A List

1. I know I still haven't put pictures up like I said I would in the last post. I will do it soon. I mean it this time.

2. We fly to Chicago in less than a month. I am terrified of flying, even more terrified of flying with a baby but beyond excited to go home and see friends and family and for everyone to meet Riley.

3. The reason we are going home that week is for my sister Stacy's wedding. I am so happy for her and I really love Brett and am excited to have him as a brother in law. Kirk is officiating the wedding and I am doing a reading. I suck at reading out loud so I am going to have to memorize the reading and pretend to read while I really say it from memory.

4. We left Riley with a baby sitter for the first time last night. It wasn't as stressful as I thought. Maybe that's because our baby sitter also happens to be our pediatrician and the restaurant we went to was about a quarter mile away from their house.

5. I have 2 goals this week. This is a big step b/c for the past 6 weeks my goal has been to make it through the day with Riley. This week I want to cook dinner every night (and Lean Pockets and Frozen Pizza don't count) and go through Riley's clothes to see what fits her and what doesn't.

6. We went to South Carolina this past weekend. We got to see my Brother and Sister in law and our nieces Hailey and Heidi (who seem to get cuter every time I see them). It was so fun to see them and it makes me want to move to Atlanta so I can be near them, Rachael can help me with Riley and the girls can grow up together.

7. Riley is cute all the time, but seems to be especially cute in the mornings. I put her on her little quilt and put her kick and play above her. She makes all these cute little noises and kicks her feet. She also seems to watch the Today Show while doing this.

8. On the way home from South Carolina this past weekend, we were almost in the middle of a terrible storm. The only reason we weren't in the middle of it was because Riley kept making us stop to feed her. We drove past where 4 separate tornadoes had touched down. It was terrifying. Especially for the fact that I have been scared to death of tornadoes since the first time I saw Wizard of Oz.

9. I feel the need to confess that I really want to see the movie Scream 4. I also now that there is no way in the world that Kirk Tate will EVER agree to go see it with me.


10. I hurt my finger yesterday. I was running through our hallway because I was running late and hit my hand on the doorknob of the closest. I think I bruised my knuckle or something, my finger is swollen and I can't really bend it.

11. I was very homesick this past week. I missed my sister's bridal shower. I also just need to say that having a newborn is hard enough - but it's really hard when your family and friends are halfway across the country.

12. I am so thankful that we get WGN tv. I have been able to watch many Cubs games.

13. I got a hair cut this past weekend. I cut about 5 inches off. I knew I'd get sick of growing my hair out sooner or later.

14. Riley still won't take a bottle. She absolutely refuses. Punk.

15. I want to go to Minneapolis so badly. I miss my friends. I miss the cities.

That's it for now. If Riley cooperates, I post pictures later today. She refuses to nap unless she's being held - which is why it is so hard for me to get anything done. That 9 1/2 pound thing really controls every aspect of my life right now...don't worry, I'll get her back someday!

1 Month!

Happy One Month Birthday Riley! It has been a crazy, wonderful, challenging, exhausting, exciting month. Riley is up to 8 lbs 14 ounces and doing great! She is getting her days and nights straightened out which has meant more sleep for mom and dad! She is getting bigger and cuter every day! I'm feeling better as I continue to heal from the c-section and a bout of mastitis. There has been a few rough days for me and a couple late night phone calls to the doctor and some extra doctor appointments, but I'm doing better now. Kirk is such a great dad. He is so good with Riley and so helpful. Riley loves him and I think we have a daddy's girl on our hands! This month has gone by in a big blur! Days feel long, nights feel longer, yet the month has gone by so quickly! We've had great visits with family and Riley has loved meeting all her grandparents and looks forward to continuing to be spoiled by them! I will post pictures soon. We have a new camera and a new computer. Between my sleep deprivation and lack of technological skills, I can't figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer, so once I figure that out I'll get them posted on here. I will try and post more often. Until then, Happy One Month B-day Riley! WE LOVE YOU!

Riley Grace Tate

SHE'S HERE! Riley Grace Tate was born Sunday, February 27 at 9:29 p.m.

She was 22 inches long and weighed 6 lbs 14 ounces.

Last Sunday, I wasn't feeling great when I left church. I felt like I had a fever and had the chills. Around 3:30 in the afternoon I started having some contractions. They got increasingly regular and closer together, yet they were only lasting for about 20-30 seconds. We called the hospital around 6:30 and they told us to keep an eye on things for the next hour and call them back and let them know if they were starting to last longer. As the nurse was about to hang up, she mentioned to keep an eye on how much the baby moved in the next hour. When she said that, I realized that in focusing on timing contractions, I hadn't noticed that I didn't feel her moving at all for most of the afternoon. We decided that because of that, it was worth going to the hospital to just check things out, figuring they'd tell us we were in early labor and send us home.

We got to the hospital and I was hooked up to all the monitors and they noticed I was running a fever. Things were pretty calm and seemed like it really wasn't going to happen tonight. They checked and I was only a little over 2 cm. dilated. Our doctor (who was wonderful!) was watching the baby's heartbeat on the monitors in another room and came in and told us that because her heart rate was elevated (up in the 170's when it had been consistently in the 150's) that we would be having this baby tonight - either normally or via c-section, but we'd make that decision in the next hour or so once my lab work came back. About 10 minutes later he came back in and told us that we'd need to have a c-section - and quickly. Her heartbeat was dropping down to the 90's during contractions and they were worried about what kind of infection was causing my fever. As soon as he said that, things moved quick. I was immediately prepped for surgery and Kirk had just enough time to call our parents and get scrubs on before we were whisked to the operating room. I was terrified but also felt a sense of peace that the doctor we knew and trusted was on call and that we were doing what needed to be done.

I'll spare you the details of the c-section - but it all happened so fast, it felt a little like an out of body experience. We had gotten into our hospital room at 8:30 p.m. and Riley was born at 9:29 p.m. The cord was wrapped around her torso and she had breathed in a little fluid on the way out. But she was strong and healthy! She had the cutest little raspy cry.

I am so full of emotions that I'm not sure able to describe what it was like to see her for the first time and to get to hold her. She is beautiful and it's slowly sinking in that she's ours. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this - but I'm so overwhelmed by these feelings and emotions I can't get them into words yet.

We were in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon (which happened to be my b-day). The recovery from the c-section has been slow and painful. I get frustrated that it's so hard to move around and need to remind myself that it was fairly major surgery and I need to take the time to heal.

One of my favorite things is watching Kirk be a dad. He's so good at it and was meant to be a daddy. I can't get around too easily and he has been taking such good care of both me and Riley. I think I've only changed about 3 diapers so far. He brings me water and holds it for me while I'm nursing and is up in the middle of the night to make sure her feedings are going OK. I'm so impressed with him and so proud to get to parent with him.

We have enjoyed time with Kirk's parents and my mom and Mike. My dad and Jill are coming in a couple of days. People from church have started stopping by and it's been fun to show her off!

It's been an adventure so far! Her days and nights are mixed up, so she sleeps like a champ during the day but that means we have had some long nights! I just try and take night time hour by hour. And she's hungry now ... so I gotta go. More to come!

Due Date

It's our due date today! :o)

No baby yet. :o(

We'll let you know when something happens...if she ever decides to come out.

39 Weeks...

Tuesday was our 39 week mark which means we are less than one week away from our due date! We went to the doctor this morning and he said that it could be tonight, this weekend, next week or two weeks from now. Helpful, huh?! :o) We have another appointment next Thursday if I don't go into labor before then. They said they will probably schedule induction at about 41 and a half weeks, but I'm really hoping that I don't have to be induced. We are still just waiting for her to decide she's ready to come out. I am VERY ready for her to come out...I am uncomfortable and not sleeping at night. I guess the not sleeping at night is helping to prepare me for once she's here - I'm getting good at catching up on sleep during the day.

The doctor guessed that the baby is a little under 7 pounds right now, so she's not too big - which is nice! Kirk and I were both big babies so hearing that she's on the smaller end was a nice surprise!

The funny part of the appointment today was when the doctor asked me "Who bit you?" I had NO idea what he was talking about at first but realized that the huge burn I have on my hand kinda looks like a big bite mark. (I burned myself on the oven the other day and have about a 2 inch burn on my hand). I just thought it was funny that he thought that I had been bitten!

I haven't really had many pregnancy cravings during the pregnancy but they seem to be kicking in. Thankfully - lots of the things I'm craving are from places that we don't have here in Goldsboro so it helps me not become huge! If we had a Chipotle in town - I'd be gigantic by now! In the past few days I've craved mozzarella sticks (i don't even like those!), fruit roll ups, vanilla pudding with whipped cream, buffalo wings and fried chicken (another thing I don't really like). Most of these pass after a day or two. I try not to even watch the food commercials on TV because then I start to crave what I see on TV!

We'll keep you posted if anything happens!

38 Weeks...

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Most importantly, we passed the 37 week mark which means the baby is considered full term and now is welcome to come at any time! I'm still 2 weeks away from my actual due date (Feb. 22), so we may still have a little while to wait. Kirk had a huge youth fundraiser last Saturday and that was the last major youth event we were hoping to make it through before the baby comes, so now we are just waiting on her to decide she's ready.

2 Sundays ago, the church threw us a wonderful baby shower. It was fun to celebrate with them and they have been so supportive and excited for us. People were so generous and we were able to get pretty much everything we needed for her. They played a game where we gave them a sentence that contained all the letters of Baby Tate's name and they were supposed to guess what the name was. No one guessed! We wouldn't have told them anyways, but it was funny that no one got it. It's not a weird name either! I promise! :o) It's driving people CRAZY that we aren't telling the name, but I'm so glad we're keeping it a secret. It's fun to keep it between us and not have to hear any opinions about it! :o)

Kirk's parents and grandparents came up for that weekend so they could come to the shower. It was fun to have them here and of course we made a trip to the baby store at the outlet mall and stocked up on some more clothes for her. They also helped us finish up the nursery. We assembled a bookshelf, hung shelves and hung up the quilt my friend Katie made us. We still have the final few things to put away (not sure where to put everything!) but her room is ready for her. There's a picture posted below for you to see!

I'm feeling very uncomfortable and am pretty much exhausted. I pushed it a little to hard this past weekend helping with the youth event and am still paying the price for it. I have a bad hip already and it's been killing me! I also have heartburn and I get it no matter what I eat. She also hasn't dropped down yet, so my poor ribs are still taking a beating. BUT - it's all good! It's totally worth it and it's much easier to stay positive about it all when the end is in sight. Plus, I still love feeling her move around so it's totally worth the rib pain!

We see the doctor again on Thursday. I'm not having any contractions or anything so it should be just another uneventful check up. The nurses who teach our baby class at the hospital said the next full moon is February 18 and they said that they see a lot of women go into labor on the full moon. We'll see!

Here are a few pictures...

Here I am at 38 weeks ... I feel huge! :o)

Here is the nursery. Once she comes and we tell her name, I'm going to ask my friend Becky to paint cute letters of her name to go on the wall between the shelves and the quilt.

Here is a new member of our family...our awesome new camera! We have wanted one FOREVER and a bunch of people from church went in together and got us it for our baby shower! I'm excited to learn about all the neat stuff it can do!