Last day of school Backyard Bash

Despite having a new baby in the house, we hosted the 4th Annual Backyard Bash on the last day of school.

We had about 32 kids in the pool & on the trampoline. Six hours later, the sleepover commenced. Yes, we are nuts!

Rachel is 2 weeks old

Eat, poop, sleep, cry...
Eat, poop, sleep, cry...
Eat, poop, sleep, cry...
Eat, poop, sleep, cry...
Eat, poop, sleep, cry...

She's here a bit early--Rachel Taylor Reddie arrives 4/30/2009 @ 4:32p.m.

I was hoping she'd come on the weekend. I still had one more of day of work & organization to get done. But I awoke early on Thursday to get some laundry & email done only to have my water break while getting dressed. We were at the hospital by 7:30a.m. Once we got out of triage and into a labor-and-delivery room the Pitocin drip was started to get the labor contractions going. Things progressed slowly until Dr. Alperin ordered the Pitocin up'd. Contractions got stronger & within 2 minutes of each other. Picture this, I'm on my side gripping the bed rail to work through the pain of each contraction while Mark is in the lazy boy chair reading a magazine. Time for the epidural prince to come in; had a great anaesthesiologist & relief was on the way. Before we knew it, I checked out at 9.5cm dilated--it's time. Dr. Alperin had Mark glove, gown & bootie up to help with the delivery. We were lucky to have a student nurse in the room whom I enlisted as the official photographer. At 4:32p.m. she arrived with a good cry, a near-perfect APGAR score, lots of dark hair, and long arms & fingers. Rachel Taylor Reddie, 7lbs 11oz, 21 inches long. She began nursing within the hour of her birth & is now an efficient eating and pooping machine.

Her big sisters love to hold her and are learning how to bathe and diaper her. They are so proud of her and marvel at the whole miracle of it all. Graycie, the dog, has sniffed her a few times, but seems generally uninterested.

Rachel woke up happy this morning, just flailing her long arms and making noises in her bassinet. We are so lucky to have a healthy baby girl!

Another Shower of Gifts!

Thanks to my Intel friends Ger, Charlotte, and Dede for hosting this baby shower. It was a fun afternoon on Ger's patio with delicious food and an entire playpen stuffed with hundreds of diapers & wipes.

36 Weeks- OMG only 4 weeks left to go!

Only 4 weeks to go & I'm definitely starting to slow down. I'm getting achy, hips hurt, and it's quite an effort to turn from side to side in bed, as well as, bending down to pick anything up. I feel like I just can't get enough oxygen; resorting to deep breathing.

Anne, Corissa, and Leslie threw me a baby shower a few weeks ago at the Lakes Clubhouse. We had fun with baby Pictionary & I got so much great stuff off my registry, plus the cool Ubi. I had fun organizing everything when I got home. I'm intrigued by these new "slings" that weren't around 7 years ago when I last had a wee one. We even let Mark come to the shower; I think he had fun. I asked him to cruise by the hospital's maternity entrance today so we know where we are going later. He took the wrong exit & failed that test!

I go to the Dr. on Tuesday & will be considered "full term" at that point, but the baby knows she can't come until after Pat's Run.

"She" is very active and strong; had some strong kicks today. She likes the sound of the basketball gym/games. It is so cool to feel her moving.

Craving In & Out Burger now; I must have one!

Another shower in store for tomorrow, hosted by my good friends from Intel, Dede, Ger and Charlotte. Can't wait to celebrate with more friends I haven't seen in a while. I am so lucky to have such good friends.

31 1/2 weeks

Ok, today's weigh-in showed 30 lbs gained so far. Thank goodness the Girl Scout Cookies are gone now. Yesterday was one of those days where I could swear I can feel myself getting bigger. She is getting stronger and delivering more shocking jabs and kicks.

30 Weeks; She's on the move

I'm now at 30 weeks and experiencing all the not-so-fun 3rd trimester symptoms--swelling in the hands and ankles, constipation, fatigue, heartburn. At least these are offset by the joy of feeling her poke, flip, kick, and stretch in the womb. She's most active at about 10pm and 2am. The girls and Mark have felt her from the outside, too. Whenever I exert myself I get the Braxton-Hicks contractions. Of course, defining "exert" these days doesn't take much--walking up the stairs, getting out of bed.

It's almost 90 degrees here today; we're headed to the clubhouse pool. I'll spare everyone the bikini & try to squeeze into an old one piece.

I'm so lucky to have good friends like Amarilys and Stephanie who have donated tons of baby goods and clothes. My mothers-in-law, mom, and sister have aleady started sending gifts. Two baby showers to come from 2 groups of friends...what fun.

Madi and her friend, Maggie, are singing on PS2's Sing Star game in the other room. Madi just turned 10 yesterday. She wants a cellphone. Julia just wants to do whatever her sister does and gets pissed when the big girls leave her out. It will be interesting to re-live them growing up, starting school, etc. all over again with the "new one".