Welcome to the world: Baylee Cecile!!

I am speechless! I cannot believe my daughter is finely here! I can't believe I have a daughter! She is absolutely perfect!

I have an amazing birth story to share but for now I am going to post some pictures. She was successful born at home! She's a tiny peanut. 5 lbs 9 oz 19 inches. Born at 38 weeks.

36 almost 37 weeks!

Time sure is flying by!! Working so hard to get ready, seems like the harder we work to get ready the less ready we are!! We have about 98% of the Home Birth stuff together. We are cleared time wise for a home birth on Wednesday but the home visit is not till the following Tuesday, so she must stay put!! ( I am sure that if I go into between Wednesday and Tuesday I can surely get one of the midwives to come out to do my home visit!) I am not really nervous. I am more worried about going over my due date and needing to be induced. that scares me more than anything!

Started going back to get acupuncture, that is nice. I feel better ready! I also went to the chiropractor for the first time!! Holy crap, I am addicted! That feels soooooooooo good! They are my heroes! I just love it! They are working on widening my pelvis for delivery. The acupuncturist is working is working on softening my joints and my cervix.

So I have a bunch of pictures to post. Some of my regular belly picks and so just random other pictures.

I HAVE STRETCH MARKS!!

Testing out the birth tub. Yup, it's kiddie pool!!

31 and a half weeks

Not to much to say. Just growing this little baby inside me. She feels much bigger when she moves around! Trying to get stuff ready fro our home birth. Birthing classes start this Thursday, we are very excited for that. Washing all of Baylee's stuff in small loads, one day at a time. Sent my Grandmother a Mother's Day card and wrote in it that her middle name will be Cecile after her. Apparently she did not get it yet. Hopefully tomorrow. I was having some sciatic nerve pain but it has cleared up. I don't sleep very well at night and some nights I retreat to the couch. I believe we need a king sized bed!! Nothing impressive with weight gain, I am grateful for that. My appetite is normal, I crave fruit a lot, got to try to stay away from carbs cause I barely passed my glucose tolerance test. Here's some belly pics from today! Happy Mother's Day!!

26 week quick update!

Quickie update. All is well in the world of pregnancy. I feel great. Have plenty of energy and have not aches and pain, except for the occasional night time leg cramps. My work schedule has improved home life and stress level. I love being home at night and on the weekends. We made our finally decision to have a midwife assisted home birth. We are very excited! We are going to rent a birthing tube and put it in the sunroom! I think it will be great! My midwives are the best and I trust them to provide the best support and care in my home. So enjoying the spring weather we are having! Baylee's nursery is about finished. Here are some picture updates!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate that it has taken me so long to post this!! Such an exciting week last week!! First off this ultrasound was amazing!! I was overwhelmed with emotion to see this little person moving around inside me. I cried, laughed, and was just in overall awe at how beautiful she looks to me already. I can't stop staring at the ultrasound pictures. Tracy and I both are just so in love with little person! I would have been just as happy for a boy but a little girl! I can't even put into words how I feel. All I keep thinking about is how special a relationship there is between and a mother and her daughter. We are just over the moon.

While sitting in the doctor's office after the ultrasound we were dis cussing what we are going to name her. Well we have always known that we would name her Baylee. But the middle name was somewhat up for discussion. It was going to be Glenn after Tracy's Grandmother. Well for some reason at that particular moment I thought "We should all have the same last name." In NC we cannot get married. I asked Tracy if we could change our last name to Glenn and give Baylee my Grandmother's name as a middle name. After some discussion about it we have decided that that is the way to go. So her name is Baylee Cecile! And we will start the legal process of changing our last names ASAP.

In other news. The same day as my ultrasound we went to Goodwill to shop for some baby clothes. (We are thrift store junkies.) I got a phone call from work. Long store short, I got the job I had applied for!! And I started on Tuesday!! NO MORE NIGHT SHIFT!! WOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! I will love this job so much!!

So I actually had the weekend off!! And I was busy! I painted some items for Baylee's room! Check out the pics. More to follow as I get more done in there!!

The dresser was a pale yellow color, the changing table was just wood, and the shelves were obviously just white!! We want lots of color in there!! So much more to do!! Oh and the paint...didn't spend a dime! It's all stuff we had around the house!

Blah Blah Blah: A bit of a ranting post!

I don't know why I can't accept things for what they are? I guess maybe I don't do well with change unless it is my idea. So here it goes I am going to lay it out and maybe after I finish typing I will fell better.

Deep breath...Back in October right after I found out I was pregnant I was offered a "new" job. Basically it would get me off night shift 2 nights a weeks. I would work 2 days and 1 night. During the day I would be doing a job that I know I would really enjoy!! I would be filling in for the Resident Care Coordinator. So months go by and they can't find anyone to fill my nights, and the census goes done, and long story short I am still on night shift. ( For now, more on that later).

While all this is going on Tracy is out on disability for her back. Physical therapy, tests, Doctor's appointments, we get slapped with a bill for her deductible. We then get slapped with a bill for my deductible. Totaling $5000!! Tracy's only bringing in 60% of her income, not likely that we can pay that.

Mid December we get the news from Tracy's work that she may actually lose her job. She carries both of our health insurance. Not good. But I take care of business for myself and get enrolled at work during open enrollment, one problem solved. At the beginning of January Tracy asked for an extension of her FMLA go finish up some tests before returning to work. They deny it and kindly terminate her from her position saying she is welcome to apply for any open positions, conveniently enough there are not positions available. Whatever, she seems quite relieve to be done with all that drama.

I probably had a few melt downs over all this. I mean really that is a huge chunk of our household income now gone. She applies for unemployment and goes to Vocational Reheb. Unemployment says they are back logged 8 weeks and it could take up to 12 weeks before she gets a check. OK I don;t know how many people can go 12 weeks without a pay check but fortunately it doesn't put us in immediate dire straights.

Tracy is not one to just sit around, she has lots of ideas and plans. Honestly, I don't always give her the support she needs when it comes to this area. But I am trying. She decides that a job is better than no job. So she takes a part time job with an hourly wage that is half of what she was making before. I am grateful that she wants so badly to contribute. The job is not easy for her to do because her back is still not well.

So my cry baby self now has to get used to the idea that she is not going to be around my every waking moment. I guess I got used to her always being home. Now she is working on the days I am off, just a few hours. And 2 nights that I work she leaves for work either right before or right after I get up. OK now just looking at this, 2 nights, really and I am upset about this. I am sure some couples work completely opposite days and shifts and hardly see eachother.

I guess this upsets me because I treasure our time together. You just never know what moment will be your last and I like to try to have as much time together as possible.

So then good news comes to the home front. There are some positions shifting at work and I applied for the Resident Care Coordinator position because the current person in that position is being promoted. There is no reason why I should not get this job. I would be working Monday-Friday day shift. I think I will feel a lot better emotionally and physically. I want to be home every night. My body is craving a normal schedule. Please everyone pray that I get this job and that our lives come back together.

More on this later. And on a much happier note: OUR ULTRASOUND IS MONDAY!!!! GIRL OR BOY???? We will see!!!!!

A goldfish in a water balloon

Last week I really started feeling lots of movement in my belly. I could feel little flutters and pokes but all sudden I had a Fung Fu fighting baby!! It was shocking! After about 3 days of being able to feel these movements regularly Tracy could actually feel it on the outside. I think that is just amazing because well, I am a little chunky and I thought my fluffy layer would pad some of those kicks! Now I can feel these kicks and movements on a regular basis. Such an amazing feeling. I feel so lucky! What an amazing experience this is!

Anxiously awaiting Valentine's Day! I am so exciting to find out what we are having!! The opinions are split among friends, family, and coworkers. Everyone has their theory! I just want a healthy baby.

Here's my latest pic taken at 19 weeks!

18 weeks 4 days

Nothing to exciting going on. I mean growing a baby is very exciting if your in my body. From the outside it is business as usual. My belly just keeps getting bigger! I still have not gained any weight. This is fine by me for the time being! If I can stay below 200 that will be great! I feel pretty confident that my weight is not going to be an issue. We joined the gym last week. Walking on the treadmill and swimming!! Swimming was a little weird. My belly felt funny in the water.
Had a appointment with the midwife on Monday. Saw Alisa this time. She was very nice. Not to much to do at this stage but they take the time anyway. It is a really great place to go. Heard the heart beat again. That is always exciting! About 146 this time. Schedule our ultrasound. The big day is Valentine's Day!! I am so excited to find out the gender of this little bugger!!

So here are some up dated belly shot! Whoa!

16 weeks and 6 days

I finally took my 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Passed it no problem. It wasn't so bad. I just napped in the recliner for most of the time. So, that's over with until about 28 weeks.

Nothing else going on. Took some belly pics last week that I haven't gotten a chance to post yet so here they are!

145!!!

Last week I had to take an early 1 hour glucose test because I am over weight and well old... I was not generally worried about the test. I did not eat breakfast that morning and just drank the 50 grams of glucola. Well, I failed the darn test!! Normal is anything below 140 and mine was 145! I was so upset I just started balling!!! It didn't end there. When I got the call I was on my way to the court house to pay a speeding ticket. I had to pay to park and had no cash so I had to walk to the ATM to get some money. When I got to the court house the DA lowered my ticket and said I had to pay it today. I went downstairs to pay...cash only. Walked back to the ATM, just across the street, I took $200 out and walked back to the court house. Pulled the money out, only $120...the ATM screwed me. Walked back across the street and the teller says. "I'm sorry we don't service our own ATM's." Really?? I had to sit and wait on a manager to help us. After a phone call and punching some numbers she handed me the phone, Blah blah blah, we will have your money back in your account in about 2 hours. Ok so it is after 3:00 and the ticket has to be paid by 4:00. Luckily we had $80 in our checking account to pay the ticket. (The automatic draft for the cable bill is another story.) Finally got the damn speeding ticket paid. What a crappy day that was!!
So back to the glucose test... I have to take the 3 hours glucose test. 12 hours of fasting!! Don't they realize I'm pregnant!! Well, I am so committed to getting active. We walked today. I have lost 12 pounds since I got pregnant so I am on the right track. Diet wise, I don't think I eat to terribly bad, but my perception my be skewed. I did a bit of a food inventory in my pantry and there might be some bad stuff in there. Short bread cookies from Christmas. Fig newtons, 3 different kinds of crackers, no fruit left in the fruit bowl, no fresh vegies left in the fridge. (But there is a homemade vegie soup!) I really need to try harder. I can do this.

Pregnancy Bliss

I really do feel like I am on cloud 9 most days! I am so grateful for all the nasty first trimester symptoms to be gone. Now I am only contending with a growing belly. I love my belly!! Ok I have never said that before! I took some belly pics the other day. I feel really good most days. I did have a bit of an emotional melt down this evening before coming to work. I burnt my fingers on some steam and you would have thought it was the end of the world. I got over it.  So I am now 14 weeks and 4 days. I am very much looking forward to our 20 week ultrasound so we can catch another glimpse of this beautiful child growing inside me and so we know if we are having a boy or a girl. That will make planning the rest of the nursery much easier!! I also feel like it will give us a whole new connection with our little one!! Oh and last week Tracy got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! She was super excited. Midwife says everything looks great. Right on track. I do however have to start doing so exercising so that I can prepare my body for labor. We are really hoping to go the the YWCA so that we can get in the pool. I love to swim!! Naturally, I am a Pisces! This week my big plan is to make some cloth diapers. I have final come up with a pattern that I am happy with! 

These are my All in One diapers. They are micro fleece on the inside and have a pocket for an absorbent pad to go in. The outside is made from waterproof PUL. I put snaps on the front to shorten the rise for tiny baby. I am hoping to make 20-30 of this size. Then I can make the others a bit bigger and they should fit for a while. As you can see my sewing is a little shotty but it's a diaper not a prom dress.  

My belly at 13 weeks! Yike

Here is a pic of me and Tracy in front of the crib! This is the crib that has been in the basement for 5 years!! And yes we will be using it!!