First real smile

OK...I'm going to be a complete and total sucker when it comes to my daughter. This is evidenced by the fact that this morning Wendy called out to me to "come see, come see" as Kylie had smiled at her! I didn't hold out much hope that I'd get a smile too (smiling is such a new task to be able to do when mama wants it!) but came running to see if she'd do it again. And, sure enough, I leaned over the crib and cooed at her a bit and wa-la! A smile! I melted....a complete and total melt down to my toes, give her anything she wants, feel my heart nearly explode, melt!

She graced us with several more smiles before she decided it was time to nurse vs. perform for her mommies so I placed her in Wendy's arms and just stood there and beamed at the two of them. Wendy got tickled at me for being so "lit up" about the whole thing. :)

It was a great way to start the day! Here's a few photos of our sweet girl. At least two of which Kylie will be embarrassed about one of these days...hee hee.







- Karen

Mother's Day

What's the best thing you can get a new mom on Mother's Day? SLEEP!

Karen took care of the baby so that I could get a wonderful, afternoon nap. She also gave me a "new Mom" card and a delightful book. I have NO idea of when she made the time to do this! I didn't get her anything--poor K.

It's a bit odd to be a two-mom household on Mother's Day. When I was growing up, my Dad would do nice things for my Mom on Mother's Day and vice versa on Father's Day. Karen and I do nice things for each other every day. So how do we make Mother's Day special? Ideas anyone?

We managed an outing with Kylie yesterday. We went to the scrapbook store--it was a two-hour trip. I wore Kylie in her sling while shopping. I was very nervous that she would scream her head off and that other shoppers would yell "Bad Mother!" and throw stuff at me or give me disapproving glances. But Kylie was an angel and didn't make a peep. I know one day she will just lose it, in public, and I know I'll handle it. But I'm so grateful this wasn't the case yesterday.

Here's a few photos for you:
I call this one- "How do you like my hair?"




A few more photos here.

-Wendy

Tagged for 7 Things

We've been tagged by Stacey...oh my!

So, first...the rules:
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well. At the end of your post, choose 7 people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Even though Stacey counted us a two tags (very efficient I must say!), we're going to post our 7 things together (some are for Wendy, some are for me).

Fact/habit #1 (Karen):
I do clock math. Clock math is done mainly in the middle of the night and occurs when I've gotten up for a bathroom break or been awakened from a dream or when I just can't seem to sleep. Clock math works by taking all the digits of the current time and adding them up (for example: 3:26am is 3 + 2 + 6 = 11). Now, the math continues until you get a single digit number. Using our 3:26 example again, if I add up the digits and get 11, then I have to add the digits one more time, 1 + 1 = 2. So, two is my final answer. My brain then plays games with the numbers and makes deals about when I can go back to sleep. My rules are: if the time results in an answer of 1, I go back to sleep immediately...otherwise, I can't go to sleep until I see a time that does result in a 1. If I happen to close my eyes and miss the time I need, then I tell myself I can't go to sleep until the next time the digits work out to 1. Why do I do this? Heck if I know. I'm a numbers/math nerd so maybe that's part of it, but let's face it...it's just weird. Very weird.

Fact/habit #2 (Wendy):
Wendy was a beekeeper. She had the cool white suit with the funky helmet and everything. She had 3 hives of bees and even once saved the bees from a nearby tree where they had swarmed. Don't get her started on how bees dance....

Fact/habit #3 (Karen):
I'm an obsessive compulsive dishwasher reloader. Everything has to be placed "just so" in there or I move it all around. This annoys Wendy...although she usually just rolls her eyes at me and sighs.

Fact/habit #4 (Wendy):
She likes to dance to the songs at the end of movies while the credits are playing. This is a habit she got into with her dad when she was a little girl. I love this one and we share a dance after all the movies we watch at home (and even sometimes at the theater!).

Fact/habit #5 (Karen):
I still hold 2 Freshman records from my days as a UT Lady V*l. I'm 3rd all-time on the list for most field goals made by a freshman in a single game (12) and 5th all-time on the list for most points scored in a single game by a freshman (27).

Fact/habit #6 (Wendy):
Wendy's laugh is a raucous, earth-shaking, gut rumbling roar. For such a sweet little thing, her laugh sounds like it would come out of a 300 lb linebacker. It's priceless!

Fact/habit #7 (Karen and Wendy):
We both love and watch movies (all kinds of movies) so much that there is virtually no life moment that we can't whip out a movie quote to fit the moment. And usually, we can identify each other's quotes and just laugh and laugh. Other people, however, usually just think we're strange.

And, we're supposed to now tag seven folks but I'm not sure there are 7 people left who haven't already been tagged on this one! But, here's a few (if you've already been tagged, please excuse the repeat): Kerry Lynn, Lynanne, Traci and Heather.

Finally, I can't end a post without flashing at least one photo of our beautiful little girl!



- Karen

Pacifiers

Why are there pacifiers EVERYWHERE in my house but never in the room when I need them? It's like living in a pacifier Twilight Zone.

Kylie had a great night--thank heavens! We all got some much needed sleep.

Here's a few pictures for you.

-Wendy

Milk race

It feels like Kylie's milk needs and my supply are running neck and neck in a race. Right now, I'm just barely keeping up. Each day for a week, I've been pumping with the intention to create some reserve milk and each day, we've needed to feed it to Kylie. It's like I'm barely keeping her satisfied and I'm really feeling the strain. So I've started taking fenugreek and blessed thistle to boost my supply and am pumping more throughout the day.

The last 24 hours have been challenging. Kylie had some lower wind/gas problems throughout the night. **If you have some hints about how to relieve a baby's lower gas problems, please share them with us.**

And just when I felt my most frazzled and ragged from the cries of my hungry and gassy baby, my dear sweet friend Heather brought us a wonderful dinner and dessert. Thanks babe! You are a life-saver!

-Wendy

Clothes

Kylie doesn't groove on the getting dressed/undressed scene. She tends to give me this look that asks, "What the heck are you DOING to me?!" while shouting out her confusion. So I tend to keep her in one outfit all day.

But dang! Baby clothes are soooo cute. I just snicker every time I see her little body all dressed up.

Today, Kylie is sporting her karate gi look. As for the pink socks....well...one does want a hint of color!


PS - I'm really feeling my stitches these past few days. Somebody please tell me that this will pass soon.

-Wendy

Surprises

So far the first twenty days postpartum have been pretty much what I expected. But I have had a few surprises.

Nightsweats
It's incredible! I wake up totally soaked. I go through two cotton night shirts each night. The sweating doesn't wake me up but I feel so gross when I do get up. I get cold really quickly and all I want is a hot shower but there is no time for that when the baby is hungry!

Oxytocin
This lovely, breastfeeding hormone has me really chilled out. I've been surprised that I don't really want to do much in between feedings. In fact, staring at the wall or at my belly button has become my new pastime. I'll have the thought, "Gee...I should really do this or this or this" and then I'll just sigh and go back to staring at the wall. My lackadaisical days have surprised me.

What about you? What surprised you the most about the first 20 postpartum days?

-Wendy

PS - Can't have a post without a picture of my beautiful daughter. You can see more pictures here

Going Out

This was the scene at our house today.

I realize that I'm only comfortable in v-necked shirts. Round neck shirts make me feel like I'm choking. I blame the bigger boobs. I only have two v-necked shirts and I've been wearing them back and forth for the past 16 days.

Karen and I talk about it and we decide to take Kylie on her first real outing that doesn't include a hospital or doctor's visit. We're going to buy some shirts! Woo-hoo!! We change Kylie, feed her, burp her, take a bunch of pictures and then load her in the carseat.

We start to leave and I realize I don't have any burp cloths in her diaper bag.
We start to leave again and I realize that I need a snack bar and some water for the trip.
We start to leave again (actually make it to the garage this time) and I forget to grab the diaper bag.
We're sitting in the car and we realize that we didn't load the stroller in to the trunk.
We're in the car, on the road, when I remember that I have a gift to return at one of the stores we're going to. We circle the block and pull BACK in to the garage and grab the gift.

Whew!! How crazy is that?! But then again, it's just our first outing. Hopefully we will get better at this!

For now, I'll just leave you with some new pictures. (PS- I did put a sweater and blanket around the baby for her outing. I don't want our family to think that I'm freezing the baby)

-Wendy

Days fly by

I think I finally understand why my parents always said time seemed to move so quickly when I thought it was eternally slow when I was a child. Watching your child grow and change day-by-day and focusing your energy, love and attention on them is kinda like time lapse photography. The changes appear as if by magic in what seems like moments although the reality is hours, days or weeks.

Kylie is just two weeks (plus 1 day) old and it seems as if the time has flown by. Even with a few long nights thrown in, I look back and wonder at how quickly it has all come and gone. In my opinion (however biased it may be), she grows more beautiful each day as her little cheeks fill out and her arms and legs unfold. I can sit and stare at her for hours (and do) and never grow tired of it.

Was this how my mom felt? Did she hold me and stare at me while I slept? Did she gently touch my fingers and toes and feel so full of wonder and joy that she could barely breathe? Wow. Who knew? I think it really is true that becoming a mother makes you really know the love your mother felt/feels for you. It's quite a "circle of life" kinda thing and I think it's marvelous.

We're doing pretty well. Wendy and Kylie are doing much better with the breastfeeding and seem to have developed a good routine together. It's so neat to watch them. Kylie continues to gain weight and is having many more periods of alert time during the day (and night!).


Life is good. Life is very, very good.

- Karen

Busy weekend

We had a busy yet wonderful weekend.

Friends RSG and Sacha, Alayna and Mateo came to visit, bringing gifts and food and laughter. Thanks so much!

Kylie is back to her birth weight of 7lbs 12 oz.


She LOVES to eat at night. Starting at around 8:00pm she'll do three to four 45-minute feedings with around 15 minutes in between. During these cluster feedings, I sit and sweat profusely and ask the nearest person to bring me a glass of water every half hour.

At around midnight she'll settle down and will let us sleep 4-5 hours before waking us for the next feeding (God Love Her!) Karen has done most of the 3-4am feedings.


Each day Kylie improves with nursing. Today I had to put a bib around her because she was dribbling milk onto her outfit. I absolutely love to see her blissed-out, milk-covered, smiling face.


So far, she tolerates her baths really well.

I like to just rinse her with a warm washcloth. We only give baths with soap every 2-3 days. So far, her skin is doing really well--no dry patches.

My mom-aka Granna- brought her this beautiful dress.


She also brought me sweaters and shoes and such that both she and I wore as babies. I love having some of these heirlooms to pass on to Kylie. Here's one of the sweaters that both Mom and I wore modeled by Kylie.


I"ll be sorry to see my Mom leave tomorrow night. But Karen's mom and sister will be here in a few weeks.

Hope your weekend was as good as ours.

-Wendy

All is well

My Mom is here from her home in TN to take care of us.


Kylie had her first ride in her Bugaboo stroller yesterday.


And Kylie has gained 2 ounces (bringing her to 7lbs 11oz-- just one ounce short of her birth weight)


All is well!

-Wendy

Breastfeeding

It's been my intention to write a nice, long post about my experiences with breastfeeding. But, of course, there is not enough time nor mental capacity to write it. I can't imagine that this post will be worth reading but I really wanted to jot a few notes down.

On Tuesday, Kylie was off her wallaby bilirubin belt and was a bit lethargic. We had to wake her to feed her and she kept falling asleep at the breast, even with all our attempts to wake her. We have to make sure she's getting enough nourishment to combat the jaundice. So for the majority of her feedings, she got breast milk by bottle. For her one week birthday, she got breast milk all day (for the first six days we supplemented with formula).

On Wednesday, she made up for lost time by staying on the breast for most of the day. Her feedings were an hour long and came in clusters. I still managed to get in some pump time and had three bottles waiting for her last night. Bottles are a godsend at night. If we bottle-feed her breast milk, a feeding takes around 30 minutes. If we breast feed, it takes a good hour and a half to two hours. So bottles rule at night so that 1) Karen can do a night feeding and 2)so that we can all get some more sleep.

When Kylie breast feeds, she tends to latch on, have a few good sucks, then pops off the breast to "talk" about it. Sometimes the "talking" is grunting and sometimes it's an all-out scream. Then she latches on again and we repeat the process. I have no idea why she does this. But here are my guesses:
1) she's still learning and is vocal about learning
2) she voicing her frustration at not having her mouth instantly filled like she does when she bottle feeds
3) she hates the breast shield I'm using (but she can't latch on without it)
4) she just screams because she can!

Did your babies do this? I'm not concerned enough to call the lactation consultant but am interested to hear from my blogger friends about it.

-Wendy

One Week

Kylie's bilirubin test is down to 11.5 so she is off the wallaby. Hurray! Here's Kylie striking a Halleluja pose.


She has to go back to the hospital for one more blood draw tomorrow to assure that she isn't going to rebound. But then we should be doctor-free until her two-week appointment next Monday.

I was able to put some clothes on the sweet girl and bring her out of the nursery. I'm so excited to have her untethered that I'm just walking around the house holding her. Hmmm... do we want to go to the office, or the bedroom, or the tv room?

I don't know if you remember this post but last night as I saw my shadow in profile, I had my heart jump up into my throat. "My baby is here", I thought. She's not in my body anymore!"

And the tears came spilling out. I rushed to the nursery. I just had to hold Kylie and look at her and kiss her and assure myself that she is safe living outside of me. The whole shaky, hormonal, crying episode only lasted two minutes but it was an incredible rush of emotions.

Today I'm filled with such joy, relief and gratitude. I swear there is a special place in heaven for those people who bring food to your house when you are first home with your newborn. Our good friends, Jeff & Heather, have brought us three delicious dinners with outstanding deserts and have made grocery store runs for us. Our friend Catherine brought us some additional groceries. And our friends Jozette and Michele have brought us dinner for tonight.

If you are one of our blogger friends who are waiting for yourr baby to be born, I really recommend that you let people help you and bring you food once your child arrives. It's a real godsend.

Here's a few more pictures for you. And if you click here you can see a few more

Midnight watch

It's midnight and I'm on Kylie watch. :)

Wendy and I have been splitting up the nights into shifts so that we each get a stretch of 3-4 hours to rest while the other takes care of Kylie. We've been feeding her every 1.5-2 hours to help her jaundice and it appears to be working! Woo hoo! On Friday, she weighed in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. at our pediatrician visit and today she weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs. 8 oz! That's quite a change in 3 days and we're very pleased. We have to take her in to get a blood draw tomorrow so they can test her levels again but we're hoping that's the last time. She's looking more pink and heading in the right direction for her weight to get back to her birth weight within just the next few days ... right on target.

It's only been a week since Kylie joined us, but I'm already wondering what in the world we ever did before she came. Our days and nights are filled with taking care of her needs and things like email and blog surfing and TV watching seem like distant memories at the moment. And...I wouldn't have it any other way.

As I sit here in the nursery listening to my daughter's breathing and watching her sleep, I feel such a sense of peace and joy that I can hardly put it into words. I feel a love unlike any I've ever known before for both Kylie and Wendy. It's so strong it is a physical feeling in my chest and in my gut. It's as if there is a tether between the 3 of us that ties us all heart-to-heart and soul-to-soul. I've always felt it with Wendy but what I feel now seems even richer and deeper now that Kylie has been added. I am grateful beyond description for this wonderful, blessed child. I look at Wendy and my heart almost bursts with pride and gratitude for how fantastic of a job she did at caring and nurturing and growing Kylie these past months. And, as I watch her hold Kylie and nurse her and speak to her and be able to care for her as the child in her arms vs. the child in her belly, it almost brings me to tears. It's just so beautiful...truly, gloriously, miraculously beautiful.

While Wendy's body continues to recover from the birth and her hormones seem to ebb and flow throughout the day, I find that my "mommy hormones" must be kicking in too. I seem to be very emotional and sensitized...and I didn't even birth Kylie! I can only imagine how it must be for Wendy. I think there is something truly biological involved here. My body may not have undergone the ordeal of pregnancy, labor and delivery, but my heart did...and there seems to be plenty of hormones (or whatever it is) being pumped through me just the same.

I love my daughter...even more than I ever imagined I would. And, no matter what the nay-sayers of the world may say or think, Kylie is my daughter. Yes, I must adopt her so that it is "legal"...and that's already underway...but she is truly my daughter and wouldn't be more so if I'd been the birth mother. I love saying "my daughter"....love it.

I'm just rambling here, but hey...it's the midnight watch and when your precious child is sleeping and your heart feels so full it might burst, I guess stream of consciousness blogging is a good fit. Ah...I hear Kylie's breathing beginning to change, so it looks like it's about time to feed my girl. Sigh...I love it....

- Karen

Sunbathing

We took advantage of some bright sun today. I snapped this sweet photo of Karen as she watched over Kylie in her sun tent.

Yesterday was the third day that we've treated Kylie for her jaundice. Her treatment has consisted of feeding her every two hours and keeping a wallaby phototherapy strip wrapped around her naked belly. Her bilirubin test was down two points on Saturday so we didn't have to go to the hospital for another blood draw on Sunday. We see our pediatrician for a follow-up appointment today. It would be wonderful if she thought Kylie was healthy enough to stop the Wallaby treatment but I'm not holding my breath.

I would love to start dressing little Kylie instead of keeping her naked all the time and wrapping blankets around her. She loves to be swaddled and that has been a challenge with the wallaby strip. It would also be nice to be able to move around the house more freely instead of being confined to the room where the wallaby machine is plugged in. But of course we will do whatever we need to do to improve her jaundice.

Kylie was so happy lying in the sun. Karen and I had a lovely time passing the camera back and forth taking pictures of our lovely little girl. You can find more pictures
here.



-Wendy

Birth Story

Here it is. Kylie's birth story!

Monday 4/16
5:45am Lost mucous plug.

9:00ish Karen and I decided to go for a walk. We started walking and I felt a small gush. I bent over laughing and telling Karen, “I can’t stop peeing on myself”. I would take a few steps and have another gush and another big laugh. We walked about a mile and a half.

12:30 I’m still having uncontrollable gushes but I'm not sure if it's amniotic fluid or if the baby has shifted and is pressing on my bladder. Karen asks me to call the doctor’s office. The nurse on call tells me to head to the hospital for an exam. Karen packs our hospital bags.

2:15pm Arrive at hospital. A nurse confirms that I am losing amniotic fluid. She says we will be staying at the hospital.

3:20 Dr. Murray, the on-call doctor, conducts a speculum exam. My cervix is still long and not very thin.

4:50 Cervadil is inserted to ripen my cervix. Have to stay flat on the bed hooked to a fetal monitor for an hour.

6:00-10:00pm Taken off monitor. Walked around the maternity ward and bounced around on the birthing ball. Have a few mild contractions.

10:15pm I’m asked to shower to hydrate my veins. An internal exam shows no labor progress.

11:05-1:55am Pictocin drip is started. Start to have contractions on a regular basis. I’m hooked to a wireless monitor so that I can move around the room. Drip is increased twice and contractions become regular and very uncomfortable.

Tuesday, April 17th
2:00-4:15am This was the hardest part. I was having hard, powerful, make-you-cry-out contractions every two minutes. The contractions would last for 90 seconds, giving me only around 30 seconds of rest. Many times it felt like I would have four to six minute contractions before getting a break. Karen does a great coaching job encouraging me and loving on me through every contraction. But the hard and fast nature of these contractions for two hours has worn me down. Even while experiencing the worst pain of my life, I still manage to be funny. Karen tells me I had a string of curse words for several minutes that would have made a sailor blush. And at one point I asked her to take off her dang “Life is Good” tshirt insisting that life is really painful and that it just sucks.

4:15am I’m checked and I’m only 1 ½ cm dilated and 25% effaced. I’m told that the pictocin drip would have to be increased to speed things along. This is a hard blow because I can’t imagine labor getting any harder. I ask for an epidural.

5:05am Epidural is in. It takes the doctor two attempts and thirty minutes to get it in. I experience over ten contractions while in the hunched-over position praying that the epidural is going to work. Pictocin drip is increased.

5:35 I smile at Karen for the first time since 11pm the previous night. I tell her “this is the way to labor” and tell her I have absolutely no regrets in getting the epidural.

6:35 Nurse examines me and tells me that I’m 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. Pictocin is again increased.

7:00ish We meet Gayla, the wonder nurse. She has the most lovely disposition. Very calm and soothing and not at all chatty. Karen and I heave a sigh of relief and gratitude that this wonderful nurse will be delivering me.

8:10 My doctor comes in, examines me and tells me I’m 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. Pictocin is increased several times.

10:30 Start to have lots of bloody show. I’m 4-5cm dilated and 100% effaced.

11:00-1:00 Epidural feels like it’s worn off so at 11:00, I get it increased. Labor is in a very regular pattern. The baby’s heartrate has been fantastic throughout this entire labor process. At some point, it’s determined that the baby is facing up rather than facing down. Nurse Gayla puts me on my right side, almost on my belly, with my legs in a certain position to get the baby to move. Then we repeat this position on the left side. Because of this unique positioning and the fact that the baby is moving, Gayla stays at my side for two hours constantly moving the fetal monitor to assure that the baby is okay. When checked again, the baby is now facing down. My father arrives at the hospital from his flight from TN.

1:00 Once again, it feels as if the epidural has worn off. I’m really feeling those contractions again. But the good news is that I’m told that I’m ready to push.

1:00-3:28 Pushing for Kylie. Around 3:00 I ask for the epidural to be increased one last time. Thank God I did that because her head crowned for over 30 minutes. For a half hour I can see her lovely brown hair in the mirror at the bottom of the bed. Karen places a pillow behind my head and for every push during these two and a half hours, she gets her arm under the pillow to lift and support my head and neck. At the same time, she’s helping me to pull back on my legs. After each push, she wipes my face and neck with a cool washcloth and tells me what a great job I’m doing.
The labor room environment is perfect for me. Only one person is talking at a time (one of my greatest fears was that lots of people would be yelling at me during the pushing) and their voices are low yet very supportive and encouraging. There are lots of excited smiles and sweet, loving comments.

3:28 Kylie is born. Karen cuts the cord. My dad takes lots of pictures. The sight and feel of my daughter, here at last, is beyond description and beyond words.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things to add to this birth story as soon as I post it. As I read over it, it strikes me as a “just-the-facts” kind of story, but right now I can’t begin to touch on all of the emotional and spiritual aspects of the birth.

Thank you to everyone for all of your comments, your well wishes and your prayers. They mean more to me that you know.

-Wendy

Short update

All is well...we're just getting used to our new routine (or lack of one!). Kylie has been a bit jaundiced and we've had to have her on a light blanket but as of today, her blood work shows she's on the mend and should be fine in a day or two. Wendy's milk is coming in and we're excited about that (so is Kylie!). I know we owe you a lot more details and they'll be forthcoming (we promise) but I thought I'd give you a few shots of our sweetie to hold you over.

This is our OB with Wendy and Kylie the day after her birth.


And all these are Kylie in all her glory! I could stare at her for hours (and do)!








More to come!

- Karen

It wasn't a false alarm! She's here!

Well, we thought it was a false alarm, but our little girl was ready to come a couple of weeks early! At 3:28pm on Tuesday, April 17, Wendy delivered our beautiful 7 lb. 12 oz., 20 inch little girl with a head full of dark curls after 36 total hours of labor (story to come later) and 2.5 hours of pushing. Mom (actually both moms!) and baby are doing wonderfully.

Here we are just after the birth (look at all the vernix on that baby!).


You can check out a few more photos (out of the almost 200 we've already taken!) here. I'll get more photos uploaded a bit later after we get home and settled.

Woo hoo!

- Karen

Tulips

We had our doctor's appointment on Friday and everything looks great. Blood pressure is good (108/70), no protein in my urine, fundal height is right on target at 37cm, and the baby's heart rate is 140. And although my cervix is thinning, it's still long.

The doctor snickered a bit when I let loose with a few choice expletives when she told me there was no dilation. I know first babies are usually late, not early, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

Fortunately, Karen knew just what to do to make it better. She bought me some yummy lo mein for lunch and then took me to the scrapbook store. I was able to finish the baby shower scrapbook pages I had been working on. If you are interested, you can see them here.

On Saturday, we saw over thirty acres of beautiful tulips at the Wooden Shoe Tulip farm. It was a feast for my eyes and spirit and I had a wonderful time taking over 150 photos.








You can see a few more pictures here including a funny belly shot.

There were hundreds of people at the tulip festival. Many families were posing their small children among the flowers. It was touching to think that next year, I would be able to do the same with my almost-one-year-old.

We walked around for over an hour, soaking in all the gorgeous colors, listening to all the many languages of the visitors, watching the kids romp around in their galoshes. I felt fine at the time (just moving slowly) so I was surprised to see in one of our photos that my lips were turning blue!

My feet swelled up a bit more than usual that night but seeing all those stunning flowers was so worth it!

-Wendy
[37w,6d]

Scrapbooking

Thanks to everyone for all of your wonderful comments on our pregnancy photos. Wow!

It was particularly nice to read the comments as they came in because yesterday I felt very crampy and achy and yucky. I was convinced that I was in the early stages of labor. All day yesterday I thought to myself, "Okay...when you go to the doctor on Friday, she's going to tell you that you are a wee bit dilated/effaced. That's what you are feeling".

But today, the crampy feeling has gone away and I'm just sore and tired like I just ran a 10K. I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor told me there was no dilation/effacement and that the baby is gaining weight and what I feel is the extra poundage/pressure on my pelvic floor.

That's the weirdest thing about these last days/weeks. I know stuff is happening to facilitate the birth of the baby but it's so freaky to have very strange sensations in one's body and NOT know exactly what it is.

Anyway....I have distracted myself marvelously with scrapbooking.

The idea of scrapbooking came to me because I couldn't find any fill-in-the-blank baby books that I liked. And I know several people who scrapbook and rave about it. So I thought I would create a scrapbook to record all of the baby's firsts (first smile, first word, yadda yadda).

And I thought I could keep the baby's scrapbook "small and simple". (Feel free to laugh outrageously at that one. It's like saying you want a small wedding.)

Dang! It's an expensive yet addictive craft. You would gasp if I told you what I've spent on start-up supplies and paper. And I've only made three pages. As I've made the three pages, I've had a little angel and little devil sitting on my shoulders bickering.

Angel: "You should stop this now. You already have an expensive hobby in knitting"
Devil: "But it's so pretty and creative. And it's for the baby."
Angel: "Who are you kidding? Just buy a regular photo album and add notes like you've done in the past. Or make one of those cool iPhoto books."
Devil: "But scrapbooking is so fun and pretty".
And on and on--you get the gist.

So...are there any scrapbookers out there? If so, how did you get started? Did you take a class or did a friend show you or did you learn from magazines like I'm doing? Do you have any scrapbooking blogs you like to visit? Are you terribly glad or sorry you started scrapbooking?

-Wendy
[37w,3d]

Aren't we cute?

We picked up our pregnancy portraits today. You can view all six pictures by clicking here

-Wendy
[37w,1d}

Just a kid at heart

Wendy and I visited with friends over the weekend and I got to have my little girl fix playing with their 17 month old daughter. We took a bottle of bubbles with us and little Jillian and I had a blast playing together with them. She doesn't quite have the whole process down (i.e. dip, place bubble wand in front of mouth, pucker and blow gently), but she's close! She tended to want to press the bubble wand right against her lips and ended up with a pretty soapy mouth, but seemed to enjoy it anyway. It was absolutely delightful and as you can see by my face, I think I was having more fun than she was.



This picture is from a few weeks ago during another visit. Jillian and I had made dinner napkin kerchiefs and were quite a sight!



I can hardly wait for Kylie to arrive and give me more opportunities over the coming years to let my "inner child" out to play. I find that I'm getting more and more excited with each passing day waiting on our little girl to arrive. It's hard to sit still sometimes! I know it'll be a while before Kylie is ready to romp and play with her momma but in the meantime, it's fun to let my inner kid out to play whenever I can. :)

- Karen
[37w,0d]

TERM

Swollen fingers










Swollen toes and ankles (complete with sock wrinkles)










I must be at 37 weeks!

I feel like I'm standing in line for a really scary roller coaster ride. One where I will be flipped upside-down numerous times and sent screaming down incredibly steep hills. There's a strong possibility that I could collapse, faint or puke. As I'm standing in line, I'm excited and nervous and breathless. My mind is screaming "Are you nuts?! Get out of line!" but I know that I can't. So I just stand there with sweaty palms and a stupid grin on my face.

And the only thought in my mind is "Can I get on the ride now?" Can I please start labor now? Please?


-Wendy
[37w,0d]

Wardrobe

After alternating wearing the same two maternity dresses for six weeks now, I'm officially ready to burn them. The dresses are oh-so-comfortable and are the closest thing one can get to a mumu but I'm ready to cast them aside and wear something different for a change.

And speaking of wardrobes....here's two questions for you:

For your baby's first few doctor's appointments, did you
A) dress your baby in a simple onesie or
B) dress your baby in one of his/her cuter outfits?

At the first few doctor's appointments, does the pediatrician want want the baby to be nude?

-Wendy
[36w,3d]
[40 Babies R Us visits]

Wipe down, not up

Last night I dreamed that I was visiting my old friend Kim who gave birth to daughter Brianna.

In real life, Brianna was such a sick little baby. She caught lots of colds and was particularly prone to getting kidney infections. Turns out that the reason for so many kidney infections was that her family had a tendency to wipe her bottom and special parts in an upwards direction when they changed her diapers.

In the dream, Kim was dressed like a drill sergeant and yelling at me, "Repeat after me--wipe down, not up!"
"Wipe down, not up," I dutifully answered.
"No poop in the hoo-hoo!" she cried. "Repeat it, you nugget!"
"No poop in the hoo-hoo!" I yelled back.
"Girls get infections," she yelled.
"Girls get infections!

I actually woke myself up mumbling "Wipe down, not up". It was good for a late-night giggle.

Went back to sleep and dreamed of beautiful women, dressed like prom queens and riding a float in a parade. All of the women in the parade were trying to conceive via IVF. The "queen" of the float was the woman with the largest, prettiest eggs. She got to sit highest on the float and wear the biggest crown. And the streets were lined with people throwing money at them to pay for their conceptions.

Who knew that spaghetti would yield such weird dreams?!

-Wendy
[36w,2d]

Fickle

Pregnancy can be so dang fickle and crazy. Here is a perfect example-

I've been eating really well and managing my gestational diabetes but have been plagued with horrible indigestion that likes to rear its ugly head between 1:00 - 3:00am every morning.

Last night, after a very hard day, I broke down and indulged in three Taco B*ll tacos, a handful of fritos, and several bites of chocolate chip cookie dough......And then slept through the night!

I got up four times to use the bathroom but was able to go right back to sleep. It's been WEEKS since I've slept through the night. I'm so thrilled to get a decent night's sleep!

-Wendy
[36w,1d]

Google cracks me up!

Well, the folks over at Google have added to their long list of hilarious (at least I think so) April Fool's day pranks. Take a look at this. And, to get a little history of previous pranks, see this.

I have to admit that for about 10 seconds when I first started reading the press release, I wanted to believe it. But, one look at the installation page and I was cracking up. Geesh...it's got to be a hoot to work for those guys!

- Karen
[35w,6d]
[39 Babies R Us visits]

31 days to go!

That's just a month of days folks! Woo hoo! I keep swinging from sheer joy and excitement to just a bit of terror. :) I am so excited about Kylie's arrival and what having her in our lives will mean. There are so many things I want and hope for her....so many dreams I hope she sees fulfilled in her lifetime (both my dreams for her and her dreams for herself). I can't wait to see her and hold her and touch her and smell her. Don't you just love that baby smell?!?

Really, it doesn't seem possible that she's almost here. There have been so many times throughout this pregnancy that we have waited on something and wanted time to pass faster than it was. But, now that we're so close to the end, I look back and wonder at how fast the time has actually gone. Now...you may hear a different story from my sweet Wendy who has dealt with all the ups and downs of the changes to her body and carrying Kylie so safely and so well all these months. I think there have been times that have gone much slower for her than for me. :)

But, I'm just so thankful for the wonderful experience of this pregnancy. I've had numerous men attempt to verbally bring me into the "dad's club" with comments like "has she bitten your head off yet?" and "the bigger they get the harder they are to live with" and "won't you be glad when this is over?". Harumphf, I say! I have thought nothing of the sort during this whole wonderous adventure and have treasured every moment...really. Every up and every down has been a part of this amazing journey and I wouldn't trade one minute of it away for anything in the world. I think I find it surprising that men seem to take the pregnancies of their wives so hard (I know not all men...but most that I've been around fit this category). It's like the pregnancy put them out somehow and that they should be given some kind of special award for having survived it. That's just totally bizarre if you ask me. I'll say it once again in this blog that I am just honored and awed to be my sweet Wendy's sherpa during this journey.

And...while I can't wait till Kylie is here, there will be a part of me that misses the journey that brought us to her arrival. But I suppose as with all things, the end of one journey is just the beginning of another, right? :)

- Karen
[35w,4d]

Bark, Doc and pictures

Yesterday we had mulch delivered to our house via "The Bark Blowers". Now why didn't I think of this idea?

Basically mulch is blown onto your flower beds via a great big vacuum hose attached to a delivery truck full of mulch. They mulched in 15 minutes what took me 2 days to mulch myself last year.

I had to restrain my little redneck self from running out and taking pictures of the bark blowing truck in action. Already the dudes who operated the equipment thought we were a little weird because we had staked down white mesh over my little seedlings to keep them from getting trampled. The back yard looked like there was little pieces of toilet paper flung all over the place.

The guys did a great job mulching and then cleaning up. It was well worth my dollar.
. . . . . . . .

We had our 35 week doctor's appointment yesterday. I had an internal exam as well as my Strep B test. The baby is beginning to drop but so far no dilation or effacement (which is fine because it's still a bit early for that). We had a quick ultrasound to confirm that the baby is head down and that she is, in fact, still a girl. We laughed when the doctor said she wanted to double-check so there were no big surprises when she was born. Kylie took a couple of amniotic breaths which was good to see.

My blood pressure is up ever so slightly from my normal range but it's still excellent at 106/70. And there was no protein in my urine-hurray!

I'm beginning to get more uncomfortable and swollen but I feel so lucky that I'm still able to Jazzercise, that I haven't had heartburn (which plagues so many pregnant women), that the baby doesn't kick my ribs, and that I'm able to still sleep lying down. A lot to be grateful for!

Here's a 35 week belly shot:

And here are two presents we received in the mail from Larry K.- a colleague of Karen's.
Nine month outfit

Sweet bear


-Wendy
[35w,2d]

Rough

Last night I went to sleep at 10:30pm. At 2:30am I was wide awake. And I stayed awake all morning. I felt lots of pressure on my pelvic floor. And my feet and head were aching like crazy. Sleep totally escaped me. Therefore, I'm a wee bit irritable and predisposed to rant.

I mentioned my insomnia to a Jazzercise friend the other day and she told me, "It's only going to get worse for you when the baby comes." I about bit her head off. Only Karen's calming presence kept me from going up one side of the lady and down the other.

Yes I KNOW to expect lots of sleeplessness when the baby comes. I am not an idiot. But don't tell an eight-month pregnant, groaning, swollen woman who is just trying to get through the days that shit is just going to get WORSE.

In fact, "YOU" statements have always been a pet peeve of mine. Anytime someone says something like "You will be happy or you will be sad or tired" or "You will feel this or that" or "You will think this or that", I just want to gnash my teeth. Because really...can this person see in to my future and know what I'll be thinking or feeling?

No. I believe what they really want to do is share some of their experience with me. I just really wish they would turn that "you" statement into an "I" statement. Such as, "I remember I didn't get much sleep for several months" or "I was a walking zombie" or "I remember how tough those last weeks are" and so forth.

Tell me about your own experience and I will listen raptly. Try to tell me "how it's going to be for me" (while looking in your crystal ball) and I will shut down.

I really enjoy hearing and reading about other women's experiences with their children. Some moms radiate such pride and joy and wisdom about how cool it is to be a mother. Other mothers seem to wield their mothering experiences with such smugness and superiority and try to come off like they are the Dr. Sears.

I really need to make my peace with this pet peeve. I don't want to snarl when I hear "you" statements. I don't want to flinch when I hear them compare their child to mine. I want to not take it all so personally.

-Wendy
[35w,1d]

The Spring freeze at our house

It's almost April and the world outside is waking up with new growth and lots of color. But inside our house, it's winter! Let me explain...

Since pregnancy arrived at our house, and Wendy's internal thermometer has stayed constantly spiked it seems, things have been a bit chilly around here. Weathering the winter has been a bit of a challenge for me and the cats. For months now, I have been wearing 2-3 layers of clothing and try to keep my hands warm by wearing my wonderful fingerless mittens Wendy knitted for me. I keep a little space heater near my desk and keep it on high most of the time. The cats sit on the heat registers in the house praying for the heat to kick on or lay in a pile in their basket trying to share body heat. Phoebe loves to sit in front of my heater, but she blocks some of my heat so I "accidentally" bump into her if she stays there too long. :)

Well, with the advent of spring, I have been hopeful that the increasingly warm weather would mean my icy fingers would thaw and I could actually store my space heater away. Ummmm... no such luck! The increased temp outside has made it more uncomfortable for Wendy and we have turned on the air conditioner. Yes...the air conditioner. When I got up this morning, the house temp was 61F (that was only about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temp). Chloe, our younger cat was sitting on the heat register in the kitchen and looked up at me and let out this plaintive, pitiful meow-cry thing that made me want to start a fire for her (and for me too). By lunch time, after I put my icy hands on Wendy's belly and actually made her flinch (she usually loves my cold hands on her overly warm self), I turned the heat on to get the temp up to the upper 60's in the house. Woo hoo!

It's 5 weeks (or less!) till Kylie gets here and the cats and I will be staying bundled up to ride out the last days of winter in our house. :) I only hope the thaw comes when Kylie does!

- Karen
[35w,0d]

35 weeks and 35 days

Today, I'm at 35 weeks and I have 35 days to go.

And I'm basically brain-dead. I want to be witty and charming and interesting on this blog. But lately, I stare at the screen completely blank. So here is a boring list:

What we did this weekend:

Viewed our 60 proofs from our pregnancy portrait photographer. Picked 6 pictures to print. (They won't be ready for 4-6 weeks but when we get them, we'll scan them in and share them with you.)

Saw the movie "The Last Mimzy". It's a smart, charming, feel-good movie with good actors, script, directing and editing. Nice special effects. I recommend it.

Got a manicure.

Fondled yarn at a yarn store. Bought 4 skeins of beautiful, red, Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran yarn for a sweater for Kylie.

Bought two onesies and some baby shoes on sale.

Bought the new Joss Stone cd

Drove around and walked alot enjoying Spring (my favorite season).

Ate out quite a bit. Indulged by eating at a Sonic. The Sonic is a great place to overdose on grease, salt, and carbs. It's one of those restaurants that are everywhere in the South. We've missed having one here in Portland. But now, there is a new Sonic restaurant just a hop, skip and jump away in Hillsboro. And right next to it is a Panera Bread (great bagels!) which is another favorite of ours from TN. Now if we could only get a Chik-Fil-A and a Cracker Barrell!

Camped out in front of the TV for the season finales of "Rome", "The L Word" and "Battlestar Gallactica". The end of Battlestar had us shouting, "I KNEW IT" at the tv screen and squealing on how they are leaving us hanging until 2008.

-Wendy
[35w, 0d]

Opposable thumbs

I can move my thumbs again! Hurray! This is awesome!

For around two weeks I've had tendonitis around my thumbs. It's caused by the swelling of the tissues in the hand which is caused by the pregnancy. For the most part it didn't bother me except that (gasp!) I haven't been able to knit for a while. But then it got to the point where simple tasks like opening a door with a doorknob or pouring milk from a gallon jug or emptying the dishwasher had me whimpering.

So I was willing to try anything. I've tried heat and ice. I've tried thumb immobilizers. Nothing was really helping. On a whim, I called my chiropractor to see if he could help.

Now I've had great success with him with regards to back and neck alignment. But I didn't really think he could help with tendonitis. Boy was I wrong!

He cracked several vertebra in my neck, popped my thumbs and wrists joints several times, and finished with a massager/thumper up and down my thumb and wrists. And now I can move my thumbs!

There's still some swelling and popping and a bit of pain but I can actually move my thumbs in a circle again. I celebrated by knitting five rows on a baby blanket (that I've been working on forever!). I wish you could see me smile!

-Wendy
[34w, 2d]

Blogger spam

FYI for our fellow bloggers...

We've been getting spam almost every day on this blog. It seems that advertisers are creating blogs and blog profiles. They then go to some of our earliest entries (deep in our archives) and leave their advertising message as a comment to our posts. We've had "comments" promoting weight loss, colon health, and riding bicycles! They are actually typing in their sales message in the comments and then typing in the word verification letters.

The only way we've been catching this is that we get an email each time we receive a comment (kind of a cool way to read your comments). It hasn't annoyed me to the point where I want to moderate each comment but I thought I would let our fellow bloggers know about it.

To check it out, you might want to go to some of your oldest posts and view your comments. Hopefully you aren't getting hit like we are.

-Wendy