Molly 8 months

This outfit was mine when I was little <3 p="">
~Mid-month you started to scootch, it is so cute watching you move from place to place. However, you really have to want it to go too far.

~This month we went with the youth group to Canada for a mission trip. I was so nervous how you would do in the car...but you did great!! It probably helped that all the teen girls wanted to sit next to you and keep you company! This was both yours and brothers first time out of the country and we had no problems.

~ The end of the month was Woodinville's family retreat out at Delano. We had a great time fellow-shipping with the other families out there!

~We have started you eating solids 2x a day(usually...if I remember)....

~puffs...You love them!!

~8/28 you started to clap a couple times then while at the zoo with family everybody at a show clapped and so did you. Soooooooooo cute!!! And you were so proud!!! You also have rhythm and can already move and groove to the beat :)

~You love to hang out with your little baby friends at church. You get so excited to see them and just squeal and squeal when you get next to their faces....is this how it will be when you are a teenager??? You also love to attack their faces and steal their hairbows...I think it's just your enthusiasm right???

Molly 7 months

I figure I should get your 7 month update up before you actually turn 8 months huh.....Well sweet girl, 7 months has flown by so incredibly quickly! It doesn't help that we are in the midst of our "crazy busy summer" and we hardly have time to breath, much less soak up enjoying your babyhood. I actually had forgotten that you turned 7 months. Somebody asked me how old you were, and I said "6 months, wait what is today...the 5th, oh she is 7 months old." YIKES that happened FAST!!! You are starting to become a little ball of sunshine although smiles for others that are not immediate family are rare, you give your mommy, daddy and brother the cutest little smug smile ever when you see us!

~ You went from hardly sitting on your own, to doing it like a champ! Now you will fuss if you have to lay down.

~ You are still drinking 6oz bottles every 3 hours. You LOVE real food and haven't shown any preferences yet. You have tried green beans, peas, avocado, sweet potatoes and squash.

~ We moved you up to size 4 disposables although they are a wee bit big still. We are still in cloth at home though.

~ We are starting to figure out your eczema and how to keep it from flaring which is nice.

~ You are in 6 month clothes and sometimes 9 months, but I'm saving those "bigger" clothes for when you don't fit in the smaller ones anymore.

~Gigi came to visit this month and we had a fancy lunch in the space needle where you decided that you had to cough for every one the entire time. Luckily people thought it was cute ;)

~~ Can pivot and manuever your way all over the floor.

~Jump Jump Queen!!

~Tried church camp and you were a big hit, however we left early due to lack of sleeping on both you and your brothers part.

~You have had some severe separation anxiety this month but only if you hear/see mommy and you are not with me.

~You have finally decided that the car isn't so awful after all. Don't get us wrong, you still cry....but you give up a lot faster and fall asleep.

~You "talk" to us. If we go "ahhhhhhh" to you, you respond back with "ahhhhhhh" it's absolutely adorable!!!

~At around 6 1/2 months old you started sitting up on your own!! One day you weren't and the next day you were. This has given you such freedom though!

Mollys Birthstory

As I am finally writing this almost 7 months later, some of the details are a little hazy...however I think that is part of God's design to promote multiplying and increasing in number ;)

On January 3rd, one day past my due date I was desperate! I had no progress at my appointment the day before and I was feeling large, tired, and incredibly uncomfortable. Logically I decided to recreate the day before I had Mason which consisted of a pedicure complete with the massage chair, as well as getting fries and a blizzard on the way home to share. Surpisingly it worked!!!! At around 5am on January 4th as I was awake shifting from one side to the other I felt something funny and then felt my water breaking. This exact same thing had happened with Mason so I let Carter know and then went to the bathroom with my phone to make all the appropriate phone calls to get people prepared that "this was it". As we finalized everything and I peeked in on a sleeping Mason one last time, I didn't have any contractions besides the perpetual "I just peed my pants" feeling that happens when your water breaks.

We calmly got in the car and began the 45 minute drive to the hospital. Luckily it was Saturday so we didn't even have to worry about traffic which was nice since our hospital was in the heart of Seattle. Halfway there I started to get some pretty intense contractions but they really were not timeable, after getting out of the car I realized that they were mostly encouraged by the bumps in the road as well as my sitting position in the car as well.

At the hospital they checked us in immediately and stated that they would need to make sure that my water had broken but once they saw how wet my pants were just from they drive over I think they had no more doubts ;) So I was shown to a room immediately and then waited around a bit as they were changing shifts. Most laboring moms would still be at home at this point but because I was attempting a VBAC and had tested positive for Strep B once again, I needed to have a penicillin drip several times during the laboring process. Once we got all situated in the lovely hospital gowns in our spacious room with a view, I made sure to let them know that people have problems getting my veins, and of course they did. I ended up having the pic line in my hand but it was still a much better experience then last time.

My midwife Sally came in around 10am and there really was no progress at all and I was hardly feeling any contractions. She recommended I spend a lot of time walking around the halls as well as bouncing on the balls so we obliged.

As I was eating lunch was when I remember getting the first contractions that caused me some actual discomfort. I remember talking with Carter and my nurse and having to actually stop talking in order to get through them. Then we began walking the halls even more with taking plenty of breaks for contractions. As time moved on I became tired and needed to lay down or rest which was fine until a contraction which hurt the most if I was sitting or laying. The most bearable way for me to get through them was to hold onto Carter in a "dancing" Position and sway with him. This part was horrible because as the day progressed I did not dilate more but the contractions were coming hard and around 5 minutes apart. We tried the tub which did not seem to help and was uncomfortable. I remember getting out the first time and being so incredibly chilled that my teeth were chattering (stupid hormones)! It was around this time (maybe 6pm) that I began to doubt myself. I was exhausted and in extreme pain but I couldn't sit or lay down to rest. I physically felt as if I couldn't do it and despite wanting to go "natural" all the way I asked my midwife for an epidural. This was an incredibly hard decision for me and I felt as if I was letting everyone down, my midwife included, but I just was desperate. Sally and Carter however were able to talk me down from it, especially when Sally told me that my chances of c-section were high if I got an epidural at that time and I remember giving myself incredible amounts of positive self-talk and I kept trying to imagine Carter, me and Molly "dancing" through the contractions. At this point I was getting very little breaks between contractions (at least that's how it seemed to me) so I decided to try the tub again. It did provide me the longest breaks between contractions so that I could rest however when the contractions hit they came back to back with EXTREME pain. I decided that it wasn't worth it and needed something else. Sally and my nurses brainstormed and decided that maybe if i sat backwards on the toilet leaning on the back of it may bring me some relief. It did, sort of. However, I was done. I was spent every way possible and in tears with the pain. I asked to be checked at at around 8pm I was only dialated to a 7...so not what I wanted to hear as that was what I was several hours before. I once again decided to ask for an epidural and my midwife suggested I try a narcotic first. She said it would take the edge off of the pain as it was searing and I could feel it all the way to my toes. Sally also said that I would hopefully be able to doze between contractions helping my exhaustion. The only down side of this was that since it was a narcotic I needed to lay in bed (remember sitting/laying made my contractions worse). However, I was desperate!! Let's just say that the narcotics did pretty much nothing for me at all. I wasn't able to rest and the contractions hurt worse. It was at this point that I said I wanted the real epidural, it was just tooooo much! Thankfully the anesthesiologist was already on call for me and came quick around 9pm. Within 5 minutes of that epidural was sweet relief although it seemed to take forever to kick in, but I remember feeling the pain dissipate and not feeling the shooting pains down my body.

At this point in time I was finally able to get rest, although I had various alarms and things going off it was the most relaxed I'd been all day. At one point in time it looked as if Molly was sunny side up and so they put me on my stomach which was just as awkward as it sounds being 40weeks pregnant and unable to move your legs :) Somewhere around midnight a nurse came in saying they couldn't hear the babys heartbeat anymore and it was just the monitor slipping, but then she couldn't find Mollys heartbeat which was at first scary, but then we realized it was because she had dropped so low. I then told the nurse that I was feeling pressure on my rectum and she said she was going to go ahead and let Sally know to come check me. I remember Sally being slightly perterbed with the nurse for calling her down because she was already going to come check on me at 12:30am but proceeded to check me anyways. The look on her face when she did was hilarious and she told me that she barely put her finger in before feeling Molly's head, and it was go time, there was no chance of needing a c-section! Carter and I couldn't believe it and I was so excited to get my VBAC!! Here is the funny thing....Molly was esentially birthing herself. I didn't feel the urge to push which was good because they told me to not even move until the delivery nurse was there so we had to wait for her! When it was time it was incredible because nobody even helped deliver her. They all just stood near and told me to push and all it took was a couple sit-up type motions and she slid out all on her own....the pushing didn't even take 5 minutes...I was in shock, I pushed for over 3 hours with Mason!! One of the coolest things was getting to reach down while I was pushing and feel her little head, wow! Molly was imediately placed on my chest and we got to smile at her and snuggle her. The hospital we delivered at was wonderful and they did all of her evaluations on me, never taking her away. We eventually did ask for her to be weighed and measured but that was when we were ready for it. When talking with my midwife afterwards she shared that I had the "ideal" epidural and must have gotten it at the perfect time because it relaxed me to the point of being able to let my body do what needed to be done. This is way tmi but she even showed us Molly's placenta and umbilical cord (2x longer then average). I am so in awe over this birth experience and although I didn't go "natural" I still got my VBAC, and that was the most important thing to me!

Now we have our sweet Molly Rose Davis and our life is eternally changed!

Molly 6 Months

Sweet girl. This month you are getting easier still! You sure can entertain yourself more although mommy is still your favorite toy! Your smile can light up a room and your laugh is something I work so hard for because of how precious it is. Brother can get you to laugh just by putting his grinning face next to yours and uttering a simple "boo"....you sure love him!

~Your hand eye coordination is improving. You are perfecting putting both your hands together to intentionally grab things.

~ Towards the end of the month you started making ba and da sounds, sooooo cute!!!

~Hello there drool machine, just puddles and puddles and puddles of it.

~You roll from your back to front but then get stuck...and so frustrated!
   
~ You are a swaddle houdini, it is also getting frustrating trying to get you in it so I finally broke down and bought the swaddle straight jacket. I was thinking of breaking you from it, but you are such a "hold me" baby I think it really helps you feel comforted.

~ You are in size 3 diapers and drinking 6oz bottles every 3 hours. Cloth diapering is going great! You also can still fit into 3-6 month clothes as well as 6 month clothes.

~ We started solids at almost 6 months old and you have done great with them! So far you have had green beans and peas and finish them most of the time. What a big girl you are!!!

~Mommy had such fun planning and executing your 6 month photo shoot and what fun I had!!! I am pretty darn happy with the results if I do say so myself and you were such a lovely model.

Molly Month 5

Molly Rose, at one moment I can't believe that you are already 5 months old, and at another it feels as if you've been around much longer. We are still figuring many things about each other out but getting more into a groove daily. It's hard to remember what life was like without you and your smiles, laughs, and rasberries bring such joy to our life! Your brother loves you so much and when you cry he is always the first to let me know and ask why you are crying. I always wished that your brother was more of a cuddler and that desire came true with you. You LOVE to be held to the point where we can hardly put you down or not be touching you. You will do a circuit between your floor mat, jumper, and then bumbo, but are only happy in each for around 5 minutes. You slowly are learning though to be more independent and that is very exciting for us here at the Davis household. I pray for you daily that you will always know how much we love you, and that you will grow into a young woman who feels loved, valued, and carries that confidence with you wherever God leads.

~You are in size three diapers when out and about and we are still successfully cloth diapering!
~ Size 3-6 month clothes fit perfectly, I can still squeeze you into 3 month oufits that are my favorite though :)
~ Drinking 6oz bottles every 3 hours although some you finish and some you don't.
~ You sleep from around 7pm-6:00am give or take and then take a morning cat nap in mommy's arms and a 1-2 hour nap swaddled in your crib around noon.
~ Your favorite people are still Mommy and Daddy and she gives us the best smiles!
~ Stranger anxiety has set in a bit and there are some times when you don't want anybody but us, but other times you could care less.
~We've had our first grumpy teething episodes this month and teething tablets have been helpful. No teeth yet though.
~We have gotten to spend a lot of time with our cousins this month and it's been such fun! Cousin Evey just loves you and you enjoy watching her too!
~We struggled a little bit with some sleeping issues at the beginning of the month but thankfully that only lasted a week! This momma needs her beauty sleep!!
~ You still dislike your carseat quite a bit and it makes it really hard to get anywhere so we spend a lot of time at home. Our main outings are Church and MOPS.

Molly Month 4

This month held some adventures and our first big trip! Your little personality is coming through more and more and it is so fun hearing you laugh all the time now. I actually feel bad though because you always get the hiccups when you laugh and they sound like they hurt! The smiles you give mommy melt my heart and you give daddy pretty good ones too. They are better then the ones you give others which is totally okay with us! You rocked our little world when you were first born but now we are falling into more of a pattern and routine as well as figuring each other out more so things are going pretty well sweet girl!

~Your bedtime is now around 7pm and you are sleeping through the night until around 6am. You are up for a little over an hour and them back for a morning nap. I like this schedule!

~ You are still drinking 6oz bottles every 3 hours. You are in size 2 diapers and size 3 month clothes.

~Your brother loves giving you hugs and kisses and you tolerate it rather well.

~At the end of the month you got to fly for the first time as we went to Malibu for the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. You were a big hit there and people were drawn to your chubby cheeks, rolling legs, and hair bows like a moth to a flame. I even had some old women come up to me and ask if you were "the bow baby" and told me that they loved seeing all the different hair bows you have. Yes, mommy may be slightly addicted to hair bows ;) You did better then I expected and slept A LOT but I truly think it was your way of coping with the heat!

~Following Pepperdine we headed over for your first trip to DISNEYLAND!!! Okay, you honestly could not have cared less, but we all had a good time! You also got your first set of pink mickey ears while there as your souvenir!

~You will roll from your tummy to back but only because you are so upset that you are on your tummy.

~ We have put you in your jumparoo a few times and you seem to enjoy that as well as the piano playmat. You however still prefer to be held so we have a rotation for you that you will be happy in for short periods of time. You also love the bumbo because of the independence it gives you.

~ You want so badly to be a big girl! If people try to hold you so that you are laying down you get incredibly frustrated and scream until you are sitting up. However, you also like for people to be standing while holding you, and by like I mean you usually will cry if they don't.

~ This month was also your first trip to urgent care. You had been acting miserable so we took you in and found out you had your first ear infection, poor thing! Once we started those meds however you were a brand new person. Also, the Nose Frida became our best friend ;)

Molly Month 3

Oh our little cutie patootie, this month has been a BIG change for us and a huge step forward!! You are becoming so much easier and seem to be a happier bug! I think you are finally becoming acclimated to the "outside world" and now that you can interact more in your surroundings you are having a better time. You are so alert and mommy gets comments about that all the time. Brother seems to be getting more used to you and I can sometimes catch him trying to give you toys to play with you, it is so sweet but you are totally unaware of course :)

~ You are moving on up to 3 months clothes but you can still wear 0-3 months as well. Size 1 diapers still fit but I'm honestly not sure for how much longer. Also, we have started using our cloth diapers this month and we sure are having some kinks with it. I simply think you are just too little which is why they keep leaking out the legs but we will continue on!

~ You are consistently drinking 6oz bottles every 3 hours, never more then 3 unless it is night and sometimes less then 3.

~Your eyes are still a blue/gray color and some days they look darker then others.

~ You have been sleeping through the night since roughly 9-10weeks old!!! We started laying you down around 10 and you would wake up around 6:30-7. Towards the end of the month we try to have you in bed around 8:30 and you sleep until 6. We were also encouraged to let you self-sooth at the 2 month Dr. Appt and although it was hard it was nice knowing we could do it if you wouldn't go to sleep in our arms. This self-soothing thing though meant that it was time to move you to your own room. This way at least daddy could catch some sleep while you were trying to fall asleep and we didn't have to be uber quiet. Also, you are super noisy in your sleep! Actually, I think we may have been waking you up too because when we moved you out was when you started sleeping through the night!

~Halfway through the month you went from me trying to get you to smile as much as possible with no response, to the next day grinning at me like crazy and it was as if a flip switched. Now you smile!!

~ You have only laughed a couple times. Once for me when I was blowing on your tummy and it was the sweetest thing ever! You also did for daddy while he was making faces at you : )

~ You are such a cat napper!!! This month you started sleeping for only 20-30 minutes in our arms and by the time night came around you would be incredibly over tired! Around week 11 I discovered that if I swaddle you twice a day for a "big nap" you will sleep from 1 1/2-3 hours. One of them is in the morning, and the other is when brother sleeps which is fantastic because mommy gets a wee bit of alone time!

~ A birth mark appeared this month! It is a light brown color right above your little booty : )

Molly Month 2 (1 month late)

Our little Molly girl,

By the end of this month things became slightly easier for all of us in the Davis household. I don't know if you are getting easier or we are just learning better! We are so blessed to have you as part of our family even though you are the grumpiest little thing. You sure love to snuggle with us so I think I finally have my snuggle bug in you sweet girl! We can't wait to see you smile and interact with us more as we get to know you better. Your little brother loves you so much and loves to ask me "Can Molly be big and play with me!" He also loves to give you hugs and kisses as do your daddy and I.

~ At your 2 month appointment you weighed in at 11lbs 13oz (75%) and were 23.5 inches long (87%) You did great getting your shots and although you cried it was no worse then your normal tears. The nurse also said that you did great with the oral rotovirus and finished it faster then she's ever seen. Probably because we give you your milk cold.

~You are drinking 4oz bottles and by the end of the month sometimes even 6oz roughly every 3 hours but sometimes even sooner depending on how hungry you are! At this rate you sure are going to be one super cute chunky monkey!

~You are now in size 1 diapers and I can still get you into some newborn although you are now more in the 0-3 month clothing range.

~ You have been sleeping great in your pack-n-play in our room since the transition. You normally go to bed around 10:00pm and wake to eat between 3-4am and then go back to sleep for another 3 hours.

~Towards the end of the month you started intentionally smiling although they are few and far between as why you are still my little miss grump.

~ You hardly ever let us put you down during the day but you have started taking more interest in the "friends" on your play gym and you like the bouncy vibrating chair. So I get my hands free for around 30 minutes a day ; ) You also do like to be worn in the Ergo which is my saving grace to actually get a few things done around the house.

~The hiccups still bother you but at least you don't cry because of them anymore.

~ Your eyes are still a blue/gray color, who knows what color they will end up being!

Molly Month 1

Oh Molly Rose, you have turned our world upside down! We are so glad that you have joined our family and can't wait to see what you add to us! This first month has been a little tough but it gets easier every day as we all get to know each other better. Your daddy and I have such big dreams for you and your future but first and foremost is that we want you to love God with all your heart and that you will always put him first and then us second. We love you sweet girl <3 br="">

Things to note from this first month:

~At the hospital you were already trying to hold your head up, and you also loved to cry at the hospital...okay honestly you like to cry a lot at home too. We are struggling this month with your evening colickyness, however I am grateful it only lasts for an hour of so off and on.

~Just like your brother, we primary formula feed and supplement with breast milk. You are drinking 3oz every 3 hours. We nurse first until you are done and then bottle feed.

~ For the first 2 weeks we struggled with your weight gain as we were trying to figure out the feeding thing so at night I was waking you to eat every 3 hours. However towards the end of the month you would sometimes give me a 4 or 5 hour stretch which was greatly appreciated!

~ It is so cute to watch Mason interact with you! He calls you Molly Rose and likes to give you hugs and kisses.

~We can never put you down. I have had to co-sleep with you all month or else you won't stay asleep. Apparently we are really going to experience the "fourth trimester".

~ You are in newborn clothes, and newborn diapers.

~ You hate the hiccups!  you cry and cry because of them. They even wake you up and then you cry. So frustrating!!

Final Pregnancy Thoughts

Here I sit at exactly 40 weeks pregnant. Today is Molly's due date and no baby so far. I thought I would take this time to look back over my pregnancy and share some final thoughts now that we are so close to meeting our sweet girl.

~ We don't know if we are going to have another child so I'm trying to savor every last hiccup, kick, wiggle, toss and turn that the blessing of pregnancy provides. I am so grateful to have been able to carry two of my own sweet children and thank God every day for my babies.

~ This pregnancy was fairly easy for me. I had a bit more nausea in the beginning then with Mason but overall I was able to do everything that I wanted and am accustomed too, maybe just doing it a little more tired/slower.

~ I am so happy that I have several friends who are pregnant at the same time as me. It has been fun sharing stories and I look forward to our babies growing up together!

~ Watching Mason interact with my belly has been so sweet. Overall he has really been sweet and nice. I love when he gives my tummy kisses or just randomly asks to see mommy's tummy or push on it. The funniest thing was when he first felt her move and he looked at me and said "Mommy tooted".

~ I am excited and scared for Molly to be here. I often wonder how I'm going to manage with 2 kids when just one often leaves me exhausted. I then look around at the many families who have "survived" so far and know I can do it. I also know that the laughter and happiness will come with times of frustration and tears and it is during those moments that God will carry me through. I am also grateful for a wonderful supportive husband who helps more then I expect and I am so happy that he will be with me for "man to man" defense.

I am counting down the hours and minutes until she is here. Until then, I feel like a "ticking time-bomb" just waiting to explode. However, it would be so weird knowing the exact time and day she would be here so I look forward to the suspense ; )