All the details...

The moment we have been anticipating for 9 months has now come and gone and the good news is that we made it out with a beautiful baby girl! I had been feeling what I thought were contractions since Tuesday (Sept 29). Since I was still 2 weeks out from my due date I didn't give too much thought to them. Especially since they were not at all consistent. The contractions continued on into the next day, but again there was nothing consistent so I just went about my day. We went to bed that night and I joked to Matt that this may be the last night we get a full night’s sleep for a long time. Little did I know we were not even going to get that! Around 12:30 I was woken by another contraction. This one was stronger than the ones I had been feeling earlier. Although it hurt, it was nothing worse than a period cramp. This time though they continued coming and at pretty regular intervals. Matt eventually woke up because of my constant tossing and turning and I told him that I thought I was having contractions. We began timing them and almost like clockwork they were coming every 10 minutes. I called my doctor and asked her what we should do and she said to wait until they were about 5 minutes apart. We carried on for the rest of the night timing and by the end of the night we were around 7 minutes. We had a doctor's appointment at 3:00 that day, but I didn't think I would be able to wait that long. So as soon as they opened I called to see if I could get an earlier appointment. They scheduled us for 9:45. When we went in the doctor checked me and I was at 4cm, 100% effaced and the baby was at zero station. She told us that we could go over to the hospital now or we could go home and wait a little longer. Trying to put of the IV for as long as possible I opted to go home. We waited for 2 hours and my contractions started to slow down a little, but Matt didn't care. He was too excited and ready to go to the hospital.
When we finally got there I was still the same so they told me I needed to relax and take a walk (apparently the anxiety about the IV was slowing down the labor). A couple of hours rolled by and they decided they were going to have me stay. They started with the IV and some blood work (my FAVORITE!) and then the waiting games began. They gave me Pitocin and things started picking up quickly. I have to admit, the pain was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. I used to get pretty horrible cramps as a teenager which frankly, I thought were worse than the contractions (because you get a break in between). Unfortunately, I knew that the break was going to get shorter and shorter, and I did not want to feel the actual delivery so I opted to get the epidural around 6 cm. That was the WORST part of labor hands down (for both me and Matt. He got pretty nauseous when they were putting it in)!! It took the guy FOREVER! All the while I was having contractions. It did however, kick in very quickly and before I knew it I was high as a kite. Up next, more waiting... By this time I have several family members and friends starting to arrive. In total I think we had 12 people there which really helped keep me distracted. I am sure the nurses were slightly annoyed though. Finally, in the last hour my nurse told me everyone should probably leave because pushing was the hardest part and I needed all the rest I could get. As everyone headed to the waiting room I tried to get a little sleep (not happening). At about 9:30 we began pushing (just for the record, this was not the hardest part. Exhausting, yes, but I would have pushed for another hour before getting another epidural!). It took an hour and some throwing up, but I finally got her out. Matt even cut the umbilical cord, which he swore he wouldn't do. 22 hours of labor and Kendyl Morgan was here. 8lbs 2 oz and 20.5 in long. She was a perfectly healthy little baby girl. I don't think I will ever be able to explain the relief I felt. After everyone came in to meet her and things got settled down they took us over to the postpartum room. We had been told that there was a room called the "princess suite" and that if we wanted it we would have to ask. Naturally, we did. As luck would have it, it was available! This room is 3 times the size of their normal postpartum rooms and it has 2 walls of windows!
Anyway, back to the baby, I know a lot of women talk about this being the happiest moment in their life, but for me it was a sense of zen. I wasn't pregnant anymore! And I had a healthy baby :) The overwhelming feelings so many women describe came the next day when we found out she was borderline jaundice. I know that a lot of babies get it, but you never want to hear that something is wrong with your tiny little child. She had to stay under phototherapy lights for 3 hour increments coming out for 30 minutes to eat and get her diaper changed. When they first put her in there she cried her eyes out. I just sat there by her little crib and cried right along with her. It wasn't until Matt came and let her hold his finger that she stopped. I think she just wanted to know that someone was there with her. After 11 hours they came and tested her again and she passed. Once that happened we were able to get checked out and go home!! We could not wait to get home in our own bed.
It has been a week and 3 days now and I think we are getting things down. To be honest, it is not as bad as I was prepared for. This is probably because I have the best baby EVER! She is so easy going. She loves to sleep and after getting a little help she is finally nursing. She rarely fusses and when she does it is usually one of 3 things that she wants so we can easily calm her back down. I feel rested, relaxed and happy. Matt has been an amazing help and I am so grateful that he was able to get 2 weeks off of work. It has been so much fun getting to hang out with my little family every day. I have always considered us very lucky people and this little baby is just another example of that. Now, here are the pictures...and there are A LOT of them...

Everyone waiting...

Happy little Smith family

Grandma and Grandpa Smith

Mally and Kendyl

Aunt Danielle and Kendyl

Uncle Jay and Kendyl

Her little tanning bed :(

Katie...meet Kendyl

First night at home

Curious Katie

Matt watching TV with his girls...LOVE it!

Fist bath...not so happy. The 2nd bath went much better!

Cousins :) Austin could not get over how small she is.

Cuddling with mom. I dont think I will ever get tired of this!

She hasn't actually slept in her crib yet, except to nap...once.

I think I was talking in this picture.

Kendyl Morgan Is Here!

Kendyl Morgan was born 10/1/09 at 10:27p.m. She is 8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. Everything looks good. I will post more later.

Baby Showers 2 & 3

I am very lucky to have so many people who are willing to give me baby showers. I already had one in MD over the summer with my family. My second shower was for family/friends here in AZ. The shower was at Matt's mom and there was quite a turn out. We got a TON of gifts which was very nice of everyone. All I can say is that Kendyl is going to be one well dressed little girl. She seriously has more clothes that me! Here are some pictures of the shower (Just for the record, I hate every picture of me from the shower. I was hot and swollen...no fun):

My mom, me, Courtney and Austin

Julie, Stephanie, Erin, Granny Barbara, Cassie with Guy on her lap and Tammy

Me and Meghan...I have one with me, Meghan and Janine, but it is a terrible picture of me and I refuse to post it.

The cake of course. Yes, that is a belly button poking out and yes, those are giant boobs...My mom thought it was funny (which I will admit it was).

Katie is having a really hard time with all these stuffed animals coming home and she doesn't get any of them. Being the typical jealous big sister that she is, she stole this one from Kendyl's room and fell in love with it. We didn't have the heart to take it away from her and we figured Kendyl wouldn't mind (neither would Granny Barbara for that matter. She is the one who got it for us).

Baby shower number 3 was thrown for Heidi and I by our coworkers. Shortly after I began telling people I was pregnant I found out Heidi was pregnant too (just not telling yet). As it turns out we were due on the exact same date! Later down the road they moved her date up about a week and a half and she left me in the dust...She actually had her little man yesterday and I cannot wait to meet him! So here I am all by myself :( I have loved having someone else pregnant with me. We would always compare stories and it helps to take the attention off me a little since neither of us like to be the center of attention. Anyway, back to the shower. Char and Cindi threw a great shower and again I got a TON of baby stuff. It was really nice because I was able to get a lot of the things that we still needed...and of course more clothes too :) I seriously love my coworkers. They are awesome people. I got presents from people I hardly even knew. It makes me so grateful to still have my job after all of the RIF crap from last year.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Matt and I both have birthday's in September and for the sake of saving time I am going to post about them in one post. Mine was first (the 17th of September). It was on a Thursday this year so we didn't do a whole lot on the actual day, but Matt did give me my present...So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4) on DVD. I LOVED it!! On Saturday we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Claim Jumpers. It was DELISH! On the way home we stopped at Bahama Bucks, one of my other favorite places. We came home and my plan was to do nothing for the rest of the night. (Going places is just not fun when you are 9 months pregnant). Well...as I was getting out of the car I see a man in my kitchen! The man proceeded to walk up to the window and peek out the blinds. It was at this time that I realized that man was my dad? Still very confused we walked up to the door and I notice the lights turn out. Maybe it's the pregnancy brain, but nothing was registering. We opened the door and Matt had arranged for a little surprise party for me. Nothing too big. It was just my dad, uncle (who was in town from MD), sister, brother, brother in law, best friend and her husband. Never one to miss a football game, my dad ended up turning on the Texas vs Texas Tech game (so what I wanted to watch...). Overall it was a fun night and I enjoyed spending time with family and friends. The best part of it all was that Matt was able to hide it from me. I ALWAYS find out what he is getting for me or guess what he is going to do and completely by accident. Nice work Matt :)
The 28th was Matt's birthday. Since it was a Monday we didn't do too much, but we made sure to stop at Oregano's on the way home to get his new favorite meal, beef salad. That weekend we ended up doing a whole bunch of work on the baby's room, but that is a whole other story. While I realize that Matt's actual birthday was not that exciting he did get something that he really wanted (it was just a couple of weeks early). He has been talking about getting the Beatles Rock Band set since he found out about it. Well we were in Best Buy one night and the salesman told Matt about this deal they were offering where you could get Rock Band 2 for $100 and then still get the Beatles game for about $50-60 (apparently the Beatles set costs $150 and this was we could get 2 games and the equipment). Matt was SOLD! Needless to say, that was his birthday gift this year...oh and I am carrying his child ;) We haven't gotten the Beatles game yet, but we have had some serious Rock Band parties with several friends and family (I have pictures, but swore that I would never post them). Here's Matt opening his gift.

Like a kid in a candy store!
His "rocking out" pose...What a stud ;)

33 Weeks

As I mentioned in my last post our camera broke which is why I am so delayed on updating. We bought a new one so I am all ready to go now.

As of today I am 33 weeks and I have no other way to say it, but this sucks! I am DONE being pregnant! No I am not ready to have a baby just yet and I am certainly not ready for the labor/delivery part, but I am sick of sharing my body. I really wish I had a better attitude about this whole thing (like those liars who say they "loved" being pregnant) but I just do not enjoy it. The heat makes me cranky and there still appears to be no end in sight! I am officially waddling around on elephant sized swollen feet and I am over it.
Since my last post I have gotten my last round of blood work done (They planted one last one on me after the glucose test. I almost punched the doctor). I have one more biweekly appointment and then I start going on a weekly basis. Several of my maternity shirts no longer fit as I am bigger than I ever thought I would get and mood swings, cravings, and my overall stress level have skyrocketed. We still have a ton to do and there is a constant clock ticking down the days in my head.I am not sure why I am even posting this as this picture seriously makes me want to cry. (It is amazing how much bigger you look in pictures). I took about 3 different pictures before I finally gave up and realized that I really am just that big. According to the Internet I am not done growing either (Lovely! My back can totally handle another 10 lbs).

On a positive note (I figure I should include SOMETHING positive) Kendyl looks great. We have our last ultrasound to measure growth tomorrow (Dear God-please don't let her be a 10 lb baby-Amen). My students this year have also been excellent. Collectively, this is the best group of kids I have had...ever! I am really lucky because I don't think my mood swings could handle any really rotten kids.

Kendyl's room is not close to done yet, but as promised here is what we have done so far.
The crib and dresser are almost done being sanded. We just have to paint them, put up some decoration stuff and do some paint touch ups in the room. Things have pretty much reached a standstill since returning to work as I figured they would.

We also made a stop the other day in Babies 'R' Us to pick up a present for a birthday party and look at the car seats (the one we got with out travel system does not fit in my car). Matt decided that he needed to buy Kendyl a stuffed animal to bring to the hospital with us. He found 2 and could not decide so he got both. I figure the dog can be from Katie and the basketball is from Matt? Can you tell someone is getting a little excited for the baby to get here? I think it's really sweet that he is so excited.

Never Again...

Just a little update on the Lou situation. As previously mentioned the dog was perfectly behaved and house trained. That is, until we left him alone. The first day was Monday. Matt and I set up a barricade to keep him in the kitchen while we were at work (We weren't sure what he would do and it is just safer to keep him and Katie separated). I would assume it took this dog all of 3 minutes after we left to break out. We came home that day and there was not too much damage. He went after my beloved blanket and ripped a couple of holes in it. I would have been more upset if it wasn't torn up already (from my own wear and tear over the years). He also pooped and shredded some toilet paper. It was pretty safe to say that this was the deciding factor for us. We brought him to the vet to see if he was microchipped. As luck would have it, he was so the vet called the owner. To make a long story short, the person he was registered to was the ex fiance of the person who was supposed to be caring for the dog now. She said she would try to call her ex and let him know. The rest of the night passed by and we still did not hear anything back. Tuesday rolls around and this time we set up a much stronger barricade. While Matt was at work he got a call from the vet and and they told him that the woman was going to come and pick up the dog. We raced home to meet her at 3:30 and as I went to go in the garage door (to the house) it was locked? I walked around to the front door and let the dog out. They seemed very excited to see each other and I was happy for them. We asked her a couple of questions and then said goodbye. We went to walk inside and entered a war zone. The barricades had been completely knocked over, but before he was able to do that he decided it would be a good idea to dig his way through our carpet. My camera was broken so I was not able to take a picture and the carpet has since been replaced, but he pretty much dug a 8 in by 8 in hole in the carpet. To make matters worse, he peed TWICE, pooped, chewed on the corner of the crib, ripped the molding off the door in the laundry room (and locked the door in the process), took everything off the counter in our bathroom and chewed on the wall a little. Matt rarely gets worked up, but he was fuming! It is a good thing the dog was gone before we saw the fury he unleashed on our house. It is also a good thing that the owner came and got him because I could not in good conscience give this dog to anyone else. So that's it. Sorry to all the lost dogs out there. I will continue to help in any way I can, but I will not be bringing you to my house. It's just not going to happen. Thanks Lou! We are glad you enjoyed your stay...Just for the record we have officially decided that Katie is the ONLY dog for us. I can only image what was going through her little head while Lou was destroying everything in sight.

Such a Sucker

I am a total sucker when it comes to homeless dogs. I used to drive my mom crazy because every time I would see a dog running around I would put it in our backyard and call the owner or have the Humane Society come and get them. Well, it happened again. I was on the phone with my sister at around 9:00 last night and she proceeds to tell me that a last dog has run up to her and jumped into her car. She said the dog was friendly, but very skinny and he didn't have any tags. It seemed like he had been lost for a long time. After a while she puts the dog in the backyard with some water, but she didn't have any food for him. I told her that I would be over in a minute to bring him some. When we got there I was absolutely shocked at how skinny this dog was. I mean, I watch the animal rescue shows all the time and see it, but I have never seen one in person. It broke my heart. To make matters even worse he was SO friendly! Courtney, Matt and myself were talking about what to do with the dog when Matt suggests, "Let's take him home with us." Now, I love dogs, but I knew exactly what Matt was up to. He was already attached and he thought that by taking the dog home that I would want to keep him. Just a little side note, Matt and I have had several talks about getting another dog, but have come to the same conclusion every time. A new baby and 2 dogs is more than we care to handle. Needless to say, we brought the dog home with the intention of housing him for a night or two until the shelters open on Monday. We introduced him to Katie and things seemed to go well and then we brought him inside to let him cool off and give him some food and water. He instantly made himself right at home. All in all, things were looking good. He was pretty docile and didn't try to pee in the house. We even decided that we were going to call him Lou (after Lou Amundson). After seeing how good he was, we thought that we could let him sleep in the house for the night, but he would need to stay in the bathroom. Apparently, Lou had different ideas. We shut the door, headed to our room and started getting ready for bed. Not 2 minutes later, Lou started whining. I am not talking little whimpers here. I am talking full on 70 year old man sobs. It was RIDICULOUS! After letting it go on for about 15 minutes we caved and let him out. We figured we could let him sleep in our room as long as we blocked him off at the doorway. After that things were much more peaceful. Both dogs did great. They slept through the night and there was no pee, poop or destruction of any kind. He has been in the house all day and I have to admit that he has fit right in. Aside from being a very pretty dog, he is extremely well behaved. We have been working very hard to get him to eat all day, but he pretty much only wants chicken. At this point I will give him whatever he wants as long as he is eating. The poor thing needs to gain about 10-15 lbs! (My guess is that when he is at a healthy weight he will be somewhere around 100 lbs...Yikes!). After 2 baths he is starting to look a little better, but he has a ways to go. In the mean time, Matt seems really keen on keeping him. I am still a little unsure, but we'll see. Either way, I plan on keeping him until we can get him healthy again. Maybe by then I will change my mind?

You can really see how skinny he is here. So, so sad!

I like how Katie is watching him.

Look at those eyes!