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Lillian's Birthday by Kevin Atchley - Photo Book @ www.artscow.com

Lillian's Birthday by Kevin Atchley - Photo Book @ www.artscow.com

Almost 38 Weeks

We had our big doctor's visit today. They did another ultrasound with her measurements and she is still measuring in the 17th percentile. This is good because at least her growth is consistent. She just seems to be a small baby. Based on the ultrasound, she is slightly over 6 pounds now which is about what Sammy weighed at birth. Everything else looked good too...placenta, cord blood flow, amniotic fluid, etc. The non-stress test was also reactive which is what we want to see too. Still no additional progression as far as my body goes...I'm hoping that the medications for the preterm labor were not so effective that she decides to stay in forever. :)
Here are some pictures from today's ultrasound...


Lillian's face


Her 7.74 cm or 3 inch foot


The fist that she keeps punching me in the side with


Another picture of her face


Her toes


Her face again


I can't believe I am 38 weeks. This pregnancy (even through the bedrest) has really flown by. It doesn't seem like I should be about to deliver any day now. I know that I shouldn't complain, but when I see all of the other ladies who are about to deliver and look at me, I honestly don't know where my baby is. While you can tell that I am pregnant, I still do not look anywhere near as pregnant as I think I should for how far along I am. I still have a belly button and I haven't gained any new stretch marks. I hope that this is a blessing and will make getting back into pre-pregnancy shape a little bit easier. I need to take some more pictures...haven't really taken any profile shots since the whole pre-term labor thing.

I guess that's about it. On a totally unrelated note, we did get about 5 inches of snow from last week's weather system. Sammy is still out of school (why, I don't know...the roads aren't that bad). Fortunately, I did not go into labor during that as the roads were in really bad shape up here for a few days. I am hoping that we don't get any bad weather from the storm system that they say is coming through this weekend. I'm ready for spring!

Here are a few pictures from the snow..


Snow on our fence


Side yard taken from front porch



Frontyard


Driveway was a sheet of ice


Ice anyone?


Snow on the little table out back


Sammy and his snowblob I mean snowball


The field with hay and the lake in the background


Lake from the back yard

Doctor's Visit, Snowstorm and Nickname

We went back to the doctor yesterday and everything still looks good. I am officially 37 weeks and that means we are considered full-term now...PRAISE THE LORD! They did my non-stress test first, and it took forever to get Lillian to pick up consistently on the fetal monitor. My pulse tends to run high - especially in pregnancy - and they were picking me up for the first little bit. The third nurse to come check on us was finally able to find Miss Priss (on my right hip) and we had a good test after that. (No wonder I am having excruciating hip pain) Her heart rate looked good and she moved around some too. We then had our ultrasound (Kevin has scanned the pictures in, but I can't get to them just yet, so I'll have to add them later) and the bloodflow from the cord to the baby is still excellent. My placenta still looks young and there is plenty of amniotic fluid for her to swim around in. She was very wiggly during the ultrasound too. The doctor's visit was pretty uneventful...I'm still just taking it easy at home waiting for the big day to arrive. We will be going back next Monday for another growth ultrasound and non-stress test. Hopefully, Lillian will have grown and will be in a better percentile than she was last time.

Well, according to various weather sources, we are supposed to be getting either an ice storm or some snow this weekend. There is also a full moon on Saturday...we're wondering what our odds of ending up in the hospital having a baby this weekend are? Based on the last few weeks of pregnancy complications, we would assume that our beautiful baby girl would do nothing less than come during a winter weather event - especially since we live 30 minutes from the hospital (on roads that aren't the most traveled in situations such as this) and all sets of grandparents who are coming for the birth live at least 30 minutes away too. We've joked about this a bunch. There's also the ironic possibility that after facing all that we have in the past few weeks that I'll end up going beyond my due date...that would be kind of funny too. God is the only one who knows when she is going to make her appearance and it is going to be in His perfect time. It's still funny to guess when she may make her arrival though.

And, finally, on a totally unrelated note, I blogged a long time ago about whether or not we were going to give Lillian a nickname. We finally agreed on a spelling and she will most likely be called Lilly. I love the name Lillian and will probably call her that too (especially when she misbehaves later on), but Lilly will be a cute little girl name for her. The way we agreed upon the spelling is a little unconventional, but it worked. We are going to put her name on the back of her door just like we did for Sammy when he was little. We plan to put hooks on the letters so we can hang jackets and hats and things of that nature behind her door - so they are out of the way. The five-letter nickname for Sammy worked well for us in that aspect as it was aesthetically pleasing on the back of the door and we could put hooks on every other letter as well as put every other letter higher up on the door. It just looked good. If we spelled her name Lily, like I originally wanted to, it wouldn't have looked as good. So...I finally agreed that Lilly would work out just fine. Again, it's not exactly conventional, but it allowed us to agree upon a spelling that we can both live with. :) We're also finishing up the window treatment in the nursery (hopefully this evening). My mother-in-law did a fantastic job of turning a plain window sheer into a balloon valance. She pulled ribbon through some loops she sewed on it and it is just pretty. It really softens the wooden blinds that were on the window. She then used some plum ribbon to finish things off. I can't wait to see the finished product! We loved the valance that came with the bedding, but the window just needed something a little extra.

I guess that's about it for now. I will get the ultrasound pictures and window treatment pictures posted soon...until then, you'll just have to use your imagination. :)

It's Been A While

I have been slacking. Since the doctor took me off of bedrest and placed me on "take it easy at home rest" I just haven't blogged. I meant to blog when we got home from the doctor last week, but I just didn't. I'll give you the update from the doctor and then go into a few things from this past week.

Last Tuesday, I saw the doctor that I saw the first night we went to the hospital for contractions. She was very reassuring and laid back about everything at this visit. We are over the danger zone for the pre-term labor scare as I will be 37 weeks (full-term) tomorrow. She stopped my medication and told me that I didn't have to stay in the bed or on the couch just as long as I took it easy! I even have permission to drive short distances (aka to get Sammy to and from school - I also went and got my haircut last week because it was time and I really didn't want to wait until after the baby was born to get a haircut...it was a short drive and all I did was sit in a chair)They did another non-stress test and Lillian looked good again. We also had the biophysical profile ultrasound again (measures fluid levels, blood flow to the baby, and placenta) and it looked good as well. They won't do another ultrasound where they measure her growth until about the 38 week time frame because as they told me, she may have been in a growth spurt or growth lag and they want to wait a few weeks to get an accurate assessment of her true growth pattern. I'm also still at 2 centimeters so no further changes there. :)


A shot of Lillian's ear



Lillian's foot


A different view of her ear


Her knee


Profile shot


Flexing her muscle


Hair on the top of her head- I hope she has hair :)


Face


Her heels


She still has her fingers on her forehead


We also had the nursery painted on Thursday of last week. It looks incredible! Linda Hoppes from our church came over and painted butterflies and flowers similar to what is in Lillian's comforter. She painted a lovely scene above the crib and another one above the window. She did a flower and vine border above the chair rail and I just love it!! It really made the room come together. Kevin has also gotten all of our baby stuff assembled and we have gotten all of her 3 month and under clothes washed and put away. I can't wait to see her in the cute little girly outfits! Girl clothes are ALOT more fun than boy clothes. Here are some pictures of her nursery.


Butterflies over the window - still working on the window treatment


I absolutely love the flower border over the chair rail


Here's a close up


Butterflies over the crib


Different angle


Changing table/dresser and bouncy seat


Flower border again


Better shot of the scene over the window


One more of the butterflies over the crib


We also celebrated Sammy's birthday on Friday. I made some cupcakes for his class at school for their snack. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there when they ate them because I had already planned on going out to eat with Sammy and Kevin for his birthday later that evening. I figured that would have been too much for me in one day. We had a wonderful time at Mi Pueblito's in Kings Mountain. Sammy was in rare form. We both told him that we hoped that this was his best birthday ever, and he told us that it was. I asked him why it was his best birthday ever, and he said, "It's my best birthday ever because you got pregnant." I cracked up - wasn't exactly what I was expecting him to say, but I found it hysterical! Kevin told the waitress that it was his birthday because Sammy really wanted them to come sing to him. They did not disappoint. They brought out the big sombrero and a fried ice cream for him to enjoy. They put the sombrero on his head and sang to him. One of the waiters even put ice cream on Sammy's nose and cheeks. It was cute - Kevin has pictures on his phone - I'll try to get them from him. Well, I was sitting with Sammy and as you know, a sombrero is no baseball cap, so he kept hitting me with the hat. He asked me, "Mommy, did I just hit you with my hat?" I said, "Yes, Sammy, you did." Then he said, "I'm sorry, mommy. I can't control the hat." Again, it was just the cutest thing ever! Kevin and I both lost it. We then came home and had a family movie night.

The weekend was uneventful. I had a few contractions here and there and just didn't feel good in general, but nothing really exciting to report. Kevin had to work on Saturday and he ended up being gone a lot longer than originally planned, so Sammy and I had to fend for ourselves. Today, I have started having some severe hip pain as well as a lot of pressure in my hips, back and pelvis. I probably had it with Sammy and just don't remember it, but walking has been difficult as well as simple chores such as putting on my pants and socks and sitting down on/getting up from the couch. I took some tylenol, but that doesn't seem to be helping. I assume I am just going to have to deal with it until Miss Lillian gets here. It's all good and it's worth it! I guess my body is just getting ready for delivery.

So, I guess that's all I have for now. I apologize for the lengthiness, but I feel better for catching you up on our past week. We go back to the doctor tomorrow for another non-stress test, biophysical profile ultrasound, and doctor's visit. I'll try to do a better job of posting updates after our doctor's visit tomorrow.

Birthday Party

First, I have to give kudos and a HUGE shout out to my dear husband and my wonderful mother-in-law for taking Sammy and a few of his friends out this afternoon to celebrate his birthday! I think that I owe them dearly. They started their adventure at CiCi's Pizza and then headed over to Monkey Joe's in Gastonia so the boys could run wild and have a grand old time. I absolutely LOVE Monkey Joe's....especially since Sammy is older and he can be more independent. You just pay and turn the kids loose. After they got some (definitely not all) of their energy out, they came over to our house and had cupcakes and ice cream. This was the most active this house has been in weeks. Going from quiet bedrest to a houseful of boys is certainly interesting and different, but they had a good time and I am thankful that I at least got to see them play for a little bit since I didn't get to do the pizza and jumping activities with them earlier. Sammy is continuing his birthday celebration with the monthly Atchley family birthday dinner in Forest City. They are going to have Italian, and Kevin is going to bring half of his supper home to me...YUM! I have eaten quite a bit of soup over the past couple of weeks (cause it's easy and freezes well) so I am looking forward to a hearty Italian meal this evening (it's the little things).

Here are some pictures from today's festivities...


Kiddos waiting in line for Monkey Joe's


Logan smiling for the camera


Hey Asheton


Sammy and Logan seeing what they can get into


Sammy and Logan on the slide


Action shot


Reynold's coming down the slide


That was fun!


Time for cupcakes and ice cream (Sammy and Kaleb)


Kaleb and Logan


I think Kaleb likes it


Asheton and Reynolds


Nana sneaking a spoonful of ice cream


BUSTED


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