A Few of Her Favorite Things

Bayden got lots of fun toys and books over the past month for Christmas including things that light up, sing, play music, talk (even in Spanish too), rattle, crinkle, and anything else you can imagine.  Her favorite things right now are not her toys, it's everything she shouldn't have.  She wants the tv remote, our phones, paper, her monitor wires, her diapers when we're trying to put it on her, magazines.  The thing that would have made her the happiest for Christmas would have been a bag of chips.  We get a big pouty lip and tears when we take things away from her, but then she's pretty easy to distract.  She is a busy little gal and I think when she is on the move, she will be into everything.

8 Months

Bayden turned 8 months last week.  Again, we can't believe how fast life goes now.  Here is what she is up to these days.

She visited the nicu doctor last Monday and weighed in at 14 pounds 10 ounces.  Just a little peanut still.  She still needs her monitor, had another 21 second apnea spell on her report.  I asked if she will need it the rest of her life.  He says its getting better.  However, sometimes I have these images of me showing her college roommates or future husband how to hook her up at night.  We still like the peace of mind it brings us at night, but are anxious for her to grow out of this.

This is such a fun age and she is always learning.   She flaps her arms around like crazy when she is excited and a lot of her pictures are blurry because they are always moving.  She does bye-bye, plays peek-a-boo, patty cake, and we're working on so big.  She scoots backwards when she is trying to move forward.  

She loves to eat and has tried lots of new foods.  She eats all of whatever we give her and everyday at daycare they say she is the best eater at the table.    

A few pics!

Thanksgiving Infertility Flashback

This Thanksgiving had me thinking about all I have to be thankful for this year, but also some memories of Thanksgiving 2 years ago and one of our more memorable IUI cycles.  Seems like longer than 2 years ago.

We were in the middle of a cycle with letrozol with the new doctor.  I think we were planning that this would be our last IUI before moving into donor eggs.  I went in for my monitoring to find out that I had good sized follicles and would be ready for my trigger shot, but we wouldn't be able to do an IUI because this would put me ovulating on Thanksgiving day and the clinic would be closed.  We were disappointed, but thankful that the meds for this cycle were cheap, and it's not like we could change anything.

So I gave myself the trigger shot and we were off to my sister's house for the holiday knowing that we would be trying on our own around 10:00 Thanksgiving morning.  I hadn't decided how we would find some alone time yet.  We spent Wednesday night hanging out and probably playing some games.  Thursday morning us gals were working in the kitchen getting things ready for the day of cooking and eating.  I suppose about 20 minutes before go time I sent Gav downstairs and said I would take care of making sure no one came downstairs.  I told my sister and mom what was going on and they quickly turned all business in helping me out.  They wanted this to work as badly as we did.  They would stay in the kitchen and make sure no one came downstairs.  I found out later this wasn't an easy task.

Thanksgiving morning 2011, we gave it our all on the air mattress in the living room of my sister's basement.  And again that night.  Of course 2 weeks later, we got a big fat negative.  But a wonderful memory and a good story.

In 5 years of infertility, we've heard our share of "it will all work out" and "everything happens for a reason."  While I under NO circumstance recommend this kind of talk to an infertile, I am starting to think about how all we went through is what brought us to Bayden.  I'm even starting to be thankful for that journey.  While I'll never forget the negative tests, the loss, the hurt, the bills, the fights, the shots; I am thankful for it all.

A few months ago when we were out with friends from Gav's work, I heard him talking to a guy who had been married for a year now and was saying how now everyone asks when the kids are coming.  He was saying that they want to just be the 2 of them for a few years.  I heard Gav telling how we wanted kids right away when we got married.  It didn't work out that way for us, but it gave us 5 years of just us.  It wasn't what we had planned, but we were able to do things that wouldn't have been able to do if we had kids right away.

While those 5 years were hard, they were also really good.  I'm thankful for that time we had just the 2 of us and the all things we got to do.  I'm thankful that it's the journey that brought us to the three of us.

7 Months

Took the picture and updating 7 months a little late.  Lil miss has been pretty sick this week and not in the mood for pictures or blogging.  She's had the sniffles a few times, but this was the first time it affected our sleep and had to stay home from daycare.  Last Sunday I think we were up every half hour and I finally just held her in the rocking chair most of the night.  The nights got a little better through the week, but her cough got worse and she wasn't eating well at daycare.  She also had a few big spit ups from all the mucus.  Doctor said she just has to fight it off, but gave us a prescription for a steroid given her "history" with breathing troubles to have at home if we need it to open her airways.

She saw her nicu doctor on Monday and no surprise, she still needs the monitor at night and napping.  She is still having up to 17 second apnea spells and heart rate drops too.  So, we will be going back again in December.  She also saw the OT that day who graduated her as she is meeting milestones, but since we go back for her monitor we will see her again too.

She weighed 13 pounds 15 ounces.  She is still nursing at home and having up to 6 ounce bottles, but smaller since being sick.  She's been eating oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pears, banana, or squash twice a day.  She has 2 teeth on the bottom.

She still mostly wears her 6 month clothes but we've put on some 9 months just to mix up her wardrobe.  It's cuter when the clothes are snug though.

Rolling over still just happens rarely and on accident.  She can sit up on her own briefly and she is doing more with her toys now.  She waves her arms when she is excited and is starting to notice her furry brother, Benson, and thinks he's pretty funny.

She is talking a lot more now and the first word she understands is up.  She starts to try and sit up if we say it when she's laying down.  It's so funny so we have her do it all the time.

How cute are her leg warmers?

Day Out for the Adults

Last Saturday was our first family day out; without the babies.  My family loves to have fun and we still do with all the kids now, but we had been looking forward to an afternoon with some adult activities.  

My parents were in town for the weekend because they were being recognized for their excellence in agriculture by the university in my town.  We always joke with my dad about his love to hold the tired babies so he can nap too; and Howie already knows when its nap time to ask for grandpa.  But he is the hardest working guy I know and he runs a farm with his uncle and cousin to provide (some would say spoil) for us.  And we can't forget my mom who has packed lunches, made meals, drove truck, given rides and so much more to help that farm run. It was pretty neat that they were one of the farms recognized in our state.

As part of this honor, they got tickets to the college football game.   We decided to get babysitters (3 of them) and enjoy an afternoon out.  We had a great time with lots of laughs, a few drinks, tailgating, and a football game.  The kids did great with the babysitters and I'm sure we'll do it again some day.  We love these babies more than anything, but I think it's important to still have that time as a family without the kiddos too.

Mom and dad still spoil us by buying all our football tickets and paying the babysitters.  It's not cheap to get 3 babysitters for 6 hours for 4 babies and a toddler either!  Thanks for a great day mom and dad!  We finished the weekend with the twins baptism on Sunday.  A perfect weekend with lots of memories.

"Just go have fun, I'll be fine."

"The babysitters will probably be more fun anyway."

"We'll behave, don't worry."

Momma's day out!

Best farmers, parents, and grandparents!

Halloween

Just a few pictures of Bayden's first Halloween. She was a ballerina.  Most of these are from daycare.  They got some good ones, she wasn't in as much of the mood that evening after her party at daycare.  Her party included painting pumpkins and a dance party!  She was awake for the entire party; loves a party like her momma and daddy!  I guess she really enjoyed painting too; that must be from the donor!

Single Mom and a Tooth

Well, it started yesterday.  I am now a single mom....

For the next 4 months or so.  Gav started coaching hockey last night.  He was asked to be the assistant coach for a local high school a few months back.  He wasn't sure if he would have another chance to coach this level so he decided to go for it.  Practice started last night and he has a busy schedule of practice and games through February.  Last night he got home at 9:00 and was feeling bad that Bayden was in bed and he didn't get to see her yesterday.  Wouldn't you know, something must have scared her last night around 10:30 and she started screaming.  He got to snuggle and rock her back to sleep, that made him feel better!  After this first week, he will be home earlier besides nights of games.  Bayden and I will sure miss him in the evenings.

We will keep busy though.  Last night I brought her along to the last night of my bible study.  The gals love to pass her around and make her smile.  Crazy to think that about a year ago, I put in a secret prayer request at bible study, "please pray for 2 early pregnancies" for my sister and I.  Here we are a year later getting notes together for our babysitters this weekend for our first family day out without kids.  My family is coming to town for a college football game.  We have 3 gals coming to babysit 1 toddler and 4 babies!  This year, I should have put in a prayer request for the babysitters!

In other news, Bayden is getting her first tooth.  The nurse felt it last Monday when she was giving her oral immunization and we saw it the next day.  She seems to be handling it pretty well, but it makes me sad that she's getting so big.

6 Months

Only a little over a week behind this time!  On October 18th Bayden turned half a year old.  I can't believe how fast it's going.  She had a 6 month birthday party with family at a hotel.  Not really just for her, the family weekend just happened to be that day.  I thought it was funny though and kept asking when she should open presents.

Here are her stats from her 3 doctor appointments last week:
*  She weighs 13 lb. 12 oz., 24 3/4 in long, and 40.5 cm head circumference.  Still a peanut.
*  She past her 6 month vision screening.  A little more far sighted than the typical 6 month old baby, but nothing to worry about.
*  She still needs her apnea monitor while she sleeps.  The alarm doesn't go off, but it is still recording apneas of 15-17 seconds long.
*  She is pretty much caught up developmentally motor wise and wouldn't need to see her nicu doc anymore if it weren't for the apnea issue!
*  She is still a little behind on her language skills, not very chatty yet.

She is still a good baby and sleeping well at night.  She is up during the night about twice a week, but usually I wake her up after I'm ready for work.  We had a couple rough nights after staying at the hotel and so much snuggling with family, but we are back on track now.  She naps better at daycare than she does for us on the weekends.  We need to work on a nap schedule.

She is drinking 4 - 6 oz bottles and nursing when I'm around.  We started some food last week.  We did a couple days of squash from grandma's garden and tried some baby oatmeal tonight.  Not sure how much she gets down yet.

She had her first illnesses in October.  A few weeks ago she had pink eye and on Friday she had a fever.

We are getting bigger and bigger giggles everyday and that is our favorite part of this age.  Gavin wishes she could stay this age for a long time.

I think we have a Daddy's girl on our hands.  Gav said the other day that she looks at him and they have this connection.  They do, she smiles at whatever he says or does.  Makes me so happy.

Now for some fun pictures!

Bayden's 6 month birthday party

Cousin Caroline's baptism

Cousins!

With cousin, Maysen.  So trendy!

Five Months & Baptism, Finally

Sorry this is so late, but better late than never.  B is now 5 months old and baptized.  She is such a happy baby.  She does the raspberry, bubbles now and we get some good giggles.  Still waiting for the big belly laugh.  She also rolls from front to back if her arms are in just the right spot.  Sleeping through the night until we wake her up for daycare and then she is so smiley when she first sees us.  This is our favorite part of the day.  She weighed 12 lbs. 6 oz. when she saw her nicu doc at 5 months.  She is still on her apnea monitor at night and during naps at daycare.  It doesn't go off anymore, but it is still recording apnea spells up to 17 seconds when she sleeps.  We visited the nicu nurses that day too and they were excited to see her.  We had her baptism last weekend and celebrated with friends and family.  We feel so blessed everyday that she is in our lives, but on her baptism it felt so great to look up and see friends and family all around her.  I pray that she always has as much love and support as she did that day from her family, godparents, and friends.  Here are some pics of our growing girl.

Went for a day trip to see cousins in Sept.  Here is my aunt (one of my most faithful blog followers) and B's cousin, Jack.  

Just so you can see how she arches her back now.  She needs to be buckled into everything now.

Looking so cute at a wedding in Sept.  

First time in a bar!  She loved it and was a big hit as you can imagine

How she sleeps now.

Us with her godparents

Baptism gown.  Worn for 3 generations now.  

looking like a nun after the baptism!

Family at Baptism party.  

4 generations

One Year Anniversary and 100 Posts

This is my 100th blog post.  Seems like just yesterday that I was writing my first post and writing an email to my closest family and friends inviting them to read about our journey.  It's been quite the journey and I'm so glad I decided to document it here.  I hope you've enjoyed the story!  For my 100th post, I'm writing an anniversary letter to my little Bayden, 1 year together.

Dear Bayden,

One year ago today on Sept. 14th, I became a mom.  That's the day I started taking care of you.  One year ago, your dad and I were in a doctor's office holding hands and waiting for the doctor to bring you to us in a tiny catheter.  There I laid praying so hard that this time would work.

You have been such a fighter since before that day.  At this time a year ago, you had been growing in a dish for a five days.  You were the best embryo, the most cells, the fighter.  You were making it.  The doctor transferred you and a sibling to me that day.  You were strong, you found a comfy spot to attach and grow.  I had a scare a few weeks later with cramps and bleeding.  I cried on my way to the doctor's office for an ultrasound, but there you were on the screen with a strong heartbeat, a fighter.  We were so happy and relieved, but we knew then that our other baby didn't have a heartbeat.  For the next 30 or so weeks, I loved having you inside me.  I loved being pregnant and feeling you grow inside me.

Then, you'd had enough on the inside and were ready and you arrived quickly to the outside world.  Your first 43 days weren't easy and I hated being apart from you while you were in the nicu.  You were a fighter during that time too, a bit dramatic though.  Now you are home and doing great.  You have made me so happy this past year.  I love seeing you grow and do new things everyday.

One year ago, you were just a few cells inside me and today I heard the cutest giggle from you.  Can't wait for more giggles.

Love, Mommy

Back to School

Monday I started back at work and B started daycare.  I was not looking forward to this at all and kept hoping Gav would get a big raise or we would win the lottery or something.  I always thought I wouldn't want to be a stay at home mom, but I think I could have done it until she was 1.  Bayden came early to get me 6 extra weeks off from work, I didn't want her doing anything else drastic to give me more time though.

I had 4 days of teacher workshops and she went to daycare 4 days.  Today I am off and I kept her home with me.  My week was spent at meetings, training, back to school night with parents, and working in my classroom.  But really it was a lot of visiting with co-workers and showing cute pictures of her.  This is the least prepared I have ever been to go back to school, but it will fall into place and I think it will be a good year.

Daycare seems to be going well.  The first drop off wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  Gav came along the first day for drop off and pick up.  They say she is a good baby and they've known what to do when her alarm has gone off - only for low battery and loose wires so far.  She has been really tired out there and at home too.  According to the calendar, the theme this week was Dr. Seuss.  Ha!

Here is a pic of our first day!

4 Months

Four months old, on Sunday.  It's going so fast just like everyone tells me.  Bayden is doing great.  She weighed 11 pounds 7.5 ounces yesterday and is 21 1/2 inches long.

Eating:  She eats a little over 4 ounces if she has a bottle, but she finally got really good at nursing a few weeks ago.  I love that I don't have to wash as many bottles and pumping equipment and the bonding time of course too.  She was eating 7 times a day but lately is back up to 8 because of her sleeping schedule.

Sleeping:  Bayden has slept through the night (8-9 hours) for 4 nights in a row now!  I'm hoping this schedule keeps up as I start back at work next week.  She takes short naps during the day.  She eats, plays, and then sleeps for about 30 - 45 minutes and then does it all over again.

Playing:  Her favorite toy is this little light up kitty., always makes her smile.  She has also figured out how to move her toys on her bouncy seat by kicking her legs.  She doesn't really hold on to toys yet, but loves to hold on to her clothes, blankets, or burp rags.  She also really likes the tv....

Clothes:  I had to buy a tote to start putting clothes that are too small for her in.  This is so sad for me.  All her newborn clothes are in there and a few of the 0-3 months too.  She wears mostly 3 months clothes, but a few 3-6 months fit.  There a few of my favorites that I will squeeze her into a few more times.

Medical:  We went to see her nicu doctor on Monday.  He took her off the caffeine medicine.  Hopefully this goes well and she can be off the monitor in another month.  He wants her growing faster so he still wants her to have 2-3 bottles of a high calorie formula a day.  I decided to have daycare give her these bottles beings they will provide formula.  Hopefully only another month of this too.  He was impressed with how active she is and she is meeting milestones for her corrected age (due date).  She has a flat spot on her head because she has a stiff neck so she will be starting occupational therapy this week to try and fix this.  Poor lil gal can't catch a break.

Lake time:  Last weekend we were at the lake with some friends.  This was her first trip to the lake.  She enjoyed the fresh air and the action of the bigger kids who just love her.  She got out the start of a giggle while we were there.  She also attended her first style show put on by our friends' daughters.  This gave Daddy a sneak peak at things little girls like to do!

Here are some pics!

Sharing lots of toys with B.  She was sticky from all his kisses last weekend!

enjoying the lake in the shade

training in a baby sitter

caught a smile!

Difference in a Year

Today I had a training at school.  I had the same training last year and as I was sitting there today, a memory from a year ago came to me.  A year ago, I had to step out of that meeting for a phone call to get meds ordered for our donor.  Today, a year later, I had to step out of that training twice.  But today I was pumping instead of making plans for our our IVF cycle.  Crazy how life can change in a year.

Today was also the longest I've had to be away from B (besides the nicu days).  I missed her and couldn't get home fast enough.  She stayed with grandpa today and was a good girl.  She slept a lot though so I'm nervous about what tonight might bring.  Last night she went 6 hours!

We Made It

Well, my sister and I survived the 3 hour trip (4 and a half for me) and days at my parents with the 3 babies.  It was a lot of fun and worth the extra work.  It's extra work to get there, but then my parents are so in love with the babies that it's less work when we're there.  When I got to my sister's house she was at the walk-in clinic with Maysen causing us to talk about her poopy diapers for the rest of the week.  She's doing much better now!  We shouldn't be surprised that the little princess is on a special formula.  My sister is expecting her to be on an expensive and special diet her entire life.  Things like this give her the nickname, Princess. The babies did great on the way there and went 3 hours without stopping.  Of course everyone was very hungry when we arrived.  The girls made a few peeps and Megan and I would look at each other and say, "well, if they do that 1 more time we'll stop."  They always went back to sleep.

Wednesday and Thursday included lots of laughs, diapers, bottles, shopping, and great grandparent visits.  On Friday, my brother's family arrived to the farm.  This was the first time all 5 kids were together at the farm. Now there were more laughs, diapers, bottles, and a trip to the zoo.

My sister and I headed for home on Saturday and that's when we ran into a little trouble.  We had to stop at a wal/mart parking lot to feed 2 babies.  Luckily my sister and I decide to just laugh at the craziness of this and we got through it - 3 babies, 1 bottle, 2 breasts, a dog, and of course we had to take turns going to the bathroom too.  There is another story, but it's just too embarrassing to put online.  Also, not everyone (our husbands) are ready to laugh about it yet.  I was thinking that the "incident" would have ruined our chances for mothers of the year, but the babies slept through it all so I don't think it counts against us.  Someday when we've had too much to drink and you need to hear a funny story, we'll tell you.

Enjoy some pics!

They really bonded during the car ride.

Great grandpa, my sister, & the twins

I kept saying we brought the circus to the zoo.  It was just silly.

Me & B at the zoo.  (notice her giraffe top and animal print shorts)

First Girls Road Trip

I am way behind on my blogging.  My excuse is that B is a little more portable now so we are going for lunch and coffee and shopping.  She also doesn't sleep as much as she used to.

A few weeks ago we went on our first road trip to visit my parents.  Gav was leaving town for a fastpitch tournament.  My aunt happened to be going the same way so we were able to ride with her.  Good thing because she was a lot of help and made the drive much smoother.  B did great in the car and we got to see a lot of people while we were back.  It was a busy trip with several firsts for Bayden.  First trip to the farm, first time seeing great grandma Chris and great grandpa Morgan, first time seeing several of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, first time to the mall, first time in a liquor store, first time at my hometown church, and first time away from daddy over night.

Here are a few pictures of our trip home.

2nd cousins

Napping with grandpa

cousin Howie

New cousin Caroline was born!

Visiting great grandpa

A few stories that we don't want to forget from the weekend:  My grandpa couldn't get over what a good baby she was and thought she looks a lot like me when we were visiting him!  I just enjoyed the compliment and it made me smile.   During the first song at church, B was still in her car seat and my dad whispers, "why is she turning red?"  I whisper, "she's pooping."  My mom whispers with a worried face, "I put her last diaper on."  I went to change her and it wouldn't have mattered if she had 3 diapers on.  She had pooped through the front and the back, through the bloomers and the dress.  My mom had to wash it twice later that day.  But she looked so cute for about 10 minutes.  She had another incident a few days later that had 4 adults helping with her diaper, clothes, and bath.

It was a great trip home and just what I always dreamed of bringing a baby back home.  Bayden loved the love and attention and I loved all the help and support.  We're going back again tomorrow this time with my sister and the twins!  It should be pretty wild and I'm sure I'll have a blog post or 2 about that trip.

Three Months

This is a little late, but Bayden was 3 months old on July 18th.  She has now been home longer than she was in the nicu.

She weighed 10 pounds 10 oz today when she saw the nicu doctor.  Her doctor says she is doing great; growing and developing.  I was hoping he would say she could be done with the caffeine medication and monitor, but she has had enough apnea spells still to show a need for the monitor.  It has improved, her first 10 days home, she had 7 apnea alarms.  Now in the last month, she has had 4.  We can tell she is doing so much better and are comfortable having her off the monitor so we can take her out and about more.  She's finally been to a couple restaurants, malls, grocery stores, and the liquor store.  Trying to socialize her a little more.  She is giving lots of smiles now days and I feel like she is trying to giggle.  My best friend is hoping there is a way for her to have my giggle even though we had an egg donor.  Her movements seem more organized and she is following us with her eyes and following me when I leave the room.

Here is a pic of our pretty little gal at 3 months old.

InFertility Flashback for the Fourth

Today as I rock my baby in her red white and blue, I'm thinking back to a few summers ago when we were in the middle of a cycle.  It was one of our more memorable ones so I wanted to share and document it.  Not sure if my mom and aunts (my main followers) will think it's as funny!

It was the summer of 2009, I had been taking meds to get ready for an IUI and was in for a monitoring appointment.  They said I was set to ovulate and have my IUI procedure on the 4th of July.  Luckily, they had a doc and nurse on call that day so nothing would be cancelled.  We would be heading across the state after the procedure because Gav's cousin was getting married that weekend.

We were all packed up for the weekend and headed to the clinic.  Gavin took care of his part and then we went for breakfast while they prepared the swimmers.  Then, we were back to the clinic for the IUI.  Everything went fine and as I sat with my legs up for awhile the nurse practitioner went over instructions for the next 2 weeks.  As usual, we were told to follow up with intercourse as much as possible over the next 72 hours.

Well, there was a problem with this.  We were headed to a small town wedding with not many choices for hotels and there were 2 rooms for the 6 of us from Gav's family going to the wedding, we were sharing a room with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.  So, I had no choice but to ask her to write on a prescription that we would need our own hotel room at the wedding.  I thought it was so funny, she didn't really, but wrote it out.  Of course she is from this small town and knew several of my husbands family members I found out as we made small talk while she wrote a prescription.

We were then on the 7 hour road trip across the state.  When, we were getting to close to the middle of nowhere and near country roads, Gav starts looking for a turn.  I thought we were getting close to his grandma's house.  Turns out he's looking for a place to park in the country.  Just following the doctor's orders!  There was a small issue with a horse fly, but it was fun to be a little spontaneous after all we've been through.  I took a picture of an old abandoned shed where we stopped thinking it would be great to frame in the baby's room if it worked out.

When we arrived, I gave Gavin's dad our prescription and they had to go move luggage around at the hotel.  Ha!  I spent the wedding dance making up stories about why I wasn't drinking  (not sure why everyone always thought it was so odd if I wasn't having a drink) and dancing with a cousin's little boy.  We were maybe the only 2 sober people, it was a barn dance with free beer.  We were glad to have our own room over the next 72 hours!

Obviously this cycle didn't work out, but we sure gave it our best try!  It would have been a great story, but we have a better story now.  This year we will be heading to another cousin's wedding on our first trip out of town with B.

Happy 4th of  July!

It's a Book

Yesterday a friend from work came to visit with her baby, who looks huge next to Bayden.  We thought he might rollover and eat her.  She said she had a present to bring over.  I assumed it was from someone else and that she was just delivering, she's given us a few gifts already.

She had my entire blog made into a book!  It was such a surprise and so special.  Of course I cried as I flipped through seeing our entire journey.  A book all about Bayden.  Molly has done so much for me during this journey already.  She covered for me for appointments.  She hugged me as I cried when I found out none of our embryos made it to freeze.  She covered my class as I called the doctor and Gavin from the time-out room freaking out about some bleeding early on.  She gave me my shot one evening at parent - teacher conferences.  She sent me cards and put notes on my desk during those hard days of waiting.  She brought gifts and cards from my students to the hospital.  She delivered food when we were home.  She did everything at school for me at the end of the year that my sub couldn't do.  Now I have all of the stories and memories of Bayden in a book.  Thank you so much Molly!

Mommy's First Race & B's First Softball Game

Last weekend the run or dye 5k was in town.  Of course I hadn't signed up thinking I wouldn't be able to exercise yet if Bayden would have come on or around her due date.  When she came early and the nicu stay was over I decided to sign up in hope it would motivate me to start running to help lose those last 10 pounds of baby weight.  I didn't train very hard, but got a few run/walks in when Gav would get home from work in the evenings and some walks with the stroller.  I know a 5k isn't a big deal, but I was feeling pretty good when I crossed the finish line with a group of friends.  I had a baby 10 weeks ago, then, for 43 days she was in the nicu, now she's home, and I just ran my first 5K as a mom!  Now, I'm hoping to stay motivated to run a half marathon in 7 weeks.  Wouldn't you know the money raised from the run goes to the nicu Bayden stayed at.  Too bad funds can't go towards her medical bills.

Last Thursday night, I was really brave and drove with B by myself.  We had been driven around by Gavin or Gavin's dad until then.  The monitor has never gone off in the car so I decided to try it for a short drive to go to Gavin's softball game.  It was nice to be back into an old summer routine and see friends.  And of course watch daddy's game.

She's cheering!