Gabby Day 2

Hello Everyone,

Gabby is just about to be two whole days old this morning. OMG, do we need to be taking her to the DMV yet or what? We had a busy day in the hospital with her. She got to meet the pediatrician and we were told she is doing perfect. It was a little harder to feed yesterday as she was sleepy. We still were able to get her fed every three hours.

Gabby had some blood drawn yesterday from her heel for normal baby tests. We also signed her up for a diabetes study. In which they use blood that is already drawn to check if she may have diabetes later in life. When we registered I listed that I was Catholic. So naturally a priest stopped by yesterday and asked me which parish we attended. I replied, The Buckhead Christian Church since I didn't even know the name of a Catholic Church here. Despite my ignorance he did bless Gabby and me. How special.

By last night she looked a little yellow. So the nurse checked her out and said she has Jaundice intermediate which is the normal level for her to have. The nursery nurse told us that last night Gabby was weighing in at 5lbs 7 ounces. So she was down at little over 7 ounces. The pediatrician told us as long as she doesn't loose more then ten percent of her weight she is okay. If she looses more then we will talk about supplementing.

We put a "just born" onsie on her last night since the hospital issued shirt was swallowing her. She has the longest fingernails but they don't want us to cut them or file them just yet. So we are trying to keep them covered but she like her cousin, Shannon, likes those hands out and by her face. Uncle John and Aunt Moe sent not only Gabby but my mom, Jason and I our Christmas stockings. With lots of great stuff from Gabby's grandpa Winckler. Really neat stuff for her to have. Thanks for being so thoughtful John and Moe.

Gabby had some visitors yesterday. Pat Battey came in again. He works here at the hospital and came to see Jason and I before Gabby was born then was able to come back to meet her after she was born. Stopped in yesterday morning to check on us and to inform us that he and his wife Cindy would be bringing us pizza later last night. Which we would never turn down. Abby Irby came to visit around noon and just couldn't get over how small Gabby was. Karen came over to introduce Gabby to her boyfriend, Mason who was two week old already. They both were sound asleep so not to much interaction just yet. Slow but steady, no touching just googly eyes at one another! Angela stopped by and got to change Gabby's second poopy diaper. As if she doesn't have any diapers to be changing at home. Elizabeth and Sara stopped by and got to hold the sleeping beauty. Last night Cindy and Pat did bring us some pizza and it was so good. Sonia stopped by after her shift to bond with Gabby. It's too bad she is not loved already.

After feeding Gabby at nine we put her in the nursery and had them bring her to the room when it was time to feed. This worked so good for us all as we finally slept. Well, in two hour increments at least but a good solid sleep. I tried to roll Gabby back to the nursery last night but can tell it is too much for me to do with pushing and having had surgery. I am staying on top of taking my meds every four hours! Gabby fed well all night but would also enjoy just laying across me after she was done feeding. It was such amazing bonding time.

She gets her picture taken today. Jason keeps saying he had to sign her first permission slip for her yearbook photo. Too cute. I was told by the nurse this morning to start walking in the hallways and to be out of bed at least every two hours and no pushing of Gabby's little crib. The nursery is right across the hall but still to much work for me right now. We just met with Dr. Roe who is a pediatrician in our practice. He told me that Gabby does have the low to intermediate jaundice still but nothing to worry about. He also said that her hips felt a little clicky today. He said due to her being breech the worry about her hips dislocating or having developmental issues. So they keep an eye on it and if they continue to feel/sound clicky then we will visit an occupational therapist once she is out of the hospital.

That is all for now. I have included some new pictures of our new start. Hope everyone is great.
All our love,

Julie, Jason, Gabby and Grandma Ann

Gabby's first day...

Hello to all,

Just wanted to do a quick little check in on Gabby's first day. It was a great first day truly. She is such a good baby. We are so lucky. Only fussy when Jason changes her diaper. Other then that she really hasn't even cried. She took to breastfeeding right away. She surely likes to eat! Which is great. I feel like we can see her changing right before our eyes. She is already like her dad in that she sneezes at least three times in a row. She has been sneezing a lot trying to get the fluids out of her. She is like her mom in that she is expressive with her eyebrows and either sucks her thumb or has her hand on her face almost at all times. She has been very awake and alert.
Jason and my mom both spent the night at the hospital with Gabby and I. We all took turns burping her and Jason has changed all diapers. He is doing so great. I am so proud of him. He is holding her and changing her with not much fear. I got the catheter out already this morning and the epidural is to come out in about an hour. Whoo hoo. The suture looks great so far and I am not really in much pain. Despite itching from the medicine in the epidural I am just really tired. I have a really hard time staying awake while trying to breastfeed. It is almost like having narcolepsy.
We are now waiting this morning for Gabby to see the pediatrician. She is to make her rounds any time now. Gabby is almost a whole day old. It is so great being parents already! How fun.

Have a wonderful day.

Julie, Jason, Gabby and Grandma Ann

Gabrielle Marie Belknap

We are excited and blessed to announce the arrival of Gabrielle Marie Belknap!

Gabby arrived December 27, 2007, at 8:42 a.m
She weighed in at 5 pounds 15.2 ounces
She is 18.5 inches long

Mom and baby are doing great!! Gabby is already living up to her name.

Attached are a few pictures. We will send more later. Thanks for all your support. We can't wait for everyone to meet her.

All our love,

Julie, Jason and Gabby

Baby Belknap Weeks 35, 36 and 37 Check in

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for not getting this email out sooner but as I was writing this email last week our computer crashed and we lost everything. Now we are back and fully operating. There has been a lot of action happening so here we go...("Ready, OK")

We are on the home stretch!!!! Whoo hoo. I am officially nine months pregnant and counting! I have been to the doctor every week for the past month and will continue weekly throughout the rest of the pregnancy. When I went to the doctor on Wednesday, 11.28.07 I had gained two pounds. So up to a total of 19 pounds. I was still measuring two and a half weeks behind. When I say this, they measure you every week with the tape measure and if you fall within two weeks either behind or ahead you are considered average but there I am just a little behind. I am not sure if I have talked about this before. I believe I have but you know pregnancy brain. I can't remember.

I have been pretty tired but still working a lot. I have been better about not picking up weights for clients and most of my client's make me sit down while I train them as they believe I should still be on bed rest. It is pretty funny actually. I am being mothered all over the place. Then when I am home between client's I have made the effort to just sit or sleep instead of nesting. Which isn't always easy. Still holding strong with my hot tea and cheese cravings as well. Can't get enough that is for sure. Saturday's are my weigh in days and from Wednesday to Saturday I lost a pound. I am not sure how this is possible since I have been eating lots of cheese and even cookies. Yum. My girlfriend, Natascha made me peanut butter and oatmeal cookies in which I ate them all in less then two days. I couldn't help myself.

On Sunday, December 2 my girlfriends, Angela, Carie, and Carmie threw me a baby shower. It was such a beautiful day and so much fun. It was great since it was smaller we all got to sit around and get a lot of not to scary baby talk in. Gabby received lots of great things of course! More pink to freak out Jason.

I went back to the doctor on Friday, December 7 and still holding at 18 pounds gained. The doctor did an ultrasound while I was there since my stomach was so tight she could not feel if the baby was still breech. I would like to say that it was tight from doing crunches but seeing as I have not worked out in six weeks this was not the case. At this appointment I measured three weeks to small. I have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. I notice them whether I am moving around or sitting still. I feel like my stomach can not stretch anymore and believe me I know I am small compared to most other pregnant women at this stage of the game. The ultrasound confirmed that Gabby is still breech and that my amniotic fluid is still low. I was told that normal is around 10 and I was at 8.5 on Friday.
So, with that she gave me some options. Options being, that two doctors can manually flip the baby from the outside. The doctor told me that due to my fluids being low the chances of this working were not very good. Besides most times the baby goes back to where they were. There would also be a chance of tearing the placenta either from the doctors hands moving the baby or the baby tearing it with her hand as she was flipped. Which if this happens I would be put into an emergency C section. The other option was to have a scheduled C section. So, after talking with Jason we opted for the scheduled C section. Our current date for Gabby's arrival is December 27 at noon so long as she doesn't decide to flip on her own. YIKES!

Naturally after receiving this news we called our parents and have moved my mom's flight earlier and momma Sue is scheduled to come down the week after she is born. All of this makes her arrival very real.
Saturday, December 8th Jason and went to a breastfeeding class with our friends Jenny and Josh along with about fifty other pregnant women. Jason was very overwhelmed with the information that we learned. The woman teaching the class told the men they were there to make sure we could remember what to do since we can't remember anything these days. We actually both learned a lot. Good thing we went. This is the only pregnancy related class we have taken and are taking. Later that day my client's hosted my fourth and final baby shower. Again it was a beautiful day. The fun thing about this shower was that everyone had on matching t shirts along with a pillow underneath their shirts so everyone appeared to be pregnant. The fun part was that everyone looked more pregnant that I did. They all chipped in and purchased us the glider/rocking chair for Gabby's room. It is so comfortable and came with great surprise.

After the shower we hit Target and Babies R Us to use our gift cards to get the odds and ends that we had yet to receive. So, I feel pretty good about having everything that we need at this point. I managed to pick up another cold on Sunday afternoon. I tell you I typically do not get sick but have had three colds in the past two months. Not fun. I did not work on Monday, December 10 and lied on the couch all day. It was nice because I typically do not feel the baby move around that much since I am moving all the time. So, with lying around I got to enjoy her moving even though I was sick. In the past two weeks I feel like I can not sit up or stand up tall enough as it feels like she is standing inside my stomach. I have also noticed this week getting full very fast and as I mentioned before my stomach being really tight.

This past week I can tell I can't eat as much. I take a couple of bites of food and I am so full I feel like I can't breathe. Too bad it isn't like this all the time. Sure would help with calorie control. I feel too that I am having a harder time breathing as well as moving. Like I mentioned before I know I am not big but it surely is harder to get up and down. Especially after I have been lying down for awhile. It feels like a lot of pressure when I stand up. I went back to the doctor on December 13th and had put on one pound. Up to 19 pounds. When I weighed in today, Saturday 15th I am down one pound. So wavering betweein 18-19 pounds.

The doctor has me scheduled for my next visit on Wednesday December 19th. I was told that we will have another ultrasound and if Gabby is still breech and if my fluids are still low they may go on an just take her then. I am considered full term, which is 37 weeks on Saturday, December 15th. So, they would be comfortable with her arrival any time after that.
I tell you I am okay with her arriving anytime but sure makes it real when they keep possibly moving up her arrival date. So, since the doctor can't predict what my fluid level will be as of next week I will just plan to keep you all on stand by. My mom plans to fly in on Wednesday just in case there is any action. She is worried about missing out on her arrival so we are happy to have her here early and for Christmas! Next week will be my last week of work. I plan to work through Saturday the 22nd. Jason, Enrique and I spent all day running errands getting last minute things for Gabby. They spent all night putting the rest of the bassinet together along with putting up some blinds. I finally finished putting away the massive amount of clothes she has. We plan to try and get all our loose ends tied up by tomorrow. Along with getting the car seat in as well. This way we can be somewhat ready to go if she does come early.

I have included that www.babycenter.com reports for weeks 35,36 and 37 along with some weekly pictures. Looking forward to Gabby's arrival maybe sooner then later. I sure hope you are all happy with my week 37 photo. I clearly look pregnant!!!!

All our love,

Julie and Jason


Week 35
How your baby's growing:Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Week 36
How your baby's growing:Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Week 37
How your baby's growing: Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.