Introducing Caroline Anna Allred

Our sweet little girl, Caroline Anna Allred joined our family Thursday, August 1st at 2:42 pm.  Just look at that little face and you can tell we are obviously in love.  

Caroline's birth story

Caroline was due July 24th and at all my appointments leading up to my due date we thought she would make an early delivery. So initially, I didn't worry too much about the induction date that was scheduled in case she was late.  But as my due date came and went I got more and more nervous about having to get induced.  We were scheduled to get induced at 9 days late.  I was just so happy with how things went with Thomas' delivery that I wanted to be able to have things go naturally and not have to worry about my labor getting drawn out and having possible complications.  So when Thursday morning came and I felt the early labor cramping I was beyond happy. It worked out so perfectly, because my mom had come into town  the night before and was able to watch Thomas for us.  With Thomas, I labored at home until I was dilated to a 7 and then gave birth to him just 4 hours after getting to the hospital. So I was planning on a similar situation. (I hate being at the hospital) But Clint and my Mom didn't think that was the greatest idea since I was already dilated to a 4 before my early labor had started.  So Clint came home from work to take me to the hospital.  Thomas was very aware that something was up.  He kept coming up to me and giving me hugs and kisses. He is not a typically affectionate little guy, so I know he knew some big changes were coming. I told him I was going ot be okay, but that I was going to the hospital to have the baby. He said something to the effect of, "I don't want baby to take my toys" I assured him that would not happen and to not worry. I gave him a big hug and held back tears as I said goodbye to him, knowing very well that both of our lives would never be the same. 

When we got to the hospital this time, my contractions were about every 5 min apart and I was in a lot less pain then I had been with my first delivery. They checked me and I was at a 5 so they kept me in triage for way too long. By the time the finally got me to labor and delivery my labor was quickly progressing to the point where I was in a lot of pain and discomfort.  When they finally came to give me the epidural I was really feeling it.  The first epidural didn't work, and they had to do it again, only to have the second one only partially work. Literally right as they finished giving me the epidural I felt the urge to push. I could still feel my contractions, but was feeling a bit less pain. I just wanted to push the baby out! But I had to wait for the doctor, which seemed like eternity.  When the doctor finally came, I pushed and pushed for about 30 min or so. She would have come right out, but her little hand was up near her face and she got stuck just a little bit. I was really in a lot of pain as the epidural wasn't fully effective. So they had to use the vacuum to get her out. But all was well and she came into the world healthy and beautiful. And it was so exciting to find out after the hard work of pushing her that it was a girl! I was so happy! I have to admit it was worth the wait of finding out the gender. I would have been equally happy to have had a little boy, but I have always wanted a daughter too so it was really fun finding out at that moment. 

 Here she is! Right after delivery.

 All clean and bundled up.

 One proud papa

 One happy mama

 One beautiful baby girl

 One curious little monkey brother

 I love my babies!

 A very happy grammy!

 Just look at all of her hair!

 Thomas has done so well with the adjustment so far. He has been so sweet! When my mom told him that he had a baby sister, he said, "That's adorable!" I didn't even know he knew that word. He is so sweet. At his first meeting he was a little nervous. I was very anxious to see Thomas. I had never been apart from him for that long and I missed him terribly. He walked into the hospital with a very concerned expression. But he was very excited to see his little sister and he brought her a little bunny. I think his first priority was to make sure his mama was okay. He kept asking me to get out of the bed, so I showed him that I was okay and got up and walked around with him.  When they took Caroline out of the room to do some test on her, Thomas got very upset. His little chin started to quivery and he said, "Where's my baby go? Baby Caroline!" So we walked with him to the nursery so he could see her through the window. What a good big brother. He loves to give her snuggles and hold her. I just love this little man so much. He has been prepared to be a big brother.

 This just makes me melt when Thomas wants to hold her hand.

What a beautiful little girl I have and what a perfect little family. I could not feel more incredibly blessed or happy. I'm not sure I am equal to the task, but I am going to work hard to be the best mama I can to these two special little children. I love them so much!