It's a Sip of Wine, It's Summertime!

It's finally here! That time of year that Houstonians have such a love/hate relationship with...SUMMER! Things I love about these few precious months: the laid-back attitude that everyone shares (seriously...I don't think anyone really works during the summer), the smell of fresh-cut grass, wildflowers, and BBQ that waft endlessly through the air, laying out by the pool soaking up those toxic UV rays, ice cold beer, and vacationing and/or road trips! Things I hate: The ridiculously and insanely humid heat here in the Bayou City! The kind of heat that melts you when you walk outside; the kind of heat that glues the skin on the back of your legs to the leather seats in your car! It's unbearable!! But somehow we survive it year after year; we even find ourselves looking forward to it during those dark drizzly winter days! It's wonderful!!
Today, little Lilah bean had her first introduction to Houston summer; she took a dip in the pool!! We didn't bring her swimsuit, so we had to improvise. She wore the next best thing...her birthday suit! She absolutely loved the water (not surprising because she loves bathtime!) We had a wonderful time relaxing by the pool all day!

 

1 Month

Dear Lilah,
One month ago today, you entered the world, forever changing our lives! In the short second that it took for your father and I to reach down and guide you onto my chest, our identities, as we knew them, changed forever. In that single second in time, we became a father and a mother; titles that can never be taken away! We discovered a new level of love that night; we felt the love that only a parent can feel for his child. You were such a peaceful soul; you looked up at both of us with wondering eyes. Your big blue eyes were alert and interested in everything going on around us. That night we all cuddled together in that tiny hospital bed. Your father and I didn’t sleep for nearly two days because we couldn’t take our eyes off of you.
These past few weeks at home have gone by so fast! You have been such a tranquil and understanding baby; you continually teach your father and I how to be better parents. You’ve grown so much in so many different ways. You hit the 9 pound mark just before your 1 month birthday! You are still nursing about every 2 hours, except at night when you graciously let us sleep for 5-6 hours at a time! I love the time that we spend together while you are nursing. I never get tired of watching your little hand pet my chest as your eyes get heavy and you drift off to sleep. Sometimes you reach back with your free hand while you are nursing and twirl your own hair; it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Your father is completely and totally in love; you enjoy going outside with him everyday to water the gardens. Your favorite place to nap is across his chest! I often wake up in the morning to see you and him cuddling together. You have started smiling on a regular basis now especially when you first wake up in the morning. It makes my day when I roll over and see you staring at me with that big toothless grin.
This month I spent my first few days in my new career…stay at home mom! I was so nervous for that 1st day at home with just the two of us ☺ I wasn’t sure if I could handle everything by myself, but we did just fine! We even had dinner ready for Daddy everyday when he got home. This is by far the hardest job out there, but it is definitely worth it.
These first few weeks haven’t been the easiest, but they have been the most fulfilling weeks of my life! Lilah, my daughter, thank you for the best month of my life!
I love you,
Mom

Settlin' In

It has been just over 2 weeks since we brought Lilah home, and I have to tell you it has flown by far faster than I could have imagined! It is amazing to look back at her first pictures and see how much she has changed already. She is already weighing in at over 8.5 pounds (being a first time mom that is exclusively breastfeeding, I am quite proud of this). It is overwhelming to know that I am able to provide her with all of the nourishment that she needs! Her little cheeks are getting chubbier by the day :)
She is becoming more and more vocal everyday! We laugh so hard at her little grunts and groans; Chris calls them her dinosaur noises. She nurses about every 2.5 hours during the day and about every 3-4 hours at night. We are co-sleeping, so this makes night feedings much easier. Overall, we are getting plenty of sleep; we've just gotten used to many short "naps" rather than one long sleep at night. Her favorite place to nap is on Chris' chest...I know he will miss lounging around with her all day once he goes back to work. The pups have been amazing with her; they are mostly disinterested, and only rarely will they get close enough to investigate the little creature that we brought into their home! It has been SO nice having Chris home for 3 weeks, and I will miss having his help around the house. Here are some pictures of her first 2 weeks at home.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Making of Lilah Ann

Here is a link to a movie that Chris made in iMovie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjpvDLxVH48

It documents the entire pregnancy, labor, delivery, and coming home! It is really cute; check it out!!

Here is a picture...just because she's cute :)

She's Here!

Lilah Ann Allison decided to finally grace us with her presence on Sunday April 26th, 2009 at 11:32pm! Last weekend Chris, Mom, and I set out with a busy schedule. We went all over town and walked miles around Costco, the Mall, and other various stores. Saturday evening we had a nice BBQ at Mike and Mary's and shortly after arriving back home I noticed my water had started leaking (This was around 10:15pm). We called Nadia, our doula, and she advised that we try to get some rest. We laid down and rested for a few hours. I was easily able to sleep between contractions at this point. Nadia came over around 3:00am and had us walk around the neighborhood for a while. Things were moving slowly at this point so Nadia went back home and gave us instructions to rest, walk, eat, and drink. We could tell things were progressing some early Sunday afternoon, so Nadia came back to the house around 3:00pm on Sunday and had me walk around the neighborhood a few more times. At this point, I was definitely feeling more discomfort and I was 'in the zone'. Chris and Nadia filled our bathtub and had me stay in there for almost 2 hours, although I don't recall most of that time. My contractions were getting more and more intense. Once I got out of the tub, Nadia checked me and I was about 5cm dilated and the baby was already very low. She said to take one more walk around the block and then we would leave for the hospital. Mom loaded the car and shut down the house while we got ready.
We left for the hospital around 7:00pm; I was laying in the backseat and was actually quite calm. I remember taking one contraction at a time; I didn't say anything to anyone the whole way there. We arrived at the hospital around 7:35pm and got checked into our room in L&D around 8:00pm. Our midwife met us in our room and checked me again; I was about 5-6cm and the baby was even lower. I was able to stay in my own clothes and labor standing against the side of the bed and then on the birth ball for the next 2.5 hours. I had no monitors, no IV's, no pain meds, or anything else to tie me down to the bed. This was wonderful! At about 10:45pm, I was starting to get the urge to push, but my midwife had me resist it because I was only 7.5cm dilated. This was the most difficult part of the whole labor. Within 15 minutes, I was ready to really start pushing. This part went so quickly for me! Chris was the best labor coach I could have asked for!! Once I started pushing, there was no stopping me. We had a mirror set up so that I could see the baby, and I was able to hold my own legs back. Once her head was out, my midwife had Chris and I reach down and guide the rest of her body up onto my chest! I had been pushing for less than 30 minutes when she was finally born. It was such a rush to finally see our little baby! She was so awake and alert when she was born. Her little eyes just kept looking around the room trying to take it all in. She was so pretty and pink :) She had a tiny little scratch on her cheek because she had her hand up by her face when she was born. When we were ready, Chris carried her over to the warmer and told us that she weighed 7lbs. 6oz. and was 19 inches long!
We spent the next 36 hours in the hospital recuperating and cuddling in the tiny hospital bed. She is doing perfectly...nursing like a champ and creating plenty of dirty diapers for Daddy to deal with!
Her birth was such an amazing experience! It was something that I will never forget!!

What's in a date?

I sit here today trying to figure out why we, as human beings, feel the need to set arbitrary deadlines on everything we do...including having babies!
Tis true, today is our official due date; however, for whatever reason, this little girl isn't quite ready to take on the world, and I am perfectly okay with that. I am trying to set aside my selfish reasons for wanting her to be here, including not being pregnant anymore, and just trust that she will arrive when she is really ready. So for now, we are going along with life as usual; mom and I are still conquering household projects. We get bored and go shopping all day some days, but we continue to stay busy. Yesterday we pampered ourselves with pedicures. My pedicurist even painted pretty little flowers on my big toes so that I would have something pretty to look at while I am in labor!!

So despite the fact that we don't have any news to share, we can confidently say that our little girl is one day closer to being here!!!! :)

It's Skedaddle Time Kiddo!!

Despite my intense hope that I would be blogging about our beautiful little baby by this time, here we are...still playing the waiting game!
I know, I still have 6 days until my actual due date, but I am definitely ready to meet this squirmy little girl. We had an appointment with the midwife on Tuesday and everything is looking great; we are just waiting now!
Mom and I have been running all over the place this week getting things in order. I have Mom chained-up in the sewing room upstairs :) She has been making some really beautiful baby carriers/slings, pack-n-play sheets, bassinet sheets, and other various baby accessories! We went a little crazy at Jo-Ann's Fabric the other day!
We have been cleaning, organizing, packing, and reorganizing non-stop. I have been going to yoga 4x/week, the chiropractor 1x/week, and went for a prenatal massage Wednesday (Thank you Mary!) In addition, Chris and I have been going for 30-45 minute nightly speed walks. Chris is convinced that we can walk this baby out!
Here is a belly picture taken last week at 38 weeks:

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

Well folks, here we are at the 37 week mark! Essentially, this baby is full-baked! She is ready to make her appearance any time now. Despite the fact that I would love to meet her a little early, I have a feeling that she is going to be in there for the long-haul! I would be very surprised if she arrives before her due date (April 23rd).
We are pretty much ready. We are meeting with the midwife every week now; last week we had our final ultrasound to check the position of the placenta, and we got some very good news! The placenta has migrated up enough to be out of the way for a natural birth. Our birth plan is complete, hospital tour/registration complete, we finished our 12-week childbirth-prep class, and we have our breastfeeding class with our Doula next Monday. I still have a few small things to finish up around the house, but overall we're ready!
I am still feeling pretty energetic; sleeping is becoming a little more difficult, but I am still walking regularly and going to yoga 3-4 times/week. Although not miserable, I do long for the days when I could easily roll over and jump out of bed in the morning!
I have been meaning to post some pictures of the baby's room but kept forgetting, so here they are:

BBQ for Baby!

So much happening around the Allison house the last few weeks! Chris and Garrett worked very hard to build me the most beautiful pergola over the back patio two weekends ago. It is seriously more than anything I could have imagined! Here is the finished product:

In other news, we had our Baby BBQ this past weekend. My mom wanted to host a big baby shower, but I convinced her to exchange the silly showers games and finger sandwiches for BBQ and beer! It was a total blast; our house was packed with family and friends, and they generously helped us to prepare for the impending arrival of the wee baby. Here is a quick slide show of the good times:

Make a Smilebox photobook

Finally, here is the newest picture of the belly taken tonight at 35 weeks...It is starting to look a little comical :)

Feeling the Stretch

We are officially in the final weeks of pregnancy, and I can't believe how fast time is flying!! As of tonight we are 32 weeks, 3 days into this thing!
Our midwife appointments have been going well; we are still crossing our fingers that that pesky low-lying placenta resolves itself soon otherwise it could present some difficulties during labor and delivery (maternal bleeding/hemorrhage). We are having an ultrasound done at 36 weeks with a perinatologist in order to get a better idea of what we are dealing with.
I have gained a whopping 21 pounds so far, and I am definitely feeling it! If I keep this up (1 lb./week) I will gain about 28-29 pounds when it's all over. Considering my midwife wanted me to gain between 25-35 pounds, I can't really complain.
Here is a picture from this evening (this belly isn't messing around any more):

This weekend we went down to the antique shops in The Heights and I found some really cute vintage (1950's & 60's) baby clothes including this adorable 1950's Jantzen baby swimsuit:

I am really starting to really embrace the fact that there will be a little GIRL here very shortly!!!