1 Month With Baylee!

 Baby Baylee is a month old already! I can't believe it! This month has been the most amazing and exhausting experience of my life! 

After we were discharged from the hospital we headed up to Brian's parents house in Mt Baldy. We decided to stay there for a couple weeks so that we could have help close by while I had a chance to heal and could really focus on being a new mommy. It really was a great decision and it allowed all of our family to be able to meet Baylee and spend time with her. 

The first week was tough, but we hung in there through the lack of sleep. Brian was off work so we spent a lot of time cuddling and watching movies with our new little life. :) At 8 days old Baylee had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor (she doesn't have club feet! yay!), and when we took her outside Brian noticed that in the sunlight she was looking very yellow. We decided to call her pediatrician, who sent us to the hospital for a blood test. About an hour later we got the call that we needed to take her to the hospital to be admitted a.s.a.p. because her bilirubin level was at a 20! She was very jaundice...my heart sank and I immediately started to bawl. My poor little one week old was super sick and there was nothing I could do to fix it. That night in the hospital was one of the longest nights of my life. I sat there in the sleep chair beside her just watching her sleep in the incubator and praying to God that she would heal fast so we could go home. God heard my prayers and after being there for 24 hours we were finally discharged. She was going to be just fine!

Baylee in the isolette:

 Once we got home we decided that it was time to start planning on moving home. We stayed for another week or so and then packed up and headed back to our desert home. As much as I love spending time with family and friends, its been nice to be back in our quiet little house. Baylee's nursery is almost finished and we are starting to establish a routine of sorts! Which basically means she sleeps, eats, plays...in that order...all day long! LoL Our nights are still pretty rough. She sleeps in 2 to 3 hour stretches and then wakes up to eat. Sometimes she goes right back to sleep...other times are not so easy! I really don't mind it too much though, as tired as I may be sometimes I just stare at her as we rock in the glider at 2:00 am. I still can't grasp what I did right to deserve such a beautiful miracle. I have never been so happy as I am being a mom...this is what I was meant to do with my life! :)

She's already changing so much! She loves to play on her gym mat:

She enjoys "tummy time" on her Boppy:

And of course hanging with her best friend, Stella Lou ;)  :

Tomorrow we are taking her official one month pictures! I can't wait! I'm also going to post another update next week on the things that were absolutely necessary to get us through the first month of having a newborn! :)

Happy one month baby girl! Mommy loves you!

She's Here!!!!

Well I didn't get to do bump-dates for weeks 36 and 37, because things got crazy so fast, but after all our months of waiting she's finally here!!!!

Baylee Christina Grace Tibbetts! She was born at 7:15pm on July 15th, 2014. She weighed 7 pounds even and was 17.5 inches long! We are so incredibly in love with her sweet little face!!!

Baylee's Birth Story

I am so excited to report that Baylee's birth was amazing and I could not have asked for a better team (both family and medical) to have gone through the process with! My labor started around 4:00pm on July 14th. I was ridiculously tired and took probably 6 hours worth of naps all day long. It was weird...like my body knew what was coming and that it needed to stock up on energy! After having some pretty consistent contractions for a few hours, I knew something was up. I didn't want to freak out at the risk of going to the hospital and getting sent home again, though, so I just hung in there and let me body do what it was going to do. Brian and I went to bed around 9:00pm that night and I told him to get some sleep because it was very likely to be a long night! After about 3 hours of tossing and turning while laboring in bed, I finally lost my mucous plug. I knew that meant it was time. I tried to stay quiet for a bit longer, but finally at 1:30am I told Brian it was time to go. We got to triage and I was dilated to a 3.5. I was told that if I could progress after walking around for a couple of hours that they would admit me. My sisters and mom met Brian and I at the hospital and they all walked with us.

I walked around and by the time I got checked again at 5:00am I had already progressed to a 5.5! Holy crap...this was actually happening! We were admitted to our room and I got all hooked up to my IV and monitors...we were ready to do this! I wasn't nervous at all, just very excited! Really, all I could think about was how bad I wanted some breakfast!

We hung around for a bit and my contractions started to get stronger and closer together. I did my best to breathe through them and just let it happen. Laying in bed slowed down my progress a bit, so they let me get out and walk around the room and bounce on my labor ball. That definitely helped, because before I knew it my contractions got ridiculous! I was in sooooooo much pain! I literally felt like I was going to scale the walls and I started violently shaking all over. I tried to just hang with it, but I started to worry that the energy I was using to labor would leave me with no energy to push. It was around 3:00pm at this point so I had been laboring for almost 24 hours. I caved in and got an epidural, but I was so proud that I went as long as I did without one!

Once I got an epidural I was in a way better place. I kicked everyone out except for Brian and my Mom and took a nice rest. An hour and a half later my nurse checked me and I was at a 10! The time that we had been waiting for was finally here! The nurses prepped my room for delivery, and my cheerleaders (my sisters and mother-in-law) came back into the room. We started pushing and it was so exhilarating! Definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I wanted that baby out so bad that I used every ounce of energy I had to push her down as far as I could. As soon as her head was in a low enough position, the nurses called the doctor  to come in. I was so excited that I was finally going to meet my baby! Once the doctor came in, I pushed a few more times and then she told me that if she performed an episiotomy that I would be able to get her out on the next push. Sure enough, I pushed with all my might and her little head popped right out! One last push and before I knew it she was on my chest crying in all her glory! There was not a dry eye in the room! It was literally the most beautiful moment of my life! Brian gave me a hug and a kiss and I looked at him and said "Babe! We're parents!" I fell in love with my husband all over again!

They took her away to do her measurements and get her all cleaned up. It was the longest time in my life to wait to have my baby back! When she came back we did skin-to-skin and I immediately started to breast feed her. She breast fed like a little champ and made me so proud! I couldn't believe how beautiful and perfect she was! In just one moment in time I went from preggo to mommy and the joy is unexplainable!

We stayed in the hospital for a couple of days, and since then Baylee has been doing great at home! We are the happiest little family of 3!!! I plan on using the blog now to give updates on Baylee as she grows and changes!

35 Week Bump-date!

So, after being on a few days of my "modified bed rest", I was at home alone laying on the bed when...omg...did my water just break or did I just pee myself?! I really wasn't sure, so I called my doc, who said that just to be on the safe side, we should probably head down to labor and delivery. I called Brian and he was on his way to get me quick style! We got to L&D to find out that my water had not broken (yup...peed myself *face palm*) but that I was in fact having contractions 2-4 mins apart and was already dilated to a one! Oh man...I couldn't believe it! They ended up keeping me for 6 hours for observation, and after checking me multiple times I wasn't making any progress, so we got sent home. I was given nurse's orders to be on strict bed rest until further notice. Ugh. It was a miserable 3.5 days, but then I went to my appointment with my doctor who told me that bed rest was unnecessary and probably would just make me even more miserable. Woohoo! I was so excited to be back to normal, that I probably definitely overdid it cleaning and getting last minute things ready for baby girl's arrival! Two days later (last night actually lol) the steady contractions came back. I timed them with my app and they were about 5 mins apart and painful, but nothing I couldn't handle. We had plans to have dinner with Brian's parents, so I decided we should just go as planned and then, if need be, we would already be down the mountain and closer to the hospital. After dinner the contractions got pretty intense, so we decided to go over to my grandparent's house to keep walking and contraction counting. Once we were about 4 hours in the contractions started to come 2-3 mins apart and were making me keel over in pain! It was definitely time to go! We got to L&D and they checked me and I was still only at a one! Talk about disappointment! The nurses reminded me that it was still pretty early to be having her, so lack of progress was probably better. My contractions slowed down a little from laying down (5-7 mins apart), so they decided to keep me for a few more hours to monitor me and put me on an IV drip. After about 4 hours they checked me again and I did dilate to a two, but the doctor said to go ahead and send me home to get rest. Of course the contractions lasted all night, so I didn't get much rest, but I'm definitely still preggo! On a good note, baby girl is doing amazing! So, basically I could have her any day, or she could decide that she's actually still cozy in there and hang out for a few more weeks! Only time will tell, and we are definitely on God's time for this one! :)

How far along: 35 weeks

Gender: Girl

Weight gain: 35 pounds

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Out

Sleep: Ugh...worst sleep of my life!

Best moment this week: Seeing a preview of how great Brian is going to be when the day does finally come! He has been so amazingly supportive!

Worst moment this week: The 10 hours total spent in triage at L&D weren't exactly fun lol

Miss anything: Clothes that fit! I'm growing out of all my maternity stuff!

Movement: Yep...she's still a little happy camper!

Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: Go time! I only wish we had a countdown! Haha

Weekly Wisdom: Listen to your body...even though we had two false alarms, both times we left the hospital very glad that we went in. Better to be safe than sorry!

34 Week Bump-date!

Well this week quickly did a turn around from fairly uneventful to totally game changing on Thursday when I started showing some imminent labor signs! I called  my doc and she said that since I was almost 35 weeks she wasn't too worried, but that she would prefer we keep her in a little longer. Soooo, now I'm on "modified bedrest" which basically means no heavy lifting, no long walks, and lots and lots of water. And you know what? I suck at it! LoL There are so many things I wanted to do before she got here that I now have to put off and I'm sooo over asking people to do things for me! I'm nesting like crazy so it's killing me to not be able to finish her nursery like I wanted to :( Oh, well! She's clearly going to take after her Mama and do what she wants when she wants to! I guess I have to admire her for that! ;) So I am now 35 weeks and we are officially on "baby watch"! Oh. Em. Gee! However, keep your fingers crossed that we can get her to bake for at least 3 more weeks!!! 

How far along: 34 weeks

Gender: Girl

Weight gain: 33 pounds as far as I know...I have an appt on Thursday and will find out!

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Out

Sleep: Awful! I wake up to turn over or go pee like every hour. :(

Best moment this week: Picking out her first outfits that she will wear to pack in our hospital bag! Eeeep! I can't wait to dress her up!

Worst moment this week: The realization that I'm going to really do this and probably sooner than later. Holy crap. Am I ready for this?!?

Miss anything: I've needed a beer in a serious way this week! lol

Movement: Yep yep! She's making her way down!

Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: Meeting baby girl! I can't believe how close we are now!

Weekly Wisdom: Don't be afraid to call your doc at anytime! I called her at like 8pm and she really set my mind at ease that what is happening is normal and we can totally make it through this!

33 Week Bump-date!

I had my baby shower this weekend and it was truly a wonderful day! My sister, Nicole, my Dad and my Nanny and Papa really outdid themselves to make the day so special for Brian and me! The theme was pink and grey elephants, and we had more food and fun than I could have ever dreamed of. I still can't believe how spoiled our little girl already is! We got almost all the major stuff off of our registry, and she seriously already has more clothes than I do! LoL Thank you to everyone who shared this special time with us...it truly meant a lot to have you all there! And now...now it gets real! We are quickly coming up to "Baby Watch" time!

How far along: 33 weeks

Gender: Girl

Weight gain: 33 pounds at my last appointment...probably more now with all the leftover cake I've been eating! LoL

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Out

Sleep: Still having a rough time at night getting comfortable, and I'm tired allllll the time.

Best moment this week: Revealing baby girl's name at our shower! I love being able to call her by name now instead of just saying "the baby". I think I might wait a while before I make it blog official, though! ;) Hehehe

Worst moment this week: The dreaded peeing every half hour has begun...I'm seriously contemplating a catheter! LoL

Miss anything: I've had a hankering for coffee all week...*sigh*

Movement: Oh yes...tiny dancer is definitely getting cramped in there!

Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery! Now that we have all her stuff I can't wait to get it all together and ready for her homecoming.

Weekly Wisdom: Having a co-ed shower was amazing! I feel like "women only" showers can get so stuffy and boring. We had a nice, laid back evening and the men in the family gave the party a little more life and humor! :)

31 & 32 Week Bump-date!

Sorry this is a late double-bumpdate for weeks 31 and 32, but life has been very chaotic and rough this last week. We need major prayers sent our way! My Papa (grandpa on my Mom's side) just had a triple bypass, and is still in the hospital. :( We need him to get better and get home so that he can enjoy his first great grandbaby! As of right now, things are looking up, so I know the power of all your prayers is so strong! As a family we will get him through this tough time! 

How far along: 31 weeks

Gender: Girl

Weight gain: 30 pounds

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Out

Sleep: Sleep has been getting rough with my big, heavy belly and constant need to pee!

Best moment this week: Went to the Mt Baldy pancake breakfast for all-you-can-eat pancakes! Oh yes...I was a happy, fat, preggo!

Worst moment this week: Papa going into the hospital was awful...and then finding out he needed open heart surgery was even worse. :(

Miss anything: sushi and beer

Movement: All day every day!

Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope!

Looking forward to: Papa getting better and coming home!

Weekly Wisdom: If you go through a tough time during your pregnancy, try your best to stay calm. Stress is easily passed to the baby, so do your best to just breathe!

How far along: 32 weeks

Gender: Girl

Weight gain: 30 pounds (maybe more...haven't had a chance to get on a scale!)

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Out

Sleep: Sleep was rough this week worrying about Papa and everyone in the family, but I have been trying my best to get as many cat naps as I can to make up for it.

Best moment this week: Had a final "dating" ultrasound on Tuesday...we won't get the results until next week, but it was so nice to see baby girl again! She is just so cute sucking on her little fist and kicking up a storm! I'm so in love!!!

Worst moment this week: This whole week has been pretty tough with the constant concern about how Papa's doing, but we are all hanging in there and trying our best to be strong for him! Hoping that all goes well so he can come home next week sometime!

Miss anything: Not carrying a watermelon with me wherever I go! LoL I'm hitting the "totally over it" point for sure!

Movement: So much! And she's very responsive to little pokes and rubs! It's too neat!

Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: Papa getting better and coming home and my baby shower!

Weekly Wisdom: Don't have a summer baby! LMAO...I'm so miserably hot ALL the time!

30 Week Bump-date!

So, we just got back from our "Babymoon" in Catalina yesterday, and had sooo much fun! We layed out on the beach, did some shop browsing, and went out to dinner two nights in a row! Woah! LoL But the best part was just being there doing anything with my hubby. I really didn't realize how much Brian and I  needed that alone time to relax and rejuvenate. My husband is so amazing! I'm so thankful that he worked so hard and did so much research to make this little trip possible and affordable. He really does appreciate me and treats me like a princess! :)

Now that we are home, it's time to go full speed ahead! We are super busy over the next two months and then baby will be here! Oh man! Now that it's June, Brian looked at me last night and said "We're going to have a baby next month!" I went wide-eyed and said "Oh my God....we are!" Hahaha Funny how I feel like I've been pregnant forever, and now that the time is actually drawing near I feel like we still have so much to do and zero time to do it! LoL 

How far along: 30 weeks

Gender: Girl

Weight gain: 29 pounds (okay...so clearly I'm going to go over my original "goal weight" of only gaining 30 pounds! Damn ice cream! Maybe 35...lol)

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: Outie!

Sleep: Sleep is my BFF...I love naps and bedtime!

Best moment this week: Spending time with my husband takes the cake! I love traveling with him! Every trip we've been on we stay so relaxed and never argue about anything and it just makes it so enjoyable! :)

Worst moment this week: My belly is starting to get super heavy, so walking around is pretty killer on my back.

Miss anything: I would have given a limb to have a margarita this weekend!

Movement: Oh yes...and I can tell she's just getting bigger and bigger! She's running out of womb!

Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope!

Looking forward to: All the fun things we have planned for June! Starting with the Mt Baldy pancake breakfast...yum!

Weekly Wisdom: I don't care what they say...eat the ice cream! No regrets! LoL