Gillian Bryce: 6 weeks

Pregnancy books tell you that the first 6 weeks with a baby are the hardest. I'm not sure, because I haven't had more than 6 weeks, but I think they've been awesome. I think the idea behind them being the hardest is partly to do with the learning curve and sleep deprivation, and partly to do with the fact that the baby is in survival mode and not necessarily very interactive. 

This last week has been marked by Gillian's growing interaction. She is awake for longer periods of time and likes to "talk" to her toys and to us, which is SO fun! She is also smiling beyond the dreaming and farty smiles, but really genuine smile responses to momma and daddy's best goofy efforts to invoke a smile. 

Smiley.

She is beginning to grow too big for her newborn clothes, which is amazing to me. She's getting so big! She is now wearing 0-3 months clothes, which are honestly still very little. We don't see the doctor again for another couple of weeks, so we can only guess that she's just shy of 10 lbs, but we can't know for certain. Gillie is starting to get little rolls on her legs and arms and her cheeks are plump. Definitely looking more like a baby and less like a newborn. 

I'm amazed at how NOT productive I still am. It's probably been the hardest thing to handle with motherhood. I have been juggling the same "to do" list for a few weeks and have finally resigned to being satisfied if I simply get one thing crossed off each day. I am sorry to all of you wonderful mothers before me - i sincerely did wonder what it is that you did all day when you were home with your little one. Now I know. And it is absolutely the MOST IMPORTANT thing on my "to do" list and the most satisfying by far. I love being with Gillian and watching her learn and grow. She is so fun and amazing and I don't want to miss a minute.

I started running last week with some soreness, so I decided to try it again this week. Running Monday and Tuesday was nice. I really can feel the extra 25lbs that I now carry that weren't there only 9 months ago. It makes running a lot slower and more difficult, that's for sure. I am realizing, though, that my body has a different primary purpose right now than to carry me to the top of mountains, and it is doing a really awesome job at keeping my baby healthy and growing. So I try not to be too hard on myself when I get disappointed that the "baby weight" is still hanging around. 

Now on to a few pictures:

I love her in this color. 

Still a little snuggle-bug

Mutton-Chops with Nakey-Baby

When I return to work in 3 weeks, Gillian will have to receive 2-4 of her meals each day by bottle. This week Landon has given her a bottle a few times so that it goes smoothly once I'm gone.  She received both of them great and didn't mind that  Momma was missing at all. 

Gillian's Birth Story

I always struggle with how much detail to include with giving Gillian's birth story so I will include all details and you can enjoy how many or however few you would like.

The "ideal pregnancy" (according to my OB), led to an non-ideal birth, with more excitement than Landon and I would have hoped for.

I had been having irregular contractions for a couple of days. Thursday night, i got little sleep, as the contractions grew to about 8 minutes apart for the majority of the night. Although, Friday morning, contractions were about 90 minutes apart - how does that happen? 

We woke Friday to a winter wonderland. I'm not sure if you remember, but I mentioned that I had hoped our baby would be born during a snowstorm, like her daddy was. Between that hope, the worsening snowy roads, the fact that the storm was growing and not waning, and Landon's utter certainty that the baby would come with a low-pressure system (he had predicted that this Friday would be the day ever since he saw the weather report 10 days earlier!), I worked from home that morning instead of going into the office (at my husband's insistance).

At 1pm, the storm was still raging when Landon and I went to my 39 week OB visit. There, she declared me still 80% effaced and still only 4cm dilated. When she asked about baby movement, I told her that I hadn't really noticed the baby moving that day. To play it safe, she sent me to get some fetal monitoring done.

We waited for awhile for this next appointment. Landon had read every single magazine in the waiting room when I suggested that he go run some errands and come back and get me when he was done. I wasn't concerned about the fetal monitoring, as I know i felt the baby move at least once that day and we heard her heartbeat at my OB appointment and it was perfect, as always.

Apparently every woman is supposed to have a certain amount of amniotic fluid surrounding her baby. From 8-22, they said. After having two different women measure my amniotic fluid via ultrasound, it was determined that i only had 3 and would be sent to Labor and Delivery immediately.

This concerned me because I wasn't really sure what this meant and no one could explain it to me because my doctor was assisting with an emergency C-section. And I was totally alone, as Landon was out in the snow buying dog food. I called him and told him to take his time, but please swing by the house to get our hospital bags and car seat. I really wanted him with me right away but I didn't want him to hurry on the slippery streets. He took my message to heart and even took a shower before coming back to the hospital. 

It was 3pm when i was admitted to Labor and Delivery. I was put on an IV immediately as I needed to receive a lot of antibiotics to fight against the Strep-B that I had tested positive for weeks earlier. I was still having contractions and they were about 10-15 minutes apart. Landon arrived and we just sat there and waited and waited and waited. Apparently, there were 3 emergency C-sections that afternoon and the entire staff was consumed. They would induce me soon.

At 6pm, the doctor broke my water, hoping to progress my labor, but held off on the pitocin, hoping that the labor would move along on its own. I didn't know this, but when you lose your water is when the contractions become painful. With no fluid to cushion baby's head against your too-small opening and other body parts, the pain grows excrutiating. I labored through these contractions with Landon's amazing support for several hours, with contractions growing closer together. Landon really enjoyed watching the baby's heart beat and my contractions monitored on the screen beside the bed. He would be really encouraging, "that was a big one!", or "the hardest part is over, it's near the end". I was so grateful for his involvement and support.

Around 10:30, the nurse came in to check the progress of my labor. Unfortunately, I was still only 4-5cm dilated. She told me that she would call the doctor (who was on-call but at her home at the time) and let her know that they would be putting me on pitocin, which would "make contractions closer together and more intense". I honestly couldn't imagine contractions more painful than what I was already experiencing so I asked for an epidural before the pitocin. 

After passing around the needle during our Labor and Delivery class a month before, epidurals were my biggest fear. And I didn't want to wuss-out of delivery or be imobile. I wanted to be strong during and after the delivery. But I already felt like my contractions were excrutiating and on top of one-another, so I had to concede. 

In fact, the process of receiving the epidural was not awful at all! It kicked in pretty quickly and I was happy to have relief from the contractions. Before my nurse administered the pitocin, she checked the progress of my labor and she said that I was 9cm dilated, she could feel the baby's head, and I wouldn't need pitocin after all. That was great news! The nurse had me wait for another hour before I would start pushing so the baby could align with my pelvis properly.

I pushed as hard as I could, and in that moment, baby's heart beat went from 140 to 60bpm. People started pouring through the doors and I was immediately given a shot to end contractions, and was put on oxygen. The nurses flipped me onto my hands and knees to take any pressure off of the baby and I was terrified and praying frantically. At this time, the doctor was  called to come in, but she lived 15 minutes away, so we would be waiting for her. The nurses were able to stabalize the baby's heart rate. 

When the doctor arrived, she explained to us that my contractions were so strong and lasted so long that our baby didn't have a chance to recover inbetween. We could do a C-section or delivery by forceps. She explained that with a forcep delivery, the baby's heart rate might drop again but she would deliver her as quickly as possible. She thought this was the best option, so we agreed and gave her the OK. They brought in the NICU staff as a precaution, which didn't make me feel very good. 

Within the next few minutes my contractions resumed and after 6 pushes (2 contractions) our baby was out and screaming. I was praising God. Landon cut the umbilical cord and I got to see and touch my little girl before they wisked her away to make sure she was okay. 

Unfortunately, I could not deliver the placenta for the same reason that I could not deliver the baby. The doctor tried to get the placenta, but eventually had to manually scrape pieces of it out from my uterus. This took several minutes and a lot of bloody tools. She went through 3 suture kits to stitch me up, as she had cut a third-degree episiotomy in order to get our baby out quickly with the foreceps. I am so grateful that I got that epidural, even though I never was administered pitocin. 

(Momma's first time holding Gillian)

Gillian Bryce was born at 1:08am on Saturday morning, in a snow storm.

6lbs 12oz, 19inches long with apgar scores of 8 and 9. She is perfectly healthy.

The doctor told me that since I have such a strong uterus, I should never receive pitocin in any future deliveries. I am grateful that i was never given any with Gillian! I am so grateful for the staff at St. Mark's. They were wonderful during our entire stay there, and they were especially impressive during our daughter's delivery. If we had been stuck at home or in the car or 1913, my daughter and I would not have survived the delivery. It's amazing that something that could have been so serious in other situations, was simply a routine birth at the hospital. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the staff there, and for God's amazing provision. His faithfulness is great.

(Daddy's first time holding Gillian)

We spent 36 hours at the hospital where Gillian and I received a lot of care (read: no sleeping but constant poking and prodding). I was on an IV until 8pm Saturday night because I needed antibiotics to help with any possible infection that I could received from the plancental extraction. I was happy that Gillian got to stay with us in our room the entire time. I didn't even want to sleep because I didn't want to miss a moment with her. Landon stayed with Gillian and I during the 36 hours, although he didn't get much sleep either as he slept on a plastic chair. We asked to leave early (although my insurance would cover another day) because we were really struggling without much sleep. We left the hospital Sunday afternoon. If felt wonderful (and a little terrifying) to take Gillian home. 

Getting Gillian ready to go home.

Introducing Little Baby

Tomorrow our daughter is 3 weeks old. It's about time I pull myself out of the new-momma twilight zone and connect with the outside world. I hope to do a weekly update on our little bean, similar to our pregnancy updates (and hopefully some more creative blogs interspersed). 

First off, I want to say THANK YOU to our many friends and family for your loving support, gifts, meals, and for celebrating with us. Our joy is made even greater in getting to share it with you. 

The Baby: Gillian Bryce

Hands may appear bigger in this photo than in real life, but the cuteness is actually this huge. Photo taken today.

Someone commented that she looks huge. She is actually really little. This picture proves it. 

For today, let me just say that having Gillian in our lives is even more awesome than we could have anticipated. Everyone tells you that your love swells deeper than you could imagine, which is certainly true. Landon and I are absolutely in love with our little Gillie-bean. Suddenly our lives have taken a shift and the things that once seemed of most importance are not as important, because she is most important. We find ourselves cooing over her all the time. We can just sit and watch her many expressions and soak in her yummy smell, precious noises, and the reality that she is finally here. She is a joy. 

Gillian is healthy and growing and absolutely perfect. She is a happy baby, which makes her utterly delightful.

The Grandparents:

Her first week of life, we enjoyed having my parents (Sho Sho and Papa Joe) visit and help out. 

And this last week, Landon's folks (Nina and Big Daddy) came into town to meet and love on Gillian. 

The Parents:

Landon loves being Gillian's daddy and has taken to every parenting task possible. He has even helped me keep her awake during breastfeeding. She loves to sit in his lap, and is soothed when he sings to her. Landon is the best at swaddling our little girl. She is an escape artist and loves to have her hands near her face, so it takes an expert's technique to keep this baby swaddled for more than an hour.

Gillian was born one week before Landon's 31st birthday. Having a newborn at home makes for some sleepy parents. This daddy has already been peed and pooped on. Somehow, it isn't actually that gross when it's your own precious babe. 

It's taken Gillian and I about 2 1/2 weeks to figure out breast feeding. I am so grateful that these last 3 days have been easier because it was certainly a challenge there at first. A breast pump was absolutely essential in the first few weeks, which i was not anticipating at all. I was heart broken when she wouldn't breast feed well but would take the bottle (at the recommendation of my lactation specialist). However, now she is off of the bottle and strictly a boob-girl, much to her mother's delight. So no more pumping for me for now, which makes for sweeter and quicker feedings. 

I love to hold my daughter as much as possible, which may not be in her best interest. I just know that I only have 10 weeks maternity leave with her, so I am trying to spend every minute with her that I can. Gillian likes it when I sing to her and I have a 2 song rotation:  Cinderella's "So this is love", and Tommy Walker's "He knows my name".

In the last 3 weeks, we've changed over 200 diapers (cloth diapers didn't work the first 2 weeks because we had to wait for her umbilicus to fall off, and now her legs are so scronny that the cloth diapers leak like crazy. We will have to wait until her legs are little meatier before the cloth diapers will work), taken over 1000 pictures, and have only taken her out of the house 4 times. 

I am hoping to catch up on the first 3 weeks of her life and her birth story in the next few weeks, so look forward to that. Thanks for caring about us and our daughter. 

Little Baby: 38 Weeks

38 Weeks

At my doctor's appointment on Friday, I measured 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. 

My doctor continues to tell me that this baby could arrive any day. I hope she is right. But walking around expecting a baby and then going to bed each night without her is a little discouraging. 

I remain relatively comfortable, so waiting for this baby is not physically taxing. I am ready to be finished waddling around and peeing every 45 minutes, but at least I am not in any sort of extreme discomfort. We just are so excited to finally get to hold and love our little girl.  

Most of my maternity clothes are becoming too small. How amazing is that?  6 months ago I would never be able to contemplate those clothes being anything but enormous. 

My sweet husband is very dedicated to me. This picture illustrates that perfectly.

 With the inversion in the valley this last week, temps have been in the teens. This means that all of ths snow we got during the week of Christmas is still here. I love having snow on the ground still. We built a snowman in the front yard which has now been marked by every dog in the neighborhood. haha. 

We've been taking Duvick to the park at night to get us all some exercise. As you can see, my jackets are hardly fitting me these days. Luckily this baby keeps my body temps pretty high because I haven't been able to wear my warmer jackets this winter. 

The Bird's Nest

Nell got a "fisheye" shot of the nursery.

Some little details.

Little Girl's room is very small so we had to really use the space carefully. There is no closet or built in shelving or anything. Here are some things that we did to capitalize on the space:

-Changing pad on dresser

-Baskets under the crib

-Book shelf with baskets

-Pocket shelves with baskets next to the glider as well as over the diaper changing area.

-all baby gear that I got is the smallest, cheapest, and most collapsable model i could find so that it can be stored under the crib, in the corner or in the dungeon. Seriously, everything: baby bath, baby swing, bassinet, packnplay, etc...

I have been amazed at how economically we could put together this space. I got the crib years ago at a garage sale for a few bucks and Landon refinished it with spray paint. I bought the glider for $35 at a local consignment shop and refinished it with fabric given to me by my sis. The mattress i purchased used on consignment for cheap. Otherwise, we already had the dresser and book shelf. Friends and family have been so generous to us at our baby showers, we really haven't needed to buy much at all. 

Mom and Nell helped put on the finishing touches during their Christmas trip out here. I specifically asked my sister, who is crazy organized, to help me come up with some creative storage ideas. And my mom really can look at a room and have great vision for its potential, so they were a huge help. I felt like I had to harness them a little bit, as they were very excited and had A LOT of ideas. I still wanted the space to be simple and be ours. And I think it is exactly that! I am very grateful and so excited to put our Little Girl in here soon.

Any day now....

Little Baby: 37 weeks

  Merry Christmas!

Family left to return to Colorado Wednesday and we are getting a little R&R&R (rest, relaxation, and regrouping) around our house. I am fortunate to have been able to take off the entire week, which is 9 days! What a luxury. During those 9 days, it SNOWED! We had near-blizzard conditions at times and sweet floating snowflakes at other times. I LOVE having white Christmases, and this year we were clobbered with snow. Dad and Landon were able to ski on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and ice climb as well.   Mom and Nell helped me put together a beautiful nursery for the baby (or maybe i helped them put it together...). Otherwise, we just spent some good time together.

It snowed all day yesterday and into today. I really would love our baby to be born on a snowy day. Days of snow are so peaceful and beautiful.

Enjoying my Christmas present from my baby's daddy.

It'll fit better come summer. Excited to get our family into the woods!

Little Baby is 37 weeks

This is a very important week as Little Girl is finally full-term. 

I had an appointment with my OB today. I am 2 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. She thinks baby could come any day, although she said it could also be a few weeks. So we will just wait and see. 

Unfortunately, I tested positive for StrepB, which will complicate labor plans a little bit. This just means that I will be administered an IV antibiotic during labor and things need to progress relatively quickly to decrease the risk of infecting her. according to the CDC, if I am given antibiotics during labor, she has a 1 in 4000 chance of contracting GBS. 

Today I packed my hospital bag. Baby's was packed last week. So we are ready to go whenever the time arrives! 

I still feel like there is much to do at work in preparation for my maternity leave. We have hired an intern who will help out during the 10 weeks that I am on leave. Many people ask me when my leave begins and i'm planning on working until my water breaks. I'm not sure if it is wise to work until "d-day", but I'd rather spend every day of the 10 weeks with my baby girl instead of sacrificing those days to merely sit around waiting for her arrival. 

I will update again after my appointment next week.

Little Baby: 36 weeks

Christmas Eve. What a joyous time of year!

Right now my parents and sister are in town to celebrate Christmas with us. It is really wonderful to get to celebrate Christmas in our own home without having to travel at all for the holiday. It takes a lot of stress out of the season - getting to stay home.

On their first day here, Mom and Nell were on a mission to help me complete the baby's nursery. It is just beautiful. In fact, I am sitting in it right now as I write this. When the husband saw it complete, he called it "The Bird's Nest". That's about right. It's the sweetest birdy-themed little room for our little chick! Now all we need is the baby. It feels great to have the nursery completed. 

36 weeks:

Last Monday (a week ago), I was 1cm dilated, 60% effaced, and baby was in position -1 in the birth canal

 

(sorry, i was unable to resize this one)

Women can stay dilated 1cm for the entire last month of their pregnancy. However, the effacement and lightening (dropping) of the baby in the birth canal means that this baby will probably be early. That makes me happy. I want her to stay inside as long as it takes for her to be healthy and strong when she comes out, but i would really love to finally hold her and to finally not have a pregnant body any more. 

The news about her progress kicked both landon and I's nesting instincts up a notch. Three days last week I woke around 3am with baby concerns on the mind: choosing a name, packing our bags (mine still isn't packed), finishing the nursery, getting the rest of the baby stuff that I need, etc... Made for some exhausting days, having not gotten much sleep last week. People tell me that it's just preparing me for my lack of constant sleep once she arrives. But at least when she is here I don't have to go to work for 8 hours in such an exhausted state. I'll let you know later if these sleepless nights "prepare" me for anything. My guess is that lack of sleep doesn't prepare one for lack of sleep ;)

I completed my breastfeeding class last week. It was interesting. I spent the break crying in the bathroom because I was the only expectant mother in the entire group to plan on putting her baby in daycare. It made me feel like a poor parent. I think the class did a good job at teaching about what to expect if I have a "normal" experience. I didn't learn anything about unique situations or babies. I didn't know that breastfeeding takes up practically half of your new-mommy life at the beginning. Sheesh. I am looking forward to it, though. Here in Utah, you get very experienced women teaching these classes. My teacher has 10 children! 

It is exciting to think that Little Baby should arrive in a few weeks. In the meantime, I just keep getting bigger and bigger. I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with some intense round ligament pain, braxton hicks transactions, and sciatic nerve pain. However, I remain so grateful that this pregnancy has gone so smoothly and I have been mostly comfortable throughout these 9 months. 

In a few days Little Baby should be full-term. I am not going back to work from my Christmas vacation until Monday. Having a long 9 days off is something that I have been really needing and looking forward to. 

Tomorrow is Christmas! So grateful to get to celebrate the gift of "God with us" with my family in Utah this year. Merry Christmas to you and I hope you will celebrate with much joy and thankfulness. 

Little Baby: 35 Weeks

  Our baby had hiccups at around 5am this morning. Sleep is hard to come by these days, for Mr McBrayer and for myself.

With only 10 days until our little girl is full-term, we are getting more prepared for her arrival.

Baby's daddy built a cloth diaper sprayer with about a billion separate parts that he located from the hardware store and a plumbing shop. 

It works beautifully.

We had two Christmas parties with our colleagues this last week. I've also had several days of Christmas cooking and crafting. So we are feeling Christmas drawing near and are looking forward to the arrival of the Sheely family come Friday.

Although we have received 20" of snow in the mountains, we spent 10 hours in a childbirthing class this weekend. 

We were surprised by how much we enjoyed it. We learned a lot. We received a tour of the hospital and every little thing inside of the labor and delivery rooms and recovery rooms. I really appreciated that because I feel like i can visualize this whole mysterious and terrifying experience better, which makes it less mysterious and terrifying! It was fun to be surrounded by other parents-to-be and hear their questions. I really am amazed at how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful pregnancy. I think I took more bathroom breaks than all the other women, but i wasn't miserably huge, on the verge of passing out, unable to fit in my shoes, hormonal, or snacking on tums... 

Doony putting in his 15 minutes with "the belly". It was 25lbs. He didn't like the way it felt on his stomach, and it was uncomfortable to wear standing, he said. I told him that I've put on more than that! Luckily for me, though, it was a gradual 8 months instead of 8 seconds, so my body is more used to it. I didn't have him try to tie his shoes walk up and down the stairs, ha! 

This last week has been nice because for some unknown reason, I have been more comfortable in general than the week before. This week, Little Baby stayed curled up inside my belly pretty well. I did feel her often pushing beneath my ribs, but I didn't feel like she was being magnetized away from my body, like i did the week before. Today, however, has been a different story. It is a little more than uncomfortable. It is a little painful to feel my skin stretch to tightly, and sometimes i feel like her boney butt and little feet have got to be bruising me with the discomfort she causes.

Updates in pregnancy land:

my belly button is starting to pop out just a little bit (can't see in the picture). 

I haven't shaved my legs in 3 weeks.

She is 20 inches long and 5 1/2lbs. 

We still don't have a name for her. 

Even my maternity clothes are starting to get too small.

Thoughts of being able to drink beer or go skiing in less than 2 months makes me giddy. But not as giddy as the thought of cuddling my baby girl at last...

Little Baby: 34 Weeks

  I feel so fortunate when the big snow storms arrive during the weekend. It is wonderful to wake to snow and be able to just sit home and enjoy it instead of bustling off to work. This was another snowy weekend this winter and I took full advantage of it by making a lot of Christmas goodness in my kitchen while singing along to Christmas music. 

Landon preparing his powder skis last night for this morning's 12 inches of powder.

Like I mentioned previously, I'm not making much for Christmas - especially not with my sewing maching. Every year, though, I like to put together something in my kitchen in bulk that I can give to multiple people, like colleagues or friends from church, or whomever we would want to give a gift.

.

Burlap pillow covers I made for this winter

Also this week I felt like I was truly in the thick of this pregnancy.

Little Baby is 34 Weeks:

By now our baby is 5lbs and 19 inches - pretty big baby, eh?

5rrr

This week the "nesting" instinct not only arrived in force, but totally clobbered me. We were finally able to put a dresser in the baby's room which was the last thing I needed in order to begin putting the nursery together.  We don't have a closet in there so everything has just been sitting in piles on the ground waiting for this dresser. Sorting out all of the baby's clothes and washing it all and organizing it in the dresser took several hours and a lot of it was in the middle of the night. Wednesday morning, I woke at 3:30am and couldn't think of anything else except for our little girl's room so I just gave up on sleeping and spent that entire night/morning doing her laundry and sorting through her drawers. I was the first person in Target that morning to buy a few things I realized I still needed after I took an inventory of everything we have. 

A few days this week I have awoke in the morning to find Landon on the couch. My snoring is getting worse, apparently , which is absolutely a pregnancy side-affect!

I also have experienced my first sciatic nerve pain, which was honestly awful. It was so piercing and painful, I could hardly walk by the end of my work day. It took 3 or 4 days to go away completely. 

My maternity clothes are starting to feel too tight and uncomfortable. I've never been one to lounge around in pj's, but every day when I get home I put on my elastic pants and baggy sweatshirt immediately. 

I have had several people this week tell me that it looks like the baby is coming "any day now". These kind of comments don't actually bother me.  I certainly feel huge. I hate to inform them that I still have a month and a half. erg!

This baby FEELS huge. I actually asked my doctor of she was sideways because I can often feel her feet on my ribs or my hips. And my doctor thought that I was funny. In fact, our little girl has been head-down for a long time and still is, she is just running out of room in there and sometimes likes to kick her legs out in uncomfortable positions. 

I officially cannot tie my shoes any more. Luckily I have several velcro or slip-on shoes in my winter wardrobe. And the sweetest husband ever.

Next weekend we will go to our birthing classes, of which I am a little nervous about and a little excited about. I really have no clue about childbirth and neither does my husband (beyond what you can learn on the internet), so I am hoping it will help us feel more prepared

I am looking forwar to Christmas. And Doons and I finished our Christmas shopping this week, and with new snow and Christmas crafting complete, I am prepared and stoked. I am excited to have a week's break from work and family here to visit.

Little Baby: 33 Weeks

 Welcome December!

This week we have begun Christmas preparations around our home.

Decking of halls with Christmas lights and the smell of evergreens are my favorite parts of this season (except for the snow, of course!) Our Noble Fir is beautiful! As several of our Christmas lights are at least 10 years old, we had to expire some of them this year. So our Christmas tree has doned LED lights. It is less traditional-looking but still beautiful. Doons and I are fortunate that we both brought a box of our childhood Christmas ornaments into our marriage, so it is really fun and special to sit here and look at our ornaments, some just as old as we are! 

With December now here, I am reminded that our daughter will be born NEXT MONTH! amazing. 

At 33 weeks, she is 4.5lbs and is 19 inches. 

Her movements are less extreme but she squirms for longer durations these days. I am finding that her movement has become much less of an annoyance and is now a comfort to me, to know that she is doing well.

Sleep has been our biggest struggle around here. I have been slightly under the weather, which makes it hard for me to breathe at night. This pulls me out of sleep often. Landon has spent several nights on the couch as my snoring and constant movement make it nearly impossible for him to sleep. Today we skipped church, both of us conceding to more sleep. 

The aches of pregnancy are getting more uncomfortable. This week I experienced my first braxton-hicks contraction, which was more of a surprise than anything. My back aches often, and I find myself using a heat pad while I'm at work and when I lay down for bed. Heartburn is becoming a regular occurance, and I can't believe that some people have to put up with it all of the time. I can tell that my joints have loosened up a bit, especially my hips. By 4pm most days, I feel like our little girl is being pulled forward and down by gravity which can sometimes be a little painful - i like it when she's crammed in close and snug.

As I mentioned last week, I still have some sewing planned. With the preparations that I am undertaking for this baby, I don't have as much motivation or time to do home-made gifts this Christmas. Usually I really enjoy making things for family and friends but this year I will just surrender to the other things (mostly this baby!) going on in my life... Maybe next year (would I really have more time with an 11 month old?).

The husband and I are trying to make every day an enjoyable time together. This week we went out to dinner one night and to a movie another. Things we don't usually do too often, but we want to take advantage of these last few months (weeks!) when we are baby-free and can go out on the town without any cares beyond each other. Dooney and I have so much fun together and are blessed by such wonderful friends. This is a really wonderful season of our life. We are so grateful.