McCarthy 4.0

Announcing McCarthy version 4.0:

"Toad"

Born 11/25/16 3:19 AM

7 lbs. 7 oz.

21" long (although this is debatable...)

Me and the shiny new babe

Daddy and "mini me"

Big sisters

Peach is thrilled!

He is much loved by all- the girls are constantly making up excuses to sneak peak at him while he sleeps and argue about who gets to hold him next.  The Frog, at first a bit more nervous about holding him for extended periods (and I don't get the feeling it's because The Frog always seems to be the one who gets spit up upon), does enjoy Toad's funny baby facial expressions (there are so many!) and likes to pretend he's getting punched across the room by Toad's wild arm movements.  I think the most endearing act of love is that The Frog put his favorite stuffed animal in Toad's crib when we got home from the hospital, and it is still there.  The Frog is now as obsessed with getting in his cuddle-time.

Cousins Came to Visit

Cousins came to visit

Auntie saved me from horrible hospital food

Toad is so far a pretty good baby- I won't say he's the easiest or the hardest.  His schedule is still, well, not really any kind of schedule yet, but I am getting *some* sleep, *most* nights- which is an improvement because when he was born he would have wakeful moments at about 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the morning.

I knew babies were a lot of work when I signed up for this, but I did kind of forget...  I would be lying if I didn't say I was relishing every moment, however.  Hazel used to seem so small, but now she's practically a giant by comparison, and I remember feeling the same way about Peach when Hazel was born.  They really do get big sooo fast, and I'm determined to enjoy every squiggley, fuzzy, squishy, twitchy, hiccupy, spit-uppy moment.

As far as pregnancies go, it was better than the last one.  Or maybe it wasn't...  but I was expecting it to be worse, and it wasn't!  So in my mind, it was better :)  It was nice not having 2 toddlers to pick up after and no diapers to change.  My hips hurt much much more at night this time around, though.

Labor was by far the shortest, and I think it's because it was the first time when my water broke before I started having contractions.  If you're not a fan of birth stories, go ahead and skip the next couple of paragraphs :D

I told Toad that he either needed to come by Monday before Thanksgiving, or wait until after Thanksgiving because I was NOT going to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital.  He obediently obliged and my water broke at about 11:45 PM- after Thanksgiving dinner.  Luckily, I was sleeping on a towel, and being paranoid about ruining my mattress, I got out of bed as fast as a beached walrus could muster.  No contractions yet, so I decided to take a shower, as per tradition.  (After #1, I learned to always shower before going to the hospital because I feel too light headed for the next couple of days to do it and let's just say, I'm not the kind of person who can hide how long it's been since they've bathed...)  Contractions started at 2.5 minutes apart while I was showering.  We texted Jay's mom (the saint had just hosted Thanksgiving and, we found out later, was coming down with something!!  We <3 12:30="" 3="" again="" and="" at="" away.="" came="" do="" don="" great="" hair="" happen="" i="" in="" knows="" look="" made="" morning.="" my="" nbsp="" over="" p="" pam="" promise="" right="" she="" shortly.="" since="" so="" sure="" t="" that="" the="" this="" to="" usually="" when="" who="" will="" you="">

We got to the hospital at about 1 AM, dilated to 5cm.  This was my best labor, I think, because I finally found a way to be comfortable while lying down!  They had this awesome peanut thing that I put between my knees to help support my hips while I laid down on my side (I would have slept with that thing every night if I had known it existed!  Wicked hip pain this pregnancy).  It was the most relaxed I've ever been during labor.  Once again, he was caught by the nurse (even though I warned her that once I was ready to push, he'd be out).  It was the most painful one I remember, but usually it takes a couple pushes and this time it was just one really prolonged one.  I remember, at least with Hazel, pushing once, feeling like there was a rock (her head) in my birth canal but feeling no pain until she actually emerged.  This time, he must have been at a weird angle or something because it was so uncomfortable! I just had to get him out!

I'm awake, I promise...

He'

Ok!  I've sat down to work on this over a dozen times and keep getting interrupted!  No idea what I was about to say.  I better quit while I'm ahead :)