Welcome Home, Dylan!

This afternoon we were discharged from the hospital and brought Dylan to his new home. You may notice that his going home outfit is really big on him even though it is the smallest one he has. When he was weighed last night, he tipped the scale at 5 lbs. 5 oz. That is up 1 oz. from the night before. (The pediatrician told us he is in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height.) He is a bit of a narcoleptic nurser and we have to constantly work to keep him awake long enough to eat. Not that I blame him. I'm actually envious of his ability to fall asleep so fast. Now that he gets to eat "the good stuff" he should continue to get bigger and bigger. Autrey and I are glad my mom is here to help us out now that we are home in the real world!

Our Little Man

Yesterday morning Autrey and I welcomed little Dylan Taylor Duke into our family. He arrived at 8:06 am by way of C-section at St. Luke's Hospital. He was 18 1/2 inches long and weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. He is a great baby and we love him dearly!

Final Countdown

I had a very busy day today, at least according to my recent standard of daily activity. I first went to my last doctor's appointment before Dylan is born. My whole life I have had very low blood pressure. However, the last few weeks it has been increasing. Today it jumped a lot, causing the doctor to worry about Dylan and I being affected by preeclampsia. With that in mind, Dr. Forseter quickly called the hospital and scheduled my C-section for bright and early Wednesday morning. That means Autrey and I will be parents in a day and a half! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. A little nervous, but mostly excited. My mom is flying in from PA tomorrow afternoon and will be here for the birth and recovery.

After my appointment, my friend Abbie King came over with little Mason to visit. Abbie taught 2nd grade next door to me the past 2 years. (Interesting side note: All of my 2nd grade team mates - Abbie, Jackie, and Bridget - had babies in August. So if you want a baby, apparently all you need to do is come teach 2nd grade at my school.) Mason is adorable and got me even more excited to be a mom. Then, Kristi Heideman came over to hang out and help me fix the baby blanket I am crocheting. If you look closely at the border you will see that each row gets shorter than the one before. If I would have continued, my blanket would have looked more like a triangle shawl. Oops. Unfortunately, that meant I had to unravel most of my hard work and basically start over. Dang border. At least Kristi said my stitching look great, especially for a first timer.


These are the last pictures you will see of my pregnant belly. Hopefully those of you who told me it was a good idea to take skin pictures are not regretting that advice. Don't worry. I think it's safe to say this is the last time I won't be too self conscious of my belly to post a couple of pictures. It will remain covered from here on out. Anyway, next time I post I will be a mommy!

New Moon

If you are like me, you are a Twi-hard and are eagerly awaiting New Moon, the second movie in the Twilight series. Since it hits theaters next week on the 20th, last night Julie Shelton hosted a viewing of the first Twilight, YouTube spoofs, and New Moon trailers. She went all out with the treats and decorations. It was a blast! Fellow Twi-hards...
...swooning over Edward, of course!

A Touch of OCD

Those of you who know me well have probably noticed my love of lists, order, neatness, straight lines, etc. You might say I have a touch of OCD. Luckily I am not the only one. Today Meggan and I went to Christie's house for a support group meeting. Not really. We just got together and made chore charts like the ones Christie's kids use. Those of you without OCD will never understand the fun we had making them. Meggan made one for her 3 year old and I made one for Dylan. Is it wrong that my unborn child already has a chore chart? Probably. In my defense, I was starting to go a little stir crazy and wanted to hang out and also feel like I accomplished something today. Besides, I am sure I won't have as much free time on my hands to create such a masterpiece when Dylan is old enough to use it. The only thing left to do is fill in the actual chores. That can wait for a few years. Even I don't plan that far in advance. Random side note: A friend just came by to play racquetball with Autrey and told me I should have made a Honey Do chart for Autrey as well. That would have been funny. Poor Greg might get an "accidental" ball to the back of his head for even suggesting such a thing. Anyway, feast your eyes on our projects: Don't forget to tell me your guess for Dylan's birthday!