A picture update of Phoebe!

1. A successful bottle feeding with Daddy! She's now taking breast milk from a bottle like a champ! Daddy loves this time too!
2. Hanging out with her cousin Linkoln! They are gonna be best buds!
3. Hanging out in Aunt Jami's Hoodie!
4. Trying to laugh at Mommy while being tickled!

Time Flies

Phoebe is six weeks old already! She is staying awake more during the day. She smiles at us and is starting to jabber. She loves to swing and watch the bees spin on the mobile above her. She prefers to be held upright so she can see the world. She is enjoying her carseat for car rides more and more, much to our delight. Daddy enjoys his moments of bottle feeding, too. She's growing up so fast.

She's here!

Phoebe arrived via scheduled c section on Feb 29! She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 18.5 inches long. Surgery went well. The baby had to go to the nursery for a bottle and some breathing observation. Her blood sugar was a little low. After a bottle and a bath she was doing great. No breathing assistance needed. She hung out in the nursery longer than we would have liked due to my recovery issues. My blood pressure, which had been high for the last month of pregnancy, really spiked after surgery. The recovery nurse was great. David fed me ice chips and I worked on relaxing. My mom and dad came in for a bit too. After a while they brought Phoebe back to me. David got to hold her in the OR before they took her to the nursery. I held her for the first time in recovery. I don't remember anything after that. Eventually they wheeled me to a labor room so they could continue to monitor my blood pressure. I was pumped with lots of meds and was so out of it. Apparently our family came in and met Phoebe at this point. The next thing I remember it was midnight and the nurse was bringing Phoebe in for a feeding. She talked with me and helped me feed her. By the next feeding I was up and walking. We spent the next few days recovering and getting to know our baby girl. Some of the nursery nurses were concerned because she lost quite a bit of weight and was down to 6lbs 9oz when we left for home. They wanted me to supplement with formula in a bottle but I refused. The lactation consultants assured me that she would gain the weight back in time. She probably lost a lot of water weight as I did since I had been so swollen. We finally were releases on Sunday. My blood pressure continues to work toward normal and Phoebe is growing like a weed. She is now weighing 9lbs 8oz and is 20.5 inches long! So I was right not to give her the hospital bottle. See, mama knows best! ;). We are blessed with such a sweet baby!

Good report

So I saw the cardiologist like my OB wanted. He did and EKG and ordered an Echo. All this because my OB was concerned about my blood pressure and she thought she heard a murmur. So the EKG came back normal and the Echo showed a perfectly healthy heart. PTL! The cardiologist has discharged me back to my OB to finish out. The cardiologist feels that the high pressure is just a result of the pregnancy. The meds are controlling the pressure for now. I should be able to be weaned off of it soon after Phoebe makes her arrival! I'm so glad to hear that my heart is strong. The baby has performed beautifully on the non stress test. This shows that the high pressures are not affecting her at this point. Hoping to get a better idea of how and when this baby will be making her debut. I see the OB tomorrow. We'll see what she says! We are so looking forward to meeting our baby girl!

Curve Balls

Well, we've been thrown a couple of curve balls over the last week.  Here's an update:  My blood pressure was elevated at my regular appointment about two weeks ago.  My doc was concerned, but let me go since I hadn't had any high readings thus far.  I was to get my blood pressure read the following week and report the numbers to her office.  I did that and she made me come in immediately, as they were way elevated by this point.  I came in to the office and the nurses there took my pressure again and it was still pretty high.  My doc prescribed a blood pressure pill and ordered some immediate blood work.  She also told me that I would be off work until the baby comes.  I talked her in to reevaluating me to see if maybe I could squeeze in a couple more days of work, but ultimately she decided it wasn't a wise move.  I went straight over to get the blood work drawn.  I went back to the doctor the following day and hear the results of the blood work. Everything was fine  We also had an ultrasound done at that appointment.  It was fun to see the baby.  She was doing great.  She was evaluated on an 8 point test and she aced it!  She was taking practice breaths and her heart beat and cord were looking good.  She has a good amount of fluid in there too.  We did learn that she is in a complicated Frank Breech position.  She is butt down, head up.  She has one foot hugged to her face and the other foot is tucked under her butt.  We need her to flip over.  Anyway, my doc has me on the blood pressure meds, off work, and basically sitting around with my feet up.  I'm trying to take it easy, but its hard to do when there's plenty to be done around here!  So we are trying to take it all in stride as we adjust to these curve balls.  Ultimately, we know that God is in control and he will provide.  Moments like this make it really hard to look past the needs and realities of our natural life, and trust that God has the supernatural power to cover it all.  We are trusting that he will continue to take care of us and make himself real in this situation.  My official due date is March 11, but with these new findings, we won't be waiting that long.  The doctor is tentitively scheduling a c-section for the end of February to deliver this breech baby.  That's not a final decision, but I assume that even if she turns, we will probably be looking at inducing by the end of Feb anyway so we can get her here safely and calm my blood pressure.  David is so supportive and he's been great through all of this.  He even surprised me with flowers (can't remember the last time he ever gave me flowers).  God is good all the time!

Prep work

Washing some baby clothes, organizing hand me downs by size, starting to pack our bags, and generally getting excited! :)

SLEEP

I'm forgetting what its like to sleep through the night...and the baby isn't even here yet!  Maybe my body is prepping me for what's to come.  I wouldn't mind banking some solid hours before Phoebe arrives!  Oh well.  Life will go on.

Trying to be tall and other ramblings

So this baby girl is trying her best to stretch and be so tall.  I had to break it to her that she's not got much of a shot at being tall with these genes.  She keeps pushing up on my ribs like she's trying to see just how tall she can be.  Once again, I love her movements and I can't complain too much.  She's not kicking hard.  Their like slow stretching movements now.  Can't say I mind the fact that she hasn't been much of a kick boxer.  She's pretty gentle, even when she's moving a lot.
We're so ready to see this little girl.  I am totally ok with having a late Feb baby instead of an early March baby.  We'll see what she decides.  My little brother is coming up to spend some time with the fam right around her due date.  We are hoping she decides to arrive in time to meet her uncle and her two cousins who live out of state!  So much to look forward to.
Dave and I are planning what we need for my maternity pics next week and I got thinking about her newborn pics as well.  So much fun planning how we will show off our little princess in pictures.  I am already such a proud momma, and she's not even here yet.
Dave keeps saying, "I just love her so much and I've not even met her.  How does that work?"  He also told me last night that since I've gotten to hold her for 9 months, he gets to hold her exclusively for the next 9 months, then we get to trade off every other day!  He's so cute!  I asked if that meant he's gonna do diapers too.  He said no, because I've not had to change any yet, so we're starting out even on those! :)  Parenthood is already such a blessing.  So excited to see what she looks like, smells like, sounds like, and feels like!
The other day we were talking and I discovered that David already talks bout our Phoebe with his customers and other random people.  I love how proud he is! :)  I knew fatherhood would find him when the time was right!  He loves to share the name we've picked out.  And he'll talk to other pregnant women, like the cashier at Lowe's, about his baby coming, and then ask questions about their baby!  Its so sweet.  A much different side of the "I don't need any kids" man he tried to be.  So thankful for such an amazing hubby.

The new "US"

Phoebe's been lazy for the last two days, but she is making up for it today.  She has been crazy squirmy and I love it! :)  Last night as David and I laid in bed we were talking about life after Phoebe comes.  We were talking about CDYC, a summer youth event.  He was talking about going and helping with art again like last year, and I said I was planning to take Phoebe any way to visit my mom down there.  I said, "That would be cool.  You, me, and Phoebe can all go visit together."  He stopped me and said, "whoa, that's the first time I've thought about how 'us' will include Phoebe too".  It was a fun moment for him.  Its like it just hit him that we will take her with us everywhere.  That she is here to stay!  It was fun to think about.  We can't wait to meet this little punkin! :)  I love to watch her Daddy fall in love with her already.  I cannot wait to see him see her for the first time!

More Symptoms

So, I know its all normal, but the farther along I get, the more I experience those pregnancy symptoms I have always heard about.  I had it pretty easy peasy most of the way through, so I really can't complain.  My toughest symptoms right now are the pains in my hips and way low back.  I'm working on stretching, icing, moving around, and massages.  Its worst at night when I try to move around and get comfortable.  Thankfully it hasn't kept me up too much so far! :)  The newest development is the swelling feet/ankles.  Trying to keep them up as much as possible!  So thankful for a super supportive hubby.  He is a blessing and so helpful!  Can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees his baby girl for the first time! :)  Just 8 weeks (give or take) and our princess will be here.  I'm so excited to meet her. All I want to do it study her and memorize everything about her! :)  I love our little Phoebe Girl! :)

Alien Baby!

Phoebe's movements are, in my opinion, becoming more alien-like.  I've felt her kick and roll and squirm for quite some time, but usually only in one spot at a time.  Now her movements are not so jerky.  Its like she's stretching or sliding around.  I feel her in multiple locations at once.  It feels like there's an alien working to get out of my belly.  None of the movements (knock on wood) thus far have really been too painful.  According to my ultrasounds, she's been feet down most of the time so I feel her kicks really low.  She hasn't gotten in too many rib jabs.  I'm not complaining about any of this, its just not quite what I had in mind as far as preggo feelings.  I guess I was expecting more solid kicks and jabs.  I am liking the crazy squirely moves.  She does have something positioned near my ribs on the right side because she does create pressure there sometimes when I'm sitting up straight.  Anyway, all this to say, I love feeling my little girl move!  It makes this Mommy happy.  I can't wait to see her sweet little face and kiss her cheeks! :)  T - 2 months and counting!

First Baby Dream and Home Stretch

So I had my first baby dream last night.  I'm a little nervous that I was snuggling a baby boy in the dream.  But I'm not gonna be too concerned about that.  It was just a quick snippet of me snuggling a cute little baby!  So sweet. 
We're in the home stretch now... 10 weeks and counting.  I can't wait to meet our precious little Phoebe Girl! :)  Have I mentioned we are so excited!?! :)