Update

So, Karaline has blessed our home for the past two weeks. I think we have settled in nicely, and even though you hear everyone say this...I cannot imagine our life without her. She is a great baby. She is content most of the time and usually only fusses when she's hungry or being changed.

Our biggest challenge to date is that I DO NOT want to put her down. I like to sleep with her on my chest. I've tried the bassinet several times but I always end up picking her up. It's probably more of my problem than her's. I want her with me at allllll times.

On Monday we took Karaline to the pediatrician. She weighed eight lbs, three oz. She is a healthy girl. While I was waiting to be called back, another mother and her husband, toddler, mother-in-law and baby were waiting, too. The mom asked me how old Karaline was and I told her two weeks. I asked how old her little one was and she said, "He was born last night." Of course this caught me by surprise and I can only imagine the look on my face...I said, "So, how'd you come home so quickly?" DUH...she had a home birth, but I could not wrap my head around it. I feel that I had a fairly easy delivery and all, but I cannot imagine coming home the very next day. In fact, I kept telling Joey that I'd love to stay at the hospital. Our nurses were wonderful and we had room service...HA...you can't ask for more.

We also took our family pictures on Monday. I can't wait to see them. It's the first time Joey or I have had real, professional pictures taken. Karaline was quite the trooper, too.

This week, we've had lots of visitors each day, too. On Sunday, my mom, sister, and nephew came down for a few hours. Nikki came down on Monday and stayed the night. It was a quick but great visit...I miss her soooo much. Tuesday, Sam came over and then my friend Janine came with her three kids, too. It is so sweet to watch the little ones with my little one. Today, my friend Meg brought her two boys over, too; and now, my friend Jenny is coming. We are beyond blessed with friends and family who share in our excitement over Karaline. I tell her everyday how much she is loved by so many.

Well, I wish you all a wonderful, HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I know this year Thanksgiving has a much greater meaning for us. We have always had much to be thankful for, but this year is definitely the greatest Thanksgiving to date.

She's Arrived

Karaline Adele Oglialoro arrived on Tuesday, November 9 at 12:06 am. We couldn't be happier!!! I'll walk you through the sequence of events:

Sunday 2:00 am-9:30 am-- I began having regular contractions that were 10 minutes apart. I had weaker contractions that were in between the strong ones, so Joey called the on call doctor who said we may be coming in that day. I called my parents around 5:30 or 6:00 and they headed our way. Thankfully they were planning on making the trip anyhow because once they got here my contractions stopped. My mom and I did some shopping, she cooked a big lunch, and then they headed home.

Sunday 11:45 pm- I woke up with strong contractions. I began counting again but still tried to sleep.

Monday 3:00 am- Contractions continued to get closer together. I woke Joey up around 4:00, but we both decided that he should sleep while he could. I kept keeping track of the contractions that were getting closer and closer together.

Monday 6:00 am- I called the on call doctor. I was hoping he would tell me to wait and go into my doctor's office when they opened, however, he told me to come in. Panic began to set in. I woke up Joey, called my mom, and we frantically began to gather our things. It's amazing how many things we still had to get even though I've been packed for weeks! I told my mom to wait on coming because of the incident the day before. I was sure it was a false alarm.

Monday 7:00 am- We arrived at the hospital and went to triage. They said we were 4-5 cm dialated. Joey called my parents and they headed down. I was admitted and moved to the labor/delivery unit.

After this, I met my doctor (who is not my ob) and my nurse for the day. I really liked them both. Everything was moving along nicely and I got my epidural around 11:30. After my epidural, the doctor broke my water. Unfortunately, things began to slow down once I got the epidural. I stayed at 8 cm for 3 or 4 hours.

Our family made it down in the early afternoon. It was nice to have visitors to help pass the time for both me and Joey.

Time continued to pass, and my doctor and nurse's shift were over. I was beside myself! However, I did grow to really love my new doctor and nurse. I am very thankful for the doctor who did the delivery because we could have easily had a C-section with the amount of time it took. However, he held out and we were able to begin pushing at around 11:15. Karaline made her debut at 12:06.

The nurses allowed everyone to come back and it was quite a group! Everyone was very excited to meet our new addition.

Joey and I were moved to the mother/baby unit around 1:30 or 2:00 am. By this point, I was exhausted. Sleepiness aside, we had a great first night.

We were able to leave the hospital on Thursday to come home. My mom, sister, and nephew came down for the day. We had a few more last minute things to pick up so my mom was able to help with that. She ended up staying the night and leaving early on Friday morning.

We are so in love. I keep looking at her and thinking that I can't believe she's really here.

We've had lots of visitors, calls, emails, and cards. Thank you all for your continued prayers throughout the pregnancy, and thank you for the continued prayers as we embark on this new journey in our lives. We pray to be the best parents for our sweet Karaline.

Ready to go home

Waiting on Daddy to pick us up.

A Baby Story

So I think I should ban myself from watching A Baby Story. I become far too emotional when I see the births. Before I was pregnant, I was never able to watch the "yucky" parts. I couldn't stand seeing the needles, the epidurals, and especially the deliveries. However, now, I am fascinated. I can't stop watching. The best part is that I don't get freaked out like I thought I would. Joey always tells me to close my eyes or not watch but I'm fine! But, I'm telling you, once the baby is out and given to his or her mom, I cannot stop crying! It's such an overwhelming feeling. I wonder how I'll feel after Karaline's born. We'll know soon enough! :)

Weekly Appointment

Today was our weekly appointment. It was a big one because we were able to get our sonogram! I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited :) The only sad part was that Joey couldn't take off of work so he had to miss it. He was very bummed, but thankfully Sam was able to go with me.

Karaline was very active during the sonogram so it was difficult for the tech to measure her at first. However, we did find out that she's measuring at 7 lbs. 3 oz (give or take a pound). My doctor thinks that she's closer to the 6 lb range because of my size. Her head is in the 70 percentile and her belly is in the 98 percentile! I LOVE chunky babies so that is just fine by me!

Because she was so busy, I was worried that we wouldn't have too many great still shots, however, we got lucky! The tech took two 3D pictures which turned out really great. Again, it showed that she definitely has my nose. She also got a cute foot shot and Joey says that she has my feet for sure, too! :)

When I dropped Sam off at school, I showed the pictures to some of the girls I work with. One immediately said that she looks like her daddy and the other said it's a good mixture between the two of us. I knew Joey would love to hear that so I called him right away. His response was priceless: "What, she has your nose, profile, and feet, and she has my belly?" HA! I didn't say it, but it could be true :)

We're still on the week by week appointment so we'll go back next Monday. I cannot believe how close we are to seeing our baby girl. It's crazy how quickly time has passed.

On another note, I found this verse yesterday while waiting in the deli line (in my riding cart- can't wait for that part to be over!) at Publix. It's in a prayer book for little girls, and I think it pretty much sums up my prayer for Karaline:

"I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God." Phil 1: 9-11 (New Living Translation)

Yummy Recipe

Since I'm not able to eat carbs currently, I've found a recipe that I'd like to request. I am now requesting that Sam and Matt please bring these when they come to visit us in the hospital. :)

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield~ 3 doz cookies
cookies:
1 c sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp Maple syrup
2 eggs
1 c canned pumpkin
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
1 and 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

frosting:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese --- yummy!!!
1 c confectioners sugar
1/4 c milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For cookies: In a mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the maple syrup and eggs. Mix and add the pumpkin. Mix to incorporate. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix well. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool on racks. When cool, ice with cream cheese frosting.

For icing: In a mixer, add the cream cheese. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. If frosting is too thick, thin with a little more milk. Fold in the lemon zest. When cookies are cool, spread frosting on cookie.

Add a pecan for garnish, if you'd like.

OKAY, so doesn't that sound delicious?! What a perfect fall recipe!

The doctor keeps complimenting me and telling me I look great. Friends and family keep talking about my weight gain. Sadly, I'll probably gain the 25 + pounds after Karaline is born because I'm going to go on a carb binge! Watch out breads, pasta, fruit, pizza, cookies, candy, Coke, etc...You don't stand a chance :) Anyone who comes to visit us in the hospital, feel free to bring any of these items with you!

Sad, Sad Day

Today we went to the doctor. We're now on the weekly schedule...EEEK!!! How quickly time moves. Everything went wonderfully with one exception. My best friend since elementary school, Nikki, is getting married November 6. Of course, this is a day that best friends should share. She was in my wedding, now it's time for me to be in hers. Sadly, my doctor has a differing view. Since I've been put on bed rest, I was more than afraid that this would happen. I accepted and handled the fact that I missed her shower (one that I was helping to host) and her bachelorette cruise, but knowing that I have to miss the wedding is hard for me to swallow.

Of course, Nikki is more than understanding. It doesn't make it easier though. I know it will be fine and I've been told this by everyone a million times. I can see the big picture and fully understand, but today, I am sad, and I'll probably be sad on her wedding day, too.

Childbirth Class

Yesterday was our childbirth class. I must say that I was not looking forward to it AT ALL! I'm not sure if I was opposed to it because it was allllll day long or because it was on my birthday or because I figure childbirth is natural and it will be fine. Either way, the only thing that excited me about it was that I would be able to be out for the whole day!

It turned out that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and it actually moved along well. No parts seemed to really lag. Some of the questions that I had were answered so that is always helpful. A few times in the class Joey and the guy in front of us would start laughing and had a hard time getting control of it. Of course, this would then make me laugh. I'm going to chalk it up to awkward laughing. Here we are sitting in a class filled with strangers watching birthing videos, talking about personal things, and practicing relaxation and breathing techniques.

At one point, I just knew we were going to be asked to leave. We were on the floor practicing our relaxation techniques. The calming music is playing and the person on the CD is talking in a very calm voice. I'm totally NOT in to this kind of thing. Then, she starts saying things like, "Imagine that your right arm is heavy...sooooooo heavy... you can barely lift it..." I roll my eyes at Joey and say, "Really?" That was all it took. He began laughing so hard that he had to hide his face in my pillow, which caused me to laugh. We couldn't gain the control back because once we thought we were back in control, she'd instruct us to imagine that another part of our body was heavy....sooooooo heavy...and it would start again. This probably does not seem as funny now, but it was then. Needless to say, I will not be practicing that relaxation method.

In other news, we go back to the doctor on Monday. I've got my list of questions for him. Next Monday we'll have our last sonogram. I cannot believe it's already here. I mean, we only have 4.5 weeks left. It is crazy!!!!!!