40 week bonus pictures

Kalia and I having fun before heading to the park...such a goof!

 

 

Fun at the park!  I put my camera on the playground on a timer.  Kalia was so goofy with this little swing, she kept laughing at herself swinging on there, but I couldn't get far enough away to get a picture while still being there in case she fell.  Crazy that she can sit and hold onto this all by herself - so big!

'Talking' to the man who was eating lunch.  He enjoyed her smiles at least!

 

 

Daddy joined us the next day during his lunch break (he was working from home) for fun park time!

"Hi Mommy!!"

 Kalia is still very much a serious baby when she's in a new situation and figuring things out.  Once she takes it all in though, she is the smiley-est goofiest little girl!

 

One of Kalia's many weird sleeping positions.  It's like she finally got too tired to fight it off anymore and just plopped down face first.  I call this her folded over position...

 

Kalia and I in the stairwell at Granny's work.  She thought the echoing of her voice was great!

Playing in her play area that Granny set up for her...bean bags and all!  She loves loves LOVES this little storybook reader.  We need to get her some new books...meet the animals is getting a little repetitive - haha!

Playing at the playground in Niceville.  It was such a cool play area!

Standing while playing with her little cell phone.  She stood long enough for me to snap a few with my camera and then snap a few with Granny's camera.  She'll only stand though when she's occupied with something else that needs both hands.  It's a happy accident most of the time!

 She's really really funny with her eating.  She holds her hand up and studies her entire tray looking for one thing in particular that she wants to eat.  She eats almost anything, but definitely has her favorites!

"what to eat, what to eat??  Shoot...did I already eat all of the avocado's??"

 Granny borrowed a tree swing for Kalia to play in...she had a great time in that!

Kalia likes her Granny's dishwasher just as much as her Mommy and Daddy's.  I'm not quite sure Granny knew this happened...oops!!  :-)  Too cute to not take pictures of though!

Being a goof after our weekly photo shoot!

Happy 40 week Birthday Kalia!

This week, Kalia :

• drank milk from her cup and straw every single day.  Most days she gets an extra 4-5 ounces if breast milk that way!
• has learned cause and effect.  I took her to the park on Thursday and there was a guy sitting at the picnic tables eating his lunch.  After she played around in the park for awhile, we went and sat on the bench so she could eat her snack and she turned around to get the guys attention.  She yelled and yelled until he looked up at her, and then she smiled and held up her arm to say hi.  He was really nice and would wave to her and say how cute she was, and then go back to eating.  She didn't want to let him eat without admiring her though, so she kept yelling until he'd look up, then she'd smile, and repeat the cycle.  We eventually jogged on back home to let the man eat in peace!
• thoroughly enjoyed Mommy's first official week of no work - we went to the park quite a few times in the middle of the day!
• left on Friday night to make the long trip up to Niceville with Mommy, Daddy, and Kodi.  It took me two hours of going between the front and back seat, much to Kodi's dismay, to get her to fall asleep.  She then slept for about 3 1/2 hours before deciding she was too uncomfortable in the car seat and wanted to get out.  She was relatively easy to entertain though, there was just no way she was going back to sleep.  She called her Granny from her Daddy's cell phone to let her know we were close by (she was the last number dialed in Chris's phone, thankfully, or someone else might not have been so happy to get a phone call at 1 a.m.!).
• did really well with her sleeping while we were in Niceville.  It took us a bit to get her back down that first night (she was too excited - Granny and Grandpa were still up when she got there, and she just wanted to play play play!), and then she woke up once in the night on Saturday, once on Sunday, and then Monday night and Tuesday night Daddy worked with her to get her to break her night feedings.  He had some rough 2-4 a.m. nights, but they were worth it - see next weeks post!
• ate like a champ.  She takes after both of us and eats A LOT.  She added chick peas and kiwi berries to the list of foods she likes.  She's not a huge fan of tomatoes or strawberries yet (both of which I had introduced previously without much luck).  Her Granny and Grandpa were amazed that she'd eat cold squash and zucchini amongst her other veggies and fruits!
• holds her hand up to say hi to anyone and everyone.  She is a strong greeter though, she doesn't do any waving, just holds her hand up.  Most of the time her fingers split too so she sort of looks like she's doing the Star Trek Vulcan wave.
• stands a lot more on her own, but moreso accidentally.  She'll realize that she's doing it and lunge for something.
• walks behind things with wheels really well.
• went to the park in Niceville and had a lot of fun on a floating bouncing pink car toy and decided she likes the swings.  They were small enough that she could ride down them on her own with one of us just holding her hand from the side.  My tailbone was happy for that one!
• spent the majority of her 40th week birthday without Mommy and Daddy.  We went to the outlets while Granny watched her.  She ate, took milk from a cup, and took a nap all with her Granny.  Yay for some quality 'us' time.  I think we were gone for a total of 5 hours, and she did great!   

These pictures were taken in her Granny's living room, so no white chair and pink pillow this week. 

Bonus pictures coming shortly!

The End. 40 weeks 5 days

Little Miss Kalia has 29 hours to get here on her own before we start the eviction process.  We are scheduled to start induction at the hospital at 5 p.m. tomorrow night.

The doctor did not check to see if I was dilated at all at today's appointment.  He said he had no reason to believe that I'd made any progress since Tuesday, and they'd check me upon arrival at the hospital tomorrow night.  I believe there's two types of people when it comes to dilation and effacement.  Those that dilate and stay dilated for a some amount of time before actually going into labor, and those that dilate and then immediately go into labor.  I'm think I'm the latter.  Which is why, I'm guessing, he has no reason to think I'd made any progress since Tuesday.

First I'll explain the process, then I'll relate our wishes for how we want to handle the masses :-).

When we get there tomorrow night, after they check to see if I've dilated, they'll administer a pill into my cervix which will stay in for 12 hours.  The purpose of the pill is to soften and dilate my cervix.  I'm going to have to fight to get them to use telemtry to monitor Kalia and allow me to walk around some during that time.  After 12 hours, they'll check my cervix, and if I haven't dilated/effaced any / enough, they'll put in another pill for 12 hours.  After 24 hours of the pill, they'll start pitosin.  If I've started dilating to 2-3 cm before that, and I'm not contracting on my own, they'll administer pitosin.

Once I get into active labor, 4-5 cm dilated, the doctor said the average Mom delivers the baby sometime between 6-8 hours later.  He said average induction start to labor finish is about 48 hours, but it could take longer than that.

We've talked about it quite a bit, and we really would prefer not to have everyone sitting around waiting for my cervix to dilate.  The doctor actually mentioned not calling in the crews just yet too because it makes the Mom over-anxious which leads to all sorts of bad things for Momma and Baby.

So...to those of you that are heading up to the hospital...  our plan is for Chris to call everyone when I start going into active labor.  That should give you guys plenty of time to get down / over here pretty closely to when Kalia's going to arrive, although planning that is next to impossible.  Please please please after Chris calls, do not call to check on my progress.  Although I know everyone cares, it'll only make me more anxious if I hear Chris's phone ringing off the hook.  Once you get to the hospital, there's monitors that show how far along I am, so you can check that way.

We're bringing our computers, so I might update this blog prior to going into active labor.  I have no idea...I don't know how I'll feel or what I'll be going through, so no promises on this end.  I just know that I don't want a room full of people there just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, and I don't want a room full of people when the contractions start coming hard and fast.  If you get into town early and want to swing by to see how I'm doing prior to active labor, visitors for a little bit here and there are fine, but no camping overnight in my hospital room, and when the nurses come in to check me, everyone but Chris is out :-).

The hospital won't give out any information either...I called to check.  Sorry!!

The only one that I know that is for sure going to be around during all of it (although not camping in the room!!!) is my T. Mom and Dad.  They're heading over here Sunday night to stay with Kodi at the house.  So, if you want their cell number to get updates, email me, and I'll email it to you.

The doctor did say it's very possible that I'll go into labor on my own in the next 30 hours, so I should be prepared for that too.

Those of you that aren't parents and driving over here, Chris is making an email list to email updates when he can.  We don't have texting, and emailing is so much easier for both of us with our dinosaur phones.  No promises on updates towards the end of everything, so if you haven't heard anything for awhile, just hang tight until you get a 'she's here!' email!

....

Whew!!!

Yesterday was our 5 year wedding anniversary, and we went to Melting Pot to celebrate.  Here's a few pictures to hold you over until Kalia pictures arrive.  Sorry, no belly pics...I wasn't flashing the camera in my dress!

Before :

During ... (yes, my face already looks fatter from eating all the yummy food!!)

After :  Wowzer.  Huge.

This is all you get of a profile shot.  I stood sideways with my hands on my belly and said "oh wait, can you even see it?!?!" and then after Chris said "yep!" realized that I just asked if you could see the equivalent of the good year blimp attached to my belly and couldn't stop laughing.

Chris thinks they may have spiked my lemonade.  I think my brain is going bonkers.

Last 'free' weekend!!!!!

Today at the docs I weighed the same as Tuesday.  Total love gained : 34 lbs.  Oiy......  It's okay though, Kalia will be here SOON!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

docs appt

So......no dilation and only 25% effacement.  BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

We've got another follow up appointment on Saturday morning to see if I'm dilating any.  The latest they'll schedule me to be induced is Monday morning.  Induction does not equal labor though...he said that I could be induced for 3 days prior to going into actual labor, depending on how long it takes my cervix to thin out and dilate.  I'm the one that would make the call that I'd want to have a c-section if induction goes on for too long.  Apparently I can't go further than the 8 foot cord with induction because they have to monitor me constantly.  Induction starts with a pill they put in my cervix.  After I've dilated to 4 cm or so, they'll add pitosin if I need it.

He painted a relatively grim picture for induction and said that he just wanted to give us the full truth and let us know that induction is not an easy route to go, it's really difficult.

Anyways, he also said that it's very possible that I could go on my own beforehand, so not to be too discouraged.  My cervix can thin out and dilate itself overnight, but medicines take quite a bit more time.  He said if I were to be induced today, I'd probably be induced for quite some time before labor actually started.

BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The appt lasted for 2 hours today...they monitored Kalia's heartrate the entire time and I had one contraction during it.  She's an active little thing in there, and they had to wait for her heartrate to slow down a bit before doing the pelvic exam.  They said an active baby is a good thing!  The appt on Saturday is really to monitor Kalia to make sure she's still doing okay in there.  She more so rolls around a lot these days...she doesn't have room to kick anymore!

I think that's the latest...hopefully she'll come on her own prior to Monday!!!!!! 

Total love gained...34 lbs.  Oiy.....

I'll try to take pics tonight...I'm pretty pooped though, so no promises!

40 weeks, no news

I have my doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon instead of today.  The office is closed for Memorial Day.  If Kalia decides to be the oddest baby in the entire world and actually show up ON her due date though, the doctor most definitely will meet us at the hospital!  :-)

I think I have 7 of you to call back, but I honestly don't know if/when I'll get around to it.  I'm overly anxious awaiting for Kalia to get here, so to keep myself from going insane, I'm doing project after project and walk after walk.  In-between all of that, I'm napping.  I'm keeping Chris busy with my projects and keeping me fed!  :-)

We went for a 4 mile walk yesterday evening, and the neighbor across the street  hollered out at us as we were getting home and told me that I should just keep walking so that I walk Kalia out of me.  She had no idea how far I had just gone, but I told Chris I wanted to hit her upside the head with a frying pan.  If I have one more person tell me to walk Kalia out of me, I might go ballistic.  She's just not ready.  I've done all of the old-wives tale things, all of the things the books say 'might' work, and she's still not here.  She'll make her grand 'ol entrance when she's good and ready, and until then, the most anxious person will be me.  Everyone else can chill!!  :-)  I'm pushing myself beyond what I really have the energy to do with the thought process of "what's the worst that can happen?  I go into labor?!"

I had another neighbor (actually from the same home) come by on Saturday as I was painting the laundry room door and ask me if I had the baby yet.  Um, I know you guys all tell me I look great for being pregnant, but I most certainty LOOK 40 weeks pregnant.  Then she said "oh my goodness, she's going to be late?!?!  Mine were two weeks early!!"  like there's something wrong with me because Kalia's probably not going to show up today.

Unfortunately for you guys, I can't avoid my neighbors, as much as I try, so I'm avoiding almost everyone else instead.  I can't have the same conversation about having a few contractions here and there and having mild cramping here and there with everyone...I just don't have enough energy.  Add on top of that that I'm overly hormonal and overly anxious, and ... well, the only person that should have to deal with that Kara is Chris...because he loves me 'till death do us part!

Everything hurts, I get tired too easily, I'm hungry constantly, thirsty constantly, am having a hard time breathing, can't get out of bed without grunting like a 400 lb fat man, get too hot entirely too easy, get too restless, but am still exhausted all of the time, and can cry at the drop of a hat.  My hips feel more sore than they did after I finished running a marathon from just walking at least 2 miles every day, along with running errands and doing projects.  We took a few hours yesterday and floated in the pool and I swung in the hammock, but I got too hot and too restless to stay out there for very long. 

So...realistically, that's the same conversation I'd have with every one of you.  I know that you guys all care and love us and are so excited for Kalia to get here, but my nerves / anxiety / hormones can't handle having that conversation over...and over...and over again.  But I do love all of you!!

I'll post again tomorrow after the doctors appointment.  Till then, if you don't receive any phone calls telling you that I'm in labor, or an email saying she's here, nothing's changed!!

Going insane in the membrane....t minus TODAY till she's due, one week till she's definitely here!!!!!!!