Well this week we had a sort of disaster in the upstairs bathroom. The drain pipe for the tub cracked and Pat had to tear up the tile floor. The marble floor we put in ourselves last year. Now we have a toilet and pedestal sink hanging out in the hallway and all the toiletries stacked up in the powder room downstairs. Middle of the night bathroom runs got a lot trickier. Gah!

Fi has been making so many more facial expressions and just cracks us up when she is in her active sleep state with her eyes closed but kicking and moving all around. She has been reaching out for more things and looking around, sometimes making eye contact. Or at least we think she is looking in our eyes :) Her awake time is increasing which throws me off because I'm used to her sleeping all the time, but we are trying to get a schedule going. If I stay up late and wake up early, I only have to get up once in the middle of the night! 

It's hard to capture all the cute faces she makes, but here at least I caught the beginnings of a smile.

I want to try and make my own baby book to keep all her cards, her hospital bracelets and other momentos in, but its been hard keeping up with this blog, so a scrapbook may be pretty ambitious...

I love this book, so I may just pull the trigger on it.

Newborn Session

Thank you to the sweet and very talented Sabreena for these beautiful photos of our little family.

Fiona Pearl Gallagher

After a surprise induction on Friday, Fiona was born Saturday May 9th at 3:04am. She was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 1/2" long. I went for my routine doctor appointment for my 39 week visit and mentioned that I hadn't felt as much movement this past week so the doctor ran some tests. During the ultrasound, she didn't see much fluid, so she sent me over to triage. They ran some more tests and decided to induce. Pat rushed home from Lansing and met me at the hospital. 12 hours later, we were staring at this little face.

My favorite picture of all time. It's so hard to know how you're going to feel when you first meet, but of course it's love at first sight. We just kept saying how full we felt inside and how surprised we were by it. I always joke that I am not a baby person and have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm not as intimidated about figuring it out anymore. I must be in the euphoric baby high stage!

We stayed at the hospital until late in the afternoon on Sunday to make sure we got the hang of breastfeeding before we left. Nobody warned me about how painful and challenging it would be! We were excited to get home and introduce CeCe to her new sister. Pat went in first and took her out for a short walk while I brought Fiona inside. Then when CeCe came back to the house, she went right up to her and kissed her face. I can't wait for more moments like this.

I love this yawning face even though she looks like she's crying. She makes the cutest expressions and I could just stare at her and listen to her coo in her sleep forever. I feel like I have to kind of mock myself for saying these things because I never understood it when people would talk about their own babies the same way.

Fiona Pearl, we love your messy brown hair and blue eyes that are deep like the sea.

Welcome to our world!

xoxoxo

39 Weeks

Ahhhh! 39 weeks! So many mixed emotions flying around. I've had pretty much zero signs of labor so I'm looking forward to my appointment on Friday to see if I've progressed at all. Mostly I just feel like I'm carrying around a bowling ball and I'm the newest addition to the penguin exhibit with all this waddling. I'm fortunate that I am able to work from home until the baby arrives, but I'm hoping it doesn't make me go stir crazy being in the house. It's definitely a lot more comfortable than sitting in the office all day. Leggings and bare feet for the win! Plus, I get to look at this:

We're still in the middle of a long list of house wishes, including finishing the attic space off the bedroom. With warmer weather it's not hard not to get the project itch.We have lots of veggies planned for the garden this year...I guess Pat thinks he' going to have some time on his hands. Ha!  It's a good thing we have gotten a few baby carriers so we can wear baby girl all over the place :)

With one week until due date, here's hoping she's not too fashionably late. And a special thank you to my mom who sent me these beautiful "Mother To Be Day" flowers!

38 Weeks

A little late on 38 weeks, but we were out enjoying this beautiful weekend. We finally got our driveway recovered and Pat worked really hard in the yard all day and it made such a difference. The trees are starting to bud and the house finally feels ready for baby spring.

In baby news, my doctor's appointment showed the baby being really low. So low I'm afraid to really bend over! She's definitely in the right position.  I've had a few Braxton Hicks contractions wake me up in the middle of the night, but nothing with any pattern yet. We finally put the stroller and the play yard together, so I had to move my favorite chair upstairs to make more space in the living room. I swear this chair looks perfect wherever I put it.

Now, Sunday night, its time to relax! I'm trying to get better at just sitting down with my feet up, but it's hard when it feels like there is so much to do. With two weeks to go, we're trying to soak up our quiet time together. We found a delicious new BBQ restaurant on date night and came home to eat some home made raspberry ice cream. And of course to snuggle this girl :)

37 Weeks

Considered full term now, holy cow. It's been a busy couple of weeks with birthing classes, doctor appointments and a baby shower. It's also been a stressful week with CeCe acting out and trying to destroy every rug in the house when she's left alone. She knows something is up and I'm starting to get worried for when baby comes. Hopefully she knows she will always be our first baby!

35 Weeks

Baby's not even here and I'm already falling behind on my somewhat weekly posts!

I've been feeling a lot of growing pains and having trouble getting more than 2 hours of sleep in a row, but I am trying to keep up with my walking routine. I'm lucky that my work has a fitness room, which I try to use at least three times a week. My speed is getting slower, but I'm always on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes. You would think my leg muscles would be getting stronger from carrying around all this extra weight (up 25 + lbs!), but that doesn't seem to be the case. My hands are starting to look swollen here, might be time to take off the rings soon. This week my feet have also started to swell, making me feel really pregnant by the end of the day. I'm at the point now where strangers have started to ask when I am due and it feels so strange to say "Next Month!" I'm still proud that I can fit into this tee shirt though, it's stretchy but not maternity!

CeCe has been extra cuddly lately and always under foot. I love this picture of her, she is always so curious about what is behind the shower curtain. Her sleeping in the bed might be part of why my sleep is so restless lately...

I finally got the baby's closet organized after the shower. All those clothes were overwhelming to look at, but I think I have a good system in place so I'll be ready for the next shower and mountain of tiny clothes. This week I am looking forward to the shower my team is throwing at work, and of course excited about a weekend home with Pat.