Our Little Family is about to get bigger :)

Mark and I are SO excited to announce that we are going to have our second born towards the end of May. We found out a few days after Lili's first birthday in September. We've seen the midwife twice and Dr. Egley once already. Everything is looking wonderful at 14 weeks! We will see Dr. Egley just like with Lili. We'll start seeing him about every 6-8 weeks in the second trimester. Then we will see him weekly in the third. He's supposed to retire within the next year. I'm hoping and praying that he makes it until the end of May. He is a treasure to so many and will be missed GREATLY!

We've already noticed that our little glow worm moves differently than Lili did. Lili was always bouncing around and doing little baby crunches. This one looks like he/she is doing water ballet. We get to find out if we're having a boy or girl on Jan. 2. We've already got a nursery idea for each......but we're still working on names. I *think* we have a boy name (maybe). But another girl name that rivals Lilian Rose is HARD to come up with!

Something everyone fails to mention.........pregnancy with a toddler is WAY less glamorous than one would imagine! When I was pregnant with Lili, I could take a 3 hour nap anytime I wanted. Now, I have to rest on HER schedule. When I see all these glowing, pregnant moms at my doctor's appointments, I want to tell them that they are looking into their future when I'm chasing Lili away from the elevator for the umpteenth time. But I wouldn't have it any other way :) She thinks that her belly is called baby. We've confused her.......hopefully we can fix that when the baby gets here.

I've not been feeling too horrible. I've gotten sick a few times......when I can't eat breakfast soon enough because I am taking care of Lili. Other than that, I've just been EXHAUSTED. I think that has more to do with having a toddler and being pregnant. In general, you get less sleep when you are living with a child of any age :) Mark has been wonderful about helping out and supporting Lili and me.

I'm nursing Lili as well. So that is also burning more energy. Breastfeeding burns about 500 calories a day....growing a baby burns about 300. That's 800 calories without chasing the monster big girl around :) I'm planning on nursing Lili through this pregnancy and then tandem nursing once the baby gets here.

We're SO very excited for this new adventure! We have a LOT to do to get the baby's room ready: closing off a door, getting rid of washer/dryer hook up, new molding, new carpet, lowering electrical outlets/rewiring the room, and of course paint. We will be very busy people after Christmas. But we feel blessed by this beautiful gift growing healthy inside :)

Our First Week

Holy cow this has been a long, stressful, scary, and AMAZING week! Lili and Daddy are napping, so I figured I would update everyone on what exactly was going on. Here we go.....this is going to be LONG!

Lili was born on Thursday, September 20. She was 7lb 7oz, 19 in., and absolutely perfect! We had a pretty rough labor. I was pushing for 4 hours. She was right there. We found out later that her cord was wrapped around her neck twice. The midwife was able to unwrap her before she came out thank goodness! When she came out, she had A LOT of bruising (especially on the crown of her head).

After we got moved to our postpartum room, everything seemed pretty great. She was pretty lethargic, but that's to be expected in babies under 24 hours old. She did a bunch of sleeping. She also got a bunch of snuggles from her mommy and daddy :)

We came home on Saturday afternoon. Her jaundice levels were on the border of being treated. So, we got to go home. Her weight had dropped to 6lb 12oz which is normal, but her loss was on the higher end of average. The pediatrician wanted to us to take her back to the hospital on Sunday to get her jaundice levels checked again. So that's what we did. Lili was really lethargic all day on Sunday. We got a call from the pediatrician in the afternoon saying that her levels had jumped from 13 to 17 and she needed to be treated. The home light was not available so we had to take her to get her admitted to the hospital. I was devastated because I didn't realize we could stay with her. When they admitted her, she was down to 6lb 10oz. They put her under the lights from about 5 on Saturday afternoon through 11 on Sunday morning. The pediatrician came in and said that her jaundice was clearing (she was back down to 13) but he was really concerned about her weight. Lili hadn't eaten for 6 hours and all we could get her to do was suck on our finger. She seemed to be comatose. It was really scary. The pedi immediately wanted to put her on a bottle and start feeding her. We REALLY wanted Lili to at least have breast milk because we feel that's what's best for her in the long run. He was really resistant until the most AMAZING nurse stepped up and advocated for our rights. She told him that I would pump and then we would supplement whatever I didn't get with formula. He agreed and we started the feeding marathon of 2 oz every 3 hours no matter what. We weren't allowed to get her riled up to latch on to me because the pedi didn't want her wasting what little energy she had. So we were allowed to try quickly. If she didn't latch, she was to get finger fed with a tube. If she did latch, she still got the tube with the supplement of breast milk and formula. My milk hadn't come in yet because she wasn't demanding it from me. So our feeding sessions took us an hour. We had to feed her (Mark and I wanted her to have my taste and smell still so I did the finger feeding while he inserted the tube and held the bottle). After we fed her, I had to pump. It was very scary and LOTS of hard work.

When the pedi came to us on Tuesday, he was happy because she had gotten up to 6lb 14oz. That was a 4oz jump in less than 24 hours. Lili was more active, but there was still room for improvement. They discharged us Tuesday at 2. We came home and continued the 2oz every 3 hours. We really wanted to get Lili to latch back on to me like she had in the hospital right after birth. She had started showing some interest, but we didn't want to make her work too hard for food yet. So she got finger fed most of the time. The good news, though, was that my milk had FINALLY started coming in! She was getting mostly breast milk and very little formula at each feeding.

We had to schedule our first pedi appointment for Wednesday. Mark called at 9:15 and the only time our pedi had available was 10:30....we had to leave at 10.....we hadn't gotten ready yet. Lili then decided that it was the PERFECT time to latch and feed on me for the first time in days. It was INCREDIBLY exciting, but horribly timed :) We ended up making it on time and should get some kind of prize for getting completely ready and feeding an uncooperative baby in 45 min.!

Lili has now started to initiate most of her feedings. When she feeds on her own time and terms, she latches and eats VERY well! If we have to wake her to hit her 3 our mark, she isn't always as cooperative. But we still need to make sure she's getting a little more than she needs right now. She's having some latch issues which is NOT fun for Mommy, but we are going to see a lactation consultant tomorrow to try and rectify it.

Our little Lili has been through SO much in this week! She is definitely a strong little girl to already have made the progress she's made. She is SO much more active now! Mark and I can finally play with her without feeling like she's wasting energy. She will be awake and alert for long periods of time. She's finally like a normal newborn. Now we are just learning how to take care of her all over again.

Thank you to everyone who has lifted us up in prayers. They were definitely needed and appreciated.

40 weeks....and we're still waiting :)

September 16 and we're still pregnant. Baby Girl is officially due today and she is not making her appearance, yet. Mark and I are enjoying our last few days as just the two of us. We went putt-putting today. We haven't done that for a LONG time (I kicked his butt even without my handicap that I invoked).

Mark's MUCH more anxious than I am, but I'm getting pretty excited. So, now we wait (hopefully not too long, though). I'm thinking it will probably be sometime this week. We shall see :)

Hopefully next time I post, I'll be telling you all about our birth story and precious daughter :)

Let's not do that again!

We had a bit of a scare yesterday at our midwife appointment. Before I start, everything turned out okay!

I had my final ultrasound with the midwife scheduled for yesterday afternoon. Long story short, Baby Girl's heart beat was in the 190s. They hooked us up to the monitors and her heart rate was constant in the 190s. I honestly don't know for how long. It dragged on an on, but I'd guess around 10-15 minutes. It started going down, but it was still high.

I met with the doctor and she went through the monitor and she told us that she wanted us to go to the hospital for a longer monitoring. She listened to Baby Girl's heart beat with the Doppler and it was in the 150s and never went near 190.

We got to the hospital and they hooked us up again. Everything was fine. Her heart rate stayed normal for the 2 hours we were being monitored. I was also having contractions during the monitoring. They were pretty sporadic, but they were happening frequently.

We are so happy that everything turned out okay. But please keep Baby Girl in your prayers. We don't want this to happen again!

35 weeks 4 days

I cannot believe that we are close to a month before we are holding baby girl in our arms! Our house is looking a little more prepared for baby, but there's still stuff to do. We've finished our Lamaze class, so we know how to get her out. We've finished our breastfeeding class, so we know how to feed her. All that's left is a deep clean of the house and waiting for things to arrive in the mail :) We are also going grocery shopping this weekend so that I can make some meals ahead of time and put them in the freezer for after she gets here. I have a few more things to pack in our hospital bags, but then we're ready to go!

At our last appointment, baby girl weighed 5lbs 13oz She went from being in the 41% to 62%. If she gains the 2-2.5lbs that she should gain, she'll be a little over 8 lbs at birth. We got a couple more 3D photos of her on Tuesday. She looks the same as the first but she's DEFINITELY put on some pudginess :) Her cheeks are to die for! So much fluff I love it!

I don't feel like I look like I should be 35 weeks, but at least I finally look pregnant! I can reach my feet, but it's not the most comfortable thing in the world breathing wise. So, Mark gets to paint my toes. He does a FABULOUS job ;) Sleeping is harder, but it's not too bad. I get whiny sometimes. But I'm always grateful to  be carrying this little one.

I've been CRAZY tired! Like I can easily knock out a 3 hour nap each morning. Mark says that he can't wait for the nesting to kick in ;) I can't either because I've got stuff to do! All of her clothes are washed and put away. Her room is arranged. Everything for her is ready to go. Now we're just waiting on her.

I created a pool on facebook to guess when she might make her arrival :) Good luck.........the only prize is bragging rights. It's the "Simple Baby Pool" app.

To my darling daughter

A different child,

People notice
There's a special glow around you.
You grow
...Surrounded by love,
Never doubting you are wanted;
Only look at the pride and joy
in your mother and father's eyes.
And if sometimes
Between the smiles
There's a trace of tears,
One day
You'll understand.
You'll understand
There was once another child
A different child
Who was in their hopes and dreams.
That child will never outgrow the baby clothes
That child will never keep them up at night
In fact, that child will never be any trouble at all.
Except sometimes, in a silent moment,
When mother and father miss so much
That different child.
May hope and love wrap you warmly
And may you learn the lesson forever
How infinitely precious
How infinitely fragile
Is this life on earth
One day, as a young man or woman
You may see another mother's tears
Another father's silent grief
Then you, and you alone
Will understand
And offer the greatest comfort.
When all hope seems lost,
You will tell them
With great compassion,
"I know how you feel.
I'm only here
Because my mother tried again."

Written by Pandora Diane MacMillan

I saw this on a group I'm in and thought it was just beautiful. Any parent who has lost a baby due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or SIDs has to deal with the dichotomy of loss and life simultaneously. We would not be having our daughter had Baby G not grown wings last September. I feel blessed and sad all at the same time. I feel guilty for being happy.....I feel guilty for feeling sad. I just know that God has given me this baby girl to put a band-aid over the wound left by losing Baby G.

A baby born after a loss is considered a "Rainbow Baby." The only way that this rainbow showed up was because of a storm. The rainbow does not take away the damage from the storm, but it gives hope and comfort following the storm.

I hope one day I convey to our daughter that she is truly my gift from God and I will ALWAYS see her as such.

26 Weeks (Almost 3rd Trimester)

So we had an appointment with our Perinatalogist, Dr. Egley, today. It went SUPER great! We had an ultrasound and baby girl is measuring around 1 lb. 12 oz. Her fluid levels look really good. We're pretty sure she has Mark's lips :) We got to see a little yawn (which was adorable).

We also clarified how the rest of the pregnancy will go appointment wise and exactly what will be going on during the rest of the time. I will start to keep track of her movements tomorrow. Starting at 28 weeks (June 26), we will have our weekly appointments. We will have an ultrasound every week. There is a list of 5 things they have to see her do before we are allowed to go. I can't remember what they all are, but I know that one is her practicing her breathing. Every 3rd appointment they will do an anatomy scan to make sure she's growing properly.

We are feeling really good about all of this. Dr. Egley said that once high risk pregnancies make it to the 3rd trimester, they actually have a higher success rate than 'normal' pregnancies. That's INCREDIBLY comforting.

I'm definitely feeling the excitement :)