4 weeks

I'm sorry everyone. I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since one of us posted something. Things have been so hectic lately that we don't seem to be able to do anything but take care of Karissa!! I guess that's the way it is when you have a baby (girl especially). LOL Anyway, please keep lifting up prayers for her. She is only gaining very small bits of weight each time we go to the Dr. It is very frustrating because she seems to be nursing well. We have another Dr's visit on Monday and it is her 1 month wellness checkup. According to our scale she has lost a half ounce since the last visit and that puts her at 5 lbs, 1 1/2 oz; still about 6 oz short of her birth weight. We, of course, are hoping our scale is wrong. Please continue to pray for her and us. Thank you in advance. Have a very merry Christmas everyone!!!

2 weeks old!

Hey everyone! Can you believe Karissa is already 2 weeks old? It is all such a blur with everything that has been going on. I figured, I finally have a few minutes so I should do a new post. Just a warning for everyone in the Sussex County area - all the bad stuff people say about Beebe Medical Center is true. I didn't think it would be that hard with a baby, but the second time we had to go in, it was a stressful mess. We were admitted on the Friday after Thanksgiving as Dave said. We got there around 11am. It was after 7pm until they had the incubator working and if it weren't for Dave checking and realizing it wasn't warm and saying something to a nurse, who knows how much longer Karissa would have been laying there cold because the thing wasn't warm. Then on Saturday, all of the sudden she had a really low temperature reading. The nurse ended up borrowing one of the new thermometers from the labor/delivery floor because it turns out, the one they were using was replaced on the LD floor because it was inaccurate! Then on Sunday a nurse took her temperature using the wrong thermometer and argued with me about it when I pointed it out, called the doctor, made a big deal about it, and made me stress out even more when it wasn't right!!!! So on Monday we thought we would get discharged because the doctor said on Sunday morning we could go home when Karissa maintains her temperature for 24 hours. Monday rolls around and all of the sudden they make a big deal about the color of her dirty diapers. We found out this weekend after feeding Karissa milk that I pumped while in the hospital, that whatever I ate that caused her diapers to be like that, was fed to me at the hospital. I'm glad they didn't keep us longer when it was something at the hospital that was causing it!!! Not to mention, everytime they weighed her they did it differently and got way different numbers so there was really no way to tell if she was gaining or losing weight. Talk about stressful! I've never been so happy to be home! Since being home, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. Thankfully we have more people than we even know praying for us and for Karissa. For the past 24 hours, she has been eating better than ever! She's on a good schedule of every 2 hours and is eating longer so I'm hopeful when we go back to the doctor that she has gained enough weight and the doctor doesn't want us to go back to the hospital. But, in the event that Karissa has lost weight and we need to go back to the hospital, we are refusing to go to Beebe! lol Anyway, sorry for all my venting. Next time I post maybe all of the weight/temperature issues will be in the past!

Update

Well, a lot has happened since Karissa was born. As I said in the last post, we were taking her to the Dr every day since coming home. Well, it all hit a peak on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when her temperature was less than 96 rectally and her Bilirubin level was up to 20. Her Dr said she needed to go to the hospital and be put in an incubator to keep warm while she put on some weight and got her Bilirubin level down by being under a Billie light. So as much as we didn't want her back in the hospital we agreed with the Dr and took her to the hospital. We were there until this past Monday (3 long days). It did help and she was able to stay warm and start regulating her own temperature and her Bilirubin level came down. She actually lost weight while she was there but has been feeding better and has gained weight since she came home. She is definitely a trooper and fighter. We thank God for all He has done and for getting her through these tough days. Here are a few pictures of her on her first Thanksgiving and in the incubator at the hospital. Please continue to pray for her and we appreciate all your prayers already.

BABY!!!!!

I am writing this a couple days late because I was waiting for Megan to be able to post this but she doesn't have the time so I will update everyone. Our darling baby girl was born Saturday evening at 9:47 PM!!! Her name is Karissa Gabrielle Thorp. She weighed 5 lbs, 8 oz. and was 19 inches long. A tiny little girl!! Megan had a very quick and smooth delivery so we are very thankful for that. Since her birth, Karissa struggled to breastfeed and then got jaundice. We have been going to the dr every day to get the level checked. To compound the problem, her temperature won't stay up where it needs to be. Because of these things, we are having to go to the hospital to get the jaundice level checked and then to the dr to check weight and temp so being out all the time isn't helping things to get better. Karissa has started to feed much better since Megan's milk came in so hopefully that will help get everything where it needs to be. Please pray for her and us. Here are a few pictures of her and I have to say, she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!!!

Update

Hello everyone. Well, this morning Megan woke me up saying she thought her water had broke. She had called the DR and he said for her to wait an hour and see if it was still going heavy and if so, go to the hospital. It still was heavy so we left for the hospital around 11:30AM. After we got there and into an exam room they tested the fluid and said it was not amniotic fluid. They decided to check and see if she was dilated and she was 2 cm. She started having mild contractions shortly after we got there but the nurse said they weren't labor contractions. They said for Megan to walk around the hospital for an hour and drink lots of water and come back. We did that and nothing had changed so they called our DR and he said to send us home. There are still conflicting dates because they were saying Megan was 36 1/2 weeks (because of the ultrasound) but our original date says we are 38 weeks tomorrow. Because of that, they say she is not quite term so they wouldn't do anything to bring labor. We have now been home for a little more than an hour and she is having very painful contractions only a few minutes apart. I have a feeling we will be calling the DR shortly and heading back to the hospital possibly. Please pray!!

Not Long Now!!!!

Well, Megan is 37 weeks today!! It seems like time is creeping by but when I think back it seems like only a few days ago that we saw the + sign on the pregnancy test. Our dr. appt. this past week went well. Except for the fact that when we got there, they said we didn't have an appt. scheduled so Megan gave them her appt. card and they called us back a few minutes later. It was the quickest we have ever gotten in. I said hopefully they will forget every time. Our dr. said Ally's head is down and everything is good. After our appt. we were able to tour the hospital and see the rooms and the uncomfortable chair that will be my bed for a night or two. We are now on a weekly schedule of seeing the dr. so our next appt. is Wednesday. Now that the pregnancy is considered full term Megan is hoping Ally comes NOW. Lol, she has had a lot of back pain so she's ready for the pregnancy to be over. Also, yesterday she was having Braxton Hicks contractions all day. (At least I hope that's what they were.) She has all the bags packed and everything ready for the trip to the hospital. Now if it can just happen when I'm home we will be in business. I'll try to get a new picture of Megan on here in the next day or so. C-ya

Getting closer!

Well, we had a doctor's appointment last week and he said Ally's head is down so she's on her way! Only 5 more weeks to go! (Maybe we'll be lucky and it will only be 3 more weeks....lol). I go back next week and after that, I'll be going weekly. We also had our class last week. It wasn't what we were expecting and I'm glad we didn't pay for it, but we at least learned a little. They told me their next class on newborn care will be Dec. 11th and I told them that hopefully, I wouldn't be there. :) Our shower was pretty successful. We had many friends that couldn't make it, but we definitely got some things we needed and gift cards to help us buy the things we still need so we're hoping we should be okay. Dylan (our nephew) was so cute because he saw all the presents and knew his birthday was coming up. My sister had to keep telling him those gifts were for the baby. So then he'd say, "Where is the baby?" And someone would tell him the baby was in my belly. He'd come over to me, give me this sweet look, and say, "Where is the baby?" I'd tell him that she is in my belly and he'd say, "Well...I wanna see it." It was so funny and cute at the same time. Of course, I was thinking "ME TOO!!!" He did the same thing this past Saturday when we went up to celebrate his birthday. One of the things we did at my shower was get predictions about the baby to put in a little book and see who guesses the closest. For those of you that couldn't make it, you can tell us your predictions if you want. We took guesses for the baby's first and middle names, weight, length, and the day and time of birth. On our way up to PA on Saturday, we stopped at the Babies 'R Us in Newark because it is the only one around with a Kiddie Kandids studio in it. When we registered, we were given a coupon for a free maternity picture. You can see one of the pictures, but they all came out pretty good. There's a really cute one of Dave kissing my belly and one where they had us put our hands in a heart on my belly. I was impressed with how good the pics came out because I usually don't have good pictures. So, the agenda this week is to make an appointment to get the car seat inspected, continue shopping for anymore needed items, and of course celebrate Dave's birthday on Thursday!!!! Have a good week!

We're ready!!!!

Well, Ally's room is finished. Technically, not quite....somehow we ended up a little short on the border so we have one small piece that we need to add border to, but other than that, we are ready for Ally. Her room is all set. Dave had decided he wanted to paint the trim. I hate painting so I said it didn't need to be done, but if he wanted to do it, he could. He decided to and I'm glad because it looks really good. I'm also glad he decided to do the border because it is really cute too. So, now all that's left is getting our car seat inspected which we'll do next month, take a class which is next week, tour the hospital hopefully next week, and get any last minute items that we still need. Here are some pics of Dave working hard and the room. My body is also getting ready because I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since August. I'm the type that needs at least 8 hours and right now I'm usually getting 5 or 6 and I'm excited when I get 7 hours! So, I have less than 2 months to get used to even less, but it's already been 2 months and I'm not used to it yet! Lol. By the way, where's everybody at? We're down to only 1 or 2 people still leaving us comments!

Dr Update

I haven't updated lately so I figured it was my turn. Plus our internet at home is pretty much non existent. We had a Dr's appt yesterday and everything is good. Megan has gained a couple more pounds which she isn't happy about and she is now above the weight she wanted to stay below. She stood backwards on the scale so she wouldn't have to see her weight but the nurse pretty much told her anyway. We did find out that the one Dr who is still at our office will be the only one there and that he will be on call and said he would definately be delivering our baby which is good because we both like him. He said our regular due date is Dec 5 but the ultrasound date is the 17th so he said the longest they would let Megan go over would be one week after the 17th so she was thankful about that. He said that 85% of women don't go past their due date which was surprising to me and Megan liked hearing that. So we found out Ally will arrive sometime in December, we don't know much more than that, lol. Megan and I painted Ally's room and Megan loves it. It doesn't matter that I don't like it because since she does, that's all that matters. Hopefully Ally likes it because I'm not painting it again. We will take pictures after the touch ups are done and the wall border is up. As I type this, my sister Leah is in labor and has been for the past 40+ hours. Poor thing is having a rough time. She didn't want to take any pain medication but finally gave in and things have been going better since then. Hopefully I will be an uncle again sometime tonight and we will get to go see him or her this morning. I will be sure and get pictures also. Well, that's all for now. Til next time, peace!! By the way, our first teen Bible Study went great!! Praise the Lord, He is good!!

The Room is getting there!!!!

Well, we have only 2 more things to do to Ally's room. We got our paint so we will be getting that done hopefully this week. We also got wall border that matches our bedding set. Once we have the walls ready, I found a different room arrangement that I think I want to try and the room will be ready!!!! I am posting some pictures so that you can see it. The room hopefully won't be staying in this arrangement because I don't really like the crib where it is, but we'll have to see. I'm keeping my dad busy with projects like converting a desk to a changing table and fixing our mobile (I love our sleigh crib and wouldn't trade it for anything else, but the mobile doesn't fit so my dad's trying to rig it up so that we can still use it). Also, here is a picture of us at my friend's wedding over the weekend. You can somewhat tell I am pregnant when I'm sitting now. lol Everybody has been commenting over the last week that they can finally tell I'm pregnant. However, I actually need to watch my weight because at the rate I'm going, I'll end up gaining more weight than I need to!!! We'll update after our next appointment, which is Wednesday.

Update

Hey everyone. Well, I had another doctor's appointment today. Everything is still looking good. My glucose test came back fine (yea!!! no more blood taken!!!!). I found out as I was leaving that the other female doctor will be leaving the practice in November. This isn't horrible, because I do really like the other doctor that will still be there and so does Dave. But, I'll have to ask at my next appointment if they are planning on getting another doctor or how that will work. One of the things I liked about our doctors was that there were 3 of them so I was pretty much guaranteed that no matter when I went into labor, it would be one of my 3 doctors. Now that we're down to only 1, I don't know what will happen because I'm sure he isn't going to be on call 24/7. I guess I'll find out in 2 weeks when I go back for my next appointment. Also, I thought I'd put up a picture of Dave's hard work. The first picture is of the dresser before, the second is after. We should be getting our bedding set soon so I'll wait to put up pictures of the whole room until we get that. Remember to RSVP to my mom (or you can leave a comment on here) if you are planning on attending my shower and haven't yet. Oh and thanks Kate for sticking up for me after Dave's last blog! lol

Working

Not a whole lot has happened so I just thought I would give a little update on the room situation. I told Megan today that I think we should wait until after Ally arrives to do all this work so she can help. I think she is coming up with excuses because she doesn't want to do any work. Lol Now her reason for not helping is that she says she isn't supposed to be around paint fumes. Hmmm, so let's let Dave die in there breathing all the paint fumes and doing all the work. I sure hope Ally appreciates all the work her daddy did for her room. For some reason, I don't think she will. Oh, I'm painting a dresser that Megan wanted painted. Why does she want a dresser painted? Who knows, it's one of those women things. It does look pretty good though if I have to say so myself. I guess my next project is painting the room but that won't be for awhile. Hopefully we can sell our house before December (let's all pray hard) and then we could paint sooner or somewhere else. Anyway, I agree with what Megan wanted done in the room and I was just teasing with what I said so please don't kill me with your comments. It was all in fun. Well, there isn't much else to say so til next time, c-ya.

"The House That Ruth Built" Will Be Missed

So yesterday was the last baseball game at Yankee Stadium. We had tickets to Saturday's game (we wished we could have gone yesterday, but oh well). I grew up a Phillies fan and was sad to see the Vet go, but the new Citizens Bank Park is really nice too. However, there is nothing like being at Yankee Stadium. I'm not a history person, but there is just so much history that took place there. The stadium is always packed and there's nothing like the energy of being there; no other ball park is the same. We are looking forward to the new stadium next year, but it is kind of sad to see the old one go. There are several traditions that I'm sure will carry over to the new stadium: the "bleacher creatures" yelling out each players' name until the player acknowledges them at the start of each game, the ground crew doing the "YMCA" as they grate the field, Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning, and as much as I hate Metallica, there is nothing like when their "Sandman" song starts and the place goes even more crazy because Mariano Rivera is coming in the game. As Derek Jeter said last night, it is up to the fans to keep the memories alive. I'm sure everybody will. Dave and I have many memories there already and not just the games. The first game he took me to at Yankee Stadium, we went up early and went in to Manhattan.....we ended up walking the whole length of Central Park (not the width, the length). The look on Dave's face when he opened the ticket package I got for him 2 years ago. The nightmare weekend with the curse of the Red Sox, which many of you already heard about and I don't need to relive because that wasn't a good memory. How last year, just about every game we went to we ended up driving through horrible downpours on the NJ Turnpike to get to the stadium and see the sun shining as bright as ever. Sitting in the dugout and seeing the Clubhouse during our stadium tour last winter. The game we went to this past spring when we had just found out that morning that we were pregnant with Ally. Watching Josh Hamilton break a record at the home run derby. Seeing all of the Hall of Fame players and future Hall of Fame players at the All-Star Parade. And of course attending our last game at the stadium, knowing Ally will never get to go to the old one and she will only know the new Yankee Stadium, "The House That Jeter Built," as some are calling it. Here are some pics from Saturday's game and the souvenirs we bought for Ally because we stopped at Modell's and Babies 'R Us since ours don't sell baby girl Yankee stuff. We decided to use some of our flea market money to buy a cute 3 pack of Nike onsies, a onsie with a bib, and we got a little All-star game t-shirt that was on clearance.

Miracle

A miracle happened today so I just thought I would share it with you. Megan had to get blood taken to check for gestational diabetes. The nurse who took the blood only had to insert the needle one time, yup I said ONE time and she got blood. Megan said she doesn't think that has ever happened so we told the nurse that she was a hero and should get a round of applause. I think we find out the results at our next dr's appt. which I think is October 2nd. Today I volunteered to help Megan rearrange Ally's room. MISTAKE!!!!! lol Of course that meant all the furniture had to be moved around and since Megan can't do a lot of lifting that meant I had to do most of it. I have to admit though, the room looks nice and I think Ally will like it and appreciate all of our hard work. Yeah right!! Now I guess I have to paint a dresser and eventually paint the room. (Women and their insisting that everything has to match) I love you honey!!! Now I am changing the subject but we are beginning a Bible Study with our teens in October. Please pray for Megan and I because we have never led a Bible Study so we are both nervous but also excited to see God use us to minister to the teens.

My new favorite song

Even though this song sounds more "folk" like and not my normal type, I love it. I think sometimes I am too immune to others and what they are going through.
Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes from Brandon Heath on Vimeo.

New Pictures

Here are the newest pictures of Megan (and Ally). This is at 27 weeks and 5 days. Enjoy!!

Mark your calendars!

I just wanted to let everyone (well all of the ladies) know that you should be getting baby shower invitations soon. In case we missed anybody when making our guest list, if you are reading this, you are welcome to come! It will be held Saturday, October 25 at 2pm at our church (Sussex County Bible Church). If you need directions or the address, let me know (I believe my mom is putting the address in the invitations for people to Mapquest it or use GPS). Also, if you were accidentally missed and don't get an invitation, please leave a comment or let me know if you plan on coming so that I can RSVP for you. Hope to see everybody there!

Getting ready for Ally!

Well, I have had a busy couple of weeks. I've been clearing out the house to get ready for a flea market day to make money and room in our house. I've been spending a lot of time especially in what will be Ally's room. We are not going to paint the walls until it gets closer (just in case, by some slim chance, we would sell our house), but we're getting everything else ready. My parents got us a crib over the weekend. Our stroller and car seat came on Monday. It turned out to be a different color than it looked online and I love it!!! It's a pretty light and dark teal color combination. And tonight friends of ours brought us a glider and ottoman that they were getting rid of. We are very fortunate to have such great people helping us out! So, I thought I'd send a picture of how her room is looking. Hope you enjoy!

Appt

Hello everyone, Megan is busy getting the house ready for Ally so she hasn't updated our blog with any news so I will do it. We went to the dr. yesterday and were there for about 2 minutes. The dr. said everything is great and he would see us in 4 weeks. Seems like a waste of a drive down there to me but hey, what do I know? There is one thing Megan is not looking forward to and that is she has to have blood work done in a couple weeks to check for gestational diabetes. She hates having blood taken so she is dreading this already. Other than that everything is going well except how much of a mess my house is right now. Lol Megan is getting a bunch of stuff ready to attempt to sell at a flea market to make room for our addition coming in about 3 months. Hopefully she does well because we need the room and we need the money. Well, there isn't much else to say so I'll see ya later. Please leave comments as you all have been slacking lately!!!!!

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