Just had to post these cuit picks. Keegan is now 4 months but these were his 3 month picks.










I am amazed every day at how quickly they grow up.

Lylli is in preschool and just finished a week of VBS. Keegan is holding his head up pretty well and roled over for the first time yesterday. It's the begining of the end - lol

Just finished watching the 'last' or latest episode of Chuck. Was thoroughly entertained and amused by it and really hope that it does not get canceled because some talk show is being added to the late night line up. Oh well.

Now I am waiting for Keegan to go to sleep ... he isn't ... what does he want!!!! He is dry, fed, I gave him his anti-gas stuff and tried to get all the bubbles out. What else is there on the 'putting the baby to sleep' list?? OOhhhh ... for the love of marbles - now he has the hiccups. perhaps the 3rd time today and who can sleep when they have the hiccups?

Well, where to start telling my birth story.

Keegan Edward is here born on Tuesday April 7th at 7:26am
Keegan is Galic for 'the fiery one' and Edward is my Grandpas middle name

I was supposed to be induced on Tuesday March 31st but I had an Amnio the day before just to double check his lungs because Lylli had had difficulty with her lungs when she was born and had to spend 10 days in the NICU. The tests came back showing that his lungs weren't ready yet so we had to wait another week. * SIGH * ..
During that week I asked for and received the steroid shots that speed up lung development. One of those things that can only help and doesn't have any adverse side effects.

So Monday the 6th we went in to the hospital after they called us in the afternoon and got things started. We got there around 5 and by around 6:30 or 7 I had my IV and Pitocin going. I started out at 3cm -no contractions- and was dilating REALLY slow ... Around 2am they gave me my Epidural (I think I was 4 to 5) and 3am they broke my water which got things moving a little faster. 5am I was at 7cm and 5:30 was 9cm with just a 'rim' left.
Basically I was very close to pushing. So we make the call to everyone who wanted to be in the room that it was time.
Well the Dr. decided that this was a great time to go into Sx with a csection so they make me 'wait' to push for what seemed like FOREVER!!!!!! My epidural was working great - in fact it was the best one I had gotten so far - I could move my legs around for most of the birth even without feeling the pain. But the 'pain' of having to push is something completely different. My whole body was telling me to push while the nurse kept telling me to stop pushing and relax . . . Yea, not a really happy time for me - That must have kept up for at least 45 minutes or so until the Dr finally came in and everything was set up. They had given me a boost in my iv to try to keep me from feeling the urge to push but that didn't help at all.
During the past few hours the baby's heart rate kept dropping during contractions as well. But since they went back up after the contractions then the nurses just gave me Oxygen for a while and kept me moving from side to side. They also put some fluid back inside of me to try to cushion the baby a bit - don't think that helped much either.
Once I started pushing it only took me about 25 minutes before he was born - but it was another difficult 25 minutes. When he finally came out he had the cord around his neck 3 times AND he also came out hand first ... I really don't know what this says about his future.
I was vaguely aware of things going on around me - the Dr calling for the nic-U when she saw his hand then canceling that call when he was fine. Phil cutting the cord. Him crying for the first time - a strange sound/feeling. Like this noise was coming from somewhere else cause it wasn't part of the normal background noise. Then they put him on my belly and I got to really look at him and realize that he was real.
He did well getting dried off and had good color right away. He stayed with us in the delivery room for over an hour and I got to nurse him right away. It was 10 before I got out of that room up to the recovery room and got some breakfast and just after 11 before they brought him to the room.
I got to keep him with me as much as I wanted. At night I had them take him to the nursery and bring him in for his feedings which was nice cause then I wasn't waking up every 15 minutes thinking that I heard him moving ...
All this was a very normal birth and hospital stay which is what I really wanted after my past two hospital stay/experiences. A good note to end my child bearing years on :)

This song keeps playing - or I keep hearing it and I really like it ... even though I've heard it about 8 times today :)

Do you hear me,
Talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair

Though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

Ok, let me see if I can get some picks up here.












Besides completely sleep deprived (which I got used to these past couple of months) I feel really good. Probably still running on adrenalin ...
My next 'project' is to find Lylli's new born picks and scan those cause they look so much alike!! Except that her hair was a tad bit darker

I am finally home with baby and soo tired but so happy :D

Keegan Edward was born Tuesday am 7:26. 21 inches 8lb and 1oz

I have picks but just have to download them.
He is doing very well and eats very well. When he sleeps he sleeps well.
Food is here and I am hungry so I will write more later - maby.

Tomorrow sometime will be the big day ... Mixed feelings about this stage of my life being over but I am SOOOOOO ready to not be so big anymore. I will try to post picks when I can.

Today has been good :D

The house is pretty much all ready for Baby and the rooms are all clean and organized - for the most part. There are of course little details to see to like arranging the babies room and then Rearranging it again, some laundry and then trying to keep the house clean. Phil's parents and uncle were here all day today cleaning and arranging and when I got back from my families baby shower even our bedroom was nearing cleanliness. I feel rather calm about waiting for the baby to get here - maby it has something to do with the perfect weather we are having now. Or maby it is just a be calm about waiting or going insane with anxiety issue. All I need to get now is my rocker/glider and I am set for this little guy. Sigh ... so tired right now but still so happy.

So .. no baby this week :) and :(,,,

Right now we are scheduled for an amnio on the 30th of this month then if that is fine we will go for an induction on the 31st. It is only about 11 days away but it seems like forever as well. Today is my last day at work so next week I should be able to concentrate on the house. Phil's parents have been great helping us get the house clean and organized, it DEFF wouldn't look as good as it does now if it weren't for them. Last week they got us a nice desk and desk hutch to put in the sitting room and we got rid of two of the book shelves and the long chair (well, put that one downstairs and got rid of the older couch). There is a LOT more room now and it looks a lot more roomy and clean. We also got Lylli's room almost finished but all organized - just have to finish her curtains which I got the materiel for the other day.
I am really trying to enjoy these last days of being pregnant but the past week and a half I haven't really been able to sleep hardly at all. Last night I got 3 broken hours of sleep before starting my daily 'duties'. At least I can still take him to work with me and I don't have to worry that he is being to fussy or something or that I will have to leave to get him cause he is sick ...
Lylli is still excited about her baby brothers imminent arrival.


Pick taken today, just like if he were wrapped up in a blanket with just his chubby cheeks, eyes and nose sticking out. He is estimated to be around 7lb and 10 ounces which would still put him above the 90th%. . . . as long as he his healthy.

Well, baby boy looks and sounds good again this week :) woot. The only concern this week is that he has turned breach!! The whole 30 something weeks he has been head down and now at the beginning of the 34th week he decides to flip!!! Of course my Dr. felt the obligation to inform me that if he didn't turn that it would be an automatic C - section. NOT something that I really want to seriously consider.
But he is still doing well, moving well and I am not having any contractions yet :) Every time I go into the Dr's she moves the 'due/induction' date on me. Last week we had unofficially set the date as March 27th but today she said that she had scheduled an amneo for the 30th to make sure his lungs were ready. I know that it is a difference of only a weekend and as long as he is safe and doing well that all is ok but still just a little frustrating. I just have to remember that the whole point is to deliver a healthy baby that will come home with me instead of me having to leave him at the hospital. Just more time for me to get his room ready :P

http://www.abcrn.com/harvey/

Did anyone else hear about Paul Harvey's passing the other weekend? The only reason that I even knew to look was a quick note on the radio sometime this weekend. Was I the only one that used to listen to him at home ever week?

So it looks like I have developed Gestational Diabetes. Not a severe case requiring insulin but they hope I can control my numbers with just diet and exercize. Of all the things that could go wrong this isn't that bad but it still makes me anxious thinking that there is 'something' not right. At least I can control the outcome by what I eat and drink - so I don't feel completely helpless, although I will REALLY miss all my junk food!!
(making me hungry just thinking about all the food I'm not supposed to eat) .. guaghhh
In talking with my mom this afternoon I found out that she could also have had GD and not known about it cause I was a large baby - 9 plus pounds and for the past 30 years I thought I had just been 8lb something... Large babies are a possible 'side-effect' of GD if not kept in check.
Wonder what it would be like to have a normal pregnancy .. prolly pretty boring

It was a good weekend :) Saturday Katy came over and we went to various craft stores and just browsed - been a long time since I have done that. After she left Pam came over and we drove around for a while looking for a Sally's store then we joined up with Phil and went to supper then watched 'Yes Man' with Jim Carey. Very FUNNY!!!! I don't remember laughing so hard in a long time let alone in a theater.

On a side note - I hadn't been sleeping well at all the past week and I may have figured out why. I started eating several pieces of Dove chocolates a day last week and I think those were affecting me somehow. So yesterday I resisted the urge to eat those and slept better - not well, just better.

I know it's winter - but snow??







Lylli LOVED the snow when we went outside this morning and I could tell she just wanted to flop down in the 2 cm of snow and cover herself in the glorious white stuff. As it was I kept handing her little balls that I was picking off of the car while we were driving. Guess there really is a little magic in winter time.

Went to the Dr today and had my ultrasound and regular checkup. Everything looks great!! :D yeaaa
It IS a boy - so something there to be said about mothers intuition



If you use your imagination just a little - here is his foot which is just 3 cm long ... so cuit. Yes, I am tottaly biased.



Here he is in profile - his mouth kept moving and with his hand so close to his mouth he was probbly sucking his finger.

The ultrasound confirmed that he is around 18 to 19 weeks and about 10 ounces. I can't explain how wonderful it is to 'know' so much about him only half way through the pregnancy *happy sigh*

This weekend should be interesting - Lylli and I are going to KC with Phil's parents for the KC Christmas get together. Lylli has a sniffley nose and I am really hoping that it doesn't become something worse!!

I went to the dentist today for my routine cleaning and checkup (which is apparently very important during pregnancy) and now my gums are are sore and I have a pounding headache from the thoural cleaning. I suppose it's better than just having a subpar job done.
I found out something that I may have known before and forgotten (not that I do that allot or anything ... hahaaa) But the dental hygienist stressed in her 'flossing speech' that there are studies that have been done linking gum/tooth bacteria to premature labor. So I bought the baby it's first present - an electronic toothbrush. Anything I can do to keep this one in until it's supposed to be born!!

We had a great weekend. Lylli's b-day party was yesterday and she had lots of fun with everyone there. Although she was getting frustrated having to put down all of these really kewl presents to just open some more presents that she couldn't play with. Her 'haul' included books, puzzles, cloths, cd player, playdough, tri-cycle, a dress she has been asking for, more books. Now comes my job of finding space for all this stuff which means getting rid of allot of her other toys. Need to do that before Christmas anyway.
Saturday was very peaceful as Phil was gone with Lylli all day - so I got to finish sewing Lylli's dress and make the cupcakes for her bday. It was nice to get to finish a project or two in one day without countless interruptions and distractions.
Saturday night Phil and I went on a date - by ourselves, the first time in a very long time!! After dinner we went to see Max Pane (sp?). While the movie pretty much sucked it did have some kewl imagery of the main character embracing his demons.
I've come to the conclusion that no mater how much sleep I get I will always feel exhausted - so much for the second trimester energy boost. This friday I have my next Dr.s apt and ultrasound :) We still think it'll be a boy - so we shall see

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus [or community] organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

-- Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC

So a few of you know of my phobia about swimming in rivers and lakes cause you never know what could be in there.
Last night on Monster Quest they described how bull sharks could reboot their bodies to thrive in fresh water!!!
In the 30's a bull shark was even caught in Alton IL - how close is that to St. Louis!!!!!!!!

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/exclusives/if2105_IllinoisShark/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

Seriously people ... you don't know what's in there!!!!

It has finally warmed up here!! We had just enough freezing temps to make me really appreciate the nice 60 degree weather for the next few days.

Today has been pretty good. I woke up this morning to the birds chirping and the sun shining in my eyes while I thought ... whaatttt is this??? I lazed there for 5 minutes until Lyllian woke up then we did our morning stuff. It was very laid back and relaxing and before I took Lylli to my parents I stopped by the court house and FINALLY got the final paperwork taken care of for my Notary. Wohooo - a little thing really but something that I have had hanging over my head for a while.

When I got home I cleaned up just a little bit of the mess that has been accumulating in our house the past month or so AND got the fish tank cleaned!! It is no longer green ...

Now i sit here at work happy to be making money while wasting away the hours putzing around on the computer.

AAaahhhh ... life is good - today

Today ... I feel good :)
I have to announce this to everyone cause I can't really remember the last time that I didn't have to drag myself around to get things done. It May be the beginning of my second trimester energy burst or just a random good day - whatever - I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Lyllian is growing up and amazing me every day with little things that she does. She is becoming quite an expert at puzzles as she has mastered the 12 piece ones that I got her a few months ago. Potty training is .. well .. it is going. Right now I'm wondering how the overnight 'thing' is supposed to work. If she works at it she can manage to stay dry for a few hours during the day but part of her bedtime routine involves milk and water. So restricting those will be very difficult!
She also loves to dress up and has an absolutely adorable butterfly outfit for Halloween but she has been asking me for a 'moose hide dress'. It's a dress that she has seen in a book at my parents, so I will attempt to make something resembling it maby for her b-day or christmas. Oohhh ... and I'm trying to figure out what to do for her birthday. Looks like it May be Care Bear themed ... if the plates are still on sale at FCO by the time I get there ...

Have you ever been extremely proud and revolted at the same time?
This morning I left Lyllian on her little potty in her room (she sometimes does better with more privacy) to go to the bathroom myself. I returned to the room while she excitedly proclaimed 'STINKY, STINKY'. I kind of expected one or two small terds Not the whole small cowpie that greeted me. Needless to say it took me a few minutes to gather the courage to go near the area while still praising Lyllian for her momentous achievement. Since introducing sticker rewards to potty training we have been seeing a lot more results - which in this case is great.
Today I started talking with her about the new baby and how it needs to stay in mommy until it grows enough to come out. She kept nodding wisely and took great interest in the different ultrasound picks and I had a 'child' book on babies and pregnancy that had a lot of kewl picks.

Archon was pretty kewl this year. Well it was different from previous years cause I couldn't get shitfaced or dance until the way early morning. It was great to see people we hadn't seen in a few years cause almost no one was there last year. (World Con ... you suck ass!!)
As usual the end of the con has left me inspired to create a sensational outfit for next year. Something that would draw the eye to the workmanship, not my post pregnancy body. I already have 4 or 5 projects that I need to complete before I get started on something new though.
Just hope that as I enter my second trimester that my energy level goes up (less than 6 months to go .. Yeaaaa )