Cherish these moments!!!

Makenzie is 15 weeks old, and it has been so amazing to watch her grow. She has the cutest personality, adorable laugh, and sweet smile! I'm in love with eleven pounds of perfection, and find myself so happy and sad at the same time!it is so weird to have both those feelings simultaneously! Before Makenzie arrived, I was convinced she would be our last baby. Pregnancy and I do not get along well, and the months of morning sickness have been unbearable. I thought for sure that she would have the reflux and colic that Mason had. And then there are those sleepless nights! But, after holding her in my arms, I'm sad at the thought that she will likely be our last baby! I know that every baby is different and you never know what they will be like, but if it were solely up to me, that's a chance I would be willing to take.

I also find myself conflicted as I watch her grow. With Mason, I couldn't wait for him to reach his next milestone whether it was crawling or walking, I always looked forward to what would come next. With Makenzie, I get excited at milestone achievements, and then I become sad at how quickly she is growing. I want her to stay this little forever. I want to freeze time too! I feel so lucky to be home with her until August, but I'm sick at the thought of putting her in daycare and not getting to be with her all day. This is the last time I will have this long of a stretch at home with Mason and Makenzie.

So, cherish those moments! I am trying to savor every moment nursing, every middle of the night feeding, every baby giggle, and even those baby cries where she only wants Mommy! I study her little body as I try to memorize every little feature from her long eyelashes to her skinny fingers, her heart shaped nostrils to her soft baby hair! They grow up too fast, and all too often life gets in the way to just sit and enjoy something so wonderful!

Makenzie is here!!!

Sorry for the delay in the "announcement" post, but it has been a completely crazy week! Makenzie arrived on Monday, February 18th at 2:32am, and we are so in love!!! Let me fill you in on her exciting arrival!

First, some background. As you know, Jeff, Mason, and I have been living with my in-laws for 18 months to save up and buy a house. You may also remember that Jeff's dad had heart surgery back in October. Well, he was finally released to come home on January 25th. He is still on many meds, and has nurses come to the house, but he was doing pretty well until about a week ago when he came down with a staph infection. Since I was just getting over my sinus infection, was due to deliver any day, and Mason was just getting over a cold, we thought it was best for Mason and I to stay with my mom for a few days until we could move into our new house.

So, Thursday Feb. 14th was my last day at work and Friday Feb. 15th we went to stay at my mom's until we could move into our new house. Jeff continued to stay at his parent's house to get things packed up. On Friday our house closed escrow and we sealed the grout, Saturday Feb. 16th Jeff, Allison, and my mom painted our garage, and Sunday Feb. 17th Jeff, Zach, Uncle Mark, Aunt Amber, Jen, and Allison moved some furniture and boxes from my mom's house so we were prepared for the movers to come at 9am on Monday. Sunday, I was having some contractions during the day, but nothing consistent or too painful. Needless to say, I didn't help move anything because I was hoping Makenzie would hold off another day.

Sunday night, Jeff, Mason, and I went to Chili's for dinner, and I fully believed it would be our last meal out as a fmaily of three (turns out I was right). After dinner, Mason and I went back to my mom's house and I put Mason down for bed. At 10pm I started having some consistent contractions, and at 10:07pm they were soooo painful I was yelling for my mom and sister to come in and call Jeff for me to get over to our house. Jeff got to the house about ten minutes later, and we were off to the hospital. We got there at 11pm, and upon being checked I was 6cm dialted, 100% effaced, and 0 station. We were admitted right away. At 12am I got the epidural, the inventor of which is the greatest person alive! It started working right away, and thankfully they placed it in the correct location the first time (with Mason it took four tries). I tried to rest as much as possible, but had to get all the admission paper work and questions answered. At 1:15am the nurse checked me again, and I was 8cm. At 2:10am I was 10cm, and ready to push. The nurse broke my water, but the doctor wasn't able to come to the room just yet. The doctor arrived at 2:25am, and I began pushing. I pushed for seven minutes, and Makenzie was born! I got to pull her up on my chest right away, something I never got to do with Mason since he had to be delivered via vaccuum. She was so tiny in my arms and I was instantly in love! She came out screaming, and full of fiesty energy. She scored 9/9 on her apgars and was 6lbs. 11oz. of perfection. She was 19.5 inches long with dark brown hair and blue eyes! She nursed right away, and has been nursing well since birth. She also didn't have the blood sugar issues or jaundice Mason had, which was a huge relief, Now we're just hoping she doesn't have reflux like her big brother had. I had zero tearing and zero stitches. The four and a half hour labor/delivery was night and day different than it was with Mason!

After we were sent to our recovery room, the days excitement continued to grow. Jeff and my mom tag teamed helping me at the hospital, and dealing with the movers (yes we still moved). They got everything moved into the new place. We stayed at the hospital Monday night, and were released Tuesday at noon. We got to bring our sweet girl home to our new house, something I was desperately hoping to do! And since Makenzie's birth on Monday, we have been busy cuddling our love bug, giving Mason time to play and learn how to be a big brother, and unpacking the house! Yesterday we finished unpacking all the boxes, and everything is just about organized! We have loved spending the past five days as a family of four! We've also enjoyed all the vistors, time with friends and family, meals, etc. It has been an amazing week, and I can only look forward to this next phase of our life with eager anticiaption!!!

39 weeks!!!

I'm guessing this will be my last post before Makenzie's arrival. That's not to say I think she is coming soon, we just have a lot going on. The past two weeks have been crazy busy.

Let me begin by saying, we bought a house! This was our hope/plan back in October 2011 when we moved in with Jeff's family, but it was really a waiting game to see what the housing market would be like. Fast forward to this past December when we began our housing search. We found a house we loved, but couldn't close until January 26th (the seasoning date of the short sale). Thankfully, everything fell into place, we were able to purchase the house we loved,and we closed escrow on feb.15th! That same day we sealed the grout, Jeff, Allison, and my mom painted the garage today, and if Makenzie will stay put, we will be moving Sunday and Monday! I would love nothing more than to bring Makenzie home to our new house instead of our temporary home. So, I'm hoping she will stay put until Tuesday.

I'm not sure how likely it is that she will stay put though. At my last appt. on Tuesday, I found out that I'm 3 centimeters dialated, and at -1 station. She really could come anytime! I should have been super excited to hear that news, but I've been horribly sick for the past week, so the thought of her coming with me being ill was a little unnerving. I had what started out as a cold, but then turned into a sinus infection. I've been really miserable, but now seem to be on the mend. I'd like to be healthy when Makenzie makes her grand entrance. So, I have a few reasons for wanting baby girl to wait a few days, but I guess time will tell. :)

So, that's the update from now. I can't attach a picture since I'm updating from an iPad, but I will try to attach one when I can. The belly is getting big! Mason even put a basketball under his shirt tonight to "have a big belly like mommy!"

37 Weeks!!! Full Term!

Hello out there! I'm full term! That means that Baby Makenzie can make her appearance at any time, although I'd like to keep her cooking for a few more weeks! I had my 36 week check up last week, so here's the update from my doctor. I'm up 14 pounds total. I gained two pounds in two weeks, so not too bad. I actually gained more than that since I lost weight from having the flu, and had to gain back the weight I lost. Makenzie's heartbeat was a strong 151 bpm. I was also one centimeter dialted, and the baby is very low (-2 station), something I was already painfully aware of...lol! The doctor thinks there is no way I will make it to my due date, and she told me not to labor at home long because she thinks it will be a quick labor. She also told me that if I could keep baby girl in for two more weeks, she thinks she will be 7 1/2 pounds. I take all of this with a grain of salt because this is the same doctor who told me I'd have Mason at 37 weeks (had him at 39) and that he would be 7 1/2 pounds (he was 9 pounds 3 oz.). My nausea is totally back, and if I stand too long if feels like this baby is trying to get out! Fun times! So time will tell! We did install the carseat and pack the hospital bag this weekend just in case!

I think we are about ready for her arrival. Minus the fact that she has no nursery! We were so fortunate to several showers for Makenzie that we are pretty stocked with adorable clothes, blankets, diapers, and wipes. Hopefully we will be decorating a nursery for her very soon!!! Here are the 37 week pictures, and a picture of the gorgeous diaper cake from the shower my class threw for me!

Finally, since posting comments on here doesn't work, I'd love for any readers out there to take a guess on the date of her arrival and her size on my facebook post! Thanks!

35 Weeks...Another eventful update and NAME!!!

I've hit 35 weeks in this pregnancy, and it's crazy to think that Baby Girl will be here in 5 weeks (35 days or so)! Since my last post, quite a few things have happened. Let me fill you in.

I had a follow-up weight check appointment for January 9th. After my appointment, we were going to go out to dinner to celebrate my sister's 26th birthday. Well, at school that day my class was going to the computer lab, and a former student (now in 4th grade) ran up to me full speed to give me a hug, and hit me pretty hard in the side. It was hard enough for me to stumble sideways, and for our computer tech to ask if I was ok. I thought I would be fine, but after getting my class settled in the lab I was pretty sore. Since I had an appointment that day anyway, I waited until my appointment when I brought it up to my OBGYN.

My OB was concerned with the force he ran into me, so she sent me to labor and delivery to be monitored. Normally they keep you there for four hours, but thankfully Baby Girl looked good, and the Braxton Hicks contractions weren't anything out of the ordinary, so they let me go after two hours. The positive to my appointment was that I gained four pounds. So, now I'm up 12 lbs. overall! My doctor wants me to continue with the weight gain, which of course I will do. We even made it out to celebrate my sister's birthday!

It may be a little hard to maintian the weight I gained after this weekend because I came down with the stomach flu and haven't been able to keep anything down. :( If there's anything worse than the stomach flu, it's being pregnant and having the stomach flu. The constant vomitting has caused me to have more Braxton Hicks, which has seemed to piss this little lady off! She is a rolling, kicking, punching, fireball in there the past two days! I know the flu shot isn't a guarentee, but I was hoping to bypass the flu this year. No such luck!

And finally, we have a name!!! With both Mason and this baby, it has been so hard to decide on a name. I basically chose Mason's name, so for this baby, Jeff got to have most of the say (I say most because I wasn't going to let him name our daughter something awful). I think we are pretty set, although Jeff tells me it still could change. So, the moment you've all been waiting for....Baby Girl will be named.....

We were really torn between the names Makenzie and Maya. But, I really wanted her to have my middle name Ann, and Maya Ann Brown didn't sound as good as Makenzie Ann Brown. We love her name, and Mason loves calling his sister Makenzie!It's soooo sweet!