Things are starting to get a little easier. We almost have a daily routine (though it's only a semi-established routine).
Lately Ayla and I have been sleeping in until around 11 (she keeps us up until almost 3 lately), we get up, get changed, cleaned, and dressed, have some breakfast, and Ayla promptly goes back to sleep! This is when I get to rush around the house like a crazy person trying to tidy up, shower, throw something in the crock pot for dinner, get laundry going, pump, get something to eat for myself, etc.
By the time any of that (usually only bits and pieces) gets done she is awake and wide-eyed, looking for lunch!
I discovered the greatest thing on XBOX Live... Last.FM! I can choose stations to listen to. Ayla and I prefer the Death Cab For Cutie station. It has all of our favorites, such as Death Cab, The Postal Service, Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, Modest Mouse, Minus the Bear, Mirah, Cursive, The Format, Brand New, Ben Kweller, Vampire Weekend, and soooo many more!
I honestly believe that Ayla recognizes music that I frequently listened to while I was pregnant with her. Mainly Rilo Kiley and Ben Kweller. I listened to them the most towards the end of my pregnancy and there are a few songs that I would put on repeat that seem to soothe her when nothing else can! ESPECIALLY the songs "With Arms Outstretched", "A Man, Then Me, Then Jim.", and "More Adventurous" by Rilo Kiley. We love Rilo Kiley. :)
Ayla is now 2 weeks and 3 days old! She had her 2 week doctor visit on Friday and she's doing great! She's exactly 7 pounds and 20 1/2" long. She's getting big! She's losing her newborn look and getting cute chubby cheeks. Her eyes are so wide all the time now!
Nights are getting better, slowly but surely. We're getting into a bit of a routine. I've even been able to get in my own bed for a few hours at a time! It's amazing how well I sleep in my own bed after being on the couch for the last month and a half!
It's hard to believe that our baby girl is already a week old! This week has flown by! I could not have survived it without my mom. How anyone could do this on their own without help is beyond me!
The past week so much has happened!
- We learned that Ayla is a night owl. oh my goodness. - She can finally latch on! yay! - We learned to change diapers super quick when she is still super sleepy so she won't cry - We learned that a vibrating baby bouncer is completely necessary. - I'm slowly learning that I NEED to sleep when she was sleeping because walking around the house all night is extremely tiring and I cannot survive off of two hours of sleep a night! - Things will be much more difficult without my mom here. - I can zip/button my pre prego jeans! YAY! (just gotta lose my little tummy) - I love my baby girl more than I could have ever imagined loving anything and I can stare at her for hours.
Well November 2nd (Ayla's "target" due date) came and went... Here I am, still pregnant. HUGELY pregnant, and completely miserable! I have a very stubborn little girl! I'm convinced that she knows how cold it is and is trying to hibernate for the winter.
I had a check-up yesterday and unfortunately my doctor had no good news for me. Not much progress when it comes to dilation and not really ready to induce either. She said: "We'll wait until next week and then we'll discuss scheduling an induction..." I said: "OH NO, let's schedule that induction now!" So she went ahead and put me on the schedule to be induced Monday, November 9th, at 6 AM. I'm really hoping that things happen naturally before then, I've heard being induced is much more painful than naturally going into labor.
Things are definitely looking up! It's 6:52 AM and I have been awake since about 3:30 AM timing my contractions. They started out 8 minutes apart, quickly jumped to 6 minutes, stayed there for an hour or so, and I've now been at 4 minutes apart for just over an hour, lasting anywhere from 35-55 seconds each. I'm about to make a call to Labor and Delivery and see if I can plllllllllllease come in now. I have been feverishly cleaning my house the past 3 hours and even though our car is all packed for a trip to the hospital I keep searching for things to bring with me. So not necessary!
Wish me luck on my second trip to the hospital... hopefully this time I will come home with little Ayla Marie!
Here are a few of the maternity photos that my great friend Lauren Stewart took! I am 9 months pregnant, far too huge to be taking any pictures... but it was now or never :)
Seriously... why am I still pregnant? Enough is enough! According to my count-down I have 20 days to go. Are you kidding me?! I can hardly even move!
My doctor's visit went routinely on Thursday and she let me know that I'm 2 CM dilated and 50% effaced. (TMI?) That was all very exciting until I found out that you can stay that way for like a month. Not cool. I have been starting to have pretty painful contractions, but nothing regular yet. Just enough for me to get uncomfortable and angry and then... nothing. I'm fine and fat again.
I've been trying to go on walks to get contractions going. It works. But as soon as I stop walking the contractions stop as well. Bleh.
I'm having a harder time sleeping at night because if I lay flat on my back I get heartburn (I'm not supposed to lay flat on my back anyway), and when I lay on my sides my hips go numb so I'm constantly having to flip over to my other side. When I have a 15 lbs basketball-sized belly, this is not easy. I feel like I am spending more time trying to find a comfortable position at night than actually sleeping! I may resort to sleeping in a sitting position on the couch, it's the best sleep I seem to get right now!
Today I skipped work, which I've been trying really hard not to do. When it came time to wake up I was so exhausted I just couldn't do it! I slept until 1 PM! It was wonderful. :) Joseph liked it because when he came home at 5 I was dressed and happy with a clean house and cookies baking in the oven. It will be really nice to get a break from work, I like the whole stay-at-home mom thing. (At least the though of it... I'm sure I'll have different things to say later!)
This past weekend Lauren did my maternity photos. Normally you wouldn't wait until you are 9 months pregnant to have this done but we are both busy girls and this is when we finally got around to it! I haven't seen them yet, she's still editing and working her magic on them, but I will post them as soon as they are done! I'm excited to see them! Thanks Lauren!
Joseph is just as anxious (if not more so) as me for Ayla to get here. He talks to her all the time telling her that he wants her to come out so he can see her. Apparently she's being a defiant child early on. Maybe if he tells her to stay put she'll do the opposite. :)
I feel about as prepared as we can be right now, her room is completely set up and ready for her. I have lots of clothes, TONS of diapers, I finally got my changing table!, her bag is packed for the hospital, my bag is packed for the hospital, the car seat is in the car... we are prepared and getting impatient!
On September 19th I had my second baby shower... the one in Utah! It was great to have my friends and family (and Joseph's family!) there with me! I got completely spoiled!
