2 Weeks Old

Tatum is 2wks old now... my how the time is zooming by. She is doing really well... her cord fell off on Saturday so we gave her her 1st full bath today. She absolutely HATED every minute of it - cried the whole time! It also took her a long time to calm down afterward, I finally had to nurse her a little so that she could take a nap, bless her little heart. Speaking of - breastfeeding is still going great and I've calculated that we've already saved $50 from not having to buy formula - what a blessing! I'm aiming to breastfeed for 6 more months, but we'll just have to see how it goes when I go back to work next month. She is up to 3 - 3 1/2 hrs between feedings and is sleeping well at night, she wakes up to nurse and goes right back to sleep. We had Tatum's first photo session on Saturday and the pics turned out great... she's pretty photogenic to be 2wks old :). I'll post some of these when I buy them - or you can see them at http://www.lovingtouchportrait.com/ under Little Ones or on my Facebook pg. I've really enjoyed being at home with Dave, Cadence and Tatum these past 2wks... I think I'm really going to miss them when I go back to work :( - I plan on enjoying the next 4wks as much as possible because I know that they are going to fly by. I'll keep updating - you keep reading!

By the way - Cadence is still doing well and loving her sister like crazy ♥♥♥

Peachy Keen

Just wanted to update... Tatum's 1wk docs appt was Monday and it went really well. She is up to 7lbs 3oz already! Dr. J was really surprised that she had already gained 8oz in just a week, especially with me being in the hospital an extra day. And she is up to 20inches - I had no idea that a baby could grow that fast! I am really going to contribute it to the breastfeeding - it is going SO well this time... Tatum won't even take a bottle! Cadence never wanted to latch on well and after I got really engorged I gave up on breastfeeding with her - I think it took about a month for her to start gaining any amount of weight... Anyway, I try to keep Tatum awake for a few hours during the day so that she sleeps better at night and it seems to be working. She is sleeping for 3hrs at a time between feedings, which doesn't sound great, but it is. I'm hoping that we can get a few pics with the girls and me and Dave this weekend, and we'll probably have a photographer take a family pic before too long, I just want to get a little more time going in between feedings before going out a lot - you can't really get anywhere and do anything when you are breastfeeding a baby every 2 1/2hrs!

Cadence is doing well also - she loves her baby sister so much... I am SO glad that she is going this way with Tatum instead of not wanting anything to do with her. We are having trouble keeping her out of Tatum's face, and she wants to hold her every minute of the day, but I'd rather her be too interested than not interested at all. I'm still supposed to be not picking up anything heavier than Tatum, but I have been holding Cadence every chance I get when nobody else is around - but don't worry, I've only carried her twice :). Cadence is such a little boss these days... she'll say "Momma do it" or "Daddy do it" when she wants us to get her something or do something she is supposed to be doing... and she says "Cadence do it" when she wants to be grown and do something she is too little to be doing!

Dave is doing GREAT in school... he has a lot of assignments to keep up with since he has 5 classes, but so far he has been doing really well with juggling them all. He is making all As and Bs and I just couldn't be more proud of him.

I guess that's all for now - I'll post updates and pics as I get them! Hope everyone is doing well.

Week 1

This blog will be short as I am writing it from my hospital bed... Needless to say, it's been a crazy 1st week! Tatum is doing well - eating a lot, sleeping a lot, being just as sweet as ever. Cadence is going well - FULL of sass and energy, loving her little sister, and giving her parents lots of 2yr old attitude. Me... well I'm not doing so well. Started having a headache Thursday morning when I woke up. I was sleeping in the recliner at the time and had a crick in my neck so I just blew it off as tension.... Well the headache never went away and by Friday afternoon it was completely unbarable and I finally consented to let Dave take me to the ER. Turns out that my blood pressure was so high that I was very close to seizing... I was admitted to the hospital and that is where I am now. I've been on Magnesium Sulfate for 24hrs and hopefully, if my blood pressure stays down for the rest of the afternoon, I'll be able to go home tonight. Doc thinks I may have post-partum pre-eclampsia, which is kinda rare but not unheard of. Whatever the case - I am SO READY to go home! As if the 1st week home with a baby isn't stressful enough! Here are just a couple of pics that I had on my phone of Tatum - hopefully I can get out of here, get to feeling better, and get some good pics of her and Cadence soon. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!

Introducing Tatum Harper Reynolds

FINALLY! She is here... my sweet baby is a beautiful little girl! On Saturday morning (around 1am) I had a few really nasty contractions. They went away after just a little while, but when I got out of bed later that morning I started passing my mucus plug... disgusting you say? I AGREE! I won't even say anything else about it because it totally grossed me out. Anyway, had lower back pain and pressure for the rest of the day. I was supossed to go have dinner with my mom and Mumsie, but I ended up calling them around 6 and telling them I didn't want to come because my back was really hurting and I just wasn't feeling up to it. They both hassled me to death to call my doctor because they were convinced that I was having back labor and needed to go to the hospital. I told them no about 5 times, but I finally gave in and called the doc on call. First thing out of her mouth was "I think you need to go ahead and head to the hospital to let us check you out"... you should have seen Dave jump into action - you'd have thought that my water broke right there in the living room! Anyway, we gathered a few things just in case we would be staying and headed out. Got to the hospital at 8 o'clock and got checked in but didn't bring any bags in because I told Dave that they were going to send me back home. The nurse checked me and said that I was still 3cm and 80% effaced - the same as I was on Wednesday when Dr. J checked me. She also hooked me up to the baby monitors to measure my contractions and check the baby's heartrate. I was having contractions every 2-4mins, but wasn't really feeling a lot of pain, except in my back - guess the old ladies were right. :) Since we live a little ways from the hospital the nurse asked me if I would get up and walk the halls for a while to see if I could change my cervix... I said sure, why not. I walked the halls for an hour and then went back to the room to be monitored for 20mins. When the nurse checked me again my cervix had changed just a little bit, but not enough to be signifigant, so we tried it again... I ended up doing this for the rest of the night - walking for an hour at a time and being monitored for 20-30. I gradually changed each time until the nurse checked me again at 6am and my water broke! By this time I was really feeling the steady contractions, but still didn't want an epidural, so I had some stadol and kept on laboring. I had a fantastic nurse that let me take an hour long shower during my labor which really really helped. Diane was very positive about me trying to deliver naturally and kept encouraging me throughout the morning. She told me that there would be a point when I said "I can't do this" but that the end would be soon there and I could push through... Well - that point came at about 10:30 Sunday morning. I was dilated to 7 1/2 cms and I thought that I was going to die!!! I finally sat up in bed during one of my (constant) contractions and screamed "I WANT AN EPIDURAL!" I want to mention that my husband was absolutely wonderful during those long hours of labor - he told me with every hard contraction that I could do it and just to focus on my breathing. He labored right along with me, until I was totally spazzing because of the pain - then he was ready for the epidural too! I don't know how other women have babies without making a peep and no medication - but I wasn't strong enough to do it... kudos to them! Anywho - got the epidural and after a few short pushes Tatum Harper Reynolds arrived at 12:23pm. She came out face up just like Cadence did - which was another reason for the 16hrs of labor... silly girls! Tatum weighed 6lbs 11oz and measured 19 1/2 inches long. (Cadence was 6lb 9oz, 19in long - so very similar.) She has dark, wavy hair and bright blue eyes - like Dave, and her fingers and toes are LONG like mine, but other than that - you wouldn't know whose child she is! She is the polar opposite of Cadence, but still beautiful :). Cadence met her baby sister last night and fell in love just as quickly as Dave and I did. Once she held Tatum (with lots of assistance I might add) she wouldn't let anyone else hold her! She threw a fit when my mom tried to take Tatum to hold before going back to Atlanta. I felt really overwhelmed watching one daughter hold the other - I don't know what I did to deserve 2 beautiful little blessings like them! Here are just a few pics we have taken so far... there will be many more to come.

A Little Bit of Progress

My doctors appt didn't go exactly as I planned today... but it was OK. I am now 3cms dilated and 80% effaced. Dr. J says that this is really good progress for a week but I'm kinda skeptical :). I was really wanting to be like 5cms dilated, but maybe that was unrealistic. I'll have one more appointment next Wednesday and then will go to the hospital to be induced on the 21st if the baby hasn't come by then. I'm deadset on getting this baby out on my own because I DO NOT want to be induced again, so I am still walking on the treadmill and bouncing around on my pilates ball :D. Dr. J also did some more cervix stretching at this appt, so maybe that will prove effective also. As far as numbers go~ I gained 2lbs, still measured 38cms, and the baby's heartrate was 147 beats per minute... So there's a little update for ya - hopefully I won't be posting about an appt next Wednesday, I'll be posting about the baby!

Long Hunter State Park

This Saturday I was anxious to get out of the house and do some walking... the plan was to instigate labor but of course it didn't work. We had a great time anyway, I've never been to this park but it was absolutely beautiful. Me, Dave, Cadence, and my mother-in-law Barbara walked the 2mile trail around the lake. We saw 12 deer and 5 wild turkeys - they were all right up on the trail and didn't get spooked at all! One of the things I really liked about the trail was that it was completely shaded by all the trees... oh, and it was paved- a major plus for me. All in all it was a great day! Also, if you have never seen pics of Barbara you wouldn't know this, but she has lost about 70lbs in the last 6 months - so she is looking great! Gotta give her kudos - I know that I am going to try my best to be as dedicated as her when I start dieting after the baby comes. Enjoy.

Cadence was ready to ride!

Me & Barbara

My Fat self & Dave


This is the first baby deer that we saw on the trail - he acted like he didn't even care that we were there making a bunch of racket and taking his picture!

Our 1st rest (we only took 2) - Cadence walked after this... you know she wasn't going back in that stroller after she tasted a little freedom and realized I would let her play in the dirt!

In case you are worried - I have a death grip on my bunkin - wild monkeys couldn't have torn her away from me :)

Sweet little family photo... soon the 3 will become 4!

Just a few pics

Of Course - this is the beginning of the pics - I hate that when you post pics to this blog they are always backwards! But here is Cadence enjoying some chili... can't you tell she's a "Big Girl"? I just love my baby girl to death! Meant to mention that she also had 3 shots at the doc today and didn't cry for even 2 minutes... and she didn't cry at all to have her finger pricked for her iron test - she is a brave little sweetheart!

Cadence's 24mo Checkup

This morning we took Little Miss to her 2yr checkup to a new pediatrician (new to us anyway) in Lebanon. We were EXTREMELY pleased with this doc and this appt - more so than we have been with either of the other 2 pediatricians that we have seen. Dr. J was very thorough and asked as many questions about Cadence as we asked him! We are making a few adjustments to her diet, and she will be starting a fluoride vitamin every day, but other than that she is a healthy little bunkin. We asked about her right foot turning in when she walks, which is not really bad by any means, but you know how Momma's are - we worry about everything. Dr. J thinks that it is Cadence's right hip that is actually turning in and that the problem will correct itself within the next few years without any need of appliances of any kind... whew! We are going to try to start breaking her from her "FooFoo" (pacifier) because it is starting to shift her teeth, but I know that it will be a battle with the baby having one and her not... please wish us luck with this. I am optimistic that we can do it - hopefully with me being home for 6wks I will be able to help her through this traumatizing experience :)... I'm thinking that I won't throw them away alltogether, I'll just hide them to begin with. Anyway, Cadence has finally put on some weight! She now weighs 24lbs, up from 21lbs at her 18mo checkup. This puts her between the 10th and 25th percentile for her sex and this is the highest she has ever been on her growth chart!!! She measures 32 inches - which is still only between the 5th and 10th percentiles, but she is just bound to be short like me and Dave. Her head circumference is still in the 95th percentile - which makes sense because it houses her HUGE brain! ;). All in all I couldn't be more please that we finally found a pediatrician that we like and addresses all our concerns and then some, and is close to home.

Now - about this other kid - I mowed the yard last night, and I have been cleaning my house and trying to stay on my feet, but I haven't had any labor pains... tonight I am going to play outside with Cadence and get good and rested up because tomorrow we are going to a park, any park, to walk until this baby falls out! This Momma is tired of being huge and pregnant!

I have some cute pics of Cadence eating some chili at home, I'll try to get on this evening and post them, I feel like I haven't put any good pics of her up in forever... and I still haven't asked for Aunt Sommer's memory card to post Cadence's B-Day pics, but I will do that soon too.

Hope everyone has a GREAT Friday, and a GREAT Labor Day Weekend. ♥

An Update on Dave :)

I totally forgot to mention anything about Dave's school progress when I posted earlier today... Dave is now going full blast at VolState! His 3 online classes opened this past weekend, so he is already buzzing through his online assignments and quizzes. His online classes are Medical Terminology, Computer Information Systems 100, and English. Then he has 2 classes and one lab that are on campus - they are Anatomy & Physiology I and his Math class (the lab is for A&P). He has had to tell all of his professors that I am expecting a baby any minute and they have all been great about letting him have his phone in class and working with his assignments when the time actually comes. I'm hoping that he doesn't have to miss ANY classes or assignments, but he doesn't want to miss anything about the birth or our stay in the hospital (stubborn man). I am SO proud of Dave for going back to school and I know that he will do really well, he's always enjoyed learning. (I used to make fun of him for reading encyclopedias for fun, but now I'm glad he's such a nerd) He has been spending every spare minute doing assignments and studying this week, but I don't mind because I am just glad that he is dedicated. As you all know, I love my sweet husband very much and I couldn't be more proud of him. I just wanted to post his latest accomplishment...

WOOO WHOOO!

I am super stoked to announce that my doc's appt went VERY well today. I'm so excited I've been dancing all the way home! The first lovely part of the appt is always getting weighed - and this week I didn't gain an ounce :). I was then ushered into the exam room for the usual measurements - heartbeat 138 and uterus measured 38cms. Dr. J arrived next to check my cervix... I told her that what I wanted from her today was for her to tell me that my cervix was dilating and she laughed and said that she would see what she could do about that. One thing I truly love about my doc is her enthusiasm - while she was checking me she started saying "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and I knew that it was going to be good news. I am 2cms dilated and my cervix is soft and stretchy! Doc says the baby could come any time now! She also went ahead and tried to stretch me a little bit to instigate more change - what a great lady! 2cms may not be a big deal to anyone else, after all some women are 2cms for wks before labor, but for me it might as well be 10! I was in labor for 24hrs with Cadence before my cervix finally decided to open all the way up (due to previous surgeries and scar tissue). So for my cervix to be opening on it's own means that my body is ready to spit this kid out and my labor and delivery should be much easier (or so Dr. J says :)). My boss is nervous as a cat about me going into labor while at work, and I really want to make it to Cadence's docs appt on Friday, so I am aiming for having the baby on Sat, Sun, or Mon... might as well be optimistic! I am currently eating my turkey sandwich, fueling up, and I am going to clean this house and do some laundry before heading to my last mani/pedi appt before the baby... I'm a bundle of energy with this good news - I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO MEET THIS BABY! I'll keep you all posted on my progress - hope your day is as fantastic as mine has been so far.