Wow...a year already?

Clearly I am not good at this blogging thing....I do spend most of my time sharing stories (both funny and horror) over at BabyCenter.com which is a website for mom's (to be's and already's). I belong to a marvelous chat group for November 2008 babies (ala Paige)....

Anyhoo! Before I do anything I am attaching a few pics of Paige - she's grown like a weed - how a year flies by.

Paige turned 1 on November 11th (Remembrance Day) and is turning into a sweet, and strong willed, little girl. I love her like crazy...she makes me smile every day, and her sense of adventure and innocence makes me marvel everyday at the wonderment of humanity...and how we all start out so fresh and new. I can't wait to share all my thoughts with her and watch her grow.

Evan and Kira are doing GREAT! They are giant kids now....Evan is 9 (he'll be 10 in March) and Kira is 6 - going on 15. har har

Nothing but adventures around here that's for sure!

The days fly by....

and it seems like there is never time to do anything other than the regular day to day chores!!! Certainly not a lot of time to sit down and write updates...so sorry for the delay!

Things are going great in the Landry household, we are finally settling in to a good routine and Paige is doing great with her napping and sleeping at night. Paige is growing like a weed, and she is weighing in at just about 12 lbs at her two month checkup. Wow! It appears we have another big baby on our hands. :D She has already outgrown all of her newborn and one month clothes and is now snuggly and happily wearing 3 month baby clothing.

Is there anyway to make her STOP growing? I love little babies...especially when they are mine (hee hee) and since she is our last little Landry addition I don't want her to grow up!

Evan and Kira are very much in love with her, and are great little helpers when it comes to bath time and playtime. Paige loves sitting in her swing and watching the other two run around playing Club Penguin or StarWars or whatever new game they have invented. I can only imagine what chaos will ensue once Paige is up and running around. I think she is going to give them a run for their money!

I am enjoying the time off of work - actually hardly even think about it! har har...and that is how it should be right? I guess it's even better than normal since I don't have to think about going back until the end of this year...and when that time comes I will be looking for a new job anyways!

We are contemplating another attempt at Cayman (since Paige interrupted our plans - ahem!), but we are waiting for Sheldon to finish his schooling before making a final decision about it. Vancouver will have us for the next two years or so and then we will sit down and decide as a family what our next direction will be. Whatever our decision is I know it will be what's best for all of us.

Hope everyone is having a great start to 2009 and everyone is happy and healthy!!!

Now that the New Year is here....

Hi there everyone!

So Christmas and New Years have come and gone, and another year is here. I wonder what craziness this year will bring! Not sure if we can top last year. hee hee

We are all doing good and Paige is growing like a weed. We have her two month appt in a few days and will get a weigh in to see how chubby she is getting. We have been very lucky is that she is only getting up once a night now...and she loves to cuddle in bed with us for her late night feeding. She is still very quiet and only really fusses when she has to toot or is hungry or bored. She started to smile this week, which is the best reward for a mommy ever!

It's great to have the bigger kids back in school after the Christmas holidays -with the TON of snow that we got we were all getting a bit of cabin fever. It's hard to keep the kids occupied when there is 3 feet of snow in the front yard and you can't get the car out of the garage. :P However, the kids have had fun making a fort under the bushes in the yard.

What else? Sheldon is celebrating his birthday tomorrow - 37 years old! It's hard to believe that I met him when he was just 24...how the years fly by! We are planning to celebrate with friends later this month - I just hope we can find a sitter!

Anyhoo...all is well after the choas of December..I will try to keep this blog updated....really I do promise! It's been hard to spend more than five minutes at the keyboard since Paige came home.

here's some pics for you!

Baby Paige has arrived!!!

I know it's been a long while since I posted, but just a quick note to say that Baby Paige Rose Irene Landry made her arrival on November 11, 2008 at the wee hour of 5:40 a.m.

It was a long labour (16.5 hours from induction), but she came out healthy, crying her head off, and a whopping 6.6 lbs!

She is beautiful, very gentle and has a wonderful personality. She only cries when she wants a clean diaper or something to eat...and is a great sleeper. We couldn't be more blessed.

Sheldon marvels at how small she is, and how "just darn cute!" she is. I just can't believe that the journey is finally over and she is now a part of this world, and I no longer get to call her just mine. I am sure one day I will accept the fact that I have to share her...but I am enjoying the quiet moments with her when I can sneak them in.

The kids LOVE her very much, and want to touch and play with her whenever they can. No jealousy there, though Kira does try to show off a bit more than usual. I know over time that that will work itself out though.

Anyways! Here is a link to Facebook pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84931&l=487a0&id=548831489

And here is a link to Kodak Gallery pictures. Hopefully ONE of them will work for your viewing pleasure. If you can't access either, please email me and let me know.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=85856841714.94888319714.1226871505079&page=1

Sheldon goes back to work on Thursday (he took 10 days off for bonding and relaxation)..so when things settle back down I will be sure to check back in here regularly to keep everyone posted on how we are all adjusting.

Love, Ang

Okay, Okay, I know it's been forever!!!

Hi everyone,

First off I will start by apologizing for not keeping everyone updated through the blog. It's been a busy month or two - but the end is near and we are approaching Delivery Day rapidly, so I wanted to give everyone a quick little update. :D

Things have really improved in the baby growing department and it appears that Ms. Paige Landry will be born a nice good size (though we don't have a guestimate at this point). She has been growing like a weed (and so has my butt - but that's another story!) and is very active and is really wanting to make her appearance - we think sooner rather than later.

I am still having weekly monitoring done to check her heartrate and beating, and for the lasst month or so her skip has settled right now to where it's barely noticeable anymore. The doctor is very pleased to say the least.

We have been getting ultrasounds done every two weeks for the past two months to check her fluid, growth and blood flow and everything seems to be right on track. Though the doctor's say that the heparin medication has nothing to do with how baby is growing - I like to believe that it is making a difference in ensuring that she is getting all that she needs. The blood flow restriction in her umbilical cord is still there, but the doctor just wants to keep an eye on it until delivery....she is not overly concerned since baby is growing well.

We had a lovely baby shower at the beginning of October (has a month gone by already!) and Paige got lots of wonderful treats, including a new stroller, and lots of cute little outfits and socks and booties and bath stuff. Sheldon and I are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that care so much for us, and for our newest little addition to the Landry clan.

Our bedroom is all set up for baby....bassinet, change pad, toys, diapers, rash cream, wipes, etc., etc. Such a tiny baby - so many things to think about!!!!!

Evan and Kira are doing great and settling in to school and impending Siblingdom very well. They have both been struggling and fighting through a stomach flu for the past 10 days or so...passing it back and forth to eachother. Thankfully neither Sheldon or I have caught it - and we are just hoping we can get it all under control before we bring Paige home. :D

So, all in alll we are doing great...I am trying to rest up as much as I can, and visit friends and family before we hunker down to reality of a new baby in the house.

My last day of work is this coming Wednesday - woohoo! Bittersweet, since my contract will be up and I will be officially unemployed!!! The first time I will be without a job in 15 years or so - eek!!! However, I am going to just enjoy the time off and be a mom for a while...I am looking forward to puttering around the house and staying at home and tending to the family. :D

Love and Hugs to all of you!

Baby Update

Like I mentioned last update, in mid-September baby’s measurements are up and she’s sitting in the 50th percentile and weighed about 3lbs, 13ozs. I also gained a whopping 4 lbs since my previous appt – doh!!!

This morning, my weight is down 3 lbs and my tummy is still measuring at 28 weeks – so no noticeable growth on the outside for the past 5 weeks. So my doctor has scheduled me for another ultrasound for next Tuesday to check on baby’s growth/fluid and blood flow and make sure that baby is growing properly and it’s just my tummy size that’s not cooperating. ;)

Baby has also dropped and quite low – it’s getting uncomfortable to sit up straight because my belly sits on my lap! Har har…at least my heartburn is starting to go away b/c baby is down so far. ;)

We checked the heartbeat and it is nice and strong, and the skip appears to have cleared itself up nicely. We didn’t hear one skip in the 30 seconds or so that we listened, so THAT is great news!! I am in for my regular weekly monitoring on Friday so we will get a clearer picture then of the heartbeat, but the doctor was pleased this morning.

The doctor has ordered me to start taking the twice a day heparin – possibly in preparation for an earlier than planned delivery – and out of caution I am sure…so we will be switching over to that this weekend.

So….not sure WHAT the next steps are. We will have to wait and see what the u/s results say and chat with the doctor next Thursday.

I am REALLY hoping that baby waits and cooperates at least until the end of the month – I really can’t afford to start EI until November….and I am not scheduled to go off of work until the end of October – but I guess babies wait for no one right? Har har

Can’t wait for the shower on Sunday! Oh…and our stroller came in this week – woohoo! We are picking it up on Saturday. Not sure where we are going to put it, but we will have it in hand. Can’t wait! Even the kids are excited. Har har

Love and Kisses,

Busy few days.....

Hey there everyone!

Well, we've had a busy, busy few days so lots to catch up on!

First off, I had another ultrasound yesterday to check for fluid and growth, etc. Baby is growing well (it's almost 4 lbs!!) and is about 16 inches or so right now. We got some great pictures, which I promise to get scanned in and post them for you to see. Babe still has it's feet up by its head, BUT| it is head down now so that is great, great news. Don't think that it will be flipping back before it's arrival.

The ultrasound was awesome - you could see the foot, and hands (with joints and everything!) and could see it moving around and playing with the umbilical cord. I am so used to the regular routine of this baby (it's most active between 8-9 am, 1-3 pm and 8-9 pm), but it is neat to see it when it's moving around on the ultrasound....what a miracle babies are!!!

Another piece of great news is that we found out the sex!!! I know I've sent around an announcement to some, but in case you didn't get it.......

We are having a GIRL!!!

We are all very excited and can't wait now to meet her! It is definitely going to be interesting to see what this little girl's personality is like. It's taking me a while to get it wrapped around my head that we are having another baby - never mind another daughter!

I had to remind Sheldon that he will have to walk two daughters down the aisle now (if we are so lucky) and told Evan that he will have to beat off boyfriends for two sisters now! har har...

Kira is totally thrilled that she is going to have a roommate, and of course I am immediately thinking about what to do with their room. :D Decorating will be SOOOOo much easier now!

That was our big event for the day yesterday!!!

Today we went to Baby's World with Sheldon's folks to look at strollers - and we picked up one that we SO thought we wouldn't get, but in the end we opted for it. :D Unfortunately the stroller that we wanted - the Valco Latitude - was on back order (it's apparently crazily popular since it came out a few months ago), so we took at look at the Bob Revolution and got that one instead. Suprisingly Sheldon wanted to get the one with pink in it!

Our main consideration for finally opting for the Bob stroller (other than it carries Grandpa Bob's name!!) is that it has big fat tires, which will come in VERY handy when the snow and slush hits up here on the hill. It's, of course, a jogging stroller, and since I do intend to do the SunRun in April - will help with training and being able to bring baby along with me.

http://www.bobgear.com/strollers/stroller.php?product_id=4

We got the pink and brown one, which is awesome because our car seat is also different shades of brown - so it will match!!! and since we are having both girls in one room - my first thought for decorating was also pink and chocolate. Talk about coordination! har har

I know I am going to get burned by my friends, after I have rattled on about how the Bob is too big, yadda, yadda, but honest to goodness it is a fabulous stroller and I can't wait to take it on the road! :D I only thank our lucky stars that we have the bigger vehicle now because there is no way that it would fit easily into our car trunk. The wheels do come off really easily, but what a pain it would be to try to shove it into a trunk. With the Outlander we can just chuck it into the back, without breaking my back! :D

So we now have the "big" stuff that we needed - the stroller and the car seat - both courtesy of our unbelievably generous grandparents, the bassinet and tons of diapers from a generous co-worker (thanks Carlee!!) and we are borrowing a swing and bouncy seat from a great friend of mine. We know that we, and Baby Paige, are very lucky indeed....and owe so much to the grandparents, and our wonderful friend, for giving us a helping hand with the baby equipment! Thank you, thank you!!!!!!

We are getting excited about the baby shower - and can't wait to see everyone all together and celebrate our little Peanut with everyone. I can't believe there is only 8 weeks left!!!!!!

Baby Update - September 16th

Hi there,

Just wanted to give everyone a quick baby update.

Good news!!!! Baby has finally flipped! The baby turned sometime over the last two or three days (and my back can attest to that!! – OUCH!)…but that’s great news..since it’s been hanging around sideways for the last 10 weeks or so.

Not so good news….. as you know I have been going for weekly fetal monitoring to keep track of baby’s heartbeat and general health. The skippy heartbeat is still there – but there is no regular pattern (which is good). The doctor thinks it will work itself all out when it’s born.

Last week, while I was in monitoring, I had an ultrasound to see how baby was growing and it turns out there is starting to be blood restriction between the placenta and baby. This may likely be caused by my Factor V Lieden *sigh*. The doctor would like to see a blood “flow” of about 2 pts, and the measurements for this little one is averaging 2.8. Not enormously high, but something the doctor wants to keep a good eye on. The baby is between the 10th and 25th percentile for growth – so a bit small, but still within the normal/acceptable range for growth at this age. Baby weighed in at 3 lbs, 8 ozs as of about 10 days ago or so which is bang on for weight – so go figure!

Suffice to say I am scheduled for another ultrasound for this Friday to check for growth, blood flow, and fluids. The doctor informed me that as long as the baby seems to be tolerating the blood flow restriction well, the flow doesn’t get worse, and baby continues to grow (even if only slowly), then we are going to keep a super close eye on things and see if we can get to full term with this little one.

If baby stops growing at any point from here on in, or seems to not be tolerating the blood restriction, or the restriction becomes worse, then we are going to have to induce and bring little one out ahead of schedule. There is nothing that I, or the doctor, can do at this point to reverse what is happening…..we just have to keep a close eye on it. Ultimately the doctor wants to get me to at least 36 weeks (which is only 5 weeks away!!!), but we will do whatever we need to do before then if it comes to that. The good news is that even if we have to induce early, there's an excellent chance I can avoid a c-section since I've delivered two babies the regular way before. I had a friend that recently delivered her baby at 33 weeks due to high blood pressure (and baby only weighed 3 lbs!!!), and the baby is doing absolutely fantastic…so that is a huge reassurance for me that even if this one decides to come early it will bounce back very quickly (much like Kira too).

Anyways, right now, baby seems happy and is quite active which we are all happy about. It has it’s wake and sleep cycles and likes ice cream (especially Tin Roof Sundae). :D It’s got super strong kicks and nudges and prefers me to sleep on my right side (I get some swift kicks to roll over if I am on my left side) and generally acts like Evan when I was pregnant with him. All good signs this one wants to stick around and “cook” for a while longer.

The kids are getting super excited, laugh at my belly almost every single day, and Kira gives it a goodbye kiss when she heads off to school. Evan just jokes that if it’s a boy Kira is going to be in trouble. Har har.

Anyhoo, that’s it for now. I’ll keep you all posted on baby’s progress and will be in touch if anything progresses. Positive thoughts for a big healthy baby!!!!

Hugs and Kisses,

Angela

September pictures....and update....

Hey there!

Here's a link to some of the latest pics of the kiddies. The first day of school went off without a hitch and we are slowly settling into the regular day to day routine of school, soccer practice and swimming practice. I think it's going to be a busy few months before baby arrives!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71820&l=a6680&id=548831489

As for baby....we got another ultrasound done yesterday and baby is now a whopping 3 lbs, and still breech *sigh*. I have another ultrasound in two weeks to check on its growth and fluid. This ultrasound revealed that the blood flow from the placenta to the baby is a little restricted, so they want to keep a good eye on it. Nothing to be too concerned about right now, but if it continues...well, I am not sure what the doctor will want to do.

In the meantime!!! Sheldon has changed his mind - AGAIN - and now DOES want to find out the sex of the baby. Honestly it does make shopping easier!!! :D The bonding comes either way - but it would be nice to know what this little one is...since we have been through so much together already!

Maybe I should do another poll? :D

Baby Update

Hello there!!

Another day another update. :D It`s been a few days and I don`t want to fall behind like I did last time!!

Things are going well and have settled down since I was discharged from the hospital last week. The heparin shots (ick!!!) are going well - Sheldon has been `sticking` me every night. I have had some nose bleeds, and called the doctor on Friday to chat about it. Things are improving and I do a follow up with my doctor on Thursday so we will chat more about it then.

I am now (did I mention - I can`t remember) getting weekly fetal monitoring because the baby seems to have developed a heart arrhythmia - a very distinct though not regular skipping heartbeat. It showed up when I was in the hospital and the doctor wants to keep an eye on it. There is tons of research and information about it on the internet which of course I have been reading up on like crazy!!.

My doctor did mention that the arrhythmia usually clears up on it`s own before the baby is born, or shortly after birth, so we are keeping a close eye on it. It is disturbing to hear the skippy heartbeat (especially when other mom`s who are in for monitoring - and their babies have nice strong, regular heartbeats), but this baby seems to be handling it well, and is growing well, so we will take it week by week and see if anything further develops or if it resolves itself. I will be chatting with the doctor during my regular visit this week - to find out if we are going to do another ultrasound to make sure baby is growing okay, and what, if anything, we will do if the baby doesn`t seem to be growing well.

To add to this lovely development the baby is up in a breech position right now - like seriously kiddo! There is still time for the baby to turn - which it likes to do on a semi-regular basis...but it will be nice for it to finally `flip` down and stay there so we know at least ONE thing will go right this pregnancy! har har

This baby loves to move around and loves to kick up a storm! har har....it particulary likes to stick it`s foot, or something!, into my hip bone...it just nestles it there all comfy like - such fun when I am trying to sit down! :P

All in all, feeling good - definitely growing the belly and I am curious to see how much I have gained since my last doctor`s visit (I haven`t been on a scale in 3 weeks!!!).

Getting anxious to meet this little one - especially since I have been in and out of the maternity ward so much in the last few weeks....all the little babies and the memories of Evan and Kira`s birth just flooding back to me. I can`t believe it`s really only 12 weeks away (God willing!).

On the non-baby front we went to the PNE on Friday night with the kids and Sheldon`s folks and had a great time. The kids LOVED going on all the rides and playing games. Evan is quite the dart thrower and managed to win a `large` bear. Kira went nuts and collected 6 little bears by playing the ducks and frog games. :P We didn`t get home until almost midnight and it took the kids pretty much all weekend to recover.

Sheldon and I are heading back on Wednesday night with our friends - a nice adult night out. Looking forward to it!!!