Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I want to say what I'm grateful for.

• MY MOM: Mom, you are my hero, my best friend, and the greatest mother I could ask for. Thank you for everything you have sacrificed for us and the lessons you have taught me. You are a strong woman and I hope to be just a good of a mother that you were to me.
• CAILIN SHANNON SHAW-LUCK: My beautiful, wonder angel! I couldn't be more thankful for the blessing of being this angel's mother. She is a miracle and a joy to my world. She has opened my eyes to a new world and new experiences. She has helped me learn and grow into the woman and mother I was meant to be. Thank you Cailin for choosing me to be your mom. I love you SO much.
• MY JOB: Bravo Arts Academy, thank you for hiring me and giving me such a great opportunity to grow in the performing arts world. Working at the Front Desk as introduced me to great new people. Plus I'm in an environment that I love. I'm around music and dancing and the Arts 5 days a week and it brings me so much joy!
• MY FRIENDS: My list would go forever is I listed every friend I wanted to thank. So I'll be doing personal thank you's privately. But for now, for those that have been there for me the past roller coaster of a year, words cannot describe the gratitude I have for you all. Thank you for all your support and advice. You are all priceless to me.
• FAMILY: Thank you for being my supporters. We've all gone tough times and we've always backed each other up. More tough days are ahead of us. But together we can make it through. Love you all!
• GOD AND JESUS!!: Last but not least, I have to give thanks to my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus! They are my rock, my light in the darkness, my savior, my everything! I feel so blessed to know that I am in their light and their love. To have someone to pray to and know my prayers are being heard and answered. I'm so very thankful for my brother Jesus for bleeding for my sins and dying for me. They have blessed me with amazing family, wonderful friends, a job that is better than I could have asked for, and the most beautiful daughter! Without God and Jesus Christ, I would not have all of you. 

Cailin: 9 months

I'm sooooo slacking on my blog posts!!!

Cailin had her 9 month check up last week on Thursday. She's still growing!!
17 lbs 8 ozs
71 cms
I can't remember her head circumference but it only grew .5 cm.

Here are her developments:

• She is crawling at the speed of light. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with her.
• She's pulling herself up on tables and chairs. BUT she's starting to stand up on her own...when she's on my bed.
• She has 4 teeth now with 2 more growing on top. Soon she'll have 4 on top and 2 on bottom.
• She says "Mama"(her first word) and "Dada" and "Baba."
• Her favorite action is clapping when we say "yay"
• Slowly but surely she is learning to wave. And most of the time she's waving to herself.

On a side note, Cailin has another sinus infection and this one is rough. Fever, very bad clogged up nose, cough, and very grumpy baby. I feel bad that there isn't much that I can do as a mom beside giving her Tylenol, warm bath, and love. I breaks my heart when after I do all of that and nothing seems to help and hear her screaming. Hopefully this passes over fast.

The State Fair and my Birthday

So last Saturday, to celebrate my birthday I took Cailin and one of my best friends Brittany to the State Fair. I hadn't been for a couple of years so I was extremely excited and so was Brittany. As it got closer to Saturday, we would be texting each other different animal noises. When the day finally came, we couldn't have gotten there any sooner! We left around 1pm and were stocked up on water and camera. The weather was perfect and Cailin was sitting in her stroller for the first time without being in her carseat. We went straight to the animals and what did we see first...LEMURS!! Cailin was so fascinated by them. I couldn't get her to peel her sight away. They had two baby lemurs out to pet and Cailin was a bit timid to pet one. But when it came to cows...I had trouble holding when I took her up to get close. All because I was laughing so hard at her excitement and she was moving so much she almost slipped out of my arms. We tried to find the piggies but we didn't seem to find them. The next day we found out we had walked right past them...DOH! We had been there about 3 hours when Cailin decided to throw her bottle out of the stroller and we didn't notice till was too late and that bottle was no where to be found. That's we figured it was time to head home anyways.

Then on Sunday, I had the pleasure of waking up at 6:30am to get ready to pick up my mom at 7:30am so we could drive up to Logan for one of my cousin's mission farewells. My cousin Jacob will be going to Hong Kong!! Wow! Everyone could get over how cute and adorable Cailin was. Right as the sacrament hymn was being announced, I had to take Cailin out for a diaper change. Walking around the building waiting for us to go back in, we found the picture of the Lion and the Lamb lying together. Cailin must have recognized the lamb because she giggled and got all excited. At the luncheon afterwards, I started to worry that Cailin would take away the attention for Jacob. But Jacob would disappear all the time so I didn't worry so much. I was really glad that I decided to go up and spend time with my family. Later, we had cake at my Uncle Lemar's house. And it was my favorite...Cookies n' Cream cake. YUM!

Baby lemurs!

Chilling like a pro in her stoller

She loved petting the cows

Mostly the calf!

My favorite picture of the day. Zonked out walking back to the car.

Cailin: 7 Months

AH! Where did time go!? I can't believe my little monkey is 7 months already! I'm so busy these days that I don't even have time to even remember to take her monthly photo. :( I tried the best I could to keep up with them. So here's what's happened in the past month:

• At her 6 month appointment, her doctor said that she is developing faster than the average. WOOT! I got me a smart one! 
• She's started to scoot crawl. So it won't be long till she is full blown crawling. I have a feeling that she is going to be very adventurous then she gets to that point. 
• On August 17th, we moved in with Dad(Joe)! Things have been easier with drop offs when I go to work. LOL. All together its Me, Cailin, Joe, and our friend Melissa living all together in a quaint little house. Which is perfect for me. 

 We have many adventures planned for this month so I can't wait to post pictures! Plus it my birthday!!! And this year, my little family is going to the State Fair. Just Mom, Dad, and baby. I haven't been to the state fair in years and this year I scored free tickets. So hopefully I keep on top of things this month. :) Until then, peace and love!

Cailin's Adventures

Photo slideshow made with Smilebox

Lots of stuff

Holy cow I've been slacking!! I skipped Cailin's 5 month update! But I do have a good reason...I AM EMPLOYED!! I'm so excited. I'm going into my 3rd month working for Bravo! Arts Academy for All Ages as part of their Front Desk Staff. I love my job and love my coworkers. I've tried to upload videos but the ones from my phone are retarded and won't work. And that's where I have most of my videos of Cailin. Oh well...

Here is a quick update on hows she's doing:

• She is a PRO at rolling over from both tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy.
• I know she will be crawling any day now. She can push herself up completely and in a way "crawl backwards" unless her feet are supported by someone or the couch. Then she can get up on her knees or toes and rock. Her doctor said at her 6 month checkup that she is developing fast for her age.
• She is talker! Constantly giggering and jabbering away. It's super cute!
• We've started giving her rice cereal. She's always more interested in trying to grab the spoon or the bowl out of my hands instead of eating.
• Constantly putting things in her mouth and chewing...TEETHING!!! My fingers included.
• On July 21st it was the Z. Reed Millar Reunion at Cherry Hill. We didn't get there till 4pm because it was my family's turn to host and we were busy running around getting stuff ready. So when I took Cailin to go swimming, it was cold and windy. She didn't like it one bit. :(

That's all that I can think of for now. I'll hopefully be able to post pictures and videos soon. As well as more updates on Cailin's adventures.

-Sara

Cailin: 4 Months

Cailin's 4 month check up is on June 14th. Stats will be posted then.

On May 16th, we had a pink eye scare with Cailin. Luckily it was just a scare and there was nothing wrong.

Nothing too exciting has happened otherwise. She's still a social butterfly and flirts with boys/men of any age. We hear more giggles now than last month. She's very ticklish on her thighs, tummy, armpits, and her neck. But when you tickle her, beware. She will grab your hair and she's got a strong white knuckle grip.

Cailin: 3 Months

No stats this month. :(

This past month seemed to go by super slow. But full of adventures. May 27th-28th, she went on her first road trip with Daddy. She went with him to Ceder City for a funeral. But I will say that my separation anxiety was horrible.

This month I got a new tattoo in honor of Cailin.

Its a Primrose which is the birth flower for February and her name is in the top vine.

After her road trip with Daddy, she finally smiles and giggles around him. She loves her Daddy. :)
She keeps trying to suck on her hands. And she thinks its funny when we put her hands down and she puts them right back. It's her new favorite game.
Cailin is finally in 0-3 month clothing! No more newborn size!

Cailin: 2 Months

STATS

HEIGHT: 21.5" 90%

WEIGHT: 9 lbs 74%

HEAD CC: 38 cm 91%

Is it 2 months already?! Cailin's personality is starting to show. She will be quite the entertainer!

- Cailin still doesn't like to fall asleep on her back. :/

- Still LOVES to cuddle. My favorite part of nap time. :)

- Cailin's smiles are super adorable. She gives me smiles every morning.

- She stays awake around Dad now but is stubborn and won't smile. He did get smiles today.

- On March 20, 2012 Cailin had her first visit to the ER. She was extremely constipated and straining to pass some really hard and fairly large stool. This trip also included her first xray. The doctor gave her a suppository and that did the trick. We did have to put dark corn syrup in her bottle.

Cailin: 1 Month

Cailin is 1 month old now! Time has flown. Here are some Cailin's explorations.
- She loves her bink. Sometimes she will hold it in herself.
- She refuses to fall asleep on her back. She has to be on her tummy on me.
- She loves to cuddle!
- She giggles in her sleep and it the cutest thing.
- Her facial expressions continue to entertain me.
- She hates baths but LOVES to shower with Mommy.
- Just like while I was pregnant, she falls asleep while she's around her dad.
- When Cailin wants to be bounced, you REALLY gotta bounce her. No light bouncing allowed.
- Her neck muscles are getting super strong. The longest she has kept her head up was 5 minutes.

Cailin: 2 weeks

Friday marked Cailin being 2 weeks old. I can't believe how fast time has gone already! As natural as it feels to be calling myself "Mom" and saying "my daughter," I'm still waiting for that reality shock. Everyday I fall more and more in love with this beautiful spirit. She has brought out a new me and taught me many lessons already.

At her 2 week check up, she had lost weight. The Monday and Tuesday prior she was throwing up and lots of diarrhea. But she's doing better now. We do need to take her in this Friday to check her weight again. Hopefully she's gained weight because she's been feeding a lot and hasn't thrown up. 

A New Life

My doctor was right, I had Cailin during the weekend!

Thursday night I was starting feeling regular contractions. But very far apart. Woke up Friday morning at about 4:30am with a lot of pressure and pain in my pelvis. So I went to the bathroom to see if that would help. Next I knew I was going back and forth to the bathroom 3 times in 10 minutes. So 4:49am I notified Joe about my pain. Woke mom up because I did not want to go through this pain alone. Joe was still at work and had no way of getting up here at the time. But a coworker gave him money for the FrontRunner.
At 6:30am is when we started our way up to the hospital because my contractions were 10 minutes apart. We picked up Joe on the way at the Clearfield FrontRunner station and his mom had dropped off his bag for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital a little after 7:00am. My contractions were about 7 minutes apart at this time. I got the monitors on and the triage nurse checked my status. I was still 2cm and 80%. She called my doctor and they wanted me to walk for an hour. I wanted to die! But I was a trooper and walked. And with how painful the contractions were, at this point I was hoping that I was in labor. After my hour was up I was 3cm and 90%!

9:15am I got my IV and Penicillin started and at 9:30am moved into my own room. Got settled in and they asked if I wanted my epidural. I wanted to see how much longer I could last with out it. I lasted an hour. At 10:30am I got my epidural and within minutes I was number than numb. And thank goodness I decided to get the epidural when I did. I was checked after making sure the epidural was working, I was 5cms. But not soon after, Joe was trying to get some sleep and I was updating people, I felt a gush. I looked at Mom and said "I think my water broke. And I know it isn't pee because the nurse put in the catheter not too long ago." The nurse came in and confirmed that indeed it was my water. I was happy that it broke on its own and that they didn't have to break it for me. I looked at the monitor and my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart!

At this point, things accelerated! My nurse guessed that I would have my baby by dinner time before my water broke. But with how fast I was dilating, Cailin was going to arrive much sooner. Within 2 hours I went from 6cm to 9 3/4. By 3pm I was 10cm and 100% and ready to push. We did a few practice pushes and then notified my doctor that I was ready to deliver. She said that she would be up at the hospital within 15-20 minutes. Well, I was starting to really get the urges to push but couldn't because I had to wait for my doctor. My doctor arrived a little after 3:30pm and the real pushing begins.

3:52pm Cailin Shannon Shaw-Luck arrives at 7lbs 2ozs  and 19 3/4 inches. She hardly cried when she was born. She was probably the most mellow baby after birth. I torn a little bit when her shoulders came out. I did skin-to-skin and I highly recommend it to any mom to be. The feelings that go through your heart and soul are indescribable. And to look into the eyes of your newborn and know that they are yours, its Love At First Sight.

39/40 Weeks

Today was my last appointment with my doctor before my induction date. Tomorrow is my due date! Crazy how time flies. After 3 weeks of no change, I'm finally at 2cm(almost 3cm) and 80% effacement! And my doctor says that Cailin is a little over 7lbs. I'm so excited to see my baby girl! Contractions are starting to get more regular and more intense. There is a good chance that I'll be having my baby this weekend. But if I do go to my induction, I'll be at the hospital at 7:30am and most likely will have a baby by dinner time. :)

39 Weeks

This was a long and very interesting week. Lots of stress and seeing things in a new light. My lower back this past week has been killing me. There are times where I can tolerate it and then there are times where I just want to rip it out. Plus I get hit with real bad nausea where B6 or ginger root doesn't help (I'm going to buy a big thing of Sprite ASAP), Sunday and Monday night I was so restless I didn't sleep like at all, lots of pressure in my pelvis now, pain in my groin muscles every now and again, some menstrual like cramping, headaches, and hot flashes. I've been the most uncomfortable this past week than any other week. And it's only going to get worse...oh joy.

I had my weekly doctor appointment today. There is no change in dilation and effacement. Cailin is still head down and growing. We also put in for me to be induced on Feb. 7th if I don't have her by my due date. So at least I have an official date of knowing when she'll be here if not sooner. Please pray that she comes before then. I've heard that being induced isn't a pleasant experience. Until then, in 2 weeks I'll finally be holding my little girl.

38 Weeks

2 weeks left till my due date! I had a doctors appointment yesterday and I'm still at 1cm. My doctor didn't say how effaced I was but from her tone of voice, there is a change. Cailin is most definitely head down and has dropped a lot.

My discomfort level is at a high right now. Extreme nausea, back pain, contractions, cramps, and headaches. I'm very restless at night. The insomnia has come back and with vengeance. My want for Cailin to come is higher as well. I'm so ready to go into labor. So hopefully, keep fingers crossed, I have her this week.

Baby Shower #2

I had my second and final baby shower today. It was in my old neighborhood and I'm so blessed to have grown up with such amazing women. I was showered with so much love from them. Many of them collected money for a group gift and from that I received a bouncer and pack n' play. But I would say the best gift of all was seeing my sister walk through the door. She surprised everyone because she had said that she wasn't able to come up this weekend. I had to hold back tears.

Now that the baby showers are done and my stash continues to grow, I'm ready for Cailin to come. I'm starting to move things over to the house I'll be staying at so that way I don't have to worry about it after I deliver. Let's get this baby out so we can finally hold her!

37 weeks: Update

Un"fortune"tly I'm still pregnant. My fortune cookie lost its bet. So this weekend, maybe? It would be nice to not deal with the 24/7 back pain, the nausea, and kick to the ribs. OH and not waddling like a penguin haha. My hospital bag is packed a ready to go. I keep looking at it and visualizing going into labor. That method of naturally inducing labor isn't working. So I'm walking as much as a can, with some dancing here and there. 

Every morning when I wake up I say "Good morning beautiful baby. Is today the day I'll be seeing you?" I think that if I sound cheerful and excited, it might encourage her to want to come. Not only am I excited for her to come, her dad is just as excited. And so are a lot of people. She will be showered with lots of love by family and friends. 

I have my next doctor's appointment on Monday, that is if I'm still pregnant that day. I have a couple of contractions a day but they are far apart. I've had a few people tell me to take castor oil. I don't know how many times I've told them "NO!" I'm not going to risk taking it and going into labor with those side effects. That will be a very unpleasant experience for me.

37 Weeks

Technically I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow. But I had my appointment today. When my doctor checked me I was at 50% and 1 cm. I have a long way to go but my doctor said I'm at a good place to be. And according to Cailin's track record and if she is anything like her Dad, she could be arriving sooner than later. I've had bets within the next 2 weeks. The best input of all...

...my fortune cookie. "Wednesday is your lucky day."

I'm still taking input on when Cailin is going to make her grand arrival. But it will be funny if does turn out to be Wednesday.

Baby Shower #1

Complete! Had a lot of fun and it got my mind off of the depression I've been fighting. All because of the wonderful hosts Michael Shay and Alicia! You two are amazing. You guys really got me excited and lifted my spirits.

P.S. Very yummy pulled pork sliders, Michael. Very yummy.

Not a lot of people showed up but just enough. I don't think Michael Shay's house could hold one more person. We had quite the full house.

(There were 4 others but they are hiding behind the camera haha)

I'm so thankful for the gifts I received, and still waiting to come in the mail.
One down, one more to go on the 14th.

New Years

It's been a couple of days and I probably should update on my pregnancy.

This New Year's wasn't my best. Stayed home, cleaned, fell asleep at like 11pm, woke up at exactly 12am to real bad contraction pains. Mom timed them at 5 mins apart and lasting for 2 mins. So 1 hour into the New Year, I'm heading up to McKay Dee to see what's going on.

Verdict came out as really bad Braxton Hick's due to being on my feet all day, dehydration, and stress. I wasn't dilated at all but still thinning out. Ever since then, my Braxton Hick's have been pretty intense. But I was on my feet pretty much all day Sunday and yesterday. Today is a day of relaxation before the rest of my busy week.

But I'm starting to do everything I can to encourage Cailin to come. Bought Just Dance 3 and will be playing everyday.