2 Months

 Well, it's been quite a while since I've written. I've been meaning to do it, but I guess better late than never! Brooklyn was born on October 5, 2011. She is 2 months old now! Time is already flying by. But I'll go back to the birth and tell that story. My due date was on Saturday, October 8. I went to the doctor on Friday, Sept. 30 to get an Ultrasound to see how big the baby was. They knew she was a big baby and wanted to check. They said she was about 10 lbs, give or take a pound. Once a baby gets to be that size, they strongly recommend a c-section to avoid complications. I was very much against getting a c-section, but I spoke with a few doctors about it and they all recommended I do this. So Mike and I took the weekend to think about it, and we decided we couldn't chance any complications, so we would go through with the surgery. We scheduled it for 5pm on Wednesday, October 5. I was pretty sad about this since I was really looking forward to having contractions and telling Mike "it's time to go". I felt that would be the culmination of my pregnancy, and a c-section would take this away from me. But I knew we were doing the right thing, so that made me feel better. As it turns out, at 12:03am on the day of the surgery, I went into labor! I had my contractions at home for a few hours, and about 5 in the morning, we went into the hospital. Mike even let me tell him "it's time to go", which was awesome! It was really cool that she picked the same birthday that we picked for her! We got to the hospital and I was hooked up on monitors, and they decided to go ahead and do the surgery in the morning until waiting till 5pm. So she was born at 8:26am. Everything went perfectly.  My doctor is amazing and had the whole surgery done and Mike was able to hold her within 15 minutes. That's crazy fast!! I had to wait until we got to the recovery room to hold her, but it wasn't that much longer. She weighed an even 10lbs. and was 20 3/4in long with a full head of black hair and blue eyes. The hospital treated us wonderfully, but they were in and out of the room so much that it was hard to get any sleep. And they kept coming in to draw blood from the baby, which she didn't like at all, so we asked to be discharged after only 2 days. They usually keep c-section patients there for longer, but they said everything was going well with me and the baby, so there was no reason to stay. My parents came up, and my mom stayed with me for 10 days, which was a huge help! She did all the cooking and cleaning while I took care of the baby. And she watched the baby so I could rest and shower, too. It was really nice to have her here, and she loved spending time with Brooklyn. Mike's parents came for a few days after she left, so they got to spend some quality time with her as well, and I got some extra help! But it's been nice settling into our new family now and getting to bond with our daughter. She has been the easiest baby I could have ever imagined! She barely cries and has been sleeping through the night for weeks now. We put her in her swing and swaddled her up, and she sleeps between 7-9 hours a night. This is wonderful for me, I'm getting plenty of rest! She gets some tummy troubles every now and then and gets a little fussy, but other than that, she's a very happy baby and so easy to take care of. I don't know how we got so lucky to have such an easy and such a beautiful baby! She's seriously the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, and I'm pretty sure I'd say that even if I wasn't her mom! She's been growing up pretty fast now. She's already starting to wear her 3 month clothes a month early. She started lifting her head at about a day and a half old, and she's almost to where she can keep it up all the time. She has been smiling for a few weeks now, but it's only within the past few days that I can tell they're smiles for us because she's happy to see us, not just a face she's making at that moment. It is the most precious thing ever to see her delight at seeing our faces!! I've been taking tons of pictures, and have finally managed to capture a few little smiles. Most of them are posted to facebook, but I'll include some of my favorites at the end  of this post. Now we're getting ready for her first Christmas, and I've got a few super cute outfits for her and I think Santa has quite a full bag of presents to give her! :) It's all so exciting! I am so in love with this little girl, I never knew I was capable of loving something this much!!

                                    

Her Halloween Costume

GBS/ Nursery

I went to the doctor today to test for Group B Strep, and it turns out I'm positive for it. This is not a big deal or anything bad, they just need to know so they can treat it. Basically what it is is a bacterial infection that is found in about 25% of all women. It is harmless to me, but can be very harmful if passed onto the baby. So all they do is give me some penicillin at the hospital when I go into labor, and all should be fine. But this does mean that they don't feel comfortable stripping my membranes early anymore, since I'm now at a higher risk for infection. They will only do this if I pass my due date or if they see the baby is getting too much larger. But as of right now, she's on course to be about a 9 pound baby. They also said I have an advantage with my height, since taller women usually have wider hips, and that lowers my chances of having to get a C-Section. But this is all speculation as of now. They will not be able to know anything for sure until the baby is actually here. So all this is just supposed to keep us informed and is not predicting anything.

On another note, the nursery is now fully complete! I know everyone has seen it, but I wanted to put up some pictures so I can document this. I'm quite pleased with the way everything has come together! :)

35 weeks

I went to the doctor today to get an Ultrasound. I will be 35 weeks on Saturday, and when they measured me 2 weeks ago, I was measuring like I was 35 weeks then. The doctors weren't sure if I had some excess amniotic fluid, or if she was just a big baby, but I found out today that she's just a big baby! She was weighing at 6lbs 12 oz (from their estimation) and is measuring at 37 weeks. Some babies are born at this weight, and I still have 5 weeks to go!! At this rate, she should be around 9 1/2lbs or more if born on time. They scheduled another Ultrasound for me on September 30 to see how she's looking. They recommend if she is going to be 10lbs or more that I get a C-Section. It may be possible for me to deliver a big baby, but I don't want to be in labor for hours and pushing and trying, just to find out I'm getting a C-Section after all. I certainly don't prefer a C-Section, but the doctor said they would go over all my options with me so I can make an informed decision. I can always change my mind at the last minute, too. But they did reiterate that they will not induce labor, no matter how big they think she is. There have been many times they were wrong and the baby wasn't ready, so that is not an option. But they did say I will be at full term at 37 weeks, and then they can strip my membranes once a week. This can sometimes induce labor within a 24-48 hour period after it's done, but won't happen if she's not ready. And it apparently hurts pretty bad. But if there's a chance she can come a few weeks early, I'll take it! I went shopping today and got everything else we needed (the essentials anyway), so as soon as I pack my hospital bag, we are ready!! Now we play the waiting game...

Here's the baby with her face all scrunched up

Here she's sucking on the back of her hand 

Here are her lady parts and our definite confirmation that she's a girl!! 

29 Weeks

It's been a while since I've written, so I'll fill you in on everything that has happened. There's actually not really a whole lot to tell, I've been so lucky with everything. All of my tests have come back negative for any diseases or birth defects, and I do not have gestational diabetes. I started to feel her kicking at around week 21, and the boys finally got to feel her too about 2 weeks later. She is kicking like crazy now, and I still love it!! I'm in my 3rd trimester now, with only 11 more weeks to go, and for the most part, I'm feeling great! My fatigue has returned, and I have some pelvic pains, but I don't have back aches, heartburn, indigestion, hemorrhoids, swollen hands and feet, leg cramps, or a lot of other discomforts that some of my friends are having. *knock on wood* We started working on the nursery as soon as we found out it was a girl, so it's been almost completed for a while now. My baby shower is coming up in a few weeks, and when that is over, we will complete it. Oh, and after months and months of discussion, we finally decided on her name. She'll be Brooklyn Layla Treichler. I never realized that naming your baby would be such a difficult task!! Mike and I had come up with this name about 6 months before she was even conceived, and eventually came back to it. Guess we should have just stuck with our instincts! I am starting to really show now and I feel very pregnant at times. I'm getting the pregnancy waddle down! I can still get off the couch by myself, although little things like this are becoming slightly more difficult. I keep staining my shirts when I cook because my belly gets in the way! And it's only going to get worse! But this is exactly what I wanted a few months ago when I wasn't feeling as pregnant as I wanted, so I'm happy with it! The Ultrasound picture I posted is from week 20, I just hadn't put it up yet. Not sure if I'm going to have another Ultrasound, but I go back to the doctor on Thursday and I will find out then. We're also signing up for our childbirthing classes and to take a tour of the hospital. That will be fun! Well, that's all I have to report for now!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

I am now 16 weeks along in my pregnancy and we were dying to find out what the sex was. I have an appointment on May 20 to get my level 2 Ultrasound to check for Spina Bifida and other such abnormalities, and they said that I may be able to find out the sex then if the baby cooperates. Typically, you can find out any time between 16-20 weeks, and that appt. is at week 19. We were very anxious to know and couldn't wait any longer. So on Saturday we went to a place in Alpharetta called A Baby's First Images. We got to see the Ultrasound on a 120" screen and see the baby moving all around. And they told us it was a girl!! We could not be more excited about this, since everyone was hoping for a girl!! Mikey came with us to the appointment, and didn't really care about watching the Ultrasound. It's really not that cool if you don't know what you're looking at, which I don't either half the time! But we got the whole thing on DVD so that we can watch it later and try to decipher it. The doctor said she is very confident that it's a girl, but they can never be 100%. So I guess I have to wait until the next Ultrasound in a few week to confirm for sure!

1st Trimester Screening

We went to the doctor today for the 1st Trimester Screening, which includes Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and other possible birth defects. They did an Ultrasound to see the baby and take some measurements of it's development and growth, and from what they could see, everything looks just fine. The baby's heart rate is at 150, which is perfectly normal. So now I just have to wait for the blood work to come back. The baby was moving all around, and almost seemed to suck it's thumb for a second! I wish I could feel the baby moving, but it's still going to be a while for that. They gave us some pictures of the Ultrasound, and it looked like nothing but static to us. So we asked if they could take another picture that actually looked like a baby, and that one's really not much better. But the doctor said those were excellent pictures. Maybe if you know exactly what you're looking for, I guess. To help you see it, the top one is the baby lying on it's back with the head on the left side. The next one is just a head and chest shot with the head being on the right this time. The third one we have I can't make anything out, so I didn't scan it!

Coming out

I went to lunch with the girls today to tell them the news. It was very exciting to be able to tell people!! When I got home, I spoke with Mike and we both decided we can go ahead and share the news. So we sat Mikey down and told him all about it, and showed him a picture of the Ultrasound. He seems to be pretty excited about it and even said hello to the baby in my belly! :) So I guess we're coming out with it now!! I'm very happy to not have to keep my mouth shut about this anymore!!