A Day in the Life of Alexis Kate

Nov. 2nd at 8:10 pm Alexis Kate will be 14 months.  Here's what she's up to these days, from her point of view:

6:30 am- I wake up, MaMa! comes to my room and lets me squirm in her bed til she's ready to face the world, or until I start saying "waf-ful, waf-ful" over and over.

6:32 am- I eat my waf-fuls then throw the rest on the floor.  MaMa gets frustrated and tells me to "Get Down!"

 7am- Breakfast has been over for a while, MaMa is busy drinking her pot of coffee while I walk around looking for my "Da-DE" (he is at work)

9am- We get in the car to go somewhere.  I love to go places.  Usually we go to the gym, the library, preschool, MOPS, a playdate, or grocery shopping.  While we are wherever we are I demand the attention of those around me.  I say "Hi" and don't stop until they acknowledge that I am talking!  If they ignore me I scream "Hi" at them until my MaMa says they are being rude, but I still have to use my inside voice. THEN, people will look at us.

11am- My MaMa is really excited that it's naptime.  She sings to me and then prays while I say "amen, amen, amen, amen" in the cutest little voice.

11:05am- I go in the crib and scream.

11:10am- I'm asleep

1pm- I wake up and eat.

1:30pm- Sometimes we go to other playdates, otherwise we stay at home and read books, build blocks, climb of the furniture, and tear the pantry apart.

3pm- I love the mail-man.  He is really nice and sometimes brings us packages.  I get really excited to see the little mail truck.  I go to the gate and say "mail, mail, mail"  over and over.

3:30pm-My MaMa makes me take another nap, cause she's tired.

5pm- I wake up and help MaMa cook dinner.

5:30pm- My Da-DEE!! is home!  I wait at the gate and scream his name excitedly until he reaches the top of the stairs.  Then I collapse into his arms.

5:45pm- We eat dinner together.  MaMa and Da-Dee talk about boring stuff while I throw my food on the floor.  MaMa gets frustrated, says I JUST CLEANED THE FLOOR!, then Da-Dee saves the day...I play until dinner is over.

6:15-  Da-Dee and I play while MaMa gets a break.

7pm- Bathtime!

7:15pm- I get my jammas on, sing some songs, read some books, say "amen" and go to sleep. 

Baking Bread

I feel like I've mastered something incredible!   Making bread is messy, but easy and way way better than store bought.  Here's the recipe I follow:

http://breadbaking.about.com/od/yeastbreads/r/1loafbread.htm

Alexis Kate's Baby Shower

I realized that I left the baby shower out of the story! My sister with the help of others hosted the shower in Marion, NC.  I was 7 months.  After the shower we went hiking!

Alexis Kate's Story- Part Ten

Almost 9 Months

Our Townhouse

Our trip half way across the USA began by sitting in an hours worth of traffic.  And when I say traffic- I don't mean the kind where there are lots and lots of cars traveling 15 mph, I mean the kind where you do not move.  Some of you know what I mean.  That made it really, really easy to leave Atlanta!  Our first stop was Nashville, TN where we spent the night and saw the sights.

 

I was sooooo tired!

Will enjoyed the hotel beds.

The next day we walked around Nashville and headed out to St. Louis!  A very cool city, where we visited the arch.

After St. Louis we traveled on to the final destination- Omaha, NE

Alexis, Me, and Will- our first picture with CORN!

Finally, after three days of travel we made it to Omaha.  The day after arriving I had an appointment with my midwife.  Unfortunately, the scale was part of each visit.  I was devastated after this weight check.  I had gained six pounds in three weeks!  That's a lot!  To make it even worse the midwife suggested that I make sure I ate healthy well balanced meals.  Thankfully, despite the weight gain, everything was just right with Alexis.  They checked her growth and her heartbeat.   It was all good and I was set to visit again in a week.

August 1st,  Cheyenne (aka Shiney) boarded her plane back to Atlanta.  That's when it hit me that I was totally alone and very pregnant in a place where I knew no one!  The very next day I solved that problem by booking an unexpected flight to visit Josh for the weekend.  I called up a "potential friend" who's contact info I got from a friend in Atlanta and set a lunch date.  Later that week I received a facebook message from someone in Marion, NC with another "potential friend's" info.

August 8, 2010

Even with all of that, I was not even close to being busy enough.  It was really frustrating to have a house to put together, but no stamina to get in there and get it done.  Many days I would start to do something and then end up on the couch for the rest of the afternoon to nap. 

I was lonely.  I looked so forward to the childbirth classes where at least I would see people.  I signed up for a knitting class at the local library for the sole purpose of seeing people.

One of the activities to keep me busy was a maternity photo shoot, which ended up being really fun!

9 1/2 Months

I began walking around a local lake with my new friend Kelley and her 2 month old baby boy.  Kelley is now a really good friend.  We see each other at MOPS,  for playdates, small group, and occasionally at church.

I had a couple of coffee dates with my other new friend Kari.  Kari introduced me to MOPS, she was our one and only visitor at the hospital, and she set up meals for two weeks after Alexis was born!

On August 11th, I went back to my mid wife and to our surprise I measured a month smaller than I had measured at the end of July.  She measured again and again to make sure, and then sent me up to have an ultrasound to check Lexie's growth.  According to the measurements Alexis weighed 5 lbs 6 oz.  A perfectly healthy weight, but it was concerning that I had slipped backward in size.  The midwife sent me home with strict instructions to eat a 2400 calorie diet rich in protein and come back in a week.  Those of you who really know me, know that I hated everything about those instructions.  But, I did it. 

The next week, I was back in the office for a 37 week ultrasound.  Despite all that eating and a 2 lb weight gain for myself, Alexis had only gained 4 ounces.  At this point babies should be gaining 8 ounces a week.  Yikes!  This is when I felt we had a serious problem.  I kept asking "why would I gain the weight, but not the baby?" 
From this point on I was at the hospital twice a week.  Once a week I would have an ultrasound and twice a week I would be hooked up to a baby heart rate/movement monitor. 
Week 38, Alexis had gained 3 ounces.  Week 39, just 3 more ounces.  She had slipped below the 10 percentile and the mid wife with the advice of a doctor determined that I would be induced.  We planned the induction for the day after Josh would arrive. 

I waited two more very, very long days for Josh to arrive.  On Wednesday, September 1st at 1:30am he finally flew in!

To Be Continued...

Alexis Kate's Story- Part Nine

WHAT?!?!?  Part Nine???  This is getting ridiculous.  I'm attempting to wrap the whole thing up in three more parts. Here we go....with just the highlights:



It was easier than I thought to keep busy.   The weeks were full of work and the weekends I managed to stay occupied with fun activities.  Baby showers, graduations, climbing through the windows of my locked house,  taking care of our crazy dog, and trips to see Josh.



Six weeks into training we found out we'd soon call Omaha home.  It's funny looking back.

We had considered the worst places and the best places, but not really the in-between.  I got the call from Josh late one afternoon while I was still at work.  I hate surprises, especially ones I know are coming.  He told me the news and  I was speechless.

I'm serious...I couldn't think of one thing to say, so I cried silently.  I really, really wanted to be strong and take the news well-for Josh's sake, but I just couldn't pull it together at this moment.  Josh was trying to get me to say something.  Finally, he gave up and asked if he should call someone to check on me.  That broke the silence.  I laughed.  And then I kept saying Omaha and cows over and over again.



At almost 26 weeks I ran my last run in Washington, DC.  I felt like a failure, but I knew those early contractions I had been experiencing for the last month weren't a good sign.  I vowed to walk three miles a day instead.


The time was passing quickly-a little quicker than I had hoped, actually.


There was a day coming that I was dreading.  July 2nd- the day I would say goodbye to my first favorite little girl, Kristen.  In the past two years I had fallen in love with that girl.  One day, maybe, I will write about those two years.  I dreaded the day more than I should have.  It wasn't so bad.


I stayed in Atlanta until the end of July and I was able to see Kristen and her family quite a bit until the day I left.   Lexie's beautiful bedroom set was passed down from Kristen as well as a lot of other baby related items and even some " big girl" clothes.  Anyway, I visited them one last time before I left, and that was the sad day.


The week after my job ended my mom and I took a trip to Omaha to look for a house.

I visited my mid-wife for my 7 month check up and a quick get-to-know you session. I picked a mid-wife because in case Josh wasn't able to be with me for the delivery, I wanted to have someone there from beginning to end of the birth.



Four days of searching we found our lovely four bedroom three bathroom split level mid western ugly base-boarded house.  I was thrilled with the size, price, and the neighborhood.


Sometime during the trip I got a call from our Realtor with a surprise that one of the potential buyers wanted to rent our town house instead.  Lots and lots of phone calls later it was determined that this was a great option.  An unexpected answer to our desperate prayers.



Back in Atlanta, I worked harder than I have ever worked at a job.  I probably felt that way because I was on the phone, at a computer, or meeting with people for a good eight-ten hours a day trying to coordinate everything.  The movers, utilities, handyman, and our new property manager.  Luckily I didn't have to move or pack a thing.

The day the movers came I sat my huge pregnant self in the comfy chair and watched them.  Occasionally, I would leave to get something to eat or get my nails done.


Finally, two days later, our stuff was packed in a big tractor trailer and ready to go!  I picked up my good friend, Cheyenne, and we began our trip half-way across the US.