It's A Girl!

Introducing Katelin Alyssa Hicks!



Born April 27th, 8:02am
7 lbs, 3oz
20 inches


Katelin is starting out on the right foot with great timing! On Thursday, Chris and I completed our childbirth classes and then Friday night my parents got into town. Early Saturday evening, I started having irregular contractions and couldn't tell if it was the real deal or more Braxton Hicks. By the time I was ready for bed (around 11pm), they were getting more consistent and I started keeping track of how far apart they were. Chris came to bed around midnight and they still seemed pretty far apart, but getting stronger. Around 1 or 1:30, I woke him up and made him start timing them and by 2:30am, we were on our way to the hospital. At this point, I still hadn't slept any since Friday night. We got checked into the hospital and I was already at 7cm. As the contractions got stronger and closer, I had to make a decision if I wanted an epidural or not. I didn't know how much longer I'd be in labor or how much more the contractions would hurt. Around 4:30, I gave in and got the epidural. Once it kicked in, I don't know why I didn't ask for it sooner! For a while, I couldn't even tell when I was having a contraction. I took the opportunity to get a little rest. Chris was able to fall asleep but I don't think I ever did. The little bit of rest, even if I wasn't asleep, was nice (considering I had been up for about 22 hours at this point). I lost track of time but the next thing I know, they were having me push and Katelin was born at 8:02am. I have no clue how long I pushed but I'd guess it was only around 30-45 minutes. Seemed like a long time to me and I was wiped out (hence the really great second picture in the link below!). Since then, everything has been going great. I was in the hospital until Monday, late afternoon. My room had a chair that made into a bed so Chris was able to stay at the hospital with me as much as he wanted. Since the hospital is about 10 minutes away, he was able to come home and get cleaned up but Sunday night he was there with us.

As far as who she looks like, I can't really tell yet. She has a full head of dark hair and long legs like her mommy. Her face is pretty round like her daddy and it looks like she'll have his blue eyes.

Well, my brain is starting to go now so I guess that is about it!
I'll try to post another update in a few days with more pictures.

Pictures of our little sweetheart!

Nursery is Done... for now

We did some more work in the nursery this weekend. We finally cleaned out the 3rd bedroom upstairs (for the most part anyways!) and moved the guest room furniture out of the nursery and into that room. We now have 2 guest rooms and the nursery upstairs. :) The "new" guest room is a little smaller than the other one so it seems a little cramped but it works.
We have a lot of open space in the nursery now which will come in handy when the baby starts playing around on the floor and we accumulate a ton of toys! If we ever need all 3 rooms upstairs for guests, there is room to throw an air mattress on the floor.
We ended up getting a new white dresser from IKEA on Sunday. I love IKEA. We actually made it up there for breakfast which was pretty tasty (and super cheap!). We spent less than $8 total and we were stuffed. I don't know why, but it still amazes me how much time we can spend in IKEA when I have a list of what to get. We didn't stray from the list too much and we were still there from about 9:45-11:45 (including breakfast).
With the nursery "done" (for now at least), I was able to put away more baby stuff. The dresser drawers are loaded with blankets, hooded towels, wash rags, booties, mittens, caps, burp clothes, and bibs! The diapers & wipes that have been living in the game room for the past few weeks have finally been stacked & stored. The stroller and high chair have been assembled.
We still need to install the car seat bases and I need to pack up my bag for the hospital.
I had my weekly check-up today. I've hit 33.5 pounds gained. After I passed 25 pounds, my new goal was to stay under 35. I think I'll make that. I'm making progress (3cm.. not that everyone cared to know that!). Still no indication of when Baby Hicks will make his/her appearance. My doctor said I could go into labor tonight (scary thought!) or it could be another few weeks. We're just in a holding pattern now.
Chris just got home from bowling so I'm going to go spend some time with him before I crash into bed for the night.
Enjoy the new pictures of the nursery...

We have the best family & friends!

Since my last post, I've had two more showers. Two of my co-workers threw me a shower at work on the 26th and then two friends threw me a shower for some friends and family down here. We got tons of great stuff! When Chris and I sorted through all the shower gifts we got from our Chicago shower and these two additional showers, we were amazed! We have the most generous family and friends. We added up all the gift cards we've gotten and I was amazed! A great big THANK YOU to everyone! And we're still getting gifts in the mail from people who couldn't make it to the showers!

I've started seeing the doctor every week now on Mondays. Everything is still going well. I'm probably still gaining too much weight but my doctor stopped questioning it and I've stopped caring (for the most part). I'm not going to pig out and go crazy these last few weeks but I'm not going to stress if those darn numbers on the scale keep going up.

Everyone keeps saying that I'm still tiny (okay... I've never been tiny in my life!). I'm starting to feel huge but considering I have less than 4 weeks until my due date, I guess I'm doing okay. My back still hurts all the time. Maybe if I had stuck to the 25 pound gain that my doctor recommended, my back wouldn't hurt so much. Maybe I'll try that next time!

Thanks again to all those who have helped spoil this baby before he/she even arrives! Also, thanks again to my mom, Jen, Robyn, Sabina, Suzanna, and Alison for 3 great showers!

Enjoy the new belly pictures! Chris took these at the end of the day.. it was late, I was tired, and my hair was all over the place so sorry.. no glamor shots this time!

Trish

36 weeks, 2 days

Yikes!