4 weeks already?!

I can't believe I've been a mom for 4 weeks already. (ok, 4 weeks tomorrow, but she's sleeping so I thought I'd take advantage and update.) I can't believe that I'm in charge of this little person! It sounds so cliche, but it's true - I never knew I was capable of loving someone the way I love her. It's so hard to explain, but I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to meet her, and now that she's here, I'm complete. I am so content to just hold her and stare at her - even at 3am when she refuses to go back to sleep. (don't get me wrong, I WANT her to sleep, but even as exhausted as I am, I just sit and stare. haha)
And yes, sleep is definitely something that we want and need more of. She still has her days and nights confused, and nothing we try can convince her otherwise. She is such a good girl though that even when she's awake for hours in the middle of the night, she doesn't cry, she just sits and wants to be held. And you know what? I'll take it. I'm savoring every minute I have at home with my little girl because I know that September will be here way too soon and then I have to hand her over to daycare. (which I cannot even let myself think about because when I do I start to cry!)
Anyway, here are some pictures of sweet Sophia - I can't believe how big she is getting!!!

She's Here!! (sorry for the wait)

I'm sorry that it has taken so long to post anything - Miss Sophia seems to sense when I'm about to eat, sleep, check e-mail, etc and decides to wake up. I'm hoping that it doesn't take me 6 hours to write this post, but as I'm typing she's beginning to move around in her bouncy chair....I'll try to type quick! :-)
Our perfect Sophia Elizabeth was born on Tuesday, April 6th at 10:23pm. She weight 7lbs 14oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.
I had gone to the dr. that morning b/c I wasn't sure if my water had broken or not. Sure enough, it had, and they admitted me to labor and delivery right away. They started me on pitocin to help kick start my contractions and I called Pat to tell him he needed to leave work, grab our hospital bags, and head on over. I got my epidural soon after Pat got there, and while I didn't fall asleep, I was definitely in a daze and didn't really do much except lay and stare at the Law and Order marathon that was on tv. At one point, one of the nurses checked my monitor and saw that I was having almost constant contractions with no break (yea for epidurals!!). She didn't like the way Sophia was reacting to the contractions (her heart rate was fine though) so she turned down the pitocin and left the room.  3 hours later, I told a different nurse that my hips really hurt and I was really uncomfortable. She did a check and said "I would never believe it if I wasn't here". I had gone from 3cm to 10cm with no more pitocin in 3 hours....apparently that's fast! haha. She started getting prepared for me to start pushing. I pushed for 2 hours and Sophia was born.  The dr. placed her on my chest and told Pat to tell everyone if the baby was a boy or girl. He then got to cut the cord.
We ended up staying in the hospital until Friday morning because Sophia had jaundice. We were sent home with a billi-blanket and had a check up with our pediatrician Saturday morning. The check on Saturday was perfect, so we have a clean bill of health. :-)
Overall, things are going well. She definitely likes to be up at night and sleep during the day, so hopefully we can break her of that habit sooner rather than later. Anyway, here are some pictures of our little girl. I will try to update more regularly as we start to get into a routine. (I hope!)

37 weeks

Today I have officially made it to full term.  That means Baby Crum could decide to make his/her debut at anytime.  Unfortunately (for my swollen ankles and numb hands), most 1st babies go past their due date, not before. BUT my appointment went really well today - I've made more progress since last week - and Dr. D said that I am favorable for a selective induction if Pat and I decide that's the way we want to go.  She won't do it until late in my 39th week, but it's an option if Baby Crum has decided to make my body it's permanent home and I just can't take the discomfort anymore.
I've heard lots of horror stories about inductions, and only a few positive ones, so I'm really hoping that our little decides to come on his/her own before the official due date so that I'm not tempted by the induction. I have to admit, knowing a specific end date - knowing that the swelling, back aches, numbness, etc. will come to an end has me toying with the idea...but I want to make sure that baby is fully developed and ready to come.....it's a tough decision to make.
Anyway, only 4 more days of work and then I can relax and spend all day long over analyzing every twinge and pain and trying to decide if I'm in labor.  During spring break week I plan on trying to walk a lot to help move things along. The only problem is, I can only make it about 7 or 8 houses down the block before I have to turn around to make it home to use the bathroom! I don't know how much progress I can make with only walking a few houses down, but if I do it a few times a day, maybe it will help!

And no, I don't have a mammoth baby in there. I remembered to ask today, and she said baby is only 6ish pounds now and she's estimating that he/she will be around 7 1/2 to 7lb 12 oz. when born. We'll see how accurate she is! :-)

36 Weeks

I had my 36 week dr. apt. yesterday and everything went well. Dr. D. is pleased with how things are going and is predicting that Baby Crum will make his/her appearance the week of April 12th.  This was the start of my weekly dr. apt's, so I'll get to see her every Monday until the baby is born - nothing more that I love than spending at least an hour a week sitting in a waiting room! ;-) 

According to the baby book, our little one is weighing close to 6 1/2 lbs right now. I meant to ask Dr. D. what her estimate of our baby was, but I forgot to ask once I was in there. I'll have to remember to do it next week. I have instituted a new rule in our house in honor of my new size and difficulty moving - if something falls on the floor and can't be picked up by my toes, it stays on the floor until Pat gets it or a dog chews it up! It's just waaay to hard to bend down anymore!

I had my work baby shower today and it was soo nice! We had a great time unwinding after a crazy day and enjoyed visiting with people that we normally don't get to spend time with.

Anyway, here's my weekly picture....hopefully only a few more to take! :-)

 

35/35

Yep, that's right! Today I am 35 weeks pregnant with only 35 days to go. Not really too much to update - my stomach is starting to feel really heavy, but I've been expecting that. Baby is weighing around 5 1/2 pounds right now, so it's no wonder I feel heavy! I'll have more to update next week since I have a dr. apt. Until then...here's my weekly picture.

34 weeks!

I went yesterday to my 34 week appointment and my dr. said that everything looks "perfect". I go again in 2 weeks, and then I will start my weekly visits. This visit, Dr. D. said she is guessing that we are having a boy, because I look like a basketball is shoved up my shirt. (But last visit she said I looked like I was having a girl...so I think she's trying to throw me off!) Either way, according to the books, baby is now about the size of a cantelope and weighing around 5 pounds! No wonder I'm starting to have a hard time moving! One of my kiddos said to me today "Mrs. Crum, I bet you can't wait until that baby comes out so you can be skinny again!" I just had to laugh - if he only knew that my 1st goal is to just get up from a seated position without getting out of breath!

In some ways I can't believe how quickly the end of my pregnancy is coming, but in other ways I feel like I've been pregnant (and will be pregnant) forever! My ankle swelling is pretty much always there now, and my face is beginning to look fuller....I know this is to be expected, but it's still a little hard to get used to.

On a "not complaining about pregnancy" exciting news note - I had my baby shower this weekend and it was absolutely wonderful. My mother-in-law and 2 sister-in-laws hosted it for me and they did an awesome job.  The restaurant was great and the food was delicious. Patrick and I are completely blown away by the generosity of our family and friends. People came from all over, and even though I didn't have time to visit with everyone for as long as I would have liked, it seemed like everyone there had a great time. We received so many things for Baby Crum that we still haven't had a chance to go through everything. We're feeling WAY overwhelmed with where to put things away and how to organize all of the things that we're going to need.  Having a real, live baby in our arms is starting to become more of a reality - I hope we can be ready for it!

33 Weeks

Well, 33 weeks down.....maybe 5-8 weeks to go. We'll see when Baby Crum decides to make his/her appearance.  My hope is definitely for closer to 5 weeks b/c I'm beginning to get uncomfortable. I'm tired ALL the time (and yes, I know that I will be even more tired once Baby is here),  but I would love to have at least a little bit of energy! On an exciting note, I only have 5 more weeks of work until my maternity leave starts. There's a lot of pressure to make sure that everything is in place and ready for me to leave, but it's also nice to have an end date that I'm working towards.
Here is my 33 week picture - you'll have to excuse the blurriness, but my photographer is NOT a morning person, and after 3 tries, this is the best we got. :-)

We bit the bullet and bought our new "babymobile" last night. We found a great deal on a 2008 Santa Fe down in Lynchburg, so we took a little road trip with the pups and came home with a new car.  We both really like it, and the puppies had a great time in the back too. As long as we put the headrests on the backseat up, the dogs don't attempt to make their way forward, which will be a good thing once we have a carseat in there! I can just see Lyla ending up on the baby's lap can't you?!