[flickr video=5485916350]
Then we enjoyed a lovely walk up to John Rock in the Pisgah National Forest with Brie's friend, Jonah.
Brie is sad the hike is over!
Monday, February 28, 2011
fun times with Brie
It was a beautiful weekend. Brie and I went on a lovely walk with Auntie Sara. Afterwards, Brie and Sara had a giggle fest.
[flickr video=5485916350]
Then we enjoyed a lovely walk up to John Rock in the Pisgah National Forest with Brie's friend, Jonah.
Brie is sad the hike is over!
[flickr video=5485916350]
Then we enjoyed a lovely walk up to John Rock in the Pisgah National Forest with Brie's friend, Jonah.
Brie is sad the hike is over!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A beautiful February weekend
We thought we would go check out a new spot since it looked like Mat had a 4-day weekend. At first, we thought Charleston, then we decided to go big and go to Cumberland Island. Then I called to make camping reservations on the island and they only had 2 spots left. (We weren't the only ones with the brilliant idea of going there!) Brie counted as 1 person, so I wasn't able to make the reservation. So we were going to Charleston. Then Mat called and said he was probably going to work all weekend because he might be on call for fire. Anyway, long story short, he worked Friday and then we enjoyed the next 3 days off together. It was beautiful. We went for a walk along a new section of greenway along the French Broad River. Then we grilled out with some friends. Turns out the evenings still get chilly, so Mat grilled and the rest of us hung out inside.
Tristan entertaining herself with Maddy's dog bowl and some hand sanitizer.
Ava and Brie hanging out on the couch.
Walking Brie around our loop. I've been doing it pretty much every day since it's been nice. She takes her morning nap usually.
Blurry picture of the bird walk. It was a chilly morning and we didn't really see too many birds. But fun to get out and see an area we'd never been to before.
Tristan entertaining herself with Maddy's dog bowl and some hand sanitizer.
Ava and Brie hanging out on the couch.
Walking Brie around our loop. I've been doing it pretty much every day since it's been nice. She takes her morning nap usually.
Blurry picture of the bird walk. It was a chilly morning and we didn't really see too many birds. But fun to get out and see an area we'd never been to before.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
4 months old
Brie turned 4 months on Sunday, and we had her 4 month appointment today with her doctor. She's a fantastic talker/coo-er and has very strong legs. She's also a very happy baby right now.
Her stats:
Weight: 14 pounds, 14 ounces - 75th percentile
Height: 25 inches - 75th percentile
Head: 16 inches - 75th percentile
We'll see if she remains this high on the charts way for the duration of her childhood or if at some point she'll mellow out!
Gabriella Lauren Levine's birth story - 10/13/2010
I realized that I haven't written down Brie's birth story anywhere. I thought I'd better get it done soon, otherwise I might not remember it! I am all ready forgetting the pain of labor, which when you are experiencing it, you think you'll never forget!
Anyway, we went to labor classes and watched lots of videos of births, which was fascinating and was worthwhile. Our friends, Erik and Jess were due with their baby 3 weeks before us in the beginning of October and we were due October 21st. They went into labor on Friday, Oct. 8 or Saturday, Oct. 9 and Ava Marie was born about 3 a.m. October 11th at their home. Mat and I were awake in bed when we received the text, because I told Mat that I thought I might be having labor contractions about an hour before.
Turns out that was the case.
We had the weekly appointment with the doctor that Monday afternoon and when we went I was dilated to a 1. I asked if I would be able to go to work on Wednesday and Dr. Lisa said probably not. Monday morning we walked around the neighborhood while having contractions and we did the same thing Tuesday morning. The contractions started getting stronger and Mat's sister, Sara, who was going to be our doula came over around 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. or thereabouts.
We went to the hospital about 3:30 or 4 on Tuesday afternoon and checked in. At this point I was dilated to a 6. I had requested a water room and it wasn't available when we showed up, but one looked like it would be available in an hour, so we just labored in the one room for a bit and then moved over to the water room. Which was amazing to be able to have the contractions in the water, it was very relaxing, which might have been to relaxing, because by 9 or 10 that night I had only dilated to an 8. By 1 or 2 a.m., I was exhausted and when I found out I hadn't dilated any more, that I was still at an 8, I requested an epidural as I was exhausted.
When they came in a couple hours later with the epidural and were explaining all the side effects, I was so exhausted that I was surprised that they had me sign the documents to say it was okay, because I was thinking I am not in a coherent state of mind, shouldn't Mat be signing this paperwork?
It was great to have the epidural, so that the 3 of us could rest for a few hours. I do have to say that I would rather not have needed it. Once they put it in, my left leg just felt horrible like a piece of hot red meat (a ham hock, is how I have been describing it, although I don't know how a ham hock feels!)
Around 6 a.m. or so on Wednesday morning I started pushing and Brie was born at 9:26 a.m. Our doctor was amazing, she really helped to have a great labor and Mat and Sara were awesome support. The doctor had the nurse* turn down the epidural medicine so that I would be able to know when to push and feel the contractions, which was great to be able to do that. It took forever for the pushing part because my contractions were never getting really close together. So, she had me push 5 or 6 times during each of the contractions to see if it would help get the baby out. I guess the contractions normally come quicker, like every couple minutes or less and mine were about every 4 to 5 minutes. (So, LOTS of rest time!) Mat was glad that he'd seen a lot of birth videos because according to him, he was staring at the top of the head for so long and it seemed so small that when it popped out and was blue and big, he could see that as being surprising if he hadn't seen the videos. One benefit of a long and slow "pushing" part of labor was that I didn't tear. Sara also said that Dr. Susan also applied counter pressure which helped. Dr. Susan was great at telling me when to push and when not to push to help with that as well. Our healthy baby girl was born at 9:26 a.m. at 6 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches long. We named her Gabriella Lauren Levine. Gabriella was a name we both liked and could agree on. Lauren is the feminine version of my dad's middle name, Lorin.
*Turns out this labor nurse knew Mark and Sara. The care at Mission Hospital was phenomenal and invaluable. I appreciated all the nurses and lactation consultants who helped us while we were there. I was very grateful that Mat and I decided to stay the additional night.
Brie, on her birth day with Ava, who is 3 days old and is our friend's Erik and Jess' baby.
Anyway, we went to labor classes and watched lots of videos of births, which was fascinating and was worthwhile. Our friends, Erik and Jess were due with their baby 3 weeks before us in the beginning of October and we were due October 21st. They went into labor on Friday, Oct. 8 or Saturday, Oct. 9 and Ava Marie was born about 3 a.m. October 11th at their home. Mat and I were awake in bed when we received the text, because I told Mat that I thought I might be having labor contractions about an hour before.
Turns out that was the case.
We had the weekly appointment with the doctor that Monday afternoon and when we went I was dilated to a 1. I asked if I would be able to go to work on Wednesday and Dr. Lisa said probably not. Monday morning we walked around the neighborhood while having contractions and we did the same thing Tuesday morning. The contractions started getting stronger and Mat's sister, Sara, who was going to be our doula came over around 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. or thereabouts.
We went to the hospital about 3:30 or 4 on Tuesday afternoon and checked in. At this point I was dilated to a 6. I had requested a water room and it wasn't available when we showed up, but one looked like it would be available in an hour, so we just labored in the one room for a bit and then moved over to the water room. Which was amazing to be able to have the contractions in the water, it was very relaxing, which might have been to relaxing, because by 9 or 10 that night I had only dilated to an 8. By 1 or 2 a.m., I was exhausted and when I found out I hadn't dilated any more, that I was still at an 8, I requested an epidural as I was exhausted.
When they came in a couple hours later with the epidural and were explaining all the side effects, I was so exhausted that I was surprised that they had me sign the documents to say it was okay, because I was thinking I am not in a coherent state of mind, shouldn't Mat be signing this paperwork?
It was great to have the epidural, so that the 3 of us could rest for a few hours. I do have to say that I would rather not have needed it. Once they put it in, my left leg just felt horrible like a piece of hot red meat (a ham hock, is how I have been describing it, although I don't know how a ham hock feels!)
Around 6 a.m. or so on Wednesday morning I started pushing and Brie was born at 9:26 a.m. Our doctor was amazing, she really helped to have a great labor and Mat and Sara were awesome support. The doctor had the nurse* turn down the epidural medicine so that I would be able to know when to push and feel the contractions, which was great to be able to do that. It took forever for the pushing part because my contractions were never getting really close together. So, she had me push 5 or 6 times during each of the contractions to see if it would help get the baby out. I guess the contractions normally come quicker, like every couple minutes or less and mine were about every 4 to 5 minutes. (So, LOTS of rest time!) Mat was glad that he'd seen a lot of birth videos because according to him, he was staring at the top of the head for so long and it seemed so small that when it popped out and was blue and big, he could see that as being surprising if he hadn't seen the videos. One benefit of a long and slow "pushing" part of labor was that I didn't tear. Sara also said that Dr. Susan also applied counter pressure which helped. Dr. Susan was great at telling me when to push and when not to push to help with that as well. Our healthy baby girl was born at 9:26 a.m. at 6 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches long. We named her Gabriella Lauren Levine. Gabriella was a name we both liked and could agree on. Lauren is the feminine version of my dad's middle name, Lorin.
*Turns out this labor nurse knew Mark and Sara. The care at Mission Hospital was phenomenal and invaluable. I appreciated all the nurses and lactation consultants who helped us while we were there. I was very grateful that Mat and I decided to stay the additional night.
Brie, on her birth day with Ava, who is 3 days old and is our friend's Erik and Jess' baby.
A lovely spring day in February
We have been enjoying the lovely spring weather that is here in the Asheville area the last 4 days. We went for a walk along the Laurel River with some friends the other day and enjoyed the sun.
Even Maddy had a good time!
Even Maddy had a good time!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Diaper Day
Some people have prayer flags coming off their porch. We like to be different and fly diapers.
Mat did a fantastic job of figuring which cloth diapers to use. These ones have been as easy to use as disposables, quite simple to put on and take off, the only difference is instead of throwing them away, we just have to wash them. Now that we've got the routine down, it's quite easy and it's so nice to not be spending $10 every 4-5 days on another package of diaper. Thanks to all our friends and family who came to our diaper party and set us up with a supply of them. We love them!
Brie's found her voice
[flickr video=5439567330]
and she enjoys hearing herself "talk". She just keeps going and actually is beginning to change her volume. I couldn't resist videoing her today after her diaper change. Brie is getting to be so interactive...it's awesome!
and she enjoys hearing herself "talk". She just keeps going and actually is beginning to change her volume. I couldn't resist videoing her today after her diaper change. Brie is getting to be so interactive...it's awesome!
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