Maternity Photoshoot

Good Wednesday evening ya'll.  I have been having so much fun learning about and playing with my baby girl these last two weeks.  She is such a joy and delight to us and I love watching her every day.  She is growing and changing and more importantly, we are learning more about her and what she is like.  She is almost always happy and content, alert and engaged.  We have had a few days of things just not quite being right and those aren't as fun, but they all come with the territory.  I am working, slowly... on my birth story post but in the meantime I thought I would post our maternity pictures that our wonderful friend Vita took for us.  She is so great to take pictures for us.  She did our Christmas pictures and if she'll let me, I'm gonna keep using her because it's just so much fun and she does a great job!  Prepare for lots of photos to follow...

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  It's hard to believe this was only a few weeks ago, so much has changed!  Thanks again Vita for such beautiful documentation of our pregnancy!

~Becky

Our first week home

I can't believe it has already been 10 days since our little munchkin joined our family.  Can you make time stand still because I am already struggling with her getting bigger and changing.  I want her to stay this way forever!  Any yet the thrill of being able to help her and watch her grow and learn and experience new things is such an exciting thing as well.  I suppose this is what it means to be a momma.

So Alythia arrived at 4:40am on Tuesday morning, 6/11/13.

Yes that's right, she arrived on her due date, prompt and very obedient.  (birth story to come later)  I had given her strict instructions that she was not allowed to start coming until after 5pm on Monday the 10th as I had too much work to finish up before she arrived.  She obeyed and started coming at 4:30pm.  12 hours of labor is definitely not easy and I asked myself many times what in the world I was thinking trying to do this, period, let alone medication free!  She arrived with little complication and we proceeded on with learning all about her and she about us.

Rob and I have been just so enamored with her.  She is an absolute doll, both to sit and stare at and to care for.  She is content almost all the time, sleeps fantastically, eats wonderfully and has already gotten on a fairly good schedule.  She wakes once at night to eat and sleeps for about 5 hours in between those feedings.  She is so alert and aware of everything going on around her.

We brought her home on Thursday morning.  I wanted to come home Wednesday but the pediatrician asked me to stay the night if he promised to be there first thing in the morning to check her out and discharge her.  We agreed and he did as he promised.  Pediatrician was there at 7:30 am and the OB was there at 8:15 am to check on us and discharge us.  As is always the case, we waited around for another 2 hours for the nurse to get the paperwork processed and actually let us leave but we were home before lunch and off to a good start in our little home.

My mom arrived from Michigan on Tuesday afternoon and planning to stay for a couple weeks to help us get adjusted to life as new parents as well as help prepare meals for us both to freeze and while she's here and to help with laundry.  She is always such a help whenever she is here and this time was no exception.  She has helped us to prepare several meals to have during the time we move and are getting settled in the new place so that we have that off our plates and can focus on the house and the baby.  I tell ya, I could certainly get used to having a housekeeper and laundress around, it's been so wonderful having her here both to help us and to get to spend some quality time with her granddaughter during her first few weeks of life.  I am so blessed to have the mother the Lord has given me, she is a treasure and I never want to take that for granted.

We were instructed to make Alythia's first doctor's appointment for Monday June 18th to see how she was doing.  She had been tested for her bilirubin count at the hospital and was a little high but not serious at the time.  At her appointment her doctor decided to do a blood test to check her levels and it came back with a level of 17.  I'm not sure what normal was but he said it was fairly serious and that she should start phototherapy that day.  He ordered us a light bed and it was delivered that evening.  We were instructed to keep her in it as much as possible and only take her out to eat and change her diaper.  She was not too thrilled to be confined in a tight space and forced to be on her back.  She stayed in it as much as possible and though it meant a fairly restless night of sleep as she was up every 2 hours, we were able to make it through.  We went back for her follow up blood draw the next day and her levels had dropped down to 13.3!  Even the doctor was shocked by the levels and we were able to take her out of the bed with the condition that we would keep an eye on her and see if she seemed to get any worse again.  We are so thankful that she was able to get the help she needed quickly and that she responded so well to the treatment.  We are still praying that she continues to keep her levels in the normal range but are so grateful for a doctor that will respond so quickly to her needs, God is good.

She has been doing so well with everything since she has been home.  She has gone out on several outings, taken a couple walks around the neighborhood, went jogging with daddy on Father's Day, had her first Sunday at church, went out for her first desert outing on Thursday night with the whole family and has just been a rockstar the whole time!  I can't ask for a better baby.  I could just stare at her all day long and never get tired of marveling at the Lord's goodness and handiwork in creating such a unique and special little girl.  I am humbled and honored to have the privilege of being her momma.

A few more photos from week 1.

Father's Day family photo

6 days old

my favorite face to make, so curious (2 days old)

~Becky

39 weeks...yikes!

37 weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks and feeling it!

How far along?  39 weeks, yikes!!
Total weight gain/loss: +20 from first dr visit

Belly measurement: 38 inches

Maternity clothes? Still not really.  I could probably use the super stretchy waistband about now but there's no point in buying clothes I can only wear for a few days!
Stretch marks? Nope!

Best moment this week: Realizing that there's only a week left before my due date!

Movement: I think I'm more excited when she's not moving.  She is so active and so squished that it's really getting painful to have her moving around. 

Food cravings: This week I caved and bought myself some Cap'n Crunch.  I have not had cravings this whole time but now I think I'm just to the point where I am over this and really just want some good ol' junk cereal.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing external.  I've had a few nauseous spells but I think it's just from all the pressure she's putting on my stomach

Have you started to show yet: absolutely, though I am getting tired of hearing people comment on how small I am.  My stomach measures at 33 weeks and has been for about a month now.  We have done two ultrasounds to make sure she is good and everything is as standard as you could want.  I just carry differently than most women and it seems to be a big concern to a lot of people.
Gender: Girl!

Labor Signs: I think I've had contractions but I'm not really sure.  What I feel as far as pressure could also be just her pushing on things so I can't really say.  When she's out I'll know I was feeling labor I guess.

Belly Button in or out? Fairly flat and doesn't seem to be pushing out any more.

Wedding rings on or off? On though when it gets warmer out they are a little tight. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:This week I have been super moody.  Probably a combination of exhaustion, stress from work and just being over this whole pregnant thing

Looking forward to: Seeing her actual face.  I have seen so many pictures of her skeletal structure from ultrasounds, I wanna see what she actually looks like and stop feeling her little feet digging into my ribs.

Sorry this update has been so long in coming.  I have had a crazy month.  Hopefully I will have a little more time between feedings after she gets here to be able to start being more consistent with updates. Until then, please keep checking in and I will keep you posted on how everything is going!

~Becky

Month 9 has been a blur!

Well good morning.  It's 7:30 am on Saturday as I write this and here I am, wide awake and have been for an hour.  I guess this is God's way of preparing me for little miss sunshine and all her impending wake ups and crazy hours!  The past three weeks have been crazy insane and quite a blur.  My mom was here a few weeks ago on her way up to Michigan for the summer.  It was really nice to be able to spend some quality time with her before the baby gets here.  The weekend she decided to drive up with her RV, Rob flew down to Florida to pick up our car and help mom trailer it back here to Kentucky so we could stop paying storage in Florida and needing someone to go and run it regularly.  He arrived in Florida at 8:30 am on Friday and was back in Kentucky by 2 am Friday night/Saturday morning.  Quick turn around but it was great to be able to get the car up here and start using it and figuring out the next steps.  While mom was here with us, we spent quite a bit of time planning for after the baby arrives, how she can be most helpful and what we want to that to look like.  I am so thankful to have a mother who is so willing to help out and knows what needs to be done.  She will certainly be a wonderful help with cooking, cleaning and packing!  As well as fawning over the granddaughter of course :)

While mom was here, our women's ministry from church had planned a family day at Churchill Down's and all 4.5 of us were able to attend.  It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to walk around the famous buildings at our own pace and watch the horse races without the craziness that I'm sure exists on Derby Day!  We would like to and intend to go to derby while we are here, but it was nice to just wander around and see everything without paying all that money!

 As we were walking in a couple stopped us and gave us tickets to their box seats that they had just left up on the second level.  It was wonderful to be able to sit down in the shade for a few minutes and just enjoy the relaxing day!  I guess they felt bad for the pregnant lady and wanted to make sure I had a place to sit.

It's been so nice having spring and summer weather here finally.  I was afraid it was never going to come!  We held on to winter for a long time, and even now its still toying with us.  50's in June does not sound like summer weather to me at least...

So mom left mid-week the next week and we have been non-stop since then.  I have been working super hard to get everything done at work so that my maternity leave is relaxing and refreshing and the case managers covering for me know what's going on and have as little to do as possible.  I finished up all of May's work and have been spending the last 4 days doing all of the work for June as well as prepping all of my files for the other case managers to step in when baby girl decides to make her debut.  It's certainly been exhausting and trying but I'm almost there.  Just about 2 more hours of work in the office and two more client visits and I will be done!  It's amazing what one can accomplish when you have no other choice!

We did get a little rest and relaxation time in as well.  This past weekend, Rob had booked us a night in a beautiful bed and breakfast about an hour southeast of Louisville.  We didn't want to go too far away in case something happened, and frankly my lovely daughter does not like to let momma sit for very long and she would have a fit if I was in the car for more than an hour, cramping her space.  We stayed at this little place called Southern Grace Bed and Breakfast in Bradenburg, which is just west of Fort Knox.  It's a beautiful house that was originally a private residence, built by the owners son but was turned into a bed and breakfast about 2 years ago.  We got the master suite with our own private entrance from the back porch, a two person jacuzzi tub with it's own private hot water heater, and the most relaxing atmosphere.  They have a small farm on the property and we were able to see goats, alpaca, cows and chickens.  It was a nice change of scenery for us city folk. 

On Monday we got up and had a wonderful breakfast, hot and ready for us.  We decided to relax a bit and watch a movie before we headed out for the day and then we headed north just a little ways to a place called Squire Boone Caverns in southern Indiana.  They have a small but really pretty cave that we toured and some cute little shops as well.  It was a nice adventure without being too strenuous as I certainly do not want to induce labor yet.  Too much to do!

Here are a few pictures of our weekend away. 

Sunset on the Ohio River

Grinding mill at Squire Boone Caverns

Water overflow for the mill

~Becky