A few of my favorite things (pictures that is)

Ok... 2 weeks and 3 days have passed in little Kate's life. She has already had some pretty big changes! So to update you on our life, I'll include a few of my favorite pictures (you can thank me now... cause I've become a little camera happy.... I hope all first time parents understand what I mean!)

One of Kate's favorite things in life is men. I'm very afraid for those teenage years! She just LOVES her daddy! Every time she hears his voice she turns to look at him. She also is a sucker for Grandpa's voice... few things put her to sleep better than testosterone and a warm manly chest!

Kate and Grandma are best buds! She loves to poop and pee for her too! lol. They also like to hum back and forth... and fall asleep to Josh Groban (another man voice! I guess she has good taste!) Grandma gave Kate her first bath...our water bill is going to increase for sure when Kate is a showering teenager (I don't know where that trait comes from...)

Puppy love came extra early for little Kate. Too bad for her it is literally excessive love from Chance. He just adores her! He constantly checks on her by looking in her crib and licking her feet whenever they are visible.

Kate is so alert. She will turn to the source of voices, grab things around her hands, and roll from side to side in her crib. I can't believe how fast she is growing and it has only been 2 weeks!

This was my view of my girl for the first week and a half. THANKFULLY my view has changed significantly. I can now say I think my spinal leak is healed, and I am up and around. It is easier to change a diaper when you are vertical!

Kate celebrated her first holiday. This is Christmas Eve, in her first Christmas pj's. This is also one of our first family photos. These mugs were from my baby shower, and fit the situation perfectly!

Then Christmas came! Yay for presents that she couldn't open but will enjoy the gifts from inside. Next year will be much more entertaining. She spent most of the morning sleeping. But that outfit sure was cute! Also, on Christmas Kate had her first long car ride and her first visit to Ohio. We are now chilling with Grandma and Grandpa in 'the heart of it all' while Jon is unpacking our things in TX. Leaving TN was sad, but Kate is experiencing her first move. Another first coming soon will be a plane ride.... wish me luck!

First Sunday at church. We made sure to put a bow in her hair just for daddy... he is a little obsessed with all her beautiful hair! Kate already has Jon wrapped around her tiny fingers! She was amazing at church. Only had one feeding and diaper change, and she slept the rest of the time. Too bad that won't last forever...

Kate has started to hold her head up! She just keeps getting it up higher, and holding it there longer! I'm amazed at her strength. Also, the first cross-eyed-but-still-totally-cute shot. It makes me laugh every time.

And one more because she is just TOO cute. Kate is a bundle a joy. Now if we can convince her that night time is for sleeping and not being awake, things would be perfect!

Kate's Story

Here we are, 6 days after my little Kate decided she was ready to make her first appearance in this world. I am still down for the count. Sadly, I have a spinal leak from my epidural that is forcing me to stay laying down except to go to the bathroom. Hopefully this leak will heal on its own in the next 2 weeks... or so the doctors say. I'm still waiting. But, in the mean time, I am laying on an air mattress in front of my lap top so I can get online and tell all of my dedicated readers Kate's birth story. It may not be all that exciting to everyone else, I might be more doing this for my own memory, but here it is anyway!

It all started Dec. 9th:

I decided I was sick of being uncomfortable. I called my good friend Bri and asked her if she wanted to have a day at the mall to encourage my labor to start. I had no idea how effective that day of walking would really be! I guess wishful thinking really works sometimes! I got home from the shopping adventure at 2ish, and took a nap. I then woke up with some painful cramps at 3. I started watching the clock and had these cramps every 10 minutes for the next several hours. The rest is pretty normal labor story. I timed contractions ALL day and ALL night. By 5am on the 10th my contractions were killing me, but still 10 minutes apart. I decided I was sick of watching the clock and wanted a doctor to look at me and make sure everything was ok. SO I woke up the hubby and headed to the hospital. We were both expecting them to tell me I was a wimp and send me home to tough out the first stage of labor, but when the doctor checked to see how dialated I was, I was a 6! My contractions didnt get closer together till the VERY end of labor. I guess that is good for me to remember the next time I do this (which may in fact be a VERY long time from now!). So they checked me into a room and tried 5 times to get an IV started. I look like someone beat me up now! Anyway, IV finally in, they asked if I wanted an epidural. I was so exhausted from not sleeping that I caved.

So in comes the epidural man... this is the only interesting part! He looked young to me, and I was really hurting and tired....so I started to get him to talk as much as I could. I asked him how long he has been doing this procedure and he nervously asnwered 6 months...then quickly assured me that he had done plenty though. I laughed and told him that I wasn't worried at all and promised him he would soon be one of my best friends! Oh the irony! So he does the epidural the first time. I thought he was done.... then he asks the nurse to page his supervisor. He did it wrong and needed help to fix it. I wasn't worried at this point... it was just another needle stick. So in comes his supervisor, and walks the first guy through how to fix the mistake. They tell me not to move at all-- and I don't, untill they hit a nerve that makes my whole body jump without my permission! Scared the crap out of me! Finally they get the stinking thing in there right and they exit. Im feeling sweet medicated relief. The doc breaks my water to speed things along, and says she will see me soon. So Jon and I get to take a nap for maybe 2 hours. But then I started throwing up. Yes... it isnt enough that I threw up ALL 9 months of pregnancy, I threw up at least 6 times during labor. I dont get how... all I had in me was ice chips! Ok enough complaining... moving on!

Long story short, I stayed at an 8 for over 6 hours! Way too long if you ask me! But then finally Im aloud to push. I didn't know it was possible to feel so exhausted. Seriously delivery was a total out of body experience for me....It all seemed to pass in a haze that was from being so tired. But out comes a perfect little girl 2 hours later. The cord was wrapped around her neck, and they had me breathing oxygen cause her breathing was struggling at the end... so that freaked me out to say the least, but everything worked out fine. She came out and I felt so happy! Oh and seeing Jon hold her and talk to her for the fist time: my favorite memory of my husband in my entire life. Every time he is with her I melt!

So I continued to throw up a few times after she was born, and I had a migrane and my ears were ringing. That is how we found out (the LAST day we were at the hospital) that I have this beautiful spinal leak. The doctors told me to drink as much caffiene as possible and wait it out... I've never been hopped up on this much Mountain Dew ever!

Wow Im writing alot. But Kate is a perfect baby! She eats great, and mostly sleeps great, and is the cutest baby on the planet! If I could get my spinal leak to heal everything would be flawless! It makes it hard to be a first time mom when you have to change diapers laying down....grrr! Im trying to be patient! My mom and Jon have been making everything so much easier on me though, Im so blessed! So thats my long story. If you are still reading....Im sorry. lol.

So here is a funny picture to reward you for reading this far!

Kate Lynn

So here is our baby! We are so excited to finally meet her sweet little self. For now that is all I will write (I still have only slept maybe 6 hours since the 9th.... Im kinda dead!) And yes some of the pictures need to be rotated, but just turn your head for now.... Im that tired!
I almost forgot the stats: 7lbs. 8oz, 20.5 in long. 26 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing, one precious little girl and tired parents later!

Contractions...

SUCK!

That is really all I can say... I've been having them every 6-10 minutes since 3pm today. I guess I'll head to the hospital in a short while. My water hasn't broken yet, but these contractions are killing me! Hopefully the next time you hear from me I will have Kate!

NESTING!!!

So I have been fighting with this nesting phase of pregnancy for awhile now... since we weren't sure what state we were going to have the baby in it made things a bit difficult. But FINALLY we found out that we will be in TN for at least awhile longer, I was able to get everything ready for Kate to come! So I went a little crazy..... I (with lots of help from my amazing hubby) deep cleaned the entire apartment. We are talking about moving all the furniture and cleaning behind them and washing walls. I havent been this sore in a long time! But it looks and feels great! We also made room in our extra room for Kate's crib and changing table. Thanks to my mom we have a super cute, original crib set. I just love it! It is so soft and cute! I cant wait to see my little girl sleeping in it. So instead of putting up boring pictures of all the work we did, I'll just post one of the cribset. I think we are now officially ready for Kate to come whenever she is ready (as long as that is sooner rather than later.... I'm thinking next week sounds good...Im done feeling so uncomfortable!).

Thanksgiving and 37 weeks

For our last free holiday of our lives, Jon and I were able to run up to Ohio to relax with my family. It was a MUCH needed get away. We were both able to take a load off and just enjoy not feeling stressed. We ate tons of great food, and played lots of games. I just love being with my family! Im so thankful for them and all the love and support they always give us.

Im also so thankful for my hubby. He always works so hard to support our growing family. He is pretty much the best thing to ever happen to me.

Again I'm so thankful for awesome families. This picture is of my mom, cousin, and uncle just hanging around after eating. I cherish all the time I get to spend making memories with my family.

Jon is thankful for naps. lol. He got some much needed rest this holiday. Christmas won't be relaxing at all....with a few day old baby in the house...so its a good thing Jon is sleeping while he can!

Finally, I am SO thankful that I am almost done being pregnant. This whole experience is one I will have to think long and hard about before repeating....I guess if Kate is really sweet it might make the decision a bit easier! But anyway, this is me at 37 weeks. Less than 20 days to go now...its the final countdown! I cant wait to get this kid out of me!

Baby Showers

So I've been waiting to post about my baby showers till I got pictures (something happens when everyone at the party is focused on you, your camera never even leaves your purse!) But I was so blessed to have 2 showers! My sweet friends in Knoxville threw one quite awhile ago (again I dont have pictures on my computer.... I did print some off to scrapbook though!). Also my dear old friends from highschool threw me another shower! They were both wonderful for so many reasons! Jon was just really excited to see all the things he didnt have to buy! We truly feel so blessed to have so many people care about us. I cant wait to see Kate using all of her cool gifts! So to all of my friends, thanks a million! But here is a picture I do have from my highschool friends shower. It was a blast to see everyone again... it has been too long! Love you girls!

Baby Gut

So here is a BEAUTIFUL shot of my 35 weeks and 1 day baby gut. (I don't feel that my gut deserves the term baby belly.... i feel like this kid is taking all the space in my rib cage and not giving me any room for my organs... and belly sounds like just the area around your belly button!) So dont mind how not pretty i look.... I'm in my pjs! But less than 5 weeks to go! Im super excited and scared all at once.

Always Exciting Doctor Visit...

So today was supposed to be a quick check-up at the good o'l doctors office. So after seeing that I lost weight since my last appointment 2 weeks ago, (Probably because I was throwing up all morning and couldnt keep anything down before I got to the doc) and measuring my huge gut, the doc decided they needed to do another ultrasound to check on the baby. Apparently my gut was measuring at 38 weeks instead of my actual 34. So... I get to pay for ANOTHER ultrasound-- yay. But anyway, the ultrasound showed that Kate is just fine, just big! she already weighs 6.5 lbs! The doctor said that she will prolly end up being over 8lbs at delivery...yay. I was thinking a 6-7 pounder sounded better. Maybe the ultrasound isn't accurate and I will still get a smaller than 8lb baby! But now the doc says they have to watch my growth to make sure she doesnt get too big to make delivery imposible. I still am under my pre-pregnancy weight and have a huge healthy baby, so I guess that is really cool. lol. I can already feel the pain...

Oh and I am officially swine flu protected. The doctor made a big speach about how important she thought getting the shot for me was, and said that they could do it right then... so I agreed. I dont know how into the swine flu hype I am, but if it makes the doc happy I guess Im in!

I will take some more pictures of my baby gut soon so you can see... I dont feel like Ive changed too much, but I will let you see for yourself!

Halloween Fun

I know that is isn't Halloween quite yet, but this weekend we carved pumpkins with our fun friends the Fishers. It was lots of fun! We stole Bri's cute idea to make a baby pumpkin too for Kate. So Jon and I made ourselves and baby Kate in the future (I am angry, Jon is nerdy, and Kate is cute but crying). Here we are hard at work. (Please ignore all the boxes, it is the furniture for Kate's room, she just doesn't have a room yet!)

For some reason Chance decided that he loves to eat pumpkin. He would run around the table from person to person trying to steal pieces of pumpkin or when someone left their chair, he would just jump up and lick the entire pumpkin. Something isn't right in his little brain!

Owen and Bri hard at work!

The finished product. The Fisher family

The Walter family

Thanks to the Fishers for letting us crash their pumpkin carving night! It was great to get our hands dirty. Plus, stabbing something with a knife is always good... no matter what is going on in your life!

PS: today is my big 23rd birthday! I cant believe how old that sounds! And tomorrow I get my new cell phone!! I cant wait! yay for birthdays!

31 Weeks!!

So I realize that technically I am posting this post while I am still 30 weeks, but in less than 2 hours I will officially be in my 31st week of pregnancy! Oh how good that sounds! Less than 10 weeks from now I will be a MOM! Mom is a scary word don't you think? On one hand it is a beautiful, fun, exciting word; but on the other it is scary, messy, and challenging. But I can't wait to find out for myself how it feels to be a mom!

Ok so to my real point in posting, I got a new camera tonight (Happy early birthday to me!) and I had Jon take a picture of my pregnant belly just for fun! So don't make fun, it isn't beautiful, but then again what pregnant belly is? But here it is folks, almost 31 weeks of a baby balled up inside me:

Baby Worries...

So today I went to the good ol' Doctor again. The appointment started off normal, sit in the waiting room reading parenting magazines, then my fav part, the urine sample (NOT!). shortly after that things actually got kinda scary. I was weighed, and lost 2 pounds this month! I am STILL under my pre-pregnancy weight and the doctor decided that she was worried. So she ordered an ultrasound right then and said she just wanted to be sure my baby was growing. She then explained that she would be more worried if I was having pain in my ribs on the right hand side... and of course I have. She then decided that since we dont know if it is baby pain or gallbladder problems she ordered lab tests to be run just in case. At this point I started to really stress...(as if I don't have enough on my mind right now!) The ultrasound however gave us some really good news. When the nurse showed the doctor the results, she turned to me with a confused look on her face and asked "how are you doing that?! your baby is in the 9Oth percentile and weighs over 4 pounds already." I told her my only theory was cheesburgers. lol.

So as long as the lab results come back with no bad news, I am apparently doing great at being pregnant. Somehow I am growing a big baby and not gaining any weight. If only I could stop throwing up.... I think I would rather have baby weight to lose after giving birth than be this miserable.

But on the plus side, I got to she Kate's cute face today, and again the nurse confirmed it was a girl. So hopefully with 3 ultrasounds all saying girl that is what she will be... cause I will have lots of pink and purple to return if she comes out a he!

Oh and someday soon I will post a picture of my belly. Sadly my camera won't turn on for some stupid reason, so I have to wait for Jon to bring his work camera home. But you can really tell I have a baby in there!