Grandma & Grandpa

Chris took the week off work to spend some quality time with Skye and me. We gave Skye a bath together today. She enjoyed having her hair washed. Then we got ready and headed to Grandma Sues house. We hung out with her and Grandpa for a while. We then headed to Grandma S's house. Skye got to hang out with her grandparents today. She really enjoyed herself and so did Grandma and Grandpa.

Skye Gary Brooklyn Sonnedecker

She's here and already giving us a run for our money! I started having contractions Friday the 12th, went to my doctors appointment. They said I was only 1cm dilated and that I'd probably have her over the weekend (she was only at 37 weeks). By the time I got home from my doctors appointment around 5pm, I was positive I was in labor. Chris took me to Kennestone. They checked me, said yes I was in labor, but still only 1cm dilated. I got a shot of anti-nausea and pain medicine and sent home. I slept for a few hours and was feeling better. Then woke up at 3am Saturday morning having strong contractions only 3-5 minutes apart. I timed them for 2 hours just to be certain. Since it had snowed and iced over that night, I didn't want to head to Kennestone for no reason. By 5am, I was sure. I called the doctor, told them I was on my way and woke Chris up. Chris had to drive really carefully and I screamed my head off the entire way there. We got to Kennestone and they said I was finally 3cm dilated and that they were admitting me. Just had to wait for a room. As soon as I got my room, I also got my epidural. It was amazing :) Also really strange to not have any control over not only my legs but my hips too. Chris had to move me around to change sides. They started me antibiotics (because I tested positive for Group B Strep and needed to have antibiotics during labor so Skye didn't get it). I went from 3cm to 7cm VERY quickly. So they came in and broke my water and started me on Pictocin (sp?) to make sure that she came before infection could set in. The next time they checked me the nurse said, oh my! she's coming right now. Then called my midwife. At 11:53am, 6 lb 4 oz, 19 inch long, Skye Gary Brooklyn Sonnedecker was born. (she's going to be the spelling B champion of GA once she learns to spell her name) She was pretty congested after birth. The doctors said it was because the delivery went so quickly, that the fluid in her lungs didn't have a chance to get pushed out. We stayed in the hospital 48 hours just for observation. Monday we went home. It was awesome to bring her home. Since I can't go up and down stairs yet (and Chris was going to work), we had to bring TONS of baby stuff downstairs, into the living room for me. We didn't know what we would need or wouldn't need so our house looks like a baby store blew up in it. We went to her first doctors appointment on Tuesday. She had lost a little more than a pound but Dr. Clark Cantrell said it was perfectly normal and that she looked great. Thursday Chris went to work and Skye and I stayed home together. It was the first day that she let me put her down and get some house work done. About 2pm I noticed that she was choking and had turned blue. I picked her up and tried whacking her back. She took a breath but was still choking. I didn't know what to do. I put my mouth around her nose and sucked out a LOT of snot. (gross, I know, but I was desperate) She started to get some color back but still wasn't breathing right. I called 911. They came and checked her out. We went to Kennestone hospital. They ran some tests, did a spinal tap (which they tried 4 times before giving up) and found out that she had RSV (which in older kids/adults, would just cause the common cold, but in newborns, can cause death) We were transferred to Scottish Rite. They also found that she has Gastro Reflux. She needs to be held upright for 30 minutes after feeding. They had to suction out her lungs a few times a day and gave her a few rounds of antibiotics. Each day she got better and better. We finally got to go home Saturday the 20th. Skye had been doing wonderfully ever since. I'm having a hard time letting her be around anyone since I know a simple cold almost killed her. I have "WASH HANDS" signs ALL over my house (not only for guests but to remind us as well). Until she gets a few more weeks of life under her belt, she needs to stay away from children under 12 (or kids in general) and also from anyone who has had a cold in the past 2 weeks. If it were up to me, I'd keep everyone away from her for another month, but I don't want to isolate her either. It's going to take me some time to feel comfortable and find a good balance for her. Although it's been a very stressful week, I adore her more than life itself and wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I already have over 200 pictures of her. I just can't stop! She's SO cute!! We have nicknamed her "cold fry". When we get home, it's time to change her diaper, feed and burp her, and our food is cold by the time we get around to eating it.

We love our little cold fry!!!

Names

Me: So what do you want to name her? Chris: Half price Me: You want to name her Half Price?! Chris: Yes Me: Well I want to name her Grape Jelly Chris: Funny, I was sort of thinking about Peanut Butter Me: That's just stupid Chris! So.... Chris: Shh, the shows back on And THIS is why our daughter doesn't have a name yet

Baby Showers

Last weekend I had a baby shower at Judys house and this weekend one at my moms house. I was supposed to have one at work on Wed but have been so sick all week that I missed it. Our little Echodecker is spoiled already. The showers were beautiful, fun and little Echo got MORE stuff than she'll ever need. She can puke on every outfit I put on her for the first 6 months and she still won't run out of clothes =)

Pop-Pop reading Green Eggs and Ham to little BabyDecker - as the crowd formed to watch in amazement, he just kept reading louder and louder - Guess I had that coming - Touche Pop-Pop, Touche!

Baby Shower at the Sonnedecker House

Diaper Cake Judy Made

Birth Plan

I'm not planning on carrying until March 5th I am planning on going natural if possible I'm planning on everything going smoothly and being home within 24 hours I am NOT calling anyone when we are headed to the hospital I WILL call you after she's born - you can come see us at home - we'll send pictures from the hospital Chris is the only one without a medical degree that will be in the delivery room Neither of us are watching the actual birth I am going to try to breastfeed (in case you wanted to know) No one will be allowed in the room until I've attempted, hopefully successfully, to feed her No you can't hold her - get your own! just kidding, sort of..... And now you know more about me and my plans than you'll ever need to know :) You're Welcome!

34 Weeks

Me and my gross belly button

My new favorite PJ's - SO comfy

Just a few more weeks now! The last couple months have felt MUCH longer than the entire pregnancy all together. My back is KILLING me (after looking at this picture though, I understand why) I try REALLY hard not to arch my back so much, but I just end up walking like that. On the bright side, I DO love resting my plate of food on my belly when I eat (yeap, I'm a fatty mcfat fat) and also piling folded baby clothes on my belly as I'm folding them from the dryer. I can't stand to put anything that belongs to babydecker on our stuff. I'm afraid of getting it "dirty" or getting cat hair on her stuff. All I can see is dirt now. And when I go over my checklists online, it freaks me out that I don't have our car seat installed, baby stuff washed and hospital bag packed. I'm going to be on a mad dash after the up coming showers. My house is FILLED with checklists and to do lists. We have our pediatrician picked out. We've agreed to not get her Hep B shot until a little later in her life. I have my birth plan all taken care of (and hope my doctor will respect it) I believe that lovely video the other week has Chris singing a different tune about cutting the umbilical cord (which is fine with me - I wasn't thrilled he wanted to do it in the first place) Aside from my clothes not fitting, my back KILLING me, peeing 5 times in an 8 hour night, not being able to tie my shoes and all men annoying the complete shit out of me, I'm doing fabulous and can't complain - I am more than ready to meet her though, not just from a comfort stand point. Although I've been measuring 2 weeks small and have lost a pound (gained 23lbs to date), we had a sonogram last appointment to make sure she was growing fine and all is well. She was 4.5lbs, active as could be and JAMMED in there. She should be gaining a half a pound a week (while I should be gaining a pound a week) from here on out. Which means we're looking at one big girl if she hangs out in there until March. The midwife said that I'm measuring small b/c I have a long torso (news to me) and that "you tall people hide babies well". haha! ok... It was exciting to see her again though. We got to see her cute little face too. She has a perfectly round head and big nose. Well, I think her nose is big and looks just like mine, but Chris thinks her nose is small and perfect and looks just like his. hahahaha. Oh this is going to be fun! I can't remember if I posted this, but I had a dream that babydecker was born with medium brown curly hair, with 3 pink ice cream hair clips. It was cute b/c she was my baby, but her hair looked like a hot mess. Every night, no matter what time it is or what I do or do not eat, when I say "Chris, ready for bed?", our little heifer gets the hiccups - coincidence or already my kid?

Pregnancy DVD

Just watched a pregnancy DVD from Northside Hospital and realized that a c-section is NOT an option for me. Be small little babydecker; Mama barfed while watching the doctor clean some ladies c-section stitches on TV. yuck. Babies are tiny! Why the hell was that cut 12 inches long?!?! Gross OK - so far, my list of gross ass stuff includes (but is not limited to): stitches, baby belly buttons, epidurals, cutting umbilical cords and I'm starting to be a little grossed out by breast feeding but it may have just been the gross boobs I just had to look at. I'll decide on that one later. Laugh it up - that shit is gross - I'll make Chris watch the video, betcha he barfs too.

31 weeks

24 Weeks

29 Weeks

31 Weeks

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We have baby showers planned for January 31st and February 6th. Chris and I are both getting really excited about the upcoming delivery. Although, every time I read something about "labor and delivery" I end up gagging. Last night it was reading the epidural process. No name decided on yet. We have it narrowed down to about 70 names. Nothing is really jumping out at us. We'll figure it out after she's born and we get to finally meet her. I'm more concerned with cleaning the house right now, than worrying about a name. The baby is moving all the time now. She moves so hard that it shakes my belly. She also gets the hiccups ALL the time. I watched "Happiest Baby on the Block" dvd today.....stupid. I was getting worried that we hadn't taken a child-birthing class, but not so much now.

Third Trimester!!

29 Weeks Prego Belly

28 Weeks Prego Belly

Now we're on our home stretch! We toured the maternity ward at Kennestone last week. While we were pulling up to the parking deck, Chris and I both got really nervous. It's happening!! We're really having a baby!!! I went shopping today. I can't ever go into a store without checking out the baby section now. Spencers had a onesie that had a barcode on it, below the barcode it said "Made in Vagina" - Hilarious!!! Don't want my baby wearing it, but it's still really funny. I also got a shirt for myself. It has a fetus with a black eye on it and says "Stop Poking Me!!!!" Cracks me up. No update on names yet. We keep our ears open constantly but nothing has jumped out yet. We've decided on our pediatrician. We're going to interview him and fill out our paperwork, hopefully next week. We have another doctors appointment on the 29th. The midwife we met with a week ago said we won't have another sonogram until the very end (just to see how big of a baby I'm going to deliver) as long as everything goes well. So far so good. Last night I was sitting on the couch watching TV. Echo was going nuts (I was eating icecream). I told Chris to look over at my belly. When he did, he could see my entire tummy shaking and moving. You can obviously see her move now. I keep a kick chart. You're supposed to feel at least 10 kicks in an hour. When I time her around 8pm every night, it never takes more than 6 minutes to get to our 10 kicks. She's an active baby. I'm feeling great now. I have waves of anxiety about labor and delivery, but all and all I'm really excited. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Nursery

The crib we ordered (thanks to my grandma B and pop-pop) was delivered yesterday. We decided to go get the matress (again, thanks to grandma B and pop-pop) this afternoon. So we spent the evening putting together the crib, putting away the gifts Echo got for my birthday and just arranging some things. We still have to pull everything back off the bed and wash it all, but we just wanted to get a feel for it. Having a crib in the nursery is making it so much more real. We're starting to get really, really excited (and I'm about to die of nervousness) I'm not so sure about this hole labor thing. Craziness. We're going to tour the maternity ward on the 13th, maybe that'll put my mind at ease a little bit.

More and more people can't help but rub my belly. It's not as offensive when they ask first or if little Echo is kicking away and I want to let someone feel it, but to just walk up to me and touch me......I'm trying REALLY hard to be as polite as I can be. I also LOVE when people comment, "OMG! looks like you ate lots of turkey this Thanksgiving" yeah.....that's it.....I was just going to stay 125 pounds throughout my entire pregnancy even though my kid is getting bigger and bigger.

All my mom wants for Christmas is to be able to feel little Echo move and to be able to talk to her (without fearing for her life) My MOM - get the hint people?! My own mother asks before touching me

Oh, and I can't breathe anymore. I'm either having MAJOR anxiety attacks or there is just no more room left for my lungs. Either way, I'm out of internal space. On the bright side, I'm about in my third trimester now and as of today, I have an 85% chance of delivering a healthy baby (she'd need some help breathing, but she'd survive) so I'm on the home stretch now! 12 weeks left. Just FYI, hold your breathe on me remaining my happy, peachy, delightful self over the next 12 weeks.

Belly Pic

I know it's been a while since I've updated this blog. I haven't quite gotten the hang of it I guess. Here's a picture from Thanksgiving (which was about 26 weeks/6.5 months) At that point, I'd been feeling pretty good. We still don't have a name. She's moving a LOT now though and if I'm laying around relaxing, you can really feel her kick. I haven't seen any appendages pushing at my belly yet but I'm positive we're getting close.

Looks

Although we cannot decide on a name, we have decided which of our own features we want her to have :) Of course we want her to be healthy above anything, but looks wise, we hope she has : blonde curly hair green eyes Chris' eyebrows My eyes - but not squinty like mine Chris' nose My lips Chris' cheekbones My build hehe - that was fun! Since Chris and I both had bleach blonde hair when we were born, we're pretty sure she'll have the same. We'll both be uncomfortably suprised if she comes out with dark hair - lol

20 Weeks 22 Weeks

I'm now getting bigger by the second! Although I'm still in all my normal pants, I had two women tell me yesterday that my thighs and butt were getting big - but it "looks good on me". I'm about sick of that shit. I have my own mirror. I can see my weight gain just fine. Thanks. I'm still a size 5 bitches, leave me alone.

Other than that, I feel great! I'm SO ready to put the nursery together and find a name for little baby Echo. It's a work in progress.

Must....Stop....Shopping!!

Old Navy has the cutest stuff! Chris and I went to the mall last weekend, not too impressive. Today we had much better luck. We had my parents over last weekend. It was great. We sat around, watched football and ate (and ate and ate). Tasty!!

She's a Girl!!!

It's so nice to not call her "it" anymore. Chris, mom and I went to the doctor Tuesday the 13th. The very first picture was of her lack of a penis. It was great. Chris DID make the tech double check. hehe. Then we got to see her brain, spine, heart, liver, arms, legs, nose and mouth. While we were "watching" her, she yawned. A BIG yawn. She DID cover her mouth when yawning though. It was the cutest thing ever. She seems awfully squished in there. Her knees are in her face and she's moving and squirming all the time. She had a strong 170 beats a minute heart beat. It was great to hear. The doctor said her growth is on track and everything is looking great. We have another appointment in 4 weeks, just a normal visit. The visit after will be my sugar test and soon we'll be seeing the doctors every two weeks instead of every 4. Joy. I asked my doctor how my weight gain was coming along. He shyly showed me my chart (which said I've gained 10 lbs). I said, uh yeah, 10 lbs, what's that mean. Well......the baby is only 10 oz. Uh yeah, what's that mean. Well.......strictly speaking, you're gaining weight a little fast. Chris jumps in quickly and says, but I'm SURE most of that is just water weight. He's a great husband :) I adore him. Chris and I spent the rest of the day shopping with Bailey. Babies r Us was our first stop. We're keeping the nursery deep purple and getting white furniture. It was a pretty eye opening experience for us all. All the cribs feel "chincy" to Chris. A bassinet is "necessary" because a pack n play doesn't seem "cozy" and looks "temporary" and he doesn't want her to feel temporary. And last, but not least, Jennifer, what do we do when the diaper doesn't hold all night. After I explained that diapers don't always hold (which was news to him) he asked what "we" do. Bailey told him, you throw her in the bath and clean up the nursery. Wide eyed and scared he says, well how do you clean up the shit? Call hazmat or something? (straight faced) No Chris, you just clean it up. Well can I wear rubber gloves? (since I wear rubber gloves when cook b/c I won't touch raw meat (Travis, keep your jokes to yourself)). Of course you can wear gloves honey! Oh this should be quite the journey for us both. We're SO excited though. We're both really glad we're having a girl (yes, Chris is already smitten with her). I'm still in my normal pants and dresses but I'm loving maternity shirts. Physically I'm feeling great. Nausea is gone. I'm still tired but I can keep my eyes open now. My back is starting to hurt and my neck is killing me but it's not unbearable by any means. All and all, I'm actually starting to enjoy pregnancy now.

Random

I'm not so sure how this crying baby thing is going to go - Chris and I were laying in bed Saturday morning, TRYING to go back to sleep - Woodstock was being a pest trying to wake us up - Chris of course snored through her annoyingness -I decided to toss one of my pillows, grenade style, over the bed at the cat - chris of course wakes up for that, looks at me all crazy - to which I reply, I'm going to be a great mom but I don't know about this whole crying thing - then we laughed hysterically Our moms are searching high and low for grandma names (our dads haven't mentioned anything about it) we need some suggestions for the grandparents - I gave Jacob his two options: Uncle Shebop (it's been his family nickname FOREVER - idk why) OR Uncle Kracker, both of which I love - He chose Uncle Shebop - NICE Chris and I have also discussed what we'd like our kid to call us - although Chris still needs a little convincing, I'm pretty set on Mamma! and Pappa! (with a little Italian accent) it'll be SO cute - Our kid's going to say the coolest shit!! One more week!!! We'll keep everyone posted

16 Week Update

16 weeks

Well, no sonogram at the last appointment. Our next doctors appointment is October 13th and we are scheduled for a sonogram then. We are planning on finding out the sex at the next appointment. This last appointment was very routine. I got all my blood work back; everything is normal. We also got to listen to the heartbeat; a perfect 140 beats. After the appointment my mom wanted to know what the heart rate was. Apparently there is some old wives tale that says you can tell the sex of the baby by the heart rate. I told her the rate and she rushed to the computer to google it. Anything OVER 140 is a girl and anything UNDER 140 is a boy. She was SOOOO bummed. I told her we were having a hermaphrodite. I also read that even though the babys eyes aren't open yet, that it can still sense light. That if I hold a flashlight to my belly, the baby would move to the other side of the uterus to get away from the brightness. When I told Chris, he looked slightly nervous (as he does anytime we talk baby) and asked Why?! Very calmly and straight faced I told him, b/c we are having a vampire honey.Then I had to laugh my ass off as he gave me the classic eat shit look. hehehe Oh this baby is so much fun already!

I'm enjoying the second trimester much more than the first. I can feel the baby move almost everyday now (mostly when I'm relaxing or after I eat). It's pretty exciting for me. I can't wait until Chris can feel it too. The whole pregnancy is still sort of sureal to me. I think finding out the sex of our baby and getting to feel a for sure kick with my hand, will make it really sink in.

I have a HUGE "to do" list. One list to do around the house, one list just for the nursery and one list for after the baby is born (like to sand and repaint the fireplace mantle). It's a little overwhelming but if I don't write it down, I know I'll forget. I'm hoping to get our desk cleared off this weekend and set up my new sewing machine that Chris bought me over 6 months ago. I have NO idea how to set it up or use it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'd like to be able to say I made our baby a blanket or something but I'll need to practice before I get it figured out so I'd better start now. Oh yeah, domestication here I come!! HA

Chris took me shopping for some maternity clothes. Not fun. I hate having pants that touch my stomach so I've had to shop for super, ultra, extra low rise pants. Not the easiest thing to find. I've found that I really enjoy dresses right now. Very comfy.

Now that I'm starting to look more pregnant and less like I drank too much beer, I've become much more comfortable with my body. I've gained 6 pounds to date but should be gaining about a pound a week from here on out. I think I'm ready. Chris has continued to go for walks with me every night (as well as waking up every moring and working out for an hour before waking me up). It's been really nice. It gives us a chance to talk, while also getting a little excersize.

I did have a friend ask if she could touch my belly today and I actually told her yes. (yeah I suprised myself too) It didn't even bother me that much. I just really appreciated her asking. I did have a co-worker tell me that I look so cute and have such a glow right now that she's dying to give me a huge hug, but that she knows how I am so she wouldn't dare touch me. I told her, Thank You. I didn't realize people who aren't close to me could read me that well. So no one has an excuse for touching me. Apparently my face screams don't touch me. Nice! (plus it's cold and flu season and people are gross and dirty) I still think it's about time to make myself a shirt. I have the iron-ons already. A friend told me about a shirt with the Pillsbury dough boy holding a gun on it. It reads, touch my belly again and I'll blow your freaking head off. I found some funny shirts for Chris too. Something to the effect of "look what I did" to wear when he walks around with me. Shirts of that nature. (but we all know how funny Chris is) *rolling my eyes*

I've been slacking on the belly pictures and the journals but I'm going to try to update the blog weekly and keep my entries MUCH shorter than this one. I'll definitely have a post on October 13th! We are SO excited. I can't wait to name our baby.