Update to deleted photos

I just wanted to update all of you about the deleted photos. I took the SD card to J and P photo in Greenville on Thurs and on Friday was able to pick up my recovered photos on cd. Yes, they were able to recover all 900+ photos. I was so excited I started dancing in the place. So I will post real christmas photos soon. For now, I have a very tired little princess awaited her bedtime meal. Goodnight and Happy New Year.

Carly 1rst Chrismas and More

Carly had her first Christmas yesterday and it was so much fun. She got all kinds of fun things. She has been wearing herself out playing so much. Today we set up a corner in our living room just for her.

Christmas actually started for her a couple weeks ago. First we had Sarah Bradley (and her parents)over for a little party. Carly got a fun doll that is dressed in a cow outfit and it sings Hey Diddle Diddle. Carly loves it. I like it even more b/c SB (Sarah Bradley) was a moo cow for Halloween and Carly and she went to Boo in the Zoo together. The next night Carly hosted Tori and Jayden (and their parents). See Tori is a like a big sister to Carly and Jayden is her boyfriend. They gave her a little Christmas doll and a princess towel.

On last Friday we went down to Oburg. Sunday evening we had Christmas with my family. Carly had a lot of fun with her cousins. She got a little Lion ride on toy. She loves it. She plays with it alot. She also got so fun bows that she will have to grow into. My parents gave her a toy top and a thing for her crib.

Monday night we were out at my granny's with my dad's side of the family. Carly had even more cousins to play with there. She is the youngest and she had fun crawling around playing with everyone's toys. After good food and Carly opening a few gifts we hit the road for home. We got back to the house at about 11 pm.

Tuesday morning Zach parents came over to watch CArly open her presents. She had a ball opening each one and playing with them all. Then we went over to their house to open gifts. There she had even more fun. She really wore herself out playing with everything.

Well today started off just fine. We returned some gifts and got a few new things. Carly had fun playing with all her toys. Well I did something very bad. See I got a new camera yesterday. So I took the SD card out of my old one and put it in my new one. It had all the pictures on it from the last 4 months. ( I had not saved them yet) Well I was playing with the camera and deleting some fuzy pictures and I deleted my whole card. Trust me I cried (literally). I found out there is a recovery place in Gville so I am going there tomorrow to try to retrieve my pictures. Please pray that I will be able to. Pictures have never meant this much to me but if I have lost all those pictures I will cry again.

Well the pictures I posted are from today. I just wanted to show you her stuff.

Hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Carly

So it has been quite a while. Carly is growing up so fast. She is eating food now. She loves her oatmeal. She has eaten peas, carrots and green beans so far. She has liked them all. It is funny how much her poo has changed.

She is 6 months old and way too big. She has been clapping with closed fists for about 3 weeks. Today, she started clapping with open hands. She likes to hear the clapping sound.

Halloween was a blast. She was the cutest turtle. We went to Boo in the Zoo at Riverbanks and Greenville. We had more fun at Riverbanks. Greenville kinda herded us around like cattle in a shoot. Then we went to Downtown Clemson for Tricks or Treat. She enjoyed it. Even more so the people downtown loved her. Several college students stopped us to take pictures.

christmas is coming soon so we took Carly last week and got her pictures done. I will post one or two so that you can see what a big girl she is.

Roll Carly Roll

Carly is growing up so fast. This past Wed she rolled over from her back to her tummy. She has been rolling from her tummy to her back since she was 7 weeks old and now she can go the other way. So this is how it works... I place Carly on her blanket on her back...she rolls to her tummy...then she rolls back to her back...then she looks at me like "what's going on mommy". It is kinda funny.

She will be 5 months next Sunday. Where has the time gone? She can almost sit up by herself and she tries to pull herself up to a sitting position when she is reclined back. She can sit up when she is leaning forward a little bit and holding her toes. She is so cute.

Last night we got her her Halloween costume. I know some of you may be thinking that she is too young to do Halloween or you may be against it totally. Well, Zach and I have decided that we will do halloween and that Carly can be nice things...Not devils or witches or monsters. So this year she will be a turtle. I know those of you who know me are so not surprised. The costume is so cute. My friend Summer told me about it. We got it from The Children's Place. Bonus: it was on sale.

Well I am gonna put some pictures from Sears. She was 4 months old.

first library group

Carly had her first library group today. The Central Library has a reading group for toddlers (children under 2). It was a very fun group. We got there and Carly had fallen asleep in the van. I took her in anyway so that she could hear the books while she was asleep. Well, once we got inside she woke up when she heard all the other children around her. At first she was scared because she didn't know where she was but once I took her out of her seat she was fine. they sang a few children's songs (itsy bitsy spider and happy and you know it). Then they read a book. then they sang another song. Then they read another book and used a felt board to show the story. Next they sang B I N G O. After that we did ring around the rosie and then got stickers. Carly was smiling the whole time. I am so happy that she enjoyed it. I love to read and feel that it is super important to start early. I also like that it exposes Carly to children other than just the ones at church.

We checked out 5 books to read this week. I wont be able to take Carly next Friday because I have to work. I hate it and don't want to work on a Friday but they really need me. So I guess we will have to wait 2 weeks before Carly gets to go back.

what's going on

So I know...I am horrible at keeping up with this. I am super sorry. I am working 4 days a week and usually have something going on on my day off. AND I have a 4 month old, who has time for anything?

Carly is growing well. She had an ear infection 2 weeks ago and had her 4 month check up the same week. She is 14 lb 15.5 oz, 23 6/8 in long. She is doing really well. We went back yesterday and the ear infection is all gone.

She went to her first Clemson football game on Labor Day. We tailgaited and she did very well. She fell asleep in Paw Paw's arms on the way to the game. She slept while Fla State's band played right next to us. She slept while Fla State took the field and people cheered. However, when Death Valley erupted as clemson took the field in pregame she woke up with a fright. Imagine: you go to sleep in your grandfather's arms and you wake up to about40,000 people screaming around you. She did well during the game but it really scared her when we scored or got a first down and everyone cheered. So we left at half-time to get the tired little tiger in the bed.

She "talks" all the time now and she is getting even more cute.

Well she is talking to me now and wanting some attention. I will try to post some picts but it doesn't always work.

Pictures

Here are the pictures I promised you.

Been along time

I apologize to those who have been checking. I have been a terrible blogger since I have gone back to work. Carly is growing like a cute little weed. She is sleeping for 8 hours at a time. Yay. Sleeping is much better.

I was able to get her a an excersaucer from a consignment sale in town (www.upstatekids.com). It only cost $25 instead of $99 for a new one. She loves it. I will have to put a picture on here soon. I will try to do it tomorrow. I also got her a bumbo for only $6. Back to the excersaucer-she loves it. She sits in it and bounces and plays with all the little toys. She can coo now and she sits in it and just coos and coos. She also likes to watch tv in her bouncy seat. We got that baby tv channel. She loves it. she will watch it for 30-60 minutes at a time.

She got sick for the first time this week. She had a stomach bug. We had to put her on a pedialyte diet for 24 hours and then a combination pedialite/breastmilk for the next 24 hours. She is doing much better now. I just hated that my baby felt so bad. She just wanted to be held by her mommy. I just wanted to make her all better.

Now she feels better and was playing again today. Yayy.

The Beach, 4th of July, 2 months, 1rst Shots

So I know it has been a while since I last blogged. We were without internet for awhile. Now we have it back so I can give you updates.

We went to the beach (Surfside)and had loads of fun. Carly did not mind the water at all. She would just sit there and let the waves hit her and not mind at all. We didn't do a lot this year b/c she is not old enough. It did throw her off her schedule. She hated being in the carseat so much and she let all of us know about it. We did a lot of sitting around and relaxing. There were times that I just wanted to go home and get her back on schedule though. She would get so upset and just cry and cry. We had to just rock her and sing to her a lot. We were able to get her a lot of clothes at the consignment shops down there and at the outlets. Oh yeah, Carly rolled over for the first, second, third, and forth time. Wow, she was only 7 1/2 weeks old. Watch Mommy, she is growing up to fast.

We came back on a Sat and the next day was The Picnic at the Lake. It is where we take our church service to the lake. It is a lot of fun. The only bad thing is that there is no air conditioning. So Carly got hot and tired kinda fast. So we had the service, ate the food, and left. Next year, she will be old enough to enjoy the lake more.

Well just a few days later was 4th of July. So HAPPY BELATED 4th of JULY. We actually celebrated more the day before at Clemsonfest. Carly slept through most of it and only startled a little at the fireworks. Carly also went to the movies for the first time on July 3. Zach and I went to see Live Free or Die Hard. She slept through pretty much the whole thing. It is nice to know that we can still do stuff like that if we plan properly. So July 4th we didn't do too much. We went over to Zach's parents to eat supper. Some friends were over (Phil, Della, and "Brother" Matt) and Aunt Connie and "Cousin" Matt. To explain about the Matt's; there are a ton of Matt's in our church that we have contact with. "Brother" Matt happens to be Zach's brother's best friend and went to the beach with us. So, he is like a brother. "Cousin" Matt is really Zach's cousin. Anyway, we had a ton of fun sitting around talking about things.

Well 3 days after July 4, Carly turned 2 months old. My parents, Zach, Carly, and I all went up to the MOuntain house for the weekend. It was nice to get away for 2 days to the mountains. It is so peaceful. Carly did great b/c it was a much shorter trip. She rolled over again so that my mom could see her.

Carly got her first shots on Tuesday. She did pretty good. She only cried while the needles were in her legs. I couldn't watch b/c I didn't like seeing her in pain. I hated seeing her bleeding. It just made me want to cry too. She ended up with a fever and not feeling good on Wed. I was at work and she would not take a bottle from her daddy. So when mommy got home, she became an all you can eat buffet.

Other than that not much going on. I started my new job and Zach is still looking for a job. I hope he finds one soon. I want more time with my Carly.

Packing for the Beach

Okay, so we leave tomorrow for the beach. Yayyyyyy! I am very excited. I ended up not working a full 40 hours this week. I was happier than I thought I would be. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. This is the first time we have had to pack for a whole week. the other times we've had to pack we were going to my parents and they have some of the things we need down there. So we have to pack even more stuff. I made a list of everything we need so that we don't forget anything. It's not like we can replace something like a pack n play. Well I have a lot more to do. We got our first picture of our baby girl smiling. We were so excited. I will post it soon.

First Day Back to Work

Today was my first day back at work. I absolutely hated it. I cried last night before i fell asleep. I cried this morning getting ready. I cried when I went to walk out the door to go. I cried in my car on the way. I cried when Zach called me and said she had been crying for an hour. So the theme of the day is CRYING. I just wanted to turn my car around and drive back home. When Zach called me, I almost walked in the OR and told them I had to go home. Zach said that Carly was a grump and he thought she could tell that something was amiss. Fortunately, I was able to leave after only 6 hours not 8. And Zach and Carly were able to meet me in Anderson for lunch. The rest of the week looks pretty good because there are no cases scheduled, which will mean that I can work half days instead of whole days. Yayy.

Another thing about today is that we had to take Carly to the Dr. She has a very bad case of baby acne and heat rash. Zach and I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't anything else that needed to be treated. They said it would go away in a few days to weeks and not to use any lotion on her. We are just supposed to keep her clean. I hate that I can't use lotion b/c I love to make her smell so good. However, I hate to see my baby so broke out.

Next week we go to the beach. We are really looking forward to it. Just getting away from here for a little while. We don't plan on doing a ton. My birthday is that Wed so maybe Zach and I will do something that night. Who knows.

Well I better go now.

1 Month and More

I know it has been a while since I was able to blog. Last week we went to Orangeburg. Zach had an interview in Charleston on Thursday so we went down on Wed. My brothers and sisters in law finally got to meet Carly. She also got to meet her Granny Cola. She did very well traveling. As long as she had a full belly she slept all the way. We were very happy about that. I did take a bottle just in case and had to give her a little one time.

She is over one month old now. I can't believe it. Time is flying. Last Tues she weighed 9 lb 12.5 oz and was 19.5 in. She is getting so big. She is doing so well. She sleeps very well and usually only gets up once during the middle of the night and maybe twice. She is holding her head up very well. She even smiled this past Monday. I am very excited that she doing so well.

Next Monday I have to return to work. I am only going back to AnMed for a week. Then we go to the beach for a week. Then I plan to start working at Blue Ridge Ortho. I am very excited about that. I really miss working in Ortho.

Well that is all for now.

3 weeks and more

I can not believe that my baby is already over three weeks old. Time is flying. She is doing great. This past weekend we took her to Freedom Weekend Aloft (a hot air balloon festival in Simpsonville). She slept the entire time we were there. The festival moved from Anderson to Simpsonville this year and we were sad but we still wanted to go. We never found the balloons though. We did get Carly some styling shades though.



I did get both PRN jobs that I applied for. One of them is going to want me to work like 12 weeks at almost full time. I don't like that but they said I can do some half days. They just want to get to know me and let me get to know everything that I need to learn. I am looking forward to being able to just work part time and stay home with my baby the rest of the time.



Well I guess I will go for now.

My Poor Baby

Okay, so I have been doing a great job keeping Carly's nails trimmed. Summer cut them the first time they were cut. I watched her and have been doing them myself every few days ever since. Well I decided I needed to cut them tonight b/c I noticed that she had cut herself on the face. So I started cutting them and I cut one of her fingers. I was so sad. I had to keep her finger in my mouth to try to get it to stop. It finally stopped. My mom said she did that to my oldest brother and a lot of other women have said they did it at one point in time or another also but that really doesn't make me feel any better. But I will continue to cut her nails b/c otherwise she will cut her self all the time.

Well I had two job interviews today. One at Blue Ridge Ortho and one at Oconee Memorial. It looks like I will get both jobs. They will be PRN jobs. That means it will be on an as needed basis. I will be in charge of my schedule with the right to say yes or no to coming into work. This way I won't have to work full time. I can spend more time with Carly. Yay.

Well I am tired so I am going to try to go to sleep. I will be up between 3-4:30 for a feeding.

2 weeks old

I can not believe my baby is two weeks old already. Time is going by way too fast. Before I know it she'll be married. Okay so maybe that is an exageration. It just feels like that. She tries to hold her head up already. I keep telling her to slow down. I don't want her to grow so fast.

I went to OMH today and put in an application for a PRN job. They told me they could probably use me and would give me a call in the next two days. That is very exciting. I don't want to go back to work at all but since I have to I want to work as little as possible. Summer has agreed to keep Carly while I work and that makes me feel better than if I had to put her in daycare. I just know that my first day away from her will be super hard. To be honest I have already cried quite a bit about going back to work. I just want to stay home with her and raise her myself. I hope that I don't miss any of her firsts. I want to see her first smile, first step, first crawl.

Well I am going to try to get a picture to post the proper way now. Please forgive me for the ones that are sideways.

New Updates

Well I have lots to report from the last time. i will try to update more often but I am still adjusting to being a new mom.

On Sunday, May 13th Carly was dedicated to Christ. This is more a time for the parents to say that they will raise their child in the way of the Lord and provide a proper example. It also gives the members of the church a time to pray for the family. Carly did an excellent job in her first visit to the church. She slept the whole time. Carly got to meet her friend Jayden who will be a year old on June 13. He was hitting her during the dedication. that is his way of flirting. She also got to meet Jayden's 4 year old sister Torie. Torie has been like Zach and I's "child" for the last 3 years. her parents Summer and Allan are our best friends. Torie is very excited about Carly. She wants to teach her to dance.

Sunday was also Zach's 25th birthday. He was just excited to have his daughter. It was also my first Mother's day. I never thought I would enjoy this day. I have hated this day the last several years. It brought me nothing but pain and despair. this year it brings me great joy. I received several cards and two new books. i love books. My mom was here with us so it was an extra special day. We took pictures of me and Carly, Zach, Carly and I, and My mom, Carly and I. These will be very special in all the years to come.

Monday we took Carly by Dr. Feiste's office to weigh her. She weighed 7lb 14oz. That meant that she was gaining weight properly. That made me very happy. Since I am nursing her I have to make sure that she is eating enough and gaining weight.

We took her to Sears on Monday to get portraits taken. However, when we got there the photographer was still with another client. She told us to walk around for 20 min and come back. When we walked back over there she was outside smoking a cigarette. So we left. We went back on Wed when Tina was there. She did an awesome job.

Friday we went back to Dr. Feiste for another check up. He said that Carly was doing great. She weighed 8lb 3.5oz. We did find out that she broke her collar bone when she was born. Dr. Parker said that was a possibility but we didn't know it had happened. Dr. Feiste said she was otherwise perfect and that that wouldn't bother her. We don't go back until July 10. that seems like a long time.

First Doctor's Appt

Carly had her first visit with Dr. Feiste yesterday. He has this nice room that newborns can go into so that they are not exposed to all the other children. When we first got there we had to share the room with another couple and their little 2 week old girl. The bad thing about that is that Carly got hungry and I could not feed her b/c I am not practiced enough to cover myself and get ready yet. I guess I need to practice that at home. Well they got called back after a while and I was able to feed her then.

When we got called back they took her temp first. She did not like that at all. Then they measured her and she was 19 3/4 in long. We are wondering about that b/c Wed she measured 19 1/4 in. So who knows what is exactly right. She is 7 lb 9 oz now. Dr. Feiste said she was perfect. We are very happy that she is doing so well. Praise God.

The nights are getting worse. Last night she ate early, like 6 or 7. Then I stayed up and she ate again at about 11. She woke up at 1:30 and she fussed. She ate and went back to sleep. She woke up again about 3:30. She was not a happy camper. She was not tolerable to eating on the left side but she is going to have to learn. She loves the right side. It gets very frustrating when she won't eat on the left side and I am trying to teach her to. She finally fell asleep at about 5 but i had to keep her in the bed for a little while. After a while I got her back in the pack and play. She woke up again at about 7:30. Then I fed her again. She fell asleep again about 9 am. Then my mom took her so that I could sleep more. I was very grateful. My mom is helping me so much.

I am very tired but it is so worth it. I love that little girl so much.

Carly

Sorry that it took me so long to update. Carly was born at 7:43 Pm on May 7, 2007. She weighed 8lb 6oz. She is 19 1/4 in long. She is so beautiful. I would put a picture on here but I am not sure how to do it. My labor was not horrible. We went in that morning and they started Pit pretty early. At about 12 they put in my epidural. I didnt want an epidural to begin with but since I was confined to the bed I got one. Well after a while I got really nauseated. they gave me some phenergan and that wiped me out. Then I woke up and started itching reallly bad so they had to give me some benadryl. So then I went back to sleep again. The next time I woke up I felt nauseated again and then I threw up. Not fun. However that is what progressed me to 10 cm. then I started pushing. I pushed for a little over an hour and then a Carly came out.

We are now home and everything is going well. We are still learning and will be for a while. She likes to sleep alot and not eat so much but we are working on that.

She has her first Dr's appt tomorrow and I will update then.

Still Waiting!

This is Allison, Michelle's friend.

We're still waiting! Carly is taking her time, but it's getting close. Carly is sunny-side up (facing up, not down, as she's supposed to be).
Michelle is resting fairly comfortably, she's getting really close to pushing.

We'll post again once the baby's here!

At the hospital

We are at the Hospital! They have the Pit going, and my contractions are about 1-2 minutes apart and getting stronger. I think they are going to finally give me the Epidural about noon, YEAH. Hopefully Carly makes an appearance before to long... Updates to come.

okay

I went to the Dr. at 2 and he checked me out and said I was okay. I just need to continue to watch my symptoms and call again if needed. I don't want to call again. I just want to show up on Monday and have my baby. I do have another non stress test at 2 tomorrow. I am hoping this one goes better than the last. We are going to see Spider Man after the test and I want to be on time. Well I am really tired so I am gonna leave this one short.

Tired of the Doctor's Appt

Well, you know they have been watching me for pre eclampsia. One of the signs is seeing spots or flashes of lights. So, this morning I wake up and what do I see, flashes of lights. Why me? I mean we have a date that is not too far away. Monday. I am excited. We are getting the house the rest of the way clean for Carly. Now I have to go to the doctor again at 2. I know he is going to be tired of seeing me. I didn't want an appointment, I just wanted to let him know. I took my blood pressure and it was fine. Again, Why MEEEEEEEEEE?

I will update this evening or tomorrow.

Monday, Monday, Monday

Okay. So I had a great visit with the doctor yesterday. He came in and looked at me and said, "we have to get this baby out." Zach and I were both like yes we do. So he said that since I was 39 weeks on Sunday I needed to be at the hospital at 8am on Monday. Zach and I were cheering. I didn't want to be induced but with so much stuff happening I think this will be for the best. I am just so excited. I am ready to meet my daughter.

The funny thing is that when I first thought I was pregnant, I thought my due date was May 7. So this works out quite well. May 7 is my father's birthday and it was Zach's grandfather's birthday also. So Carly will have a very special birthday.

This also works out to where she can be dedicated on Mother's Day. I know, I know it will be very early in her little life. I will only go to the church for the dedication and then leave. Otherwise, she would have to wait until she is a year old.

I am just so excited.

Non Stress Test

So today I had my third non stress test. The last one only took 20 min so I was thinking no problem. Well today was a different story. It took 2 hours. The monitor was not picking up her heartrate properly and she wasn't moving enough. They made me drink cold water and then apple juice. They shook my belly. Then they buzzed her. In other words, they took this little machine and pressed it to my belly and it buzzed loudly and vibrated at a very fast pace. She didn't like that. They finally had to call Dr. Parker and he sent me home. I am used to that. Now tomorrow I have an appointment with Dr. Parker, so I will see what he says.

Zach had a softball game tonight. I really enjoy going and watching the team and socializing with other wives and girlfriends. Unfortunately the guys lost tonight. They played a reallly good team. But hey, you win some, you lose some. I just enjoy the time.

Dr.'s Appt

So we went to the doctor's office yesterday. My numbers are getting better since I started eating the more diabetic diet. That is really good for Carly. He said that he doesn't feel like I will go all the way to May 13. I guess we will see. He said that if he were to induce me there was a 50% chance that I would need a c-section. So, I don't want to try that. He said he would not let me go much over my due date though if it came to that. My next appt is next Mon.

I had another NST (non-stress test) today. It went really well. She was moving a ton. I had just eaten so I figured she would be. We only had to stay like 20 min as opposed to 1hour on Mon. We go back for another one on next Monday.

I am just so ready to meet my little girl. I want to hold her in my arms and see the little feet that kick me. I want to feel her little hand wrapped around mine. I am also looking forward to seeing Zach hold his daughter. I think that will be one of the greatest things I have ever seen.

This weekend would not be good timing for her to come. My best friend Summer (who is supposed to video the delivery) is going out of town. It will be her grandfather's 80th birthday. My parents are also not coming up this weekend. They have been up the last 3 just in case. I told all of them that if she starts coming I will not try to stop it. I just can't wait. I think maybe it will be next Tuesday or so. Why, you ask. Well see at Christmas I gave Zach's grandmother a birthstone baby. You know the little silver charm in the shape of a girl or a boy with the birthstone as the body. Well I gave her a May girl. I also purchased one for me. So if I have her beforeTues, I will have to get new ones. We will see.

Well I am going to go now. I will update when I have more news.

Michelle

Fishing

So today I woke up and decided that I was tired of sitting in a house all day. I wanted to go fishing. This is not something I had done in several years but I wanted to do it. So after lunch Zach and I went fishing. We had one rod and reel and a tackle box ; so we had to get another rod and reel. Then we went to the lake. For those of you familiar with Clemson we went to the Larry Abernathy Park. There is a little dock there that you can fish off. We fished for a while btut nothing was biting. We thought maybe it was the heat. We also thought maybe it was the bait. We didn't have any live bait. We were using bread and the jelly worm things. So we decided to give up.

We went to supper at Fudruckers (yummy)! Then we rode up to Walmart. See my reel was not working very good b/c it was so old and rusty. And we got me a fishing license so that I could legally fish. We also found some live bait at Walmart. So we went back fishing. And guess what... we didn't have any better luck. I caught one fish. It was tiny. I mean like the size of a cell phone small. I also caught a turtle. I was about to cry. I made Zach get it off the hook while I turned my head. Fortunately , the little turtle seemed fine as he swam away.

I don't know if we'll have time to fish tomorrow or not. But I had a lot of fun today and so did Zach. I have an appointment tomorrow at 8:45. So I will update on what the Dr says then.

First Non-Stress Test

We had our first non-stress test today. It was no big deal. They hooked us up to the same monitor as the one that we have been hooked up to the three times we went with me in labor. I stayed about an hour. Then Dr. Bledsoe said everything looked good so we were able to leave. We go back to the doctor on Wed morning. I am hoping to get Dr. Parker to give me a date that if I haven't had the baby by we will induce. We have less than 3 weeks till our due date. I am just so tired of contractions and not being able to sleep. My back is hurting alot more because she has dropped and my center of gravity has shifted.

I got my pump yesterday. One of the ladies at church sold me hers. It is the really nice Medela pump. I just have to get the replacement parts. I guess I will have to go to Babies R Us. Maybe I will feel like it later this week. I just hate riding in the car for more than 30 min right now. My legs get really tired and swollen from hanging down in the car.

On another note my 87 year old grandmother had major surgery today. She had to have one of her kidneys removed b/c it had a cancerous tumor in it. My momma said that they were able to get all of it and that it was contained. I just pray that everything will go good tonight and that she will do well. I really hate that I can't be down there to see her. I know she understands though.

Well I have to go for now. Updates to come soon.

Update

I am so tired of going to the hospital and getting turned back home. Last night at 6:45 Zach and I went to the hospital because my contractions had gotten pretty strong and were about 5 min apart for an hour. So as soon as I get to the hospital they slow down. It would be several minutes and then I would have 3 in a row about 5 min apart and then several minutes would pass. So they told me to go back home. It is very frustrating. I just want to meet my baby. I know, I know that I need to wait till she is ready. I am trying but it is not easy. See this month is right at 3 years since Zach and I decided we wanted to have a baby. God is truly teaching us patience through the whole ordeal.

Today I am not having many contractions but they are still here. I just feel so tired all the time. Zach and I went for a walk today. It was not too bad. We figure if I want to progress and get my water to break at some point in time we need to walk more. I have to balance it with my "bedrest" though. I don't want to cause my swelling to increase. I still have to take my blood pressure several times a day. It is still maintaining. I am just really ready to talk to Dr. Parker next Wed. He is my primary and should be able to tell me more than the dr yesterday.

updates

Okay so here are some updates. Yesterday I went to get an ultrasound to check on Carly's size. She is measuring 38-39 weeks using the tape measure. She looks like she weighs 6 lbs 12 oz. The "problem" is that she has a very rotund tummy. The specialist said that he feels like this is due to me having a sugar intolerance. So I have to cut back on carbs. The dr told me that if her tummy gets much bigger it could cause problems with delivering naturally (thus needing a c-section).

So today we went to the OBGYN. We were prepared to talk about inducing b/c I don't want to risk having a c-section. Well the doctor I saw today said that he thought everything going on with me was "normal". He said he would not consider inducing until I was 39 weeks. this really frustrated me. I also have some protein in my urine now but he said that it was not enough for preeclampsia. I have been contracting since early this morning. It is much more painful than the last time. We are just waiting until they get to around 5 min apart for a little while before we go to the hospital. I tried to get the doctor to check me this morning but he wouldn't. he said that there was a risk for infection. I just wanted to know if I was progressing. I am just so frustrated right now. I so want to just see my doctor from now on. I don't want to deal with the others. It seems like there is not continuity of care. I feel like the doctor I saw today didn't even really look over my chart and see what was going on. then he tells me that I am "normal" but orders 2 non stress tests a week until delivery. That just doesn't make sense to me.

Well I will update you when I either do or don't go to the hospital. Of course, if I do it will be a while before i use the computer.

Dr.'s Appt

Tuesday we had an appt with Dr. Parker. He said that I am softening but still not dilating. He is a concerned with my swelling. I was retaining 9 lbs of fluid from Saturday evening. He wants me to watch my blood pressure. I also have to call him if I get a headache, swell more, or have pain over my liver. Well yesterday I was a little more swollen so I called him to see how much more swelling before I need to worry. Well he wasn't in the office so I had to go in today for another appt. He said I look okay but he wants to get a 24 hour urine and a growth ultrasound b/c Carly is measuring bigger than my weeks. So now I have an appt Tues for the ultrasound and another doctor's appt Wed. Hopefully, we will find out something and I would really like it if we had a Carly.

Well my parents are coming up this weekend. I am going to see if my mom wants to go to Babies R Us for their Breastfeeding and Maternity Fair. She will probably say that I need to stay at home with my feet up, laying on my left side. I hope she will go though. We will see.

Trips to the Hospital

Okay, so Zach and I have been to the hospital twice now. Friday night at 7pm I started having contractions. They were pretty far apart at first. We called the doctor and he said for us to come to the hospital when they were about 5 min apart. So at 4am we headed to the hospital. I had already spoken to my parents and they were on their way up here. So they met us at the hospital. I was hooked up to a monitor and "checked". They said that my cervix was 100% closed. And then after I was having contractions that were about 2 min apart they came in and came me a shot to stop the contractions since I am only 35 weeks. I was very frustrated. However, I know it is best for Carly. so then we came home and slept (we got home about 7am).

On Sat at about 1pm I started having contractions again. We called the doctor again and he said to come to the hospital when they were close together again. So this time we went to the hospital at 7pm. They hooked me up the monitor and my contractions slacked off a little bit. After an hour Dr. Parker came in and checked me. He said that my cervix had softened a little bit but that I was completely closed. So he gave me some options. I took the option of coming home and taking a pain pill and going to sleep. he said that I could do this for a week or more. I asked him when they would "help" dilate my cervix. He told me that until I was 37 weeks there was nothing he would do. So 2 more weeks if I don't dilate on my own. I have an appointment Tues where he will check me again.

In the meantime, I am still having contractions. They are no fun but not so bad that I have to stop what I'm doing and really breath. I just have to wait until they are earth shattering before I go back. I just thought you would like the update.

I need sleep!!!

Is there anyone out there who can tell me how to sleep? So I know that you lay down and close your eyes for anyone who is trying to be "smart". What I need to know is, how do I get comfortable? I have tried everything in my power. I can't get comfortable, I am so hot, I can't breathe. What can I do? I just want to be able to lay down and fall asleep again. The really bad thing is that I know when my body gets back to being kinda comfortable I will have a beautiful baby who will be screaming and needing me up to feed and change her. Wow, being a mom takes a lot out of a person but I know it will be so worth it.

I didn't tell you that on Tuesday night during our tour of the hospital we saw a cute little newborn. She only weighed 4 pounds. It was quite eye opening when I realized that my little Carly was about that size now. I tried to tell her to not grow a whole lot bigger. I do want her to be healthy so I guess she will grow as big as she needs to.

Well I leave tomorrow morning to go to Orangeburg. I have my last shower on Saturday. I am very excited. Maybe when I get back I will finally try to post some pictures.

AT HOME

I am now homebound. Last week I discussed with one of my doctor's my swelling problem. At the end of the day if I work my ankles get to be about 12 inches around. After a lot of discussion we decided that I should stay at home. This way I can rest when needed. If I wasn't an OR nurse it would probably be different, but I can't just sit with my feet up whenever I want to. I have been home 2 full days now and it is good so far. I am slowly working on getting the house ready for Carly. I have been washing clothes. Esp, Carly clothes. She has so many cute dresses. I can't wait to see her in them.

Zach and I went to our third Child Birth Education class last night. We took a tour of the hospital and talked about packing our bags. We also practiced some relaxation techniques. I definitely want a ball (basically a big excercise ball). It will help to have one to sit on. Zach practiced massaging my back. It felt really good. I am just looking forward to seeing my baby born.

i'm back

So you thought I had forgot all about this didn't you? I haven't. So here is the news, I only have 10 and 1/2 weeks left. Yayyyy! It doesn't seem real. I just have to keep thinking that I will be holding my own little girl in a few weeks. And yes it has been confirmed that she is a girl. Our little Carly Renee Lentz. Monday we have a 3 D ultrasound so there will definetly be no question. I am so excited.

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday. He said that everything looks good. The only concern at this point in time is that I am swelling a lot. This is to be expected because of my job but I still have to be careful. He put me down to 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks. that means I can no longer take call. We are now going to have to start going to the doctor every 2 weeks so they can keep an eye on my swelling.

My first baby shower is this coming Sunday at the church. I am so excited.