Kara is Growing!

Kara is growing up so fast! As of yesterday, she is now six weeks old. She is no longer wearing newborn diapers and most of her newborn sized clothes are too small. In about two weeks we go for her shots; I'm not looking forward to that at all!

Recently someone made the comment that she either sleeps a lot or else I can only grab a camera when she's sleeping. Well...actually both are right. She does sleep a lot, but the camera flash also makes her close her eyes most of time. In these three pictures, she was actually sleeping. :)

Motherhood

This is funny at first, but not really when you stop to think about it!


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

All's Well

I figured it was time for an update now that Kara is already two weeks old (as of yesterday)!

Kara was born Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 4:51PM. She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair and is the prettiest baby ever born! :)

When she was born, she had a little trouble with low blood sugar (her blood sugar was 16 when she was born...all part of having a mom with diabetes). Her body has now learned to regulate it on her own, so she is perfectly fine! She also had a little jaundice and had to spend a day and a half on a bili pad, but that is all fine now too.

I'm doing good too (not that anyone asks about me anymore...it's all about Kara! haha). I am still getting over the C-section, but apparently I'm doing better than anyone expected. Yesterday, I went to my OB for my two week follow up and everything is great. I do have a little drainage at my incision site and I'm having to keep it clean, dry, and bandaged, but it will be just fine.

Well, that is it from me. I'm leaving you with some pictures of our precious little one!

The doctor giving Kara a Mohawk before she would let me see her

Kara on her bili pad to help get rid of the jaundice



Sleeping peacefully



Kara and her daddy sleeping after a long day

Kara and me after her first trip to church

4 Days to Go

I don't know how many people actually read this anymore, but I felt the need for an update. I had a normal visit yesterday with my OB. While there, my blood pressure was elevated, my legs/ankles/feet were huge, and I had gained 6 pounds (mostly fluid) in a week. So...my doctor was not happy with all of that and had me admitted to the hospital for tests and monitoring.

This morning, I was told that I had the beginnings of preeclampsia. You can look it up to know more (this is a pretty good site), but basically it is something in pregnancy that deals with edema (swelling), protein in the urine, and high blood pressure. It can lead to nerve damage and a lot of other bad things. People with diabetes have a higher risk of developing preeclampsia. But, like I said, I don't have full-blown preeclampsia, only a "touch" of it.

With all of that being said, I am scheduled to have Kara via c-section next Tuesday, June 2. I will be one day shy of 37 weeks. The main reason for the section is the baby's size. Yesterday at my appointment, the ultrasound measured her as already being 7 pounds 12 ounces.

Well, that is pretty much it! I may be posting a baby picture with my next update! :)

35 Weeks...Almost

I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow, so I'm posting a day early, but...I just thought this was worth the post. We found out today that we will meet baby Kara on June 4th. My swelling is still a concern to my doctor and the baby has already dropped a good bit, so we're going to be induced at week 37. I went today to get a steroid shot and will get another one tomorrow. Basically, I am getting these to help make Kara's lungs more mature.

We're excited to have a day set and shocked that it is only about two weeks away. We have also been hit with the realization that we have so much left to do, but we'll pull together and get everything done!

34 Weeks

I get extremely tired lately and my feet/ankles/legs are still swelling, but other than that things are still going good. My doctor told me that she was impressed by my kankles; then she told me that she wasn't easily impressed. I'm not impressed at all! Try walking on feet that feel like they are about to burst open at any second!

Tuesday, my doctor also told me not to go back to work after Thursday. She wanted me to not go back at all, but I begged her to let me go until Thursday so my students would be finished with state testing. It was hard getting all the end of the year stuff done in two days when I thought I had over a week. I did a lot from home today, but now I can somewhat relax until I have to start getting things ready for next year.

We have had two great baby showers. The first was at church and then I had one at work. We still lack a lot of needed things off of our registry (Babies-R-Us Registry), but we have been blessed to receive a lot of great things! We have one more shower (my family/friends) Sunday.

We finished up our childbirth classes and took a newborn wellness class. We enjoyed them all, even though most people seem to not like going to them. We still do not have a date for when I will be induced. Hopefully, we'll get that at next Tuesday's appointment. Maybe my next post will include a date! :)

31 Weeks and Counting

Things are starting to wind down! It's so hard to believe that I'm already in my 31st week. My doctor has told me that we will deliver two weeks early, so that means we'll get to meet our precious baby Kara in less than seven weeks.

I'm still going for weekly visits to my OB and still having an ultrasound and NST (non-stress test) done at each visit. Things are still right on schedule. Kara is in the 50-55 percentile as far as weight and size. Last time she was measured (almost 3 weeks ago) she weighed 2 pounds 15 ounces.

Lance and I started Childbirth classes last week. It was pretty interesting. Basically, last week's class introduced breathing techniques (we're supposed to be practicing before next class...haha) and a tour of the labor and delivery department at the hospital. We have two more class meetings to meet and then we'll probably be taking a newborn class. (As long as the classes are free to hospital patients...why not?)

We're having our first baby shower tomorrow. This is the church shower, and then Thursday we'll be having one at school. I'm excited about them! :)

I seem to be growing daily. According to the doctor, I've only gained about 18 pounds so far. Thankfully, it all seems to be in my stomach. The picture below is me at 28 weeks. I'll be putting an updated one up sometime soon.

28 Weeks

Tomorrow I officially enter into my third trimester (28 weeks). Wow...I can hardly believe it! I had a good doctor's appointment today. I had an ultrasound and non-stress test done, and will continue to have them both done weekly until the baby comes. I don't have any new measurements for the baby though, they will be done next week.

Well, that's about it for baby news and I have nothing else great to write about, so take care!

25 Weeks

Isn't she beautiful?! :)

I went to the doctor today and everything is great! Baby Girl is right on schedule, weighing in at 1 lb. 12 oz. I go back in three weeks and then start going weekly. It's hard to believe that I am almost in the third trimester!

In other news, I tripped and fell at work today. Thankfully, I fell on my side. I scraped my knee up and my right leg/side is starting to bruise. I'll be sore, but I'm glad it was not any worse!

An Update (and Maybe a Name?)

Sorry for the lack of updates! Everything is going good as far as the baby goes. I went back to Jackson a few weeks ago for the fetal echocardiogram. Everything looked great and the cardiologist saw no reason to see me for a followup. I go next Tuesday to my OB for an ultrasound, so hopefully, I'll be posting a new picture soon!

Baby Girl may have a name now. She's had a name before we knew she was a girl, but Lance didn't want to settle on one so early (I'll blame it on him!). Maybe soon, we'll be letting the name be "set-in-stone" but for now, her name is Kara. I think that I would have a hard time calling her anything else!

In other news, I've been sick. Not to get into all the specifics because I know everyone else is suffering too, but I've had an extremely sore throat, cough, low fever, congestion (big time), headaches, body aches, a horrible voice, etc. I came home from work early Friday and spent almost three days in bed. I should have stayed home from work Monday, but the stubborn part of me made me go to work. Everything is getting better, but I still have coughing fits every time I lie down. That makes for a very hard time when trying to get sleep!

We had a good bit of snow Sunday, or so I've heard. I was so sick feeling that I couldn't have cared less about seeing it. By the time I finally got up to look it was almost gone. The next time I looked, it was gone. That's my kind of snow though..here for a few hours and then GONE.

My ankle is much better. It still swells up some every day, but the swelling is usually gone in the morning. I still have to be careful when I go down steps or inclines, but it rarely bothers me.

I started playing around on twitter.com. I was not sure if I would like it or not, but I think I do now. If you are on there, look me up! If you have been thinking about trying it out...go ahead!

Well, that's it for me. I am sure there are mistakes, but like I've said before...I am not writing an essay and looking to be published. Also, with me being sick and having the "pregnancy brain," you're good if you get anything from me at all! ;)

Registry

Lance and I went to our local Geoffrey (Toys "R" Us/ Babies "R" Us) and created a registry for our baby girl. It was fun and exciting! Lance won't admit it for anything, but I think he enjoyed it too!! If you want to see what we want/need, check it out by clicking here.

20 Weeks!

It's hard to believe but, as of today, I am 20 weeks pregnant! I am actually over half-way there! :)

In baby news, she is doing great! I went to Jackson for my ultrasound anatomy scan on Friday, January 23, and everything was right on track. She was only three days behind her gestational age, and the doctor was very happy with that. I go back to the same office in a few weeks to see a neonatal cardiologist (I'm not sure of her "proper" title) for a fetal echocardiogram.

My ankle is still getting better every day. The crutches only lasted two days and I went without a splint for the first time yesterday. I wore tennis shoes today, which was a big mistake, but everything is starting to get back to normal.

I Hate Crutches

Yesterday afternoon I stepped out from my front door funny and twisted my right ankle. It hurt like crazy for about 5 minutes, but then I was able to go along on my way (and on my foot). Several hours later, my ankle started to hurt. But, to make a long story short.... after an evening and night of not being able to walk on my foot at all without sobbing, Lance took me to the ER this morning. Apparently, I sprained my ankle and possibly tore a ligament (or ligaments). I am now in a splint and have crutches.

Well, I don't feel like writing a whole lot, but I can say....crutches are not any fun! I think I would do better without them, and I hope they get easier to use with practice!

Think Pink!

Well, it's official. We found out yesterday that we're having a girl! :)

15 Weeks

The baby didn't cooperate today, so we didn't get to find out the gender. I go back in two weeks, so hopefully everything will work out better then! Everything looked good though, so things are going great!

In the picture, be sure to check out the skeleton head! :) It looks a little creepy, but that's just because the baby hasn't gotten any fat on his/her bones yet! Also, you can notice that the baby is posing...his/her hand is on his/her cheek! Very cute, eh?