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!

The end is near....

Okay...this is going to be pretty short and sweet. I had a doctors appointment yesterday and my blood pressure is still up and I still have protein in my urine. They also took more blood to compare to last weeks. I have been put on 4 hour days at work with instructions to go home and put my feet up in the afternoon. The order said...."due to extreme swelling in the lower extremidies". Those of you that have seen me lately will get a kick out of that!

I'll be honest....I told the doctor that when Jaelynn was done and healthy I'm ready. The swelling is so bad and I'm getting uncomfortable but I want my baby healthy...and me too! So...she said I need to stay pregnant for 3 more weeks. Then they will more then likely induce me. Kevin and I are so excited! Our baby girl is almost here. I told all of the family and friends to look for her in 3 weeks and I am so touched by how excited everyone is. Jaelynn has stole the heart of everyone and she isn't even here yet! I wonder if she will ever understand how much she is loved.....

34 week update

There are days when I still can't believe I'm pregnant...then there are days when I feel like this is going to go on forever! The heat is starting to get to me but I am thankfully finding relief in the swimming pool and in my nice cold house! I can't believe we only have 6 weeks to go...well...hopefully 6 weeks!

I had my check up on Tuesday and it wasn't the best doctors appointment. First of all, last Wednesday night Kevin and I were in Labor and Delivery for a few hours because my blood pressure was going up. They finally decided to let me go home but I had to do a 24 hour urine catch. That would be peeing in a jug for 24 hours...oh...and keeping it cold. So very gross....

Fast forward to Tuesday....Grandma Mary came with me and while sitting in the exam room we noticed that my feet were looking pretty bad. They came in and did the blood pressure which was high and check my urine. For the first time in 34 weeks I had protien in my urine. Pair this with the high bp and I was laying on my side for a few minutes to try to get things leveled out! So my bp came down and the doc was really unhappy with my swelling. She decided to take more blood and put me on bed rest until the results came back Wednesday. Thankfully I got a call Wednesday that everything was fine and I was to just take it easy until my appointment next week.

So here is the wonderful news...through all of this our little girl has been amazing. She is in perfect health and is very fiesty! The doctors and nurses actually laugh when they are trying to monitor her because she gets really irritated and kicks and moves away! I honestly can't wait to meet this little person that has so much personality already.

Continue to pray for both of us that we will just breeze through the next few weeks. I keep repeating God's promise...No weapons formed against me shall prosper!....and I am believing this with all my heart. We have a busy weekend ahead....clear coating the dresser, swimming and then bbq at the Johnston's, belly pictures with Tiff on Sunday, birthing class on Sunday and then after...long trip to Walmart to pick up some last minute stuff for the little one. I'm sure there will be another trip to Des Moines packed in there somewhere! Off to work! Love you all!