Let the Fun Begin

I know, probably just like I do when my friends have babies, you've probably been checking for pictures and updates every day. Well, finally here they are. It really is amazing how my days just disappear into a zombie-like state on the couch by 8 PM.

Baby brother arrived on March 18th at 7:13 AM. He weighed a whopping 8 lbs 14 ounces. I just about fell off the OR table when they announced that. Here he is in all his glory!

His name is Frederick Clifton White IV...but we'll call him Freddie. There are parts of him that remind me so much of Ainsley and parts that are drastically different.

Ainsley is adjusting well to Freddie. She loves being a big sister and loves to hold and cuddle baby Freddie.

She is definitely a little ball of sassiness, but I don't really think that is related to the new baby. It's been building for quite awhile now. It's really hard not to laugh when she's being her brattiest. She's way too smart for her age and still, in my opinion, the cutest 2 1/2 year old out there.

Not a whole lot to report. Life has been crazy, but not in a very exciting way. Most people would find it pretty boring...but I'm loving it. So I'll just bombard you with pictures. Enjoy!

PS - For those who are concerned...my swelling has gone down and I don't look like I've been crying for a week anymore.

Ainsley's Last Day as an Only Child

Today was Ainsley's last day of being an only child. I'm feeling a little emotional about it. I'm not sure if it's because I'm bringing another baby home or if it's because I'm really nervous about the surgery tomorrow. I guess it's probably a little of both.

I know Ainsley is going to be an awesome big sister. She's so motherly and I know she's going to want to be all over that baby. But she has been the only child, the only grandchild, the only niece for two and a half years now. It will be a bit of a change for her.

I had hoped that we could do something really special with her before his arrival, but I've been stuck on the couch for a week. So instead I tried to just cuddle with her a lot today and to read to her and watch movies with her and just do what she wanted...as much as I could from the couch that is.

Anyway, here are some new pictures of the nursery. I'll finish it when I get home and post more pictures.

So that's it, next time I write I'll have to change the name of the blog and I'll have pictures of the baby boy.

Hope everyone had a great St. Patty's Day.

Quick Update

Just a quick update to let you all know that baby brother will be here this week. We are scheduled for a C-Section Thursday March 18 at 7 AM.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog again before then. We'll see. Clif is going to try and get upstairs to take pictures of the nursery with everything we have set up. If he's able to do that between cooking and cleaning and packing and shopping and taking care of Ainsley, I'll put them up for you all to see.

Otherwise I'll be back in touch next week when we're home from the hospital.

Nursery Pictures

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get these up, but it's been kind of crazy. Here are my most recent pictures of the nursery.

Since then we have moved the furniture in and put the bedding up. However, I haven't been back in there since that night because I'm now on bedrest and going up the stairs is a no no. Actually most things are a no no. I'm pretty much confined to the couch or bed except to use the potty or take a shower. Fun times!

So here's the deal. I went back to the doctor on Thursday and she diagnosed me with mild pre eclampsia. Apparently pre eclampsia is not something you want to mess with because it can turn nasty pretty quick. Pre eclampsia is basically a combination of symptoms: high blood pressure, decreased kidney function, seizures. However, seizures only happen in the most severe cases. Mine is mild. My blood pressure is elevated, but not scary and I am showing some protein in my urine but nothing too high. There's really no danger to the baby, just the mommy. She decided not to deliver the baby right away, but thought it best that I lay around and do absolutely nothing until the delivery time is right. This doesn't help the actual pre eclampsia but does help keep my blood pressure down which seems to be the doctor's biggest concern.

This is really difficult for me. Not that I can't be as lazy as the next person, but just lying here and not being allowed to go shopping or to work or take care of Ainsley...that's tough.

Luckily, my office has loaned me a laptop and I was able to work Thursday and Friday without taking leave. I will probably work a little more tomorrow and then be done. It's not easy working from home always. A lot of the things I do are hands on, so I'm limited.

Also, I'm very lucky that I have such great friends and support. Clif has been awesome. I know it's been tough for him to clean the house, take care of Ainsley, cook meals and listen to me complain.

My friends, who were throwing me a small shower at a restaurant on Saturday, pretty much camped out at my house all day yesterday and threw kind of a shower. It was great to have people to distract me from the boredom.

Clif's parent's came down this weekend and really helped out by taking care of Ainsley, getting ready for the company and helping me go through all the gifts.

The exciting news is that most likely I will deliver this coming Thursday when the baby is 38 weeks. I'm not quite as ready as I'd like to be...not that I can do much about that at this time...but I'm excited that he might be here this week. We should find out for sure at our appointment tomorrow.

So that's the story. Looks like we are getting a baby sooner than we thought even if the circumstances are not ideal.

Baby Austin Has Arrived

It's official. Ainsley is no longer the only grandchild. Introducing Austin Nathan!

He arrived at about 5:15 AM today and weighs 7lbs 6ounces and measures 19.5 inches.

I'm so excited to go meet him, but we have to wait until baby brother arrives. Maybe at the end of April we can go for a visit.

Speaking of baby brother, we had another doctor's appointment yesterday. This time with an ultrasound. Baby is fine, but some not so great news...my blood pressure is elevated and I have protein in my urine which could mean preeclampsia. Oh, and the ultrasound measures him at 8lbs 5 ounces. Since Ainsley was a pound and a half off from her ultrasound estimate, I put no faith in that. However, I am measuring at 41 weeks, so that's not such great news. He may be a big boy.

As for the possibility of preeclampsia...I am keeping my fingers crossed that both issues are related to my most recent cold and cold medicine. I'm going back in tomorrow morning to have both things rechecked and then we'll go from there.

So please say a little prayer that everything is fine and I don't get put on bed rest and that I don't have this kid tomorrow. I'm totally not ready! I'll have to beg the doctor for another week!

Ainsley Loves Pretty Dresses

This past weekend my sister came to town to look for a wedding dress. She found one that she loved. It was one of the first ones she tried on at her first appointment. We went to two other places and she said she kept comparing all other dresses to that dress. So, that means, that was her dress. I felt the same way when I found the dress I wanted. We didn't take Ainsley with us on the trying on/looking for a dress day. Although, I knew she would have LOVED it. I just also knew that I was there to watch my sister try on dresses and more than half of my time would have been spent chasing Ainsley around stores with VERY expensive dresses on display.

The following day, after Carolyn made her decision, we went back to the original store for her to get fitted and purchase the dress. I decided to take Ainsley because I knew she would love it.

The child was almost speechless. She was in awe of the pretty dresses and kept asking Aunt DeeDee to try different ones on. Of course she had to try some things on herself...so behold my itty bitty bride...

I know I'm biased, but she is way too cute for words.