More pics!

 She's out cold!

 In the moses basket!

 Chewie is interested in his birthday present (KyLee came home on Chewie's 2nd birthday!)

 Cute little doggie outfit!

 KyLee hanging out with Mom.

Aaaah, I FINALLY felt well enough to make myself a meal, yah!

Pictures!

Official spelling!

KyLee Lynden Lanford

She was getting called K-ail-ee.   Which is also cute, but not quite her name.  Hopefully, this spelling will get pronounced right most of the time.  It's on her birth certificate! 

:)

woah!

KaiLie Lynden Lanford
7 lbs 5.2 oz
Lots of pushing, and then she just shot out!   It was awesome. 

Sound asleep

How's that for active labor?   She's sleeping like a pregnant log.  :)

Progress!

Julie's in active labor now!  It's kind of an irony, because it's not all that active on the outside.  The doctors said, "great!  Now we'll check on you in another 4 hours, and you may be able to start pushing a couple hours after that." 

Another day

Saturday morning update: I'm barely dilated now, so we'll do another round of this medicine (12 hours) before starting pitocin. I think that means that tonight is going to be a very long night! And I'm not allowed to eat on the medicine today, so I'll get breakfast before they put it in.

We're trying to keep our sites on the end result... the weekend won't last forever, haha!

Halloween Baby?

We're writing this from the hospital. I'm not it labor.... yet! My doctor wanted to go ahead and induce labor after my amniotic fluid measured a low. Since I'm full term, the baby should be ready to meet the world!

Jon says it's like an expensive hotel where they interrupt you a lot to see if you need anything. So i've had a popsicle, virgin mimosa (OJ and ginger ale) and an Ambien. We're hoping to get some sleep tonight.

It's likely that we'll have a baby either tomorrow or Sunday. Stay tuned.

39 weeks tomorrow

Yes, the time is fast approaching to push what seems to be a small human through an even smaller.... uh, nevermind. :)

We are slowly being forced to adjust to the reality that in less than 1 month we will have another human being in the house. One that will be very needy! So today we did essential things like finishing up the baby room. We hung pictures and my mom ironed the wrinkly curtains that it took me 3 tries at penney's to find!

We also put the carseats in the car, which bugs me to be driving around with a baby seat and no baby. But it's true, it could be any day now. I'm hoping to have 2 more weeks at work to wrap up things for this year. I'll be coming back in January, so it's actually good timing to start back in the New Year!

Jon gets 2 weeks leave and also has about 2 weeks vacation left for this year, so he'll be taking the first two weeks off with me, and then the week before and after christmas.

We have had a snag in our childcare, as the nanny we hired decided to stay with her current job. So we're back to the drawing board with childcare. We're on the waitlist for a daycare downtown and are searching for a nanny again. We're confident that something will work out... and the longer this baby stays in, the more time we have to find our solution!

Conveniently, an agency in town decided to offer an "expectant parent" series (2 weeks). So we signed up for that. Only a few people signed up, so they ended up doing personal home sessions. We had our first one this week and it was great to meet with parent educators and get an idea of what we can expect during the first 3 months or so. They will also send a lactation consultant out after the baby's born. Woohoo!!

That's pretty much all that's going on for now. AJ continues to get better with his legs, but now he seems to try to escape and do things like run up or down stairs, or across the hardwood and then he slips. So we are really trying to keep him confined. He is going to physical therapy with a rehab vet once a week. They want him restrained for 2 more weeks, which brings us pretty much right up to when we're going to have the baby.

Tonight we're heading out to do some research on deep freezers. We're planning to store a lot of meals, and once I start pumping, I'll be able to store the extra milk in there to last a while. We're also getting things done in the basement and the yard to make the space more usable. All the prep is being pushed up to the last minute.

Stay tuned... we'll probably be posting on here and facebook when any sort of action starts to happen!

:) Julie, Jon, AJ and Chewbacca

36 weeks = 9 months and 3 showers later...

Here we are again... this time we're at 36 weeks gestation, which is about 9 months pregnant. Technically, it's 8.5 months. For some reason they start counting your weeks from what is most likely 2 weeks BEFORE conception, which seems a little crazy. They actually count from the first day of your last period.

So the 40 weeks gestation is usually 38 weeks of actual pregnancy. Who am I to question the method though! And normal pregnancies go anywhere from 38 weeks - 42 weeks starting from the first day of your last period (if you have a normal cycle). Probably more than you ever wanted to know. I actually had no clue about any of this until i was forced to find my due date on the internet after that first positive test.

ANYWAY, things seem to be progressing. Although everyone comments on how "small" I look. FYI - while for most people, this might be a good thing, be very careful about telling a 9 months pregnant person that they look small. It might give them a complex! Anyway, I operate under the "everything seems to be normal, so it must be" mentality. So far, have gained 35 pounds. So it's going somewhere!

For a potentially less anxiety producing reaction, try the "you look great" route. That would probably be appropriate for just about anyone. Unless they don't look great... and then they would probably know that you are lying, haha!

So right now we are just trying to get everything together. We've had 3 really great showers so far. One, a surprise from my mom and jessica (jon's sister). One from my friends, lesley and joanne, and one at work. So we REALLY have to find some space in the baby room for all the wonderful gifts.

Many of them are homemade, which is quite special. We've got a lot of hand-me-downs as well as some "must have's" from people. And of course, there's the always enjoyed cash or gift cards! I think we have just about enough in gift cards and cash to purchase the breast pump I've been wanting. I call it the "cadillac" of pumps. Moooo!

Also of note is that AJ (our first born, a lakeland terrier) had his surgery. Yes, both back knees operated on AT ONE TIME! It has been an interesting experience as we baby him back to health. About the time he's allowed to walk again is when we'll have our new addition. So I say that AJ and I will be learning to walk again, together. :).

We're off to church, will talk more soon. Pictures will be taken this weekend, so we'll try to post some of those!

:) Julie and Jon

Still normal...

Soooo... I'm now 28 weeks, which is officially the start of the 3rd trimester. I kicked off the week with a hike up hanging rock, a state park just north of here. Chewie (our golden retriever), Kelly, Kate and I hiked in the heat while Jon, Ben and baby Myles sat around and played games. It was HOT and fun :). I believe that Chewie was way hotter then I was. He has a lot of hair!!

Anyway, I feel pretty much the same... Like normal except with this thing continually growing larger off my belly. I definitely can't ignore it anymore, since everyone wants to comment on it!

I waited a long time for a doctor appointment today that basically confirmed that yes, I am pregnant still. Baby heart rate is 150, which is apparently just right, since the doctor asked the resident what it should be before checking. The resident said 150. The doctor said that he would get an A since he could predict the HR without touching the patient, ha! If he asked me, I would've said 140, which I guess means that I would get a B. :)

A few exciting things have happened. We attended a "nurturing the pregnant couple" workshop which consisted of couples yoga, massage, and childbirth education. It was good and went well with what we've been reading and listening to about having a "normal" I.e. Natural birth. Lots of tips on labor, birth positions and what a mothers options are for the birth experience.

We also secured a doula! She will be helping us cope through the labor and birth process along with helping us communicate our preferences with our healthcare team.

finally, and very exciting for us, is that we have a nanny lined up! We found her through a friend of mine. She has experience in day care and has nannied before. Her references couldn't say enough good things about her and how she was with their kids. Unfortunately, I may be taking my friend's kid's daycare teacher. Sorry about that, Melissa!!

That's about it from here. Jon says that just about every day someone asks "how's Julie doing?" and he says "I think she's doing fine, she seems to eat more and sleep more." then thy ask if I've been sick. He says "that was yesterday's train". Haha!

also, he has gained 3 sympathy pounds to my 21 pounds so far. Wimp! I'm way heavier than him now!

We head to the pacific NW for a week, which I'm very much looking forward to. Cooler weather, seeing family and relaxing time sound real good right now! We may or may not miss the dogs :-P

24 weeks begins the 6th month...

Well, here we are. 24 weeks along and so far so good. We still like our new doctor, have decided on a doula (waiting to hear if she can fit us in her schedule!) and have signed up for a birthing class in a few weekends. No more watching birth videos for me!

I'm going to prenatal yoga on Wednesday evenings, my favorite part is final relaxation. I think I go just to get to that part. Oh yeah and the cookies and tea that we get at the end!

Updates from last post:

1. We went to Quebec province in Canada for a vacation. After finding that tickets to Italy the week that we wanted to go were double what we wanted to pay, we decided on the french part of canada to visit! We went to Montreal, Quebec City and Gaspe (at the coast). We traveled by train, foot, bike and taxi. It was a lot of fun and we leaned a little tiny bit of french while there. 
2. Our first born, AJ (a Lakeland Terrier that looks like a teddy bear!) has started limping on his "good" leg. He has surgery on the left last summer. Well, it appears that the same thing happened to his right leg this summer. Only on top of that, we found out that the left leg didn't actually heal properly and he's not stable on the left side. Bottom line... he probably needs knee surgery on both sides (one at a time obviously!). Each surgery will take 8 weeks of recover before he can start walking again. Hello $$$$$... and when are we going to find time to help him rehab a leg when we're feeding and changing diapers? We're giving him some rest and anti-inflammatories to see which leg to start with. His spirits are of course, very good. An independent guy who would probably run around on two broken legs if it was up to him!
3. Chewy, our newest addition is just hanging out. We try to run him to get out energy, but then his paws start bleeding from running on asphalt. Jon thinks he needs running shoes. How funny is that! We've taken him to the dog park, but he's soooo friendly that he sort of scares the other dogs off. But he has a good time anyway. 
4. We finally purchased a crib. I am in fact typing this email from the nursery-ish room right now. We bought a "mini" crib since we're using the smallest room in the house for the nursery. Here's what it looks like: http://www.amazon.com/DaVinci-Annabelle-Mini-Crib-Espresso/dp/B000IHQXMY. Pretty simple, and leaves plenty of floor space. We also moved a wing back chair in that is really comfy. We will probably purchase a bookshelf of some sort and bed side stand. That's about all the room we have in there, so we'll have to make everything fit! I say "nursery-ish" room because it's half nursery and half filled with crap leftover from when it was an office. There's a lot of stuff cluttering the floor, but we have time to clean that up.

People have been asking me how I've been feeling. I tell them I feel like a normal person. Really, other than this weird thing pushing out of my belly, I feel pretty normal. Enjoying walks to my favorite coffee shop, Cafe Roche, time with Jon and the doggies and staying busy at work. 

So maybe at some point I will post another picture, vacation, nursery, lame doggie legs...

:) Julie

19 weeks and counting

Ok, so maybe it's been a little while since we updated you. Maybe... just maybe... it's been about 6 weeks, yikes! Apparently not too much of anything is going on in pregnancy world and a lot of everything else is going on in the rest of our world!

A brief list of updates:

1. I was training a friend of mine to run a 5k. Basically had to stop running about 2 weeks ago due to bladder discomfort and ab muscle pain. So she's training herself while I walk my doggies. We are doing the 5k tomorrow morning on the runway at the Greensboro airport, woohoo! Uh, it might be a little hot, but at least it's at 8am!
2. We went to a "meet the doula" event at an organic baby store. In case you don't know what a doula is, it's a birth coach. For more info, check out the Doula Association website. We're still deciding which one to go with. It's a hard choice, should I choose the massage therapist doula (gotta be a good thing, right?) or the one who's been assisting in natural childbirth's for 15 years (I'm sure she's seen just about EVERYTHING!). 
3. We have changed doctors. After going to an OB/GYN practice that i liked for my GYN care, we found that there wasn't enough continuity. We were encouraged to see a different doctor at each appointment because you never know who will be there for the birth. I felt like i had no relationship with any of them. So we have chosen a primary care physician who has training in obstetrics. For people with normal pregnancies, this is a perfectly good option. Thanks to my med student friend, Callie for finding her for me!
4. Oops, I watched some videos on natural childbirth this afternoon. Uuuuuhhhh, i was feeling really confident after reading my books and listening to podcasts. Uuuhhhhh, yucky videos, owweee pain, shouldn't watch them!! Nothing like a little dose of reality, haha!
5. We're still in the search for a nanny. We did get a tip to check out the Work Family Resource Center located here in W-S. They have a program where they assist you in the search and interview for a nanny. I was glad to find that!

I suppose that's about it from here. Jon and I have finalized our plans for a vacation at the end of the month. We were going to go to Italy, but flights were super expensive! So instead, we're going to the european part of Canada... Quebec! We will be doing a 9 day train tour of Quebec City, Montreal and two coastal cities. I'm interested  to see who else is on the tour, probably a bunch of old people, haha! We decided we much preferred old people to the annoying young people :-P.

I guess that's about it from here. We still are not planning to find out the gender of our baby. We had our ultrasound this week, all organs seem to be present and they avoided the genital region so there was no way that we or the tech could tell.

Our baby seems to like to be on it's back with legs straight on top so the toes are near the head. We decided gymnast or diver were probably the most appropriate recreational activities for our child!

We'll talk sooner next time!
- Julie and Jon

No, we are NOT naming our kid Bao Bei!

YES! Baby Lanford is due on Halloween 2010. Seriously, our due date is 10/31/2010. It leaves a lot of room for some really great costumes! Think pregnant nun with a priest dad?? Ok, maybe that's a little disrespectful, but it's so tempting!! Please share any costume ideas you have for me; I will likely be late... as were most of my friends and my mother when she had me.

Anyway, back to Bao Bei!

Bao Bei is actually chinese, and it's a sort of an affectionate way to say baby. It's meaning is 'valuable treasure.' We want our child to have a chinese middle name (Jon is 1/2 chinese, in case you don't know), but it's likely not going to be Bao, Bei or the combination.

Speaking of names... we are not planning to find out the gender, so we won't know our kid's name until they come out. I'm leaning towards Julia for a girl and Julius for a boy. :-P

Our picture above was taken on Feb. 22, 2010, the day that we had a positive pregnancy test. We seriously didn't expect things to progress so quickly, so we felt a little (or a LOT) unprepared. As the tag line suggests, we are trying to slowly get ready for what this is going to mean for our lives. We know things are going to change.... a lot... and we're also looking forward to bringing this child along with us in our lives.

Our status as of this week is 13 weeks. The 2nd tri-mester officially starts next week (Sunday, May 2nd). And no, you can't really tell I'm pregnant until late in the day after I've had a large meal. Oh yeah, and I ran a 5k this past weekend and got 3rd in my age group, which I was pretty proud of :). I do have a medal for it, maybe that should go in the baby book, haha!

Jon's update: I feel like somehow I did cause this and I have some place in this, but I have yet to discover what it is. I guess making food for Julie when she wasn't feeling well and trying to make the dogs behave while Julie sleeps for 10 hours is where I've started. Oh yeah and comforting her when she cries at the snuggy bear commercial. Just kidding, she would never do that. And besides, we haven't had a TV since before lent.

Like a good engineer, I've been reading all the manuals for the gestation process. So far, it sounds like a piece of cake.... for me. Apparently, most of my job is done. Oh yeah, except for coaching Julie through severe amounts of pain. She's always appreciated me as a coach in the past. With years of experience coaching Julie I've always been succesful. I'm sure she'll appreciate my coaching for this event as well. HA!

Stay tuned for future updates!