4 weeks old!

Mckenzie was 4 weeks old yesterday!

Our insurance agent here in town was having an open house with Santa and reindeer as well!  She did so well! :)

She is doing wonderful! She is still wearing her newborn clothes but some are starting to get snug but she's too small for some of the 0-3 month stuff.  Still wearing newborn diapers, she's very slender and has a small butt so I think she might not move to the size 1's for a bit.  She is nursing great! We tried a bottle for half of her feeding today which she did good.  I am going to continue to nurse her but want her to take a bottle if needed, like when were in Oregon my best friend Julie is taking me to lunch and for a massage which will likely overlap with feeding time so I can leave a bottle for her, so we'll probably just give her a bottle sometimes so its not too hard when I return to work.

I went to a mother's group for breastfeeding mothers last week which was a neat experience and be able to chat with other new mom's in the same boat.

She is awake much more and is pretty content most of the time.  She only gets upset when she's hungry. She has rolled over 3-4 times during tummy time in the last 2 days.  She has been sleeping well and has been having 5-6 hour stretches of sleep at night! :)

We're headed to Oregon next weekend for Christmas which we're excited for! Most of the family hasn't met her yet so it'll be exciting!

3 weeks old!

Mckenzie is 3 weeks old today! She is doing great! She is doing much better with nursing and is sleeping pretty good at night, sometimes I have to wake her to feed her and other times she wakes up ready to eat.  All in all things are going well.

We had professional pictures taken at the house this week that turned out awesome! We got all the pictures on disc and can do what we want with the pictures, I think they turned out awesome!! Here's just a few from the shoot....of course we loved all of them!

Jeremy's parents came into town on Wednesday night and flew home this afternoon.  They had a great time snuggling with Mckenzie.

We've had quite a bit of snow that has stuck around, from people that live here they've said this is the most snow they've seen in years and the amount of snow is what they might see in 1 winter.  It's been hovering around freezing temps so a lot of the snow is still around.  We got about 6-7" last week and half of it is still around, I'm enjoying it though it's so pretty.

We're getting excited for our trip to Oregon in 2 weeks :)

And super excited that the Ducks won the Civil War game today! Go Ducks!!!

New camera!

I've been wanting a new camera.  I have an Olympus waterproof camera that works good but when I go to take a picture it seems to take longer then it should so it's annoying.  I wanted to get a nicer camera and mentioned to Jeremy I'd like a nice digital camera.

Little did I know he'd be getting me one for my birthday! It arrived the day after since he got it online....

Canon EOS Rebel XS 18-55IS

I need to pick up a good sized memory card...I have one around here from my old Canon digital camera but have no idea where it is.  I did find one that is a small memory card that must have came with my old Canon - I was able to use it to take a few pictures and wow what a huge difference in picture quality compared to my other camera! We also need to pick up a camera bag for it too.  I'm so excited as I know we'll be getting really good pictures with this! He also got me another lens to go with it too! Jeremy's parents are coming next week and his dad has a really nice Canon DSLR camera so he'll have to educate me a bit on when to use the different lenses and what not! :)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

Wonderful visit!

My mom was here from November 17-22.  She totally pampered us big time! Made me breakfast every morning, snacks, lunch and yummy dinners! She stocked up our fridge and freezer before she left.  She made up a bunch of freezer meals for us too.  Sunday we had a Thanksgiving dinner and made a delicious turkey.  Last year we tried something new from a cooking show we saw where they sliced up an orange and cut the top off of a bulb or garlic and put in inside the turkey with some rosemary.  We put salt, pepper and olive oil on the outside of the turkey...makes the moistest turkey every.  I think its the citrus that makes it so moist.  So we'll be eating turkey left overs this week.  We went to the Olive Garden yesterday for my birthday and my mom made a homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  She was going to make a chocolate cake but we read in my book that if your nursing to avoid chocolate...rats! The carrot cake turned out wonderful.  We had a wonderful visit with her, we did go to a Christmas Bazaar but mostly took it easy and watched movies and relaxed in front of the fire and all had snuggle time with Mckenzie.

She has been doing good, she is nursing like a champ! We usually do have to wake her at night for her feedings but does wake up before we wake her too.  She has been sleeping really well at night and the last few days we've noticed she's been more awake during the day.

We've had snow showers a few days but got a good amount that stuck and its been cold.

We'll be stay home for Thanksgiving this year since we weren't sure when Mckenzie would arrive.  We picked up a Honeybaked Ham to prepare :)

Jeremy's parents are coming into town next Wednesday and will be here until next Saturday.  Then we'll be headed to Oregon on December 18th and stay there until there until the 1st.

Mckenzie had a check up at the doctor on Tuesday and was back up to her birth weight! Her jaundice is also cleared up as well and is doing great! :)

We are also having professional pictures taken here at the house on Monday which I'm so excited for!

1 week old!

Mckenzie is 1 week old today! She is so amazing! We had to go to the doctor for her twice this week since she had a little jaundice and had lost some weight.  The first 2 nights at home she cried a lot at night but did fine during the day.  We went and saw the lactation specialist on Wednesday because my nipples were so tender and it hurt to nurse, we were supplementing a little at night to see if that'd help the crying.  We figured out that she wasn't getting enough to eat so we supplemented for a few more days and had seen the doctor the same day for her check up.  We had a follow-up appointment on Thursday and she had gained and the doctor said it wasn't necessary to supplement anymore since she was gaining and my milk was coming in so it appeared she was getting plenty.  She has done much better at night, we have to take her clothes off to get her awake enough to nurse! She is absolutely so precious!

My mom arrived on Wednesday and has been cooking us delicious meals and pampering us! She is here until my birthday (Monday) and flies home in the evening.

All and all I'm feeling pretty good - I did have some stitches which are a bit tender still but other than that I am feeling great, it is kind of weird not having my belly in the way ;)  I'm absolutely loving being a mommy!

We've been taking lots of pictures but here is our first family picture :)

Birth Story

So I had been having contractions all day on Friday, November 12th that were coming all day and about 10 minutes apart.  They weren't painful at all just could feel my stomach tightening up.  I worked all day and trying to wrap up last minute things since I didn't know if I'd be at work on Monday.  I really had myself mentally prepared that I'd go a week overdue since it was my first.  Jeremy called me all throughout the day wondering if he needed to come home from work - I even worked a bit late because I knew that I might be in labor.  After he came home from work we went for a long walk, and then I used the jacuzzi tub  while he went and got dinner.  We ate dinner and by around 7pm the contractions started getting closer together more like 5-7 minutes apart.  We just relaxed at home and Jeremy packed his bag and put the infant carrier in the car seat base.  Jeremy said once the contractions start getting 3-5 minutes apart for an hour we'd head to the hospital.

By around 9pm I noticed the contractions were getting closer together and getting to be 3-5 minutes apart and by 10pm we decided to to get ready and head in - we ended up getting to the hospital about 11pm.

They hooked me up to the monitors and said I was almost 3cm by this point and was contracting about every 2-4 minutes.  We decided to go walk but the intensity of the contractions were getting much stronger so I got in the jacuzzi tub for about an hour.  Within an hour of being there I start getting contractions 2-3 minutes apart and was in active labor - so I was admitted and we got settled into a delivery room and I was 4cm by this point.  We tried walking the halls more but I got to the point where I couldn't walk because I was getting contractions one on top of another - come to find out later I was contraction every 1-2 minutes so I wasn't getting a break.  I found out my doctor was not on call so there was another doctor that was on call from my doctor's group - I was bummed but really didn't mind.

I went back to the room and was considering the epidural because I was having trouble at this point with contractions so close together and pretty much no break.  I thew up around this time.  I was concerned about getting the epidural at this point because I didn't want it to slow my labor down.  So they gave me some pain medication through my IV which seemed to help a bit but within an hour by about 4am I felt like it wasn't working so I got the epidural.  I was able to get a nice break, I tried to get some rest but wasn't tired.  I got the epidural about 5am and was checked again (at 5:30am or 6am - can't remember) and I was an 8 already! Holy moly! The nurse said I was probably at a 6 when I had the epidural placed.   The monitors were showing I was getting contractions back to back and they were lasting up to 2 minutes.

So they came and checked me again about an hour later and I was at a 9.  There was a shift change at 7am so the on call doctor from my doctor's practice checked in on me and told me another doctor from their office would do the delivery.

My water still hadn't broken so the doctor came in and broke my water and they were doing the shift change.  The new nurse we had was great.  Within minutes after breaking my water I started feeling nausea and got sick again.  The nurse was still in the room - and she said I'm going to check you again - I was at a 10 already! She was already finishing getting the room set up and said that I would start pushing soon to get the baby to come down more before the doctor came in.  The nurse already knew that Jeremy was nervous about getting sick and said - your going to need to hold one of her legs - his eyes got big and said but I don't want to watch - she said that's fine you can face Holly but I need you to hold her leg while I hold the other.  We did a bunch of pushes which I didn't think was bad and am not sure what time the doctor came in - it seemed like it flew by but I think I was pushing for about an hour to hour and a half but I didn't think it was bad.  The doctor announced when her head was out and Jeremy said he looked and wasn't grossed out, and within a moment of her head being out she was on my belly! She looked so cute and let out a cry.  Jeremy cut the cord too! I am amazed how well he held up, he said he didn't feel queezy or light headed at all (only when they were inserting my IV).

To me she looked small and when they weighed her and said she was 8 pounds! I was so shocked and didn't believe them!! I didn't feel like my stomach was all that big so she must have just been positioned just right in there. She was born at 8:42am.  Jeremy was over by her while the doctor stitched me up and I didn't even notice when the placenta delivered - I was able to see Jeremy and the baby while they cleaned her up and checked her out.  We had decided on the name Ashton Mckenzie before (remember our name drawing to decide on the first name).  They brought her back over to me and Jeremy said "We can name her Mckenzie if you want!" She totally looked like a Mckenzie so we decided to go with Mckenzie Ashton!  She was 21" long which I was surprised too!

We stayed in the delivery room until after 2pm and then they moved us to another floor where we stayed for 2 days.  She struggled with breastfeeding at first but the pediatrician thought she might have some amniotic fluid in her belly still so they took her and they were able to get the rest of it out of her belly.  After that she started nursing much better.  She has been sleeping a lot during the day and of course is awake at night - we did have her sleep in the nursery part of the nights we were in the hospital so we could get some rest and they brought her back in for feedings.  My doctor came and checked in on us and was bummed he wasn't there for the delivery.

All in all the experience was wonderful! I honestly had assumed I'd have a long labor for being my first but it went pretty quick.  I was in hard labor for about 8 hours and thought it would have had the hard labor for 15-20 ish hours.  It's funny how I had myself mentally prepared for morning sickness, not sleeping, back pain, long miserable labor - all of which didn't really happen.  I'm thankful for a easy and healthy pregnancy and amazing birth experience too! Watch the next baby we have it'll probably be the opposite! (::knocks on wood::)

We had our first night at home which I didn't think was too bad - she was awake for quite a bit at night and had crying episodes but it went good (I thought) :)

I'm still waiting for my milk to come in which I expect to happen any time now but know that it can take several days.

My mom is coming in tomorrow and will be here until my birthday on the 22nd.  She had booked a ticket back in August and I was more concerned that the baby would arrive after she left.  I'm glad she's coming and Mckenzie is already here :)

I need to get our camera cord so I can load pictures from my camera onto the computer :)

We go for her check up tomorrow morning and

Sweet Arrival!!!

Introducing....

Mckenzie Ashton Sanders
Born November 13, 2010 at 8:42am
8 lbs 2 oz 21" long

I'll post the full story later on! I was surprised that she was 8 pounds! I figured she was 6 1/2 -7 pounds since my belly wasn't super big but I was wrong! :)

We are so in love with our little girl!

39 weeks

Here I am at 39 weeks!

I seriously can't believe my due date is NEXT week! Obviously she could make her debut before or after that.  I'm still feeling pretty good and sleeping good which is crazy but I'm thankful for that! I've continued to have contractions all week that are sporadic - only a few which have been more intense but nothing consistent.  They say you know when your in labor, but since I've never been through this before I worry that I won't know.  Jeremy's guess was I'd have the baby on my birthday - the 22nd but now he's thinking it'll happen sooner then later...we'll see...just a waiting game at this point.  I go back to the doctor on Monday for a check up.  My mom flies in on Wednesday and will be here til the following Tuesday.

Almost baby time! :) I'm so excited!!

Progress!

Went to the doctor today - all is looking good!

I've been having contractions since Friday that have been a bit random and sporadic.  I figured I go to my appointment and still not be dilated since last week nothing was going on.  Today the doctor checked and I'm 1-2cm dilated and 75% effaced so I guess those contractions were actually doing something! Although, I know people can walk around dilated for a week or two and nothing happen, so I'm not holding my breath or getting too excited.

Definitely not posting this type of update on Facebook - I think it's weird when people post those kind of stats on Facebook...and well I don't want to start the "Have you had the baby?" questions and what not...

38 weeks

Here I am at 38 weeks!

I am literally in the home stretch! I can't believe it! I'm doing pretty good! I'm still working and I think the fact that I work from home has helped with that - I don't think commuting 40 ish minutes one way, like I was before would be any fun.  All and all I'm feeling good still - the pelvic pain was getting really uncomfortable earlier in the week but the nurse suggested taking a warm bath - so I've been putting our jacuzzi tub to good use every night which has completely helped!

I just can't believe how fast everything has gone by...because we're having a baby anytime now...it could be days from now or weeks from now...who knows...just have to wait and see!

I started making wall letters for the nursery and was going to use round wood and then paint each letter on to a circle - I didn't like the way it was looking so I ended up settling on the actual wooden letter.  I finished painting them tonight and might do a clear coat on it - they turned out cute.  I decided to paint them grass green and did light blue dots on all of them...Jeremy suggested the green which I didn't know if it would go with the rest of the room but I think it'll look great on the pink walls :)

I'm so excited to reveal the baby's name when she's born! I seriously can't believe we've been able to keep it a secret - not too many people have been bugging us about it - it'll be a fun surprise! :) 

House full!

We had a great visit with my Mom, Dan, Scottie, Nathan and Natalie.  It was nice to have them all here - they brought the dresser that Dan made for the baby's room and a shelf and TV stand they didn't need.  So as I posted below the baby's nursery is pretty much complete - just have to put the finishing touches on the wall letters...which I won't post pictures until after since they spell the baby's name ;) Only a few more weeks and am proud that we've kept her name a secret!

Here are some pictures from their visit...I definitely need to take more next time! My mom is coming back by herself on November 17th til the 22nd...she is certain the baby is arriving on my due date...that's her guess ;)

Eating dinner at Flatbread Community Oven - one of my new favorite restaurants.  

It's an italian pizzeria  that is so tasty!

Yup, I pull all 47 candles on her cake! hehe! Scott had to help her blow them out!

Amazing chocolate cake! :)

Nursery!

So the nursery is finished! My mom, Dan, Scott, Nathan & Natalie all came into for a nice long weekend!

Dan set up the beautiful dresser that he built for the nursery and we went and picked out the handles for it....it is amazing!

Here are pictures....everything is done - I am working on the wall letters to hang about the crib (that's why it looks bare) but I ended up going with round wood and was going to paint the letters onto it but I'm not liking the way it's looking so I picked up the actual letters and do instead.

I had a doctor's appointment today - they confirmed my Group B Strep test was negative.  I only saw the nurse since my doctor was doing an emergency c-section delivering twins!  No dilation as of yet.  I am starting to notice my belly get hard every once in a while so I'm thinking that it's the Braxton Hicks contractions - they happen so randomly and don't hurt.  I am noticing a lot more achiness/soreness in my pelvis area which the nurse said is the ligaments and what not stretching out and all the extra weight sitting there.  It's uncomfortable to get up from a seated position but I'm hanging in there.  Next appointment is next Monday.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! 

My Oregon 'O' pumpkin looked much better earlier this week but is starting to get soft....but you get the idea :)

37 weeks

37 weeks today! And also considered full term! Woo hoo!! :)

I think its interesting to have comparison that I have a watermelon in my belly! LOL ;)

I can't believe there are just 3 weeks left until my due date...time has flown by! It's crazy to think that she could arrive anytime now! I'm really excited to meet her! Not feeling nervous or anything (at least yet).  I am continuing to feel good and sleep well ::knocks on wood:: I think at this point I can consider myself a lucky one - I know that I will start to feel uncomfortable over the next few weeks but I'll manage since I've felt great throughout my pregnancy.  I have started to notice pressure in my pelvic area which I know is normal - I feel it the most when I go to get up into the truck but its tolerable. I've got everything ready to go, hospital bag is pretty much packed but I do need to put a few outfits in there for our baby girl.  

I've been busy at work as always but will not be getting anymore new work after tomorrow and hopefully can get as many items done as I can...I have a lot to do so I'm going to do my best to get as much done as I can.  I'm still planning on working until I have the baby unless I get put on bed rest for some reason.  I figure I may as well work and enjoy my time off with our little girl - with working from home it makes that a little easier vs commuting everyday to an office.

My mom, Dan, Scott, Nathan & Natalie are en route to Idaho and should arrive in the next hour and will be here until Sunday.  Dan made the baby's dresser which we are going to use as a changing table too - I'm excited to see it and put it together - I know that it's going to look awesome.   I'll post pictures of the nursery once we get it in there this weekend.  My mom's birthday is also today! Yesterday I was on what I'd like to call a bake-a-thon! I made cupcakes, a 4 layer chocolate cake and banana muffins.  The cake turned out great - I haven't made or decorated a cake in a while and it turned out awesome.  I put it in my cake transporter I used for my cake decorating class and well it was about 1/8" taller then I needed and didn't realize until I put the lid on so the "Happy Birthday Mom" doesn't look as nice...oh well! I plan on putting all 47 candles on there too so no one will know by the time I get all those candles on there! hehe :)

Jeremy has also been gone this week for work and is going to be home anytime - he was out of town for work last week and this too - I think he was more nervous leaving on Monday because he knew it was possible I could go into labor.  I assured him I would be fine and I was.  I don't mind being home by myself and it gives me some time to run errands or do whatever I want to do :)

I was so excited earlier this week when the mountain range near Boise was covered in snow! It looked so pretty, although I noticed yesterday it started to melt.  I bet it looks beautiful during the winter all snow covered :)  The weather has started to cool down here with some rain but there nice blue skies out there!

Oh and Jeremy brought home a bunch more samples from work...OMG! He seriously brought home about 10 cases of diapers (in sizes we don't have), more bottles, baby supplies, baby medicines, bowls, sippy cups, etc! Luckily we have lots of closet space - I wish I took a picture of it all, because I couldn't believe the amount of stuff that they had saved for him!

The puppies have arrived!

So we got word over the weekend that Kizme had her puppies! There are 3 males and 1 female.  Bernadette had planned on keeping a female but since there is only 1 to pick from she is open to letting us have it if we want because we have been waiting for so long to get a puppy from her.  The female is the only merle which is the black, white and brown markings like Dixie was.  The 3 males are black-tri which is mostly black with white and some brown in there.  We are getting

Here are some pictures that she sent to us! I am so excited that we'll be getting another dog to add to our family this winter! I'm guessing (waiting to confirm) that the pups will be ready to go home around the end of the year which is perfect since we plan on being in Oregon for Christmas! :) Yipee!

Weekly doctor appointments

I went to the doctor today for a check up and had the normal exam and they also did the GBS test and internal - not dilated at all yet.

I start going for my weekly appointments until the end! Can't believe how close my due date is! :)

Tomorrow I'm going to the hospital to get the car seat inspected - that'll be odd having a car seat in the truck! Speaking of truck...my boss asked if I was still getting in and out of the truck...I sold my Acura TSX 2 years ago once we realized that one of our vehicles was going to just sit once Jeremy got a company car and well since we have quads - there was no way the Acura was going to make it pulling quads through the sand dunes! So yes, I am still driving the truck - I have to be careful getting in and out and can no longer hop out like I used to! Jeremy wasn't very optimistic on how long into my pregnancy I'd be able to get in and out of the truck...but I see no point in getting another vehicle.  More than likely we'll take his car to the hospital since it'll be easier for me to get into vs getting into this...

36 weeks

Here I am at 36 weeks!

Wow! I can't believe the end is near! 1 more week until I'm full term! Everything is continuing to go well!  I have my next doctor's appointment on Monday - they'll start doing the internal exams at that point as well as a GBS test.  We've got everything ready to go and I'm taking the car seat to the hospital on Tuesday to get checked to make sure it's installed correctly.  I pretty much have my hospital bag packed as well - there's just a few items I'll put in there once we leave. So now I have to sit and wait patiently...I'm not very good at waiting but am doing good for now.

It's interesting to see everyone's guesses on when Baby Sanders will arrive...

Important dates

Due date: November 18th

My birthday: November 22nd (I was actually born on Thanksgiving day!)

Thanksgiving: November 25th

The guesses range from...

Elizabeth - November 10th

Jin - November 15th

Emily - November 17th

Maureen - November 18th

Kelly - November 20th

Matt - November 21st

Shalane - November 22nd

Jeremy - November 22nd

Amber - November 23rd (Also had a dream about October 28th - which is my mom's birthday)

Krystin - November 25th 

Bobbi - November 25th 

Juana - November 25th  

Juana - November 25th

Jenessa - November 27th

It's funny my mom is certain that I'll have her on my due date - I told her not to get her hopes up...but I know she is hoping she will arrive while she is here visiting from November 17th - 22nd.

I'm mentally prepared that I'll go overdue but have no guesses when she'll arrive!

1 month until my due date!

I can't believe there is only a month left until my due date! Time has flown by! We pretty much have everything ready to go! My mom, Dan & kids are coming next Thursday and are bringing the dresser that Dan made which will complete the nursery.  We hung all the pictures and what not in the nursery - so it's pretty much done and will be complete when the dresser arrives.  I'll wait to post pictures until its all done :)

All is going well - I waited to find somewhere to have the car seat checked...the hospital does a free inspection but all their slots are full til the first week of November.  I called the local fire department but they don't have anything til November 4th so I'll take it then.  The lady told me if I had the baby before then the hospital will check the car seat before they let us drive away.  So I'm not to worried about that.

We went to Babies R Us this past weekend since my 20% off coupons were good and picked up the swing, baby monitor and other misc items we needed, so I can officially say we're ready to go...just need a baby :)

I've been really busy with work lately and am trying to get as much done before I go out.  My plan is to work up until I have the baby.  The only reason I wouldn't consider that is if the doctor takes me out an puts me on bed rest or something.  If I am taken off work before I deliver that doesn't count towards the 6 full paid weeks of short term disability (8 weeks if I need a c-section) that I'll receive.  I have a phone meeting with HR tomorrow to go over my benefits and what I need to do once I go out on leave.  I know that my company lets me take short term disability and then their FMLA is a total of 13 weeks (federal FMLA is 12 weeks - not sure how or why they do 12 weeks).  I am planning on taking a total of 13 week off.

I'm so excited for what's coming up! :)

35 weeks

Here I am at 35 weeks! 

35 days until my due date!!!! WHAT?! When did that happen?? I'll be full term in 2 weeks! Sheesh this pregnancy has seriously flown by! :) I'm so excited to meet our little girl soon! :)

My belly is definitely growing more each week - over the last few weeks I've noticed stretch marks that started coming out of the wood works.  I've been good about putting lotion on my belly but know that they are hereditary and my mom has them on her tummy from having my brother and I.  I've had a few that were around my belly piercing that have been around since about 20 weeks - but yeah they're coming out. Oh well I know it's the nature of the beast!

All in all I'm still feeling good - I'm still sleeping good too...I do get up a few times to go to the bathroom but can usually get back to sleep pretty quick with no problems.  I know I keep saying this every week but I keep thinking I'm going to hit a wall and start feeling crummy but it hasn't happened yet...I guess I'll count myself lucky until it happens.  ::knock on wood that I continue to feel good!:: :)

I've started washing clothes from newborn and 0-3 months...holy moly! I know baby will need her clothes changed frequently and its a good thing we have a lot of clothes...once the nursery is finished I'll take pictures of the closet - which good thing its a huge closet with 3 bars to hang clothes on! I am certain we will not need to be purchasing any clothes for a good year! Between all the new stuff and hand me downs we got we're set! :) She's got some of the cutest outfits! I'm thinking her coming home outfit will be her Oregon Ducks onesie and pants...I'm sure the nurses will love it since they're probably all Boise State fans! ;) hehe! 

My mom, Dan and kids are coming in 2 weeks to visit for a long weekend...Dan built us a dresser for the baby's room...I haven't seen it yet but can't wait to since he is really creative and well he has the resources working for a cabinet shop that I know it'll look awesome! I need the dresser to load all these clothes into...especially the ones she isn't going to wear quite yet.  

That's about all that's going on here! :)

Hospital Tour

I went and did the hospital tour last night where I will be delivering.  It's a nice hospital and I don't think it has the 'hospital feel' like most hospitals do with the white linoleum floors. The floors are carpeted (with the exception of the rooms) which made it feel more cozy to me and hopefully will make Jeremy feel a bit more comfortable since he doesn't like hospitals and feels woozy at the sign of blood...I hope he doesn't pass out when we have the baby - I know there's a chance because he has turned white as a sheep before when he slid in a few softball games and his leg was covered in blood.  I'm thinking he will be okay if he stays up by my head since his adrenaline will be pumping and the excitement of meeting his daughter that I think he'll do okay - I hope anyways!

They did a slideshow about things to bring with you and then we toured the Labor & Delivery floor which the lady said the rooms had been recently remodeled - they have nice wood floors, tiled bathrooms and each room has a jacuzzi tub too.  The rooms are pretty good size and feel comfortable.

About an hour after giving birth you are moved to the Mother Baby Care Unit which is a smaller room where we'll be the rest of our stay.  They do have chairs that turn into a bed in the rooms for dad to sleep on which don't look all that comfortable. They have lactation specialists that come visit and will come back at any other time during the stay if needed.  It was also nice to see that they have tight security there at the hospital, mom, baby and dad all have wrist bands to wear - and the staff has to show you all their forms of ID before they are allowed to remove the baby from your room.  They encourage you to keep the baby in your room but if you need to shower or a break they will take the baby to the nursery for you.  And when the baby is taken out of the room they are to be in their rolling hospital bed/bassinet - not sure what they call them there.

So I know where we need to go and confirmed the hospital received my Pre-registration paperwork!

Next thing I need to do is go have our carseat and extra base checked which the hospital does for free.

Doctor Appointment

I had my doctor check up yesterday - he said everything is looking good and still measuring on track and baby's heartbeat sounded great.  The doctor said that most babies are at least 5 days late...although I know it could be longer then that.  The doctor realized that his wedding anniversary is on Thanksgiving this year, since we were talking about how close my birthday (4 days after my due date - November 22nd) and Thanksgiving are to my due date (1 week later - November 25th).

My next appointment is in 2 weeks and then I start going every week! What?!?!? I can't believe I'm due next month! :) I'm getting really excited!

We pretty much have everything ready - at least the main stuff anyways, I need to get a baby monitor which I am going to pick up this weekend along with a few other things we need.  I started washing blankets, baby towels and wash cloths!  Next I'll start washing all the clothes we got!

I also found some cute lady bug, dragonfly and butterfly prints that I ordered and will frame to hang up in the nursery.  The website I ordered them from won't let me save a copy so I will post pictures soon since the nursery should be done here anytime :)  I did end up picking up the dragonfly from Hobby Lobby that I posted about last week for the nursery too.  Since we have a name now I can start working on making the wall letters too :)

Jeremy is going to be in and out of town over the next few weeks which I'm fine with.  I am going to start packing my hospital bag and write up my birth plan so we're ready to go just in case.

Getting ready to head to the hospital tour which is tonight :)

34 weeks

Here I am at 34 weeks!

 Not sure why the picture is so grainy - I think it's the lighting?

I'm still feeling good - my feet are a bit sore from being on them all evening but nothing to complain about.  ::knock on wood::  I can't believe there's 6 weeks left until my due date...of course she could come slightly early or late.  My birthday is 4 days after my due date and then Thanksgiving is 1 week later - so it'll be interesting to see when she arrives!

I think we came up with a name...well...I know we did!  We had 3 names that we both narrowed down that we could both agree on and of course my #1 name was Jeremy's #3 name and vice versa.  We both liked the 3 names on the list but since we haven't been able to decide on one because we're both stubborn! So we decided to put each our #1 names of the top 3 in a hat and drew the name.  We agreed that whoever's name didn't get picked, that person gets to pick the middle name and make it whatever they want.  Of course I ended up drawing Jeremy's #1 name! ;) So I think I may go with my #1 name as the middle name but am not 100%.  I think the name we picked is a good one but of course I wanted my choice to be picked...hehe ;)  And of course we're still keeping the name a surprise until she arrives!

Jeremy's parents are coming into town tomorrow and bringing Jeremy's Nova...he didn't want the movers moving it since it has a custom paint job with flames and is a nice car so his dad said they'd trailer it over.  We don't have any big plans while they're here but we'll probably venture out.

I found some cute 8x8 pictures online of a lady bug, dragonfly and butterfly.  I have been looking around to see if I can find some matted frames that I don't need to custom order.  I haven't found any but I think Michael's has some so I'm going to go there this weekend with my coupons!

I found these at Hobby Lobby - a store which wasn't in Oregon - Wow! It's a gigantic Michael's/Joann's type of store with a much bigger selection!  I think they'd go great in the nursery but wanted to see if Jeremy will like them or at least the dragonfly one, since we are going with a dragonfly and lady bug theme :)

I've also decided I want to do wall letters with her name...I do admit that I am very creative so I'm going to do something like one of these two - not sure if I will do the round or the actual letter...although I am not going to do the ribbon to hang them on the wall.

So the nursery is coming along :)

1 year

It's been 1 year since our precious Dixie passed away!  That was definitely one of the worst days of our life! She had so much personality and love for anyone! I know that she's been watching over us through all our adventures this year.  In fact, the lady we got her from is having another a little of puppies that are expected to arrive at the end of this month - we thought she would have gone into heat sooner but that wasn't the case.  I'm really looking forward to having another dog, I know it might be tough at times with having a newborn but I know it'll be so worth it.  The Australian Shepherd breed has proved to be something so special and unique and I have no doubts that is the exact kind of dog we'll get again.  Bernadette is the lady we're getting another puppy from and Dixie's mom's name was Holly and a female from a litter years back is the one having puppies her name is Kizme and actually my parents dog Lexi came from that litter.  She knows how much love we have for the Aussie, especially her Aussie's - Jeremy has come to the conclusion that there is something special about their personalities from her :)

I miss loading Dixie up in the car and having her sit in the passenger seat to go for a ride - it didn't matter where we went, she always went if we could take her - gas station, coffee, pick up dinner, the store for something quick, the park, the river or lake, snuggling next to me in the morning when Jeremy had left for work, making sure I was awake after my alarm went off - there were several times she woke me up on time when I forgot to set my alarm, giving puppy kisses, so many more memories! Not a day goes by that I don't think about her! I know she'd be loving it here in Idaho!

Clothes!

So here's proof that we aren't going to need to buy any clothes for a while!

Here are all the hand me downs we got which are a nice range of sizes that I've washed up already!

Here are all the new clothes we received from the shower! Tons of onesie, footy pajamas, footy outfits, frilly dresses, and adorable outfits!

More new clothes!

Jeremy came home from work with a box and I was talking on the phone and he just kind of stood there so I asked what he had since I could tell he wanted to show me.  He told me to open it up and these are all the goodies I found in the box.  Apparently one of his co-workers had this box of samples that were given to him for something he had been working on before - the co-worker doesn't have any kids and knew we had a baby girl on the way so he gave it all to us! It worked out since it was all mostly pink and a few gender neutral things too! I was pretty excited about it since I know how expensive all these items can add up.  He said that he also needs to go to the distribution center next time he's in Oregon since there are a ton of diapers and more baby stuff that are all samples! We're pretty much stocked up on diapers since my friend works for a medical supply store and we ordered about 5 cases of diapers - they ended up being about $20-25 for a case of 220....she said they retail at $40+ per case!

33 weeks

Here I am at 33 weeks! 

I get weekly e-mails from a website called The Bump - I like how they compare baby to fruits and vegetable! 33 weeks baby is the size of a honeydew!

All is going well! Still feeling and sleeping good! I'm wondering how much longer this will last but am thankful I've felt pretty good to date! I started washing baby clothes this week! I washed all the hand me downs we go and had them laid out on the kitchen table and Jeremy was amazed how much was sitting there and asked if that was all the stuff I got for the shower? Ha! I told him that is just the hand me downs! There are a ton of new clothes that I hung in the closet that were already on hangers and there is a huge shopping bag full of stuff! I told him I wasn't kidding that we won't need to buy our baby any clothes for a while.  Luckily we have a nice variety of sizes - I'm not going to buy any clothes unless I see sometime I just have to have....we'll wait until she arrives and if we decide we need a few more of a certain clothing we'll get it later.  I know they grow so fast and with the amount of clothes we have it's just not necessary to buy more.

My Babies R Us 20% of coupons are going to be good here soon and I plan on picking up our extra car seat base, baby monitor, humidifier, swing and a manly diaper bag for Jeremy.  Other than that I think we're good to go, I probably should stock up on nursing pads too.  I'm still trying to decide how we want to decorate the nursery so we'll probably see what we can find this weekend :)

I got a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag - I thought I wanted a Coach one but when I realized it was like a giant purse and I wanted something I could throw over my shoulder or wear as a backpack and found this to be perfect! :)

Doctor's Appointment & Weekend

Had a check up at the doctor today! Everything is looking good and is on track.  Fundal height is measuring right on track, heartbeat was nice and strong and weight is good! I'm still feeling great!

I go back in two weeks and then have one more appointment two weeks later then it's every week! Sheesh! Time is flying by! :)

We had a nice relaxing weekend! We went to Bronco Stadium and tailgated with our friends that were going to the game.  I pretty much set up a chair and people watched! Once the game started we went to a sports bar down the street and watched the game - again I did more people watching while Jeremy and his friend Don enjoyed drinking beer.  That Boise State vs Oregon State game was one that I wish neither would have won! LOL! I'm glad that our Oregon Ducks won Saturday!

After the game we went and met up with our friends and went to a restaurant called Red Feather where I got a delicious chicken salad! After that we stopped by a lounge and I was tired by this point - I think it was after midnight.  I drove the guys home and was tired by then and my feet were sore from being on them so much and walking all over.  I slept in until 10am on Sunday! That was sure nice! :)  I seem to always wake up by 8:30am maybe 9am on the weekends! We got the crib in the nursery and I got a mattress for it! So now I need to start washing clothes and the bedding and start getting things going.  I want to find a place where I can get some art work or something that I can get framed to hang in the baby's room.  Jeremy suggested painting some type of mural but I don't know if I'm creative enough for that, I'm really creative but not completely confident that I could paint something.  We'll see! All in all it was a nice weekend :)

32 weeks

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by!!

Here I am at 32 weeks!

I'm still feeling good and hope this continues but won't be upset if I start feeling crummy since I've been feeling great all along and had very little morning sickness

I went to Babies R Us and got our Pack N Play last night with a 20% of coupon I got....I have quite a few more to use which is nice, especially when you can buy stuff with gift cards! We still have more items to pick up but I'd say we have a lot of the major things we need...well we still need a crib mattress which I think we'll pick up this weekend!

I think we are pretty much set when it comes to clothes! I don't think I am going to buy anymore until she arrives if we decide we need more of a certain thing.  They grow so fast and we got sooo many cute outfits for the shower and a nice variety of sizes too!

I'm looking forward to all the fall shows that are starting back up! Two of my favorites Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice start back up tonight! Since we have satellite Grey's Anatomy starts an hour earlier! Yes :)

We're going to just relax this weekend, probably do some running around and getting baby stuff in order.  Boise State plays Oregon State here in Boise this weekend and ESPN's GameDay will be here too...so it'll be a zoo in town I'm sure!  Some of our friends have tickets to go and Jeremy mentioned we might go tailgate and hang out with them.  Our Oregon Ducks play Arizona State Saturday too!