Gavin's Arrival - April 6, 2013

Gavin Nathaniel Dunn was born April 6, 2013 at 3:39 a.m. and weighed 8 pounds.  He was delivered via an emergency c-section and looks just like his Daddy! :)

At about 12:15 a.m. Kaelyn woke up and was fussing so I got up to check on her.  As I got up I felt my underwear "get wet".  I continued to walk to Kaelyn's room while seconding guessing myself if I had just peed my pants or not.  It did occur to me that my water could have broken.  It wasn't like a huge gush of water as tv/movies can make you believe it is.  I ended up going into Kaelyn's room and rubbed her back for  a minute.  Fortunately, she went right back to sleep because I was standing beside her bed with my underwear soaked! haha  My mind began to race - do I have everything I need in my hospital bag? Did I pee my pants?  Should I call Tim (he was at work)?  Should I call Karen to come watch Kaelyn?  I ended up calling Tim after about 5 minutes and then waited another 15 minutes or so before I decided to call Karen.  Contractions hadn't really started...or at least they were so mild I wasn't really noticing them.  Tim got home pretty quickly ... while I was waiting I managed to get a few extra items packed in my hospital bag (ipad, camera, etc).  Tim threw together the rest of his stuff for the hospital while we waited for Karen.

We arrived at the hospital probably sometime around 1:30 a.m.  I was starting to notice some contractions, but didn't notice anymore of my water leaking out (I still had a voice in the back of my head questioning whether I did just pee my pants and I was in the hospital for them to tell me this).  We got checked in and I was brought to labor and delivering.

I was hooked up to machines to monitor Gavin.  They did a swab test and confirmed my water had indeed broken.  I was so happy that it wasn't a false alarm - I DID NOT PEE MYSELF!!  haha  I was scheduled for a c-section for Tuesday, but I was happy Gavin decided to arrive on his own a few days sooner.  I was going to go ahead with the repeat c-section rather than attempting a VBAC after a long internal debate about  my choices.

After getting prepped for surgery they wheeled me into the OR where I got a spinal to numb me from the waist down.  Afterwards Tim was able to come in.  It was very different going through this c-section than it was with Kaelyn.  Since with Kaelyn I labored for about 13-14 hours prior to have the emergency c-section I was exhausted and ready to have Kaelyn out.  With Gavin I was fully aware of everything and felt more myself during the delivery.  Of course I cried when I heard Gavin's first cry.  It's very tough to hear your baby for the first time, but not be able to see them for several minutes after.  Tim cut his cord and helped clean him up then brought him over to me.  He was wonderful!  So sweet and so calm.  Afterwards Tim went with Gavin for his first bath and weighing while they wheeled me into the recovery room.  Last time I slept for almost a full hour in recovery, but this time I just lied there.  I don't think I slept for another 20 hours or more.   I was exhausted, but felt very uncomfortable in the hospital bed.  Tim came in to check on me and spent a little time and then Gavin was brought in to me about an hour after delivery so I could breastfeed him.  He showed very little interest (and never ended up latching for 24 hours! - it was stressful).   Tim stayed with me the first night.  I knew I would be very sore from surgery so I wanted him there for at least the first night after that he went home to stay with Kaelyn.

After a few days in the hospital we brought our new man home.  There were some other stressful moments at the hospital - nurses wanting to give him formula because he wouldn't eat and was spitting up a lot of mucous.  They wanted to see if he'd latch to a bottle and if he'd spit it up.  UMM...I flat out refused and within a few hours the nurses switched shifts and my new nurse helped him latch within minutes and all was perfect!!

Gavin Nathaniel Dunn is a wonderful baby and is growing like a weed!!  We swear he'll out weigh Kaelyn before we know it.  :)

36 weeks and bi-weekly Dr appointments

We had a doctor's appointment on Thursday.  All went pretty well.  We got to see the baby again, he weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces!  He's in the 60th percentile, but his head and belly are a little bigger than the rest of him so those are in about the 75th percentile.  :)  He looks great though!!!  My blood pressure increased a little so we've upped my meds slightly and I'm going to start the bi-weekly visits (high BP during pregnancy puts me in the high risk category which requires bi-weekly visits...previously my BP was staying low, with my normal med dosage, so the doctor didn't have me increase my visits).  My next appointment is tomorrow afternoon.  Then again on Thursday.

How am I feeling?  My lower back aches almost constantly which has brought on the waddle.  :)  I haven't want to do much of anything...I've even slowed down on baking.  I can tell that the baby is a little lower or at least he's been positioned differently because I have been peeing all.the.time.  Tim and I got a lot accomplished this weekend.  Kaelyn spent the day with her Aunt Karen on Saturday so Tim and I got some cleaning and organizing done.  We went shopping for some baby things today so I've been able to do a little more organizing this evening.  I've put a few things in my hospital bag, but don't have that nearly ready yet.  We've got 3 weeks left!!  Just can't believe we're going to have another baby in the house!!

You want me to do what?

Please don't ask me to sit down on the floor (sorry Kaelyn), pick anything up (seriously Tim, just forget it), or get up off the couch quickly (or get out of bed quickly for that matter).  It just ain't gunna happen... not at 34 weeks pregnant.

Kaelyn and Tim worked on putting together Gavin's bassinet.  It totally warms my heart to see how much Kaelyn absolutely adores her Daddy.  She wanted to go outside today while Tim was shoveling the driveway and we followed him around everywhere he went.  She loved just watching him.  :)  While Tim and Kaelyn worked on the bassinet (took like 10 minutes), I organized some of the stuff from the baby shower from last weekend.  I have a huge pile of clothes and blankets that need to be washed, but once washed they have no home.  haha!

I had a doctor's appointment this past Wednesday.  Once again all went great.  I'm healthier this time around than I was with Kaelyn which just seems crazy because I am totally having a sugar baby! haha  :)  We go back on March 14th for another ultrasound (I'll be about 36 weeks).  The doctor still isn't going to make me start weekly visits (yet), but tells me to keep a close eye on the baby's activity level and if it decreases at all to call him.  I'm continuing have serious heartburn and it doesn't matter what I eat.  UGH.  I'm getting up anywhere from 2-4 times per night to go to the bathroom, but otherwise I'm sleeping okay.  So, nothing out of the ordinary.  I have to say overall I'm feeling "good" (normal).  Am I ready for the baby to be here...no, pregnancy is totally the EASY part!!  :)

What a wonderful Valentine's Day!

We had a great baby check up today.  I was expecting my BP to start increasing, but things still look great (116/72) so no need to increase my meds!  Weight, urine, belly size all looked good!  Normally after 32 weeks with a healthy pregnancy you start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks, but patients with high BP usually go weekly.  The doctor said because everything looks good I can stick to the every 2 week normal schedule! YAY!!  After the visit with the doctor we had another ultrasound.  Baby is looking great and getting big!  He's still measuring in about the 60th percentile.  We didn't get a lot of good pictures, but we got another one of him smiling and also got to see him open his eyes!  Next appointment is February 27th!  

 After the doctor's appointment Tim brought me to work and I had these waiting for me at my desk!  He's so wonderful.  My office smelled amazing the entire day.  Unfortunately, we both still had to work our regular schedules so it was like any other day.

8 weeks to go!

31+ Weeks

29 Weeks - Love this one - Kaelyn looks like she's on a Bond Mission! :)

We have just 8 more weeks until the date of my scheduled C-Section, April 9th.  But, of course we could go sooner than that! ;)  Our next appointment is Thursday, Valentine's Day, which I'm really looking forward to.  Another ultrasound and just regular check up.  I don't think I have to fast for this one as I don't believe they're checking my glucose level.  Although, I'll probably call tomorrow to find out for sure.
I've been feeling pretty good physically.  This past weekend I was feeling really tired despite getting plenty of sleep.  I'm still tired today.  Growing a baby can get a little exhausting especially when you got a couple extra pounds around your midsection.  :)  Kaelyn is starting to figure out that there is a baby in my belly.  She'll see a baby and then point at my belly and kiss it.  It's super sweet!!

I've been baking up a crazy storm lately!!  I really love it!  I'm usually so frugal and hate spending any more money than necessary, but I enjoy baking so much I just don't care.  I've had fun trying new things and making new recipes.  I used to never make cake or frosting from scratch, but I think that's one of my favorites now.  I recently found an oreo frosting recipe that I can't wait to try!  I'm baking something at least 4-5 times per week.  Mainly sweets, but also breads and muffins too.  I have 3 recipes set out for this week that I'd like to make.  The majority of it will be given away to friends and family, but I guess that's part of the whole fun.  :)

...and bigger and bigger.

This picture was taken Thursday at about 28 weeks.  

Things are going well.  My belly continues to grow!!  haha I've really started hitting the nesting phase.  I reorganized some of the kitchen cabinets (one cabinet still had all of Kaelyn's bottles which she hasn't had a bottle in...7 months!)  I started cleaning out Kaelyn's closet (not much work to do there to be honest), and I began reorganizing our closet as well.  Plus, I began cleaning off the desk we have in our bedroom and finding new homes since we'll be moving the desk out to make room for the baby.  I've begun a Goodwill bag and box.  I think I thrive on reorganizing and getting rid of stuff.  I HATE having more than what is needed.  If I don't use it or forgot I had it then it's GONE.  Tim on the other hand isn't always the same way.  He's super organized and doesn't have a ton of junk, but he also won't go through what he does have and get rid of what he isn't using.  Only once did he actually give me like a handful of old button up shirts that he hadn't worn SINCE I MET HIM!  I don't even know if I had seen him wear them in the past 6 years we've been together.  :)  

We've been talking about getting another vehicle before the baby gets here.  Probably next month we'll start really looking and hopefully find something safe and reasonable.  We've been using one vehicle for a year or so which has saved us some money, but with another baby coming along I think we really need to have 2 cars again.  

Kaelyn has been so funny lately.  She has a little shy side to her, but with just Tim and I around she's hilarious.  She's really in to animals.  I think she can do a dozen or more animal sounds.  Today she was obsessed with her doggy book and barked for a good portion of the day.  :)  She's been sleeping a little extra the past several days... we wonder if maybe she's having a little growth spurt or maybe getting some more teeth.  

Healthy, Happy Baby! 28 weeks

Happy Baby!!

We had our 28 week check up/ultrasound today.  Baby looks great!  He was moving around a lot and we managed to get a few pictures of him with his mouth open.  :)  He weighs about 2 pounds 11 ounces and is in 60th percentile.  Kaelyn always measured a little bigger and was born at 8 pounds 8 ounces, but has turned into our little peanut!!

I had my blood sugar checked and it was fine.  They're going to check it again at my next visit.  I didn't have to go through the sugar drink and an hour of waiting to test again.  I was able to just test and then I was all set to eat! :)  My weight was good (phew!), my BP was good (120/76), and my internal exam was good.  Fortunately everything is moving along well.  Our next appointment will be February 14th, Valentine's Day!  Because I have high blood pressure (which is controlled by medicine) I am considered high risk so I have more ultrasounds than normal!!  :)  I'll have another one next month which will make our 3rd, not including the initial visit.

Hello 3rd Trimester... 27 weeks!

Little Lady likes to sneak in on all my photos.  :) I don't mind though!

 Well, we are in the home stretch now.  Hitting the 27 week mark is always nice because in the event of an early delivery the baby's chances of survival increase a lot.  I think Tim's getting a little nervous, but more so about delivery than the actual baby being here.  I've been the opposite I'm more concerned about what the new schedule will be like, especially for Kaelyn.  She's used to our 100% attention at almost all times, as all first children are, so it'll be an adjustment for all of us.  I know over the next 3 months she's going to do a lot more "growing" so who knows where we will be at then.

I'm feeling good overall.  Our appointment is on Thursday morning.  I'll have my glucose level checked first thing (which means no breakfast, ugh), drink "the drink" (about 9:30) then have an ultrasound and then my regular exam.  By the time that's all done I'll have my glucose checked again and hopefully all will be well.

Happy New Year!!

Tim and I received a deep fryer for Christmas and planned to make homemade chicken tenders and sweet potato fries as our New Years Day dinner.  We picked up some vegetable oil while grocery shopping this past weekend  (after much debate as to what the "best" oil would be).  :)

I bought a 1 pound of packaged chicken tenders and we used the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for the chicken tenders coating.  It was super easy!!

 I sliced up three sweet potatoes.  We decided not to do anything special with them, just toss them in the fryer.

Tim looking in the little peep hole while our first batch of fries were cooking.  It was difficult to see in because the window built up with a lot of moisture.  

 We did a layer of fries at a time as the directions say to do for "best results".  The directions also say to cook the fries for 15 minutes which is just ridiculous.  As you can see our first batch came out a little DARK!  However, we did consume about half of them because...seriously...if it's fried, it's gooood!!

We never even made it to the kitchen table to eat dinner.  As everything came out of the fryer we just ate it right there at the counter.  :)  Our first batch of chicken tenders was also a little dry and overcooked.  The cooking times suggested were more than half too long!  We found about 5-7 minutes was plenty for both the fries and chicken.  

We were so busy consuming the deliciousness that I forgot to take any pictures of the finished product.  This is mid-eating with more frying going on.  

I'm looking forward to making onion rings and dough boys!!  The fryer won't be something we use all the time, but I'm super excited to have it.  The oil is a little expensive and if you cook raw meat you can't save it. Plus, I think it might be a little unhealthy to eat too much fried food.  :)