ALICE LAUGHS!

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since we posted, but the most amazing thing happened........ Alice laughed! I know it is super early for her to be laughing (3 weeks, must mean she's a genius), but she did and here is the proof! We just happened to be taking pictures at that time and I was moving her legs up and down say "ding ding" and she found it hilarious. You can see the build up and then the pure laughter, it was so sweet!

See I wasn't lying! Other than her being the greatest baby ever born, things couldn't be more wonderful. We are looking forward to a cozy first Christmas and New Years together.  Of course it would be better with our friends and more family, but there is always next year. We will be thinking about all of you and hope you are as happy as we are!

Love

Nic, Natalie and Alice (5 weeks)

SHE'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!

I can't believe she finally made it!
She is the most beautiful, perfect, sweetest thing I have ever seen!
Maybe it is just all the crazy hormones I have, but I do get super teary thinking about how wonderful she is and how much I love her.
I love the way she breathes, moves her little hands and grabs our fingers, when she tries to open her eyes and her little eyebrows raise, when she gives a big stretch, and oh so many more.  (I totally started crying while writing this, because she is that amazing!)

So here is how we got her here:

I went to the doctor Wednesday, they suggested to take some castor oil to see if we could get labor started.
My sister Amber and I went and picked up a smaller bottle, so at first I only took 1 TB.  Nothing really happened and a couple hours later took another TB, well shortly after my contractions were about 5 minutes apart for a couple hours and they said to come into the hospital. After getting there and hooked up to monitor them, they said they were not strong enough to admit me, so we went for a walk to get them going again for 2 hours. After that they hooked me up again and still having regular contractions, but not strong enough so they sent us home.
Next morning didn't really feel anything, later that night 1 more TB, but still nothing. Nic's parents came in town, because we knew she was coming shortly, but sadly still nothing. They stayed for a couple days and I had minor symptoms, but still in early labor and no Alice.
Amber had to leave Monday morning at 6 am, so we all went to bed early around 9ish.  At 11:52 I woke up, because my dream told me to wake up. So I rolled over so oddly, Nic asked if everything is ok and all I felt/heard was a couple pops.  I was not sure if my water broke, but I was sure enough to call my midwife. She said she didn't think so, but just watch for other signs. I laid back down and got the urge to call my mom and tell her I think my water broke and I was on the phone with her and jumped up because it popped! Went all over the floor and shocked me so bad I was crying!
After 12 hours of hard labor, I wasn't dilating past 6 so they induced stronger contractions and was hoping Alice would drop a little more. She didn't and I didn't and her heart rate started to drop so I needed a C-section.
At 1:10 pm, Monday, November 14, 2011 the most beautiful girl in the world was born!

Words can not express what I feel today, how lucky I am for Nic and Alice. Life could not be any better right now, it is hard to imagine as she gets older how much better this gets!

Thanks for taking the time to watch Alice grow inside to now! We are going to always let you know about her, because she is too special not to share with you!

XOXO,
Natalie
Alice - 6 days

IT'S ALMOST TIME!!

I can't believe it! We went to see the midwife today and it looks like Alice should be here hopefully this week or the next!
I am dilated 1 1/2 cms......
She is around 8lbs.......
They have put me on evening primrose, to get things moving along hopefully this week!
We did have another sonogram and she was adorable, she was chewing on her foot!!!!!!

I just can't believe it is almost time! I have been waiting and bitching for it to come, and things are moving so fast now.
If I do not go into labor this week, they want to see what they can do next week to get her out.
So excited that our families are coming in town, I just want her to come when one of them is here.
My sister Amber is here on Monday and then my mom and stepdad will be here the week after, and Nic's parents will be here early December!

So much going on, emotions are wild with joy and fear. Will update as we find out!

XOXO
Natalie
37 weeks 5 days

New Pictures

Yay! She is almost here! Seriously just a few weeks away and hopefully Alice will pop out! I am so over being pregnant, I am just so big that breathing is hard!

I went to the doctor last week to check on her, and she is just great! Weighing around 6 lbs, so they think about 8- 8 1/2 at birth. They even thought about moving up my due date, but decided not to because she will be full term on the 27th, there was no need to.

Here are some of the latest pictures of the nursery and just some fun ones of the family

this was 2 weeks ago, so i have gotten WAY bigger

the boys going on a walk

bath time!

 olive

xoxo

Natalie

35 weeks 3 days

SHE'S A BIG ONE!

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated the blog!

New Alice info:
      We had what was supposed to be our last sonogram yesterday, but it looks like I will have to have one more before she is born. She is giant right now, measuring the the 86%, which means she is 5 lbs 5 oz. Normal babies at 33 weeks weigh just over 4 lbs, so she is measuring about mid 35 weeks.  So to be proactive about her weight, I will be taking the 3 hour sugar test and trying to cut out all sugar and white flour.  Some people know what the sugar test is, but in case you don't it tests you for gestational diabetes, which makes for larger birth weight.  My first test was normal, but because she is so big they want to double check.  As for my weight, I am on average, but could begin to get really high.  As of now, I have gained 33 lbs, when I came back from Texas I gained 7 lbs! So had to check myself the last 3 weeks and only gained 2 lbs, which is such a relief.
     All of that sounds serious, but nothing to worry about it just yet. I am choosing to look at this in a different way, that she will come early! Babies are full term at 37 weeks, which she will be on October 27. Here's to hoping to not being pregnant too long! We are both really healthy though, just a tiny pot hole!

I have taken pictures of the nursery completed with the beautiful new camera Billy and Val Mathis got us, but our iphoto won't let us download it! So we are checking on the problem to get them posted. It is beautiful though and so excited to bring her home and show her what we've put together.

With the due date drawing so close, I will make a better effort to update more!

XO
Natalie
33 weeks 0 days

THE CRIB IS IN!

We are back from Texas and can not thank everyone enough for the wonderful time and presents for Alice! I keep saying over and over how lucky she is, but again we are so grateful for all of your support and love!

So with all the new goodies we are having shipped from Texas, we are getting further along with her nursery.

The sheets are in and her crib is ready!!!

We got a few different fitted sheets from Target, 2 are floral and the other is striped. Her top sheet is actually the sheet that I had in my crib, that is embroidered with little ducks and blocks along the top, then we were given a beautiful vintage comforter with red polka dots on the back and nursery rhymes on the front. The stuffed animals were actually Nic's when he was a baby and then we LOVE aunt Jeanette's stole on the side of her crib! All of this makes for a beautiful crib for Alice!

Next is our changing table that is almost finished, really we are just going to get some baskets and hang a shelf above for extra storage. Also above the crib we will be hanging a series of photos, art, and shelves, will post pics after!

We are still waiting for our largest box from Dallas with the majority of stuff to arrive, but it will be here soon! Then the glider and rug should be in and then Alice is the final touch!

Again we had the best time in Texas seeing you guys and are sad it will be so long until we see you again, especially now that we had that earthquake on Tuesday and trying to get ready for the hurricane this weekend! If you are wondering, our apartment shook I thought I was having a dizzy spell, then I realized Max and Olive were holding on to the ground really low with all fours looking at me for help. So glad everyone is ok, and nothing fell!

XOXO

-Natalie

28 weeks 0 days

The start of the nursery..........

Hey everyone!

So now is the time to start getting our nursery ready! Nic took this last weekend to paint her walls a beautiful oyster color.  Martha Stewart is my idol and she makes a great line of paint called, "Precious Metals", which means you take a base color and add an iridescence to it. So we did a light blue with a silver to it, which it looks great with the new chandelier Nic put up! Modern to kind of off set the vintage crib.

The crib gets here Monday morning, which I can not wait to see what it will look like in her room! We also went to a flea market and picked up a changing table, which Nic painted white and we are looking at new hardware for! While we were there we picked Nic up a new desk which we are both very excited about. So it feels like things are rapidly moving forward.

Alice is growing so much and everyday is amazing to feel her movements. Being pregnant is incredible! It is starting to get more difficult sleeping, but other than that everything couldn't be moving any smoother! We do get to go to Texas next week, which we have been waiting for. Some very much needed family and friends time to get in, just not looking forward to the heat. They have been saying this is one of the hotter summers in NYC, but I don't think it is preparing us for was Texas will be like.

So here are some pictures of what we have done to the nursery so far...............
still a long way to go!

Changing table, pre-painting

first coat

some planters for her

the chandelier

Will update more when more comes in!

We love you guys!

-Natalie

24 weeks 6 days