Birth Announcement

Lillian Claire

I know I have been very bad about not posting.  I almost have my routine down (managing 2 toddlers, a newborn, laundry, meals, etc.) to where I can update on a regular basis now.  Our amazing photographer, Erica Hartzog, photographed Lillian and posted some pictures for us as a "sneak peek."  She does amazing work if anyone would like to use her. 

Big Sissies, Meet Little Sissy

Allie and Olivia met Lillian today. This was the most special moment of our lives other than any of them being born. My Mom stuck by my side over night while Justin went home to sleep after working the night before and being up for 30+ hours. Justin got up Friday morning with the girls and got them ready for the day. As soon as Mary Ann got to the house at 7, he picked us up breakfast and headed to the hospital. Justin's parents picked up Mary Ann and the girls and got to the hospital around 10. We were so excited about this. We have been preparing for this since the day we found out Lillian was coming. It was awesome.

They walked in and saw me sitting in the rocker with Lillian, aka the "boppy." We are trying to say baby better but it's too cute the way they say it. Allie immediately walked over and saw Lillian and put her finger to her mouth and said, "shhhh, boppy night, night." It was the most adorable thing ever. Olivia was a little more stand-offish. I showed them how to kiss baby sister but they weren't ready for that yet. Before they left today, the girls warmed up to Lillian and were very interested in her, especially when she started crying before it was time for her to eat. They watched Mrs. Darlene change Lillian's diaper in amazement. Before they left, we gave them each a present. We gave them new "lovies." These are their animal blankets. Their old ones are WORN slap out. They were very excited and are getting barbies tomorrow when we get home.

We are so ready to go home and are thrilled at how well Lillian is doing. Thank you all for your phone calls, flowers, cards, prayers, visits, and emails. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. A special thanks to our families for helping us with the girls while Mommy and Daddy can't be there with them. Another special thanks to Mary Ann for working overtime and keeping our beautiful Allie and Olivia.

We are hopefully being discharged Saturday afternoon and will be able to go home to our own bed and be together as a family. stay tuned for pictures!

Surprise! Lillian Claire Armstrong is here!

We have had a very rough week this week.  We kept this very quiet this past week, other than informing immediate family.  It all started Monday (Jan. 30) when I went to the doctor for my 38 week check up.  A normal start the the day with the girls and a normal day in the life of a teacher.  I first off noticed that Lillian was not moving very much throughout the day.  I just thought it was because she has run out of room to move.  When my nurse, Tracy, called me back to her station I went through the normal routine:  Went to the restroom, got on the scale (FUN!), checked my bp, and answered the normal questions. 

• Are you having any problems?
• Any contractions?
• Bleeding?
• Are you feeling the baby move?

I answered all of the questions and passed my check-up with flying colors.  I told Tracy about the decrease in movement and she told Dr. G.  I moved back to the room and waited for Dr. G.  When he came in, we chatted like we normally do and he asked me about the decrease in her movement.  I laid back and he got out the Doppler to check her heart beat.  He had trouble finding her heart beat at first.  He told me that it could be the fluid that was "obstructing" the sound.  He moved it all around.  He could hear something but it was not consistent enough or clear enough.  Dr. G and I think on the same page all the time, so when I watched him as he listened for her heartbeat, it bothered me.  Though, he was trying to keep me calm and assured, I was still not satisfied.  I got up and went with him to his office.  He told me that he wanted me to go over to maternity eval and get hooked up to the monitor for them to get a better reading of her heart rate and beat.  He is amazing.  He not only made all of the arrangements personally (which his nurse normally does), but he called over there into my room and checked in on me after his shift was over.  I am so lucky to have him as a friend and doctor. 

Anyway, after I got there, I called Justin to meet me there.  He left the girls in the care of our wonderful nanny, Mary Ann, and rushed to my side.  A long enough story later, the doctor on call did not do what Dr. G thought she should have done.  Dr. G called me at home that night to tell me that.  What doctor does that?  Like I said, I am so lucky to have him as a friend and doctor.  He told me that she has an arrhythmia and wants to get a better look at her heart rate, beat, chambers, etc.  This is the first we have ever heard of anything like this with her.  So, the next day my nurse calls me to tell me we are scheduled to go to the Sacred Heart Hospital Perinatal Unit in Destin asap.  We got the closest appointment which was yesterday at 9:30 this morning. 

After they did the ultrasound and found everything to be normal, the doctor informed us of the good news. Then came the shocker. He told us that my amniotic fluid was too low to go any longer and we were to deliver TODAY! Luckily Dr. g was on call and we rushed back to Dothan, grabbed our things, and headed to the hospital.

Lillian Claire Armstrong was born at 3:33 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs, 4 oz, and 20 inches long. She is doing great and is healthy as can be. She has 100 percent oxygen saturation, scored 9 and 10 on her Apgar scales, and her murmur is slowing going away. She is nursing like a champ and has not wanted to stop eating yet. We are so very blessed and want to thank our families for rushing down here without even skipping a beat.

Also, I want to thank our very special nurse, Andrea. She stuck my my side when I called her to tell her we were coming in today. Andrea was our child birth teacher with the girls ans has remained a close friend ever since.

Needless to say, it has been a rough week of waiting, praying, and not knowing what to expect.  Please pray that everything continues to go smoothly.

Pictures coming soon! Stay tuned..................

18 Months and a False Alarm

First things first.  Allie and Olivia are approaching 19 months old.  WOW! Time has flown.  They went for their 18 month check up today and here are their stats:

Allie
Height: 34 1/8 inches
Weight: 26 lbs
Head: 46 cm

Olivia
Height:  35 inches
Weight: 28 lbs
Head:  47 cm

A few other exciting milestones and accomplishments both girls can do:

• Color like crazy
• Climb like a mountain climber on EVERYTHING!!!
• Eat with forks and spoons
• Hop over things while screaming "HOP!"
• Speak in very well put together sentences
• Identify certain colors
• Identify certain animals
• Identify sounds with the animals
• Dance like its going out of style
• Find certain body parts on themselves and mommy and daddy (i.e. belly button, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc.)
• Climb in and out of the car by themselves AND climb in and out of their car seats!!!! Thank the LORD!!!!!
• And much, much more

These may seem trivial or small to some of you but to mommy and daddy it means that we are doing something right! We cannot take all of the credit, though.  Our nanny, Mary Ann, is our life savor.  She spends all day with the girls and teaches them so much.  We couldn't make it through the day without her.  We love her SO much and so do the girls.  She has taught Allie and Olivia so much in the past 18 months and has been my 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th hand around here. 


NEXT............................
We had a bit of a scare/false alarm today.  Last night Justin had to work so I went to bed early (around 9).  I laid in bed with so much discomfort that I could not fall asleep.  It took me hours to finally go to sleep, but that sleep was not deep at all.  I texted Justin and told him how I was in pain.  He gave me some words of encouragement and made me feel better.  I awoke this morning just feeling........well, more than uncomfortable.  I ran through the morning routine like I always do but this time I felt worse than ever.  I chalked it up to stress, lack of sleep, a long weekend, work today, and two toddlers ready to start the day. 

I got to work and it was a typical day in the life of a teacher.  I taught, made parent phone calls, graded papers, broke up a fight and a half, taught some more, and then after lunch came my last class............MATH.  All students' favorite subject, right?  I had been having constant pain every 10-20 minutes with sweating and everything else that goes along with braxton hicks.  I got my aid to cover my class while I waddled/quickly walked to my Principals office.  Got the okay to leave and jetted out the door to pick up Justin and got to the doctor.  We weren't scheduled til 4:00 today but he wanted me to come in anyway.  Since we were early today, we didn't get our ultrasound because the rooms were all full.  Maybe next week.  Anyway, Dr. G checked to see if I was dilated.  He said I wasn't even close, but I am having REAL contractions.  UGH!!!! He called me in some meds and ordered me to rest from work for a few days.  I took the meds and said "yeah right" to the rest from work thing. 

Even though I am at ease knowing that Lillian won't be coming tonight or hopefully before Feb. 10th, I did realize how much I am behind on certain things.  I have been working on those things tonight and plan to finish getting everything ready before the weekend approaches.  Please pray that we will make it until Feb.10th.  I am very ready to meet this spunky gal but want her to be as healthy as she can be at the same time for her due date. 

Lillian Claire's Baby Shower

Our wonderful family and friends threw Lillian and me a shower this weekend to celebrate her arrival in just 3 very short weeks.  The shower was beautiful, the company was wonderful, and the presents were amazing.  Thank you to my Sister-in-Law (Mallory), Mother-in-Law (Darlene), my Mom, and Mrs. Indyia for everything this weekend.  We appreciate everything you all have done and continue to do.  Below are some pictures from this weekend. 

We are done with Lillian's nursery (I'll post pictures soon).  The only thing left is to hang a picture frame and for some reason I can't ever remember to do it.  It is hard to believe that we will have three cribs in our house at one time.  I am very eager to meet this Prissy little girl.  She is very active and is very ready to meet the world.  We go back to the doctor tomorrow for my 37 week check-up and will continue to go weekly now.  We are going to get an ultrasound tomorrow to see how big Miss Lillian is and get an estimate of how big she will be on February 10th!!!. 

Stay tuned for weekly updates on Lillian Claire. 

My wonderful Sister, Whitney and me

Beautiful

Too Cute for Allie and Olivia

Allie and Olivia have matching blankets with their initials