time flies...

We have stayed very busy the last few months. Cora is growing like a weed and has such a great personality. We love her so much we can hardly handle it. We feel so blessed to have such a healthy baby girl. I love being her Mom. Some six month stats...Weight-15lbs. Her favorite places to hang out are in the swing, the baby carrier, the exersaucer or her jumper. Still not too fond of tummy time, but getting better at it. Got a handle on rolling over. Starting to sit up for a few seconds at a time on her own. Loves to scratch things. Still swaddled to fall asleep, but breaks out of her straight jacket within an hour. Most days she only takes one 2-3 hour nap (sometimes I feel bad about this, but she doesn't complain). Loves getting out of house, smiles at everyone, everywhere. Her toes are ticklish. She is getting the hang of eating solids (will open her mouth for the spoon). Her first tooth broke through and I cried with excitement. Loves her Dad's beard.

visited G-ma & G-pa in WA

hung out by the campfire

loves to play w/ Jane

Dad finally has his own babe to do this trick

lots of smiles

lots of loves from Jane

an elephant for her 1st Halloween

a dang cute one

our family

big girl in her rocking chair

we believe

2 months

When I pictured myself having children I envisioned a carefree, go anywhere, do anything, 'cool' mom. I am pretty far from that. I was very anxious in Cora's first couple months, and preferred to stay home and keep Cora away from the world. She was just so little, and was having a difficult enough time adjusting to this world...the last thing she or I needed was for her to catch an illness. Once she had her two-month checkup and got her immunizations the nightmares I was having about illness slowed, and we got the courage to get out and start exploring. It was right around the time of the Rathgeber family reunion so it worked out perfect. A few things about Cora at 2 months... Height: 21in. Weight: 9lbs. 7oz.  Her favorite places to hang out are in the baby K'tan carrier (facing out so she can explore), or bouncing on the exercise ball in front of the TV. Her favorite toy is a star that lights up with different colors that hangs above her on her play mat, she stares at this toy and smiles. She is smiling more consistently. She is pretty into the Baby Einstein DVD's, she will stay pretty locked in for about 10 minutes. At night she has started sleeping 7-9 hours at a time (a lot of that is luck, but she does have a swaddling blanket called the 'miracle blanket' that I really think helps). We like to let her fall alseep in our arms, sometimes Josh and I fight over who gets to do this...there really is nothing better than your baby sleeping in your arms, especially once she started to gain a little wait and got a little squishier :). Now some of the challenges we experienced... she was pretty gassy the first couple months, and it was hard for us to know if we should just let her work it out, and try to help her by giving her something. It was obvious that she was struggling. We ended up trying gripe water for a week or so, but she eventually worked her way out of it and learned how to push the gas out without as much fussing. She also got some relief when I would pump her legs and give her tummy a soft massage. Nursing was really hard for mom and Cora, about 50% of the feedings would consits of Cora screaming and gagging and me trying to bounce her while nursing to calm her down. This went on for 9 weeks...we never did discover what the problem was. I was constantly reading things online and consulting with friends and family to try to figure out what we were doing wrong. I don't think we were doing anything wrong...she just has a hard time eating sometimes, and a bottle made getting through those difficult feedings 10x easier with the consistent flow of milk. 9 weeks of nursing was really stressful, I started to get a little anxiety before every feeding wondering if she would be able to eat or not...Once I accepted that fact that she would be a bottle baby, it was a turning point for us. She ate better (only struggling with about 20% of the feedings), and I didn't feel so rejected multiple times a day. Without that stress and anxiety I felt like I was able to enjoy Cora more, and understand her needs better. Although I didn't want to accept that fact that we couldn't have that 'bonding time', it never was quality 'bonding time' for us...who knows, maybe with the next baby I will have that experience...

ay yi yi

cupcake

big yawn

our first family outing...a walk a sunken meadow

she LOVES this seat

laying around at the beach house

going to get you!

one of my favorite pics of these two...

watching the 2012 Olympics,
gymnastics is her fav

ra! ra!

love the ruffle bum.

Rathgeber extended family showed their support at Cora's
baby blessing, so nice to have them there

Psillos family :)

Our little family on Cora's blessing day,
thanks for the beautiful blessing Dad!

welcome home

Cora comes home and her first few weeks can be summed up pretty easily....she sleeps, she eats, she cries, she poops...I nurse, I eat, I cry, and I don't sleep much. Pretty glamourous, I know. My Mom and Dad were there for the first week, and it was great to have their help and good company. My bed was made every morning for a week straight...I think that's a record for me, thanks Mom. Once my parents left, Kathy stepped in and helped me get some much needed rest during the day. Josh and I were/are really lucky to have such great help. During this stage we had a lot of fun just looking at and holding Cora while she slept in our arms all the time. I think overall we adjusted pretty well, I'm glad I'm not as hormonal anymore...so is Josh :).

we had fun taking lots of pictures of this sleeping cutie

aunt hannie

grammy and pop

this was after our first night at home...phew, we made it

Cora's first bath from Grandma, she didn't like it so much

Great Grandma P

Aunt Lois loves Cora

Uncle Dan got a squeeze in too

she found her thumb a few times in her first weeks

cute baby, cute dad

Grandma

Jane would say, 'hold Cora please' and hold her hands out

hard to say goodbye

ahhh...

Auntie Tina, Katherine and Rachel

so cozy in Grammy's arms

cora mae

On the eve of June 12th, we packed our bags for a family trip to Stony Brook University Hospital. I hardly slept that night...with all the nerves and excitement to meet our baby girl the next morning. At 7:30am Josh dropped me off at the front of the hospital. I anxiously approached the labor and delivery unit. There was a little bell at the desk and I rang it..."hello, one ticket for a c-section please". The hospital was nice and quiet that morning...I guess all the residents' had graduation, so only attending Dr.s were in the hospital :). After being admitted, we went to pre-op to have an ultrasound to double check if she was still breech. Of course she was, so they gave me this nasty drink to guzzle and we headed for the operating room. It was freezing in the operating room and they immediately asked me to sit up on the table and lean over for the epidural. I was shaking uncontrollably I was so nervous, but before I knew it they asked me to lay down quickly before I didn't have any feeling in my legs. All I felt was a tiny pinch when they were numbing the area, but I didn't even know the epidural was completed. I was so happy that I didn't feel the epidural at all! I quickly felt my lower body going numb, and before I knew it, the Dr. was tugging away at my stomach. Josh was allowed in the operating room at this point, and within just a few minutes of him being in the room, at 9:07am, baby girl jumped out. It's hard to describe the overwhelming feeling when you first hear your baby cry. I have never felt so much love, concern,  and excitement all at once. Looking at Josh, and looking at our baby, I knew he was feeling the exact same emotions as me, that was a pretty cool experience. They quickly brought her to me for a few minutes so I could hold her (although it was a little tricky because my arms felt so heavy from the epidural). Dad then took baby girl to recovery while the stitched my insides back up. I wasn't even in the operating room 45 minutes, and we were all back in recovery together. Cora was doing pretty good at this point, but she soon started breathing very quickly so they took her to the nursery to be observed. She spent a long day in the nursery. Kathy and Rich came to see us as soon as they were allowed to at 2pm, but unfortunately they couldn't hold her, only look at her through the nursery window. It was nice to have them their for support, because we were a little nervous at this point. Finally around 7pm her breathing was regular enough that she could be without constant monitoring. We were so happy to have her in the room with us! Our time at the hospital was really special. It was so reassuring to be able to spend time with our new baby, and know that if we needed anything the nurses and Dr.s were just a buzz away. It was kind of like staying in a hotel, we ordered delicious meals, and were waited on regularly. I woke up the next morning, on my birthday, and was in a lot of pain. It had been 24 hours, so the epidural had worn off and I didn't have any pain medication. So I quickly ordered some pain meds and asked that the catheter and IV be unhooked. I was then able to take a shower. Once I was medicated, unhooked, showered, and cuddled in the  bed with baby girl skin to skin...oh man, I think that was the closest I have felt to heaven. I was soo happy. My mom and dad were supposed to come in town that weekend, but they surprised me at the hospital for my birthday. They came in with Lauren, Crew and Jane...singing happy birthday baby girl and Katie. It was so fun to have them there and introduce everyone to baby girl. At this point she was still baby girl...were were testing a few names out. Anyway, June 14th, 2012 was my best birthday to date!! On day three we decided Cora Mae would fit our little peanut. Cora Mae was my Great Grandmother, who passed away when I was 8. I am so happy we chose this name, it fits her perfect, and I hope that she will take pride in the fact that she was named after such an amazingly strong woman. Here are some pictures of our trip to the hospital...

the first time I saw her

her legs were stuck like this the first couple days

5lbs 15oz, 19in long

I want my mommy!

all those emotions

daddy's girl

in recovery

our little family

just staring

she slept ALOT her first few weeks

couldn't be happier

surprise from grandma

the man, the myth, the legend...grandpa

birthday party in room 207

all packed up and ready to see the world!