So many firsts!

Adalynn turned 5 months old on the 15th and is growing and changing every single day. Our baby is getting big so quickly. She cut her first tooth last Tuesday, Jinx and I were ecstatic! Based on the constant finger gnawing and drooling we will likely see another tooth very soon. Adalynn is so full of personality and spunk these days, she keeps us entertained for hours on end. For the last 2 weeks she has been able to sit up on her own, which has meant many other changes as well. We retired the baby bathtub this week and she is now LOVING her big girl baths in the tub! And tonight at a restaurant she had her first high-chair experience. She isn't crawling yet, but can definitely get herself around by rolling or 'creeping' around on the floor. It's probably time to start baby-proofing everything around the house, she'll be truly mobile in no time.

Today we took our very first trip to the zoo. She did great and we really enjoyed getting to show her and tell her about the animals. Life with a little one is getting more and more fun everyday, now that she is more interactive and playful. We will probably start her on solid foods this week, and can't wait to see her reaction once we open up her taste palette to more than Mommy's milk.

Happy Birthday Dad!

With the flu finally behind us, things are getting back to normal. Both Adalynn and Jinx are doing much better! We spent the weekend celebrating Jinx's 26th Birthday!! Mommy and Daddy took a much needed date night on Saturday for dinner at Brazeiro's! It was excellent, and we really enjoyed having some time alone for the first time in over 4 months. We resolved that we really should do that more often.

Adalynn is doing GREAT and growing like a weed! She will be 5 months old on the 15th, where does the time go? This weekend she began sitting up on her own without any assistance. She looks so big sitting up and playing with her toys! Her new favorite thing is to try and imitate us rolling our lips, it usually ends with her spitting all over the place but it is so cute to see her try and do what we do. She has also learned to give kisses(open mouth slobber all over our faces)! So sweet!:)

The FLU

The dreaded flu bug attacked our family! Jinx started feeling bad early last week, which quickly turned into 'too sick to get off the couch' and he tested positive for the flu on Thursday. He was sick as a dog! It takes alot to get this man down, but the flu did the trick. He kept his distance from Adalynn as soon as he suspected he was coming down with something, but unfortunately it was too late. Monday morning Adalynn woke up fussy and feverish, so off the doctor we went. They tested her for both the flu and RSV. Sure enough she had the flu. There are few things more pitiful than a 4 month old battling the flu. :( Jinx and I are learning just how difficult it is to see your child suffer. Breaks our hearts! She is showing improvements daily and with lots of love, hugs, and kisses we pray she will get better soon!

On a happy note, Jinx is going back to school!! I am so proud of him for deciding to finish his degree. Tonight is the start of his first class. I know it will be hard for him to have to spend time away from us while he is in class and studying, but it will definitely be worth it in the long run. We are anxiously looking forward to a graduation in 2012.

We're back!!

It's been a while, I know...a long while, but the blog is back! :)

The last 4 months with our darling daughter have been nothing short of amazing! We have learned so much about her and about ourselves. You know the commercial that says, "A baby changes everything..."? Well, they are right! How selfish we were before, and now our entire world revolves around this precious little girl. We really enjoyed sharing our first Christmas together as a family, and look forward to all the other "first's" to come.

Adalynn is a GREAT baby! We are so very blessed! Don't get me wrong, she can really turn on the waterworks when she wants to. But in general she is a super happy baby! At her 4 month check-up today, she weighed in at 13lbs 6oz(50%) and is measuring 25.5inches(95%) long. Healthy as a horse! She hit a huge milestone last week with her first roll over from back to tummy! Now we can't get her to stop rolling! :) She'll be crawling in no time. Can't believe how fast she is growing! Some of her favorite things at the moment are: bathtime, giggles and tickling, watching football on the big screen, and bouncing(non-stop).

After 10 weeks of spending nearly every second of the day with Adalynn, I went back to work and had a really tough time with it.:( Thank goodness I am only working 3 days a week and she is with my Mom while I'm away. This makes it more bearable!

Here's a quick re-cap of the last 4 months in pictures (newest to oldest)

Adalynn Renee' Dresser

I am FINALLY getting around to updating the blog and still trying to get adjusted to my new life as a Mom, sorry it has taken so long to update but here it goes:

Tuesday, September 14
With our scheduled induction for Wednesday night, this was my last day at work. I was an emotional wreck all day as I nervously anticipated the induction that was approaching. My nerves were shot and I cried most of the day. I was considering calling the hospital to cancel our induction because I wasn't sure if it was really the right thing to do. Yes, I was already 6 days past our due date. But what if they had the due date wrong and she just wasn't ready to be born yet. I prayed and prayed that God would help us to make the right choice and that we wouldn't have to go thru with the induction.

Jinx and I made plans to go to dinner at Carraba's that night. I had a salad with eggplant on it, since I'd heard that eggplant can send you into labor. When we got home, Jinx went to shoot his bow with some friends(stress-reliever) and my Mom came over to walk the neighborhood with me. I was determined to walk this baby out if it took all night long. We walked for over an hour - no contractions. When I got home I made my list of things to do the next the day and then spent an hour or so bouncing on my exercise ball in front of the tv. All the while praying that Adalynn would come on her own. After a long, exhausting day it was off to bed.

Wednesday, September 15
At 3:18AM, I got up half-asleep to go to the bathroom and was suddenly soaked when I stood up out of bed. I ran to the toilet and then realized - I didn't have an accident, MY WATER JUST BROKE!!!! :) I've never been so excited about wetting my pants in my whole life! I yelled for Jinx and he was out of bed in a heartbeat. When he came in the bathroom I proudly announced that my water had broke! :) We both remained calm, but were super EXCITED. I told Jinx that there was no need to rush, I needed to take a shower, blow dry my hair, and do my make-up before we could leave for the hospital. While I got ready, he gathered all our things and packed the bag. We called our doctor, parents and siblings to let them know that Adalynn was on her way. My sister lives in West TN, so it was about 2:30AM when she got the phone call but she wasn't going to miss this for the world. She and her husband loaded up the car and their one year old son and hit the road. They drove all night to get here and made it by lunchtime.

I started having some contractions around 3:30AM, but they weren't too bad yet. We were in the car and on our way to the hospital by 4:15AM. Once we were in the car the contractions really seemed to pick up. I had been too distracted getting ready to time them before, but by then they were coming every 4 minutes. We stopped at Pilot for Jinx to grab some coffee and a Red Bull, where he happily announced to the cashier that we were on our way to have a baby! :)

Once we arrived at the hospital everything started moving pretty quickly. They got us in a room and hooked me up to the IV and monitors. It felt surreal at this point, we were going to be having a baby that day! After my first dose of IV antibiotics, we set off to walk the halls to help things progress. Contractions at this point were 3 minutes apart and pretty painful. I gave up on my hopes of a natural childbirth once I got to 5 centimeters and had been contracting for over 6 hours. The pain was INTENSE!! I have a whole new respect for the women who have given birth without drugs. There is no way to accurately describe the pain, because the miracle of birth and holding your baby for the first time makes you somehow magically forget just how bad it really hurt.

Once the epidural was in place, everything was suddenly happy and the worst pain of my life turned into the BEST DAY EVER! :) It was amazing! The afternoon carried on and by 4:00 PM I was fully dilated and ready to start the hard part - pushing! At this time the epidural meds had just run out. And instead of letting the kind nurse give me more, I requested that it be left alone so that I could regain some feeling while pushing - not sure this was the best decision in hindsight. I had excellent coaching from both Jinx and my Mom while my sister filmed from the head of the bed. After an hour and a half of pushing, Adalynn was born! For as long as I live, I will never forget this moment. After 9 long months of waiting, she was finally here! And much to my surprise, Jinx cut the cord! The smile on his face when he saw his daughter was priceless, he was beaming with pride!

I will never forget the feeling of holding her in my arms for the first time. It was a very special, emotional moment for both me and Jinx! My heart was overflowing with love for her. After having some quiet time alone with our sweet baby we welcomed in the grandparents, who were dying to get their hands on her! :) We had a whole waiting room full of family ready to meet our baby girl and welcome her to the family! It was great to be surrounded with love and excitement from both our families and friends. What a blessing! Life will never be the same, and we are enjoying every single day with our precious little angel! Adalynn is a great baby and I can't wait to have more!

Coming Very Soon: "Adalynn~the first 6 weeks"

Still no baby

We are still anxiously awaiting Adalynn's arrival! She is one stubborn little lady. We took advantage of our last weekend as a couple and had a wonderful dinner and a movie date on Friday night. Then we spent the rest of the weekend trying to stay busy while waiting. Since she still isn't here, I'm back at work today but my last day is tomorrow.

Our doctor's appointment this morning went well, except for the fact that I am still pregnant! :) We got another ultrasound today since we are past due. They checked on the baby, amniotic fluid levels, and placenta function. Everything still looks great! Her weight, per ultrasound measurements, is guessed to be about 7lbs 9oz. They expected her to be much bigger being past due, but bear in mind that their calculations can be off by up to a pound. My guess is she'll be every bit of 8.5lbs and then some. Very healthy! Even though we are both still doing well, the doctor is getting anxious about getting her out of there. So, if she hasn't arrived by Wednesday at midnight she'll be evicted. :( I REALLY do NOT want to be induced!! We have been told to show up at the hospital after midnight(9/16). I will then be started on Pitocin and the doctor will break my water when he makes his rounds in the morning. Sounds like fun, huh?

Please pray that she'll come on her own before then. I've pushed the induction off for as long as my doctor will let me, so her birthday will be 9/16 if not sooner. We are very excited about meeting our little girl, but I am very nervous about being induced. Maybe the stress of an induction will send me into labor on my own. I was 2 1/2 cms dilated at our appointment today, so hopefully things will continue on their own like nature intended. We'll keep you updated and will hopefully be sharing the news of her long-awaited arrival with the next post.

and waiting...

Went to the doctor this morning, and have made no change from last week...again! Very disappointing! I didn't expect to hear any different, but secretly hoped I would. Tomorrow is our official due date, but it's not an expiration date. I absolutely dread the idea of being induced and pray that she will come on her own very soon. She and I are both still doing well and the doctor has no concerns about giving her a little more time to make her appearance. However, if we make it to next Monday's appointment(10:30) then we will likely be scheduling an induction for later that week. :( I really hope we don't make it that long, but that is entirely up to her at this point!

On a positive note, I was able to get my hair done on Friday and have never been so glad to make it to a hair appointment in my life! Now I am completely ready for her arrival! :) We had a GREAT Labor Day weekend with family, and it was nice to have an extra day off work with the holiday! I thought we might have been successful in scaring her out at Boom's Day. She was moving around ALOT during the fireworks. I had several contractions on the way home and for a few hours after, but like normal they died off when I went to bed and I woke up still pregnant. Back to the grind this week as we try our best to concentrate at work with nothing else but our daughter's impending birthday on our minds. At least it helps to pass the time while we wait!