Alexis Catherine Sterken

Alexis Catherine was born 8/22 @ 11:03 pm. She is 6 lbs 6 oz and 21.5 inches long. Perfect in every way!

I had a dr appt at 10:15 today. I was 2 cm. She stripped my membranes, but we were still planning on induction Thursday. She sent me for another u/s to check fluid levels. Everything looked great.
I started having consistant contractions on the way home from the ultrasound at about 3:00. I went in to work as planned because I didn't know if they were going to continue.  BJ dropped Sam off at the office at 5:45 before he went to school. At this point I told him to keep his phone near him just in case.
I had him come home at 7:15, we dropped Sam at a friends house then headed to the hospital 45 minutes away. Got to the hospital at 8:30. They got me in a room right away and I was at 4-5 cm at that point, and having a lot of pain with contractions. Got the epidural at 9:30 and when they checked me then I was 8 cm. The epidural and the tingling feeling in my legs was horrible. I feel like they gave me too much and I could not get comfortable, though the pain from the contractions was gone. At 10:50 I was at 10 but was told we had to wait for another doctor to shadow my doctor, because she is new to this hospital. My water broke at about that time.  She decided to let me push even though the other doctor wasn't there because the babies heart rate was slowing down. 1 and 1/2 pushes later she was here at 11:03 pm. She scored 9s on both her apgar tests and is long and skinny just like her sister was.
Sam came to meet her Tuesday morning, and is totally in love.  At one point she looked at me and said "mom, sister is nice".  She couldn't give her enough kisses and loves holding her.  I hope it continues as we head home today.

We are feeling completely blessed with our perfect family of 4, and our two girls.

39 Week Ultrasound

I have been very bad at keeping track of this pregnancy on the blog, so I'm trying to make it a habit to get her more often so that when the baby is born there are updates for those who want to see them.

I had an ultrasound Friday, which was the day that I hit 39 weeks.  At my doctor's appointment on Monday I was measuring small, so the doctor suggested we do an ultrasound just to make sure everything was looking ok.

The ultrasound went fine, and baby girl is still doing great.  She was measuring a week behind, but no one seemed real concerned with this information.  I have a follow up on Wednesday with my doctor so I'm sure I'll hear for sure then if they are concerned, but as of right now everything looks great.

It was great seeing out healthy little girl on the ultrasound screen again, but again made it real that she is going to be here in just a little while.  While I'm ready to meet her, our house and my work to do lists are bigger than ever.  If I can get her to stay put for at least another week, that would be great!  If not, we'll figure it out, and still be just as happy, but may have to bring her home to a messy house.  I doubt she'll mind.

I have been feeling wonderful the last couple weeks.  I feel like I got my second trimester energy burst about week 37.  I have been finishing projects, not as tired, and totally motivated (nesting I'm sure).  I'll take it because I know in about 2 weeks I'll be longing for this energy again.

Bedtime Routine

BJ and I share the responsibilities of getting Sam to bed.  Most of the time it's every other night, but lately I've been taking a few extra nights because of BJ's crazy school schedule.  I really don't mind it, it's a special time that Sam and I can have together and just enjoy each other.  Usually the routine is that I will lay in bed with her and read her one story, then we will pray and then read the last story.  Then I have to stretch the truth a little and make up some reason for leaving her room.  Some reason other than "you have to go to bed"  If we tell her that, she has a melt down and screams until we come back to her room.

Tonight was my night to put her to bed.  We read "The Very Greedy Bee" for about the hundredth time, and then I told Sam it was time to start prayers.  Usually I will say something first, and Sam just repeats me.  Tonight she took the lead.  I always start with Jesus, thank you for...  Tonight I told her, "Ok time to pray" and instantly she said "Jesus thank you for sister, mommy, daddy, me...." and the list went on for a while.  I'm sure it included Petey her favorite stuffed puppy and probably some other random stuffed friends.  Then she went on to say "help me have a good day tomorrow."  Of course this is all actually in her speaking terms which is hard for most people to understand and she forgets words here and there, but I know what she is saying.  Most of the time.

What floored me is that she remembered how the prayer went.  Yes I'm predictable, but most of the time when I am praying with her, she is trying to find another book to read, or finding a way to stall me leaving the room.   She may not know what she is saying, but I am thankful that she understands the basics, and is starting her own relationship talking with god on a regular basis.

I have to go now, someone is trying to get me back into her bed for another story.  I might just have to indulge her tonight.

I love you

When BJ and I were dating we said “I love you” more than anything else.  It was totally random too.  Yelling up the stairs, saying it every time one of us walked in the room, when we left each other or came home.  As the years have gone by sadly we have decreased the frequency that we say I love you.  It’s still a couple times a day, but not near as much and as random as it was when we first started dating. 

Sam has rekindled this in our relationship.  All the sudden she has been saying I love you mommy or daddy randomly.  It melts my heart every single time, and reminds me how much it means to me to hear those words randomly throughout the day.  Also, it reminds me how important it is for our family that BJ and I keep our love for each other strong and that our daughters see how much we care about each other every day.

I have a lot to thank our daughter for, but most recently it has been reminding me how much I love her father, and how important it is for me to show her and him that love.