Germies

Ha..Yes, since I have had the baby, I add "-ies" to the end of everything... It makes things cuter.  Like the nasty cold virus that has infected my poor, pitiful, baby... When you call it a "germie", it makes it so much easier to wipe that boogie (see? I did it again!) filled nose.

So, I spent the last 5 months, almost exactly to the day, disinfecting every surface and phalange that came into close proximity of my baby.  Lysol, Clorox, and Germ-X are having a particularly good year due to my purchases alone.  In the last few months, I have developed a new method of greeting guests: I smile, hug, invite them in, and then douse their hands with my little bottle of Germ-X, so conveniently placed close to the door.  Hey, at least it is the little bottle, I hide the gallon jug, that I use to refill it with: I figure it may scare the guests away.

I have the strappy doo-hicky that attaches the Bath and Body Works antibacterial to my stroller, I have a mini bottle in the diaper bag, and several hidden in all of our cars.  I have surely outsmarted the germs, right?

WRONG!!!!  The germie snuck in and I am left like Dr.Claw, cackling and saying "I'll get you next time, germie, NEXT TIME!".  If you don't know that Mr. Gadget reference, then you are too young to have a baby and should be in school studying for the SATs.  (Just kidding, I'm a Teen Mom fan....ok, whatever)

After just commenting on a mommy forum about how well my baby sleeps, karma, disguised as a germie, reminded me how lucky I am that I have an "unusually" good lil' sleeper.  From bassinet (Yes, I shove my 5 month old into a bassinet because I have not gotten to the point that I can bare to put her in her own room, but that is a whole other blog post), to our bed, to glider, to standing in front of the air conditioner vent... Nothing would get my stuffy baby to sleep for more than an hour or two.  And since baby and I were awake, one of my dogs wanted to take the opportunity to beg to go to the bathroom.  So, while navigating the dark stairs with baby and dog , I hear, cough cough cough---and feel a warm wetness run down my neck.  Puke... Thanks, germie...

This morning, I was supposed to start a new Bible study.  This germie prevented me from learning about God.  This just confirms my hypothesis: GERMS ARE FROM THE DEVIL! ( the "-ies" was too cute for that statement)

Thankfully, she is feeling better this morning.  I'm sure with a few more days rest, she will be back to her normal, cheery, sound sleepin' self....I hope...

Prayers for a fast recovery please!! xo
God bless you.

Olympics

I know, I still have a lot to catch up on, and I will-- I PROMISE!  But, for now, in honor of the Olympics, that are constantly playing on the TV at my house, I wanted to share this picture of my little Usain Bolt Fan!

                                          She is a Bolt fan, but we strongly support Team USA!

I'm Baaaaack

After a three month maternity leave from all activities (outside of diapers and spit up), I'm baaaack.  I missed you all very much.  I also am overwhelmed with all that I need to catch you up on.

Well, let's start with my labor & delivery.

Week 40 came and went... Baby Addison had made herself comfortable and there was NO sign of her leaving.  Weekly checks showed no change in my cervix and no contractions.  Finally, my doctor said dreaded the word-- "induction".  My plans for a natural childbirth were a little shaken, however, I was still determined to try.
Most people who undergo induction are given pitocin to start contractions. I actually had started contractions  Monday morning.  I, however, had a hard and posterior cervix, in no condition to have a baby, so I had to start with Cytotec, which my doula referred to as "the big gun", in order to prepare my cervix and induce labor.  So, Monday evening, April 16, I checked into the hospital with my husband.  Cytotec was administered every few hours through out the night. At one point, I was bleeding, which having consulted with Dr. Google thoroughly freaked me out because apparently Cytotec increases the chance of uterine rupture. However, after being reassured by the nurses, I was able to catch a few disturbed zzzzs.  By the morning, I was dilated....wait for it... ONE measly centimeter!
So, the next step started at 9:30 the next morning---Pitocin.  Now, Pitocin is what I had been wanting to avoid.  I had heard some nicknames for Pitocin, several were variations of the red guy who lives in eternal fire...Not my idea of fun...
I had heard that a natural childbirth with Pit was much more difficult because Pit contractions are much stronger, intense, and closer together, so I gave myself the goal of getting to at least 5cm with out an epidural.
A little later that morning, my doctor came in to do a cervical check.  He decided to break my water since I was only at 2cm.  There was meconium in the water, indicating fetal distress.  Once the water was broken, the baby's heart rate became erratic, indicating more distress.
I continued to labor.  I was handling the contractions well with out the epidural, however the cervical checks were increasingly painful.  The doctor continued to monitor the baby's heart, which was still beating irregularly and was of concern.  I was given an internal fetal monitor, the most painful experience of the whole day, as well as amnioinfusion to replace the water in the amniotic sack and cushion the distressed baby.  After the pain of the internal fetal monitor, I was ready for the epidural.  I was 6cm and had made it to   my goal of 5cm.  It was now around 4:30pm.
The epidural was like Disney land. I could smile, breathe, sleep, and hold conversations. Just as I was relaxing and basking in my new found comfort, my doctor informed me that the baby was tachycardic (fast heart beat) and was responding to contractions in a concerning manner. He said it was in the best interest of the baby to perform an emergency c-section.  I, of course, said yes right away.  None of my plans for a natural, vaginal delivery mattered to me at all in that moment, the only thing I cared about was my baby.
At 6pm I went in for surgery.  At 6:40pm, I heard the most beautiful cry that brought tears to my eyes.  My healthy, big baby girl was born.  With a full head of hair and alert eyes, my heart melted and I was instantly in LOVE.

Addison Sarah Emily 4/17/12 6:40pm
8 lbs 5 oz
20 1/2 inches

We ordered a stork for our front yard

Going home

10 days old

My most perfect gift from God.  Love her!

Miracle Baby

I will write more later. Just wanted to share the news that our little girl was born 4/17/12 at 6:40pm.  She is safe, sound, healthy, and beautiful.  My life has taken a turn that I never could have imagined.  My heart beats a whole new beautiful, miraculous, song.  Life is sweeter with this little girl in my life. Praise be to God.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.1 Samuel 1:27

Plans

                                      "One way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans"

Not sure when I heard this saying, but I always remembered it.  It is a good lesson in control, or lack there of.  It is a reminder that no matter what we do to prepare, we are not in charge here.  It can be unnerving to some, especially those who like to be in charge (or appear to be).  Those who worry or are insecure, may cringe at the idea that they honestly have NO control over anything that happens in their life.  I have felt this.  I have worried over things I have no control over.  It is the equivalent of running repeatedly into a wall, it does not change anything and eventually you will end up with a headache!

So, as many  of you know, I have desired to have a natural childbirth.  Many of you who have already experienced this, have warned me against making plans.  I, however, chose to prepare myself, yet have been open to the idea that it will go how it is supposed to go. So, as my due date has come and gone, I am now 5 days over due and my original plan is close to having to be scrapped.  I have till Tuesday essentially for natural/ spontaneous labor to ensue before my doctor has decided to induce me.  I have been praying that the spontaneous labor takes place in the next 2-3 days, because I still would like to avoid Pitocin and other interventions. However, I am in acceptance that it may not be this way.  I may end up going in Monday night and taking the cervical softeners, to be followed by Pitocin Tuesday morning as my doctor plans.  

And... I'm at peace with it.  God is in control.  He knows what is best.  I trust him fully.  I feel that I have done my part in preparing myself to have the natural childbirth, but if that is not his will-- it's ok.  God knows better than I do and how lucky am I to have the creator of the universe carving out a plan/path for me?  He's turned my life around and blessed me in ways I could not have even imagined, so I would be foolish to fret and not trust him now.  He sees a way bigger picture than my eyes can see. 

I am going to keep up with the natural induction methods (and prayers) until the last minute, but all I ultimately desire is a safe and healthy labor and delivery for Addison and me!

I am packing my hospital bag today. :)  Any day now long awaited, miracle baby, Addison Sarah Emily will be here with us! Praise God~

Nursery Slideshow

We finally finished the nursery!  Check it out at this link: Nursery Slideshow

Now we are all set, all that is left is the baby!!  No change at my last doctor's appointment.  Addison is still cooking, I guess!

I have a few last minute things to do, like pack my hospital bag, install the car seat, and return a few things. I ordered a Lawn Stork today!

I am so ready for her to be here!  I packed a few outfits for her to wear in the hospital-- that was fun.  I am obsessed with baby girl clothes!  As you can tell by the very full closet in the slide show!  :)

One week till my due date!  I will keep you posted.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:17

My latest Pinterest inspiration

I saw this wonderful guest book idea on Pinterest and decided to make my own for my baby showers:

So, I bought a canvas from Michael's Craft Store and drew the tree.  I then painted the trunk:

I took the canvas to my showers and asked all the guests to put a green fingerprint anywhere on the branches as a leaf.  I then wrote their name beside their fingerprint.

Below is the end result, which we are going to hang up in the nursery as a keep sake.

Fingerprint leaves of all the shower guests

Our little bundle of joy!

So, that is my latest prego project!   It will be a nice keepsake, a  way to remember all the love shared at the baby showers, and a great way to honor our friends and family who will be an important part of Addison's life, as they are in ours.

11 DAYS TO GO!!
God bless~

Two week count down

Can you believe it?
I can't...
Two weeks!  My due date is 2 weeks away! I feel like this pregnancy has flown by!
I have had two checks so far, and so far no progress.  Baby Addison is comfortable, I guess.
My doula and I met this morning and finalized my birth plan. It is all so real now.

I remember so vividly getting the phone call from Dr.O saying that I was pregnant.  I was braced to hear the words that the IVF had not worked, and was taken aback when he said he had good news for me.

I remember feeling nauseous the weekend before I got my positive test.  It continued for 4 months straight and exactly to the day that I was 4 months pregnant, it lifted!

I remember making my facebook announcement and getting like 86 comments!

Or the 3d ultrasound when we found out the gender.  I had braced myself that we were having a boy (I desperately wanted a girl) and was once again, stunned when she said it was a girl!

Body pillow, heartbeat, growing tummy, living in the bathroom, back aches, stopping work, kicks, ultrasounds, maternity clothes, baby showers, little dresses... this has all been such a blessing.  Such a gift from God.

Now as I am in the home stretch, my anxiety grows about the delivery itself.  The excitement also grows as I anticipate this new little life that will be living in our home.  I can't wait to see her, know her, teach her, take her to church,  play with her, and watch her grow up.

Prayers requested for a safe delivery for mom and baby!

Blessing in 3d!

Last night we went to Fun Fetal Photos to get a 3d Ultrasound of Baby Addison.  We went there back when Addison was 16 weeks old to find out her gender a few weeks earlier than at the doctor's office.  Last night's 3d ultrasound shows what baby will look like when she is born. It was amazing how much she had changed since 16 weeks!  Technology is so advanced, I wonder what will be available when our children are having children!
Enjoys these 3d u/s pics from our two trips to Fun Fetal.

Addison Sarah Emily at 16 weeks when we found out she is a girl!

Look how much I've grown!! 33 weeks!

16 weeks

Addison's foot at 33 weeks, big feet like mom and dad!

 In one month, Addison will be full term.  I am so excited to meet this miracle baby!  She is already such a blessing to so many!

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27

More Baby Letters

I just finished making some letters for my best friend's nursery.  Hope Lil' Randy loves them!

If we could all be so lucky...

I created this Wordel to give to my husband for Valentines' day.  Shhh... We are celebrating our V-day tomorrow evening, so he has not seen it yet!

I will be printing this out and framing it for him to remind him how AMAZING and loved he truly is.

                                 "Every good & perfect gift is from above" James 1:17

Nursery sneak peak

So, today after church some friends and I went to Smoke for lunch.  It was actually really yummy!  Then our friends came over and helped John carry our nursery furniture upstairs to the nursery.  Thanks Laura & Kevin!!

  The furniture had been downstairs in the living room, airing out. (I watched this segment on Good Morning America stating that all furniture produces gasses from the chemicals that they are finished with and made with, so it is good practice to air them out before putting them in the house, but I'm not trying to leave my brand new furniture outside for a week like they suggested, so we just aired them out downstairs before putting them in the nursery)

Our nursery is not decorated, however I thought I would post some pics about the progress we have made so far.  So here they are:

During the process of clearing out the office

John painting 

Today after we moved the furniture in

I will be posting more pics as we finish up the decor and organization.  We still need to buy the glider and I also want to mod podge a small table to put next to the glider.

Seeing the furniture set up makes it all so real.  I am so excited for Addison's arrival!  John and I spent the day washing baby clothes.  The little socks and jeans make me smile.  It looks like doll clothes!!!  Just think, there will be a little baby wearing all these cute outfits in less than 2 months!

I have my first appointment with a chiropractor tomorrow.  My back ache has progressively gotten worse and my hour commute is almost impossible.  I am also getting a massage on Tuesday.  Hopefully, one of the two help!

My last natural birth class in on Wednesday.  I really enjoyed it.  On Friday, we will be meeting with our doula to make our birth plan.  That should be cool.  I'm not really sure what to expect. On Saturday, John and I plan to celebrate Valentines day, a few days late.  We are going to the Melting Pot and the movie, The Vow.  I am really excited.  The Melting Pot is special to us, we went there the day we found out we were pregnant.

Well, I'm off to my community group (small group/ Bible study).  Y'all have a blessed week!!!  xoxo

Baby's Name

I had not officially announced Baby's name, so here it is:
Addison Sarah Emily
Yes, 3 names!  My grandfather gave almost all of his girls double middle names and I always liked that.  I have always wanted to have a daughter with the middle name Sarah Emily.  Sarah Emily is my mom's middle name and Sarah is my middle name.  (I had always wished I had the Emily part too)
The name Addison was one of the few names John and I agreed on.  It's funny because I made a baby name list when we were still undergoing the ovulation induction from our fertility doctor back in January of 2011 and Addison was not on it.  We had really liked and agreed on the names Eva Mae, Summer, & Charlotte. Eva Mae Sarah Emily-- now there's a mouth full!
So, when Grey's Anatomy was being offered on Netflicks we really got into it.  One of the main characters on the earlier seasons was named Addison Montgomery Shepard. (She is now on the show Private Practice, a spin off of Grey's)  We were talking one day about the show and it came up that we both really liked that name and that is how her name came to be.  I remember the first time I had ever heard the name: I was at some kids museum in Connecticut and there was this cute little girl who had been adopted from China and her   mother and I were talking.  Her mother had named her Addison.  I remember thinking back then that it was a pretty name.  Never knew that one day I would have my own little Addison!
I have always been into name meanings, even though we did not base our decisions at all on the meanings of any of the names.
Meanings:
Addison:  Child of Adam/ English
Sarah: Princess/ Hebrew
Emily: To strive or excel/ English


So, I had my first prenatal yoga class yesterday.  It was great and did wonders for my ever aching back.  I was amazed that I was still able to balance in many of the poses, even though these days I am very front heavy.  The experience was relaxing and just what the doctor ordered.

Days at work are feeling longer. My back has a constant pain that is only exacerbated by my hour long commute to work each way.  The baby also enjoys dancing on my bladder.  With the bathroom being at the other end of the school, I do a lot of walking or should I say waddling.
My last day of work before maternity leave is March 9.  A little over a month to go! This was recently moved up from March 26-- no complaints here!

On Monday we got the nursery furniture.  After many long searches, I purchased the only crib that I ever liked.  I had liked it the first time I had seen it, however I had it stuck in my head that I wanted a white crib and this one was not offered in white, so I stopped looking at it.  After a long tiresome search for a white crib, I never found one that I loved.  So, after one more look at my Suite Bebe Hampshire crib, I fell in love.

John's project for this weekend is to paint the nursery.  I am so excited about it.  It is all starting to feel so real!! (Although to my ribs, it has felt real for a long time-- baby loves to kickbox me in the rib cage)
Here is a peek at my nursery furniture: Baby's Beautiful Furniture

I have had some recent doubts about my doctor.  He is the nicest, funniest doctor and John and I both really like him, however I do not know how he feels about me wanting to have a natural labor and delivery.  He is very centered in the medical model, as most doctors are trained to be, however some are more open to alternative practices.  Mine, unfortunately, is not so much.  Another concern is that they recently added like 5 on call doctors to the weekend rotation, meaning that baby may end up being delivered by a stranger. I really enjoy 2 docs at my practice and pray I get either of them.  There is a 1/4 chance of that though...

I have scheduled my 3d ultrasound at 33 weeks (Feb 20) to see what baby is going to look like.  Super excited for that!!!

My natural birthing class is going well.  I saw a video this past week that showed a fairly smooth labor, however it still freaked me out a bit.  The thought of the pain and exertion caused by labor is daunting and intimidating. I just keep reminding myself that women through out time have endured this in much worse and primitive conditions than I am afforded.  I also tell myself that this is what God designed our bodies to do, so I will be able to do it. Plus, the outcome will be more precious than anything in this world!

Well, it's late and my back is not going to allow me to sit up any longer.  Good night y'all~  God bless. Check back in the next few weeks for pics of the nursery!

Our nursery furniture

DIY Nursery Project

Perfect study break relaxation technique?? Nursery crafting!!!
Ok, after a long study session at Barnes N' Noble, sipping my favorite-- salted caramel hot chocolate-- and reading up on various Marriage and Family Theories... I decided I needed a break.

What better way to do that than to head to Michael's Craft Store? Lucky me, it happened to be a Michael's Dollar Deal Day! I got 5 pieces of scrapbook paper, originally 59 cents for 20 cents each, 2 sponge brushes, originally a dollar for 7 cents each, and 3 white wooden letters usually 4 dollars each for 3 dollars each. So, that leaves me with a grand total of $10.14 + tax. The only other supply I used to complete this project was Mod Podge which I had left over from my DIY socket covers.

So, here is how the project went:

Supplies

My new BFF craft supply- Mod Podge

Cut out pieces of various colored scrapbook paper and arranged them on the letters
I recommend taking a picture of it when you have it all laid out, so you remember where to mod podge the pieces.

Once you have it arranged as you would like, start mod podging the paper to the letter .  Then seal it with 2 coats of mod podge on the top. 

VOILA!  Unique nursery letters!


They have plain wooden letter at Babies R' Us for 6.99 + tax each and they are not anywhere near as cute!  

Babies R' Us letters

So, these DIY letters were a good deal -- not to mention super cute and super fun to make!
When the nursery is complete, I will post a picture of them hanging on my nursery wall!  (Did you notice some of the design matches the DIY socket covers I made?-- it's all about the details, people! LOL)

Alright, back to the books... BLAH!
Have a blessed day~

Watch my dog's Youtube debut!

I bought this birthing ball early in my pregnancy.  However, Lucy, my Boston Terrier, uses it more than I do!  You must watch this, it is so funny!

Music for Baby

I played this for the baby today. She was kicking a whole bunch! Hope it is because she liked it and not because the volume was up too loud. I never know just how loud to play it, I mean it has to go through a whole lot to reach her...

I don't play music for the baby as much as I would like to, maybe a few songs a week. I am going to try and be better about it. So far, the songs I play most for her are "Beautiful Things" by Gungor and "Hold Me" By Jamie Grace/ Toby Mac . I also play some Beethoven and Mozart because I heard that it is good for neural tube development. I have played other Christian Contemporary songs like "Oh Praise Him" by DCB , "Hope Now" by Addison Road , & a variety of Christmas songs.

Ok, I have to add this song to my blog, just because it is my favorite at the moment. I did not think any song would take the place of  "How He Loves" By DCB , but I am starting to really like this one more and play it for baby a lot.
Here is "Beautiful Things" by Gungor: PLAY IT LOUD!!




OK, I'm gonna stop procrastinating. I have to study for a MAJOR test that will have a large effect on my career. But, here I am instead-- blogging...

Feelin' Crafty

My first DIY nursery project.  I covered the outlets in the nursery.