Adelyn has arrived!

Our sweet baby girl was born at 11:06am on April 8th. Eventually I'm going to sit down and write out her birth story and I think Jake is going to write his side since I was in so much pain that I don't remember half of the delirious things I said to him during labor.  But for now I'll just say that she is perfectly adorable. I love her little sneezes, yawns, and cross-eyed looks she gives us.  She's more alert each and every day and I'm so excited to watch her grow. For now, I'll leave you with way too many photos :)

Our family <3

Our content baby girl

3 days old

First doctor's appointment

One week old!

They melt my heart

She really is a great baby. Hardly ever cries or fusses. She's already figuring out her days and nights and she only woke up twice last night to eat. Love her more each and every day!!

Contracts and Contractions

We got the call last night...as long as inspections go well we will be home owners on May 30th!  It's still not sinking in to me. Not just home owners of any old home but the home that we went and saw on Tuesday and absolutely fell in love with.  It's going to be ours...now to find some very cheap furniture that looks nice so we don't have a completely empty house...haha.

To follow up on that excitement, I woke up at 2:30 this morning with contractions that were actually keeping me from sleeping, which is something new.  They started right in the middle of my lower back and felt like someone was ripping my back in half.  Nothing even close to how painful I expect labor to be, but definitely NOT the contractions I've been having up to this point.  After an hour of those contractions coming 3ish minutes apart and getting more intense I called labor and delivery who just decided to bust my "we may be having a baby!" bubble.  She basically told me they won't stop labor but until I'm 39 weeks they can't do anything to help it along either so my water has to break on it's own and since I'm wanting to do a natural labor there was really no point in me going in just to be sent back home.  She said I could be in these early stages for 24 hours or more...so who knows when we'll have this baby.  I recently read that only 15% of women actually have their water break when they go into labor so now I'm like uhhh am I just going to be having these uncomfortable contractions for the next week before we can do anything about it!?

So I was up from 2:30 this morning until 7...the contractions eventually lightened up and quit hurting in my back. I went back to sleep until about 10:30....they were still not very strong but within the past half hour they've started hurting in my back again but they aren't quite as strong as they were last night. I know the longer I can keep her cooking, the better for her but I'm already over these contractions.  They either need to go away or turn into something. Plus today would have been my Grandpa's 100th birthday so it would definitely be a special day to give birth :)  Time will tell.  We could possibly get a house and a baby in the same week....and really why would we do it any other way :)

Ultrasounds and House Offers

So we had our ultrasound yesterday...I was 37 weeks and 4 days and Adelyn was measuring at about 36 weeks and 1 day...give or take 21 days! Yeah...I don't know why they even bother doing those ultrasounds....so she's measuring anywhere from 33-39 weeks. They estimate her weight at 6 pounds and 3 oz give or take a pound...which is a little better. I'm going in next week for another one...I guess probably partially because of the diabetes and partially so they can compare it to the one yesterday and see how they compare rather than using the estimated measurements.

After the appointment we went on some more house hunts.  The first house we looked at was SO cheap but for good reason. It was rough rough rough.  We're not scared of a project but there are some projects that are just too big...especially when we're going to have a newborn.

We had another house we wanted to look at but the owners called the agent and said they were packing to move this week and didn't want anyone looking at it until Monday? I understand the house is probably a mess but if you're moving you probably need to sell it like...now right? Oh well...we had one more house that Jake had just found yesterday morning.  It still didn't have pictures online, which means this visual person skips right over those listings.  Thankfully, my husband read the description and thought it sounded like a promising house.

It was the first day on the market so that's why there were no pictures online.  It was an AMAZING house...I think it's definitely worth more than the family is asking for but they apparently are very motivated to sell and need to move pretty quickly.  It's at the top of our price range but it is completely move in ready.  The yard is kind of small but we can work with it.  It's 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths so we literally would probably never have to move unless we chose to.  It's in a great location with great schools.  It's close to a busy road so that's obviously a drawback.  It definitely has a few negatives but for how nice the house is we can deal with the negatives.

 So we put an offer in last night.  I felt like I was going to puke. It's such a huge commitment! However, we'll know by 6pm tonight if they accept our offer or not. Crazy to think that we could be home owners a month from now. Also crazy to think that the sellers may have sold their home the first day it was on the market! We've prayed about it a lot and we both feel at peace either way which lets me know we did the right thing.  If for some reason they don't accept our offer, we know it wasn't the right home for us and we keep looking. Now it's just playing the waiting game :)

*Edit* I almost didn't post this for fear of "jinxing" our offer...silly, I know. It may seem a little soon to be making it so official that we put an offer on a house...but I want to remember this time no matter how it turns out.  No matter where we end up, I've already seen God's hand guiding us through this journey and I want to be able to look back and see just where God led us on the journey to finding our home.

Prayers Appreciated

I'm 37 weeks today...no more procardia (medication to stop contractions) for me. I think I've been in early labor for a least a week...I've started dilating and thinning out and the contractions definitely aren't those painless Braxton Hicks anymore...they feel like my chest is closing up and make it hard to breathe at times.

My appointment yesterday went well but my midwife wants me to come back for an ultrasound on Tuesday. When I first started going there I was disappointed because they told me I would only have one ultrasound around 20 weeks unless medically necessary.  I've had 2 more since then, one because my stomach was measuring smaller than it should have and one because my first NST was non-reactive.  They checked the baby's size at the first one of these and she was measuring right one track with my due date.  At my appointment yesterday, my midwife measured my stomach and then asked me if we had done an ultrasound to check her size and make sure she's doing ok and I said not since the end of the second trimester.  She didn't say specifically why she wanted it done but she wants to check her size and my amniotic fluid.

I was happy at first so I didn't question it. A fourth ultrasound when I thought I'd only get one! Another chance to see my baby and how she's developing. And Jake's going to try and take a half day so he can spend the afternoon with me!  However, as I was leaving the office, the over thinking started.  As I was leaving I realized she didn't tell me what my stomach was measuring and she has every other time.  Does she think Adelyn is too big or too small? If she's too big will they induce me soon? If she's too small does that mean there's something wrong with her that's causing her to not grow? I haven't put on any weight since my appt at 33 weeks and it's now 4 weeks later....is Adelyn not gaining weight? And now I have to wait until Tuesday to find out.  I'm trying to just relax and trust that if she thought something life threatening was wrong that she would have sent me for an ultrasound right away.  Maybe she's just doing this to ease my mind because I brought up how some people say because my stomach is so small that I must be having a small baby and other people say they were really small, too and then had a 9-10 pound baby.  Maybe she's just being safe rather than sorry.

Either way, I would really appreciate prayers.  Prayers for Adelyn's health.  Prayers for a safe and healthy delivery.  Prayers for my over active mind to be at peace this weekend.  I'm just so ready to meet her and for unexpected things to not pop up anymore.  But I'm starting to realize that parenting is just a life full of the unexpected.  Things will never go according to my plans again (not that they ever did before...God has a way of having better plans for me). I won't feel this calm peaceful feeling that she's ok once she's finally here...I don't think I'll ever be able to not worry about her again. And that's where the prayers come in :)

Happy Easter weekend to everyone! I'll either be spending mine with family and house hunting or in the hospital having a baby :) Take time to remember all that Christ has done for YOU...and He would have done it for ONLY YOU! How can I even think to worry and not trust Him with my life and my daughter's life when He gave His life for me!

36 Weeks!

It's getting so close! And we have so much left to do....haha. Trying not to stress out!

So this picture is from last weekend....but I've yet to get out of my pajamas so this is what I've got. My stomach isn't really much bigger...promise.

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 36 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +20

Maternity Clothes: Yep. Or sweats.

Best Moment this Week: Finding out I can quit taking procardia next week when I'm 37 weeks and I can start doing normal things on my feet again and if it makes me go into labor then we're having a baby! I'm also 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So I'm hoping she's here before April 19th and I'm not one of those people that sits at 1 cm for weeks and has to end up being induced.

Gender: Baby girl :)

Movement: Lots. I went in for my weekly NST yesterday and I had to stay hooked up longer than usual because they couldn't get a resting heart rate for a base line because she was so active that her heart rate was constantly elevated. 

Food Cravings: French fries. Ice cream. All things I will be consuming more of once she's here...should help me lose the baby weight ;)

Food aversions: Spicy foods. Good news is bananas don't make me sick anymore!

Symptoms/Changes: Contractions aren't rhythmic anymore but when I get them I notice them for sure...not your usual Braxton Hicks. My back always hurts. I'm SUPER tired all the time. I also have been freaking out since yesterday's appt. I had a panic attack on the way home about how I have no idea what to do with a newborn and she could be here in a week. It's all sinking it finally.

Sleep: When I'm asleep, I'm sleeping hard. I roll around a lot though and when I'm awake I'm awake.  Last night I was up from 3:30 until about 5:30 and wasn't even tired but then I finally fell asleep and was in like the deepest sleep ever.

What I am looking forward to: Maternity photos tomorrow as long as the weather cooperates!

Husband's Hospital Survival Kit

So last week I was reading Valerie's blog Along the Way with V and J and she made her husband this super cute hospital survival kit with some of his favorite snacks and books and toiletries to get him through the hospital stay when she has their baby. And I thought what a GREAT idea! So I made one for Jake...nothing too special or fancy and it was super quick and easy to do!

I packed the following in Jake's hospital survival kit:

-Snacks: Oreos (his favorite cookie), orange slices (his favorite candy), and a cookies and cream Hershey's bar. I also grabbed a 6 pack of little orange sodas since he's not a caffeine drinker but orange soda is his favorite.

-Toiletries: Travel sized shampoo/body wash, toothpaste and toothbrush, shaving cream, and a razor.

-Fun stuff: I got him an iTunes gift card. He's not a huge reader so I didn't want to get him a book just for the sake of getting him something to entertain himself.  However, he is always using his iPhone and iPad so I thought he could buy himself some apps to keep himself busy or even a book if he's feeling crazy!

So there you have it :) Of course I had to give it to him right away even though I'm only 35 weeks...I said it was because I've been having the contractions and we never know when she may come but really it's because I'm a child and can't keep gifts a secret once I buy them. I want to give them and see the person's reaction :) Should work out well as a parent!

35 Weeks

So I didn't even realize I skipped last week...where did the past 2 weeks go? Time flies when you're having contractions that are 3 minutes apart....yeah....we spent last Wednesday in the hospital being monitored and getting shots to stop contractions. Fun fun. I swear I'm going to actually go into labor and sit at home because I'm calling Adelyn's bluff. I'm so ready to meet her though! One of these days....at my next doctor's appt I'm just going to ask them when I can start doing normal household chores again and if they bring on contractions we'll just go with it and have a baby instead of stopping it. Hopefully the answer will be soon!

I don't have a belly shot this week...I honestly don't feel like my belly is getting any bigger...which is weird because I figured by now I'd be growing by the day.  I feel like she's definitely lower though. And she's head down and ready to go whenever that time does come!

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 35 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +19 pounds total...somehow I lost a pound in 2 weeks. I don't understand. I did just have the stomach flu though so that may be the problem.

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes. Or sweats and Jake's shirts. I think I maybe have 1 or 2 tshirts of my own that still fit.

Best Moment this Week: Baby shower on Saturday :) Worst moment was having to cancel my church baby shower because of the flu :( I really wanted to celebrate with everyone!

Gender: GIRL! Little Adelyn :) Although every once in a while I'm like what will we do if we have a boy instead....momma can't handle that.

Movement: Yesss...to the point where it almost hurts sometimes because she stretches out so violently. I feel a lot of feet in my ribs and hands or elbows way down in my hips...not a comfortable feeling. She also has hiccups right now which I've just never gotten used to. I know I'll miss it all once she's here but it's all just a little uncomfortable for me right now. I'd rather be holding her :)

Food Cravings: Frozen custard from our local frozen custard place...meh. And McDonalds. I had a little diet cheat and had a cherry pie the other day. I haven't had one in years. So. Delish. I want one like every day now. 

Food aversions: Spicy foods. I got that BWW I was talking about getting on my last post...my stomach did NOT appreciate it...and I only got the medium sauce on my wings. I still love how they taste...my body does not love what they do to me. Sad day.

Symptoms/Changes: I get up at LEAST once a night to go to the bathroom. I can't fit into spaces that I think I can anymore...which is uncomfortable when I try anyway haha. My back and hips are pretty sore.

Sleep: Depends on the night. Last night I rolled around a lot but I slept so hard when I was sleeping. Other nights I wake up every time I roll over and don't go to sleep for 30 minutes to an hour each time. 

What I am looking forward to: Adelyn's arrival! Just a little over a month until her due date!