Update

Wow, where has time gone!  It's been forever since I posted.....maybe because it's been a big adjustment!  Nothing could have prepared me for life with a newborn! It's amazing that someone can take over your life so completely.

Since Kaitlyn's arrival I've learned:

• That the amount of love you can feel for one person is amazing!  I love my husband, but I've never felt such a deep, unconditional love like this before. 
• Sleep is over-rated! I got a total of 7 hours of sleep in the 3 days we were in the hospital......I was to excited about our little girl! I've adjusted to lots less sleep, and haven't had too many sleep-deprived breakdowns!
• Not all newborns wake up every 2 hours.....Along with the last point, we've been blessed with a good sleeper!  Not having to get up every 2-3 hours at night is wonderful! I expected to have to. 
• Breastfeeding is hard and classes can't prepare you for what to expect!  Kaitlyn was tongue-tied so even with a perfect latch and doing everything right, things still weren't working. Thank goodness for pediatric dentists!

In the past month, our lives have changed drastically!  I can't imagine life without our precious little girl. Before, all I could think about was Taylor and how we were missing something.  The realization of having Kaitlyn in our lives hit me the other day.....She wouldn't be here if we hadn't lost Taylor. It was a hard pill to swallow when it hit me, but I've finally been able to see that God did have a plan for us, and Kaitlyn was it. 

Welcome Kaitlyn Grace!!!

Kaitlyn Grace

Born at 3:14pm on February 27th

9 lbs 9.4 oz       20 inches

It's hard to believe that God has blessed us with such an amazing miracle!  

Still waiting.....

Yesterday was my due date.......and I'm still waiting for our little girl to decide to come meet us!  We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and our doctor was genuinely surprised to see us.  She said she had been waiting for our call and really didn't think our little one would hold out this long!  After our last appointment, she was sure I'd go into labor soon......too bad she was wrong.

Good news though......I'm scheduled to be induced on Monday!  So if our little girl hasn't shown up by then, we'll be meeting her on Monday!

39 Weeks.....and waiting!

Today, I've hit the 39 week mark!  I'm almost to the end!  The key word being almost.........

I was SO sure that by now we'd by holding our little girl in our arms. Instead, she's still on the inside and I haven't had any 'clues' that she's planning on coming out anytime soon!  I just assumed that she'd be early and I wouldn't make it anywhere close to 40 weeks....I have no idea why I thought that.

Monday night as the hubby and I went to bed, we started to talk about the probability of our little one showing up later than we expected.........I don't think it had crossed my hubby's mind that she wouldn't be early either!  We actually didn't make any plans for Valentine's day because we assumed we'd be too busy with our newborn to think, let alone go out!

How did we become so convinced that she would be early?!?  I'm pretty sure that every single one of our family members guessed her arrival date as early February!  Also, everyone's been asking how much longer for the last few months.....so that makes it seem like she should arrive early.

For now, I guess we'll just wait and let our little one decide when to arrive!!!!  I'm hoping she doesn't take too long, cause I'm getting impatient!!!!!

38 Weeks....Almost there!

Yesterday, I hit the 38 week mark!  Hubby and I headed to town for our doctor's appointment and also to pre-register at the hospital.  I feel much more prepared and at ease now that we're registered!  Here's the reason:
For the past few weeks, I've had this recurring dream where I'm in the hospital, in a bed, and baby's head is crowning, but until I have my paperwork filled out, NO ONE WILL HELP ME!!!!!  I wake up in a cold sweat each time!  Super scary stuff!  I know that my dream isn't realistic at all, but it eases my mind to have all the paper work (short of signing for the epidural) done!!!!!!!!

Also, at the doctor's office, Dr. Beth informed me that I'm 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated!  I call that progress!  She didn't figure I'd be too happy to hear those numbers, but after the last appointment where they told me that my body had done nothing.......1 cm sounds AWESOME!!!!

Can't believe we'll get to meet our little girl pretty soon!!!

36 Weeks

* This post is also a little behind.......


It's hard to believe we only have a month left until my due date!!!!  While it's so exciting, it's also a little nerve wracking too.  It seems like we still have quite a few things to do before our little girl arrives!!!

Today, I finally packed for the hospital.  I've had a bag packed for her for the last month, but I've been putting off packing for me!  It doesn't make much sense that I've been putting it off, but it just seems like I have time.  Yesterday I realized that I don't!  Next week, she'll be full term!!

I did a lot of research as to what I should pack and what I should leave at home.........I don't know that I ended up leaving much 'at home', but I feel like we'll be prepared! After looking online, I did unpack a few things from baby girl's bag though.  I had packed about 6 outfits plus jammies............I discovered you really only need 1 outfit!

It's also hard to fathom how much our lives are going to change here pretty soon......I'm thinking that Buster, our min pin, is going to have the hardest adjustment.  We adopted Buster shortly after we moved in together, so he's been our 'baby' for the last four and a half years!!!  I'm hoping he's ready for the change!

This weekend, we also slept in all weekend!  I'm sure that won't happen ever again once she arrives!  I'm also hoping that I learn to live on less sleep.......I love my sleep and get rather cranky without 7-8 hours a night, so I'm hoping I can adjust!

Hard to believe my belly's so big!!

Baby Showers

* This post was written on Jan 10th, but I misplaced my camera, lol, so it's a little behind!

This past weekend, we had two baby showers!  One on Saturday given by Mitch's sister and aunt, and one on Sunday given by my aunt, best friend, and her mom.  Everyone's generosity, thoughtfulness, and kindness overwhelmed me.  We received so many things for baby Reineke!

The nursery is now ready to go with the exception of needing a changing pad!  Baby's dresser is overflowing with blankets and clothes from all of our family and friends.  I actually feel like we could bring her home tomorrow and be good to go!!!

Hubby was a little overwhelmed by all of the pink.  He just looked at our kitchen table piled high with gifts and said all he could see was pink!  I told him that pretty soon, once she arrived, he wouldn't have a problem with pink at all!  It would just be the everyday norm.

Here are a few pictures from the showers:

Saturday Shower thrown by sister Kelly and aunt Marlene

Sunday Shower thrown by friend Justine, aunt Marcia, and family friend Yanci.