Happy Birthday to you. . . .

I know it's been forever since I've posted but the Barkelews have been a little busy. All 6 of us! She's finally here. July 9th at 12:02 p.m. Sarah Katherine aka Sarah Kate was born. She weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 20 in long. Here's the story. . . . .

On Thursday night we checked in at the Women's Pavillion at Methodist Germantown at 9pm. After somehow going from 3cm the week before to no centimeters the previous Tuesday, we decided to start the induction with cervadil. They were very busy that night so it was around 1am by the time we got settled in a room and got the medicine from pharmacy. I woke up contracting by 3 and started pitocin at 7. My doctor came in and broke my water at 9. I was handling contractions pretty well up to this point. We talked to the anesthesiologist after we got into our room who advised us that an epidural would be fine this time around. Although I was apprehensive, I decided to go ahead and get it at 5cm. I could no longer talk through my contractions and I feared a long labor once again. They just went a little higher in my back to avoid scar tissue from previous spinal taps and it worked perfectly. As soon as the pain subsided, I realized that I had a TON of pressure and warned my nurse that my last two babies were born in the bed! 15 minutes later I was 8cm and in no time I was complete and dying to push. They held her head in till my doctor made it across the parking lot and 2 pushes later she was born! It was so easy. Epidurals are FABULOUS! After 3 grueling, excruciating labors, this one was awesome!

She is a beautiful, perfect, healthy girl who looks just like her daddy. We are so in love with her. I can't even find the words to describe how wonderful her daddy has been. I'm so proud of him and love him even more. Her big brothers and sister have been the biggest help and just adore her. We are so blessed. Our family finally feels complete!

The Nursery

FINALLY! The nursery is done! Last week, the custom bumper and curtains I ordered finally arrived after what seemed like forever. Although the wait seemed unbearable, (okay, so maybe that's being a little dramatic), they were well worth it because both pieces turned out just beautiful!


So this is Max who is solely responsible for my daughter having a room taken over by sock monkeys. I saw him at Walmart while Christmas shopping and thought how cute he'd be in a little boy's nursery. Then after finding the pre-made bedding online, I decided, boy or girl, that he or she would have to have sock monkeys! The little rocking chair he's sitting in was my hubby's when he was little. It matches my not so favorite cradle that I would show you, however, IT'S STILL NOT FINISHED! Almost though. We should pick it up tomorrow. Whew!






This is the chest of drawers obviously. Funny, I just realized I used to call them chester drawers when I was little. The chest and dresser were mine from a bedroom suit my parents bought me at an antique flea market when I was 14. Using these pieces was the compromise I made with hubby in order to get the crib I wanted. On top is the first sock monkey I actually bought and the Jack in the Box or Monkey in the Box, I guess, which still scares me, I must admit. It sits on top of this great keepsake box I found at Old Town Hall. The picture hanging on the wall is of two lady sock monkeys with jewelery and lipstick. Too cute! The odd colored bobble head figures are my children's contribution to the nursery and more precious than words even though they don't match.

This is the dresser/ changing table. I painted the letters and the bow holder and also the tray for the wipes and powder. It's hard to see, but there is a little sock monkey candy jar that holds cotton balls and q-tips. It's the first gift I received for the baby. My friend Tori found it at Cracker Barrel of all places right after I decided on sock monkeys. She also got me a super cute monkey night light. Funny they had sock monkeys in their Christmas decor this year. The hamper took me forever to find and just has a trim of the matching fabric pinned on the front with a sock monkey applique, again, found on Etsy. ( Thanks, Amy!)

This is one of my favorite parts. We got this great leather rocker/ recliner at Ashley when I was barley pregnant. It's super comfy and will be great for nursing with all the traffic in my house. It doesn't swivel but that's okay. I also painted the shelf and hanging rack above it. It's got a smocked doll dress from The Freckled Frog, a willow tree prayer angel, a mini sock monkey (Etsy again) and some other cute stuff. See where we are gettin overrun with monkeys at this point??? I think my mother hates it and won't say to spare my feelings! I actually sewed the lampshade cover myself. Not well, if you flip it over, but it's pretty cute from a distance. I even painted the curtain rod and brackets and capped the ends with tennis balls covered in fabric. . . my mom's idea.

This of course is the crib. I love it. Her quilt is hanging over the back. She won't be able to use it till she's 5 seeing as how it's HUGE. The lady that made it for me kind of had her own ideas on size and pattern. It was a favor from a friend's mom so I didn't complain. It was quite a nerve wracking process however. The good news is that it is beautifully sewn and SK will be able to use it for years. I think it is probably big enough to fit a twin bed! I love the way her name turned out on the wall. I enlarged the embroidery off one of the diaper bags and transferred it to the wall. My mom painted the letters and we had a lady from Munford come paint the design. I've since decided that I could've also done that part myself too seeing as how she used the exact images I printed and transferred them with carbon paper just like I did the name. I had wanted a similar vine running all through the letters but I'm pretty happy with it anyway.

So that's my baby girl's nursery. Finally complete. The only thing still "in the works" is that I haven't found a rug I just love yet. The one in front of the crib is a little $4 woven rug I found at Big Lots and it just happened to be red, brown, and cream. I figured it would do till I found one I wanted. I've had lots of fun and a little stress putting this room together and I'm pretty happy with the finished product. I can't wait to bring my baby girl home next week to see it!

Ohhhh, yes, that's right. I haven't posted that, huh? I am going in for an elective induction on the 9th. Not exactly what I had planned but the pain of pitocin and no epidural is welcomed at this point if it will get me out of these 12 hr work nights! Although, I was 3cm on Monday and lost my plug later that night (sorry if that's tmi but I figure we're all girls) so I'm really hoping she will decide to come on her own in the next 8 days! Wish me luck!

Family Fun

So last week was our little "mini-vacation". We decided just to go spend a few days at the lake house seeing as how taking a big trip at this point in my pregnancy was neither affordable nor sensible. Justin and the kids drove up on Sunday and I joined them on Monday after I got off work and had a little nap. It was a nice break, although there were a few obstacles. . . .

We knew the AC was "out" the week before and decided we would just take the window unit out of our bedroom and tough it out. Hubby's step-dad pointed out that the windows at the "cabin", which is actually a double-wide trailor, wouldn't hold a window unit. The neighborhood fix it guy was supposed to be coming to fix it anyway so we decided to go on. Apparantly Sunday night was unbearable, so hubby and the kids went and bought a window unit from Wally World and rigged it up in the sliding glass door, duct tape and all! Unfortunately, it did not help much. It was still 80 deg in the house. Knowing me like he does and especially now, hubby decided not to tell me that the parts for the air had not come in! I may have stayed home! I guess you might as well say we were camping cause it was almost as hot inside as it was outside. Ever tried to sleep 8 months pregnant in a house that's 80 degrees??? Thank the Lord that the parts came in and we had AC after getting off the boat on Tuesday!

The AC was not the only problem we encountered. Hubby had to replace the carborator on the boat Tues morning before we could go out. Come to find out, after an hour on the lake Monday, the boat died and he had to ask someone to tow him back to the dock! This is apparantly a terribly embarassing thing for him. Must be a man thing. We just had to laugh about it but I think he was gonna crack if one more thing broke!

After everything got repaired, we ended up having a great time. Chloe has really learned to swim well since last summer and didn't even need her Scooby Doo doggie life jacket and my baby girl started learning to water ski! I was so proud of her. She got almost completely up on the first try. I would never have had the guts at 11 to even try. Then on Wednesday, my sis in law and niece came up and went to out on the lake with us. We did some tubing- I'll have to post some pics if I remember. And then we hit Fat Daddy's for lunch. It's a floating restaraunt on the TN River in Dover. Sarah Kate now has her very first Fat Daddy's t-shirt! It's super cute. We just couldn't resist!

Gripes!

It's okay to gripe here, right? lol So things aren't going very smoothly this week. The nursery curtains I was expecting came in (now let me say I have been trying to get these curtains since the 25th of March) with the WRONG fabric. That's right! The wrong fabric. How in the world does one confuse polka dots with red monkeys???? Please tell me. I just about cried. When I called the very old, senile lady, she said, "Well, that's the number I wrote down". So even if you wrote down the wrong number, wouldn't you notice that monkeys were NOT polka dots??? She and I got on the same website at the same time to pick out my fabric to avoid any confusion. Guess that backfired. This is a little lady that runs a shop in a little town outside of Murfreesboro. Hubby was there for a class and bought me a sock monkey pillow while he was killing time. So he brings this lady's card and tells me she has curtains too. YAY! Or so I'm thinking. Not only did she use the wrong fabric, but the seamwork was just atrocious. I could've done better myself and I don't sew! Sooo, Lesson: Don't trust hubby's opinion of one's seamwork!

My bumper is being made by a lady I found on Etsy. After I emailed her wanting a shipping date, she tells me that she is running about two weeks late! Aggghhhhh! Doesn't she know that I desperately need these curtains hanging up two months ahead of time??? lol I relunctantly ordered my curtains from her after rereading lots of wonderful reviews. All say, "worth the wait" so I guess she stays behind. She has bought herself some time by holding my bumper hostage and shipping both pieces together. She did give me a date of June 7th though, so I'm trying to be strong! Ohhhh, how crazy I have become! Hopefully, they will be worth the wait!

Thirdly, what is thing where pregnant women work? Holy cow, 12 hours has never seemd so long! I just want to cry every morning when I finally get off. I can't imagine, at this point, working up until my due date. I guess I have officially become a wuss. I am whiny and obnoxiously emotional. My poor hubby and kids. I must say, they are doing pretty good with my crazy behavior. But 7 weeks seems like forever right now! For all of us!

In the home stretch!

Well, we are officially in the single digits. Nine weeks to go and counting. And boy am I counting. Things have actually been going well, but I am starting to get pretty uncomfortable and feel like I could knock down the Eiffel Tower with this belly! No weight gain at my last visit! YAY! I was super excited about that although I'm not sure why I didn't gain. I guess my eating has slowed quite a bit. Guess I'm running out of room in there! SK was 3 lbs during an "under the table" ultrasound from a friend 2 weeks ago. That's just a little above average I think so hopefully my lessened appetite will prevent her from being HUGE! My boys were both close to 9lbs. Everything looks good so far. She even has little fat cheeks and I can tell she's gonna favor her big sister!

The nursery is almost there. I can't wait till it's finished. I had a lady come out and add some detail to the name my mom and I painted above the crib and I'm pretty happy with it. My curtains should be in the mail tomorrow and my bumper should be ready any day now. I got a couple of cute pics to frame off Etsy and some other little nick nacks to finish things up. I need a hamper and wastebasket still and a cute rug for the middle of the floor and I think that will be it! I have really had fun with the sock monkeys. I hope I don't tire of them quickly after all this work!

Hubby started stripping the dreaded cradle today and it went well. Yay! I had just about decided not to use it until a family gathering on Mother's Day where I was informed that half the family slept in that cradle. Even second cousins! SIGH!!!!! So I'm stuck with it. I did discover that they make metal spray paint that we can use on the hardware since it seems impossible to find. I'm also still in need of a new mattress. Apparantly, size 14" by 33" isn't a common cradle size! I'm hoping it will turn out well. Now I just have to get on the ball and find some bedding.

I must say that the closer it gets, the more scared I get. That "amnesia" that the dear Lord gives us is starting to wear off and I am remembering the long, painful labors of the years before. I am truly considering wussing out and risking the epidural. lol My doc this time isn't totally against it so we'll see. She says to talk with the anesthesiologist as soon as we check in and get his/her opinion. Sooo, we'll see.

All in all, life is good. I know I am truly blessed. I know that the Lord loves me althoughI don't always act like I should. I have a healthy family, a healthy baby on the way, a nice, DRY home, a good, stable job, and food on our dinner table every night. What more can a girl ask for?

Cankles and Cradles

So I'm happy to report that my cankles seem to have subsided for now. I had about a week of REdicuous swelling, and now, MUCH better. I dunno??? I'm not going to question, just enjoy while I can. It has also been brought to my attention that I have not gotten heartburn yet this time around! Yay! I lived on Pepcid with my other pregnancies so I guess right now, I'm feelin pretty blessed. I'm going to be blessed tomorrow with that yummy glucola drink for my glucose tolerance test. I must say I'm super exited about that! At least I get to hear baby girl's sweet heartbeat. That's always reassuring even though I have constant reminders that she must be okay every time she punches me in the ribs! I LOVE it!
On a less happy note, things aren't going quite the way I expected and looked forward to with the furniture. The MIL gave us hubby's old cradle and rocking chair. Yes, that means that they are near 30 years old and a bit worn looking. I took them both to my mom's house about a month ago in hopes of refinishing them together with my parents. I love the memories of working on my nursery projects with my parents so many years ago and was hoping to do the same for this baby. So Saturday after I woke up, I went to their house to try and get started on things. My schedule isn't exactly conducive to productivity on the weekends, but I made the effort. My dad glued the joints of the rocker while I did some sanding and before you know it I was packing everything up in my truck and going home. It was kinda late but I didn't get the feeling that anyone else was quite as excited about these projects as I was. I certainly don't want to be a burden. I checked into having someone redo the cradle. It's a light oak color which matches nothing in my house and is a Jenny Lind style which is probably my least favorite style of baby furniture not to mention difficult to refinish bc of the many spindles. It's going to cost twice what I would pay to buy a brand new one to refinish it. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'd rather just buy one I actually like, but then we have hurt feelings to deal with! Aggghhhhhh. I guess at this point, the best option is for hubby and I to research and take a stab at doing it ourselves. Sighhhhh.

Milestone!

Okay so Saturday was a BIG milestone for baby SK and I. I'm officially 24 weeks or 6months. Wow, SIX months. Doesn't that sound BIG??? Boy I sure feel big this week. Apparently along with my big milestone comes big changes in my pregnancy. On the positive note, SK is FINALLY moving. A LOT! YAYYYYYY! I've been just dying to feel her little movements for weeks and have been disappointed that I was only able to feel slight flutters. My OB started asking me if I was feeling her move at 16 weeks and I think it was about 20 weeks before I was able to feel any significant movement. But finally, this week, baby SK is moving like crazy. I can even see her moving which is too cool. She definitely lets me know if how I'm sitting is bothering her. I had my arm resting on my belly last night at dinner and she got to kickin' like crazy till I moved it. I think our little one is gong to be a feisty girl!
Since I did say that was on the positive, yes, that means there is a negative. Yesterday, I went to the last hour of the Baby Expo and hit a few other stores before meeting hubby and the boys for dinner. By the time nightfall hit, I looked down and I had CANKLES. Already!! At 6 months. What's this? I have not had any swelling out of the ordinary and have been feeling pretty good up to this point. Cankles so bad that I had to stop in at Old Navy for a pair of flip flops to continue my shopping trip. Along with the cankles, also came a fierce aching low back. I'm sure this is a good sign that in the last 4 weeks, my already atrocious weight gain has gotten worse. Ahhhhh, the joys of pregnancy. The memories started flooding back! LOL
Another positive, the nursery is looking super adorable. I got my bed skirt in and changing pad cover. Ordered up some girly curtains and found someone to make a super cute bumper pad for the crib. My quilt top is complete and I've had it embroidered. With the exception of one fabric that I DID NOT choose, I do love it so far. I have painted a wooden shelf and an ABC block to look kinda aged, gotten some cute vintage pictures of the sock monkey to frame, and am working on a cover for the lamp shade. People say I'm obsessed but I'm having lots of fun. Thinking back, I did the same for my other babies so I couldn't do any less for this sweet girl!