Some Pictures!

AlyssaRose!!

Proud Daddy!

Proud Mommy!

BATH TIME! (3 WEEKS OLD)
Not sure about baths! Ha!

HERE SHE IS!!

ALYSSA ROSE HAS ARRIVED!


She was born on Feb. 6th at 6:04 PM! She weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 20 inches long! She is a precious gift from God and we are truly blessed!


It was quite an experience for me. I was scheduled to be induced so I went to the hospital on Tues. February 5th around 8:00 pm. Andy and my sister Maria came with me.

I got settled and around 9:00 pm they gave me a pill to help ripen the cervix and get contractions started. About an hour later I had pains in my back. Oh and I got the IV put in, talk about OUCH! Yeah - anyhow, as each hour passed, the pain was getting worse. Maria left around 12:00 and Andy and I went to sleep around 12:30. By 2:00 am I was in a lot of pain and got up and rang for the nurse. She gave me something she called a "cocktail" so that the pain wasn't so bad so I could get some sleep. At 6:00 am a team came in to put some kind of "balloon" to help me dilate - yeah, I won't even get into how much pain THAT was! I can still feel it if I really think about it. By 9:00 am I was in AGONY! I was crying and Dr. Bailey walked in and said "I think you are ready for an epidural" Um, YEAH, I'd say so! ha! That hurt like a, well you know ~anyhow, after that, NOTHING! No pain- it was just WAITING to dilate ~ well, I was having contractions constantly but NEVER EVER DILATED! By 5:00 pm that day, Dr. Bailey came in and said I had a couple options ~ unhook everything that was in me and let me go home and come back the following week and do it all over again, OR get a c~section. Well, after all that I said "Let's go, get this baby out!" So after some preparation and scrubbing up, they started the procedure which was SO fast! Of course I was out of it with all the drugs in me but it was really amazing. I remember some of the conversation that took place, definitely talked about Grey's Anatomy which was funny!


When Dr. Bailey said "It's a girl" all I could shout was "Thank You Jesus! Alyssa Rose is here" and I looked at Andy and asked if he was OK that she was a girl cause I know he wanted a boy. He was in love the second he saw her! He is overjoyed!!


She is now 3 weeks and 1 day old! It's been overwhelming but the most wonderful experience a woman could ever have. I can't believe she is here and that I am a Mommy!! She doesn't cry much ~ only when hungry, needs a diaper change which she doesn't even cry much during that because she's so busy staring at a big black and white bear we have in her crib! She loves Mr. Bear! :)


So there she is folks ~ she's here and we couldn't be more grateful for Alyssa! :)

Just about time!

Wow, mid January is here! Hard to believe I started this blog a year ago and here I am in my last stages of pregnancy! Once again, I repeat myself in saying that this WHOLE entire experience has been nothing but a blessing! I give the Lord ALL the praise and glory for such a wonderful pregnancy. No worries almost 99% of the time! :) Now that I am down to the wire, I have to say a little bit of anxiety is working it's way in, only because I don't know what I am in for once I go into labor, but my trust is in the Lord so, I have to let go of that little anxiety and know God is in control and I will get through it.

I had a couple of Baby Showers that were such a blessing. Funny how when you feel like you really don't have a lot of friends, how many you really do have and are blessed to have them in your life. Especially when you move, not to far, but even so, they go the extra mile for you to make your shower special! I can't thank my sister-in-law Laurie, my sister Maria, and Roseanne enough for hosting wonderful showers and my friend Paula for helping out with both! Everyone that attended either of these are truly a blessing and I cherish each and every one of them.

I am officially done with work now and I'm really glad because I've been having lower back pain, a little bit of trouble sleeping (yeah I know, enjoy it now because soon I will be sleep deprived!) and my thumbs are killing me and the numbness in both hands are really bothering me! I pray that goes away soon! The baby has been moving SO much these last few days, I feel like there's a relay race going on in my tummy! HA! I guess I have a runner coming my way, hope I can keep up! :)

I cannot wait until our angel arrives! I am so exited to see what the Lord has blessed us with and am ready for creating memories with this child :) I can't wait to introduce "baby" to all my family and friends in the coming months too! This is going to be one of the biggest blesssings in my life and I so look forward to being the best Mommy I can be - that goes for Daddy too! It's so awesome to see Andy so excited for such a time as this!! He's going to be a great Dad!

Once again, thank you for reading this, and for looking at my picture only since I'm sure you are all like, "Um c'mon Vick, stop being the camera hog and lets get some pictures of your baby on here! ":) I am so excited about getting pictures of baby"who" on here, believe me! So, this will be my last blog until baby arrives, deal? :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

WOW! I can't believe how fast December went and that I am now ALMOST 8 months pregnant! What an incredible journey it has been. I would say the most recent things taking place is that I have BAD pain in both thumbs, numbness and tingles in my right hand and that I get tired VERY early at night. I try to do as much as possible when I have a good amount of energy but once I feel a little tired, BAM, I'm done! :)

I went and visited my old friends at Vanguard on December 19th and went to my favorite place for lunch, Anthonys!! Went with my old team members! It was great seeing them! I miss them so much!

Baby is probably over 4 pounds now and I have been having to go to Lankenau every week for "non stress tests". They have been going well and the baby moves A LOT during them which is what they love to see.

The baby's room is now finished! Just need a few "items" to add to it and it will be complete! I have already gone out and bought the baby some clothes :) I am getting so excited! I sometimes can't believe it is real but when I watch my stomach move all around, it's just so amazing like, I can't believe I'm going to be a Mother!!

My sister started a baby pool so, everyone is guessing the date, gender and weight! I've had so many mixed guesses that I have NO idea what I am having, I can't even guess! HA!

Well, that's about it for now. I may be able to post once more before the big day! I thank you all for reading this and asking for updates and leaving comments! Have a safe and BLESSED 2008!

28 Weeks!!

Welcome back! I know, I know, it's been a little while and I've had many of you ask me when I was going to update this! As you can see I am growing in leaps and bounds and feeling good! I am amazed at how much bigger I am compared to the last update at 20 weeks! The neat thing is, I am only gaining weight in my tummy and no where else, what a blessing! :)

At the end of October, I had a devestating time with my oldest cat, Sheerah. I had to put her to sleep and that was just tragic to me. I had her for almost 15 years and just over night, she turned for the worse. She had a large mass in her intestine and all her lymphnodes were inflamed. I still cry a lot til this day because she was my #1 cat and I can't believe she is gone. Life is so different without her. I was hoping that my grieving wouldn't affect the baby and many told me it wouldn't but crying when pregnant is so different than crying when you're not. It's a deeper, more emotional cry, it's not fun.

Moving on, I have NOT found out the sex of the baby and have MANY people telling me their opinion! There are SO many pregnant woman at Commerce and they ALL know they are having a girl! There aren't many surprises in life so I want this to be a big surprise, though I am dying to know what this baby is now! ha! I have gone and bought a few outfits because I couldn't resist them and I want baby to be VERY warm coming home in what may be a cold February :) Plus being the baby's Mommy, I wanted to get baby their first outfit :)

It's coming down to the wire and I'm not really nervous yet, just can't believe I have 3 months to go! You all know how fast the holidays come and go so, time will fly by! We are starting to work on the baby's room, going with the Soft and Fuzzy Pooh theme :) I've always loved Winnie the Pooh :)

Baby has been enjoying Friendly's Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Sundae's every so often :) Mommy enjoys feeding that to baby too! HA! :)

My next appointment is November 29th which I will have the Gestational Diabetes test. I won't get to have an ultra sound until weeks 32 and 36 - That is too long for me to wait to see the baby but, baby has been movin' and shakin' a lot :) I love the movements, it's just an amazing feeling!

This is a novel - but I'm happy you have requested updates! I won't wait as long next time, I promise :)

Starting to Pop! :)

Only 12 days after my last blog update and I think I grew over night! ha! I have been very "itchy" and that, I hear means my skin is stretching and little one is growing! :) Oh this has been the best experience in my life. I love being pregnant! I feel great, (not to be modest but people have told me I look great) and I am truly blessed! It's just been an incredible 4 1/2 months! I have felt something more than fluttering, I'm just waiting for the big KICK and seeing toes or fingers protruding across my tummy! That will be freaky :)

I go back to the Dr's on Tues. September 25th for measurements and I guess an ultrasound. I know I have other tests coming up for things like diabetes etc. I'm not worried because this is truly a gift from God and I know everything will be alright.

That's about it for now - feel free to leave comments :) I'll be printing these out to put in a memory book for little one to read someday! Thanks!

Feeling Great!

Well, today is 18 weeks of pregnancy and everything is going great! Went to my Dr's on Thursday and he said that everything looks to be developing wonderfully and he said "You have one BIG baby in there!" :) I got to see the baby and hear the heartbeat :) He printed out pictures for me again and I got to see such cool pictures of the baby's spine and rib cage, the baby's brain development, how big this baby's legs are! :) Seems very healthy and I am very blessed. The fun part is at the end when my Dr. says "Oh I see what you're having". I was like, WHAT? What am I having? And my sister shouts, "NO WE DON'T WANT TO KNOW"! So I was like, Oh :( My Dr. knows what I'm having but I don't!!! ha! That's what surprises are all about!

Got to enjoy a wonderful week down the shore! You can see by my belly how good I ate while on vacation! ha! :) I have finally gained some weight at 4 months which is good, mainly baby!

I go back for my 20 week appt. at the end of September.