First Photo's, Dr.'s appts, and Many Thanks

I can't believe two weeks have already gone by!!! We've had a couple Dr.'s appointments and she was slow to gain back her weight, but today at her two week appointment Sophie was up to 8 lbs adn 13.5 ounces (1.5 over birth weight) so we no longer have to wake her up for feedings every three hours! If they were correct in the hospital with her height, she has already grown 1 1/4 inches as well. Today she was 21 3/4 inches! She is thriving and doing extremely well.

We can not thank everyone enough for the support and love during the first few weeks of her life. It is amazing how such a little girl can make such a huge difference is so many people's lives. Kyle and I are completely and totally in love and couldn't imagine life without her now. I am sitting here now looking over on the couch watching Kyle cuddle with and stare at our beautiful little girl.

We had our first photo session last week when Sophie was just 4 days old. We should get the complete set of proofs in a few weeks, but the photographer put a few up as a "sneak peek" of what is to come. Please check them out at www.jodylynnphoto.com/blog/

We have gotten lots and lots of thoughtful gifts, but a couple days ago a box came from my Aunt in New York and in it was a beautiful monogrammed prayer blanket that was placed upon the alter at her church and prayed upon by the whole church. It is extremely special to us and we can't wait to tell Sophie the story behind it. However, the most precious thing in the package she sent was my grandma Lillian's silver baby cup from 1921! This was the amazing woman that Sophie was named after and I can't explain how much it means for us to have such a special keepsake that was made for her when she was born. Thank you so much Aunt Linda, words just can't explain just how much these gifts mean to our new family!!!

Sophie Lillian Jaacks is here!!!

Sophie was born on July 17th at 3:38. Weighing 8 lbs. 12oz. and 20 1/2 inches. Contractions started on Wedneday July 15th around 10PM and continued through the night and all through the next day. We did our best to stay comfortable at home as long as possible, but ended up going to the hospital about 28 hours later around 2 am on Friday, the 17th. After some much needed relief by my new best friend, the anesthesiologist, we rested comfortably until around 10AM. We started pushing at noon and after three hours and three redoses from my best friend, she just didn't want to budge. The doctor was called and we had to make a choice whether to try a vacuum or go directly to the operating room. The doctor came back with forceps and two contractions later she was out. Turns out she was face up (OP) and no one knew it, causing her to be stuck in my pelvis all that time.

After a long 41hours, everyone is happy and healthy. We had a great hospital stay with wonderful doctors and nurses and are glad to be home. Now its just trying our best to get into a routine and show this little girl just how much we love her and will do anything in the world to make her happy.

Thank you for all the well wishes, gifts, and cards. Kyle and I couldn't be any happier to be new parents to an amazing and beautiful little girl.

Nursery is just about finished!

After a lot help and hard work from my dad, we have almost finished the nursery and got all the furniture loaded in. Just a few touches like her mattress, some pictures and a few other small things should finish it up. It has changed a lot from the mustard colored guest room that it used to be, to become this beautiful room for our little one.

Other than that, all is going well, we had a little scare last night when our little dancing queen hadn't been doing all that much dancing, so the Doctor sent us to the hospital to check things out. All was well, and after 24 hours of little movement, we got home and she decided to keep me up all night playing soccer with my ribs.

We also got to meet our newest family member. Nolan Howell Welch was born on May 4th! He weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. He is truely a blessing, mom, dad and baby are doing well, and big brother Wyatt is great with him.

Quick Update

I had another appointment yesterday and got a few new pictures of the little one. She weighs 1 lb. 9 oz. at 23 weeks 6 days and is measuring 2 days ahead at 24 weeks 1 day. The doctor showed me a chart with baby's weights and she falls exactly in the middle of too big and too small, so our little girl is just right :)

She was extremely active so it was difficult to get a good picture. Here are the only two she actually cooperated for. The one on the left is just a baby foot, but a darn cute one!

Nesting

So my wise cousin, Brian, was right on when he mentioned that we would start nesting pretty soon and trying to get everything just perfect for our new little girl. Kyle and I have been throwing around names and thinking about how we're going to decorate her room, where she will play, and if we have the right cars to transport the most important thing in our lives.

We have picked out and purchased her bedding and we found a fun set that is decorated with birdies. Going along with that theme, this is what my kitchen table has looked like for a few weeks now. I'm making birds with my 4th anniversary gift, a scroll saw, and painting them to put into the mural that I plan to paint in her room. I am also making a few other animals to add throughout the room. I've only completed this frog and a butterfly so far, but I've got a few more on my list.

We've been staying pretty busy lately....my sister, Erica, was on spring break last week so she, her son, Wyatt, my mom and I went to the Atlanta zoo and did some shopping. The picture shows Wyatt's first ride on a merry-go-round....he was a little nervous at first, holding on to Erica for dear life, but he finally realized how much fun it was and started to relax a little. I have to add that this is the only monkey that he would come anywhere close to....he liked to look at them, but would not even come close to the enclosure that they lived in. All we kept hearing is "go see more" as we moved from exhibit to exhibit.

I have been taking the cake decorating classes that I have always wanted to take, hopefully that will make birthdays a little cheaper in the future! Kyle is staying busy with work and flying a few times a month with his Guard unit. I have two more weeks that I am allowed to fly, then I'll be grounded until after the baby.

It's a Girl!!!

So during our appointment everything looked great....our little girl was measuring a few days ahead and no evidence of anything to worry about...but, she was already acting like a little lady with her legs crossed, not wanting anyone to check in between them. It took the Ultrasound Tech and Doctor a few tries to get her to move into a position where they could get a peek. We told her that she had to cooperate because everyone was coming over to share the big news!!!

Kyle and I had been thinking boy the whole time, but on the way home, the envelope just seemed to be screaming pink, but we didn't look!

We dropped the envelope by the bakery and while walking out, the lady ran out and said, here, we already looked, we don't want to get buttercream all over it, and handed me back the envelope. What torture, it sat on our fireplace mantle all afternoon until we cut into the cake.

Our wonderful family started showing up throughout the afternoon. I fixed the little kids dinner, and they watched Nemo while the adults ate their dinner, except for little Natalie, she was looking for the cake that had been brought in earlier!

After some clean-up it was finally time for the cake!!! With an overwhelming vote for blue, the three that voted pink won out. Dad was right, like he always is, he seemed to know it was a little girl!

Check back often to updates along the way, we can't wait to meet this little girl and introduce her to everyone who made Kyle and I who we are!

Routine Visit

We had our montly routine visit yesterday and heard the heartbeat on the doppler for the first time! The Dr. seems to think it is a boy because the heartbeat was so strong. What an amazing confirmation that the baby is still in there and alive. I still am not feeling "it" move, the Dr. says that it could be any day now or up to 3 weeks until I can feel it.

We did schedule our "big" ultrasound though, we are going to find out if this is a pink or blue baby on February 24th!!! I've already scheduled a dinner with both families that evening. After the appointment, I am going to bring the sealed envelope over to a local bakery and have them frost a cake with either pink or blue and then cover it with white icing so we can not see what color it is. After dinner we will all cut into it and discover if we're having a boy or girl!!! We can't wait!

Testing

So the Dr. gave Kyle and I the option to have some prenatal testing done to determine whether our baby was at an increased risk for down syndrome or spina bifida. At first it did not matter whether we did these tests or not because we were not going to terminate the pregancy either way. However when they told us the test was an ultrasound we jumped all over it. Any opportunity to see our little one is much welcomed. Our profile picture is the ultrasound that was taken on Wednesday, January 7th at 13 weeks along. We call this picture our "Can can"
baby because he/she was kicking all over the place.

The Nuchal Translucency was measured (It's the space behind the neck) and measured well within normal tolerances and the nasal bone was well developed which is a great sign that there is little risk of down syndrome. Other than that, the Doctor said everything was looking great and the baby was measuring exactly where it should be.