Another weekend has come and gone...

This weekend started with exciting stuff on Friday. I chopped off all my hair. I have been growing it out for about 2 1/2 years and with prenatal vitamins it had gotten to be about 12 inches long. I wanted my hair short because Guen gets her little fingers around it and pulls so hard and I knew it was only get worse as she got older and stronger. Plus I just needed a change. I decided since I was going so short to also donate it to Locks of Love. Since my parents were still in town, they babysat Guen while I went to get my haircut. So now I have my Michelle Williams wannabe haircut (http://betseyj.com/2009/09/vogue-cover-girl-michelle-williams.html ) now I just need to get me a minivan to complete the mom look. After I got back from the salon, they took off to San Marcos. Guen and I ran to Kohl's to get her a Christmas dress for her photo shoot the next day. I got home and got ready for a night out with the girls. When Ryan got off work I took off to downtown Houston were WHAM (Winter Holiday Art Market http://winterholidayartmarket.com/) was being held. It is a big warehouse where local artists get together and sell their art. It was free and me, Barbie and Sarah all met there and walked around. There was some neat stuff, but I did not buy anything. After that I came straight home because we had to be up early to be at Portrait Innovations for Guen's birth announcement photos/Christmas cards/first family professional photo (hence getting my hair done). We got there at 840am and it was already packed with people that were there to do there xmas photos also. Our time landed right about the time Guen was supposed to eat so the photoshoot did not go very well, she was angry and red in most of the photos. We managed to get the job done that we set out to do, though (will be posting those photos soon). The rest of that day was miserably cold and rainy. So we headed over to Ryan's mom's house to watch some tv and get out of our house. My sister Tootie called and we met for lunch at BJ's and had a good time talking to her. We went back over to Ryan's mom's house and vegged out some more and called it a night early on Saturday. Sunday we went to church and sat in the back since Guen was with us incase she gets fussy we can run out. We did not sit in our usual spot with Ryan's mom in the front. Anywho, church service was almost over and we were singing the last song when there was a commotion in the front of the church. The pastor stopped the singing and said let us all pray for this person being carried out of church that they may feel better, as the person was being carried into the foyer. They finished singing the song after the person was carried out. Ryan said maybe it was his mother. We waited for the hundreds of people to move outta the way and see if we could see Ryan's mom leaving the church but we could not find her. Ryan took off to the foyer where they carried the person out and sure enough it was his mother. The people around her said that she passed out. They placed some oxygen on her and called the ambulance. Ryan took me home and then went up to the ER where they took his mom. His brother and sister went to the hospital also and Ryan's sister had to drop her kids off with me all day for me to watch since her husband was at work. So all of Sunday, me and my niece and nephew and Guen hung out. It was a long day. Ryan's mom was admitted for testing but was released yesterday with no true diagnosis. At least she is feeling better and is at home now. That was my weekend. Here is some random pics of Guen to enjoy.

Big Weekend

This weekend my parents went home for the 2nd time. Ryan and I were by ourselves with Guen and we stayed busy. It was Ryan's 3 day weekend. I will start with Thursday. After my parents left in the morning Guen and I hung out. Ryan's sister called and asked if I wanted to go the JBF (Just Between Friends) baby consignment presale with her. It was being held at our church. When Ryan got off of work he went to work out and we went to the baby consignment sale. It was HUGE!!! I was looking for a jogging stroller. Even though they had 3 of them there, one was $300 which I was not going to pay, one was great but the brakes did not work, and the other one was very ratty. But if anyone was in need of any baby stuff, this was the place to go. They had everything. So I did not get anything but just looked around. Friday, I went walking around my neighborhood and then we all went to the grocery store. After unloading the groceries, Ryan went to work out and I took a nap. That evening we tried something a little different since we were having guest over. We put Guen to bed at 6pm instead of 9pm. She was exhausted from her big day of the grocery store and went straight to sleep. That evening we had the Homers over (Sarah, Chris, and Aaron) and we all had dinner and yummy homemade brownies a la mode that Sarah had made. We all hung out til midnight and Guen still had not woke up. So before I went to bed at 1230am I went ahead and woke her up to feed her and she went right back to sleep. She slept til 5am, woke up fed her and went back to sleep again til 8am. Ryan and I took her for a walk that morning together and then we all got dressed and ventured down to IKEA so I could get some frames for the pics we have taken of Guen and also to look at office furniture. After shopping went headed home and ate a late lunch at Red Onion. She slept through almost our entire outing. That night Guen slept for 6.5 hours in a row. Sunday we got up and all got ready for church. Guen got to wear her Little House on the Prarie dress that was a brand new hand-me-down. I thought it was going to be too big because it was a 6 month outfit but it almost did not button around her neck. Glad we tried it on. Guen was an angel again during church and slept through most of it. We got home, had lunch and went to visit her Lovey at her house. She has never been to Ryan's mom's house even though she lives 4 miles away. I was just excited to go over there and watch tv. In case you did not know, we don't have tv/cable since March so we can save money because tv is such crap anyways. I got to watch some crappy tv of the Kardashian wedding and HGTV and E! my favorites. We had a good time relaxing over there before heading over to Klein high school and watching our nephew Preston in his club football championship game--they won! We only stayed 3 quarters before it was feeding time for Guen and went home that evening. That night Guen got fed at 9pm and went to sleep. She did not wake up til 5am --8 hours later! My baby rocks. Or either she is going through some growth spurt and needs lots of sleep. Either way, I am a very rested mom and feel like I can conquer the world.

My Little Pumpkin

This past weekend was a fun one. Not only did my child continue to sleep 6-6.5 hours through the night but she had her first Halloween. We had two costumes. One, was a hand-me-down Tigger outfit. The other was a baby shower present. It was a "My First Halloween" onesie with a pumpkin bib. I happened to have brown pants and a green hat that went perfectly with it. (see pics) So on Saturday, Ryan and I went to my Mom's Huntwick Halloween Annual Party. It is down a cul-de-sac where the mother set up tents, a blow up jumpy castle, there are games and a margarita machine. Every mom brings a dish and there was tons of food and booze. So the parents have a few adult beverages and food while the kids in their costumes run around like crazy. Then they all get on a trailer and go for a hayride around the neighborhood to trick or treat. Of course Guen is a little small for all the activities but it was fun to meet many of the families. Ryan and I (or should I say, mainly me) noticed there were a lot of hot dads in our neighborhood there. Ryan said there should be a Hot Huntwick Husband Calendar. And I said "heck yeah, there are like, one, two, three, four, five, and you, Ryan would make six hot dads here". Ryan said "I AM NUMBER 6!!! SHOULDN'T I BE NUMBER ONE ON YOUR COUNTING!" We both started laughing about what I said. I guess you had to be there. Anyway, our Guen was a perfect angel (sleeping) during our entire outing until we strolled back home she started to get fussy. When we got home around 730pm, we did not have the lights on at our house because we did not buy any candy, thinking we would be at the party til later. We still had two trick or treaters come to our door. I was so embarassed that we did not have candy that I made my dad answer the door. When my dad answered the door, he told the little trick or treaters that they looked cute but we did not have any candy because we gave all OUR candy to our next door neighbor (who happened to have a table set up at the end of their driveway giving out candy). We all laughed when he did this because we thought these cute little trick or treaters went to our next door neighbors table and said that we gave them our candy to pass out. Why would parents let their little kids go up to a house where all the lights are out to trick or treat? Sunday we went to church and Sunday school and my parents kept Guen, so that was nice not to be on pins and needles during church waiting for Guen to cry. We had a big lunch when we got home with my parents and Ryan's mom and took it easy the rest of the day.

First Weekend Alone...

This past weekend marked the first weekend that Ryan and I were by ourselves with Guen. But it turned out to be a great weekend. Weather wise it was perfect. On Saturday, I took Guen to Olan Mills for a free baby portrait package. Well free is actually $6 for a processing fee. She had her first photoshoot and she did ok. When we got there she was a little rowdy and a crankster. So I fed her again (even though I just fed her before we left the house to go to Olan Mills), she vomitted and then was the perfect baby. I think we got a good photo, we will see when the prints come on Nov 9th! That is right, I have to wait that long for the prints to come back. I did get to see them on the computer after the photoshoot but the lady whizzed through them so quickly, I hope I picked the best one. After that trip, I went home and showered, fed Guen again and then Ryan and I were off to downtown Houston. Guen's first trip to the big city. We met Aaron and Sarah at the Discovery Green Park because it was so pretty outside and had an early dinner at The Lakehouse in the park. We walked around afterwards and saw a wedding going on. It was kinda sad because in the park they were practicing the Thriller dance by Michael Jackson that was supposed to occur nationwide all at the same time that evening in tribute to Halloween/Michael Jackson. Meanwhile the wedding was going on with Thriller music and dance instructions over the loud speaker blaring throughout the park. After our child was the perfect baby (asleep) for 4 hours straight, I was about to pop, so we went over to Aaron and Sarah's house where I got to feed the little one and then we headed home. Ryan, Guen and I got home around 830pm and Ryan and I were discussing on the way home how it felt like we were getting home at 2am, we were that tired. We put Guen to sleep and she slept for 5.5 hours straight that evening, she was pooped too. Sunday we got up early for our first church outing with Guen. We sat in the very back and she did great the entire time except she let out a little peep and I panicked and took her outside. Once outside she did not make another word but I was so scared that she would wake up again that I did not take her back inside. We got through almost our entire sunday school class before having to leave 10 minutes early because she had reached her breaking point. She was going almost 4 hours without eating and she was protesting. We got home and had some lunch and Ryan's mom, Lovey, came over to see the kid. We all went for a walk around the neighborhood to get outta the house and enjoy some more of the delicious weather. That night she slept almost 6 hours in a row. She had a big weekend and was catching up on her sleep. Hope you had a great weekend.

Week 1 and 2 in the life of Guen

I am going to make this a short post and because I don't have much time til the next feeding time, here goes. Week one with Guen consisted of tons of tears with breastfeeding. I would give birth 1000 times than to relive that week again. My milk did not come in til about day 7, took meds to bring in my milk which lead to some horrible side effects of jitteriness and calling the doctor. She lost weight from 8lb 12oz to 8lb 4oz. But at least she did not have an increase in her bilirubin which I was panicked about being a NICU nurse. Week 2 was 1000 times better and consisted of Guen finally getting satiated from breastfeeding and hanging out with family (see pics). This weeks pedi visit consisted of another weigh in. She is now up to 9lb 10oz and did great during her exam and lab work for her newborn screen. Week 2 also started the meal deliveries for us from our Sunday school class and my neighborhood mom's group. We will have meals every day from Oct 19th-Nov 1st. It has been so helpful to have those meals! Yesterday was also a big day because my parents decided to go home for awhile. I don't think they will stay away long but they wanted to give Ryan and I the weekend alone together. They had been in Houston for 1 month! They were here 1 week before waiting for Guen to arrive and today she is 3 weeks old. They were so helpful and will be sorely missed but I gotta figure out how to take care of this baby on my own. Here are some random pics taken these few weeks since her birth.

Baby Guen's Arrival

On Thursday, October 1st, Ryan took off of work to work on the sprinklers and ceiling fan in the baby's bedroom with Grandpa, aka, Pappy, Bill. That evening, after my parents left, Ryan was out working on the sprinklers that still were not working and I noticed that my stomach was hard at times. I just thought it was the baby moving, I mentioned it to Ryan, we went to bed and I slept great that night. The next day, Friday October 2nd, I had my ob/gyn appointment to do an ultrasound and then they decided, since I was over a week due, to do a fetal monitor test. They noticed I was contracting about every 5 minutes. I saw the midwife (covering for my ob/gyn) afterwards and said she would schedule an induction on Tuesday, October 6th, when my doc was back in town. That day I went home and rested and noticed that my stomach got tight still but I was still determined that it was the baby moving and not contractions.

When Ryan got home that evening from work, I had made homemade spaghetti and called it an early night, since Ryan had to work the next day. I went to bed and noticed the “tightening” of my stomach was a little harder. I did not want to wake Ryan since he had to work and still blew it off as the baby moving around in my belly. I kept expecting labor pains to feel like menstrual cramps but now I realize your belly gets tight is what labor pains truly feels like. I tried to time my contractions that evening but drifted in and out of sleep so I never got really a true timing in between contractions.

At midnight I got up to use the restroom when I returned to bed, I thought I was urinating on myself for a brief moment but realized I just urinated so it could not be pee but my water breaking. I woke up Ryan and told him to get me a towel when it really started to gush. I took a shower, fixed my hair, and put on makeup so I would look good for all the pictures. This is when I really noticed labor pains and swayed back and forth when one would come but they were very tolerable. We called my sister, Tootie and my parents who were staying with Tootie and called Ryan’s mom to let them know we were going to the hospital. We got there around 130am. I noticed when there were labor pains at the hospital and did not really talk through them much but again they were still tolerable.

The nurse, Robyn, was very nice and did all my admission paperwork while another nurse started my IV. She checked to see how much I was dilated and I was already 5cm when at the docs office that morning I was 3.5cm. The nurse said I could have an epidural anytime I wanted it, I said the sooner the better. About 20 minutes later, the anesthesiologist Dr Herrera came and placed my epidural. My parents, Tootie and Lovey, Ryan's mom, got to come in briefly and see me before the nurse politely asked them to leave so I could rest before having to push.

At 6am, Robyn came to check on me before she left for her shift and said “oh my we are going to have a baby”. She asked for me to push once for practice and told me to stop because the baby was coming with my one push. She went to call for the doctor. I did not feel anything--I love epidurals. Dr Castillo was on call for the weekend since my ob/gyn was out for the weekend. Because it was shift change when I was about to deliver the baby, Robyn stayed over and Jaime the day shift nurse came to help too. I pushed 6 more times and Guen came out. Again, I did not feel anything. Did I mention that epidurals are great!

They laid Guen (Guendaline Ann Fennell) on my belly and announced, "It's a girl." I was so sure that this baby was going to be a boy I said, “Are you sure?” Dr. Castillo spread her legs and said, “Look!” Guen was pink and crying immediately. They took her to the warmer and cleaned her up and did footprints. Ryan held Guen first and then handed her to me. She was a whale compared to the premies I am used to taking care of in the NICU! She was 8lb 12oz and 19 inches long.

After they cleaned me up, they immediately transferred me in the bed down to the postpartum unit. That is where everyone got to come in and see the baby and see me since giving birth to Guen. We had many visitors that day, and on Sunday (see video). We got discharged Monday afternoon at got home around 3pm. More to come with Week One and finishing up Week Two.

Nursery is Done

We got the plantation shutters put in today, literally one day before my due date. Whew! So I guess that makes our nursery officially done and I finally took the "after" pics of the room tonight. Look back on past blogs to see the "before" to remind yourself, if you want. Notice the fun bedding my friend Sarah made for me--LOVE IT SARAH!!! The baby pics on the wall are of Ryan and I that I found when we were about the same age, in the same pose, with the same ugly 1970's carpet, in different colors, we are leaning against. Weird right? I thought it would be neat to see who the baby looks like. The "G" is either for Guendaline "Guen" Ann Fennell or for Graeber "Grae" John Fennell. We will see any day now.