Amelia Therese!!!

I have been terrible at keeping up at this but a new baby takes a lot of time!

Amelia Therese was born one week ago today, November 4. She was 7lb 9 oz and 20inches long. It's been a long week with lots of adventures, but Tim and I have never felt more blessed. We are slowly getting use to being a family of three and getting use to limited hours of sleep. It's amazing to think that she's already a week old. It makes us realize just how fast she's going to grow up.

And now for the pictures!

Until Next Time

To Make My Mother Cringe...

Tim and I had a friend photographer of ours take some maternity pictures of us this weekend so I'll post a couple for you. I cannot believe how much my belly has grown just in the last couple of weeks... Sorry mom, I think they turned out good!

Otherwise things have been fairly uneventful. I had another appointment last Thursday. The doctor didn't even check me. Baby girls heart beat was strong at 148 and I'm not even going to tell you how much weight I've gained. So much for bragging about only gaining 12 :( Oh well, it's just a number right! I go back to the doctor on Wednesday!

We're down to 12 days until our due date and we CANNOT wait. I'm having so many false labor contractions it's driving me nuts. I wish the real thing would hurry up and come... We just want to meet our little girl.

And now for the pictures...

Until next time...

18 days to go!!!

We are 37.5 weeks along now and down to 18 days until our due date. I had a doctor's appointment last Wednesday, a very uneventful appointment. I was tested for Group B Strep and had my first internal since 12 weeks. I'm at 1cm dilation so we have quite a ways to go. The good news from my appointment was that baby has dropped and she is head down! Right now she's measuring at about 6 and a half pounds but could be as much as 8 and a half by the time she's born (if I go to term). Baby's heartbeat was still going strong at 149. She is still moving lots but it's more just rolling around than the karate kicks I was getting earlier on. I think it is safe to say I have run out of room for her!

We finished our childbirth classes last week and also had our preadmission appointment. I think we are both ready to get this show on the road. We even bought a mini-van! We sold Tim's truck two weeks ago and had been looking around for something to replace it, finally we found something on Saturday and got the car seat all installed and ready to go. The bags are packed and the nursery is ready now we just wait for our little girl to come.

I am getting more and more uncomfortable, it comes with the territory I suppose. Between all the Braxton Hicks contractions and the muscle aches and pains in my legs I am throwing in the towel! I just want to meet my precious baby girl already!

We have another appointment on Thursday, where I'm hoping to be further along that I was last week... I guess we'll just wait and see!

Until next time...

35 WEEKS!

We are 5 weeks from our due date. Holy cow how did we get here? I know we're ready but at the same time I feel completely overwhelmed! We are halfway done with our childbirth classes and I just took my breastfeeding class through the hospital today. I think we are both learning a lot of valuable information from them... wether we'll remember any of it when it comes to crunch time is another story.

I had my 34 week appointment on Wednesday and I am measuring right on. So apparently my body finally caught up with our little baby girl. I'm trying my best not to get up any hopes of going early, but honesly I am so over being pregnant. Benedryl has been a saint the last few nights, I've actually gotten some quality sleep, which hasn't happened in weeks. Other than that there isn't too much to report. Baby's heartbeat was at about 145 and I'm up a total of 12 pounds, not bad if I say so myself.

I have my second (and last) shower tonight. Our church is throwing a churchwide shower for me from all the ladies. It should be a great time!

Here are the pictures from my previous shower, and of the bedding my mom made and of my growing belly. I should've gotten these up sooner!

SHOWER:

Me at 32 weeks and one with me and Erin (my friend who threw the shower)

The yummy dessert table (those truffles were AMAZING Erin)! And molding babies out of playdoh on our heads!

NURSERY BEDDING:

The bumper pad, sheet and the skirt! Thanks Mom!

BELLY:

Me at 35 Weeks!

Well I think that about covers things so far. I'll try to post some other pictures from my shower tonight. I cannot believe we are only a little more than a month away from meeting our little girl!

Until next time...

Getting Closer!

I had my 32 week appointment with the doctor yesterday. It was fairly uneventful. I'm still measuring about 3 weeks ahead but he's not too concerned. I gained 4 pounds since my last appointment, but that still makes me on the low end of weight gain during pregnancy!

I mentioned that my biggest "worries" were the sudden swelling I had noticed and the increasing back pain. He wasn't worried about the swelling, my blood pressure has been on the low end all along so he said it's just "normal" pregnancy swelling, I just hadn't had much of it yet. He was more concerned with my back pain. I've been having sore muscles in my back for most of my pregnancy but for the last week or so it's gotten increasingly worse. He gave me some exercises to try over the next week or so but if those don't seem to help he's going to send me to physical therapy. Thankfully the back pain hasn't been associated with any cramping (a sign of preterm labor), but if that starts to become an issue I'll have to go back in to be checked.

From the beginning my doctor has been concerned with me working full time. Not that I have a strenuous job, I sit in front of the computer for most of the day, but the stress of work is still there. He asked me yesterday if I was still working and I told him that I had just gone down to 4 days a week. He was very surprised that I was working at all. I told him that my plan was to work part time from here on out, until I deliver or until my due date (whichever comes first). He just laughed and said that would NOT be happening. Especially now with my back pain, and measuring ahead he said he'll give me two more weeks, until my next appointment, to keep working, but if the back pain hasn't subsided and I'm still measuring ahead he doesn't want me working anymore. So we'll see.

Overall it was a good appointment. Baby girl is growing, and moving tons. Her heartbeat this time was 148.

*Stay tuned this weekend for pictures from my shower!

Surgery & A Shower!

Last week I posted about my dad being in the hospital, we were hoping that would be the end of things. Unfortunately this past Wednesday, he was taken back in to ER with similar symptoms (headache, nausea etc). The neuro doctor decided that surgery was the best option. On Thursday my dad underwent a Craniotomy (they make an incision in the scalp and remove a piece of the skull so they can have access to where the bleed is). Thankfully, as far a major brain surgery goes, this is one of the least invasive, but it's still considered a major surgery. The surgery went well, they only had to take a piece the size of a silver dollar off the skull to get to the bleed and were able to see everything they needed to. My dad woke up great from the anesthesia, and other than the goofy side effects of the pain killers he was the same old dad. He is coming home today, and is ready to get back to life - he's not one to just sit around, especially in the hospital. Our whole family is so thankful for all the prayers, meals, visits, cards and words of encouragement we have received over the last two weeks. We are hoping this is the kind of thing that happens once in a lifetime and never has to be repeated. We are just praising God that things worked out the way they did, my dad has a wonderful team of doctors and is on the fast track to recovery.

In BABY news:
I am 32 weeks (or I was last Friday), and feeling pretty good. My back pain is back and is worse than ever. Between that and the nausea I feel like I'm back in the first trimester. Right now, more than anything I just want a full night's sleep, wishful thinking I know! I am also growing like crazy. Every day when I look in the mirror I feel like my body has changed overnight. And I can tell baby is growing too, she is running out of room, and fast. Her kicks are becoming so hard and sometimes painful. Her feet end up under my ribcage and as she must be stretching out, but boy is it painful. The baby newsletter I get says that baby girl weighs about 4 pounds, but since we're measuring ahead I don't think that's accurate. All I know is that she's growing!

We had our first baby shower this past weekend. My friend Erin threw it for me and it was wonderful. Great friends, great food, and lots of laughs. Everyone was so generous, we received lots of necessities including our crib bedding (thanks mom!), car seat, pack-n-play, bottles, books and lots of cute girly outfits! I'll post pictures later in the week of the event! We are so thankful for all the great friends and family we have supporting us through this new step in our lives.

We are only 8 weeks away from our due date now! Tim and I are both shocked at how fast the time has flown by. It really feels like just yesterday we were staring at that little white stick with the two pink lines! God has already blessed us so much and we look forward to seeing how he will continue to grow us both as individuals and as a couple as we continue to prepare for the arrival of our little girl! It won't be long now!

Until Next Time...

Ahead of Schedule!

We had our 30 week appointment this past Wednesday. Baby Gates' heartbeat was 145 and going strong. She's definitely getting bigger, I don't feel like there's much room left inside for her. The doctor had a student with him and she measured me and got a measurement for 3 weeks ahead. He was sure she had done it wrong so he did it himself... sure enough, we are measuring 3 weeks ahead of schedule. He assured me not to worry about it, it's something we'll watch and if I continue to grow at that rate then we might have to do a growth ultrasound to see how big baby girl is!

This has been an odd week for our family. On Thursday morning my dad was taken to the ER for some bleeding on the brain. After two days at the hospital, a couple CT Scans, an MRI and innumerable amounts of prayers, visits and kind words, he is doing wonderfully. This morning he seemed like he was finally out of the woods. Our family is so greatful for God's mercy on us and for all the prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf. Tim and I are especially greatful, we cannot imagine our little girl not being able to meet her grandpa. My dad is still in the hospital, and probably will be for a day or so yet but he's pain free and feeling wonderful. Thank you all for your prayers for our family, they were and are greatly appreciated.

Until next time...