She has arrived!

The Hynes' with their newest addition: Charlotte Ann Hynes. Born on May 26th at 11:50 am, 7 pounds 8 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. It's already been almost a month and I can't remember what life was like before. It has been quite a year for Kyle and I: graduate college, move home, start our careers, get married, buy a house. It just wouldn't have been complete without Miss Charlee. She is so amazing and it's unbelievable how much we love her.

I will never forget going to the hospital and thinking to myself, "I'm going to leave here with a little lady that we will change our lives forever." We got to the hospital after I had contractions all day long. I went into work that Tuesday morning, the 25th and had several contractions while I was there. I wasn't sure what they were supposed to feel like so I didn't really think I was in labor.....but I was. Contractions progressed to 5 mins apart while Kyle, Holly, aunt Laura, Granny and I took a walk down Barkwood Dr. We called the dr and she told us to come on in! We were admitted, pain meds administered and by mid-morning on the 26th we were ready to push. Baby was turned face up, which meant lots more pushing but we made it through and our precious girl made her way into the world. She didn't waste any time and began screaming and squirming as soon as she hit air. Everything was perfect with her and the moment they put her on my tummy, I knew that she was the best thing that I had ever done. Our own amazing being was finally here and we were a family. :)

Adjusting to life with a newborn has not been as hard as I thought. We had some feeding troubles at the beginning but we made it through. It's amazing how little sleep you can have and still function, be happy even. Kyle and I were certainly tired during the mid-night feeding but the energy comes from some magical place. Now I wake up before she even cries at night...it's like I feel her move, even from the other room.



She is just about a month old and has grown so much. She is staying awake more and starting to smile! Charlee smiles are the best...they warm you from the inside out. She's turning out to be a pretty cool little girl, I can't wait to watch her grow and change.

It's taken me forever to update the blog, hopefully I can become more diligent about updating things.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Only 3 days until our due date! Baby doc said I was at 3 cm yesterday and she said she doesn't think we'll make it past the due date. She stripped my membranes, which is supposed to help get things going but I haven't felt any difference. I had some cramping after getting home from the doctor but no contractions, not even back pain.

I've tried lots of the old wive's tales and suggestions from people. Walking (20-30 mins a night), spicy food, popcorn, fruit. I'm going to keep walking but I'm just going to wait patiently from now on. The body will do what it wants to do...I just need to sit back and let it.

Today could be my last day of work. If nothing happens my Monday and I still feel fine, I'm going to go in to save some vacation time. At this point, I still feel fine working. Driving is what worries me, I don't want to get stuck out in the boonies somewhere with no cell coverage. Today will be the last day I have driving to do. If I make it to Monday, I'll just be in the office, which will be fine.

Speaking of work, we've been doing lots of house work. Tomorrow, Kyle and I both have off work so we are going to give the house another good cleaning in preparation. We painted and moved around the study, which is now Kyle's creative outlet space, "ArtistOne Studios". He's getting everything together quite nicely. Now he just needs to make enough money doing it to stay home from work and be Mr. Mom for Charlee. :) Oh, here's a picture of "mama" painting days before her due date:

finally...some time to post

Well I have a 38 week belly picture, but I cannot find the camera cord to put it on the computer...so a 36 week belly pic will have to do. Tomorrow we will be at 39 weeks, only 9 days away from the due date. I am just hoping to make it to Tuesday. That will be my one year working at Seven Counties and I will be able to take the paid leave. So she just needs to stay in there for 4 more days. We're both getting so excited but it still is weird to think that it will be so soon. We will be parents in a very short time.


Charlee's room is all ready for her, crib assembled, clothes put away and stuffed animals at the ready. Our hospital bag(s) are packed and the car seat is in the car. :) We are prepared...I think. Our doctor said at our last visit that she's still sitting pretty high but I could basically go at any second. Every night I wonder if I'm going to wake up to my water breaking. Nothing yet though.

I know that I should be resting and sleeping as much as possible but we have had a very bust week. Riley went in to the "snip clinic" on Tuesday and that basically broke my heart to leave him there overnight. He was alert with a wagging tail and lots of kisses to give the next morning so I don't think he's too mad at us. I'm just glad it's over with. I've been cleaning or "nesting" as you would say all week. I can't go to sleep if there are dished to be done because I'm going to be stressed out if I come home from the hospital with dirty dishes out. I need to get the laundry put away because that is my current stressor. I vacuum everyday and make sure the trash is taken out. Mama bird is a nestin'. :)

I'm still working also so that keeps me on my feet all day. I plan on working at least through next week and potentially after my due date, depending on how I feel. I'm getting uncomfortable and my back just started hurting yesterday so I feel it coming on. My back hasn't hurt at all the whole time *knock on wood* so I'm very thankful for that. I could not deal with that pain all the time. My hands and feet are still swollen but I guess I'm just used to it. I really miss wearing my rings and regular shoes though. I'm strictly in flip flops now.

I also started a picture project that I want to do in the living room. My original thought was to have this in the study but that room has turned into "ArtistOne studios" so my art project will go downstairs. I have lots of pictures of friends and family that I love and I wanted to showcase them all. My plan is to get them all on the wall in some sort of collage. The frames are all different sizes and colors and I think that will give it a cooler effect. I googled "frame collage" and found this pic...kind of what I"m going for, expect mine will all be personal photos.

Mural is done!

I can't believe we have this artwork on our baby's wall. I've been sitting in the new nursery chair, watching RJ (and his wonderful wife Suzanne) create this beautiful piece and I still can't believe it's there. I just walk in the room and smile. I can't wait for Charlee and be able to look at it from her crib, read books under the tree and have tea parties in front of the castle. It's the perfect touch for her little princess room. I'm just tickled. :)

In other news, we are officially at 32 weeks today. I feel really really good for 8 months pregnant, other than the cold I've battled all week. It is getting better and hopefully I will have recovered by Monday. Only 50 days to go until she's here, it's really hard to believe. We're acquiring all this baby stuff, talking about her with everyone and all of that but it still hasn't really hit me. We are going to have a little person joining out family very, very soon. I'm getting more and more excited, it just seems unreal.

This upcoming week is spring break for all of my client's schools so I'm pretty much on vacation too. I will see about 4 kids on Monday and Tuesday, then I'm off for the rest of the week. I needed this break and I truly need to make myself relax for these few days. Work is going great, but my body gets tired much more easily (understandable and totally justified) on the long days.

Other pregnancy symptoms have come up that I wasn't experiencing in the previous 7 months: swelling hands and feet. This is probably the most unpleasant thing about being pregnant so far. I feel like I'm a balloon that just gets a little air added all day. I know my face/hands/feet/legs look swollen and that's just bad for all the pictures I know will be taken at showers and etc. I can't wear my wedding set anymore and the ring I got to take on the honeymoon that has always been WAY too big is fitting. I'm hoping I can get rid of the swelling soon after she comes. Until then, I will grin and bare the huge feet and sausage fingers. My mom always told me that she was back in her non-maternity jeans while still in the hospital...hope I inherited that glorious gene.

53 days and counting...

She's almost here! We're already under 2 months to go and it's going to get here faster than I think we realize. My most up to date belly photo is there on the left. 31.5 weeks, taken last night. We have a doc appt this morning at 10am, the most inconvenient time and day for my work schedule but they couldn't do anything else because of Good Friday. Eh, I'll take the morning off to hear bebe's heartbeat and get measured :) Charlee has been moving around like crazy but I don't think she's flipped yet. Everyone tells me that I'll KNOW when she does. It seems like she's trying to figure it out though, kicking and elbowing my all down my sides. She gets crazy active at night, it makes my whole body move.


We are going to be so busy every weekend before she gets here.
April 1-2: RJ paints the mural in the nursery (I will post pic updates)
April 3: Easter
April 7-11: Jana is in town with her crew, my BIRTHDAY!
April 17: Granny's baby shower
April 24: Sam's friend baby shower
May 1: Derby festivities
May 8: Sam's graduation/party
May 15: Family time at Granny's (celebrate bdays)
May 22: Charlee is due this weekend!

I'm hoping we can find a weekend in there to just be by ourselves before she comes. It might have to be the weekend she's due, but I want it to be sooner so I won't be huge and uncomfortable. We'll have to see. It seems like forever away, but with all the stuff we still have to do, I know it will be here so fast. I really wish we could take a mini vacation and get away for a bit, but I don't see that happening :(

Breeched baby...

Little foot.



Little hand.


Just had our 30 week appt with an ultrasound to check on baby's growth and etc. Everything is going right on schedule, she's actually a week or so ahead of schedule but they aren't changing the due date. Charlee is laying the complete opposite way of how they want her. She should be head down, facing towards my back and this little lady is head up, facing out like I'm carrying her right in front of me. The nurse said that's why my belly is measuring small bc weighs the right amount and etc but she is laying right under my ribs. (I knew that already...ouch) We got a couple pictures printed out but she wasn't really cooperating with the technician. She did give us this scary face picture. Skull picture really...




It was cool seeing her wiggle around, she's over twice as big as she was during our 17wk ultrasound. She was kicking and playing with her hands the whole time.

The doctor said they would check her position again closer to the due date and most likely schedule a C Section if she hasn't flipped. I wasn't really happy to hear that, but I'll go with whatever is best for baby and I. It's kind of scary but it'll be ok.

Next appointment is 3/31, two weeks from now. :)

Blogging at 5am...great

I do not get up this early. Riley usually determines when I get up and it's mostly around 7-8. He hasn't slept since 3 this morning....he's up and moving around. He won't lay down in one place for more than 10 seconds. He slept for about an hour, in bed with us while I was petting him, then got up and left. He acts like something scares him, running from room to room. I don't know...it's freaking me out.

I'm more on edge with it because I found out today that two of his siblings died last week. The family says they were poisoned. I cried, right there in session. Call it my hormones, call it my dog lover side, I don't care but it was so sad. So now I'm all worried that something is wrong with Riley. Roxy is acting fine, she's looking at him like "lay down man, chill out".





In other, happier news..we're at 29 weeks! I can't wait until Friday, our last ultrasound. She's grown more than twice the size she was at our first ultrasound so this one should be more eventful I think...if she isn't sleeping. I'm very excited.

Work is getting harder for me, mainly because I don't stay in one spot for more than 3 hours. I'm up moving around, getting kids from classrooms, driving round and round. It's getting to be exhausting. During pregnancy I wouldn't mind a desk job, sure I'd have to get up and walk every now and again but not ALL day. I'm hoping to be able to whittle down my caseload by the beginning of May so I'm not doing so much. It would be me that has her water break in a session with a kid, traumatizing the kid and herself for life.

I'm definitely feeling much more "pregnant" now, with the belly and all. It's harder to roll over in bed (which I have to do every hour), harder to get up from sitting, just harder to mobilize. Still two months to go, so I know it'll only get worse from here on out. :)


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I'm attempting to go back to sleep. Riley is still up pacing. :(