Meet Charlotte!

Charlotte Rae Irwin! I'm in love all over again.

Charlotte arrived Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 at 1:32 pm. She weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She's perfectly healthy! She came by repeat c-section. It felt amazing to hear her cry after they pulled her from my stomach. I was able to look into Daniel's eyes during the surgery and we shared so many moments just after that I'll cherish forever. The c-section was a bit scary but it was a special experience for Daniel and me. He comforted me and was the support I needed. I feel very lucky to be married to such a great man.
                                      
Charlotte came out screaming and pretty much screamed until she was brought to me in the recovery room and I started breast feeding her. I got to see her briefly a couple of times in the operating room and then Daniel went with her to the nursery. I was then taken to the recovery room. Honestly, I was relieved the surgery was over but I just wanted the nurses to bring her to me and tell me she was healthy. After a few anxious moments in the recovery room, Daniel came rolling Charlotte in. I immediately asked, "Is she okay?" He replied, "yes", with a huge smile on his face.

I'll do another blog of comparison pictures with Morgan because I feel like I'm looking at Morgan's twin in these pictures, only there's a 3 year delay.

 Still screaming. There's no crying with this child. She's either happy or screaming :)

 This is of me holding Charlotte for the first time. I was totally overwhelmed in every wonderful way possible.

 Look at her look at me! She was still screaming on and off so I asked Daniel if I should try breast feeding her. He said, "Sure, why not?" It was crazy because she just latched on like she'd been doing it forever and has continued to feed like a pro! Poor Morgan and I went through such a long ordeal with our breast feeding experience so it was shocking for both Daniel and me that this was so easy and natural. I loved how impressed Daniel was. I just loved all the intimate moments Daniel and I got to share this time around. With Morgan, not only was he not in the room when Morgan was taken by c-section but he immediately left afterwards to fly to San Francisco with her. I sat in my hospital room without my husband and newborn child for days before getting to join them again. I would go through all of that again a million times to have Morgan in our lives but I feel so blessed that this time was so different.

 After we were taken to our hospital room, Dusty brought Morgan up to meet Charlotte. The below picture was taken of Morgan in the elevator on the way up.

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for more with this experience. Morgan was so excited and amazed at seeing her new baby sister. She just had this look of awe on her face the whole time. She was sweet and gentle and just plain adorable!

 Look how excited she was to get to hold Charlotte for the first time.

 Charlotte gave Morgan a gift.

 I love this man!

 

 I love how much my mom is smiling in all the pictures of her with Charlotte!

I just feel so blessed to have another sweet child in my life and to be surrounded by so many loving, supportive people. And so the journey begins...