Wednesday, August 29, 2012
She's here!!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Quick Update!
I have definitely been out of the blogging mood lately but I do feel like I need to update everyone on the status of Miss Ava.
At my 35 week appointment I was surprised to find out that I was already dilated to a 1-2 and 30% effaced. I was completely shocked considering this is my first pregnancy.
I then discussed with my doctor about scheduling my induction date for September 6th. She kind of laughed to herself and said, "Sure, I don't mind scheduling it at all but I highly doubt you will still be pregnant. I would be very surprised if you still are."
Hmm...well okay then! Induction still scheduled for September 6th (at this point).
I had a late night visit to the hospital during one of my shifts at work two days later. I had been walking around quite a bit but really wasn't hurting a ton. A co worker talked me into putting me on the monitor just to see if I was contracting.
And...sure enough! What started out to be a contraction every 6 minutes gradually turned into every 3-4 minutes the longer I laid there. So the lead nurse decided it was best for me to go to the hospital I would be delivering at and get checked out.
Long story short, I went home to pick up Wes and up we went to the hospital. The nurse checked me and said I was now dilated to a 2. They observed Ava and the contractions (which were now consistently every 2 1/2-3 minutes by this point) and rechecked my cervix.
(Most people are probably wondering if I was hurting at all. I was...but not near the amount of pain that I know is to come when it is really time!)
No change. So they sent me home. Most likely early stages of labor.
No big deal. I kinda figured that but no true way of knowing without going in and getting checked out.
Since then, my doctor has taken me down to working 6 hour shifts at work which has helped a lot. I have still been contracting off and on but nothing bad enough to make me feel the need to go in again and get checked out.
I figured after one trip, I am not going to go in again until 1) my water breaks or 2) I am in so much pain I can't stand it anymore.
At my visit last week, I made the decision to move up my induction date to when I will be 39 weeks which is next Thursday, August 30th. I figured since I am already starting the early stages of labor, why keep it going just that much longer?
At my appointment today, I am now dilated to a 4 and 70 % effaced. Making progress from week to week, just slow progress. I was hoping to be dilated to a 5 so she would just send me on over and get things going.
Wishful thinking...Ava will come on her own time when she is good and ready. And as of right now, she is just fine with where she is. :)
Who knows, she might hold out all the way until the induction next week. We will see what happens!
36 weeks
I think this is 36 weeks too but took this before my baby shower at the church.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Pregnancy Update: Week 35 & 36
Yes, I am alive and well on the other side of blog world! :) Life sure has gotten busy getting ready for Ava to arrive. My mind is now consumed with a constant "to-do" list that never seems to end. I started a list about a week ago with seven to eight things on it and am now down to four so I guess I can consider that progress.
This awful Oklahoma heat is making running errands at 36 weeks pregnancy very difficult. What I once could get done in a single afternoon ends up taking two to three days to accomplish. Oh but I'm so close!!
You will be happy to know that one of my "to-do's" is to BLOG so here I am getting yet another item off my list. :) Although, I think I will end up having to do more than one post to recap the past month's events.
I have had two baby showers and will have another one this weekend. So of course I have pictures from those that I want to share. Wes and I are realizing just how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends to support us and love on us and our new baby. Ava is already one special little girl to many people!
So I will start up the updates with a pregnancy update. A lot has actually happened in that area since my last update from a very fast growing belly to now more complaints than I know what to do with. I am officially ready for pregnancy to be over. :)
Here are a few weekly pictures to catch everyone up on the ever growing baby bump:
35 weeks: Taken just before my baby shower last week!
36 weeks: This shirt really showed off the belly for sure!
My body is starting to let me know that I am carrying around a full term infant in my body. My hips and back are hurting more and my knees! My goodness! Just squatting down to pick something up lights my knee joints on fire trying to get back up! My increased weight gain would explain that pain. I am now at a weight gain of close to 27 lbs and it is ALL baby.
My biggest and newest pregnancy symptom is my feet; swollen...swollen...swollen...all the time. It started to come and go and now they just stay pretty puffy. They have gotten really bad after being on my feet at work. I had to take a picture the other morning after working three nights in a row just to document how bad they really were.
Yikes!!! Do those feet even belong to MY body??
I try my best to elevate them sometime during my shift and drink lots of water but sometimes that unfortunately just doesn't happen. I am more than ready to be off work but I know the more I work maybe the faster she will be here! :)
However, working in Labor and Delivery, I realize that some women can be dilated to a 1-2 for weeks before anything exciting happens. But some women also never dilate at all until they are induced at 40+ weeks.
I talked to my doctor about inducing me on her due date and her response was, "Of course! But I really don't think you are going to make it that long. I would be very surprised if you did."
Well okay then! You can only imagine what that news did to my already "to do" list, overdrive brain...super overdrive now!! I haven't been able to let my mind rest since. Like I said, it doesn't mean that anything will happen anytime soon but there's a good possibility it will be before September 6th.
Just for my peace of mind, I requested to have one more ultrasound to check her size. I'm not sure why I feel like I need to know this information but it's just a mental thing I guess, needing to know what size of a baby I will be delivering. :) I'm not at all concerned with her being too big. But I was curious because of so many people saying, "You are how far along??! You are so small!!"
I thought maybe I was going to prove that I was carrying an 8 lb baby just out of spite, but that isn't the case. We had the ultrasound yesterday and she is measuring perfectly at 36 weeks exactly which puts her at 6 lbs 1 oz.
I was 6 lbs 8 oz when I was born so it looks like she might be on track to take after her momma. Everything looked great though. The sonographer was even nice enough to flip over to the 3D for us to get one more look at her. She showed off quite a bit again by opening her mouth, yawning, sticking her tongue out. She's already a character. :)
The sonographer commented on her full lips just as the other lady did. haha I'm anxious to see if those lips are as pouty and full as they appear on the ultrasounds. Too cute!!
I finally ordered her baby book a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to get one before the showers arrived so I could have a page for guests to sign. I ended up ordering it online and really love it!
The front...
A few of the inside pages. This one is so cute for the family tree.
My other project a few weeks ago was to make a sign for the door at the hospital with Ava's name and date of birth information on it. I see so many patient's family members that put up the cutest signs for their doors and knew I had to come up with something.
I got online and looked around for something I could easily replicate. I don't consider myself the most creative person in the world so I knew it had to be somewhat simple.
Here is the picture I found that I decided to go off of:
Believe it or not, I was even considering painting that little butterfly on the side of the letter too! Let me tell you what though, I got into Hobby Lobby and got completely overwhelmed and suddenly had NO idea what direction to take with this thing.
I was amongst all the millions of ribbon and had no vision in my head in order to pick something out. Of course I end up picking out two or three and would just decide later. After gathering all the rest of the supplies, I was ready to go home and figure out how I would make this work.
Turns out, I love what I was able to do with it and probably even more than that one above. I couldn't find an "A" as big as that one, so the buttons weren't going to fit. I didn't paint anything other than the colors of the letters and dots. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to make though and how cute it ended up.
The plan is to have it hanging on the door at the hospital and then hang it on the outside of her door at home. One more "to do" to check off the list!!
Close up.
And one more....
Well, except for baby shower pictures and updates, that is all I have for now. Time to go complete more items on my "to do" list. :) First things first...thank you cards!
Hoping to post again soon but no promises. I will do my best!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Pregnancy Update and Nursery Projects
It has been a while since I have done an official pregnancy update so I better go ahead and do one. :)
I'm also behind on my weekly pictures, so let me get caught up on those first.
31 weeks: Fourth of July!
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(You'll have to forgive my picture this week...I randomly decided to take it as I was leaving a bathroom while shopping in Nashville) How Far Along: 32 weeks
Size of baby: Still growing!! Baby now weighs in around 2.5-3.8 pounds and measures about 15.2-16.7 inches long; the size of a squash.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: She is definitely continuing to grow because my weight keeps climbing. Still putting on an average of 1-2 lbs a week. Total weight gain so far: 18 lbs.
Maternity Clothes: Absolutely! Gender: Girl! So excited! :) "Ava Rae"
Movement: Nothing has changed here either! She continues to be one active kiddo. Always kicking those tiny feet. Tiny feet sure do have some force at times though. :)
Sleep: Still sleeping just fine. My back has started to bother me more and getting out of bed has started to pose a challenge. But I sleep through the night just fine and don't have any trouble taking a nap now and again.
What I miss: Can't think of a thing! Loving pregnancy!
Cravings: Nothing in particular. I really feel like my appetite and food choices are the same as they were before pregnancy. I have been craving water lately though which is probably a sign that I'm dehydrated. I just notice myself anxiously craving cold water.
Symptoms: My feet are killing me most of the time. The only way to relieve the ache is to get off my feet and get in a nice, warm bath. I can't go a single night without a warm bath which also helps my lower back pain. The heartburn has eased up a little, surprisingly since she's getting bigger. My feet are starting to swell up easier if I am up on my feet for too long.
Here is a look at the new ceiling fan. I said it actually now looks like a room and not just a space.
I had to turn the light off in order to get a good look at the ceiling fan. Here is the latest nursery picture with a little more light.
Her room is definitely getting very full, very quickly. However, I don't intend for the stroller and two car seats to stay in the room at all times so that will free up some floor space.
I have a feeling after having her home for about three months or so, we are going to be having the "it's time to move into a bigger house" talk. We already talk about it and realize it has to happen in the near future. But for now, this space will work while she is an infant and once she starts becoming more mobile....time to move!
The next nursery project was installing shelving in one of the closets. I was looking forward to having two closets for her clothes and other stuff but soon realized that this house is already limited in space and we are going to have to resort to just one closet for her and the other for our winter coats and other storage.
That being said, I knew I was going to need more room to hang clothes and shelves to store all the extra baby stuff. So we went to Lowe's and bought the wire shelving that would allow us to hang clothes on it as well.
Too bad what sounds like an "easy" project with an "easy" install turns out to be a nightmare. We cut the shelves,to what we thought was the right size, in the store. Only to get home and realize we needed just about a half inch more cut off.
Wire shelves....we didn't have anything at home to cut through wire....great....
Another trip to Lowe's and a Dremel later...we were cutting away at wire in the nursery with sparks flying. That is a pretty powerful little tool, I must say!
Two hours later, we had two shelves installed. I had hoped to fit three in the one closet but our alarm system box got in the way and we could only install two. I'm thinking about getting a tension rod for the top of the closet just for extra hanging room if I need it.
New closet organization!
The baskets came from Michael's and were all 40% off. Very cute and great price!!
Now I mentioned in my previous post that I would be talking about Ava's growing wardrobe. No, her wardrobe has not grown because I have been crazy, buying clothes for her.
This is why I bought the baskets because I knew not all these clothes were going to fit in her dresser. The plan is to put them into the baskets by size so when she goes into the next size, they are all together.
I tried taking pictures of the other half of the clothes once I got them organized...
Like I said...SO many onesizies!! These are all 0-6 months.
One of my favorites. :)
I'm also behind on my weekly pictures, so let me get caught up on those first.
31 weeks: Fourth of July!
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Pregnancy Highlights
Best Moment this week: By far the best moment was the 3D ultrasound. Getting to see her facial features up close really makes it all seem that much more real. That there really is a REAL person in there with already distinct features and a personality. I'm so anxious to meet her!
Nursery Update/Projects
I really still do believe that getting the nursery pretty much completed very early on in pregnancy (April) was the best idea. Wes still thinks it was way too early to turn his music room into an infant's sleeping quarters when no infant will set foot into the room for another 6 months. But I am glad I did the bulk of the work when I did.
Have I mentioned how much I love my husband and the sacrifices he has made for me and our precious first born?
(Wes would be rolling his eyes at this comment and saying, "yeah, yeah")
But he really has been a trooper in agreeing to my crazy, OCD need to get things done earlier rather than last minute. God knew exactly the man I would need in my life and He has given me just that and I am beyond grateful and couldn't ask for a better husband and father.
That being said, the nursery hasn't really been messed with in a few months because, like I said, it was pretty much completed months ago. But of course I managed to find a few "to do's" before Ava arrives.
We had bought a ceiling fan back in April but never got around to installing it. Her nursery is actually the converted garage so it can be a little warm in there at times so I knew I was going to need some type of circulating air.
Problem solved! We just picked out an inexpensive, white ceiling fan from Lowe's and it looks great! (And feels great too!!) We installed in a few weeks ago and let me tell you...it definitely proved to be a two person job. There was no way that could be done by one person. Teamwork!
Her room is definitely getting very full, very quickly. However, I don't intend for the stroller and two car seats to stay in the room at all times so that will free up some floor space.
I have a feeling after having her home for about three months or so, we are going to be having the "it's time to move into a bigger house" talk. We already talk about it and realize it has to happen in the near future. But for now, this space will work while she is an infant and once she starts becoming more mobile....time to move!
The next nursery project was installing shelving in one of the closets. I was looking forward to having two closets for her clothes and other stuff but soon realized that this house is already limited in space and we are going to have to resort to just one closet for her and the other for our winter coats and other storage.
That being said, I knew I was going to need more room to hang clothes and shelves to store all the extra baby stuff. So we went to Lowe's and bought the wire shelving that would allow us to hang clothes on it as well.
Too bad what sounds like an "easy" project with an "easy" install turns out to be a nightmare. We cut the shelves,to what we thought was the right size, in the store. Only to get home and realize we needed just about a half inch more cut off.
Wire shelves....we didn't have anything at home to cut through wire....great....
Another trip to Lowe's and a Dremel later...we were cutting away at wire in the nursery with sparks flying. That is a pretty powerful little tool, I must say!
Two hours later, we had two shelves installed. I had hoped to fit three in the one closet but our alarm system box got in the way and we could only install two. I'm thinking about getting a tension rod for the top of the closet just for extra hanging room if I need it.
The baskets came from Michael's and were all 40% off. Very cute and great price!!
Now I mentioned in my previous post that I would be talking about Ava's growing wardrobe. No, her wardrobe has not grown because I have been crazy, buying clothes for her.
The last time I actually bought something for her was probably back in April after we found out for sure she was a girl. Even then, I bought the clothes from a consignment store and so I have not paid full price for anything she owns thus far.
Well, about two weeks before going to Nashville, my sister sends me a text telling me that a guy she works with was offering her a car seat for $50 and also size 0-9 months baby girl clothes (at no charge) if I wanted them.
No charge?? Can't pass up that offer!!
Ashlie has no clue how many clothes he was talking about giving to us. She figured it would maybe be a few onesizies, a couple sleepers, and a blanket or two.
Oh were we ALL wrong..... TWO, FULL boxes of clothes!!
Okay, baby clothes are pretty darn small so to fill two good size boxes with baby clothes....there's a LOT in there. All of these clothes look practically brand new, maybe worn once or twice.
At this rate, she has enough onesizies that she can wear a new one every time we change her diaper. haha (Who knows, that still might not allow her to wear them all before she grows out of them!)
I took an extra suitcase to Nashville so I could bring back as many as I could but only got HALF loaded. Ashlie is going to have to ship the rest.
This is a picture of what didn't fit in my suitcase that will be shipped to Lawton.
This is why I bought the baskets because I knew not all these clothes were going to fit in her dresser. The plan is to put them into the baskets by size so when she goes into the next size, they are all together.
Yes...if you don't already know me well...I'm one of those crazy, has to be organized, person. :)
I tried taking pictures of the other half of the clothes once I got them organized...
This basket is just pants...FULL of all sizes and colors.
Like I said...SO many onesizies!! These are all 0-6 months.
Her dresser drawer which is already FULL.
One of my favorites. :)
We just couldn't believe the amount of clothes and he didn't ask for a dime! This would have cost us a lot of money if we were to have gone out and bought this amount of clothes for her.
We of course had to do something nice for him and his family as a "thank you". We ended up getting them $150 in gift cards to local restaurants in Nashville. Some for he and his wife to enjoy and a few to places that their kids could enjoy too.
I am beyond grateful to this family, who doesn't even know Wes and I, for giving us more than we could have ever imagined.
We are SO blessed and will forever be grateful for their generosity to our growing family.
Things are definitely falling into place as we prepare for one of the most important days in our lives.
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