Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Back in the Day

 Hey Friends! I found some fun pics of Ollie's first couple days of life that I wanted to share...and then...I found some pics from back in the day when we only had 2 children :)  Right before Ollie was born.  This one above is me and Ollie in the hospital.  He was wearing his "going home" outfit!
 He doesn't look too happy to be home...but we are sure happy to have him here!
 Grandma, Ollie and Addi! 
 Dusty!  She has taken "having a new brother" the hardest!  She is always anxious around new babes.
 Since we left the hospital early, we had to pop into a family centre to weigh little Ollie to be certain he was gaining the proper amount of weight.  He sure is! 
 Another one from the hospital...Ollie all ready to go home!
 Now these pics are "back in the day" when we only had 2 children :)  Mom and Addi at the Mount Ainslie lookout.
 40 weeks along with my Addi and her fancy pose!
 Carousel rides in the city!

 Then a hop, skip and jump over to the cupcake shop!
 YUMMMM!
 Dinner out at Tilley's.
 A trip to Parliament.  We really enjoyed our tour there.  This is mom in front of Parliament.
A "sort of" family photo in front of Parliament.

We are off to swim lessons!

Enjoy today!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Hospital: Behind the Scenes!

 Hey Friends!  Here are a few fun pics from our little hospital stay with Oliver.  The average stay in Australia is 5 days...there was NO WAY that I was staying there for 5 days so I came home after 2 days there.  The above picture is of Oliver's information that was attached to his bassinet.
 5:18 PM.  The time when Oliver was born!
 His tiny toes with hospital bracelets.
 Addi wanted to read Oliver his first story when she visited! 
 The wine I ordered with dinner!  Crazy!  I love that you can order wine or beer with your dinner post delivery hospital dinner here in Oz :)  I didn't drink it, but I did eat the ice cream as fast as I could!  haha! 
 Ollie taking a snooze!
If it wouldn't have been for my friends, my stay in the hospital would have been VERY boring.  Thanks, gals, for bringing me cards, magazines, chocolates, raspberries, mentos and not pictured: gifts for the girlies and Oliver!  You all are SO sweet!  I also really appreciated your visit to the hospital!  So special that you took time out of your Saturday afternoon to come see us!

I hope you enjoyed this little behind the scenes tour of our hospital stay. 

Enjoy today!

So Many Firsts

 Hello Friends and Family!  We are experiencing SO many firsts around here that it is hard for me to keep up with the bloggity!  Destiny's first time holding baby Ollie!  She was beaming and so excited to be a big sister.
 Addi's first time holding Ollie too!  She was happy to hold him for a bit and then ready to move on to bigger and better things...like the bag of peanut m & m's in the hospital room :)
 Ollie's first bath at our house....his cute little toes waiting to get scrubbed!
 He cried the whole time!
 This wouldn't be "my" blog if there wasn't a cute little baby bum...gotta love first time baths!
 Scrub-a-dub with daddy!
His first time sleeping in his bassinet.  So sweet! 

The blog may be a bit sporadic, as we experience SO many firsts...in fact, our first holiday is coming up!  We are headed to Sydney with my mom to show her the sights!  I'll be out of touch for a bit when we are gone.

For now, enjoy today!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Introducing...

 Hey Friends!  This is the last picture of my pregnancy...41 weeks pregnant!  That baby NEEDED to come out!  This is me, in labor, in my labor and delivery suit at Calvary John James Hospital.  It was so cold in there that I wore my scarf around my shoulders for a good part of my labor. 

 This is Oliver, after a long and hard delivery into this world.  Weighing in at 3.42 Kilos or 7 lbs 9 oz. and measuring 20.5 inches long with a full head of black hair!  So cute!

I wish I could tell you a sweet and wonderful laboring and birthing story, but this was one of my tougher deliveries.  Since I was over due and my original doctor was on vacation (a blessing in disguise) I met a new doctor last Thursday.  The doctor did a thorough examination of me and baby and decided I needed to have some monitoring done to make sure baby was doing okay.  We went in for the monitoring and the midwife said we could go home.  Later that evening I received a phone call telling me to come on back in for some more monitoring; so off we headed to the maternity ward again.  Matt and I had our bags packed, hoping that Oliver would make his appearance that evening.  We were surprised to be sent home once again with the agreement that my water would be broke by the doctor in the morning if I didn't come in before hand on my own terms.  After nice contractions all evening, I headed to bed to rest up a bit.  The contractions stopped through the night and early the next morning I found myself on the way to the hospital preparing to have my water broke by the doctor. 

Once in my delivery suit, bags unpacked and birthing gown on, the doc came in to break my water.  Guess what...it wouldn't break!  So there we sat, or more like jumped, lunged, squatted, walked around the hospital, star jumps, you name it, trying to get a more active labor going. 

After a long walk (the doctor saw us on  his lunch break as we were walking and was not too pleased with the midwife for letting us go out for a walk), we were closely monitored as the baby's heart rate kept dropping during each contraction.  The doctor came in and gave me a good talking to about the possibility of having to have a c-section in the unlikely event that the baby's cord was around his neck.  We opted to try for breaking the water again and sure enough, this time it broke, but not enough.  In order for it to break enough, the doctor used an instrument that is also used to internally monitor baby's heart rate.  Once the instrument was attached, baby's heart rate was pretty steady so we proceeded with a little help from an inducing drug.  At the mention of c-section, I was happy to try anything to get my baby out with out using a knife!  So off I went, into a quick and hard labor.  Matt was a fabulous coach; he helped me maintain a calm spirit through much of my labor.  He also was there for me in the end when the pressure was great to give in to having pain meds convincing me that I can do this on my own!  What a guy! 

The induction worked quickly and as I neared the pushing stage, we had a bit of a scare.  The heart rate monitor that was being used in baby's head was picking up my heart rate instead of the baby's heart rate.  It was quite the mystery to the midwives in the room and they had to call in the head midwife to be certain that it was my heart rate!  Shortly after that fiasco, I was on my way to pushing baby out.  It was a lot of work and sure enough, his cord was wrapped around his neck.  He is truly my little miracle!  Born a "true blue" Aussie...his skin was blue for the longest time and he waited quite some time to take his first breath, but when he did, we knew our lives would never be the same!  We are so overjoyed to have a little boy in our family!  It's like he was just the piece of this puzzle that we were missing!  He fits in perfectly already! 
 The girls and Grandma meet Oliver.
 Minutes after his birth!  Matt and I named him Oliver Lawrence Ray Sanchez.
 Me and my new baby boy!
 New daddy Matty.
 Grandma Sue!  A special thanks to Grandma for watching the girls during the multiple trips to the hospital, labor, delivery, and recovery!  What a gal!
We are well on our way to getting to know Mr. Oliver.  We are SO lucky and blessed!  What a miracle!
Enjoy today!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Old Parliament

Another day...another excursion!  Here is my Addi in her fancy hat :)
We headed out to the Museum at Old Parliament and were educated about the Aussie government system.  The girls tried out a wig and the BIG chair!
I joined in on the pic and then...

It was Grandma's turn to try on the robe and wig :)  She looks pretty cute!
The girls loved listening to "music" and really enjoyed their time making origami crafts in the kid's section of the museum.
In the evening, we met up with Matty for some chocolate at Max Brenner.  The chocolate shop is officially added to the list for a repeat while mom is here!  We all enjoyed our chocolaty treat!

Enjoy today!

Glass and Burgers

Hey Friends!  This is a little something to keep you entertained for the next couple of days!  I may be a bit busy *wink wink!*  We took the girls and mom to Glassworks here in Canberra.
Such stunning works of glass :)
Me and momma!
We ate our yummy burgers, picnic style...winter picnic style...wind and cold!  It was a super fun outing!  Still feeling so incredibly blessed to have my mom here!

Enjoy today!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Royal Mint

Hey Friends!  Destiny loves her "family" so much that she lined them all up on the sofa and wanted a picture of them :)  Isn't that so cute!  These are ALL of her favorite "friends" and yes, they ALL sleep with her at night in her bed!
Last weekend we visited the Royal Mint.  Grandma and the girls smiled by the BIG dollar!
Me and the girlies!
The girls had fun putting their heads in "money worker's" bodies.  I am pretty sure Addi called it a "money man"!  I told her, that's the kind of man she should marry...one with lots of money ;)  joking!
It was so much fun to "press" our own coins!  What a fun and new experience! The girls loved watching the robots work.  They have a big one called Titan and a smaller one that drives around.  The girls sat there for at least 10 inutes watching them do their "work".

Enjoy today!