Chandler's 2-week Check-up

2-Week Stats

Height:  20 3/4 inches, 75th%

Weight:  7 lb 15 oz, 50th%

HC:  13 1/4 inches, 10th%

So our baby is tall, average weight and has a tiny head!!  =)  She also has the tiniest LEGS ever...glad they don't measure those!!  Everything looked good at her visit and the doctor's exact words were, "I have absolutely no concerns about this baby," which was music to my ears!  Yea, Chandler!  Then he sent us to the hospital to get some routine blood work done.  This is the second time we've been to the hospital lab for them to take blood and poor baby Chandler was like, "Oh no, not this again!  These foot pricks are stressing me out!"

Sweet Chandler Alexis at 2-weeks

Facial Expressions

Just for fun, I pulled Brooklyn's stats at this age, but she was only 11 days old at her 2-week visit, so it is not exactly accurate.

 

Brooklyn's 11-Day-Old Stats

Weight:  7 lbs 1 oz (Chandler's birth weight), 15th%

Height:  20 1/2 inches, 50th%

HC:  14 1/4 inches, 50th%

So Brooklyn was skinny, average height with an average sized head.  =)  And yes, they look nothing alike.

Party Central

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Eddie, Mom and Chandler

Happy Birthday to you!!

And many more...

Mom treated Eddie and I to a night of free babysitting before she left town so that Eddie and I could go to a nice birthday dinner with just adults...probably the last we will have for a while.  Thanks mom!

Eddie forgot to get them to write, "Happy Birthday, Sue" on the cake, so he improvised when he got home.  If you look VERY closely, you can see that "Happy B-day" is spelled out in sprinkles (or in our house, we call them "star crackers").  He also forgot to pick up candles, which is why mom and B are blowing out the #2 candle in the picture above just in case you were confused.  =)

Miss Chandler Alexis Nalley

Chandler Alexis Nalley

8/16/10

7 lbs 1 oz

20 1/4 inches long

Chandler's Birth Story

 Friday, August 13th - due date - no sign of Baby Chandler - SO BUMMED!!

Saturday - no sign of Baby Chandler - major disappointment

Sunday morning

6:16am - feel like I might be having very mild contractions!!

10 am - still feeling possible contractions, but they are so mild that it's hard to tell so Eddie and I head to Northpark Mall to go walking to try to progress things along

2 pm - it's working!  I am definitely having contractions now, but they are not TOO bad and not very regular

8 pm - they are starting to hurt and I'm positive we will be going to the hospital tonight!  Last picture as a family of 3???

10 pm - contractions are every 2 minutes and are too painful to talk through so we head to hospital!!  YEA!

10:30 pm - they check me at hospital and I'm only dilated to 1 1/2!  What?!?  After 2 hours of painful contractions?

11:30 pm - Contractions are still intense, but have slowed to every 6 minutes apart and I haven't dilated any more so they send us home!!  They said that if you are not progressing 1 centimeter every hour, it is false labor!  OK, but how am I supposed to go home and sleep thru the night with painful contractions every 6 minutes?!?  Ugh!  I struggled all night long, but made it through...

Monday morning

Contractions are not at regular intervals at all, but are about a 7 on a pain scale of 1-10...we head to the doctor's office
9 am - At Doctor's office and I'm dilated to 2-3...they schedule induction for midnight tonight.  Once again...what?!?  Are you kidding me?  I'm a 7 pain level and you want me to wait until midnight?  I wanted to cry, but we suck it up and head back to the house...AGAIN...so disappointed
2 pm - I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!  I hurt so bad, am nauseus, shaking uncontrollably...I call the Dr's office and they say go to the hospital
2:30 - in hospital room...along with a 10 pain level of contractions, I'm vomiting, shaking like crazy, and of course, crying like a baby...they check me and I'm at a 7!!  Would you like anesthesia?  Ummm...let me think...YES PLEASE!
3:30 - get epidural and they check me again...no surprise, I'm dilated to 10
SO....basically, I've done most of the laboring at home and by the time I got the epidural I was at a 10!  This is not because it is my idea or because I'm trying to be tough, BUT because no one would let me go to the hospital.  What is wrong with these people?
4:00 - epidural is working and life is FABULOUS!!  Resume texting people updates on my progress!

5:45 pm - After just a couple of pushes, Baby Chandler is born!!  When she came out, the chord was actually wrapped around her neck and she was blue!  Eddie and I were scared to death, but the hospital staff was very calm and cool and said this happens all of the time.  Very soon after they got her out, we finally got to hear the most amazing sound of Chandler's first cries.  Thank you, God!

...More to come later, but I wanted to hurry and get her story written down before I forgot and to let you know that she finally made it!!  Things are VERY crazy right now and I tried to squeeze this in while they were both napping today without success so I'm not getting the chance to proofread and make sure that this all makes sense!  Sorry!

39 Weeks and 5 Days Pregnant

We had our weekly doctor's appointment today and no surprise...not much progress.  I am dilated to 1 whole centimeter now...as opposed to the .5 centimeter last week.  They guestimated that I was about 25-40% effaced, which might be slightly more than last week...but then again, it was a different person checking me this week so it's kind-of hard to say.  They did hook me up to a monitor today just to check on the baby's activity and to make sure that it was safe for us to go thru the weekend and everything looked good.  And they scheduled an appoinment for this coming Monday to check me again and to start talking about an induction timeframe.  I'm still hoping that maybe she'll follow in her big sister's footsteps and come on her due date, which is this Friday!

OK, for those of you who've been asking to see full-term belly pics, here ya go!

And if you're asking if I'm really wearing daisy dukes at 40 weeks pregnant, the answer is YES! 

I agree that it is a little inappropriate and never did this with Brooklyn, BUT it is OVER 100 degrees and I'm really just trying to survive!! 

 

These last 2 weeks have definitely been the LONGEST and HARDEST of the pregnancy, so what have we been doing to make it thru? 

 

Playdates, Pools, and Pretty Little Liars!

 

Playdate with Addisyn, our neighbor

Playdate with Ava and Macy

(the best way to capture them all together inside is during snack or lunch-time)

Singing and swinging

Popsickle time!

And yes, there is such a thing as too many bubbles!! 

Pool time with Daddy! 

When I got out the swim bag to get her sunscreen, she saw her life jacket and INSISTED on wearing it!

The best part of the swimming pool?  The water hose!!

Pool Time with Ava and Macy

"OK, on the count of 3 everyone blow bubbles!  1,2,3..."

"Good Job, Macy...let's try again.  1,2,3..."

"Good job, Brooklyn.  Everybody this time...1,2,3"

"Good job, Ava!  I give up!"

Pretty Little Liars

I am in a book club and the book we have currently chosen to read is Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Sheperd.  It is the first book in a series of 8 and I'm totally hooked!  Most of the books we've chosen have been deep books, that cause you to do some self-reflection, soul-searching and a lot of thinking and concentrating while reading.  Not this one!  It is a shallow, murder mystery, light read with lots of clues and twists and is wildly addicting!  I can't wait to find out WHO DID IT!  Thank you, Sara Sheperd for helping me get thru these final two weeks of pregnancy!  (And thank you Allison for the recommendation!)

Fun Stuff!

Chandler Update

Well, I had a doctor's appointment today and to my surprise, I have made a little progress!!  With Brooklyn, I was never dialated or effaced at any of my appointments so I've expected the same from this pregnancy.  They checked me today for the first time, and at 38 weeks and 5 days, I am 20% effaced and 1/2 centimeter dialated!!  This may not sound like much, but I think it sounds better than 0 and 0!

Recent Visitors

Because of this intense heat, B and I are spending our mornings out, but are home by noon and don't leave again the rest of the day.  With all of this time inside, one of the things that brings us a lot of joy is having visitors!  Our friends, Brooke and Ben, needed a place to stay over the weekend so we were thrilled to have them here.  Ben is really good with little girls as he has twin 2-year-old girls of his own and Brooklyn LOVES men so it was a total match made in heaven for the 2 of them!

And it was pretty much like this all weekend!  Wherever Ben was, was exactly where Brooklyn thought she needed to be! 

The timing also worked out perfect for Brooke to be here for the Bachelorette finale!!  It's embarrassing to admit, but I'm a total Bachelor/Bachelorette junkie and it is always WAY more fun to watch it with a friend!  Thanks for coming to visit, Ben and Brooke!  Come back again soon!!

Thoughtful and Unexpected Gifts

One of the other things that really brightens my day are thoughtful and unexpected gifts like these!

The monogrammed blanket is from my friend, Michelle!  The green, black and white match her room perfectly and it is so soft!  We'll have to keep it hidden from Brooklyn because she LOVES a soft "cacky."

The monogrammed jewelry box is from my friend, Melanie! It plays music and has the little wind-up ballerina inside!!  Thank you, Mel!  It is so stinkin' cute!

I just got a care package in the mail today from my newly-crafty friend, Dana and she included stuff for the whole family!!  There are the sports coasters with all of our favorite teams for me and Eddie...a picture frame and snack box for Brooklyn...and for chandler, there were onesies, a picture frame, snack box, diaper box, bibs and blanket!  Wow!  Thank you for all of the thoughtfulness and effort, Dana!

This onesie that she sent is probably my favorite, but you couldn't see what it says in the picture above it. 

It says, "B" is for my big sister"

And, of course, we call Brooklyn "B" so it is just very clever and I LOVE all the bling!

Thanks Michelle, Melanie and Dana for your generosity and for making my day!!  God Bless!