Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Visit

Lyla had her first visit with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Stajgr today. Of course she was a perfect angel even with Grandma poking and proding her...it is hard not to look at her little hands and feet...ha ha. Danny and I usually keep her wrapped pretty snug. It was very special for them to make the trip up. Danny and I really loved their visit. I know Lyla may have been asleep through most of it but she loved it as well!

First Bath (and mess!)

Lyla had her first bath today. She wasn't quite sure about the experience but loved the after....cuddling up with Mommy! :) We gave her one because we had quite the mess this morning...while Danny was changing her diaper she pee'd all over herself again. And while mommy was trying to help (waiting on the side lines to feed her) I leeked milk all over her and myself. Needless to say it was time for a little washing for both of us :)

Caught Napping

Well it wasn't exactly napping since we had been up all night with little Lyla but I couldn't resist snapping this photo this morning of my two favorite people. Lyla loves to snuggle! And of course as a parent who can't resist snuggling with their daughter.

Lyla Nouvelle Savage

Our little Lyla Nouvelle Savage was born Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 10:58am. She weighed 8lbs, 6 ozs and measured 19inches long. Labor began early Wednesday morning when my water broke around 3am. We were laying in bed, my contractions had been on and off all day but as previous days before nothing to serious. I was up watching a movie...between the contractions and her moving around I couldn't sleep. All it took was one strong one for me to feel the sudden urge to get up and as soon as I did a ton of fluid came flowing from my body. Of course from there we called pearl place, got a hold of the midwife on call and started heading towards the hospital. It didn't take long after my water broke for the contractions to start coming on full force. My contractions oddly enough for being so inconsistent in the beginning came full force and quickly. It didn't take long for me to request a epidural which saved me from what I believe would have been a c-section. My contractions were coming on every 30-45 seconds with very little break...sometimes no break at all. If I had any doubt about epidurals before I retract it. It was a life saver. Unfortunately we weren't in the clear. By the time I was ready to push and dialated to 10 Lyla got wedged in my pelvis. After quite a while of pushing and several different positions they called in the doctor. She felt strongly that she could get her out with a little force and suggested using a vaccum. Because I was so close she felt it was the best option. Sadly it still didn't happen right away. After several more attempts and pulling, Lyla got down low enough that they were able to cut a larger opening to get her head out. I don't think the experience was great for either of us but she made it out. Safe. Beautiful. And soooo wonderful! I did end up with a fourth degree tear and Lyla has a rather large bruise on her head (doctor said it resembles a 1st degree burn). We are both on the mend but healing faster and better then to be expected.

Now I know being the parents of this wonderful little girl our views are a little slanted but even the nursing staff was talking about how gorgeous she is...they would come from different floors to take a look. Soooo CUTE!!! She has fabulous skin already. Dark brown hair (not a ton of it but some). HUGE eyes. They look brown right now but every once in a while there seems to be a tint of blue. Of course as they develop we'll have a better idea. She has the longest fingers and cutest little toes. Baby feet and hands I have to say are my favorite. Either way the prettiest girl ever!

We are home now. They released us the following day. All three of us are a little exhausted but doing great! Thank you to everyone for all the warm wishes. We will do our best in the next few weeks to get lots of pictures up.

Nursery Additions

Two new additions to the nursery! A chair we purchased at Macys and yes we realize it doesn't rock but have you seen the rockers out there...sooooo not my style. This will be cozy and a perfect place to sit down when we need to...read a book...snuggle...and when we don't need it in that room anymore it can travel to other rooms in our house perfectly. The other worry may be the cream color but we purchased a pretty secure protection plan so no worries. I do think we'll get a small ottaman to go with it...there are some great ones out there that convert to storage as well. The other new element is a little something I have been working on forever. For those of you that have been to our home these black (chalk board painted) blank canvas have been in our home since we moved in. I never knew what I wanted to draw on them. I am still not sure these fit with the room but for now they work. I drew flowers to mimic the ones in the fabric.

Basically this room is pretty complete we just wanted to share the final updates.

Here's hoping....

So yesterday I had my first scare...more of a 'over protective momma-to-be' panic then anything ... you see ... sometime during the day yesterday I started really swelling. Not a ton by comparison to others but a lot for me. That probably wouldn't have put up a red flag to me but my little girl wasn't really moving either. Now don't get me wrong she isn't much of a kicker to begin with but in these last few weeks as her quarters have gotten tighter and tighter I have felt every movement and I wasn't feeling much of anything. I called the doctor's office and a midwife luckily was still there just about to close up. She got me in thankfully and ran a stress test. The baby was fine! Super actually. The surprising news was while I was laying there I was also having contractions! Not big ones because of course I really didn't notice them that much. My contractions right now feel more like menstral cramps, sometimes they pinch a little or often I feel pressure in my back but they aren't life altering (not yet anyway). The news that was hard to ignore was when she said that I might be having this baby by the weekend. Now I am trying not to get to excited but of course they can't exactly predict the future or how quickly I will progress...these little contractions could go on for weeks but here's hoping...I mean wouldn't that be amazing!

UPDATE: Went for schedule appointment this morning...it is official...dilated 2cm! It is really anyone's guess still when this little girl is going to grace us with her presense but they are thinking it will be in the next few days! :)

Bags packed, nursery finished, house cleaned...no baby

Well we are getting down to the final weeks...13 days left to be exact. House is clean (for the moment), our overnight bags are packed for the hospital sitting by the front door and the nursery is finally completely finished. I have to admit I feel pretty much like a time bomb waiting to go off. Every call I make someone is waiting on the other end hoping I am about to share some exciting news...to tell them it is time...

Sadly being the planner that I am this stage is driving me nuts. I want to be prepared. I want to have it all together. I want to know how far advance I can schedule into the future. I want to know "can I RSVP for that" or "should I plan for three instead of two." I know it is going to be the moment that I am completely not together that she'll be ready to make her arrival and that makes me crazy!

The good news is I feel ready. Mentally and physically. More physically then anything. Every day I am amazed my stomach can get any bigger or she can drop any lower. This process really is a miracle.

Nursery update

Well after many, many, many months of staring at the fabric purchased for the curtains, bumper and crib skirt I finally finished them. Of course like any perfectionist I feel it is full of flaws but I have to remind myself I am not my mom (the sewer extrodinair...I wish I were) and this is really my first time attempt at anything like this. We still have a little more work to go. I have to finish organizing everything and we are waiting on the chair which was purchased from Macys last week. It will be delivered next Saturday but the blinds are up, bedding is done, all major pieces have been purchased. I had a few more hopes and dreams for this room but for now I think they might have to wait. All in all I feel it is coming together pretty well and I am pleased.

PUPPPs Cured!

For those of you that have never heard of PUPPPs it is...

Pruritic Uticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy, a benign, severely itchy and painful skin rash, that occurs in one out of 240 pregnancies and leaves the expectant mother in despair for relief.

PUPPP, as some women describe the rash, in a comparison to a feeling of poison oak and chicken pox, generally begins around the abdomen or thighs and can spread over the entire body except for the face, neck and hands. It has the appearance of bumpy, itchy papules that eventually spread to take on the appearance of reddened, scalded skin with welts. It generally feels worse at night and often causes sleep loss due to the intense itch. PUPPP goes away after giving birth.

Needless to say I am one of the cursed or was...amazingly enough after much research I think I found a solution. I say I think because I am not completely positive it won't come back. Being the good listener I am, I did what my doctor told me but because they were not hopeful and said that the only real cure was giving birth I began searching for an alternative. I still have several weeks to go before our little girl will be ready and PUPPPs really is like chicken pox at its worst....when you throw pregnancy in the mix...UGG!!!...needless to say I was beginning to be a not so pleasant person to be around. Now this is going to sound weird but I started taking Dandelion. I read many rave reviews online of pregnant woman that swore by it so I tried it for myself and amazingly enough just like they said after about a week my rash was gone. I still have a few marks (almost scare like but I know they aren't) but no itch! No swelling! No rash! It is a miracle! Now I can't say that it was just the dandelion that cured it. I was also using a cream and antihistimin prescribed by the doctor. I'd been using those for a few days before starting up with the Dandelion. At that time they were only subduing the problem not curing it but I can't say the combination isn't what did it. All I can say is "ladies, if you ever happen to get this go to the homepathic section and buy yourself some dandelion!" I am a believer.