Catching Up

She's here!!

For those of you not on Facebook, Rory Caroline Zuniga arrived at 8:23 am on her due date, April 23. She weighed 8 lbs, 5 oz and was 21 and 1/4 inches long. She is, of course, beautiful.



We were aiming for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section) and got about 15 hours into labor when it began to get intense and then it stalled. 15 hours of stop-start labor later and with our doctor's advice, we determined that a c-section was the way to go and it was a lucky thing too since I was in danger of rupturing around my old c-section scar (a very rare occurrence). Rory stayed up very high until Dr. Schneider went in to get her so thankfully she wasn't putting a lot of pressure on the uterine scar.

Here we are after the section.



I was pleased that I was back in the room and had her with me within a half hour. David stayed with her the whole time. Our doula Amy stayed with me.

Here's David with new babe.



And here she is sleeping in the hospital bassinet.



It was really hard being away from Erin. David's Mom and my parents were in town to keep her company and she did really really well for being only 22 months old and away from Dada for 2 nights and Mama for three.

On the day we took Rory home, Erin tried on her doctor look.



And here's proud big sis packing up baby sister.



Now Erin's having to learn that what baby sister mostly does is sleep. A lot.



Still, she loves giving Rory hugs - here's a three-way hug with David and the girls.



Another angle.



So, now we're a family of four. All doing well. I'm still recovering, Erin's coping as best as any toddler could, David is being a fabulous support and Rory - well, Rory's just a perfect baby. We feel supremely blessed.

still pregnant

yes, still pregnant - I don't know what else I can do to get prepared!

5 days from due date

Stiiiiiiiiiiiiill waiting.

Happy Easter!

wee conductor

So, Erin figured out a long time ago that "The ABC Song" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" are sung to the same tune. Last night, she made it clear that she wanted Dada to sing ABCs at the same time Mama sang Twinkle, Twinkle. She held her arms up like a conductor and meted out our respective parts. And we complied.

When we were done she clapped and cheered uproariously.

And speaking of music, she also likes to hold a plastic plate to her chest and say "guitar," pretending she's playing it.

The girl will clearly need music lessons one of these days.

inching closer

Here's the newest Zuniga, at 37 weeks, 4 days gestation:



I love this picture. Amazing.

We took a tour of the hospital on Sunday evening and took Erin with us so that it won't feel so unfamiliar to her when she comes to visit "baby sister". She was full of energy and spent a lot of time running around an LDR room. I had to give her a set of headphones to keep her occupied and away from a stethoscope she wanted desperately to play with.

She seems pretty excited about baby sister and I'm afraid she might be a little disappointed with the lumpy newborn stage.

I'm officially waiting for labor to start, which I never really experienced with Erin since she arrived at 36 weeks. I have practice contractions, sometimes quite intense. I can't sleep for very long at a stretch and I feel anxious. It feels like there's a whole new world on the other side of this birth - for the four of us - and I know it'll be here soon.

I just hope I can get all my errands run before it's upon us!

Meant to post this yesterday

It was a year ago yesterday that I set a goal of blogging daily about Erin's development. Little did I know that I would be pregnant again in, oh, about four months. That has since derailed the daily blogging, though I do try to keep up (it's just that in the last, late stages of this pregnancy, fatigue often wins the evening battles).

Still, this has captured a lot of amazing changes in the last year. Here's Erin last April:



And here she was this evening (eating a digestive and totally aware that her picture is being taken):



Wow. That's all I can say. One year and look at the growth.

I also notice that she's wearing the same shirt as in the post below. That's because she loves polka dots. She also loves Bob Marley. And pasta, playground slides and birthday cake. One of her favorite words is "population." She also loves rhyming. Yesterday, when I was speaking of my doctor, Dr. Schneider, Erin chimed in "Dr. Schneider, apple cider". That's my girl - a real little person with her own personality.

And just wait for what next April brings - we'll have a one year old and an almost three year old. Holy hell.