Busy Busy Busy

Having a brand new baby doesn't leave much time for anything else so daddy was supposed to take over the blog after Annabelle was born. That hasn't happened yet, he has been busy cleaning, cooking and playing Wii Fit. I don't know what I will do next week when Jason goes back to work, I will be lost without him. I am happy that I chose to breastfeed Annabelle but sometimes I feel that things would be so much easier if I were able to just give her a bottle and go. Being an infant of course she is very dependant on her mommy, daddy and other family but I feel it even more so since she is breastfed. With that being said, I will be very sad the day that she stops being breastfed. She is such a beautiful sweet little baby. I love her so much! :)

Annabelle is here!!

I had Annabelle on December 11th at 3:39 pm. She was 9 lbs 9 ounches and was 20 inches long. I was induced at 8 pm on 12/10. I tried to make it through labor without an epidural but didn't, big deal - I lasted until a little after 1. I did try the pain medication first and it did help, I was also given a half of a phenigran. It knocked me out. I had been afraid of the epidural but it was really nothing. I didn't even really feel it. My doctor had broke my water at 8:30 and around lunch time came back to check me. I had dilated to 5 centimeters but Anna did not want to drop down. She was higher than she had been when I had been at the doctor. She told me she would be back at 3 and we would have decide about having a c-section. We would just have to wait and see what happened by that time. When 3 came I had not dilated anymore and she had not moved. The doctor said the epidural might help make her drop, it had not.

It was mine and Jason's decision to make. Neither had wanted me to have a c-section but you do what you need to. I did have the choice to wait but having a bigger baby, the doctor said I could push and push and still end up having to have the c-section. She did let me have two people go into the delivery room since she knew it was what I wanted and that a c-section was not something I wanted. I just knew I would get to see her sooner but I was still nervous. I had to take a few mins after my decision to calm down. The phenigran had me knocked out so I just really wanted to sleep. Fifteen minutes after my decision was made the baby was born. I had been given more epidural but my legs and feet did not go completely numb which I liked.

Mom watched the c-section, Jason did not - he just patted my head. He was more nervous than I was. He did cut the cord! He also saw my "insides" on accident when he turned around LOL. The entire time I was being cut on the anesthesiologist explained everything step by step. Annabelle did not want to come out so they had to push and push and push to get her lol. I had a lot of fluid so I ended up with staples instead of stitches, I have 17. I get them out on Thursday. The incision looks really good, no infection, redness or anything.

I was suprised at how big my baby was, she is beautiful. All of the thoughts I had before having her about things being wrong did not even enter my mind when I saw her. I don't know if we could be any happier.

I had great nurses and doctors at the hospital. It was a really great experience and got a really great baby.

40 Weeks! This Week

I am writing this blog a few days early...the next couple of days are going to be very busy so I probably will not get another chance. I am no longer being induced tonight, now I am going to be induced Wednesday night at 8 pm. My doctor is on call Thursday night and wants to be the one that delivers IF I go into Thursday night. I really hope that my labor does not last that long! I went to the doctor yesterday and am dilated between 3 & 4 centimeters. I was disappointed when she told me I would not be induced tonight because having her tomorrow was perfect. It is moms birthday, my friend was going to come stay with us in the hospital tonight, our other friend is off work tomorrow and all that. Having her at anytime is really perfect though so I got over that quickly. I think Jason might have been more disappointed than I was. I believe the doctor put me off a day just to see if I can go on my own which I would really prefer. I also think she knows how badly I do not want a c-section and the other doctor on call may push me for one. I was wrong about the 8 hour window after my water is broken.

Neither me nor Jason are working tomorrow since we had already made plans to be at the hospital. Now we are just going to hang out together as it will be our last day of just US. We had planned on doing something special this weekend but we had a lot of stuff to do. The house is clean! The tree is up (lights went on it last night - the ornaments maybe tonight)!, the clothes in the basement are folded!!! Now we just have to bring them upstairs and put them away.

The carseat is in my car BUT it does not fit very well. I don't know what we are going to do about that, Jason's response was we should have bought the Trailblazer but how in the world were we to know that gas would go to 1.49 a gallon lol. I love my car and so does he. I have called the fire dept to have them make sure it is secure but I have not gotten a response yet.

We bought the babys first Christmas present Friday night, have not done any more shopping since Black Friday. We just have a couple things to get though.

Hopefully everything is ready for Anna to be here but I am sure something will come up and not be perfect. That is okay, she will never know the difference :)

39 Weeks!

By this time next week Annabelle will be here. I am getting induced at 8 pm Tuesday December 9th. The doctor is going to break my water Wednesday Morning (which happens to be my moms birthday). I had my ultrasound on Tuesday morning and baby measured at 40 weeks 4 days. She was in the 97th percentile in size, meaning only 3% of babies that age (gestation) are bigger than her. Also according to the ultrasound her weight is 9 lbs 9 ounces. Neither me nor the doctor think that she is 40 weeks 4 days. It isn't really possible, she is just a big baby with some hair!!! (we could see squiggly things on the back of her head). The doctor said she would probably be atleast 9 lbs though, but there is really no way to tell. I had dilated to 3 centimeters which is good progress. We both kind of thought that we would be headed straight to the hospital after my doctors appointment and that was before the ultrasound. We had planned on taking our suitcases but decided to leave them. We had driven seperately so after the ultrasound Jason hoped they would atleast give us time to take one car home and bring back our stuff before they admitted me.

Turns out that the doctor wanted the baby to stay in one more week so that we could be sure her lungs would be fully developed as I was really just 38 weeks. She did not feel comfortable (and neither did I) inducing me before 39. Since I am being induced I do run a higher risk of a c-section BUT since I have been dilating pretty well on my own that reduces the risk. I have about an 8 hour window on Wednesday after my water has broken that I have to deliver her or have a c-section. I believe the doctor is hoping I go into labor on my own which is what everyone is hoping for and that I will not be induced. It is a little weird knowing that I have "reservations" already for my "natural" birth. I just thought you scheduled your c-sections. No one thinks I am going to make it until Tuesday so we will see. I have been having pretty good contractions for over a week now and each time I think that they are about to get steady and consistant they just stop. I am still not miserable just extremely uncomfortable but mainly only at night. Jason is always after me to put my feet up on top of the couch but that is very hard for me to do. He does not understand that there is a seperate person with her own skeletal system in my body that pokes me and hurts me when I try and do certain things.

I have another appointment on Monday to see how much more progress I have made. I expect to be atleast 4 cms since I have gained one cm each visit.

Tuesday night will be strange, we will have to put Kate in her kennel at about 7:30 and she will sleep the entire night. Someone will have to let her out at about 7 Wednesday morning, I am doubting anyone will be wanting to leave the hospital to do that though. I know she should be the least of my concerns at that time but I do not want to disrupt her routine or make her worry. She gets worried when things are different. Jason has been putting up a box to the hallway so that she can only walk in the living room and the kitchen. The first night he did it he left her by herself and she got this look on her face like she thought something was wrong. Now she is okay with it though. If you give her a bone she will lay in the floor and chew it for hours! I don't know why we didn't start giving her those a lot sooner lol. My cats are very independant and will take care of themselves - I don't have to worry about them. The hospital is only 5 mins away from my house though so they can get checked on at anytime.

38 Weeks!

Yesterday was Jason's birthday, the baby did not choose to make her appearance like he has been wishing for. I do not feel that it will be very much longer as I have started having "real" contractions. I had a dr appointment on Tuesday and had dilated to 2 cm. I am getting another ultrasound this Tuesday "just to confirm that she is a big baby." The doctor said it would not change anything such as the due date nor is there anything wrong. Usually my doctors office only gives 2 ultrasounds unless there is something not quite right. She assured me that me and the baby were both fine though. My swelling is OUT OF CONTROL!!! If it were not happening to me it would be hillarious. I still laugh when I look at my feet. My stomach is also out of control, you do not really need an ultrasound to see that Annabelle is going to be a big baby lol. I will probably be disappointed if when I see the doctor Tuesday I am not dilated to 3 cm or more. I am pretty sure I will be though because I have had quite a few contractions but they are not consistant. I will be happy to see her one more time before she is born though, we might be able to tell if she has hair (well that is if I make it until Tuesday). We are going to have to get a new battery for Jason's watch so that we can have a watch with a second hand. We did brave the mall this morning and forgot to take his watch with us. My sister and Josh spent the night last night and they got up early to shop while me and Jason waited until 6. We bought a lot of stuff for Jason lol, two storage cabinets and a big rolling toolbox. Not a big deal since it was stuff we needed, we got it at a good price and why not if we don't have to put it on credit cards. We saved over 100.00 on the cabinets alone. Everything we get now will just make it better for when the baby is here - the basement will be a lot straighter and we are planning on putting a toy room down there for when she is older.

We had our final baby class this week and it was a lot of fun. We learned how to change diapera, swaddle the babies, give them bathes, etc. We also learned about things we are not to do which we had no idea about such as putting the q-tips made for babies into her ears. That apparently is not a good thing to do.

I am not sure how I will handle two babies - Jason is currently sleeping on the couch in his feetie pajamas with a cat on his chest lol. Well now she is under the covers with him. Pootie loves to sleep under the covers as long as the covers are not directly on her and Scottie likes to sleep with the covers touching her. We have such strange animals lol.

37 Weeks!

Yesterday I started my weekly visits and had my first exam. I am 1 cm dilated and my cervix is thinning. The doctor could feel Annabelle's head so she has dropped but the doctor said she has a little ways to go still. I have another appointment on Tuesday. Just estimating the weight (by feeling) the doctor said she is about 7 lbs and if she goes to December will be an 8 1/2 to 9 lb baby. I packed her bag on Monday but we still have not decided what she is going to wear for her hospital picture. There are still things I figure I will forget when the time comes, good thing we live 5 mins from the hospital.

After my appointment we had breast feeding class. I was the only one out of 6 in the class who had been breastfed as a baby. That really blew my mind - I understand that it is not necessarily an easy thing to do but I am going to try and not give up. There are two lactation consultants at St. Joseph East so I will have someone who is knowledgable there to help.

Jason's work had a baby shower for him on Friday and we bought the glider with the gift card they gave us. It should be here tomorrow as should the message we ordered to put on her wall. We rearranged our bedroom this weekend and now there is actually room to move around in there, we have room for the pack n play, and even her crib and glider if we need to put them in there for whatever reason. I don't know who decided where our furniture should go in there in the first place, Jason said we did but I don't believe him. We have so much more room now!

Jason got his Christmas present this weekend, a new tv for the bedroom and a soundbar for the living room. Since he got to open those and play with them I decided to open my laptop and play with it. My old one was about 6 years old so it was way past it's prime. This one was soo much cheaper than I paid for the old one too. It is pretty much just a newer model of the same thing. It's probably not great but all I use it for is to listen to music and play on the internet. I have very basic computer needs. I finally got it through Jason's skull that the baby does not need a tv in her room right now so my old tv went into our guest bedroom. I figure there will be people staying after the baby is born and since we bring our dog in at 8 and have to go to bed they will need some entertainment. Hopefully though by that time we will have all our clothes folded from the basement so people can just hang out there. Since it is getting colder I'd love for my dog to be able to come in the house sooner but she still acts like a puppy and will not just sit in the living room floor. She wants to go all over the house which she is not allowed to do. I don't like dogs in the house but I don't like her being outside cold either. Jason plays with her every evening when he gets home from work and we can not do anything until he has done so. Then at night when she comes in her and Jason play for about 15 - 30 mins and then she goes into her kennel and she is off to sleep until Jason takes her out before work the next morning.

Kate will be a year old around the time Annabelle is born. Her birthday is actually the day after Anna's due date. Although she still acts like a puppy she has grown up a lot, especially in the past month or so. She wants so much to get along with the cats but they could care less about her so she just eats their food lol. Scottie used to sit in the living room and watch Kate until she went to sleep, then she would get in the bed with us. She is such a funny cat, Tuesday night I had my arm over Jason and had put her under the covers beside him to calm her down because she is the devil and she started petting my hand with her paw lol. I don't know what I would do without my crazy animals!

36 Weeks!

Four (or less) weeks to go. Lots of exciting stuff is going on, Annabelle is almost here, UK basketball season opens and it is almost Christmas! Next week starts my weekly visits to the doctor. I get checked to see if I have made any progress. I feel that the baby has moved down some because I can breathe easier (if it wasn't for this cold) and there is a lot of pressure. I have been having quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions lately and back pain. I still do not feel miserable and the only time I am really uncomfortable is when I am sleeping or laying down. Yesterday morning I woke up with a cold and it has gotten worse. This morning Jason had to get me a popsicle at 3 am. I know he can not be sleeping good because I am not sleeping good. I kept thinking last night I was going to go into labor and just wanted to get up and go shave my legs - don't ask, I have no idea why I have the thoughts I have. I just hope that if and when my water breaks I have time to shower, wash my hair and shave my legs. Depending on what is going on when it breaks I should have time to do that, according to the nurse who taught our baby class anyway.

Tuesday I was off for Veteran's Day and Jason took off as well. He put up her closet doors and the new door to her bedroom. We tried to organize her room the best we can. We also rearranged her room so that the glider chair will fit and Jason will be able to watch TV. I think we have finally settled on what we are going to get put on her wall. It is lyrics from an Avett Brothers song but not the lyrics we had originally planned on. Hope that it will make it before she does, if it doesn't no big deal. She isn't going to notice. The carseat is going to go in the car either next week or the week of Thanksgiving just to be on the safe side. We have breastfeeding class on Wednesday after my appointment - that should be interesting. Baby bootcamp is the Monday after. I can't wait to see Jason change diapers lol.

35 Weeks!

Everyone thinks that Annabelle will have a personality a lot like Jason. That is probably true as she is already entertaining us. I don't know how I can handle two Jason's but I will - he makes my life fun and I know she will only add to the goodness. I have a great life and I am very happy in it. I stopped stressing out about things a long time ago, even before I was pregnant, and have not stressed about a single issue since being pregnant. I think that not only was that good for me but it was good for the development of the baby and for her personality. Jason always makes me laugh and some of the stuff he used to say about pregnancy would make me laugh for days (he really had no idea lol). We had child birth class last Saturday and I think it finally hit him what labor and delivery were going to be like. We were put into groups and his group had an epidural needle, his eyes got so big when he was looking at it lol. It is a very big needle - my grandmother told me I wouldn't even feel it. I hope to not need pain medication but like I have mentioned before I have nothing to prove so if I want it I am going to take it.

I went to the doctor on election day and only have one more 2 week visit - after November 19th I am weekly. I get my first exam next visit and the doctor is also going to estimate, by feeling of my stomach, the baby's weight. I am guessing she will be at least 6 or 7 lbs. I figure she is 6 now. I will find out if I have dialated any at that time too. Depending on what the doctor says at my next two visits we will or will not be going home for Thanksgiving.

Due to my body being extremely weird we really have no idea about my due date. Going by the first ultrasound it is December 11th but the doctors said 14th, going by entirely weird and long cycles it would be December 7th. As my doctor told me on Tuesday, ultrasounds are very unrealiable so I guess she could be here as early as Thanksgiving. I think we are as prepared as we can be. We only have small things left to get which are not vital and we will probably get those this weekend. We have cleaning to do as well as getting a building. We plan to get the building the day after Thanksgiving at Lowe's. No interest! Mom always taught me to either pay for something out right or buy it with no interest.

We did some Christmas shopping Saturday and got really good deals. We now get up at the crack of dawn because we go to bed at about 8 pm so we catch good sales. I have three people's Christmas presents bought and my goal was to be done by December 1st and it looks like that might happen. Still unsure about what to get Annabelle - probably Baby Einstein videos, some toys and maybe a walker.

34 Weeks!

6 more weeks! This past weekend we had a great baby shower, we got a lot of really nice things. A lot of hard work went into the shower and we really appreciated it. We have been very fortunate to have good family and friends. I am having a very hard time blogging at the moment, my concentration has been broken - I am constantly reminded that I a married to one of the silliest human beings on the planet but sometimes he does things that just blow my mind. Last year at this time he was a banana with cartoon hands and was the life of the halloween party we were at (he is the life of any party) and now he just comes downstairs wearing full feetie pajamas. Jason, the only 27 year old man who would ask for feetie pajamas for his birthday. We had found some on ebay, but tonight at Target we found some boys XL ones with robots. I am almost at a loss for words, I can only shake my head and think of our poor child.

The baby has been dancing a lot lately and today she was bouncing, it was incredibly weird and people could see it. I go back to the doctor next Tuesday, I only have two more 2 week appointments and then I am on to weekly. It really is getting close. Jason is so sure she will be born on his birthday that he has told me he will order us a nice Thanksgiving dinner from the hospital cafeteria. My mind is totally blank and I can not think of anything else at this moment lol. I am so grateful to have a goofy husband who makes me laugh all the time even if I give him a hard time about it. Annabelle will at least have a good daddy.

33 Weeks!

I have always spent most of my free time reading, mostly about true crime and historical things but since I have been pregnant it has been about babies and birth and all that goes with it. The girls at work talk about their birth stories and I like to hear them so I have some idea of what to expect. Sometimes though they don't want to tell me things so not to "scare" me. Fortunately for me I am not afraid of labor, I know it will hurt, how could it not. I have a higher tolerance for pain than a lot of people but I still complain. Most people do not think it compares to child birth but I have had many bad pain experiences with my facial swellings. The last one so bad that I wanted to shoot myself in the foot or anywhere just to get some relief and stronger pain medicine. The pain medication I was on didn't do the job and I passed out (just for a few seconds). I do not really want to get an epidural when Anna is born, but I know that I am not superwoman and I have absolutely nothing to prove by not getting one. I am going to go in with an open mind about it and take it for as long as I can. When I can no longer handle it then if there is still time I will get the epidural. I think I have a bigger fear of the epidural than I do the child birth, strange I know. I don't fear needles or anything like that but you just have to sit still and it is going into your spine! To me that is scary stuff. I know that the pain is just going to be temporary and just have to keep telling myself that. Mind over matter and all that jazz - we will see how well that works for me. I know that I may have a unrealistic view of things but it is my view and if I keep thinking this way then it might be the way things happen. Some people ask me why suffer the pain if I don't have to by not getting the epidural and I honestly do not have a good answer to that. The only answer I have is that my mom had my sister and I both naturally with nothing, surely I can not let her out do me.

Going back to reading, yesterday Jason was talking about censoring what our child would read when she was older. I told him absolutely not would my child be censored on what she read. My parents never censored me, and I turned out just fine - of course he disagreed with my turning out just fine part lol. Seriously though who says that stuff?!?!?!?!?! He was mostly joking when he said it because he knew it would aggravate me but I believe the first time he tries that on her I will punch him in the gut. I am getting irritated thinking of it, Jason Welch King of aggravation as my sister says.

I have a doctors appointment today, which is just routine but I am going to ask her about the Braxton hicks I believe I had last night. Braxton Hicks are fake contractions that are trying to get your body ready for the real thing. It was just some pulling and discomfort that woke me up from sleeping. It didn't last too long and I guess there were only one of them. I want my baby to be here but I don't want to her to be here now because I know she is not ready. She has seven weeks of developing to go. I wish that December would hurry so she can come out healthy and happy. No matter how uncomfortable I get I could never imagine wanting to go ahead and have my baby just so that I would feel better. Unfortunately though that does happen, and I can't believe doctors let it. I know some women say that they hate being pregnant, I can't imagine that either. I have had a good pregnancy aside from the sickness in the first trimester so that may be the difference. Annabelle thinks the way out is to push to the right side. She pops her elbow out and it just sits there prodruding from my belly. It is funny!

32 Weeks!

Yesterday I hit 32 weeks and we also drove to Lexington to Washington D.C. so I did not feel like blogging. Jason believes that the baby has dropped but I don't know. She elbowed me for about 30 mins last night. It actually hurt a little. I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday so I am sure the doctor will be able to tell me if she has dropped or not. Also on Wednesday my sister turns 24, it is hard to believe she is so old. We are very excited about our baby shower on Saturday - I am sure it will be very fun. I wore real shoes today for the second time since about April. My feet swell so badly now I thought they might help. I think they actually may have hurt my feet worse. It is easy to navigate around here but my feet hurting makes me not be able to walk as well as I normally would. Tomorrow I think I may go back to my flip flops and see if that makes a difference. My hands are swelling now especially at night, I took my rings off a couple weeks ago because I did not want them to get stuck and now there is no way I can get them back on lol. I hadn't taken either off for 3 years, except when I had my engagement ring fixed. Our anniversary was on Wednesday - we spent it driving our dog down to Mt. Vernon to meet dad and going to live on main for Jason's volleyball game. My feet hurt so I am going to bed!

31 Weeks!

We have only 9 weeks left before Annabelle arrives! I am getting more excited every day. I had a doctor visit yesterday and she is head down and the hard spot that we keep feeling is her butt lol. She didn't move as much yesterday as she has the previous weeks so I had asked the doctor about that. I figure she is just running out of room and the doctor told me to do the kick counts and that in her most active hour she should kick 6-8 times. Well she kicks 6-8 times per hour every hour so I guess I had nothing to worry about. Jason went with me yesterday so he could meet the new doctor I started seeing a couple months ago when mine left. Of course all he did was sit in the chair and look at a magazine the entire time. He did look up when she put the doppler on to hear the heartbeat. The hb was 158 yesterday, my bp has risen to 108/72. Mom was afraid it was too low before and now she seems to think it may be getting to high "for me." I have taken on a lot of fluid, my feet and legs are really swollen. I saw a picture of me from the weekend and my legs have a lot of fluid on them. A lot of my weight gain recently has to do with my swelling - things could be worse.

Yesterday was the first time I actually asked the doctor any questions having to do with the delivery and all that. I have been reading a lot during my entire pregnancy but as the time gets closer everything I read I have questions about now. We are taking three classes before she is born, Child Birth class, breastfeeding class and baby bootcamp. I am currently trying to work on a birth plan for the delivery and I talked about it with my doctor yesterday. I am not a hard person to please and I know that the doctors know much much more about these things than I so my birth plan will be pretty simple. The main thing is I'd like to be able to nurse her right after she is born, before she really gets any visitors. I would rather she get to eat and get settled down and then have people come in. I just think that would be best for her but it may not happen that way and if it doesn't that will be fine.

There are so many decisions to make about her birth and all that comes after and I want to make sure that I make the most informed and educated decisions that I can. Jason reading the books would make a difference in my decisions. So far his response is, whatever I think is best is fine with him. I don't agree, I think he should read for himself. That is like someone saying, whoever you vote for is who I will vote for even though I have no idea about either candidate. I think he will learn a lot, or at least I hope he does, in our birth classes. Last night he started reading to the baby - I know she knew what was going on and enjoyed it because when he finished she started kicking me. It was very sweet, it almost made me cry.

Our list of things to do got one shorter over the weekend. We traded the Explorer in for a Mazda 3 hatchback. I call it Anna and Kate's car as we had to pick a car that would be good for both of them. We have already taken Kate to the dog park in it and she enjoys it a lot. Her crate does not fit in the back so she just rides in the main back by herself. We had bought a gate to put up but it didn't fit which turned out to be a good thing as I think she could reach the baby if she had wanted too. I don't think Kate would hurt her intentionally but I don't want to risk it. They make one especially for our car but I have not been able to find it online so we are just going with one they have a petsmart. Kate has been sick since Monday (we think she ate some plastic and something out of the creek) so we've only taken her out in the car once.

Jason's volleyball team played in the tournament last night and lost. Since it was my mothers birthday mom and Veronica brought her up to Red Lobster. They also got to enjoy watching Jason play. I think its funny that my 70 year old grandmother spent part of her birthday in a bar - she loved it lol.

30 Weeks!

We have only 10 more weeks to go before she gets here. It is exciting - she may have turned last night or tried too. I could not breathe nor could I move. I went to Jason's volleyball game and did not think I was going to be able to get out of the car I was so sore. It just wasn't my back and stomach it was my legs and everything. Then last night I couldn't go to sleep because I could not get comfortable enough to breathe. I've had a lot of soreness the entire pregnancy but last night's was way worse. I know this is only a sign of things to come. I had my glucose test last Thursday and I assume I did fine on it because they haven't called me. That is somewhat of a relief. I have gained way more weight than I thought I had, 25 lbs. I honestly can not tell where it is other than my huge stomach but I know I've gained it other places. My feet (and now legs) still swell, but again its not a concern because my bp is running 98/66. I have not worn real shoes since May, only flip flops so I tried actual shoes this week to see if that would make a difference but it hasn't. Good thing swelling doesn't hurt! The baby is still measuring good and big. I go back to the doctor next Wednesday - I have started visits every 2 weeks now. The baby still has room because she kicks and kicks and punches and pushes on me all day long. People say they miss that once the baby is born and I can understand.

We have gotten a lot accomplished in the past two months but there are still so many little things we have left to do.
1. Buy the building
2. Put the junk from the basement in the building
3. Put up the closet doors in Anna's room
4. Get closet storage for Anna's room
5. Clean our house really good
6. Organize Anna's clothes
7. Get a different car

Anna went to her fourth concert this past weekend. She has now heard the Avett Brothers play three times. This was the best Avett concert I had been too, it was the concert we had expected the very first time we saw them. They aren't playing close again until November 6th, but I don't think it would be wise for me to go. I think I will sit that one out. I have absolutely no musical ability whatsoever, and Jason is the worst singer in the world, but I hope Anna has a little musical talent.

29 Weeks!

Today I have hit the third trimester. The time has went by very fast, we only have 11 more weeks before she gets here. She has been pushing and pushing on my stomach for a few weeks now. You can feel really hard spots when she is pushing. Her favorite time to move around is at night. After Jason takes the dog out he says he can always feel her moving around when he gets back in bed. My feet and ankles are still swollen but thats normal, I go back to the doctor today and my visits start being every 2 weeks. In November I start going weekly. I have the 1 hr glucose test today - I dread it, I hate really sweet stuff, has always made me sick to my stomach. Everyone says its not too bad so it probably isn't. We start our childbirth classes in November as well.


Our fence is almost completed, we just have to put the door on it and hopefully that will happen tonight. The city has to come inspect it and then we can put the mesh on so that the dog can run free all the time. I think the fence looks really good, especially for it to have been done by people who have never built a fence before. Dad, mom, Josh and Veronica helped us out a lot. Dad cut down some trees at the end of the yard and it looks much better, now I get to plant some more.


We are still looking for a newer car - Our search is made more difficult due to Kate. We have to get something that she can sit in the back of comfortably, which means the BMW and Saab are out for now. Kate is a handful but I am glad we have her. I love to take her to the dog park and watch her play with the other dogs. Yesterday there was a sheltie out playing. Sheltie's are the breed of dog that Jason and I wanted so badly before we found Kate. He was the most adorable little thing I had seen in a long time, he was not very much bigger than my cats. If we would have gotten a sheltie it would have probably had to have been a housedog and I don't think I could have handled that. Kate sleeps in the house at night in her kennel and that is it. I couldn't take her running around all the time loose. It would drive me crazy! Our little Scottie cat has got the sneezes and she snotted all over Jason this morning lol.

28 Weeks!

The baby is only 12 weeks away! I don't really feel that great so this will be short. The baby's movements have changed from what it used to be. It is like she is pushing, she will do that for about 30 secs, instead of kicking. My feet are hugely swollen, they didn't bother me until tonight. They have become tight and a little uncomfortable. My mother has told me to have Jason rub lemons on them but we haven't been back to the store. She said granny did that for her when she was pregnant and it made them feel better. My blood pressure is still very good, 111/66, so I'm not worried about my swelling being bad - just normal.

We have finally started work on the fence and have one side of the yard fenced in. Our neighbor is a surveyorso we hired him to mark our property on the other side so we know what is our yard and what is not. We have more yard than originally thought, the small bit of land across the creek is ours as well. I feel better knowing that the fence will be ready for Kate soon. My parents are coming back up this weekend along with my sister and her boyfriend so hopefully we can get it completely finished. Jason worked on it Saturday, mainly be himself since I can't really do much and of course he did a good job of it but when my parents helped out Sunday it went a lot faster. I am very glad that even though Anna will not have as much room to run around as I did when I was younger she will at least have a yard and a nice looking one at that.

Now I gotta get Jason to rub my feet before Always Sunny in Philadelphia comes on or it won't get done! Season four starts tonight! :)

27 Weeks!

My stomach is getting bigger and bigger every day. I now have the line that most women get but of course mine is not straight up my stomach, it is over to the side. The baby moves and moves all day long. It is very comforting to feel her, she keeps getting stronger and a couple times this week she has tried to push her way out with her entire body. Although Jason has seen her move and feels her quite often she still slows down when he comes to watch her. Every time I tell him to come look she chills out for a few mins. It is pretty funny because as soon as he turns around she starts doing it again.

I had to go to the doctor on Friday because I got really dizzy and just felt very disoriented. It felt like I had been drugged. Turns out I just had an ear infection which caused me to have some vertigo. I had to take it easy all weekend but according to Jason I take it easy everyday LOL. My BP was 106/60 so that worried me a bit being that it had dropped but it was fine.

We went shopping for Anna on Saturday and spent a little too much money at the Old Navy baby sale. BUT we did get a lot of clothes and stuff she can wear when she is born that is warm - we think we have found her outfit to come home in if she doesn't wear her UK cheerleading outfit- it isn't anything special but it has a hood with ears and that has been something Jason's been looking for for awhile. She is also going to wear the boggin my great-granny made for me when I was a baby. Mom gave it to me a couple weeks ago and it looks like someone just crocheted it, not like it is almost 27 years old.

Still no art for her room, still no decision on themes for the baby shower and still haven't painted her closet and bedroom doors. This weekend if it doesn't rain we are putting up our fence. Kate should be happy. We had to get an anti-barking device for her Tuesday morning at 5:30. It is a birdhouse that sends a vibration to make her stop barking. I know it probably sounds inhumane but her barking is a little inhumane. At least we didn't buy her a shock collar or something. We only use it at night. We only have a few weekends left before the baby gets here and a lot of stuff to do.

26 Weeks!

Apparently my week 25 blog decided to delete itself. Hopefully I can somehow restore it. That is really odd!!!!!

For some reason I forgot to do this yesterday so it is a day late. I realized that I had forgotten when my dog woke me up for about the 10th time this morning barking. Having a dog has gotten us a little prepared for the baby, we have had to lose some of our selfish lives over the past couple months due to Kate. Our lives are going to be getting even less selfish in December.

I went to the doctor last week and got to meet with my new doctor for the first time. She said that Annabelle is measuring big and that she will be a big baby. My due date is going to stay the same, December 14th. I get the hour long glucose test next visit which I am kind of nervous about due to different reasons. After that visit I start going every 2 weeks to see the doctor and then at the end of October I start going weekly. I am very much looking forward to Annabelle's baby shower in October. Her nursery is finally finished! It is beautiful, Jason and the cats worked so hard on it. We still have to find some art to hang on the walls - Jason is going to try and make some himself. We kind of want some of those wall words to go behind the crib - the crib is huge!!! All the furniture is so nice. We did have to take the changing table back to Target though because when we opened it we noticed some bad places in the wood. Luckily they had another one and that one was perfect. Scottie cat loves to sleep under the crib, she also jumped into it from the window sill. Too bad there is no mattress so somehow the 12+ pounder managed to slide through the bars to the bottom. I think the worst part is that Jason and I both saw her and knew that she was going to jump, knew what would happen when she did but let her jump anyway lol.

Annabelle is still a very active baby - she did not want the doctor to get her heartbeat. The doctor had it for a couple seconds and then the baby started moving. I think it took about 4 mins for her to settle down enough for the doctor to get the hb. It was 158 this time. Jason got to see her move in my stomach and then he put his head there so she kicked him. He has been trying to teach her multiplication tables this week - she apparently doesn't like that too much.

25 Weeks!

The nursery is still not finished!!!! I keep saying, "hopefully by the weekend." Well this is a long weekend so HOPEFULLY we will finish it. Mom found some fabric for the curtains so hopefully they will match. I am taking some of the bedding down to Manchester tonight to see if it matches. Her nursery will be so pretty when we are finished - Jason and the cats have worked so hard on it. I go meet my new doctor today and I am hoping that they will give me a new due date. They are going to actually measure my stomach this time or at least I think they are. My belly has blown up in the past couple weeks. So far though my stomach is the only place I am gaining weight. My appetite does get bigger and bigger each day though! I have had a cold and have felt like crap since Monday. Jason was out on a business trip Monday night so I had to take care of the doggie by myself. That didn't make me feel any better.

Kate is rough and I had my first hormonal break down lol. She is stilla puppy and just wanted to play and I felt so bad because I could not play with her the way she wanted to be played with. We took her to the dog park on Saturday and Sunday and she LOVED IT! I was so happy to see her playing with other dogs and just being a dog. She did jump on a little doggie a little too much so his mommy took him home lol. Some people there just let their dogs run wild and they just sit in the shade - we do not have that much faith or trust in our dog. We have to follow her around, she can not be trusted lol. She is killed out when we leave, she can only handle about 30 minutes.

Anna moves so much now. On Sunday night you could see her moving across my stomach - each time Jason would walk into the room she would stop and then as soon as he would leave she would start again. It was pretty funny and sweet.

I have been looking at baby shower invitations and themes and can not find one that is half way decent. I think Jason will just make our invitations. Our baby shower is going to be October 25th and will probably end up being fall themed just like our wedding shower was LOL. We are much more excited for her baby shower than either of us were for our wedding shower.

24 Weeks!

We have decided on a name, Annabelle Taylor Welch. I always knew I wanted a little girl named Anna and Jason wanted it to be Annabelle. I guess we have compromised besides Anna Taylor does not sound as good as Annabelle Taylor. Taylor is my poppy and uncle Bill's middle name. She is due around what would have been my uncle's 52nd birthday, December 7th. I know the chances of having her that day are slim because my "official" due date is not until a week later. My mom's birthday is the 10th. As long as she is here before Christmas I am okay. It has taken me awhile to get used to the name but I like it a lot now. I used to have a plan in my head that when she was born and we were signing the papers that I would leave the Belle out of her name lol. I think that would be too mean but I could blame it on hormones or trauma whichever was more convenient. Jason used to be all mysterious about where he got the name Belle so I decided if she ever asked I would tell her he got it from when we saw Beauty and the Beast on Broadway for our honeymoon. That is much better than his real reasoning of he just liked it lol. Her room is STILL not finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jason is caulking up the ceiling and it is taking forever. We still haven't gotten to touch up the paint, vaccum or shampoo the carpet. All that has to be done before I put the crib up. I have become very impatient when it comes to her room. We still have not found the fabric for her curtains either. I also need a good housekeeper to come clean my house. Mom said she would help me clean it really good right before the baby gets here. Help me she said, I'll be nine months pregnant and she'll be expecting me to clean.

I go to the doctor next week thankfully I haven't had any problems. My ankles did swell last Wednesday evening and I did get a little worried. At first it was on my right one and then my left. I felt silly calling the doctor but it was early for me to start swelling (in my mind at least). I was told no sugar and no salt. That is a hard thing to do! I kind of thought maybe it was one of two things. The first was that I got too nervous watching Jason's volleyball team in the tournament. They won two tournament games (it was quite a shock) and did very well in the semi finals. I was proud of them. The band Filter was playing at the bar Jason plays at and all these people kept walking by Jason telling him how great he did. Just what Jason needs, his ego blew up even more. The second thing I thought was maybe my blood pressure was going down. Before pregnancy it was 90/70 and afterwards it went to 120/70. Both of which are great numbers but I had been having headaches and dizziness along with this swelling. All three can be signs of BP going down. I didn't go to the state fair with my sister and her boyfriend because they were still swollen on Saturday and didn't think it would be a good idea to stand all day. I really wanted to see the cattle and horses, no joke I did. The swelling went away on Sunday and my mom told me she figured it would come back when I went back to work and sure enough I noticed it again last night. This time it was my left ankle swollen more than the other. Odd lol. Maybe it will be a Wednesday - Sunday thing for the remainder of my pregnancy.

Somehow I managed to bend a prong on my engagement ring and took it in for a repair on Friday. I struggled getting it off because my fingers were a little swollen too and the chick behind the counter asked me if I was wanting to get it resized. I was thinking, lady, I'm pregnant I am just having a weird moment but tomorrow it will fit again so NO I don't want it resized lol. I don't think she knew what she was doing, she gave me some guys receipt inside my warranty card. Craziness!

Veronica got to feel her kicking this weekend. She is one stout baby. More importantly than all of that Anna is now viable outside the womb. I hope she does not have a reason to come out though. She still has a lot of growing to do.

23 Weeks!

The nursery has been painted! We have almost all of the crown molding up now we only like having some touch up paint done. Our goal was to be finished by the weekend when Veronica and Josh come up. Doesn't look like we will make it though. We didn't get to work on it last night because Jason's volleyball team was in the tournament (they made it to the semi finals last night before losing). They all played really well though, I was proud lol. I was getting nervous watching and Anna didn't like it, she kept moving around all over the place. Anyway, I doubt we will have much time to work on it tonight either. Hopefully everything will be completely put together by next weekend, including the crib, dresser and changing table. I can not wait to see what the room looks like when we get everything in it.

She still is kicking quite a bit, like right now, and Jason has been able to feel her more. She kicked him really hard last weekend. Yesterday my friend Amy could feel her. My sister is a little jealous but I couldn't help it, Amy is crazy! I told her she was kicking and next thing I know her hand is on my belly lol. People keep telling me I look pregnant and have really popped out. All I can say to that is I would certainly hope so since I am almost 6 months pregnant LOL. I always thought I would gain so much weight, luckily I haven't YET. I am sure it will get piled on in those last couple months. My ankles have started to swell a bit, I feel like it might be a little early for that so I am going to ask my doctor when I go at the end of the month. I am sure it is normal but just doesn't seem like I should be doing that yet lol.

22 Weeks!

We only have 18 more weeks before she gets here. There is still a lot to do to get ready for her arrival but we have gotten a good start on it. Jason started painting her room last weekend and had to put three coats of paint on it. The room is going to be a posh red color with del coronado tequila off white color on the bottom third. Hopefully this weekend we are going to get the crown molding and finish the painting. Thinking of getting carpet now instead of the laminate flooring. Jason needs a break and its not that much to let Lowe's install it for us. It is only 50.00 more to get carpet installed in 2 or more rooms so that means new carpet for all bedrooms! Last night jason looked on ebay for some artwork for her room. We have bought some pop or outside art from there before and the chick we have bought from has a lot more for sale now. Jason got so excited about the one with aliens riding horses that he woke me up lol. It was pretty funny, but I can only imagine the comments we would get if we used that in her room.

Anna has decided her favorite thing to do is kick me. I have been able to feel her from the outside now as has Jason. She got very excited last night at his volleyball game. It was the first time they had ever won a tournament game lol.

21 Weeks!

Friday we found out that we will be having a baby girl. Probably a big baby girl if her current weight and length are any indication. Friday she was 13 ounces and 9 inches long. She is probably a lb by now. She has really big feet and hands and we could count her ten toes and five fingers on one hand. The other arm she had underneath her for a pillow so we couldn't see her fingers. It took about 25 mins to get her to cooperate so we could tell if she was a girl or boy. She had her feet crossed and finally she gave me a good kick and after that we could tell. She has been moving around a lot lately, mostly around 10:30 or 11 at night.

We have finally gotten the office cleared out and moved down to the basement. The cats have taken over in the nursery and I did always want a room just for them. They will have one for a few more weeks anyway. We got really lucky and found the crib we had been wanting at Target on Monday night. It was sold out online and was not supposed to be available in stores, it was the last one Target had. We also bought a dresser to match it, not the exact one I wanted but it fits the set and will be fine. Now we only need the changing table - Lexington has two targets so this weekend we are going over to the other one to see if they have one in stock. Nicholasville Rd Target didn't. We also plan to register this weekend - I planned that last weekend and was to tired to do so.

20 Weeks!

Today we make it to the halfway point, tomorrow we find out the gender - pretty exciting. I'm more excited to see the baby again though than to see whether its a boy or girl. I don't know why, thats just how I feel about it. We have finally started to buy stuff for the baby, we have ordered the crib bedding and it should be here tomorrow. It is coming via Fedex but I heard on the radio this morning there was on overturned Fedex truck on the BG and it probably has my stuff in it lol.

I believe the sickness has passed but each time I say that I get sick again. Two weekends ago I woke up with a swollen face - I will not get into my issues with my face - and got sick twice. I guess that was to warn me not to go watch Hellboy II but I did anyway, it was awful. This past weekend the baby got to go to its third concert - The Avett Brothers. The baby has now been to a Lucero and two Avett Bros concerts. It will have atleast one more of each before it is born. Atleast now it can hear the music.

The babies movements have been pretty good so far, they get stronger daily. Not strong enough of course for anyone else to feel. Jason used to be very weird about the pregnancy and not understand that it drained me (at first - now I am fine) and I used to tell him I wasn't ever going to let him feel it kick. He has been a lot better lately, I think it is because he can actually see my stomach get bigger and knows he only has four more months until there is an actual live baby in our lives. The reality is sinking in and we still have SO much to do. I am hoping to register this weekend and I had to download guides on what to register for because I have NO idea!! lol

19 Weeks!

I am almost halfway finished! The baby has been moving around a lot since Tuesday. I felt it early in the day but didn't realize what it was until later in the afternoon. The movement is something that I was more excited about happening than the gender ultrasound. Tuesday evening , Jason was hammering on our needing to be condemed deck and the baby moved a lot. I dont think it liked all the vibrations. Only one more week until the big ultrasound - people ask how I can stand it and I can stand it just fine. Not a big deal to me to know or not which surprises me. I never could understand how people could go the entire pregnancy without knowing. At first I really wanted to know because I wanted to be able to decorate and buy clothes and all that but as time progressed we decided on a gender neutral nursery theme - farm animals. I spent a lot of my time on a farm when I was younger and it is one of my favorite places to be. My children will not have the luxury of being brought up as I was since we live away from pretty much all of our family. It kind of makes me sad to think about it even though I know they will have some advantages I didn't have since they are going to be brought up in a bigger place. People always want to raise their kids to have better than they did but my sister and I were lucky; there wasn't much more we could ask for. Maybe some UK season tickets lol

Anyway, back to the nursery - we have to start on it soon!!!

18 Weeks!

Today I went to the doctor for my check up. I am 18 weeks along and have so far only gained 6 lbs. I guess that happens when you cant eat or drink for the first 12 week of your pregnancy lol. Even now I can not eat a lot but atleast I don't get sick after I do. The nausea has finally passed (hopefully not speaking too soon). The second trimester has definitely been better than the first. Honestly, I don't remember much of the first because I was either asleep or had my head in a toilet.

The good news is my bp is perfect (as usual) and we get to find out the gender in 2 weeks, I will be 20 weeks, July 25th at 1pm! I have mixed feelings - I want to know and then again I kind of don't - but we are going to find out. The heart beat today was around 150 and the doctor said "it" was moving around a lot. Boy or girl I don't care, I just want it to be big and healthy.

17 Weeks!

I started thinking on Monday that since we will be waiting at least five months to find out the gender of our baby that we should just wait the remaining four. Jason did NOT like that idea at all and I know that if he found out and I didn't it would be just like the movie "Knocked Up" where the butthead tells her anyway. Because my Jason = a butthead :) He laughs at my belly because it keeps getting bigger; that is because he is immature and does not know what to think lol.

I am hoping to start feeling a lot of movement soon, I have only felt the baby two times I think. The Sunday before last I am 100% positive I felt it - it is a strange but good sensation. I go to the doctor next week and it will be the last time I see my OB/GYN as she is moving to California. I just have to get a new person at my clinic, which honestly isn't a big deal. It isn't like have a birth plan and all that figured out already or anything. The check ups are simple, just ask me how I am feeling and hear the babies heartbeat. I had to complete a form over whether or not I wanted genetics testing and I get to return that next week. I am saying no to the testing without giving it any thought. I know a lot of people who had a lot of worry from false positives. Does it really matter anyway? It is not like I am going to say no, I don't want this baby if something is wrong with it. My baby will be fine.

I have had very few complaints for my pregnancy - the vomiting continues though but I blame it mostly on my prenatals. For whatever reason when they hit my mouth they make me gag. Most of the time I can keep them down but sometimes I can't and they come right back up along with everything else I have eaten. Last time Jason just watched me puke, I feel puking is a personal thing and would rather NOT be watched! (it is just so gross - I sure would NOT be watching him).

Week 16!

Today I am four months! Only five more left!!!! I haven't thrown up this week thankfully but I did play volleyball last night on Jason's team downtown. Probably not the smartest idea I have ever had but I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be. Only a few more week until we get to find out the sex!!

15 Weeks!!!

I have made it to 15 weeks, I get more and more excited as the days go on I think. I also getting bigger and bigger as each week passes. The sickness that I thought I was rid of has returned. This week it has been bad. Maybe when I reach four months next week it will stop. I figure that is an unrealistic expectation but like I have said before things could be much worse - so I try not to complain and just go on with my life. Jason has gotten very good at cleaning up throw up now. I am lucky to have someone who will clean it up for me :) especially when he is not even asked.

No movement to report as I think it is a little early to be able to feel anything. It will be nice though when I finally can feel the baby moving. I try very hard not to call the baby "it" but sometimes I do. Jason just refers to "it" as a him :)

14 weeks!

Today I hit fourteen weeks. By now I expecting all of my vomiting to be over with but that's not the case. There are some days where I just feel like I could throw up at any minute and then some where I don't feel sick at all. This morning I started the day off by throwing up. That means that I will be sore for about 4 days. Things could be a lot worse for me so I do not complain much. Maybe by 16 weeks it will all be gone. The baby is the size of a lemon now according to the baby books. I am going to get a 4d ultrasound in about 10 or so weeks so we can see the babies facial features. We should know by then what the gender is. I could have the 4d done as early as 2 weeks from now to determine gender but I do not see the point when I get a gender ultrasound for free at the doctor in August. We just have to wait it out a little longer but honestly the past 14 weeks have flown by. We have a lot of work to do at home before the baby comes and we haven't even started yet lol.

13 Weeks

I had another doctors visit today. I got to hear the heartbeat with the doppler. From now on I will get to do this at the visits. I didn't know that until my friends at work let me in on it this morning. The heartbeat is now 164 bpm down from 182 bpm at the last visit. I do not go back to the doctor until July 10th. At my visit in August we get another ultrasound which hopefully will show us whether we are having a boy or girl!

Week 12

Yesterday I was at 12 weeks exactly. I have never really felt any worry since I found out I was pregnant and so I didn't think it would be a big deal to hit 3 months but it was and is. I guess now the excitement is getting more and more. Last weekend Jason and I went to the mall, the first time in months and Jason bought the baby a cute onesie.


We only have 8 more weeks until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl :)

Baby Welch Week 10

Today is the first of hopefully many blogs about the new member to our family, Baby Welch. Currently my family includes myself, Alesia, my husband Jason, our two cats Sir Scot of the Highlands and Pootie Tang, as well as our mixed lab pup Kate.

Baby Welch is due December 14th, 2008 and we are very excited. I had my first ultrasound yesterday and we came away from the technicians office with three pictures of our baby. Currently BW is only a little over an inch long, but it was moving (running according to Jason) and its heartbeat was 182 beats per minute.

In 10 more weeks we will hopefully find out the sex of the baby. I wish that I could hold off and be surprised when the baby is born but I can not. I have to plan things out and as much as I hate to say it, I am not much for surprises anymore. Jason and our friends threw me a surprise birthday party last year and I almost had a heart attack.

So far I have had morning sickness, afternoon sickness, evening sickness and night sickness. The doctor prescribed some medication which has been helping me a lot, but I still have to try really hard not to puke. I have always had a very strong sense of smell and now it is even worse. I can smell my dog from outside and she stinks!!!!! We have to constantly keep candles or tart warmers going so I can rest peacefully in my own living room.

I am a little worried about how the kitties are going to react to the baby. Both Scottie and Pootie sleep in the bed with us and they will not be happy to give their spots up for a baby. We have a king sized bed but it is overtaken by the cats. I wouldn't have it any other way though, I can not sleep unless they are with me. It will be a big change for all four of us.