adjusting to parenthood

My baby is officially 2 weeks and a day old! I can't believe how quickly this time is passing us by. Each day she amazes me with how beautiful she is and that she is MINE! Waylon and I both think she's just the most beautiful thing in the world and I have to admit that it melts me when I see Waylon interacting with her and talking to her and telling her how beautiful she is and seeing how patient he is with her. He's already a wonderful daddy and I know he's going to be amazing once she gets older and is able to interact more and he is able to play with her and teach her stuff. As I type this right now, daddy is feeding her a bottle. He does a fantastic job at burping her, which I'm not so great at. Daddy's got the magic touch for that!

Our little princess has been having some issues with constipation. It's hard to see her in pain and grunting and suffering, but I know this is just part of newborn life. Hopefully she will pass this pretty soon. We bought some Karo syrup last night and I've been putting it in her bottle. It has already helped and she slept better last night than she has in the past 4 nights, which makes Waylon and I VERY happy. She did end up back in bed with me early this morning around her 5am feeding but that was more me being a softy then her really needing it. She slept great! I woke up around 10am and couldn't believe she was still sound asleep! I slept well also. It was nice. I know I need to eventually wean her off sleeping with me so she will get used to her pack n' play but it's hard when I hear that little cry of hers and I know she wants some mommy time. :) I will NOT spoil my child! At least not when she is old enough to know she's being spoiled...right now it's ok. 

Here's a little list of changes in her and me in the past 2 weeks:

- she is starting to lift her head quite a bit - she's very strong!

- she smiles a lot in her sleep - I know it's gas but she has an adorable smile and I love it. 

- She is developing quite a temper! I have no idea where she got that from...definitely not ME!

- She's up to taking 3 oz's at a time!

- I have quit breastfeeding completely. I just decided it was not worth the frustration it was causing me. I dreaded it everytime I had to do it. She wasn't getting enough so I had to also make a bottle for her. It HURT! And did I mention I didn't enjoy it in the least bit?? I know it's not supposed to be about me, BUT, she gets everything she needs from the formula and she got about 10 days of breastfeeding so I feel like she still got some benefits. On top of all that, once I got back to work (which I do not want to really think or talk about right now), I won't be able to continue breast feeding. My job isn't conducive to pumping. I teach and there is no where I could escape to in order to pump. I also wouldn't be able to use my conference period everyday because then I wouldn't get any grading done and would end up having to stay later after school which I don't want to do. So, there were many reasons I quit and I'm now happier and Brooklyn doesn't even know the difference. 

- I've gotten a little better with the crying, thank goodness. I haven't cried in a couple of days - I think since shortly after I posted about it. lol. Go figure...

- I have finally figured out a way to swaddle Brooklyn that she can't work her hands free of. The other way I was doing it just wasn't working and she would get her hands free and wake herself up. That's so annoying!

- I've also started letting her sleep on her side (with those wedges on either side of her so she can't roll over) and she sleeps really well that way. I let her sleep like that last night and she slept extremely well for the first half of the night so I may start letting her sleep that way as much as possible until she is big enough to sleep on her belly.

- She has started using her tummy time mat, although most of her time on it is on her back. lol. I've been slowly trying to hold her less during the day and put her in her bouncer and on the mat so she might stay awake longer and get a little less dependent on mommy holding her - not that I mind doing that AT ALL!

- I've lost over 30 lbs!! I don't remember my feet an ankles looking so skinny! I guess I just forgot what they look like normally. I used to think I had thick ankles; that was until I got pregnant and saw what thick ankles looked like! Now I'm perfectly content with the size of my ankles. They look anorexic!

- along with the weight loss, I've been able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans and jean shorts (which I'm wearing right now!). That was a huge relief as I thought it would be months before I could fit into anything pre-pregnancy and that I would end up having to go out and buy a completely new wardrobe. I still want the new wardrobe but now I don't have to be in a rush to get it and spend money I don't have on clothes that fit me. 

-I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with my Mary Kay business. I'm currently having a big online sale with free shipping (since I know so many people from out of state or too far away in Texas for me to deliver to). If you're interested, leave me your email in a comment and I'll send you the email with all the info. Meanwhile, go check out my MK website at: www.marykay.com/stephanie.perryman - I would love to help you with your skin care and cosmetic needs!

-I'm looking forward to Monday night when Waylon and I go out to celebrate our 1 year anniversary! We are contemplating leaving Brooklyn with my parents overnight so we can have a full night of uninterrupted sleep. I'm not sure if I'll be able to go for that though, but we'll see the closer the time gets. We're not doing anything too major: just dinner and a movie. We will probably go down town Fort Worth and eat at Pizzeria Uno's (one of my favorite places to eat) and then catch a movie down there. I dearly miss the time Waylon and I used to have together when we would go out and just have a nice relaxing night out. We haven't really done that in a long time since I wasn't up for much going out in the later stages of my pregnancy. It's going to be nice to go out as a couple with me looking and feeling normal again!

- My post-op doctor's appointment went very well. She says my incision from the c-section is healing great - no infection or anything to cause concern. She gave me a prescription for the pill which I will start in about another month. I wasn't really wanting to go back on the pill after having Brooklyn and just try natural birth control with keeping track of my cycle. HOWEVER, the paranoia of getting pregnant again right away has taken over and I want some ASSURANCE that it won't happen for at least another year, hopefully two. I know the pill isn't 100% but I sure trust it more than me keeping track of my cycle!

-We go for Brooklyn's next appointment tomorrow morning at 9:15 am. I fully expect her to be over 10 lbs. I'll be surprised if she isn't. 

I think that's enough for now. I will be posting a blog about my anniversary and my wonderful husband this weekend as promised before. Hopefully, I won't be overly sappy and emotional on it but I will be honest and expressive with my feelings so if you don't like public expressions of love, don't read it! lol. 

p.s. I got my anniversary gift early - a pink iPod nano! I love it and am working on getting it filled up with music. Any suggestions of musicians (Christian or non-Christian) that you have, will be greatly appreciated. We check out CD's from the library and burn them onto our computers. :) I have purposely avoided looking up to see if that's illegal because I want to be ignorant of whether or not it is...is that wrong? haha...don't answer that question.

Finally some pictures

It's almost been two weeks since I had Brooklyn but it still feels like yesterday at times. I have to admit to having a touch of the baby blues, although it is passing. I definitely cried every night at the hospital when I was alone with Brooklyn and then once we were home, I cried every time Waylon had to leave to go to work. It was hard to see him go. A lot of those first nights I was able to spend with my parents, however, it was still sad for me to see Waylon go off to work and have to leave me and his new baby girl behind. The crying has definitely slowed down and I have settled into a calmer state of mind at night when it's bedtime. I was definitely scared the first few nights and couldn't sleep well and had to have Brooklyn where I could see her when I opened my eyes. Lucky for us, she doesn't sleep wonderfully at night so she frequently wakes me up with doesn't help with the sleep department but does help in the worry department.

So far we have had a couple of REALLY good nights where she slept for 3 and almost 4 hours at a time in between feedings but most of the nights have been pretty hectic with very little sleep. Last night, for example, I couldn't get her to calm down and sleep at all. Every time I laid her down to sleep, she would start her grunting and flailing her arms and legs around and fuss a lot. I would then pick her up and try to soothe her to sleep again and set her back in the pack and play and she would start her thing all over again. She also projectile vomited in her bed, which she did earlier at church yesterday also. So I had to change her blanket since it was soaked with spit up. This went on for about two hours (not the vomiting but the not sleeping) until finally I picked her up and laid her down on my belly, facing me and we slept that way for the rest of the night. Now, I never intended on letting her sleep in bed with us b/c I'm worried about the smothering and all that, however, I just couldn't take it anymore and she seemed so upset and uncomfortable that I just finally was happy she found a position she could sleep in. We slept like that with no problems and she didn't budge the whole night once she was on my belly. I also slept well and kept my arms around her and they didn't move either. She may eventually be a belly sleeper once she's big enough and I'm comfortable enough with letting her sleep that way (several weeks from now). The frustrating part is she sleeps like a rock during the day!! Then at night, she's fidgety and moves so much she wakes her self up constantly. Hopefully this will pass soon.

We went in today for her follow-up newborn screening for PKU. It was really hard to see her crying so much when the nurse was squeezing her heel to get the blood out. I had no idea they needed so much! I held it together but there was a point when she was crying the loudest I have ever heard her cry that I almost started in with her. I'm glad that's over and she's now sleeping (grunting a little) in her bouncer. 

I wanted to post a few pictures from the day we had her. The first picture is me the morning we left for the hospital. It was about 5:15am and we were finishing up getting everything packed and loaded in the car. Then we took one of our faces. :-) Can you tell we were tired?? The one after that was right after they got me all hooked up and settled in my L&D room where I would spend the next 12 hours leading up to my c-section. After that is a shot of me with her when I FINALLY got to hold her 2 hours after having her. I think I had just breast fed her for the first time which is why the sleeve of my gown is hanging off me. The next picture is of Waylon holding her after I fed her the first time. The last 4 or so pictures are once we were home. You can tell a big difference in my face and how much the swelling has gone down. Brooklyn was napping after having a bottle in the one of her laying on my bed and the really close up one of her face we took at the doctor's office for her first follow-up visit. The tiny bit of jaundice she had when we left the hospital had gone completely away and she gained back almost all of her weight. She had gotten down to 8.10 when we left the hospital on Saturday and was back up to 9.3 by Monday. She likes her milk!

So there you have some pictures and some more info on how we are doing. I have to admit that I haven't had a strong desire to blog these days. Hopefully that will come back to me. It's hard to get things done when your focus is on a newborn and you're completely disorganized! 

I'm going to do a separate post on my experience with breast feeding vs. bottle feeding soon and the decision I came to...stay tuned!

1 week and 1 day old!

I know, I know...I've totally dropped the ball on updating my blog since Brooklyn's arrival. It's been very hectic around here and I just haven't had the time I wanted to dedicate to my first post-partem blog post! So here it is. I've started it and re-started it several times because I got into too much detail and even I was getting bored with the post so I decided to keep this one clean and simple with a few updates and pictures. That will make everyone happy I think!

So here we are, Brooklyn is 1 week and a day old and as happy as a clam! She is a very healthy eater and after having lost almost a pound in the hospital, has gained it all back. She was born 9lbs 6oz and when we left on Saturday from the hospital she was 8lbs 10oz. By the time we went in for her first check up on Monday, she was back up to 9lbs 3oz so she definitely didn't go hungry over the weekend! Part of that is because I only breast fed in the hospital and she just wasn't getting enough. The last day, I was so sore from all the nursing (my right side was even bleeding! yikes!) that I requested some bottles to feed her with. They gave me six pre-made 2oz bottles that I fed her the rest of that day. Well, after I saw how well she was taking those, I went out and bought some formula and made the immediate decision that I would breast feed and supplement with formula feeding. There was just no way I could do the breast feeding only. I do want her to get the benefits of the breast milk here in her earliest stages so I will continue to do that, but not for too much longer. It's just not for me. I don't enjoy it and it's so time-consuming. Now I basically try to at least get her to feed on 1 side for about 15-20 minutes and then I give her 2oz of formula in a bottle. She has yet to have a hard time switching between breast and bottle so I'm happy with that. The doctor was very happy with her weight gain and I just felt that it really was because I bottle fed her. I'm not going to feel guilty for not breast feeding her either. I know many kids (myself included) that did not breast feed and came out completely healthy! Anyways, one thing I do have to say about the breast feeding is that when your milk comes in - DANG!!!! It hurt so stinking bad! And it came in on Sunday morning when I wanted to go to church to show Brooklyn off. There was no way I could go to church; I was feeling feverish and hot and sore all over from my milk coming in. It was crazy. So me, Waylon and Brooklyn stayed home at my parents and didn't make our grand appearance at church...yet. This Sunday she will have her first trip to church and I'm looking forward to taking her and showing her off.

So far, since being home from my parents (we spent 3 nights there and it was wonderful having all the help from them), life has been pretty good, while be it, hectic and sleepless. I am constantly in amazement that this little bundle of beauty is my own child. Her daddy and I will sometimes just sit and watch her and talk about how pretty and cute she is and how no guy will ever be good enough for her! Her daddy has been amazing through this entire process of delivery to bringing her home and helping take care of her. He has really stepped up and shown how wonderful of a dad he's going to be and already is. I'm so proud of him! He has spent lots of time sitting with her and letting her sleep on his stomach and in his lap and has already changed his fair share of dirty diapers. That was a shocker! Our little lady has quite a few poopy diapers, let me tell you! But we don't mind changing them. Everything about her just makes me so happy and in awe of how God makes human life form inside of us and out comes this perfect, precious little child. It's truly amazing and awesome.

Our little (or I should really say, big) girl is already trying to lift her head on a regular basis and succeeds at it several times. She also is developing her cry quite well; you don't want to let her fuss for too long for her bottle or her fussing will change to a definite cry of downright anger! She smiles in her sleep a lot and when she's awake makes all sorts of cute faces, including my favorite - when she puts her mouth into an "o" and opens her eyes really wide like she's surprised. It's hilarious and so cute!! I'll have to try to get a picture of her making that face sometime.

I'm going to have to wait to post the pictures on here until I have a little more time. I'm going to go ahead and post this because I've been trying to do it for an entire week! I just want to post it and get it over with - it's been hanging over my head!

Now you've officially heard from me and you will hopefully be hearing from me more often once I start getting more settled in. I will also post pictures very soon. It will probably be a post entirely of pictures. Sorry this one doesn't have any...

Introducing Brooklyn!

Brooklyn Alivia 9lbs 6oz and 21 and 1/2 inches long. A perfect beauty. More updates to come!

Birth and Delivery Updates

Hi guys! This is Steph's sister Melissa and I will be blogging for her today. As I'm typing this at 7:51 her time she's had pitocin and they've broken her water. She's having some strong contractions right now.Brooklyn may be born sooner rather than later today! I'll be updating as I get info so stay tuned.
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10:30 am

Steph said when she was last checked she was dilated at 2. She said things are moving slowly.
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1:30 pm

No baby yet, Karen!*wink*

Steph just got her epidural in the last hour or so and they checked her to see how far she'd dilated. She's at a 3.

That's it.

I'm sure she's not thrilled at her progress so far. lol.My mom said her contractions are stronger and closer together. She is in pain but the epidural is helping. She is also starving but obviously can't eat anything until after the baby is born.Waylon is doing wonderfully and is staying very calm.
I'll post again once I hear anything. Thanks for reading!
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1:50 pm
Steph complained that even with the epidural she was feeling her contractions really strongly and was in a lot of pain. So they checked her and found out it hadn't been administered properly the first time. So she is having it re-done.
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3:30 pm

They just checked her again. She's dilated to a 7! So it seems like she's making good progress. Her epidural is working just fine now so she's been sleeping through her contractions. Her mother in law and my brother Bryan are there now waiting in the waiting room.
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4:49pm

Steph is starting to push as I type this! Let's hope it won't be long and Brooklyn will cooperate.
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6:00 pm

Steph dilated to 10, pushed for an hour and the baby would not pass through her pubic bone. The doctor said she's too big and pushing any longer would probably be futile. Steph just went in for C-section.My mom said she was exhausted and when the doctor told her to stop pushing she laid back down and went to sleep! So now we're just waiting for the news of Brooklyn's birth.
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6:16 pm

Brooklyn Alivia is born! Weighing in at 9lbs 6oz. Length has yet to be determined. My mom called to tell me the news while they were standing by the nursery window watching her getting cleaned up. My mom said she's perfect and an absolute doll. She thinks she looks like Katelyn and Madelyn and Steph all at the same time! lol
I have to admit, I'm a little teary eyed!
My parents, brother, Waylon's parents and friend Stefanie McNeely were there for the birth.
Can't wait to see pictures!

Tomorrow's the big day

Stay tuned on my blog for my sister's updates as I progress through an induced labor tomorrow morning beginning at 6am. She will keep everyone "in the know" of where I'm at and all that. I would do it myself, however, I don't know what my internet situation will be there at the hospital and if I'll have the presence to keep up with it. Of course, I'll do my own post later on down as to how it all was through my eyes and all the emotions that went through my mind. I'm a little nervous about being bumped due to lots of women in labor flooding L&D tonight or in the morning. Since I'm an induction, I would be bumped. I don't want that to happen! Anyways, I doubt that will happen. If it does, you will hear the scream round the world. hehe

I've had a lot of emotions and thoughts going through my mind today and I'm not going to write about them now. I will save those for another more sentimental post. I don't want to go there right now. I need to sleep well and don't think I could if I re-open all those thoughts. I've taken my sleeping pill (per doctor's orders) and am about to go to bed. Bags are packed and everything is ready to go. If I forget something, I think I have enough people around here who can run and get it for me.

Hopefully you will be hearing positive news soon!

Steph (very soon-to-be mom!!!)))

Coming soon...

Almost a year ago, this man.....

     made this woman....

...very happy!!

August 2nd (plus or minus a day), I will have a post dedicated to my wonderful husband and our first year of marriage. I have been so focused on our little bundle of joy on her way that I've forgotten to mention the upcoming anniversary we will celebrate. I won't say much more on this post because I'm saving it all for the special post that will have lots of pictures and some very thoughtful words to my husband along with many of the things I've learned since being married to him. Try not to fall off the edge of your seats waiting. It will come soon enough.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a side note...let us look at a couple of photos and see the me back then and the me now...just a few days before giving birth (4 to be exact):

THEN: 

NOW:

I have swollen in places I didn't even know I had! My face has puffed up to match my belly that grows by the day. It's been quite a ride and my looks have changed drastically since I got married, however, I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal self and actually having the desire to fix myself up and look decent. Right now, it doesn't exist...as you can tell. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a side note. Last night had the possibility of being an eventful evening but ended up not being. I thought I might be leaking amniotic fluid for the past couple of days so I decided to call labor & delivery and ask them if this was something that could have happened and if what I was seeing could be that. After describing it to them what I was experiencing, they told me I needed to come in and get checked out. I have to admit, I really hoped this was "it" and that I was going to be kept and have this baby. Unfortunately, after being admitted, filling out a zillion forms and being examined (they weren't as gentle as my doctor) twice and having to put on a hospital gown and get in their bed, I was sent home with a negative on the amniotic fluid leaking. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed, however, as I lay there in the bed before knowing what the result would be, I started freaking out just a bit thinking that this could be it and I could be going into labor and actually having the baby that night. I thought, holy cow! I might be having a baby tonight! Sheesh! How scary! So my blood pressure went up, plus I was very swollen already. This caused them to worry a bit and tell me that I'm facing the pre-eclampsia line and need to watch for certain symptoms over the next few days until I do go into labor. Blah, blah, blah... It was a bit of a let down putting my clothes back on and heading back to the car and coming home, however, today I'm ok with it. I'm only 4 days away from having her and I've waited this long so 4 more days won't be that much harder to wait. The good news is that all that paperwork I filled out is good for 30 days so when I go in Wednesday morning, I won't have to fill all that out again! I was pleased with that. I won't be pleased with the medical bill I get for this little trip to L&D - of that I am sure. So...anyone else make unnecessary trips to L&D during your pregnancy? I felt a little silly but the nurses assured me that I did the right thing and in fact, that if I had noticed this going on for a couple of days, I should have been in there sooner and not waited so long. If the water had been leaking, I was risking infection for the baby since the water bag would have been "compromised" and bacteria could get in there. That made me feel a little better that I wasn't seen as overreacting. Waylon was there by my side the whole time, silently supporting me and not making me feel stupid. I was thankful for that. Oh, one more thing: apparently I've been having lots of contractions and just couldn't feel them. I know of about 4 for sure that I know I felt over the past couple of weeks but while I was there they kept asking me if I felt the contraction I was having at that moment and my response was always "I'm having a contraction??" Yes, I was. I had probably over 30 of them in my stay - very small ones, but contractions nonetheless. I was glad to hear that as I thought my body just wasn't doing anything to prepare for this. Now I know what to feel for so I know I'm having a contraction.

I'm counting the days down till Thursday and trying to keep my mind busy so I don't obsess over it. That's proving to be very hard. We have found a new passtime here though...Tetris! Waylon downloaded it on XBox and it's always been one of my favorite games so we've been playing against each other a lot. I have to say, I'm doing quite well and beating him a lot. He doesn't like that but I think he's keeping a good attitude because he can see it's keeping me occupied and happy and UN-focused on how miserable I feel. How sweet of him. :-)

Updates will be posted in the event that I do go into labor before Wednesday. Pray for me!

Baby update

So today was unexpectedly my last regular doctor's visit. After my ultra sound indicating that Brooklyn is around 8.5 pounds and being dialated to almost a 2 for the cervical exam, my doctor decided to set a date for my induction. She doesn't want me to go past my due date because of Brooklyn's size so she said she would call the hospital to set the date for Thursday, the 16th which is my official due date. If the hospital was too full on that day, she would set it for Wednesday the 15th. This is all assuming Brooklyn doesn't come on her own before then - which I hope she does. So later in the afternoon they called to confirm that my induction was scheduled for Wednesday at 6am! I'm so excited! That's just a week from tomorrow that I will for sure have my baby! I'm going to do everything I possibly can to get things going before then and hopefully go into labor on my own, but even if I don't, at least I know I only have a week left. I was so relieved when I left my doctor's office. I did have some heavy bleeding afterwards which alarmed me b/c I haven't had a drop of blood this entire pregnancy. It seemed like a lot to me so I called Labor and Delivery to see what they thought and they said if the bleeding stayed heavy like that, I needed to come in, but if it stopped, it was just the normal bleeding that happens after a cervical check. Well, the bleeding stopped. I kind of got my hopes up thinking I might just go right into labor today but that didn't happen...or hasn't YET! lol. Needless to say my parents are very excited as are Waylon's parents. We're all ready to meet this little chubster and I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore! I'm also excited that she is a good size. I know that the weight they give from ultra sounds is an estimate and can be off by a pound or so BUT, this technician is an older guy who has been doing this for a long time AND he's the same guy who did the ultra sound on a girl in our church who just had her baby in April and he said her baby would be 8.5 lbs at birth and she was 8.45 so he has shown to be very accurate. I believe him too. My belly was measured at 42 cm and you are supposed to measure in cm how far along you are in weeks, which I'm almost 39 weeks. So I think she really is going to be big. In the ultra sound pictures he couldn't even get good shots b/c she was so cramped! Poor thing, her feet were both up on either side of her head and she just looked so uncomfortable. For her sake, I hope she comes sooner than Wednesday. 

Now I will be obsessing and thinking only of this until it happens and I'm sure the days will drag by. I still have to install her car seat in the car and pack my hospital bag and put up the curtains in her nursery (which isn't all that important at this point as she won't be sleeping in there for a while). I think I need to go to the library and find a really good book to read so when I find myself completely bored this week I have something to read to keep my mind off the waiting. 

I will keep everyone updated through here or Facebook via my sister if anything happens before then. I will have my computer at the hospital but I don't know if there will be wireless internet available. We'll see. 

For now, I'm going to go eat cause I'm starving and look up anything I can do to go into labor by myself - so far there is castor oil (gross), fresh pineapple, walking, another method we all know of that I won't mention (lol), and nipple stimulation (they say you can use a breast pump for this). We'll see if I actually do any of these. I will definitely try the walking (already did some today at the mall) and maybe go buy a pineapple and some castor oil. I'd rather go into it before the pitocin via one of these more "natural" ways if possible...plus, I'm just impatient! Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!

My very FIRST "Not me! Monday" post

So I've been reading my sister's Not me! Monday posts for a while and reading them on McMama's blog also (www.mycharmingkids.net) and decided to give it a try today. So this is a post where you confess to things you certainly did not do this week but just want to make sure everyone knows you didn't do them...just in case they thought you were that type of person. 

- this week I did not spend more time in my recliner and on my computer than being productive in my house. That would be completely lazy of me and even if I am almost 39 weeks pregnant, that is NO excuse to just sit in a recliner 20 hours a day. No, I did not do that.

- I also did not leave my dog out of his kennel last night with because I was too tired and lazy to put him back in it. He could have chewed a number of different things throughout the house and peed and pooped everywhere, so I certainly would never do that and would most definitely take the time to put him up to prevent any of that from happening.

- This week I also did not wear the SAME maternity shorts EVERY SINGLE DAY without washing them because they are the only "summer" maternity bottoms I have right now and I'm too cheap to go buy another pair here for the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy. Nope, not me, I would have at least washed them in between wears to make sure they were clean and not grody.

- I did not spend almost $40 on two different plants, only to watch them die here in the past few days because I went two days without watering either of them in this horrible Texas heat. That would be irresponsible of me and I just wouldn't do something like that...ever.

- While I didn't do any of those things, I also didn't freak out totally when Brooklyn stopped moving for a night and almost go into L&D in a panic. I am much more calm and reasonable then that and am not given to bouts of unnecessary worry. Not me...

- I have also NOT completely skipped over reading the happy birth announcements on Baby Center due to complete jealousy over them having their babies already and me not having mine yet. I'm bigger then that and not a petty, jealous person. I would never stoop that low.

- Lastly, I have not been "meanly" pushing on Brooklyn to get her to change positions when she sticks her rear up in my lungs and make me totally uncomfortable. That would be cruel and I should just grin and bear it and let her get comfy because she's got such little space in there and is probably very uncomfortable herself. Therefore, I would not do that to my poor little baby girl who I can't wait to see.

Phew, that actually felt really good! No wonder so many people do it. :-) You can post your own confessions of what you did not do this past week. Just go to MckMama at www.mycharmingkids.net and read the rules of how to participate. Is there anything you haven't done this week?

No progress but I hold to optimism!

Some of you have already read my facebook status from a couple days ago after my doctor's appointment. We still have no progress with the going into labor thing. I'm 38 weeks and 2 days at this point and have only a "fingertip" of dialation and nothing else. While it would be nice to have more going on down there, I also know that you could be walking around for weeks at 3cm and nothing happen or have nothing going on and go into labor the next day. So this is why I'm holding onto optimism. The other thing is, it does me no good to be anxious and worry about this. She is going to come when she's good and ready. So, about that appointment on Thursday. I mentioned to my OB that Tuesday through the night and for half the day on Wednesday Brooklyn had been very still. She didn't move AT ALL through the night Tuesday which is very abnormal for her and then in the wee hours of the morning (you know, 7:30am) I felt a couple of slight movements but they were very weak and nothing at all like what her normal kicking and dancing around is. Needless to say, I was getting a little worried. Brooklyn has been a very active baby and it doesn't take much to get her going so when  my normal tactics of getting her moving around in there weren't working, I got a little concerned but tried to not let it consume my thoughts. I don't want to be one of those pregnant women who makes several trips to L&D before having her baby with all these worries that end up being nothing. Well by about lunch time on Wednesday, Brooklyn was moving as her usual self. So I stopped worrying. I still felt it was important enough to mention to my doc, just in case it happened again. My OB did get a little "funny" look on her face when I mentioned it like "that's really strange" and said if it happened again to just go to the hospital to L&D and let them monitor me. Better safe than sorry. Then she said she wanted me to go ahead and come in on Tuesday instead of a week from that appointment on Thursday to get another u/s and a biophysical scan. She wanted to check Brooklyn and make sure she has enough amniotic fluid and that she's practicing breathing and moving normally. I guess her little non-moving stunt concerned the doctor enough to want to have another look just to be sure she was ok. I'm totally fine with having another ultra sound - I always enjoy them. She didn't seem alarmed or anything so I'm actually staying very calm about the fact that my doctor wants to do a 6th ultra sound this pregnancy to make sure my baby is ok. Brooklyn's been moving and keeping me very uncomfortable like she usually does ever since Wednesday afternoon so I'm not concerned that there will be anything wrong with her. I am curious to see how much she has grown since my ultra sound at 35 weeks. This will be almost a month later so I should see a difference in her. So that was the "excitement" of my 38 week visit. Did it live up to your expectations? Are you relieved you finally got to read about it?? I bet you are. I feel better just writing about it. 

On a side note, my cousin Andrea is due today on the 4th of July with her third baby, a little boy! She hasn't gone into labor yet (at least not as of last night). We're praying and hoping for her sake that she does go into labor here in the next few days and that it is a quick, easy labor. Her sister, Jen, is a doula and will be assisting in the delivery. I think that is very cool and am considering having Jen come down for my next baby and assisting in that. I've heard a lot about midwives and doulas since being a member of babycenter and while I probably wouldn't ever choose to have a home birth or anything, I do think it would be nice to have a doula. Jen explained to me everything they do for you and they're really there to be your encouragement and coach you through it. They do not deliver the baby but they assist in basically any way they can and keep you pumped up and encouraged throughout your delivery. I think that's a really great thing to do as I know a lot of husbands probably don't do a great job with that while their wives are pushing out a 6-10 lb baby and screaming and bleeding everywhere - especially not first time dads. I don't expect a lot from Waylon. I will be happy if he stays conscious and by my head holding my hand and not freaking out. :-) I know he will do great as long as he doesn't see what's going on down where the baby comes out. I definitely see him being COMPLETELY willing to be on gofer duty and willing to leave the room for any reason I need him to. LOL! I have requested that my mom be in the room as well for extra support and for taking pictures and if they need someone else to hold a leg for me (Waylon wouldn't be able to be down there doing that). She has agreed to do it for me but is a little worried that she might have a hard time being in there if I'm in a lot of pain or having any problems. I don't see there being any problems and I totally plan on getting the epidural (if everything goes to plan) so I think she'll be fine...at least I hope! I really want pictures of Brooklyn as soon as she's out and pictures of us getting to hold her for the first time and all that fun stuff. I may have our video camera set up in a corner in a "strategic" location so it doesn't get anything gruesome but does get all the important things like Brooklyn's arrival and us holding her (and crying) and cutting the chord and all that. We'll see if they allow that.

Well, I think I shall go lay down and try to sleep some more. I got up before 5:30 today b/c, a) I had to go pee, b) once I was up from that, I realized how hungry I was, and c) Waylon has to work at 6am on Saturdays so I wanted to fix him breakfast. (I know, I'm such a sweet wife, huh??) So up I got and have been up since. It is now 10 past 7 and I'm a little drowsy and sleepy so I think I can get another couple of hours of sleep before getting up for good. We will be going to Fudrucker's today with my parents and grandparents in celebration of the 4th of July. I definitely won't be going to see any fireworks tonight (I know, how lame) because I just can't bear the thought of being outside in the heat with mosquitoes and other flying debris from the fireworks. I have become a very lame pregnant woman. I don't want to do much these days. Oh well. I don't care. Right now, I just care about staying healthy for when I go into labor and that involves a lot of staying home and resting which is what I'll be doing today.

Oh, by the way...take a nice little gander at my spiffy "signature" I created this morning. I got it from http://mylivesignature.com/

You should definitely try it - it's free and they explain how to do everything on there. I still haven't figured out how to save it permanently to blogger so that it shows up on every post automatically but I will be working at that. If anyone else knows how to do that, please tell me!

Happy 4th of July!

Free Personal signatures - cool!

TEXTAREA_ID

Nursery pictures!

SO, I'm finally posting the long-awaited nursery pictures on here! I know, you have all been holding your breath! Now, my pictures that I took with my own camera did not turn out as good as I would have liked them to. They seem to have a foggy look to them. My mom's camera took much better pictures and they got a wider range. I will see if I can get them from her in the not-so-distant future and then post them. They are a lot better. These don't seem to do the nursery justice in my opinion but I wanted to share so I'm going ahead and posting them!

This first picture is a little corner with her book shelf and some stuff on the wall. 

This is Daddy with the newly painted dresser. And another shelf...

Me with the new changing table we got to match the crib. My sister gave me the wonderful idea of hanging the blanket that came with her bedding as a decoration on the wall since they are so bulky. I love it! The diaper stacker is on the right, hanging from the table and the diaper bag is hanging on the left - fully packed for the hospital with diapers, coming home outfit, pacis and other baby necessities. 

One of my favorite parts of the whole set were the wall hangy things. You can't see the bedding all that well because of the crib slats but that's ok. In the room you can see it much better. It also came with a mobile.
So there you have it. I'm really excited about the nursery being done and now I truly feel ready for Brooklyn's big arrival. I will be writing a post about my appointment yesterday by the day's end. It wasn't all that eventful but worth blogging about. I also have some other stuff to post about (if not in my next post, then for sure in a post of it's own). For now, I will stop here and let you enjoy just looking at my nursery. It's now one of my favorite places to go to just sit and ponder motherhood. I love sitting in the rocker and thinking about her coming home and being in the nursery and sleeping in the crib and me changing her diapers on the changing table. And please, don't make any comments to shatter my illusion that I won't use everything in my nursery exactly how I think I will!!! lol. I know there will be couch diaper changings and she may hate sleeping in her crib at the beginning and I might not get to use those cute diapers that I have in the diaper stacker b/c they might be too small for her or something. I just want to live in my fantasy world right now where I'm going to have all these wonderful bonding moments with my daughter in her nursery. At least give that to me!

MckLinky Blog Hopping!

***Hello! I'm Stephanie and this is my blog! I started this blog after I got married last August. I wanted somewhere to journal about the newlywed bliss I was to begin experiencing! Little did I know that I would be introducing new life into the world very shortly after getting married. We found out on November 8th that we were expecting and we have been super excited ever since. I'm due July 16th with a baby girl who we have named Brooklyn Alivia. I'm a Christian and I enjoy many things in life including reading, watching movies, playing piano for my church, hanging out with my friends, drinking coffee and blogging/facebooking. I saw this blog hop on my sister's blog so I decided to join in the fun! Click the link below to participate!***