Do They Look Alike?

Absolutely! Everyone has commented on how much Cora looks like Adeline when she was a newborn so I found pictures to show them side by side!

Adeline - 3 days old

Cora - 2 days old

Cora's One Week Appointment

We took Cora for her one week check-up yesterday and she's doing great! As we suspected, the measurement they took of her in the hospital was incorrect unless she's grown 1.5 inches in a week which we highly doubt! She weighed 7lbs (32nd percentile), measured 20in (72nd percentile) and head circumference was 33cm (22nd percentile). She's got 3oz to go until she's back to birth weight, but the doctor said she seems to be gaining very well. I'll take her back on Tuesday for a weight check. After just looking at Cora, the doctor said she saw no signs on jaundice so she did no further testing. I guess Cora's fun in the sun did the trick! According to the hospital she was only slightly jaundice to begin with. The doctor commented that if Cora stays as calm as she is now then we're in for a great baby. I have to agree that she is an extremely calm baby so far!

Both girls were being very cooperative for the picture! :)

When we told Adeline that we were taking Cora to the doctor, she began going through all the things the doctor did at her appointment a couple of weeks ago. She said "ears, eyes, legs." My favorite though was when she said "cookies!" since I gave her a cookie for doing so well at her check-up!

The First Matching Outfits

I've been so excited about dressing Adeline and Cora in matching outfits that I only lasted a week before I did it! We "surprised" daddy with their "I'm Daddy's Girl" dresses. They were so cute!

Pool Time

The pool opened on Saturday! We've been telling Adeline that we would take her to the pool the first day it was open so you better believe that we were there! It probably took all of thirty seconds to realize that she is still a little fish! Even last summer when she was just over a year old, we could put floaties on her and let her go. This summer is going to be no different. Jared got in with her while Cora and I relaxed. Adeline had a blast! Since Jared was still off work, we went back Monday morning. I knew it wouldn't be crowded since it was a work day and school isn't out yet. It was perfect! I'm looking forward to spending quite a few days at the pool this summer with Adeline and Cora!

We're curing Cora's mild case of jaundice here! I may also be trying to pass on my love for tanning as well!

Cora's Home Weight Check

I was doing something back in Adeline's room Friday evening and came out to find this...



Jared and his brother Drake decided to weigh Cora on our food scale using a paper plate! It was quite a sight!

Adeline and Cora

Adeline seems to be doing very well so far with the addition of Cora to our family. She loves her baby sister! She gets concerned when Cora crys, wants to kiss and hug her frequently, shows off her baby sister, and loves to hold her.





Jared is going back to work tomorrow so we'll see how things go with just me and the two girls. Adeline has been able to get plenty of attention with Jared being home. My hope is that since Cora doesn't demand much at this point other than milk, that the transition will go smoothly over the next few days. We'll see!

Cora's Entrance into the World

Cora Marie Osterhage is here!

She arrived at 11:21am on Tuesday, May 18th.

I had been having contractions without pain since Saturday but knew that there was no chance I was actually in labor yet. After Adeline, I knew just how bad the contractions would get! The guessing work of when to go to the hospital was taken care of for us when my water broke in bed at 12:25am on Tuesday. That was certainly an experience! We called my parents since my mom was going to the hospital with us and my dad was going to watch Adeline. Since they live about 45 minutes away, I actually had time to straighten my hair and put make-up on while Jared finished getting the last minute items together. I also ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I knew I would be cut off from eating once I got to the hospital. At the hospital, we were able to bypass triage and go straight to a labor and delivery room since the reason we were there was because my water had broken. Lynn, the midwife on-call when we got there, said I was about 3 to 4cm dilated. She gave us three options: 1. Rest since contractions were not really going yet, 2. Walk the hall to try to get things moving, or 3. Start a "whiff" of pitocin to bring on the action. We opted for 1 and 2. Me, Jared and my mom tried sleeping some and then began walking back and forth down the labor and delivery hall. For every hour out of bed, I had to get back in bed for 20 minutes to have the baby monitored. We did two one-hour long stretches of walking. My contractions were about 3 to 5 minutes apart and getting strong enough that I had to stop walking when one would start. Unfortunately, as soon as I got in bed, they would slow to about 7 to 12 minutes apart. As with Adeline, it appeared that my body did not want to get contractions going on it's own! At 8:15am, Lynn checked me and said I was about 5cm. She suggested the whiff of pitocin to get contractions about 2 minutes apart and it could be shut off at any point once I was having contractions on my own regularly. We talked about it and agreed that this sounded like the best option because we knew we didn't want to be there all day. The pitocin was started around 8:30 and had to be increased after an hour or so because contractions were still only about 4 minutes apart. That increase seemed to do the trick! After feeling the urge to push during a contraction, my mom went out and got the midwife to come in. Lexie, who was now the midwife on call, checked and said I was 7 to 8cm and completely thinned out. Her and the nurse said it was a race between my and the girl in the room beside me because we were both at the same point. They agreed that I would win because I didn't have an epidural. We aren't really sure how much time passed since things were extremely intense at that point, but it feels like after about 30 minutes I was feeling the urge to push all the time. The midwife and nurse came back in to check me. Lexie confirmed that I was ready to push! About 5 to 6 minutes later, little Cora was born! She weighed 7lbs 3oz and was said to be 18.5in long (this was proven to be an incorrect measurement at Cora's one week appointment today when she measured 20in). We were immediately in love!

This was Adeline's first time meeting her baby sister! She didn't seem to fully understand at first, but it didn't take long for her to fall in love with Cora!

Our family was all waiting to meet the newest addition so we spent the rest of the day in our room visiting and enjoying the company. Fortunately only a one night stay was required and we were back home the next day enjoying our family of four!!!

Baby Sprinkle

My sweet sister-in-law, Melanie, threw me a Baby "Sprinkle" on Saturday, May 1st! She discovered that it's called a sprinkle rather than a shower when you're having a small party since it's your second child. I think that's adorable! We had a great time! Eight of us had lunch at Pascal's Bistro, enjoyed a delicious cake, and wonderful company. We are so appreciative of all the lovely gifts we received! We obviously didn't need much this time around since it's our second girl in two years, but it is still a big help and was fun to be "sprinkled" with love from my precious family and friends!

Adeline's Two Year Check-Up

We went today for Adeline's two year well visit and she did wonderfully!!! I tried to prep her ahead of time that the doctor was going to look in her ears, eyes and mouth and it would be no big deal. She sat perfectly still during it all! She weighed 23.4 lbs and her height was 32.75 in. I thought the doctor said that put her in the 9th percentile for weight, but the print-out from her appointment said 1st percentile so I'm not sure which to go off, but either would be normal for her. The 9th percentile would actually be the highest she's been since she was about 6 weeks old! She is in the 17th percentile for height. The doctor said she did hear a slight heart murmur, but it's nothing to be concerned with at this point because it's not uncommon to see it at this age due to the development of the body. If it's still there at her 3 year check up then she will be referred to a cardiologist since we'll have to tell the dentist about it. Apparently, heart murmurs come from somewhere on my side of the family because my brother also has one though it may have gone away since he's gotten older. If it does continue, it shouldn't cause any problems, but hopefully it's just being caused by her chest development right now as the doctor mentioned. The nurse and doctor were both very impressed with her vocabulary and that she's potty trained AND sleeping in a big bed! It was a great check-up!

On the way out to the car, I was telling Adeline what a wonderful job she did and that I was so proud of her. Her response was, "cookie?" She's certainly aware that cookies (treats) come as a reward for being a good girl and doing as she's asked! Her request was fulfilled when we had to stop by Kroger on the way home. I do love the free cookies at the bakery!

38 Week OB Appointment

There's not a whole lot to report from my 38 week appointment! My results were back from my second platelet test. My count is up a little. She has scheduled to take more blood at the 39 week appointment so they will have the most recent count at the hospital. I am still 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. She was shocked to see that the baby is at 0 station. She said I should just have to dilate and the baby should come with very little pushing. Sounds good to me!