State Fair

It's been a month since I lasted posted a blog and oh my how Gwyneth has changed!  At 10 weeks, she is getting to be such a big girl.  Her awareness of her surroundings is increasing everyday.  There must be so much going on in that little brain of hers, Brandon and I joke about the new synapses firing as we speak.

Today was a big day for her.  Brandon and I took her to the California State Fair at Cal Expo down in Sacramento.  Having lived in the Sacramento area for sis years, you would think that we had been to the fair before.  We actually lived about a mile from the fairgrounds for two years, but for some reason or other we have never made it.  This year we made it a point to go since we had Dunebuggy.  Fortunately this year, the weather was perfect!  Every year the fair is held at the end of July, the hottest time of the year here in Sacramento.  The idea of going to the fair in 100+ degree weather just does not sound like a good time.  Fortunately, we've had a two-week span of unusually cool weather and the high was a very reasonable 80 degrees with the standard NorCal 100% sunshine. There was a nice breeze as well.  We really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

My favorite part of the fair was by far the farm animal exhibits and the petting zoo.  The farm animal exhibits had hundreds of pens set up with goats, pigs, sheep, and cows.  Many of these animals were pregnant or had recently given birth.  We saw a pig that had given birth to 10 babies that were just five-days old.  They were super cute but not as cute as the baby sheep that were one day old!  They were still learning how to walk and were smaller than Baylee.  They were absolutely adorable!!

The petting zoo was a lot of fun too.  I have always enjoyed petting farm animals and today was no different. :)  They had sheep, goats, llamas, pigs, donkeys, deer, and even a kangaroo!  I bought a small cone of food to feed the animals and it didn't last long.  Those guys were hungry!  I am realized surprised those animals aren't severely overweight from all that food the kids feed them.  They are constantly eating!  Dunebuggy was a little too young for the petting zoo this year but I am looking forward to next year when she can join me in the fun.

After visiting the animals we perused the fair for yummy junk food.  We shared a funnel cake, fried cheese curds, fried peanut butter cups, and chocolate bacon.  I think we had enough fried food for the week.  They were all delicious but my favorite was the funnel cake.  Gwyneth got hungry somewhere along our fried food journey.  We found a shaded park bench to sit and feed her a bottle.  She did so well, not crying a single time.  As Brandon burped her, he felt her poop in her diaper.  We decided to change her right there on the park bench (the bathrooms at the fair are not the cleanest or the most family friendly for changing babies).  I opened her diaper and.....oh my!!  She had an explosion up in that diaper!  Good thing we changed her quick, otherwise we would have had a code blue (a term for an outfit ruining blowout that we learned from Cindy Teel) on our hands.  After many many wipes we were able to get her cleaned up and diapered without knowingly offending anyone because we were out in the public.  Overall, I would say we had a successful day at the fair.  It was a lot of fun to experience the fair for the first time and to share that experience with my wonderful little family.

After we returned home, I fed Dunebuggy and got her ready for bed.  We are still working on a bedtime routine.  I have come to realize that she is never ready to go to bed right after she eats.  Tonight I decided to read her some books.  She loved it!  I read her a book about puppies and she was smiling as I turned each page and she got to see a new picture of a puppy.  It was amazing to see her so engaged.  I read her the book several times (it was a short 5 pages long) and each time it was like she had heard it for the first time.  Since she was so enthralled with that book, I decided to read her another book.  I read her a book that her Yaney gave her on numbers.  It is a super cute book that is shaped like a purse and teaches the numbers one through ten.  She loved the book however I think it is going to take many more reads until she is able to count to ten. :)  I think reading a book will definitely be a part of our nightly routine from here on out!

Gwyneth goes to work!

Today I took Gwyneth to Williams & Olds to meet my co-workers.  Unfortunately not everyone was in the office but Gwyneth enjoyed meeting those that were there.

Gwyneth and Stacey.

Gwyneth with Pamela and Jamie.

She got a little fussy soon after we got there since it was time for her to eat.  Luckily, being the good mommy that I am, I had a bottle ready.  Stacey and Lisa both enjoyed feeding her. :)

I have missed seeing everyone so it was good to catch up and let them meet Dunebuggy.  For those that visited Gwyneth soon after she was born, they were amazed at how much she has grown!

Gwyneth chilling in my office.

Pamela and Gwyneth.

I look forward to working with everyone again, but I am not looking forward to leaving Gwyneth.  August 1st will be here way too soon!

They grow up fast...

Gwyneth is getting big so fast!  I can see a change in her almost everyday.  She is still packing on the weight and is filling out.  My guess is that she weighs around 11 pounds now, but we won't have an accurate weight reading until our next appointment on July 1st.  I knew she was getting bigger but it wasn't that obvious until I took her to see my friend Sarah's newborn.

Sarah and Baby Lukas, one week old.

Sarah gave birth to Lukas John Holmes exactly one month after Gwyneth was born.  Gwyneth and I had the opportunity to visit with Sarah and Lukas when he was just one week old.  Seeing Lukas as small as he is next to a 5 1/2 week old Gwyneth really brought to my attention how much she has changed.  Her arms and legs were much thicker than his and her head was much larger too.  Everyone tells you babies grow up fast and of course I believed them, but it didn't really hit me until I saw it with my own eyes.

This week has been a week of firsts for Gwyneth.  Monday she started making sounds and coos that we hadn't heard before.  Prior to Monday her sounds were limited to crying but now she is making all kinds of noises!  Most of her vocabulary consists of vowel sounds like "oh" and "ah."  When she "talks" we repeat back to her the sound she made, as if we are having a conversation with her.

Another first for Gwyneth this week was the use of a pacifier.  We have attempted to get her to take a pacifier for the past two-weeks with no luck.  She was just not interested in it and when she did take the paci it was only a matter of seconds before she spit it out.  Yesterday, she had a breakthrough and took to the paci with no problem at all!  It may be a problem down the road when it's time for her to give up her paci, but I am willing to deal with that battle then for a happy baby now.

Last night Gwyneth had another first, she slept in her bassinet without having to be in her bouncer!  For the past few weeks, the only way we could get her to sleep at night was to swaddle her, lay her in her bouncer, turn it on vibrate, and bounce her to sleep.  The bouncing would sometime only take five-minutes, but there were times I had to bounce her for 30 minutes or more!  Gwyneth loves laying on her changing pad when she has her diaper changed so Mrs. Stepp had the idea that we put the changing pad in the bassinet to see what would happen.  We tried it last night and Gwyneth slept like a...well, like a baby.  It worked so well that I went to the store and bought another changing pad just for her bassinet.  Hopefully this is the start of many peaceful nights to come!

One Month

The weekly blog updates are very different now.  Instead of sharing pictures of my baby bump I now get to share pictures of our sweet Gwyneth as she grows!  I can't believe she has been with us for a month already.  I apologize for not keeping up with the blog, but as you can imagine I have had my hands full lately.  Now that I am starting to get the hang of things around here I will have more time to keep everyone updated.  I may not get as many blogs out as I would like, but I promise a genuine effort for at least one per week.

Gwyneth is one month old!

Everything has gone as well as can be expected since we got Gwyneth home, she fits right in here in the Stepp household. :)  Joe has yet to pay any attention to her and Baylee has done surprisingly well.  Brandon and I constantly joked about how Baylee was going to hate Gwyneth and how she was going to snack on baby toes.  I was very worried when we first introduced them but Baylee handled herself well and has yet to show any signs of aggressiveness towards Gwyneth. She has not been aggressive but she most definitely is jealous of all the attention our new little girl is getting.  We are trying to balance Dunebuggy and Baylee time so that she doesn't feel too left out.  It's funny, it feels like we have two children!

Baylee lounging in Gwyneth's bouncer.

Baylee participating in bath time (ignore the messy counter :) ).

Gwyneth has had two doctor's appointments since she was born.  The pediatrician said she  looks great and at her last appointment she was up to 8 lb. 15 oz.  She is packing on the weight and turning into a chunky little baby!  Soon we will have our own little Michelin man. :)  Her next appointment is July 1st and Brandon and I are not looking forward to it.  She will be getting her first round of vaccinations and we are dreading having to watch her get shots and cry.  Everyone says it happens so fast and that she won't cry for long...I hope they are right!

Gwyneth looking just like her daddy!

When she was born, her skin had a dark complexion that can only be described as purple, and she kept the darker complexion for several days.  Brandon began wondering if Gwyneth, which is Welch and means pale or fair, was an appropriate name.  As the days have gone on, she has certainly lightened up and is now living up to her namesake.  We've taken to calling her the Pale Princess of Poo Poo.

Gwyneth getting her first bath...she liked it.

It's been amazing to see how much Gwyneth has changed in just a month!  She was once unable to focus on much of anything in front of her and now you can see her staring at things.  You can hold something in front of her and she will follow it with her eyes as your move it around.  I love just sitting with her and watching her stare back at me.  It's like she is studying my face and trying to figure out who I am.  I can't wait to see how much she changes over the next month!

Of course the sleepless nights and the blowouts in her diaper weren't unexpected. We knew they were coming, yet still they have somehow been shocking in their magnitude and their frequency.  We've been told by multiple parents that the negative parts of these days will fade with time.  It is tempting to look ahead to that day when the extreme tiredness is but a memory, but at the same time that means that she won't be a nine pound precious little baby anymore.  We know various people with babies that are four, six and ten months old, and they all seem like baby behemoths compared to Dunebuggy.  I hear great things about babies when they can hold their heads up and they actually recognize you, but it is still hard to give up our tiny princess.    

Gwyneth Harper Stepp

Miss Gwyneth Harper Stepp was born Saturday, May 7th at 9:52 pm.  She weighed in at 8 lb. 2 oz. and measured 21 inches in length.  She is the most precious baby and Brandon and I are so in love with her.  I can't believe she is already 2 weeks old!

 It wasn't an easy delivery as most of you already know, but it was well worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It began Friday night, May 6th around 7:30 pm.  Brandon and I were sitting at home trying to decide what to have for dinner.  I had been having the usual random contractions throughout the day but could tell they were starting to feel different and were coming more frequently.  We began timing the contractions around 8 pm and at that time they were about 9-11 minutes apart.

We decided to get Chinese food so Brandon placed our order with our favorite place here in Rocklin and soon left to pick it up.  In anticipation that this could be the night we would go to the hospital I began looking through our hospital bag to see what we still had left to pack.  When Brandon got back we continued to time the contractions and they slowly were getting closer to one another.  I started to not feel so good so I didn't even eat my food.  Brandon says I committed a crime by letting Chinese go to waste. :)  

I took a shower and continued to pack our hospital bag as the contractions were down to about 5 minutes apart.  Around 11 pm my contractions started to slow down and seemed to stall.  Brandon and I decided we would go to bed and knew I would wake up if things started to progress.  I had been laying down for no more than 10 minutes when the contractions came back and were much stronger.  I laid in bed watching the clock timing the contractions for about 45 minutes before I woke up Brandon and told him that I thought it was time we got ready to go to the hospital.

We timed the contractions for another hour, they got down to 3 minutes apart and were getting stronger with each contraction.  I wasn't able to talk or walk when they came so I knew this was the real deal.  We called labor and delivery at Kaiser Roseville around 2 am, on Saturday, May 7th.  They confirmed that we should head their way so we packed up the Jetta and left.  It was exciting but also a bit scary.  All I could think was, we are leaving this house just the two of us and we will be coming back with a baby!  Our lives were about to change forever, in a good way of course.  

When we got to the hospital they sent me back while Brandon got a pass.  After filling out the paperwork for admissions we sat in a small room waiting to be evaluated before we could officially be admitted.  The nurse evaluated me and said I was 4 cm dilated, this was 1 cm more than I was at my appointment just 2 days ago.  That to me sounded promising and I thought to myself "wow, we are going to have this baby soon."  Little did I know that Gwyneth had no intention to come anytime soon.  We had a long road ahead of us before she would enter this world.

We were admitted at 3 am and taken to our delivery room.  I will spare you all the details and instead will give you the Cliff Notes version of our hospital experience with just the highlights.  I was able to somewhat manage the pain for the first few hours.  As the contractions got more intense I began to rethink my plan to go medication free.  It wasn't until the nurse checked me at 7 am and told me I was still around 4 cm that I realized this was not going to be a fast labor.  It was then that I requested some pain medication to be administered through my IV.  The medicine didn't do much for the pain really just made me feel more relaxed.  

It was around 9 am when I caved and requested the epidural.  My nurse had been so supportive of my birth plan but as soon as I requested the epidural she quickly got the nurse anesthetist to come administer it.  The epidural was only working on one side of my body so the nurse anesthetist had to make an adjustment to it.  This seemed to help although throughout my labor the epidural would wear off and I would feel the contractions just as painful if not more painful than they were before the epidural.  It seemed like every 2 hours I had them in there working on the epidural because of the pain.  Luckily they were able to inject pain medication directly into the epidural line which helped relieve the pain fairly quickly.

The midwife checked me again around 2 pm and at that time I had only dilated to 5 cm.  This was a bit discouraging considering my contractions appeared to be off the chart when watching the monitor.  With such strong contractions we thought I would be progressing much faster.  The midwife then suggested we start Pitocin, another medication that I had hoped to avoid, to see if that would help me progress faster.  At that time they also decided to administer an internal monitor in my uterus to help them get a better reading on the intensity of each contraction.  It wasn't until then that we discussed the possibility of a c-section.  The midwife had high hopes that the Pitocin would help progress my labor and said she would be back at 5 pm to perform another cervical check.  If the Pitocin did not work then the chance of having a c-section would soon become a reality.

Brandon laid down to nap on the couch and I tried to rest myself but my mind was racing and I couldn't stop watching the monitor.  My contractions were about as half the intensity that they were earlier in the day and at times appeared to be getting further apart.  I began to get discouraged and prepared myself for the very real possibility of a c-section. Soon I started to feel my contractions again as I had been every two hours.  This time the nurse anesthetist decided to replace the epidural to see if that would help.  He also upped the dose of medication as my body seemed to not respond to the regular dose.  This seemed to ease the pain for the time being but I didn't get my hopes up based on my experience with the epidural throughout the day. The midwife got held up with another delivery but stopped by our room around 6 pm to perform a cervical check.  I expected to hear that I was still 5 cm but was thrilled when she happily said I was dilated to 9 cm.  I knew then that our little Gwyneth would be here soon!! 

The midwife left and planned to return at 7:30 pm for one last cervical check in hopes I would be 10 cm.  It was around 7 pm that my contractions started to get very intense and I was in severe pain despite having the epidural.  Brandon paged the nurse and soon both the nurse and midwife entered the room.  The midwife performed a cervical check and I was fully dilated.  It was time to have a baby!  My midwife also informed me that my OBGYN was on call and had just arrived at the hospital so we were thrilled that she would be able to deliver Gwyneth.  

I began pushing around 7:30 pm and approximately two and a half hours later Gwyneth Harper Stepp was born at 9:52 pm.  It was such an amazing moment when they laid her on my chest.  Just minutes before we were just Brandon and Tracy, and there we were now a little family of three.  Brandon performed the usual double check that she was a girl and counted all her fingers and toes, she passed with flying colors.  For the first hour of her life she was one unhappy little girl and was unconsolable but after she got all cleaned up and had her measurements and shots she was a perfect little angel.

Thank you to all our friends and family who were checking in on us during our hospital stay.  We are so happy to be home with our precious baby girl and can't wait for all of you to meet her!  Our lives have been forever changed and we look forward to all the wonderful experiences to come.  Much love to all from the Stepp family!

-Brandon, Tracy, and Gwyneth

39 Weeks

Today is 39 weeks and we are still waiting on Dunebuggy.  We had what will probably be our last appointment with the OBGYN yesterday.  Everything still continues to look good.  Dunebuggy still has a nice strong heartbeat of around 150 beats a minutes and I definitely made some progress since the last appointment and I am now dilated to 3 cm, 70% effaced, and at 0 station.  During the exam the doctor stripped my membranes....don't freak out, it sounds way scarier than what it is!

The procedure was done during her regular examination and didn't hurt a bit.  In fact it happened in just a matter of seconds.  A simple explanation of membrane stripping is the separation of the bag of water from the uterus.  It can help jump start the process of going into labor naturally.  For a few hours after our appointment I was definitely having more contractions and they were getting more intense as time went on.  I began to think last night was going to be the night!  But in celebration of Cinco de Mayo we picked up Chipotle and once we began eating the contractions seemed to fizzle out.  I guess Dunebuggy is just not ready to come out and play just yet.

I have continued to have contractions on and off since last night but they are still very sporadic.  As I've said before, we are on Dunebuggy time so we'll just wait until she is good and ready.  The doctor didn't seem to have any indication as to when she will come, obviously this is not something you can predict.  Both our midwife and our OBGYN are on call this Saturday so maybe we will get lucky and will head to Labor & Delivery while they are there.

Here is a picture of my large belly at 39 weeks!  This may be the last belly shot...

I am also excited to show you all the beautiful quilt that Shelby put together for Dunebuggy!  This all began at the shower she threw for me in March where she had my mom and sisters send her squares for the quilt.  We also made squares for the quilt at the shower and then she put it all together to make an amazing quilt that I love.  Thank you Shelby!!

The Waiting Game

As we get closer and closer to Dunebuggy's due date I am becoming more anxious and a bit nervous.  I can't believe it is just 11 days away!  For the past 8 1/2 months we have been been planning and preparing for this, yet the reality of Dunebuggy actually being here is starting to really sink in.  I am so very excited about her arrival yet at the same time nervous about how it will all go down.  I think the idea of not knowing when and how it will happen is what has me so nervous.  Every night I go to bed wondering if this will be the night I wake up and tell Brandon we need to go to the hospital, but then I wake up and it is just another day.  I think it is natural to want to have everything planned but this is not a situation where that is possible.

In the meantime I have been distracting myself by catching up on some reading.  I have several baby books that I have been meaning to read but just have not had the time.  Today I started reading Babywise.  It's a book that several friends, both here in CA and in AL, have highly recommended we read.  The book is an in depth guide to Parent Directed Feeding (PDF) which helps manage your infants sleep and provides structure during a somewhat unstructured time in your child's life.  From those that I have talked to, you are either for the method or against it, there doesn't seem to be much of an in between.

The general idea of PDF is that you consider both time and hunger cues when determining when you feed your infant.  Some methods suggest you feed your child at a set time regardless of whether they are hungry or not and others suggest you feed them at the slightest sign of hunger regardless of the time lapsed between feedings.  I am only halfway through the book but the PDF method seems logical and based on the success of our other friends who have used this method or are currently using it I think we will most definitely give it a try.  Only time will tell if we are successful in implementing it and whether it will work for us.

On a side note, I think I have failed to mention my "pregnancy snoring" in previous blogs.  Some women may develop a bit of a snoring problem when they are pregnant and unfortunately I am one of them.  This has turned out to be more unfortunate for Brandon as lately it is affecting his sleep.  My snoring is on a whole new level this late in my pregnancy and I woke up last night to find I was in bed alone.  I guess the snoring was so intense that Brandon decided to move to the couch in order to get some rest.  I feel horrible that I am keeping him from getting a goodnight sleep.  From what I hear the snoring stops as soon as the baby is born and I certainly hope that is the case for me....for Brandon's sake!

As we get so close to Dunebuggy's due date, each blog I post has the potential to be the last pre-Dunebuggy blog.  I of course will continue the blog after her arrival although it may take some time to break away to do so.  Brandon and I would like to thank all of our friends and family for their support during this exciting time in our lives.  We would also like to thank all of you for following our blog and your kind comments.  We love you and will keep you posted on Dunebuggy's arrival!

38 Weeks

Today is 38 weeks and we are another week closer to meeting Dunebuggy.  I am so anxious to meet our sweet little girl.  This morning we had an appointment with our midwife, and I have made a little progress.  I am still 1 cm dilated but am now 50% effaced and Dunebuggy has moved down to station -1.  Heather went with me to the appointment this time around.  I was excited for her to hear Dunebuggy's heartbeat and to be at what could possibly be my last appointment.

Brandon and I attended our last class with Kaiser last night on newborn care.  We still don't know everything we need to know about taking care of a newborn but we got a brief overview of some important things like: changing a diaper, swaddling a baby, and giving baby a bath.  The instructor was the same woman from our breastfeeding class and she really got on Brandon's nerves this time around.  It's probably a good thing that it was our last class because I am not sure he could handle attending another one of her classes.

It has been a huge help having Heather here this week.  We have really made some progress on the nursery and it is just about complete.  We spent most of the week washing stuff and organizing, something I had put off due to tax season.  The nursery looks great and is just waiting for Dunebuggy now.  During all of our hard work, we did manage to book some much needed pedicures for ourselves.  Hopefully my toes will stay nice and pretty until Dunebuggy arrives which could be any day now!

More classes...

Last night Brandon and I attended a breastfeeding class at Kaiser.  At first Brandon was a little reluctant to attend the class due to the subject matter, but I assured him that spouses were expected to attend.  I think he was a little relieved when we got there to see all the other men in the classroom.  There were 11 women in the class and only two of them did not have their significant other with them.

We started off the class with introductions like all the other classes we have attended.  I was very surprised that over half the class had opted to not know the sex of their baby.  In all the classes we have attended there have only been just a few people that have chosen to take that route.  I was even more surprised of the remaining people in the class we were the only one having a girl, well the only one that knows we are having a girl.

The instructor was a very "happy" individual.  It was nice she was so upbeat but at times Brandon and I were a little annoyed by her enthusiastic attitude.  She was pretty pumped to be talking about breastfeeding!  Despite her annoying ways I thought she did an excellent job covering the material and even made it somewhat fun.  The subject matter can make people a little uncomfortable, but I think she helped make everyone in the class feel at ease.

I however about lost it at one point.  She was discussing how to tell if your baby is getting enough milk based on the number of wet and poopy diapers that you change during the first five days of the babies life.  There was a slide that showed what the poop will look like and let's just say it was not a pretty sight.  Someone then asked if breastfed baby poop always looks like that.  She explained it would possibly have some variations of color but it would always be runny...lovely I know.  Then she proceeded to describe other types of poo that would be of concern.  She said if your baby "lays a log" like an adult then you should call the doctor.  She included hand gestures with the statement as well and everyone in the class lost it...we were all mature adults I assure you. :)  Well for some reason I could not stop laughing about it.  It was one of those moments where you have the giggles and you just can't turn it off.  I finally managed to control myself after a few minutes, but thinking about it now brings a smile to my face again.

The instructor is teaching the Newborn Care class we are attending this Thursday night so we will get to experience her enthusiasm once again.  I am looking forward to the class because it goes over all kinds of information from bathing your baby to changing diapers, both things that Brandon and I have never done before!

Today I get to hang out with my friend Sarah!  She is 35 weeks pregnant and is back home in Sacramento to deliver her baby.  She and her husband are stationed in Germany and we had the wonderful opportunity to visit them over the Christmas holidays.  Sarah and I are on a mission today to find her an outfit for her maternity shoot this Thursday.  She will be using the same photographer that I used and I am so excited for her to get pictures done.  I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face at the mall as the two of us are waddling around together.  I am also very excited about the arrival of my sister Heather.  She flies in tonight and will be here all week.  This is going to be a great week!!

37 Weeks

37 weeks down, 3 more to go!  Baby Stepp is considered full-term today.  That means her lungs are fully developed so if she decides to come now she should be fine.  

She's approximately 6 1/3 pounds and over 19 inches from head to heel.  No wonder my belly is so huge!  It's still blows my mind that she can fit up in there.  It's so cool that I can clearly identify her little butt from her legs and feet now.

The past few mornings I have woken up with an achy and tired belly.  I am having Braxton Hicks contractions while I am sleeping and when I wake it feels like I have been doing sit-ups all night long.  Unfortunately I don't have a six pack to show for it.  

My maternity leave starts today!  We are kicking it off by heading to San Francisco for the evening.  We are going to the Giants game and I am hoping we get to see the Braves put a whooping on them!  Brandon and I were looking at the Braves roster the other night and there are so many new players now.  It's amazing to me that Chipper Jones is still playing.  I remember watching him play way back in the day at Fulton County stadium.  I must have been in 4th or 5th grade at the time.  He was just beginning his baseball career then, now he's a bit past his prime but I am still excited to see him play.  Go Braves!!

Update

Our appointment last Friday went well.  At this point there is no indication Dunebuggy will be here any sooner than her due date.  I am dilated to 1cm and 25% effaced.  Although one would think that might mean Dunebuggy is on her way, it means nothing until I start having regular contractions.  I have continued having sporadic ones here and there, but there is still no pattern to them and they are not close enough together to start timing just yet.

We will not have another visit with the midwife until Friday, April 29th.  After that appointment I will continue to go weekly, alternating between the midwife and the OBGYN.  We're on Dunebuggy's schedule now, so we'll just have to use patience and wait for her arrival.

Last night we attended a class at Kaiser called Safe From Harm/Infant CPR.  I am really glad we signed up for this class because the information we learned seemed relevant to real situations and if used properly could actually save a baby's life.  Brandon has had several CPR classes in the past, so he wasn't exactly taking it as seriously as the expectant moms in the class.  He was irritated to no end when one lady asked the instructor to go over the entire process again from the beginning.

We recently watched a video on infant CPR, but last night we were actually able to practice what we learned (on dummy babies of course).  Practicing what you learn is so much better than just watching.  I actually feel like I know what to do now in an emergency situation.  Of course I hope I never have to use my newly learned skills.

Half of the class was devoted to teaching us how to perform CPR on an infant, how to help a conscious choking infant, and how to help an unconscious choking infant.  CPR has changed over the past few years and the focus has become more on the chest compressions vs. the assisted breaths.  As we were practicing I kept imaging how scary it would be to have to perform what we learned in a real life situation on Dunebuggy.  I certainly hope it never happens but I feel like the class helped better prepare us in the event it does.

The second half of the class was devoted to keeping your child safe at home.  The majority of the information did not pertain to young infants as they discussed childproofing your home.  Although we will not use all of that information right away since she won't be mobile for a while, it was good to prepare ourselves for when that time comes.

As most of you know, I am a very indecisive person.  I have always had a difficult time making decisions so of course the decision of what outfit Dunebuggy will come home in is no exception.  I have it narrowed down to three outfits that I love and they are all washed and packed in our hospital bag.  Here are pictures of them, feel free to vote on which outfit you like the best!

Outfit #1 - Navy blue dress with white embroidered flowers and matching navy blue bloomers.

Outfit #2 - Aqua and white gingham print dress (colors didn't turn out very well in the picture) with eyelet flowers across the bottom and matching bloomers.

Outfit #3 - Aqua and white gingham print onesie with embroidered pink flowers.

I have a white headband with a bow for her to wear also, assuming her head isn't too big for it!  Outfit #1 is newborn size so it may not be an option come D-day if she is a big baby.  The other two outfits are 0-3 months so there shouldn't be a problem with them fitting.  I can't wait to see her and dress her up for her first car ride and entrance to her house!

As this blog post comes to an end, I am happy to announce that I will officially be on maternity leave after this Thursday, April 21st.  I can't wait to have some time off after a busy tax season!

Freezer Meals

For some time now I have been wanting to prepare meals for the week in advance.  It seems even more fitting that we attempt this since our time will soon be consumed with all things baby.  I have been searching around on the internet for websites dedicated to making meals in advance and have found several with promising recipes.  For my first attempt I have found recipes off of a website called Freeze Happy (www.freezehappy.com).  There are a lot of recipes to choose from and they look easy and delicious.  Most of the recipes make large quantities of food so I plan to split the food up into smaller containers so we have several meals out of each recipe.

The first 3 recipes I will be trying are vegetable enchiladas, baked ziti, and manicotti.  Below are links to the recipes.  I will report back once we have tried them to let you know if they were a success.

Vegetable Enchiladas
http://www.freezehappy.com/2009/08/vegetable-enchiladas.html

Baked Ziti
http://www.freezehappy.com/2009/06/pasta-bilities.html

Manicotti
http://www.freezehappy.com/2008/07/manicotti.html

36 Weeks

I've made it to 36 weeks and man am I getting big!  The other day I thought Dunebuggy had "dropped", but after looking at these pictures I don't think it has happened just yet.  My belly is still pretty much sticking straight out and Dunebuggy is still managing to jam her little legs up in my ribs.

A few days ago at work I looked down at my ankles and I was not prepared for what I saw.  The ankle bones that were there that morning were non-existent!  My ankles and feet were so swollen and have been ever since.  I noticed the swelling beginning a few weeks ago, but it is on a whole new level now.  Although I love being pregnant, I will be happy once I get my body back.

We have an appointment today with our midwife.  I am anxious and a little nervous to see what she has to say.  I have been having contractions but they are sporadic and there is definitely no pattern to them.  She may say Dunebuggy looks like she is sticking around for the long haul or she may say she thinks Dunebuggy is getting close to her arrival.  I have been writing down a list of questions for her, something I wish I would have done for every appointment.  It always seems that I forget all the random questions I have in between our visits. 

The clock is ticking....only 4 more weeks to go!!

Maternity Leave

Tax season is almost over and this week will most likely be my last full week of work before maternity leave!  I don't have a set last day, however I am currently shooting for April 20th.  Tax season is always demanding, but has been especially hard this year with the pregnancy.  I am looking forward to the time off to prepare for our life with Dunebuggy as well as spend time with friends and family.

Brandon and I have plans to meet friends in San Francisco Friday, April 22nd to attend the Braves vs. Giants game.  It's not often the Braves and Giants play so we are excited to be able to go see them.  Hopefully we will bring the Braves luck as their season is off to a rocky start.  We got ourselves in the baseball mode this past Saturday night when we went to the Sacramento River Cats game.  The River Cats are our triple-A baseball team and since they came to Sacramento 11 years ago have won two championships.  The game was a lot of fun, but unfortunately they didn't win.  With the very real possibility that the Kings will soon be leaving Sacramento it looks like the River Cats will be the only professional sporting team in town.  I am excited about taking Dunebuggy to baseball games in the near future!

The next visit will be from my sister Heather.  She will be coming out soon after our San Francisco trip.  I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees me in person.  Last time I saw her I barely looked pregnant so I am sure it will be a shock to see me this big.  She has been following the blog and has seen my weekly updates, but pictures just aren't the same as seeing someone in person.  Although, a lot of our time will be spent preparing for Dunebuggy it will be nice to have some fun sister time together as well.

Bring on the maternity leave!  I am ready for some good times and some sleep!

35 Weeks

35 weeks...yeah!!  My due date is getting closer.  I have been so busy with tax season that this pregnancy, already going by fast, is really flying by!  I checked my iPhone app and it said there are 35 days until my due date, that is so soon.

I am very excited, but at the same time I realize there is still so much to do.  Everyone says you can never prepare enough for a baby and you will always think you need more time.  I know if she were to come right this minute everything would be fine, however I am looking forward to the end of tax season when I will have time to do some nesting.  I look forward to my sister Heather coming to assist in that endeavor.  

As you can see Dunebuggy is getting bigger and so am I!

Earlier this week Brandon and I made some baby purchases on Amazon.  One of our purchases was our diaper bag and I love it!  There were several things I was looking for in  a diaper bag: 1) the option to carry the bag as a backpack, 2) easy to clean, and 3) lots of pockets for organization.  This bag does all of the above.

The bag can be carried as a backpack, a shoulder bag, or briefcase style.  The front pocket is a dedicated "mommy pocket."  It helps keep all of my stuff organized and separate from Dunebuggy's.  It has a place for my cell phone, keys, and even sunglasses.  The inside of the bag is lined with bright red antimicrobial material and has six different pockets for organizing all the little things.  There is even a place to put pictures that you might want to share with people when you are out.  There are two insulated pockets on the outside for bottles and sippy cups.

The bag is 100% machine washable.  So if something is spilled in the bag or if it just needs a good cleaning you can easily toss it in the wash.  The bag came with the changing pad below.  I purchased the matching smaller bag with a wrist strap as well.  It will come in handy when we are making a quick trip inside somewhere and don't need to carry the whole bag.  Plus it will also help with organization within the main diaper bag.  

The bag below is another baby purchase from Amazon.  It is a Planet Wise wet bag that will hold wet items such as dirty cloth diapers.  The bag has a pretty fabric on the outside, that I picked to match our diaper bag, and the inside is lined with a waterproof material to keep the wet in.

Our last baby purchase of the Amazon order was our baby monitor.  I originally wanted a different monitor but it just so happened that when we were getting ready for work the other morning they did a consumer reports piece on the morning news about baby monitors.  They reviewed many monitors and it was determined that the Philips Avent was the best.  It had the best range, longest battery life, and best clarity of all the monitors tested.  We opted to get the newest model that also includes a temperature sensor as well as the option to play lullabies to soothe baby back to sleep.  It's as easy as pushing a button on the handheld monitor.

I leave you with a picture of Baylee modeling the Dunebuggy bib I posted about in a blog last week.  We think she sports the bib well but she is clearly no Dunebuggy!