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.