Gracie's First Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Gracie this year! Although she was too young to know what was going on around her, we still enjoyed opening her gifts and dressing her up in Christmas attire! She was definitely showered with lots of love from our friends and family...and Santa of course!

Before we left for Midland, Trinity and I helped Gracie open her gifts from Grandma & Grandpa, Thomas, Jessica, & Addison, and Jen & Mike. We set her in her swing and would hand the gifts to her before opening them for her. She got some great books, clothes, an owl, and some finger puppets!

We spent Christmas Eve with Nana, Pop-Pop, and the extended Pinkerton family. We enjoyed a wonderful Mexican spread, and then all the great-grandbabies opened gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Pinkerton and some aunts and uncles. After dinner we went to Nana and Pop-Pop's house to open more gifts. Gracie got a seahorse glowworm, a singing clock, a doll, some pink and purple cars, clothes, and the My Baby Can Read program. I have to say the singing clock might be her new favorite toy. She could stare at it for hours, and it has helped me calm her down a few times this week! We also watched the first DVD in the MBCR program, and Gracie loved looking at all the images while Momma read the words to her!

Christmas morning I took Granny Buff to Christmas mass while the rest of the family hung around the house. Once we were back from church, we ate a wonderful Christmas meal and then opened presents with Mimi, Pop, Uncle Steven, Aunt Megan, and Granny Buff. Gracie got another glowworm, a Target gift card, some fun rattles, and a generous investment in a college savings fund!

And when we got home, Santa had left Gracie her first baby doll and a princess bath toy set! I can't wait for next year, when she will be a little more aware of the holidays.

You can see all of our Christmas pictures on our picasa site!

Merry Christmas!

Belly Laugh

Here is a video of one of the first laughs we heard from Gracie. It's about one minute into the video. The girl is hard to catch with a smile or laugh because she gets distracted by the camera! You can see her look at the camera for a split second at some point during this video, and when she does she looks a little confused to see a camera instead of my face. Too funny!

Daycare

On Thursday we turned in Gracie's paperwork for daycare. The last few days I've been having moments of weakness and crying as I count down the weeks and days until I have to send her to "school." I've never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but I never dreamed it would be so hard to even THINK about my baby being in daycare. I know that it does not make me a bad mother, and I believe that it will be very good for Gracie to play with the other children and be comfortable without me at her side all the time. But that doesn't always console me.

The last few days I've been trying to get Gracie as ready as I can for the new routine. We've started feeding her a bottle daily, as she isn't too fond of being denied her mommy (I guess we should have been doing this much earlier). I've also tried to have her down for naps at regular times, which is not going so great. I can't seem to get her on a consistent nap schedule or to get her to fall asleep on her own during the day. She requires the following for nap time: music, movement, and Momma! I worry she will be the baby everyone at daycare knows about...you know, the one who won't nap and screams when you put her down.

But, I think most of all I worry that some of her "firsts" will be at daycare, and I won't experience them with her. I love the look in my daughter's eyes when she discovers something new. Just the other day we heard Gracie's very first true belly laugh! Trinity and I just looked at each other and started laughing together. What an amazing experience to see and feel true joy! It's moments like that one that I do not want to miss.

On a more positive note, we are very pleased with the daycare that we've found. It is half a mile from our house, and Trinity even has plans of walking her there and back when the weather cooperates. Of course we are very impressed with the teachers in the infant class and trust that Gracie will have a great experience. And I am sure that I will quickly adjust to the new schedule and enjoy my adult time at work. It might just take me a few days or weeks to be comfortable in our new routine. I need to remember that not all moms get three full months at home with their babies, so I am truly blessed to have had this time at home with Gracie.

Dear Gracie

Oh the things we will do to entertain you. I have danced a jig for your amusement, I speak gibberish at high octaves just to see you smile, and I sing now more than I ever did when you weren't around. Your mother will sound like a crazy woman as she does whatever is needed to get you to smile and I hear her reading to you and I just laugh. To hear a grown woman read "One Berry, Two Berry, pick me a Blueberry" from another room is such a silly thing to hear.

You have a pensive stare that has intrigued us. You stare at the ceiling fans and especially at "your pictures". That group of frames that resides above the sofa has been our saving grace in times when you won't calm down. We still marvel at how you can be so engrossed in them.

I had you resting on my legs, facing "your pictures" and was singing you a ridiculous song that I was making up. It didn't rhyme, which bothers me to no end, but you were enjoying it. It was clear you were tired and slowly my song was putting you to sleep. Your eyes closed and I stopped singing because I assumed you were out, but resting on my legs you let your eyes peek open and you made a slight "huhn" to let me know I needed to continue.

So I did. I made up more verses to the ridiculous picture song and you kept looking at me through those little slits. I would stop and you would smile and "huhn" again for me to continue. It was one of those moments that made me smile.

Love,

Your Father

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

This past weekend Mimi came for a visit. She had conveniently found a conference to attend at the Gaylord in Grapevine, which is a short 20-30 minute drive from our house. The Gaylord is decorated to the max for the holiday season, so we took Gracie to see Mimi and get some good Christmas photos on Thursday night.

Dashing through the snow...

While we were waiting in line to get our pictures in the sleigh, a grandma with another baby asked how old Gracie was. I could tell she was surprised when I answered, "Two months!" Apparently her grandson was 3 months, and he looked to be about half the size of Gracie. His mom turned to us and asked how much she weighed when she was born, but Trinity misunderstood her and told her how much she weighs NOW...15 pounds. You should have seen the look of shock on her face! Mom and I quickly corrected the misunderstanding, but it was pretty funny!

At the life-size real gingerbread house

We had so much fun walking around the hotel and enjoying a glass of wine with Mom! And Gracie was so well behaved. It threw a little kink in her schedule, but she did great! It's so nice to know that she can be flexible with her schedule. You can find all our Gaylord pictures here.

Dear Gracie

Being a parent can be very rewarding, I knew that going in. When your mother and I started planning to have a baby we knew there would be firsts that would make us so in awe of life. I am still waiting for your first steps, your first word and your first heartbreak but until then I have been stopped dead by a single sound you make. The "Oohhhhh".

I wish I knew what you were thinking. You smile and you chatter on to us but I hear the "oohhhh" from the other room and I just stop and smile. There is such a jubilation in the tone of it. I like to think you are discovering something for the first time and it is amazing you. Simple things like sunlight on the wall or the way the mantle now has a nutcracker on it. All of these are new to you and it makes me smile to think that we get to appreciate the simplest things through your "oohhhh".

I dread the moment that these things start to become standard for you. Your mom and I will do our best to keep exposing you to new things that will make you in awe of the world as much as we have been in awe of you.

Love,

Your Father

Baby's eye view

Last night was time for some Father/Daughter bonding so Diana went to have drinks with friends and Gracie and I spent the evening together.

One thing Diana and I have really noticed is that Grace is very focused on our ceilings, and specifically on the fans. She can stare at them for long periods of time and just seem so content. So, last night I decided to join her and try to see what the big deal was.


She decided to spit up right as I was taking this picture but here we are on the floor.

Here is the amazing view of our ceiling. I must admit it looked much more interesting looking directly up from the ground than it ever has by just standing under it.

And here is Hazel getting in my face. I realized that this might be scary to a small baby. Hazel is pretty up in your face and she gets in Gracie's to give her kisses occasionally. Gracie doesn't seem to mind it but that is a scary sight when the only other thing you see is people.

I got the flashlight out and shined it on the walls and ceiling and Grace was interested enough to follow it around. I would guess seeing something so out of the ordinary on her ceiling got her curiosity up.

She spent the rest of the night either fighting a bottle or sleeping on me but I now feel like I know a little better why she doesn't seem to mind being on the floor.

Trinity

2 Months Old

Well, Gracie continues to be a big baby! We went to the doctor on Monday, and she is weighing in at 15 pounds, 1 ounces and is 25 inches long, which are both greater than the 95th percentile for her age! Trinity and I always try to guess her weight before her appointment, and I was the winner this month! I guessed 15 pounds, and Trinity guessed 14 pounds.

She also got her first rounds of shots, which was so hard to watch. She was pretty good with the first one, but the second and third are more painful, and she screamed and turned bright redish purple. I almost started to cry just watching her. I am sure she was so scared and didn't understand why we would put her through that. Thankfully she calmed down rather quickly and fell asleep on the car ride home. The nurse suggested that we give her infant Tylenol in case she got a fever or had soreness in her legs, and I am so glad we did! I was prepared for a fussy baby for the rest of the day, but she was completely fine after a nap at home.

This month she has learned to smile and shreak when we talk to her, and she is starting to learn to laugh too! Gracie is super happy in the mornings, and I just love walking into her room and seeing her smiling at me. It melts my heart. She's also started to coo and babble when we talk to her. I love asking her questions like "What do you see?", "What are you thinking?", "What did you dream about last night?", etc. She will usually respond with some baby talk and then I'll "repeat" whatt she said with real answers, usually trying to incorporate new words for her to hear. It's intersting to see which sounds she likes best...words that end in vowel sounds usually get the biggest smiles.

Smiling for Daddy

What a beautiful smile!

She usually enjoys her bath time, at least until we pull her out of the warm water! She's already outgrowing her baby tub, so I think we'll soon be filling up the tub and holding her up to keep her head above the water. I can't wait for her to be able to sit up and play with her toysin the bath.

After a bath at Mimi's house

I am afraid that I may be spoiling her rotten. I spend a good part of the day holding her or playing with her, so she's used to lots of one-on-one attention. And she loves to fall asleep in anyone's arms, but she's not great about taking naps when you lay her down awake. Hopefully that is something daycare can take care of! Thankfully she does really well at falling asleep in her room at night. I nurse her and then swaddle her with her Rockabye Baby Journey, Beach Boys, or Queen on the iPod, and she's out in less than 15 minutes. And she's now sleeping a solid 6-8 hours at night, which is wonderful!

Napping on Daddy

Every day I think Gracie is looking more and more like Trinity. And anytime someone new sees her, they always comment that she looks like her daddy! Her beautiful blue eyes have stayed the same so far, so I'm hoping that means they are here to stay!

I have really enjoyed my time at home with Gracie, and I cannot believe that in four weeks I return to the world of the working and have to take her to daycare. It is going to be a hard thing for me to do, but I know that it will be good for her to interact with the other kids and teachers. And this momma needs to make some money...so I can spoil her rotten!

Trimming the Tree

Grace helped me decorate the house for the Christmas holiday on Friday! I think she did a pretty good job:

Our tree includes two new ornaments this year to remember the addition of our sweet little girl.

We bought the first one at the 2010 Chi Omega Christmas market. Our friends John and Lana invited us to go to the market with them last month, and we had a great time. I'm hoping we continue to go to the market every year!

The second one is an ornament I bought for Grace to have when she's grown. I thought it would be a good idea to buy her a new ornament every year, and then when she leaves home she has a set of 18 ornaments to remember her childhood.

Giving Thanks

The last few years we've decided to stay in DFW for the Thanksgiving holiday for one reason or another. This year we had so many things to be thanful for: a new position for Trinity that allows him to work from home, having an easy and safe pregnancy, delivering a healthy baby girl, our wonderful family and friends who provided lots of support, and most recently a new job for me! So, we decided to go home to Midland, mostly because we wanted our extended family to meet Gracie.

We decided to drive Sunday morning as soon as we'd fed Gracie her early morning feeding at 6:30. Two hours later we were actually on the road. Funny how much extra time you need for a little baby...who had her own suitcase full of necessities! Thankfully she did great in the car and slept the entire trip. We stopped in Abilene to eat dinner, feed Gracie, fill up the tank, and walk the dogs. Amazingly we made it to Midland in six hours, which is as much time as it takes us with traffic on a Friday night.

Trinity worked from my mom's house on Monday and Tuesday while Gracie and I made our rounds of visits and played. Thursday was a big day with two huge Thanksgiving meals: lunch with Trinity's family and dinner with mine. Gracie mostly behaved and let us enjoy our Thanksgiving meals.

My first thanksgiving!

Trinity's family has quite a few little children and babies, so it was fun to watch them notice Gracie. She got to meet cousin Luke for the first time, and he loved to pat her and say "Baby!" We can hardly believe how big he's gotten since we saw him in August! I can only imagine how much fun it will be in a year when Gracie will be running after all the other kids.

Meeting cousin Luke

At my family's house, Gracie was most definitely the center of attention. We hardly had any room in our stomach's at our second meal, but somehow I managed to eat a whole plate of food and a slice of pumkin bread for dessert!

Four generations!

The rest of the weekend we made rounds at some of our family and friend's houses and tried to relax. We must have worn our little girl out because she slept 8 hours almost every night! The first morning I woke up thinking, "Wow, I feel amazing!" We were hoping that the sleep pattern would continue when we got home, but I think the 5 hours of sleep on the ride back home did not help. Our first night home she woke up every 3-4 hours, which was hard to go back to after a week of good, long sleep. Thankfully it only took a few days for her to get back to her regular schedule, and she's back to sleeping 6 hours straight at night. And now we have two more things to be thankful for: a good traveling baby and a sleeping baby!

Gracie's first trip

I got a call to head down for a day trip to Houston on Monday and Diana and Gracie tagged along. This was the first trip we had ever taken with Gracie and wanted to test out how she would do in the car before our longer drive to Midland for Thanksgiving.

She did fantastic. Most of the ride was spent sleeping and we were able to finally experience how much longer a car ride is with a child. We stopped for dinner for both us and Grace which added about 30 minutes to our ride. Then we decided to stop at Buc-Ees for some beef jerky and shopping and we stopped at a Babies-R-Us to cash in a coupon while in The Woodlands. All the while she kept quiet and asleep and when we finally arrived at the hotel it had taken us about 6 hours.

I had somehow forgotten to pack diapers when we were throwing everything into our bag so overnight we just had to hope she wouldn't run through the 3 that we had left. We ran in the morning to get more and Diana spent the day with her friend Anna and her two girls, while I went into the corporate offices. After dinner with one of our surrogate moms(Jessica's mom, Kim) we headed home on Tuesday.

Grace, Lexa, and Ellie

The drive back was just as uneventful and we made better time. Now we are just trying to catch up on sleep and prepare for Sunday's drive to Midland.

Trinity

Grace and the love of reading

One thing I have really enjoyed about being a parent is that I get to revisit children's books that I haven't read in a long while. We have tried to make it a habit to read to Grace every day, and while we may miss a day or two, we want to instill the love of reading.

When Diana had her baby showers, we asked that instead of cards, that everyone give us a copy of a children's book. We now have a small library but Grace will not have a shortage of reading material as she grows up.

One book that we were given was Knuffle Bunny. This is a favorite of Addison, my god daughter, and with it we discovered a slew of books that I would never have heard of before. The author is Mo Willems and his list of works include The Pigeon Series, the Elephant and the Pig series, and so many others.

We frequent our local Half Price Books a lot. So we have started buying up some of the other books from Mo Willems. We picked up almost the entire Pigeon series which had Diana and I laughing as I read them to her while we were driving home. Grace was in the car so please don't look at us crazy. As far as I can tell the books are all about teaching children to know boundaries and obey rules. This crazy Pigeon insists on doing things that are not allowed. As you go through them, the reader is encouraged to stop the pigeon from doing bad things. Things such as driving a bus even though he isn't supposed to, getting a puppy, eating a hot dog, and staying up late. You find yourself arguing with this cartoon pigeon and it kind of prepares you for parenting.


I picked up a new one yesterday entitled "Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed". It is all about being different and trying things even though others say you shouldn't. Pretty much this naked mole rat likes to wear clothes and his other mole rat kin think he is weird for it. It has a happy ending and everyone dresses in funny clothes. Gracie didn't seem to interested in it when I started it last night but I was thoroughly entertained.

I can't wait for Gracie to be more involved in these activities. She does seem to enjoy some of the books we have for her and even squeels occasionaly as we read so I think we won't have too much trouble as she gets older. If you are looking for a good kids book, check out Mo Willems. You won't be disappointed.

Trinity

Happy Halloween!

After our attempts to attend Autumn at the Arboretum were thwarted two weekends ago because of the torrential downpour, Trinity and I decided to take Grace to the Arboretum on Halloween day. It was a great day to go because they had trick-or-treating for the kids, so we got to see lots of kids (and some parents) dressed up in costumes. Since Grace was only a month old, we didn't want to spend the money on a costume, but we did find this great jack-o-lantern t-shirt and matching socks in the $1 bin at Target.

I realize that she is not buckled into her car seat in this picture. Please do not call CPS. I promise that this picture was NOT taken in the car! There were so many photo opportunities at the Arboretum that we just left her unbuckled as we strolled around...she tends to fuss quite a bit when we buckle her in, and I didn't want a crying baby in all the pictures.

Uncle Steven and Aunt Megan joined us (and Uncle Steven even got us all in for free - thanks Uncle!), and we took lots of pictures, most of which are on Aunt Megan's camera. Here are two cute ones that we have on our camera.

Family shot

Trinity came up with this great idea... I love it!

The Arboretum is truly a beautiful place, and it was definitely all decked out for autumn. There were over 40,000 pumpkins throughout the gardens and even a little village made of pumpkins. We even had time for a stop at the Oktoberfest Garten, where Trinity enjoyed a Spaten Oktoberfest beer. The whole event was a lot of fun, and I hope that it becomes a new Vaughn family tradition each year.

Momma's Favorite Newborn Pictures

As promised, here are a few of my favorite pictures from Gracie's newborn photo shoot.

Newborn Photo Shoot Slideshow

Grace's newborn pictures arrived this weekend. I'll upload a sample of pictures later this week, but the photographer made a nice slideshow I thought I'd go ahead and post.

www.poeticexposure.com/graceelizabeth

If anyone in the DFW area is interested in using him, he did a great job with Grace. Unfortunately, he only does newborn family pictures. But he is great with babies and comes to your house to take the photo shoot.

Dear Gracie

We now know who you are and it was a surprise I wasn't expecting. You will hear this as you grow older, I thought you would come out a boy. When the doctor held you up and I saw you, I stopped. This was not what I was expecting. Now I can't imagine you any other way. I am going to guess this was just the first of many times you will be something I wouldn't expect and I can't wait to see the woman you will become.

It is an amazing feeling to have you rest your head over my heart. To have you sleep so peacefully on my chest. It has been two weeks and you are already a totally different girl. You can hold your head up, you are starting to open your eyes more, and I am pretty sure you have completely taken over our lives.

You have an amazing mother. You may only think of her as a vending machine right now but she is taking such great care of you and making my job easy. I guess we are becoming your parents because we have begun referring to each other as 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Wasn't really expecting that change.

I hope you keep your cool blue eyes. They are the part of me that passed on to you, the part I hoped you could take from me. You may get cursed with my nose or your mom's skin but I think if you keep those blue eyes you will be able to mesmerize anyone you want. You have already started practicing with me.

Love,

Your Father

Changes

I really can't believe how much Gracie has changed in just one week! We were looking at all our photos the other day (which are uploaded on our picasa site), and she already looks so different!

We took Gracie for her first doctor's appointment last Friday, and she did great! She has regained her birth weight in just one week and grown almost an inch! The doctor checked all her reflexes and thought she was doing great. Because she's regained her birth weight, we can let Gracie sleep through the night. For now she continues to wake up for every feeding, but we are hopeful that within a month she'll be sleeping six hours at night.

This weekend we saw Gracie smile for the first time! It was while she was half-asleep, but it was very exciting to see her precious grin. The next evening, I was kissing Gracie on the forehead as we tried to get her to fall asleep, and she grinned each time I kissed her. Now we're just waiting for an open-eyed smile!

Thankfully Gracie is still a great baby! From the first time I fed her, she's been good at latching on for feedings. And she seems to be content with her 3 hour feeding schedule, which gives me time to rest or visit with friends and family in between feedings.

Gracie also got to listen to her first ever Texas Tech Red Raider football game on Saturday! I think she brought the Red Raiders good luck with her adorable Tech outfit, which she will hopefully grow into by the end of the season! It's a little big at this point, but we had to deck her out in her Tech gear for a family picture. A big thanks for Anna for the cute onesie and skirt!

Mimi (my mom) was with us for the first week of Gracie's life, which was a huge help. And I'm so glad that Gracie got some one-on-one time with Mimi. My brother and Megan have also been over to visit several times. Trinity's parents and sister and my dad and Linda also came down for parts of the week, so she's met all of our immediate family. Now that they are gone, we're looking forward to week alone with Gracie, especially knowing we have several friends that plan to visit over the next few weeks. I can't say thank you enough to all our friends and family who continue to provide us with meals and visits! We love you!

It's a Girl!

On Sunday morning, Trinity and I welcomed our daughter, Grace Elizabeth, into the world. It was a day I will never, ever forget.

Although I didn't realize it, Saturday morning I started going into labor. I woke up at 7:30 am after a long night of discomfort and sleeplessness. Little did I know that would be the last sleep I got for 36 hours! As we watched the UT/OU football game, I couldn't find a comfortable position for long, and I was having mild cramping and lower back pain. At one point I remember thinking that it might be labor, but it wasn't coming in waves like contractions should come...it was more like a constant, dull pain. So, I assumed that I was uncomfortable because I was almost 40 weeks pregnant and tried to distract myself with the game. At some point the pain subsided and I was able to get comfortable. Around half-time we'd planned to drive to a bar in Dallas to meet Erin for the Tech/Iowa State game. On the car ride there, I noticed the pain had returned but it was coming in waves this time. We made it to the bar to find it packed for the game-watching party, and because I was so uncomfortable we decided to just head back home.

By the time we were back at home, I figured out that they were definitely contractions, and Trinity started timing them. We walked up and down our street, and I would tell him every time I had a contraction. By the end of our walk they were averaging about 5-6 minutes apart, so we finished packing our toiletry bag and headed to the hospital. While on the way to the hospital, we talked about how embarrasing it would be to show up to the hospital and not be in labor at all. About 10 miles from the hospital, Trinity asked, "Is it insensitive to ask if I can get Chick-fil-A to go?" I laughed and told him that of course he could get him some dinner...it would be a long night if I was in true labor.

We arrived at the hospital, checked in with the charge nurse and were sent to a triage room to hook me up to the fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor. After answering numerous questions, the nurse let me walk up and down the ward for a few minutes to reve-up my contractions, as they'd slowed considerably after arriving at the hospital. After 30 minutes of monitoring, we were admitted to the hospital and realized we were having a baby in the next day!

The next twelve hours I was in labor...lots of pain, breathing, walking, then pitocin to increase the contractions, finally an epidural, and 3 hours of pushing. After pushing for almost 2 hours, I'd made great progress but the baby's head was stuck sideways in my pelvis. The doctor and nurse both tried to rotate her head while I was pushing, but it just wasn't going budge. They allowed me to try to push her through for another hour, but there wasn't much progress. So we accepted the fact that we'd have to have a c-section. That was a very frustrating moment, but I was also so exhausted from pushing that I was glad to know that our baby would soon be here! I was quickly preped for the surgery and wheeled into the operating room. I remember laying there a little nervous but reminding myself that our baby would be born in the next 30 minutes. After about 10-15 minutes, Grace Elizabeth was delivered at 8:51 am!

They allowed Trinity to stand up to peer over the screen as she was pulled out, so that he could announce whether it was a boy or girl. After looking at her for a good 5 seconds he announced, "I think it is a girl" in a not very sure voice. The doctors confirmed and tipped Grace's face over the screen so that I could also see her, and I just cried tears of joy. Her face looked so perfect, and I was a mom.

They allowed Trinity to hold Grace next to my head while I was stiched up, and then we all went to the recovery room together as a family. I was allowed to hold Grace for the first time, breastfeed her, and have about 20 minutes of skin-to-skin time, which was very important to me. Then they took her to the nursery for her first bath and check-up. I was given some pain medications and allowed to sleep in recovery for the next 30 minutes before I was wheeled to our postpardum room, where we will be until we are released on Wednesday.

We've now had Grace for almost 48 hours, and I already can't imagine life without her. She is truly a joy and blessing to us. Thank you to all our friends and family who have been supporting and blessing us with love over the past nine months. We cannot wait to introduce each and every one of you to our daughter.

Let the Countdown Begin!

Today we got confirmation that our doctor will induce me on Tuesday, October 5! Our doctor would normally not induce until I reached the 41 week mark, but because Peanut is already weighing over 8lbs, she thinks it is best to get this baby out! I am a little nervous about the actual induction, but I trust my doctor's judgement.

And honestly, Trinity is driving me a little crazy! We are both impatient by nature, but he is going bonkers waiting on this kid to arrive. Of the two of us, I really thought I'd be the worst, since I'm carrying the baby and all, but nope. He is beside himself with stress and impatience. It's a little funny... when I'm not feeling tired and enormous. Speaking of, here is a picture of my HUGE belly today.

Can it get any bigger?!?

Week 39

Today's doctor appointment was not promising. I have made little to no progress since last week. Unfortunately, the doctor was out at a delivery, so we ended up seeing one of the nurse practitioners. After doing her check-up, she dropped a bomb shell on us... she doesn't think the baby has even dropped yet. I was in shock! I have felt a lot more pressure on my bladder and felt that the baby was lower, but maybe it's just because Peanut is continuing to grow. I guess that explains why I haven't had many contractions since my false alarm last week! The nurse suggested that I walk 5-6 times per day for about 10 minutes and rock in a rocking chair/glider to try to help manuver the baby down. So, tomorrow begins my new routine of several short walks instead of one long walk in the evenings with Trinity and the dogs.

The nurse did not guesstimate Peanut's size this week, but I can only imagine that he/she continues to grow each day. Some days I feel like there is no way I can get any bigger! Thankfully my feet, ankles, and hands still only have minor swelling. Since I've been at home this week, I've noticed that what swelling I did have has gone down some. Thankfully I can keep my feet up and my shoes off during the day.

Since the doctor was out this afternoon, we didn't get to schedule an induction date. We are expecting a call from her office tomorrow to determine a date. Right now, it sounds like it will most likely be early next week. We'll definitely keep everyone posted once we have a firm date set. I'm still hoping that Peanut will decide to come into this world on his/her own before the need to be induced. At least scheduling next week gives me another few days for things to work naturally.

False Alarm

For about two hours yesterday, I really thought I was going into labor. I was sitting at my desk all morning thinking, "My lower back really hurts." Every once-in-a-while I'd get a small Braxton Hicks contraction that would tighten my abdomen, but they didn't really hurt. Then all of a sudden I started feeling much stronger contractions with much worse abdominal and lower back pain.

I started timing the contractions and time in between contractions. They were about 45-60 second contractions coming between 7-10 minutes, mostly around the 7 minute range. From all the pregnancy books and classes, I knew that it wasn't anywhere close to the 5-1-1 (60 second contracts, 5 minutes apart, for 1 hour) rule to call the doctor and head to the hospital, but I decided that I should probably drive home in case they quickly picked up speed.

I also called Trinity and told him that I didn't know if I was going into labor or not, but that I was having pretty consistent contractions and they felt different. I wouldn't have called at all had he been working at home, but he's been working from the office all week due to some web trainings he's attending (so that he didn't have to go to the trainings live in Houston).

I made it home around 3:30 and just started walking around the house. Again, a trick I picked up from the books and classes. Apparently walking often increases real labor contractions, while it usually decreases Braxton Hicks contractions. After about 20 minutes of walking, my contractions slowed to every 15-20 minutes, and then down to basically nothing. I'm not going to lie...it was disappointing.

Thankfully I did not get too excited, nervous, or anxious at any point during the experience. I just remained calm and thought, "Please let this be Peanut's birthday. We're ready." Hopefully when I do go into labor, I'll be able to remain that calm.

So, we're still playing the waiting game and hoping that Peanut makes his/her grand entrance in the next week. As an update from my last post, we went to the doctor on Tuesday, but I hadn't made any progress. The baby has definitely dropped, which is causing me to waddle more every day. Our doctor is still talking induction in the next week or so due to the baby's size. Our next appointment is on Tuesday, at which time we'll make the decision for when to induce if I do not go into labor naturally first. Hopefully we end up with a September baby!

Dear Peanut

I'm ready. I can't say for sure what changed in the last week but as your mother and I lay in bed, my hand on her belly feeling you kick at me, I just knew. I want you out here so I can hold you. There was an excitement that built up inside of me and now I have to wait. Please don't make it too much longer.

We saw you on the ultrasound and glimpsed your face. You have my nose and I am so very sorry for that. Your left hand was in front of your eyes and I could only imagine how annoyed you must have been to have us prodding your home but we got to see you and you look almost real.

You are big. Does that mean you are strong enough to face what is about to happen? Are you ready to come out and face the world? Can you conquer it? You don't have to worry though, your mom and I will be here to protect you. I can't wait to watch you do all those first that you will one day do. The wait is going to be worth it for us. So how about you come on out of there and we can start this adventure, huh?

Love,

Your Father

37 Weeks

Today we got to see Peanut again at our sonogram. The doctor had ordered the sonogram to check the baby's size, as she thought he/she might be big based on our 35 week appointment two weeks ago. And...she was right. Peanut is weighing in around 8 lbs, 2 oz.

Our sonographer seemed pretty confident in the estimate, even though there is a +/- 1 lb variance. She said that Peanut's position allowed for pretty easy measuring (head down and facing the right side of my body). After she took all the necessary measurements, she let us see some pictures of Peanut, including some 4D images. Pretty cool stuff. We got to see the face, feet, spine, heartbeat, and Peanut grabbing a foot/toes with his/her hand. Because we warned the sonographer that we didn't know the sex of the baby, she stayed away from the middle regions where the surprise might be ruined!

Later this afternoon we went back to see the doctor. Her face told it all...we are in for a BIG baby! She made her own guess of the baby's weight using the old fashioned method (feeling my stomach with her hands) and said she would guess between 7.5 and 8 lbs. At 37 weeks and 0.5 lb growth each week, we're in for a 8.5 to 9.5 lb baby boy or girl. She also checked my cervix, which is dilated 2cm and has started to efface (thin out) in preparation for birth. She said these were good signs, especially considering this is our first baby. Of course she can't guess when I'll go into labor, but she seemed pleased with my progression so far. And she confirmed that the baby was pretty low. I'd thought the baby might have dropped in the last week, due to my increased need to run to the bathroom lately!

We are now to our weekly doctor appointments, so we have our next appointment scheduled for Monday. I'm hoping there has been more progress that might mean Peanut will arrive before my due date! Because of the size issue, our doctor doesn't want to let me go past my due date. She suggested a possible induction at 39 weeks, so we're going to see how I check out next week to make the decision. I would, of course, prefer to wait until my body goes into labor naturally, but if we're going to end up with an induction either way, I think I prefer to be induced at 39 weeks. Then Peanut is smaller, and we get to meet him/her a week earlier!

I think the fact that we may have our precious baby in our arms in two weeks has started to sink in. I packed my hospital bag this weekend, and we're finishing the last load of baby laundry tonight. Trinity plans to install the car seat this weekend, and then we'll be as prepared as we can be!

Full Term

On Sunday I'll be 37 weeks and considered full term, which basically means Peanut is fully developed and will mainly be adding on the pounds for the next few weeks. I thought I'd share some recent photos of my growing belly.

35 Weeks

This Tuesday Trinity and I had our 35 week doctor appointment. We didn't think we were going to get to see the doctor because she was delivering a baby, but thankfully she arrived back to the office by the time it was our turn. We had several questions that I wanted to discuss with her, including talking about my "birth plan." After getting our questions out of the way, the doctor did her normal procedures:

-Check the heartbeat: going strong at around 135. This is somewhat slower than it has been the past few weeks, but the doctor said that is relatively normal as you get closer to your due date.

-Check the position of the baby: the baby is still head down, which was a relief to me. If the baby is breech (head up), then that means a scheduled c-section. For some reason, a c-section is ten times scarier than a natural childbirth to me. I mean, it is a major surgery!

-Measure my uterus: Yikes! I'm measuring at 38 weeks, three weeks ahead! Up until this week, I've been measuring exactly on schedule...1 cm for every week. But my weight gain is normal at 1 pound per week, which is a good thing.

-Estimate the weight of the baby: 6 pounds! At 35 weeks, the average baby weight is 5.25 pounds, so again bigger than expected! At this point, a baby gains around a half pound every week, so that's around 8.0 to 9.5 pounds, depending on when I go into labor.

At this point I really started to get nervous. I do NOT want to have a ten pound baby! Of course, Trinity thinks that I should have been expecting this all along, as he and his dad were both ten pounds. But as even our doctor has told us, parents' birth weights are not always the norm for a baby's birth weight. So I've been hoping that Peanut is much smaller than dad and grandpa!

Because it is still early and only an estimate, our doctor did not seem too concerned. She said that it could just be a growth spurt or the position of the baby. But she did schedule a sonogram for our next appointment at 37 weeks. At that point we'll get a better estimate of the true size of Peanut. So, the silver lining is that we get to see Peanut again before he/she arrives!

Two days later I am still a little nervous about this most recent news, but I'm starting to calm down. I realize that there is nothing I can do other than eat well, exercise, and pray that Peanut gets back on schedule!

Old Wives Tales

There are tons of Old Wives Tales that are suppose to help you determine the sex of your unborn child. However, they sometimes aren't 100% accurate, as my aunt learned when her baby boy had to sleep in a pink room. Since Diana and I aren't finding out the sex of Peanut, we decided we would look into all of these and do them in an attempt to find out the sex. Here are the results.

The first was an actual test which asked us to answer some questions. The test can be found here. The results were below for the questions but apparently we are having a girl.

You have a 33% chance of having a boy.
And you have a 66% chance of having a girl.

And Here's Why...
You are carrying the extra weight out front, so it's a boy.
The hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your pregnancy, so it's a girl.
Girls are carried high. You are going to have a girl.
Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.
Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.
Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.
The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural), so a girl will be born.
You didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy, so it will be a boy.
You are looking particularly good during pregnancy. Therefore, it must be a boy, because girls steal their mother's looks.
Your chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy. You should expect a boy.
Since the sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is even, it will be a boy.
A needle on a thread held over you belly moves from side-to-side, so it will be a girl.
Your urine is a dull yellow color, so you will have a girl.
You have a craving for salty or sour foods, which means that it is a boy.
Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy, which indicates a girl.
You have been craving fruits, so it is a girl.
Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute, so it's a girl.

We took one additional test like the first one and it returned the exact opposite results so clearly this might have some margin of error. It was 60% Boy, 40% Girl.

Here's a test that you can do next time you change or get out of the bath. Look in the mirror at your breasts. If the right one is larger, you're having a boy! A larger left breast indicates a girl (if they're the same size, does that mean you're having one of each?). Girl

Hold a pendant over your hand. If the necklace swings back and forth, you're having a boy. If it is more of a circular motion, then it's a girl. This can also be done by suspending a ring on a string above your belly. Boy

Do you have acne? Some believe that getting acne during your pregnancy indicates you're carrying a girl. Maybe the acne is caused by twice the amount of female hormones? Boy
Pick up a key. If you've picked it up by the thinner end, you're having a girl. Picking it up by the bottom, rounder part means a boy is on the way. Did you pick it up by the middle? Then congratulations! You're having twins! Boy

Thankfully, this one doesn't refer to your weight gain. The belief is that, if your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, then you will be having a girl. If he doesn't put on a pound, then you're carrying a boy. Boy

To conduct the this old wives tale you simply take your wedding ring and tie a thread about 12 inches long to it. Sit or lie down and hold the thread over your pregnant belly. The ring will either go in circles or side to side (back and forth). If the ring goes in circles, you're expecting a baby boy. If the ring goes side to side you are expecting a girl according to this old wives tale. Girl

Maybe when we learn the actual sex of the baby we can figure out which of these were correct.

Trinity

What if's on raising a child

I lay in bed last night for over an hour thinking about discipline and my child. My mind wandered around to different possibilities as to what my kid was going to be like. In all of these thoughts, Peanut was a boy. I imagined him at school on the playground and him picking on a kid smaller than he was. How do you teach your children that bullying is wrong? I thought on that question for a while.

Do you take away the thing they love most in an effort to teach them that being cruel isn't acceptable? What if that doesn't work? I walked through the idea of punishment and all of the different ways to go about it. I could contact the kid's parent and tell them what is happening and apologize. Make my son do the same. But I know what bullies can do and then it made me worry for the kid because he or she might get retaliation.

I tried to sleep but instead just kept going back to this. What would work? I don't want to use force on this issue as it wouldn't really be a way to tell my son not to hit or pick on someone and then have me use my superior strength to do the same. I considered physical embarrassment if it came to it. If my son was picking on a kid for stinking, I could always make him stink right before school. Maybe rub something like sulphur into his clothes. Maybe living the life of his victim would make a fitting punishment.

I also considered just talking to him. Discussing why bullying is wrong and how disappointed I was in him. That is always going to be my first try but if that doesn't work I have other ideas.

There were a lot of these types of situations I dreamt up last night. Another involved the first time my child steals something. Pot calling the kettle black on this one as I had a bit of a grabby hand in my youth but if I catch my child they will be forced to take back whatever they stole and perform a walk of shame. In a way I hope that is enough.

This does make me fearful though. In days past this would have been enough but I wonder how far I might have to go. Will I need to get police to come speak to my son or daughter? Can a scared straight tactic work? What if we go to return the item and the store calls the police? I have heard of this happening and it scares me.

The idea of parenthood is one I think a lot of people think of as having a baby. I think of it as having a baby followed by a toddler, then a child, a young adult, a teenager, and a grown up. I am not worried about the baby part. It is the rest of it that scares the living hell out of me.

Trinity

An update on...well, everything

We are down to about 6 weeks left until we find out whether Peanut is a boy or a girl. Life has been pretty hectic in getting ready to have a baby, and I know we are just in the prelude to the craziness that is coming soon. We went to our final class on Wednesday to learn about being parents and it was a pretty big waste of time.

Outside of learning about cord care in the first few weeks, we were taught swaddling and diaper changing, both of which we already knew. I think we were more prepared than other parents in the class though so that shows we are ready.

We have picked a pediatrician, who is slightly hot for a woman in her late 30's/early 40's, so I won't mind taking the baby to the doctor.

We now have the rest of Diana's doctors visits scheduled and begin the weekly visits very soon.

Once we get through this final baby shower on Saturday, we will be able to go look at the registries and make sure we have everything we "need" for the birth day. I am going to guess that means a shopping trip is in my future. Yippeee!!!

Diana is measuring right in line with her weekly progression so hopefully we will soon find out what to expect in regard to baby size. The doc said around 36 weeks so we shall see.

We have yet to install the car seat or pack the hospital bag so as of yet we aren't completely ready but we are getting there.

Who knew babies were this much trouble?

Trinity

Wall Decorations

Last night, Diana and I finally decided on what we wanted as wall decoration in the nursery. We have been struggling with finding suitable wall art. We wanted bunny artwork to match the rest of the room, but we couldn't find anything that matched.

I had been shopping for Peter Rabbit books a few days ago and saw that there were some very small versions of the books. We had a lot of picture frames that we have been saving and I put the idea together that we could take one of these books and cut it down to make "prints".

So, yesterday we spent a couple of hours getting a copy of "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny", going to find mattes, and finding a final three frame picture frame. We then spent about an hour trimming out the prints and picking our favorites. We ended up with four 5 x 7 frames, along with the one three panel frame. All in all, it turned out very well. I don't think we could have found better art and we only spent $40 for something that is original and unique.

Trinity

Dear Peanut

Dear Peanut,

I had some time to kill today so I went and bought you The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit. Your mother thought it would go well with the room we have waiting for you. I got the complete tales because, as you will learn, your father doesn't like to have gaps in a collection. God help us if you inherit that gene.



Now, I want you to know that I don't expect you to be able to read this at first but I want you to be able to think back at all the times you and I sat down and went on adventures with Jemima Puddle-Duck or Benjamin Bunny.

I can't wait to hear the words "Dad, read me a story".

Love,

Your Father

Home away from Home

A few weeks ago Diana and I went and toured 3 day cares in hopes of finding a home for Peanut when Diana has to go back to work in March. I don't know where I got the idea but it has always been ingrained in me that you always do this early because all the best schools fill up and you are left with second rate places to put your child.

We live within 2 miles of three day cares and one is within walking distance from our new house. The great thing about this is I can literally go pick up the little nut by walking to the place to get him or her, and that means Diana's work schedule won't be as much of an issue.

As I said, we toured 3 places and they were accidentally toured in order from best to worst. The first, and the one both closest to the house and the one we are going with, was clearly the front runner. The staff seems pretty solid and trained well. The layout of the facility is logical and setup to help promote learning and personal space, and the building was clean and welcoming.

Place 2 would have been the choice had place 1 not been in existence. It was a high B+/A- in that it offered almost everything that our first choice did but was smaller and a bit more sparse in regard to the work stations. They also didn't present themselves as well as Place 1. It was kind of like if you were interviewing candidates for a job and they both had great resumes but one showed up in a suit and the other in a polo.

Place 3 was a solid C. It didn't appear that the staff was very engaged with the newborns and the headmaster of the school was very bland and it came off as uninterested. I don't know if it was her personality, but it was not energetic at all. Even with the savings of $80 a week we were certain that we wouldn't be using them.

So, we are now locked in with our deposit and will begin tackling the paperwork to send our unborn child to the Children's Courtyard near our house. This all seems to be happening quickly but we are 10 weeks away from the arrival of our baby.

Trinity

Dear Peanut

Dear Peanut,

Is it bothering you that I am shining a flashlight onto your mom's belly? You seem to want to kick or hit the light so I can't tell if it is because you want it to go away or you are just curious. I want to make sure your vision was working in there so I guess it is.

I must say you are kind of driving your mother crazy with all the wiggling you are doing in there. I jumped the last time you kicked my hand when I was pressing on your mother's belly. Having someone kicking you from the inside isn't the most pleasant thing in the world so try to keep the force down on those.

Your room has started to come together nicely. We are going to start decorating it this weekend so it will be all pretty for you. We are getting ready for you to be here. It is amazing to consider that it is only a couple of months away from your birthday. Funny how on your birthday we get the present.

Love,

Dad

Work in Process

The nursery is finally coming together! Two weekends ago Uncle Steven and Aunt Megan helped us pick-up the nursery furniture! They were such a huge help, and Megan and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Steven and Trinity struggle to get the large boxes of furniture up our narrow stairway.

They helped us get all the furniture out of the boxes, and then Trinity set-up the dresser and hutch and crib the next afternoon. Unfortunately, the holes that were pre-drilled to attach the hutch to the dresser were not in the right place, so Trinity had to drill new holes. Thankfully he is very handy with his drill, and it didn't take any time at all to remedy.

Once the furniture was unwrapped and in it's place, Trinity and I just couldn't let it sit there. So...we bought the baby bedding! It was on 20% off online plus free shipping, so we had it delivered to the house. It arrived while I was at Clearwater Beach on vacation, so Trinity washed everything and set it up to surprise me when I got home. So sweet! Too bad it was VERY wrinkled! I still appreciate the gesture though!!!

This evening I ironed everything: bedspread, bedskirt, diaperholder, and two valences. The only think I refused to even try were the bumpers. I think I have now ironed more for the baby's room than I hav ironed for Trinity and myself our whole marriage! I'm definitely not very good at it, but everything looks so much better now that it's almost wrinkle-free.

Our next step is to hang the valences, which Trinity plans to do later this week, and pick out some wall decorations. We have some ideas floating around, but it's a matter of finding exactly what we're looking for. And of course I have several showers coming up, so I'm sure we'll be receiving more of the items we registered for in the next month. I'll definitely post more pictures once the nursery is complete!