Cereal

Bradie is starting on oatmeal cereal- YAY!  She is starting on the oatmeal since it has more fiber and she has always had poopy problems.  

She has also started holding her own bottle!  That is so helpful in the morning when I am getting myself ready for school.  I'm glad though she will still let Mommy rock her and cuddle her with her bottle at night.

4 months- WHAT???

Wow, time has really flown by!  Bradie is 16 weeks old and will be 4 months on October 30th! Since I haven't been on since then, I'm going to do a little update:

Born: June 30 at 3:52 pm

Weight: 7 lb, 13 oz

Length: 20.5 inches

2 weeks old

7 lbs 14 oz

2o.5 inches

2 weeks old

8 lbs 6 oz

21 inches - This picture totally fits her since it seems like all she did was cry for the first 3 months.  I don't wish a colicky baby on anyone!

One month old

9 lbs 6 oz

22.5 inches

Two months old

11 lbs 9 oz

23.5 inches

Four months old

14 lbs 14 oz

25 inches

I love this little girl so much.  I can't imagine my life without her anymore.  Her personality has started coming out and she is getting more fun to be around (not to mention she is so much easier to take care of)!

Bradie's first photo shoot

July 4th was very different for us this year- no fireworks, bbq, or parties...but it was wonderful! We all got home from the hospital on June 3rd, late in the afternoon and crashed, because the very next morning we all had to wake up early for Bradie's first photo shoot.  Of course, we didn't plan on having the c-section so we thought we'd be home and able to rest a few days before we took her out for the pictures, but it worked out great for all of us.  I was able to completely rest and watch movies with Lee the entire time (9am-4pm) so the photo shoot would be a complete surprise.  The photographer would just bring Bradie in to eat and if she got upset, but she pretty much slept the entire time.  

Here the the results- amazing, beautiful, fabulous, precious pictures with an outstanding photographer (pumpkinpiephotography.com).

And baby makes three...

Bradie Grace has made her much anticipated debut! Here is how it all happened...My due date of June 29th came and went, but fortunately my doctor let me schedule an induction for the next day. I don't think Bradie ever wanted to come out! I had not had any contractions except for little Braxton Hicks UNTIL Tuesday morning came around. I woke up about 4:30 in the morning feeling some crampy pains that were coming on and off and realized I was having very mild contractions. Of course, I could not go back to sleep after that so I took a bath, then a shower, fixed my hair, ate breakast and made sure I had everything for the hospital. When I told Lee I though I was having contractions, he couldn't stay asleep either, so there we were just waiting to go to the hospital. We left at about 7 am for the induction and my contractions were still randomly coming anywhere from 9-20 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital, I was dilated to 4 and they started me on Pitocin. The morning went pretty quickly, no horribly painful contractions and I was dilated all the way to about 6-7, then Bradie's heart rate got really erratic. It would go really high and low and all the doctors would run in there, flip me all around to get it to stabilize. They took me off the Pitocin for a while and I completely stopped having contractions. They told me my doctor was coming in to break my water and I could get my epidural before or after...since I wasn't having any pain I decided to wait until after...BIG mistake!  The contractions started coming hard, fast and soooooo painful!  I thought I was going to die!  As soon as I got the epidural though, I was good to go.  Bradie's heart rate continued to go up and down and I was having some bleeding, so my doctor said we might have to do a c-section- either we wait and have to do an emergency one or go in and get her before anything gets worse.  They put Lee in scrubs- he looked so cute!  I was so scared, but had full faith in my doctor.

They wheeled us into the operating room and started on the c-section.  It is nothing like TV where they cut you open and 10-15 minutes later you have a baby.  I was laying there forever waiting on them to cut me up and pull her out- and yes, you can feel a lot of tugging and pressure, doesn't hurt but feels very weird.  After about 30 minutes, Bradie was here!  She was born at 3:52, weighed 7lbs, 13 oz, and was 20.5 inches long.  They quickly showed her to me and then they started working on her.  Lee got to see the WHOLE thing and be with her the entire time, I had to wait until they stitched me up which took about 45 minutes to get to hold her or get a good view.  She is absolutely beautiful with a headful of dark hair and looks just like Lee.  They took all of us to recovery and a little while later our whole family came in to meet her.  

Here are hospital pictures-

 

38 weeks

Here's a picture from the night of Lacy's wedding.  I'm 38 weeks and 5 days...

Waiting Game

It's officially started- the waiting game.  Bradie could be here anytime and all we can do is sit around and wait for her to let us know it's time.  As I look back over the entire pregnancy I know that I've been very fortunate to have it pretty easy, but let me say that since June has gotten here, I'm ready for this to be over!  I've always been really hot-natured and being 37 and 38 weeks pregnant has just been miserably hot!  I feel so sorry for people who are due in August because I know they are suffering.  

The past two weeks I have not just been sitting around, relaxing like I wish I could be.  Instead, I had 8th grade cheer camp last week and 7th grade cheer camp this week.  I'm done with all school/cheer stuff now, thank goodness!  But, I'm still wanting to be up and active...gotta let gravity help out all it can!  I've been walking, eating spicy foods and trying everything to move this along.  The earlier Bradie gets here, the more time I have with her before school starts. And, I want a full 8 weeks! 

Here's what we know for sure- If I haven't had Bradie before the 29th, my doctor is inducing me on June 30th at 8am!   

School's out for summer!

YAY!!!  Being 9 months pregnant and dealing with 7th graders these past two weeks have been rough!  I tried not to be too mean to them, haha.  The sad thing about the end of this school year is that my very good friend/mentor/teammate is leaving Kimbrough after 16 years...I will miss Lori so much and I can't imagine KMS without Lori Blow being there but I am so happy for her and her new opportunity.  Here's our official last day picture.

Lee and I started off the summer with our final baby shower.  I know we've had a ton of baby showers!  We really are truly blessed with generous family and friends.  This last shower was for Lee's side of the family and his mom's friends.  Their longtime family friends created this amazing shower for us and Bradie.  I keep saying I must attract creative people! 

And, of course, here's my 36 week belly pic.  Funny thing, I wore this dress the first day of school and also the last- glad I could fit my ginormous tummy in it!

On the agenda for this week: 37 week dr appointment tomorrow, lunch and catching up with friends, cheer camp, hospital tour and birthing class, and more last minute preparations!

Getting even more ready!

I haven't been very good about blogging so I'll try to give the full monthly update.  We have been busy trying to get everything just right for Bradie's arrival...we just can't believe it is about a month away!  I have been very blessed to have a pregnancy that has been problem-free and has really flown by- knock on wood.  The only big issue I've had recently, and I mean BIG, is my swollen ankles and feet.  Really just my ankles have turned into cankles and my poor feet are just stuck on the end of two stubs!  It's sad and painful and all my doctor says is it's normal and to put my feet up during the day (like it's easy to rest my feet on my desk in a room full of crazy 7th graders that are ready for school to be out!)  

Here's a picture, but it doesn't do them justice.  Believe me they're 

big by the end of the day!  And for some reason the left is always bigger than the right.

Lee putting together the glider- such a handy man!

The room is almost finished!

My wonderful coworkers threw a shower at KMS for Bradie.  Once again, I am completely overwhelmed with their generosity.  We were able to buy the stroller/car seat with all of the gift cards from the shower- SWEET! 

Here I am testing out the stroller.

And my team, Team 7-1, at the shower.  Lacy's missing because of stupid tennis!  :(

Now, the countdown really begins.  At the end of this week I'll be 36 weeks and I'll be starting my weekly dr appointments.  I feel like I've gotten the "burst of energy" or "nesting" bug the past few days.  I've been cleaning the house, my classroom, everything and staying up until midnight or later getting as much done as possible.  Poor Lee is exhausted and I've been dragging him along!  Does this mean she might be here soon?  Guess we'll see- next appointment is Tuesday the 2nd!

Baby Showers

All I can say is WOW!  The last two weeks have been amazing and I feel so lucky to have the friends and family that I have.  Audrey hosted a shower last weekend for my dad's side of the family and I got to see a bunch of family I don't see too often.  I forgot to take a bunch of pictures except for this, but we had a great time.

Then, yesterday Deseri and Katie hosted a shower for friends.  Let me just tell you, Deseri should be a party planner!  She transformed her house into something out of a baby shower magazine (if they even have such a thing).  They are great best friends! 

When it came time for gifts, I was just completely blown away!  Everyone was so generous and Bradie got TONS of stuff!  She will be battling it out with Reagan for best-dressed for sure! Thanks again to everyone!

Another thing that made this shower so special is how every guest decorated a bib or onesie for Bradie.  Like I said at the shower, I must attract creative people in my life, because these bibs/onesies are ADORABLE!   

Love all of my friends and family!