Awake and Swaddled

Josie was definitely checking out her surroundings in this video. I was just happy we got an eyes-wide-open video of her. Check it out.

Giving Thanks

Caroline and I are very thankful to have spent our first Thanksgiving as parents with our healthy daughter, Josie. Another first for us was hosting the Thanksgiving feast for my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law. The day was spent watching football, eating way too much and, of course, studying Josie's every move. Here are a few photos of Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Day including Erin striking a Heisman pose with Josie, Jan taking time out from the stove to hold her granddaughter, and Caroline showing off her daughter in a new outfit. Enjoy!

Ready for Her Close-up

Caroline was able to shoot this one minute video of Josie this morning just as she had woken up a bit. If you listen closely you can hear Humphrey outside barking to join his sister. But the sneeze is what really tops of this snippet nicely.

Josie in Motion

Some of you have asked for photos of our newborn girl, Josie, so I did you one better... I have included a video of her at the hospital just a few hours before we were allowed to pack up and go home. Sorry it isn't more exciting but she has been sleeping a lot lately. This will at least give everyone a good look at her gorgeous face. I hope to upload some more of her awake with her eyes open when I catch the moment.

Welcome Josephine Noelle Fugler!

Caroline and I are excited to share the news that our daughter, Josephine "Josie" Noelle Fugler was born at 2:00pm Mountain Time on November 21. She weighs 6 lbs. and measures 19 inches. Both Josie and Caroline are healthy and doing well. We are expected to be discharged from the hospital on Monday and look forward to bringing our new, beautiful family member home.

Buddha Belly

Here are some updated pictures of me with the largest belly ever imaginable!

8 months belly



9 months belly
(These pictures were taken yesterday, so it's actually 38 weeks 1 day)

Ryan compared my belly to a torpedo! Nice. Luckily, still no stretch marks. I'm betting our baby girl won't make her appearance until after Thanksgiving, but honestly...I'm ok with her coming out to see us whenever the heck she wants (as long as it is not 2 weeks past my due date).

2 weeks left!

Today we are 38 weeks pregnant. Only 2 weeks until due date! Baby Sugar and Spice supposedly weighs about 6.8 lbs and is over 19 1/2 inches long...approximately the length of a leek.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind if she came a little early. I am feeling BIG. I think she has "dropped," so I am feeling a lot of lower pressure. When I walk, it is very slow and more like a waddle. I cannot cross my legs anymore. I have gained about 30 lbs total with my pregnancy (I actually lost a couple pounds between last week and this week). My pelvic bones are aching and feel like they are bruised. When I stand up after sitting or laying down, I hear cracks and pops from that area. Sounds like things are widening in order to give birth. Baby's big head is creating some space!

With every passing day, I think about how much bigger this baby is getting. I hope she says at a size that will easily come out of my body. I get nervous that she might be too big! I've gained the majority of my weight in my stomach, so I'm hoping this doesn't mean there is a huge baby in there just waiting to give me a very long and hard labor!

Ryan and I bought a birthing ball (basically an anti-burst fitness ball), so I am excited to inflate it and sit on it when I am at home. It sounds much nicer to sit on a soft plastic ball and roll my hips around (hopefully this will help with the popping and cracking) instead of sinking into the sofa and having to flail my arms in order to get back up.

Also, Ryan and I went to a breastfeeding class this week. Sounds like I will basically be with baby 27/7 for the first 4 weeks. They encourage new moms who are breastfeeding to not introduce a bottle for the first 4 weeks if possible in order to get breastfeeding well established. And, baby will be eating every 1 1/2 - 3 hours. So basically baby will be with me everywhere I go (or don't go, as the case may be) since I will be her food source.

In an effort to be as safe as possible, I got my H1N1 shot last night (I got the seasonal flu shot last month). The midwife recommended it, and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends it for pregnant women as well. Pregnant women are at a higher risk of death if they contract H1N1 (and so are babies), so they say the benefits of getting the vaccination outweigh the risks. I agree. Also, after the baby is born we are not supposed to allow anyone with flu-like symptoms to be around the baby so hopefully this means I won't have to quarantine myself since I shouldn't get either of the flus. Ryan knows that he will have to bunk with his parents if he comes down with the flu after baby is born, so we are going to do our best to make sure this doesn't happen. Hand washing and hand sanitizer are our new best friends!

Birds and Nature for Baby

While the nursery is not 100% complete, I wanted to share some pictures of how it looks so far.

We plan to hang a bird mobile from the ceiling in the corner above the glider. I'm sure the room will seem much smaller once the baby is in there with all of her accessories, but I am trying to keep them organized and put away in drawers and the closet for now. It is the smallest room in our house, but it doesn't feel too tiny as long as we keep it organized! I want to make sure we leave room for our baby to be able to play on the floor and enjoy herself in there.

Officially Full Term

Today we are 37 weeks pregnant (9 months, 1 week). This means we are considered officially full term. Even though we hope to keep this baby cooking inside me until 40 weeks (my due date), she could now be born at any time and be perfectly healthy...at least that is what we pray for! At this point, her lungs should be fully mature so she can live outside of my body when she is born.

She now weighs a bit over 6 lbs and is approximately 19 inches long (about as long as swiss chard).

Sleep has been getting more difficult over the past few days and weeks. I've been having to get up 2-4 times a night to go to the bathroom. Also, Humphrey has been getting more clingy...so he likes to climb up to the top of the bed in the middle of the night and sleep on my pillow with me. Literally, horizontally on my pillow with his face resting on my face. Last night however, I coaxed him into spooning instead and he slept with his head resting on my belly. I'm not sure if he's trying to bond with baby or get as much attention as he can before the baby arrives.

Birthing class and midwife visit

In the past few days, Ryan and I have been very busy with pregnancy-related appointments. We finished up our birthing classes, so now we are fully prepared for labor (or at least as ready as we are going to be). We were given a lot of tools for natural pain management, and we are prepared to labor at home before going to the hospital. We just need to buy a birthing ball. The doula gave us a lot of comfortable positions for me to sit, stand and lay in while I am going through contractions. I feel pretty prepared, but I guess I won't really know until I am actually in labor. Hopefully I still have a few weeks before that happens!

Yesterday, we also went to the midwife for our weekly visit. Yes, now we are in the homestretch with weekly visits. They measured my fundal height (35 1/2 cm, so we are in the "normal" range). The baby's heartbeat is in the 130 beats per minute range, also the "normal" range. I also had my Group Strep B test (not fun, but not terrible either). We will get results next week.

Ryan and I have started packing our bags for the hospital, since we know we could be going at any time. I still need to make a final trip to Target to get some necessities for our bags. Some of the things we are packing are kind of funny...like our "digital fireplace" dvd for pain management/relaxation. I'm just ready to feel a little more settled instead of having my life so up in the air. Hopefully that will come soon...

4 weeks until baby

As of Wednesday, we are 36 weeks pregnant. 37-42 weeks is considered full term, so we are really almost there! However, I think it would be perfect to have this baby on December 2 (my due date). I'm hoping she can hold out until 40 weeks so she doesn't have to share my birthday OR Thanksgiving.

Baby Sugar and Spice apparently weighs almost 6 lbs (the size of a crenshaw melon apparently...if anyone knows what that is). She is definitely head down, and it looks like she is positioning herself in a good spot so she can make her way out easily when the time comes. My midwife has put me on a regiment of Evening Primrose Oil to "ripen" the cervix as well as Red Raspberry Leaf Tea to strengthen the uterus. These supplements should help me to not go too far past my due date and help labor progress more quickly.

Ryan and I began our Parent Education for Childbirth classes last night at Harmony's Family in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver. This is located within walking distance of fabulous Belly Bliss where I had a wonderful pre-natal massage. Regina, the doula teaching our class, has been great so far. Ryan and I ended up with a private class, so all of the attention is focused on us, our needs and our questions. That's very nice!

The class is very geared towards preparing Ryan to be my labor coach. We watched a video about the stages of labor and another video about pain management (IVs and epidurals). After watching the video about pain management, I definitely am hoping to progress without needing medication (since I'm not into needles, catheters and the idea of being tethered to a bed, immobile) but I understand that an epidural is a tool that is available if I need it. We discussed how Ryan can help to keep me in a calm state during my contractions so I can feel positive about them instead of dreading them. If I can keep a positive attitude that the contractions are a good thing (progressing the labor and the baby along), then I think I can handle it.

We also discussed Optimal Fetal Positioning. This is one of the most important things to know about the labor process. If I can do my homework for Optimal Fetal Positioning during weeks 38-40, hopefully baby will be in the right position to progress labor along. We want baby head down with her back towards my tummy. My "homework" is to make sure I spend as much time as possible leaning forward instead of reclining backward to ease her into the optimal position. My pelvic tilt exercises help with this, but I can also do other things like leaning forward while sitting, not propping my feet up and reclining in those last few weeks, sleeping on my (left) side, etc.

Tonight we go back for another class. Looking forward to learning more!

Less than 1 month left

Yesterday was officially our "1 month until baby" date. Due date is December 2, so the countdown really begins now. Can you believe it?

Ryan and I are in the process of completing our nursery. So far, so good. The crib now has sheets and a dust ruffle. No bumper for this baby for safety reasons. Window treatments are up. Ryan got the dresser/changer set up (we ended up buying one after multiple tries, and we are fairly happy with the one we ended up with) after a tough Saturday. We also have the glider/rocker, diaper genie, and some pretty storage boxes.

Since the nursery room is the smallest room in our townhouse (slightly smaller than our guest room), we have squeezed all of the furniture in there that will fit. Luckily, there is still a little storage space in the closet since most of the baby clothes are hanging...so I might be looking for some closet organizers to complete the space. I would love to have a small bookshelf to display all of the children's books we have received, but I have yet to find a nice one that meets the dimensions we are looking for.

I spent part of the day on Sunday hanging art on the nursery walls. I was lucky to find some art that matches our nature/bird theme!

When I have the nursery finished to perfection (or at least my general liking), I will post some pictures. For now, you'll just have to wait and imagine. ;)

Here's a teaser of the fabrics I ordered that my grandma and mom used to make the bedding, window treatments, pillows, etc. It's the Nature-ology collection from Studio e Fabrics.