Starting from Scratch

So today we went to the Orthopedist for Tucker's hip displasia. They put her in a harness, which we were pretty much expecting. Her displasia is mild (basically the second level out of the four as the dr. told it to us). He said there's a 97% chance of full recovery and no problems whatsoever with this harness, so that is good.

Having said that, she has to wear this thing 24/7 for 6 weeks at least. We can't take it off for a minute this first week. Then we'll go back for a check-up where hopefully we'll discover that the harness has tightened-up the joint and they'll do an ultrasound to check that it really has corrected itself. If that's the case, then we'll still have to leave it on her for probably 5 more weeks to make sure it all stays in place, and we'll be able to remove it every other day long enough for a bath only. If it hasn't fixed itself by our next appt, then we'll have to go back in another week to check again. They'll give us three weeks' of checks and if it still hasn't tightened-up, then they'll have to take another approach to fixing it.

Again, this method is the least invasive and really not THAT bad overall, however we were just starting to figure out really good ways of getting her to sleep, calming her when she gets worked up, and getting into a routine of breastfeeding really well. Now all of that is put to scratch because we can't put her on her side at all. We can't swaddle (one of her greatest comforts). We can't swing her on her side (step number two in calming our screaming baby). And I can't put her on her side to breastfeed - which is involved in EVERY SINGLE POSITION for breastfeeding that they teach you. The dr. mentioned putting her chest to chest with myself and letting her feed that way, but, of course, I'm not tall enough to fit her that way.

So we basically feel like we're going to be starting from scratch in the parenting department. It's a little overwhelming today, but of course, we're just glad that they caught it early enough for it to be an "easy fix". And her health will be great at the end of all of this, which is what is important. We're just worried about comforting her, calming her, and feeding her between now and then.

L&S,
Les

Don't mean to brag, but...

We were sitting at the kitchen table visiting with Drew's dad and stepmom and I was giving Tucker a bottle, when she grabbed hold of the sides. I let go and she held her own bottle while she finished it off. I would like to remind you that she is ONE WEEK OLD today. :-D My child is BRILLIANT!!! :-D ha! (Pictures to prove it and you can tell that these are not doctored.)

L&S,

Leslie

TA-DA!!!!!

She's finally here!!!

Tucker Elise Bowers was born June 6, 2008 at 5:20pm.

8 lbs. 15 oz.

21.5" long

Just a little roly-poly

She loves Daddy's arms the BEST!!!

First family photo

She is a snuggler for sure!!!

L&S,

Drew, Leslie, and Tucker

Let the Countdown Begin!

So today's the day of Tucker's anticipated arrival. So far no news...

If nothing happens before then, they will begin inducing early, early Friday morning. So no matter what, there will be a baby by this weekend. :-)

Any prayers you'd like to offer for safety, health, and possibly ease would be very welcome!

L&S,
Les

Thas alota baby!!!

For those of you who have ever wondered, "Where exactly does someone who is 5 foot tall PUT a baby?" here's the answer...

Nowhere up and down for Tucker to go, so it all goes FORWARD!!! Not sure why people ever think it's good to say such things as, "Are you sure you're not having twins?", "Your baby is going to be HUGE," "You are HUGE," "There's NO WAY you will go to your due date because you are SO BIG," and my favorite, "You must be MISERABLE being so big," but I'm getting those kinds of comments out the wazoo these days!

Just thought I'd share the beauty that is my HUGENESS with all of you. :-) Under 2 weeks now!!! Crazy!!!!



L&S,
Leslie

The Magical Beauty of Pregnancy

Just thought I would share some of my FAVORITE parts of being 37 weeks pregnant (officially "full term", by the way). Now, I'm not one of those pregnant ladies that feels gross and cow-like (most days anyway). I have actually enjoyed being pregnant (most days anyway). I've always been one that thought pregnant women were beautiful and I've tried to keep that thought somewhere in my mind as I've become 8 times my normal size. :-) However, when I thought pregnant women were beautiful, I never saw the REAL beauty that is full term pregnancy. Here are some of my favorite parts...

For my first feat of beauty, I give you the "magically disappearing belly button"!!! Please note how there is almost NO actual button left on my belly!!











For my second feat, I give you "The magical growing feet"!!! Notice how they are three times their normal size - AND this is after soaking in epsom salts and sleeping with them propped up.

Despite the discomforts and oddities, I am feeling pretty good still these days. I'm not the picture of comfort or anything, but Tucker is getting pretty stinking funny as she bumbles around in there. :-)

Onlye 3 weeks to go!!!

L&S,

Leslie

What does one take?

So now that the nursery is done (and I'm having Braxton Hicks pretty regularly), our next task is getting the "hospital bag" ready. Everytime I think about it, I think about new things that I need to add to my list. Music (calming and upbeat - because I'm too antsy to listen to calming music the whole time I'm there), heating pads, night gowns, socks, slippers, shoes, toiletries, stuff for the baby, something to "focus on" while delivering (is there really an object that can help this go more easily?)... this list goes on and on.

Last night, I began having Braxton Hicks crazy frequently and close together. Enough that I was making the decision of whether or not to call the doctor. Called my pediatrician friend and she gave me some advice and a "when to call" rule that ended with, "Listen to your instincts. If you do everything I say and you're still worried, call the dr. That's what they're there for." Anwyay, they began subsiding shortly after that call, so no real emergency. However, I've already had two this morning.

Maybe I should make that "hospital bag" more a reality than a theoretical list.....

Yikes!!!
L&S,
Leslie

The Results Show

We finally finished the nursery!!!

Here are some pics with furniture and all (ok, so there will still be more pics hung and a rocker added somewhere, but you get the gist...). It also includes the loot from our Georgia baby shower. Laura Kate was a fabulous little cousin and carried it all upstairs for me. :-)

Mama made these curtains for me. She turned the valances that came with the bedding into these based solely on my "I want this and this and this, and this might look ok" type of instructions. :-) So talented!

This is going to be our changing table. It's an old wash basin that was Drew's grandmother's. I painted the letters of Tucker's name to match the patterns in the bedding. If you look closely in the mirror, you can see Tucker. :-) tee-hee!

This is the dresser I found at the church consignment sale. So far, it's getting quite full of clothes so tiny it's hard to imagine a REAL human could EVER fit into them. :-)

L&S,

Leslie

A Nursery in the Hizous!!

So we finally did it!!! We finally got the nursery painted!! The nursery is not totally done, but the painting finally is (and the rest will be at least presentable by Sunday). Here's a bit of the progression:

The room began in this LOVELY shade of Brady Bunch pea green. It was ALMOST a nice lime green, but it resembled dirty diaper a bit too much for keeping. We figured we'll see this color enough as it is in this room. :-)

Mmmmm, primer is SO PRETTY!!! :-)

The final color.

The "accent wall" as it is so commonly called on design shows. :-)

More pics to follow of the finished nursery- bedding and all. :-)

L&S,

Leslie

Ahhhhhhh

The view from my front door

L&S,

Leslie

Seriously!!!

I have officially found the perfect piece of baby attire for Tucker.

The top, for those of you who can't read it, has Beatles lyrics. It says, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

And the bottom is covered in little rows of music notes.

It seriously doesn't get any cuter!!!

L&S,

Leslie

SCORE!!!

In the Woodstock area, many of the churches have a bi-annual baby-stuff consignment sale for missions. They have very high standards for items that can be sold, and they only accept baby things - nursery furniture, strollers, high chairs, diaper bags, clothes, toys, etc. I went for my first time Friday, and I must admit, I went with low expectations, thinking I might find a few baby clothing items that I wanted and that would be it. Boy was I wrong. I did find some baby clothes (tons of expensive onesies in great shape for next to nothing), but I also found a small umbrella stroller, the exact diaper bag Drew and I had registered for, a high chair, a dresser (pictured below), and my FAVORITE ITEM, an old-fashioned cradle (also pictured below). It was SO MUCH FUN!! And most importantly, I now have something in which my baby can sleep if, heaven forbid, she were to be born early. :-) Yipee!!!

**The furniture has yet to be moved to the nursery, so the pictures aren't the greatest quality, but you get the idea. :-)



L&S,
Leslie

The Bump

Just in case any of you were wondering, here's what the bump looks like these days. I'm all mid-section. :-) Things are great here in Woodstock (though busy as usual). We are finally getting started on the nursery. I bought a craddle, dresser, high chair, and tons of fun baby goodies today at a baby consignment sale at a local church. Very exciting!!! As soon as actual painting/work begins on the nursery, I'll post pics.

L&S,
Leslie

Ugh

Ever have a day that's just a complete do-over? Actually, scratch that - who would want to do a day like that OVER? Let's just scratch it!!! Nothing major. Just all of the small things in life at once. Work was bad, long, and hard. Body's aching. My work partner is driving me CRAZY. Losing my voice. Raining outside. Husband's out of town. Tried to call two others just to have a happy, good conversation, and got "complained to" by both of them (though I guess I can be glad I wasn't complained AT). Found a hair in my sandwich at ABC for dinner. Then found out a friend gave my name and number to some kid at her church who is doing required sales pitches for a "scholarship" for college and he called saying that the friend was "sure I'd be nice enough to help him keep his scholarship". UGH!!! Scratch it and start over tomorrow!!!

In the good news department, my lost voice means a short to non-existent work day tomorrow and I'm going on a scrapbook retreat this weekend! Very excited about that!

Here's to a better tomorrow!!!
L&S,
L

The thermometer says WHAT?!?

Round ONE:
The typical southern nightime snowfall. It began around 4pm and snowed until 8 or so. Unfortunately, it then warmed up enough that it turned to rain and made most of the snow disappear before morning.
















Round TWO:
This time, it began snowing before noon. It snowed pretty hard for a few hours and hovered right around 32 degrees most of the day, allowing the snow to stay for a while.

If you look closely in this picture (between the tree and the stones), you can see the kind of snowman MOST southerners get to build - as it's all our average snowfall will allow. :-)



















Drew and I found that noone had disturbed the neighborhood park snow when we got there, so we used a VERY large portion of it to build our own snowman. Because we were a few blocks from the house, his non-snow structure is relatively rough and VERY impromptu. All of you northerners will notice a SURE sign of a southern snowman - leaves, dirt, and debris all over the snowman, as our snow is never deep enough to not pick up the smut off of the ground when rolling the snowballs. :-) (If you look closely, you can see baby Tucker peeking out during her first week of snow.)






















The REAL beauty of southern winter - the day AFTER the snow, we got INSANELY freezing temps. It had "warmed up" to 20 degrees by 9:45 am. It never even got CLOSE to freezing all day that day. (I remind you - the day AFTER the snow.)

And the innies have it!!!

We had our ultrasound today. We both went into the appointment assuming it would all be about boy or girl and we both left saying, "There's a BABY in there!!!" That is one AMAZING doctor's appointment! It is amazing to see a little baby with flailing arms and know that it's inside of me!!! WOW!!!

Here are the first online pics of Tucker Elise Bowers.




Tucker's little profile




Sweet little footprint




It's a girl!!




Facing the camera

L&S,
Leslie

Innies and Outies

Just wanted to let you all know that tomorrow's the big day. We get to see the baby again tomorrow (new pics that resemble a baby more than a piece of rice this time) and we find out innie or outie. Yipee!!!

L&S,
Leslie

A little indulgence

Disclaimer: For those of you who aren't in love with my nephew, Eli, you may want to skip this blog. I wanted to upload some videos from our Christmas with Eli tonight so his father in Kuwait could see some of the fun. :-)

Cindy gave Eli a fire truck for Christmas. It took forever to get him to tear the paper, and the second it tore far enough for him to peek inside and see what it was, he quit tearing the paper and began trying to pull the truck out of the paper. He finally just crawled inside with the paper still around most of the truck. VERY cute! So far, he's only learned to "drive" in reverse. :-)





L&S,
Leslie

Say Cheese!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we now have an appointment for our next "portrait session" with Baby Bowers. :-) tee-hee! (Translation: We've got the date for the ultrasound.) This is the one where we can find out if the baby has an innie or an outie. :-D Yippy Skippy!

L&S,
Leslie

For Your Christmas Pleasure

Be sure you make it to the end. It's quite fabulous!!! :-)



L&S,
Leslie