1 month old today :)

Logan is one month old today!  Here are some pictures to mark the date!

Logan has discovered her tongue this last week and you'll rarely find her not sucking on it or playing with it :)

With her horse from Aunt Carolyn.

Peek a boo!

Today Logan is 1 month old!  While it sometimes it seems like the time has flown, others (like in the middle of the night) make it seem like it's been a long time since we were in that hospital room.  We fall more in love with her every second of every day.  Here are a few things our little doodlebug can do:

- She's working on her head control.  She can hold her own head up and look around for about a minute or two before needing some extra support.

- She's very alert when she's awake.  She looks around and can focus on things for several minutes at a time.

-She recognizes voices.  So far it seems like it's just me and Mike that she recognizes, however, if I turn on one of my dad's sermon's her eyes instantly go to the sound so I think she's starting to recognize his voice, as well.

-She is sleeping a longer stretch at night.  We usually go 2 hours (12:45am or 1:30am), then 3 or 4 hours (4:45am or 5:30am) before being woken up again in the morning.

- She's working on her million dollar smile.  We can see her eyes light up when she likes things and it looks like she's trying to smile but hasn't quite figured it out yet.  I'm sure that we'll be capturing that beautiful smile sometime soon.  

Mommyhood

Logan is almost 3 weeks old!  A lot of people say that the time has flown and they can't believe she's getting closer and closer to being a month old.  I can believe it!  I'm up with her during those long nights and the time has not flown for me (thank goodness)!  I am savoring every single moment I have with her.  I do not wish one second of her life away.  To those who count down the days until their child can sleep through the night, I say, enjoy this time of his/her life now...you'll never get them this little again, enjoy ALL of their life.  It's hard, I'll admit it-- when I'm up for the 3rd or 4th time with Logan on those rough nights, I know that it'll be easier when she's sleeping longer stretches, but I'm loving every single second I get with my baby girl-hard or not.

I love being a mommy.  I truly can say that God made me for this job.  There is NOTHING in this world I'd rather be doing at any given second than being a good wife and a good mom.  I live for those moments when I pick up Logan when she's crying and she instantly quiets down because she knows it's me.  I live for the moments when she's sleeping and I'm able to get the house picked up and stuff ready for Mike when he gets home from work.  I live for the moments when the three of us get to cuddle up together at night before Logan's bedtime and Mike and I get to show her how much we love her.  

A few things I've learned as a new mommy of a little girl:

1.  Sleep is INCREDIBLY valuable.  While I love my baby girl, and I love being with her, it's very hard to not sleep at night when everyone else is sleeping.  I will say that I do get more sleep  now than in my last 3 months of pregnancy, however, I was able to rest and relax a whole lot more when I was pregnant and I think that's the difference.  **To those about to be new mommy's- don't get offended when other mom's tell you to enjoy your sleep now.  As one of those who used to scoff when they would say things like that to me, it really is meant to be helpful and they are truly just trying to make sure that you enjoy every last second of "good sleep" you are able to get.  (By good sleep I mean sleep that is uninterrupted and deep.  :) )  I admit, I've now joined those mommy's who see preggos and tell them to enjoy their sleep!

2.  I have been "christened" by several baby boys in my days of babysitting/nannying and was looking forward to having a girl because I knew I wouldn't be sprayed.  I have now learned that while girls can't shoot straight up at your face, they can soak you anyway.  :)  It seems like no matter how long I wait for Logan to be done going to the bathroom, as soon as I open that diaper up, she pees on me.  I have finally started keeping a washcloth with me so that when I do open the diaper I can cover her before she gets the chance to make me change my clothing!

3.  I do 10 times more laundry now, and surprisingly, it's not because of the baby laundry.  I find that I go through more clothing now than I did before.  I have realized that none of my clothes are safe from disaster!  If Logan doesn't pee on my clothes, she poops on them...if she doesn't poop on them, she spits up on them...and if all of that doesn't happen then I leak milk all over myself.  I probably change 2 or 3 times a day.  I've gotten much better than when she was a brand new baby, though, and am able to protect myself a bit more now.

4.  Late night TV has taken on a whole new meaning for me.  When I was younger (about 11 years old), I dreaded bedtime and longed for the nights when I could stay up late and watch late night TV.  When I actually hit the age where my parents took my bedtime away, I LOVED staying up as late as I could to watch those shows.  After I got married and started working, I realized that those shows were just not that important anymore and if, by chance, I was up late enough to watch them, I knew the next day at work would be dreadful.  I now have re-kindled the flames with late night TV and know exactly what shows are on when I'll be up with little Logan and actually look forward to some of her feedings more than others because of what will be on TV!  

Logan Elizabeth Kayle

She is here!  Mike and I are having an incredible time getting used to having a new little life here with us and we are loving every second of it.  She is the sweetest baby and I can't imagine loving anything quite the way I love her.  It truly is a love that cannot be explained, it just happens when you see your sweet baby come into the world.  It's a love that continues to grow with each passing second I have her.  Mike and I are truly blessed and are so excited to start this new time in our lives.

Logan's birthday was a scheduled one.  After my 39 week appointment, my Dr. decided that he didn't like my elevated blood pressure and scheduled an induction.  We knew that we would be meeting our little girl on January 28, 2009.

I got up early that morning and ate a big breakfast, finished up our baby laundry and prayed without ceasing.  I was scared.  Induction was not in my grand plan.  I wanted a natural labor and this went against the grain.  But I knew that that God was in control.  We headed to the hospital and began induction prep at 7:15.  This took a long time.  We finally were finished with the prep at 8:45.  Thankfully, my body had been working hard for weeks and when I went into the hospital for my induction, I was already 4cm dilated.  No noticeable contractions, though, so the Dr. broke my water at 9 and then started me on pit.

I did well breathing through the contractions at first, but after about an hour and a half I began to get really hungry.  They wouldn't give me anything for the hunger, so I went ahead and caved for the epidural.  That was against my plan, too.  But while everything seemed to be going against what I wanted, God was in control.  The epidural allowed my body to relax and after an hour I had gone from 6cm to 10cm and was beginning to feel the urge to push.  The nurse was asked me to hold off and wait for the Dr. to be ready but when she saw how intense the urge was, she had me begin without him.  We did this for a little while and then the Dr. came, suited up and had me push out our little girl.  My labor lasted a total of 5 hours and 14 minutes.  

We named her Logan Elizabeth.  Logan because my dad's middle name is Logan and because we really liked the sound of the name.  It was also the only name out of hundreds that we both agreed on.  Elizabeth because it was my mom's middle name and also my own middle name.  

She is a precious gift and we are so thankful to have her in our lives, finally.

Baby's Birthday: January 28, 2009

Well, our baby has a scheduled birthday.  :)  We went in for our 39 week appointment today and as I left home I had come to the decision that I was going to say no to being induced.  It just wasn't something I wanted to do unless medically necessary and so as I got in the car I prayed the whole way to the Dr. that if God wanted me to go ahead and have this baby by induction that he'd have to give me no choice in the matter.  I guess God had that in his plan because my blood pressure was high and the Dr. quickly said that he wasn't going to wait any longer and that the baby would be coming on Wednesday because he didn't want to risk preeclampsia.  So, the baby's scheduled birthday is on Wednesday, January 28, 2009.  

We'll go in at 7am and they'll break my water to see if that starts my labor.   I'm already dilated to almost a 4 and he says that's the part of labor that usually takes the longest (from 0 to 4) and so he hopes for a labor that shouldn't last an intensely long time...we'll see.  They'll give that a couple of hours and if it doesn't work they'll start me on pitocin.  Please pray that the water works and that it progress me enough to satisfy them so that I don't need the meds.  Also, please pray that I'm able to deal with the labor sans epi.  I've decided that since pitocin may be involved I need to keep an open mind and be open to the possibility that the pain may be more intense than normal and I may want the meds but I'd really like to do it without.

We'll be meeting our little girl no later than Wednesday and are so excited!  :)  

No Baby Yet.

Well, here we are, almost a week after my last appointment and we have no baby to report of yet.  I've been having mild/medium contractions all week long, they come and go--never steady enough to even call the hospital.  I was able to work all week long, though, I did take a half day Wednesday just to get a little extra rest as I've been feeling utterly exhausted for the last couple of weeks.  

My students come in every morning and check my belly to see if it's "gone" yet.  :)  I sometimes think they're more anxious to have the baby out than I am!  I don't think they realize yet that I'll be out for quite a while.  They are not too fond of my replacement, I have found, as they voiced their concern at me leaving them with her on Thursday morning before she arrived.  They asked me to promise to not leave them again, it almost made me cry!  

I know that Rebecca is hoping for a delivery today since it is her son, Noah's, birthday today!  My actual due date is the same day that Noah was due when she was preggo with him a couple of years ago so wouldn't it be something to have this one on the same day?  :)  My dad is hoping for a birthday tomorrow because it's his birthday and I'm just hoping the SOONER THE BETTER!  I have hit the "pregnancy wall" that I had always heard so many people talking about but never believed actually happened.  I always just thought that those people were whiners and complainers who couldn't handle it.  I was dead wrong.  It really does get to a point where you are so uncomfortable and so tired of being big and tired that you just want it over and you just want to have your baby in your arms.  I am anxious to actually stay awake at night because I have to take care of the baby as opposed to stay awake all night because the baby can't stop trying to get comfortable inside of me.  

All that being said, she's going to be born and God knows when she'll be born and it will be a wonderful and glorious day!  We are so excited to finally meet our little bundle of pink!  We finished up the nursery this week and I'll have to hold of posting pictures of it because her name is all over the place :)  Shouldn't be too long, though!

P.S. I will be taking a long walk and cleaning up the house really nicely today in hopes that maybe we can stimulate some labor :)

37/38 weeks and almost done!

We went in for our 37/38 week appointment today and we are making progression!  I am dilated 3cm and it looks like the baby is in good position to make her appearance sometime soon (woohoo!).  The Dr. offered to go ahead and induce in the next couple of days but I'd like to wait it out some and see if she comes on her own.  I am very uncomfortable and it would be nice to have it all done with but if I can go into labor naturally, I'd much prefer that.  :)  If she hasn't shown her pretty little face by next Monday then we'll have the induction conversation with the Dr.  We should be holding our sweet girl within the next week and a half!  

Baby Shower # 2

Here are some pictures from my second baby shower, the one the k-1 teachers threw me at work. The first picture is actually from about 3 1/2 months ago when we threw a baby shower for Melanie, one of the kinder teachers, who had her baby back in November. I remember feeling huge at that point but now look back at the picture and think...I remember when I was that small, that was when being pregnant was fun and cute. Scroll down to the present....

Melanie, looking incredible only 7 weeks after giving birth and me, now thinking...I am so over being pregnant, it's no longer cute and fun....it's large and tiring. :) I only hope I look that great a few weeks after birth!



Dance is a big topic with one of the teacher's in my grade level because she's been teaching dance for 30 some odd years and I danced most of my life. We talk all the time about my little ballerina (Mike's volleyball player) and so she got our little one her first pair of ballet slippers. Aren't they cute?! She already recognizes classical music, as soon as it comes on in the mornings (while my kids journal), she dances and dances away...she'll be dancing when she comes out!
Me with the cake. It looks like my stomach could eat the entire thing, doesn't it? I told Mike the other night that I definitely feel pregnant, not fat, but I feel VERY pregnant (aka huge) and literally ready to pop.

Close up of the cake. For Melanie's shower I had her baby's name put on the cake and the teacher's were lamenting about not knowing my baby's name to put on the cake...sorry girls, just a few more weeks!
This is the kinder and first grade team. They've been so wonderful to work with, while this job has been a challenge, they truly have made it a little more bearable. Our male vice-principal (we have two, a female and a male) was behind the camera and made a very quick exit as soon as he was done taking the picture...probably lack of adult conversation as when you get a bunch of primary (K-1) teachers together all we can talk about is vowel sounds and counting to 100. :)

Ok, this is not the name # 3:

Bertha

While this was a very strong and prominent name several decades ago, I can only imagine the "Big Bertha" jokes my little one would receive in school if we decided to go with this name. I've seen first hand how cruel children can be and just can't bear to name her anything that I could make fun of myself.