Kira Dawn

Well all...here she is! Kira Dawn S, 8lbs. 7oz. 201/2" long...cute as a button and looking more like her mother (which is good now...but not so good in the long run--have to buy a shot gun), but definitely has the TS hot gene!

Dawn had some complications last night, but came out fine! Breast fed this morning and she was ravenous...totally cool experience!

Overall, as you can tell below Dawn was a trooper throughout the entire birthing process--she went 12hrs strong and then only had about 50min. of pushing--she shot that sucker right out! Can't wait to have another! Dawn will provide more updates when she is able...enjoy the pics!

Quick update

After my visit to the doctor today I am now 2 centimeters dilated, 80% effaced and the midwife said she would be very surprised to see me next week. Here's to hoping. I also lost a pound this week which puts me at a total weight gain of 31 pounds now. Apparently it is common to loose weight at the end of the pregnancy and as long as the baby is still growing (she is) it is fine.

Filling the time...

So, despite the fact that the baby didn't come this week, we managed to have some adventures and fun anyway...Friday morning, Tom had off work, so we drove down to LBI at 4AM so he could surf. I sat on the beach in my chair (Xmas present from Amy!) and finished reading Treasure Island while he enjoyed the surf. Unfortunately, he had a little accident while surfing and got pushed out onto the jetty. His side was all scraped up, his feet cut and bleeding and board dinged a little. Despite all this, that didn't stop him from continuing to surf for a couple more hours, even though his feet were still bleeding...I don't know if you can tell from this picture but his one foot is now pretty swollen and oozing. I am sure it must hurt.

The next day, we had the opportunity to get this stand-up paddle board from a friend since Tom fixes surfboard dings so we were able to trade it for work he has done. This board is 4 1/2 inches thick and 9 ft. 3 inches tall. Tom was able to take it out on a local creek and said it was quite fun. It will be a good board to use when the waves are really small and a fun time for our kids once they get a little older.

Tonight we went to an awesome restaurant called "POD." The meal was family style, three courses and the restaurant was very modern.

I know it's silly but I wanted to include a picture of the baby closet. Little does our little baby know how she is getting hooked up with everything she could ever need, she has lots of cute little clothes and books, now all I need is for her to be outside my belly so I can use them on her!

My next doctor appt. is tomorrow, but Tuesday will put me at 40 weeks. Judging by the way I am feeling, I think I have another week or so to go. Things are uncomfortable sleeping at night but I haven't had one twinge or inkling of impending labor.

Nothing to report

Well, yet another week has gone by. Another week that brings us closer to meeting our little girl face to face! I am officially 39 weeks now but after leaving my midwife today, not much progress has been made...I am 1 1/2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. On the bright side, my weight has seemed to stabilize. Although my belly measurements have continued to grow indicating that the baby is still growing, I have not gained any more weight in the past 3 weeks. The total tally is 32 pounds thus far. Since she has gotten bigger, I have really lost my appetite. Even eating little meals gives me indigestion.

Things I am doing to keep busy:

Just so you know, I did not choose this book because it was a part of Oprah's book club, but because I enjoy reading about the Holocaust.

1. Bake bread in my bread machine (Tom's favorite of the moment is potato bread)

2. Read-I have read 3 books so far....Night by Ellie Wiesel, The Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London. Today I will start reading Treasure Island, another book I have always wanted to read.

3. Pack, write thank you cards, clean house.

4. Take trips to Barnes and Noble for more reading (can you tell I love to read?)

5. Long walks

6. Hang out with friends...last night went to see the latest Harry Potter movie and if I don't go into labor, Tommy and I will go to the beach and then dinner on Thursday night.

7. Any other suggestions??

Last week, my midwife told me I could go "anytime." What does that mean? All this time I have been hoping to go "early" but thinking that I will probably be overdue because of the family track record. It is a weird feeling not knowing when it will happen. I am so used to scheduling my life out and this is the one time when you are waiting for something big to happen and have no idea when it will be. It certainly doesn't help when you show up in church and people say annoying things like "When are you due?" or "You're still pregnant?" Yes I am....no, nothing is happening yet.

Preggo pic

Here is the last pic I will post of the belly at 38 weeks...definitely getting bigger and I am sure she has dropped because I am feeling more pressure in my pelvis. I can't believe how time has flown and she will be here soon!!!

Another clue that I have dropped...all of a sudden in the past week, none of my pregnancy shirts completely cover my belly anymore, I have to keep tugging at them to hide the belly. So, I have taken to wearing dresses lately, which is cooler anyway.

Yesterday after Tom got home from work, we washed and waxed both cars and today I vaccuumed out the carpets in both cars so they are nice and clean. Today was my appt. with my midwife...I am only 1 centimeter dilated but she said I could go "any time." We'll see.

Vacation in Vermont

We're back!

After spending a week in Vermont, it is nice to be home and back to the routine. Vacation was wonderful, of course, time well spent with family. Some of the things we did were go on a walk every morning, lots of reading, a trip to the theater to see Transformers (not very good by the way), out to a nice dinner one night, a tour of a local farmers market and town. The tour of the town was interesting because we happened upon a pewter store in which there was a craftsman in the back actually shaping a vase so we all got to see a demonstration. Tom was fascinated by all this and discovered that the store allowed customers the chance to polish and finish spoons that had been poured in a mold. He spent about 2 hours polishing 2 spoons and was so excited about it, he spent the rest of the afternoon talking about his spoons. I got quite a kick out of it and I am sure you can understand why he enjoys fixing surfboards so much.

I wanted to show a picture of the house we stayed in that was right on the lake. The bottom floor was an open floor with living room, sun room and kitchen. The 2nd floor housed all the bedrooms. It was really a cozy little place.

While we were there, we had free reign to use the big pontoon boat, paddle boat, kayak, fishing boat and sailboat which you might be able to see in this picture behind the pontoon boat. I enjoyed taking the little kayak out a couple of times, while Tom went fishing every day as he had gotten a fishing purpose for the week.

The fishing boat!

A shot of the first floor...

In other news, Tom and I decided to spend the 4th of July at LBI. It was a beautiful night. Tom went in the water for a nice surf and I read and took a little nap on the beach.

I am going to post only one more photo of my pregnant belly. It is growing nicely and most people have been nice in their comments about it. However, while stopping by the health food store today to get some ground flax seed, a man opened the door for me as I was leaving and asked, "How are the twins?" Grrrrr.

Anyway, the photo will be of my 38 week mark, so I will post it sometime next week as I am now 37 weeks and counting! I am mostly comfortable, still sleeping pretty well, except for the nightly indigestion and groin pain that I get sometimes if she is pressing on a nerve. I have recently begun experiencing those braxton hicks as well as some cramping so I know things are moving along.