Coming Home

We were discharged from the hospital on Monday morning, October 17th.  It was nice spending all of Saturday and all of Sunday at the hospital.  The nurses really took care of us!  They even sent us away with bags upon bags of diapers and wipes and other goodies.  So thankful for them!

We were excited to go home with Audrey!  We dressed her in a cupcake onesie.  Isn't she just the cutest??

Carl went down to get the car while the nurses wheeled me downstairs.  It was a lot of fun carrying Audrey while they wheeled me through the hospital.  I got to show off my baby!

Once Carl pulled up the car, our first true test... get her in the car seat.  It took us a few minutes, but we got her securely fastened in and we headed home.  Carl drove while I sat in the backseat with Audrey.  Audrey was crying quite a bit at first, but as we headed down 95th Street toward 294, we passed over some railroad tracks and some bumpy terrain.  She calmed down once we got into a rhythm with the bumps.  She came to really like the car!

Carl and I joked that it was a longer trip going home than it was going to the hospital just a few days earlier.  I know that's the biggest cliche, but it really was true.  We had precious cargo in tow and Carl was being extra careful.  

As we were getting into Lockport, Alan Jackson's Remember When came on the radio.  My last pregnancy update post had some lyrics to that song in it.  Weird, right?  Of course, I started crying.  All of my emotions just hit me.  We were bringing home our little girl.  Our lives are change forever!

Then we pulled up to our house.  There was a sign with a balloon in the front yard and balloons inside (all courtesy of my parents and sisters).  We also came home to clean sheets on our bed and a finished nursery.  I was already crying, but then seeing the balloons and the nursery finished, I just bawled.  Amber wanted to surprise us with the clean sheets and the finished nursery.  She knew it would mean so much to us, and it sure did.  I was so thankful!  They spray-painted shelves, hung pictures and decals on the walls, and added the finishing touches.  Look at the pics!  All that's left is to put pictures in the frames and finish adding to the shelves.  I love this nursery!  It is even better than I dreamed it would be.  

It was really indescribable to be home with our baby girl.  This day, October 17, 2011, was one of the happiest days of my life!  Our lives and our home is changed forever... for the better.

Curtains for the Nursery... Sneak Peek

Curtains are finished!  Mom has been working on them over the past few weeks and she and Carl installed them on Saturday morning.  They are just beautiful and totally complement the bedding.  The fabric is just beautiful.  I love all the green and pink and the different textures and patterns.  I keep telling Mom she should do this professionally.  She is so good!

We chose to do full-length curtains on each side of the window.  Mom found a nice white curtain rod and beautiful white finials that match the dresser and crib to hang the side curtains from.  We are going to cut the curtain rod down just about another inch on each side so that the finial lays right on the outside of the bracket.    The [faux] Roman Shade spans across the width of the window and lays right behind the side panels and the curtain rod. 

Mom incorporated some pink rick rack onto the full-length drapes on the sides.  The top fabric is this beautiful green and white fabric and the bottom fabric is the fitted crib sheet from the baby bedding collection.  I love how these 2 fabrics play off of each other and go together.  And the pink rick rack ties them together so perfectly.  

These are Roman Shades made out of this really cool fabric we found and really liked.  It integrates so many of the colors from the bedding in a fun way and in a great pattern.  Mom added the beading, which I love.  We debated on whether or not to make these shades functional, but we ultimately decided that Mom would sew them so they stayed just like this and we did not use them as real shades.  We already have good blinds in there, and really these shades are just for decoration.  And let's be honest, they'll look better for a long time to come if we aren't pulling them up and down.

This is just a preview... more pics to come!  Carl's working on the closet doors in the bedroom and right now, everything is pulled out of the closet and all over the room.  And the mattress and box springs are standing on end leaning right up against the shelving unit underneath the window.  I'll of course post better pics when #1 the window is in clear view and the entire room is put together.  Exciting stuff!

27 Weeks

This past weekend was a really fun weekend!  My Mom came up to stay with us on Friday and Saturday night.

Friday night: We ate dinner at Portillos (and of course we got our favorite Portillos Chopped Salads - yum!) and then purchased Audrey's crib bedding and the inspiration for all the nursery decorations.  Isn't the bedding beautiful?!  I've had my eye on this bedding even before we knew we were having a girl.  I really love all the different colors in it.  And, believe it or not, it looks even better in person.

Then we stopped by JoAnn Fabrics to pick out fabric for curtains my Mom is going to make for the nursery.  We pulled a few different fabrics and brought samples home to decide what we wanted.  I'm really excited about the fabrics we chose.  I called and talked to Mom yesterday and she has already started on the curtains.  Can't wait to see them!
Saturday: We started off with breakfast (of course!), then onto JoAnn Fabrics to purchase the fabric and then on to Buy Buy Baby to purchase the crib and dresser (a very generous gift from Grandma and Grandpa Patton).  Thankfully, big Carl (Grandpa Larson) was in town and he was nice enough to help us transport the furniture from Buy Buy Baby to our house.  Unfortunately, both the dresser and the crib did not all fit in his truck so he had to take 2 trips.  What troopers!  And Mom and I had it rough... we waited in the gliders, "testing" them out, until they returned for the 2nd load.  I fell in love with one of the upholstered gliders, and am now set on upholstered vs. standard wood frame glider.  It really was a long day, and Mom and I both were exhausted by the end!  We ended the night watching the first few episodes of Friday Night Lights Season 1 on DVD.
Sunday: Mom left right after breakfast and Carl and I (mainly Carl) put together the crib.  Now we just have to move out the full mattress and bedding that our guests have used.  It's air mattresses from now on for our guests.  Here are the pics of the furniture.  I'm in love with it!

 Chief really likes the crib, too :)

How far along:  27 weeks and 3 days
Size of baby:  She is the size of a head of cauliflower.  She weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches in length.
Total weight gain:  22 pounds
Maternity clothes:  On Saturday, Mom went with me to Destination Maternity in Orland Park to shop for some maternity clothes.  Destination Maternity has both A Pea in the Pod and Motherhood Maternity brand clothes.  This was the 2nd time I had been in the store, and just like the 1st time I stayed in the back shopping the Motherhood Maternity brand.  A Pea in the Pod is much too expensive for me!  I found 3 dresses I like and 2 shirts.  And I purchased some maternity Spanx.  I love them!  They have a panel for the belly, so they're tight everywhere except my "baby bump".  I'm excited about my purchases!
Gender:  Still a girl!  This answer shouldn't change for the remaining 13 weeks.  :)
Movement:  She's still moving a lot.  When Mom and I were relaxing in the gliders at Buy Buy Baby, she must have been doing a flip or something because we could both see the left side of my belly moving like crazy.  I love feeling her, and she is an active little girl!
Sleep:  I've been sleeping really well lately.  I never thought I'd say it, but I'm officially used to sleeping on my side and find it pretty comfortable.  Don't get me wrong, I will probably switch back to sleeping on my stomach after pregnancy, but for now I am content on my side.
What I miss:  I really don't have any complaints this week.
Symptoms:  I didn't have heartburn all weekend or Monday and Tuesday of this week, but today I've had heartburn all day.  And it's weird, after I eat I get a tingling sensation right underneath my left rib cage.  Maybe this is indigestion or something related to heartburn too?  Friday night was the first time I ever felt it.