Caleb will be 3 months old tomorrow!!
I cannot believe how fast time is going, and how much he has grown. I am really looking forward to him learning new things, like sitting up on his own,eating foods, crawling, talking, walking... But at the same time... I kinda wish he could stay this little forever. I love my son so much. I think he is amazing in every way. He has the cutest little hands n feet. I love all his different facial expressions(even his mad face is cute as heck). I love how he tries so hard to communicate with me even though he can't say words yet. (I could go on forever..)
You really don't know the power of love until you become a mommy.

(Originally from my myspace blog, copied to here)

Baby's 1st Christmas!

Caleb's 1st Christmas!!!

Caleb got a lot of clothes(sleepers, thermal shirts, camo overalls, and more), diapers, a vtech talking bee, a wobble talking penguin, a duck water playmat, rainforest playmat, a remote control pig, a mirror that can sit on the floor or hang on the crib, a teether, sippie cup, a tigger stuffed animal, a blanket, and more.. I can't remember it all.
He really likes his tigger, mirror, and playmats!
I cannot wait until next Christmas, he will be able to enjoy it much more.

Here are some pictures from The days leading up to Christmas & Christmas Day

(2 1/2 months old)Things are going great here! I took Caleb to get his Christmas pictures taken yesterday. He did well for the 1st couple of pictures but after that he just cried until I picked him up. So The photographer convinced me to have a couple pictures taken while holding him(I wasn't prepared for it, but luckily I wore red). I haven't had any professional pictures taken with him so I'm happy that it worked out how it did. I was going to take him to santa in the mall to get his picture taken but their prices are outrageous! I think it was 13$ for 1 picture. We have a couple of Christmas parties to go to soon and I'm sure Santa will be there and we can take pictures ourselves. Caleb has slept 10-7 and 8-10 for about the past week. I couldn't be more thankful. I'm so glad that a sleep schedule is finally erupting(and a good one at that). I know I can't count of it lasting too long, buts its nice while it does last. I am excited for Caleb's 1st Christmas but... I know next years Christmas will be SO MUCH more fun when he can open things himself. Caleb is such a joy. He tries to talk to me, giggles and smiles so much. He really smiles n giggles in the mornings. That must be his favorite time of day. He is really focused and zeros in on this way more closely now. Everyone has always told me he is very alert for being so young. He loves to know what is going on around him.

Here are some of the Christmas pictures:

Pictures from November

Its almost been 8weeks since Caleb was born. He has changed my life for the better. You never know the power of love until you have a child.

1 month

1 Month!My baby boy is 1 month old today! I cannot believe how fast time is going. But at the same time, it feels like I've known him forever. I guess its just that connection that we had while he was in my belly for those 9months. He still has his nights n' days a bit mixed up but it is getting better. He is slowly starting to sleep longer stretches throughout the night and be awake more during the daytime. At his last appointment(3wks old) he weighed 11 lb and 3 oz. which the doctor said is wonderful. He is in the 95th percentile. He is a big boy! I am amazed by him more and more each day. He is starting to focus on things more and he turns his head towards me when I talk to him. I cannot wait until he smiles in response to things. So far the only smiles he has are when he is sleeping and they're just random. He loves his swing. He usually falls asleep in it but if he isn't tired he sits in it staring up at the lamp beside it. He loves bright lights. I am so excited to watch him grow and for him to be more interactive but I know i'm really going to miss him being this little.edit: he smiled later that day @ exactly 1 month old!

The Birth of Caleb Anthony!

I couldn't get to sleep on Sunday night so I decided to go try and get comfortable on the couch around 3am. I fell asleep and woke up around 4am and when I went to stand up I felt a leak of fluid. I wasn't sure if it was urine or amniotic fluid so I spent the next few hours trying to figure it out. I was googling all the ways to tell the difference. I tried laying down for 20 minute increments and getting up again to see if it would leak again. Sometimes it would and other times it wouldn't. I didn't want to the hospital in case it was just urine so I decided to call my doctors office when they opened. I tried at 9:00, 9:15, and again at 9:30 and continued to get the answering service so I decided I would just drive in. I asked to speak with a nurse and described what was happening and she told me to go to labor & delivery right away and they can do testing to see if it is amniotic fluid. I arrived at labor & delivery around 10:30am. The nurse had me put on a gown and belly band. She hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. She said I was 2cm dialated and she saw some pooling of fluid in my vagina so she was pretty sure it was amniotic fluid I was leaking. She did the ferning test. It was in fact amniotic fluid. They put in my IV and started up the pitocin around 11:30am. At this point I was having contractions 1 1/2 minutes apart but not feeling much. I had a slight backache and some menstrual type cramps. At 2pm Dr. Young came in to check my cervix and said I was still at 2cm but she needed to re-break my water(apparently it broke at the top before). As soon as she broke my water I instantly dialated to 4cm. This is when the pain started. I could actually feel my contractions coming and going and I finally started to feel like I was in labor. The pain was pretty intense and came on very suddenly. The doctor said I could have my epidural so I went ahead and put my request in for it incase the anestesiologist would be tied up and take awhile to get there. Luckily he arrived fairly shortly and I had my epidural in by 3pm. Within 20 minutes I was feeling good. No pain, just discomfort from having to stay confined to the bed. The doctor reviewed the monitor and said that they baby hasn't been having enough active periods so they got out the buzzer to wake him. It worked but he was back to sleep in no time. Around 4:30pm they decided to put an internal monitor on the baby. Dr. Young left and Dr. Konda came in to take over. The babies heartrate started dropping down so the doctor began to be concerned. I started feeling my contractions again so they paged the anestesiologist. He came back and gave me some more medicine and increased my epidural med. I started to feel good again. The babies heartrate continued dropping so at 6pm they stopped the pitocin. At 6:30 the doctor decided that I would need a ceserean. Caleb Anthony arrived at 7:37pm. He weighed 10lbs and was 20 1/2 inches. He is already the love of my life 3(I would really like to type up a more detailed birth story, and I will eventually... but for now... this is it)

here are some pictures:

CALEB HAS ARRIVED!9/29/08 @ 7:37PM 10LBS. 20.5IN.We came home on Thursday but I've been busyyyyy so haven't had much time to do anything more then take care of him. I hope to be able to write up the birth story soon.

Went to my NST yesterday. The nurse I had was a ding dong. She was ready to send me home and hadn't even checked my blood pressure. When she did it was high (138/90) sooo by the time I finally got out of there I had been poked twice for blood, peed in a cup and was sent home with a big jug to collect 24hours of urine. I am taking that back today and we should have the results soon. I see my midwife on Tuesday.

My 39wk appointment:No good news for me at my appointment yesterday morning. I have not dialated or thinned out any more. My blood pressure was high, I had protein in my urine, much swelling/weight gain. Soo she had me lay on my left side awhile and rechecked my bloodpressure. Thankfully it came down to a decent level. I am to go in to L&D for a NST on Friday. My next appointment is on Tues.(exactly on my EDD) I was pretty bummed out after that appointment.Nothing is happening with me except an occasional contraction just to tease me. I think I've accepted defeat and I'm probably gonna be pregnant until the 2nd week of October. I'm so irritable and sick of people telling me to enjoy my last nights full of sleep. They aren't full of sleep... I'm awake every hour with numb limbs, aching hips and a full bladder. I'd much rather be waking up with this baby..

My feet ache and look like walrus paddles... I hope they shrink after the baby is born. This swelling makes my feet look not-so-sexy.. lol

Tuesday I found out that I'm 1cm dialated. It doesn't mean much but atleast something is happening. I go back again this Tuesday. I'll be 39wks then... Wowwww

37weeks

Wednesday was my last birthing class. We took a tour of the maternity unit. I saw a cute lil baby in the nursery. That made me even more excited about meeting my lil boy. I am SO ready to get this baby out. My maternity clothes are getting too small and are now very uncomfortable. I can't sleep more then an hour or two at a time each night. My belly is burning and itching b'cuz i'm starting to get stretch marks on the lower part of my stomach. I'm moody and grumpy. My back hurts. I have a zillion complaints and on top of that I'm going nuts wondering what my baby is going to look like and just wanting to hold him in my arms. Please baby.... don't be stubborn and stay inside until 42 weeks... I'll take ya ANYTIME now. I'm anxious and excited to meet this lil baby.

I'm down to the final month! I can't even believe it... time has went by so quickly. I should have a baby in my arms next month at this time... but I may not. It'll be anywhere from 2-6wks and he will be arriving.I have a fear of going 2 weeks past my due date, being induced and ending up with a c-section after a long painful attempt at labor & delivery. I shouldn't think so negatively but that is my fear.My baby shower was nice. The baby got a lot of cute things. I had a good time, I'll post a picture or 2 from it. (Not sure that I will post any of myself b'cuz i look horrrrrible in all of them)Physically: I am doing alright. A lot better then some other woman that are due around the same time as me. They complain all the time and I'm not sure that I'm as miserable as they have been. I don't have much swelling but after a long day on my feet I do notice slight swelling in my feet/ankles. I have already gained more weight then I would of liked to this entire pregnancy, but I'm not going to worry about that until after the baby is born. The lower part of my belly is getting really itchy and starting to hurt. I think the stretch marks are starting to show their ugly face. I get up several times a night to pee. I'm always thirsty and constantly have a bottle of ice water with me. Walking is a task and somedays I feel as though my hip joints need oiled up. I don't feel the baby move near as much anymore (I think he is running out of room) although I often feel a foot poking out of my side and have to rub it until he stops poking it out. Emotionally: I'm ready for this baby to be born. I'm anxious to meet him. I can't wait to hold him in my arms and just stare at him. I often wonder what he is going to look like. A lot of things in my life aren't going as smoothly as I would like but I'm trying to make the best of it and stay optimistic about the arrival of my lil boy. I already have more love for him then I could possibly have for anyone. I'm ready to meet ya lil guy!! I think its time I get done packing my bags for the hospital... He may come any day now. (More then likely it won't be for atleast 2 more weeks, maybe not for 6) I like to be prepared for anything.

Its been awhile so I figured I better get on here and update. I failed my 1 hour Glucose Tolerance test so I had to go back in for the 3 hour one. I did not end up completing it because I got sick and they sent me down to the Emergency Room. I had a lot of tests done and got some IV fluids. I don't know what the doctor is going to decide to do to test me for Gest. Diabetes since I can't do the 3hour GTT. I will call on Monday and see what they say..I've been at a stand still with getting things ready for the baby. There is not much more I can do or buy until I see what I end up with after my Baby Shower. The shower is August 10th, I'm really looking forward to it. My goal is to have everything ready for the baby by the end of August so I can just relax the last few weeks. I found the cutest camo diaper bag on walmarts website. I HAVE to get it. They do not sell it in stores so I couldn't go get it. I added it to my registry and if I don't get it at my shower I will def be ordering it! Its adorable! I think I have the baby's outfit picked out for his 1st picture. I pick it up all the time to just look at it and can't wait to see my baby boy in it! I am planning to breastfeed, so am trying to gather as much information about it as I can. I want to be prepared. I also do not want to invest too much money into nursingwear/gear just in case breastfeeding does not work out for me. I just want to have the bare essentials and see how it works out before I buy too much. Okk.. enough rambling for today.9weeks left!!

2 months and 23 days until my lil boy is due.I can't even begin to describe how anxious I am to meet him. I'm so excited about having a family. "Baby Boy" has been an acrobat in my belly the past couple of days. He woke me up and kept me awake for a few hours in the middle of the night last night but I'm not gonna complain. Physically I've been more exhausted lately but feeling pretty decent. I get dizzy spells and feelings of breathlessness sometimes. I don't know what causes it, I'm guessing its the babys position. My belly button has gotten really shallow. I wonder if its going to pop out? I've been a major "innie" my whole life, so it'll be interesting to see if it pops out.I should be getting the crib/dresser/changing table this month and will finally be able to put his nursery together. I'm pretty excited to get that all set up =)We have not yet announced the babies name but I think i'm going to announce it at my baby shower. To you few people who already know the name... consider yourself special haha

100 more days left!

My belly has been really itchy! I don't have too much to update on. I've been feeling the baby moving a lot. It seems as though 10p-12a is his really active time. My next appt isn't until July 8th.

23-24wks

I can't believe I'm almost 24weeks pregnant. Time is flying, but not fast enough. I'm excited about meeting my lil one =)

The ultrasound went good today. The baby is healthy. We got a pretty good picture of his face. I'm measuring almost a week ahead, and he weighs 1lb 7oz. I'm so relieved now that I know everything is healthy =)

Sooo I'm kinda ticked off this morning. Got up at 7 this morning to make it to my appointment at 9 just to find out that they mistakenly scheduled me on a day the midwife is on vacation. Dunno how that happened. Buttt I have the come back next week now. Tomorrow is still my level II ultrasound in Pitts... I'll update after that

My next ultrasound will be in Pittsburgh at West Penn Hospital. They are sending me for a Level II ultrasound. I have to admit it worried me as to why they're chosing to send me for the level II instead of just another reg u/s. I did talk to the nurse about it and she read the doctors orders to me and it seems as though its just to get a clearer view of things they couldn't see too well in the last ultrasound. So I am going to try not to worry and just be thankful that I'm going to be able to see my baby again. I've been feeling the baby moving a lot! He is active a lot in the mornings and evenings. I feel him on the inside, I can feel him through my stomach if I place my hand on it while he is real active, and I can sometimes even see my stomach moving around.

I will be going for another ultrasound in 3-4 weeks because they did not get a good picture of the babies arm or spine on the last ultrasound. Its another chance to see my baby boy, so I'm not complaining! I got my quad screen results back today, all negative. Less then 1 in 5000 chance of a major birth defect. Thank God! My next appointment is on June 3rd with Laurie. I will be scheduling my repeat anatomy scan then. Woohoo! I hope they print me out more pics of my baby!

Its a BOY!!!

I had such a good day today. A lot of good things happened, the best being seeing my baby boy! He cooperated very well so we were able to get a definate answer on the gender. It is a BOY! Check out the pics! It was so amazing seeing him moving around on the screen. At first he had his legs tucked up and he was holding his heel. It was so cute! So the tech just did some of the measurements and then checked his position again. This time he had his legs opened up and we could clearly see that it was a boy. He was movin all over the place and kept showin off! At the end he was sucking his thumb. I am measuring EXACTLY (to the very day) as my due date, so everything is lookin good! I'm so ready to go shopping and get lot of adorable lil boy things! I have a name picked out for him, and I'm pretty certain things aren't gonna change with that. Although, I don't plan to tell many people the name. The ultrasound tech was very nice and informative. I was very thankful for that!

Tomorrow I have an ultrasound. I should be finding out Boy or Girl! I really hope the baby cooperates and shows us what he/she is! I'm really excited! I know its gonna be an amazing experience b'cuz the last(and only) time i've seen the lil bugger he/she was just a small dot on the screen.

Today was my 19wk appointment. Everything went good! I got to hear the babies heartbeat, which was 160bpm. She said my uterus is growing right should be(its about a finger width below my belly button now) My anatomy scan is Friday. I CANNOT WAIT!!Today I'm really stuck in baby-mode. I seen the cutest lil newborn boy at the docs office today. I forgot how tiny they are. Those cute lil hands awwww. I really can't wait to meet my lil one. Today its like my mind can only think baby baby baby. All i can research online is babies, all i've been talking to my friends/fam about is the baby. I can't wait to hold it, to touch its soft skin, to smell it. I cried just thinking of the moment i'll first hold it in my arms. Yes...today.. I'm really obsessed. It must be the hormones.

Toasting Marshmallows in the oven is fun. Just turn the oven on broil, stick one on a long knife and hold it in there. Yummmm

I have an appointment with Eileen monday morning. She is the other midwife, i haven't seen her yet. At that appointment I will get my ultrasound set up, so my ultrasound should be sometime next week. I can't wait! =)I wanna know.... Pink or Blue?!!?!

So I've been thinking I've felt my baby move for awhile now, but as of today I'm positive i've felt it. It feels like lil tickle/poke from the inside. I just felt it 3 times in a row.

Well I hit 17weeks yesterday!I don't really have too much to update thats why i haven't updated in awhile. My next appointment isn't until the 30th, and I won't be seeing my midwife until the following week. Hopefully at that appointment we will set up my "20wk" ultrasound to find out the gender of the baby. My bump is really starting to show. Its now being noticed by other people, and not just myself.I'm pretty set on names. Although I plan to keep that a secret from most people until the baby is born. I haven't been working, which is wonderfulllll... but I'll probably be starting my new job within a week or two. I don't know how long I'll stay there though. I'm not thrilled that i have to go back to work. I could probably manage without but I want to try and save up a lil extra money to be on the safe side. As for pregnancy symptoms; I haven't had many cravings lately, my stomach aches at nighttime and is sore in the mornings when i wake up, I get dizzy and feel like i'm going to pass out when I am standing for periods of time, and thats about it.

Oh and I've had to take the fioricet a couple of times so far. It worked very well one time and not so well the other. I'm not sure why that is...

Current Cravings: Andy Capps HOT FRIES and sour candy. (like sour straws or sour patch kids) get me these and i will love u forever.

Woke up this morning. Feels like my belly had a lil growth spurt overnight. Or maybe I'm just noticing this belly I'm getting.

I think preg hormones are getting the best of me today. I've been crying all day, for no good reason. =(

My 14 week appointment went well. I got to hear the babys heartbeat, she said it was in the 150's. She said I'm in the 2nd trimester and after hearing the heartbeat that means theres almost no chance of miscarriage (yayy)I also got a prescrip of Fioricet for my migraines. I've been getting some horrible ones lately. I hope this helps.

I don't know if I've been depressed but I've sure been more pessimistic then usual. I've had worrys and bad thoughts about everything. When I first got a positive hpt I thought the test must be lying to me, so we bought several more. Once they were all positive too I thought that cysts cause false positives so that must be the case(i read that in a pamphlet in the preg test box) Then I went to have my blood test and confirm it. I was thinking it might just be a blighted ovum or tubal pregnancy. Had an u/s at 5-6wks and confirmed it was in the right place, but i was worried that the heartbeat(106bpm) was way too slow and that something was wrong. I have been horrible about this whole thing. I know worrying is bad but that is all I have done. I'm always tryin to think positive but I end up thinking the worst. An example: I found some nice maternity clothes for summer for very cheap from the 2nd hand store. I had to justify buying them so soon by tellin myself that i can always donate them back or sell them on ebay if something happens to my baby.I keep telling myself that my appointment monday(3/31) is going to be my turning point. As long as everything is looking good then I should STOP worrying because I'll be 14wks and the risks should be minimal. Lets just hope I can stick to my word and stop being such a pessimistic worry wart.

sickness was back for 2 days, i think it was a combination of work and nightshift that triggered it. I hope its gone again..

I have had a few dreams about the baby. Its been a baby boy in all of them. Although my mother has dreamt that it is a girl. We shall see within a month or 2.

I had my last appointment on March 3rd. It was really uneventful. All the midwife did was ask me a bunch of questions and ask me if i had any questions or concerns. I didn't get an exam or get to listen to the heartbeat(as i had hoped)I went thru a tough few weeks when I was really feeling bad. I was being so negative about everything and so fearful that something bad had happened to my baby. I waited forever for that appointment just to get some peace of mind... (NOTHING) She said we would get to listen for the heartbeat at my next appointment. ((WHICH IS MARCH 31ST))So as impatient as I am, I went ahead and bought a fetal doppler off of ebay. I recieved it on 3/15 and found the heartbeat right away. Loud, Strong, and steady at 165BMP. It was beautiful. I recorded a sound clip of it onto my cell phone.I am so thankful I recorded that because I have not been able to find a steady reading since. I think its because my baby has been moving around too much when I try to listen to it. I get readings anywhere from 145 to 170. So needless to say, I'm still anxious for my next OB appointment.I haven't been getting sick for well over a month now. All together I haven't had many bouts of sickness. Maybe 6-8times total, but constant nausea somedays. Its been all better since 8weeks. I have been getting headaches and dizzy spells alot. I now carry a bottle of cold water with me everywhere(That seems to help when I'm out shopping and startin to feel a lil dizzy)I hope to have more to update in 10days after my 14week appointment. =)

HelloI'm off work today, so I'm just relaxing. In bed on my laptop. Trixie is sleeping beside me haha. My next OB appointment is March 3rd. I'm pretty anxious for it to get here. I'm hoping I'll get to hear my babys heartbeat on the doppler. I've been feeling really lazy and tired lately, i think this baby is already taking my energy. I haven't been sick at all lately, and i'm sooo thankful for that. I've been having frequent trips to the toilet to pee esp in the middle of the night. I haven't slept thru a whole night without gettin up to pee in awhile. I can't believe I'm almost 10 weeks --Gosh i'm almost 1/4 of the way thru this. wow..I'm not showing yet, but i can def notice a difference in my stomach.I haven't had any dreams about the baby yet. No vivid dreams that have indicated what gender this lil bean is gonna be. I still don't have a strong feeling either way, but i'm gonna guess... boy.