Jane the Giant.

Jane is officially HUGE to me.  I used to think she was just so little, but now when I pick her up after holding Colette I feel so awkward and like my arms are going to fall off.  I still love to snuggle with her though.  There's nothing better!

^Here she is with cousin Noah, just drinking milk and watching some smart-kid shows.

^We went to a little celebration in the middle of town one day and the SPCA was there with some cats and dogs and this dog was so sweet.  I wouldn't normally let Jane put her fingers into a dog's cage, but this dog was beyond perfect (thank goodness!)  

^We love us some Oreos after lunch!

She was attempting to walk before Colette was born, but after we came home from the hospital she really STEPPED up her game (hehe).  She walks like she's been walking for years!  I guess she figured she's the big sis and needs to show little sis just how it's done.  

^This is an older video of her walking.  She's even better at it now!

She all of a sudden is so grown up and understands so much.  I'll ask her to throw something away and she knows exactly what to do.  It's so cute.  But make sure you don't leave anything important out, you might just find it in the trash can... 

^My mom came to visit for a few days and we went to a W&L field hockey game one afternoon. Jane loved it!

^She's not the most reverent child during sacrament meeting... She walked to the row in front of us and grabbed someone's scriptures and started "reading" them.  It was hilarious.

^Walks tend to put Jane to sleep, and that obviously isn't the case for Colette.

^Andrew took this picture at the airport when we had to drop my mom off to fly home.  Such a big kid!

We have some baby dolls that she LOVES to play with and she carries them around and wraps them up in her blanket, just like we do with Colette.  She also tries to give them her pacifier and pats them on their backs like she's trying to burp them.  She'll also drop them on their heads though... so, I guess she won't be holding Colette anytime soon!  She tries to though, and it's so precious.

^We hung out at the mall in Roanoke for a little bit after a job interview Andrew had (and he got the job! *insert awkward celebratory dance moves*).  Jane was loving the play place there.

^We also went to see the puppies at the puppy store, of course.  This pup was named Frances and she loved Jane!

^Jane loved her too :)

^A LOT.

^She kept her eye  on Jane as we walked out of the store.  it made me so sad and I just wanted to bring her home with us!  Someday...

She gives kisses to Andrew, Colette, and I, but so far hasn't wanted to do it to anyone else, which is OK by me :)  Keep them lips to yourself, girlfriend!  She doesn't love to brush her teeth, but she's coming around to it more.  We brush her teeth the best we can and then give her the toothbrush and ask her to do it too.  She definitely likes to do things on her own!  She also likes to try to brush her hair.  And my hair...  Let the rat's nests commence!

^Demolishing an apple while she sits in her little corner.

^She wouldn't be Jane if she didn't give me at least one sassy look.

Now I'm off to figure out some Halloween costumes!  At least I'll try... Probably won't actually get around to it until the night before.  Oh well :)

Colette's Birth Story.

Sunday, September 14th, at 12:04 am, we welcomed the newest Brandt to our family.

Colette Susan

7 pounds, 11 ounces, 19 inches long.

She came fast and furious, and I wonder if that's a sign of her personality :)

Let me start off by saying that this labor and delivery was very different than my labor and delivery with Jane.  So very different.  My due date for this little miss was September 16th.  The midwives all kept saying that the second baby tends to come early for a lot of women, and that was also the pattern with my mom.  So I was expecting her to come early, even though I tried really hard not to just in case she decided to come late instead.  

Since my labor with Jane was pretty quick, I figured this one would also be quick (thank you for the fast-labor genes, Mom.  But seriously.  THANK YOU).  It also made a difference that I had Jane only 14 months ago, so my body was already prepared for delivering Colette (or something like that).  I was kind of worried the whole pregnancy about not being able to make it to the hospital in time.  I did NOT feel like having a baby in our car, and I'm pretty sure Andrew feels even more strongly about that one.  I think he would have a heart attack if he had to deliver a baby.  Hopefully that type of emergency won't ever have to happen :)

So the whole week I had been having contractions.  Braxton hicks contractions (practice contractions) which during the span of the week turned into some stronger ones that I consider "real" contractions.  Whatever they specifically and scientifically are, they got stronger, but they were never consistent.  So I never really worried about them.  And they weren't so strong that I couldn't walk or talk through them.  

So Saturday the 13th comes around, and there was something going on that morning, or we were busy doing something, I can't remember.  But around noon I went to a Stake Relief Society Conference.  Well the end of it anyway.  I can't remember what was going on that morning that didn't let me go to the morning sessions of the conference, but my mother-in-law and I were able to make it for the final speaker and lunch afterward.  While we were eating lunch I was feeling some pretty strong contractions, but I think I hid them pretty well, so they weren't super strong.  I was definitely stuffing my face though, so that should have been a sign that my body was gearing up for a crazy night.  

The contractions were pretty strong the rest of the afternoon and evening, but were so irregular and inconsistent that I just didn't really know what to think.  I forget what time it was, but at one point during the day I did have some bloody show (sounds gross, but not as bad as I thought it would be).  I think that happened after Andrew was already at work.  He was scheduled to work from 5 to midnight or something, so I texted him and told him about that, just so that he knew that something could be happening that night.  

Around 9pm I was downstairs with my in-laws and Jane to say family prayer for the night and I told them about the contractions, just to keep them informed.  Then Jane and I came upstairs to get ready for bed and we were just hanging out and watching a movie when my water broke.  It wasn't like in the movies with a giant gush that ends up all over the floor.  But it definitely felt like I was peeing my pants.  El grosso (definitely spanish for "gross", right?).  I didn't run down to tell my in-laws, which maybe I should have :) But I texted Andrew and told him my water broke, so he should probably come home now.  So I just stayed upstairs and was getting things ready and calling the hospital and what-not when my mother-in-law came up to the room to see if everything was OK, because Andrew had called her to tell her my water broke and that he was on his way home.  The midwife on duty said it was really up to me to decide when to go in to the hospital, since my contractions were still really irregular and not super strong.  

So around 10:15pm we left to get to the hospital, which is about 45 minutes away.  We got to the hospital around 11pm and it was so weird, because I was still able to walk through contractions and they just really weren't super bad.  They were definitely getting worse, don't get me wrong, but compared to when I had Jane, at that point in my labor I was in so much pain and absolutely hating it.  This time it was so different.  

When they first got me checked in I was 6cm dilated and I think about 100% effaced.  So obviously things were happening fast and they nurses knew it.  As it got closer to midnight the contractions got stronger and more frequent and I became more and more uncomfortable.  It was really only the last few contractions before pushing that were REALLY painful.  I was so surprised when all of a sudden I felt like I needed to push.  It just came so fast!  All I could say was "Uh, is she coming??".  And the midwife checked to see and she said "Oh yeah, she's coming" *insert light-hearted laugh*.  So I started pushing!

Andrew was at the head of the bed with me holding my hands while I was leaning on the top part of the bed and kneeling.  With Jane's birth, the pushing was welcome relief from the pain of the constant contractions.  This time, the pain from trying to push was HORRIBLE.  Definitely the worst part of this labor and delivery.  There was one point where my brain just freaked out and I wanted to get up and run out of the room.  I just wanted it to stop!  I'm sure Andrew saw that moment of serious panic in my eyes.  But, then the calm side of me (read: Andrew and my common sense) kicked in and told me to breath and that I can't stop this and that the pain will be over in a matter of minutes.  Probably more like seconds because Colette came out pretty fast once I calmed down and pushed.  There is no better feeling than when that baby comes out and knowing that the pain from your body stretching open is over.  SO GOOD.

I was a little bit traumatized from the pain of pushing that when they were trying to have me lay down on the bed and hand Colette to me to hold that I just kind of knelt there and was like, what??  Talk about being kind of brain dead for a minute.  So I layed down and held her for a few minutes until Andrew cut the cord and they took her get cleaned up and weighed and measured.  She came out so fast that she had some mucus in her throat and nose and it was there for a few days after.  They sucked as much out as they could and she was perfectly fine.  Nothing to worry about, thank goodness.  

I had some tearing again.  I think it was less than last time, but it still stinks to have to get stitched up down there.  I was bleeding a lot more than I should afterwards, so they hooked me up to some pitocin to help my uterus clamp down more to slow down the bleeding.  The midwife said that because the labor happened so fast my uterus worked so hard and then was just like "bleh" after Colette came out.  "Bleh" meaning very tired.  It worked a little bit but I was still bleeding more than I should, so they gave me a big ol' shot in the thigh of something that I can't remember the name of.  Basically a stronger version of pitocin.  It helped a lot.

We stayed in recovery for that whole night and all day Sunday.  Sunday evening my in-laws came and brought Jane to meet her little sis.  I missed Jane way too much!  It hadn't even been a full 24 hours that I had been away from her...  Jane was so cute just looking at her and trying to poke her eyes...  Jane's big thing right now is to point out where everyone's noses are, so she was constantly pointing at and touching Colette's nose.  So precious.  It was really hard to have Jane leave that night after visiting.  Like, REALLY hard.  But we survived :)  We stayed there for most of the day Monday but went home that evening.  

^Just poking her eye out.  No worries.

^Pardon the not so great picture quality.  And lack of pictures, as well.  

Colette is a real strong baby and is doing great nursing, and so far I am too :)  She's very sweet and takes her sister's abuse very well.  Jane isn't all that rough with her, but obviously...

... she knows what big sisters are supposed to do to their little siblings.  She was only 6 DAYS OLD.  Parenting fail.

We had a tough time picking out Colette's name.  We mostly had it narrowed down to two, and for a good 30 minutes or so we just kept going back and forth, then throwing in a different name, then going back to the original two.  It was tough.  We liked these names ever since we had Jane, and it was just hard to try to choose one that would fit her best.  We finally decided that Colette just really fit her.  Her middle name, Susan, is after Andrew's mom.  I also have an aunt Suzanne, so it's not directly after her, but it is a form of the name.  

Some of the first things I noticed about Colette when I first held her were 1. She looks SO different than Jane. 2. She has hair! (Jane had none). 3. She's got some looong fingers. and 4. Her eyes are dark.  Well darker than Jane's anyway.  

We are so happy to have Colette in our family.  I can't wait so see her personality come out more and more as we get to know her.  Jane is already a great big sister and loves Colette.  I can just tell. 

Being a mom of 2 is really stinking hard.  But I also really love it.

^Tiny squishes on my now-squishy belly.