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Sunday, December 28, 2008

Ruby's First Christmas!


Just a few days late, but here are some adorable pictures from Ruby's first Christmas. She had a fun day, starting with her first sponge bath (which she actually loved). We celebrated with my parents and my Granny who was visiting from New Mexico. It was a great day, and I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift than a happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Ruby comes home


Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve - we got to bring Ruby home that day! I loved her little outfit, although it was a bit big on her still. She was great in the car - she was awake for a bit, then quickly dozed off. I've never been more paranoid during a car ride though - Damian, sorry for flipping out when you "changed lanes in an intersection". :)




We came home to a surprise too - Ruby's Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Ashley had put up my Christmas tree and decorated it for baby Ruby's First Christmas. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture - I can't believe how blessed that I am to have such amazing friends.
I know I'm a bit behind with my posts - I'll catch up when Ruby's napping though. We have some cute ones from Christmas!!!


Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Happy Birthday Ruby!

Ruby Catherine is finally here! She was born yesterday at 3:14 p.m., weighing in at 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 19.25 inches long. She and I are doing great and are getting to know each other, although I'm getting a good dose of sleep deprivation already! I'm probably a little biased, but I think that she's the most amazingly beautiful little girl in the world. She's passed all of her milestones with flying colors and all of the nurses up at the hospital just love her. She's really quiet (knock on wood) and is content just snuggling up in our arms and sleeping. Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. Thanks for everyone's well wishes. We hope that you have a blessed Christmas - I know that I got the best Christmas present ever.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

I'm going to be a mommy tomorrow!

I really can't believe that it's here already! I'm going to be leaving in a few short hours to head to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital and I'll get to meet Ruby Catherine Shaver sometime tomorrow!! Hopefully I'll be hearing from Labor & Delivery in a short while and they'll tell me to head that direction. I'll keep the blog updated if anything changes though. My next post should be one with pictures of my beautiful baby girl though!!

Keep us in your prayers tonight and tomorrow. I keep telling myself that countless other women have actually lived through this whole childbirth process, so I probably have a fighting chance. I'm really nervous though! Wish me luck!!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Ruby's Big Day is almost here!!!

I had another appointment yesterday with Dr. Dully, and we've scheduled my induction!!! I will be checking into Dallas Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday night (yes, THIS Sunday), and will be induced on Monday, December 22nd! I can't believe that it is almost here!!!

Ruby was measuring at 40-weeks for her fundal height (she's been ahead of the curve for most of the time). I am 2 - 3 cm dilated and 25% effaced, so Dr. Dullye thinks that if I keep making progress that the induction should go well. She sent me in for another unscheduled sonogram to make sure that Ruby's abdominal measurements were closer to what they should be. If they weren't, she was going to schedule me for a "medically necessary" induction. But thankfully, she was right on target! They think that she's going to be about 7 pounds when she's born.

I am so nervous and scared, but really excited to finally get to meet her! It's nice to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. This pelvic pain has been really tough on me, not to mention having to go through all of this alone for the most part.

Ruby Catherine Shaver will be the best Christmas present that I could have ever asked for. She's going to be such a blessing and I know that she's going to bring so much joy into my life.

Keep us in your prayers on Monday!

Friday, December 12, 2008

A much-needed update!

It seems like I haven't updated this in forever! Sorry for that - it's hard to keep me out of bed once I get home from work! Here's what's been going on the past few weeks.
We had what will probably be our last sonogram about a week and a half ago. Here's little Miss Ruby's most recent picture - she's still beautiful! Also, notice the whispy white marks around her head - that's her hair!! Fingers crossed that she has red curls!


She's very long and lean, from her measurements (one guess from where she gets this trait). At the time (36 weeks) she was measuring over 19 inches long and just over 5 pounds. The only measurement that they were concerned about was her abdominal measurement - they want to be sure that I'm still getting enough calories during the day. They said that at the rate that she is growing, she'll be about 7.5 pounds if she goes full-term.

The next week (37 weeks) I had my first cervical check. I was already 2 cm dilated, 10% effaced, and Ruby was in a -3 station. This probably doesn't mean much to anyone who isn't a recent mom, but it just generally means that Ruby and I are both getting ready for the big day! Dr. Dullye talked to me about scheduling an induction. I'm considering this for two reasons - primarially because my pelvic pain is just about unbearable at this point. My pelvis has started to crack really loudly when I move and I'm unable to get out of bed sometimes. Also, Dr. Dullye is going to be out of town for the holidays. She gave me the option of picking a date of December 22nd, 23rd, or 26th. I've talked to Damian and my family about it, and I think that we are leaning towards December 22nd!!! It's crazy to think that I might be a mom in 10 days! We won't be able to difinitively schedule anything until next Tuesday's appointment, but as of right now that's what our plan is!!!

Here are two of my most recent Belly Pictures - I'm about to pop! As of this morning, I'm officially at 7 pounds weight-gain.

I promise that I'll do better about keeping my blog up-to-date as Ruby's Birthday gets closer and closer!





Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ruby's "Nursery" pictures

I've gotten a few requests to post some pics of Ruby's "nursery". I use that term loosely since half of her stuff is in my bedroom and the other half is in our guest bedroom. But it is all adorable nonetheless! I'm also not painting anything just yet because we're starting to get offers on the house (fingers crossed that I'm not "homeless" when Ruby's born!). Anyway, here are a few fun pictures of her things.

Ruby's last baby shower with the Pink Ladies!


My work has blocked this site now, so I don't have much of an opportunity to update now. Sorry for the delay!

Here are a few pics from the baby shower that Ruby's Godmothers and their mom's threw us. It was at Lindsay's house in Fort Worth. Everything was so adorable and we had such a great time. I love you ladies!!!


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Mini-Vacation to Colorado

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to get to go to Denver, CO, for what will probably be my last vacation for quite some time (yes, I got my OB's permission first). I went to a wedding of a close family friend, Roy Swanson. It was so great to be back in Colorado - somehow it still feels like "home" even after almost 19 years.... It was good to see our friends and their families and I had a great time. The trip was too short though and I was back in Dallas before I knew it. Here's a picture from the reception. Ruby was a good traveler - I can't wait to take her back to Colorado when she can actually enjoy the trip herself!


I've been kind of feeling under the weather ever since I got back - I think it's a combo of expected pregnancy stuff and the "Fall Bug" that's been going around the office. I'm actually borderline miserable, and spend most of my day dreaming about being back in bed. Hopefully this will pass soon!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Ruby's First Maverick's Game

I got to go to a Mav's game last night with our guy-friends (Damian has season tickets with them but was out of town on business, so I got to go)! We had a really fun time, despite the fact that the Mav's lost in admirable fashion. This pic was in the 4th quarter - notice how everyone has already cleared out!

Big thanks to Greg, Josh, & Caleb for taking such good care of me at the game - I felt like I had my own private entourage! Ruby liked the music - she would start kicking when it played. Hopefully I'll get to go to some more games in the next month or so!!!

Another wonderful shower!


Last weekend was the shower that my mom and her girlfriends had for me. It was so much fun! The food was fantastic and it was so neat to get to see our family friends. The lovely hostesses did a wonderful job and I'm pretty sure that they might have had a little bit of fun doing it. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! We had a raffle for a spa gift certificate for everyone who brought a package of diapers (I filled my entire car with diapers!), we played some fun games (Nana, you need to brush up on your nursery rhymes...), and got to gab with friends that I haven't seen in a while.


Thank you to everyone who came! It was so much fun. Each of you are such a beautiful blessing in our lives - words can't express how appreciative I am that you have been there for my family. I love you all!

Here is the glider (and ottoman) that the Shaver family gave me, as well as the custom changing table that Liz made - it matches Ruby's nursery perfectly!!!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

My first baby shower!

Last weekend was my first baby shower and it was so much fun! It was a shower for most of my "Dallas" girlfriends. Here's a picture of me and the beautiful hostesses - Sarah D., Ashley Z., Jill C., Raegan H., Sherry R., Ashley M., and Amy P. You did a fabulous job, ladies!


It was so great to see all of my friends and family. My mom, Damian's mom, my Granny, and my Aunt Donna were all able to come. I can't thank everyone enough for being there - it truly meant the world to me. Ruby is going to be such a lucky girl to have so many wonderful women in her life.

Ash - you did a great job on the decorations! You are definitely the "Shower Planning Queen". I'm sad that we're going to take them down today (yes, I made her keep them up since last weekend - I'm still enjoying them!).

It was such a fun weekend! Thank you again to the hostesses and to everyone that came - it is so nice to make happy memories during my pregnancy, I will cherish them forever. I love you gals!





Monday, October 20, 2008

Baby Ruby's first Aggie game!



Last weekend I went with Ashley down to Aggieland for the Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech football game. We went fully expecting a blow-out, and were pleasantly surprised with the Ag's performance in the first half. Not too surprised about the outcome though. Thanks so much for letting me go with you, Ash! I had a blast!


I think that Ruby liked the game - she was kicking like crazy most of the time - especially during the yells and when the band was playing! I can't wait until I can take her to her first game in person. I bought her a cute little Aggie onesie for next season - hopefully the Aggies will have a little bit better of a team by then....


It was a fun weekend, but it was tough too. Damian proposed to me 6 years ago after the Tech/A&M Game under the Century Tree on campus. It was one of the happiest days of my life. It was hard not to think about that day and get sad. I still miss him every day.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

7 months and counting...

Here's my belly pic that we took last night - 7 months along!



She's really grown in the past month! I'm finally headed in the right direction - as of this week I've officially gained (re-gained?) my first pound from my pre-pregnancy weight! In all actuality, it fluctuates between 0.5 - 1 pound, but I'm rounding up. Which is weird to me - looking at this picture I feel like I'm as big as a house! She likes to kick me under my ribs on my right side, over and over and over again. I'm getting so excited about her - I can't wait until I get to meet her! On a side note, the prenatal vitamins have obviously been helping my hair growth - I'm getting a haricut in a week and I can't wait!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

AHS 10-Year Reunion!

Last weekend we had our 10-year class reunion for the Aledo High School class of 1998. Allie, Lindsay, Andrea, and I planned it with a little help from a few invaluable people. It turned out really well - it was great to see everyone!


On Friday night, we had an informal get-together up at Railhead BBQ in Aledo. It was also AHS's Homecoming - click this link for a really great article and 2-minute video clip about homecoming. It makes me proud to be a Bearcat! http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6025166&page=1


On Saturday night, we had our official reunion at the Stockyard Station in Fort Worth. It was a great venue and everyone had a fun time. We showed the old prom video (brought back lots of memories!) and our Senior video. Afterwards a group of us went to Fox & Hound in downtown.


It was a fun weekend, but it wore me out!!! We graduated with such a great group of people. It was so much fun to get to see everyone. We're going to try to begin planning more frequent events for our class - 10 years is too long to go without seeing some of our old friends.

Friday Night at Railhead in Aledo



The Beautiful Planning Committee!




The AHS Girls of 1998

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Pretty girl...

I just got back from my big doctor's appointment, and good news all around (thankfully)! Baby Ruby is doing great - she's right on target for her growth, she's flipped around and is no longer breech, and I think that she's the most beautiful thing in the world. During her sonogram, we were able to see her suck her thumb, wiggle around, and blink at us! The nurse said that she's never seen a baby be so alert this early. I had all of my bloodwork done today, including the glucose tolerance test, got a flu shot and a rho-gam shot, and was able to ask Dr. Dullye many of my questions. I got all of the rest of my appointments set up through the end of the year (7 more to go!).


At our Lamaze class last night we got a tour of the hospital's Labor & Delivery area and were able to see some of the types of rooms and the nursery with the new babies. I am so excited for Ruby to be here - I can't wait to hold her and kiss her!


I put together Ruby's crib this weekend - it is so perfect. I like to sit in the room and just look at it. My friend Ashley said "Just think how cute it will look with a baby in it!"


Thanks so very much for everyone's prayers for my dad. He is doing much better and is back at home. He says that he's feeling better than he has in a long time, and he's getting cranky and bossy again (which is a good sign).


Here are four sonogram pictures that we got today. I might be a little biased, but I think she's the most beautiful little girl in the world.

Below is the picture of the front of her face - this is where she was blinking at us! I think that she looks like me.

Here is a picture with her hand in front of her face - she was sucking her thumb right before this shot.

Isn't she cute?

Monday, September 29, 2008

Weekend Update....

Well, this weekend was a little more eventful than I had hoped it would be! As most of you know my dad is battling late-stage cancer and has been undergoing very intensive chemo treatments, which haven't been making making him feel just 100% to say the least. On Saturday morning he passed out multiple times and began to go into convulsions. My mom called 911 and they took him to Baylor Hospital in downtown Fort Worth. He was severly anemic, so they began giving him fluids in the ER while they waited for the shipment of blood to arrive. I got there as quickly as I could. I kept thinking to myself "stay calm" - everyone has been telling me how important it is to stay calm right now. Well, that's much easier said than done. While driving to Fort Worth I had 5 painful contractions, was in a cold sweat, and was just praying that I could make it there in one piece.

The human body typically holds 9 - 10 units of blood total. My dad had to receive 6 units of blood. The doctors said that they've never given that much blood to a non-trauma patient before. So Saturday was primarially focused on pumping as much blood and fluids into my dad as they could, but at a safe pace. He also had a CT scan. By Saturday evening his color had returned and he said that he was feeling much better. On Sunday, they ran several tests including an echocardiogram, ultrasound on his heart, and full endoscopy. We haven't gotten the results of anything except for the the endoscopy - I was able to speak to the physician immediately after the procedure. My dad has a large duodenal ulcer that he believes has been the primary source of his blood loss. He said that it is a result of the large amounts of ibuprofen that he has been taking, in addition to the stress from chemo. They're going to put my dad on a treatment program for that, so hopefully that will help. He also said that my dad was "one half of a horse," and he'd let me figure out which half - good to hear that my dad is giving everyone a hard time right now!!

I only have had a few additional contractions since Satruday morning - about half of which have been painful. I'm going to call my doctor today - hopefully everything is fine. I'm sure that it was just stress-induced. I'm in my 27th week of pregnancy - I read this morning that most women at this point have gained 16 - 22 pounds. I'm still at negative 3 pounds as of this morning..... A little discouraging to say the least, but it should be relatively easy for me to shed my baby-weight! I just hope that Baby Ruby can't tell how stressed and how sad that I am. I'll post a new belly picture soon - she's definitely growing.

Please keep my dad in your prayers. He has some great doctors working on him, but he's not out of the woods yet. Say a prayer for little Baby Ruby too - I want her to know how special she is and how much everyone loves her.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Anyone want to buy our house?


We made the sad decision to sell our beautiful home. It's really the only logical option given the circumstances, but it absolutely breaks my heart. Our house is officially "listed" now - here's the link: http://ntreislistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuyFul/PrtBuyFul.asp?emailGUID=e8e59290-16ab-4734-b36a-20ba3c95329a&AgentId=0555945. If you click on the picture of our house you can see additional pictures. I'm sad because I feel like so many other things in my life, no one will ever love it as much as I loved it.



Tuesday, September 9, 2008

6-Month Doctor Visit

I just got back from my Dr's appointment. She had some good news and some bad news. The good news (actually, great news) is that the baby still looks ok. She's not overly concerned about her - she says that as long as I'm trying my hardest to eat, staying hydrated, and taking my prenatal vitamins, that she should continue to take what she needs from me. She said that babies are like leeches - they get whatever they need from you at your expense, and that this doesn't stop until they turn 18. Haha. She gave me a prescription for anti-nausea medicine that should hopefully help both with the sickness and help me to sleep at night. The bad news is that I lost a pound from last month's visit, which puts me at 5 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. And that was after I drank copious amounts of water this morning and wore heavy clothes..... She also said that what I've been experiencing the past few days are probably Braxton Hicks contractions. They were pretty painful this morning, but she said that as long as I don't have more than 6 per hour and as long as they don't get increasingly more painful, I should be fine. If they do, I have to come in to the hospital and they'll admit me for monitoring.


She measured at 28 weeks for her Fundal Height (I'm only 24 weeks along), so Dr. Dullye sent me in for an unscheduled sonogram to make sure that everything was ok. The sono showed that Baby Ruby is in the "Frank Breach" presentation - http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/breechpresentation.html - it's not a problem just yet, but it could be if she doesn't flip around in the next month or so. The sono confirmed that she is 24-weeks, and our due date is still the same. It also confirmed that she's still a girl!

Here's another picture of her beautiful face from today. Seeing her today was such a blessing. I wasn't scheduled to have a sonogram, but it made me so happy to get to see her, her little beating heart, and to watch her move around on the screen as I felt her in my belly. Damian came with me to the appointment and held my hand as we watched her. It was so nice, but my heart is still so very sad. I hung the few baby clothes that we've gotten up in my closet last night - in the empty half where Damian's clothes used to be. It makes me happy now to walk in there, I see something that makes me smile now instead of just emptiness. I'm praying that each day gets easier, that each day will hurt a little bit less than the previous day. That's all that I can hope for.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Back to Zero.

A lot has happened over the weekend. More than I had hoped for. I've not only lost the one single pound that I had gained, but I'm actually down 4 pounds. I have a Dr's appt. tomorrow, so hopefully she'll be able to ease my mind a bit. I've been having trouble keeping down any food at all and have been fighting off panic attacks.

Damian decided on Friday that he didn't want to stay with his wife and his unborn baby girl. I truly thought that the other woman was out of his life all together, but it turns out that she is not. He moved all of his stuff out in a matter of hours yesterday. I love that man with all of my heart, and I always will. I hope that we will be able to get through this terrible process in one piece and that he will uphold his promise to be there for me and Baby Ruby.

I know that this is for the best. I keep telling myself that I'll be better off. But I feel silly ever giving him a second chance, silly for trusting him again, and very silly for falling back in love with him. The one thing that I can say is that I can go to sleep every night knowing that I gave it my all. I have no regrets. I know that God doesn't make mistakes and that He doesn't give us more than we can handle. I am so very blessed with so many things in my life - my family and all of my beautiful friends, who I can't thank enough for being there for me. Say a prayer for me and my sweet baby girl today - we need all that we can get.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Belly Pic!

Here's a new picture of me from this morning - 6 months along! I noticed last night that I can no longer see my feet when I'm standing up. I finally caved in and have started buying some maternity clothes - they're so cute! I read that our baby girl is about the size of a large papaya this week and is a little over 1lb. Works out well since that's all that I've gained so far (although I have no idea how considering that I can't go an entire night without some kind of dessert).....

Today is also my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Nana!!!


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Aloha!



Here are a few pictures from the Honolulu part of our Babymoon. It was beautiful and we had a fabulous time!!!
Our baby girl has been really moving around a lot! She's very active at night - Damian felt her move last weekend for the first time, which was really neat. We bought her crib last weekend (yay for Labor Day Sales!) and are in the process of picking out bedding/paint colors/etc. I'm really trying not to go overboard with it, but it's just so much fun! I also took the soon-to-be-Grandmas ("Nana" and "Mimi") to Babies-r-Us and we registered - talk about overwhelming! I had no idea what half of the stuff was. I have a lot to learn still, but we had a great time. I'll post a new belly pic soon - she's growing like crazy! As of yesterday, I've officially gained my first pound since I've been pregnant!


At a Luau on the North Shore




Sunset at the Hotel Halekulani





The most amazing view from breakfast one morning!





Pineapples at the Dole Plantation





On a Sunset Catamaran Cruise off of Diamond Head

Honolulu sunset


Hawaiian band and hula dancer on the beach