We're Alive!

Hello World, I've been disconnected for a few days now. Okay, not completely, but from the blogging world I've taken a short leave of absence. But all for a great reason!

K.T. is already 10 days old and I feel like the time has flown! To all of those people who have told me that time flies once you have kids, I feel like I can now relate. It seems like next week she'll be playing t-ball and in a month she'll be turning 16 - am I over exaggerating? Maybe, but hormones make you crazy like that.

My baby turned 1 week last Friday!

To all my women friends who have yet to have babies, BE WARNED, the post partum hormones are crazy! Do you hear me? C.R.A.Z.Y. One moment you are same 'ole, same 'ole, the next moment you're crying for no good reason. And to all my women friends who HAVE had babies, thanks a lot for not warning me about this part! Poor Jeff, he's in a lose-lose situation. Actually, I think the worst has passed (first week). Friday I didn't even cry once! Yeah!

K.T. has been such a fantastic baby - I still can't believe she is already here. Jeff and I spend a lot of time just staring at her and enjoying the cute baby noises that she makes. She hardly ever cries, only when she's hungry - oh, and if she gets a bath (not a fan...yet). She's gaining weight, which is the most fantastic part as we had a little trouble last week with eating. But we've established a routine and her appetite seems to be growing every day. I already think she's filled out some.

We have another pediatrician appointment on Friday to do her 2-week follow up (2 weeks?!? *sob* See? Crazy hormones!). I'm sick of doctors appointments. We had about 3 last week and I'm sick of seeing people poke and prod at my baby! :(

Jeff is off another week from work this week - thank God. He's such an awesome Dad, as I knew he would be. He handles a lot of early morning (3am on) feedings so I can get more sleep and he's so natural with her, it's amazing. While we have enjoyed visits from family and friends, my favorite time is when the three of us get to relax together. No worries, just quality time - because once Jeff and I go back to work, we'll miss this time and I realize that. I'm starting to see how people can be Stay-at-Home-Mom's now.... I don't want to leave my baby at daycare (tearing up).

K.T. and Daddy

Well, that's the latest. Hope everyone is doing well! Can someone tell me what day it is? or maybe what's going on in the world? How about the weather?

K.T. Koenig

Well, she's here! A little early, but I know she's mine if she was this "impatient" to get here. Not in the mood to write, so I'll post a pic instead.

Katherine Teal "K.T." Koenig
born
Friday, January 29, 2010
at
12:34pm
via c-section
Weight: 5lbs 11oz
Length: 19 inches

Good Morning, 30. I've been expecting you.

It's here! My 30th birthday. For those of you wondering if I'm freaking out, the answer is no - surprisingly! I've had my freak out - on my way out of my mid-twenties. So I think I'm over that part, which makes the transition into the next decade that much easier.

My twenties were great - I'd be lying if I said I accomplished everything I wanted to do during them, cause the answer is not really. But I've got bigger plans for this next decade. Reference my post from last year.

So bring it 30's - I'm ready and excited for your arrival. I've got big plans for you and I plan on accomplishing all of them - ALL of them do you hear me?! And just to remind myself of exactly what I want to accomplish, I'm reposting my goals for my thirties:

1. Have 2 healthy babies, God-willing, by age 33/34.
2. Stop living with regrets. Put it in the past and move on. It's well past time.
3. Use my passport a minimum of 2 times. Jeff and I will make it to Italy in the next decade.
4. Time for a healthy lifestyle change. Stop using the excuse not too lose weight due to the fact that you'll just gain it back with kids. Ridiculous. And stupid. Lose the weight. And keep it off.
5. KILL the student loans and be fiscally responsible
6. Read more. I'm talking classics, non-fiction, how-to's. Educate myself.
7. Watch less TV. Jeff and I are constantly battling with tv/productivity. Cancel cable if need be.
8. Stop wishing and start becoming the person I want to be
9. Stop comparing myself to others and start living the life I want
10. Buy land
11. Define my career path and stick with my hobbies, never compromising my (or my family's) happiness
12. Always keep the goals in sight and on track
13. Embrace life and live it up
14. Evaluate what was good and what was bad about my twenties
15. Keep my marriage on track, set goals, and keep the magic

The Waiting Game

The showers are over, all major holidays have passed and January 2010 is fixing to roll on by. All milestones in anticipation of K.T. are over, and now it's just a waiting game to see when she'll get here. Take a person who's normally a stressball, add high-blood pressure, add preclampsia, add your typical "holy-geeze-i'm-fixing-to-have-a-baby" anxiety and then add TIME on to that, what do you think that makes? Well, I'll let you pose that question to Jeff as my interpretation is a bit skewed. :)

The bp has been a bit high lately, not going to beat around the bush on that one. The doctor said that it's just going to be more elevated the farther we go in pregnancy. I can't tell you when K.T. is going to get here - as we are a bit in the dark ourselves. I think, at this point, we are just playing things week-by-week, seeing how the bp is doing and how K.T. is reacting to it.

We have another appointment tomorrow and since this week we turn 36 weeks, we're hoping to find out more information. At least a game plan. Do I want K.T. to come early? Yes and No.

Yes, as I'm exhausted. The third trimester has not been my friend, I will admit. My energy levels have been pitiful, my mood swings have been insane and I'm ready to start shedding all of this weight, both the water and the actual pounds gained. I'm tired! And, let's face it, I'm anxious to meet her!

The no is two-fold as well. First and foremost, I want her to bake as long as she needs to to make it out here in this tough world (and hello, can we say cedar pollen?). She's still a little small, hovering somewhere around the 5lb mark I think, right now. So, I want to make sure her lungs are developed, her weight is okay, etc. And if she has to be in there longer, than I'm fine with that! But I'm also scared out of my mind (partially) - hello? I've never raised a baby! I told Jeff the other day, I think the weirdest part is going to be bringing her home and then going "okay, now what?" - let's begin this chapter of our life, now! how crazy is that?

I know this post is mostly rambling, but I just wanted to give an update to those of you who are still reading it! (dont' be shy with the comments) Like I said, we'll know more soon and I'll try to keep everybody as updated as possible!

Until then, I'll try my hardest to RELAX.

I'm Beat

Actually, make that WE are beat. What a fantastic weekend, though - so it was worth every ounce of energy put forth. Jeff's mom, sister and our newest niece, Taylor came in on Friday night for our San Antonio baby shower that was this Saturday. Taylor has grown so much since we have last seen her, and Jenny, you are right, she's looking more and more like you! Just you wait until the hair comes in, I'm betting the resemblance will continue.

Jenny and Taylor Jo

We marked another 'to-do' item off our list on Friday night. Jeff and Debbie painted the bathroom! Thank goodness - as this project was starting to drive me bonkers (you'd understand if you saw how many paint samples were on the wall). We ended up going with a sherbert or butterscotch-ish orange. I like it, I do - but it's ORANGE! Having to get used to it and trying to think of ways to break it up a bit. But overall, I'm pleased!

pretty orangey

On Saturday morning, Jeff and I took a safety/first aid/newborn care class at the hospital. It was about a four hour class, but I'm glad we took if for nothing else, the CPR part was informative. We even got to practice on dolls, that looked more like aliens in my opinion.

alien baby (check out that girl's hair next to me!)

Later that afternoon, we went over to my friend Sarah's house (who is expecting her first baby end of April) for our Couples Baby Shower! The entire event was hosted by my 6 of my closest friends (2 of which are related to me!): Sarah U., Sarah S., Meghan, Ellen, Carilee and Em! Let me just tell you how thankful I am for these guys. I know this was a huge feat as I've got a pretty great group of family and friends in the San Antonio area. It seemed like EVERYONE showed up, and thank you to ALL of you who did. Jeff and I were truly humbled by the turnout and consider each and every one of you a special part of our life and pretty soon a part of K.T.'s life as well!

Hostesses with the Mostesses (??)

Awesome letters made by Calli (love them!)

Kady, K.T. & Katie (love the hair btw, Katie!)

I didn't lift a single finger to click a photo - I left it to my Mom (thanks, Mom!). One things for certain, and I KNOW this, I've got a lot of work to do on the 'ole body once K.T. joins us. Jeff and I actually went looking at jogging strollers today - not sure if I might ask for gift cards for my upcoming birthday to go and purchase one of these bad boys. Sure it's for her to be in, but it's also for me! I've got a bridesmaids dress to fit into at the end of April!

One thing is for certain - I'm ready to pay it forward. We've had such a huge outpouring of support from everyone during this entire pregnancy and I'm ready to do the same for someone else. So let's get crack-a-lackin' on those babies, ladies!

Anyway, last evening my mother-in-law and sister-in-law finished sewing the bumper and blanket for K.T.'s room. A project that has been touched by many hands, including my Mom's and myself. So it was a great group effort from both sides of the family - and I'll be sure and let K.T. know it. It looks great in the crib, don't you think?

bumper and blanket

This morning, Debbie and Jenny left a little early to head back to Houston, and what was supposed to be a rest day, turned into a minor (okay, not soooo minor) outing in which Jeff and I went on a little shopping spree to Target and Babies R Us to buy some items we didn't receive at our shower. Mainly, the diaper champ, changing pad and cover and we needed another car seat base for Jeff's truck.

BUT, I did take it easy this afternoon - we watched movies all afternoon and so-far have had a relaxing evening (although, I am doing some laundry on the side, with Jeff's assistance of course).

Now, all we are waiting for is K.T. to join us. That could be anywhere from 3- 6 weeks - so stay tuned!

Bed Rest, Weekend 1 = FAIL

Well, not total failure, but I didn't "stay still" or really rest to tell you the truth. I know, I know, I'm going to try to work on it, I really am.

Seems like last week I suffered from another bout of insomnia. Two nights I stayed up till well past 1am. Yeah, I was doing work both of those nights, but if I had been "tired" I would of wrapped up shop a lot earlier than that and called it a night, but I had the 'energy' so I went for it. Now my schedule is all screwed up, but I think we're almost back on track. Maybe.

This week is going to be interesting - I am definitely going to try to be available to work. In fact, I already have some work lined up for tomorrow, but nothing too heavy. It's kind of nice to be able to work still, to tell you the truth. It keeps me busy, not that I have a lack of projecs around the house.

This week Jeff is going to finish the bathroom and K.T.'s closet. These two projects have been hanging over our head for a long time now and we need to just get it done. Obviously, I'll be taking a more "supervisory" role in these projects - I'm pretty good at doing that! ha!

And I'm pretty sure I'm entering my "nesting" period (weird saying that) as I'm really wanting to get a lot of little things taken care of (cleaning, washing K.T.'s clothes, some design work I've been wanting to do before she got here, and a whole other list of things). Let's just see how much I actually get done.

I'm also looking forward to my shower this coming weekend! I can't tell you how grateful I am to my friends for hosting this for me - I truly appreciate all the hardwork and effort that has been put into it!

Another One Bites the Dust

Just a quick post to say that Jeff and I, in keeping with my new years resolutions, killed another debt today! Wahoo! Feels so good - I seriously can get a high off of paying off debt. Is that a nerdy thing to say? Who cares. "Another one bit the dust" today! On to the next one - I can't wait to kill it!!

And also, because I'm watching the commercial right now, the FINAL season of LOST premiers February 2nd.... sad and happy all at once.

The Third Trimester

I knew it. I knew that this pregnancy was going waaaay too smooth - in fact, like a pessimist, I was just waiting for that other shoe to drop. And drop it has, though it's not all that bad really.

Yesterday, my doctor swung by for a visit to check in on me. While my 24-hour *ahem* sample came back okay, overall my blood pressure readings were still high - so, the prescription came in:

BED REST

Le Sigh.

We're not talking kick my feet up in the bed all day, all night. We're talking stay at home, don't travel too far from home, light exertion, etc. I asked if yoga was okay, and after raising an eyebrow and asking me what types of moves we do, I convinced her to let me at least try. Thank goodness... you can't take away my social time with other prego ladies! It's just not right! Jeff can't handle all these complaints (just kidding.... sorta).

Fortunately, I'm able to do some work from home. Modern technology is so awesome. I just connect through the VPN and voila, there's my desktop and everything - I can even use the communicator to chat with everyone back at the office. I know, this has been around for awhile, but at least I'm finally on the bandwagon. And did I mention that I'm so happy to finally have CS4? Makes my life so much easier.

I plan on showing my company that they can count on me so that I can at least bring some income in during this time out and show them why they need to hire me full time after K.T. :) What? I'm competitive, it's not a bad thing.

I'm going to realllllly try to relax - I realize it's not my forte. In fact, relaxing sometimes makes my blood pressure rise more than actually doing something. For example, my bro asked me the other day to picture what it is that can make me relax and he through out a beach. I have got to tell you, just ask Jeff when we went to the Bahamas, how crazy the thought of lying out on the beach makes me. I can't do it - it's one of the worse activities I can think of. So now, 99% of you think I'm crazy, but at least you can see my end.

I think I could go for snow, cozy fire, blanket and warm drink as relaxing.... too bad I'm too far from snow.

Anyway, back to the point, I'm going to really try to relax and listen to my body. If I need to take a nap, take a nap. If the house isn't clean for one day *cringe*, then okay, fine, I need to make do *swallow*.

My doctor also mentioned that if we can't get the blood pressure under control, then our precious K.T. may be joinging us a bit earlier than we expected, possibly as early as 37 weeks, which is FOUR weeks away from today. I'm excited and nervous at the thought!

With this in mind, she prescribed me two steroid shots that will help develop K.T.'s lungs a little faster. I received the first dose yesterday and Jeff and I had to go back to the hospital this morning to get the second injection. I hope it does the trick. My main concern is that when she does get here, she'll be healthy! Please, Lord.

So that's where we are at right now. Trying to find the balance and get through the next four to seven weeks! I'll have some added time on my hands, my friends, so I'm sure there weill be more updates! Stay tuned.

Oh, and I forgot one of the most important details, I think K.T. finally FLIPPED! We had a quick sonogram yesterday while in the hospital and the doctor found her head down low - wahoo!