5 months old!

Merry Christmas!

Posing in her ladybug outfit

Playing with daddy

Hanging out with Santa

5 months old!

Natalie is 5 months and doing great! We are settled into our new house, and she has been sleeping wonderfully. We didn't have a doctor visit this month, so I don't know how much she weighs, but she's still a healthy, growing baby. We introduced squash last week and I think she likes it okay. Her first bites, she wasn't too sure about it, and she still "shudders" sometimes, but will eat it when I give it to her. She still loves her cereal, and our next food to tackle is peas! Natalie also, has scooted a few times for her toys and is getting better at sitting up on her own. We have to be close by because she'll tumble at any time, but even if she does bonk her head, she's usually pretty good about it. :-) We're heading up to my families' for Christmas and will be there for 3 days, it'll be fun to be a part of Natalie's first Christmas. We already know she loves wrapping paper! We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, Matt, Ann & Natalie

4 Months Old!

4 month picture

First time eating cereal

Family picture taken before we moved

4 Generation picture

It has been a crazy month! As most of you know, we moved to Oshkosh, WI this month because we wanted to be closer to family and up north again. Natalie was a trooper during all of the packing and the 1085 mile trip. Thankfully my mom rode in the car with me to help entertain her! :-) A few days after we arrived in Oshkosh, we drove to Port Huron to be with Matt's family during Thanksgiving. It was a great visit and Natalie was a good girl again. We had her 4 month check up right before we left Texas, along with another round of shots. She did great with the shots this time and barely even cried. She weighed in at 13 lbs. 13 oz. and is right on track. Dr. Julie said Natalie is doing great and is a healthy baby!

Natalie is growing very quickly and rolling over like crazy! She loves standing, and everyone says her legs are so strong. Her sleep schedule got a little messed up during the moving and traveling, so we're working on that again. But last night I only had to get up once so I'm thinking she'll be sleeping through the night again soon. She's very observant, and is always looking around and paying attention to what is going on. Her smile and laughs are contagious, we know she'll be a heartbreaker in a few years! Other than that, we are doing well in our new home and looking forward to the Holiday season! Love, Matt, Ann & Natalie

3 months old!

Another month older and as you can see, little Natalie is a growing girl! This month Natalie took her first plane ride up to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Matt and I both agreed that she did very well on the flights, there were a couple of tense moments and some crying but we survived and it could've been so much worse! We first went to see my family and stayed up there for 5 days. Natalie's grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends were all so excited to meet her and to see her again! It was a very busy few days, but a fun time with lots of memories and laughs. I'm sure Natalie will enjoy hearing the stories when she's older. After our visit, I drove to Hayward and we spent a couple of days with Matt's parents and sister. We had a nice relaxing visit and even got to celebrate Grandma Julie's birthday with her. Natalie also got to see her first snow when we woke up on our last day there!

Since we've been home we've had a few more accomplishments. Natalie has been sleeping through the night for the past 2 weeks! It has been just wonderful getting more sleep and uninterrupted sleep at that! We also got her first real laugh out of her, while Matt was goofing around with her in front of the mirror. It was so adorable to hear it for the first time, and it made us both laugh hard with her! Well, I have to cut this short since the little sweet pea is starving. Love you all, Matt, Ann & Natalie

2 months old!

Well, Natalie had her 2 month check up yesterday and all is well. She weighs 12 lbs. and is in the 75th percentile and is 26 in. long which Dr. Olivo said is off the charts, so we have a very long baby! She is progressing well as far as her development goes and is even doing a few things in the 3 month category. She had her 4 shots, which made her scream of course but she calmed down pretty quickly and was a tired baby for the rest of the day. At least it's another 2 months before we have to go through that again, although I think it was harder on me than her! Thankfully Matt was there to hold her hands and be right there because I was content to hide in the corner and not watch!

We put together her jumperoo/boucer and she really likes that. It has lots of lights, music and animals and she learned how to jump after 2 days, only her tippy toes touch though so she has to grow a little more to touch all the way... Other than that, we are excited that the weather is cooling off so we can get outside more. I try and take her on a walk every day and she really likes to be outside and look around at everything. We are attempting our first travel when we head up to MN & WI the first week in October. It'll be exciting to be with both of our families for a few days and see the fall colors!! I'll post again after we go and update how the flight and everything went. Until then Love, Matt, Ann & Natalie

Our growing girl...

I finally took a minute to update this and post a few more pictures. It has been a very busy 8 weeks, but we are all doing wonderfully! Natalie is a very good baby, and Matt and I are enjoying spending every day with her. As you can see from the pictures she is getting bigger, we just don't know how big exactly. 2 weeks ago she went in for a shot and she weighed 11 lbs. 1oz. but when she has her 2 month check up on the 22nd we'll find more out about height/weight, and she has to get 4 more shots, ugh!

But, Natalie's latest accomplishments are at 5 weeks and 5 days old she rolled from her tummy to her back. I've seen her do it 3 times, but not for a while. Lately, she's more concerned with trying to scoot forward, so when she's on her tummy she just moves her legs like crazy and we're surprised with how strong she is and that she actually moves forward! She loves standing up, and she does this cute "hula" move (Matt named it) where she circles her hips around while standing and looks like a little hula dancer. She loves looking at pictures, and playing with her rattles and soft blocks, we pile them for her and she loves to knock them down. She's smiling and cooing all the time now. She loves when Daddy holds her and plays with her, I can tell she's going to be a daddy's girl already! :-) We haven't heard her laugh yet, but she gurgles while smiling and I think pretty soon she will. In the morning we'll go sit on the balcony and Natalie loves to watch the birds and listen to them and the cars on the road, she'll just sit there real quiet and then start cooing like crazy and looking all around. She's very observant and notices everything...... But her greatest accomplishment of all is on Sunday night she slept from 12:30 am until a little after 7 am! It was the longest she's slept at once, and I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock! Last night didn't go quite as well, but it was very encouraging to know what she's capable of! And I also have started pumping and she does a great job at taking a bottle from Matt. He enjoys this time with her too, and it's nice for mama to have a break! :-)

So, that's the latest update. After she goes in for her 2 month appointment I will write more and have more pictures to let everyone know how she's doing. Love to all, Matt, Ann & Natalie

Welcome to the World Natalie!

Well as most of you know I was induced after getting my final sonogram. The on call doctor decided that we should go ahead with it since I was a week overdue and the placenta was starting to deteriorate. Long story short, I was induced at 11:30 am on Wed and after 26 hours Natalie Marie was born! The labor went fairly well, although the contractions started getting really bad around 7 am on Thursday and it took 2 hours before I was able to get the epidural. Oh sweet relief, I admire any woman that decides to go drug free, but that wasn't for me! My water broke at 8:30 and after that things progressed fairly quickly. I was dialated 2 cm and was at 10 cm in less that 4 hours. Natalie's official birth time was 1:21 pm, she weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. We were in the hospital until Saturday and are now comfortably settled at home.

I am feeling pretty good, better every day. Thanks to all the help from Matt, I am able to rest and Matt's parents visited us for a week which was also helpful. Natalie had her first doctor visit on Friday and everything came back great. She has gained 4 oz. since being born and grown a little too! Dr. Olivo says she's very healthy and a beautiful baby. We are thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers throughout my pregnancy and labor. Our little family is a happy one and we feel so blessed and thankful for such a miracle! We'll try and update this blog with pictures and the latest news. Love you all, Matt, Ann & Natalie

40 Weeks, 5 days

This baby hasn't even been born yet and already is trying my patience! :-) Well, yesterday I got a phone call from a nurse at Dr. Mark's office asking if I was having contractions or if anything had happened yet. I said, no not really but I was feeling some abdominal pressure. So she decided that we should go into the hospital for our non-stress test just to see how things were coming along and to get a pelvic exam. The NST came back really good, the RN said baby is happy as can be and the heartrate was strong and steady. I had a few contractions while on the monitor, but nothing regular. She said I'm not dialated yet, but am softening and then they sent us home.

Today was our appointment at Dr. Mark's office, even though he's still on vacation. My blood pressure was good today and baby's heartrate was good too. The sonogram technician was in the office so they decided to do one at that time. The tech said baby looks really good and is moving around great. The only thing she was concerned about was the placenta was getting old. She said after 40 weeks it starts to deteriorate and on a scale of 1-4 (4 being the oldest) she graded it a 4. I guess once it starts to get too old baby doesn't get as much oxygen, so we had to go back to the hospital for another non stress test. Again, everything looked good with baby as far as moving around and heartrate. So, again we got sent home but are scheduled for another sonogram at 9 in the morning tomorrow at the hospital. The on call doctor will then make a decision if we are going to stay and have me induced or if the placenta doesn't look that bad. Personally, I'm hoping to just be induced because I wouldn't want to put the baby in any danger, but I'm reassured to hear that so far baby is looking healthy and happy.

While doing the sonogram, the tech turned off the big screen while checking the lower half of baby, so we wouldn't see what we're having. But once she was done with that we got to see the baby's head and upper half of the body. His/her little nose was squished against my uterus and looked really cute, well kinda funny actually. We also saw that baby barely has any hair. It was cool to see the sonogram but kind of just made me more anxious to meet this little person that has been growing inside me for so long!

We're sorry to everyone that has been waiting (patiently or impatiently) and hope to have some more news very, very soon! If we do get sent home tomorrow, I'll post again to let everyone know what the next plan of action will be! Otherwise, maybe we'll have pictures of baby on here next! Love to all, Matt & Ann

Week 40

It's D Day! We wanted to take another picture since today is baby's official due date. Unfortunately, no action has happened. We had an appointment this morning and Dr. Mark was there to do the exam. We thought he'd be on vacation but actually wasn't leaving until this afternoon-for Paris! The news was pretty much the same, no dialating yet, but my blood pressure was good-124/80 and baby's heartrate was 148. The plan is that if I don't go into labor by Tuesday I will go in for another appointment, then I will be scheduled a non-stress test for baby. This is to monitor the baby's heartrate and stuff, and we will also have to do a biophysical profile, an ultrasound to watch baby's movements, muscle contractions and amniotic fluid. If there is anything of concern we will have to go to the hospital and probably be induced, but if baby looks fine and healthy we will just have to wait until I go into labor or Dr. Mark gets back from vacation on the 20th. So, we're just waiting to see what happens. Matt and I have been relaxing, going to the pool and gym and staying out of the heat. I'm still feeling good, I just get tired and sore sometimes and have to rest, but nothing I can complain too much about. I know everyone's getting anxious and so are we!! We'll keep you posted with all the exciting details! Love, Matt & Ann

Week 39

Ahhh, another week has come and gone and I am still pregnant. :-) Our appointment today went well. My blood pressure was lower- 130/80 so I was happy about that, no bed rest for me! Baby's heartbeat was good, 138 although baby was squirming around and trying to get away from Melanie when she was trying to check it. Dr. Mark informed us today that he will be on vacation starting Tuesday and he'll be gone for 10 days, so if we want him to deliver this baby we had better get a move on! Otherwise one of his colleagues will be doing the delivery. During my pelvic exam Dr. Mark said I haven't started to dialate yet but am 50% effaced, so at least something is happening down there! And baby's head is still down, so I was happy to hear about that....

This week we've kinda wrapped up everything we needed to do, I finished washing all the baby laundry, we purchased a bassinette and bouncer, the last couple of things we wanted to get, so now we're just waiting. With Matt being off work it's really nice to have him around, he's been cooking for me and just making life easier. It's also nice to have someone to go to the gym and pool with and someone to talk to if I'm worrying or freaking out about something.

So, that's about it for now. We're hoping for a 4th of July baby, but not so sure that'll happen! We'll keep everyone updated, maybe we'll have good news soon! Love, Matt & Ann

Week 38

Wow! 2 weeks until our due date, and this hot weather just isn't letting up! I've pretty much been confined to the house (or other places with A/C), but do venture to the pool sometimes. Our weekly appointment was pretty uneventful, although my blood pressure is increasing. This week it was 138/84, and my nurse, Melanie said we start worrying when the bottom number hits 90. So, hopefully I can keep it at a good level. Baby's heartrate was nice and strong at 145, Melanie said that I was having a small contraction while she was checking it. I didn't really notice anything, but she said when my stomach gets really, really hard like that it's a contraction. Too bad all the contractions aren't going to feel like that but unfortunately, I'm thinking they're going to get more painful! Dr. Mark said I haven't dialated yet, but the baby's head is still down and heading in the right direction, so we were glad for that!

Our hospital bags are packed and ready to go, and I feel like I'm starting to begin "nesting". I feel anxious to get those last few things done before baby comes and I'm thankful Matt is around to help me (and calm me down when I need it). But, other than that, all is well. I'm feeling good, sleeping good and just waiting to meet our little one! More to come next week. Love, Matt & Ann

Week 37

A brief update on our appointment today. My blood pressure was 130/80, I'm hoping it doesn't start getting higher each week! Baby's heartrate was 140 again, and the blood test said that my iron pills are working, so I just need to keep taking them. My belly is measuring about 36 cm and Dr. Mark said I haven't dialated yet, although my cervix is softening a little. He said baby's head is in the downward position so it's on the right track.

We also went to the Hurst Police Department and got our car seat installed, so that is all set to go. This weekend we are planning on packing our hospital bag, in case baby decides it's show time! I'm still thinking we have some time, even though Dr. Mark said, "see you next week if not before!" I laughed because I think baby is staying put for awhile, just liking his/her home too much right now!

We'll keep you updated, but all is calm for the moment! :-) Love, Matt & Ann

Week 36

We had a good time with my mom and sister. We went to Lone Star Park and watched the horse races, had a picnic, went to a Rangers game and I know they enjoyed the hot weather! Matt and I also bought our stroller/car seat (thanks Grandma Julie and Grandpa Mark!) so we practiced buckling "baby" in as you can see in the 2nd picture. :-)

We had another appointment this morning. Baby's heartrate was 140 and my blood pressure was 130/78. I have to have another blood test to make sure the iron pills I've been taking are working, so I'll probably go on Monday for that. They also gave me my strep test and I had my first pelvic exam. Dr. Mark says I'm not dialated yet, so we'll just keep waiting and he'll be checking at each of our next appointments.

I'm still feeling good, some aches and pains but nothing unbearable. I notice I have good days with lots of energy and some days where I just want to nap and lay around. I've been taking advantage of my down time and getting plenty of relaxing in. From here on out we'll be having weekly appointments so I'll be updating a little more often. Hope everyone is doing well! Love, Matt & Ann

34 Weeks

6 more weeks to go and we are still hanging in there! Our appointment was pretty much the same, blood pressure 110/76, my belly is 34 cm and baby's heartbeat was 138. It actually took the nurse a little while to find the heartbeat because baby was moving around so much. Dr. Mark says, again, we're right on track and where we should be. I've been feeling prettty good, although with this hotter weather I am swelling more than ever. My shoe selection has been reduced to flip flops and my running shoes. My ring doesn't fit anymore, so I have been wearing Matt's. Baby is as active as ever, jabbing me in the ribs and poking his/her tiny limbs everywhere. It's fun trying to guess which part it is.

Last weekend we had our Baby CPR and child care class. It was Friday night and all day Saturday- a lot of information! We had practice babies to do CPR, obstructed airway, diaper changing, bathing, etc. We also learned about car seats, illness, immunizations and quite a few other things. It was a good class, but we're thankful they're done with!

I had my last day of work on Monday, so I am an official stay at home mom! My mom and sister are currently visiting to keep me company, we're taking it easy, but have a few plans so I will probably post a couple of pictures next time. Love, Matt & Ann

Week 32

A quick update from our last appointment. Again, everything basically the same. Baby's heartrate was around 140, Dr. Mark said I'm right where I should be with size and weight and everything. My blood pressure is still good 128/76, and we go back again in 2 weeks.

We also had our childbirth class yesterday. We had to go to the all day Saturday class since Matt works afternoons. It was interesting and we're glad we went. There were 9 couples at the class and we were surprised to find out that we were the only ones not finding out the sex of our baby. Of the other 8 couples, there were 7 boys and only 1 girl! Our instructor was very nice and answered all of our questions we had. We learned some breathing and relaxation techniques, about the different medications, delivery options, some of the equipment used and watched a couple of videos. We also got to tour the whole building and we really liked the rooms. They are all private, so we don't have to share with anyone and all of the labor and delivery rooms have a jacuzzi tub to use, so I was happy to hear about that! We were also given some information to read, so that'll give me something to do while at home resting my feet. My feet have been swelling almost every day, so I have to elevate them often. Matt has been very helpful and supportive though- of course!

This should be a quiet week and then next week we have another appointment and our baby CPR class. Love, Matt & Ann

Week 30

Well I passed my glucose test-hooray! My blood sugar was supposed to be under 130 and it came back at 116 so I was happy to not have to go through that again! I found out at this appointment that I am borderline anemic, basically low iron, so I have to take iron supplements now. Not that big of a deal, my nurse said it's fairly common for pregnant women to develop anemia because of all the extra blood my body is producing. But by taking the iron pills it'll give me a better chance of not having a blood transfusion after delivering. I got quite a few sample pills so I won't have to buy any for a little while.

The rest of the appointment was pretty standard. Baby's heartbeat was 156, and Dr. Mark said my belly is now around 30 cm! I couldn't believe it had grown that much in 3 weeks. But everything is progressing very well, he figures that baby weighs around 3 1/2 pounds by now and says so far so good. I've been feeling good, my only small complaints are that I get short of breath more often and my feet swell after being on them for too long. But it definitely isn't anything that I can't handle! Baby has been rockin' and rollin' all the time, especially after I eat. But so far I haven't been woken up at night or anything so I'm thankful!!

Well, we go back in 2 weeks for yet another check up. Love to everyone, Matt & Ann

Week 27

Just beginning the 3rd trimester and all is well. As you can see from the picture we got our crib all set up and ready to go. Matt was anxious to put it together so we spent a little over 4 hours today getting that done. We really like how it looks and got everything set up for baby. Matt thinks that baby has a pretty cool set up and hopes he/she likes it! Ha!

We also had an appointment this morning which was short and sweet. Dr. Mark says everything looks great, my belly is now a little over 20 cm and he figures baby is a little under 3 pounds. He also showed us where he thinks the head, back and arms and feet are, so that was kinda cool. I had my glucose test done today- not fun! I had to drink this nasty sugary stuff and then sit in the waiting room for an hour, then give blood. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I pass because if not I have to do it again but give blood 4 times and wait around for 3 hours! I should find out at our next appointment.

Everything else is great here, I am not waiting tables as of last week. I am still working as a host, manager and teaching classes, but my hours are a lot less. I get a little bored at home, but everyone says it's good to just rest and relax, which I'm trying to do! I feel good, just tired sometimes, but am thankful that everything is going so well! We go back on May 1st, so look for another post then! Love, Matt and Ann

Going into week 23

Another appointment has come and gone, and we are still doing well. My latest pains are heartburn and indigestion, which someone at work told me is the baby starting to grow hair. Is that an old wives tale? Dr. Mark said it was safe for me to take Pepcid AC, which I'm still holding off on because I'm a little paranoid about taking medicine unless I absolutely have to. But at least I have the okay if I really, really need it.

At the appointment my blood pressure was 118/76 and I've gained about 17 pounds so far, baby's heartbeat was good- 140 this time, the nurse was laughing because she could hear baby moving around like crazy when she was trying to listen for it. Dr. Mark took some measurements and said everything is great, and right on track. He estimates the baby weighs close to 2 pounds by now and my belly has grown 4 cm since last month. This weekend Matt gets the joy of taking me shopping for maternity clothes! I'll try and not make it too painful for him!

But we are both enjoying every day, Matt has been reading to baby at night, and we've been feeling lots of kicking too. It was funny the first time we could see my stomach actually moving up and down because of the kicks/punches/head butts- whatever they were.

Well, that's the update for now, miss you and love you all!

Pickles & Ice Cream-week 22

Going into week 22, all is well. I've been really enjoying pickles and ice cream lately, although not together as people seem to ask me on a daily basis! We are looking forward to our appointment next week, even though it'll probably be another short one.

Matt and I went on a mini shopping spree with the gift cards and money we received from the shower. We got baby a bunch of more new things, diaper bag, bath toys, a tummy mat/gym set and me a breast pump and nursing wrap. We also purchased our first pack of diapers! It was an exciting day! We have decided to collect coupons for diapers and purchase a pack or two a week, so we'll have a supply ready for baby. Our mailman has even started putting extra coupons in our mailbox for us.

We looked at the Babys R Us website and found a few cribs that we liked, we are planning on waiting to buy the crib and dresser/changing table since we have limited space in our apartment, and don't need those things quite yet.

I had a taste of what the heat is going to be like come this spring and summer, we had a couple of really hot days down here, in the 80s and 90s and it was miserable! Just knowing it's going to get hotter was pretty depressing, thank God for our swimming pools! Well, look for a post next week after our appointment!! Love you all!

Baby Shower

My time in Minnesota was so much fun. I got to spend time with friends and family, and saw quite a few people I hadn't seen in awhile. My mom, sister and aunt threw a baby shower for me and about 40 people came. Matt and I got a lot of great gifts, and a good start on the baby's supply. We also recieved a camcorder from my mom, but it was also a gift for her, since she's excepting lots of baby videos! So Matt and I are practicing with it, so we'll be pros by the time July comes.

Other than that, everything is still going well. I am feeling baby kicks every day, and some of them are getting kind of strong! It's exciting to feel, and Matt has started reading to the baby, it's a fun and relaxing time for all of us. Our next appointment is in a couple of weeks so we'll post more then!

19 Weeks

We had our sonogram today and got to see how big our little peanut has gotten. Dr. Mark said baby is about 8 inches long and 9 oz. We got to see almost all of baby, even though he/she was moving around a lot. Matt and I both agreed that the face looks kind of "halloween-ish" but it was cool to be able to see everything. A few days ago I felt the first kicks from the baby and have felt them pretty frequently since. It was an exciting feeling and our nurse, Melanie told me they're just going to get stronger. But we were told everything looks good and we're on track as far as weight and all. I'm headed to Minnesota tomorrow, so look for pictures from the baby shower coming soon!

18 Weeks

Well, we had another short appointment this morning, everything sounds good though. The heartbeat was 143 beats/min and my belly is about 19 cm, 6 more than last month. My pants are slowly getting tighter but I'm still fitting into regular clothes. I guess I should enjoy it now because soon I'll be shopping for a new wardrobe! I also had to give some blood this morning, which definitely isn't my favorite thing, but Matt was there for moral support so that helped.

Otherwise I'm feeling pretty good, a couple of headaches in the morning and sometimes I get short of breath, but I got the okay from Dr. Mark to use my inhaler when needed. We have to go back in 10 days for another sonogram, where we can find out the sex if we want, but we're staying strong and are going to be surprised! We'll hopefully have a new picture to post, stay tuned!

14 Weeks and counting!

Our Christmas in Michigan was so much fun, it was great to see our friends and family and we let both of our families know the exciting news. Most of them said they had an idea we were pregnant, but it was still a lot of fun to tell everyone after waiting and waiting.

Everything is still going great, I have gained around 5 pounds, but still feel fine, not sick or anything. I am still tired and do have occasional back pain after work, but Matt rubs my back when I need it. We had our 14 week check up today, we heard the baby's heartbeat, it was a strong 145 beats/min. Dr. Mark said everything sounds good and we'll go back in another month. It's funny that we look forward to the visit all month and it's over so fast. But, that's about it for now, until next time! Love, Matt and Ann