Truly Blessed

The last 7 days have been a rollercoaster. Between Sarah coming early and her coming so fast that I couldn’t get an epidural, things have been very interesting.

So many people have been so helpful in this huge transition. Our friend Jean came over and watched Bekah for a little while as we headed to the hospital, and then our friend Amy came and took over until my mom could get home from work, finish packing, and make the 3.5 hour trek southward. My mom was an amazing help watching Bekah while we were still in the hospital and this help continued when we got home. She cleaned, did laundry, changed diapers, burped Sarah, and even got up several times in the middle of the night with a gassy baby while Mom and Dad got to get a couple hours sleep. She did everything that needed to get done without even being asked. Thanks Mom!!! I love you!!

My dad arrived on Wednesday to see his 2^nd granddaughter. While he was here, he took Bekah on walks, played in our backyard, changed lightbulbs that have been out for several days, and ran errands. It’s always nice to see my dad. He doesn’t have as much time off as my mom, so it’s always nice to see him when we can.

My parents left yesterday afternoon. They are now in Virginia Beach for a wedding. I was really worried about being by myself. Bobby had class at 2:30, and the plan was for him to get Bekah down for a nap before he left so that I wouldn’t have both girls by myself. She usually falls asleep on the way to the babysitter’s on the afternoons of his class. Well, this time she wouldn’t fall asleep. And to boot, Sarah was having a fussy time, not wanting to eat or stay sleeping. I was really nervous when he left. (He took off work last night so he was coming home right after class.) There must have been people praying for me, because everything was great!! Bekah stayed in her room for a little while, and then came out and was a very good girl. Sarah eventually calmed down, and I was able to spend some time playing with both of them. Everything was under control when Bobby got home at 4:00. I know this will not happen every Tuesday and Thursday when he’s gone, but this was a good start, so I hope I will feel better about being by myself with the two of them soon.

I have been working really hard to spend quality time with Bekah without Sarah. Because of this, I haven’t been “napping when she naps,” but I think it is so important for my relationship with Rebekah to not change so dramatically.

Bobby is such a great daddy. He is amazing to see with his daughters. Between his 2 classes, working “part-time” at UPS in the evenings, and taking care of his family, he does a great job!! I love him very, very much, and I am so lucky that I have him in my life. I cannot imagine my life without him. I don’t get to spend as much time with him as I would like to, but I know that there is a time coming in the next few years that we will be able to spend much more time together. We work hard to communicate and spend as much quality time together now so that our relationship doesn’t diminish.

My sister and her family come today and will be here until Tuesday morning. I cannot wait to see my nephews and how they react to Sarah. I also cannot wait to see Bekah and her cousins playing. They have so much fun.

I feel truly blessed. There are so many wonderful people in my and my family’s life. I am still apprehensive about less from a week from now when I will have both daughters from 4-11 pm M-F, but I am starting to realize that I just needed to take life one moment at a time.

Thank you for your continued prayers. They are being felt here in the Fannin household.

Home for 2 days

Wow, life with 2 kids. What can I say? And I have help.

Sarah has been sleeping a lot during the day, and when she gets over the fussy time, she'll sleep at night. Last night was extremely rough. From 11-2 she screamed!! She would not feed from me and would not not calm down. We were slightly frustrated.

Bobby took her and dealt with her in many ways until she finally stayed in her bed from 4 am- 7:30 am.

Today has been a good day. She has been sleeping, eating (from me successfully), staying awake a bit, and showing her smiling face. We had to take her to the doctor yesterday because of her jaundice, and they called today to tell us it was high and we need to go back and have her levels checked again tomorrow.

Anyways, I gotta go. Hope everyone is doing well. I will post more pictures as soon as possible.

Keep us in your prayers. In about a week I will be by myself with 2 children from 4-11 pm M-F and I am very nervous about it.

She's here!!!!!!!!!

Well, 2 days later I will finally get this info up. On Friday, I spilled water on the laptop, so the wireless is not working. Therefore we couldn't take it to the hospital. Several keys are not working also. So, if there is a letter missing, you'll know why.

My water broke at 8:30 am Saturday morning after only having lower back pain on Friday night.
We got to the hospital at 10 am. I was at 4 cm and 100% effaced. An hour later I was at 7 cm and decided to get an epidural. They had to get another liter of fluid in me before they could do it though. 10 minutes later, she was coming!!!!!

At 12:15 pm, with NO epidural, 10 minutes of pushing, and only 10 contractions at the hospital, she was born!!!
Sarah Catherine Fannin
12:15 pm
7 lbs 14 oz
19.5 inches
She is a full 2 pounds heavier and .25 in longer.

She came fast!!!

We came home this morning. I feel great. Sarah is a sleeper. I will attach a couple pictures and update more later.
(Well, blogger won't let me upload pictures, so you'll have to be in suspense a while longer!!)

Any Day Now

Originally, I thought this was pretty good timing, only 8 weeks of school after spring break. Now I'm wishing I was due in February, or due in late May. This week is killing me. I developed a bad cough a week ago, and the nasal part of it started on Sunday. Between coughing and getting up to go the bathroom, Ive had HORRIBLE sleep. And then, on top of that, the last two weeks have been so busy, with my concert, parent teacher conferences in the evening, and festival all day yesterday. I FEEL HORRIBLE!! I don't know how I made it through my last class today. My neck hurts, body aches, even my jaw hurts. My doctor gave me a prescription for a stronger cough medicine and told me to get Mucinex D for my nose. He wants me to feel better to be able to deliver this baby.
Now, enough of the whining, and on to the good news. I am still dilated 2 cm, but am now 80% effaced, and there is definitely no plug there. He said any day now. Yeah!!
I need to rest and figure out something to do with my kids tomorrow that doesn't involve me doing much, and then basically set them up to not have me starting next week.
We'll keep you updated!!

37 weeks

The longest I have ever been pregnant!! I edited out my face today because I wasn't too happy when Bobby was taking the picture. I am also wearing tennis shoes for up until Festival so that my feet and ankles didn't swell TOO much.

Festival went well, not as well as I would have liked, but we survived, and they did a good job. I am very proud of them, and now the count down can continue.

7 school days until I am officially on maternity leave.
We are 4 days past the date in my pregnancy with Bekah that she was born.
I am so ready to be done!!
Tomorrow I find out if I've dilated any more.
I'll keep you updated!!

Bekah and her shoes

Bekah loves shoes. She walked around the house all day the other day with these shoes on. They still don't quite fit well enough to wear to church. I got them on sale for $5 a long time ago.

Bekah and her daddy. She loves being with him. She was still sleeping this morning when we both left (Bobby went to festival with me) and when she woke up she was crying Daddy, Daddy!!

Victory!!!

We made it past the point in my pregnancy when Bekah was born. This is officially the longest I've been pregnant, ever. Tomorrow is a half day where we "scrimmage" (practice) for CATS testing (The Kentucky version of ISTEP), and then we have parent teacher conferences from 4-7 pm. Therefore, today was the last day I saw my chorus kids before festival. There's nothing more I can do now besides pray that they pay attention and focus.

I am still having contractions when I am under the most stress, but they are still irregular. Many of my students are very nervous that I will have Sarah before Wednesday, but I'm being very careful not to.

On a side note, I realized a couple days ago that March 21, Wednesday, is the 3 year anniversary of my due date for my first pregnancy that was miscarried at 14 weeks. It would be kind of interesting if I had Sarah sometime around then.

Have a great week!! I'll keep you updated!!

Colds during 9th Month of pregnancy

I don't like them!! It started off as a nasty cough, and now it's in my nose. So, on top of not being able to breath, my very stretched belly actually hurts when I cough. I don't like being sick!!

Bekah has the cough and running nose too and she has been extremely grumpy the last 2 days.

Todays Events

I left school about 20 minutes before the end because I was having some irregular contractions. Explaining to my chorus students that I was dilated and having contractions didn't help to keep them calm so that I wouldn't have to raise my voice or get irritated. It still happened, and I was having quite a few contractions during 8th grade. I've only had a few since I've been home.

10 more school days till Spring Break.
1 more rehearsal before festival.
5 more days till Sarah's allowed to make her entrance.

Hang in there girl!!!

Doctor Appointment

Weight gain- 24 lbs.
Dilated 2 cm (more than I was when I got to the hospital with Bekah)
Still at +3, but her head is putting good pressure on my cervix

It's looking as though Sarah will make her entrance before April 11th.

36 weeks

36 weeks with Bekah

36 weeks with Sarah

The first picture is a bit dark, but I think you can tell that Sarah is currently lower than where Bekah was at 36 weeks. I am wearing different pants because our 70 degree weather today was too warm for the pants I wore in October 2004.

Concert Complete

1 down, a couple more things to get through before Sarah is allowed to come.

The concert went very well. I was very, very proud of them. It was very, very hot in the cafeteria. It doesn't help that it's 8:45 pm and still almost 70 degrees outside. My feet are very, very swollen.

I will be 36 weeks tomorrow. 4 days from the point at which my water broke with Bekah.

A week from tomorrow is my large group festival. Needless to say, I will not be riding the bus with the kids. Bobby will be driving me. At 37 weeks, we don't want to risk my water breaking on the way there.

Anyways, I have a very tired daughter on my hands, and an even more tired mom who needs to get her feet up and have some ice cream. I will post the 36 week pictures tomorrow.

Good night!!

Bobby's look-alikes

Anyone else find it interesting that Dakota Fanning is Bobby's closest match? Maybe somehow they are related??

My Celebrity Look Alikes

I found this on Phil Strahm's sister's blog. If you want to make your own, go to My Heritage.

New Incentive

Bobby wants a really nice sleeping bag. One that weighs less than a pound and can withstand extremely cold temperatures. Tonight we made a deal that if he could get Bekah potty trained in a week I would buy him that sleeping bag. It definitely will be worth the money!!

Good luck honey!!

More pics from the weekend

Bekah's face when she discovered her cousins were leaving.

Ethan and Bekah sitting on our neighbor's bench.



Getting ready to leave.

Chillin' on the grass.





My sister, Melissa, was such a huge help this weekend. She drove in on Thursday night and left around 2:15 this afternoon. She started immediately when she got here on Thursday night dealing with the toys ALL over the living room. She organized and cleaned my kitchen, dealt with the toys in Bekah's room, and helped me get my room ready for Sarah's arrival. We even started to pack my bag for the hospital.

Thanks Mel!!! It was great to see you. See you in a few weeks when Sarah arrives.

The infamous countdown continues

2 evenings until my choral concert- 2 rehearsals
6 days until the point at which I had Bekah in my pregnancy
10 days until my choral festival- 5 rehearsals because of block days and a half day the day before where I won't see them.
Officially 31 days left of this pregnancy- 4.5 weeks, but since I've been having Braxton Hicks and my ankles are swelling, I'm just hoping to make it past March 21st.
15 school days until I am on maternity leave!!
It feels a bit more real today because Bobby and I put the infant bases in the cars, and yesterday my sister and I put together the basinette and started to pack my suitcase.
I guess I should finish my pre-registration form for the hospital and get that mailed in!!

I will post some pictures later of my extremely organized and clean house thanks to my sister Melissa.

Cousins

My sister Melissa, along with my nephews Dylan (6.5) and Ethan (almost 3) are here visiting till Sunday afternoon. Melissa has been cleaning like crazy, getting my house ready for Sarah's big arrival in a few weeks.


Here is Dylan and Bekah playing her Disney plug-in video game, Ethan sitting on Aunt Paula and Uncle Bobby's bed watching a movie, Bekah and Dylan getting ready for bed, and Ethan and Bekah having a snack on the bench.

They have fun playing together. Sometimes it gets a bit crazy and hectic, but it's fun!!

35 weeks, 35 days to go (at the most!!!)

35 weeks with Bekah

35 weeks with Sarah

My feet are swelling now. It started a lot earlier with Bekah, but it was a lot hotter. Oh, the joys of pregnancy. It's exciting, and yet, 9 months is a LONG TIME!!!

Braxton Hicks

I don't remember having these crazy contractions with Bekah. I've been having them for several weeks. Also, Sarah must be having trouble getting comfortable these last few hours; she's moving almost constantly!! I wish she would get comfortable and relax for a little bit. :~)

18 more school days till I am on maternity leave!!!
4 rehearsals till my concert
7 rehearsals till Festival

AHHH!!

Disney on Ice

We had a really nice time on Saturday afternoon when we took Bekah to see Disney on Ice. It was at Rupp Arena (where UK plays basketball), and the seats where a bit cramped, but all in all, we had a lot of fun. When it first started, Bekah started to cry. We think it was because it was something new. She'd never been to anything even remotely like it. After we gave her her paci, she calmed down, and we were able to take the paci away from her. She sat on Daddy's lap almost the whole time, talking and moving her little head to see what was going on. She watched the entire time. (2 hours) The highlights for her were all the Mickey's Playhouse characters, as well as the characters from Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. She knows of some of the others, but hasn't watched the movies.

We got her a Mickey (they didn't have a Donald), so she now has Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto. Grandma H. is looking for a Donald.

When we went to the Disney store 3 weeks ago, or so, we made the mistake of letting her choose 2 from 3 choices. Even when we got home later, she stood at the door saying, "Donald, Donald!" We should have just picked 2 for her. (They were 2 for $20, or 1 for $14.50. That's why we got 2; we just didn't see the point in only getting 1.)

Small Victory

I will post more later about Disney On Ice, but Bobby wanted me to tell everyone that he was able to put Bekah down last night WITHOUT her paci. He was very proud of himself!!! I don't know if I'll be able to do it during the week when he's at work, but it is definitely a victory.

Yeah Daddy!!

Yesterday's Appointment

Well, the doctor didn't tell me exactly what I wanted to hear, but I'm basically convinced that I am not a gestational diabetic. He did a blood test 2 weeks ago (hemoglobin a1c) that tests my glucose level over the last 3 months. The results came back normal. I have only been doing the GD diet for 4 weeks, so the two months before that I was also normal. This definitely shows me that I'm okay. I think my body's just a bit sluggish in the morning.
He wants me to "keep doing what I'm doing" because I "look great." To me, this means watching the morning and not worrying too much about the afternoon and evening. I've been eating "normally" and then later counting my carbs, and I've still be under, even while eating more than my "alloted" carbs. I go back in 2 weeks for my 36 week appointment, and then every week after that. I don't think I'll make it to many of those weekly appointments, but we'll see. Sarah may surprise us.

On a side note, we are taking Bekah to Disney on Ice tomorrow afternoon!! We are really excited!! Bekah has no idea, but we know she's going to love it. She loves all the Disney characters. WE will post pictures tomorrow when we get home.

The above picture is of Bekah eating cake at the little shower my team at school had for me. We got many diapers, wipes, and springy/summery outfits since Sarah will be a completely different size at that point. We have EVERTHING else!!! I will never have to buy a onesie or sleeper. Bekah had soooo many!!