Anna Kate is here!!!

Our sweet baby girl has finally arrived! I never went into labor on my own, so on Monday, March 28, Justin and I arrived at the hospital at 7am to be induced. It was about 8am by the time I got to my room, got strapped to the monitor, and had my IV started. Once my pitocin was hung, I definitely started to feel some contractions, but it was mostly just tightness and not painful. Around 9am Dr. Cunningham came in and broke my water. I was still only dilated about 2cm and 75% effaced at that point. Then the painful contractions started and I was so happy to see the anesthesiologist! I got my epidural around 9:45. I could still feel a little tightness from the contractions, but that was nothing compared to what it had been. The nurse came in and checked me at 11:15 and I was 4cm. I was feeling itchy and the nurse said that it was from the narcotic in my epidural, so when I started feeling lightheaded and woozy, I figured it was from the medicine. The nurse came back at 12:15 to check me again and she asked if I was feeling nauseated. She told me that my blood pressure was 80/40 and she was going to give me some medicine to bring it back up. I was feeling nauseated after that, but I think it was all in my head! She checked me again and I was 5-6 cm. After the medicine, my blood pressure came back up and I wasn't feeling lightheaded anymore. Around 1:30, my contractions seemed to be a lot stronger and I was starting to feel some pressure. The nurse said I was 9cm. She came back at 2 and I was fully dilated, so we started doing some practice pushes. The Dr. came in and after a few more pushes, Anna Kate popped out! She was born at 2:15pm weighing 7 pounds and 1 ounce, and she was 21 inches long. She was face up but she definitely had a much smoother delivery than Tristan! The nurses got her all dried off and wrapped up and Justin and I got to spend a little quality time with our beautiful baby girl. Then it was time for her to meet her big brother. My sister picked Tristan up from school that day and they got to the hospital not too long after Anna Kate was born, so luckily he didn't have to hang out in the waiting room for too long. When Justin brought him in the room, he was really quiet at first. I think he was a little confused because he still pointed to my belly when we asked him where Anna Kate was. He seemed a little unsure of everything and he didn't like the IV in my arm. After a few minutes he had warmed up to the situation and he was ready to get down and run around. Then they had to take Anna Kate to the nursery to get checked out by the doctor and to have her first bath. After I was moved to my room on the postpartum hall, they brought her back so she could eat. It was a little difficult to get her to eat at first because she was having a trouble latching on and then she would just fall asleep. I was trying not to stress out about it, but because of the gestational diabetes, she was at risk for having low blood sugar levels. They were having to check her sugars before each feed, and if they got low, then we would have had to supplement with formula, or if they were really low then she would have had to get IV fluids. Luckily they were always above the cut off but her poor little heels looked like pin cushions after that. By the time we left the hospital, she had started getting the eating thing down pat. She also looked a little jaundiced but her billirubin levels were never high enough to need phototherapy. I didn't get hardly any sleep the two nights we were in the hospital but that was more because of the nurse coming in to check on me and take vital signs than because of Anna Kate. We were so eager to get home on Wednesday! We were dressed and all packed pretty early that morning, but it was almost lunch time when we finally got to leave. It sure was great when we did finally make it home, especially because our freezer was full of food! Thank you so much to everyone who cooked, and thank you Jennifer for getting it all together!

welcome to the world!

Anna Kate and Mommy

not a happy girl!

"Hello Daddy!"

she weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce

21 inches long

sweet girl

first family pic

Anna Kate and her big brother Tristan

beautiful girl!

cutest crib in the nursery :)

snug as a bug

Anna Kate's going home dress

ready to leave the hospital

getting buckled in

all ready to go!

39 Week Update

This will be my very last post before little Anna Kate is here! At my doctor's appointment two weeks ago, they did an ultrasound to see how big Anna Kate was and she was measuring 6 pounds and 9 ounces. The measurements can be off by half a pound either way. We decided that if Anna Kate didn't decide to come on her own, then I would be induced on Monday, March 28-tomorrow! I will be 39 weeks and 2 days, so just a few days shy of her actual due date. At that appointment and at the one this past Thursday, I was still only dilated 2cm and 50% effaced. I've had some contractions here and there, but unless something happens today then it looks like tomorrow will be the big day!

Justin and I have been trying to get some last minute things done. I got Anna Kate's going home outfit and diaper bag monogrammed and she is all packed for the hospital. Justin and I still have to pack, and I need to get Tristan's stuff together. Tonight he is staying at my mom's and then my sister and niece are going to stay with him at our house Monday and Tuesday nights. We have been trying to talk to him a lot about Anna Kate coming, and he says he is excited, but we will see!

Justin and I went out the other night for our last date night for probably quite some time! We went to Paint-N-Pals and Justin painted a picture for Tristan's room and I did one for the living room. We had a really good time and Tristan loves his rocket that Justin painted! Today we are just trying to take it easy and get some laundry done. And spend lots of time with Tristan. I let him sleep in our bed with me last night, which he doesn't normally get to do, and I'd say that neither of us got the best sleep. We are both trying to get over a cold and kept waking each other up coughing. Every time I would cough, he would say "Oh goodness, goodness." It was quite sweet. Poor Justin got up and moved to the couch.

I added the shower pics at the bottom and will do my best to get some pics of Anna Kate up soon!

38 week belly

getting some Tristan love before work

giving Anna Kate a bye-bye kiss

my painting from Paint-N-Pals

Justin painted a rocket for Tristan's room

family pic

loving on Anna Kate

big brother kisses

Mommy and Daddy

39 week belly

baby shower pics

Jennifer, Mom, and Me

Tristan and Mommy

Anna Kate's bedding

yummy food

me and Angela

Jennifer and Zooey

me, Ashley, and Taylor (Tristan's girlfriend)

36 Week Update

We have gotten a ton of work done in preparing for Anna Kate's arrival! We got the room completely cleaned out and carpets shampooed. Justin got the stripes painted and the furniture moved in. And I've gotten most of her stuff washed and put away. I finally picked out some fabric for curtains and a friend of mine is going to sew them for me. I bought her a diaper bag and a going home outfit that just needs to be monogrammed. I even went ahead and started laying some things out that I want to take for her to the hospital. I can't have her wearing plain old hospital t-shirts! :) I went to Paint-n-Pals with some friends from work and painted a picture for Anna Kate's room. We had such a great time, and it was nice to do something adult-like! The pink background of the painting turned out a little darker than I had intended, but hopefully it will still look okay in her room.

A few weekends ago, my mom and sister threw me a baby shower. We still have all the big stuff from when Tristan was a baby, but we definitely needed all the basic baby essentials. We also needed clothes and other girl related items. Thank you to everyone who came and for the wonderful presents for Anna Kate! Also, thank you to my NICU friends for the gifts and gift card!

Anna Kate and I have still been doing great. She gets the hiccups all of the time, and she is a pro at water aerobics-especially when I lay down to go to sleep! At my doctor's appointment two and a half weeks ago, everything looked great and I had gained four pounds (which I wasn't excited about). I started going once a week after that, and haven't gained any more at the last two checkups, so I'm ok with that. My next appointment is this Wednesday morning after I've worked three nights in a row, so if I've gained any, I'm going to blame it on my feet being swollen! At my appointment last Thursday, the doctor checked me and I was dilated two centimeters and 50% effaced (thinned out). The Tuesday night before that, I had been having some major contractions at work. I tend to ignore my contractions because they aren't painful and happen randomly all of the time. But these were hurting all the way around to my back-bad enough to distract me from my word game :(. So I figured I might ought to start paying attention to them. They were three to four minutes apart for about an hour, so I went and talked to one of the L&D nurses. She said I needed to sit down with my feet up for a while and drink a ton of water, and if they got worse or didn't stop then I needed to call my doctor and see if she thought I should be admitted. I drink a lot of water anyway, but after another hour and three and a half more bottles of water (and numerous bathroom trips), the contractions finally started going away. I haven't had anymore regular or painful contractions like that, just my usual random ones. I thought maybe Anna Kate was going to try and come a little early. I had to be admitted at 34 weeks with Tristan to stop my contractions, but then I ended up having to be induced after my due date, so who knows. If she doesn't come on her own, then I will most likely be induced on her due date, which is April 2. I will have an ultrasound next Thursday to see what her estimated weight is, and if it looks like she is going to be a big girl, then I probably will be induced sooner than that. I guess we will just have to wait and see!

I will have to get the shower pics from my mom and sister and post them next time. It would probably be a good idea to get another belly shot, too!

me at Paint-n-Pals

Daddy painting Anna Kate's room

Tristan supervising

pink stripes

Anna Kate's bed

Tristan wanted his picture in the bed :)

dresser and picture I painted

33 Week Update

Anna Kate and I have been doing great these past few weeks! At my doctor's visit two weeks ago, everything was fine and I had lost a pound. And at my visit last Friday, everything still looked great and I weighed the same thing, so I was ok with that! I go back in another two weeks for my next checkup. I have still been having some contractions here and there, but nothing to be too worried about. My sugars have been fine, except for after pizza. It sure was good though!

We finally got the desk moved out of her room, so now we just have to get everything else done. We are both off of work this Friday, so the plan is to take Tristan to school and get as much done as we can. We should be able to get most everything done with the exception of moving furniture. Justin is going to have to find someone else to help him do that! I've ordered her diaper bag, but I still need to find her a going home outfit to wear. And I've looked at fabric for curtains, but haven't made my mind up yet. So much to do, and running out of time!

32 week belly

29 Week Update

I'm officially in my last trimester! It doesn't seem like I should be that far along already. I went for another check up last week and everything is great. My sugars have been good, and my blood pressure was fine. Tristan kept trying to get on the scale with me and I was too busy trying to distract him that I don't remember what my weight

was. I had to get a shot of rhogam, and that did not feel so good! The most exciting part of the visit was the 4D ultrasound. It is amazing the technology these days. Anna Kate was very cooperative during her photo shoot, and even gave us a smile. She also poked her lip out and frowned, and opened her eyes at one point. And she is definitely still a girl. She wasn't very active, so the video clips are mostly just her practicing her facial expressions. Her estimated weight was 2 pounds and 14 ounces. I looked back at what Tristan's weight was on his 4D ultrasound at 28 weeks and it was 2 pounds and 13 ounces, so hopefully that is some indication of what size she will be when she is born. Tristan was 6 pounds and 8 ounces, and I will be perfectly happy with another small baby! And as her and I previously discussed, she has flipped upside down. But also like her big brother, she is face up. So hopefully she will turn

around by then. Just as long as she doesn't flip back right side up!

Tristan is starting to acknowledge Anna Kate a little bit more. He likes for me to go back and forth between the picture where she is smiling and the one where she is frowning. He will say "Anna's happy" or "Anna's sad." A coworker had given me a boppy with a girly print on it for Anna, and it is sitting on the desk in Anna's room. Tristan spotted it and asked what it was, so I told him it was Anna Kate's boppy. He repeated me and then he went and got his boppy and quickly let me know that it was "Tristan's boppy." He has done that several times the last few days and I tried to assure him that Anna Kate would not be taking his boppy away!

29 week belly

Tristan wanted to be in the pic too :)

chubby cheeks

tiny foot

peeking her eyes open

perfect little profile

half smile

frowning

poking her bottom lip out. We have a picture of Tristan shortly after he was born where he is poking his lip out just like this!

our beautiful baby girl!

27 Week Update

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We definitely did. We had several different Christmas dinners with various family members and it was great seeing everyone. It was also a lot of fun with Tristan this year because he really enjoyed getting to open presents. He was pretty good at handing them out, too. Anna Kate had a nice and cozy Christmas as well :).

I went for another check up last week and everything still looks good. My blood pressure is fine and her heart beat sounded great. I even lost a few pounds since my last appointment! Ha ha, that's the funniest thing I've heard all year :). No, I actually gained five pounds, but I'm blaming it on all the yummy Christmas dinners! So, 19 pounds total so far, which is well within the normal range. I have been checking my sugars a few times a day, and most of the time they are fine, but I have had a few on the high side lately. So I guess I'm really going to have to do a better job of watching what I eat. We eat pretty healthy in general, but its the sweets that get me in trouble. The really hard part is that box full of chocolate Christmas candy sitting on my kitchen counter. Guess I'll have to use it for Tristan as treats for going on the potty (which he has done once, yay!). Tristan has become quite a good little helper when its time for me to check my sugar. He opens the case for me, gets the monitor out, and puts the test strip in and turns it on. He also like pushing the button that makes the lancet prick my finger. After the meter reads my glucose, he likes to talk on it like a phone, and he tells whoever is on the other end that he just checked Mommy's sugar. Its quite adorable.

Anna is still a very active little wiggle worm, so hopefully she will flip upside down and stay that way! I'm still having a few contractions here and there, but nothing labor like. My feet get a little swollen after working a few 12 hour shifts in a row, but they are fine when I'm not working. And other than a few minor aches and pains, which are all normal, I really can't complain! Except I need this pregnancy to slow down a bit! We got our new computer cabinet (thank you Grandmother and Aunt Sharon!) all set up in the living room, so now we just have to get the enormous desk taken apart and out of Anna Kate's room. Then clean out the closet (the scary part), clean the carpet, and we will be ready to make it a little girl's room. Of course somewhere in there we have to transition Tristan into the twin bed before we can move the crib to the other room, but I'm not in a real big hurry just yet. I'm sure he will do fine, but that just means he is one step further away from being my little baby!

I go back to the doctor in two weeks for my next check up. Hopefully I will get my sugars under better control by cutting out sweet stuff, but if they are still high even with me eating a perfect diabetic diet, I might have to do insulin. So hopefully it won't come to that! I also get to have another ultrasound. We are doing a 4D one like we did with Tristan, and I am super excited to get to see what she looks like!

25 weeks