6 Month Doctor Visit

Well yesterday, Berk had her 6 month doctor visit complete with 3 shots! YAY! Her stats are:

Weight: 17 lbs. (75th percentile)

Height: 27" (90th percentile)

Head: 17.4" (95th percentile)

The doc was very pleased with her progress and very happy about her balance when she sits up; yes, I said SITS UP!! I don't mean with assistance either, I mean BY HERSELF! I couldn't believe it when Friday I sat her on the table (with me close by) and just let her sit there and she could do it all by herself! It was awesome and I think she finally just got tired of leaning over her big fat belly! She didn't take her 3 shots so well this time and was not interested in rolling over last night when we would lay her on her back. (In fact I think she thought we were going to give her more shots when we would lay her down, poor thing!) This morning she woke up and was still in quite a bit of pain, but hopefully the Tylenol will work its magic! We also got to start her on 2nd foods yesterday, such as the mixed fruits and the meats with vegetables! Last night she had turkey and rice dinner with apples and plums for dessert! Needless to say, she loved the new stuff! Oh yeah, she also had her first "poo in the bathtub" moment on Friday night! I am not going to post a lot in this one because not much has been going on! I can't wait until Friday (the start of Spring Break) and our trek down to Houston! We HOPEFULLY will be moving into the house at the end of Spring Break so keep your fingers crossed! Well that is all for now and hope everyone is having a great week!

Meadows

3/4/09...Getting ready for bed and I wanted a picture of her before she hit the big 6 month mark!

3/5/09...Happy 6 month birthday!! (Or half birthday as we like to say!) She was so interested in dad's hat so we just had to put it on her! Thank goodness she is wearing pink or she might be mistaken for a boy!

3/6/09...After Uncle "Francis'" track meet! They did a great job and wound up coming in 3rd as a team!

3/6/09..."Hey mom, I don't need your help!" Berk's first moments of sitting up by herself! Such a big girl!!

3/8/09...Watching the NASCAR race! That picture perfect smile; LOVE IT!

Berkley Tate is 6 Months Old!

Well she is OFFICIALLY 6 months old as of 12:45 AM, today, March 5, 2009! To continue my story: about 11:00 PM or so the night I was induced we told everyone to settle in because the doc said it would probably be early the next morning when Berk made her debut! The nurse was supposed to come in at midnight to do my check but she never showed up, but had told me to call if I felt pressure. Well, for any of you who have had a baby with an epidural, you are NUMB from the waist down and I mean NUMB! I couldn't feel ANYTHING but she swore that I would feel this pressure! Well after she didn't check me at midnight I told Thad that I was going to go ahead and press the button and tell her I was feeling pressure just to get her to come and check me! Well, to my surprise, I was feeling pressure (just couldn't actually FEEL it) and Berkley was in position to make her long awaited debut! The nurse moved very quickly, transforming my lovely hospital bed into a birthing center! About the time that they are getting me into the "ready" position (those who have had a child know what this is, others who have NOT, use your imagination), my sister peeks around the corner and almost gets the moment from "Knocked Up." (The movie with Katherine Heigl!) So, she proceeds to go and tell everyone in the waiting room that we are on the home stretch and little did I know, they were all standing outside the room throughout the entire birthing process! Well once the doc got there, we started pushing and apparently I was a pretty good pusher! ("Why can't all of our patients push like this?!") After the second push, I looked over at the monitor and saw Berk's heart rate go WAY down and I mean WAY WAY WAY down. (When the thing turns red you know that it is not a good sign!) So we waited a couple of contractions and tried again and again her heart rate goes WAY down! About this time I am freaking out a little bit because I have seen too many "Baby Stories" on TLC and I know that that is not a good thing! The nurse did make the comment that her cord was probably just wrapped around her neck and that we needed to get her out! So I pushed one more time and that was the one. She came out screaming and hollering and all the usual stuff; they did have to suck some fluid out of her airway but nothing serious. As the doc is finishing everything up, she says, "Well there is the problem, there is a TRUE KNOT in her cord! (A rather skinny cord at that) Good thing we delivered her today otherwise it might have been bad news!" That is not exactly the words you want to hear come out of your doc's mouth but at least she was healthy and God had intervened and led us to go ahead and bring her into this world! So, that is the story of how she came to be! After she got all cleaned up and everything and tried to nurse a bit, they finished assessing her and all the family got to come in and meet her! It was a pretty cool experience and you would never have known that it was like 2 o'clock in the morning! I did get to FINALLY eat something at about 2 when my dad when to Whataburger! Now, I don't think I have ever felt more love for my husband than I did those moments when I was bringing our daughter into this world! He was right there the whole time, watched his daughter being born and cut the cord! (The watching thing we had agreed he wouldn't do, but he said it was something he couldn't help! "It was just right there!") And talk about bringing a grown man to tears; one of the few times I have seen my husband cry was when they gave Berk her first shots! It was so sweet and yet hilarious to me! (Since then he has not gone to ANY doctor's appointment when she has had to get shots!) But that is our story; this morning when I woke up at 5 AM, I remembered that at that time 6 months ago we were being wheeled into our recovery room where we finally got to nap a little bit! Well I am posting a few more pictures from that day and also some of the things she has done in her 6 months of life! Hope you enjoyed our story!

Meadows9/5/08...Right after she was born, getting cleaned up! She was obviously NOT HAPPY about coming into this world! (Right then anyways!)
9/5/08...Close up of our sweet baby girl!

9/9/08...After we went to the doctor for a weight check! She had already passed her birth weight when we went! 5 lbs. 9 oz. in this picture; look at her SKINNY arms and legs!

10/19/08...Our 2nd family picture. Berkley is 6 WEEKS old, the day before I went back to work! We took Meadows family pictures. This picture is from C.Gage Photography out of Lubbock. 10/10/08...After one of the football games; congratulating the boys on their win!
12/14/08...Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants! Berkley was not phased by the noise at all, she slept the ENTIRE time!1/10/09...After her first stock show with our favorite stock shower!! He is no longer the baby in the family!
3/3/09...She is such a happy baby and is very content in her day to day activities! I could not have asked for a sweeter or calmer first baby!

3/4/09...This is her newest thing! After she is done eating she will roll over in her chair and then scoot her butt out and last night she figured out that the floor wasn't far from her!

**So I need to do a comparison photo opportunity! I have pictures of Thad and Berk in the exact same position but a few things have changed from one picture to the other as you will see!

9/9/08 & 2/25/09

6 Months Ago!

Well this time (10 AM) 6 months ago, Thad and I were on our way to go to our weekly doctor's appointment! We made sure that we had all of our stuff JUST IN CASE we were admitted, but things weren't looking up since I hadn't felt contractions or anything else! The only thing I knew was different was that my feet were huge and I just wanted to get off of them! Well when we made it to the doctor's office, we waited our usual wait and then went back. When the nurse came in and saw us they did the usual stuff; blood pressure, heart rate, are you feeling any contractions?! Well my blood pressure was way elevated ("Were you in a hurry to get here?" asked the nurse, "No, but it is the 2nd week of school," I answered), so they told me to lay on my side and they would come back and take it again in a few minutes. Well then the doctor comes in and takes it again and it is still elevated. So we started discussing the options and she said that at that point there was nothing else to do except deliver because it was so close to my due date (9-6-08, two days away) and it could be the onset of preeclampsia or toxemia; neither of which are good news! So I generously ask (with my best "sad puppy eyes") if we could go and get something to eat (I was CRAVING Jason's Deli) because I hadn't eaten since 6:45 that morning; of course the answer was an adamant NO! So, we leave the doctor's office, start calling friends and family and then head to Babies R Us to buy a breastpump. So we go about calling the rest of the people, cancelling my hair appointment and then making our way up to the hospital. We got settled in a little before noon and they started taking blood to test for preeclampsia and toxemia as soon as we arrived. (Both tests came back negative, thank goodness!) I got into my lovely hospital gown and got settled with the band around my waist and hooked up the IV when visitors started arriving. (David first, then Nicole, then my sister arrived!) They started the Pitocin at 1:30 PM and basically told us we were in for a long night with this being my first baby! So we settled in, watched the first pro football game of the season, greeted visitors and were on our way! (Everyone else arrived around 5 or 6ish) They broke my water when I was a "4" and told me that things would pick up from there and sure enough they did, so I called for the "good stuff" and got my epidural as fast as I could! Things were going great except that I could still feel the contractions (MUCH stronger at this point) on my left side so we kept pushing that darned old button to give more drugs, but it didn't work so the doc had to be called again to come and check it out! Well sure enough the catheter was bent and it didn't take on that side so I had to lay on my left side while they upped my dosage! (THANK GOODNESS!) Well after a little bit, Thad's fingers could rest and I was feeling much better! I tried to rest the best I could, we kicked everyone out of the room and just hung out! We let each family come in and visit for a little bit, but we were getting into the late night hours and knew everyone was getting pretty sleepy! Well that takes you up to the point of around 10:30 or 11:00 PM and I will finish the rest tomorrow, Berkley's 6 month birthday! Here are some pictures of me when I was pregnant; there are not many floating around and I have threatened those who have them to keep them under lock and key! I gained 52 pounds with Berk; though some say "You looked the same" I definitely did NOT feel the same and it showed on my fat face! I guess being 5'9" has its perks but I knew that everytime I stepped on the scales it was going to read very close to 200 lbs! Well hope you enjoy and look for the post tomorrow to let you know "The rest of the story." (In memory of Paul Harvey, may her rest in peace!)

Meadows

6/26/08...This was in Luling, TX on a vacation we took with Thad's boss and his family! Dead of the summer, pregnant as can be and in South Texas; not a fun combination!

8/3/08...Baby shower in Lamesa with both of my mothers. You really can't grasp the full effect of the 52 pounds, but it was there! Look at the fat face; that says it all!

9/4/08...About 11:30 AM, the start of it all! We thought it would be fun to get a before picture, but looking at this now, it is NOT a fun one to look at! Oh well, memories!

Forgot Two Cute Pictures!

Ok, so I forgot these two cute pictures from yesterday! Enjoy!


3/1/09...This is what I think of your picture taking!


3/1/09...She looks like she is in serious thought! I think mom has one of these pictures of me when I was younger too! Loved it!

6 Months on Thursday!

I cannot believe that my sweet baby will be 6 months old on Thursday, March 5th! It is amazing how fast time has gone by with her and all the joys that she has brought into our lives! I can't imagine our lives without her! Yesterday I was packing up some of her clothes that she can no longer wear (getting ready for the big move!) and it was so sad to look at how small the clothes were and how big she is now! It was funny this morning when I was getting her dressed to go to Gran's, I put her in a onesie that I had ordered from Old Navy in size 6-12 moths and she was able to wear some capris that were size 0-3 months!! How does that work?! She really is growing up so fast and she is changing so much from day to day! She started this thing yesterday when she was eating where she would slap her right hand down like "Aw mom!" It was so cute and I was happy that she continued to do it when Thad got home from work so he could see it! I don't know where she got it or what it means, but she is just becoming quite the little hoot! The best times are when you will do something ( I sneezed the other night for instance) and she will just start cracking up; her laugh is so contagious and such a sweet sound that resonates throughout the house! She is really starting to eye Webster, our cat, and you can just tell that she is ready to go and get him!! She is still just getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth so we are just encouraging her by putting things out of her reach for her to maybe try and crawl to get them! Most of the time she will just scoot but is usually successful in getting something she wants! She has also learned the words "No ma'am" and gets them said to her regularly when she is getting fed because she tries to scoot out of her seat! When dad says them to her, she just looks at him like, "No, coming out of your mouth, yeah right!" She also tried to drink out of a sippy cup this weekend and wasn't too successful except in wearing most of her juice, but we are trying to introduce it. But here are some new pictures! Hope you enjoy and I will try to post again on Thursday for her 6 month birthday! Have a great week!

Meadows

2/25/09...Since the weather has been awesome, we had to wear one of the cute springy outfits she has had since she was BORN! This was her first and probably last time to wear it! We loved the hat!

2/25/09...Getting scrubbed in the tub! She is trying to sit up a lot now and loves sitting up in her tub because she knows there is support behind her! She looks more confused that we were taking her picture while she was in the tub!

2/28/09...Trying out the sippy cup! She didn't mind it but as you can see, it is quite large and she wound up being stripped down because most of the juice was on her onesie!

2/28/09...This is her favorite thing! She will sometimes be on the floor and just start staring at it like saying "Hey, I want in there instead of down here!" It is farm animals as you can see and she loves all the noises that the animals make! She is also very good at turning those book pages in her hand!

2/28/09...A close up; slobber and snot, we have it all!

3/1/09...She loves sitting her her Bumpo chair! She gets to see everything and of course she never shys away from the camera!

3/1/09...Another close up!! We are hoping her eyes stay blue; watch out boys!!

Berkley Tate update!

Well Valentine's Day came and went with no avail at our house! Berk and I went to visit our dear friend and photographer, Pamra, to get some pictures ordered, caught lunch with one of my girlfriends that I played softball with at Vernon, went on a formula and diaper run and then hit up Target before heading back to the house. Thad luckily was feeling much better and was actually up and around, but still no contact with Berk. So needless to say, Thad still slept in the isolation room and our Valentine's Day was spent pretty much as singles rather than as a pair! :( But he did promise to make it up to me; you just have to understand that everytime we plan something whether it be to go out on a date or just go out of town, something always comes up and this time he happened to have the flu! (I'm totally used to it and Valentine's Day is overrated anyway!) Well Nana and Papa (my parents) came out and visited that Sunday and babysat on Monday for us since we both had to go to work and Gran and Pops were not yet back from San Antonio! I know they enjoyed themselves so much and I just wish that we didn't live so far away. (The last time they saw her was Christmas) Berkley wasn't quite sure about Papa at first but she warmed up to him by the time they left! (Oh yea and Thad did get to hold Berk on Sunday; he was dying not having held her since that previous Wednesday!) This past week was kind of one of those weeks with no real excitement; oh yes, wait a minute, our dish did stop working on Thursday and we have been without TV since then and we have been watching movies nonstop! The dish technician is supposed to come out today and they better hope they show up or I will be one hot momma on the telephone again!! (I don't understand how hard it is to make sure that people get the quality of service they are paying for without them having to call and chew on someone's hind end!! My soap box!) But Berk is doing great, growing and changing all the time! She is now rolling all over the floor and we are just holding our breath until she starts crawling! She will get up on all fours and rock but still hasn't figured out how the whole thing goes together! Yesterday was the first day since she has had RSV that we did not give her ONE breathing treatment ALL DAY!! YAY!!! She didn't cough all day and it is nice to know that she is finally getting over that junk for good! (Hopefully anyway!) Today she started with no breathing treatments and as of 10:15 this morning she still had not had one! She got some of her spring wardrobe this past weekend and there is more to come from Old Navy! I love it when seasons change and you start buying all the goods!! (Especially for Berk because they are relatively cheap!) Can you believe that Berk will be 6 months old on the 5th of March?! I don't know where the time has gone but I am sure enjoying this wonderful ride! We go to the doctor on the 9th for 6-month shots (only Berk and mom though because Thad can't handle that sort of thing) and we will see where our little "turkey" falls on the scales! (We have another nickname for her- Berky Turkey, which is fitting since she is becoming quite a chunk!) We had good family time this past weekend when Derrick and Mandy and Sara all came in town and we also got to see Rachel and Dustin on Sunday which was a great treat! Rachel couldn't believe how much Berk had grown and changed! Well I think that is about it! Nothing too exciting happening just wanting to get everyone caught up! Oh yeah, good news on the house, we will hopefully get moved in sometime around Spring Break if all goes well! Dusty and Bekah are about 3 weeks out from their house being finished so we are on the home stretch! Oh and we made our first MORTGAGE payment yesterday; makes us feel real grown up to say that! Here are few pictures; hope everyone enjoys!

Meadows

2/14/09...Berk's first Valentine's Day-she wasn't too happy that I wanted to get a picture of her in her "My First Valentine's Day" outfit!

2/15/09...This is Berkley's latest saga-rolling over enough until her entire body is under her bouncy seat; she just hung out like this once she got under there!


2/15/09...Playing with ducky!


2/23/09...Last night before she went to bed. She has gotten into this routine lately where she will roll all around until she finally gets settled down! She had her blankie at a perfect place so I coulnd't resist the photo op!

As Promised...

So, I posted yesterday and said that Thad THOUGHT he had the flu; well he received confirmation on that yesterday when he went to the doctor, running 102 degree fever! (They also tested him and it came back positive for flu!) So he was again in isolation and I know that it is killing him to not be able to hold or even touch Berk but the doctor emphasized the NO CONTACT with your 5-month old! They gave him Tamaflu that he will take for 5 days and I could already tell that he was feeling much better this morning! His fever did finally break, which I noticed when I went into the "isolation room" and he was sweating like a pig! But me and Berk are getting some good bonding time going on and she is coming up to the school this afternoon to attend our Valentine's Day party! (Should be an interesting dynamic-4 & 5 year olds with a 5 month old!) But here are some videos I took last night of her putting her pacifier in her mouth! Hope you enjoy and hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day and I will post pictures next week of our weekend with the grandparents and of course our low-key Valentine's celebration!
Meadows