More pictures of Riley

More recent pictures...we haven't been able to get a ton of pictures of her because she's decided that everytime she sees a camera she'll turn away or will give us a dirty look :)!

STICKERS!! She loves to play with stickers!

"Helping" us pack at our old apartment.

I am now convinced that it's time for barettes! Riley's bangs are a little out of control.

Anyone else thinks she's starting to look even MORE like Ty???? (If that is even possible ;)!)

Dr. Update

Monday I had another doctor's appointment (29 weeks)-this one was definitely bitter sweet though. It was great to see everyone and I always look forward to the appointments, but it was also my last appointment with Dr. Pastoriza in Jackson. We weren't sure if we'd be able to find a doctor in Kalamazoo and be able to get an appointment to keep on track with the appointments. So on Monday I dropped Riley off at my mom's and headed up there. Ty was bummed because he couldn't get the day off and he's never missed an appointment (for this little guy and for Riley's appointment before she was born), I have always appreciated that he wants to be there, even for the check-ups!! Everything went really well; I gained another 5 pounds. YIKES! If I keep that up (which I probably will) I'll gain a bit more than I wanted to :)! During the appointment Dr. Pastoriza was feeling the baby and all of a sudden he says "Sorry to tell you this, but, I think you might have a big boy in there...". Just what I wanted to hear :)! I suppose that's maybe why my belly is so huge. I guess I'll find out in 2 months...

I am really disappointed to be leaving Dr. Pastoriza's office, he and his staff are great!!! I couldn't have asked for better care or for a friendlier staff! When Riley was born Dr. P was on vacation the whole week around when she was due and he gave us a note to give to the nurses in labor and delivery when I went into labor and it said "Call Pastoriza for delivery". He said he'd come in and delivery for us even when he was on vactation. But he specifically said "don't have her on Saturday because I have Michigan tickets and won't be around"...so when did we have her?? Saturday of course :)! He couldn't deliver, but he called during half-time and at the end of the game to check on me! Then he came in the next day to check how we both were...and he was still on vacation!! If only every doctor was so caring about his patients!!

The next appointment is on the 25th with the new doctor here in Kalamazoo, Dr. Winter, but it's just a consultation. Then another appointment on the 5th because I start going every 2 weeks now. I think at this appointment we will have another ultrasound too! We'll see...

I would also like to add that Riley did GREAT at my mom's!! (and Jori and Lily weren't there either to play with her). She doesn't usually do well when we leave her but she only cried once: when Jeff put me on speaker phone and she heard my voice. I am thankful she's getting better and beling left with other people!! It will definitely help us out in the long run! Maybe Ty and I can actually go on a date by ourselves. We've only been out together twice since she was born!!

Simply Amused!!

Ahhh...to be young again. It amazes me how easily amused children are. As I've said before Riley will read with us for hours on end. Last night I was making lasagna for dinner and I heard Riley just cracking up, so I had to go see what the laughter was all about. I saw Ty and the big-headed baby :) reading a Baby Einstein Counting book to her that she loves and Riley couldn't stop cracking up. I just had to run and grab the video camera because it is times like these that I don't want to forget how sweet, fun, and easily amused Riley is. (And what a great and fun Father she has...)

!!! HELP !!!

Okay, we need major HELP! Ty and I sat down tonight trying to figure out boy names for our little one and we can't decide or come up with much, even with the help of baby names books and the internet. We want something different, but not too different and not too common. We need to at least come up with a few options because Riley was un-named for 2 days (poor thing) because we couldn't decide or agree on her name :)! The nurses finally came in and said we had to fill out her birth certificate so we could leave, so we had to decide! ANY AND ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!!!! We need all the help we can get...:)

27 Weeks...

Brace yourself...here are my updated belly pictures.

I am just over 27 week and I look like I'm about to burst and I still have 13 weeks left! YIKES! I'm not quite sure how or why I get so huge, all I know is that I do. So far I've put on 14 lbs. not too bad?!? I'm feeling great, the contractions have stopped (for the most part) thankfully and I have finally entered into the third trimester; the trimester of backaches, sleepless nights, sore feet, outgrowing maternity clothes, but most importantly the birth of our little one! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by and to be honest, I'm not quite sure I'm ready yet to have two babies running the Paulk Household!

As you probably have figured we're moved into our new place which is really nice, a lot of room, two bathrooms and huge closets and we thankfully have internet. We're not quite all unpacked yet but we're getting there; it's been difficult to get a ton done because it's pretty much Ty doing everything. I help but it's more like I work for 5 minutes and rest for 15, so I don't get much accomplished. Thankfully I have a very understanding and hard-working hubby!

PS. When we get all moved in and cleaned up I'll post new pictures of our apartment.

27 weeks

27 weeks

Moving Day

I just thought I'd let everyone know that if I seem M.I.A. in the blogging world it is because we are moving tomorrow and we may not have internet for a little while-at least until we get settled and everything worked out. I'll post new pictures of our apartment and of course Riley as soon as we get internet!!

Sleepy Riley

So Riley has definitely entered the "baby doll stage"!! Thanks to my mom, who got her her first American Girl Baby Doll for Christmas, she is totally and completely attached. The first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is she finds her baby and carries it everywhere she goes; feeding her, taking the baby's clothes off, pushing her in her stroller and of course kissing and hugging it! Her new thing now is that she won't fall asleep without her baby in the crib with her! I caught a few cute pictures of Riley and her baby when she was asleep. I don't dare take too many because I don't want to wake her up. She is precious and I can't believe how much my little one is growing up-it definitely goes by too quickly!! I wish I could freeze these moments in time!

Riley loves her baby, Thanks Grandma!

Oh and as you can see, Riley likes to fall asleep with her little legs through her crib slots!

She is so precious when she sleeps, we always go in at night to watch her and to see the way she falls asleep because it can be really funny!

Hospital Visit(s)

Update (AGAIN): Monday night seemed much the same as the night before. I started having contractions AGAIN and I called up to the ER and they wanted to see me...seems like this is becoming routine! Without going into a ton of detail, I will try to give a shortened version of what the docs are saying now. First of all they have no idea why I am having contractions! Second they are no longer concerned about them because they are not changing my cervix therefore they have no reason to believe that the baby will come early! I had a midwife last night watching over me and she was GREAT, she answered many of my questions and I felt much more at ease after I left the hospital! I am so thankful for God's protection over the baby and myself!! I am also thankful that I am not having to go to the hospital tonight because the contractions have subsided, so far at least! Hopefully it was just a weird thing that happened for a couple of days and they won't come back until the little guy is ready and fully cooked :)! Thanks for your prayers!

Update: Last night (Sunday night) again I had to go up to Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions...they still are unsure what's exactly going on. We hope it doesn't happen again tonight because we're exhausted!! We didn't get home until 3 am and then Riley wakes up around 7ish, so we're not getting much sleep. I called my doctor this morning and was a bit disappointed when he simply said that if it keeps hapening I'll just keep having to go to the Emergency Room since it doesn't happen during the day (when his office is open). I was hoping he'd want to see me and figure this out, but I suppose if it keeps going on then he will. I'll keep you posted on what's going on when they figure it out.

Last night (Saturday night)was a weird night. Ty and I put Riley down for bed at 7:30 and then I pretty much crashed on the couch for a while. I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions soon after I layed down (which is pretty normal) so I decided to get up after a little while and start packing some of our things. I thought that maybe they would subside if I actually got up and did something. So I went into our bedroom and packed while Ty and a neighbor watched a movie in the living room. I came out and told Ty that I was having contractions, more than usual, and he told me I should lay down and rest. So I layed down and went to sleep. Then I woke up around 1 am because I was still having contractions and I would have 8-10 in an hour so I came in the living room and called labor and delivery to see what advise they could give. Jen, one of the nurses, told me to drink 2 big glasses of water and lay down again and if I had more than 4 contractions in 30 minutes to come in. Well I did that and after about 10 minutes I had already had more than 4 contractions. Ty was still awake, playing a game and so we called back to the hospital and they wanted to check things out. Ty called our neighbors at 1:30 am and Melissa came over and slept on the couch so we wouldn't have to take Riley and I wouldn't have to go alone...we are so thankful for them!!

We got to the hospital and they strapped on the monitors to watch our little guy's heart rate and to track my contractions. At first I was having them every 5 minutes and then after about an hour the contractions were about 2 minutes apart. To make a REALLY long story short, they gave me 3 shots of tributlyene to stop the contractions and it worked!! They aren't quite sure why I'm having these contractions, but they don't seem to think that it will put me into labor. The contractions aren't changing my cervix so far, so that's a good sign. The baby looks perfectly safe and healthy, which was a relief! I am only 27 weeks, so that would be WAY too early! We were discharged after they made sure the contractions conpletely subsided with strict orders to take it easy for a couple of days! We got home just after 6am and Riley woke up early (of course) around 7:15! I'm feeling okay today, just tired and a bit out-of-it. The meds they gave me made me feel like I had Parkinson's and was running a marathon, at the same time. It raised my heartrate (and the baby's) substantially, I was out of breath and sweating, and I couldn't stop shaking. Not very comfortable! However, it was all well worth it in order to make sure the baby was just fine. He better stay put for a while, we've still got 3 months to go! Please pray that it doesn't happen again (the doctor's seemed to think it was a fluke thing that won't happen again, until actual delivery) and that our little one stays healthy!

Happy Superbowl-Day!!!