Happy, Happy, Happy!

HAPPY 2 Weeks, Babycakes!!!!


HAPPY Due Date!

HAPPY 23 Months, Princess! (1 month away from the big 2!)

We've been keeping busy in the Wennerstrom Home! As you can see, today Caitlin is 2 weeks old! Also, today was Caitlin's due date! Today Abigail is also 23 months old! Lots of mini-milestones for us! Mommy and Daddy are learning a lot about balancing 2 kids...1 being in the PRIME of her terrible 2's!

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Everyone has been asking how Abigail is doing with the new baby. She LOVES Caitlin and wants to change her diaper, hold her, kiss her, and play with her. She asks for her "baby sister" 1st thing when she wakes up and has to say "Bye Bye Baby Sister" whenever she leaves the room, and wants to only pray for her baby sister before bed. She also has discovered her maternal side...every baby doll gets love everyday. She feeds them, walks them in her stroller, rocks them, burps them, and loves them. However, Abigail is having a little bit of a hard time with the less attention she has been getting from Mommy. I'm learning how to balance the two, and she's adjusting to our new normal...and things get better each day!

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Miss Caitlin Elizabeth is doing GREAT!!!! She's a very content baby during the day! She eats A LOT (we have a dr. app't tomorrow and I can't wait to see her weight). She is awake most of the night (last night I got a total of 3 hours of sleep between 10pm and 6am) but I know this stage will go fast so I'm trying to just enjoy our quiet time together. Other than that, she's only awake a few hours during the day...but we know in a few weeks from now how old she is going to look to us!

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Here's some pics of our week:

Mommy got me a Wubba-Nub (basically like a beanie baby attached to a paci that holds the paci in place) and I am very happy with my monkey!

Playing together (sort-of)

Aunt Julie came out to help for a day this week. Thanks so much!!!

They were staring at each...but Abigail saw me get the camera. Priceless moment for this proud mommy!

Abigail decided to teach Caitlin how to read her flashcards! This is how I found Caitlin! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Luca! We had so much fun at your Cat in the Hat Party!!!!

Sunday Night was Pizza Night. Daddy taught Abigail how to make a pizza...and how to keep everything CLEAN! Oh No..I'm outnumbered!

Sunday night was also Caitlin's 1st bath since her umbilical cord finally fell off! Abigail LOVED bath time as a baby...in fact, the only time she didn't cry during her baptism was when they were pouring water on her head...but Caitlin does NOT love bath time. Although they look a lot alike, Rob and I are already noticing so many differences in the two girls! We can't wait to watch them grow up!

This week Aunt Katie (O'Connor) came out to meet Caitlin (Thanks for breakfast and coffee). Also, we went to the Hackneys so Caitlin could meet her auntie Nay Nay, uncle Jay, and "brothers" (they call Baby Abbi their sister...now they call Baby Caitlin their sister too) and Auntie Lia and Uncle Eric..plus some soon-to-be friends. Caitlin can't wait to meet her new friends that are soon to come...and start kindergarten with them! ;)

Mommy found a new favorite past time. She used to love shopping for Abigail. Now she loves shopping for Abigail and Caitlin. Just wait for Xmas pics to come...Mommy got matching pj's and coordinating Xmas outfits! Oh, the joy of 2!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

We Need to Fight..Because Babies Shouldn't Have To!

Today is National Prematurity Awareness Day!

We are forever grateful for the research done by March of Dimes that gave us our daughter, Abigail...and for the research that continues to be done to save more and more babies everyday!!!! Did you know that 1 in 8 babies will be born premature in the US?

Today is a reminder to support your local March of Dimes and your local hospital so more babies have outcomes like Abigail!!!! We will continue to support March of Dimes and Central Dupage Hospital to say Thank You for our beautiful, healthy daughter! We pray that other families won't have to experience a preemie in the NICU, but if they do, we are so grateful for places like CDH!

Here's a look back at our preemie, Abigail!

Born on December 22, 2007 weighing 3lbs, 3 oz. This was our 1st family hold...X-mas morning in the hospital!

Mommy's 1st hold on day 3...we were only able to hold her once a day for 15 minutes at the beginning...imagine not being able to hold your baby!

Abigail's 1st bottle! She was tube fed the first few weeks of life!

Watching our baby thrive in CDH thanks to the amazing staff...and research by March of Dimes.

Abigail at 2 days old in her incubator.

Abigail almost 2 years later! All we have to say is "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!!!"

Happy 1 Week Birthday, Caitlin Elizabeth

We love you from your head....

to your toes!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Abigail, & Kramer

Sisterly Love

What we want most for our daughters is for them to be healthy, happy, and close to each other! So far, we are 3 for 3 and feel beyond blessed! Some more pictures of our 1st week at home!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse time

Abigail loves to hold and cuddle Caitlin

Abigail with her two babies

Big Sister and Little Sister

L-O-V-E

Caitlin took over Daddy's spot on the couch!

Visit with Great Nani and Great Papi

It has been a really great week at home. Very calm and quiet....and full of LOVE! Caitlin is doing great. She is eating like a champ and sleeping fairly well for us (She was up about 3 hours last night, but we are hoping she doesn't get too used to that). Her jaundice is better so she never had to go under a light. All in all, she's perfect. Abigail is also adjusting better. After a rough start, she is now a helpful big sister who loves to help change diapers, give Caitlin dolls, and hold her! Auntie MoMo and Uncle B visited us this week, but mommy forgot to take a picture (She was too excited about them bringing her pop and wine...and gifts for both kids and breakfast).

Rob goes back to work on Monday. We are so grateful for Rob's work that they gave him this time off. He actually wanted to go back on Friday but his boss wouldn't let him...what a great place to work!!!! We are so thankful for all this time together...it's the most unforgettable time in our lives! Monday will be a little hard after all the time we have spent together, but I wouldn't trade this past week for anything in the world.

As I type, I think back to one week ago...at this exact time last week I was timing my contractions at home, but thinking that they will pass. Little did I know that 18 hours from now, we would meet the last piece of our beautiful family puzzle!

And here are a few "comparision" pictures....I'm not gonna compare the girls their whole lives but I really can't get over how much they look alike.

Abigail:

Caitlin:

Abigail:

Caitlin:

Tomorrow is Caitlin's 1 Week Birthday....so more pics to come! Thank you to everyone for your nice comments, visits, gifts, phone calls, emails, etc!

72 Hours of LOVE

I don't think life can get much better than the last 72 hours for us! Here are some pictures of Caitlin's stay in the hospital, our trip home as a family of 4, and our 1st days of getting settled in!


Caitlin getting a quiet nap in the hospital


Abigail visiting her little sister and her Mommy (and her Mommy needed her visits!)


Daddy and his little girl hanging out!

Aunt Julie and Uncle Joe visiting their 2nd niece.

Abigail trying out Caitlin's new present from Aunt Julie and Uncle Joe

Grandpas and their girls

Wennerstroms

Caitlin surrounded by presents from her big sis

Our beautiful little girl

Heading home from the hospital as a family of 4!

Abigail holding her little sister...

and giving a kiss!

While Mommy and Daddy were busy in the kitchen, Abigail found her Pooh and gave it to Caitlin...she placed it right on her...so cute!

Caitlin helping Mommy on the computer

Abigail's big sister gift from Caitlin

Abigail watching over Caitlin...just checking!

Caitlin Elizabeth

We are so excited to announce the arrival of Caitlin Elizabeth Wennerstrom. Born on November 8, 2009 at 4:04 am weighing 5lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. Here are some pictures. Then...at the bottom...more about Caitlin!

Our family (oh yeah, it's a framer!)

Abigail giving Caitlin some love

Caitlin Elizabeth

I get a pass on how I look after pushing for 2 hours!!!!

Proud Daddy with his little girl

XOXO...so in love!!!!

Grandma

Grandpa

Papa

Nana

As you can see, Caitlin is LOVED!!!! Where to begin..how about the name. We decided on Caitlin because we think it's beautiful...but also because it's a combo of my sister's names. Cait is for my little sis Katie, and Lin is for my sister Julie Lynn. And we decided on Elizabeth because we thought it sounded good together and obviously because it's my name. So that's how we decided on Caitlin Elizabeth.

Warning: This is LONG...but I want to remember it while it's fresh.

As for how Caitlin arrived...I started having contractions Saturday, Nov 7th around 9am. By noon, I realized they weren't stopping, but they didn't seem to be getting too strong. So after talking to our dr, we decided to take a trip to the hospital "just in case"...but we really weren't expecting to stay. In fact, I'm trying to leave and Rob is cleaning our carpets! He really was in no hurry. He gave Abigail a high five, I gave her a quick kiss and said "See you in a few hours." We got the hospital around 1pm, got hooked up to the machine, and realized the contractions were actually 3 mins apart and we were there to stay! I moved to my room (I was 2 cm) and they figured this labor was going to be quick. By 3 they had the room ready for delivery because my contractions were now 2 mins apart. Around 4, I was 3cm and doing great. I was on a birthing ball for about an hour and it was wonderful. They also had me on pitocin just to help move things along. Around 4:45 they did the epidural. I was 4cm and moving along! And 4cm is where I stayed...and stayed...and stayed..and stayed. Everytime they checked, I was still 4cm. Because I was sort of stuck there, they figured I probably wouldn't deliver until 10pm...and we thought that would be long. Little did we know that at 1am I would still be at 4cm. By this point they had broken my water to try to move things along. What had happened was Caitlin was head down, but her head was sideways instead of the top being down, so it wasn't putting any pressure on my cervix. They tried everything. They moved me back and forth. They even put me upside down for a while hoping to move the baby out of position and hoping it would fall back into position in a better way. 1am (I now had been having contractions 2 mins apart for almost 12 hours) is when they started talking about a c-section. They said I had one more hour, and if I stayed at 4cm, then at 2am they would do a c-section. My contractions were perfect, I was on pitocin...I was just stuck. At 2am they came in to check and we expected the worse, but I was 8!!! We were so excited. The nurse left and my very next contraction, I felt the need to push. We called her back in and she said I was at 10cm...we have no idea how that happened in 1 contraction. But we were happy so we started pushing. She predicted a quick delivery since this was my 2nd baby. Wrong again! After an hour and a half of pushing, I was making very little progress. The C-Section word came back again to haunt us. After all that work, there was no way I was having a C-Section. So they brought in my dr who tried a few things...and with the help of a vacuum, Caitlin was finally born at 4:04am! She was just perfect!!!!!

Our poor family had literally been at our house since 1pm waiting for the news to head to the hospital...and they didn't get the call until 2am! Then they headed to the hospital...and waited in the waiting room until 4:45am to hear anything. They were so great and supportive and we are so thankful for them being there...even though we weren't really able to give them any updates because we didn't know what was happening. Papa stayed at home with Abigail so she could sleep and came to the hospital around 5:30 am to meet Caitlin too. Both my sisters were there to meet Caitlin too...her namesakes! But the pictures with them didn't turn out...so I'll get more of them with the next round of visits!

We wanted to thank our families so much for all their help with Abigail and Kramer...and for just stepping and doing it without us! You have no idea how grateful we are to have this time to bond with Caitlin!

We also want Abigail and Caitlin to know that we are the proudest parents in the world...we love our girls more than anything and can't wait to see what the future holds with our angels!!!!!!!

Lots and Lots and Lots more pictures to come!!!!