Kinley's birth story

She's here! Our sweet precious daughter has made it here safe and sound and both me and Caleb are completely smitten. I wanted to document her birth story for my own sake so I can look back and remember all the little details. I won't be leaving anything out so there may be a few TMI moments in this.

I was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday November 25th at 7 a.m. I was 39 weeks pregnant. All the past week I really just was so uncomfortable. I had been having countless braxton hicks, I couldn't sleep, I felt huge, anxious, and excited to just meet my baby. Tuesday, the day before the induction, all I could think about all day was the next day and knowing that the day was finally here. I couldn't believe it. I remember thinking that I may not have ever gotten to experience any of this so I was really soaking in every moment. Tuesday night was so surreal. It was the last night of just me and Caleb. I hardly slept because I was just so anxious and excited! Between all the emotions and me having to get up to pee every hour, I think I slept maybe 3.5 hours that night. I woke up at a quarter to 5 on Wednesday morning so I could get ready and finish packing up the last of our hospital bag. The feelings I had getting ready were so surreal. This was it. I have waited my entire life for this day, and it was here. I called the hospital at 6 that morning to make sure they had a room available for us. They did! Thank goodness because I would have DIED if they didn't and had us wait. I'm impatient.

Last prego picture, 39 weeks!

We left the house and on our way to the hospital we went. The drive there was again just a crazy feeling. Me and Caleb were excited! We weren't tired a bit. We mainly laughed and talked the whole way down. We made it to Mountain View at 7 a.m. We checked in, then was sent up to the labor and delivery unit. I surprisingly felt pretty calm through all this. I wasn't too nervous, mostly just excited. Caleb too felt calm and good. A nurse took us to our room. I got changed into my gown. The nurse came in and we got things rolling pretty fast. I got hooked up to the contraction monitor and baby's heartbeat monitor. Here's where it get's kinda crazy. The machine was showing that I was having contractions every 2-3 min. The nurse kept asking me, "do you feel those? You're having another one right now." I could feel slight tightening, but nothing painful at all. I just thought they were braxton hicks this whole time. Anyways, another nurse comes in. They checked my arm for a vein. I of course had nothing so they went and got a warm blanket to see if that would help plump up a vein for my IV. I was probably most nervous for that more than giving birth. After a few minutes, they came and checked for a vein. They found one and got it in first try. Thank goodness! It wasn't pleasant but not horrible either. They weren't able to draw blood from the IV though, so they had another lady come in to draw my blood from the other arm. She did fine, but left me with the biggest bruise I've ever had.

They continue to get everything set up. They got my blood pressure cuff on (most annoying thing ever), my IV was in, my contraction and heartbeat monitor was set, and we were pretty much ready to go. All while this was going on, I was apparently still having contractions. I could feel some but like I said, I thought they were just braxton hicks. Still no pain, just tightening. Another nurse came in at 8:30 to see how far dilated I was to get an idea for pitocin and what not. When she checked me she said, "wow! You are a 5.5 and 100% effaced! If you were planning on an epidural I say we get him in here because I bet you'll go fast from here." I was shocked! I was almost a 3 a week prior at my doctors appointment and my guess was that I would MAYBE be a 4 when I had gone in that morning. I was wrong though! Apparently all these contractions were getting me dilated! The nurse mentioned that maybe we wouldn't need to use pitocin if I'm doing this on my own. We chose to not start any pitocin and see what my body decided to do. Around 9, the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural. It was crazy because I still was in 0 pain. This wasn't how I thought this day would go at all. I thought I'd be getting this epidural when I was having horrible contractions. But hey!, I was all for a pain free labor! Things were going great! The epidural was such a weird thing. The only part that kind of stung was the numbing shot. Other than that, it was just a weird sensation. I felt popping, pressure on my right side, more popping, just so weird. He told me that they don't love to give the full dose because women do SO much better when they are pushing and can feel some pressure. He said he can always up the dose if I needed it later. Right after the epidural, they got my catheter in. Right after that, my doctor came in to break my water. I was already numb at this point. I could move my legs and feel anyone touching me, but I had no pain. It was weird. After he broke my water, he checked me. It was 9:30 at this point, and I was dilated to a 6-7. I was SO happy! I had apparently gone into labor on my own and still had no need for pitocin because I was doing great on my own. I still am shocked that minutes prior I still was in 0 pain which is weird because I would think being that far dilated I'd be kicking and screaming at that point. I'm not complaining though! We were finally all set up and left alone to basically labor for a couple hours.

A nurse came back in to check me at 11:45. I was at an 8! Yay! I was so happy that I was in labor on my own. What are the odds that I was in labor the day of my scheduled induction. She would have come that day whether we had it scheduled or not! Me and Caleb just hung out. He at a sandwich, I sipped on water. We talked, we laughed, he watched a show while I rested, things were smooth sailing at this point! A little side note, I had had THEE WORST cold. I was nervous to even give birth to her with me being sick. I couldn't breath through my nose at all and my throat was so so dry and sore. That was probably the worst out of everything else going on. 

At 1:50, I was checked again. I was kind of starting to feel some pressure but only sometimes. Also, by this point, I could finally start feeling some contractions. But again, only some tightening, nothing painful. I was dilated to a 9 ALMOST a 10. They could feel baby's head and that she wasn't quite turned how they wanted her to be, so they had me flip to my side to see if that would turn baby. I lied awkwardly on my side for about an hour, She came back in to check me at 2:40. I was complete! Say what!? Already!? I had just gone through labor in like 6 hours. I often wondered if I weren't scheduled for an induction if I would have even known I was in labor or not that day? I have no idea. I definitely could feel a decent amount of pressure with each contraction. Even though I was complete, they wanted me to "labor down" to save me from pushing and just let my body bring baby down. The pressure was starting to get very intense. It was probably around 4 when I ended up crying from a contraction because the pressure was so intense. I asked for the anesthesiologist to come back in to up the dose. I could still feel and move my legs and still feel if someone touched them but they were numb at the same time. The anesthesiologist came back in and upped my dose. That made me feel SO much better. I still felt some pressure but not like I had. Also, side note, the epidural made me itchy and kind of have the shakes too. I almost didn't like it, but also did because I wasn't in pain. At 4:30, two nurses came in and said it was time to start pushing! AH! In the stirrups we went and the pushing began. I never realized how tiring pushing could be. I was doing 3 sets of push's each contraction and by the 3rd set I wasn't really able to hold that air in to push. They had me push 3 different ways. 1, holding my legs, 2, holding onto these bars, and 3, holding a sheet while the nurse held the other end. I pushed and pushed and pushed. The pressure was getting quite intense. I could feel the baby's head slowly coming down with every push. About 45 min. later, my doctor came in. I knew it was getting close where he was now there. More nurses were coming in too. I was so tired at this point just from pushing alone. Caleb was on one side holding one leg, a nurse on the other. Caleb fed me ice chips in between contractions. As the pushing continued, I was getting so much pressure I could feel the stretching and it was getting extremely painful. I was so focused and all I remember was one nurse continually counting to 10, everyone telling me to push, she's almost here! I remember my doctor saying "her head is right there! I'm gonna make a cut and next contraction we can have her out!" My breath was taken away with the pain and pressure at this point. I felt her head slowly coming out. There was a lot going on. Nurses and my doctor telling me to push, Caleb rubbing my forehead, and me in tears with no air to really push as my breath seriously was taken away. A few unbearable moments and I felt her head come out, then her shoulders, her body, and a twist and she was on me crying. It's like I almost blacked out for a second because it all happens so fast, yet it's so surreal it's hard to explain. The feeling I had was nothing like I had ever experienced. It was almost as if I felt like, "man! I MISSED you". It was like I knew her from before and I had waited SO so long to see her and hold her in my arms. It was honestly one of the closest experiences to heaven I've ever had. She was here! She cried as she lied on my belly. I was sobbing with joy at this point. There's no words to explain that moment. Everyone was congratulating us and telling me good job. The nurses were rubbing her down. Caleb cut the cord. The doctor was still working down there and I just held my warm baby, crying. The nurses took her over to be weighed and to finish cleaning her off some. They then brought her back and placed her skin to skin on my chest. The room was quiet at this point and I just couldn't hold back my tears. It was such a special moment that I can't really describe how I felt or how the mood was in that room. It was beautiful. I had my baby. I held her close, she held onto my finger. She was here. She was the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen. I pushed for an hour and 15 min. I was exhausted yet had an adrenaline rush. Caleb took so many pictures of her on my chest and the moments of her after she was here. All in a split second, his phone shut off randomly. As he turned it back on, and pulled up his pictures, they ALL were 100% gone. It's like his card got corrupted or something. I was so sad it made me sick that we just lost ALL those tender pictures that you can't exactly re do to get more. Ugh. I didn't even want to think about that because she was here. I delivered my placenta, and the doctor stitched my 3rd degree tears up. Everyone just kept telling us congratulations, she's beautiful! The moment I longed for my whole life was happening at that exact moment. Every horrible pregnancy thing was worth it. The infertility, the puking, the 24 hour nausea, the pregnancy rash, the stretch marks, the aches and pains, the 3 glucose tests, the needles, the heartburn, the sleepless nights, the peeing every hour, the crazy pregnancy dreams, no clothes fitting, just everything was all of a sudden just ok and fine because I had my sweet girl there and it was one of the most special moment's I've ever experienced in my life. 

Introducing, Kinley Ray Niederer. Born on 11/25/15 at 5:45 p.m. She was 6 lbs, 13 oz. 18.5 inches long. Healthy, and the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. 

Moments after she was here, skin to skin on my chest.

First time Caleb got to hold Kinley.

First moment Caleb got to hold Kinley.

After a little bit, a nurse came in and had me breastfeed for the first time. Kinley did awesome and I'm very grateful for that. After she ate, I ate a little myself. All while, I'm getting messages like crazy on my phone. I basically just ignored it and figured I'd get to everyone later. I wanted to enjoy this moment. They brought me in a chicken alfredo dinner. Even though I was starving moments before since they don't let you eat while laboring, I had kind of lost my appetite. I was able to get some dinner down. Another nurse came in and took Kinley and Caleb to go get her first bath. Caleb picked out the hat and headband and was able to get a bunch of pictures of her getting bathed. I'm glad he was able to be there for that.

While they did that, a nurse helped me get a bath myself. ALL privacy goes out the door when giving birth. It's like you don't even care either and you are just grateful for the help. The bath felt amazing. I felt so much better after getting cleaned up. After the bath and getting cleaned up, the nurse took me to our other room, the room we'd be staying at while recovering. As I got in there, Caleb was there holding Kinley. It's amazing how much I thought I loved Caleb, but seeing him as a dad and holding our baby just intensified my love for him by a million. I got settled into my bed there and was finally feeling a little better as things were settling down. We were finally left alone to just be a family of 3. It was at this time that we let all the rest of the family and friends know that she was here. 

Some of my family decided to come that night and see her. My mom, dad, two sisters, brother and his wife and kids came. It was like 9 that night so they didn't stay long. They all were in love. I was excited to show off what a cute baby we made ;)

My dad

sister

brother

sister

Here's a few more photos. They pretty much show the rest of the time there.

After getting settled into our room. First family photo.

FAVORITE

Next morning cuddles. I don't think I slept at all that night. It was a snowy night and I pretty much watched the snow fall all night while Caleb was sound asleep and I held Kinley. Lots of special moments that night. The mood was calm, and very special. I was SO tired while there but between nurses, and doctors coming in every 2 hours its next to impossible.

The next day was Thanksgiving, so we got thanksgiving meals brought in to us. Not bad actually! I had just taken some pain medications before our food was brought to us and unfortunately they made me head to the bathroom to maybe throw up because I was quite nauseous. I never did throw up but I sat with a barf bag till I was able to get some zofran down. Boo for percocet, and yay for zofran. So because of that, I only had a few bites of my thanksgiving meal before I was more than done. Caleb enjoyed his though, and he was especially happy that they gave us pumpkin pie, his all time favorite.

Obsessed with baby toes!

 Thanksgiving with my little family

Caleb constantly would go over and just stare at her. He's completely new to baby ANYTHING so it was adorable seeing him hold her, stare at her, talk to her, and be with her. 

So for a newborn, she smiles ALL the time. In her sleep, and just a lot. But she does it most when daddy talks to her. The CUTEST! Also on Thursday, Caleb's sister came by to meet Kinley. 

Caught a smile :)

LOVE her blonde hair! For a blondie she has quite a bit of it! We weren't able to go home till Friday afternoon. So that morning, Caleb's other sister came by to see Kinley. 

Finally we were ready to go home! I cannot express how grateful I am of how smoothly things went. Especially for a first time mom. The labor was a breeze. The delivery, although very painful at the end went well, Kinley is here, she is healthy and perfect and I'm healthy. Caleb was so great and he has surprised me with how cute and great he is at this whole dad thing. All my nurses were wonderful. Minus one. Although she was nice, she only came in my room once, then never came back to get me my other dose of meds, ice packs, or anything. Good thing she was my last nurse and didn't have her for a full day. We were taken care of greatly, the food was pretty decent, the stay was comfortable and just overall great. Life is already SO great with Kinley in it, so I am looking forward to forever with her. We are so happy! So much love is in our hearts right now. We love you sweet Kinley Ray.

Last pregnancy update/ Early thanksgiving/ New puppies

Hello 38 weeks pregnant yesterday!

Crazy how the end is here! It feels like I have been pregnant forever, yet, we are moments/days away. I had my last doctors appointment yesterday. It went great! Everything looks right on track. My doctor checked me again and he said I am a 2 allllllmost a 3. So going almost 2 cm in a week I feel is good! That would explain all this pressure I have been having this last week. Not comfortable at all! We also set an induction date! Eek! Next Wednesday the 25th people! The day before Thanksgiving I will be in the hospital having this baby, that is if she decides to hold out till then. I'm still hoping she wants to come on her own and I've had some labor signs but we all know that those can last for weeks and that really, babies come when they want too. We will see what happens! I cannot wait. After leaving the doctors office I kept getting slightly emotional just thinking about everything. This was it. This was for sure the last week with just me and Caleb. I had feelings of all the emotions. I was sad that it wasn't going to just be me and Caleb anymore. I mean, it has been just us for the last 6 years, so throwing a baby in the mix just leaves me, I don't know, kind of sad, scared, and excited. I am so excited to start our family. I'm excited to meet her, yet nervous as heck knowing I have to get this baby out somehow. ha Just a ton of different thoughts. I think I'm probably the most scared of what this baby is going to do to me and Caleb. We both feel we have a good, solid, strong, happy, amazing marriage, and it seems like all I hear from different people is how a baby puts so much stress on your marriage. Me and Caleb had a good talk the other day how even though this baby may change our world, me and him are first. Sounds selfish, but it has to be that way. He's my first priority, and I'm his. Because in the end, when all our babies are grown and out of the home, its back to just me and Caleb again and I want nothing more than us to just continue to be so madly in love, head over heels for each other. I have no clue how it will be. I'm hoping it will only make things that are already so great, just that much better. So for this last week, maybe just days, I don't know, I just REALLY want to cherish my last times with just me and Caleb just the two of us. I want to enjoy the times I do sleep, the quiet alone time we have, the talks, the going out and about, just everything. The big, the small, and everything in between. We are so excited to meet this baby girl. I can't wait to see what she looks like. I'm nervous as heck for the delivery, yet so excited to just have it be me and Caleb. I have a feeling that there will be moments and feelings that will be irreplaceable. It's been so fun seeing Caleb get excited in his own ways for this baby. We can't wait!

Backtracking a little. So when my grandma passed away we dispersed basically everything they owned. Well, my family was able to get her rocking chair/recliner. It was a perfect chair and no one was using it. So, it was going to be mine and Caleb's which was perfect for this baby. Long story short, It had sat out in my dad's shop all summer long because it had no where to go at the time. When we moved in here to my parents, we finally brought it in. I cleaned it, vacuumed it, and shampoo'd it, yet it had this weird smell to it. A smell like it had been sitting in my dad's shop, like a gas, or lacquer or something. I thought it would maybe air out over time but it has failed to do so. So, me and Caleb decided we are running out of time and wanted to just get our own rocking chair of some kind. We decided to get something nice since we want it to last, also, I want something realistic for those sleepless nights that I know I will spend plenty of time in. Me and Caleb had a little shopping date and ended up finding a nice recliner from Sam's club. He told me while shopping that we are gonna walk this baby out, so while shopping we walked basically every isle. haha SO much walking. Still no baby. But, now we do have a nice recliner. We're excited! It's our first real piece of furniture we've ever bought. Caleb I think likes it more than me because he won't get out of it for anything haha.

Just breakin it in.

His set up while I was going to sleep last night. What more can I guy want? He's got MY blanket, a super cozy recliner, a show, and his pup. So cute :) I think we will LOVE having this. Especially for night time feedings, snuggling, or just hangin out. 

Last Saturday we had an early Thanksgiving on the Niederer side. Me and Caleb were a little worried it may be kinda awkward just from the whole moving incident but it ended up being just fine and like nothing had happened. There was good food, and most all the family was there. It ended up being a good day!

My sister has bred her two corgi dogs and last week we finally got some puppies. It's kind of a sad story because of all that happened. So, when the mama gives birth, you're supposed to have the male dog separated from the mom so she can give birth. Apparently it's because the male dog will kill the puppies. Kinda weird. So, my dad had made a nice way in their huge dog house to keep them separated. Well, since it's my sister's dogs, and her thing, she went to hang out one night and didn't separate the dogs because she was only going to be gone for a couple hours. The family was here, no one was worried about it. She got home to find that the mama indeed did have her puppies while she was gone and that the male dog was moving the puppies away from their mama. It was dang cold that night and it ended up being that 5 of the 8 that were born ended up dying. Super sad. :( Well, last night, one of the other puppies had gotten sick and also ended up dying. So as of now there are 2 left. It's a super sad deal and my sister is totally sad about it all. All because of one night. I have become quite the pet lover and it's hard to not get attached or sad about it too! My families luck with animals is seriously unheard of. Anyway, hopefully the two that are left will grow and continue to be healthy and strong so that they can sell like the original plan. 

Anyways. That's all for this last week! We are excited for this next week and to see what happens! Baby? No baby? Just patiently waiting!

37 weeks! False labor?

I hit 37 weeks today. I could go into labor and they wouldn't stop it. Such a crazy feeling! It felt like it took forever to get to this point, yet, I feel it has gone by so fast at the same time. To update you on pregnancy, we'll start with yesterday. I woke up at like 4 in the morning. At around 4:30 a.m. I started to have contractions. They seemed fairly consistent so I started timing them just to be safe. They started out smallish but kept getting stronger and more consistent as time was going on. They were roughly 2-3.5 minutes apart and were lasting about 2 minutes each time give or take. They stayed consistent for a while! I kept trying to change positions or get up to see if that made a difference and they still stayed very consistent. This whole time I have a million thoughts running through my head. Is it seriously time to have this baby now? Do I go in? Do I wait it out? Did we make the right decision pre registering at a hospital that has just a small nicu in case she did come now and would possibly need the nicu? Do I wake Caleb up yet? It's almost 6 a.m. at this point and the contractions were still very consistent. I figured they seem like the real deal but I don't want to go to the hospital just yet because I was totally able to manage them and felt like I should still wait it out to see. I woke Caleb up and told him I was having consistent contractions and that I was going to go upstairs to take a bath to see if that would help or change them or anything. Note to self, if having a hard time waking up the hubby, just tell him you might be in labor. He'll perk up in seconds! Haha anyway. I got in the bath trying not to wake up the whole household. I soaked in the tub for probably half an hour. It felt super nice because all while having these contractions I was having a lot of lower back pain, hip pain, and even down my thighs and legs. So it was more soothing than anything. The contractions still stayed consistent. While in there, I could hear my mom and dad up and about getting ready to head to work. I got out and mom was wondering what in the world I was doing up so early. I told her I was having contractions and just wasn't quite sure what to do. It was around 7 a.m. at this point. I went back to our room to see if I couldn't just try to rest and still just wait it out and see what happens. Caleb asked what the plan was. I had a doctors appointment later that day so I figured I'd call the office at 8 if they hadn't slowed down at that point and see if they couldn't get me in earlier or to get an idea of what we should do. Caleb was originally going to have to work a double that day but that morning he was able to take off both shifts just in case this baby was on her way. 8 o'clock rolls around and I'm still contracting, but they seemed to kind of become more irregular at this point. So, I waited to call the office and just continue to watch them. By 8:45, they had almost completely stopped. I was able to fall back asleep and slept for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I wasn't having any real contractions, still plenty of braxton hicks though, was still feeling a bit crampy, and I had a splitting headache. I decided I'd now just wait till my appointment at 2:15 to see what that was all about. Both me and Caleb started getting ready and I also packed the rest of our hospital bag just in case. I was 99 percent sure I was going to be coming back, but ya just never know. It was time for our appointment. As far as that all went, it overall went great. My blood pressure was slightly high but I did have more anxious feelings just with everything going on and I'm sure that played a factor in that. I didn't gain any weight in the last 3 weeks which was a shock. I have total only gained 7 pounds this pregnancy which I am happy with. They did the group B strep test and also checked my cervix to see if the contractions had done me any good. I was dilated to a 1 and 100% effaced. I am happy with that! Especially because I was barely 37 weeks the next day. My doctor said he's certain the contractions got my fully effaced which is awesome. Now, I just need to continue to dilate. He said that labor can do that, where you'll have contractions even if they are consistent, then they'll just kinda slow down or stop. He basically said it's early labor and that the next contractions I get could very well send me to the hospital to have this baby. It all is a waiting game. So, now that I'm officially 37 weeks, I am going to try all the things to induce labor. I figure it's worth a try, what do I have to lose, even if nothing works, I'll at least know I did all I could. It's crazy how real this is getting! Any time people!! They said at my last appointment that if I was thinning or dilating any and I still hadn't gone into labor that they'd induce if I wanted too at 39 weeks. So, if a baby isn't here soon, I have at most 2 weeks. eek! So exciting, nerve wracking, overwhelming, crazy, and EXCITING. We can't wait.

36 weeks prego, Caleb's birthday, and other updates

Since we have moved, it seems life has been going non stop. I feel we have stayed pretty busy. Living here has so far been ok. It's gotten a little better than my last post of feeling a bit bitter and not too happy about the move. We are adjusting as time goes on. We still look up homes for sale pretty much daily and nothing is screaming our name. So, still just looking there.

This last week, Caleb went back to his original schedule at work. While he was working, I took it upon myself  to get all the rest of this baby stuff. I had a cart with a few items on Amazon I ordered, and the rest I shopped for at Wal Mart. It was all the last little things we needed to get. Although we still need some things, it can wait for a little bit. No need to buy ourselves a crib mattress yet if there's no spot to even put up the crib. Things like that will just have to wait till we have our own place. Of course the Wal Mart in Rexburg wouldn't even carry some of the stuff I needed, so on Thursday, I met up with my sister in Idaho Falls and finished up the load at Target. I did buy baby girl an outfit from JCPenny. I had a coupon so I spent a whole 2 dollars on it, originally 20 bucks, and it's so cute! I haven't really bought ANY outfits since all her clothes were given to her from my cousin and a friend of mine. SO helpful, but I did want to buy her at least a couple that I wanted.

My amazon order showed up and this wrap was one of the items. I got so excited and had to try it on and wear it around. I've heard great things about this wrap so I'm hoping it suits us well. I plan on using it LOTS. It almost looks like I'm holding something in the wrap, but nope, just the big ol' belly.

Also this week, I hit 36 weeks pregnant and I am definitely feeling it.

I am so uncomfortable, ESPECIALLY at nights. For some reason when I sleep, my hips will just throb and continuously wake me up. I am having lots of lower pressure, lightening crotch that can be quite painful, braxton hicks all the dang time, aches and pains, I have to pee every like half hour, I feel ginormous, I'm winded all the time, I still have reflux even with the heartburn medication I've been taking, and I overall am just feeling very done. I still really enjoy her kicks and movement. I can definitely tell she is getting pretty big because sometimes her kicks hurt, and I can also feel her little foot all the time on the side of my belly which is the cutest little thing I ever did feel. It is just amazing that I have an actual little baby in me. According to my apps, she is about 6 pounds. Babies are born that ALL the time so it just blows me away. Also this last week I got ALL of baby girl's clothes, blankets, swing liner, everything washed. I got SO excited when I was folding them and putting them away. So tiny and cute! Also, I've had a couple people ask me if I had packed our hospital bags yet. I really hadn't even thought much about it and was probably just going to wait till we were leaving to give birth to do that. Maybe that's not the smartest idea? I don't know. I feel like I use everything I would pack. But, after seeing a couple different lists, I ended up packing what I could. I feel weird because I hardly packed anything, yet, I feel people make a huge deal out of the hospital bags so I'm not sure if I'm missing something? Just don't get what the big deal is? Or if I'm just one that doesn't care or what, haha I just figure if worse comes to worse, I can send Caleb back home to grab something, or have my parent's bring something when they come. I'm not too worried. But, yes, the hospital bags are packed for both me and Caleb, and baby girl! I am also going to install the car seat sometime soon just so it's in the car ready to go. Other than that, I think we are ready for this baby! She could come now and we'd have everything ready for her arrival. 

Libbie got groomed this last Wednesday and it was quite an experience for her. She HATES the groomers so It's always a bit traumatizing to her. I'm getting fed up with how unlucky we have been with finding someone that does a good job. This guy took 4.5 hours to get her groomed. 4.5 hours!! That's ridiculous. It ended up being past their closing hours when I could even go get her. She was the last one there and I wasn't that happy when I saw her. Her face is uneven, her ears are uneven, and they left her longer than they had in the past which means we will be getting her groomed sooner than we wanted. But, because I didn't care for who did it, I didn't want to have him spend another 2 hours trying to fix it. So, we are once again on the hunt for a good groomer! I prefer a place I can get her groomed and her shots done all at once but I'm to the point I'll go wherever.

She still looks better than she did and this picture you can't really tell how uneven her face is. Caleb just lets her sit on him wherever she is comfortable. Haha He was fixing his computer and she just chilled on him like this for a bit. 

Speaking of Libbie, I think she likes it here. My parents surprisingly let her live here which was odd because they are very anti house pets. I think they secretly love her though. ;) 

She is LOVING the windows. Our old apartment only had tiny windows since we were in a basement. And even then, they were so old you could never see out of them. Libbie will sit on the back of the couch or chair and just stare outside all day, or she will lay on the carpet where the sun is shining and will sleep till the sun moves. haha I think it's the cutest thing. I end up joining her half the time because I feel way less cooped up with simply having windows to see out! Crazy what little things make a difference. 

Caleb's birthday was yesterday! He turned 26 years old! We did a no presents this year for either of our birthdays since we are really trying to save and had a ton of baby stuff to get instead. I feel the older you get it seems to just feel like another day, especially since he had to work. I still wanted to make the day special for him somehow even if it was simple. I ended up doing a "heart attack" to his car. I cut out 26 different shaped hearts and wrote on each one what I loved about him, or grateful for, or whatever. While he was busy doing his own thing the evening prior to his birthday, I snuck out to his car and taped all 26 hearts to the inside of his car so he'd see them on his way to work that next morning.

They were on the ceiling, seat, everywhere. That was my first little surprise. I also left him a bag of his favorite candy (peanut m&ms) on his desk for when he got home. For dinner that night, me and my mom made his request, meatloaf, salad, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Super good dinner. For probably the last month, Caleb had been saying how he wanted apple pie. He's not a huge cake person and we just so happened to have an apple crumple pie and vanilla ice cream. I totally fibbed him and said I made it from scratch..(yeeeahhh right! I don't know how to cook) It didn't take him long to figure out it was totally store bought. haha 

It ended up tasting SO good and totally hit the spot. His food/dessert requests usually go along with mine quite well. haha We pretty much just hung out at home and enjoyed being with each other. He didn't want to go out or anything so we kept it simple. 

Happy birthday tutz. Love you so so much. <3