Getting To Know You...

A few pictures over the last month...


Trot and Evie became instant buddies...

Getting lots of kisses from Mama!

Posing for the camera!

Snoozing during her first week home:

And a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEfQWD9HM3s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4pszwIJqII

GOING HOME!

Our little Yellow Jacket, ready to go home! Such an alert little lady!

Dada carrying Evie in the house:

MORE HOSPITAL PICS..

Very tired Mama:

Proud Dada!

EVIE'S HERE!

Yes, she came 6 weeks ago - but of course, I'm slow to update this page!!

Evie decided she wanted to come at her own pace - so after about 34 hours of contractions and about 12 hours of active labor, she just did not want to come down any more. She was quite comfortable in her warm world and didn't want to come out.

The doctor recommended we go the c-section route- so after a few more pushing attempts, an epidural, and some wierd forceps device getting involved, we decided c-section would be the optimal path to delivery!

 Eight minutes later, she was here!

Evelyn Harper Sinotte was born at 3:36 AM on Tuesday, October 6th. For those of you sharp-wits... yes, that is actually Chris and Katie's 2nd wedding anniversary!

More 3-D pictures...

Sleepy girl...

I stick my tongue out at you!

Hi, Dad!

For one of Chris's birthday presents, I wanted to give him a picture of his daughter!

So, a few days before his birthday, I snuck to a 3-D ultrasound place and got some pictures taken. She was so funny - sleeping for a bit, but opening her eyes every so often and even sticking out her tongue and swallowing!

SOME UPDATES

The nursery is coming along!!

We've got some of the major essentials now - crib, rocker, and changing table.

Next up: the pallet/truckload of diapers we need to get to stock up for the lil' pooper!

Grow, grow, growing!!

Baby girl is about a foot long now and just over a pound in weight. The doctor says everything is looking good!

The end of September (09/26) is still the "guess date" for Baby S's arrival, so we'll see if she takes her time or is in a rush to get here. And we'll see if she's still a GIRL when she pops out! I'm hoping for another ultrasound at next month's appointment, just to have a double confirmation of the little girl growing in there. Yes, I'm paranoid, but I want to make sure!

We hope to sign up for some of the Labor/Delivery/Birthing/New Baby classes available at Northside Hospital, which is where I'm scheduled to deliver. After a very, uhmm ... interesting conversation with my doctor about Northside's delivery options and classes available, we've decided to go the old fashioned route and probably stick with variations of the Bradley method.

My doctor, Dr. Andrew Dott, has been great and very reassuring about my progession so far. He's known in some circles as a "closet midwife," because he is quite conservative in his treatments and prefers to let nature take it's course before stepping in with medical interventions. I do like this about him - since Northside Hospital tends to have a high rate of C-sections, which something I'd like to avoid!

Dr. Dott has been a little concerned about the effects of pregnancy and labor on my spine. I've been trying to take good care of my back lately, so I don't think I've had any more pain or discomfort than the "average" prego chick. However, the anesthesiologist has informed me that due to the nature of my previous surgery and the scar tissue I have in my lower back, an epidural probably won't work well for me, even if I had wanted one. He said I would definitely have "hot spots" and, although it might provide some pain relief, he couldn't guarantee the effectiveness or how well the epidural would work. Oh, well... it looks like Chris is going to owe me a BIG beer after this!! =o)

So... up next: childbirth classes and more growing!!

20 WEEK ULTRASOUND

Check HER Out!

It's a GIRL!

It's a GIRL!

Although the doctor admitted "he has been wrong before," there was a visible LACK of male appendages. This is the "girlie" shot that showed nothing dangling between her legs!

I'm working on uploading the full video to YouTube.

Daddy Chris did a great job of videotaping the entire ultrasound- so the video is about 8 minutes long, but it is taking forever to upload.

The doctor did a lot of inspecting and measuring before he declared the sex - he measured her head, spine, arms/legs, width of tummy and wanted to see the kidneys, tummy, and heart working. Everything looked normal and healthy - so he got to the good stuff. He said he is "pretty certain" it's a girl!

My favorite part was seeing all four chambers of the heart pumping and flowing. Plus, she also rolled over to look straight at us, so we got to see her eyes, nose, and lips!

We are still debating whether or not to go pay for a 3-D ultrasound. Some of the pictures they get are amazing - but both of us have mixed feelings about doing it. Please let us know if you know anyone that had a 3-D ultrasound done - and what they thought!

Mother's Day!

This week the baby is the length of a banana!

So, here's some nice visual imagery for you of the baby...

Of course, as soon as I put food in my hand, Trot wants some!

Chris and I went down to Greenville to celebrate Mother's Day... here's a picture of the two of us in Mountville at the Boddie Range. No skeet shooting this weekend, but lots of good food!

Baby's New Ride

YOW-zaaa! A new car!

This is my Mother's Day present, Chris's Father's Day present, both our birthday presents, and probably our Christmas and Valentine's Day presents for the next few years!

We got a 2009 Nissan Murano - and are loving it so far. It received great safety ratings (very important, obviously) and has been performing great so far. We feel like we are riding in luxury - with the push-button start, an insane back-up camera that shows everything behind you in a screen in the dashboard, a big and comfy interior, and all kinds of fun gadgets!

Plus, Cousin Brendan was nice enough to have already tested out his mom's Murano - so we know it performs well during a rollover crash. (Brendan said it saved his good looks!)

Baby is going to be riding in style!!!

BABY FACE

I forgot to upload this picture from our March 26th ultrasound. Our doctor gave us a nice profile shot of the baby's head, so we know that all the facial "fixtures" are where they are supposed to be!

I can't believe time has flown by and it's already May - so I'm sure the baby has done a lot of growing since this last picture, especially since I'm growing right along with him/her. Can't wait for this coming Tuesday morning, when we get to see him or her again!

According to this week's update: "Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you. Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid."

18 Week Check-up!

Our 18 week checkup went well - the doctor used the Doppler to hear the heartbeat and we have a healthy rate of 122 BMP going on in there.

Sorry, no pictures or video from this week. We were bummed to find out no ultrasound was to be used during this visit, but it was nice to check in with the doctor and make sure everything is still "progressing" as it should.

Plus, it was neat to hear the heartbeat and some loud "thumps" -which the doctor said was definite movement and kicking. I haven't felt a true "kick" yet, but I have definitely been feeling some movement!

BUT ... the REALLY good news is that Chris and I will know the sex on Tuesday, May 12th! The doctor guaranteed he'd do the ultrasound then and I'll be right at 20 weeks, so he said we should know for sure!

So... BOY or GIRL? What do you think?

The Changing Table

Well, it's not new, but it's "New" to us!

For most of it's lifetime, it served as a dry sink in Savannah, GA.

But, as Chris and I walked by it at the local Atlanta antique market, we decided it deserved a future in the baby's room... but this time as a changing table!

We're not crazy about the blue ceramic door knobs, but they match the shelving inside. We may change that soon...

It took about an hour with 2 lemons and some salt to shine up the copper, but it looks a lot better. The copper was almost as dark as the wood, but it's back to being a newish copper-color again.

The copper "sink" portion is about 30 inches long and 6 inches deep- which most "commercial" changing table pads will fit!

(The pictures make it look kind of small, but trust us, it's pretty long!)

Georgia Snow Day!

Snow doesn't come often to Georgia - so it was a TON of fun!

Here are some pictures of the house and the puppies enjoying the wet stuff.

(If you double click on the pictures, they will open up much bigger in the browser screen.)

The front of the house, about an hour into the snowfall...

We ended up getting about 4-5 inches total,
but by that time, I was inside by the fire!

Flying Karate Dogs...


Nomar couldn't decide what was more fun - rolling in it or trying to eat it.

Needless to say, we ALL enjoyed a hot bath after we came back in the house.
The mutts were a mess!

"We're not really sure what to think of all that white stuff. Do we bark at it?"

The backyard was covered -- and I hope my new rose bushes survived!

Baby's First Video

Here I am!

 

Baby Peach's first video!

Hello Baby

BABY PEACH

Hi World!

We thought we'd start a blog about the baby, especially since we had such a good reaction to our wedding website "Yankee and Peach." So, please consider this the site for "Yankee and Peach, Part Deux..."

You may wonder why we're calling the baby by "Baby Peach" instead of "Baby Yankee." Well, as anyone who has read through the forests of literature out there for expectant parents knows, the baby tends to be described as the size of a fruit or vegetable during every stage of fetal development. So, "Peach" just seems to work, since that is the size of what he or she will be soon! (I think we're still in the kumquat stage this week.)

Now, if I can figure out how to post pictures and videos, I hope to have pictures of the baby's recent ultrasounds, as well as a live video on here shortly.

Coming soon to a computer monitor near you: Baby Sinotte's first home video!