And how is parenthood otherwise?
Really, really good!
At first, I was worried because it didn't really feel "real" to me- I mainly just felt like a food supply and wasn't entirely sure that she knew who I even was. I wasn't sure that she knew I was "mom". Don't get me wrong, I instantly loved her and thought she was the cutest baby I've ever seen and she just had that awesome precious baby smell. And I have catered to her every cry, scream, grunt, cough, and sneeze. But I guess I was expecting to have that "magic mom touch" that soothes and calms her on contact. It took me a while to find my groove as a new mom and to figure out my own ways of doing things and making some parenting decisions. In talking with other new moms at the breastfeeding and new mom group I've been going to periodically, it seems as though everyone was in the same boat that first few weeks. As she has started doing a little more - making little noises and smiling and holding her head up and trying to push up with both her arms and legs, I've just been overwhelmed with how much I love her and am attached to her. She is just such a precious gift. I don't know how anyone could go through pregnancy and childbirth and look into the eyes of their baby and NOT believe in God. She is just so incredibly awesome and Sterling and I are so in love with her.
It has also brought a whole new dimension to our marriage and relationship. I respected Sterling before but it's like we both respect each other on a whole new level that we didn't even know was possible. When I see him with her, I just am filled with love for my little family. He's such a good dad and is such a great husband. We've both grown up so much since meeting each other...and even more now that little Lauren is here.
Marriage is such a fun journey and parenthood so far seems to be awesome as well. Both require a lot of love, care, attention and work - but every bit of it is so totally worth it. I am so thankful for a husband who is equally dedicated to having an awesome marriage and maintaining a peaceful home life and setting a positive example for our kids. We can't wait for all of Lauren's firsts and to watch her grow up, though I hope it doesn't go too fast. I'm trying to really savor it all. It's easy to be stressed out and just try to make it through but I've really just been trying to keep it in check and really enjoy her while she is so little and wanting to snuggle with me and is so entertained by mommy's funny faces :) It feels like she is bigger and can do more on a daily basis - so exciting and I have such a great sense of pride when I look at her but at the same time it's kind of sad. I'm already like "oh no my baby is growing up!!" haha.
Anyways, that's a brief synopsis of the latest happenings in the Cummings household :) I will write more sometime after the holidays. We've been blessed to have a lot of family visiting since Lauren was born and have stayed pretty busy :)
We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Year!
With love,
Jennifer, Sterling and Baby Lauren :)
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Welcome to the World, Lauren Olivia!
Hey Everyone!
Because I'm so far behind on posts, I'll probably break everything up into several posts. The rest of this post is for all of my pregnant and non-pregnant friends who are curious about the labor and delivery process so I will share my experience and thoughts/feelings about it all. I know before I was pregnant and while I was pregnant, I was pretty curious about what was fact/fiction on all of the baby shows I was watching and had wished that someone would tell it like it is. I found that whenever I would ask people about it, I would get polar opposite responses - women would either say "oh my gosh, it was horrible unbearable pain, etc, etc." or they would just say "oh it didn't hurt at all". So, here is my frank account of what it was like to have a baby to anyone who is curious. I'll try to share enough details without grossing everyone out!
Our precious little baby was welcomed into the world on Thursday, October 7th at 3:53 pm. She weighed 8 pounds, 2.5 ounces and was 21.5 inches long :) She has deep bluish gray eyes and a head full of dark brown hair. She couldn't be any sweeter :)
Because I'm so far behind on posts, I'll probably break everything up into several posts. The rest of this post is for all of my pregnant and non-pregnant friends who are curious about the labor and delivery process so I will share my experience and thoughts/feelings about it all. I know before I was pregnant and while I was pregnant, I was pretty curious about what was fact/fiction on all of the baby shows I was watching and had wished that someone would tell it like it is. I found that whenever I would ask people about it, I would get polar opposite responses - women would either say "oh my gosh, it was horrible unbearable pain, etc, etc." or they would just say "oh it didn't hurt at all". So, here is my frank account of what it was like to have a baby to anyone who is curious. I'll try to share enough details without grossing everyone out!
I went into labor shortly after 9pm on Wednesday night. I had noticed a little stronger twinges of pain but I couldn't tell if my stomach was balling up or not to merit calling what I was experiencing "contractions". My stomach was pulled so taught from Lauren being in there I couldn't really tell a noticeable muscle contraction - my whole belly felt hard to the touch because I had such a tall and big girl in there! I had been having intermittent "contractions"/episodes of menstrual like pain for two weeks prior to that so I just ignored them and thought "well I'm just getting my hopes up, with my luck she is going to be in there for another two weeks and make me miserable!" and I tried to go to sleep.
I woke up my normal 1-2x per hour to use the bathroom and I noticed that I was still having pain/pressure but it wasn't unbearable so I still didn't really think much of it. By about 2am it was starting to hurt quite a bit more to where I couldn't really sleep. Again, the pain was not unbearable. Uncomfortable but definitely not what all of these birthing tv shows portray. I soaked in the bathtub for a little bit and then laid back down next to sleeping Sterling :)
I had talked with my dad a few days before that and told him I couldn't tell if my belly was tightening up or not, that I was scared that I would be like one of these tv shows and not know when I was going into labor and he had told me just to measure it by my "pain intervals". So after I got out of the bathtub and didn't feel any better, it dawned on me to time when my pain started and stopped. Sterling downloaded a free contraction timer on his iphone and they were about 5 minutes apart. We called the on call doctor and she asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10 and I said "umm like a 4 or 5 maybe?" and her reply was "you don't sound like a 4 or 5...you sound like a 8 or 9. Why don't you go ahead and come on in and we'll check you out." So, we both took showers and packed the rest of the stuff in our overnight bags for the hospital and I made myself a fruit smoothie and made Sterling some breakfast and coffee to go. Sterling dressed himself to go to work just in case it was a false alarm. The whole time I was getting ready I was just thinking "ughhhhh another stupid hospital trip. It hurts but it doesn't feel like labor, I don't think I'm in labor, we are going to drive all the way out there only to be charged a thousand dollars for them to send us home and tell me 'oh honey you'll KNOW when you are in labor. you'll just KNOW'". I knew it was better to be safe than sorry and get this new pain checked out but I was just really cranky from getting no sleep and being so large and sore. Even as I was making breakfast and I could feel the pain getting stronger (to the point where I had to stop and take breaks to catch my breath) I was still in denial that I was in labor. About half way through the car ride, I started getting the sense of "ok, yeah....we are going to have a baby today. This hurts too much for a baby not to be coming".
We got to the hospital and they measured my contractions and checked my cervix to see how dilated I was and they decided to admit me to the hospital. When they told us they were going to formally admit me, I could tell Sterling was a mixed bag of really nervous but really excited at the same time.
I was about 3cm dilated and 100% effaced when I came in around 6am at the hospital. Shortly after I changed into a hospital gown, I started throwing up with contractions. Not fun :( When I laid down in the hospital bed my contractions were slowing a little bit so they decided to go ahead and break my water to see how labor progressed naturally without pitocin. The pain was pretty bad after they broke my water but it was about what I had mentally prepared myself for. The only thing I hadn't expected was that it was more constant than in intervals like it said in the baby books and on the tv shows. I was thinking alright it will be like 45 seconds to a minute of intense pain and then 30 seconds rest - just like interval training for swimming! Haha WRONG! :) It felt pretty constant - I could still feel "waves" of pain but it was more like my pain level would fluctuate between 90% and then peak at 100% and go back to 90%. It wasn't like 30 seconds at 100% and 30 seconds of "rest". I decided to get an epidural at around 6cm - not because the pain was unbearable or that I didn't think I could handle it but because I've kind of been of the mind set from the beginning that modern medicine has made childbirth a lot safer and more pleasant experience for all involved so I would much rather be able to rest and really be able to take in the whole experience and enjoy the time with my child and husband afterwards. I didn't want to be rude/mean to Sterling (which, let me tell you, at 6cm before that epidural, I was getting very annoyed and kind of snappy with the nurses who kept asking me questions! When you are in pain like that, you just don't want to be messed with at all!) and I also didn't want to be so tired after giving birth that I wouldn't be able to spend time with the baby and all of that since our plan included having the baby "room in" with us at the hospital. We wanted to have that bonding time with her and be able to see her first bath etc. which normally takes place in the nursery about an hour after birth - dads normally follow the baby to the nursery and moms can't attend for obvious reasons. We just liked the idea of staying all together after the birth - I didn't want to be left alone and we both wanted for her to be able to smell me and breastfeed and we both wanted to be able to witness her footprints and first bath up close and personal and not behind a glass window (or not at all which would have been my case).
I was about 3cm dilated and 100% effaced when I came in around 6am at the hospital. Shortly after I changed into a hospital gown, I started throwing up with contractions. Not fun :( When I laid down in the hospital bed my contractions were slowing a little bit so they decided to go ahead and break my water to see how labor progressed naturally without pitocin. The pain was pretty bad after they broke my water but it was about what I had mentally prepared myself for. The only thing I hadn't expected was that it was more constant than in intervals like it said in the baby books and on the tv shows. I was thinking alright it will be like 45 seconds to a minute of intense pain and then 30 seconds rest - just like interval training for swimming! Haha WRONG! :) It felt pretty constant - I could still feel "waves" of pain but it was more like my pain level would fluctuate between 90% and then peak at 100% and go back to 90%. It wasn't like 30 seconds at 100% and 30 seconds of "rest". I decided to get an epidural at around 6cm - not because the pain was unbearable or that I didn't think I could handle it but because I've kind of been of the mind set from the beginning that modern medicine has made childbirth a lot safer and more pleasant experience for all involved so I would much rather be able to rest and really be able to take in the whole experience and enjoy the time with my child and husband afterwards. I didn't want to be rude/mean to Sterling (which, let me tell you, at 6cm before that epidural, I was getting very annoyed and kind of snappy with the nurses who kept asking me questions! When you are in pain like that, you just don't want to be messed with at all!) and I also didn't want to be so tired after giving birth that I wouldn't be able to spend time with the baby and all of that since our plan included having the baby "room in" with us at the hospital. We wanted to have that bonding time with her and be able to see her first bath etc. which normally takes place in the nursery about an hour after birth - dads normally follow the baby to the nursery and moms can't attend for obvious reasons. We just liked the idea of staying all together after the birth - I didn't want to be left alone and we both wanted for her to be able to smell me and breastfeed and we both wanted to be able to witness her footprints and first bath up close and personal and not behind a glass window (or not at all which would have been my case).
After that epidural, I was an infinitely nicer pregnant lady :) I talked with my parents on the phone some as they were driving to Nashville to fly down to Houston to see us, Sterling talked with his parents some who were driving down from Waxahachie, TX. We both talked for a little while and snuck in a much needed hour long nap.
Giving birth was kind of a surreal experience. After they broke my water, I dilated very quickly from 4 to 8 cm and then it took another hour or so for me to reach 10 cm. The nurses had me do some "practice" pushing just to see if we could get her further down. They initially told me to bear down as if I was trying to go to the bathroom but then we quickly figured out that I was a more effective pusher by using my abs and flexing them as if I was doing a sit-up. The nurses brought a mirror in so that I could monitor my own pushing progress while we were practicing and also so that I could see little Lauren's full head of hair. TALK ABOUT CRAZY! There is nothing like witnessing that for the first time. I had watched tons of birthing shows and we had taken our baby class and saw a childbirth video in that but it is like an out of body experience when it is YOU with a little baby getting ready to make her debut out of YOUR body. Some people might get squeamish over stuff like that but for me, being raised in a medical household, I don't see anything gross about it at all. In fact, I find it pretty amazing that God designed women's bodies to be capable of growing and birthing a precious little life.
We did three rounds of practice pushes before Dr. Swaim came in and then after 40 minutes of pushing, baby Lauren was born :) They had me sit up to watch her come out and it is just the most surreal thing to watch this little person coming out of you. They immediately put her up on my chest and started stimulating her to cry by rubbing her with towels and she had the sweetest/saddest little cry I've ever heard. She opened her little eyes when I started talking to her and acted pretty content to be up next to me.
They gave her over to Sterling shortly after because I had a pretty bad internal tear from Lauren coming out too quickly and they thought they might have to take me to the OR if the bleeding didn't subside...so Sterling held Lauren for a little bit while Dr. Swaim sewed me up. Luckily the bleeding subsided and I didn't have to go to the OR. :) I had two other small external tears, one of which required stitches and the other did not. Because of the large internal tear, they kept my epidural going for an additional 6 hours after I gave birth and they ended up keeping me in the hospital a little longer than a typical vaginal delivery to monitor my swelling and pain.
Postpartum recovery, once the adrenaline and my epidural wore off, was a bit of a shock. The pain was pretty unreal. I couldn't get out of bed or walk for what seemed like the longest time, let alone use the bathroom. (Couldn't sit down fully on the toilet or otherwise for about 3 weeks). I had to go to see Dr. Swaim a week after delivery to get my stitches and everything looked at and everything was healing as it should so that was good. I was so glad to have my mom stay with me for a week and my mother and grandmother in law stay with us for several additional days after that. It was a handful trying to adjust to taking care of Lauren while still struggling to take care of myself. Thank God for family - it seriously does take an army to raise a child.
I've lost 29 pounds so far and have 13 left to go (and a whole lotta toning to do for sure!). I made it the whole pregnancy without having my skin get all marked up, only to get some stretch marks from the pushing process of labor. NO BUENO. It was really depressing to me those first few weeks. My belly, while a lot smaller sans baby, was kind of mushy looking and I still had a little bit of a pooch for a while (it takes a while for your uterus to return back to its normal size). The stretch marks aren't huge but when they were "fresh" they were bright red and all I could think was "oh my gosh, I'm never going to be able to wear a bikini again". Kind of shallow/vain of me I guess, but I like to look good for Sterling and like feeling and looking physically fit so when I was looking in the mirror, it felt like I was in someone else's body. Now that I'm 9 weeks postpartum, I'm starting to be a little more forgiving of myself. Pregnancy and postpartum hormonal changes made me so incredibly emotional and it was really easy to get really overwhelmed/down about all of the new changes that come with a baby, not only to your body but time management and trying to find time together, etc. I'll share some pictures of my weight loss/getting my prebaby body back progress sometime on a later post!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Mid week post
Hi everyone,
Sterling had his annual physical at the doctor's office yesterday so I went with him and we went out to Shiva Indian Restaurant in the Rice Village after that. It was pretty good. I was hoping that a little bit of spicy indian food (combined with our early morning walk in our neighborhood gym before Sterling left for work) might get labor going, but alas, it wasn't in the cards. Plus, when I say "spicy food" it's kind of a joke because I'm a huge wimp with spicy food...Sterling loves spicy food so we go to a lot of restaurants that serve it, but in all honesty, the amount of spicy I ate last night (or really any night at any restaurant) is probably no where near to what most people consider spicy. Most "mild" salsas at mexican restaurants set my mouth on fire, lol...I try though! I'm in training! Maybe one day I'll be able to tolerate spicy like a big kid :)
The word of the morning thus far: Sciatica.
Not sure if the baby is directly on my sciatic nerve or on one of my sacral nerves but whatever it is, it feels like sharp shooting pains in my pelvis (particularly around my SI joints), down my legs and my feet are tingley - worse on the right side than the left.
This is a pretty common occurrence late in pregnancy as the baby grows larger and its' head gets lower in the pelvis. Nothing really to worry about, just another one of the...joys...of pregnancy. Right now, she is probably growing at a rate of an ounce or more per day - pretty fast rate - she's gotta be running out of room! No wonder I spend all day scavenging in the kitchen for food and waddling to the bathroom :)
Despite the pain it causes (and how easy it would be to complain alllll day), I'm glad she is moving further down in my pelvis - the more pressure exerted on my cervix and lower pelvic region, the sooner she will come on her own and the more likely it is that I'll be able to avoid a C-section. The pressure exerted serves to signal more hormone release to further dilate/efface the cervix and prepare for childbirth. So, sciatica, I've decided that you are a good sign :)
Here's hoping miss Lauren comes soon. "Normal" breathing, eating, moving, etc. sounds so great right about now.
Tonight is "National Night Out" for our neighborhood. Its' main purpose is for getting to know your neighbors in the interest of preventing crime (the better you know your neighbors, the better able you are to spot and report if anything out of the ordinary is going on) so each street in our neighborhood is getting together and having a block party for an hour or two tonight. We've met most of the neighbors in our cul-de-sac since we've moved in, but there are some towards the end of the street we haven't had the chance to meet yet so that will be good to get to know everyone. Should be fun.
-J&S
Sterling had his annual physical at the doctor's office yesterday so I went with him and we went out to Shiva Indian Restaurant in the Rice Village after that. It was pretty good. I was hoping that a little bit of spicy indian food (combined with our early morning walk in our neighborhood gym before Sterling left for work) might get labor going, but alas, it wasn't in the cards. Plus, when I say "spicy food" it's kind of a joke because I'm a huge wimp with spicy food...Sterling loves spicy food so we go to a lot of restaurants that serve it, but in all honesty, the amount of spicy I ate last night (or really any night at any restaurant) is probably no where near to what most people consider spicy. Most "mild" salsas at mexican restaurants set my mouth on fire, lol...I try though! I'm in training! Maybe one day I'll be able to tolerate spicy like a big kid :)
The word of the morning thus far: Sciatica.
Not sure if the baby is directly on my sciatic nerve or on one of my sacral nerves but whatever it is, it feels like sharp shooting pains in my pelvis (particularly around my SI joints), down my legs and my feet are tingley - worse on the right side than the left.
This is a pretty common occurrence late in pregnancy as the baby grows larger and its' head gets lower in the pelvis. Nothing really to worry about, just another one of the...joys...of pregnancy. Right now, she is probably growing at a rate of an ounce or more per day - pretty fast rate - she's gotta be running out of room! No wonder I spend all day scavenging in the kitchen for food and waddling to the bathroom :)
Despite the pain it causes (and how easy it would be to complain alllll day), I'm glad she is moving further down in my pelvis - the more pressure exerted on my cervix and lower pelvic region, the sooner she will come on her own and the more likely it is that I'll be able to avoid a C-section. The pressure exerted serves to signal more hormone release to further dilate/efface the cervix and prepare for childbirth. So, sciatica, I've decided that you are a good sign :)
Here's hoping miss Lauren comes soon. "Normal" breathing, eating, moving, etc. sounds so great right about now.
Tonight is "National Night Out" for our neighborhood. Its' main purpose is for getting to know your neighbors in the interest of preventing crime (the better you know your neighbors, the better able you are to spot and report if anything out of the ordinary is going on) so each street in our neighborhood is getting together and having a block party for an hour or two tonight. We've met most of the neighbors in our cul-de-sac since we've moved in, but there are some towards the end of the street we haven't had the chance to meet yet so that will be good to get to know everyone. Should be fun.
-J&S
Thursday, September 30, 2010
38 weeks
Hey all,
Another week down. 2 weeks - HOPEFULLY LESS - to go :) On Monday, I still had a pretty bad migraine (that I've had since the previous Monday) so I called the doctor's office to find out if there was anything else that I could safely take to get rid of it. When I was in the office on Friday, Dr. Swaim gave me some medicine (basically a stronger dose of tylenol) to see if that would help. It helped me fall asleep in spite of the pounding in my head, but didn't get rid of the migraine because I can't take anything to treat the cause of the migraine (over dilated blood vessels in the brain). Migraine medication is not safe during pregnancy because its' job is to constrict the over dilated blood vessels - safe for mom, but not for baby because it crosses the placenta and can cause the baby's blood vessels to constrict which can hinder brain blood supply, development, growth because her blood vessels are so tiny right now.
Anyways, I was just calling to see if there was anything else that I could take that wouldn't cross the placenta...and instead ended up having to go to the hospital for testing. (ughhhhhh) Annoying and frustrating but I guess better to be safe and make sure nothing else is going on than to just assume things are fine and something bad happen that could have been prevented. They ran some tests on me just to make sure that I wasn't developing preeclampsia and everything looked good on the testing. The baby was moving around a lot and her heart rate was perfect :) My migraine/light sensitivity is still going strong and they aren't sure of the cause or why it hasn't gone away...I'm guessing it's probably just because of blood volume increases in pregnancy. She gave me another medicine (a different version of a tylenol based medication) and again, it didn't really seem to help.
I had my 38 week appointment with Dr. Swaim today, as well as an appointment with a neurologist to see about my migraines (I guess just to make sure there wasn't anything else serious going on). Dr. Swaim said I'm between 2 and 2.5 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby's head has moved further down in my pelvis, positioned at the -1 station. I've been having a lot of menstrual type cramps, lower back pain, pelvic pressure and some contractions - all of which are normal for "early labor", which I'm officially in as of the last doctor visit. Don't get too excited though- early labor can last for hours, days, or even a week or two so there's nothing to say that baby Lauren is coming any sooner than her due date......but MAN I hope she does!!!! Anyways, unless my contractions get stronger/more painful and more frequent, the baby's staying in for a while longer and I will be seeing Dr. Swaim again next Friday for my 39 week appointment. (Please get out little baby! I'm tired of being pregnant and miserable. We want to meet you and I want my body back and all of the ailments to go away!!)
The neurologist appointment was nothing too exciting. After a bunch of poking and proding and questions, he recommended that I get an MRI. An MRI (of the head) would be fine for pregnancy but I've only got 2 weeks (more or less) left of pregnancy so I'm just going to hold off for now. I'm just tired of jumping through so many medical hoops honestly. We've had a lot of ultrasounds for the baby and various things come up along the way these past 9 months and I'm just tired of it all. I can't imagine that anything more serious would really be going on since I'm in otherwise perfect pregnant health - I really think my migraine just won't go away because of my increased blood volume from being pregnant. And if that's the case then the issue will resolve itself whenever the baby is delivered (and there is also nothing they can do about it anyways as long as the baby is still camping out in there). Once the baby is here, if my migraine hasn't gone away after a few weeks then I'll go for the MRI and get things checked out further. But until then, I'm just going to chill and play it by ear.
That's the latest! Here are some belly pictures - the first 4 are 37 weeks and the last one is 38 weeks. I'll have Sterling take a better 38 week picture tonight after he gets home and we have our Friday night dinner date :) Will post them next time.
Up 41 pounds!!!
Another week down. 2 weeks - HOPEFULLY LESS - to go :) On Monday, I still had a pretty bad migraine (that I've had since the previous Monday) so I called the doctor's office to find out if there was anything else that I could safely take to get rid of it. When I was in the office on Friday, Dr. Swaim gave me some medicine (basically a stronger dose of tylenol) to see if that would help. It helped me fall asleep in spite of the pounding in my head, but didn't get rid of the migraine because I can't take anything to treat the cause of the migraine (over dilated blood vessels in the brain). Migraine medication is not safe during pregnancy because its' job is to constrict the over dilated blood vessels - safe for mom, but not for baby because it crosses the placenta and can cause the baby's blood vessels to constrict which can hinder brain blood supply, development, growth because her blood vessels are so tiny right now.
Anyways, I was just calling to see if there was anything else that I could take that wouldn't cross the placenta...and instead ended up having to go to the hospital for testing. (ughhhhhh) Annoying and frustrating but I guess better to be safe and make sure nothing else is going on than to just assume things are fine and something bad happen that could have been prevented. They ran some tests on me just to make sure that I wasn't developing preeclampsia and everything looked good on the testing. The baby was moving around a lot and her heart rate was perfect :) My migraine/light sensitivity is still going strong and they aren't sure of the cause or why it hasn't gone away...I'm guessing it's probably just because of blood volume increases in pregnancy. She gave me another medicine (a different version of a tylenol based medication) and again, it didn't really seem to help.
I had my 38 week appointment with Dr. Swaim today, as well as an appointment with a neurologist to see about my migraines (I guess just to make sure there wasn't anything else serious going on). Dr. Swaim said I'm between 2 and 2.5 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby's head has moved further down in my pelvis, positioned at the -1 station. I've been having a lot of menstrual type cramps, lower back pain, pelvic pressure and some contractions - all of which are normal for "early labor", which I'm officially in as of the last doctor visit. Don't get too excited though- early labor can last for hours, days, or even a week or two so there's nothing to say that baby Lauren is coming any sooner than her due date......but MAN I hope she does!!!! Anyways, unless my contractions get stronger/more painful and more frequent, the baby's staying in for a while longer and I will be seeing Dr. Swaim again next Friday for my 39 week appointment. (Please get out little baby! I'm tired of being pregnant and miserable. We want to meet you and I want my body back and all of the ailments to go away!!)
The neurologist appointment was nothing too exciting. After a bunch of poking and proding and questions, he recommended that I get an MRI. An MRI (of the head) would be fine for pregnancy but I've only got 2 weeks (more or less) left of pregnancy so I'm just going to hold off for now. I'm just tired of jumping through so many medical hoops honestly. We've had a lot of ultrasounds for the baby and various things come up along the way these past 9 months and I'm just tired of it all. I can't imagine that anything more serious would really be going on since I'm in otherwise perfect pregnant health - I really think my migraine just won't go away because of my increased blood volume from being pregnant. And if that's the case then the issue will resolve itself whenever the baby is delivered (and there is also nothing they can do about it anyways as long as the baby is still camping out in there). Once the baby is here, if my migraine hasn't gone away after a few weeks then I'll go for the MRI and get things checked out further. But until then, I'm just going to chill and play it by ear.
That's the latest! Here are some belly pictures - the first 4 are 37 weeks and the last one is 38 weeks. I'll have Sterling take a better 38 week picture tonight after he gets home and we have our Friday night dinner date :) Will post them next time.
Up 41 pounds!!!Love,
J&S
J&S
Saturday, September 25, 2010
37 weeks Update
Hey Everyone!
Behind on posts again so I'll see if I can catch up while Sterling is working on noms today :) So a couple of weeks ago, my sister Janna (along with the help of my mom and sister Jessica) threw us a baby shower at our house. We received so many wonderful gifts from family and friends and it was great to get the chance to visit with everyone and enjoy some nice food. Janna made us a beautiful cake and great side dishes and then we catered brisket and pulled pork from Tin Roof BBQ nearby our house. It was awesome! We played two shower games - one in which everyone guessed the size of my belly with pieces of yarn - THANKFULLY not with an actual tape measure, haha :) My mother-in-law Tammy and college friend Trey won the contest - both were pretty much spot on! I was impressed! The second game was a diaper changing contest between me and Sterling with baby dolls. I won :) But in all fairness, Sterling's diaper was rigged with mustard and brownie :) :) It was pretty entertaining to watch though I really hope his baby cleaning skills are better on our actual baby than it was with the toy baby! Here are some pictures from the shower:
Behind on posts again so I'll see if I can catch up while Sterling is working on noms today :) So a couple of weeks ago, my sister Janna (along with the help of my mom and sister Jessica) threw us a baby shower at our house. We received so many wonderful gifts from family and friends and it was great to get the chance to visit with everyone and enjoy some nice food. Janna made us a beautiful cake and great side dishes and then we catered brisket and pulled pork from Tin Roof BBQ nearby our house. It was awesome! We played two shower games - one in which everyone guessed the size of my belly with pieces of yarn - THANKFULLY not with an actual tape measure, haha :) My mother-in-law Tammy and college friend Trey won the contest - both were pretty much spot on! I was impressed! The second game was a diaper changing contest between me and Sterling with baby dolls. I won :) But in all fairness, Sterling's diaper was rigged with mustard and brownie :) :) It was pretty entertaining to watch though I really hope his baby cleaning skills are better on our actual baby than it was with the toy baby! Here are some pictures from the shower:
Sterling's first Christmas outfit from Tammy and John :)
Me and my younger sisters
Me with my mommas :)
With mom and dad
Janna and Jessica
Sterling with both of our dads
Pretty cake made by Janna
Sterling's Aunt Debbie and Grandmother Eva Jo
Mustard and Brownie filled diaper, ha!
Rice Alumni
With our parents...proud parents and grandparents to be!The shower was awesome! We are so fortunate to have such great family and be surrounded by such wonderful people. We lead a very blessed life :)
In other news, yesterday evening, our friends Jake and Brisa had their first child, a baby boy named Jacob! I talked with Brisa this morning on the phone and it sounds like their little family is doing well :) Brisa says that Jacob looks a lot like his daddy with blonde hair and fair skin. He weighed 7 lbs and 14 ounces. We plan to go visit them at the hospital tomorrow. I can't wait to see the little guy! Hard to believe we're next on the baby list!!!
My next doctor appointment was suppose to be this coming Tuesday but I called on Friday inquiring about medicine that was safe for me to take for a headache that wouldn't go away (had it for 5 days straight) and instead ended up having to go into the office for an unexpected visit. Because of the never ending headache and a few other symptoms, they wanted to check my blood pressure and do a urine test on me to make sure I didn't have preeclampsia. My blood pressure was a little higher than what it is normally, but still within normal limits so everything was in the clear!
Also while I was there, the doctor checked my uterine measurements and the size of the baby. Dr. Swaim estimates that miss Lauren is around 6 lbs and 10 ounces - so if she stays in utero until her due date of October 15th/16th, she will likely be "a good amount over 8 pounds" - pretty big for a baby girl. We'll just have to wait and see how early she comes (if early at all) and how accurate the estimates are :) Dr. Swaim also checked my cervix for physical changes in preparation for labor and I am 1.5 cm dilated, 60% effaced, and it is currently located about half way down to where it is suppose to be located when it is time to get the baby out! I'm not sure if that has any effect on my due date or not, but it is a good sign that my body has started to gradually prepare for delivery -supposedly this will help with the amount of pain I will experience in the stages of early and active labor if my cervix has already dilated a good amount before uterine contractions set in. After all of the anxiety from the placenta issues we had, it brings a great amount of relief to know that our baby has grown well and is considered full term and that my body is doing what it's suppose to do to prepare for her arrival. Seriously, God's timing is awesome - couldn't have asked for a better time to find some peace than right before our little one gets here :)
All we have left to do for baby prep is to install our car seat bases into both of the cars and put together the stroller and then we are ready for whenever she decides to make her debut :) My mom is predicting 7-10 days from now based on what Dr. Swaim said about my cervical progress - We're hoping she holds out past the end of bid week for Sterling's work and also past next weekend so Sterling and I can have one more weekend to ourselves where he isn't on call for work and John & Tammy don't have to miss the Texas/OU game :) We shall see when miss Lauren tells us she's ready! I will post some belly pictures soon - haven't loaded them on the computer as of yet, but keep an eye out for them if you are interested!
We hope you all are doing well!!
J&S
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Labor Day Weekend/ 35 Weeks
Hey Everyone,
We've gotten a little behind on posts so here we go. Over labor day weekend, Sterling and I celebrated his recent annual work review. I bought him a cookie cake and some beer and put some streamers up in our kitchen and living room :). The next day Sterling's mom, dad, and sister came to visit us :) Kristen brought her precious new addition, a little 1.3 pound yorkie poo named Grizzly :) He's so teeny tiny - he looks like a little stuffed animal. On Saturday, we went to the Rice/UT game at Reliant Stadium. It was pretty fun - the combination of outbursts from the boys was more entertaining than the game, haha. John would be mad and Sterling would be standing and cheering obnoxiously. Then the very next play, Sterling would be pouting and John would be smiling from ear to ear. I was happy that the game was in an air-conditioned stadium :)
The guys and Kristen got in a game of golf on Sunday and Tammy and I took Grizzly for his first vet appointment to get his little ear checked out. Here are some pictures from the weekend, as well as a few of the belly for those who are interested in the progress of my expansion!
Dinner at Star Pizza and Dessert at Amy's Icecream after :)
I'm up around 35-36 pounds now, 35 weeks pregnant. Good Lord someone please stop those scale numbers from going up more!! Well, it's not really the numbers that I'm all that concerned about to be honest. My weight gain is in the range my doctor wanted me to gain so all is good there. I guess I just had hoped that by some miraculous feat I would be able to avoid the "gathering nuts for winter look" in my face, legs, and arms that 95% of all pregnant women get in the last trimester...unfortunately, not the case. BOOOOOOO. That too, is normal due to fluid accumulation/swelling in the very last part of the third trimester. On one hand, I'm fine with it because pregnancy is what it is. I'm suppose to gain weight, I'm suppose to be larger, I'm suppose to be puffy because my blood/lymph volume has more than tripled over the course of ~9 months....but on the other hand, GAHHHHH it's so hard seeing myself looking so "jolly" and round (like Santa) in pictures and in the mirror. Very hard to feel attractive at all. I'm ready for baby Lauren to get here so I can get my workout routine going again and get my body back! Hopefully, in the future if/when we decide to expand our family again, I'll be able to workout during successive pregnancies...with the placenta issues of this one, I haven't been allowed to work out. At the very least, it would help me keep my arms and legs toned so I have less of a Michelin man look :)
My sister Janna (along with the help of my mom and sister Jessica) threw us a nice baby shower over this past weekend. We got a ton of stuff for the baby - she is going to be so spoiled rotten :) My dad and Jessica flew back to Tennessee this morning; Janna will be flying back home to California tomorrow morning, and mom is staying with us for a week. She's still pretty restricted with her mobility (still isn't allowed to bear weight on her left leg) so we will mainly just be visiting and keeping each other entertained. I imagine our main project will just be to finish up organizing all of the presents into the baby's room and then getting the last few little things we'll need for the baby from Babies R Us and Target. We'll post some pictures from the shower on the next post.
I'll be 36 weeks this coming Friday so she could be here anytime between Friday and October 15th. CRAZY!!!
Hope everyone is doing well!!
-J&S
We've gotten a little behind on posts so here we go. Over labor day weekend, Sterling and I celebrated his recent annual work review. I bought him a cookie cake and some beer and put some streamers up in our kitchen and living room :). The next day Sterling's mom, dad, and sister came to visit us :) Kristen brought her precious new addition, a little 1.3 pound yorkie poo named Grizzly :) He's so teeny tiny - he looks like a little stuffed animal. On Saturday, we went to the Rice/UT game at Reliant Stadium. It was pretty fun - the combination of outbursts from the boys was more entertaining than the game, haha. John would be mad and Sterling would be standing and cheering obnoxiously. Then the very next play, Sterling would be pouting and John would be smiling from ear to ear. I was happy that the game was in an air-conditioned stadium :)
The guys and Kristen got in a game of golf on Sunday and Tammy and I took Grizzly for his first vet appointment to get his little ear checked out. Here are some pictures from the weekend, as well as a few of the belly for those who are interested in the progress of my expansion!
Dinner at Star Pizza and Dessert at Amy's Icecream after :)
I'm up around 35-36 pounds now, 35 weeks pregnant. Good Lord someone please stop those scale numbers from going up more!! Well, it's not really the numbers that I'm all that concerned about to be honest. My weight gain is in the range my doctor wanted me to gain so all is good there. I guess I just had hoped that by some miraculous feat I would be able to avoid the "gathering nuts for winter look" in my face, legs, and arms that 95% of all pregnant women get in the last trimester...unfortunately, not the case. BOOOOOOO. That too, is normal due to fluid accumulation/swelling in the very last part of the third trimester. On one hand, I'm fine with it because pregnancy is what it is. I'm suppose to gain weight, I'm suppose to be larger, I'm suppose to be puffy because my blood/lymph volume has more than tripled over the course of ~9 months....but on the other hand, GAHHHHH it's so hard seeing myself looking so "jolly" and round (like Santa) in pictures and in the mirror. Very hard to feel attractive at all. I'm ready for baby Lauren to get here so I can get my workout routine going again and get my body back! Hopefully, in the future if/when we decide to expand our family again, I'll be able to workout during successive pregnancies...with the placenta issues of this one, I haven't been allowed to work out. At the very least, it would help me keep my arms and legs toned so I have less of a Michelin man look :)My sister Janna (along with the help of my mom and sister Jessica) threw us a nice baby shower over this past weekend. We got a ton of stuff for the baby - she is going to be so spoiled rotten :) My dad and Jessica flew back to Tennessee this morning; Janna will be flying back home to California tomorrow morning, and mom is staying with us for a week. She's still pretty restricted with her mobility (still isn't allowed to bear weight on her left leg) so we will mainly just be visiting and keeping each other entertained. I imagine our main project will just be to finish up organizing all of the presents into the baby's room and then getting the last few little things we'll need for the baby from Babies R Us and Target. We'll post some pictures from the shower on the next post.
I'll be 36 weeks this coming Friday so she could be here anytime between Friday and October 15th. CRAZY!!!
Hope everyone is doing well!!
-J&S
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
32 weeks, 4 days
Hey Y'all,
We had a doctor's appointment last week and everything went well with that. Pretty short and standard appointment. Things that have changed recently : I'm putting on weight at a faster rate - about 1-1.5 pounds per week; the baby's movements are getting much stronger (but feel more like knees and elbows rather than hands and feet); and I've been getting a lot more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions - which (for those that may not know) are basically just practice contractions, functioning in keeping the uterine muscle toned leading up to the big event! I've read online that they aren't really suppose to be painful per se, however I'm not going to lie and say they are just like a muscle twitch. Some of them just kind of feel like a sudden rush of uncomfortable pressure in different areas of my stomach; others are a combination of the pressure along with a kind of a stinging/stabbing sensation. Makes me kind of pause in my tracks for a few seconds, but it's not unmanageable. Dr. Swaim checked me to make sure I hadn't started dilating and everything was good - so hopefully Baby C will stay in there a while longer and keep growing as big as she needs to be! I *kind of* hope she decides to do more of her growing OUTSIDE of me than INSIDE so that my belly (and other parts that undergo trauma with the childbirth process!) can stay as close to the original state as possible, haha :) We don't think she will be a large baby since neither of us were statistically large babies, but only time will tell!
Here is a belly picture I took yesterday, kind of bad quality but we'll take some better ones later on, maybe this weekend if we get the chance. Up 33 pounds and counting! Anywhere from 5-8 weeks to go.
-S & J
We had a doctor's appointment last week and everything went well with that. Pretty short and standard appointment. Things that have changed recently : I'm putting on weight at a faster rate - about 1-1.5 pounds per week; the baby's movements are getting much stronger (but feel more like knees and elbows rather than hands and feet); and I've been getting a lot more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions - which (for those that may not know) are basically just practice contractions, functioning in keeping the uterine muscle toned leading up to the big event! I've read online that they aren't really suppose to be painful per se, however I'm not going to lie and say they are just like a muscle twitch. Some of them just kind of feel like a sudden rush of uncomfortable pressure in different areas of my stomach; others are a combination of the pressure along with a kind of a stinging/stabbing sensation. Makes me kind of pause in my tracks for a few seconds, but it's not unmanageable. Dr. Swaim checked me to make sure I hadn't started dilating and everything was good - so hopefully Baby C will stay in there a while longer and keep growing as big as she needs to be! I *kind of* hope she decides to do more of her growing OUTSIDE of me than INSIDE so that my belly (and other parts that undergo trauma with the childbirth process!) can stay as close to the original state as possible, haha :) We don't think she will be a large baby since neither of us were statistically large babies, but only time will tell!
Here is a belly picture I took yesterday, kind of bad quality but we'll take some better ones later on, maybe this weekend if we get the chance. Up 33 pounds and counting! Anywhere from 5-8 weeks to go.
-S & J
Friday, August 13, 2010
31 weeks and a Texla Baby Shower
Hi everyone,
We had a baby shower yesterday at Sterling's office thrown by his awesome coworkers! They catered a nice lunch and made us a delicious cake and we got to open a ton of cute gifts for our little one :) Can't believe she is going to be here so soon! On days like today, I feel ready for her to be here. It's been a very tired, sore, and hungry pregnant day for me and I'm ready to be DONE with growing this little person! Ask me tomorrow and the answer might be different, I might be in panicky type-A nesting mode thinking "There's still so much to do!!" haha. Anyways, here are some pictures from the shower and of our (not so little anymore) baby bump!
31 weeks, up 29 pounds
We had a baby shower yesterday at Sterling's office thrown by his awesome coworkers! They catered a nice lunch and made us a delicious cake and we got to open a ton of cute gifts for our little one :) Can't believe she is going to be here so soon! On days like today, I feel ready for her to be here. It's been a very tired, sore, and hungry pregnant day for me and I'm ready to be DONE with growing this little person! Ask me tomorrow and the answer might be different, I might be in panicky type-A nesting mode thinking "There's still so much to do!!" haha. Anyways, here are some pictures from the shower and of our (not so little anymore) baby bump!
31 weeks, up 29 poundsSaturday, August 7, 2010
Update on Mom and Recent Activities
Hey y'all,
As you know, mom had to have another total knee replacement done about a week and a half ago. This decision came about after she had her first total knee surgery a few years ago and then two subsequent surgeries to make adjustments as she was still having a great deal of pain and trouble walking despite physical therapy.
After her first total knee surgery, the doctor thought the problem was that she had developed a lot of scar tissue around the prosthesis so for the second surgery he went in and removed the scar tissue and mom went back into physical therapy almost immediately afterwards.
Then after another year of no relief from the pain in her knee and with her knee still locking up occasionally, her surgeon thought that one of her tendons might be pulling the prosthesis in awkward/painful positions so they decided to do a tendon release.
After the third surgery, she went through another long period of no relief and her knee locking up. Finally, they figured out that the problem was with the prosthesis itself and the total knee surgery needed to be redone with a different prosthesis. The surgeon had put the "gold standard" prosthesis in but it turns out that mom's quad muscles are stronger than what they had originally anticipated and they were pulling the prosthesis out of the joint (causing it to lock up and causing mom a lot of pain). There would have been no way they would have known mom's quad strength and the surgeon did the right thing by putting the top of the line prosthesis in to begin with, it's just one of those frustrating rare situations that happen sometimes. I hate it for mom, but we were glad that they finally figured out what was going on.
So mom went in for her 4th surgery and 2nd total knee replacement on July 30th. She was really dreading having to go through all of that again. The first total knee removed her natural knee joint completely, along with part of her femur (thigh bone). Then they had to essentially nail the prosthesis up into the femur to attach it - needless to say, it was a very long and frustrating road to recovery the first time around...one that proved to be fruitless for mom so that was very disappointing and disheartening. The second total knee replacement went well and they replaced the prosthesis with a different prosthesis. They also removed the membrane that surrounds the natural knee cap as they found that mom's was unusually thick and could have been becoming entrapped inside of the prosthesis when she would bend her knee. (And since she has an artificial knee in there now, that membrane isn't necessary). So all went well with that surgery- mom was in a lot of pain but she was discharged from the hospital after a few days and was able to go home to rest. My sister Janna has been there taking care of her.
Then a few days ago, mom was getting up to use the bathroom and on her way back she forgot to use her walker - probably an effect of being on the pain medicines since they make you loopy and confused and forgetful. It's also possible that mom was just trying to test the limits and see if she could go without it...not sure, you never know with Donna! Either way, she ended up taking a nasty fall and hit her knee on the hardwood floor. She got a spiral fracture in her femur, popped out several of her staples in her knee, and lost some blood because she's been on blood thinners post-op. Dad and Janna called an ambulance and they took her to the emergency room so she's been back in the hospital since Wednesday night.
The consulting surgeon thought that they would need to either remove the broken part of the femur and put another prosthesis with a longer stem in mom's knee....or that they would need to plate the bone and fix the 2nd prosthesis. When her surgeon got back from a trip yesterday morning, he decided it would be best to do the latter option and plate the bone/fix the staples. So he worked her into his schedule and she went in for surgery around 6 pm last night.
Everything went well with her surgery. Of course, she is in a lot of pain and a little out of it from the pain medications. Janna has said that she's been pretty combative about keeping her oxygen mask on so Janna and the nurses are having to put them back on her when she settles back down or falls asleep again. Janna has also said that they are keeping an eye on her blood pressure - it has been spiking a little bit whenever she wakes up - which is actually normal because the pain she is in is going to be more salient when she is awake. It's also normal for everyone's BP to go up upon first waking...but they are just going to keep an eye on it. It's probably just related to mom's pain perception :(
Her recovery time to walking normally/pain free is going to be a lot longer than before since physical therapy will have to be a lot less aggressive...she's basically going to have to keep it immobile for a couple of months and will have to take it slower to allow her broken femur to heal...but keep praying for her and pray that this is the last surgery she will have to go through, that her pain will go away quickly and things will progress as they are suppose to this time around.
In other news, we recently ventured out of hiding in the 'burbs for Sterling's coworker's 30th birthday dinner. There were 15 - 16 people that met up for dinner at Rudi Lechner's - a great little German restaurant. All of the wait staff dresses up in traditional German attire and there is live music as well so it was a lot of fun. The boys enjoyed their big beer mugs and we all ate a ton of food. I was a little bummed to have to miss out on the beer and all of the great sausage but it won't be too much longer until I can partake in the fun again - and it was helpful that I wasn't the only pregnant lady there. Jake's wife, Brisa is also pregnant. She is a few weeks ahead of me and their baby boy is due in late September I believe :) Here are some pictures from the night:
As you know, mom had to have another total knee replacement done about a week and a half ago. This decision came about after she had her first total knee surgery a few years ago and then two subsequent surgeries to make adjustments as she was still having a great deal of pain and trouble walking despite physical therapy.
After her first total knee surgery, the doctor thought the problem was that she had developed a lot of scar tissue around the prosthesis so for the second surgery he went in and removed the scar tissue and mom went back into physical therapy almost immediately afterwards.
Then after another year of no relief from the pain in her knee and with her knee still locking up occasionally, her surgeon thought that one of her tendons might be pulling the prosthesis in awkward/painful positions so they decided to do a tendon release.
After the third surgery, she went through another long period of no relief and her knee locking up. Finally, they figured out that the problem was with the prosthesis itself and the total knee surgery needed to be redone with a different prosthesis. The surgeon had put the "gold standard" prosthesis in but it turns out that mom's quad muscles are stronger than what they had originally anticipated and they were pulling the prosthesis out of the joint (causing it to lock up and causing mom a lot of pain). There would have been no way they would have known mom's quad strength and the surgeon did the right thing by putting the top of the line prosthesis in to begin with, it's just one of those frustrating rare situations that happen sometimes. I hate it for mom, but we were glad that they finally figured out what was going on.
So mom went in for her 4th surgery and 2nd total knee replacement on July 30th. She was really dreading having to go through all of that again. The first total knee removed her natural knee joint completely, along with part of her femur (thigh bone). Then they had to essentially nail the prosthesis up into the femur to attach it - needless to say, it was a very long and frustrating road to recovery the first time around...one that proved to be fruitless for mom so that was very disappointing and disheartening. The second total knee replacement went well and they replaced the prosthesis with a different prosthesis. They also removed the membrane that surrounds the natural knee cap as they found that mom's was unusually thick and could have been becoming entrapped inside of the prosthesis when she would bend her knee. (And since she has an artificial knee in there now, that membrane isn't necessary). So all went well with that surgery- mom was in a lot of pain but she was discharged from the hospital after a few days and was able to go home to rest. My sister Janna has been there taking care of her.
Then a few days ago, mom was getting up to use the bathroom and on her way back she forgot to use her walker - probably an effect of being on the pain medicines since they make you loopy and confused and forgetful. It's also possible that mom was just trying to test the limits and see if she could go without it...not sure, you never know with Donna! Either way, she ended up taking a nasty fall and hit her knee on the hardwood floor. She got a spiral fracture in her femur, popped out several of her staples in her knee, and lost some blood because she's been on blood thinners post-op. Dad and Janna called an ambulance and they took her to the emergency room so she's been back in the hospital since Wednesday night.
The consulting surgeon thought that they would need to either remove the broken part of the femur and put another prosthesis with a longer stem in mom's knee....or that they would need to plate the bone and fix the 2nd prosthesis. When her surgeon got back from a trip yesterday morning, he decided it would be best to do the latter option and plate the bone/fix the staples. So he worked her into his schedule and she went in for surgery around 6 pm last night.
Everything went well with her surgery. Of course, she is in a lot of pain and a little out of it from the pain medications. Janna has said that she's been pretty combative about keeping her oxygen mask on so Janna and the nurses are having to put them back on her when she settles back down or falls asleep again. Janna has also said that they are keeping an eye on her blood pressure - it has been spiking a little bit whenever she wakes up - which is actually normal because the pain she is in is going to be more salient when she is awake. It's also normal for everyone's BP to go up upon first waking...but they are just going to keep an eye on it. It's probably just related to mom's pain perception :(
Her recovery time to walking normally/pain free is going to be a lot longer than before since physical therapy will have to be a lot less aggressive...she's basically going to have to keep it immobile for a couple of months and will have to take it slower to allow her broken femur to heal...but keep praying for her and pray that this is the last surgery she will have to go through, that her pain will go away quickly and things will progress as they are suppose to this time around.
In other news, we recently ventured out of hiding in the 'burbs for Sterling's coworker's 30th birthday dinner. There were 15 - 16 people that met up for dinner at Rudi Lechner's - a great little German restaurant. All of the wait staff dresses up in traditional German attire and there is live music as well so it was a lot of fun. The boys enjoyed their big beer mugs and we all ate a ton of food. I was a little bummed to have to miss out on the beer and all of the great sausage but it won't be too much longer until I can partake in the fun again - and it was helpful that I wasn't the only pregnant lady there. Jake's wife, Brisa is also pregnant. She is a few weeks ahead of me and their baby boy is due in late September I believe :) Here are some pictures from the night:
Sterling, Jake, and Jake's friend Erich
Brisa and I with beer mugs full of water
Alpine horn - over 20 feet long!
The owner made the group (sans pregnant ladies) get upand do the chicken dance in honor of Jake's birthday...
Sterling was having a good time :)
Getting his peepers going, haha
Me, my love, and our baby bump :)
Happy Birthday Jake!!!We will keep y'all updated on mom's progress. Thanks in advance for all of your prayers. That's all for now.
-Jenn & Sterling
-Jenn & Sterling
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