The Carmack's: November 2014: Charlye Price Carmack

Introducing Miss Charlye Price Carmack!!!!

November 10th, 2014...also known as our first official snow storm of the year. Luckily, we beat the snowstorm as we had to be to the hospital by 5am that morning, as we were the first scheduled surgery of the day.

We arrived to Cuyuna Regional Hospital in Crosby, MN right on time and got checked in and prepped for surgery. The only hiccup that we had during surgery prep was that my veins kept popping when someone would try to put an IV line into me, and after 5-6 failed attempts by 3-4 different professionals, the anesthesiologist finally came into the room and nailed a HUGE IV line into my arm (ouch!) and then we were good to go. Why we didn't start with him doing that in the first place, I have no idea. He then proceeded to stay with us until the surgery, and he was actually the one who wheeled me down to the operating room (cool dude...probably just had nothing else to do, but you don't get that kind of bedside manner from most anesthesiologists!)

Oh, my doctor also stopped in during prep around 5:30am (also a cool dude) and he was in sweats and all sweaty...he explained that he was going to go hit the shower because he just got done with a quick morning jog (seriously dude...at 4am??) and he would meet us in the operating room. I just found that funny...

Once again, we had a great experience with doctors, nurses, and the surgery! And at exactly 7:41am, Charlye Price Carmack entered this world...head full of hair like her big sister Adelyn, and lungs roaring like both her sisters!

We were in love. Instantly. Again. Weighing in at 8 lbs, 5 ounces, and 20 inches long, she was a perfect and healthy baby! I couldn't help the tears that streamed down my face when I heard that first cry. A miracle. This whole baby entering the world thing totally blows my mind.

The next couple of days were a blur. She was a champ at eating and sleeping from day 1! I would say probably the most content baby of our 3 kids by far (this still remains true a month later). She would sleep 4-5 hours during the night at the hospital (she's up to 6-7 hours a night at home now) and eats every 3 hours during the day (almost to the minute! which is crazy to me).

Of course, Addi and Olivya were giddy with delight (and full of anticipation) to meet their new baby sister!

...And just as I had imagined, they were smitten! And protective...and in love...and curious...and...well...every way that big sisters should be! They couldn't get enough of her, and frankly, they did much better with her than I thought they would!

They patiently took turns holding her...

(ok...maybe they weren't always so patient...)

My mom was also up helping to take care of the older girls while we were in the hospital, so she got lots of snuggle time in with this little bundle as well and boy oh boy were we grateful that Gramma could come up and spend the week!

And my dad and nephew also came up for the day to meet Miss Charlye

And the next day, Charlye had some more visitors including [great] aunt Terri and G.G. (Great Grandma, that is)

4 generations...all in 1 room...yet another thing that amazes me (and something that I feel very blessed to be a part of)

Overall, our hospital stay was pretty uneventful...in a good way! Charlye did great and had no problems in her first few days. I worked on recovering (not quite as easy as my recovery after Olivya, but definitely not as hard as my recovery with Adelyn) and we spent lots of time getting to know our newest child

One great surprise that the hospital did for us was to provide us with a "date night' on our 2nd night at the hospital. We ordered a gourmet dinner from a menu, and the nurses offered to babysit while they provided Michael and I with an "in-house date night". (Charlye actually slept through the whole date, so the nurses lucked out on that one). They wheeled in a table and chairs into my room, they had sparkling cider, flowers, and a very good steak dinner! This was possibly the highlight of recovery/being in the hospital (other than our new kid of course!)