Mommy is doing better this afternoon. Very Sore still, but I walked to the Nicu. Trying to keep moving.  Breathing was initially Arleigh's problem, but basically our nurse said once they get a baby in nicu they hold onto it. She looks much better now. Good color, some of the fluid is off of her and she is rooting and sucking on that passy like she's starving.  She kept her eyes open and was very alert on our last visit. Hopeful they will take the drip out tomorrow if she's eating well. They are going to try the first bottle this afternoon. This mommy is just ready to hold her and give her kisses!  Fingers crossed we will be able to hold her tomorrow. They still won't allow more than the parents and grands to see her because of RSV/flu season :-(  we will more than likely check her out of nicu to go home.

Introducing our chunky monkey - arleigh olivia! I still haven't laid a finger on her, so she better get ready for when mama can smother her with kisses!

Arleigh was hanging on really high, wouldn't even drop. Ended up with a section. They did have to take her to the nicu, but the doctor hasn't come to see us yet so we dont know any details. Didn't seem to be anything serious, just preemie type breathing since she was early. But we don't know yet. She weighed 7lbs 11 oz, 20 inches. Born at 11:07. We're at northport DCH wp3. :-) so far I feel really good. Spinal is still working, so I can't feel much yet. Just sucks because I wont be able to see her for about 4 hours or more. John should get to go back soon and see her. I'm ready to smother my girl in kisses!

We're better now. Today was a little rough. Had some pretty good contractions all day on the meds, 1-2 minutes apart. Pretty intense at times. But so far my cervix hasn't budged. Still closed tight and high. We'll start the process again tomorrow.  If  we don't proceed tomorrow we could end up with a section by tomorrow night. They could try for day 3 on the meds, but its a little more doubtful. Had a shower and got to eat (hospital valentines day special of steak ans shrimp) and then they put the cervadil back in. Fixin to sleep for a while now. Can have the Demerol every 3 hours. Can't have epi until I'm dialated or we commit to a section. OJ did touch up my toes....made me feel a little more human. :-). Hubs bought me roses for valentines..now I'm  off to sleep!

All hooked up and ready to go! The cervadil didn't do much, and they anticipate this may take more than one day. Policy is to try the induction meds, see if we make progress. If we don't make enough, they'll start it over again tomorrow. As of now, that's the plan. Will know progress by late afternoon.

I have a hubs who brings me homemade milkshakes. :-) we had a talk that I thought preggo needed a little ice cream pick me up, and knowing that his are MUCH better than any drive thru, I got a special, made with love shake as my last food as a surprise. Ain't that sweet? :-)

Yay! Good news. Dr. Emig came by, we're gonna start the cervadil tonight and start the induction tomorrow. Could be a long process since I haven't dilated any at all, may even go into Wednesday before Arleigh makes her arrival. No reason to talk csection unless me or baby have some  kind of distress. We get to move to the nice rooms this afternoon. Dr. Chwe or Allen are on call tomorrow.  Will be in WP3 birthing suite.  We have started having a few contractions, so fingers crossed we get to have as natural as possible! :-)

To all my mommy to be friends. Pack your bags and your car well in advance of your due date! Last Thursday we went in for a regular checkup at 36w2days by their calculations. Ended up downstairs in the hospital, where we'll stay until we get a baby. I missed one fabulous shower by my neighbor Beth today, and then these lovelies are setting up the nursery and packing bags for me and Arleigh....

Are we sure there's room in there? Baby Belly! :-)

 

Not a fan of belly shots of myself, but here goes! 36w3day. 3w3d left. Counting them down! :-)

We have an ultrasound today, woohoo! :-) Then the last of our classes tonight. CPR/First Aid. We've done the comprehensive child birth and breast feeding. Not much left! :-)

Nursery Rough Draft and Niece Cuteness

We finally have furniture! It's no where near done, and there's rearranging to do, but we're one step closer to Arleigh having a room. It's a t-tiny room, so we're having to really plan the arrangement for function. 

I went a little crazy with color, but I LOVE COLOR, and I hope my child inherits the love of all things creative just like her Mommy. And I hope she appreciates the details...The vintage details.

Rough Draft Photos: 

Here's a list of what we're recycling or creating so far: 

Crib and Cradle from Danielle, used by Libby and Millie - Poppy (David) and Papa (Johnny) did a fabulous job with the turquoise paint!

Green Antique Link Lamp - (I've loved all my life) Josh rewired, it belonged to a great aunt

Rocking Chair - Santa gave it to my mama 32 years ago before my birth

Vintage Doll house - A bargain found on Etsy. Just like NanO got for Christmas in 1957 or so

Crib Mobile - Another Etsy bargain.... Just like mine from 32 years ago. We even researched old photos. :-)

Chandelier - I think I paid $6 from the Habitat thrift store. 1 can of red spray paint and crystals from online and it's now one of my favorite things in the room!  Much better than buying the $300 one...

Curtains and Cornice - Amy Butler Fabrics. Papa (Johnny) made the cornice board, NanO (Olivia) made the curtains, and I covered the cornice. I would consider this my "splurge" piece....Fabric is outrageous! I've been a fan of Amy Butler for ages! I LOVE LOVE LOVE fabrics.com.

Vintage Mother Goose prints - NanO had from a book she'd been saving forever. 

Hospital door wreath - was the one I made for Swayze. I'm sentimental, and I love the idea of keeping things in the family. :-)

And I could go on and on.... There's lots more to come!

Speaking of Cousin Swayze, isn't she serious cuteness! Aunt Pen thinks so. :-)

I'm very excited about this week. Wednesday is my 32 birthday. Thursday we get an ultrasound of our priss-pot. Saturday my neighbor Beth is hosting a shower. Saturday afternoon D, Lib, Mil and NanO are helping get it all together! Hopefully by next week we can have "final" nursery shots instead of the rough draft! :-)

Until then, enjoy your week!

Miss Arleigh Update

Well....This week marks our 35 week mark of pregnancy.  4-5 weeks left! Due date of March 4. I'm ready for her to be here, but I'm so not ready on other levels. We've been so blessed with gifts for Arleigh so far. Thank goodness! Swayze had given her cousin a few things, and we have collected PLENTY of hair bows. (This is the south after all!)  But now it's starting to get a little more real.  Our dining room table is covered -just waiting on the furniture to arrive to get it all together. Hopefully the grands will make deliveries soon. ;-)  We've still got to get our bags packed and everything together. I have 6 different to-do lists, but I'm having a hard time getting anything done.

Regular old life has been busy as well. Seems like Christmas went with a blink of the eye. January was birthday month in our family. My mama spent January caring for my Pop. I've been working like crazy getting ready for maternity leave with the real job and daisymaes. Life is wild.

I haven't been the spunkiest preggo lately...which makes nesting a problem.  (If this is TMI, look away now.) The getting up to pee 5 times a night I don't mind. I'm sure it's just the natural adjustment to taking care of a baby. Adding to my heart burn, dry mouth, congestion and regular morning pukes, we now have nose bleeds and back aches.  I feel like a druggie. I'm taking benedryl, sudafed, prenatal (of course), pepcid, and lots of peppermint smoothie Tums. All regularly. My doc assures me it's fine. This week we've added tylenol, icy hot and a heating pad.

Monday was ROUGH. Miss Arleigh found a nerve connected to my right hip, and I spent the day in tears. Serious pain for 3 days. But, as of today - Friday, I've recuperated enough to make a quick trip into our newly rebuilt Hobby Lobby. (HEAVEN. ON. EARTH. I think I was SO excited I couldn't even notice the pain!)  My back is still achy, definitely more by the end of the day, but it seems more typically pregnancy bearable pain than the seriousness of sciatica with the hip pain. (Sciatica was horrible. I couldn't drive, hardly move...It was BAD. John made a great nurse.)  A lot of the back ache in the past few weeks has more to do with the fact I'm (she's) just now gaining weight, so with my finally growing belly it has me and my back out of whack.  The placenta had moved up to where it belongs, so we're no longer on watch. (Thank goodness!)

Even with all the "HOT mess" associated with pregnancy, I am SO thankful and blessed to have this opportunity.  I've had friends with serious complications, and we're really blessed we haven't dealt with preeclampsia or gestational diabetes. I'm using this more to journal than complain, and I would take 20 times this much to have our sweet baby here with us. I think back to the journey to get pregnant, and how Arleigh started her life on the same day exactly one year later as the one that didn't make it - It's amazing. And SUCH a blessing. I'm sure when we hold her the first time, all this becomes a distant memory.

I have started going to the doctor every week now. Which means you get checked. UCK-O. It's not so fun. I haven't dilated or effaced or any of that, and the cervix was so closed he couldn't even tell if she dropped. So - we get another ultrasound next Thursday.  (For those that know me and my family, not dilating or even effacing is part of it. The Junkin's have beautiful C-section babies.) I'm still holding out for natural  - but I'm not setting some beautiful birth plan in my head to get smashed. Arleigh's gonna get here one way or another. It could all change and we go from nothing to a baby over night. WHO knows.  Good news is we get so see our squirmy-wormy priss-pot again before she gets here, which I don't mind at all. :-)  She is such a swimmer/cheerleader/soccer star inside. And she's funny. She'll be moving up a storm for Clarence to see or for me, and when her daddy gets close - or anyone else for that matter - she stops. It's a hoot. :-)

I haven't had too many cravings. I have more fits about what I don't want than what I just have to have. Mainly my likes are Edy's vanilla ice cream, baked potatoes, boiled carrots, watermelon and La Gran cheese dip.  But definitely not together. I know....so goofy!

In other news, we've decided to go with Valley View for daycare. It makes the most sense for us. I do have concerns because they go on a "school system" 180 day schedule, which means we'll need an outside village for help because we can't take off 3 weeks at Christmas and other holidays. But it has a top-notch Christian educational program, it's super clean and organized, it's right by our house, and we can do only half/days mornings (John will be super dad in the afternoon). Our neighbor is the director, and is willing to work with us when John's schedule changes or I'm out of town for business or emergencies. She knows our closest family is 40 minutes away. And that's important, because John won't be able to leave his mail route and it's difficult for me to leave my job. And, most importantly,  it means that's where we need to be for church.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Tuscaloosa is so different from my home town and home church. I went to the same church my entire life. Here, people church jump ALL the time. Just when you think you like a church, the little group that made up your new church family leaves to go somewhere else.  It's been hard to plug in. And hard to just stick it out. It's made me lackadaisical with church. But, this answers our questions. God has a way of that to me. :-)  Plus, the only thing I know to do as a parent is have my kid in church. That's the only definite to parenting. The only thing that matters.

Now that I've gone on and on about us, how are you?

Big Brother (Dog Child) Clarence

 

 Have you met my first child? This is Clarence. Everyone lately on facebook has posted photos of their children TPing the house, and this was the Clarence version. He wasn't getting attention, so he got the rolls from the garbage can. Bless him. He's such a good child. He really is. This happened because I came in after work talking on the phone and didn't greet him appropriately or even speak to him. Mama should know better. :-)

Dogs do the funniest things when you are pregnant. Clarence - from the beginning - started laying his head on my belly. He does it in the afternoons when I get home and sit now, too. He watches my belly squirm and gets his head petted at the same time. 

The biggest change - especially since about week 28 - Clarence has become my hip child. Before pregnancy, Clarence would go take a nap on the couch while I went through my morning routine. Not any more. When I get up at night, when I come home, when I get dressed, in and out of the shower - He's there. It's like he knows when his Daddy's not around he's responsible for me. The funny time is in the morning. As I'm getting ready and moving around and John is at work, he watches me like a hawk. I'm not sure if he knows to dial 911 if something happens, but it's a weird reminder for me to slow down and go easy with my moving around.

The cutest thing is when I'm down on the floor or getting up out of a chair. Clarence will come over for me to use him to "balance" myself getting up. Not using him for pressure or anything, but just a little support. He's like our own working dog now. :-)

And my goodness....Don't dare let Mama try to sneak a kiss with Daddy. Here comes Clarence wanting a little TLC, too. Bless him. 

We hope he's a fabulous big brother. We're constantly having talks about when "sister" arrives, and pointing out "sister's" toys, or saying "sister's" room.  I think he may be a little jealous, but we're hoping our friends will love on both our kids when they come to visit. We think he's pretty great. We hope Arleigh thinks so, too. :-)