Lauren Harper Fredericks

We are proud to introduce the newest member of our family, Lauren Harper Fredericks. She was born at 10:16 AM on Monday October 25th. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and measured 19 1/4 inches long.








Rob and I headed over to CMH at 8AM on Monday morning for my scheduled c-section. What a difference from my experience with Jack! It's amazing how easy the surgery was without being in labor for 2 days first! After a relaxed pre-op, I walked into the OR, climbed on the table, got my anesthesia and then the fun began. By 10:16, Dr. Pattamakom pulled Lauren out, screaming like a maniac...great lungs! And that is such a delightful sound to Mommy's ears!




I got a quick peek at her before Rob and the nurses scooted her off to the nursery for all the basic checks.

She was weighed, had her blood sugar tested and enjoyed a little time under the sun lamp before she met me in the recovery room.

That afternoon Jack came to meet his baby sister for the first time. He loved the Spiderman book she gave him (she apparently stopped at Target on her way to the hospital!) He gave her kisses and brought a huge balloon for her. What a perfect day!

Week 37

As of today I am considered "full term" and the baby would be developed enough to survive in the world. However, I still have 4 days of teaching left this week and I really hope to have next week off to get organized and tie up all the loose ends before she makes her grand entrance. So even though I'm feeling tired and achy, I'd like to sign on for at least another 10-12 days of this torture! We'll see how that plan works-HA! Jack was 10 days early and I still had a week of teaching to go, so I realize that there are no guarantees. I'll be checking in with all three of my doctors today, so that might give me a better idea of my chances to make it to the 25th. In the meantime, I've been washing lots of pink clothes and working on her baby quilt. I'm hoping to get to Jack's Halloween costume, but Target sent us a costume catalog that he really likes, so worst case scenario he goes trick-or-treating in a store bought cotume this year. Stay tuned for more...

Football Brunch

We had a great weekend with family. Spent Saturday night at Grandma Laura's with Kelsey, Scott, Nikki and Max. My mom made a yummy dinner with homemade mac 'n cheese, BBQ ribs and even a Double Musky Pie for dessert! It was so worth an extra shot of insulin! Then, we went to my dad's Sunday morning for football brunch with Uncle Phil, Auntie Nikki and Cousin Max. The food was great and we had such a fun time. Jack was really excited to wear one of Grandpa Phil's football helmets off the wall of the bar. Fortunately he's got a few years to grow into it before the college scouts start checking him out! It was a busy weekend, and my last trip to Long Beach for a while. It is definately weird to think that next time we'll have a baby girl in tow, too! My how things are about to change!

Bath Time for Two

Jack and his cousin Max are getting to an age where they can really start having fun together. Yesterday was a great example of this, when Nikki brought Max up for the baby shower. After the party, and brief naps for both tired boys, we enjoyed BBQ ribs & mac 'n cheese followed promptly by a bath! They had a great time splashing and sticking letters to the wall while they sang the ABC song. They laughed and goofed around for quite a while before we finally fished them out. Nikki and I had always discussed having children one day and raising them like siblings, long before either of us had babies! Now to see our adorable boys playing together it is like a dream come true. It is nice to know that our boys will each have a "brother" to grow up with and it'll be interesting to see how a little girl will add to the mix.