Thanksgiving 2012

Afternoon stroll around the house

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year.  We've hosted it for the past 4 years.  Nick commented this weekend that a lot has changed since the first time we hosted it-going from no kids to two kids would be the biggest change!  We had 21 people this year for the Thanksgiving feast.  Although we have told folks to not bring anything big, we still manage to have tons of leftovers...even wine and beer (what a sin!).
Uncle Ricky said the Blessing (gah gah to Tillman), JRS did a fried turkey, CiCi cooked bread, dressing, and sweet potato souffle, Mrs Mazy did her famous mac n' cheese, Aunt Julie did her famous corn bread casserole, Aunt Sylvia did her famous potato salad, and Nick did the deserts and baked a turkey. Many other items were brought as well.

Baking at the house started at 5AM!  Nick went to the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving   The smallest turkey was a 14 pounder!  We will be eating turkey for a while.  He had the over going into overdrive with baking 2 pumpkin pies, an apple pie, the turkey, and a cranberry upside down cake!  The pumpkin pies cause a bit of a mishap that filled the kitchen with smoke and made a very filthy oven!  The pumpkin pies ran over while rising.  We had to open all the windows, turn on the fans, and take the batteries out of the smoke detectors.  Caroline slept through it all, Tillman thought it was funny, and Graham wouldn't come back in the house for an hour after the smoke cleared (smart dog).

Tillman laughing at all the commotion 

While Nick was cooking, Tillman gave Graham a bath for the first time!  Tillman is starting to be able to tell his story of how things happened.  He reported to his daddy that Graham "shook" and "was all wet!"  Tillman and I also vacuumed the house before the guest arrived.

The Cook!

Tillman got a front row seat for the feast!  He sat right by the mac n' cheese and ate out of the container. We had to teach him some table manners.  He also made a complete mess, and stained the bar stool seat! He still needs to be in a high chair...for sure.  After cooking and dinner, the boys enjoyed passing the ball outside and sweet Caroline was held by all and napped the remainder of the afternoon.  I guess that turkey made her sleepy!

27 Week Appointment

I went to Dr. Villers this morning.  The glucose screening was normal, so that is very good.  It was a rather quick appointment.  She checked Caroline's heart rate, and Dr. Villers stated that Caroline was very happy in there!  So far, I've gained 20 lbs (ugh!), she said the weight gain is fine.  She wants to see her patients gain no more than 30 lbs.  I'll see Dr. Villers in 2 weeks again.
I asked about when I would get another ultrasound.  She said since she was normal weight range at 20 weeks that we probably won't need another.  However, she won't want her to be too big if we are going to try for a VBAC this time.  We were spoiled with all the ultrasounds for Tillman since they were tracking his growth.  It seems strange not to have them this time; however, I'm glad everything is normal.

27 Weeks

We've entered into the 3rd trimester.  This pregnancy is going by way too fast!  The baby belly sure looks like we are in the 3rd trimester, but mentally, I'm not prepared.  I am grateful that we have made it to the 3rd trimester without any complications so far.  We are very fortunate to meet this milestone, as this is the viable baby marker.  If Miss Caroline was to come now, she would have a good chance at survival.  Of course, it would be a long road to recovery, and we want her to stay inside as long as possible.  The 27th week milestone has always been in the back of my mind ever since hearing that piece of information from a NNICU nurse.

This mamma has an appointment with Dr. Villers on Thursday.  I assume since I didn't hear back from the blood test that my glucose levels were normal.  I hope to get clarification on that when I go.  Also, I hope to get to take a peak at Caroline.  Since she measured normal at the 20 week ultrasound, there was no need for further ones, but I'd still like to see how she is doing in there!

Lots of planning has been happening around Sweet Caroline's arrival.  She has bedding, we've picked out a crib and furniture, and we're gathering hand-me-downs for the little one as well.

Bubblegum by Bananafish is Caroline's bedding.
Our set includes the bedding & a night light.
Cici is going to monogram the quilt. 

Here's Sweet Caroline's furniture for the next 18 years!
Love the crib & toddler bed has the drawer underneath! 

We plan to get the crib, night stand, door dresser
& wardrobe mirrored door. A HUGE thanks to Caroline's
Cici & JRS for purchasing this set for Miss Caroline.

Since Miss Caroline Sutherland is the first girl on either side of the family, there are no hand-me-downs from the cousins.  I have gone through Tillman's things, and gathered all of the "gender neutral" clothing.  It totaled to be one tote from 0-12 mo clothing.  This mamma has some shopping to do.  Just not sure what to buy, since we don't know how big she will be.  I guess we'll just shop along and along for her. I am very grateful to several of our friends who have offered hand-me-downs.  This will be a huge help!

I have also started stock piling diapers!  My weekly trips to Publix have been a little bit more expensive lately.  I've been gathering coupons throughout the week and will buy the diapers for sure if I have a store and a manufacture's coupon.  However, if the store has diapers or wipes on special and I have a coupon, I often buy them as well.  A $1.50 off a pack of diapers just doesn't go to far when the cheapest pack is $10! I'm purchasing size 1 and higher, as we just don't know how big Miss Caroline will be!


How big is baby?
Congratulations! This week is the beginning of your third trimester. Baby now weighs 1.93 pounds (875g) and measures from head to toe at around 14.41 inches (36.6cm).
How's baby developing and growing?
Your baby's eyes first appear at around 5 weeks after gestation and look like a pair of shallow grooves on each side of the brain. These grooves continue to develop and will turn into pockets, called optical vesicles, of which the lenses will start developing. At around 7 to 10 weeks the eyes start moving toward the middle of the face and at around 8 weeks blood vessels start to form and during the 9th week the pupils form.
At this stage the nerve connection from the eyes to the brain will start to form, this is called the optic nerve. At 11 to 12 weeks the eyelids form but remain fused together until 27 to 28 weeks, when they start to open and close and he/she will start to develop his/her sense of sight.
Your babys brain continues to grow and develop, and over the coming month special attention will be paid to developing the forebrain. There is also particular development in the portions of the brain which deal with visual and auditory information.

25 Weeks...I THINK we have a name!

 Sweet Caroline has been growing...a lot.  My belly growth has been out of control the past few weeks.  It does make me a little nervous to get my glucose test today.  I go at 4PM today for my glucose blood test and to see the doctor.  I'll be seeing a different doctor this time, so it will be interesting to see if they say anything different than Dr. Villers.  Particularly, I'm going to ask her about my belly growth and my weight.  I do feel that most of the weight is in the belly (but as you can tell by the picture above, my arm looks huge too).  The weight gain is concerning and I'm interested to hear the results of the blood test, since gestational diabetes babies can be large (not necessarily healthy for mom or baby).

After many weeks of hashing out names in my head and talking them over with Nick and family.  I THINK we have settled on a FULL name.  This middle name hasn't been mentioned before, but I think it is the right choice.

Caroline Sutherland

With this name, Caroline would have my mother's initials (CSS), and Sutherland is also my mom's maiden name.  I have always loved my mom's maiden name, and believe it is a very strong name.  My mom's generation is the last to hold the last name, Sutherland, within our blood line, so Miss Caroline will carry it on as her middle name.    

The meaning and origin of Caroline:

English & Scottish origin-Meaning is Joy. Song of happiness. Also feminine variant of Charles:manly. 

Latin origin-Meaning from Carol (joyous song) and Linda (pretty).

The meaning and origin of Sutherland:

Scottish-a sur-name meaning South-land or from the south (I'm taking that as "a southern girl!"). Sutherland is also an area of the Highlands of Scotland. The Sutherland clan (sur-name) motto is Sans Peur- "without fear."

At week 25, Miss Caroline should be...

The measurement is now at around 13.62 inches (34.6cm) and baby is now weighing approximately 1.46 pounds (660g).
If you were to go into labor now, baby would have a strong chance of surviving.
Baby is still extremely small and although there are chances of him/her surviving should he be born now, he/she would probably spend several months in hospital.
The smallest of the blood vessels are now starting to form underneath your babies skin now, and as they begin to fill with blood, your baby's skin takes on a pinkish appearance.

Week 23...7days late (so, really 24 weeks)

Lookin' large and in charge...
and in need of a hair cut!  

I really thought we would have a name by now, but we don't.  I have been delaying on the blog, as I thought my next post would be the official name, but I'd be delaying for weeks.
Nick and I took a trip last weekend to Asheville, NC and talked about the names and how we felt about each.  We hashed it out on the drive up and back, and we still don't have a name.  I think we have a solid first name, Caroline.
Nick made the comment that if the naming of this little girl was so hard that he could only imagine how much of a handful she will be once born!  I sure hope she is not too much of a handful and she is like the song, Sweet Caroline!
Caroline is very active these days.  I can feel her movement at all times of the day (and night). I feel her movements a lot more than Tillman.  I wonder if I am just more aware this time around or if she is packing quite the punch!  When I roll over at night, she too has to get used to laying on the new side as well.  I feel like she is in there readjusting herself.  Sometimes, I end up going back to the other side just to settle her down!
Nick also got to feel Miss Caroline for the first time while we were in Asheville.  She was kicking up a storm!  Glad daddy got to feel her in action!

The name saga to be continued.  I hope we settle on a full name soon...


How big is baby?The measurement is now at around 11.38 inches (28.9cm) and baby is now weighing approximately 1.10 pounds (501g).
How is she developing and growing?Baby's body will start getting plumper and wrinkled and any lanugo hair may start to turn darker at this time. Her eyebrows and eyelids are well formed by now. Over the next month she is going to gain considerable weight, and will be weighing almost double what it is at the moment.
The three bones which make up your babys middle ear - the hammer, anvil and stirrup - are all starting to harden, this means that sound transmission is now possible. Although your baby may be able to transmit sound, there is no way of knowing if your baby is able to interpret this sound at this point (although the brain is developing rapidly, it may still be too immature to deal with the sounds).
The important organs which your baby uses to produce hormones are developing nicely. One hormone in particular, insulin, is being produced by the pancreas. Insulin helps your baby break down and use sugar. When a baby is exposed to high blood sugar levels the pancreas will respond by increasing the blood-insulin level.