The Bailey Chronicles

Look who's 7 today! Bailey's sweet cousin Bella ya ya! We are very excited to celebrate your birthday with you Bella! Can't wait for you to come and play today and have a birthday dinner too! We love you!!!!!

Love,

Aunt Kayla, Uncle John, and Baby Cousin Bailey

xoxoxox

My box of fancy pants Christmas Cards finally got here! They are going out tomorrow, so keep an eye on your mail people! Sorry about the lateness... it's a theme in my life!

Tonight has been the first night in the last couple of weeks where Bailey has actually been asleep during the hours of 2am-8am. I guess she has had her days and nights confused... not sure really. She just seems to become incredibly cranky and impossible to please between those hours. Constantly acting hungry so we nurse, still fussy so we burp, still fussy so we mess with the diaper... still fussy we rock, we nurse some more we might even take a bath and then she nurses one last time and passes out for the rest of the day. If I could drink coffee without her getting all cracked out as a side effect I probably wouldn't even be bothered by this routine, but the coffee just makes things worse for us so I have to work through it with her and try not to get cranky about it. However tonight has been different. She has actually been sleeping fairly well between these hours, and has been easy to please each time she wakes up. Yes tonight she has been quite easy like she is the rest of the day... so why can't I sleep? I bet ya when I finally drift off she wakes up mad, just a guess LOL. Oh well it would be my fault this time around not hers. I have been conditioned to sleep in the day now and she decides to change it up on me ROTTEN! *sigh*

Today Bailey is officially one month old and she is celebrating her first Christmas! We have had such a full year and it flew by so quickly, but I couldn't be more thankful for all of it! Christmas cards are delayed because they didn't arrive here on time, but they are coming. Here are some of our sweet first Christmas baby photos (taken by our very talented Aunt Candi and Uncle Kobi) to share until you get your card! Merry Christmas everyone, I hope it's perfect! We love you all!!

Happy Birthday!!! We love you and can't wait to see you today! You're the bestest!

The last couple of days have been kind of tricky, learning how to run this operation as a one man show now that Daddy is back to work. Last week was super easy because all Bailey did was sleep very soundly and John was here, but of course now that he is back at work she has decided to wake up and she is not happy unless I am holding her. The last two days I have been trying to squeeze in some sort of nap to try to get a few hours of sleep, but Bailey was not having it. It's not like she is a little terror or anything, she's quite happy and peaceful when in my arms, but the moment I set her down she wakes up within minutes and is very unhappy about the situation.

Today I replaced the batteries in her bear that makes womb noises, given to her by my cousin Patrick at the Austin baby shower and she couldn't be happier about it. She let me sleep, have coffee and even take a shower! Thank you Patrick LOL!! John has also promised to bring home a supply of D and C batteries, so we can utilize the features in her bouncer that she has been sleeping in (temporarily of course until we move her to the nursery) it vibrates and plays music but we haven't been able to use those features since we don't have any C batteries, and we'll be able to use her swing which I am sure she will love since she likes being rocked so much. If that bear can work miracles I know the rest of the baby items should come in handy too! I have a feeling that Bailey and I will have it a little more figured out next week.

We have received her Social Security card in the mail yesterday so she is an official citizen of the United States! YAY a real person LOL!! It was addressed to her and everything. I am sure I sound silly, but it was cool getting a piece of mail addressed to her specifically. Oh yeah, and her umbilical chord fell off a few days ago so now she has a real belly button and it's way cuter than that dried up chord.

I've been tagged!

Here are the instructions...

1. Go to your pictures

2. Upload the fourth picture in the fourth file

3. Post

4. Tag four friends

Me and my beautiful God Daughter Alyssa at Christmas time last year. She is 1 and half in this pic!

I tag Johnna, Nikki, Ashley, and Kristen!

This week has been fantastic. All three of us had a pretty rough time at the hospital, but now that we are home things have been running much smoother and are way less stressful. Before giving birth to Bailey I had made the decision that I wanted to breast feed her. If you have discussed this with me it may have seemed surfacely that I was undecided about it, but in reality it was something I really wanted to be able to do I just lacked confidence in my ability to actually do it. I have heard a lot of things about how painful it can be at first and so honestly it scared me, but I have also heard about all the nutritional value it provides the baby that formula can't do. So to protect myself from being let down I typically under estimate my ability to do things, silly I know but doesn't is feel better to surprise yourself than to let yourself down? Candi and a few of my friends have been talking to me about it a great deal, telling me how much of a connection you get to your baby through breast feeding and I think they are right. Bailey did pretty well with latching right from the beginning. It wasn't exactly easy, but I think it could have been harder at the same time kwim? Having a c-section though did make the breast milk take a little longer than if I had had her vaginally. By night three Bailey had become overly hungry and irritable from lack of sleep. Her nurse from the nursery had come in around 5 am to take her for her vitals and to be checked out by the pediatrician (routine every morning). She had been fussing all night and would only sleep if she was cuddled up next to me in bed. By this point I was on empty as far as sleep went and was looking forward to the two hours I was about to get. Unfortunately when they had brought her back to me I found her with a pacifier in her mouth and she was going to town on it. The nurse tried to tell me that most babies can use pacifiers and breast feed, but not my baby that's for sure. She was supposed to eat at 7 am and by 11 she still hadn't latched. Finally a lactating specialist came in and worked with us for a whole hour and we finally got a successful latch. Bailey had passed out from being worked up for so long so I felt it was safe to call the nursery to take her for an hour so that I could shower and eat some lunch before the next feeding. John was at work because it was black Friday, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her in the room unattended with as many people that feel the need to walk into your room at the hospital that I don't know. I had thrown the pacifier away so I didn't think to tell the nurse not to give her one. One hour later she wheeled Bailey back in my room with another pacifier shoved in her mouth. I wanted to strangle her. So once again I fought with Bailey all afternoon to get her to latch with another lactating specialist assisting. This time the baby was done with me. We were able to persuade her back on with a guard but it wasn't easy. That night when she was weighed she had dropped in weight significantly. The on call pediatrician came in and lectured me about how I was making both Bailey and myself miserable, and I need to think about what is right for the baby. He had me in tears. I started to doubt myself, was I being selfish? I thought I was trying to do what is best for the baby and now I am being told that I am a bad mommy already. The lack of sleep, hormones and frustration where more than I could handle. My baby had been crying now for almost 24 hours, and meal time was more than I could handle and I was doing this alone because John had been working. Thank God for Candi and the help of John. Candi swooped in to my rescue and gave me the support I needed. Candi showed me how I could supplement without actually giving Bailey a bottle, which was not something that the on call Pediatrician offered up as advice. I requested to be released because the hospital was more than I could handle. A lactating specialist came in to see me before I left to offer some additional support. These ladies where a lot more helpful than the nursery nurses. They showed me many tricks to help John and I teach Bailey how to latch. But honestly in the end I would have given up and would have been sad about it, if it wasn't for Candi's support. The nurses and the doctor had discouraged me completely and made me feel guilty for trying to breast feed instead of just switching her to bottle. We were released on a Saturday, and set up an appointment with a new Pediatrician on Tuesday. The breast feeding was a struggle all the way up until Monday afternoon, and then something clicked with Bailey. She became a little champ at it. When she weighed in on Tuesday she had only gained back an ounce upon leaving the hospital, and since she had lost a little over a pound the Doc was a little worried. I explained the situation to him so he recommended I bring her back Friday to be weighed in again to make sure that she is getting the nutrition she needs. We had no problem with this, because of course we are concerned about her more than anyone and want what is best for her. If that means supplement then that is what we will do. At this point my biggest issue is no longer getting her to latch, it's waking her up. Once she had a full belly all she wants to do is sleep. John and I have to apply the torcher method every two to three hours to make sure she eats enough. We undress her completely, put cold wet wash clothes on her, apply lotion, tickle and change diapers just to wake her enough to eat, and then do it all over again when I switch sides. It's not surprising that she likes her sleep so much, John and I are both sleepy heads. Anyway I am happy to report that she gained 10 oz back in three days. She has become a good little eater. We no longer have to worry about supplementing her, and in fact the Dr. was so impressed that he went ahead and did her two week check up so that we won't have to come back until her two month check up! Meal time is no longer an issue, and has become enjoyable for us both. GO BAILEY, and Thanks Sis we couldn't have done it with out ya!!

As I mentioned in the previous post I had a routine follow up appointment on Tuesday. Unexpectedly it ended up being my last day as a preggo. The nurse checked my blood pressure as usual, and it was crazy high. They had me wait around in our usual room for the Dr. and once again they rechecked it about half an hour later. Then they did a sonogram, which was a surprise to us both. After a while I asked the Dr. if the high blood pressure is a big deal and she shocked us by letting us know that we were having the baby either today or tomorrow. I was sad when I realized she was talking about inducing me because I wanted her to come on her own terms, but they explained that the high blood pressure could potentially send me into seizures or stroke so it was necessary. They wheeled me into the hospital where they performed a series of tests on me. My blood work came back normal, which explained the I was not at risk for hypertension. I interpreted that as it was not necessary to induce, but no I was wrong. They then let us know that I would need c-section, which is absolutely the last thing I wanted, but she hadn't dropped enough and so if they induced me I would be in labor for 24 hours and still end up having one at the end of it all. Eventually I calmed down about the situation, but to be honest having another surgery right after I healed from this last one was not ideal. I felt unprepared, nervous, scared, excited, overwhelmed... pretty much everything all at once. The idea of an epdiural before I was in any real pain scared the crap out of me, but in reality it turned out to be no big deal.

The surgery was, well... the creepiest thing I have ever been through. I thought you couldn't feel things when they did a c-section so it really weirded me out when I felt them moving, cutting, pushing, digging and all that fun stuff. John was absolutely amazing, by my side trying to comfort me in anyway possible. He was filled with joy and excitement the entire time. You could see it all over him, like a kid on Christmas day. He kept peeking over the sheet to see what was happening, luckily he had his poker face on so I didn't have to think about what it looked like. The docs pulled her out of me and I heard one of them exclaim that she looked exactly like her mother. I looked over and saw John's face light up. They lifted her above the sheet to give me glimpse of what she looked like, and to my surprise she had a full head of black hair. I guess I figured when they said she looked exactly like me that she would be bald or blonde. They carried her off to my left to clean her up and suck the amniotic fluids out of her. John stayed by my side holding my hand and I told him to go see her since I was stuck there. He ran off to take pictures with tearful eyes. And I stayed distracted with watching them while the docs fixed me back up. After she was wiped down they brought her to me to hold, and the anesthesiologist snapped our first family photo.

After that all of my fears came to rest as we were both fixated on our little creation. It is absolutely amazing how John and I can look like complete polar opposites, but she somehow looks identical to us both at any given moment. The hospital let me go on Saturday and the whole experience was exhausting. Every time I thought I could drift off to sleep someone new was at my door knocking, not so much the visitors but the hospital staff. They continuously feel the need to come bug you. It is soooo much better being at home with her. We finally got a full 8 hours of incremental sleep last night and are starting to feel human again. Bailey is training us to cater to her needs. I'll keep y'all updated on how Bailey boot camp is going :o)

Things are moving along now. Just got back from our weekly check up and am happy to report that I am 60% effaced. I am not Dilated yet, but the end of pregnancy is near! Before long baby cries, diaper changes and late night feedings will be my reason for no sleep vs. frequent potty breaks, heart burn and overall discomfort. We have also picked up the paint for the nursery today so hopefully my next post will be finished nursery pics! I am still praying that she doesn't decide to come around Thanksgiving, hopefully she waits closer to her original estimated due date. Our next appointment is Tuesday so I will be sure to report if there are any changes! Bailey will be here before we know it!

As I mentioned in the previous post we recently had to take our cat to the vet. We had planned on taking him in to remove his claws before the baby came because let's face it, Mr. Kitty has a bad reputation for attacking people. He doesn't attack everyone, John and I are safe, but people that approach him fast, talk loud, startle him, or maybe he just decides not to like them are all fair game to him. He especially hates it when people walk to the restroom for some reason. He has claimed all restrooms as his own personal den and feels threatened the moment a guest starts making their way back there. Obviously he can not be trusted around children because the younger they are the less likely they will have a gentle approach. We had planned on getting those claws out before the baby actually became mobile, but then last week we noticed flees. I am not entirely sure if they were already in the carpet when we moved in, or if he got them when he escaped from the last apartment because he freaked out about all of the boxes as we were moving. Did I mention he has separation anxiety? LOL, my cat has a list of mental issues, but we love him all the same. Anyway, I had noticed him scratching over a month ago and kept searching him for flees, but I never found any. He's all black with a thick coat so it is a challenge. Finally I noticed one crawl across his eye, and that same day started spotting them in my room. Yes, it was time to take him to the vet, and since he was making the trip to his loathed enemy we might as well get him completely taken care of. So goodbye claws! We decided to do front and back, even though vets recommend against the back ones so they can still defend themselves. They seriously underestimate Mr. Kitty's sneakiness. He will grab hold of you with his front paws, like a tackle or a bear hug, and then kick you with his back feet, digging all four sets of claws into your arm or foot. So yes, even though they advised against it, we still opted for all four to be removed. We also had to get a series of tests done, for parasites, luckily he passed! And had to update his shots. I felt like we were doing the right thing, the responsible thing, but when poor Mr. Kitty came home he was so incredibly miserable. He meowed with every step he took, then layed down in our closet and didn't move for 5 days. I kept checking on him to make sure he was still alive. I would have to scratch him and pet him to get any kind of response. It was so sad! They gave us pain meds to be given to him every 12 hours, I think they must have been pretty strong because he seemed to check out after every shot. Anyway, I am pleased to report that our beloved family pet is now showing signs of life once again. I knew this is something we would have to do eventually, but I wasn't prepared for how traumatic it was going to be for him. I would have felt really bad if we had decided to do that to him and he had never scratched anyone before, because that was major!

I am not sure if I feel entirely ready for this baby yet, partially because the nursery isn't done, and partially because it feels like the list of baby supplies is never ending. Since we are on a budget, and our cat's recent vet visit is taking away a good portion of that budget (he is being de-clawed, flee dipped, re-vaccinated, and possibly de-wormed today) I am trying to prioritize what we still need to buy and how important it is to have right away. Tonight I took my gift cards from babies r us and got a few items that I didn't have: a pack of receiving blankets, baby socks, a couple of newborn footy pjs, newborn onesies, and of course nipple pads and cream for breast feeding. I figured these where cheap items that I could knock off the list right away. I know I should get: baby bath tub, baby towels, boppy pillow for breast feeding, nursing bras and maybe a gown if it's necessary, cloth diapers for burping, changing pad and cover, one of those positioning pillows for sleeping babies (that's necessary right?), a stroller (soon but not right away), and diapers and wipes... I think that's it, but I never really know. So to all you mom's out there is all of that stuff pretty necessary to have right away? What is priority? Am I missing anything important? What do I need for me as far as breast feeding and delivery recovery? What should I pack for the hospital aside from clothes for myself and for the baby? We only have one last paycheck before the baby gets here so I have to make the dollar stretch, I just need to take care of the supplies that is actually important to have on hand when we bring her home. Ready for your tips and suggestions to ease my mind!

***UPDATE***

OK I am no longer worried! I have great friends that are helping me with last minute needs with items they no longer need and gifts!!! It's always good to have a support network!!

Happy 24th to John!! We celebrated his birthday Friday with the family. Ate dinner with Mom and David, Candi, Kobi, and the kids. He always loves a little family time :o) That same day we had a Dr. appointment scheduled. Baby is still growing ahead by two weeks but not dilated yet so I guess she plans on hanging in there for a while longer. We are getting closer and closer to finishing her nursery. We have purchased and built a dresser for her and got her a new rug that is super soft and squishy. Hopefully in a couple weeks we can tackle painting it and putting up all the finishing touches. I would post pics, but we only have the items we haven't actually decorated it yet. Soon though! Bella got a chance to feel the baby kick for the first time, I think it may have freaked her out a little but I still think she was pleased.

I have never felt so drained in my life. Everyday all I want to do is sleep. I think it's mostly cuz I am up all night from heart burn. I feel so incredibly unproductive and disconnected to the outside world! This will end right? Cuz man I have no absolutely no energy and no desire to do anything. Even on John's days off I have a hard time keeping up with him and need a nap time break sometime through out the day. I had no idea how tiring pregnancy can be, feels like first trimester all over again. I am on the last round though, not long to go! Very excited and completely overwhelmed all at the same time!

On Wednesday John and I took a trip to my sister's house for a pumpkin carving party. First we stopped by Tom Thumb to pick us up some pumpkins, however they only had 4 left and they looked pretty pathetic, all small and not round. I was very disappointed and told John we had to find great big ones the size of my belly LOL. He didn't think it could be done but just across the street at Kroger we scored two really gigantic pumpkins, and got a great deal on them because some lady was griping about how the bin was marked wrong! I was pleased at our luck! We headed to Candi's with our giant pumpkins and sat on the floor with the kids scooping out pumpkin guts. Bella and Skylar took a lot of time carefully emptying out their pumpkins and reminisced over last years pumpkin gut fight in the front yard.

After successfully ridding our pumpkins of their guts we all sat down to a yummy new fall recipe of Pumpkin Chili. Delicious! Then it was on to carving. John and I had picked up some pumpkin stencils at Kroger so we attempted some challenging designs. I had a tarantula dangling from a web and John picked out a haunted house design. Unfortunately for John his little poker tool did not leave strong enough indentions in his pumpkin for him to adequately see the design. He put a lot of effort into it at first, but then his patience and his eye sight wore him out and he failed his mission :o( It was his first time using one of those kits so maybe next year he will be better prepared. Mine was a success, but I did tire out at the end and had Candi finish my spider. Bella and Skylar were creative enough to come up with their own designs which Candi and Kobi happily carved out for them.

And finally our completed pumpkins! Mine is top, Skylar's is in the middle and Bella's is on the bottom. John's didn't make it :o(

Friday I had my 34 week check up. Everything looks good, but the baby is still measuring ahead. The new estimated due date is November 28th... black Friday! GREAT! I hope she is earlier or later than that, because that date is just not good for us LOL. Poor John, if she comes around that day he will feel so conflicted about his obligations as a store manager at Best Buy and his excitement about wanting to stay home with his first baby. So we pray that he is not put into that bind, and that he can enjoy this special time in his life without work robbing him of that joy. Her meaurements put her closer to 36 weeks and she is supposedly weighing 5 pounds 8 ounces. I am glad that she is healthy and growing like a weed, but at the same time it does worry me because I don't want to be pressured into an induction. I would prefer the birth to come naturally when she's ready. We'll see! This is her latest sonogram pic. I don't think the Doc is very good at them because this is the best one out of 15 if you can believe it. She really doesn't have duck lips, the doc said her hand was resting on her cheek so I guess that's her finger. This bottom one is her spine.

On Saturday we had the Dallas baby shower. My sister picked up a really cute cake from Sam's and Mom set up the buffet table. Fortunately it was a beautiful day because we held the shower outside by my apartment's pool.

I just got back from Austin, visiting family and had a blast. My sister and I desperately wanted to make it down there to see our cousin Molly, who has been very busy the last few years building an impressive resume in her career as a kitchen manager/ chef by traveling to fun places like Alaska and New Zealand. She has returned home for the holidays so we planned to visit, but sadly our schedules are conflicting and the only weekend I can make it down there just so happens to be a weekend she had an out of town job interview :o( We decided to go ahead and make the trip because by the time my weekend schedule clears it puts me very close to my due date, makes it risky for travel. Anyway, we had a wonderful time hanging out with my uncle, my dad and his other half Andrea. We even got to visit with my other cousin Sally, her husband Justin, and sweet little baby girl Annie on the last day of our trip. None of us took any pics of the trip, so I can't post any photographic updates this time around, but we still had an amazing time!

I have to say the highlight of the trip was when my sister was shaking my baby bump trying to get Bailey to wake up. My Dad freaked out at the sight and couldn't believe his eyes which cracked me up and then on top of that their was Andrea's funny moment. She politely asked if I minded if she felt for the baby, which I of course didn't. And gently placed her hand upon my stomach close to Candi's. At that exact moment Bailey kicked and Andrea jumped back with a look of horror on her face, completely grossed out LOL. She commented "ewww something's living in there!" LMAO! I guess she wasn't fully prepared for that kodak moment, but it was then when I realized why her and my Dad are so perfect for eachother. It was priceless.

October 2008: 8 months pregnant

I finally sucked it up and went to the lab yesterday morning for my three hour Gestational Diabetes test. It kept getting postponed because we were in the middle of the move and all that packing and unpacking kept us pretty busy their for a minute, but then I realized I had run out of excuses for not setting up the appointment. So like a big girl I arranged for the appointment... or maybe I was worried that I would get in trouble with the Dr. LOL. Either way the deed has been done. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Turns out I only had to drink one of those awful glucose drinks, not three of them, and it was the same size as the original one. I did end up having to wait around at the lab for four hours instead of three because their was a mix up with my paperwork at the beginning, but after the appointment I rewarded myself with yummy Mexican food so it was quickly forgotten. They stuck me in the same arm and the same vein 3 out of 4 of the times so my left arm is feeling a little sore today, but at least they found my veins quickly without having to be stuck extra times and no fishing around. While the experience wasn't particularly delightful, it wasn't really bad either. The lab staff was hilarious and I was waiting around with my best friend and another preggo patient that was pretty funny too, so no complaints!

I had my prenatal appointment this morning and it turns out I passed all 4 of the blood tests this time around! NO Gestational Diabetes for me! This is very relieving news to me. At first I thought I had nothing to worry about, but then I discovered that Diabetes runs on both sides of my family which puts me at a higher risk, plus I am over weight which doesn't help. Then I looked up the symptoms of Gestational Diabetes to see if I could rule it out, but they were the same as pregnancy symptoms so that didn't help one bit. And then finally with the move I started feeling cramping and stiffness on my right side, swelling and plus I kept seeing spots and bubbles over the last two weeks which are all symptoms of Eclampsia another pregnancy problem closely related to Diabetes. But my Dr. assures me that it was the strain of the move and my growing baby, and I have nothing to worry about because my blood, urine and blood pressure are all good. The baby is still very active, and the cramping/stiffness I feel on my right side are her little feet digging up into my ribs. Apparently they nestle themselves in to areas where there is more room, and since I have one less organ on my right side she has taken a liking to that area. She is also still ahead on her growth schedule, but I guess is slowing down a little as far as length goes. She usually measure a week and half to two weeks ahead, but this time she only measured a week ahead. We have been through a lot together, but luckily she has remained unaffected by everything. She seems to be getting plenty of nutrition according to her growth and activity, which worried me earlier on in pregnancy since I could keep much down for the longest time. I should be getting my third trimester sonogram next appointment, in two weeks!

Now that the apartment is completely unpacked and we are all caught up on bills, we finally have a chance to work on the nursery. The fun part! John and I put together the crib over the weekend, which was actually really easy and it looks beautiful! We have arranged her room but still have a long ways to go. Projects that I will tackle this month are: painting the walls yellow, a restoration of a vintage chandelier, wallpaper art, and hopefully the construction of a dresser if we can squeeze that out of next pay day. We are starting to plan for the Dallas baby shower, so that will either fall at the very end of this month or early November.

The Chandelier Project is what I am currently tackling. I have seen a trend in girl nursery themes having a small chandelier hanging over the crib instead of a mobile. Candi had sent me a bunch of links to decals for wall art, and the one I had liked the best was the chandelier. But then I decided I could probably find a real one, a cheap fixer upper at a salvation store or ebay and custom design it around the nursery. I told my mom my plans for it because she likes to hunt Craigslist and ebay regularly for fun so I figured I could keep her on that hunt while I shopped around, but as luck would have it she already had the perfect solution. Her mom had given her a chandelier when she was young that she had no place for and has been in a box in the garage for decades, but she was too attached to completely get rid of it to a total stranger so it's just been in storage. She was pleased to be passing it on as now a family heirloom, and she didn't mind at all if I gave it a face lift. Perfect! Free fits in my budget, because now I can spend more on crystals and embellishments for it. Plus it's a piece that will have a little history behind it so it will be special. I can't post pics of the nursery yet, because it's not close to being finished at all, but I will post before pics of the chandelier and what I have done so far. I have ordered new crystals, so construction of the piece has not officially started. But I wouldn't want to give out an update with no pics to leave y'all with ;o)

These are the before pics. The fixture has three lights behind the band. Crystals can be hung from the top spokes, from the band, and from the base. The middle pic is after it had been spray painted black to match the nursery. And the bottom pics are the new crystals I have ordered for it so far. I have to re assemble the small octagon crystals because a lot of them where detached... so it's a work in progress.