2 months!

Well, I kind of forgot about this blog for a while...I have had some other things on my mind. 
Kya Mae was 2 months old yesterday!  I can't believe it!  Today we had her 2 month check-up.  She is now 9 lb 2 oz and 22 inches long.  She's outgrown the preemie clothes, still wearing mostly newborn clothes, and slowly fitting into a few 0-2 month clothes.  The doctor said everything is looking great.  Great news from the appointment:  I'm allowed to let her sleep for up to 12 hours at night, HALLELUJAH!  I'm so relieved to not have to worry about waking her up to eat anymore, whew!  She also got her first set of vaccinations at the appointment.  It was so sad!  Her poor little face got so red and she was screaming so hard she couldn't breathe!  I fed her right afterwards and that definitely calmed her down.  She's still sleeping now, I hope she will be able to get lots of rest while she recovers.  Here are some 2 month pics!

Week 36: SURPRISE!

This is Scottie (I had to use Nicole's laptop because I had no idea what the login info was, haha).

We had a surprise on Thursday night right before midnight.  Nicole's water broke and then the fun began.  We got to the hospital a little after 1am.  We made the phone calls to her parents to get them on their way down from Lee's Summit.  Her parents then relayed the news to her grandparents in St. Louis.  All the family was assembled at the hospital around 6:30 am Friday morning.

Nicole was able to receive the epidural much sooner than she had expected (based on what they told us at the baby classes we went to).  She was "feeling it" for only about 2 and a half hours.  She did great.  Knowing, but not understanding the pain, I was so proud of her.  She was definitely a trooper!

She was actually fully dilated around 8:30, but her doctor was performing some surgeries that morning and so they told Nicole that since she was feeling good and all of Kya's vitals were ok, there wouldn't be any pushing until the doctor was out of surgery.

Around 9:45, they said, "ok...it's pushin' time"  (That isn't really what they said, but that's the message that they gave. It's just more fun this way. :-)

Kya Mae Stiles was born at 10:42am on Friday January 28, 2011.  She was weighed at 5lb 13oz, but they soon after realized that the scales in the birthing suite were apparently incorrect.  They weighed her in the nursery and think that she was actually 6lb 1oz.  She was also 19.5 inches long.

She was 3 weeks and 1 day early considering her due date of February 19, but everything has checked out and she is a healthy baby.

We spent the weekend in the hospital and enjoyed allowing some friends and family to meet our beautiful baby girl.  We got home around 3:30pm on Sunday.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure Nicole will interject her thoughts later!  Hopefully I can figure out how to post some pictures on here because Kya is seriously the cutest baby ever.  I don't care that I'm her dad...SHE IS!!! Seriously though, she is absolutely beautiful and we are loving every minute of parenthood so far (minus last night when she pooped on me while changing her diaper...) :-)

this is my favorite...i think it's obvious why :-)

Week 35

Total weight gain: Meh, I'm over it.  Soon she'll be here and I can start seeing the numbers go down for a change!

Clothes: Thank goodness the end is near!  Fewer and fewer things are fitting.

Food: Nothing unusual to report.  I think my appetite has decreased a little bit though.

Energy: Low most of the time.  Carrying such a heavy belly around makes for a tired momma!

Sleep: It depends on the night.  Pillows, a corn bag, and tylenol pm have become my nightly friends.  I'm looking forward to not being able to sleep because I'm taking care of a baby instead of not being able to sleep because my body aches!

Belly: I'm still carrying her pretty low but she's sticking out pretty far now as well.  There's pretty much no hiding the "popped" belly button these days either.

Movement: Very consistent and strong.  She wakes me up in the morning moving around, has several little play sessions throughout the day, and LOVES to have dance parties in the evening.  She still has the hiccups a lot too.  Sometimes they're so strong they shake my whole belly!

Excitement: We're headed to Lee's Summit this weekend for another baby shower.  The weather has been kind of crazy lately, so hopefully everyone can get there alright.  This will probably be our last out of town trip for quite a while.

Doctor update:  Blood pressure, weight, heartbeat, and fundal height are all still looking good.  As of 35 weeks 5 days she is still high and no dilation yet.  My doctor said that so far she's still on schedule for around the 19th!

Week 33

Total weight gain: 29 lbs.  I only gained 3 lbs over the Christmas holiday, so I guess that's good.

Clothes: Nothing that interesting to report.  My sister got me a new sweater for Christmas which is very cute. 

Food: I had to have cheesecake with cherry topping the other day while we were grocery shopping.  It was one of the very few random cravings I've had.

Energy: I think I've just gotten used to not really having as much energy.  I'm not working anymore so I've had plenty of time to "chill."

Sleep: Pretty darn good.  My sleeping patterns have definitely changed now that I have to get up at least once during the night to use the bathroom.  I'm officially sleeping with three pillows and a body pillow.  The pillow cocoon is the way to go!

Belly: It's been looking different lately.  I think that she may be dropping based on the way my belly looks and some lower abdominal discomfort I've been having.

Movement: You'd think the kicks would slow a little now that she's getting bigger but they haven't really.  The other night I video taped my belly while she was moving.  It was crazy!

Excitement: We had maternity pictures taken over the weekend.  They turned out great!  We also started our baby classes this week.  On Monday we had the first childbirth class.  Scottie and I both saw our first birth...that was interesting.  Last night we had the infant lifesaver class.  It was very informative, I'm so glad we took it! 

31 Weeks and Merry Christmas!

Total weight gain: 26 lbs.  Dr. says everything is going great but let's hope the weight gain slows down until the end :-)
Clothes: The long torso dilemma is becoming a problem.  I had several non-maternity shirts that I could wear up until about two weeks ago.  Now my belly is so big that we have a serious air-draft problem going on.  Even some of my maternity shirts are too short!  Luckily I found some long sleeved shirts at Old Navy for $5 a piece.
Food: Are you ready for this?  We ate CHICKEN twice this week.  Yes, I actually put chicken on the grocery list and prepared two meals with it.  That hasn't happened in ages.
Energy: Pretty low this week due to some congestion ickyness I'm battling.
Sleep: Horrible!  Congestion makes it hard to sleep.  Thanks to Tylenol PM, however, I slept much better last night.  I think all this crud is finally making its way up out of my chest and into my nose.  Thank goodness!
Belly: Obviously bigger since I can't wear some of my shirts anymore.  My belly button looks pretty funny these days...completely flat except for the very top part which sticks out.  But, no stretch marks so far (crossing my fingers).
Movement: She doesn't kick quite as hard now that she's getting bigger but she still likes to move her limbs around and show off for us at night.
Excitement: Christmas is this week!  Scottie and I were blessed by a nice family Christmas with his family last weekend.  We had pizza, opened presents (Karissa could hardly wait), and watched Toy Story 3.  It was bittersweet, surely not the same without Scott.  But, it was nice to be in Springfield and to have everyone healthy this year.  Scott would be just amazed at all of the changes that have happened this year.  Karissa made it onto a gymnastics team and is nearly 13; Austin has finished his first semester of college, has an adorable girlfriend (they're pretty much joined at the hip), and has become a rather responsible and independent young man; Karen has conquered critters, house, and car troubles, successfully taken over
Scott's insurance business, and started Karissa in a new school; Scottie has finished a huge government project at work, and made a very difficult career decision; and I have really expanded my business and gone through 7 1/2 months of pregnancy!  He would be so proud of everyone :-).  Tomorrow we're headed to my parents' house for Christmas.  I'm looking forward to some nice quiet time with my family, being able to reflect on all of the marvelous blessings we've been given. 
 

Here's the belly pic.  Maybe later this week I'll think of something Christmas-related to post a picture of.

29 Weeks

Total weight gain: 22 lbs...pretty good considering those two weeks included Thanksgiving.

Clothes: Leggings are my best friend.  I tried on some jeggings this week (I know, I know), but for a pregnant woman stretchy jeans are far more comfortable than maternity jeans.  I haven't found the right pair yet, but it's on my Christmas list :-)

Food: No abnormal cravings this week that I can think of.  My lovely friends included cupcakes as a part of the baby shower menu which was fabulous.  I love cupcakes!

Energy: Well, I have to say that I pretty much feel pregnant (especially today).

Sleep: I've been falling asleep just fine, but I've been waking up in the middle of the night.  This morning I was SOOO tired (I had a dr. appointment at 8:15).  So, I took a two hour nap when I came back home.  It was so nice :-)

Belly: Big and round.

Movement: I've loved feeling her little feet move across my belly lately, so fun!

Excitement: Number one: My friend Rachel did an ultrasound for me.  I got to see little Kya again, it was so special.  Her face is chubby now and I saw her opening and closing her mouth.  Number two: I had a baby shower this weekend!  So many people were able to come and we had tons of fun eating, chatting, opening gifts, and painting onesies and bibs :-)
 

Weeks 27-28

Total weight gain: 19 lbs...before Thanksgiving ;-)

Clothes: I'm enjoying Scottie's clothes...they seem to fit over the belly just right

Food: Well, Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday.  I love turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc.  It was all WONDERFUL!  I even got homemade mashed potatoes this year!  This week I've just been hungry ALL the time which is kind of annoying.

Energy: Where did it go?  Hello third trimester...you stole my fire

Sleep: I'm needing more of it again.  Yesterday I took the most fabulous nap...and probably could've slept for much longer than I allowed myself.
 
Belly: This morning when I got up it looked super weird...I'm pretty sure she was laying vertically instead of horizontally.  She must be getting a lot bigger because I just feel uncomfortable most of the time.

Movement: Pretty much the same.  She's an active little gal.  Luckily her movements still haven't woken me up in the middle of the night.

Excitement: My friends are throwing me a baby shower this weekend!  I'm pretty excited to be able to spend time with a bunch of friends and family :-)