One Month Old

(This should have been posted on July 9th, 2011. I apologize for my tardiness!!!!)

Happy One Month Birthday, Waverly!

My, how time flies!You have absolutely blessed our lives beyond measure, and I don't know what we ever did without you!

This month, you started keeping your eyes open and staying awake MUCH more than when you were "brand new". You also started to follow people and things with your eyes.

You made two, yes, TWO trips to the beach in your first month. Who could ask for anything more??? I hoped you'd be a beach babe... We went with Daddy to a conference in Orange Beach, AL when you weren't even 2 weeks old yet! Then, we spent about a week at home, then left for St. Teresa Beach, FL to meet the family for the 4th of July. Although you never ACTUALLY touched the sand or water, we did go for one (very hot) walk the first morning at St. Teresa. You at least got to feel the sea breeze (what little there was) on your face. That counts as "going to the beach", right? Everybody was SO excited to have you there. You, as usual, were the center of attention! I can't wait until next  year when you can actually play in the sand and water!!! You're going to have SO much fun!

Here are some pictures from your first month:

After a bath

Snuggling with Daddy

During a visit with Grandmama and Granddaddy

Snuggling with Granddaddy

An attempt at "One Month Pictures"...

Holding up "one" for one month!

Not really excited about it anymore...

Sleepy girl!

We love you and are SO blessed to be your Mommy and Daddy!! :)

Waverly's Grand Entrance

On the way out the door to the hospital, and the last time we would be in our home without a baby!

Early in the morning on June 9, Jed and I headed to the hospital to begin what would become the most wonderful day of our lives. My surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m., and we had to be there at 6:30 a.m. to begin prep. We were there so early that some of the lights in the halls weren't even on yet!

In the dark halls on the way to L & D.

Here we go!

At 7:50 a.m., after a very unevenful surgery (praise the Lord), our beautiful daughter was born. She was 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and 20 inches long. There were no complications and she was perfect. I cried. :)

 Jed went to the nursery with Waverly and the nurses while they finished the surgery up (I'll spare you the details...). They took the "scenic route" to the nursery so that he could take her by the waiting room to meet her grandparents!

Proud Daddy - he was SUCH a trooper in the O.R.!

4 of the 6 grandparents meeting Waverly. The other two were late getting to the hospital because of bad GPS directions and a train.

Meet Miss Waverly Mae Smart!

Daddy and Melissa made it while WMS was still in the nursery and I was in recovery.

A lovely photo of me texting/updating Facebook while in recovery. Ah, the joys of  technology...

Right after Jed came into the recovery room to give me my "Mommy Gift"... a beautiful pair of diamond earrings. I cried... again. I love him... :)

After only about 30 minutes in recovery (they told me to expect an hour, so I was excited), I got to go to my room and FINALLY meet my baby!

I finally get to hold my baby girl!!!

I couldn't hold it back... I cried... again... I'm pretty sure there was a sob or two after this was taken!

Our family was wonderful. They stayed and visited with each other (and with us) and held Waverly for nearly 2 days straight. We are so thankful for loving, devoted parents. I pray that we are as good to our children as they have been to us!

Four generations of girls!

By a stroke of luck, the L & D wing of the hospital was VERY full of mothers, babies, and families. Because of this, and since I was recovering very well, they gave me the option to go home after 2 days instead of 3! We were SO excited to get back home with our bundle of joy!

Putting on her "going home" outfit.

Family picture next to the nursery window.

Waverly's first sunlight

On the way home. Look at those cheeks!

Daddy the chauffeur.

Welcome home, Waverly!

We are absolutely blessed beyond measure to have this beautiful baby girl in our lives. I don't know what we ever did without her! :)

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

Okay, I am officially the WORST BLOGGER EVER! I am so sorry to those of you who actually look here for updates on our family. Let me ATTEMPT to catch you up... quickly.

Bedrest:
I was put on bedrest for the last 6 weeks (or so) of my pregnancy. Nothing serious happened, but I was considered what they call "oligohydramnios," which basically means that I had low amniotic fluid. It was an absolute blessing that I was ever even diagnosed! The Lord certainly had His hand on the situation! I went to my doctor for a routine checkup, and told her how much trouble I was having getting a good 4D image of the baby at the (non-medical) ultrasound place. She said she would try to squeeze me in with the sonographer on staff at her office to see if she could get me a good picture. She was able to get us in, and when we got there, she noticed that my fluid looked a little low, so she noted it on my chart and told me to drink LOTS of fluids. While at work the next day, the PA at my doctor's office called me and told me I needed to be put on bedrest because of the possible complications that the low fluid could cause for the baby. I was scared to death! Jed and I immediately started getting the ball rolling to get everything in place for me to be out for the remainder of the school year. That was my last day at Smiths Station High School. I taught a couple of classes by Skype (that was pretty cool - the kids loved it!), and helped my substitute understand how to teach my Fashion Merchandising class without me there. Carolyn, a coworker and friend of mine, was kind enough to help her out with the Business Tech classes (she just had them do the same work her classes were doing). I don't know how I would have handled it without her! Love you, Carolyn!!! :)

Since I had the low fluid and was put on bedrest, the doctor wanted me in the office 2-3 times a week for Non-Stress Tests and one ultrasound each week. During this time, Waverly always responded really well, but my fluid level continued to stay below the recommended level. We also became concerned because she was breech, and hadn't turned yet by the "normal" time. The doctor said that, because of the fluid level, she didn't have much room to turn, and therefore, probably wouldn't. As my due date drew closer, we decided that a scheduled C-Section would be the safest option for both Waverly and me. So, we set her birthday: Thursday, June 9, 2011.

Catch up time!

Oops... it has been way, way, WAY too long! I have SO much to catch you up on! I'll start with the weekly belly pictures (I've actually stuck to that, surprise, surprise!)

25 Weeks - I had to take this one myself...

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

Easter!

31 Weeks... Sorry, this is the best I've got!

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

Week 24

We went to the doctor today, just for a regular checkup. She just did the standard stuff... blood pressure, weight, baby heartbeat, measurement, and question-asking time. She said everything was right on track. Hooray! This was my last monthly visit. We made the appointment to have my diabetes bloodwork done at 27 weeks, then it'll be every two weeks after that! I'm not really looking forward to having to go to the doctor every other week, but that means that we're progressing along nicely and will be a family of three before we know it!!!

We're still trying to decide on names for our little one... to no avail. We have some options that we're considering, but it's a really tough decision! How does everyone make it look so easy? Everything is too popular, too strange, too old-fashioned, or just plain weird! Hopefully we'll come to a conclusion soon, I'm ready to start buying monogrammed things!!!

In other news, I scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound this weekend, and it just happens to fall on Jed's birthday. I think it will be fun to see our little girl on video for his birthday! :)

I finally remembered to take tummy pictures for this week, and just in the nick of time! We start 25 weeks tomorrow! Here are a couple:

As a side note:

As I look at these photos, I really am beginning to wonder about something...Why do maternity clothes always have horizontal stripes? Everyone knows they make you look wider, so why on earth would they expect a pregnant woman to feel any differently? A friend brought that up the other day, and seeing these pictures makes me believe it! As much as I like this outfit, I just really don't get the stripe concept. Don't get me wrong, I'm not feeling bad about my weight gain (at least at this point), but a LOT of women are VERY self-conscious about the weight they gain during pregnancy, so why would you tempt them with horizontal stripes? I just can't follow the reasoning here, even from a marketing perspective!

Okay, enough of my ranting... :)

Have a great week, everyone!

Weeks 21-22

I know, I know... I said I would keep this thing updated more often... Sorry!

Other than Pantherette competition, not too much has been going on, so this post is mostly to put up new belly pictures for those who have asked. Here they are:

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

Somebody needed attention! :)

I missed taking a 23 week picture because I was gone to competition for half of the week, then forgot when I got home because I was so busy unpacking, etc. I'm at the end of 24 weeks today, so I'll be sure to get one this evening and get it posted ASAP!

Weeks 19 and 20

Well, so much for posting once a week... Sorry, guys!

I mainly wanted to create this post to show off my new belly. For those of you who know me, I've been pretty much the same size/weight since high school, so this whole "having a tummy" thing is taking a little getting used to!

This week, according to Baby Center, the baby is about the size of an heirloom tomato:

Here's what I look like at 19 weeks:

19 Weeks!

We had a really good time at the 20 week ultrasound this week! We found out that we're having a little girl!!! We got to see all of the technical details (I had NO idea what the sonographer was talking about), and she said that all was well with our little princess! We watched her moving around in there and even got a shot of her sucking her thumb! I would post the ultrasound pictures, but I honestly get a little creeped out looking at other people's, so I won't subject you to that... I'll just post some more belly pictures to make up for it!

20 Weeks!

Close-up!

Our little girl is growing so fast! We're excited, but it seems so much more "real" to us now that we've actually SEEN her moving around. It's especially real to me because I'm feeling her squirm around in there now!

Officially, she's the length of a banana this week:

My tummy is getting bigger by the day, so I'm trying really hard to document the changes as well as I can. I promise to keep it up!