Getting a Manicure

Here is Lexi just relaxing while Mommy files her nails:

Here is our sleeping beauty

"More like Mommy everyday"

In deep thought:

A Short Video

Click on the picture to see a video of Lexi with the hiccups!


Lexi's Video

Busy Weekend

This was the first weekend that we were able to get out of the house as

a family and actually feel normal.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party and Lexi had

her first encounter with a snake!!!!

She slept through the entire thing. I think that Daddy was more afraid of the snake than Lexi! It was an Albino Boa Constrictor that was about 10 ft long! Yikes!

Then Saturday night we bought our first "Family Vehicle." After a few weeks of cramming all of us in a tiny Honda Civic, we decided that we needed something a little more family friendly.

Sunday, we finally made it to church... About 20 minutes into the service, Lexi had a little melt down, so I had to make a quick escape to the nearest door and missed the rest of the service....Oh well! It was worth a try anyway. But we sure got a lot of attention... everyone wanted to see the little baby!!!

By Sunday afternoon, both Lexi and Mommy were pretty tired. Daddy caught us taking a nap together. This recliner is where I spend most of my nights. I count myself lucky if I get an hour of sleep in our bed!

Look at how precious she is when she sleeps... now if she could only be this peaceful at night!

But instead, this morning at 2am she is wide awake and smiling!

Food Coma

When Lexi eats she gets into a "food coma" daze. She drinks her bottle down SO fast that she appears almost drunk off of her food when she is done. We just get a kick out of it!

Here is what she looks like:

Okay... of course we have to post even more pictures:

Our sleeping angel

A Smile? Or just Gas?

You be the judge...

Trying to wake up:

Here we are trying out our new baby carrier... its a lot trickier than it looks...

It is a peice of fabric that is 18 feet long and you have to wrap it around several times and then try to put a baby in it... CRAZY! It worked at first... then she started sliding. I think we need more practice!

Thank goodness for digital cameras!

With the amount of pictures that we have taken of Lexi, it would cost us a small fortune to develop all the film if we didn't have a digital camera!! My goodness! If Lexi ever decides to become a movie star, she will be used to all the pictures!

So is this a sign that we need to stop taking so many pictures?

Is she flipping us off?

And here is one of Lexi and Mommy

(since we haven't posted many of the two of us)

Happy Pictures of our Lexi

The hospital pictures are pretty sad, so here are some that are "cute."

This was her first bath. She tolerated it VERY well.

She loves her vibrating bouncy seat



The big girl already wants to hold her pacifier




She is sleeping like an angel... holding her hands

We had quite a scare!

We came home from the hospital on Thursday (April 5) with orders from the Dr to go see a lactation specialist the next day.

At the appointment on Friday morning, it was determined that Lexi was dehydrated and they wanted us to supplement with formula. 2oz every 2 hours. Once we got home she was sleepy and not interested in eating. By 3:30pm she had only had about 3oz and was VERY lethargic.

She stopped responding to touch and was in a daze. No matter what we did she would not move. So we rushed her to the closest urgent care. They were not set up for a baby so they transferred us to another hospital in the area that was better equipped.

We got to the new hospital at 11pm and by 3am they had still not really determined what was going on. I knew that something was wrong, but all the nurses were saying that she is sleepy because she is a newborn.... but I know my baby... something was seriously wrong. FINALLY at 4am, a nurse noticed that she wasn't responding to pain - they pricked her foot for a blood test and she didn't cry or even startle. So that started a whirl wind of tests.

Basically they determined that she was severely dehydrated and was diagnosed as "failure to thrive." (because she wasn't eating very well)

Over the next few days they continued to re-hydrate Lexi, but she was still having problems eating. She couldn't wake up long enough to eat. Saturday night we called the Dr in to see us and she realized that the IV fluids were causing her to not feel hungry. The Dr discontinued her IV fluids and by 3am on Sunday morning she was waking up every few hours to eat. What a relief!

They performed numerous tests on her and thankfully she did not have any underlying issues other than dehydration. After a few days of observation, she was allowed to come home with us on Monday afternoon!

Now that we are home, Mike and I are pretty anxious. We constantly check on her when she is sleeping and count down the minutes until she wakes up. We are charting her food intake and constantly checking to make sure that she is eating enough. I'm sure that we will continue to stay a little paranoid for a while, but we cant help it.

Here are a few pictures of Lexi in the hospital:

Pictures

Here are some pictures of her first few days... there will be many more...

Lexi and Daddy sticking their tounges out at each other:

*Yawn* .... Daddy has her dressed up in his favorite brand: Nike (Good thing it comes in pink)


So content

With her cousin, Caroline (3)

Look at the size difference! Her cousin Jack is 5 months old

Just got the news that we could go home from the hospital - Yeah!!!

Lexi is ready to go!

Out the door we go

Well thats it for now.... there will be more later!

She's here!! Our Birth Story

Well Alexis finally arrived on Tuesday. We are are so in love with her. She is a beautiful addition to our family.

Since she decided that she was a little too comfortable in mommy's tummy, the Dr decided to induce labor a week after she was due. We arrived at the hospital at 5am and by the time we were checked in and settled, it was about 8am when they started the drugs to induce. I received an epidural so I could not feel a thing. It was GREAT! I was having really hard contractions, and still carrying on conversations.

A little after 1pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. Both of the Grandmas were there to help and cheer me on. After about an hour of pushing and wonderful encouragement from Mike, she was out! They said that usually it takes a first time mom about 2 hours of pushing. (There was NO way I would have lasted that long.)

As soon as she came out Daddy followed her around the room to watch her get cleaned up and checked out. She is VERY healthy and scored 9 out of 10 for all of her "Apgar" tests. Daddy was just beaming! I've never seen him SO excited and proud.



The last few days have been both VERY exciting and exhausting. We finally came home from the Hospital Thursday afternoon and we are all doing well. It is so strange to have a baby in our home. But we are loving every minute of it.

We are on our way!

Its about 4 am and we are getting ready to go to the hospital. We are SO excited. Of course I didn't sleep more than about 2 hours, but I am hoping that the adrenaline will keep me going today. Mike slept well, but then again, he can fall asleep anytime, anywhere...

Please pray for a fast and safe delivery today! We cant wait to meet our little girl!

Tomorrow is the day!

Well we finally have a birth-day! Lexi has decided to be stubborn and doesn't want to come out on her own, so the Dr scheduled us to be induced tomorrow (April 3) at 5am! Yikes! Thats really early, but let me tell you - I'm perfectly fine with it! I'm so excited that this is my last day of being pregnant!

I'm sure that I wont sleep well tonight because of the anticipation. I cant wait to meet our little girl.

We will try to update this site with pictures as soon as we get the chance, but it may not be until Wednesday or Thursday.... so please be patient!

Still Waiting....

Well by now we thought that we would be holding our little Lexi... however, she has proven that she is the star of the show and she will come when she is ready.

I went for a Non-Stress Test yesterday to check up on the baby to make sure that she is doing alright. Her heart beat is strong and she has the proper amount of fluid around her. According to the ultra sound she is in the correct position, so now she just needs to come out. The tech was actually shocked that I haven't gone into labor now that I am dilated to 4cm.

I think the most frustrating part of it is that on Monday my Dr gave me a 24-48 hr time frame of when he thought she would be born.... and we have passed that mark by a long shot.

All of my family arrived safely and they will be here until next Friday. My dad is off Jury Duty now, so that means he gets to stay a full week. (He was only going to be able to stay for 4 days.) So since Lexi is running a little late, he will be able to be here for her birth. Maybe she was just waiting for all the family to get here.

I'm beginning to think that she is playing an April Fools joke on us, so unless she comes tomorrow, I will most likely be induced on Monday or Tuesday.

Stay tunned!

Here is a picture of me that was taken yesterday - On my official Due Date

Lexi is just snug as a bug.

The End Is Near

I went to the Dr today and I have dilated to 4cm!!!! Yeah! I've made some progress this week! At least all of these contractions have been doing something. (other than making me crazy)

So my Dr thinks that I will go into labor within 24-48 hours. If I dont, I have an appointment on Friday to do a Non-Stress Test to make sure that Lexi is doing alright and to be sure that an Induction would be sucessful and safe. Then we will schedule the Induction for Monday or Tuesday of next week.

I really dont want to be pregnant for ANOTHER week, but I want a healthy beautiful baby and I trust my Dr's. So if they say to wait, then I will wait.

My mom and sister will be coming down here on Wednesday to keep me company until I go into labor. (Unless I go into labor before then) They were going to be driving on Thursday night, but they dont want to miss a thing. So that means that my Dad will be flying down here on Friday. (He is on Jury Duty and only has a few days off).

I feel like we've changed plans so many times.... but it just proves that you cant make plans around a baby... they will come when they are good and ready. I think the Lexi is extra stubborn in this department!!!

So hopefully the next post will be announcing the arrival of Alexis! Yeah!

So there IS an end in sight

Am I a drama queen? Maybe a little bit! But honestly - Last week I really felt like I would be pregnant forever.

I went to the Dr on Monday (19th) and thankfully I'm starting to make some progress, although it is just a little. I have been having contractions for the last week but they have not been close enough together to go to Labor and Delivery. The last thing we want to do is go to the hospital and get sent home. So we are going to wait it out until it is time. They cant tell how long it will take until I go into labor, but I did ask the Dr to induce me if Alexis hasn't arrived by the 30th.

My parents and sister will be arriving in Southern California on the 29th, and we all would like it if they were here for her birth. Although I would really like to have her before then, it would be really special for our family if everyone is here!

Here is a picture of my tummy. This was taken yesterday, one week before I'm due:



I dont feel like I'm getting any bigger, which is fine with me, but I can tell that I'm dropping.

Keep checking back, hopefully my next post will be announcing that I'm on my way to the hospital...... send some *Labor Prayers* please.

Going to be pregnant forever

Well I am 2 weeks away from my Due Date, however the Dr said that I'm not progressing and my body is not ready to go into labor... "yet." So I've decided that it is safe to say, that I'm going to be pregnant forever. (But he doesn't seem worried.)

When my Dr walked into the exam room today, he asked me how I'm doing and wanted to know if I have any questions.

So I took the opportunity to ask "Can we take her out today?" (Its worth a try)

He just laughed and shook his head. (does that mean no??)

He said that she will come when she is good and ready.... (well what if that never happens??? Okay Okay... I know that pregnancy isn't a new and mysterious condition, and babies DO come when they are ready, but what if Lexi decides to make medical history?)

I'm trying to keep my spirits up at this point, but I feel like I'm 20 months pregnant and my feet are so swollen I can only wear sandles. But thankfully Mike is wonderful and helps me see the humor in it all.

So keep checking back, hopefully next week I'll be able to report GOOD news.

3 Weeks to go...

Here we are - 3 weeks until Alexis is due to arrive in the world. She is now considered "Full Term" so she can come any time that she is ready!

A few weeks ago my Dr. put me on maternity leave so I've been busy getting all the last details together. We are getting really excited about the birth of our first child, but the reality of what is to come has started to hit us.

We went to the movies the other night and realized that once Lexi is here, going to the movies wont be such a spontaneous activity. We'll practically have to pack up our entire house just to run a simple errand.

We will probably be the typical "first time parents" by packing our entire house up every time we leave... but eventually we'll get it all figured out.

Here are some pictures of my pregnant belly as time has passed.

This is me at 5 months:

This is 6 Months:

This is 8 Months:






What a change! We'll see how my belly changes in the next few weeks. Hopefully I wont get too much bigger! Yikes!

Anyway, keep checking back and I will try to post the progress that we are making!