6 Weeks

Such a little lady!

Daddy/Baby Time

Jill loves it when her Dad gets home from work!

1 Month

Some pictures from the past month. Jill is growing up so fast!


Blackjack and Jill becoming best buds.


Oh the hours I spend during feedings looking down at this! Such a poser!




Baby's first bath. She loved it! She also loves diaper changes, she literally smiles at us every time, guaranteed.

Our little fro head.

Jill's Birth Story

We arrived at the hospital to be induced the morning of Nov 3rd. At that point I was 9 days past my due date, 90% effaced and dilated to a 3. Pitocin was started, but after getting to the highest dose allowed at 2am the next morning and no real progress, we decided to give it a break, get a few hours of sleep and try again later that morning.

A few hours later, they hooked me back up to the pitocin, but again, after a few hours of little progress we decided to have them break my water. 5 minutes later, this huge contraction hit me like no other had. Things were finally happening, and they were happening hard and fast! I got my epidural, and when the midwife came to check on me a few hours later I was at a 10 and ready to push!

It took 2 hours of pushing and maneuvering, but baby Jill finally emerged. She got stuck crowning the last 30 minutes, but finally decided to come out. She was so perfect and so sweet and had so much hair, and she was so alert! And she was OUT of me! All 8 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches!

Amazing amazing experience. I can’t even believe I did it, it seems like I was watching someone else. I can’t believe this perfect little girl was inside me all this time and I can’t believe I pushed her out of me! Just the most amazing and beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced. I am so in love with our baby, and more in love with Steve than I’ve ever been. I can’t stop looking at her, she’s the cutest little thing and it’s amazing to think she came from me and Steve and that one little embryo they put in me. We waited so long for this and it was so worth it.

Newborn Photo Shoot

This last picture below was taken at the very end of the photo shoot, just seconds before Jill peed and then pooped all over Steve. When you take a diaper off a baby . . . beware!

Baby Jill is here!

Jill Ann Curtis arrived Nov. 4th (10 days late and 2 days into an induction!) weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. She is such a sweet and calm baby. We are loving our new life with her!

More to come later, but for now, a few pictures . . .





Blackjack is adjusting well. He just ignores her most of the time, or sniffs her and leaves her alone. If she cries at night he goes downstairs to sleep. If I'm downstairs with her at night and she cries, he goes upstairs.

TARDY!!!

Well, it looks like this little missy is not going to come out without a little encouragement. I am being induced later this week. Being dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced means nothing apparently, even after walking around like that for a month! So, it's on to pitocin.

Stay tuned for more news by the weekend!

Not only did she wait to come until the Giants made it to the World Series but she waited until they WON the World Series! YEAH GIANTS!!!

3 Days . . . or more!

I am beginning to prepare myself for a late baby. 3 days until her due date and she is still hanging on. I'm dilated, effaced, and ready to go any second. But have been for two weeks now and still nothing. With all the contractions I've had this pregnancy they kept telling me she'd never make it all the way to 40 weeks. Well, she's proving them wrong! Apparently she enjoys the contractions and doesn't feel like leaving. She must be stubborn like her mother, we're in trouble!

I think once you reach the point where you can barely walk anymore, that's when it's time for the baby to come. That would be YESTERDAY! I bet she's just waiting for the Giants to make it to the World Series and then she'll come during one of the games :)

Maternity Pictures

3D Ultrasound

We had another 3D u/s last week. Pretty cool, although baby girl wouldn’t turn to face us completely so we just got half shots. And I had to keep changing positions to get her to move her hands and feet away from her face, holy flexible little girl! It was cute. The tech said she has tons of hair! And long fingers, and uses her left hand a lot more than her right, interesting. She had her hand in her mouth (not her thumb) and she was grabbing her feet, too cute!

So . . . who does she look like?

Baby's Room

Finally, we are done with the baby's room, we kept it nice and simple.

Entering the room:





We decided to keep the corner desk in there since we have another one downstairs.




The TV was great when we used this room as our gym. Not sure how much tv an infant watches though :)

Napa Valley Wine Train

Steve and I took a little trip to Napa to ride the wine train last weekend. It was really nice. Such great scenery, the vineyards were amazing. And so was the food, yum! Can't wait to go back when I can actually do the wine tastings.

Infertility Is . . .

A friend of mine posted this video from RESOLVE on her blog the other day and I wanted to keep it going. Although because we have finally achieved pregnancy (7 years, and eventually IVF/ICSI), I do feel like somewhat of a traitor. I don't know which group I belong in anymore. This video brings back so many feelings that I realize can't possibly be understood unless you too are experiencing infertility. Help support RESOLVE (www.resolve.org).

I love my stroller!

So we purchased a stroller and infant seat a few months back and had it sitting in the garage. It was pretty neutral, but just ok cute. Then I started having major buyer regret. I wanted something more girly! I know, totally doesn't sound like me, right? What can I say, this little girl is growing on me . . . uh, literally! So Steve took me back to the store and we exchanged it for this adorable one that I LOVE! I know people say you should get gender neutral stuff so you can use it again if you have a boy later, but honestly, I'm focusing on the here and now, this little girl might be our only baby. And down the road, if we decide to try for another, then we'll get a new stroller if it's a boy. That is not important to me right now!


And PS, I'm officially in the 3rd trimester!

I Miss Work??

So I was laying in bed reading the other afternoon, after a pretty normal day for me. Which consists of pretty much the same thing most days, now that school is out and I don't have tutoring or Junior Achievement. Sleeping, eating, shopping, running errands, reading, internet surfing, prenatal pilates/yoga, taking care of the dog . . .

Some days I have doctor's appointments, some nights I have prenatal or birth classes, but really that's about it. It's been really nice to have few commitments and to just be able to take care of myself and this baby for now. I haven't been bored. I've had plenty of time to get things done (sometimes it doesn't feel like it though if I'm not feeling well), but I rarely feel bored.

So it kind of came out of nowhere yesterday that I started feeling like I missed working! Like a real full-time job, not just a few hours here and there like I've been doing. I miss getting up every day and getting ready and getting to work starting new each day at my own desk. Having projects that are my own to work on and be accountable for. Socializing with co-workers that always understand because they work with you every day with the same people. It's not any particular job I miss, it's just the office atmosphere in general. And the structure perhaps.

It took me a year to have these feelings! I can't believe I'm even typing this!

Ok, time for a nap. Or maybe I'll go shopping for accessories for the baby's room. Despite missing work sometimes, it really is wonderful having this time to prepare. Just a couple more months until she's here!

Baby's First Outfits

She is going to be a well-dressed little lady if I have anything to say about it. Steve appreciates the Giants outfit, that will be well-used next summer. We let Blackjack smell one of the outfits and he promptly grabbed it in his mouth to take off with it as his new toy. Hmm, there will be more training in store for him I can see.
One of these even came all the way from Paris, can you guess which one? (Thanks Donna!)

Monterey Trip

Steve took me to Monterey for my birthday weekend. What a great time we had!

First, a hotel right on the beach with amazing views! I woke up to the sun rising over the water one morning, beautiful.

The view.


Perfectly content, eating breakfast while looking out at the view of the bay.


The cool jelly fish at Monterey Bay Aquarium.


The amazing sea horses, probably my favorites! Some of them looked so much like their surroundings it took a while to even find them, crazy. Did you know it's the male sea horse that carries the babies??


Stinky, but cute, sea lions.


We're sailing! The plan had been to go whale watching, but we found out they wouldn't allow expectant mothers, darn. So instead we found a private captain to take us out on his boat for a few hours. It was beautiful out there!


Thought we just might tip over at one point . . .




My little makeshift birthday cake.


Cute Steve, walking the beach one morning.


One of the stops along the 17-Mile Drive.

Playtime