my new life!

Isabella is now five months old and I haven't been on here once since she was born! I guess that makes me the worlds worst blogger, but I've spent every spare minute loving all over my beautiful daughter! I guess I should go back to the beginning...

labor and delivery

We arrived at Community North at 6:00 on Dec 10 to be induced. It was crazy all day knowing that I was going to have my baby the next day! I was very uncomfortable all day. It was the first time I was starting to feel contractions so I think labor would have come on its own soon anyways. My last meal was mexican- Real Hacienda! So good, but not a good choice before labor :o/ When I walked into my hospital room I was immediately nervous when I saw everything to start my IV. That night in a nutshell... almost passed out from getting my IV, contractions started after the medication I was given but thankfully never needed Pitocin, finally took something for the pain and was able to sleep briefly before getting my heavenly epidural, and then SLEEP! Dave and I were able to sleep all night while I labored painlessly! Some things were a blur though. I was a little delirious either from being tired or from the epidural or both. When i woke up around 6 am my nurse said I was 10 cm and 100% effaced but we were going to wait to push until 7 when the Dr. got there. In the mean time I managed to puke across the room...on Dave. Lovely. He did well though. After about 20 min of completely numb pushing our angel was here! More beautiful than I could ever have dreamed! I cried, but tried to control it otherwise I would have been sobbing uncontrollably. It was the moment I had waited for my whole life! Those first moments when your life is completely changed are amazing. All of a sudden you feel love like you never knew existed. I loved my little girl more than anything I have ever loved before, I loved my husband more than I have ever loved him, I loved myself for what I had just accomplished, and I loved God more for blessing me with beyond what any one person deserves! The next couple of days were spent recovering and getting used to being a parent and then we brought Isabella home, finally! :o)

weeks 1-8

The first two months I spent all my time at home with Isabella! It was wonderful! Dave had two weeks off around Christmas time which was perfect! We were all able to be home together! Her first Christmas was spent with both sides of the family. We were also able to go to Michigan for five days. Those 8 weeks flew by and I loved every minute with her. Every day she was growing more and more and getting cuter by the day! Finally it was time to go back to work on Feb. 4. I was so sad. I would cry just thinking about it in the weeks before. I cried all the way to the daycare and tried to pull it together but cried when I had to put her in a swing and walk away. I cried on the way to work and some when I got there. That was the hardest day ever! I couldn't wait to get back to her. I went to visit her on my lunch break too. My second day back I didn't cry. It's never easy to leave her, it's just easier to control my emotions. She had her 2 month physical and she weighed over 10 pounds! I couldn't believe it! She started off 6 1/2 pounds, dropped to 5 lbs 12 oz and now she was 10 pounds!! It was heartbreaking to see her cry after her first shots, but she did really well after.

3 months

She's getting bigger every day and her personality is coming out more! She smiles all the time. She also wants to roll over so bad! It has also started to warm up outside so we've been able to go on walks. She is such a great sleeper! She had started sleeping through the night consistently right around the time I went back to work, thankfully! And now she has even started sleeping 12 hours! She has a specific bed time too, 8:00. It never fails, 8:00 come around and she's done! We had her first pictures taken at JC Penney this month. She was so good! The photographer was really good with her too! She smiled the whole time and we have amazing pictures! She is so beautiful! I couldn't choose which ones I wanted so I just got the cd with all the pictures. April 4 was her first Easter. It was a beautiful day and she looked so pretty! That was also the day I found out I was pregnant last year. What a wonderful year it has been!

4 months

Every month just goes by faster and faster now. April really seemed to fly by! She makes so many funny noises and loves to talk, laugh, and blow bubbles! She has also been sooo slobbery for the past month! We go through lots and lots of bibs! At her 4 month physical she had gained another 4 pounds since her last visit! She's just over 14 pounds! Crazy! She did a little better after her shots this time. She cried until I picked her up and then she was ok! But she did take a good nap when we got home! This month we have also started rice cereal! Her first time was so funny! She made the funniest faces! She was definitely unsure of it and spit most of it out. What a messy process! Over the next few weeks she really started to get the hang of it and does so much better. She stopped spitting so much out and started to get better at putting her mouth around the spoon. It's a constant struggle against her thumb during meal times though. She wants to take a bite then suck her thumb! Cereal gets everywhere, but we have such a good time! She also started rolling over. She first rolled from her back to her stomach but didn't always like being on her stomach. A few weeks later she figure out how to go from belly to back.

5 months

she turned 5 months one week ago and for some reason 5 months seems so much older than 4 months. She is so much fun! She laughs all the time, and has recently started babbling non stop! It's the cutest thing I've ever heard! She is so interested in what we have to say, especially when her daddy talks. She stops what she's doing and stares so intently at him. She has also started to notice Addie more and also reach out and try to pet her. She chews on everything now. Rolls back and forth all over the place, and even yells and screams. She lets you know when she needs something! We just took a trip to Tennessee for my sisters wedding shower and she was so good the whole weekend! I was so relieved since it was a 6 hour drive. She was only fussy in the car right before her naps. Otherwise she was a perfect angel! :o) Every day when i pick her up from day care she gives me the biggest smiles and tries to give me kisses! I love it so much! And all the women there love her! They go on and on about how she is the best baby they've had and how sad they'll be when she's gone over the summer. Dave will be done with work soon and will watch her over the summer. I'm definitely jealous! She develops more a personality day by day. She brings so much joy to lives and is such a blessing! Our next big step is vegetables. I'm hoping to make her baby food myself. We'll see how that goes.

Hopefully my next post won't be 5 months away. So much is about to happen over these next few months. It's going to be a very exciting summer and I can't wait to watch Isabella grown and learn new things every day and hopefully share more details!

39 weeks

A lot has happened since the last post. I had my first baby shower on Oct 17. Erika hosted the shower for me and all my friends. We had a great time! We decorated onsies and tried to guess how big my belly was. Painting the onsies was a lot of fun once everyone started and they were so cute! Amy won the game of guessing my belly size. She's also pregnant so she did have some advantage over the others! We also had AU's homecoming that weekend so Heather was able to come and spend the whole weekend with us! I was so glad to see her as well as all my other friends. We finished out an amazing weekend by going to Brown County for some "shopping", more like browsing, but we still had a great time!

My second shower was a family shower on Oct 25. It was nice to get together with my family! Everyone pitched in with the snacks and then we opened gifts. My cousins Ava, 3, and Hattie, 7, helped by bringing me gifts and unwrapping them! Ava loved tearing into the gifts, it was so cute! I was so thankful for the baby showers! Between the two of them we got everything we needed!

On Nov 7, Dave and I went to have maternity pictures taken. It was a fun experience and I'm so glad we did it and now have amazing pictures to remember my pregnancy. The photographer was Joy Oxenrider and her website is http://www.motherslight.net/ She did a wonderful job!

Since then, Isabella has really taken up all available space in my belly! She's always up under my ribs squirming and rolling around! Her kicks are now much stronger and it's fun to watch her move from the outside! I've also had to stop wearing my wedding ring :o( I was able to wear it for our maternity pictures though! It's just a little too tight now and I never know when I'll be able to get it on, and once it's on I never know if I'll be able to get it off! So it's just safer not to wear it. In the past couple of weeks I have also noticed my feet and ankles swelling. I already can't wait for that to end! It just makes my legs feel so heavy and tired after work.

I also started having weekly Dr. appointments! I can't believe how fast these past months have gone! All the appointments have gone well. She's always measuring right where she needs to be and her heart rate is always good. Today was my last appointment and there is still no progress! She just doesn't want to come yet! I don't think she will come early. We have already been scheduled to be induced on Dec 10. We'll go to the hospital at 6:00 to get things started and then Friday they will start the Pitocin. It's so nice to know that no matter what, I only have one more week before I get to see her! These last weeks are the hardest to wait! Not only am I ready to not be pregnant anymore, I'm more than ready to meet our daughter! I'm almost done with work too. We've just been taking this week day by day to see what happens, but I'll work up until my due date.

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year since it was so close to my due date. We had our first Thanksgiving with the Neals and Dave's parents in Anderson and then on Friday with the rest of Daves family and my parents at our house. We decorated for Christmas too! I love having our Christmas decorations up! I can't wait to spend our first Christmas together as a family!!

31 weeks

My 30 week appt was last wednesday and it was the first of going every 2 weeks! Everything is still going the way it should and she's growing the way she should. I asked the doctor if she could tell how the baby was laying, but she said it would probably be the next appt when she'd be able to tell. She guessed that she's head down already though because of how strongly she picked up the heart beat from my lower abdomen.

She's moving more and more every week now! Sometimes I think she's just rolling all over the place in there cause the movements can be so big and right up under my ribs! I absolutely love feeling her move all day! I feel like it's our quality time together even though she's not here yet. So far I've gained 21 pounds, which is hard to look at! I'm really hoping I don't gain too much more, but now is the time when she'll start gaining more weight herself.

I'm finally at the point where I feel like each week is actually progress and I actually feel like I'm closer now! Even though every week brings me closer already, it has always still felt so far away. Yesterday was our third prenatal class and next week is our last one. We toured the maternity unit and talked about pain management options during labor. That class made things seem more real, like we can finally see the end! I'm even more excited than before and keep thinking about what she'll look like when I see her for the first time! All the labor videos we watch in our class just make me emotional trying to imagine that first time we see each other.

Her room is complete beside all the "supplies" that we'll get at the showers and after them. My first shower is this weekend for my friends and then Oct 25 for my family. I am so excitied for this weekend! Not just for my shower but for AU's homecoming and getting to see all my friends and going to Brown County on Sunday. A perfect weekend!

Here's what Isabella is doing this week...This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy. This week marks an incredible milestone in your baby's lung development. Before now, the air sacs and branches in her lungs were present but not functional. The lungs were not able to inflate properly. However, now there is surfactant being produced in her lungs. Surfactant prevents her lungs from collapsing outside of the uterus and she is able to take in air and breathe properly. The fetal ear is almost completely developed both inside and out. She can hear your voice and other familiar sounds that she will recognize after birth. She is putting on white fat under the skin and the skin's color is pink instead of red at this point. Her fingernails have grown to the end of her fingers and she may scratch herself while she is in the womb. She's going through major brain and nerve development these days. Her irises now react to light, and all five senses are in working order. (She won't pick up anything from her nose until after birth, though -- smell is transferred through air, not amniotic fluid.)

Isabella at 28 weeks

28 weeks

This week is week 28 and the beginning of my third trimester! I can't even believe we're this close to her being here! If she comes early, she could be here in two months! What's even more crazy to me is that she still has 12 weeks or less to continue growing! I feel like there is no possible way to fit anything else in my belly! She's running out of room! She's moving so much now! My favorite time during the day is when I know I can just lay down and feel her movements. She moves the most in the evening and I can feel her before I wake up in the morning when I'm in my half awake half asleep mode. The past week her movements have been pretty consistent. I can feel her the most right under my ribs on my right side. It's a strange feeling being kicked from the inside when the kicks get harder and bump my ribs. I'm glad that Dave is able to feel her move so much too!

Today is my birthday and my 28 weeks appointment which included getting some labs drawn. Everyone nows that even though I'm a nurse, I absolutely hate having my blood drawn!! I had to drink something called glucola for my glucose tolerance test, that tests for gestational diabetes, wait an hour and then go back to the lab. I did pretty well though. She's measuring just where she should be for 28 weeks. Her heart rate was the fastest I've heard since I had just drank the glucose drink. We're going to start having Dr.s appointments every 2 weeks now! Dave got me a handprint/footprint frame for my birthday, now I can't wait so those precious little hands and feet!

We've also just started looking into day care. It's unbelievable what it costs! I can be pretty cheap so it kills me to add up the numbers for each month! Does anyone want to watch for free?? I was lucky enough to stay with grandma when I was little, I really wish we had that luxury!
Anyways, off to a nice birtday dinner with the family! :o)

25 weeks

so, I'm definitely not very good at keeping an updated blog! I skipped over our last Dr. appointment, but everything was fine. Although, it was the first time that I had seen any real weight gain and I was in shock! I've never seen that number before and hope to never see it again post pregnancy! Her heartbeat was good, in the 150's and I measured right where I should be! My appointment today was just the same as the last. Took about 5 minutes and I was out. Again, I measured right where I should be, even though I feel smaller than other women at 6 months, and her heart beat was 150.

Things have been going well in the last four weeks since that appointment. At 23 weeks on the dot Dave was finally able to feel her kicks! She's the most active right after I eat and when I lay down to go to bed. It's pretty amazing to look down at my stomach and see it move when she kicks! She's getting stronger too! I can tell by all the nice kicks to my bladder that she gives me! :o)

We also finished the nursery, for the most part. We painted, bought furniture and bedding, and have it all set up. We just don't have any baby "supplies" yet. We absolutely love the way the nursery has turned out! We like to just go and sit in there, especially since the glider came! It's so comfortable!! I'd still like to add a few more decorative things to the room, I just have to decide what I want to do. We also registered the other day, which is just a nice reminder of how much babies cost! But it was a lot of fun!

So far, this pregnancy has been pretty rough on me. The nausea never went away, unfortunately. It did decrease though, but for the most part I still have nausea to some degree every day. I do have more energy than I did in the beginning so I can actually clean the house now, and smells don't bother me as much now which makes cleaning easier and I can finally make dinner again. The worst part is the hip pain! It's sharp, shooting pains through my hip that feel like it's breaking in half! It's worst after I've done a lot of walking during the day. After work most days all I want to do is lay down, as long as it doesn't hurt too much to lay on something soft.

I'm just really ready for her to be here! It's so hard to wait so long! This summer went so fast though, I can't believe I'm already 25 weeks! Just 3 more months! I keep wondering what she's going to look like. I can't wait to see her face for the first time!

23 weeks

This is what Isabella is doing at 25 weeks...

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.Your baby is able to do more with their fingers now and can move her fingers to make a complete fist. As your baby becomes more dexterous, she will be able to touch and hold her feet. Babies also begin to prefer their left hand or right hand at this time. Because babies settle into routines of sleep and activity, you might begin to notice these patterns as well.

It's a girl!

These past couple of weeks have been pretty eventful! I finally felt the baby move on June 28, at 16 weeks 5 days! I felt it eating breakfast one morning and wasn't really sure if it was the baby or not since it was the first one and just out of the blue. By the end of the day I had felt it about 10 times! It was such an amazing feeling to finally feel those movements! It's not everyday that I feel it, though. Some days I feel it and other I don't. Maybe once, maybe a few times, but I love it every time!!

This was the week that I was waiting for! 18 weeks and our next ultrasound. Surprisingly those 2 weeks between our last appointment and today went pretty fast. There has been a lot to keep me busy! I was so excited for the ultrasound today, the anticipation was terrible!! I felt like it was our wedding day all over again because of the massive excitement I was feeling! I wish I could have an ultrasound every time I'm in the office. I can't get enough of seeing her! And of course we found out that she is a girl! I thought we were having a boy, so I guess my motherly instinct hasn't kicked in all the way yet. :o) I couldn't be happier to be having a girl! I wish she was here now! After seeing her today, all I wanted to do was have her in my arms! 22 more weeks, give or take... seems so far away!

her heart beat is 152 BPM and she weighs 8 oz! Everything looks great! We even caught her sucking her thumb today!! So cute! We were able to get all the pictures on a CD and even get the whole ultrasound put onto a DVD! Now I can see her whenever I want!

here's what's happening at 18 weeks:

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound. Around this time, your baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that your baby can hear now. Your baby will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds. Your baby will become startled if she hears a loud sound.

16 weeks

Right now my Dr. appointments are every 4 weeks, and I can't believe how fast the last 4 have gone! It's nice to hear that everything is going just the way it should and hear the baby's heart beat again! The Dr. was able to pick up the heart beat with the doppler this time so no ultrasound just to get the heart beat this time :o( But that's ok since our next ultrasound will be in 2 weeks!! We'll finally know if it's a boy or girl!! I'm so excited, two weeks seems so long now! Right now I'm thinking it's a boy... just my gut feeling!

The nausea is a little better. There are some good days with hardly any nausea but then some bad days. It's really hit or miss. I finally have a baby bump too :o) and had to buy maternity clothes. Also, I should be able to feel the baby any time now! Nothing yet, but I can't wait to feel the movement!

Here's what's going on this week:

At this time, your baby is holding her head erect. Because her muscles are developing, she can make some faces now. Your baby is able to squint, frown and open its mouth. There is enough calcium in the bones that they will show up on an x-ray. Your baby's fingernails are well formed now and the legs are longer than the arms. Because your baby is moving well now, you may begin to feel his movements! Some women say that the early movements feel like gas bubbles or a slight flutter. If you have not yet felt the baby move, don't worry. Fetal movements are usually felt between the 16th and 20th week of pregnancy.

Her legs are much more developed, her head is more erect than it has been, and her eyes have moved closer to the front of her head. Her ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her locks aren't recognizable yet. She's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.