Princess Update

It's been so long!

I just looked back and realized the last time I gave a Jaelynn update was 4 1/2 months!! So much has changed since then!

Jaelynn is now sitting up by herself! She is such a big girl. She loves to sit on the floor and play with her toys and talk to Zeke. She gets very serious when she talks to him....I think she is telling him she really wants to grab his tail! She isn't rolling over yet. Instead she falls forward to get on her belly! I have a feeling that when she starts crawling, walking will follow very quickly. She doesn't have any teeth yet but that isn't stopping her! She eats all 2nd foods and just started on 3rd foods. She has also had a little debbie snack cake, an english muffin and a bannana. She loves to feed herself. We have a huge mess to clean up when she is done but just too cute!

Lets see...what else.....Oh...she is up to 16.6 pounds and growing more every day. Jaelynn loves her sippy cup with juice and isn't so crazy about the bottle anymore. She is still sleeping through the night for the most part and really is just a joy to be around. We have had a few sicknesses that have scared me but we are on the road to being healthy...some warmer weather would help!

I love being a mom. As she gets older I've really had to keep myself in check. I thought it would get easier to drop her off at daycare and be away from her. I was so wrong. I've recently been going through a tough time but thanks to all the people in my life I'm finally starting to pull out of this rut. Here are a few things I'm trying to remember:
-Jaelynn loves me even though I work and she doesn't care that I haven't lost the extra weight.
-I need to take time for myself every once in awhile and just be me. I don't have to be super mom....I just have to be mom and wife.
-If things don't get done around the house but I get to play with Jaelynn for an hour that is okay.
-I need to shut off the mommy switch every once in awhile and be a wife to Kevin. I may not have the same body but he still thinks I'm sexy as hell!!

I'll try to be better about posting in the future!

Our song to Princess J

My dear Jaelynn,

I actually stumbled across this song but I agree with everything he says. I want only happiness for you, my little girl. I can give you that now but I know you will grow up some day and be exposed to this world. I hope that you can always find the good in things and know that you have a soft place to land with your daddy and I. We love you so much Jaelynn Nicole! You have made our lives complete in everyway!

Love you so so much!!
Mommy and Daddy

"Baby Girl" by Will Hoge

May the sunlight find your face
Even when the rain does fall
And get back on your feet again
Every time you slip and fall
Keep your heart wide open
And always taking in
And even when it's broken
Be strong enough to fix it up again

Oh little baby girl
Sweet little baby girl
I wish I could hold your hand in this great big world
Oh little baby girl

And I hope your hands are steady
And never need to make a fist
And I hope that when you're ready
You get one never ending kiss
And I hope that deep inside of you
There's a sweet eternal song
And I hope the words are pretty
And that you'll always sing along

And I hope your friends are many
And your laughter's always loud
To help you when you're lonely
And pick you up when you're down
I hope your eyes shine bright love
And learn to see the light
Take the time to listen
Decide yourself what's wrong or right

Oh little baby girl
Sweet little baby girl
Be strong in this great big world
Oh little baby girl

(search him on YouTube and listen to this song...it is really sweet.)

Sweetest Sounds

It has been forever since I have blogged!! I hope you all understand...life has been crazy!! So lets do a run down of the last couple months....

Jaelynn is 4 1/2 months old now!! We went to the doctor on the 13th and she weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces and was 23 3/4 inches long. She is in the 30th percentile for her height and weight. She also got another round of booster shots and was pretty crabby for a couple of days. We have had 3 colds and she is finally starting to feel better. My little princess is a jabber mouth! She loves to talk to you and when she really gets going you can't get a word in! She also loves to screech. She figured this out the other night and has been doing it ever since! Last night for the first time she giggled! It was the best sound in the world and I know Kevin and I will do anything just to hear that again. When she smiles at us all of our worries melt away.

She isn't crawling yet but she is starting to roll over. She also loves to stand! She has figured out that she has hands...and they can grab a hold of things...like mommy's hair and daddy's lips! Also, everything goes in the mouth. No teeth yet but I'm sure in the next month we will start seeing some!

All in all we are very happy and healthy! We will be giving thanks for many things this holiday season. Our little girl has given us a new outlook on life. I wish everyday that I could see the world through her eyes. I can't wait until the first snow fall so she can touch the snow, for the first flower to bloom this spring so I can run the petals over her fingers, crawling, laughing and first steps. I am ready to be there for all of it!

Princess J is 2 months old!

My little princess turned 2 months old yesterday! I feel that she has always been a part of our lives and sometimes have a hard time remembering life before her! She had her first shots yesterday and was such a little trooper. She cried a little but as soon as I picked her up she was fine. I couldn't believe it when they put her on the scale. She is 10 pounds even now and 21.5 inches long! Dr. Beebe is very happy with her growth and development.

She has started to smile now and coo like crazy! She talks to her mobile and bumper at night when she should be sleeping but it is so cute! I haven't been able to get a good picture of her smile yet because I can't tear myself away from her when she is so happy. She started daycare this week and things seem to be going well. She is such a wonderful baby and Kevin and I are looking forward to the rest of her life!

2 week update

We went to the doctor yesterday and everything is wonderful! Jaelynn is up to 6 pounds and 12 ounces and 19 1/4 inches! She is 100% healthy and even doing pretty good at night! I'll make this short and sweet cause it is time to feed the little one. Breast feeding is going great and we really couldn't ask for a better baby!

Birth Story

Birth Story

On Wednesday July 11 we went in for our 37 week check up. I hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days so I was a little anxious about the appointment. My swelling was getting worse and my disposition was getting pretty poor. I was really beginning to wonder how I was going to make it 3 more weeks.

At the appointment my blood pressure was up and I had protein in my urine. Dr. Roose decided to send us to the hospital to be monitored for a while to make sure that Jaelynn was doing okay. I was dilated at this point to a 2 almost 3. We arrived at the hospital and got all check in by 5. Then we waited….and waited and waited. Little did we know things were going from bad to worse pretty quickly.

Around 8 our nurse came in and said they were keeping me and inducing me that night. Then she dropped the big bomb. I had pre-eclampsia and would need to be put on magnesium sulfate to help the blood pressure. I would also have a catheter and be in bed until Jaelynn came. She was doing wonderful but my health was going down hill and we didn't want to put any more stress on her.

We were in our birthing room by midnight and I was beginning to come to terms with the fact that my birth plan was out the window. They started the pitocin and around 2 Kevin and I finally got some rest. The nurse came in again to check on me around 6am and decided to check for dilation. Nothing…. I was beginning to think it was going to be a long day!

Kevin went and had some breakfast….I still couldn't eat so I just rested some more and visited. Our families were present for the labor so we had plenty of company. Around noon the doctor came in to check me. I was still at 2-3 centimeters. She decided to break my water to see if that would get things going. This helped a little and I dilated to 4! I was maxed out on pitocin, hadn't eaten in 24 hours and fighting the effects of the mag. I was ready to have this baby!

Shortly after my water was broke my contractions picked up and I decided to have the epidural. My original plan was to have a natural childbirth but that was out the window. The epi wasn't that bad. I was contracting pretty good by that time and it was actually a relief. I wish I would have known how short lived it would be!

The epi helped my blood pressure to go down but it happened to fast. I started to throw up and got really uncomfortable but just as quickly fell asleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up I was feeling alright. I was still vomiting but not as much. Jaelynn started to have some decels and I was put on oxygen to make sure she was getting enough. Then things got bad.

I started to feel some pressure through the epi. I thought maybe I was finally in transition. The nurse checked me and I was still at a 4. I figured I could keep toughing it out for a bit but then the back labor started. Things start to get really foggy here. I know I was in a lot of pain and getting sick during the contractions. Kevin was amazing through all of this and so was the rest of the family. Some of our friends even got the privilege to see me in this wonderful state! I finally broke down around 8pm and told the doctor I couldn't do it anymore. I was ready for a c-section. I still hadn't dilated beyond 4 and I was out of energy.

I was prepped and whisked away for a c-section. I remember feeling relief. I was going to meet my baby girl. This is the exact opposite of what we wanted but I just couldn't keep going. Kevin was able to be in the room with me and I remember hearing her cry and then him telling me how beautiful she was. Then he brought her over to me and I finally got to see my angel baby. For those of you that don't believe in God all you have to do is look at a new baby. How else could something so perfect be brought into this world? Jaelynn was born at 10:09pm on Thursday July 12, 2007. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 4 ounces and was totally healthy.

We stayed in the hospital until Sunday afternoon and then were able to come home. I have fallen deeper in love with Kevin through all of this. Watching him with Jaelynn makes my heart melt. I look forward to watching my family grow every day! Well…little miss is crying so I better get to her! More updates to come!

Baby girl at 36 weeks

On Tuesday we had another doctors appointment and an ultrasound. They wanted to check and make sure Jaelynn's kidneys were normal and they were! Our baby girl is perfect!! She is weighing in at 6 pounds 1 ounce and you can tell that she has a lot of hair! She also has these really adorable chunky cheeks and she is just beautiful already. She stole our hearts even more Tuesday when she opened her eyes. You would have thought she was looking right at us. She is also practice breathing up a storm right now which is a very good sign!

This was also the appointment that I got checked for the first time. I'm a good 1 cm dialated and starting to thin. Jaelynn is head down and locked into position. She dropped last Tuesday and over the weekend engaged even more so it is pretty uncomfortable to do anything. My blood pressure is still elevated and I am still spilling protien but right now I am under the danger zone. They will continue to watch this each week.

Our bag is packed and Kevin is coming with me to the rest of my appointments...just in case. People are starting to put guesses in on how much longer it will be. I swear...if any of you say August....well...I'm going to be a mother so I can't finish that!