My baby girl is growing so big! Her 2 month appt was last week and she is already 13 lbs / 23 inches long! She had her first round of shots and did so good! I was very proud of her, although I think I was far more anxious and nervous than she was. She screamed louder than I have ever heard her scream before - it was a little rough. Nana went along too for the visit and she had to cover her ears. Here's a few of her latest pics...
It cannot already be December, can it? It seems like yesterday that I was packing my bags to head to the hospital to have my beautiful baby girl. Time has flown by! She is already 10 1/2 weeks old! She is getting so big too. Such a big girl and super strong! She is always trying to sit up.
I'm back at work now - part time for December and then full time in January. It was very hard to go back too...it's so hard to leave her. She's in good hands though. Her Nana, Grammie and Daddy all watch her one day per week. That leaves me with the two other days and I cherish them both! And then weekends too, of course! With the holidays quickly approaching, I can't claim all the weekends though! Speaking of holidays...I have pictures from Thanksgiving posted on her Shutterfly picture page (www.annajohill.shutterfly.com). She was such a cutie...wore her first dress that day!
She had another first on Monday night (12/8) - she laughed really hard for the first time. she was laughing at Jersey. Jersey was supposed to be talking dirty, but she sneezed instead. AnnaJo thought it was hilarious and actually belly laughed. It was too cute!
Hope all is well with everyone!
Posting pics to the blog isn't as easy as i would like. I'll continue to post the best ones, but if you'd like to keep updated on how she is growing and changing, check out this site.
http://annajohill.shutterfly.com/
Shutterfly has some really good deals for printing and they are always running specials like free shipping and discounted projects. From the shared website, you can order prints of AnnaJo or make your own projects or you can just enjoy the view.
Hungry baby is starting to stir...hope you enjoy!!
Earned an extra hour of sleep this morning...yea! Figures that I'm not taking advantage of it. I woke up at 6:30 needing to pump, so I thought I'd take advantage of my few stolen moments of silence to update my blog.
Oh my goodness...for as perfect as she was during her first 2 weeks of life, our world has been turned upside down in the last week and a half! She has been super gassy and fussy at night. We've had 2 nights of her not going down until 4 am. Needless to say, we are struggling.
Speaking of, she is fussy now and I need to feed her. More to come...
For as much as I wanted it to fall off, I'm a little sad. It's her first little step in growing up! Cliff was changing her diaper on Friday (10/10) and noticed that it was ready to come off. It was hanging be a thread and as he was looking at it, it came off. She slept right through it...such a good baby! Her little belly button is just too cute now!
She was 2 weeks old yesterday...can you believe it!? I cannot. She is gaining weight and filling out and changing each day. Did I post anything about her first drs appt? Can't remember, but if I didn't...she gained a whole pound during her first week at home! She had lost to 7lb 2 oz in the hospital and weighed 8 lb 2 oz at the dr last Wednesday (11 days old).
Papa Rod is here today for a visit, so I'm getting caught up on some housework. I'm obviously busy at it now...can you tell?! :-) I'm finally starting to feel much more human, so if you'd like to come for a visit, let me know. My only request is that you are healthy (please don't bring any flu bugs in my house) and you're not around any sick people before you come over. If your family is sick or has been sick recently...do me a favor and just wait. I'd really like to make it through the flu/RSV season with nothing major. I was a basket case to bring home a healthy baby. I can't imagine what I'll be like the first time she is sick!
Gotta get some work done around here...talk soon!
-kate
Here are a few pics over the last few days. We are all 3 pretty exhausted. She is a beautiful baby and is as perfect as I could have asked for. She only cries when she is hungry and luckily, I've been able to take care of that for her. She is such a dream! Cliff started back to work yesterday and that was a bit hard for me. He is off work today though, so I'm enjoying his company. He is napping with AnnaJo and I thought I'd check some email and get these pics posted. They are both from my cell phone, so not as great quality as normal. I am still planning on organizing some of the other pics to post as well. Not enough time in the day anymore. I guess I'll get used to it! The consensus is that she looks like her Daddy! What do you think? I was a little hurt at first...with the terrible labor and scary pregnancy, you'd think I could have a baby that resembled me. I think she is perfect though...plus, I think her Daddy is pretty good looking, so I don't have much to be concerned about. 
Here is the link to AnnaJo's hospital photos...
http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage.asp?URLID=0205079098
Visitor password = Hill
We have a ton of photos from Nana, Poppie and Papa too. I'll get them organized and post a link for those as well.
We are both doing well. We will go home from the hospital tomorrow morning. I'm sure we could have gone today, but everyone advised me to stay as long as possible. So here we are... It's probably a good thing though b/c my incision is still VERY sore and I'm not sure I'm ready to be home.
AnnaJo (middle name still unknown) Hill
Arrived 8:26 PM - September 27 2008
7 lbs 13 oz - 20 inches long
love to all! - Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo
Check out these feet!
Here is a very proud Daddy and a nearly dead Mommy in the background!
Trum came in about 15 minutes ago and decided to go ahead and do the c-section. My cervix is not cooperating still and is not dilated at all. I have to be shuffled around a hip replacement and some other surgery, so I'm not sure what time everything will go down. BUT....we'll have a beautiful baby girl in just a few hours I'm sure. So...gotta make sure my makeup is on and looking good for the pictures. :-) Priorities you know...
love you,
kate
Nearly 6:00 PM....my epidural was put in at 11:30 this morning. The nurse came in and said my lovely personality was fading. And boy was it....my bitch switch was flipped for sure! The nurse has checked me a few times today and my cervix is just plain incompetent. Damn thing won't dilate and she cannot tell if she is on my cervix at all. The dr has been delivering babies left and right today, so I'm not the main priority. I know....shocker. :-) Since I'm comfortable, he's not too concerned. The pitocin is working...my contractions are strong and VERY regular. Yes, I can still feel them, but they aren't painful.
If you are trying to call me, I'm sorry for not answering. I'm tired of being on the phone and quite frankly, I don't feel like talking. Sorry! As soon as this child is here, we'll post it and send out a text message. At this point, it will probably be a c-section as soon as he has time. With cervixes like mine it is not uncommon to labor all day long, dilated to a 1 and then all of a sudden be ready to push. We shall see...my water is still there too, so it could still be a few more hourse. In fact, you'd better plan on it. Trum said that we'll have a baby by midnight though, so hold tight.
love to all...
kate
10:00 AM... We arrived at the hospital at 7am...a little late of course, but who would expect otherwise! :-) We didn't get much sleep last night, about 4 hours to be exact. They hooked me up to the Pitocin about 7:30 and we are on our way. There is a chance that we will still have to do a c-section, but we shall see later. I'm having contractions now, so who knows! The dr hasn't checked my cervix yet, but I will keep you posted.
Dad came to the hospital with Cliff and I this morning. It was kind of sad to leave the dogs...you could tell that they knew something was going on. Poor puppies aren't going to know what to do when we get back home! Mom arrived about 9:00 and we are watching a movie now. Daddy to be is sleeping and starting to snore loudly. Nana is videotaping him as I type. Too funny...if I figure out how to post video, I'll do it. tee hee
Another contraction...can't type. Later!!
Can't believe the day has nearly arrived! I just walked in my front door for the last time as an expecting mother. We just got back home from Donna & Gary's. Dad is up here too. Mom and Jim helped us get the house all ready today...put up a shelf in the nursery and cleaned the windows and the rest of the house. Jodi is still in Springfield with the kids, but will head up tomorrow morning. I'm headed downstairs to double check that I have everything I will need. The computer has been acting up today, so my post about the dr's appt was short and sweet! Sorry. I'll try to update as things progress tomorrow...so keep checking back. :-)
Love to all...
Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo (nearly here)
Here is the plan...Cliff and I have to be at the hospital at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning. The dr will start a very small dose of Pitocin to see if my cervix will react. If it does, we'll have a baby sometime in the afternoon or evening. If it doesn't, he will do a c-section tomorrow early afternoon. Either way...we'll do our best to keep everyone updated.
Nearly 6:30 am on Thursday and I've been awake for the last 2 hours. Preparation for the little person that is scheduled to arrive in another 2 days if not before. I cannot believe we are only 48 hours away from having AnnaJo in our world. It's been a crazy pregnancy and this is by far the worst week as far as being uncomfortable. However, for the first time (at 4:20 am) I thought that I might actually miss being pregnant and being able to feel her move and grow inside me. If it weren't for my stupid cervix, I might be good at this whole "pregnant" deal!
My 38 week appt is this morning at 10...so excited that I didn't go into labor while Trum was in Chicago!! I am very anxious to see if I've progressed at all this week. I've been having contractions, but nothing major. At this point, nothing is going to surprise me! I am just now reaching my pre-pregnancy weight, so hopefully I won't go past it with water retention in the next few days.
The basement (our bedroom) is finally starting to look normal again. We've dried the carpet out completely, the pad is gone and the carpet has been stretched back in place (thank you wonderful husband with newly bruised knees!!). The weird carpet odor is still lingering a bit, but it's not overwhelming when you walk in the door anymore. I'm sure we'll be using the febreeze for a little while longer, but that's better than living upstairs in the small extra bedroom. :-) AnnaJo's nursery is taking shape. Mom finished sewing her curtains last night and I made her a little picture memory board yesterday too. Her dresser is due to arrive in the next few weeks, but it isn't holding up any other progress, so that's okay. Cliff is off work tomorrow and I'm hoping to finish the painting projects and any other final little projects that need to be done before miss AJ arrives. If anyone LOVES to paint, call me! I'd welcome any volunteers at this point.
Love to all...I'll update again this afternoon to let everyone know what the news is today!
kate, cliff & annajo
So the dr confirmed that I went from being one of the highest risk patients in his practice to one of the most boring. :-) I guess that's a good thing! The u-sound was good today. AnnaJo is weighing in at 7 lbs 4 ounces now. We are officially 37 weeks and 4 days, so if I were to go to 40 weeks, she should be 8 1/2 lbs. My dr is headed to Chicago on Monday, so I'll be lying low until after he returns on Thursday. My appt next week is on Thursday instead of Wednesday. If AnnaJo hasn't made an appearance by then, he will induce on Saturday, September 27. He checked my cervix today also and I'm dilated to about 1/2 a centimeter and effaced 90%. Keep in mind that my cervix didn't start out at 0%, so it's not like i've made that much progress.
Headed to bed now...hoping to wake up to a much better smelling house!
It's only Wednesday and it feels like the longest week ever! Our basement is finally drying out, but it still smells terrible. Did you know that wet carpet pad smells like cat urine? I would blame the cats normally, but there would have had to be a freakin pride of lions peeing down there to create the smell that we've had going on. Needless to say, we removed all the carpet pad and shampooed the carpet. We've got 2 dehumidifiers going and 2 fans and we've been sleeping upstairs all week. I'm hoping to get the furniture moved back into the bedroom by the weekend. The smell is getting a little bit better and will hopefully be gone by the weekend. If all else fails, we're going to steam clean the carpet with a vinegar solution. I'm hoping we don't have to do that though....I'm not a huge fan of vinegar odor either. :-)
Our weekly dr appt is at 4:00 this afternoon. I can't believe we made it to 37 weeks! Such a big difference from where we were in May....just trying to hold on until 28 weeks! AnnaJo is pretty comfortable apparently. She hasn't made any major attempts to make an appearance yet! Good thing too...the house is turned upside down from all the stinkin water!
Good thoughts and prayers for today...
What a terrible morning! Who would have thought that two hurricanes in a two week period would effect Missouri? We've been awake since 3 am this morning. Vegas woke up whimpering at 3am and then at 4:30 or so Cliff got out of bed to find a bathroom full of water. We've had water in the basement before, but never where it was this morning. It was coming in through the foundation into our bedroom. By the time we noticed it, the carpet and pad was soaked all the way into the bathroom and there was 2 inches of standing water in our bathroom. Anyone know a good foundation person? :-) Called Mom and Jim at 5:00 to come over with the shop vac and then called Donna and Gary at 6:15 to come over with theirs. Poor grandparents thought they were getting the well anticipated baby call! Once it stopped raining, the water finally slowed down and we were able to catch up with it. It was about 10am by the time we were done. I've never seen water come into a house like that! All I could do was laugh for a little while because in 10 years, are we going to say "what a life...when all we had to worry about was water!"? Through it all, I had some contractions, but nothing major. The irony of it is that yesterday i finally felt like we were ready to bring home a baby. So much for that! It's true...we'll never be "READY". We had date night last night - went to see Righteous Kill....last one for who knows how long! Very good movie by the way! Vegas is still whining...his leg is hurting again. Seriously...can we get a break?!
What a day....a full days work put in before noon on a Sunday. Craziness! Guess I might ought to get used to waking up at 3am, huh? :-)
By the way, I'll have my computer at the hospital, so I'll update this blog and send out an email as soon as I can. I'll also send out a text message and leave a message on my voicemail to let everyone know she's arrived. If we don't answer the phone when you call, don't worry!
Love to all! Send us some hopes and prayers for dry weather for a little while!
-kate, cliff and annajo
Week 36 appt was kind of stressful. Our ultrasound showed that AnnaJo's heartbeat was irregular. The u/s tech was sure we'd have the baby tonight. After the u/s, we headed for labor and delivery to get the cerclage removed. When we saw Dr. Trumbower he indicated that he wasn't really concerned about the heartbeat - he figured it was because I was pissed at Cliff. (long story short...cliff went out with the boys on tuesday night instead of coming home to help me the night before the stitches came out. I was pretty mad about it to say the least! :-) ) He took the stitches out and we hung out for about an hour being monitored. I had a few contractions, but nothing major. I'm dilated to a one now and I'll see the dr on Wednesday again unless we go into labor before.
Thanks for the continued support, thoughts and prayers! They are working!!
Love to all,
Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo
Stitches are out tomorrow and I'm very nervous about it. I've finally realized what I'm such a nutcase about. It's not diaper changing or crying or even losing sleep. It is being responsible for raising a child to be a responsible adult and contributing member of society. I am a perfectionist... self admitted. If I don't know how to do something, I'm not the first to jump in and try it until I'm fairly certain that I'll be really good at it. I'm pretty sure that this is the reason I didn't head to medical school like I had always said I would. My first bad grade in college sent me into a downward spiral that changed my life forever. This is also the reason that I do not play softball and have never taken up any sport other than volleyball. I'm determined to be a golfer though - we'll see how that goes. If I can make some sort of mathematical sense out of it, I should be able to do it. So...that is my challenge...to be less of a perfectionist while learning how to be a parent.
OK...here are the pics that I've been promising...
This is my mountain man of a husband after one week's hair growth. He'll never be able to play Santa...that is for sure!
Great report for week 35!! AnnaJo is measuring at 6 lbs 2 oz!! She has moved into the 72nd percentile! I cannot believe she is getting so big. Although I am reminded everytime I see how big my prego belly is getting... I'm not sure why I'm so shocked at her growth. My blood pressure was back down to the normal range too...yea! I still have some protein in my urine, but Trum isn't overly concerned. He agreed to take my cervical cerclage out next Wednesday after our regular appt. He'll take it out over in Labor & Delivery and then keep me to see if I'm dilating. If by chance my blood pressure is out of control again, he will go ahead and induce to start labor. I'm not a big fan of pitocin, so he'll try the Cervadil first I think, if it comes to that. I'm not anticipating having to go down that road though. The bedrest seems to work for my blood pressure, so I should be able to go home Wednesday night. After that, she could arrive at any point! :-) I am still amazed that we are going to have a baby! Even more amazed that they will send her home with us alone...with no directions.
We still have lots of things to do around the house to get prepared! Her nursery needs to be finished and all the little honey do projects need to be finished. Cliff has a few cabinets to build (or buy or make happen somehow) in our bathroom and laundry room. Should be an interesting few weeks! Not to mention all the cleaning that needs to happen before she arrives. I hope my nesting instinct kicks in before long and lasts a little longer than most! :-) I know...keep dreaming. Have a great week and try to stay dry!
love to all.... kate, cliff and annajo
Not promising much today...still recovering from a bout of the flu or some kind of bug that made me want to die. Cliff and I were both miserable on Sunday night about 2:30am. I woke up and didn't feel very good. To be honest, I was a little concerned that labor was starting. I'm not a good puker and Cliff did his best to console me...a back rub and a cold washcloth. I was convinced that we were on the way to labor and delivery until Cliff started too. We had had dinner that night at Mom's house with the nephews so i was praying that they weren't all sick too. We were up until 6am at least making trips back and forth to the bathroom. It's a great weight loss plan - i think we both lost about 5 lbs. He was supposed to work on Monday morning and made a good effort to do so. He went into work and ended up in the floor, unable to stand up. Luckily his boss was coming down from Columbia and he was able to come back home to bed. And that's exactly where we both stayed....all day long. I was worried that sleep wouldn't be possible last night, but I was wrong. I passed out about 10pm and didn't wake up until about 4:30 this morning. And then went back to sleep about 7am and slept hard until 11. To make things worse, I think i have a bit of a cold too. The drainage and coughing didn't help matters. Plus, my daughter moving around inside me (although comforting that she was safe) was pushing on my organs and made it a little more unbearable too. All I can say is that I am praying that I am not a puker during labor...i can only imagine how miserable that must be!
Other than being super sick on Sunday night, the rest of the weekend went very well. I had a shower on Saturday that was so much fun! I'll post those pictures as soon as I have them. Did I post about the surprise shower during Bunco last month? If not, that one was A LOT of fun too! It was a total surprise and was very sweet of the bunco bunch to do...thanks everyone!
Things have been going great! The dr made a mistake last week of asking me about all the drama and excitement. I aim to please, so drama and excitement is what he had yesterday during our appt. The ultrasound was great - AnnaJo is getting big and really is running out of room. We went over to see the dr and had some different news. My blood pressure was 150/100 (super high) and I had protein in my urine. He went ahead and checked my cervix to see if the cerclage is accessible and it was (yea!). Then he informed me that we were headed to Labor & Delivery for 24 hours of testing. His concern was about preclampsia/toxemia. As soon as we got over to L&D they hooked me up to the monitors and took my blood pressure. It was immediately lower, so I calmed down quite a bit. The first urinalysis was negative for protein too, so that calmed me even more. I'm stuck here peeing into a hat in the toilet and then dumping into a brown jug that's on ice. At 6:00 pm they will run the lab work and we will hopefully be out by 8pm. It is back to a little more strict bedrest after this though. I guess I will put my painting projects on hold for a little bit. That might be something I fit into the times when she is napping. :-)
Other than this brief hospital stay, life is good. AnnaJo is progressing great and we are slowly but surely getting ready for her to make an appearance. I have some pictures at home of Cliff putting her crib together. I'll get those posted soon. Everytime I think about uploading them, I get sidetracked and forget all about the original plan. Gotta love baby brain!
Love to all...Cliff, kate and AnnaJo
Great appt today with Dr. Trumbower! We are past the very important 32 week mark and AnnaJo is getting big! She weighed 4 1/2 lbs today...62nd percentile! I cannot believe she has gotten so much bigger in the last 2 weeks. For any other measurement she has not been above the 50th percentile. Makes me a little nervous that she is going to be a big baby! I'm praying that she doesn't get past 8 lbs before we deliver. For multiple reasons...first the obvious - come on now! It really does defy the law of physics! Second, because some of the really cute outfits I have are for newborns - less than 7 lbs! And i mean cute!!! She'll only be able to wear them a week at this rate...have to change her at least 3 times a day! She was very active today - had her arms moving the entire time. She even sucked her thumb for a long time! I'm really hoping this means that she'll be a good breast feeding baby.
I'm doing good too! My cervix is staying a little over 2 cm and Randi, my u-sound tech, thinks that I'll have no problem carrying to term. The dr is planning on taking out my cerclage around the 36 week mark, so that will be interesting. He is certain that I'll have to wait a few weeks at least once the stitches are out since it won't be my cervix holding her in completely. Not to worry...i have plans for moving things along after that. :-)
Funny story...our nephew Carter is up here visiting this week. It has been a lot of fun getting to hang out with him and he thinks its very strange that AnnaJo doesn't talk back to him. He stayed with Uncle Piff and I the other night and the following morning he did get to experience AnnaJo kicking...right in his face. He likes to talk to her and since she wasn't answering from my belly, he decided to try a different approach. He grabbed my face and opened my mouth and yelled "AnnaJo!!". It was so funny! He gave her zerberts today and made her kick...he is getting the hang of it. He let the dr know today that he was talking about 'his baby' in aunt Kati's belly. He is such a hoot!
Love to all!
Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo
We're nearly at the 32 week mark!! How exciting! My dr is on vacation this week in FL so he has allowed me a week's break from the weekly visit. The next time he sees me, I will be 32 weeks and a few days along! He is going to be so thrilled that we've made it! AnnaJo and I are doing good....I can tell that she is running out of room though. She makes my stomach morph into some very funny shapes!
We're very excited about AnnaJo's first friends making their appearances! Rogun Burch arrived on July 31 (barely making the Kindergarten cutoff!). I hope they don't change the cutoff date before he turns 5! :-) Kale Bisges should arrive tomorrow, 8/8/08. I'm so jealous about the birthday! I'm such a numbers freak...8/8/8 is so freakin cool! Not cool enough for me to do anything to risk having her this early, but it will be a birthday that I don't forget. As soon as I find my camera cord, I'll upload pictures of the boys. It will be so much fun watching them grow up together!
Can you believe it's already August? The summer is flying by and we're going to have a baby girl around here before you know it! I am nearly 31 weeks along and AnnaJo is growing fast. Our ultrasounds for the past 2 weeks have been very good. Week 29 was a measurement week...she weighed 2 lbs 15 ozs. She should weigh nearly 4 1/2 pounds at our next measuring appt in 2 weeks. I can tell she is growing though because my prego belly is getting bigger and I am very aware of her every move. It already feels like she is running out of room! I'm so glad we have less than 10 weeks left at this point! My cervix is shortening some more, but Trum said it was to be expected at this stage in pregnancy. I keep asking each week about removing the cerclage that is keeping my cervix tied shut and I'm told every week to be patient. Trum will remove the stitches as soon as AnnaJo is healthy enough to be born....probably around week 36 or 37. There is a small chance that I would go into labor once the stitches are removed, but it is more likely that i'll be sent home to start the labor process naturally. I won't go into detail about my plans at that time, but they will for sure include some repainting of the nursery and our dining room!
Sorry for the short update...I've been experiencing some insomnia and it's time to be over it. I need to get back to sleep before it gets really light outside and I can't. Have a great weekend!!
I'm so sorry! I've been disconnected from the electronic world for a few weeks. We had the hardwood floors refinished in the office and living room and our computer/modem/router did not cooperate in it's new home. Plus I get a little cranky when my house is turned upside down and turn into a non-communicator. I'm sorry!
Here's the jist of it though...I am still very much pregnant. I'll be 30 weeks this Saturday. I cannot believe we only have 11 weeks or less left to go! AnnaJo is moving around like crazy and getting bigger each week. Tomorrow is a measure day, so we'll see just how much bigger she is getting. I feel fine, but I'm still on bedrest. It's a little modified so I don't have to be horizontal all day long, but it's better if I am. My cervix measured nearly normal a few weeks ago, but last week it had shortened b/c I did not follow dr's orders. So I'm back to it this week....we'll see how it goes. At least we are in a safer range if I should go early, but we really want to make it to at least 32 weeks and 36 weeks would be much much better. The dr will probably take the cerclage out at 36 weeks if we make it there.
I'll update on Thursday morning after my appt tomorrow afternoon. I hope all is well with everyone! Again, I apologize for being out of touch, but my wood floors are beautiful if you can look past the pet stains from 20 years ago. :-)
love to all,
kate, cliff and AnnaJo
Week 26 appt was very good...what a great birthday present to me! AnnaJo measured in at 2 pounds 2 ounces today. Her arms are longer than her legs! She is her Daddy's girl already. If you've never noticed, Cliff has monkey arms, so I'm not surprised that she does too. I imagine she will be a good ball player like her Dad too. On her ultrasound today we could see that she is growing quite a bit of hair! Cliff and I were both bald babies, so I can't imagine her having a head of hair, but it would be welcomed! Trum was pleased with my progress this week too...my cervix was about half a centimeter shorter today, but he said that it was typical for how far along I am. I'll be 27 weeks on Saturday! I can't believe it! I also can't believe that I'll be 30 years old on Friday. 30 years old and still on bedrest...how sad. :-) OR I can think about it like this....30 years old and expecting a beautiful baby girl in a few months...very lucky! Sounds better, right? I'll go with that one. Makes me feel better anyway! At least I'll be relaxing on a raft in a pool for my birthday...much better than being in the hospital!
Hope everyone has a fun 4th of July planned! Have a drink for me and enjoy a great display of fireworks. I think I'll have Cliff rent a movie or two that night so I don't have to deal with the crowd downtown. I'm hoping we can get back to our fireworks tour next year...baby girl in tow! Let's hope she doesn't react the same way I did to fireworks! Talk about sad...a fourth of July baby that was deathly afraid of fireworks. My whole family will tell you that I hid under tables, beds, whatever would shelter me from the noise. I remember sitting in the bed of a pickup truck with ear muffs on on July 4 so I didn't have to hear the loud ones. What a little nerd I was! And yes, i said WAS. Cliff would tell you differently, but don't believe him.
Fabulous dr appt this week! My cervix is staying strong...3.4 cm this week. :-) The progesterone is working great and Trum seems to think I can carry to at least 32 weeks and possibly even to term! How fabulous would that be!!! I'm still on bedrest with a few extra privileges...pool time and an extra shower here and there. I might even be able to celebrate my 30th birthday on July 4 vertically!!!! How exciting!
AnnaJo is doing great too. Next week is a measurement week, but we can tell on the u-sound that she is growing and filling out. Her little cheeks are looking baby like instead of resembling an alien! She is still moving a ton and making me very aware of how active she might be. Which to be honest, it's a little scary! We have some serious baby proofing to do before she starts moving and shaking around this house! Cliff is taking off a week in July to start some of that...refinishing the hardwood in the living room and office to get rid of the carpet is first on the list! He and Jim are working on the basement again today in an effort to finish the bathroom/utility room ceiling. Yea!!
Hope everyone is having a great week! Once again, it's raining here...just what we need!
love to all!!
k
Don't get me wrong, I am not a Big Bang believer. I am quite confident that the Earth was created in 7 days by God. HOWEVER, I do believe in evolving and adapting to your environment over a period of time. For example, some smart person believes that in the future our thumbs will be bigger because of all the texting that we are doing. Here's a thought...at one point, the hair covering our legs served a purpose. I'm pretty sure it was for warmth or something similar. But in 2008, is it really that necessary? Why can't we evolve into less hairy creatures? And what exactly is the purpose of armpit hair? I really don't get it. Here is my big complaint though about irony. Pregnancy has sped up the growth rate of all my hair. I appreciate what's on my head, but pregnant belly makes leg shaving a little more difficult. I've never been a big fan of shaving in the first place and honestly, in the winter I can go for a month without shaving. I know...kind of gross and poor cliff. But the hair on my legs has never been prickly or dark....just looks kind of fuzzy. Pregnancy has changed that too! It's really not quite fair and I don't like it at all. SO if anyone has a theory about how we should evolve into less hairy human beings, I am willing to try just about anything except shaving daily. I will not do that!
Hope everyone is having a great day! Today is dr day...my favorite day of the week. I will fix my hair and put on makeup and look like a normal human being. :-) What a fabulous day!
I hope everyone had a fabulous Father's Day!! Cliff enjoyed his first Father's Day. Can you guess what he did? Of course you can...he fished. Unfortunately he didn't catch, but there is a reason they don't call it that. He was home by noon, in time to take me to the pool for an hour before it started raining. I stayed in bed while he was out and I have to say it was a little rough. I'm a big fan of the Today Show and even watch it on the weekends. Sunday was terribly sad, as they had another tribute to Tim Russert on the Today Show and then on Meet the Press. I spent most of the morning in tears. I'm sure the added hormones didn't help much, but it really was a very sad day for the world of politics and journalism. At one point I had to remind myself to breathe through all the tears. From the conversation between his friends and colleagues, he was an incredible person and an unbelievable father.
We also celebrated Gary's 60th birthday on Sunday night. It was a shocker to him, but it was a good time. Eventhough I spent the evening in the recliner, it was very nice to have a change of scenery. The food was fabulous, but the company was even better! A large portion of Cliff's family was there and we had a good time visiting. Mom and Jim even joined us for dinner and it's always fun to combine the families like that. I imagine once this little girl gets here, we will be doing that often!
And a big yippee for making it to week 24!!! That's the first big milestone for this bedrest! My next appt is tomorrow afternoon, so i'm hoping for more great news! Keep your fingers crossed and I"ll keep you posted afterwards!
What a great day! First of all, it was a very beautiful, dry day! My week 23 appt was early this morning and went very well. My cervix measured longer today than it has yet...3 cm! Yea!! Bedrest and progesterone are working just like they are supposed to! The U/S tech even said today that if I keep on this track, i may carry AnnaJo to term. The dr joked that we may even go over, but that will not happen if I have anything to do with it. We are due on October 4, but I really want a September baby. Why, you ask? Because the birthstone in September is a sapphire. I have nothing against the October birthstone, but my engagement ring is a sapphire and they are one of my favorite gemstones! I have some other sapphire jewelry too, so I think it would be so fun for them to mean even more!
AnnaJo weighed in at 1 pound 5 ounces today...she is getting bigger! I can feel her move around very well now too. She is a mover and a shaker. Randi, our u/s tech, commented on her muscle tone too. She said she has good muscle tone in her legs, so we are hoping that she will be an athlete like her mommy and daddy!!
The rest of the day went great too... it's dry! It's not supposed to last too long though. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and Friday. :-( Cliff is off work this weekend, so the trim in my bedroom might be finished soon! We've only been living here for 2 years now. That's the plan at least. We'll see if I can actually mark it off the honey-do list after this weekend. He has been informed that the priority this weekend lies in finishing the bedroom rather than playing ball ... you might ought to say a quick prayer. I think he is fishing on Sunday for Father's Day, so that's something nice for him to look forward to. I think if he goes fishing, I'll head to the in-laws for some pool time.
Happy Father's Day! Enjoy your weekend!
I've told many of you that the weekdays of bedrest are not terrible because i have a rigid tv schedule that I adhere to. Most of my schedule is on NBC...the Today Show, Days of Our Lives, Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil and Oprah. I only watch one hour of tv on CBS. Do you know what's on NBC today? The French Open. What a disaster! I guess it's a needed break. I don't get anything else done while I'm watching tv, so I will make the best of it. Too bad it's not sunny outside, this would be a perfect day to be rafting it in the pool!
Baby update...I will be 23 weeks along tomorrow....yeah! This week's appt went well. Trum (my OB) is very satisfied with the progress and success of bedrest. My cervix was over 2 cm long this week and that keeps me out of the hospital. He has given me another freedom pass for a date night with Cliff. One of Cliff's customers gave him a gift certificate to Das Stein Haus, a German restaurant here in town. So tonight is date night....YEAH!! I've never been to this restaurant, so I have no clue what is good, but it will be a night out of the house and I would love that even at McDonalds. AnnaJo is doing very well too. She was sucking her thumb for the u-sound this week. It was cute! Next week is another week for measurements, so we'll know exactly how much she is growing. That is always fun.
Guess what!? Apparently the tennis match isn't an all day affair. Days of our Lives is on!! Yippee. Gotta run now. :-) The Brady Pub has gone GREEN!
I'm so glad to be back home, but being in bed all day is no fun at all. I was able to organize my pictures yesterday though, so I thought I would share.
Here are my beautiful boxers...this one is Jersey. She is a boxer mix and is about 3 years old, i think. 
She is a sleepy dog in this picture. her little brother Vegas keeps her awake a lot. He likes to play and she isn't always so willing. Here is Vegas. 
He was Cliff's birthday/anniversary gift this year. I bought him for Cliff, but he loves us both. He prefers the person with the yummiest treat! He is about 6 months old here. His birthday is July 9, 2007. He is a funny boy! We got him in August(an early gift) and he got sick in November. It was an awful time! We were not sure if he was going to make it or not. We have always been very strict with training Jersey...no jumping, no sitting on the couch, certainly no laying on our bed. It's been a little different with Vegas since we thought we may lose him. He is such a big boy!
He keeps us entertained all the time. He doesn't realize that he is over 50 pounds...he still tries to be a lap dog.
His favorite game is to chase his brothers, the cats. Monet and Mocha aren't real thrilled about that game, but they put up with him. Here is Mocha...he doesn't know he is a cat. He begs like a dog and climbs like a monkey. 
Mocha was our junkyard kitty. He came from the pound and we didn't think he would ever love us. To see him around us, you'd think that one of us gave birth to him. He tries to get as close as possible to us. He almost looks like a mink stoll. Funny little cat.
Monet is our other big boy. He is our first and weighs in at a whopping 20 lbs. He is a big cat! No picture of him on this computer though - i'll make it up later.
Good morning!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers! They are working, so please continue to send them up! We had a great appt yesterday - the ultrasound indicated that my cervix is getting stronger and measured 2.5 cm. instead of 1.4 like last week. Generally, the measurement should be in between 3 cm and 5 cm with healthy normal pregnancies. The bedrest and the prayers are working great! The dr sent me home last night, but I'm still on strict bedrest with bathroom priveleges only. I cannot put into words how wonderful it was to be in my own bed last night!
AnnaJo continues to grow as expected. She weighed 10 ounces yesterday which puts her in the 37th percentile. I have a great picture of her that looks like she is blowing bubbles, but I need to get it scanned. I'll send it as soon as I have it downloaded.
I hope you are all doing great. If you need me....I'm in bed, or on the couch, or in the recliner. :-) I have my cell phone and yahoo Instant messenger (jkate1122) and email, of course.
I'll update again next week.
Love to all! Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!
Kate, Cliff and AnnaJo
Week 18...so the news is a little different this week...i write this from bed 2 in room 1018 at Boone Hospital. My OB and u/s tech were not happy wtih my cervix again this week. It shortened and thinned out a bit, so i am now on hospital bedrest until further notice. The goal...make it to week 32 and then deliver the baby as needed. The reality is that we cannot deliver before 24 weeks, 28 would be better and 32 would be the best. I am on strict bedrest - only getting up to use the bathroom if I have to. They prefer the bedpan, so you can imagine my frustration.
I have a wireless connection, so my computer will not be leaving my side. I also have my cell phone. Feel free to visit, call, email...whatever. I will keep you all posted as things progress. Please pray for our health and my sanity. Oh wait...that would assume that i had a normal sanity level to begin with. :-)
Love to all...
Kate, Cliff and A.J.
Happy May Day!!! I cannot believe it's already May! We finally have some news this week...after a very long ultrasound, Baby Hill decided to grace us with an answer to this everlasting question! It was very clear after looking around the foot that continues to be in its ass.
Unfortunately that wasn't the only news we received yesterday. The dr was not happy with the way my cervix was looking and I'm writing this from my bed. That's right....it's officially day 1 of bedrest. Hopefully there will only by 7 days. I'll find out during our next u-sound if I can go back to work. For all of our sakes, please pray that the answer is yes. I am self-admittedly lazy, but being sent to bed is not going to be fun. There is only so much that I can do to entertain myself, so you can count on getting a few emails. Our next u-sound is next Wednesday, so i'll get an update out as soon as I can.
Off to ....oh yeah, there is not much I can do. I'll sign off and let you get back to whatever you need to be doing! :-) Feel free to call me and chat. Or my yahoo instant messenger id is jkate1122. I'll be online or have my phone next to me for the next week!
Love to all...
Kate, Cliff & Baby Hill
Oh yeah....I failed to mention that it is a girl!!! AnnaJo has made her presence known to the world...
Happy Wednesday!! Sorry I haven't sent updates in a few weeks, but we didn't have much news to share. Unfortunately, this week is no different. This child is keeping its identity a closely guarded secret. The cord is in between its legs and it likes to sit Indian style with its feet tucked under its butt. The pictures attached are the best we could do this week - I think it's laughing at us. It's only week 16 though and most people don't find out for a few more weeks. The tech is leaning towards girl this week, but I'm not buying pink until I see a clear picture with no penis present.
Regarding health....all is well. Baby looks great and I am fine too. I'll keep you posted as things progress! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!
Love to all...
Kate, Cliff & Baby HeShe
Not much news this week! The baby is truly ours - very stubborn. I'm pretty sure she/he comes by it rightly. We were anticipating being able to see its butt this week, but apparently the baby was not on the same page! I've attached some good face pictures - the details are kind of crazy! Randi (our ultrasound friend) said its fingers are super long...maybe a piano player and/or a ball player! Everything with the baby looks great! All is still well with my cervix too...yeah! The only problem at this point is that my placenta is blocking the cervix - something called placenta previa. It will more than likely move, but if it doesn't we will have a c-section for sure.
So, put up a few prayers that the placenta gets with the program and goes where it is supposed to!
Love to all! Our appt next week is Wednesday morning, so maybe he/she will be a little more cooperative in the a.m.
-kate, cliff and baby
OK....so my weekly updates aren't going to be as detailed each week because I'm sure you'll get tired of seeing them.
But...my ultrasound today went very well. Everything with my cervix looks great and the baby is doing wonderful. She (said in a very hopeful voice) didn't move much in the beginning but when we started looking at her tush, she squirmed away. She (hopeful) apparently doesn't want us buying pink yet. Good thing mama-to-be isn't much into pink! :-) OR the real reason could be that daddy-to-be wasn't there and she didn't want to give Nana the satisfaction of being the first to know!
Regardless, here is one of the pictures that we got this week. My appt next week is on Thursday, so expect another then.
Love to all and keep us in your prayers!
Kate, Cliff & Baby Hill #1
Good morning! I received a ton of emails this week....thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers! The surgery on Tuesday went very well. The spinal anesthesia wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting - very strange, but not bad. I had a follow up appt with the dr yesterday and all looks very well. I've attached the latest pics of the baby. She/he would not hold still yesterday! It was comical and quite amazing! I now have weekly follow-ups and ultrasounds, so my baby scrapbook is going to be full before it even gets here!
I promised an update...some of you already saw a text message today, but I wanted to keep everyone informed. We had our first OB appt today with our normal OB. The other appts have been with our fertility dr. Anyway, the baby is doing fine, but my cervix is changing quite a bit. It is half the length that it is supposed to be and it's starting to dilate. Needless to say, dr trumbower was not a happy camper. He is doing a cervical cerclage tomorrow afternoon. For those of you who do not know, that means he will put in a double stitch to keep my cervix closed and keep me from going into pre-term labor. As of today, we are 11 weeks, 2 days along.
I'll let you know how everything goes tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about the anesthesia - it's a spinal block instead of general anasthesia. Other than that, I'm fine. Except for not being able to eat after midnight and my appt at the hospital isn't until noon tomorrow. I"m a little nervous about that too! :-)
Keep us in your prayers! Love you all!
Hello and Happy Hump Day!
I thought it may be time to share a little news....Cliff and I are expecting a new addition to the family on October 5!!! I still can't believe it. Some of you have known for a few weeks, but I wanted to share our latest ultrasound along with the news.
We've been to the dr 3 times now - first to see the yolk sac, second to confirm a heartbeat and yesterday for a follow-up. The ultrasound attached is from yesterday - we can finally see a head and her arms. No, we don't know if it's a girl or not, but I am praying that it is. I'll let you know for sure as soon as we know. This Saturday will be the 10 week mark. :-) We've been seeing the fertility dr until now and I'll see my regular OB-GYN on Monday, the 17th. This pregnancy came as a total shock for us! I think it all happened the day that I told Cliff I wanted to wait for another year b/c I wasn't ready to be pregnant. Irony is a funny thing, huh?
I'll keep in touch as things progress...
