Baby B: 35 Weeks

35 weeks! That is just 2 weeks until we stop the meds! I keep telling Mark that is my goal (mainly because we go to see Wicked the night before!) It has been a long week kidney/bladder wise, but we are just still thankful that our girl is cooking as long as she needs to.  I have started trying to get things ready...Bailey's clothes are all organized in her drawers and her stuff is ready to be put into a bag! Taking a self-portrait of the bump is getting a little harder as it gets bigger!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 35 weeks

Size of baby: She should be a little over 18 inches long and weight 5.25 lbs (about the size of a honeydew melon ). 

Weight gain: +14 (down 1 more lb....will have to ask Dr. E about that Monday)

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: Another sweet girl!

Movement: She is still a mover, but you can tell she is running out of room in there.  I now have to do kick counts 2x a day, because of our "no-movement" scare last week.

Sleep: Sleep is ok. Pregnancy side effects are not as much of an issue, it is more the kidney/bladder mess.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, backache, kidney stones, moodiness, and all kinds of new aches and pains

What I miss: Getting to travel to see family for Easter

Cravings: Oreos, sandwiches, fruit

Best moment this week: This week was not easy pain wise. I am truly just thankful to have made it another week and that Bailey is still growing strong in there.

What I am looking forward to: Celebrating a risen Savior with my sweet family this weekend.

Dad and Big Sister: Mark has still been so amazing, helping with anything he can around the house.  Ashlynn has been a trooper as well, poor thing got her top molars this week.

Ashlynn's Week

While I was in the hospital/recupping, Ashlynn got to spend time with all of her grandparents!

Monday night-Tues. morning she stayed with my mom and step-dad.

Late night cooking with G-Ma

Tuesday morning-Thursday afternoon, she stayed with Mark's family.

Loving her lunch!

More cooking with Grandma!

 On Thursday, Mark's brother was even brave enough to babysit her! Good job Uncle Mike!

Napping for Uncle Mike

Thursday night, she went back to my mom's.

And then she spent all day Friday with her Papa!

Friday night, we headed to my dad's to pick her up. We enjoyed a great dinner and then headed home.  We are beyond thankful that our parents stepped in, no questions asked, to take care of A while I was in the hospital and home resting.

Baby B: 33-34 Weeks

Well, I guess Miss Bailey felt the need to keep up with the excitement of her big sister's pregnancy! And she may have topped it! Check here for an update if you don't know what I am talking about!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 33-34 weeks

Size of baby: She should be around 17-18 inches long and weight 4-4.75 lbs (about the size of a large pineapple to a cantaloupe ). She was measuring 5 lb 4 oz on her sono last Monday!

Weight gain: +15 (down a few, most likely because of all of the kidney stone/hospital fun)

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: Another sweet girl!

Movement: Yes! The nurses at the hospital were laughing at how active she is! She wouldn't stay on the monitor for them.

Sleep: Sleep was terrible with the kidney stone. It is now just uncomfortable, with post surgery pain and pregnancy symptoms combined.

Symptoms: Exhaustion, backache, kidney stones,and moodiness

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: Oreos, Cookies and cream ice cream

Best moment this week: Everything going well with my surgery and most importantly Baby B coming through everything ok!

What I am looking forward to: Hopefully starting to get the room ready for 2 girls and sorting though clothes!

Dad and Big Sister: Mark has been an all star this week. He had to work all week, but still mananged to stay with me until late at night at the hospital. Ashlynn has been getting spoiled by grandparents since Monday! 

3D Sonograms

I never posted the 28 week 3D sono pics that we had of Bailey. We also got some this past week at 33 weeks from my last appt with Dr. E

30 Weeks:

33 Weeks:

Everything looked great! She measured 5 lb. 4 oz. on the sono (which can measure big, but even at 1 lb less that is still a good size for 33 weeks!)

Smiling!

Sucking her thumb!

Here is a comparison of Ashlynn at 36 weeks and Bailey at 33 weeks!

While at the hospital, they did a normal sono.  She was trying to suck on her toes the entire time, which was pretty funny!

Fun Weekend

The weekend before the "kidney stone" adventure, Ashlynn went and spent the night with her G-Ma and Gator.  I was feeling particularly tired, and we all just needed a rest.

She had a fun time playing! We are so grateful for our families.

Such a ham for the camera!

 They got a new swing for the backyard and she loved playing in it!

She decided that Gator needed a little help with his tools!

St. Patrick's Day

Here are a few pics of our sweet little leprechaun!

Kidney Stones

Well....what a week it has been.  

Last Saturday night, I slept about 2 hours total. I was having some bad pains that we just associated with pregnancy symptoms.  Sunday they returned off and on.

On Monday, I had my appt. with Dr. E. It was supposed to be that afternoon, but Miss Bailey hadn't moved much at all that day, and I was still not feeling well, so they had me come in early.  Thankfully a sweet friend took Ashlynn for me.  They did a sono to check on our girl, and she was looking great and finally started moving some.  As for my pain, they determined that I had a bladder infection, and a possible kidney stone/infection. He sent me home with antibiotics and instructions to call if it was a stuck stone (he said "Trust me, you will know.")

Well, Monday night the pain got worse. And worse. And worse. Finally I called Dr. E and he told me to head in to L&D.  My mom met us there and took A home with her.  After stopping my contractions, running some tests and a doing a kidney sono, they decided to admit me for observation.

On Tuesday, I was informed that I did indeed have at least 1 stone (5mm) and that the urologist would be coming in to discuss surgery to remove it.  After my pain returning, and talking with Dr. S, we decided to go ahead with stone removal.

Surgery meant that I would be put under and that Baby B would have to be VERY closely monitored.  I headed in that night around 5 for the surgery.  I was feeling ok, until we passed the NICU bassinet outside my OR, and then fear hit.  I just laid on the table praying for our sweet girl's health.

God is so good to us.  My procedure went great, and more importantly Miss Bailey was a champ the entire time.  I ended up having 2 stones that were each 5 mm. They zapped one with a laser and got it out. The other is still in my kidney, so they put a stent in. They will remove it after Bailey comes.

That night I had some consistent contractions.  They monitored me and Bailey, and around midnight we finally got sent back up to our room.  Thankfully, everything was still looking great on Wednesday morning and Dr E said that I could go home! 

So, now I am home. Resting for the next few days.  Ashlynn is being spoiled by grandparents, and missed terribly by her mom and dad.

We are so grateful to the Lord for His protection during this time.  And also for our friends and family who have helped out this week. Hopefully the rest of this pregnancy will go smooth, and we will see Bailey in just over a month!

Baby B: 32 Weeks

Bailey girl, you have made it to the 8 month mark! Not much longer and you will be out in the world with us.  We are getting more and more excited to meet you, and to love on you.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of baby: She should be around 16.75 inches long and weight 3.75 lbs (about the size of a large jicama). 

Weight gain: +17

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: Another sweet girl!

Movement: We have been laughing at her movements this week.  She kicks hard, and it is so funny watching her kick/hit in multiple places at once

Sleep: Still sleeping great, as long as I can get in a comfortable position

Symptoms: Exhaustion, backache, uncomfortable, contractions, heartburn, and stretch marks (ahh no!)

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: Grape flavored drinks

Best moment this week: Going to Dr. E's last week and seeing that Baby B is still looking great! I saw a different dr. He is the one who delivered Ashlynn, and he said he thinks she will be an April baby! We will see!!

What I am looking forward to: A calmer week of enjoying beautiful weather and longer days with my family

Dad and Big Sister: Mark was really busy last week (hence the excitement for a calmer week!). Ashlynn got to spend a fun night with her Papa and Nonnie on Friday!

Ashlynn: 13-14 Months

Ashlynn,

You turned 14 months old today! The first part of your 2nd year has flown by.  You are changing every day!

13 Months

14 Months

You are still sleeping though the night. (SUCH a blessing for your mom and dad!) You normally sleep around 10 hours each night, and take 2 naps a day.  When you wake up the first thing you do is sign for  food. You weaned off of formula and bottles throughout the first part of January.  It was thankfully an easy transition and you now take whole milk, water and juice out of a straw sippy.  You are still eating a good amount and variety of food.  I actually asked the dr. if it was possible for you to eat too much, but she said to let you eat when you were hungry!

As of last week, you weighed 24.2 lbs.  This is in the 80% of kids your ages. You wear size 18-24 month clothes, wear a size 4 diaper (we are in disposables for now until Bailey comes!) and wear a size 5 shoe.

We had to take another trip to the dr. last week.  You have had constant colds since November.  This time you had a double ear infection and started on your first antibiotic.  We also started you on allergy medicine, and that has taken care of all of the cold problems.

Your vocabulary includes:

Mama, Dada, dog, cat, duck (guck), cow, frog, bunny, cat, cheese, banana, more (mo), please, all done, knock-knock, car, go, G-Ma (gaga), Bampa (Ba-pa), Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Shane, Paul, Kelynn (Kel), maraca (raca), no, toot, poop and book.

You can sign more, food, water and please.

A few more things to remember:

You are WALKING! You walk and run everywhere you can.  

You LOVE music. And instruments. And dancing. 

You have become a bigger fan of books lately, and will bring me your favorites to read.

You love to throw and catch balls.

You are not a girly girl. You do not like bows or pigtails.

You are still a water baby and will spill over cups on the floor just to splash in the water.

Your daddy is still your favorite person (and your momma is a-ok with it!)

You went to the dentist, and think brushing your teeth is funny.

You are starting to get where you don't want us to rock you at night. You just want to be put down in your crib. (This is kind of sad, but also so exciting that you are gaining independence!)

You are still such a happy, smily girl! Your personality is continuing to bloom and you have got some spunk and feistiness. It keeps momma and dada on our toes!

You love to blow and give kisses!

It is hard to believe that next time I update on your milestones, you will be a BIG SISTER! I cannot wait to see you interact with Bailey and love on her.  

Each day with you is a blessing sweet girl!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

First Dentist Visit

Yesterday, Ashlynn had her first trip to the dentist.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it went great!

Checking out the exam room

All smiles before her checkup

Her teeth are looking great.  Her molars are not working their way in yet, but should be soon.  We are going to try and change her paci, because hers was giving her upper teeth a weird curve. The dentist said not to worry if she won't switch, we will just stop the paci right at her 2nd birthday.

After her appointment, we treated ourselves to a lunch treat, and then headed to pick out new pacis.  She does not like them during nap/sleep time yet but is ok with them during the rest of the day.

Baby B:31 weeks

One more week down! Only 6-9 weeks left! Everything is still going great (meds and rest are working!) and Baby B is growing. Such a praise!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 31 weeks

Size of baby: She should be around 16 inches long and weight 3.3 lbs (about the size of 4 navel oranges). 

Weight gain: +15

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: Another sweet girl!

Movement: She is still a mover! I expect that will slow down some in the next few weeks as she starts to grow bigger

Sleep: Sleep has actually been great! Thank goodness

Symptoms: Exhaustion, backache, uncomfortable, contractions, heartburn, and stretch marks (ahh no!)

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: Oreos, grape flavored drinks

Best moment this week: Resting and spending some quality time with family

What I am looking forward to: Starting to wash Bailey's clothes and organize the nursery for 2 sweet girls instead of 1

Dad and Big Sister: Mark has still been so helpful with things so that I do not over do it.  Ashlynn had a double ear infection/allergies and is finally getting over that, thankfully.

Life Lately: According to Ashlynn

Here are a few things that Ashlynn has been up to lately!

She celebrated her 2nd Valentine's Day! Her daddy got her a stuffed cow (one of her favorite animals!) and she got him some yummy candy! She also colored on his card {a first!}.

 While I went to my doctor's appt. last week, she went with her Grandma (Mark's mom) up to see Uncle Paul. She had a great time eating with them!

Here she is showing off her new Ranger shirt! She is excited about going to her first game next month!

Her hair has finally become long enough to hold pigtails up. She is not a fan of me doing her hair though.

Last Friday, her G-Ma (Ga-Ga) and Gator came to play with her while I was at the mom's conference.  They gave her this motorcycle for her birthday and she LOVES riding on it and dancing to the music it plays.

This week, she tried chocolate milk for the first time! We were waiting to introduce it until she was a fan of plain milk.  Surprisingly, she didn't love this more or less than plain milk.

We had a fun playdate with Addi last week.  It was Ashlynn's first time to play in the play area, but she is still not quite big enough to climb on the equipment.