BABY LANE IS HERE!

It's a GIRL! Eilee Leighton Louise Lane was born on June 29th @ 1:01 pm. She weighs 7 lbs 6 ozs and is 20 inches long. We are completely over the moon that she's here and we couldn't be happier. Our family is so smitten and we feel so blessed. Thank you all so much for the well wishes, congrats, prayers, and patiences. I can't believe that my rainbow baby pregnancy has met it's end but I'm so happy to have this sweet girl in my arms and to start our new chapter of life as a family of 6! 

I will do a blog post on our birth story and the details as soon as we get all settled in at home. 

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 35-38

Week 35:

This was my first week out of the hospital and it was rough. Even on Procardia I still had constant contractions. Thankfully they didn't hurt but gosh they were tiring. I didn't feel well this week at all. I'm sure between the stress of losing my aunt, preterm labor, our house taking forever to finish, and constantly worrying that it's time to head back to the hospital it was just a lot. I lost more weight and didn't have an appetite. 

Week 36:

Huge milestone for me! I've never made it this far in a pregnancy. I'm so relieved to be in the 'safe zone'. My doctor took me off of procardia since the side effects were horrible and I was far enough along to safely deliver. The baby's weight check went well. The baby weighed just over 5 lbs. I'm still dilated to a "good 5" and 75% effaced. Baby is head down but laying all the way to my right side. Contractions are ridiculous. I will contract every 3-5 minutes for 12-24 hours then everything will just die down. It comes and goes in regular intervals like that. I've learned with each pregnancy that timing contractions are pointless for me. It's all about their intensity and if they hurt. Until they hurt I know that I'm not in real labor so I just wait around for pain to come. Brian swears that I'll wait so long that I'll have the baby at home because in the past pain didn't come until 45-60 minutes before I gave birth but I have faith in knowing my body. I think we will be just fine ha.

 

Week 37:

Holy shat! I made it full term. It blows all of our minds including my doctor but I'm so thankful to be to this point. Not only for baby's health but because I am dreading kissing my pregnancy 'good-bye'. I want to be pregnant every day that I possibly can. 

Week 38:

This week I started having a lot of swelling and mildly high blood pressure. I gained 3 lbs in one week! I about crapped when I realized that but I also remember with my oldest gaining literally 11 lbs/ALL of my pregnancy weight in the last 2 weeks before she was born from all of the water weight. I've lost weight off and on this pregnancy and at this point have only gained back those 3 lbs so I can't complain. 

I didn't crave anything this week. 

My only symptoms aside from contractions were acid reflux and increased pelvic pressure.

Since 30 weeks I've had contractions regularly every day. Sometimes they will last every 3-5 minutes for 24 hours. Sometimes they will last every 8 minutes for 6 hours. Sometimes they start out far apart and get closer as the day goes on. They are ridiculous but not painful and until this week they hadn't dilated me more than the 4-5 that I was 3 weeks ago. However, at this weeks appointment I was dilated to a 'stretchy 6' so the doctor informed me that he'd like to send me to have the baby because it's not safe to walk around dilated past a 7. I do not want any form of induction plus I knew we were days from being all moved in to the new house. The doctor agreed to give me one more week to labor on my own but said that if I come back next week dilated any more at all he's giving me prostagladin gel to give me the boost that he thinks my body needs to kick it into transitional labor. My prayer is that I either go into labor myself by Thursday (June 29th) or I haven't dilated any more at all. You'd think that I'd be over pregnancy and wanting to meet the baby so bad that I'd be begging for induction but I'm definitely not. In fact, I'm dreading not being pregnant anymore because I know the second that it's over a part of me will be sad. I will miss it. I haven't been sleeping well because I lose sleep over the thought of these being my last days ever pregnant. I sit in bed and cherish my belly and the baby moving around. It's such a sensitive yet sacred time for me to spend only focused on my pregnancy and growing miracle. From hiccups to rolls, I take in every moment during that quite, peaceful 'just the bump & I's' time. Of course I look super forward to holding and meeting my baby but time goes so fast that I know it'll be another level of sadness in itself once baby is here how fast he/she will grow. Newbornhood will fly by and before I know it my baby raising days could be over. Ugh. The struggle is real y'all whether anyone understands it or not. 

Red, White, & DUE.... Literally ha. 

 

 

Our Maternity Session: Advice For Planning Yours

 

I have truly been planning this session since Hudson was born four years ago. I didn't do professional pictures with any of my pregnancies except Andlee and I regret it. I also assumed that #4 would be my last baby so there was always an added pressure to do everything that I wanted to with that fourth pregnancy. I'm so thrilled with how the session went and how the pictures turned out that I've gotten to see so far. Our photographer is amazing. She knew how special this session was to me and she literally spent hours with us that day. Her exact words were, "We are doing every single idea that you liked. No regrets.". If you are in the Northeast Oklahoma, Northwest Arkansas, Southwest Missouri area I highly recommend Jessica Vickers at Bella Lane Photography. 

My advice when it comes to planning your maternity session is pretty basic!

-Be picky when you chose your photographer. These are moments that you'll never get back. Don't trust just anyone to capture them. 

-Go with outfits that match in one way or another and area a million different styles/colors. A lot of color is distracting and tends to take away from what the session is trying to actually capture. We went with neutrals and pale nude/blush. 

-Send your photographer clear ideas/descriptions of what you're wanting so she/he can see your vision. There's no room for miscommunication if you're showing them exactly what you like. Now for me this is rarely ever in one perfect shot so I'll send one image where I love the lighting and setting then another where I love the pose. Sometimes I can't find what I'm picturing which gets more complicated but lucky for me my photographer knows my style and is creative herself so between the two of us it turns out perfect going in blind. I just don't recommend that if you're using someone new. 

-Anything extra prop wise either pick up yourself or ask the photographer what they have just in case they have what you want already. We do all of our sessions outside for the most part but I did need a few props with this session. I needed milk bath props. In the past I've needed smoke bombs, signs, baby onesies, balloons, flowers, ect. Oh and Newborn sessions that's a whole nother prop world. We are doing a lifestyle Newborn session in our new house with this baby but I still have several posed shots that I want that will require props. Think ahead and make sure to bring or have the photographer bring everything that you want. 

-Be mindful of price and packages. I personally prefer the option of having copy rights to my sessions and to be able to order prints from the photographer. It's nice to get all of my images to print as I please but to also order professional prints through the photographer. You can easily spend hundreds to thousands on photography. Some photographers make you buy each image that you want a copy right on. This usually costs $25 plus each picture. Plus you pay a session fee and for the prints that you want to print. Unless you buy a copy right to those prints you CAN NOT make copies of them. It's illegal. Some photographers don't offer professional printing options. They only do digital files of your session. You are reliable for finding somewhere of good quality to print them. There are a billion ways to do it and it all depends on the photographer so ask about prices and packages from the beginning. I've fallen in love with a persons work before but simply couldn't afford $3000 on a family session. I'm super thankful for Jessica and that she offers the best of both digital and print worlds. She's also extremely well priced and when you have your family's pictures done seasonally that's a huge help. 

I hope these tips where useful to someone. A photography session can seem overwhelming so it's best to plan way ahead. Maybe not 4 plus years like I did but a month or 2 will work perfectly. Keep in mind if you're special ordering anything outfit or prop wise it can take weeks to months to get to you. I always get my outfits and props in line before I even book the session. Happy picture planning. 

Packing Labor|Delivery Hospital Bags: For the Parents & the Siblings

When it comes to packing the bags that you'll take to the hospital some say less is more but for us we like to be over prepared just in case. We stayed in the hospital for 3 days with all of our babies so we were glad that I had packed plenty. It was a lot of stress off of our shoulders to have been ready. With this pregnancy we have been in and out of the hospital for preterm labor 3 times so I've actually had to repack our bags and the 3 big kids bags each time. In this post I will share with you what I pack for Brian and I as well as for our kids to give you an idea of what works best for us. After all, we have some experience in this department ha. 

 

 

Brian and I's bags:

The Purple Bag:

-Floral nursing gown 

-Nursing bras 

-Sports bras 

-Tank tops (To go under shirts for nursing. This is my favorite method for modest nursing. The tank top covers your entire mid section when you lift up your over shirt to breastfeed.)

-Post partum support leggings (I have the Blanq brand and absolutely love them. They are a must have.)

-Yoga/comfy pants for me

-PJ pants for B

-Jeans/shorts for B x3

*I pack 3 of each when it comes to the next 3 things listed so 6 total. Three for Brian and 3 for me

-Socks for B & I

-T shirts for B & I 

-Panties for B & I

-The kids rainbow big sibling shirts with shorts and bows (I want them to wear these outfits when they meet the baby so I packed them in my bag that way I can have mom get them ready at the hospital right before they come into our room to see the baby. Kids are messy. I don't want to take any chances of them being filthy when they get there. This moment will be so special and captured by photography to last a lifetime so everyone needs to be clean ha.) 

The Floral Backpack:

-Pads (The hospital provides you with these but I'm picky so I pack my own. Always brand extra long with wings is what works best for me. )

-Phone charger

-Camera

-Headphones

-Straightener

-Makeup Bag

-Toiletries

-Lotion

-Gum

-Bag of change (for snacks)

The Kids Bag:

-3 pair each of PJs

-3 pair each of play clothes

-3 pair each of undies

-Toothbrushes

-Pony tails & a hair brush

-Hair bows

-Medicine bag (Char has asthma so we packed her inhaler as well as all the basics for children's medicines such as Tylenol, Benadryl, After Bite, Cough/Cold meds, ect just to be safe.)

I wanted to do something special for the bigs so I put together gift bags for each of them. I know that having a new baby will be a big change. There is a lot of hype around the birth of a child and I don't want the kids to feel like everything is all about the babe so I got them each a little gift to help keep things about them too. It's nothing fancy but I know that they will love it and some of it will give them something to do at the hospital.

 

Kids gifts:

-Personalized big sibling shirts

-Books for them to read to the baby

-Coloring books

-Crayons

-Stickers

-A Toy (Andlee got Belle doll, Hudson got a Spider-Man action figure, and Charlee got a tent. They've been asking for each of those toys for a while so I went with things that they wanted as individuals rather than something that was all the same.)

-Candy (This is a big deal in our house. We reserve candy privileges for holidays only.)

I hope this post helped some of you pack your labor bags. If you're nearing that stage in your life, congrats to you. It's a veryyyy exciting time. Happy packing! 

***Here is my post on what I packed in the baby's hospital bag if you'd like to check it out:

http://lifewiththelanes8109.blogspot.com/2017/04/whats-in-my-diaper-bag-hospitaldelivery.html?m=0

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 31-34

I'm sooo behind on my posts and I apologize. Life has been crazy chaotic. Between finishing the new house, repeated flooding in our area, preterm labor hospital stays, my aunt passing away, raising 3 preschoolers, planning 2 birthdays, and just the general craziness of summer time activities/events I haven't had much time for anything else. I'll briefly play catch up on a few things then jump into my weekly updates. 

The new house: We were originally supposed to move in last week but we've had multiple floods in our area that washed out the road and drive way to our new home. No one could get to the new house until the water receded and the roads were fixed. This pushed us back several weeks. At this point we are very close to move in day though. We have tiling the bathrooms, installing the granite, installing appliances, finishing the central heating and air, finishing the wood floor (it'll be done tomorrow), doing the stair case railing, and carpeting the upstairs left. I've been able to decorate some of the walls which was so fun for me and this week we are moving all of the furniture into the down stairs bedrooms. Next weekend is supposed to be when we can move everything else in aside from the upstairs stuff. The railing will take a little longer and they can't carpet up there until the railing is done but it's just the play area and baby's room which wouldn't be decorated until the baby is born anyways so no biggie to have a delay up there. 

My aunt recently passed away and it threw my family for a loop. She was a big piece to our puzzle and it was a shock to lose her. Everyone feels lost and so sad. On top of that my grandma on that same side of the family is having health issues. It's just a lot to handle at once. I will miss her greatly. 

Shortly after Aunt Jerri passed I went into preterm labor for the 3rd time. I drove to our local hospital thinking it was just typical pregnancy cramps and found out that I was dilated to a 3 and contracting every 2 minutes so I was instantly transferred out to a hospital in Tulsa that has a NICU. I'll leave those details for the pregnancy update part of this post. 

Week 31:

-Craving Ice

-Lost 2 lbs

-Started having intense back pain

-Decreased appetite 

-General not well feeling 

Week 32 & 33:

-Craving Ice and sweets

-Lost 3 lbs

-Felt better as a whole and much more energetic 

-Had a dream that they baby is a boy

We had maternity pictures taken around this time. I have only seen 5 of those shots but I'm already so in love with that session. 

 Week 34:

-No cravings

-Threw up a lot 

-At this point I had lost everything that I had gained this pregnancy weight wise

-Contractions/cramping constantly

-Admitted to Saint John's for preterm labor. I got to Grove around 9 am and with in 30-45 minutes they had me on magnesium and on route to Tulsa. My mom and Brian went with me. The magnesium did not stop the contractions so after 30 hours of being on it they decided to try Procardia. That didn't stop them either but it did lessen their strength to the point that I was no longer dilating. I was staying a 4-5. They wanted to keep me admitted until I made it past 35 weeks simply because a NICU isn't a local luxury but since I wasn't dilating, I missed my kids (it had been 3 days since I saw them), and my aunts funeral was that day I requested to be released. My OB agreed prior to me asking to be released that he felt safe delivering me at Grove and transferring baby IF needed. It all around was a good and safe plan. I went home on procardia and I'm still taking it every 6 hours. I'm 35 weeks pregnant now and still contracting constantly but they are very mild strength wise. I seriously think that I'll carry close to my due date. I don't know why because I've delivered at 34-35 weeks with them all but something in me feels like this time it'll be different. Maybe I just can see God giving me that gift of a long pregnancy. He knows how much I dread not being pregnant anymore. I don't want this to end. I'll miss it instantly and for the rest of my life I'm sure. Despite it being hard and uncomfortable I still cherish it and love it. I feel myself the most when I'm pregnant. 

 

 

 

 

30 Days of Me: Days 23-30

First I want to say that I'm sorry for the major slacking on my blog. Life has been insane and I will update on that soon but for now let's finish the '30 Days of Me'.

30 Days of Me: Day 23

Something that I crave a lot! 

ICE! I could live on ice. It's the one thing during my entire pregnancy that has been a solid, multiple times a day craving. So much so that Brian has made late night ice runs for me. 

30 Days of Me: Day 24 

3 Books on my bookshelf!

Oh gosh. There's so many. I'll just name the ones that I read the most recent. 

1) Eat, Pray, Love

2) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

3) The Bible

30 Days of Me: Day 25 

What would you find on my blog! 

Stuff about our life, mom life, wife life, pregnant life, building a house life, farm life, ect. 

30 Days of Me: Day 26 

What do you think of your friends! 

I probably sound like a broken record when it comes to my family and friends so I'll spare you another sappy rant. I think the world of them and appreciate them so much. I wouldn't be 'me' without them. 

30 Days of Me: Day 27

Why am I doing this 30 day challenge?

 I wanted my readers to know me a little better and I wanted things to feel a bit more personal. Not like I'm a total stranger ha. 

30 Days of Me: Day 28 

A picture of me last year and now!

The picture on the left was exactly a year ago and the picture on the right was today. I feel like it doesn't show just how different things are. Not only weight wise but now I'm almost 9 months pregnant with our rainbow baby, about to move in to our dream home, and my kids have grown/learned SO much. A year ago I was so sad about my size and our miscarriages. I never imagined how different things would be in a year. It's amazing and I'm so grateful. I truly couldn't be a more blessed women. It blows my mind often.  

 

30 Days of Me: Day 29

In the past month what have I learned?

I've learned that I'm awful about posting regularly. I've also learned that some topics are sensitive for me and that I'm pretty boring ha. 

30 Days of Me: Day 30 

What's my favorite song?

I can't name one. I love music way too much to just have one favorite.