1mth...

Can you believe it? The Lil Miss is a month old today! It has already been an entire month! It is weird to think that I should still be pregnant, she isn't due until Friday... I don't think I could have waited that long to meet her. I miss being preggo but ooooh how I love having her in my arms!!!

At birth...
Weight 5lbs 11oz
Length 19inches (what we were told, actually only 17inches)

and then we went to the doctor on Monday...
Weight 6lbs 9oz - below the 5%
Length 18.5 inches (she was measured wrong at birth!!!) - below the 5%
She is still pretty tiny... But like I said, she isn't even due until Friday, so I think she is perfect! She is definately growing.

She is seeming to be a very alert little girl, looking every which way, especially when she hears a voice she knows... And she is turning into a huge mommy's girl, I can be in the other room, talking at her through the doorway and she turns to look for me.

* she loves sleeping on her tummy, but I am terrified to let her unless I am within an arms reach or she is laid out over my legs






* she and I haven't gotten down the diaper changing thing... I have a knack for opening the diaper while she is still going. I have been peed on 2 times, peed in front of 3 times, and poo'ed in front of 3 times...




* she cries when she poo's, it is so cute, but breaks my heart seeing her in pain...


* she is still a titty baby, although we have had to supplement formula this week to try to get her weight up... she went 2 weeks without gaining an ounce. I started taking Reglan so hopefully my milk supply will increase and she can continue being a titty baby.





So I can not wait for her to get a little older and start smiling, laughing, sitting up, etc, BUT I am not ready for the next 17 years and 11 months to go by. I am absolutely in awe of my Lil Miss. I am so in love!

Time flies when you're having fun...

Garrett has been on leave since Oct 22nd, that is over a month and I have been in complete bliss... having him around has been absolutely wonderful, especially since we had a surprise guest come, Lil Carly. Now the inevitable has come, he goes back to work tomorrow for schooling and then could possibly meet up with his squadron which is currently deployed with the USS Nimitz until the end of March. Talk about break a girls heart. This isn't my first deployment, but this is my first with a newborn. It is not that I don't know how to take care of my two girls (both whom are absolutely gorgeous, not that I am biased) it is that he will miss what could be the next 3-4mths of our Lil Miss' life and that is what breaks my heart, but welcome to the military I guess. I should feel lucky that he was here for the birth, a lot of dads don't get that. We should be finding out after the 11th if he will deploy, fingers and toes crossed, praying hard. We should also find out if he made 1st class this week! Again, fingers and toes crossed, praying hard.

Taylor is finally back in school, she started last week, after being out for a month. She is head over heels excited, she loves school, we are lucky. The teacher was worried about her being behind, apparently they teach reading in Kindergarten here, where as in WA they didn't really, but Taylor is picking things up great and making her teacher proud.

Carly had her 2 week check up today, she was 6lbs 5oz and about 18in long. Up 10oz from her birth weight!!! And they apparently measured her wrong at birth, her 2 day appt she was 17 and 1/4 inches, NOT the almost 19in they quoted at birth. So she is a shorty, for now, hopefully she will get her daddy's height. The doctor gave me permission to let her sleep through the night if she will, which she would if I didn't wake her every 3 hours for feedings. The doctor's don't like you to let them sleep through the night especially when they are jaundiced, but she is up from her birth weight, so tonight we will try, hopefully she will continue to want to, like before. *crosses fingers*

And me... I am healing still, I would say almost 100%, I have lost 35lbs of the too many lbs I gained! Hopefully it will continue to just fall off. I guess I am now officially a stay-at-home mommy... which I am loving so far, we will see if I am still liking it after I don't have Garrett to talk to anymore. I am hoping to start school again really soon (online), seeing as I don't really want to pay back student loans just yet. Other than that I am in heaven!

Guess that updates pretty much everything... family starts coming in a few days and the rest in 2 weeks, (for Carly's original due date and Christmas) I can't wait. Will blog about it later.

I am in Love...

How can you not love this face?

No one ever tells you what to expect with motherhood. Even already being a mom to Taylor, the feelings I have now are oh so incredible... I never knew someone so tiny and itty bitty could make me heart feel so much love and joy... I am overflowing with emotion. I honestly can't stop staring at her or put her down. And the love she put in my heart for my husband is a completely new love too... How amazing it is, never thought I could love another person so much...

Friday the 13th... Let the excitement begin!!!

Oh goodness, where do I start...

This morning I dropped off Garrett and Taylor at the house to wait for the cable guy and movers to show up and I head to the hospital to get registered at Lemoore, turn in my medical record and hopefully get checked out by the doctor because it has been 3 weeks since I have been seen. (I am now 35wks). The OB/GYN said I can't be seen until the FOLLOWING Thursday and it would just be a consult with a nurse to go over my record, I say I am not ok with that, I am high risk, need to be checked, they tell me I can go up to their labor & delivery and have them check me if I feel it necessary. So I go upstairs...

Oooooh, had I known it was going to be the ride of my life, I would've packed a bag.

They check me for dialation, amniotic fluid, lil' miss' size... check, check, check, things look good... I was not dialated. I was hooked up to monitors and kept until 2:30, they found trace protein in my urine, so the doctor requested I come back later that night for a 24-48 hour observation(I had the car, Garrett was stranded, no food, no cable, bored). After about 3 hours of freedom, I checked back in at 5:45 and started the tests and learned all about insulin. My first night in what I thought would be MY bed, ended up being a night in the hospital. The next afternoon the doctor said I would most likely get to go home the next day, after I learned how to give myself insulin, I was sad, but at least there was an end in sight, or so I thought. My protein results came back around 7-8ish pm... thankfully Garrett had just shown up to see me, because we found out I was going to be leaving the hospital, but not to go home, I was being transferred to Fresno (they had a NICU), my lil miss would be coming a lot sooner than we had thought, within the next couple of days. An ambulance came to transfer me, then Garrett and Taylor followed behind, but the hospital in Fresno would NOT let Taylor on the Labor & Delivery floor, everyone was crying, they left, and I was left alone. Thankfully Garrett's brother drove up, got Taylor, and Garrett was back with me in a few hours. Things were already progressing...

12am - Already on Magnesium Sulfate to help with my hbp, I was given cervadel to prepare my body for lil miss to make her appearance, it was a 12 hour medication. During this time I got ahold of my mom, and she was going to be in Cali the next day by noon, that helped calm me some.

4am - Garrett gets back to the hospital to be with me. We try to get some rest and sleep. I am not allowed food or drinks because of the labor process, didn't make me a happy camper.

12pm - Mom shows up, Dr checks to see if I have progressed at all, 2-3cm... contractions start coming although I don't feel most of them, I was more focused on the killer headache I had.

4pm - Pitocin is started to see if we can get me to progress further... at 3-4cm they will break my water... I opt for the epidural, not because of the pain I was having, but the unknown of what was to come... Totally NOT what I expected, I was terrified I would be numb from the waist down, but I could actually still move my feet, legs, and feel them being touched. My body or mind did NOT like the epidural process for whatever reason and my blood pressure dropped pretty low, scared everyone pretty good, but slowly I came around.

7pm - no further progression, they break my water... honestly, totally cool feeling! LOL

12pm - they check to see how much more I have dialated, NOTHING! and lil miss' heartrate was dropping with every contraction, here comes the big news, the OR is ready, we have to take you in for a c-section for the safety of your lil girl... I didn't feel so hot, but it was time...

1:14am - she had to wait for an even date? she couldn't humor her mommy and come an hour and 15 min earlier to make her OCD mommy happy? Carly Alyse Thompson made her debut, 5 weeks early, but she came out screaming! Thank God. Lungs were powerful! I was so doped and out of it, they asked me if I wanted to kiss her, I said, "no thanks, that's alright"... but I came around and gave my lil miss her first kiss. She was 5lbs 11oz, 19in long, and a head full of brown hair...

We go back to the room and Nana gets to hold her first grandchild (by birth). She beamed! I was still out of it, thankfully we got transferred to another room with a much more comfortable bed so that I could recover. Still on meds, I wasn't allowed to eat, and I had to stay in bed for another 24 hours. The first time I got up to walk I thought I was going to pass out... It was all worth it... Just looking at her made me smile and cry... I didn't realize love could be so amazing!!!

Wednesday I finally got to go home!!! I was elated...

Hubby, Mom, and 2 gorgeous girls, what more could I be thankful for?

Our Trip...

(FLASHBACK)

We got to New Mexico on Tuesday the 27th... late, but oh thank the Lord we were done driving for a day, well 2... We ended up staying 2 days because we got snow the first full day we were there, SNOW!!! Probably the last time we will see snow for a while, so I didn't complain. Taylor was in heaven,grandparents and snow, frozen fingers, toes, and all. I stayed inside with my feet up. My lungs HATED the altitude, thankfully I had the inhaler that my dr. gave me before I left.

Altitude + Stairs + Preggo Belly = BREATHLESS! (I minimized trips up and down the stairs)

We only stayed a couple of days on the way to Texas and headed for my mom's house on Thursday the 29th, another long trip, but thankful we would be in Texas for a week.

Taylor was so excited to see her Nana and PawPaw and of course her bff and uncle monkey, Garrett was excited to get Chickfila for the firs time in years, and I was just thankful my hiney was out of a car and my feet were up (33wks pregnant is NOT a time to do a long car ride)...

We had a lot planned for our Texas visit, Halloween, Gar and Taylors first a&m game, I was able to get the h1n1 vaccine, baby shower, fishing for the boys and mani/pedi's for the girls. The trip was an incredible one, got to eat every type of food on my list while I was there and I have to say that I got sick and tired of SONIC, shocking, I know.

33wks preggo - started having what I found out were contractions! craaaazy! thought my lil miss was going to make her debut on Halloween but she decided that she needed a few more weeks of cooking before she came, thankfully!!!

After my parents we headed to San Antonio first to see my grandparents and then to Iowa Park to spend a few days with Garrett's sister and her husband. Great couple of days! I haven't seen my grandparents in a couple of years, and this being the first great grandchild, I wanted to make sure they got to see me preggo before they met the lil miss. It was only a couple of short hours, but a nice visit. Once in Iowa Park I got to meet a few friends from Garrett's "childhood" which ended up being a great visit. Nothing too terribly exciting about our trip just yet, just more time to relax, out of a car.

Then we left Iowa Park and the excitement began. Early foggy morning, the 9th, driving down the road, I nod off, then all of a sudden, *garrett screams, my heart stops*, I look up, and there is a deer, *SMACK* It was terrifying, I was shaking, got out to try to catch my breath and get my heart beating again. Thankfully there was no real damage to the tahoe, we got in and started on our way again. Next we stop for gas, go to get the credit card, MISSING!!! yay!!! still haven't found it, think we might have thrown it away after the deer accident because it flew into the trash bag, but guess we will never known. My ring I have had since I was 15 went missing about the same time. *sigh* Hopefully the luck would start looking up.

Our final part of the trip was a couple more days with his parents again. More relaxation!!! yay!!! I am puffing up more and more by the day. Thankfully there was no snow this time, just gorgeous sunny weather. We went to Taos for the day and enjoyed more time with his mom and dad.

34 weeks preggo - nothing to terribly different, although she has become an active little kicker and hitter... she likes to hide up near my ribs causing pain and making it hard to breathe...

Thursday, November 12th... California at last!!! Hotel for the night, get to sleep in MY bed the next night... I was so excited, as was Garrett.

Total miles traveled - 5000!!!

Pop!

(FLASHBACK)
This is the week I really saw my belly go pop! We have been on the road for a couple days this week, and my feet are hating me for it but I am loving the baby bump... She is growing growing!!!

Where in the World are the Thompson's?

(FLASHBACK)...
Well it is time to leave WA state and I have to say, it was easier than I thought, yet difficult all at the same time. The plan was to leave on the 23rd, the day after Garrett detached from the boat, but we found out we could have our house after the weekend (from 27th on the waiting list to next, NOT going to complain), so we pushed back our departure until Sunday the 25th. We have an incredibly long trip planned, WA to Cali to NM to Texas to NM to Cali to stay. About a 2-3 week vacation, one that my doctor's do NOT want me to take.

32 weeks preggo - I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes but only set to monitor my blood sugars and they wanted to start seeing me 2 times a week, but with us moving that wasn't going to happen. They wanted me to get to Cali as soon as possible. (seeing now that might've been best, more later on that) I was rechecked for protein in my urine because of my high blood pressure but things were still ok. Swelling started this past week, I kept saying I looked like I was auditioning for the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man for the new Ghostbusters... So ready for the lil miss to be here...








We are on the road and miss our family and friends terribly, but I am hoping Cali won't be that bad.

Ooops...

I had planned on updating this blog regularly, especially with a new lil miss on the way and so many new things happening in our life. I am totally slacking!!! Things have been pretty busy...

Taylor - started first grade at a new school this year, she will only be there for 3 more weeks (more on that later) but she is doing so great already! Her speech, writing, and reading has made leaps and bounds in the short month she has been there, more so than it did in an entire year at her last school. She will now pick up books and read them to us, at least all the words she knows. We also found out before school started that she would need glasses and she LOVES them. She still seems pretty unsure about a baby coming into the house. We installed the infant carseat/carrier and she just stared at it like, "ummmm..." Hopefully as we get closer she will get more and more excited. She is excited to be a big sister but I am not quite sure she knows exactly what it means. Changes!




Lil Miss - is growing, growing, growing!!! I am currently 29 weeks and 1 day! Hello 3rd Trimester!!! We are in the home stretch, hopefully all downhill from here. At my last sonogram (a week ago), the tech said she was a "chunky lil thing" which is good (in my book), the doctor's were worried because of high blood pressure that she would be small, which is why they scheduled another ultrasound. But even with the HBP I tested negative for preeclampsia and for gestational diabetes. I am having a very healthy pregnancy. The doctor said if anything Lil Miss will be a 39wk baby, but no plans to induce earlier than that. We also had my first baby shower this past weekend. My sister flew up from TX to help throw it with my Aunt Renee and it was great. I am thankful for the friends and family we have up here. Our second babyshower will be in Texas on November 1st, it will be exciting to see friends and family down there. Things are coming together (in boxes) to be able to put together her nursery once we are settled.














Garrett & Myself - things are going great but stressful... We finally got orders to Lemoore and Garrett has to report no later than November 30 and he detaches from his current command on Oct 22. They are coming to pack us out and pick up our entire house Oct 13-16, so we will be staying with my Aunt Renee and Uncle Brian until we leave town, which will be Oct 23!!! It is only about 3 weeks away, it seemed like this day was never coming and now it is right around the corner. When we leave WA we will be heading down to California dropping off Garrett's truck and departing on a couple week roadtrip (as long as my OB still says this is ok and because we won't have a house in Lemoore yet, eeek!). We will head to his parents house in NM for a couple of days, then down into Texas for a little over a week with my family, swing down to San Antonio to see my grandparents, then up to Iowa Park to see his sister and her husband. Around Nov 6 we will head back to NM to stay with his parents for a week or so depending on us having a house or not. We are hoping to be settled in Lemoore no later than November 15 when I will be around 35wks pregnant. Lots to do once we have a house in Lemoore to get ready for the Lil' Miss' arrival in December along with family coming for the holidays. We are excited to get things going but it is stressful at the same time with a lot of unknown. I am still unsure how I feel about moving to California, I don't think it has honestly sank in that we are moving, I am just in denial, but it is coming.


I guess that pretty much brings everything up-to-date... I will try to be better about updating as we go... If you are in Texas or New Mexico and would like to see us along our road trip adventure let us know!!!

Everyone in Bryan/College Station

http://www.abc40.com/global/story.asp?s=10815043

Here is the commerical and interview for my mom and dad's new business in B/CS, American Lube Centers. They are having their grand opening this weekend! Y'all should go check them out!!!

Surprise!

Mostly everyone was wrong... Baby Bean is a girl!!!


This is Baby Beans tiny hiney... no mr. winkie... so unless she decides to surprise us, this one is a little miss.



I think we have got Taylor to come around to the idea of a little sister instead of a brother. We are very very excited! We will post the name later.

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

We go in for the boy or girl ultrasound. We have had 3 ultrasounds thus far (6, 12, and 17 weeks) but this is the one we have been waiting for. My appointment isn't until 3:40pm so I am sure the day will dragggggg on, but we are so excited. We are hoping the baby will cooperate, I will be eating something sweet and drinking caffeine before the appointment to try to get the baby dance and show us the goods.

Taylor wants a little brother, and I am sure she will be heartbroken if it isn't a boy. Garrett doesn't really mind either way, but for some reason I have a feeling he too is hoping for a boy. Me on the other hand, what do I want? I want BOTH! I still have this deep feeling of hope for a little boy and girl in there. Since my first ultrasound (and even before) when the doctor said he thought he saw 2 sacs I have had the deep desire for two babies to be there. No other ultrasound has shown that there are two, but there are always those stories of the second baby hiding, right? A girl can hope. If it isn't twins, I am not sure I have a preference of one or the other. We do have Tay, so a little boy would be grand.

My mom said she had a nuetral feeling about the baby, so that it could very well be what I want (twins, boy and girl), but IF she had to choose, she would say girl. Sara (the bff) says boy, as does her husband (Garretts bff). Facebook says I will have 3 girls. Needle and thread says boy. Ancient Chinese calendar says boy.

So many guesses, guess we have less than 24 hours to find out! I can NOT wait.

Adoption Day!!!

Today was the day we went to court to finalize this year+ dream we had, me adopting Taylor. After waiting and waiting and waiting, it was done so fast! I expected more, but nope, less than 5 min and we were finally out of there, me with a "new" daughter. Just filing of papers, copies of stuff, and ordering a new birth certificate was left. She has been mine for a long time, now it is final.



We celebrated the day with McDonalds for a late lunch (her pick), then went and saw Ice Age 3 in the afternoon, and finally our family had us out to dinner to celebrate the "new" addition. They got baby cigars and balloons that said, "it's a girl"... It was really cute.




Things are finally done! No more drama, no more worrying, she is mine, ours, for good. We are blessed. Thank you to everyone that was the support along the way!

Wild Weekend

So 2 weekends ago was a whirlwind of excitement, let me tell you! A graduation and wedding were in the works...

My family started flying in on June 7th, first my sister, then they all trickled in from there; my mom and rick, Garrett's parents, my friend donald and his girlfriend, my stepmom and grandmother, my little brother Jonathan, and finally Michael, my sis' boyfriend and one of Garrett's good friends (he actually introduced me to Garrett). We had a complete household, it was busting at the seams. It was an incredible time for everyone to meet (those that haven't already) and for others to fellowship and spend time with one another.

First we spent the day in Seattle on Saturday, we had a group of 12 walking around Pikes Place Market and trying to not all get lost.











Then us girls rushed home for pedicures and manicures and the guys started BBQ'ing for a group of 14.










Sunday was the BIG day, first was my college graduation at 2pm. I received my Associates of Arts in Pre-Law graduting with honor's and a part of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society.










After graduation was done, or rather after I ran out as soon as my name was called, it was off to the chapel, or resort. To get married, again. The wedding was scheduled to be at 6 but because my graduation ran late, we started 45 min late. But everything went great, just a few minor flaws. The ring fell off the ringbearers pillow into the lawn and was lost until after the ceremony, then the "pastor" (a guy from Garrett's ship) kept saying crap during the ceremony, and then the final problem was the smoke alarm was almost set off in our exit with sparklers, there were different types of sparklers, not just the old fashioned kind. OoOoOps... It was an incredible wedding though, really glad we decided to do a big celebration for our family and friends to be there.














Overall it was a wonderful time with our families and a great weekend no matter how busy we seemed to be. I am thankful to have such an incredible family.

***the rest of the pics can be seen at http://theamandakphotographyblog.com/2009/06/19/sarah-garrett-are-married-l-poulsbo-wedding-photographer/ ***

Bean to Kiwi... How amazing...

I had my 12 week appointment today and they did a new ultrasound and let me say how in awe I was.

6 weeks ago the image on the screen looked like a bean, a small, no detail being. In just a short 6 weeks that little bean has become the size of a kiwi and when I looked on the screen I saw a head, two little arms and legs flailing about, and then the tiniest hand ever... it was amazing to be able to see the difference a day makes, or rather 6 weeks.

It is starting to feel real, seeing the baby made it seem that this is really happening.

I can't wait to see my bean to a kiwi to a .... in a few more weeks.

Silly Bean!!!

We will no longer be the Thompson Three, we found out it's going to be the Thompson FOUR!

We are expecting a Baby Bean soon. (that is the code I've been putting in my status', silly bean). Tay thought the baby was already full size and I told her it was the size of a bean, one night before she went to bed she said, "night night baby bean", and it has stuck ever since. It was my way of being excited about it, but not fully telling everyone.

I am 11 weeks and we are due December 18th... Another Christmas baby, (Taylor's birthday is Christmas day.)

We are excited! Taylor can't wait to be a big sister and is hoping for a boy! Gar is glad I finally gave in and decided we could start trying. And I feel blessed seeing as I thought I would have problems. I am excited to become a first (birthed) time mommy.

Just wanted to share our great news!!!!

Here is to another exciting 29 weeks.