Thursday, July 29, 2010
School is going well!
Harleigh has been going to school for 3 days and so far so good. The teachers say she's doing great and is pretty easy going (H must be showing off). Donna, the Director of the school, sent this picture of Harleigh on Day 3. Looks like she's not missing mom and dad as much as we thought! :(
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Harleigh's Friends
I thought I would share some pictures of Harleigh and her friends. Yes, friends plural, she has 2 her own age!
5 Reasons Why....
As a kid my dad would always make Ginger, Joel, and I stand up at the dinner table and give "5 Reasons Why...". This could range from "5 Reasons Why we Love our Mom" to "5 Reason Why we Should do our Homework". I thought I would give my "5 Reasons Why- I love my Husband". 1. Zak loves Jesus! I think this is the most important and most attractive quality Zak possesses. He holds our family accountable for our Spiritual Growth and Development. Each night we read the Bible and discuss what we've read and how we can apply it to our lives. We've made a rule that we can't turn on the TV in our room until we've read. It's so easy for "distractions" to get in the way of our spiritual growth and development, but Zak does a wonderful job in keeping us on track. He also makes sure Harleigh is there to hear the Word. Although she may not understand what we are saying, she's hearing it, in hopes that one day she will choose to have a relationship with Christ.
2. He is FUNNY! I can't tell you how many times a day Zak makes me laugh. He has the funniest one-liners. He is also great at impersonations (like "Ali G", Will Ferrell, and my dad). I look forward to each day with him because he always knows how to put a smile on my face.
3. #1 Dad in the World. (If my dad is reading this- it's a tie!) Zak is a phenomenal father. Not many people can say that their husband went to EVERY doctor's appointment. I recently counted how many appointments I had and it was over 20. Zak went to every one. He took ownership for Harleigh before she was born. Since I had a C-section Zak changed almost every diaper for the first week, along with caring for me, and making sure I was healing. You can see it in Harleigh's face how much she lights up when Zak enters the room. (I sometimes am jealous!) Zak understand that there is impacts on kids, especially girls, if a father isn't involved in their life and he is sure he plays a huge roll in her life. He doing a great job and I know both H and I love him for it!4. Rolling with the Punches. Zak is one of the most patient and laid back guys I know. He had his blood pressure taken and the nurse ask if he was a slow driver- and I quickly replied "YES he is"! Appartently, Zak has his blood pressure to blame for his "slow-lane" driving. With his laid back nature, Zak helps keep me stay levelheaded and put things in perspective with his calm nature. It is a gift- one I was not born with!!
5. Supportive Sam. Zak and I started to do use alliterations (not sure if I'm using this correctly?) when we are describing a personal characteristic (i.e., Negative Nancy, Supportive Sam, we also have one for a neighbor of ours that wears an inappropriate top while walking through the neighborhood, but in case this blog gets SUPER popular and I go on Oprah, I don't want her to be embarrassed.). Zak does such a great job of being supportive. He knows what I need to hear when I've had a bad day. He also takes the initiative to do the laundry, wash the dishes, get H's bottle ready, etc. without me asking. It's wonderful to have a "partner" in marriage/ parenthood/life.6. I know I said five, but I thought I would throw one more in here. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that Zak is a huge PITTSBURGH STEELERS FAN! During the 2010 Draft, Zak made a promise that if the Panther's picked up jimmy Clausen he would NO LONGER be a Panther's fan, but a Steelers fan! I'm looking forward to this year's football season- bring on the Black and Gold!
Thank you, Zak, for all you do. I love you!
Thank you, Zak, for all you do. I love you!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Harleigh Starts School!
As most new moms would agree, there is one very important decision you have to make after the little one arrives- what to eat?!? haha...well, that, and should I put my child in daycare or stay home?
Zak and I talked about what we wanted to do before I even got pregnant. We always said that we would do daycare. In December, when I was around 7 mos pregnant we chose Providence Church Daycare. My close girlfriend, Katie, has her daughter there, and I've heard very prositive things from people who go, or know people that go. I also checked it out and loved it! So in December, we made it "official" and signed up "baby girl Kamm" as we didn't even know what her name was going to be. I figured if I made the decision then, it would keep me accountable to follow through with my decision to go back to work full-time.
Well, today was the BIG day! As you can imagine- we were running late. Most people drop kids off between 7:30am-8:00am. They have a schedule for the infant room and naptime starts at 9am and they really want kids in before then. As usual, we had to make an entrance and Harleigh strolled in around 9:30am. Of course, dressed to impressed and with accessories intact, and mommarazzi taking pic's! I thought I was going to cry, but the transition was pretty easy. Zak was with me and in my mind if we were "both" leaving her it was better than "me" leaving her.
We are continuing to transition slowly so we'll be picking her up at 2:30pm today. (We didn't leave until 10am.) So Day 1- 4.5hrs! :) Hopefully, we'll get to a point where we get our money's worth;)
Happy 1st day of school, Harleigh! Make lots of friends and be an "angel" to all your teachers. We love you! (PS.- Happy 5 months!)
Zak and I talked about what we wanted to do before I even got pregnant. We always said that we would do daycare. In December, when I was around 7 mos pregnant we chose Providence Church Daycare. My close girlfriend, Katie, has her daughter there, and I've heard very prositive things from people who go, or know people that go. I also checked it out and loved it! So in December, we made it "official" and signed up "baby girl Kamm" as we didn't even know what her name was going to be. I figured if I made the decision then, it would keep me accountable to follow through with my decision to go back to work full-time.
Well, today was the BIG day! As you can imagine- we were running late. Most people drop kids off between 7:30am-8:00am. They have a schedule for the infant room and naptime starts at 9am and they really want kids in before then. As usual, we had to make an entrance and Harleigh strolled in around 9:30am. Of course, dressed to impressed and with accessories intact, and mommarazzi taking pic's! I thought I was going to cry, but the transition was pretty easy. Zak was with me and in my mind if we were "both" leaving her it was better than "me" leaving her.
We are continuing to transition slowly so we'll be picking her up at 2:30pm today. (We didn't leave until 10am.) So Day 1- 4.5hrs! :) Hopefully, we'll get to a point where we get our money's worth;)
Happy 1st day of school, Harleigh! Make lots of friends and be an "angel" to all your teachers. We love you! (PS.- Happy 5 months!)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Welcome to the World, Harleigh Elizabeth 2/26/10
I'm a little behind in writing this entry, but for those of you that know me- I'm late for EVERYTHING- so blogging is no different!
Harleigh was a different story. She was so excited to meet the world she came 3 weeks early! On February 3, 2010 Zak and I attended my 35 week appointment. At this appointment, the doctors noticed that my blood pressure was progressively getting higher. They wanted to keep an eye on it, so the next week, February 10, I went in again and my blood pressure started at 155/90 and by the end of the appointment it would lower to 141/110. My midwife had me monitor my blood presure for the next 3 days and call with a report on Sat. So on 2/11/10 it was 153/96, 132/93; on 2/12/10 it was 153/100, 149/93; on 2/13/10 it was 141/100, 144/96. (If this is how high it was before she came, I can't imagine what it will be when she's a teenager! :)). On 2/13/10 we went to the hospital and had to do more blood work (I was having it done every week at this point). On 2/15 my amniotic fluids were down to 3.2cm (the lowest they want to see it is 6-10cm). At this point, they said to have my bag packed because they were going to send me to the hospital if my fluid levels didn't rise. I was also put on bedrest. As if my blood pressure wasn't high enough at this point, it for sure was shooting through the roof when they said that I would probably have to have a c-section the next day. On 2/16, two more doctors came in to look at my ultrasound and my fluid levels were up to 8cm!! No baby yet! On 2/22, my blood pressure rises and I have to do a stress test and blood work for the baby. 2/25 another ultrasound after rising blood pressure (165/110), because the princess was breach, we knew I was going to have a cesarean section. At 4pm on 2/25 the doctor called to let me know my life was going to change forever. We had a scheduled c-section for the next morning, 2/26, at 9:30am. Scariest and most exciting news of my life!!!
On 2/26 6am- Zak and I wake up shower and pack last minute items. Head to the hospital at 6:45am. Check in around 7:45am, fill out paperwork, IV put in, meet the anesthesiologist, review the procedure. At 9:25am I walk to the operating room (Zak not allowed in at this time). Prep for the spinal.
As I was sitting on the operating table getting the spinal, I felt like the medicine was only going to one side of my body, I told the anesthesiologist this, and she gave me more medicine. I guess after sitting for a few seconds my body began to go numb from below my chest down to my toes. When they laid me on my back to prep for the surgery, I felt like my legs were still bent. I asked the nurses to straighten my legs and they looked at my legs and back at me and said "Heidi, they are straight". I corrected them and told them "no, they are bent", the nurse could tell I was adamant about my legs being bent. She sat me up and sure enough they were as straight as could be. Now that we had that worked out, they could put the blue sheet up and Zak was brought in.
Zak sat to the left of my head and did an amazing job in keeping me calm, relax, and my mind at ease. As the surgery began, the anesthesiologist would report back on how things were going on the other side of the sheet. She told me I had "such amazing muscle tone" (which was my biggest concern- as I'm laying there being cut open, looking at the white ceiling, bright lights, could here 10-12 people talking in the room- great, thanks!) :)
People said that I would be able to tell when they found the baby; however, I had no idea when they found her. I could only hear her when they pulled her out (making an entrance- butt first, folded like a pita). They lifted her over the blue sheet so Zak and I could see. It was such an unbelievable experience, at this point I still don't think it hit that she was ours. Zak looked at me and said "we can name her Kennedy if you want" (that was one of my top choices). As they brought her over to the nurse station to clean her, I asked the nurses when we would be able to get a paternity test. There was a pause, and then Zak and I started to laugh to ease the tension, they all caught on.
They finally gave her to Zak and he brought her over to me and we had a our first (of many) family pictures.
When in the recovery room waiting for me to regain feeling in my legs, we still didn't decide on a name. I said she looks like a Harleigh (Zak chose the unique and feminine spelling), and Elizabeth as the middle name.
And that's it! I could have gone into more detail and shared more, but I'll save those for additional posts.
Harleigh was a different story. She was so excited to meet the world she came 3 weeks early! On February 3, 2010 Zak and I attended my 35 week appointment. At this appointment, the doctors noticed that my blood pressure was progressively getting higher. They wanted to keep an eye on it, so the next week, February 10, I went in again and my blood pressure started at 155/90 and by the end of the appointment it would lower to 141/110. My midwife had me monitor my blood presure for the next 3 days and call with a report on Sat. So on 2/11/10 it was 153/96, 132/93; on 2/12/10 it was 153/100, 149/93; on 2/13/10 it was 141/100, 144/96. (If this is how high it was before she came, I can't imagine what it will be when she's a teenager! :)). On 2/13/10 we went to the hospital and had to do more blood work (I was having it done every week at this point). On 2/15 my amniotic fluids were down to 3.2cm (the lowest they want to see it is 6-10cm). At this point, they said to have my bag packed because they were going to send me to the hospital if my fluid levels didn't rise. I was also put on bedrest. As if my blood pressure wasn't high enough at this point, it for sure was shooting through the roof when they said that I would probably have to have a c-section the next day. On 2/16, two more doctors came in to look at my ultrasound and my fluid levels were up to 8cm!! No baby yet! On 2/22, my blood pressure rises and I have to do a stress test and blood work for the baby. 2/25 another ultrasound after rising blood pressure (165/110), because the princess was breach, we knew I was going to have a cesarean section. At 4pm on 2/25 the doctor called to let me know my life was going to change forever. We had a scheduled c-section for the next morning, 2/26, at 9:30am. Scariest and most exciting news of my life!!!
On 2/26 6am- Zak and I wake up shower and pack last minute items. Head to the hospital at 6:45am. Check in around 7:45am, fill out paperwork, IV put in, meet the anesthesiologist, review the procedure. At 9:25am I walk to the operating room (Zak not allowed in at this time). Prep for the spinal.
As I was sitting on the operating table getting the spinal, I felt like the medicine was only going to one side of my body, I told the anesthesiologist this, and she gave me more medicine. I guess after sitting for a few seconds my body began to go numb from below my chest down to my toes. When they laid me on my back to prep for the surgery, I felt like my legs were still bent. I asked the nurses to straighten my legs and they looked at my legs and back at me and said "Heidi, they are straight". I corrected them and told them "no, they are bent", the nurse could tell I was adamant about my legs being bent. She sat me up and sure enough they were as straight as could be. Now that we had that worked out, they could put the blue sheet up and Zak was brought in.
Zak sat to the left of my head and did an amazing job in keeping me calm, relax, and my mind at ease. As the surgery began, the anesthesiologist would report back on how things were going on the other side of the sheet. She told me I had "such amazing muscle tone" (which was my biggest concern- as I'm laying there being cut open, looking at the white ceiling, bright lights, could here 10-12 people talking in the room- great, thanks!) :)
People said that I would be able to tell when they found the baby; however, I had no idea when they found her. I could only hear her when they pulled her out (making an entrance- butt first, folded like a pita). They lifted her over the blue sheet so Zak and I could see. It was such an unbelievable experience, at this point I still don't think it hit that she was ours. Zak looked at me and said "we can name her Kennedy if you want" (that was one of my top choices). As they brought her over to the nurse station to clean her, I asked the nurses when we would be able to get a paternity test. There was a pause, and then Zak and I started to laugh to ease the tension, they all caught on.
They finally gave her to Zak and he brought her over to me and we had a our first (of many) family pictures.
When in the recovery room waiting for me to regain feeling in my legs, we still didn't decide on a name. I said she looks like a Harleigh (Zak chose the unique and feminine spelling), and Elizabeth as the middle name.
And that's it! I could have gone into more detail and shared more, but I'll save those for additional posts.
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