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!