Heidi Reese

It's been a crazy few weeks around our house. Here's the story:

About two and a half weeks ago, Ansley got really sick. She was coughing, congested, had a weird rash on her entire body, and her fever reached 103.8, which totally freaked me out. The next day I took her to the doctor and was told that she had strep throat. About the same time, I also started feeling very strange with cramps, contractions and severe back and body pain. I was 38 weeks pregnant, so I knew that the baby could come at any time. The contractions started coming every 3-5 minutes and I had Jeff take me to the doctor's office to be checked out. I was put on a monitor and then checked and it was determined that I was 3 cm and 50%. All I knew was that I was starting to feel really bad and I thought I may have a fever. It was checked and was 101, which was causing the contractions and Heidi's heartrate to increase. So, I was given medicine and kept on the monitor until my fever decreased and her heartrate did too.

A few days went by with me trying to help Ansley get well and I ignored how terrible I was beginning to feel. I was having painful contractions every day. Early Sunday morning I woke up drenched in sweat once and then another time shivering and unable to get warm. I got up at 4:30 because the only thing I could think of to warm myself was a hot shower. When I got out and still felt terrible, I decided to wake Jeff and have him take me to the hospital. In the car, my contractions were again 3-5 minutes apart and I just knew I was in labor. At the hospital, I was checked and told I was a 4 and 80%. My temperature was 102 and Heidi's heartrate was again very high because of the stress she was under due to my fever. But after a couple of hours, my body was making no progress. I have never in my life felt so sick as I did that morning. I had chills and was sweating, my back was killing me, and I was so worried about my baby. My doctor happened to be the on-call doctor at the hospital that morning and she ordered tests to be done to determine what was going on with me. She thought there was even a chance that I had pneumonia, so she sent me down to have x-rays of my lungs. Finally, it was discovered that I had the flu despite having the vaccine in the fall and I was given a prescription for Tamiflu. After six hours and three bags of fluids in the hospital, I was sent home.

So, a couple of days later I had my regularly scheduled doctor's appointment and was still about the same that I was in the hospital. My doctor warned Jeff and me that if he were in Houston when I went into labor, there was a good chance he wouldn't make it to the hospital in time because she felt that I would have a short labor. She suggested I be induced since I had already progressed so much. So, after talking about it, we decided this would be a good decision for us and the doctor scheduled us to come in early Tuesday, April 19.

Tuesday morning we made it to the hospital by 6:30. I was asked questions, put on the monitor, and given the IV. At 8:00 my doctor came in to break my water and hard contractions seemed to start immediately. What seemed like only minutes later, I was told I was a six, then checked again soon and told I was a 9 1/2 and the nurse hurried off to call the doctor back to the hospital. At 10:09 Heidi Reese was born, weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz. She is absolutely beautiful and we're so in love with our second daughter!

It's that time again!

Time for swimsuits, sunscreen, and playing in the sprinkler.






Thought the chair over the sprinkler would be a good idea...


Enjoying the cool water for just a second.


Surveying the grass that made her little feet "dirty."

2 Years (a little early)

Ansley,

Is it really possible that you will be turning two next week? That honestly was the quickest two years of my life so far, but I know that every year will seem that way now that I'm a mom. I've been reminded this entire pregnancy of my pregnancy with you and the memories still are so fresh that it's hard to believe in a few weeks I will be entering the hospital again and leaving with another precious little girl. God has blessed us with a life that I'm so thankful to live and there's not a single thing about it that I would change even if I could.

About you:
-You have such a sweet personality. You love to mother and are so polite, always saying please, thank you, excuse me, and bless you. Lately I have felt like we are on the downhill slide of the terrible twos since we've been in them for quite a while now. Maybe I shouldn't say that yet. :)
-My favorite thing you do is when you come in my room after waking in the morning and say, "Mommy, good morning! Did you sleep good?" Every single morning the words are so sweet to hear, even when I'm so tired and not ready to get up.
-You are talking so well and so much. I'm constantly amazed that I can say something to you once and you will remember it weeks later. You also love to repeat everything you hear.
-You're very coordinated with your movements and love to run, dance, spin in circles, and do front rolls.
-Your favorite things to do are color, play with play dough, carry your baby around the house and ask if she's wet and needs her diaper changed or wants to rock, play on the playground at the park, and do anything with Daddy (especially climb on him).
-You seem to understand that Heidi is your little sister and that she is a baby in Mommy's tummy. I love when you pat and rub my belly and tell her you love her. I think you're going to be a wonderful big sister and I know you'll instantly fall in love with her when you meet her.

It is such a joy spending every day with you, sweet Ansley. We are so in love with you and are thankful for the two wonderful years God has given us to be your mom and dad.

Ansley's halftime performance

1. Please ignore the dorky commentary in the background. I'm not sure who that is.
2. I LOVED the halftime performance by the Black Eyed Peas. Obviously, Ansley liked it too.
3. Ansley is still wearing Christmas jammies because she has a million pair.
4. I think Ansley got most of her moves from watching the Aggie dance team at the basketball games.

A little snow

We had a little snow last night and I thought Ansley would really enjoy playing in it. But, she didn't. She thought it was dirty and didn't want it on her boots. We only stayed out for a couple of minutes before she decided she wanted to go back in where it was warm.

Pics of Heidi and big girl room

On Saturday, my mom and sister took me to have the 4D ultrasound of Heidi done and Ansley spent the day with her Grandpa. I was excited to see whether or not she would look like Ansley and Jeff or resemble me just a little. Everything looked great with her and she's just precious, but I can definitely tell a difference in her photos and Ansley's. Still not sure if she resembles me at all, though. She wiggled and jumped throughout the ultrasound and kept her hands and the cord in front of her face most of the time. She moves so much! And constantly has hiccups like Ansley did.




In other news, Ansley has been moved to her "big girl room" and has slept in her toddler bed three times now. I cannot believe how well she's done. I just knew that I would have problems with her getting out of bed in the middle of the night. Well, she is getting out of bed, but only to sleep on the floor. I'm not sure if she's falling out or just prefers the floor. But, I get up a million times at night to check on her and then just put her back in bed. She loves her new room and has finally started playing in there. Lately she wants everyone in the house to play on the floor with her. She says, "Mommy, play, floor, yeah." Sometimes she calls me Mallory and her daddy Jeff because she's heard others calling us that.



Ansley's photo for comparison. See the difference in the nose?

Overdue updates

Here's what has been happening with us:
-Had a great Christmas with our families. Ansley racked up tons of toys and they're keeping her very busy these days. Her favorites for the time being are her baby dolls, kitchen, tea set, and tents.
-We're trying to get Ansley's big girl room finished so she can move over and get used to the toddler bed before her little sister comes. I KNOW I'm going to have trouble keeping her in that bed. I'm sure I'm going to get up in the morning and find all of her toys everywhere. Who knows what else I'll find...
-Heidi is growing a lot. Sometimes I feel like she's going to stick her feet through my throat. I can tell she's getting big already and I have about 3 months to go. I'm a lot more uncomfortable with this pregnancy than I was with Ansley.
-Ansley is talking so much. But, my favorite words from her are thank you, please, you're welcome, excuse me, and bless you.

Ansley's been having so much fun running around the house with a blanket on her head and pretending that it's her hair. How sad is that? It's going to be many, many years before she has long hair.


She's also having fun destroying the house. I can't count how many times a day I put all of her diapers back in the basket after she's "changed" her baby's diaper. It's such a joy watching her pretend and mother her babies.




This is a video of her dancing to her teapot's music. Sorry it's not rotated...I can't do that with my version of Quicktime.