Happy 1 Week Ethan!

I can't believe that Ethan made one week old this morning. He has been such an angel and we cannot stop kissing all over him. He makes the sweetest facial expressions and I'm so in love with him!

Chase still loves helping with "Baby Ethan" and is very interested in his where abouts. However, the transition to being a big brother has not been so easy. Chase's clinginess to me has hit an all new level called Out of Control! He no longer sleeps through the night and screams for me until I lay down with him. He has to be near me. Today's nap isn't going so well either. He is in his room screaming for me as we speak (for about an hour now). It is breaking my heart, but I don't know what to do. I know he knows how to fall asleep on his own, but ever since we brought Ethan home, Chase's sleeping habits are now nonexistent and I end up only getting a couple of hours of sleep a day and I'm starting to lose it.

Please pray that we can settle Chase soon and that he lets other people help take care of him besides me. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.

Thank you so much to my mom and my sister Jamie (who flew in from Texas for the weekend) and stayed with me overnight since we've been home from the hospital. Tonight is Shane and I's first night solo, which is scary since it took all three of us to get through last night's ordeal! Wish us luck!

Ethan at his 1 week lamb picture

Chase at his 1 week lamb picture

We're Home!

Well the entire McCarthy crew is under one roof now. We are so excited to have Ethan at home with us and Chase. It has been so amazing!

I know some of you want to know the story, so here goes:

Shane and I spent most of the weekend in Baton Rouge for a wedding Shane was standing in. Lucky for us, it was an early wedding and we were back home for 6:00ish. We left the reception a little early because I was not feeling well at all and needed to relax...little did I know that I was in labor. I had been having some labor pains since Thursday night, but as soon as I would lay down to go to bed for the evening, the labor would stop.

Saturday evening around 9:30, I was blogging on the computer when all the sudden I felt a gush of water. I told Shane I wasn't sure if I had peed on myself or if some of my water broke...I was very confused! I called the on call doctor and she told me that I needed to go the hospital just in case in order to prevent infection. As I was explaining to Shane what the doctor said and that we needed to head out, a massive gush of water fell onto the floor. Shane said, "You're definitely not peeing on yourself, it's time to go!"

We packed our bags and my mom headed over to stay with Chase. Once we got to the hospital, we found out that only the first layer of my bag of water broke, but I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes and I went ahead and got my epidural. However, once I got my epidural and was laying down in bed, my contractions started getting slower and farther apart. They were like this for most of the night (every 6-10 min apart). At 2:00 am, I was 4 cm dilated.

My blood pressure kept dropping and the baby's heart rate was very low. I was extremely nauseous and had to try different positions to get the baby's heart rate back up. By 4:00 am, the baby's heart rate was doing great and I was eager. My doctor was not on call, but still said she would come and deliver the baby in the morning. If my contractions were still far apart, to go ahead and start the pitocin in the morning to get things moving.

When the nurse came in and started the pitocin, she decided to check me just to see how far along I was. When she checked me, she broke the rest of my bag of water and was shocked to see that I was already 9 cm. They took me off the pitocin and called my doctor immediately. I was pushing by 8:00 am and little Ethan was here at 8:32 am (with the help of some forceps and an episiotomy because Ethan was head up instead of head down and that would explain all the back labor I was having)!

That's the gist of our little Ethan's birth story and I will have tons of pics to post in the coming weeks. Our little man already has so many nicknames: Little E, EJ, Mister Man, Baby E, etc...

Chase came and visited us in the hospital on Sunday and wanted nothing to do with the baby. He wouldn't even acknowledge him. Last night Chase wasn't too impressed again. But this morning, Chase did so well with Ethan and kept asking questions and wanted to help mommy with him. He even gave Ethan lots of kisses....it just made my day! Soon to be best of friends!

Welcome Ethan James McCarthy

Michele & Shane would like to announce the newest addition to their family, Ethan James McCarthy. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. Here are a few pictures that I took of the fam. Mom, Dad, and Ethan are all doing great and big brother Chase will be meeting his new brother later today. More pictures of their handsome little man are to come.
(posted by Julie)

It's Time!!!!

My water broke about half an hour ago and we're getting ready to leave for the hospital!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

Looks like our little peanut is going to share his birthday with his older cousins, Mason & Jacob on March 22nd!

I am so excited!

Mr. & Mrs. Chad McCrossen

This weekend, Shane stood in his friend Chad's (AKA "Squirrel") wedding. Chad and Katie were married at White Oaks Plantation today in Baton Rouge. For a while we were worried if Shane was going to be able to make the wedding, but luck would have it that both of us were able to attend the rehersal and wedding in Baton Rouge this weekend. It was a great time and I am so happy that I was able to share this day with them.

Also a huge thanks to Maw Maw & Pops for watching Chase so we were able to attend all the wedding festivities!

The Happy Couple

My Very Handsome Husband

Proof that I made it to the wedding at 39 weeks pregnant (sorry for the facial expression, I was in a bit of pain by the time we took this picture)

Past the 39 week Mark

Well I cannot believe it, but YES I am still pregnant. I think I am in shock because I just didn't think I would go all the way to my due date with this pregnancy since we had so many problems earlier. Now he just doesn't want to come out.

Until then, I thought I would share some of the differences between my two pregnancies:

- My first pregnancy seemed to last forever, this one flew by until the last month

- With Chase, I slowly gained weight the entire pregnancy, this time I gained a bunch in the first few months and then just stopped (but I gained about 2 more pounds with this pregnancy)

- My belly button never popped out with Chase, but it did this time

- I had some varicose veins with Chase, but they are WAY worse this pregnancy and will require some cosmetic correction

- I rarely felt Chase moving in my belly because my placenta was blocking his movements in the front of my stomach, but I feel our little peanut performing gymnastics all the time

- I had skin discolorations on my face with Chase, but not this time!

- No bloating or morning sickness for either pregnancy :-)

- It's much better to be pregnant during the cooler months than to have a summertime pregnancy in the south; however, wearing high heeled boots as opposed to comfy flip flops is a trade I could live without

- Not much time to take it easy with the 2nd pregnancy as I am constantly running after Chase

- I had an extreme sweet tooth with my 1st pregnancy, this time my cravings were fresh fruit and salty items

- I was able to exercise until the day I checked into the hospital with Chase, but my doctor cut me off from exercise at 26 weeks when I went into pre-term labor this time

- For my first pregnancy, I was pregnant at the same time as my sister, Julie. It was a lot more fun to share our experiences together than to be the only one pregnant (especially when hanging out with my family) :-)

Only 6 more days until Due Date!

Poll Results

According to the poll results, most of you think that the baby will arrive today. My dad called me several times yesterday assuring me that I would go into labor in the middle of the night last night.

I cleaned my house before I went to bed just in case "it was time". I think I got myself so excited that I could not sleep at all last night. I was up every hour and finally gave up at about 4:00 this morning. I did have some contractions last night, but nothing on a consistent basis. And I'm feeling fine this morning.

I told Shane a while ago that I thought the baby was going to come on March 18th and Shane thinks it will be on the 26th. But if our little peanut decides to stay past our due date, we will probably induce shortly after, so no April baby for me!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Doctor's Appt Update

Well I had another doctor's appointment this morning. I am still 2 cm with a soft cervix. However, my stomach measured at 34 cm when it was 36.5 cm last week and should be around 38cm this week. So Dr. Lobello wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure the baby's fluid levels were okay.

Everything is great and Shane and I got a bonus ultrasound! Turns out that my stomach is measuring less because the baby's head dropped. His head is measuring 1 week behind so hopefully that will make for an easier delivery than Chase whose head always measured a week ahead (I guess that is the Peanut vs. Moosehead nicknames)!

The funniest part of the ultrasound is that everything was measuring pretty close to the mark with the exception of his legs. They are measuring at 35 weeks. The ultrasound tech remeasured it to double check. Then she looked at Shane and said that the leg measurements made sense. I could not stop laughing. It looks like our little peanut will be built just like Shane (and Chase for that matter, too).

The baby is still definitely a boy and is currently weighing in at 7lbs. If I go another week, they estimate that he will be 7.5lbs and if I go to my due date (in 11 days) he will be about 8 lbs. So I am no longer worried about squeezing out a huge baby and that is very comforting.

So we'll be taking it day by day, ready for our healthy baby boy!

Still Here...

Yes, we're still here and I'm still very pregnant. Nothing much to report. I lost my mucus plug (I know...what a disgusting word) last Friday, March 6th (over a week ago) and I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. In one week, I progressed from a tight 2cm to a nice 2cm and I was 50% effaced. I even lost a pound which had me really excited because my older sister told me that she lost a little bit of weight right before she went into labor with her kids. However, that didn't seem to be any indication for me.

I have another appointment on Monday, but I have not really been feeling much action going on. In fact, I felt more at 26 weeks than I do now. My hopes of having this baby any day now are dwindling and I'm afraid I will go past my due date!

Today was the St. Patty's march in the Irish Channel. This year was very special because both Shane's dad and uncle were honored as men of the year. However, this was the first time in 12 years that Shane missed the march. Since I didn't plan on attending the parade, it left Shane without a sober ride back home to the northshore and the weather was pretty awful today, so he opted to stay home and help me with Chase instead. I couldn't believe it. I told him not to miss the parade for me and that I would call him if anything progressed with the baby, but he felt more comfortable staying close to home.

Luckily we did get some last minute "To Do" items scratched off the list today before the baby arrives. I think we're about as ready as we can get. The only thing I am missing is the baby's coming home outfit and that's just because I'm waiting for the shipment to arrive at the store.

That's all for now, but hopefully I will have some more news on Monday after my doctor's appointment!

On a side note, I have a new respect for mothers who have multiple children close in age. I don't know how you do it! Being this pregnant while running after a 2 year old is so exhausting. Every night I have to jump in bed as soon as I put Chase to sleep and prop pillows under my back and legs. What a physical beating, phew! I almost think that having a newborn and a toddler will be easier than being 9 months pregnant and having a toddler, but I don't want to jinx myself.... God bless all you mothers!!!

The "Last" Supper

Shane and I wanted to have one last date night before the baby arrives and our lives are turned upside down again. So my wonderful sister Julie (Boo Boo) volunteered to let Chase spend Saturday and Saturday night at her house (no easy feat since her kiddos sleep in on the mornings and our Chase man wakes VERY early).

We dropped Chase off with Boo Boo, Jay and Roo (Uncle Tory was at work) Saturday around lunch time and then Shane and I headed to the race track in New Orleans. We love watching the horse races and have only been once this year, so we were excited to spend most of the day there on such a beautiful day.

Then we checked into our hotel room downtown and freshened up for a delicious dinner at Mr. B's Bistro. It was so good, but I was worried that Shane was going to have to roll me back to our room. We ate so much, but our eyes couldn't pass up so many yummy items :-)

Sunday morning we slept in (this might have been the best part), had a nice breakfast, got dressed and picked Chase up around 1:30. He was so cranky and tired from waking at 5:45 that morning that he passed out in the car before we even got back on the interstate.

Our plan was to take Chase straight to Reese's birthday party back in Madisonville at 3:00, but when we tried waking Chase out of his deep sleep once we got there, he threw such a huge fit and threw up 3 times in the yard before we even got to their door. Needless to say, we didn't make it into the party. It took Chase over an hour to snap out of it. The Gandy family must have wiped him out :-)

Thank you so much Boo Boo, Uncle Tory, Jay and Roo for playing with Chase and taking such good care of him (even if did include 4 popsicles and 5 pickles in one day). We can't wait for him to come and visit again very soon :-)

Uncle Tory and the Kiddos:

Having fun with Uncle Tory:

Riding his motorcycle:

Wathcing Max & Ruby, a favorite for both Chase and Roo:

Shane & I when we dropped Chase off with the Gandy's (beware of very pregnant lady):

Full Term - 37 Weeks!

YEAH!!!!! We made it to full term, 37 weeks! There was a period of time when we were concerned that our little peanut was not going to make it all the way, but it looks like he's settled down in his mommy's belly and made it to full term (let's just hope he' not too comfortable and will make a willing appearance within the next couple of weeks).

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and Dr. Lobello checked my progress. I am 2 cm dialted and my cervix is soft. Baby is positioned low but his head is still high (she said that with a second pregnancy a baby's head can stay high until you're 7 or 8 cm dialted).

As of right now, I don't feel like the baby is coming in the next week, but I still pray for a healthly and soon delivery every night :-) But I'm almost positive I will be at my next doctor's appt on Tuesday. This is when Shane starts coming with me to my appointments. It's a bit difficult for him since we live in Mandeville, he works in New Orleans and my doctor is in Slidell, but he makes an effort to attend these last appointments just in case it's time to check in the hospital (that's what happened with Chase).

So I guess we can safely say "Any day now" but my gut says it will still be a while. We're so excited and can't wait to meet our little peanut!!

Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend. Saturday we celebrated my dad's birthday with our very first crawfish boil of the season. It was so yummy! My sister, Jamie and her family (who live in Houston) joined us via webcam, however they didn't get a chance to taste my dad's delicious crawdaddies over the internet :-) Chase had a blast playing Guitar Hero and taking a bath with Roo. Happy Birthday Dad, Callie, Sissy & Evan (we have so many family March birthdays, I can't believe we're going to add another to the mix)!

Today we celebrated Taylor's 3rd birthday. I cannot believe she is already three years old, it seems just like yesterday I was visiting Jamie in the hospital 18 weeks pregnant with Chase. They just grow up too fast.