~Our Christmas Surprise~

Whoa, what a Christmas! It all started on Christmas Eve. The plan was that Chris and the girls would leave for  a Christmas party at his Grandma's house in St. Paul around 2pm, and then would come back late that night. I wasn't planning on traveling that far away from home (not wanting to sit in a vehicle for over 3 hours, and being crammed in a house of many relatives), so I was planning on attending Christmas at my Grandma's house in Madison Lake for a few hours and then heading back home to put my feet up.

The first glitch in the plan was the pending bad weather. I was a nervous wreck thinking about Chris and the girls traveling on bad roads, with the possibility of not making it back that night.
After listening to the weather report, they decided that it would be best to leave early and then head back earlier than anticipated, to beat the big snowstorm. They left home around 11, and I stayed home and relaxed. I had decided that instead of driving myself (in the not so favorite truck) on bad roads, that I would hitch a ride with my sister who was already in town. She came to pick me up, we picked up lunch and then headed to her house in Elysian, before heading to Grandma's. Completely feeling fine (well, as fine as one can feel for being 38 weeks pregnant), we chatted the whole ride out there; but as soon as I walked into her house...I felt the urge to head to the bathroom. I noticed a little extra dampness, but didn't think much of it....maybe it was just a pregnancy thing, right? We all sat down to eat lunch, and again soon afterwards I had to head to the bathroom again. I started to wonder if it was my water breaking, but wasn't too concerned at that time. I didn't really want to say anything to anyone just yet, but once my brother in law stepped outside to snowblow,  I decided to tell my sister (calmly), that we might have to head back to Mankato and that maybe I was leaking water. We were more or less joking about it, not thinking that it was really happening. She had told me that she had joked with her co-workers before picking my up that "My sister better not go into labor while I am driving her around!". Well after a few more trips to the bathroom, I decided that it was really happening, and then my nerves started to kick in. I tried to call the clinic, which was closed for Christmas Eve. I finally reached my OB Dr. (who just happened to be on call over the holiday), and she told me that I should probably head in to Labor and Delivery and they would check me to see if my water was actually breaking, but not to rush things just yet. I decided to call Chris and let him know that he should start heading back from St. Paul, but he wasn't answering his phone.....nor was Holly. I finally got in touch with Chris' mom, who freaked out when I told her what was happening. She handed the phone to Chris and I told him that he should probaly head back. He really didn't think I was serious at first, but after realizing I wasn't joking, they quickly packed up and drove towards Mankato. Chris was a little worried that he would miss the birth of his child, but I assured him that there wasn't much happening and that he had time.

My brother in law drove me and my sister back to Mankato on the snowy roads, and we checked into the hospital. Shortly there after, Chris and the girls arrived. They assured me that my water did indeed break, and that we were having a baby that day!!! I was prepped for a C-Section, and taken into the operating room around 7:30pm. Our beautiful daughter was born at 7:52pm. She was absolutely perfect, weighing in at 6lbs 2.6oz, and was 20" long.  We named her Paige Catherine. She screamed very loudly right after birth and didn't stop for quite a while, just letting mommy and daddy know that she was alive and well. Possibly the best sound in the world at the time for the two of us. Both sisters got to see her right out of the operating room and into the nursery, and snapped many pictures of their new little sister.

She was about the best Christmas present our whole family could ask for!

After spending the weekend in the hospital, we were released on Sunday and arrived safely at home. We are slowly adjusting to having a newborn in the house, but it keeps getting better every day. She is a great baby, and we are all so thankful to have her in our lives!

Only 11 days left

Sam has been doing a great job of keeping everyone informed of what is going on from the doctors and with her feelings, so I thought I would change the perspective. The doctor is pleased so far with how Sam is progressing and how the baby is doing.  Her tests are coming back normal and she is progressing as she should.  The Doc thinks that the baby is about 6 and a half  pounds.  The baby is very active at night even when mom might not be as active.

We are mostly ready to roll as far as the baby and accommodations go, but this time of year is always stressful.  Sam is taking it in stride.  We started shopping early for Christmas and got most of it done with plenty of time.  Also she is letting me do somethings around the house.  OK maybe that is not amazing (I probably should do more), but she is not redoing any of it.  With the baby being born so close to Christmas, we are limiting the travel by having to cut out a few trips. I know everyone understands, but we love you all and can only do so much this year.  To those who we will be missing, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Ours will be.

Finally as prayer lists go, we have a small addition.  We have friends that are going through a difficult time as they lost their 2 month old unexpectedly.  Please keep Ben, Amber, and baby Connor in your prayers.

Almost there!

Boy, am I glad that I managed to make it to 36 weeks before our first snowstorm! The weather outside was frightful yesterday, and I had to go to work early so I could leave for my appointment. Sometimes I wish we lived out of town so I would actually have an excuse to stay home with the kids on a snow day, but no such luck working only a few miles away. The drive to the clinic wasn't so bad, but it was sure cold!  My appointment went well, everything is still looking good. I had the strep B test done, and was checked for dialation. So far I am not dialating, and baby sounds good. Her heartbeat was at 142 beats per minute.The doctor is still please with how things are coming along. I go back next Wednesday for my next appointment.  Only 18 more days to go!! I am really getting ready for this to be over with, and just have baby in my arms already. It gets harder and harder to get around and do things each day...like putting on my socks, picking up the many things I seem to drop, get in and out of the van, etc, etc. Fortunately, we are 99% done with our Christmas shopping for the year, so now all I have to do is find the time and energy to get everything wrapped! Does anyone know how we got to mid-December so fast??

35 Weeks and into December!

I can hardly believe that we are into December already. It seems just like yesterday that we embarked on this journey, not knowing where it would take us. And now we are rounding the last curve. I am currently 35 weeks today!! The countdown is definitely on. We all survived a wonderful Thanksgiving, that went by way too fast. We spent  some nice time wiith my family here on Thursday, and after a little early shopping, we headed up north to be with Chris' family on Friday. I was very much dreading the long car ride, but after being awfully tired from the black Friday shopping, I managed to nap for about half the ride so it wasn't so bad after all. We spent some quality time together with the family, went to see the Blindside, ate like kings, played games, and just visited with each other. It was overall a really good weekend. I took Monday off to recoup, and head to my doctors appointments. First we had an ultrasound, in which baby scored 8 out of 8 (already a straight A student!!), and then we were off to the clinic for some NSTs and a visit with the doctor. Baby is doing great, and measuring right on track. She is approximately 5lbs 9oz (give or take 13oz), and is getting good at practicing her breathing. We got to watch her open and shut her mouth on the ultrasound, which was really neat. I will start weekly appointments now, which should mean only 3 more appointments before we get to meet our little girl.
After the doctor appointment, we met at the hospital to pre-register, and got to take a tour of the labor and delivery floor. Both of our older girls were born at this hospital, but it has been a few years for each of us, so it was exciting to see where everything will take place.
I definitely think the nesting instinct has kicked in. I haven't stopped since returning home from up north. I am trying desperately to get all the Christmas decorations up, presents bought and wrapped, house cleaned, baby stuff washed and ready....etc, etc, etc. My list is never ending, and it seems to take me a lot longer to get stuff done lately. Before we know it, Christmas will be here, and then a few days later, our biggest gift of all will arrive!! We all anxiously await her arrival!!!

32 Weeks

Can't believe we have made it this far, and then again....sometimes it feels like forever!! Had my appointment today. All looked good. Blood pressure is a little higher than normal, but nothing to be concerned with. Baby's heartbeat is 152bpm, and she is measuring right on track. She has been having tons of hiccups lately, and Dr. says that is a good sign that she is practicing breathing.  I got the much waited for H1N1 shot today. I hope I don't have any reactions to that. We scheduled the C-section for Monday December 28th, so it looks like we will have an after Christmas baby, unless she decides to come early. The countdown is ON!!

We all cannot wait to meet her! Life leaves us extremely busy all the way into December, so the time should go fast. We are busy getting her room ready for her. I love seeing all of the baby stuff fill our house, and the girls are excited every day to see what we have brought home or picked out for their little sister.

Our next appointment is scheduled for November 30, and we will have another BPP(ultrasound) and NST's (non-stress tests), just to make sure everything still looks good, but Doctor isn't concerned at this point. Hooray!!

Good News at 30 weeks

Today we finally got the ultrasound we have been waiting for. I was a little nervous, but was excited at the same time. The ultrasound tech said that baby looks absolutely perfect, and earned a perfect score on all the tests they perform!. I had a little scare with my blood pressure, but I think the first time they took it, they either didn't do it right or I was nervous and it was elevated. After they checked it again, it was back to normal, but it sure had me worried for a few minutes. I also did some non stress tests that tracked baby's movements and heartrate, but all looked good.   It seems that Christian will be a little more outnumbered in our house, as baby appears to be a GIRL. Girls will rule 5 to 1 if you count the dog! Poor Chris! Most importantly, baby is completely healthy and right on track. She is measuring in at 3lbs and 5oz, and is a very active little bugger! She is head down now, and moves constantly. We surprised both Holly and Alyssa and bought 2 little pink outfits, put them in gift bags, and had each of them open them up to tell the gender. I think they were surprised as they were both thinking it was going to be a boy, but I know they will be happy to take another little girl under their wing. Still not a definite date for the c-section, but Dr. said that she will be more likely to schedule it in 2 weeks when I go back.
It really feels good to keep coming home with good news. We are all extremely anxious to meet this new addition to our family, but will have to wait just a while longer. In the meantime, we will prepare for the new little princess!

26 Weeks!

Today was a great day indeed! To start the day off, Chris sent me some beautiful flowers at work, for no particular reason. He is so good to me. Not sure what I would do without him.
We had our 26 week appointment today. Everything is going great. I had my gluclose screening at our appointment as well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, now we just wait to hear the results. Doctor says baby is growing just as "it" should be, and everything is going as planned. (He/She is an active little baby!)  I was hopeful to talk to the doctor into another ultrasound, but my convincing apparently does no good. She wasn't going for my sympathy card again, but when Chris piped in and asked her about another ultrasound (since we are extremely nervous and scared considering our past. ..blah, blah, blah) she agreed to schedule one for us for our next appointment in 4 weeks. So yippee! We are scheduled for a BPP (bio-physical profile, ultrasound), and a NST (non-stress test) on October 28th. We are extremely excited to get to see our little jumping bean one more time before delivery! We also "tentatively" scheduled the C-section for December 28th or 29th, but will discuss this more at my next appointment at 30 weeks. She thought that 26 weeks was still a little early to schedule definitely, but if everything goes well, she will still stick with Dec. 28th or 29th. This is all great news for us. It is hard to believe that we are so fortunate to have come this far without any problems. It sometimes seems surreal, just because we never thought it would happen for us!
Now I think we will start to do some baby shopping! It will be hard to buy many things since we don't know if we should plan for blue or pink quite yet, but we can get a good idea of what we want. And as you all know, I LOVE to shop!
As for our big kids, they are off and plugging away at school. It has been about a month since the start of the new school year, and both girls still like going everyday...so all must be going well! Homework is starting to flow and before we know it, it will be soon time for MEA break. We are all proud of how they both do in school, let's just hope that the good grades and reports continue throughout those teen years that are soon approaching!
Let's hope we can keep posting these good reports!! Love to all. :)