Hanging in there

Charlie is two weeks old and things are going well. He's feeding more often and has now reached his birthweight again, which is great news. It's been an adjustment having two kids at home instead of one, but most days Charlie is sleeping while Maddy is napping so that Momma gets a little break.

Hard to believe it's almost November! 45 more days until we fly home to Canada. I miss my parents but it's been nice running my own show over here and beginning our new adventure.

Charlie is focusing on us more and he gave Andrew two ginormous smiles this morning before he left to work. Adorable. Can't wait to show him off to everybody. And Maddy continues to be pretty smitten with her "baby brother".

It's a beautiful day.

Kim

Knock on Wood...

So it's been a week since we've been home with our new little man and I don't want to jinx anything, but he is pretty much perfect.

He sleeps all day. Seriously. He wakes up every 3-4 hours to feed, and goes back to bed. He has awake time for 1-2 hours in the evenings, cluster feeds and then gives me about 7 or 8 hours of sleep with a feed in between.

Madison is still pretty excited about Charlie being here. She likes to pass me diapers, throw out the dirty ones, get me my nursing pillow, or help bath him. She loves to hold "my baby brother", and loves to tell me when he's making noises through the baby monitor. She's a wonderful big sister so far.

And it only took a week before she started "breastfeeding" her dollies!!!

My parents left today to return to Canada, so now I am officially by myself with two kids during the day. I know Maddy will miss her Opa, since he loved to take her outside and play with her. I hope I'm not too boring for her.

We are extremely thankful for our two beautiful children and my wonderful parents who came all the way to Finland to help out. Less than two months before we will be back in Canada. I can't wait to show off my little man!!!

It's a beautiful day.
Kim

Baby Charlie, Welcome to the World!!

We are thrilled to announce the safe arrival of our son Charlie Jacob Alexander Conley!! Born on October 12 at 1:10am in Helsinki, Finland. 3466 grams, or 7 lbs 10.25 ounces for you Canadian folk.

We are home and both doing very well. Charlie is an amazing addition to our family and Madison is thrilled to be a big sister. I am super happy that my parents are here to help, it has been quite relaxing for the most part so far.

Our Finnish experience at the hospital was very positive. The staff were great, we were very well taken care of, and the laughing gas was wonderful :)

It's a beautiful day.

Kim

Catheter??

Just about 39 weeks pregnant and Baby Boy has dropped significantly. You can tell just by looking at me. It's nice that he's not booting me in the ribs anymore, but he is now placed so wonderfully onto my bladder.

I am pretty sure I am visiting the washroom at least every half hour. Judging by the amount of water and toilet paper I am going through, I think there's gotta be a more efficient way to do this. Perhaps a catheter is easier and more environmentally friendly?????? Just a thought.

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun...

Summers in Finland are lovely. Check the weather page and it tells you that the sun rises at like 3:30 in the morning and sets after 11:30pm. Length of day is like 20 hours.

Weather page this morning:
Sun rises 7:35am and sets 18:41. Length of day is 11hr, 6min.

Boo.

Getting Close...

Over 38 weeks pregnant today and I had a doctor's appointment this morning to see how Baby Boy Conley was doing.

Every single appointment I've had so far in Finland, I have never waited longer than ten minutes. In actuality, many of my doctors/nurses have actually taken me into their office earlier than my booked appointment time.

So this morning, when I had to wait 25 minutes to see the doctor, I found myself extremely annoyed!! Despite the fact that the doctor apologized profusely for keeping me waiting.

I guess this is what happens when you've been spoiled by the Finnish healthcare system. Canada has a lot to learn.

It's a beautiful day.
Kim

P.S. For those of you wondering, he is weighing 7 pounds and I am 1cm dilated. We're getting close...