Croup is breathing difficulty accompanied by a “barking” cough. Croup, which is swelling around the vocal cords, is common in infants and children and can have a variety of causes.

She is also teething right now, so needless to say come bed time, she is not a happy camper. Croup worsens at night, so hopefully when it passes she will be able to sleep again.

We definitely are looking forward to July 1 to start with our full time nanny- aka our new employee…grandma!!

I know and he knows (I hope) that I do not mean these things and I always end up feeling even worse afterwards b/c I am disappointed in myself, but in the heat of the moment I just say them. I keep telling myself to do better and I am working on it, but it is definitely still a work in progress. It isn’t just my role as a wife either, it is in all my roles EXCEPT being a mommy. I had a moment of self reflection while reading this blog post this morning and I know this is something I need to do better at. I need to be a better wife, to love him more and hurt him less, to think about what I say and don’t say it if I don’t mean it.  Boy, easier said than done!

Our daughter’s school is having a family dance off video contest. Not only will it support the children’s healthcare of Atlanta, but it will also support our family. Having her was not only difficult physically and emotionally, but it was challenging financially as well. We would love to support Children’s Healthcare and be able to put the winning funds towards providing her with a sibling someday soon. Thanks for all your love and support!

I know we will have to experience a large part of this journey again for #2 and we are excited about that, because we know together we can get through anything. We pray that our FET journey (when we decide to begin) will be just as successful!

Some things I have learned from mommy hood are:

- It is AMAZING! You never can imagine how much you could love someone- and seeing your husband with your baby is the best feeling in the world

- You can never have enough bibs- spit up happens A LOT!

- You think you didn’t sleep while you were pregnant with the frequent pees, but ha, now you really don’t sleep! (Well, maybe not everyone, I am just a really light sleeper and it takes me a long time to fall asleep)

- Trust your instincts- if you think something is wrong with your baby, you are probably right

- You will co-sleep- maybe not for long, but we did it for a few hours every night the first month

- cutting babies nails is super duper frightening- do it at their first nap after bath time while the nails are soft

- Only the socks that are tight around the ankles will stay on- you are wasting money on the rest

- Losing the baby weight is HARD! my whole body still aches from the 9 months of pregnancy and the laboring. I am down 18 and have about 24 more to go, but they are not budging, the 18 came off after the first week just from fluid

My contractions started getting very intense around 9 pm on Wednesday. They weren’t very close at all, but when they came they were definitely painful. By Thursday I thought woah, these are getting worse, I am not going to make it into work today, so I called in sick. I kept contemplating on what to do as they got more and more painful, but still not super close together. By 6 oclock when Allan got home from work I thought ok, you know what, better safe than sorry, let’s go to the hospital. At this point my contractions were anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes apart and very very painful. We got to the hospital around 7 pm, they monitored me for a while and sent me home telling me “take some tylenol pm and keep your Monday appointment with your doctor”. OMG- I was so sad. I went home took tylenol pm and tried desperately to get some rest. There was nooo way! I called my after hours doctor line and talked to the on call nurse. She told me if I was  in that much pain to go back to the hospital and at minimum they should be able to help relieve some of the pain. So…3 hours later we are back at the hospital.

This time they did help. They gave me some ambien and 2 other things to help me get some rest. They told me by morning the contractions should at least be manageable and I could go home. Me and AL slept till about 6:15 am. I still felt the contractions, but the medicine did make them manageable. The nurses came in that morning and when I woke up, before I could even get out of bed, my water broke- GAME ON! I told them something wasn’t right!

After my water broke, I finally began dilating- thank God! I was 3 cm and they started the pitocin pretty quickly. They told us she should be there by 4 pm. Around 10 or so I asked for the epidural and can I say…WOW! It makes everything so much better. A little after noon they finally checked me again and boom, 10 cm, they scrambled fast and 3 pushes later our baby girl was here!!! It was the most amazing moment ever. To be in that room with my husband sharing that moment was absolutely incredible!! AL was there and watched every step of the way and even cut her cord and helped with her first bath.

At my appt on Monday they will of course check my progress and get a date (either Wed or Thurs) on the calendar to get induced. They will also be doing a growth ultrasound to check her approximate size and my fluid levels one last time.

I hope she will decide to come on her own. I would love sooner than later, b/c I am STRUGGLING! But…whatever happens, I feel confident we will have a happy, healthy baby by next weekend!