It's been a long time!

Sorry to those two people who check our blog frequently for new posts. I hadn't realized that it had been two months since our last post.

We have been so busy with the kids and working on our house that I just didn't feel like blogging. We have been adjusting to Britta and I think we kind of have a slight schedule for her. I think Kierra is still feeling neglected a bit though. We had to give her binkies to the binkie fairy. It was quite traumatic for her but I think she is over it.

Hmm, what else has been going on? We blessed Britta today and I must say that she was the cutest baby being blessed. Richard did a good job and so did she. I would post pictures but as we didn't get any (yes I am a moron, but apparently she pooped on her dress before we could get a family pic) I will have to get some from other family members. It's always great to have our families together supporting us. Too bad that we worked so hard on the yard only to have it rain.

I will post some pictures later!

Sometimes I love my body

So I am going to brag a bit. I don't do it that often about myself especially so I am going to do it now. As you know, I was pregnant two weeks ago. With this pregnancy I gained 12 pounds. With Kierra I gained 18 but I think I needed some of it anyway. So I came across a scale yesterday and it looks like I have one pound to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I can fit into all of my old clothes and I don't have much of a muffin top.

Don't hate me, I can't help that my body handles pregnancy well and gets back to normal. We were at USA Baby on Saturday and a lady was asking us a bunch of questions about our car seat. She couldn't believe that Britta was a week old. Then she said that she hated me and how I looked.

I wish that I had a picture of me before I delivered like I did with Kierra to see the difference in the two. Even though I looked small, I was still pregnant. People didn't believe me that I had aches and pains but boy did I ever.

Anyway, it is not that often that I feel good about myself and how I look. I am excited to be ready for that bikini again this year, but I need a cool place to wear it.

Just some pics

Here are some more pictures of Britta and we will throw in some of Kierra.

Do you think I will be able to use this for Britta now?

It's been a long week

Sorry for the lack of updates but I have good excuses. I couldn't get blogger to work at the hospital so I was unable to post anything.



After 5 days in the hospital, we were finally able to come on on Tuesday morning. First, Britta's oxygen would drop while she would eat. Because of that, they kept her in the nursery permanently. I would have to go in and feed her all day and night. They had her hooked up to monitors and every time she ate, they would document what her oxygen was. So it only took a day for that to improve while I was already being discharged. I did the hotel stay thing so that I could feed her and besides, I didn't want to leave her there. So then they thought that she wasn't breastfeeding well enough, which I didn't think was a requirement for you to leave the hospital but whatever. Sunday the doctor ordered an unnecessary chest x-ray and another billi test, both of which came back normal. Yet again, she was still not well enough to come home. Monday they decided that she couldn't maintain her weight, so they wanted to keep her another night but this time I could take her to my room. They weighed her that night and she weighed 4lbs 13oz. They said that if her weight didn't drop from the night that we could probably go home. Tuesday morning came around and her vitals were checked except for her weight and they sent us home. So, I still don't know what the point of all of it was but we are home now. I took her to the doctor this morning and she weighed 5lbs. From the beginning of all of this, I have felt that there wasn't really anything to worry about. I think that they treated her this way because of her size. I am grateful that they took such good care of her though and that I was allowed to stay. Here are some pics of her. I have some video but am having trouble.





Bye Bye hospital







Ready to go home




Yuck!

Do you think this makes me look fat?

I like sleep

She's Here!!

Britta Cathrine Black was born March 26 2009 at 1:42 pm. Measuring in at a whomping 5lbs 1oz and 17in long. She has a lot of Kierra's facial features but is as blonde as can be.

Wednesday my doctor stripped my membranes and at one in the morning labor began. It was a lot more rough than it was with Kierra but I dealt. We got to the hospital at 5:30 and by 9:00 I was dilated to an 8. Once they broke my water, she came quick. This time I only pushed for 10 minutes. She is just a little peanut.

I am recovering remarkably compared to last time and feel great. Britta was admitted to the NICU last night though. She can't keep her temperature up and her oxygen levels keep dropping. I have been really impressed with the nursing staff here and how they have taken care of me and Britta. They have kept me up to date on her progress so well and are actually taking care of my concerns.

Here are some pics.

We are still alive

I know it has been a while since I posted anything on here so to those of you who are faithful readers, I am sorry. We recently lost the privilege of using Richard's work computer for anything therefore we have gone without the internet. So, Friday we went out and bought a laptop. I am currently mooching off of someone's unsecured connection in the neighborhood.

So, the countdown is on for the baby. She is now at the point of practically falling out on her own. Not many people thought it was possible that you could walk around dilated to a 4 but apparently you can. There have been a few false alarms which has gotten me depressed and more anxious. It is now hard not to think about when it will happen.

Some good news though that I didn't think would happen is that Kierra is in a toddler bed now. We decided to stimulate the economy and support commercialism and bought her a princess bed. The moment we got it, she loved it. There hasn't been a transition at all which was the part that stressed me out a great deal. However, now that we have painted the baby's room with flowers, she is obsessed with it. We might have to change rooms since the baby obviously won't care.

It has been so nice to have Richard at church with me these last few months. But it looks like we only have one sunday left. His schedule will go back to what is was before in April. I think it has helped our family grow spiritually but we will have to continue to work harder at it.

Other than that nothing exciting has been going on. We have no pictures to post yet again and hopefully the next post will be of baby Britta's arrival.

What's going on?

I don't even have any pictures to post that's how exciting our lives have been. We gave up on the big girl bed thing. We think she is just too little and I think that it's more that Richard and I don't want to give up our control over her sleeping. So I guess we have to buy another crib. Shopping for one has been really hard. Either I am really picky or I am just stuck on the great deal that we got on Kierra's at NPS.

Kierra had her face lasered again this month. They changed the laser to who knows what setting to do who knows what to her face. It seems to have healed a lot faster this time though. I think it was the hardest trip to the hospital yet. She put up such a fight when we were trying to put the cream on. She just screamed bloody murder and kept ripping off the plastic. I wish there was an easier way. She definitely noticed that something was done this time. It really hurt her and she knew she had an owie.

All of us got that crappy stomach bug that's been going around again. Well, again for me, first time for everyone else. Kierra started it and ended it. She never gets sick and so I am really proud of myself for how I handled it considering the crappy month I've had emotionally. It has however made her a bit more of a needy child. She always wants her binkie now. She only wants crackers and cereal and just won't eat much else except for the odd random thing like beef jerky. The eating problem has developed an evening tantrum since she won't eat her dinner. I don't want to be the parent that makes a separate meal for each person so we are sticking to our guns and only offering her what she didn't eat at dinner when she cries for food after dinner. One day I hope she will give in.

I had a doctor's appointment today. Things are fine. Surprisingly enough I gained 2 pounds after being sick last week. My weight gain this pregnancy is up to 7 pounds. Woohoo!! However, I am measuring 4 weeks behind. We aren't too worried because I was the same with Kierra. The doctor says he will only be worried if I stop growing. Maybe the kid is burning off stuff since she is kicking so much. Maybe not.

Big girl bed

Does anyone have suggestions on how to do this smoothly. We put a mattress on the floor and she was excited at first but when it came to bed time, she was scared. Richard has been laying with her for the past hour on it. Is that what our lives are going to be like now, sleeping with her? This seems like the hardest thing we have had to do with her in a very long time. What do we do if she wakes up? She doesn't know how to open doors yet so I guess that is a plus. Do we just leave her in there to work it out and eventually crash?

Happy Day! I Two!

Happy Birthday Kierra!! Two days late! Guess what we did for her birthday? Nothing! She did have a party at my parents house on Sunday so we aren't the worst parents. Besides, she doesn't know the difference. Here is one highlight.

She did so good trying to blow out her candles. I ran out of memory on the camera and at that point she trying to blow so hard and fast that she looked like she was going to hyperventilate.

Mama and Papa Gee came over on her birthday and brought her a birthday balloon. She was so excited and ever since she has been walking around saying "happy day". Thank you for coming over. I know it meant something to her as it did to me.

Tis the Season for Presents and Puking, fa la la la la

Ah the Christmas Season. Toys, power outages, and family togetherness. Maybe too much family togetherness what with the stomach flu. Mmm, yummy. We had Richard's family over for christmas eve in our newly finished basement. It was actually quite nice and low key. The kids had fun playing and didn't bother us too much so that makes it nice. Christmas we woke up to no power. This has been happening quite frequently lately. I was really disappointed because I wanted pancakes and hot chocolate. Nope, cold cereal. We took Kierra downstairs to open her presents. She wasn't really into it. I think she got bored but once she figured out what they were, she got excited.



Kierra taking George for a walk with her purse and hat (bucket)




The day after Christmas we went over to my parents for the festivities there. Of course my parents spoiled us with grocery money (which we already spent) but Kierra got a laptop. She loves the thing and can actually play the games on it. She calls it her puter.


Kierra just being cute




Sitting with daddy and the puter


That night I started to feel sick, and spent the night pooping and puking. Some of which simultaneously. It was not fun especially when you are pregnant. When you are up all night, so is the baby and she was definitely making herself known.

So, that was our holiday in a nutshell. Richard and Kierra didn't get sick so I am so grateful for that. I hope everyone had a good holiday.