Happy Birthday Dad!

Last night Peyton enjoyed her first Ross party to celebrate my dad's birthday.  She had so much fun with her family even though she slept through most of the party ;)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Meeting Uncle Christian

The girls got fancy dresses to wear to the ballet

Snuggling with Shannon

New shoes :)

Grandpa and his girls

She's Here!

I apologize that this post is way overdue, but hopefully most of you saw the news on facebook and know that we welcomed our little girl, Peyton Elaine, on December 8, 2011 at 2:05 pm! Jason and I are settling into this new life as a family of three and loving every second spent with Peyton.  She has been a very easy going baby so far (knock on wood!) and even lets us get some sleep on most nights :)    Thank you to all our family and friends for their help and support over the past week and a half.  We appreciate it so much!  As Peyton is snoozing in my arms I'll just get to the good stuff, pictures!

Welcome Peyton!

All cleaned up in the nursery

Already a daddy's girl :)

There's nothing cuter than a baby in a basket :)

Our little famiy

Anticipation

Thursday is the big day!  The day that we will finally meet our baby girl and hold her in our arms.  The anticipation is getting greater and greater each day and I think we will be ready to burst by Thursday! It's like being a kid at Christmas again multiplied by 100!

In anticipation of the baby's arrival (and Christmas!) we have all of our Christmas decorations up, presents wrapped and enjoyed some holiday activities with our families over the weekend.  As we were saying goodbye to people over the weekend, it was so odd to think that the next time we will see them all we will have a baby!

Our tree

Making candy with Jason's family.  So fun!

Decorating my parent's tree

Jason getting creative with our new camera

The girls REALLY enjoyed the candy we made :)

Chocolate face ;)

And with that...the next time I post, it will be to announce the birth of our baby girl!

36 weeks

At my 36 week dr. appointment I was a nervous wreck for some reason.  I was so anxious my palms were sweating like crazy.  I knew my blood pressure had been elevated and along with the extreme swelling I was  experiencing, I was concerned that I was exhibiting symptoms of preeclampsia.  Luckily my dr. assured me that I do not have preeclampsia but do have pregnancy hypertension which is why my blood pressure was up (although I'm sure being anxious did not help my reading that day). She didn't seem concerned which was a relief to me.  She instructed me to keep putting my feet up when I can and drink a lot of water.  As we moved through the rest of the appointment she took the baby's heart rate (which was great!) and felt around on my belly to see how the baby is positioned.  She thought she was head down but when I told her that I still felt kicking type movement down low she second guessed herself.  During the internal exam she felt the baby and said that it felt more like a butt than a head so she was going to fit me in for a quick ultrasound.  At that time she presented us with our options if the baby was indeed breech.  Try to manually turn the baby at 37 weeks and/or schedule a c-section for 39 weeks.  She gave us time to think about it while we waited for the ultrasound tech.  

The ultrasound quickly confirmed that the baby is indeed breech.  She was butt down with her legs crossed underneath her Indian style.  Jason and I discussed doing the external version where the dr. tries to turn the baby and decided against it.  The dr. said there was only about a 40% chance that it would work and it could end in an emergency c-section if the baby goes into distress or my water broke.  It just didn't seem worth it to us.  On a side note, my sister was in the exact same position with her first, Millie.  They did try the version and it was not successful and was stressful for both my sister and Millie.  Knowing this made me all that more hesitant to try it.  So we decided to go ahead and schedule a c-section for December 8th - a week before my due date.  

It's been an emotional roller coaster the past few days knowing that our little girl will be here in 2 weeks!  While I've never been dead set on a vaginal delivery, I did find myself feeling dissapointed that I would not even have the chance to attempt it and see what my body can do.  Jason made the comment that having a scheduled c-section is a little anti-climatic.  There will likely be no frantic/excited phone calls or rushed car rides to the hospital due to labor starting.  Unless I go into labor prior to the 8th, I won't even get to experience what a contraction feels like.  In the end though, it really doesn't matter to me as long as we end up with a healthy little girl.  The way she is brought into this world doesn't change the journey of the past 9 months or the new one that will begin with her first breath :)

How Far Along: 36 weeks.
Size of Baby: Weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. About the size of a honeydew melon!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +29 and hoping to hold steady for the next few weeks!
Maternity Clothes: Yep.  My wardrobe is pretty much all maternity now.  

Movement: My stomach literally changes shapes depending on where she is lying and often looks very lopsided.  She seems to love shoving her head up into my rib cage which is very uncomfortable!
Symptoms: Swelling. Oh the swelling.  I don't even recognize my feet by the end of the day they are so huge and puffy!  I've been spending my evenings with my feet propped up on several pillows to get them above my heart.  It helps but the swelling never completely goes away.  My blood pressure has also been a little on the high side lately, but the dr. said she is not concerned at this point.  Minor heartburn, fatigue, and occasional pelvic pain are a couple of others I've been dealing with.
What I Miss: Wearing my heels!  I have a closet full of cute shoes that I can't wear right now.  It's flats and tennis shoes for me and these fat feet!
Girl or Boy: Girl!
Belly button In or Out:  Still an innie.  The edges are kind of popped out but the middle is still in there although getting pretty shallow!
Stretch Marks: None yet.  My dr. told me that if I don't have them now, I shouldn't get them.  Fingers crossed!
Cravings: No real cravings lately. 
Best Moments:  Finishing the nursery and checking items off my "To do before baby" list!
The Bump: Still growing by the week and looking kind of oddly shaped due to the baby's position!  

32 weeks

   

35 weeks and looking every bit of it :)

The Nursery

We are finally done with Baby G's nursery.  I love how it turned out!  The lighting in these pictures isn't great and I don't think they do the room justice but you get the idea.  I'm so happy that we decided to go with a neutral wall color and accent with pink and yellow.  It gives the room a very soft feel but still girly and and the yellow just makes it feel sunny and bright :)

A few before pictures:

And the finished product!

My sister made the valances!

The closet is full of adorable clothes!

I found the tree decal on Etsy.  It was the inspiration for the whole room.

Jason and I really enjoyed putting the room together.  Now we just need a baby!

Restaurant of the Month: U

Kelly did not have a lot of options to select from this month.  Apparently there are not many restaurants in St. Louis that begin with the letter U.  Luckily, she was able to find one that sounded good and we had never been to before:  Uptown Cafe.  Uptown Cafe is located in downtown Clayton  next to a bar that Kelly and I used to go to often before it closed a couple of years ago.  Neither of us realized this little cafe was even there!  The cafe is small and there were not a lot of people there, but it was obvious that it's a popular place for people who live/work nearby to pick up dinner on their way home.  I got the feeling that there are a lot of  "regulars".

Our server was friendly and the menu had a bigger selection that I anticipated of salads, sandwiches, pasta and pizza.  Kelly I selected the Manhattan Bruschetta to start with: A blend of artichokes, aged cheddar cheeses, fresh parmesan and minced garlic on a toasted baguette.  Although it was a little different than what we expected, more like a loaded garlic bread than bruschetta, it was delicious and we had no problem polishing it off!  For dinner we chose to share The Bronx pizza: barbecue chicken, red onion and roasted sweet red peppers topped with aged cheddar cheeses.  They offer hand tossed or thin crust and we tried the hand tossed.  The pizza was very good.  The crust was soft and chewy and tasted homemade.  The toppings were good and it wasn't too heavy on the cheese.  After our carb heavy dinner we were both stuffed!  We enjoyed Uptown Cafe and I told Jason we will have to go there for lunch sometime.  Now that I know it's there, we might even become one of those "regulars". 

32 weeks

Only 8 weeks to go!  Wow.  That is scary and exciting at the same time!  All in all I think we are doing pretty good.  The nursery is almost complete except for a few finishing touches, we have the crib and pack n' play set up and ready to go, we have the car seats (just need to install them) and plenty of clothes and diapers and we finished our child prep course this week.  So if Baby G decided to come tomorrow she would survive at home ;)   Most of the things left on my to do list are things like clean the house really good, prepare and freeze some meals, and wash baby clothes.

I had a dr. appointment at 30 weeks and everything is looking good.  She said I am the picture of health and my body has accepted pregnancy well :)  She also believes that the baby is now positioned head down!  Jason and I were really happy to hear that.  As the dr. was pushing around on my belly and trying to get the baby's heart rate she said "oh there's her butt."  Which was up in the middle of my belly and not down low like she has been previously.  I suspected that she had flipped after feeling some crazy big movement one night but wasn't sure.  That explained the change in the shape of my belly too.  It seemed like I exploded over night and was huge all of a sudden.  I think some of it had to do with her changing positions.

I also had my first baby shower a couple of weeks ago hosted by my sister, mom and Mary.  It was held in the event room at Cyrano's in Webster Groves and everything turned out just perfect!  If you are looking for an event space to host a small gathering I would highly recommend Cyrano's.

Shannon and Mary did a great job with everything!

Millie and Merrill were so excited to help open gifts!

Shannon made the amazing cupcakes!

The adorable diaper cake!

How Far Along: 32 weeks.
Size of Baby: 3.75 lbs and almost 16.7 inches long (about the size of a jicama)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +20 and growing!
Maternity Clothes: Yep.  My wardrobe is pretty much all maternity now.

Movement: I feel a lot of big movements now which I assume are her rolling and switching positions.  My stomach literally changes shapes depending on where she is lying.  I've also been feeling her little hiccups multiple times a day!
Symptoms: I'm starting to experience a few more symptoms and really feel pregnant.  Heartburn, swollen feet and hands at the end of the day, aches and pains, and I've been a little more moody and emotional lately.
What I Miss: Being able to easily roll over in bed!  I wake up every time I roll over at night because it's not an effortless movement anymore!  Jason would probably say he misses not having a huge body pillow in between us at night, but it helps me from waking up with a back ache so he deals ;)
Girl or Boy: Girl!
Belly button In or Out:  Jason inspects my belly button regularly to see if it's popped and he wins our little bet.  It's still in but dangerously close to popping! 
Stretch Marks: None yet.  My dr. told me that if I don't have them now, I shouldn't get them.  Fingers crossed!
Cravings: No real cravings lately. 
Best Moments:  The baby shower and finding out that the baby is no longer breech!
The Bump:  I think I had a growth spurt sometime between 29 and 30 weeks.  I started getting looks from people like "whoa, she is really pregnant"!  A couple of people even asked if I was due this month.  Sadly, no, I have a ways to go still and I'm a little afraid of what this belly will look like at the end!

30 weeks

32 weeks