Meeting Layla Ann!

I know this post is almost 2 weeks late, but things have been pretty darn busy around here! My mom was here from August 10-August 22, and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her while she was here so I took a hiatus from the blog, and all social media for the most part. Anyway, here is the scoop on our little darling girl.

I had been very worried that this baby would be the maximum 10 days late and I would end up being induced shortly before my mom would be leaving us. I wanted my mom to be here to help as long as possible after the baby was born, and I also wanted her to be able to spend as much time with her little girl as she could. So, when I woke up at 7 am on August 12 (after the best night of sleep I had had in WEEKS might I add) and realized that this baby was on her way, I was VERY excited! I told B and then called the hospital. The nurse in Labor and Delivery asked if the contractions had started (they hadn't) if it was my first child (yesss), and then told me to take my time getting to the hospital because it would likely be a very long day. She advised me to take a shower, eat some breakfast, and do what I could to relax. Sounded like a plan to me! Right as I hung up, my mom came into the kitchen from the downstairs guest apartment we have and I filled her in on what was going on. She made me some breakfast, I finished packing, got on facebook, called my good friend CeCe to see if she would be able to pick up my mother sometime that morning/afternoon to bring her to the hospital, did my makeup- was generally in no rush to get moving ( I should mention, while I'm taking my sweet time, B had loaded the truck and was sitting on a barstool in our kitchen watching me anxiously, curious why I wasn't really hustling!). All of the sudden- WHAM- the contractions started at around 8:15 and I felt like I should probably get a little more of a move on. So, we were in the truck by 8:30 and at the hospital around 9. My ORIGINAL plan was to see how far I could go without an epidural. I walked into my room asking my fab nurse Mandy to see if she could fetch the anesthesiologist ASAP because I was sure I was dying. She checked my progress and how baby was doing, and I changed into a robe and continued to convince B that I was in fact going to die from pain. Lame, I know. After drawing blood for the required blood test that needed to be done for the epidural, we settled in for what I was sure would be a loooong day. I had brought movies, magazines... I was prepared! Butttt, I was in no shape to enjoy them because of said blinding pain, which caused Mandy to check me again and tell me that I was progressing super quickly and then she headed out of the room to tell the anesthesiologist that he should skip the other pregnant woman waiting on him and come straight to me (sorry lady, but I NEEDED that drip). By 10:30, I was a new woman and called my mom and CeCe to tell them that the doctor that this little girl would be here closer to early afternoon than later in the day.

 Around 12:15, Mandy came in and told me that she and another nurse had a little competition going to see whose patient delivered first- me or the woman that had come in the night before. Mistake, Mandy- I'm a biiiiit too competitive for that! Maybe that was her intention, anyway, it worked because the doctor came in shortly thereafter. B was of course right next to me through all of this, and was unbelievable at keeping me happy and calm. The whole room was cracking jokes about random things, and I was literally laughing as our daughter joined the world!

So here is our daughter, Layla Ann! She was born at 1:08 pm Central European Time, weighing 9 pounds 2 ounces and was just shy of 21 inches long.

 First family picture!

 I hadn't let her go yet :)

 Daddy holding her for the first time- she grabbed right on to his shirt and held on!

 First Bath- she hated it just like her mom!

Meeting Gram- love at first sight I think.

Besides family, her first visitor was the wonderful CeCe, who I cannot thank enough for speeding through the rotten German village roads and completely restructuring her Sunday to get my mom to the hospital to meet Layla. Kindness like that cannot be repaid.

We spent 2 days at the base hospital, and could not have been more excited to get the heck out of there on August 14th. 

 Love this picture of Layla and Gram, just talking quietly while I was supposed to be napping.

 Getting ready to go!

 He is one proud Daddy!

All buckled in and ready for the very windy road home. Gram sat next to Layla to keep an eye on her!

 Thumper welcoming her to the pack. She has been our companion for every midnight feeding and diaper change, always moving room to room with us!

Those are a few pictures from Layla's first 2 days with us!

Forty. 40. XXXX

Here we are. 40 weeks into this pregnancy and apparently I have been such a good host organism that my little parasite has decided to stay put! Ha!
All kidding aside, Baby Girl can stay put if she needs to. I'm healthy, she's healthy so we'll see how long we sustain this little balance. As of now, I am scheduled to go in to start the inducement process on Friday, August 17th at 5 pm. Maybe she'll surprise me and come before then. I finally packed (well mostly anyway) a hospital bag yesterday at B's encouragement (insistence might be the better word?). I would have really liked her to be here before my mom arrives tomorrow so that they could spend as much of the trip together as possible, but that ship has more or less left the dock. Also, passports for babies born to military members overseas take 8-10 weeks to process, and my sister's wedding is 7 weeks and 2 days from today, so the chances of us making it are pretty slim at this point. But, we will surely enjoy the time with Gram, and look forward to Nana's visit in 3 weeks!

Our first visitor to our German home!

 I really love when family comes to visit! I have been so fortunate as to have in laws that I genuinely enjoy seeing, and really consider to be my own family. While we were in Ohio, all of B's family was able to come visit us at different times, and then come together one last time for B's graduation before we left. It was so wonderful to have his parents, Vanessa, and Brian all together. I knew that with our move overseas, our time together would be much more limited and it wouldn't be as easy to get together. I guess I got a little spoiled seeing both of B's siblings and their families at least a couple of times a year! So, that being said, you can imagine how excited B and I were when Brian told us that his company was working on a project in Denmark, and that he might be able to schedule some time to come see us on a weekend! B picked him up on Friday afternoon, and even though his luggage didn't make it, we are glad there weren't any other travel hiccups. I was really hoping that the promise of awaiting family might coax this little girl out just a smidge early, but as you can see below, no such luck. But, we had a great time anyway and were able to squeeze a lot of visiting into the weekend together!

 I don't know why this always happens, but I forget to get a photo of all of us until the end! Hooray for self timers :)

 On Saturday, we visited Trier. The last time B and I were in Trier, we took a rather long walking tour of the highlights. This worked out great for us knowing just what to show Brian, what to skip, and gave us time to see a few other things that we left out the time before. After having lunch at a sidewalk cafe, B and Brian walked around the downtown area while I stayed cool in the cathedral. If you haven't wandered around a European city during the summer time, the churches and cathedrals are often the coolest places to be. They are well traveled by tourists, so nobody notices if you are sitting there for an hour and half, and almost wouldn't notice if you fell asleep. Almost. It is quiet, calm, and absolutely beautiful. I really think I could spend the better half of a day sitting in the cathedral people watching and noticing each little bit of architectural detailing that has been so delicately put into these magnificent works of art. Anyway, no photo of the cathedral as we already visited that on our previous trip to Trier, and if you are interested in a picture you can go back to check it out. After B and Brian finished walking around, we all headed over the the Karl Marx Museum, pictured below. It was the house his family lived in around the time he was born.

The museum wasn't a home set up as it would have been during the time he was there. Rather, it was a series of back lit informational panels that were in German, and then we were given little hand held devices that played the information in English. I cheated out after the second floor to go sit in the courtyard because I started to get too hot to function any longer, but B and Brian visited the entire museum and really enjoyed it! The high school students you see waiting outside the museum in the picture above were less than thrilled to be visiting :)

 The always scenic Porta Nigra! Can't visit Trier without a picture here!

 Our last visit was at a location a little off of the main path, and as we got there rather late on a Saturday afternoon, it was pretty deserted which really added to the visit. B and I had wanted to visit this location since finding out it was in Trier, but ran out of time on our last trip. This is St. Matthias' Abbey, and is so named because it is the final resting place of St. Matthew the Apostle. You can learn more about the location here.

 The church was silent, with only two other visitors who were actual members of the church I believe. Right in front of the alter is a large stone sculpture of St. Matthew, laid out above his remains which are kept below. We then walked down the steps into the underground level of the church, which has a chapel and the remains of two other holy people. The picture below is of the tomb of St. Matthew. The story of how it came to be in Trier is interesting, and you can read it on the page linked above.

 The three of us spent Sunday relaxing around the house, watching the Olympics, having a last dinner together, and then driving Brian over to Frankfurt for his flight to Copenhagen in the evening.There is a chance that Brian will be in Denmark again in December, and we're hoping that trip works out so we can see him again and take him to some of the Christmas markets in the area!





Of no relation whatsoever to our wonderful weekend is this little extra note from Germany! This morning, B called me to tell me he had forgotten to take the trash out before he left. Usually he takes care of all of the recycling/trash issues for me so it was a good thing he called! Our trash comes really early, usually before 8 if not before 7, so I ran out in my pajamas to roll the bin out to the curb. On my way back, I found this little guy at the top of the driveway going into the garage!

How I didn't step on him with my bare feet or run over him with the trash bin I do not know, but that sure was lucky for both of us because I think it would have put a real kink in either of our days. It was just a regular old garden snake who happens to be a bit larger than most garden snakes, and it was so scared that it stayed totally still while I ran inside and grabbed my camera! I snapped the picture, ran back inside and closed the garage, and when Thumper and I left on our walk an hour later he was nowhere in sight. I'm going to assume he is happily settled into the rock bed in front of our house and not cozy in my garage somewhere :)

39 weeks :)

I hope this is my last post for this pregnancy! It probably won't be, but a girl can still dream, right?

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain: This week it looks like I'm at a total of 34. Ouch. My doctor(this week, they change every week) made me feel better though, saying, she considers anything under 40 acceptable!    
Sleep: Still just so hot at night, but when I can cool down enough I sleep pretty well.
Best moment this week:  Getting to spend the weekend with B's brother, Brian! 
Miss Anything? Walking Thumper. She twisted her foot this week so B has banned our walks for at least a week while she heals. It's for the best because she does need to heal fully, but I still feel so guilty when she sits in front of the drawer where her leash is with her little tail wagging and giving me those pathetic "Why don't you love me?" eyes. I am a sucker.  
Movement:  Yes.
Food cravings: I really don't feel like eating much of anything at all. Just not hungry. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: No .
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: Apparently I have been having some Braxton-Hicks contractions for awhile now. They aren't painful, really just slightly uncomfortable, but when I was talking with the doc she informed me they were mild contractions and that I should maybe start paying a little more attention to them.
Symptoms: Well, the baby is now really, really low. I could IMMEDIATELY tell she had shifted because when I woke up on Tuesday, I had terrible sciatic pain in my left leg that really hasn't cleared up at all. I can't complain too much, though, I know many ladies have had to suffer with this for a lot longer so the fact that it's just for the last couple of weeks is really ok.
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Pretty happy!
Looking forward to: MY MOM WILL BE HERE ON FRRRRRIIIIIIDDDAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!! She's staying for 2 weeks, I am so excited to see her!