Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is my favorite holiday. Trying to do the normal things this year like decorating and Christmas shopping has proved pretty challenging with a baby. I've discovered she does not yet enjoy shopping much (hopefully I can change that). She completely lost it when shopping in Nordstrom Rack and another time at Kohls. I don't mean she was fussing a little. I mean she went from quiet to crying loudly with everything she had. It is especially helpful when passers by say things like 'oh, she is not happy'. Thank you, strangers, I was unaware until this point that the crying and screaming meant unhappy. She also cries at the grocery store. The lady at the check out line has twice suggested to me that she is hungry. Thank you bagger lady, but no my baby is not hungry. She just ate. She just hates your store. Now to look at these pictures you'd never know she is ever unhappy.

Rolling Over

I swear it must have been flukes, but Courtney did roll over twice when she was 5 weeks old. Once was from back to belly and once from belly to back. I thought it was cool, but also didn't think she would continue it and I was right. At around 12 weeks she rolled over twice from belly to back. It still has not become a common occurence, but here you can see that she is trying.

Almost 10 weeks already!

Courtney is a little drool factory lately. Much to our chagrin, she also likes putting her hands in her mouth which means her hands usually stink : /. She is getting bigger and stronger every day. We love her smiles and she's even starting to laugh a little bit. She also likes sucking on her lips. She is starting to get interested in her toys too.

Updating pictures

Wow, I had planned to be so good about updating this blog but then life (mainly Courtney) got in the way ;). I am going to try and be better about updating this more regularly. Here are pictures of the last month.

She's getting a lot more active. This was around 6 weeks:

This was Courtney's Halloween costume. She was a ladybug.

She is also much more expressive now. Around 7 weeks:

 

 

And this was her at her 2 month checkup:

Some pictures from the last few weeks

 

The birth story

So I went in to labor on Thursday night (Sept 9th). It was about 10pm and I noticed some occasional cramping. I didn't sleep well at all that night as the cramping kept waking me up. I waited until 6am to wake Christopher up...I think that was pretty generous of me ;) Christopher stayed home with me on Friday and I had contractions at fairly regular intervals for most of the day. We kept calling our Bradley instructor and telling her the timing and asking when we needed to go to the hospital. We wanted to spend as much time in the comfort of home as we could, however, I also didn't want there to be any chance I'd have to deliver the baby in the car on the way to hospital either.

At 6pm Friday we decided it was time to go to the hospital. My contractions had gotten stronger by then so we figured we should go ahead and head over to the hospital and get settled. We were admitted pretty quickly and the first nurse that checked me said I was 7cm but that she wanted a second opinion so another nurse checked and said I was 9cm. I stayed that way for the next few hours as the contractions got worse. Finally around maybe 11pm my water broke and I was up to 10cm. At midnight the nurse told me that they were concerned about the baby's heart rate as it was apparently dropping during my contractions. Although I wasn't yet feeling the need to push (despite being 10cm, her head still hadn't descended enough yet) I was instructed that I HAD to start pushing. So for the next two hours I pushed with everything I had until she was born at 2:06am on Sept 11th. The nurse who was with me for the labor and delivery said it was the best delivery she had seen in years. A few other nurses also commented on how amazing it was that I didn't have any drugs...apparently very few people go med free at this hospital. I was just relieved to have it all over with and to be holding my sweet little girl :)

A few pictures from the first days...

 

Courtney and Nana:

Courtney and Papa:

Courtney and 'aunt' Jenn and 'uncle' Josh:

Courtney's Hospital Hairdo:

 Proud Papa:

She is here!

Courtney Jane Poplin (nickname Cora) was born at 2:06 am yesterday morning. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 and a half inches long. More details and pictures to come :)

Her Room

This baby will have to learn from a very young age to share as her room is also our office. Here are a few pictures of her side of the room, which we have just about finished decorating.

A glider chair and ottoman will be on the far right once we move them upstairs:

Drawers full of clothes and her diapering supplies:

This is what Christopher affectionately calls baby cam. He took these pictures to show the crib and changing table from her perspective:

Week 38

You will notice this outfit looks quite a bit different now than it did at week 19 ;)

Flipped

So I'd been doing my inversion techniques for about two weeks (and had seen the chiropractor 4 times) and while I am laying there I feel some weird movements. Now people had told me that when a baby turns it is like something out of the movie Alien so I was expecting something very strange and out of the ordinary. This wasn't that strange though...just felt a bit like she was swimming around in there and then the next day I noticed I was feeling her move in different places. I suspected she had turned, but wasn't sure. Then last week I had two more visits with the chiropractor and one with my OB. They both felt around my belly and hypothesized that she was head down. Today I had an ultrasound that proved that she is head down and ready to go. The c section for Tuesday has been canceled. Just in case you wondered what the inversion technique looks like, here is a picture and yes it is not very flattering. In case you were curious, I am holding ice at the top of my belly and playing music at the bottom. The idea is that babies want to get away from cold and move towards music.

Week 36...breech and baby shower

So last week at my appointment with my OB, I was informed that the baby is still in the breech position. I kind of already knew that as I tend to feel her head moving on my left side under my ribs, but I didn't know at what point it was cause for concern. Apparently that time is now. The dr scheduled me for a c section on September 7th. Before that though I will have another ultrasound to see if she flips around between now and then. This last week and next couple of weeks will be filled with fun activities trying to encourage her. These include lots of visits to the chiropractor, laying on an ironing board propped up on the bottom of our stairs (this inversion technique is supposed to make it easier for her to flip around), doing handstands in the pool with Christopher holding my legs (this is A LOT harder than it sounds when you are nine months pregnant), and various other things. If you think of it, please keep us both in your prayers are we'd prefer to not have to have a c section if we can help it.

Last weekend was my baby shower. Thanks to all of you who attended and to those who sent gifts. This baby is fortunate to be so loved already. I also wanted to do a shout out thank you to Sara who last year before I was even pregnant gave me a bunch of her baby stuff (a swing, carseat, stroller, exersaucer, tons of tiny clothes, and various other items). Your generosity has helped us so much!

Here are some pictures from the shower:

 Amber did a great job hosting. I loved the decor and the strawberries theme:

My grandma, mom and I:

And the profile shot:

Week 34...Maternity pictures

These pictures were taken by Adrea of Bright Waters Photography. She did an amazing job and we're really happy with the results, which for me is saying a lot because I am incredibly picky when it comes to pictures.