Julie, Reed

Trying to stay positive

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I know every woman since the beginning of time has felt the same way I feel these days.  Strangely, that doesn’t help me to get out of my own head.  There are still 12 days before Reed is due, but I am literally doing everything in my power to try to get him out early.  At least everything natural and not scary.

Saturday we had the laugh-a-thon with the Shulers.  When my friend Nicole was pregnant she went into labor 19 days early after spending the evening with her in-laws (who are hilarious) and so they kindly hosted Randy and I on Saturday night to try to get the same result.  We laughed a lot, but nothing.

Saturday late night we went to my parents house because my uncle is in town.  He is licensed in homeopathic medicine and has successfully used the accupressure techniques in inducing labor on his own wife.  If none of you have ever done this it is painful!  We went through the routine twice on Saturday night and then three times on Sunday after church.  Nothing.  Not even Braxton-Hicks contractions.

Sunday we went to lunch with Randy’s family to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  I chose Maggiano’s and ate eggplant parmigiano (even though I was terrified I would hate it) and drank a glass of wine.  Nothing.

Sunday afternoon we went for a 2 mile walk.  Nothing.

Last night we went for another 2 mile walk.  Nothing.  Then we decided to try the spicy foods thing, so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  This kid didn’t even blink an eye!!  My mouth was on fire and he just enjoyed every minute of it.  He didn’t even wake me up in the night.  So again, nothing.

The most ridiculous part about all of this is we aren’t even close to his due date, so I didn’t really expect any of it to work.  I was just being optomistic.  I go back to the doctor today and hopefully he will tell me I have started to make progress.  If not, I guess we will stop trying all these silly antics!!  (Except the walking, that’s my favorite time of the day)

All in all I’m still doing fine and trying to stay positive, except when I’m at work.  I closed all of my audits 2 weeks ago and really haven’t had any work to do since then.  These 9 hour days of trying to stay busy so I don’t get stuck with some crappy stressful project that I will never finish before I actually leave is beating me down.  I don’t want to stay home because that would be boring too, so if anyone has any ideas on how I can stay busy and help the time pass I’m all ears!!!

Julie

Julie, Reed

37 Weeks and 2 days…19 days to go

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We went to the doctor this morning.  Blood pressure, good.  Weight, sore subject.  Baby Reed, still a boy!  I had a panic moment this morning that we would go in for the sonogram and they would say he was actually a girl.  It is a terribly long time to wait between the 19 week sonogram and the 37 week sonogram. 

The doctor estimates he is around 6 pounds right now, which is bigger than Randy was at birth, I guess he will take after his mother.  He is head down, but I have made no progress at all.  I don’t think he will be making his appearance anytime soon!!

This past weekend Randy and I finished painting the stripes in Reed’s nursery.  Hopefully we will have time to take and post a few pictures tonight.

Julie, Reed

Month 8 Update

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I feel like I am finally in the home stretch.  Yesterday marked week 35, with 35 days to go.  5 weeks still seems like a lifetime, but I know it will be here before I know it. 

In retrospect I have to admit that this has been a smooth pregnancy with little complication.  However, in the last week my feet have begun swelling to sizes I didn’t know were possible.  Overall my joints seem to be stiff and full of fluid.  I wonder if this is what people with arthritis feel?  Did anyone else go through this weird joint thing?  My mom did, but I always assumed that was because she was a floor nurse who worked 12 hour shifts on her feet all day.  I sit in a cube.  Not really an excuse for me!

At my last Dr. appt on Friday he measured my belly and said baby is definitely growing and will probably be a large baby at birth.  Since I was 9lbs 3oz at birth that doesn’t surprise me (but Randy was only 5lbs 9oz!!!)  My only hope for a small to normal sized baby will be if he decides to come early, which I wouldn’t mind at all!

He moves all the time (except at night, weird).  My favorite part is that I can always find him.  He’s getting so big that no matter where he is in my belly I can always feel a big lump of baby.  For some reason I find that encouraging.

I think the best part so far is that I can still sleep through the night.  If I have to roll over I wake up to do so, but fall right back asleep.  Believe me…I’m enjoying every full night of sleep I have left! 

JB

Events, Julie, Randy, Reed

Concerts & Events

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Baby Baldwin has had quite an exciting life so far.  We have already mentioned all the places he has been, but he’s also been to several concerts too.  So far, he has seen Cory Morrow, Aaron Watson (twice), Wade Bowen, and most recently Pat Green.  After our experience at the Pat Green concert and San Antonio rodeo last Thursday, he might not see any more concerts until after he’s born.  My large pregnant body doesn’t fit into the tiny seats with no leg room so well anymore.

He has also been to a few Spurs games, an Aggie football game and a Silver Stars game.  Somehow I think it was a lot easier to bring him to these events when he was still inside the womb than it will be after he’s born…

JB

Events, Julie, Randy, Reed

Baby Shower II: Couples Gone Wild

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We are a little behind in our updates. Julie and I have each had intense work weeks recently, and we are both brain-drained when we hit the couch at home. Nonetheless, we need to keep you (our loyal readers) up-to-date, so it is only a temporary excuse.

Almost two weeks ago, we had our second of four baby showers. This one was hosted by Julie’s Grandmother, Mom and sisters.  Her family isn’t near as big as mine, so it was a perfect opportunity for them to invite many of their family friends, and for us to invite those friends that don’t fit into “Family” or “Church”, but are still very important and close to us. Julie’s entire immediate family was in on the gig, including Dave, who served up some great snacks from the BBQ pit.

The major difference this time was inviting the guys as well. The first shower was all about the ladies and had all the shower games and such. Julie’s goal for this shower was much less girlie and even less about the gifts. While we still opened the gifts for everyone to see, it was a come-and-go-as-you-please; mostly so the guy’s eyes wouldn’t glaze over and they could escape to stand around the BBQ pit with Dave if they needed to.

It was a blast and the puppies that Julie’s family are trying to sell provided great entertainment outside. Many thanks to her entire family for putting this on. It was fun for everyone… even the guys.

-RB

Events, Julie, Randy, Reed

Baby showers have begun!!

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My first baby shower was this Sunday (Jan. 18).  This shower was thrown by 5 wonderful women in Randy’s family including his sisters, cousin, cousins of his mom, etc.  I want to thank all of those ladies for throwing such a fun shower, so thank you Beverly, Britany, Patty, Debbie and Susan.

I felt so blessed because half of the guest list was from out of town…and they all came!  Randy’s aunts and cousins came from Houston, Natalia and Dallas to celebrate with us.  I didn’t get a headcount of the guests…but there were probably 25 ladies and all of them were Randy’s family members (except Diana, mom and me).  All in all we had a great time and I appreciate everyone celebrating with us and I of course appreciate all the gifts too… 🙂

-Julie

Julie, Reed

Baby Update and Nursery Progress

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I’m going to give you updates on several things all in one post…

Baby Reed is a very active little boy.  I am constantly amazed that each day he continues to get stronger and move more often.  This week he is definitely going through a growth spurt and I am feeling the stretch in my belly.  Since my belly has gotten significantly larger in the last few weeks people have stopped looking at me and wondering if I’m pregnant or not.  They know!

Now that we no longer have to worry about and dote on Shiloh (tear) we have been able to start doing some of the fun things to prepare for baby.  We went to Ikea to buy a bookcase last weekend and finally put it together last night.  We have lots more decorating to do in the nursery, but a few pictures are attached below.  

We have also finally registered.  For anyone that is not already a mom I have to warn you…it is an overwhelming experience.  Registering for the wedding was fun because I already knew about house stuff and what you do and don’t need.  Even though I have lots of friends with babies and grew up in a large family I realized I know nothing about what baby gear you do and don’t need.  So registering was a challenging experience for us (because I like to know everything before I dive into something!)  Tack on top of the general stress the fact that it was Christmas time so all the stores were packed!!  Thankfully, we have finished.  Any of you mommies out there, if I have missed something or registered for something stupid feel free to tell me.  I’m not too proud ot admit I don’t know what I’m doing!  (We registered at Babies R Us and Target)

Finally, showers start next weekend and I am so excited.  I can’t wait to see friends and family that I don’t get to see very often, but more importantly the presence of showers means we are starting the final countdown!  I am at 30 weeks with less than 10 to go.  I can’t wait to meet this kid that keeps pushing me around all day!!

Julie







Events

Shiloh… Sweet Girl

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We’ve started this new year on quite a sad note. Friday we had to put Shiloh down after an aggressive form of cancer spread through her body and began to slow her down. The vet had diagnosed her with Lymphoma back in November and said she might not make it till Christmas. As you can guess, the news was very hard to take, and the reality was setting in that her long and charmed life was coming to an end. After the initial shock and the sorrow had subsided, we realized we had to make the most of the time we had left with her and actually LIVE with her.

She was showing no signs of pain so we did the same routine things we always did with her, like walks in the neighborhood, but we scaled them down so to not tire her out. Julie began giving her table scraps in the kitchen and even cooking small meals for her when the hard dog food was too hard to chew. She was getting the Queen’s treatment for sure!

Throughout the holidays we kept close eyes on her, but she was still the same Shiloh we had always known. With the exception of feeding her differently and not pushing her exercise, nothing was different. We kept hoping to see signs of pain or anything abnormal to know when the time was getting closer.

It wasn’t until just after Christmas that we noticed an irritation when she would paw at her left eye that had swollen a bit. We noticed it earlier this week and had to wait through the New Year’s holiday hours to get in to see the vet. Our gut feeling was that this trip to the vet would be the last, but we stayed optimistic in case the swelling was simply an irritation or allergy.

Luckily, Friday was a day off for Julie in her 9-80 work schedule, and she had the time off already to tend to Shiloh. I went to work and had an errand to run during lunch, and on my way back she called me with tears streaming that it was the worst scenario — the cancer had spread to her eyes and was now affecting her vision. The vet had confirmed what we already knew… it was time.

Shiloh is buried at my parents place, where we have a number of family dogs that we layed to rest. She was a special dog in Julie’s life and I believe it comforted her to know that Shiloh’s body would be taken care of and given a little more special treatment than any dog she has ever had. She was one of a kind and she touched so many people with her precious smile and an innocent nudge with her nose whenever she saw an open hand.

Goodbye, Sweet Girl.

-RB

Holidays, Julie, Randy, Reed

Proud to announce… Reed Matthew Baldwin

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Merry Christmas!!

We have picked today to give Baby Baldwin #1 an official name, Reed Matthew. The name has been circulating for several weeks now amongst our family and friends, but with all the new babies we have visited and announced, I felt the announcement and the title might have been lost in the mix. So I picked our “Christmas post” to make it official.

For those that don’t know, the initials “RMB” have been in my immediate family for 3 generations already. In the Baldwin extended family, all the boys at least begin with an “R” and have various middle initials. I have never wanted a Randy Jr, so the search for boy names started in the Rs and ended in the Ms.

Neither “Reed” or “Matthew” hold any significance in our families. My goal was simple, but distinctively a boy name. Not too trendy, but not old-fashioned. For the longest time, “Ryan” was my first choice, but within the last 3 years we have met a number of Ryans, so it was losing its uniqueness in my mind. To me, “Reed” fits the same mold as “Ryan”, and we’ve had a great response from it. The next challenge was to find an M-name that matched… and Julie picked “Matthew”.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

-RB & JB

ps — After MANY requests, we finally have a belly pic to show everyone!

Other Babies

Mckaylee Jane Nichols

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We’ve had an onslaught of babies this month, as we have already mentioned here before, but not since October have we seen any GIRLS! Today, we went to visit Mark and Jennifer Nichols, the proud new parents of their brand new baby girl, Mckaylee.

She came via c-section on Monday, December 22, 2008 with no complications. She was an average 7.8 lbs and 19 inches long. However, she apparently has freakishly long feet, and is affectionately nicknamed, “Flipper” by Jennifer’s mother. Mother and baby are doing great, but according to Mark, she poops a lot.

For the last few years, the Nichols have coordinated with the Reasonovers to host a spot at the San Antonio Rodeo Kickoff that comes around every January. We had our doubts this year with the arrival of Mckaylee, but Mark never doubted that he would make it happen this year. As it stands now, we are still set for this year and we are looking forward to it again. I’m sure that Mother and child, along with the Mother-to-Be will be hanging out inside the RV while the guys are BBQing and freezing our butts off.

-RB

This “baby stuff” isn’t so hard!!

This