Welcome To The World, Simone Marie!!!

Here she is!!!

Greg and I would like to introduce you to our sweet girl, Simone Marie!
She was born on November 9, 2009, at 8:12pm. Weight: 8 pounds 1.4 ounces. Length: 20 inches long. We think she is the most beautiful thing on this earth and are SO in love. :)


Freshly born! To our relief, she is perfectly healthy and very strong. I can't even describe how we feel right now...after all we've been through, Simone is such a blessing. She's quite the tough cookie. :)


Daddy is smitten with his little girl.


All ready to go home from the hospital.


After her first bath at home! All snuggly and warm. I love her little face in this pic.

This is just a "teaser" of pics...as all you parents know out there, time is limited right now!! We'll get TONS more up soon.
Overall, we are just so incredibly happy- I can't even describe it. We feel so lucky to have our sweet girl, and she is the absolute world to us.
The birth was difficult (when is it easy, though???), but Simone arrived safe and sound, and that's all that matters. We just love her more than we could ever say.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and well-wishes...they have all come true and we have our healthy, perfect little girl.

Will post more when we can...right now we have a little one to feed! :)
Love you all!!!!
~Greg, Nicole and Simone Marie

Greg's 32!! And, Still Waiting for Baby...

YAY- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG!!!

Well, Greg officially didn't get a baby for his birthday on Friday, but we still had a good time! :) (QUICK BABY UPDATE: Nothing new as of Friday's dr. appointment. Still only 1cm dilated and 90% effaced, but Baby did move down more. Still planning on this Tuesday the 10th for the induction!)
Above is Greg re-enacting blowing out his birthday candle on his fried ice cream.


The group of us. We went out and celebrated Greg's and Jesse's birthdays, which were on Friday (they're even the same age) and also Jennifer's birthday, which was on Thursday.


Baby felt all of the birthday love, as well. :) Jenny, me, Beth


Kendall, Joel


Brian, Shantell


Kevin and Jenny...oh my gosh, what's over there???


Birthday Girl Jennifer, Scott, and Ryan


Alicia, Erica, Jason


Chris, Jenny


Good times.


Typical pick of birthday boy Jesse and Beth

What a great time!!! So glad you guys were all able to come out last-minute!!

And, just another cat pic:

How pathetic are these two, cuddling in a shirt box??
Oh yeah, and the door to the baby's room is officially closed full-time. I hadn't seen Tiger in a while the other day, so went upstairs to see what trouble he was getting into. I walked into Baby's room, and he had knocked off all of the stuffed animals on the changing table, proceeded to rip the changing pad cover off of the pad (and chew a small hole in it). The icing on the cake was even with the pet keeper-outer all sealed up, he managed to get in the crib again. When I found him, he was just innocently looking at me through the mesh. NAUGHTY.

Alright!! Next post will be of Baby!! Once again, we ask for your prayers that everything will go smoothly, and, most importantly, that Baby will be healthy! Wish us luck!! Love you all!

39 Weeks...Holy Hannah...

Whew- 39 weeks today! Now I think it's just humorous to see how big I can get...


And look at the latest 3D pics of our little chunker!!! He/she definitely put a lot more "meat" on since the last pics! Look at the cheeks and double chin! We love it!! Granted, he/she is squished pretty good in there, and is moving way down- hence the distorted top of the picture. The tech could only get the bottom 3/4's of his/her face!


Profile. Can't wait to squeeze those cheeks.

Health Update:
-Latest status from the OB appointment last Friday is 1cm dilated (whoop-e-dee-doo...), but 90% effaced, and Baby is at Station 0! So, things are happening! I thought for sure they were going to tell me NOTHING was happening.

-Since things still look great, they're basically letting us do whatever the heck we want to do. We decided to see if I go into labor on my own this week, and if I don't, we have an induction date set up for my due date, November 10th. We'll see what happens!

-I still prefer not to get induced, but I gotta go with my oncologist's wishes and not go over. There's no reason to go over at this point, and I really should get back on the chemo ASAP.

-Good thing is since I am 90% effaced, if I need to be induced, they will only have to do the Pitocin...not the several other meds that they sometimes have to do to get you going. So, it SHOULD be a quicker process, instead of taking days, like it sometimes can.


Here are some other pics from the Gopher football game on Halloween:

Kevin, Ryan, Joel and Greg dressed up as The Traveling Trophies. They were quite the hit- people were constantly stopping them and wanting to take pics! Ha.


Ryan as Floyd of Rosedale


The military people raising the flag


Kevin was The Governor's Victory Bell.


How can you not laugh when you see a guy in line for food with a bell on his head???


Joel was The Little Brown Jug, and Greg was Paul Bunyan's Axe. Hilarious!!

Well, if I make it til Friday, I'll keep you posted on that Dr. appointment. Otherwise, just watching and waiting!! Wish us luck and keep us and Baby in your prayers!! Greg's birthday is this Friday- maybe he'll have a new baby as his b-day gift???

38 Weeks! Oh, Baby!

Wow- every week that goes by, I just can't believe it! I'm 38 weeks today! Here are some maternity pictures that my good friend, Krista, took of us when I was 36 weeks.


Krista lives on a beautiful farm, so we were able to take these pics there. The fall colors were just perfect!




My big belly in all its glory!! :)





More belly pics: I thought it would be fun to compile them all together so you can see the transition. If you scroll through fast, it's like it's animated- ha.

Here I am at 37 weeks (above). I know I'm not that large of a pregnant woman, but I feel like my belly just can't stretch much more!!


36 weeks




35 weeks


34 weeks



32 weeks



28 weeks



25 weeks


23 weeks




20 weeks



16 weeks



14 weeks

Oh my gosh, I look at this last one and I look so skinny! Right now it's hard to believe I was ever that small- I just feel like a blimp! I'm a happy blimp, though. :)

Health Update:
-Overall feeling good. This past week is the first week I've started feeling pretty uncomfortable. Sleep's been getting difficult, and I can just tell my body is getting ready to have this baby. This discomfort is still NOTHING compared to chemo pain/discomfort though, so that helps me keep it in perspective!

-Greg and I went to a birthing/parenting class this past Friday and Saturday. I'm so glad we were able to get that in before the kid comes! We learned some good things. It's just nice to have more of an idea of what to expect when the big day comes. The class also left me feeling more nervous to give birth, but I know everybody has their own experience, and Greg and I just need to go with the flow with our own.

-It was funny in the birthing class- Greg and I had the nearest due date to the class (of course)!! There were a bunch of people there who were due in like, January, March, etc....so we couldn't help but chuckle. It was fun to see all of the different belly sizes. There was one girl who was due a week or so after me, and she looked like she was about 20 weeks pregnant- hardly any belly. Then there was a girl due in January who was like, twice as big as me!! It's interesting to see.

-Had my oncologist appointment last week- my levels all came back up beautifully! My WBC's are wonderful, and my hemoglobin was almost up to my baseline, but not quite. I can't say enough how nice it's been to be off the chemo for a bit.

-Since the chemo med I was on could cause heart anomalies (though rare), I had an echocardiogram last week to double-check my heart before I give birth. Still waiting for the results on that.

-My oncologist also helped to calm some of my fears about restarting chemo after Baby comes. I guess I knew it, but just needed to hear it again- these rounds will be SO MUCH easier. She said it is really rare to get nausea/vomiting from this med, and she said I will NOT go home after the infusion and feel like crap 5-6 hours later. That's all I needed to hear!

-Baby still passed all of his/her tests at my OB appointment last Friday! And, is continuing to look good-sized! They offered to set up an induction date for me, if I just wanted to have something planned in case I don't go on my own, but I declined. They said that's fine, since everything is looking so wonderfully. This week they'll see if I've started to dilate at all, and then we'll tentatively come up with a plan from there. I'm hoping I'll go into labor on my own in the next week, here.

-My final worry before Baby is born is getting my H1N1 vaccine. I REALLY want to get that, so Baby could have those antibodies when he/she is born, as well. As you know, the vaccines are SO hard to come by right now, so I'm not counting on it. It's frustrating because I'm in such a high-risk group and am a priority to get the vaccine, but there's lots of people who need it...so I'm on a waiting list, but would be very surprised if I actually get called. I could use a prayer or two that I'll be able to get this!!


Finally, Liam pics!!

What a big boy- he's almost 21 months! He is just such a goof and always brightens our day.


Cuddling with Dad on the couch, playing with one of his favorite toys, the remote. He LOVES electronics, gadgets, etc...anything with buttons! And he also loves cars. He loves to get into people's cars and pretend he's driving- he could play in a car for hours.


Goofball!!! Daddy and pregnant mommy Brenda in the background- I think she's 24-25 weeks or so?? Liam loves playing in his little brother or sister's new crib- ha! We can't wait for our little one to meet his/her cousin Liam!!

Well, who knows- next post could be of the Baby!!! If not, I'll keep you posted on Friday's OB appointment and what the plan is, if he/she doesn't come by then.
Greg, Baby and I thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers- wish us good luck!!

37 Weeks, and Poster's 10! :)

Wow- I am 37 weeks tomorrow! I just can't believe it! Above is another 3D ultrasound of Baby (actually taken last week, at 36 weeks). He/she is sucking on his/her wrist! I LOVE IT!!


Another angle of Baby.


And here I am at 36 weeks. Continuing to get huge! I am not complaining in the least, but things have been getting more interesting with Baby moving now. I feel like my stomach is just stretched to the max, so every move that Baby makes, the stretching I definitely feel!! Still love it, though.

Health Update:
-Had my 36 week appointment last Friday. Baby still passed all of his/her tests wonderfully!! I did contract a little more on the non-stress test, but I do all the time anyway...so who knows if it actually meant something or not.

-Biggest thing is I've made it past the 36-week mark that my oncologist wanted me to get to! YAY! What a relief. And, being at 37 weeks tomorrow, I'm at the point where if our baby were born now, he/she wouldn't be considered pre-term anymore. I honestly didn't think I'd make it this far. They kept talking about a pre-term, lower-birth weight baby...neither of which will be true!

-My OB actually offered to induce me this week! That caught me off guard. She asked if I was getting really uncomfortable and if I was just sick of being pregnant, but I told her absolutely not. I'm feeling great, and still would prefer to try and go into labor spontaneously on my own. She said that that's fine, so we'll just continue to wait and see!

-My OB also gave me some good reassurance that I needed...I told her I was still worried about some of my blood levels, though they should be back up a lot by now. I asked her at what levels they get concerned for a woman to be giving birth...and my lowest of low levels weren't even close to that! I also told her I was starting to get worried about giving birth, considering what my body has gone through these past few months with the chemo and whatnot...but she basically said I'm going to do just fine. I really needed to hear that. I guess it's all relative. I feel like my body has just been through the wringer some days, but I know there are lots of women out there in way worse pregnancy situations than mine. I can't say enough how lucky I feel that everything has been going wonderfully pregnancy-wise, considering everything else!

-Otherwise feeling really good! I still have off days, but who doesn't at 37 weeks of pregnancy? Again- it's been so nice having a break from the chemo. Pregnancy-wise, my only complaints are still my back and stretching stomach (though thank goodness no stretch marks- I know it would be much more painful if I had those!). I've actually been sleeping a little better, as well.

-I also have my oncologist appointment this week- it's been nice to not have one of those for 5 weeks! They will draw my levels one last time before Baby comes, and we'll go over the tentative plan for after Baby is born.

-Greg and I have our birthing/parenting classes this Friday and Saturday. Talk about last minute!! We didn't really have an option of doing them at another time though. Hopefully I'll make it through those! I guess if my water breaks in the middle of class, it will be a good learning experience for everyone- ha.



I'm sure all you parents out there can relate to this. Here's Greg putting the baby swing together. We are pretty much all set for Baby! As ready as we'll ever be, I guess! We have everything we need for now, hospital bags are packed, and we just can't wait to meet this amazing little person in my belly. I get teary-eyed just thinking about what a miracle he/she will be!! And already has been!


Hey, we still gotta put those cat pics in. I will preface these with stating, yes, we are dorks. I think most people reading this knew that, anyway.

Our kitty Poster turned 10 last week! 10 years old!! As you know, our cats are a big part of our family, so we HAD to celebrate. And yes, we are those people who dress up their pets. Ok, not really, but they had to get dressed up in ties for this occasion. :)
Above is Post licking his chops after enjoying his birthday cat food treat.


Poster opening his presents. He loves his new toys.


Both kitties all dressed up. Tiger, of course, benefitted from Poster's birthday, as well, since he also got treats and to play with the new toys.


Me and my Poster. This kitty has gotten me through a lot of rough times in life. He's so soft-hearted and I swear he knows when you need some extra TLC. I can't believe I've had him for 10 years already! Happy Birthday, Post!!