Blakely's Dedication, Time with Family, and Father's Day

Going to church for the first time!

Father's Day was very special for us this year for several reasons. Not only was it Kevin's first Father's Day but we had the wonderful opportunity to dedicate Blakely at church. It was so wonderful because my parents, brother, and grandfather were all here for the occasion. It was awesome having my family here not only for her dedication but also because it was my dad's first FD as a grandfather and my grandfather's first as a great-grandfather. 

with my parents, brother, and grandfather

Blakely with mommy and Uncle Jon

Saying good-bye to Grammy at the airport

For the past two weeks, Kevin and I have been so fortunate to have my mom stay with us and help us get settled in with Blakely. She arrived the day after Blakely was born and was such a help to us during these past two weeks. She left to go back to South Dakota yesterday after church but is already making plans to come back for Labor Day.

About 10 days after Blakely was born, my dad and grandfather came and are here for a few more days. They have also helped out so much with household chores, feedings, and watched her so mommy and daddy can sleep.

Happy Father's Day daddy!

with Uncle Jon

Nana and Papa (Kevin's parents) with Blakely and her cousin Lexie

Blakely's Entrance and First Week at Home

My sweet baby girl has been here for 10 days and Kevin and I feel so blessed! She is absolutely the joy of my life and I truly believe that the love a parent has for his/her child is one of the greatest loves that can exist on earth.
Blakely is such an easy going baby, much like she was for the nine months she was developing. In fact, her easy going nature was what got her here 9 days early. There were many times during my pregnancy that I did not feel her move and it worried me tremendously. However, every time I went to the doctor, her heartbeat was strong and the doctor told me not to worry.
On Friday night June 3, some pre-labor stuff started happening. I went and got my What to Expect book but it said unless my water had broken or I was having contractions, it could still be up to a week before the baby could arrive. I went to bed and thought nothing more of it.

The next morning, I went to breakfast with Kevin's family and told his mom about it. She told me to call the doctor and inform her of what happened. Being that it was the weekend, I got the on-call doctor who said the stuff I had experienced was normal and then asked how much I was feeling the baby move. I explained that she rarely ever moved and that worried her and she asked me to come to the hospital so she could monitor the fetal movement.
I went home and told Kevin that I was going to the hospital for just a little while and told him he didn't need to come with me. I drove myself 45 minutes to the hospital, where they hooked me up to the fetal monitor. Although her heartbeat was strong, there was very little movement for 3 hours and the doctor got worried. She told me that she felt uncomfortable sending me home so they were going to induce me. I was so excited because I was ready to meet my girl and I called to tell Kevin, who was already half-way to the hospital.

Four generations of Anne. (Grandmother Stephanie Anne, Lori Anne, Blakely Anne, and great-grandmother Anne)

Nap time with daddy!

I was induced at 2:30pm and began to progress very rapidly. I got an epidural fairly quickly and enjoyed it very much! Kevin and I had a great time cutting up and just enjoying the experience for the next several hours. By 9:00pm I was fully dilated but waited until 10:15 to start pushing because they wanted the baby to work her way down a little bit more. Because the epidural was working so well, I didn't feel anything and thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Blakely made her entrance into the world at 10:50pm on Saturday, June 4.
 
When she came out, the doctor said, "Wow, what a big baby. No wonder there was no movement. She had no where to move." She weighed 9 pounds even and I wonder what she would have weighed if she had gone full term.
Her first week at home has been wonderful and being her mom is such a joy!! I love my little girl more and more every day.

Baby Shower

Kevin's family threw me a wonderful baby shower yesterday. There were so many friends and family members there and Kevin and I got so many amazing gifts. Blakely is going to be one blessed baby!!

My sweet niece Lexie and her grandmother Rhonda

Blakely got so many cute clothes!

And a super cute burp cloth with her name on it!

Wonderful friends! All of our babies will be so close in age. Blakely is due June 13, my niece Lexie was born March 11, Jennifer's baby Avery is due June 3, and Becky's little boy Cullen was born February 9.

Belly Pic and 34 Week Update

34 weeks! (Sorry it's a little blurry. We sometimes have difficulty focusing the camera.)

I cannot believe that tomorrow I will have completed 34 weeks of this pregnancy. In some ways I feel like it has gone very fast and then sometimes I don't remember a time when I wasn't pregnant.  Well OK, I can remember but sometimes it seems like forever ago.
Overall it has been a great pregnancy, but it is definitely getting to the uncomfortable stage now. Getting out of bed is no longer easy and rolling from side to side takes some effort. I also have to be very careful of how I sit now because if I am too upright then it definitely gets painful. I guess little Blakely is just running out of room in there but I also realize she has 6 more weeks of growing to do so there has to be some room left even if it doesn't feel like it.
I really have enjoyed being pregnant but am so ready for my little girl to make her debut into this world. I am ready to kiss her little cheeks, stare into her eyes, and hold her until someone forces me to put her down. Oh wait a minute, I will be the mommy so I can hog her and be selfish with her all I want to. I am so ready for that.
The funniest part about being pregnant lately are some of the comments I have gotten. I have pretty thick skin so most of these comments don't bother me at all but rather make me laugh at the fact that they are said. And also, my belly is really big so I know there is truth to these comments.  Here are a few.

1.Lady:  "You must be almost there."
 Me: "Not really. I still have 8 weeks to go."
 Lady: "Wow! Goodness gracious that is going to be a huge baby."

2. Lady: "Wow Lori. You have gotten so huge."
   Me: "Yeah, I guess I have."
   Lady: "I mean, you were so skinny during the first part of your pregnancy and now you are not."
   Me: No words, just shocked.

3. Kid at church: "Mrs. Lori. Is there a baby in your belly?"
  Me: (Smiling) "No, I just ate a few cookies."
  Kid: "Well, you might want to think about not eating anymore for a while."
  Me: "I'm just kidding. Yes, there is a baby in my belly."
  Kid: "You still might want to stop eating cookies."
  Me: Laughing hysterically.