E-books

I love books. Really. It's an addiction. I love real book stores. The smell of a book and the way it feels to turn the page. I'm a reader. A bookworm. Love of literacy.

I was surprised when I discovered how much I love my Kindle. It is truly an amazing invention.

There is one thing I don't like. Buying E-book I already own. I like to re-read a good book. I prefer to read them on my Kindle. I don't want to pay twice for my book.

First world problem, right? Guess I shouldn't complain.
1.) I am fortunate enough to have had the freedom & opportunity to learn to read.
2.) I have the means to purchase books & experience the different worlds a novel can take you.
3.) I have a Kindle.

Yea. Guess I'm pretty lucky. I'll stop whining now. :)

Solids & other stuff

We officially started solids with Miss A after her six month appointment. Everything is going well. She really seems to enjoy eating "real" food.

So far she has had:
Rice & Oatmeal cereal
Bananas
Avocados
Sweet Potatoes
Squash
Peas
Green Beans
Apples/Apple sauce
Prunes
Carrots
Multi-grain Cheerios
Chicken
Potatoes
Cherries
Strawberries
Various tastes of rolls, biscuits, bread, etc.

She seems to really like the green veggies and all the fruits. We are trying peaches and spinach soon and will probably switch to table food as quickly as possible. I am trying to get through as many types of fruits and veggie first. She is not too keen on the liquid baby food. She prefers whatever I am eating.

She has become extremely busy lately. If she isn't sleeping she is moving somehow. (She even moves constantly in her sleep.) Even when she is eating she has her legs shaking or she is holding onto her feet and doing some type of contortionist move. We have had to move her feedings to her room where the lights are off and the curtains drawn or she is too distracted. (I really do miss the days when I could feed her and watch a TV show. I miss the days when she would sleep wherever and whenever, too. O well.) It has become a challenge during diaper changes. I have something new to hand her to keep her busy while I change her as quickly as possible. 

She is sitting up completely unassisted and loves to stand. She has even started to do a full plank if she is put on her belly.

Like this! 

I will try to catch it on film. It is hilarious how strong she is. She has no interest in crawling yet, which is fine with me. She loves music and loves singing and for others to sing to her. She's a snuggle bug and smiles all the time. I am constantly stopped by people asking if she smiles all the time and how happy she looks. She is a very happy, smiley baby. We are extremely blessed. She is super easy and lets us know if something is wrong. She has started to make more consonants. Lots of galy, guly, uh, oh, mum, ma, ba, bu, hu, etc.

She is growing great and is doing something new each day. Love her to pieces.

Status Update: Perfect

Baby girl is six months old. Can you believe it? I can't. We are over halfway through her first year of life. It is crazy how fast things are going. I have been told the next six months will be even faster. Can we push the pause button?

We had her six month check up yesterday and she is growing beautifully. Here are her stats from her four month and six month check-ups:

Four month appointment (6/27):
Weight: 14 lbs 4.3 oz (62 %)
Height: 24 3/4 inches (66%)
Head circumference: 16 1/2 inches (73%)

Six month appointment (8/29):
Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz (62%)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (37%)
Head circumference: 17.13 inches (76%)

As you can see she has dropped in her height. She is going to be short. No surprise there. The pediatrician said it was not a cause for concern since she is still growing. He said most babies will fluctuate like that.

We are officially starting solids now and I think everyone is ready.

She is almost sitting unassisted. She will randomly fall over which is to be expected. She has started to move backwards when placed on her tummy. She still hates tummy time. If she can she will immediately flip over to her back. She loves to blow raspberries and is usually happy. She will let you know when she doesn't like something. We love her and can't imagine life without her. She has completed our family.

Case of the Mondays

I have never been a fan of Mondays. Whenever Aisley was born, I dreaded them. That meant a week without Chris home during the day. I couldn't wait until the weekend.

Now, fast forward to today. It's Friday. Besides disliking Fridays because I enviably get that ridiculous Rachel Black song stuck in my head, I look forward to the weekends, but secretly can't wait until the next week. Why you ask? I get more one-on-one time with Miss A. I'm greedy like that.

I only have a week until summer and then I will have/get to share our weeks with others. We will have fun. It will be nice, but not the same.

She is growing and changing so much. I want time to move at half speed. :/

Mobile blogging

I am trying out a new way to blog. Mobile blogging. With a newborn it is difficult sometimes to find the time to sit down at a computer. Especially if she has decided to fight naps.

I found an application for my phone that will allow you to post to your blog. Hopefully I can keep up with my postings. We shall see.

Anyways, very excited about the fact that tomorrow is Friday! That means only one more day until the weekend. ;)

Aisley's status: exceptional

I always told myself that I would not be one of those parents. You know the one. The parent that talks about their child non -stop about how talented and perfect their child is and how they excel at everything. It's ridiculous.

However, when you have a child it is a while before they can do much except eat, sleep and poop. So, parents talk non-stop about their stats/percentiles. I never really put much thought into those numbers. It didn't matter to me that my friends child was 80th percentile in height.

Now that I have a child, I do understand what the stats mean and I do take pride in them. So, if you care, you can continue reading about how little miss Aisley is growing. If you don't care, I am really not sure why you starting reading our blog in the first place. Maybe you are just bored. If so, then I guess you are welcome to continue reading.

At birth (2/24):
Weight: 6 lbs. 11 oz.
Height: 18 1/2 in.

First doctor's appointment (2/28):
Weight: 6 lbs. 3.1 oz. (10%)
Height: 18 1/2 in. (13%)
Head circumference: 13 1/2 in. (34%)

Two week appointment (3/10):
Weight: 6 lbs. 15.8 oz. (12%)
Height: 19 in. (6%)
Head circumference: 13 3/4 in. (22%)

One month appointment (3/24):
Weight: 8 lbs. 4.3 oz. (31%)
Height: 19 3/4 in. (16%)
Head circumference: 14 3/4 in. (63%)

Two month appointment (4/25):
Weight: 10 lbs. 14.3 oz. (53%)
Height: 22 in. (38%)
Head circumference: 15 1/4 in. (50%)

As you can see, she had a few major growth spurts. The doctor said she is doing perfectly. Also, she seems to be gaining about 1.5 oz. a day. That is amazing considering she is a breastfed baby. The doctor mentioned something about her eating "heavy cream" instead of low-fat milk. I chuckled. It made me even more committed to nursing seeing how she is responding so well to it.

Also, she is a flirt. Dr. Chad Smith, at Raintree Pediatrics (Who is amazing, by the way! Thank you, Shelby for the recommendation. We loved him!) was examining her and she kept flashing him her adorable big-toothless grin. She even giggled for him. She is a charmer! Watch out boys. :)

Anyways, we are just smitten with her. She is sleeping around 8 hours straight most nights and will usually wake to eat and go back to sleep with some help. :)

She is happy for the most part and only cries if she needs something. We really lucked out. We couldn't imagine our lives without her and are so happy that God blessed us with her.

Our birth story

The fun began on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. I was 38 weeks and 2 days.

I was scheduled for my weekly OB appointment and sonogram that day. I was being monitored for oligohydramnios, AKA low amniotic fluid, for a few weeks. (Anything between 10-20 cm is considered normal.) For two weeks I was measuring at a nine. Something my doctor didn't like, but didn't feel it warranted an induction since the baby was doing good. She wanted to keep a close eye on it which I appreciated.

My sister came to get me that morning and took me to get a pedicure and we had lunch before the appointment. I grabbed my "labor" bag just in case, but was sure I was being sent home that day. I wasn't expecting any different.

After a delicious lunch at Red, Hot and Blue with my sis we went to the sonogram appointment first at 2:00 p.m. I had been feeling "off" all day. The sonographer starting measuring and let my sister see how big Aisley had gotten since my sonogram at 18 weeks. We could see her chubby little cheeks. So cute! Then the sonographer said, "What were you measuring at last time?" I replied with nine. She goes, "Hmm..." I knew "hmm" wasn't good. I asked what it was today and she said, "You are measuring at a 5." Well, I knew then that I was having a baby that day. We walked to my doctor's office down the hall while the sonographer transfered the information to her electronically.

My doctor walked in and said, "Well, you are having a baby today!" My sister immediately whips out her phone and starts contacting my husband and our mom. After a quick exam and learning I hadn't made much progress since my last visit I knew pitocin was in my future. This made me sad seeing how Chris and I were preparing for a natural delivery (without medication or intervention if possible). However, the safety of my baby was way more important than some birth plan.

I began waddling down to labor and delivery with my sister. We contacted the remaining people that I wanted to be there.

After I was admitted I was given the beautiful hospital gown that shows all your goodies to the world. I didn't really care since all of my goodies were going to be out in the open for the whole world to see in a little while.

I managed to beach myself onto the hospital bed and got poked and prodded. They needed to take blood, insert an IV, give me fluids and then they started the pitocin around 4:00 p.m. My doctor came to check on me and I was only at a 3 and almost completely effaced. Not a lot of progress. During the exam my water broke. Hopefully after that my body would get the picture and start working with the pitocin. I decided to try and handle the contraction with pitocin without the aid of an epidural. I lasted until 10:30 p.m. I am glad I tried, but honestly after having an epidural, I will probably opt for one if I am ever crazy enough to get pregnant again. It was the first time in months that I wasn't in pain. It felt like a warm bath. Once they placed the epidural they need to place a foley. For this they lay you flat on your back. Well, wouldn't you know that I had my vasovagal syncope and started passing out. My heart beat dropped and so did Aisley's. When I came to, the nurse was shifting me from side to side and I heard the heart monitor alarm going off. (Also, it is still just the nurse and I at this point. Chris, my mom and sister were all outside waiting until the epidural and catheter were placed.) I saw a horde of nurses coming in and asking if my nurse needed any help. She calmly said no and that she was going to do a quick scalp stimulation. I knew what this meant. Aisley wasn't responding to her moving me. Her heart beat wasn't picking back up. I was scared to death. I couldn't lose her. The nurse then reached up inside and tickled Aisley's head. Thank God that her heart beat jumped back up and stayed constant the rest of the labor. She is one tough cookie! Also, at some point during all of this I spiked a fever. They immediately had me on antibiotics. It made labor and delivery even tougher.

My doctor, bless her, came back up around 3:00 a.m. to check on me again and I was still only at a 3. My uterus was not contracting like it should. It was not responding to the pitocin like normal uterus does. Well, of course not. I can't do anything without some level of drama. Why would my uterus be any different? She said she would give me a few more hours and check on me at 7:00 a.m. If I hadn't made significant progress by then, she would need to do a C-section.

At 7:00 a.m. she came to check on me. My sweet nurse had been working her tail off trying to get my body to respond to the pitocin during that time. She was backing off the medicine and then slowly increase it. This went on for those precious hours between 3:00-7:00 a.m. I saw my doctor looking at the monitors and shaking her head. My uterus was still not responding correctly. I knew I hadn't made any progress and that I was destined to have a C-section. Something I really didn't want. However, if it was what was best for the baby, I would do it. She checked me and goes, "Oh my. You are at 8 cm." This was music to my ears. That meant there will still a small chance of being able to deliver vaginally. She let me try to sleep a little while longer and said by 10:00 she was going to check on me again.

At the next check I was fully dilated and ready to push. My nurse was amazing. God provided me at each shift with exactly who I need to get through this labor. I remember being told that it was time to push. I felt the urge, but I just didn't have it in me. I was exhausted. I was done. I told Chris I couldn't do it. I was achy from the fever and just plan tired.

I somehow found the strength to push. And boy did I push. Her head did not want to come out. There was a lot of molding, but that is what their heads are made to do. For a solid hour and half I did nothing but push. And demand ice chips. No breaks. Each contraction. Three pushes each contraction. Full body work out. They don't call it labor for nothing. I was also on oxygen since I continued to try and pass out after each round of pushing. At about 12:15 p.m. I was told to stop pushing and wait. The nurse was calling my doctor. She came in and suited up and told me to give her three really big pushes. I started to push and she told me to stop. I was tearing and I was tearing bad. I did all the "prepping" before. They applied counter pressure. It didn't help. She had to do an episiotomy. I didn't care. I wanted this baby out. I figured I would have either stitches down there or in my belly.

After that it was just mere seconds and a few good pushes and my healthy, screaming baby girl was in my arms. Words can't express the feeling that comes over you. I knew the minute she was laid on my chest that she was my baby. I looked at Chris and he had huge tears in his eyes. Our sweet little family of two just transformed in a matter of seconds to a family of three.

I expected to feel an overwhelming connection to her. I expected to fall completely head over heels in love with her. I didn't expect to fall even more in love with my husband. It was like my heart grew to unmeasurable proportions. Seeing the man I have loved for almost 12 years hold our brand new baby girl that we created out of love is like nothing else in this world. He continues to melt my heart each day.