Moving back in!

I never thought when I left my parents house 9 years ago to go to college I would one day be moving back in with two little kids! But, that is what we have decided to do until September 24th when we close on our new house in Evansville. We debated back and forth this weekend whether to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in Madison for a month, or to stay here in Illinois and have Kyle drive some days/stay at a friends a few days during the week. We did a cost analysis and it is cheaper for him to stay up there 2/3 days a week and then come home 2 nights/weekends than it is to rent for a month. So, we are crashing at my parents house for the next 3 weeks. Lucky them :) I am sure come the 24th, they will welcome peace and quiet again and having their space back to them, but until then, Reese gets to make their house a mess on a daily basis, all while getting tons of attention and love from all of her grandparents! When Kyle comes back, we will go up to his parents house to see him, and then spend the nights at my parents. It will be a little hectic for a month, but with a new baby and a 2 year old, this is the best option as I am getting tons of support that I  would not have being in apartment in Madison. Everything happens for a reason, so maybe somebody up high knew I would need extra support with a new little one, and blessed us with being down in Illinois by our families.

Reese has entered the stage that every parents dreads...asking "why?" I heard her ask it for the first time yesterday when I made a comment and she turned to me and said "Why?" I literally chuckled at first, and then realized what is to come. Constantly explaining myself and giving her answers to everything! She talks non stop, so I can see how this is going to get old, but, I guess that;s how she learns, right? She is adjusting very well to being a big sister to Preston and loves to help change his diaper.

Preston is adjusting to this crazy world as well. He sleeps about 22 hours of the day, exactly what he needs right now! He is such a good baby, only crying when he is hungry. I couldn't ask for anything better at this point!

Preston Lee Montgomery and SO much more

Exhaustion: (according to Websters Dictionary):

the act or process of exhausting : the state of being exhausted.

This is the perfect word to describe my past week and all of the events that have occured.  Let's begin with the positives starting last Sunday :) My original induction date was set for this past Monday, the 20th. I received a call last Friday from the clinic telling me they overbooked themselves on Monday and I could come to the hospital on Saturday instead (also my birthday!) I was nervous, but also very excited to meet the little man. I called right away Saturday morning to find out when I should go in, and they kept pushing my time back due to the number of women in labor that were coming in (must have been the day to be born!) Finally around 2 p.m. I got the news that I was pushed back until Sunday. It was a sigh of relief as the waiting around all day was over, and now I could enjoy the rest of my birthday. Reese was already down at my parents house, so Kyle and I took advantage of our "alone time" and went out for a delicious birthday dinner at a great BBQ spot downtown, and then hit up the Terrace for some live music. It ended up being a great birthday.

When I woke up Sunday, I called again and was told to come in at 7 a.m. to begin the induction. Once we got there, the doctors were busy with c-sections, so my Pitocin was not started until close to 11:30 am. It was hard to sit around all morning with nothing happening just waiting to get the show on the road! They kept increasing my Pitcoin every 30 minutes all afternoon until I finally got regular contractions around 4:30 p.m. When I went in, I was dilated to a 4, and at 4:30, I made my way up to a 5. I was told the next 5 cm should go rather quickly as it was my second labor. Well, they did. As the contractions got stronger, I kept riding them out debating on when to get the epidural. Finally around 7:30, I asked for it and got it around 8 p.m. I kept telling them the contractions were still quite painful through the medicine, so they checked me again at 8:45 and I was already a 9. Thank god I asked for the epidural when I did!! Around 9:00, they came back in as I had the feeling like I needed to push, and I was a 10. Game on! With a half hour or so of pushing (so easy, and nothing compared like Reese's labor) Mr. Preston Lee Montgomery entered the world at 7 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long. He was beautiful. I just could not get over how fast and how much more "enjoyable" this labor was compared to Reese's. She had me pushing for 4 straight hours and I did not enjoy one bit of it, but this felt like a walk in the park. I was mentally able to prepare myself for his arrival, and it was not nearly as exhausting as hers was. 

We then spent the next 24 hours awing over him and meeting our new little bundle. Since Reese had been with my parents since Friday, we were missing her alot (3 whole days without her!) She was at our house with my sister (who coincidentally had a conference in Madison on Tuesday so she was able to keep Reese at our house Monday night.) So, on Monday night around 10 p.m., we headed home to sleep in our own beds and wake up to Reese in the morning. She is still not quite sure what to think about him, but is very gentle and now tells people she has a baby brother. She is quite emotional with me, and attached at my hip, but that is to be expected.

Now, on to the not-so-positive news. We were supposed to close on our house on Friday (which we did), but were then also supposed to close on our new house on Friday afternoon (which we did not.) We had a few tests come back from the well report that they had bacteria in their water. We gave them the chance to pay to fix it, and supposedly they did, but tests came back on Tuesday stating that their was still bacteria in the water. So, Kyle and I made the executive decision that we just could not move into this house with 2 small kids with bacteria in the water. So, we called off the closing, and were now left "homeless" as of this past Tuesday night. Nothing like getting home from the hospital only to find out that in 4 days you have no where to live. So, we jumped right back on the bandwagon and decided to go check out another house that was on our list, and we fell in LOVE with it. So, I feel it was all meant to be. We put in our offer yesterday for the new house, and it was accepted. Closing date is September 24th. So, what are we doing right now? Great question. As of today, we are staying at my parents house until we can hopefully find a one month rent in Madison so Kyle does not have to drive an hour and a half to work everyday. All of our stuff is in storage at a garage that Kyle and his Dad own, and we also have stuff at my parents and Kyle's parents house. I have no idea where half (or more) of my belongings are, but I have out what is needed to survive on a daily basis and hopefully until we can find something closer to Madison until we can move. A little hectic right now, but we are taking it day by day. Reese is doing as well as she can. She has been carted all over, sleeping between 2 different houses (my parents and Kyles parents) and is more emotional now than I have ever seen her. She knows something is up, and her schedule is way out of whack. I am just glad at this point that Preston literally sleeps 21 hours of the day (when he isn't eating.) So, when I started my blog with the definition of exhaustion, I pretty much feel like my life is the perfect was to describe it at this point. No home, no sleep, and no idea where any of my things are...ugh. Hopefully come Monday or early next week, I will have some updates on a place we have found to stay so that Kyle doesn't have to crash at friends houses in Madison during the week and not get to see his little girl, wife, and new baby for the 1st month of his life :( Pray for us!

39 weeks

39 weeks- never made it this far with Reese, but in comparison, I feel/think my belly looks smaller with this baby. Let's hope he is a little smaller, I could do without 4 hours of pushing for an almost 9 lb baby like Reese was :)

Tick Tock

The clock is ticking away and no baby yet. Since being off of work all week, I have actually had time to digest the fact that we will be both moving, and having a baby next week. Packing is going very well, we will be finishing it up this weekend and living off the bare necessities next week. With Reese still going to daycare this week, I finally got all the paint colors finalized, hardwood picked out, and we are in the process of picking new carpeting out. It has been a "blessing in disguise" to be able to be home this week (even though some days lying around and taking it easy is quite boring!!) I have gotten quite a a lot accomplished and feel much more comfortable with the move. Don't get me wrong, anxiety is starting to creep up at the the thought of living in a house that will be a construction zone for a while, but I know we have plenty of support from our families to help out getting things done. I always joke that Kyle and I got pretty lucky. We have the jack of all trades for parents. My mom-the landscaper, My dad-the painter, Kyle's dad-the carpenter, and Kyle's mom- the interior decorator. Can't ask for much more than that when re-modeling a house! We have loads of helpful people with lots of knowledge and have been using them to the fullest (again, making things much less stressful!!)

I have my 38 1/2 week appt. this afternoon and will find out if anything has changed. I don't feel it has, since contractions have only come and gone a couple of days this week, and they were nothing too painful. Well, my birthday is Saturday and I can't think of a better present than a baby :)

A Night's Stay

I had my 37 1/2 week appointment on Thursday afternoon with my doctor, and by this time, my contractions had pretty much subsided and were very irregular. I still had some on and off throughout the day, but nothing like Monday/Tuesday. For about a week or so now, I have been having a pretty sharp pain in my upper right abdomen (feeling like my ribs are going to crack!) and have started seeing spots (like a camera flash). This also happened with Reese right around the same time, so I told my doctor Thursday and I knew she would want to do a 24 hr. urine analysis to determine if I was showing the signs of Preclampsia (when a woman's body releases (harmful) toxins into one's blood due to changing hormone levels when a woman's body prepares for labor.) Basically, it means every time I used the bathroom for 24 hours, I had to save my urine and then return it to the lab 24 hours later. If my symptoms were to worsen, I was to go to the hospital that night. Well, they did. I started seeing more and more spots, and I got a grueling headache to accompany it. I called Triage after putting Reese to bed Thursday night, and they wanted me to come in to check my blood pressure and just make sure baby was doing ok. (At this point with Reese, I was admitted and induced because my blood pressure was too high and her heart rate was dropping with my contractions.) For them to be concerned, my blood pressure would need to be around 140/90 and mine was consistently 138/88 for the course of 4-5 hours. I stayed all hooked up and around 12 am they admitted me for further monitoring throughout the night. They also wanted me to complete the 24 hr urine analysis in the hospital. One thing I was not looking forward to, spending the whole day on Friday lying in bed. I was restricted to only getting up to go to the bathroom. UGH. My blood pressure finally began to go down around 6 am (125/80- still high for me, but not in the danger zone.) I completed the 24 hr urine test around 5:30 pm and it was sent to the lab. They were checking levels of protein to determine if it was preclampsia. I got the results around 7:30 and was cleared to go home. I was put on "semi" bed rest, and told not to go back to work until I have the baby. If I don't have the baby by the 20th, we are still on schedule for induction. I am already dilated to 4 and 75% effaced so induction won't be more than a small drip IV of pitocin to get things going and then I'll be able to pretty much go into labor on my own (if I haven't by then.) My doctor doesn't think I will even make it to the 20th, so I will just take it easy this week and we will see what happens!

In the meantime (not like we aren't busy or anything!) we have been in the process of researching/picking out paint colors and carpet for the new house. We are almost painting the entire thing and ripping up most of the flooring as well. We intend to put hardwood down in the main level, and carpet in the upstairs (bedrooms). It sure is going to be a project, but I am already excited for what the finished product is going to be.

False Alarm

I had a false alarm yesterday with baby boy. I began having irregular contractions on Monday night before bed. I thought nothing of them as I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a week or more now. Yesterday around lunch, the contractions got a tad stronger and I started having them about every 5 minutes. I called my dr. office and they did a mini "traige" over the phone and determined that it would be best that I head downtown to the hospital to get examined since my doctor was off yesterday. So, I left work around 1pm and headed down. The hooked me up to the monitor and checked me right away. I was dilated to 3 still and was 40% effaced (need to be 100% to push.) They did determine that I was having contractions every 2-5 minutes, and they wanted to keep me there for another hour and a half to see if I would make progress. I waited around and when they checked me again I was still a 3, but was 60% effaced. Not enough to keep me there. So I was told to go home, stay comfortable, and the contractions could do various things. They could stay like this for the next couple weeks (irregular and not super painful, they could intensify-leading to me going into labor, or they could stop all together). As of today, they are still irregular and not super painful, so it is just a waiting game. I have my 37 1/2 week appointment with my doctor tomorrow afternoon, so I guess we will see if any progress has been made.

I am not sure if I already updated on Reese after her 2 year appointment a few weeks ago, so here are her stats if I forgot (forgetting things seems to be a re-occurring thing with me lately.) Just ask Kyle about the cookies I burnt in the oven tonight! :)
Weight: 27 lbs. (55%tile)
Height: 36 inches (94%tile)

Comparison Pics

36 weeks with Reese on the left

36 1/2 weeks with baby boy on the right                           





Big news in the Montgomery house....Reese has gone pee in the potty twice now! WOO HOO! One step closer to my goal of having 1 child in diapers :)

36 weeks

I had my 36 week appointment today and got some good news. I am dilated to a 3, and my doctor and I discussed an induction date (if needed). Even though it is super exciting to hear I am already at a 3, I could stay at a 3 until my due date. So after she checked me we talked again about my moving date and we decided to go ahead and tentatively plan on being induced on August 20th if baby has not arrived by then. This would probably put me out of the hospital then by the 23rd, one day before closing on the house. She said my cervix is already thinning out and all the I would possibly need for induction is the minimal dose of pitocin to get me started, and I would probably go into labor on my own from there. She also said at 38 weeks she can strip my membranes (around my cervix) which sometimes help jump start labor without an induction. So either way it looks like I will be having a baby before we move, hallelujah!

Reese is starting to get the concept of us moving, and has been helping me pack a little each night. Her main job is to use markers to decorate the cardboard boxes :) She is also just cracking us up these days with the things that come out of her mouth. I swear I never thought at 2 she would be putting such concrete thoughts together and making sense while doing it! Yesterday she already had created her own "stereotype" while we were driving home from daycare. We say a man on a motorcycle and she said "Mommy, motorcycles are for boys, and bicycles are for girls." What?! It is crazy to me that she already is forming a "stereotype" at age 2!! I then corrected her and told her that boys and girls can both ride motorcycles and bicycles, but she was a firm believer for some reason that only boys should be on motorcycles. Who knows where that came from?

This weekend is full of packing (more!) and possibly getting into our new house to do measurements and a final walk through to see what we need to have lined up before we move in. If we can't get in Saturday, we will be able to when we have the house inspection.