By Popular Demand...

Lots and lots of pictures!


Tummy time!


My three men.


Dun, da, da, da...Superman!


First stroller ride with Mamma and Daddy.


He's so cute in this sweat shirt and blue jeans :)


Tuckered out on Daddy's shoulder.


Wide awake in his car seat.


Getting some exercise in his bumbo chair.


Hehe...this is what we call the perfect picture capture!

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

First night home, so tired!


This is my favorite face of his, though you can't really get the full affect here. It's his stretchy face.

Awwww, does this really need any caption?


2 Weeks old!


Superman pose! He loves to sleep like this.

2 Weeks Old...Already!

My oh my, how fast the first 2 weeks has gone by. Perhaps because my nights and days are all one big blur? We are starting to get the hang of this whole "parents" thing, the evidence is in the pediatrician's visit today. For his 2 week checkup, Colin has gained back all the weight he lost in the hospital, plus one ounce, so he is up to 7 pounds 1 ounce, and he has grown in length from 19.1 inches at birth to 20.5 inches today. His jaundice is all but gone and the doctor was very pleased with how healthy he looked. All in all, good news!

I developed a little infection over the weekend and have been on antibiotics, but am feeling better now. Brad went back to work on Monday so I've been taking the 3rd shift with Colin and letting Brad get some good sleep, a solid 7 or 8 hours a night. Everything is all working out great, we are trying to get a bedtime routine established to help Colin sleep better at night (and Mommy!), we start that tomorrow. This new routine means he will no longer be sleeping with us, as he has been the first 2 weeks, he'll be in his own crib now. This makes me a little sad, but was recommended by the doc, so I know it's best.

We know there are tons of friends, family and co-workers who are dying to see little Colin, but our doctor doesn't like newborns to go out in public until they receive their immunizations, which is 2 months old. Being the over-protective, hyper-sensitive new parents that we are, we are going to respect that and keep him locked up (accept for the family Christmas outing) until his immunizations are complete in January. Until then, I hope all the pictures I post on here will help.

I also have a special little treat for you all: a never-before-seen film of Colin's first taste of fresh air. This is a film that Daddy accidentally captured on our digital camera in the operating room, you can hear little Colin saying hi and the nurse announcing his birth weight.




The photos will be posted Thursday or Friday.

Thank you to all for the well wishes, cards, flowers and love you have bestowed upon us in the past 2 weeks. We know Colin is loved by so many, he is such a blessing to us all!

We'd also like to say a special thank you to Great Gramma Birdelle and Gramma and Grandpa Baker, who have been nice enough to bring us dinner several times since we can't get out, and have babysit a couple of times already while we ran to the store.

Welcome Colin

I apologize for not posting sooner, but I'm sure you'll all understand why in just a moment. We had an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment on Wednesday November 28. We had the ultrasound done first, and we were told how great little Colin looked and well developed he seemed to be, but there was one small problem. My amniotic fluid level had dropped from 15 cm the previous week to only 4 cm that week. This was a sign that my placenta was reaching it's expiration date and Colin was in "distress mode" meaning though he was perfectly healthy at that point he had shut down his kidneys to help keep the supply of blood to his heart and brain going strong. We told the doctor we had a c-section scheduled for the following Wednesday and he said, "Well, I was thinking more like this Wednesday." Brad and I looked at each other in shock and both said "Like, TODAY?" The doctor left to call my OB and get his opinion and Brad and I immediately started freaking out thinking of all the things we had not gotten done around the house and for little Colin. I had so much work to do!

We went directly from the ultrasound appointment to Labor and Delivery. I had to wait until 9 p.m. because we had to wait 8 hours after I had eaten anything. So, 6 hours after leaving the doctor's office, at 9:38 p.m. on Wednesday November 28, 2007 little Colin Travis Baker was born into our lives and our hearts. Luckily the doctors were right and he was perfectly healthy, despite being born 3 weeks and 2 days early. He had great AGAP scores and a perfectly healthy set of lungs, he cried for the first hour solid after he was born. We think he got it all out of his system then though, because in his first week (holy cow he's already a week old!) he's been a very content and well behaved little guy. Don't get me wrong, he'll let you know when he needs or wants something. He was 7 pounds even and 19.1 inches long. He has dark blue eyes and the whitest hair. Everyone jokes he has Grampa Frank's hair style because he is pretty much bald on top then has longer hair on the sides and back of his head. I can say without a doubt that he is in fact the cutest baby ever, hands down (sorry Nolan).

We came home on Sunday, both of us doing well. Colin had the slightest case of jaundice, but he's an eater now that he has some of mom's milk and got the majority of it out of his system pretty quickly. Speaking of eating, we've been working on breast feeding and after a few speed bumps he's been doing really well with it. He isn't quite eating all he needs directly from me yet, so we are still having to pump and supplement with milk from a bottle. He is gaining weight back already though. He had dropped to 6.5 pounds in the hospital and he is already back up to 6.10 pounds, so he's doing great.

Mommy is doing well too. I'm moving around pretty nicely, still have just a little pain around the incision and in my back. My energy has come back nicely though and the three of us are getting into a little more of a routine. I've even already lost all of my pregnancy weight. Yay!

Brad has taken off work for the week and has been such a blessing the past few days. He is taking great care of Colin and I. Everyone kept telling us that our lives were going to change and never be the same once Colin got here. All I can say to that is, "Thank God." I don't ever want to go back to life without Colin here. As I told Brad yesterday, as of 9:38 p.m. on November 28, 2007 he had literally made every dream I ever had come true. I love them both more than words can express.

1 Week Later...

We had our 35 week doctor's appointment last Friday and learned that Colin still has not turned, my blood pressure was also back up and therefor our doctor has decided to schedule a c-section a couple of weeks early. We aren't worried about him coming a little early, he's already pretty big. He actually was on course to be a 9 pound baby if we let him go full term, as it stands he'll probably be around 8 pounds on his birthday, December 5, 2007. It's a Wednesday and the surgery is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. And for the record, no one guessed the 5th, but Gramma Kathy was closest with the 7th.

My doctor also wants me to go in for weekly ultrasounds and to see me in his office weekly until the big day (which is only 2 weeks away!). I go in tomorrow for this week's ultrasound. Then my doctors appointments will be on Wednesdays.

We also moved in to our new home last Friday. The kitchen isn't done, and probably won't be until late December/early January, and there is still a couple of other rooms that need work, but we needed to get in. As it stands, I have 2 weeks to unpack and get as settled as possible before Colin gets here.

We took the weekend to unpack as much as possible and we managed to get the crib put together and the nursery almost done! I've been working on getting all of Colin's clothes and blankets washed and ready for him. Speaking of washing we also got a new washer and dryer, which I'm in love with, I've been wanting front loading machines for awhile and Brad finally caved in! We got the LG Front Loading SteamFresh washer and dryer.

As for me, I've finally started to swell a little in my hands and feet, I think it's from all the activity. I had to remove my wedding rings this morning, and almost couldn't get them off! I'm still off the nausea medication and doing well. The doc recommended a new medicine for the horrible heartburn, Prilosec, and I've been taking that for 3 days now and seem to be doing much better. Yay! My weight gain is just around 17 pounds now.

Baker Update

Sorry for not posting yesterday, I was at the new house all day and really didn't have time. Things are moving faster now, we are moving in "officially" in 1 week. Yesterday the blinds were installed, the painting was finished, 2 new doors were installed, and the electrical got a lot of work done. Oh, and I got all the animal trains re-hung in Colin's nursery.

Last night Gramma and Grandpa Baker came over and helped us move 3 car loads of boxes into the new house. The plan is to move boxes and smaller furniture items every night this week and finish hanging all the light fixtures and smoke detectors. Then we're having the house cleaned next Wednesday and the movers will move all the bigger furniture items on Thursday, so we will spend our first night in the new house next Thursday. Don't worry, I'm not lifting anything over 5 pounds, my job is to feed the crew and guide the boxes to the right rooms. I'm also pretty busy during the days just keeping up with the last minute construction details going on at the house.

As for Colin, we've been doing our Breech exercises in hopes he'll turn. He's been really active and just generally getting bigger. I've been dealing with more and more heartburn, an aching back and my tiredness has come back in full force. I slept 12 hours last night! If I don't get a full nights sleep I've been taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoons. I've also stopped taking the medicine for the morning sickness (finally!) and have been okay so far.

A little excitement

I apologize for not getting a post up yesterday, we had a little bit of excitement yesterday afternoon. About 3 o'clock yesterday I was sitting on the couch and got an intense pain all the way around my upper back and upper belly. At first I thought it might have been bad indigestion, so I tried Tums and tried to lay down. Unfortunately, the pain intensified to the point I couldn't breath very well, I couldn't lay down and I couldn't sit up, I could only stand. I called the doctor and the nurse told me to go to the hospital immediately, to labor and delivery. She said it probably wasn't pregnancy related because it was my upper body, but if I was having problems breathing I should go. So I called Brad at work and told him. I drove up to Brad's work and we went to the hospital. Fortunately, by the time I got to Brad, I was feeling almost 100% better. We went to the hospital anyway, just to make sure everything was okay. They checked my vitals and Colin's and everything appeared to be good. The doctor came in and said that it could have been the muscles around my ribs spasming from stretching to make room for baby, which in turn can cause pressure on my lungs. They were still pretty concerned about my blood pressure so still want me to take it and track it everyday.

I have a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment this afternoon, I'll post about it later today.

32 Weeks, 3 Days

How close we are getting! And how big Colin is getting! He's at least 5 pounds by now, and I can definitely tell. He FEELS bigger in my belly, I can only imagine how it's going to be in a few more weeks. I'm getting bigger everyday I think! I've been feeling better, which is nice, though heartburn and back pain are my two foes right now.

Sadly, there has been no word on Crazy. We handed out 200 fliers last Friday and Saturday in hopes a neighbor might have seen him. We also handed out fliers to the local vet's offices. Everyone has been very encouraging not to give up hope, but it is hard to know what to do. Obviously we don't want to give up hope that he may come home, but at the same time we can't live with all the sadness and anxiety that a lot of hope brings. So, we've decided to focus on all the wonderful things we have in our lives and just be grateful, not only for those things, but for the time we did have with Crazy. What makes it harder is how sad Henry has been. He lost his best friend, and you can tell. He sits outside on the wall behind the flower bed and just stares out at the forest behind the house, and he stays in bed (literally) all day. He's even lost a little weight because he isn't eating like he used to.

On a brighter note, the house is coming along very nicely. Hopefully by the end of this week much of the work that we'd hoped would be done before we moved in should be done. We hope to be completely moved in and actually living there by the middle of November. I'll also post some pictures soon.

This weekend we have 2 of our 3 birthing classes. I'll give more on that later.

29 Weeks

I know it's kitty week, but I did actually have something to talk about today, so I'm interrupting kitty week to give an update on the Bakers.

Today was a first for mommy and Colin. I was sitting on the couch about 15 minutes after eating my first breakfast (yes, I said FIRST) and Colin started bouncing around, as he usually does after I eat, and this time, I could SEE him moving around, like little waves in my tummy. So you can definitely tell the kid is getting bigger, I'm guessing he's around 3 and a half to 4 pounds by now.

We also got good news today, our contractor, David, contacted us and told us he hired an additional crew so he could get started on our place right away, instead of another 2 or 3 weeks! So this means, our new house's upstairs floor should be painted by this time next week, then we can get the carpet installed and they'll get the downstairs painted within 2 weeks from now! Exciting stuff! I was really getting nervous about being in the house before Colin decides to make his grand entrance. Now that seems more realistic.

As for me, I've had a not-so-great week health wise. I'm getting bigger, which brings more aches and pains, like my back, and my nausea came back with a vengeance this week. I'm feeling much better today though.

Last night Brad's company had their first football game and even though their "coach/quarterback" was out sick, and everyone was nervous, they went out, had a great game and won! Brad had a lot of fun and looked good on the field! A lot of his co-workers kept saying how good I looked, which was nice to hear after such a hard week.

1 Year Ago Today

We were standing on a beach at sunset, with our closest friends and family surrounding us, pledging a vow of love, devotion, understanding, and honesty. It has been an amazing first year for us as husband and wife. We've shared so much, not only between the two of us, but also combining our two loving families.

Brad, thank you for a wonderful first year as your wife.

I love you.

I told you he's good to me

Brad had football practice last night after work, and apparently saw my post when he checked his email after practice, I didn't think he would! So he stopped on his way home last night and surprised me with that chocolate pie I'd been craving. I had 2 slices last night :) SO GOOD.



I'd also like to wish Kathy and Frank a Happy Anniversary. They have spent 26 loving years together, and their love and devotion to each other is beautiful to witness.

Cravings...

I haven't had very many "cravings" with this pregnancy...but the past couple of days, I can't seem to stop thinking about this great chocolate cream pie we had on Frank's birthday. I almost even bought one yesterday when I was at the grocery store...but I'd have to buy a whole pie and I'm trying to be supportive of Brad who is trying to loose weight. So...to buy the pie or not to buy the pie...that is the question.

Spoke Too Soon

I think I jinxed myself with my post last night. Tonight as we were eating dinner, I got sick halfway through. So much for that...

Tomorrow is a happy day though, sonogram day! yay!

Baker Update

Just wanted to give a general update on the 3 of us. First, we got our estimates in on the work for the new house, luckily it came in with a number our budget can handle. The time frame is a little more than we'd hoped for, but it is doable at least. I just don't want to wait too long in case Colin decides to make his grand entrance early (which I'm hoping he doesn't).

As for me, I'm finally starting to feel better, the nausea is almost gone, and the heartburn/indigestion isn't quite as bad. I'm starting to get a little more uncomfortable as I get a little bigger. Brad has been really accommodating though, he's taking good care of me, even shaving my legs (the bigger belly makes it hard to bend over). When he's not bending over to pick up things I drop or can't reach, or making me hot chocolate, he's working. He's been pretty busy lately. I think he's really starting to get nervous the closer we get to the due date too.

Colin is behaving pretty nicely, he's given mommy a few nervous moments, he gets quite sometimes and I start to worry. He also still seems to be down pretty low, I expected by now that he would have moved up a little. Luckily we have our sonogram on Wednesday, so I plan to ask about that, and I'm sure if there is anything out of ordinary they will let us know.

General Update on Mommy

Last week I told you all about my sudden rise in body temperature. Well, a few nights ago I woke up in an all out sweat, even with the fan on, and no covers. I lay there awake for over 30 minutes, so hot I couldn't sleep. So, I turned the air down from 76 to 74, and Brad woke up the next morning shivering cold...but I was oooh so comfortable!

I've also begun to have more intense back pain, I'm assuming this is simply from Colin getting heavier and my tummy getting bigger. I'll officially be in my third trimester (27 weeks) on Friday. I plan to post an updated bump picture that day too.

Luckily, I've been feeling much better, stomach wise. I still get heartburn pretty much daily, but the nausea is doing better. I'm still taking my medicine just-in-case though.

I've been trying to eat more fruits and veggies since I'm feeling better, and I always make sure to get lots of calcium, protein and water everyday. I allow myself a non-water drink a couple of times a week. I'm doing pretty well, I've only gained about 12 pounds so far (I'm not supposed to gain as much weight, already being overweight).

Counting down the days until our next sonogram, one week from today. Other than that I'm staying pretty busy with plans for the new house. Can't wait to show it to everyone.

On a side note, I'd like to thank my best friend Sara for the adorable baby shower invitations she created for us, we hope you all can make it!

Hey! It's 26 weeks, not 25!

I had my doctor's checkup today, my fundal height is 26.5 centimeters, right on schedule, and little Colin's heartbeat was 126 at first, then jumped to 155 while we were listening! (This is perfectly normal, no need to worry!)

My doctor said he wanted me to have another sonogram at 28 weeks, so we have an appointment on the 26th. We'll get to see him again...so I'm counting down the days now. Especially after our last sonogram photo left me a little disappointed.

As for the title of this post, my doctor came into the room and said, "Wow, 25 weeks already!" I said, "Hey! 26 weeks almost!" He laughed and said, "Yeah, we don't want to take away a single day, do we?" Hehe...100 days left! woohoo! We can't wait to meet Colin!

I also asked him about being so hot lately. Our house is set on 77, which is actually 2 degrees cooler than Brad had the house pre-Rene and pre-pregnancy, and I keep the fans on at all times. I try to wear loose, cool clothing at home, and still I sit here and SWEAT! I just wanted to make sure this was completely normal, and he laughed at me. He said Brad should feel lucky, because when his wife is pregnant (they have 13 kids!) she keeps the AC at 70 or lower! He said it's just the progesterone that my body is producing that is keeping me so hot. (This little hormone is also the little bugger that is making me sick!) So, I think I'm going to have to petition for a couple more degrees cooler on the AC....and pray the cooler weather comes soon!

My (Common) Pregnancy Complaints...

1. Heartburn.

2. My belly itches!

3. I wake up 5 times (or more) to pee every night.

4. I'm the proud new owner of the biggest underwear ever created.

5. I'm STILL NAUSEAS.

But I love him and every time I feel him move it's a reminder of that love and why I'm feeling all those not-so-fun things...and that makes it all better.

Not a good day...

Sorry for missing yesterday, we had a big day...more on that later this week, or perhaps next week.

I ran out of my medicine last night, ran to the grocery store at 10:45 only to find they didn't have any. The next closest store that would carry it was a good 30 minute drive round trip, and I just didn't have the energy. Brad offered to go for me, but he had to be up early for work and he was just as tired. So I decided to risk it. And just as I thought, I'm not feeling so good today. I've been taking it easy, and just waiting for bed time!

Tomorrow is another day...

You might be pregnant if...

For all those who know me, I'm not the type to cry easily and I certainly don't cry in front of people. I've always been that way, I've always had to be strong and independent and didn't want to show any signs of weakness.

Well, one day a few weeks ago I was driving up to meet Brad for lunch and pick up a few baby items at a nearby store. We were meeting somewhere I wasn't familiar with, so I was driving the car with the GPS in it, using it to guide me. Once I got to Uptown Dallas though, all the directions were so confusing, I got lost. No telling how many illegal turns I made! I called Brad, in a bit of a panic, and asked for help. He calms me down, tells me to go to his office (which I knew how to get to) and we'll drive together.

Brad gets off the phone with me, turns to his coworker, and says, "Now I know she's pregnant. A girl who never cries is crying because she's lost...2 blocks from my office."

Yeah, hormones are fun stuff.

Sonogram 2

Today we had our second sonogram. It was very nice to be able to see Colin. The doctor said Colin and I look healthy and we are progressing normally. Colin weighed in today at 1 pound, 7 ounces. No wonder I can feel him move more and more each day, he's getting big!

We've been blessed with some really great doctors, always very pleasant and helpful and they both try to put us at ease as best they can. When the doctor asked what we planned to name him and we told him Colin, he informed us that Colins are predisposed to have a mean mischievous streak. Apparently he has a son named Colin who just turned 14 and "discovered his Mohawk." lol!

We're not scared, right Brad?

I was also given the good news that he would like me to stop taking my blood pressure medication I've been taking for 3 weeks, he doesn't feel it is necessary, so I am very happy about that. I didn't want to take it in the first place, but am willing to do whatever it takes to make sure Colin and I are safe and healthy.

Thanks for all the prayers everyone!