Audrey - 7 months

This month was filled with milestones and highs for our sweet baby girl. Let me tell you that we sure did need it after a few trying months. Can I just say that I am super proud of myself for staying on top on her monthly pictures! They are becoming a chore but I’m really trying to document everything for myself and for when she gets older.

Sleep:

We were given the ok to start sleep training again from our doctor. We decided to take the binky away from her at night, it was rough for about 3 nights but after that she’s done amazing! She’ll normally wake up 1-2 times in the night which I’ll feed her once around 12:30/1, the first time she wakes up. I know people say babies can sleep 11-12 hours straight around 6 months of age but I just know that she’s not getting much from me at the end of the day so since I have to get up to feed or pump anyways I normally just go ahead and feed her. She’s always been really good when she does wake up in the middle of the night where I’ll feed her and she’ll go right back to sleep (unlike her brother who would be up for a hour). She’ll also wake up around 3 and this is when we give her the binky. Not because she probably couldn’t figure it but because we are tired and it’s 3AM, do you blame me! We are also doing a lot better with our naps. She will normally take a cat nap around 7:30, a morning nap around 9:30, and an afternoon nap around 1. Her naps range but normally I can get about an hour out of her. The worst part of sleep training is not having those baby snuggles all night long anymore although there are sometimes I will nap with her just for some snuggles and of course my arm will be dead asleep an hour in! We are still in the Merlin suit and plan on transitions out of it soon but I’m getting spoiled with my sleep and am sure not ready but we have to do it.

Eat:

We started solids after getting the ok from our Doctor and boy is Audrey sure a hoot. We started with green vegetables first and she did not like Peas, I have the cutest little video of her that I have probably watched 500 times. Green beans are ok but she loves Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peaches, avocados and pears so far. Peas have really been the only food that she has refused but Green beans and bananas are a close second. She is already showing signs of being miss independent anytime I find her she must hold the spoon as well. We are still going strong with breastfeeding and I am so happy! I started stocking up on my breastmilk early on so we are coming to an end with our breastfeeding relationship and although somedays I’m ready more days than not I’m sad that this is coming to an end.

Development:

We can sit up!! We can officially sit up but not for long and we are on the go again. She is just like her brother and would rather be going, going, going rather than be sitting still for too long. She also learned how to blow bubbles and loves to do so when she wakes up at 3 in the morning. We are also officially in the highchair and she loves being part of family dinner.

Audrey - 4 months

Audrey is absolutely perfect. She is the most content little baby who reassures myself that I can handle 4 little ones. She is starting to show her personality and it is the best. She loves her mommy and smiles every time she hears my voice. She has started to get really fussy when you cover her up and she can’t see what’s going on. She sure does love to sit back and take it all in.

Sleep:

We hit our first sleep regression and boy was it a rough one. Luckily it only lasted about a week but I was sure hoping we would skip them entirely. She is still in our room and sometimes will nap in her room when we aren’t being lazy about it. I keep thinking that I might be ready to move her and then get upset about it and chicken out. She is still being swaddled as well which we plan on trying on the “magic suit” here in a few weeks to transition her out of the swaddle. We never tried this with Grady but I’ve heard that people really like them so we shall see how it goes. She is a complete home body already and does not sleep well while we are out and a about. We try to avoid going places late at night, if we go somewhere past 5 and she takes a nap we are bound to wake up several times throughout the night so we try to avoid going places here recently which make it rough especially with the holidays.

Eat:

Audrey is still 100% breastmilk. I pretty much feed on demand when we are together and then at daycare she is up to 5oz at a time every 3 hours. I’ve been able to build a stock up which is so nice but I completely overestimated how much 4oz and 5oz bags I would need. We still have quite a few 4oz bags to use up but oh well. She is starting to really get interested in what you are eating when we have dinner and I cannot wait to introduce solids. I am taking off sometime in January for a little staycation and I plan on stocking up on some homemade baby food then! She does get pretty gassy so we still have to give her gripe water every night.

Development:

Audrey laughed for the first time this month and it was probably the cutest thing. She can also grab things especially your hair. She is really trying to sit up but hasn’t done so yet. She is so patient with her bubba and loves to watch everything he does. He will take her binky right out of her mouth and she won’t even cry about it but when she does cry he will shhh her. She found her hands and toes and absolutely loves them. She loves to chew on her hands/fingers and loves to hold on to her toes.

She is so laid back and I could not love her anymore!

Audrey - 1 Month

Audrey has been an amazing baby. We have had a rough few weeks and she has been a trooper through it all. She sleeps pretty well, before she got sick she was sleeping 4-4.5 hours at night she is currently sleeping 3 hours at night which is still pretty good considering she still doesn’t feel 100%. She eats and latches really well. She has also smiled, laughed and rolled over from stomach to back. She is growing every day and has the cutest little roll on her thighs. We are obsessed with her!

Audrey's Birth Story

I don't know about you but I am a sucker for birth stories. I remember asking my mom to tell me the story of how she had me countless times when i was younger. There's just something magical about how a baby enters this world.  

On August 10, 2017, I was 35 weeks and had a normal doctor’s appointment where they did the Group B testing. I also asked him if he would check me and how she was measuring. He said that she wasn’t even in my pelvic area and that it would be pointless to check me. After doing an ultrasound he said that she was measuring a little behind her due date (September 10^th) and predicted a due date of September 11^th. After the appointment we immediately went home and I start all the home remedies of trying to induce labor. The week following my appointment I was climbing the stairs, going on walks, taking primrose oil, drinking red leaf raspberry tea, all the things to start getting some progress. I knew I did not want a September 11^th baby.

On August 18, 2017, I woke up having mild and inconsistent contractions, Since this was an everyday occurrence I went ahead and went into work. I went to the bathroom that morning at work and noticed that I had lost my mucus plug, I though nothing about it since you can lose your mucus plug weeks in advance. As the morning passed by, the contractions started to get worse and really hit me when I was in a meeting. During the meeting I was thinking of how I could skip out or tell them I needed to go home but then I felt something leak out downstairs. I got up to run to the bathroom. Just as I closed the door to the meeting room my water broke (gushed) everywhere, around 10:30 a.m. I was humiliated, my supervisor came out of the meeting to check on me and we immediately went to my desk to gather my personal things. Luckily and by the grace of God, Chad was minutes away. He came to get me, we switched cars and jetted to Tulsa, about an hour from our workplace. I called the doctor’s office to make sure our doctor was on call that weekend and sure enough he was! I did not expect for her to come so quick and thought that she would come later on that evening. I was still feeling ok so we stopped by the house to grab the hospital bag and for me to change and take a shower. As I was changing I looked at myself in the mirror and my belly was scary low so I yell at Chad and off we went to the hospital. By time we arrived at the hospital I was having bad contractions. They were doing some construction on the entrance to labor and delivery so we had to go through the ER entrance. Chad parked the car right in front of the ER entrance which is also a "do not park" area. It was clear that I was in labor so I jumped into a wheelchair and someone pushed me to labor and delivery. They asked if I had the urge to push or have a bowel movement which I told them a bowel movement so they yell for someone to grab an OB kit and walk with us, which I proceeded to yell at them saying ‘you better get me to labor and delivery, I’m not about to delivery this baby in the hallway’. After making it to labor and delivery, all the labor and delivery bed were being used so I jumped up on a regular hospital bed that was in the hallway and got pushed into an empty room. About 10 nurses come piling in while I’m crying and begging for the epidural. Ones taking off my pants, poking me with an IV, checking me, getting my blood pressure, calling my doctor, etc. I was currently at a 7. Little did I know that they have to run tests before getting an epidural. So as I’m crying and confirming that I cannot do this, one of the nurses is giving me a pep talk about delivering without an epidural and saying that the hard part is over with, umm if I do remember correctly the head still isn’t out at this point. Every time someone walked into the room I would ask them if they were the anesthesiologist. By this time my progress had slowed down as she was facing up, she knows her mommy and knows I wouldn’t have been able to make it. A security officer comes to our room and asks us to move our car as it is parked in the “do not park” area which I told Chad for them to take the keys and have them move it that he was not leaving. Also, my doctor comes running into the room as they are finally prepping me for the epidural. I do believe I called the anesthesiologist a saint. My mom and dad show up to the hospital and brought Grady back to see me. Grady was so worried for his mommy, it was the sweetest thing. Still thinking I had a little bit until it was time to push we asked my parents to go get a blanket out of our car. As soon as they leave it was time to push. Since I was on a normal bed instead of a labor and delivery bed, my doctor and I got really close lol. I pushed for about 10-15 minutes and she arrived at 1:27pm! My doctor asked me to grab her and finish pulling her out but I was caught up in all of the cords that I couldn’t get a good grip on her. My parents tried and come back into the room to give us the blanket and they hear baby cries and the nurse telling them that I had just given birth. Everything happened so fast, we were/am in total shock. 

You guys know me and know that I had a plan. I knew when she was going to come and what Grady was going to wear to the hospital. Nothing went according to plan, this girl surprised us all and I could not love her more for that. 

Audrey Mae Nissen

I guess it's time to finally announce the birth of our daughter, Audrey Mae Nissen. She was born a few weeks early on August 18th, 2017 weighing 6lbs 9oz and 19 in long. To say we are in love is an understatement and have been soaking up all of her sweet snuggles these past few days.

Welcome to the world sweet baby girl!

27 weeks

I’m a fat whale and look like a fat hamster stuck in its slide, especially when I’m trying to squeeze into a non maternity outfit. My feet have grown a half size and I’m too cheap to buy new shoes. I’m holding on to my wedding rings although they are starting to get tight as well. And it’s HOT like really hot, yes I realize it’s only June too! Ok enough complaining. Things are moving especially well and I’m getting things checked off the to-do list which gives me huge motivation. Although I’m complaining I really do love being pregnant it is a true gift and I’m very grateful for this opportunity. Since this is my second pregnancy things are a little looser, downstairs. I have farted twice at work with one of those times being a walking fart and I sure hope no one has noticed. I do try and cover it up and pretend like I tripped or it was my phone but let’s get real, people aren’t that stupid. Now that I’m further along when you got to go, you got to go like 2 minutes ago. The multiple bathroom breaks at night have started and I am dying of thirst in the middle of the night as well. I’m still craving sweets and have noticed it is doing a number on the way my clothes fit these past few days/weeks. The online shopping is getting a little over board, I’m hot and need more dresses instead of all the winter maternity clothes that I do have. And if Chad mentions one more time that I’m harming the baby with that 1 cup of coffee I drink I’m probably going to slap him. I mean I’ve really thought about getting one of those pregnancy belly’s and making him walk around with it and also I really want to hook him up to a labor machine to have him experience child birth.

Ok does my hair not look like goofy's hat on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? (total mom move)

26 weeks

The room is painted!!!! I sure hope she is girly because it is pink in there. So surreal walking into her room and seeing pink everywhere, I still cannot believe I’m having a little girl.  Maybe it’s the fact of having a boy first but it’s still shocking that I’ll be dressing a little human in bows and girly outfits and can I just admit that there is so much more to a little girls outfit. There’s not just a sleeper you put her in there has to be the right bow to go along with it, ahh. I’m a little behind on my posting of weekly updates I’m almost 28 weeks and we have our diaper bash this weekend which I am very excited about.

I am currently craving Panera mac and cheese, and just so you know they sell it at Target and it’s cheaper and as an added plus both Chad and Grady do not care for it so it’s all mine. Oh and by the way can I just vent here and say that people really need to work on their pregnancy talk for example I was in CVS and a stranger asked how long I had after telling him he proceeds to tell me “oh my you got a while to go and in the summer to, that’s going to be hot” Thank you for reminding me I didn’t already realize that. And then at work I had 2 people mention why big and uncomfortable I looked. And 1 of them going as far as saying that they never got that big when they were pregnant, geez thanks? As far as movements , she is no longer a laid back little girl as I mentioned in a previous post. She is all over the place and loves to flip and turn in every sort of way. Kind of like her mom, she cannot sit still for long. 

24 weeks

I am having the most difficult time buying clothes for our little girl. I just do not know what my style is. She’ll definitely be in sleepers for the first 3 months but I just can’t decide on bows and then 6+ month outfits. I’m not a big bow person but I just can’t find really cute cheap bows that I like right now. I did get her coming home outfit in the mail this week and set up our family pictures for June, small progress. I still feel like there is a ton more to do. Chad has been working the daybed that will be going in her room and hopefully will be finished this weekend! We picked out a paint color and just need to paint.

I had my doctor’s appointment last week and baby girl was showing off. Chad wasn’t able to make it to this appointment and too bad because our doctor was in a really good mood and did a high definition ultrasound and 4d ultrasound for free. She was smiling and laughing the whole time. She is moving a lot more now a days and loves to dig into my right side. My puffy vagina is back and in full force. The only thing I’ve really been craving is laffy taffy and it has to be the individual wrapped kind not the jumbo kind. My cravings have been a lot more sweet this time around compared to Grady they were salty and I could eat salt out of my hand.

Nursery Inspiration

Now that we have sold our guest bedroom bed and we'll be going to Dallas next weekend to get furniture and then our garage sale the following it's time to get serious about the nursery! I love the soft floral look so I'm leaning towards light pink, white, and gold. Grady's crib is gray and I'm not buying a new one although I love the white cribs so there will be gray in there as well. Below is few inspirational pictures for what we are shooting for. And dying over the shiplap walls just need to convince Chad!!

20 weeks update

I am currently 23 weeks so we had our 20 week anatomy appointment a few weeks ago. It might just be me but that appointment always terrifies me. Everything is looking great and she is measuring 3 days behind my scheduled due date. She is head down and hopefully will stay that way, she is also sitting really low so my lower back/vagina are killing me but other than that no complaints. Cravings are still hit or miss but right now I’m craving captain crunch cereal, greek yogurt flips, and laffy taffy. We sold our guest bedroom bed so the baby’s room has turned into a dance party for the past few days. Grady still has no idea what is going on. He’ll say baby every now and then but when we say sissy he just looks at us like we are crazy

 22 weeks

18 weeks

As of last week I was 18 weeks and let me tell you I still cannot believe I’m pregnant. I mean there’s no denying this beach ball but I think I’m still in shock that we are going to be having another little baby here before too long. This past week we traveled to Destin, FL for a much needed family vacation. I’ll do a post about our trip later but Grady absolutely loved it and sometimes it’s nice to just get away but now that we are back I am getting more and more anxious about getting everything together before baby girl arrives. I probably have 15 lists going on 15 different pieces of paper.

Baby girl was in a very bad position that was killing my tailbone and back, you know the pressure points that hit when you are walking down the hallway. Yea, not fun, any who she has thankfully moved into a move comfortable position. I’m still not craving anything which I didn’t really crave anything with Grady and I’m starting to think that cravings aren’t real. But hey I’ll still use the excuse. 

17 weeks

I have been lacking in the motivation department lately. Probably due to the fact that I have not worked out in lord knows how long but man I have all these big ideas and none of them are coming together. I am 17 weeks along and with Grady we already had stuff put together and a plan for the nursery, with this one I have a plan in my head but nothing in the nursery is put together. And I'm fine with that but it is so not my character.

We had our appointment last week and double checked the empty sack I spoke about in my last update and thankfully it is gone and everything looks normal! I am starting to feel a lot better now that the sickness has passed although I think I went from 1st trimester symptoms to 3rd trimester symptoms, I am EXHAUSTED all the time. We are converting our "guest bedroom" into a nursery, our guest bedroom is more like a junk room so it is taking us a little longer to get it all cleared out and organized. We normally have our neighborhood garage sale in the summer so we are waiting until then to really get the nursery going. We are also planning on making a trip to Waco/Dallas over memorial weekend to get furniture for the nursery. It still feels unreal that we will be having 2 little ones in a few short months. Grady is at such a good age right now and I have to admit I'm not looking forward to the newborn stage again. I love the cuddles but the up all night, beginning of breastfeeding part is what I'm dreading. I hope that our little girl is a little bit of a better sleeper than what Grady was.

Update on baby girl

We are 15 weeks!!! And I am for sure showing, even though I was wearing maternity clothes already, my belly popped this past weekend and there is no denying that bump. I started a new group at the beginning of the year and I really haven’t told very many people in my group about me expecting. Every day I have someone/people stare at my belly, in a very obvious way. I mean these women are worse than men staring at your tits. It’ll be mid-sentence too where they will just look down and I just want to be “you have something to ask”??

We had our last appointment at 12 weeks where we found out the sex and I cannot wait to go back next week. My doctor scared me a little bit last appointment when he did an ultrasound. He said he saw another sac which was empty and it terrified me of course I’m thinking of all the possibilities like a twin that didn’t make it, something wrong with the baby, etc. My doctor didn’t seem too worried about it and I should either but of course for someone not being in the medical field I’m still a little skeptical and cannot wait to check things out next week. Thank goodness my doctor does an ultrasound at every appointment. As far as how I’m feeling, man it’s different. I was convinced that it was a boy due to the heartbeat and the nausea that I was feeling was just the fact that I was also taking care of a 15 month old. Nope, it was for sure because it was a girl. The sickness has subsided but I still have my days and STILL nothing sounds good to me. I really hope this doesn’t mean that baby girl is indecisive. I can only deal with 1 indecisive person in my life and that’s myself. As far as pregnancy pictures, we’re awful! I have skipped a lot of weeks already but we have managed to take a few…

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

12 weeks

 14 weeks