her on more than one occasion. He even seemed excited that she would be at the hospital again today. We are just crossing our fingers that he is excited when she comes home tomorrow! Carter has been an amazing trooper through all of this and he has been happy to leave us at the hospital to hang out with his wonderful grandparents. We are so happy and thankful that Charlotte has arrived and that we have a healthy family of four! Here are some photos from today!

A little grumpy from being moved around

Carter is hugging his little sister

Yes, I have already put her in a bow