We like BANANAS!!

Clementine had her first solid food on Sunday - Bananas! And she loves them, especially when she gets banana flavored fingers for dessert! We have a video, but are working through minor technical complications & can't post it right now. Hopefully soon! Next we will try rice cereal, then maybe peas or carrots! Yum!!

Christmas Time!!

Well, the Christmas visits are now over & I've finally been able to sit down & relax. We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of family and everyone getting to see Clementine. She got to meet her Great-Grandmother for the first time and then a whole lot of extended family down in Uvalde. Her Great-Grandmother is turning 90 this next year. Hopefully Clementine will get that longevity gene!

baby volcano

So last weekend we were over at some good friend's house playing cards & Clementine was chillin' out in her carseat, not really doing much, when all of a sudden she erupts spit-up all over the place! It came out like a fountain! I was pretty freaked out by the whole thing, but she just sat there while I cleaned her up and was just like: "boy do I feel better!"

I had no idea babies could be so weird!

New Ride

We have been needing a bigger vehicle for a while now and well, we have done it. We are now part of the MiniVan nation. It took some work but I managed to get Chris to consider getting a minivan instead of an SUV. Then he went out yesterday for a work meeting and called me about 1pm saying "I'm just going to stop by Carmax & see what they have"...Hours later we are the proud owners of a Toyota Sienna. Watch out soccer teams here come the Shaws!!

Awesome Girl Cuteness!!

I totally want these for Clementine!!

http://www.rufflebutts.com/

Ready to go...with ears on!

Here she is all ready to travel & too cute!!

Doctor's visit - 3 month

We had a nurse's visit last week for her 3 month shots & they let us weigh her on the way out and Clementine weighs 13 pounds! She is growing so fast...and getting heavy! :)

adorable pics

By request here are some photos of Clementine. More to come!

12 weeks old

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday at Clementine's grandma's house (my Mom) she had lots of fun, but missed out on the awesome spread. Luckily I ate enough for both of us and went home with a tummy ache! I was worth it though!

11 Weeks old

So it's been pretty busy with me searching for a job and I haven't had much time to blog with updates. But I've got a few minutes & here goes!

Clementine is doing great! She got her first vaccine shot on Nov. 6th. We only gave her the DTaP this month and she did extremely well. She was all smiling and happy until the nurse stuck her then she looked shocked and started crying! She only cried for about 2 minutes and then calmed down with her binky & some rocking. Hopefully every visit will go as smooth!

I had to do some searching for a job since the outfit I was with didn't have any work for me. So I made some calls and got on with a company that sent me down to my old stomping grounds - Karnes City. I found a B&B that has office suites and has weekly rates...so I get to bring Chris & Clementine & the dogs with me! It's pretty much like a traveling circus, but seems to be working so far!

6 weeks old

Clementine at 6 weeks old...and in the cutest yellow dress. Please note her "shoes" they are awesome!


Hanging with Daddy!



Ready for my closeup.



I will be the last standing baby!

Hands?

So the last few weeks have been pretty relaxed around the Shaw household. A few weeks ago Chris traveled to MI & so Clementine & I got to spend the whole week together. We watched a lot of Netflix and did some chilling out at the house.

That Monday my MIL was great enough to give us the gift of housecleaning and it did wonders for the place. When we moved in I was 9 months pregnant and didn't get to do a serious cleaning of the house and the landlords didn't have anyone come in either so there was certainly some work that needed to be done! Thanks so much Carol!

Clementine is doing really well and starting to coo & find her voice. So far it mainly comes out when she is not happy, but I'm looking forward to more of her exploration. Today she started looking at her hands like "What are those things?" She's starting to get chubby little cheeks & is just so cute!



This is Clementine on October 3rd ONE Month old!!

Doctor's visit

We went to the doctor last week & Clementine is doing great! She was up to 7 lbs 14 oz. and the doctor was very happy with her progress. We finally got the nursing thing down and since she is gaining weight I'm really happy.

Quick funny story: I asked the doctor if they typed Clementine's blood at the hospital & she said they had & it was A+. Then she added that I was O+. I said that was good because my husband is A+ & then I joked: "I'm sure glad it wasn't B". The doctor looked at us and said "Boy that would have been awkward!" Then we all laughed. :) I was pretty funny.


Me & Clementine chilling out

Pictures from the hospital

Here are a few pictures from the hospital before & after our angel arrived.

Clementine is here!!

Sorry about the late post, I have been rather busy lately! Clementine finally got here on September 4, 2009 @ 3:35 pm. Everything went very well and labor lasted about 8 hours.

Here are her stats:
7 lbs, 6 oz
20 inches
completely adorable!

I've got pictures from the hospital to download & post and I look exhausted in all of them. But she is such a beautiful baby & was worth all of it!!

Week 40++ Update

We went to the Dr yesterday & I'm at 3 cm & 85% effaced! Yay! He swept the membranes again to see if we could get things going, but just in case went ahead & scheduled an induction for Friday (tomorrow) morning at 5 am!!! So far tomorrow will be the big day because nothing is happening today. I've got some minor contractions, but nothing that is sticking around.

Next post - Baby!

Week 40+ Update

Went to the Doctor today and am 2-5 days past my due date. I am 2.5 cm dilated & 80% effaced now. I'm glad I'm still progressing & haven't regressed. I heard some women do that. The Doc said everything is still looking good & we should start considering induction because he didn't want to go past the 42 week mark. I spoke with him about recalculating my due date since we started this pregnancy with an inception & he agreed that a more accurate date would have been Aug. 29th, but that still makes me 2 days past my due date.

I decided to go ahead and have my membranes stripped, which is a sophisticated term for pushing the placenta back from the cervix to try to encourage labor. The Doc said if it works it can take up to 48 hours & so should know by Wednesday. Since we are past the due date I now have to go in more often & have an appointment set for Wednesday. We've decided that if she doesn't come by Wednesday we will schedule an induction on Friday. So I should have a little one just in time for the Labor Day weekend!

Not just yet...

Well, I got too excited on my last post. I was sure we'd have her out by now, but no such luck. I had my doctor's appt yesterday and I'm still at 2 cm & 75% effaced. The doctor guesses about a 90% chance this week, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd love to have her out & visiting the world, but apparently she is pretty comfy in there & not quite ready. :(

I'm still having some BH contractions, but nothing to get too excited about. It's just the waiting is starting to get to me. I wish it weren't 106 degrees outside or I'd be walking to try to get her going.

Contractions

Yesterday I ended the day with lots of light contractions in the evening. I had Chris clean out the car just in case, but I slept fine through the night. Time is getting short, I think this baby may show up any day now!!!

Week 39

The Doctor's visit today went very well. I'm at 2 cm & 70% effaced. He thinks the baby weighs about 7 lbs & said if I make it to my next appointment (Aug. 24th) we can talk about options to induce.

I haven't had as many contractions as I did last week, or if I have I haven't noticed them as much. They are not too uncomfortable, yet. I was really trying to take it easy so I could make it to Saturday since we had tickets to see Wicked...which was awesome! It was certainly my favorite show we saw this season. The production was really top notch & the singing was fantastic!

So anyway, I'll keep up if there is any other news, but so far things are going perfectly fine!

Pediatrics & Vaccines

Chris & I have been doing *lots* of research regarding vaccinations for our baby and decided that the more we learned (on both sides) the better decisions we could make. There is a lot of information out there regarding the link between vaccines & autism (as well as other metabolic & immune disorders). I myself had a friend whose son started showing signs of autism after his vaccinations (he had twins, a boy & a girl. Only the boy developed the disorder).

Despite all the information supporting vaccines I have a hard time believing that giving a baby that weighs less than 35 lbs., 8-10 diseases could not have *any* possible adverse effects. Especially when many of the shots are given all at once. Some of the research suggests that "Thimerosal" (a preservative containing Mercury) is to blame. Some say it is the other metals & contaminants such as: lab altered viruses and bacteria; aluminum; mercury; formaldehyde; phenoxyethanol; gluteraldehyde; sodium borate; sodium chloride; sodium acetate; monosodium glutamate (MSG); hydrochloric acid; hydrogen peroxide; lactose; gelatin; yeast protein; egg albumin; bovine and human serum albumin; antibiotics; and other unidentified contaminants.

Now don't get me wrong, I want my baby to be protected, but I'm not so sure that trusting someone who has only been fed what to be told by pharmaceutical company reps is the best way to make the decision on safety. I want to know more...I want to know all the facts before jumping into something that will affect the life of someone I love & who has no choice but to trust me to do the right thing. Knowing what the right thing is, now that's the hard part.

One of the things that really got me thinking about this was the mandate the Texas Governor (Rick Perry) signed to have all girls, aged 11, to be given the HPV vaccine (Gardasil). The HPV vaccine is a vaccine for the human papillomavirus which can cause cervical cancer. The vaccine is for 4 types of HPV (out of the over 100 out there). But what really got me thinking on the topic is that HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. Now, I know there are 11 year old girls out there having sex, but I just didn't feel that the State should be mandating something that may not be necessary for every little girl out there. (BTW, the mandate never got passed by the local legislature because of the opposition to the vaccine being administered to 11 year olds & evidence that Perry was only pushing it because of possible contributions from Merck, who makes the vaccine Gardasil). Gardasil was only tested on girls aged 15-25 years old & they want to give it to girls at age 11 (and as early as age 9)? That does not make sense to me. Also the highest percent of females that are affected are aged 20-24 years old, but they still want to give it to an 11 year old.

When I learned that hospitals give the Hepatitis B shot to newborns I also started wondering why would they give that to a newborn who has a very low chance of contracting this disease. Hepatitis B is a blood borne pathogen (similar to HIV) it can only be transmitted through the exchange of blood fluids (also another STD). Why would a 12 hour old baby need this? They haven't even had a chance to build up 2 month's worth of immune system yet. In my research I've discovered that only about 26,000 children nationwide have been affected by HepB, but they (the CDC) has decided that all children should have this vaccine. Turns out it also provides $800 million dollars in revenue every year to the pharmecutical company Merck.

Throughout my research (which will continue to be ongoing) I've discovered that different doctors can draw different conclusions from the same scientific study. One article states that Dr. X has concluded from the ABC study that there is no connection between autism and the MMR vaccine, where another article states that Dr. Y has concluded from the ABC study that there is a possible link between autism and the MMR vaccine. With all of the contrary information about the conclusions of studies, it leads me to the conclusion that these are all just opinions of people. Just because they happen to wear a white coat does not mean they are right.

Babies who follow the CDC schedule of vaccinations are injected with nearly 5 mg of aluminum by the age of 18 months. Aluminum is a neurotoxin that even in minute quantities has well documented hazards. In 1997 the New England Journal of Medicine published data showing that premature babies injected with aluminum build up toxic levels in the blood, bones & brain and that aluminum toxicity can lead to neurological damage including mental handicaps at 18 months of age. The HepB given at birth contains 250 mcg of aluminum which is 20x higher than safety levels recommended per body weight. The vaccines given at 2 months contain 1,225 mcg of aluminum which is 50x higher than safety levels recommended for the average 12 pound baby.
(This information is from: http://www.thinktwice.com/ )

This is a very informative documentary on the topic:



A List of the Vaccines & the schedules from the National Vaccine Information Center: http://www.nvic.org/Downloads/4507NVIC11x17HIRES.aspx

A List of Vaccines & their Thermerosal content:
http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm

Week 38

I went to the doctor yesterday and everthing is moving along great. I told Dr. Seeker about the Braxton-Hicks contractions and after my exam he said they were doing what they are supposed to... 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced. He said I will probably make it to my next appointment (next Monday) but probably not to the one following. So about a week & a half* or so till Clementine gets here (*that is a complete guess). He also assured me he was not going on vacation within the next 2 weeks, so I feel better about that too!

Baby Shower

We were given a baby shower on Saturday (by my wonderful mother-in-law) and we had a wonderful time. It was at the Tavern (in Austin) and the food was great. We feel so blessed to have so many friends & family that gave us lots of wonderful gifts for the baby. She is going to be the cutest thing ever (especially in her Princess Leia outfit complete with light saber!)

Moving & Braxton-Hicks

Yesterday we started moving to our new house & boy was it hot! (big surprise) We would not have been able to do it without the help of our super awesome friend Sam and my super awesome sister-in-law Laura. I know I said it about 100 times, but thank you both **so** much!!

While we were taking a break I felt Clementine pushing super hard & my whole tummy was hard as a rock. It didn't hurt, but was pretty uncomfortable. Later I started thinking about that and realized I had my first contraction. Now, don't get too excited, I think it was a Braxton-Hicks contraction (false labor) because it didn't continue. But it was pretty interesting to say the least. I think I had one today also, but it was not as intense as yesterday & that may be because I am working on a project I had to finish for work & have not been straining like I was yesterday (Pushing and pulling carts mostly, not lifting really heavy stuff). So I'm going to keep an eye on what happens and I'll keep you updated.

30 days to go

So, I've been told that I need to put more updates on my blog about my everyday life (Thanks to Laura). So here goes:

This morning Clementine was moving like crazy, she had hiccups and was restless, so Chris & I used a fetal amplifier to listen to her (it's like a stethoscope). She was not fond of this and kept kicking the monitor. It went on for about 30 minutes and we thought it was pretty cool.

It's never too early to start irritating your child. ;D

35 week Update

The appointment at the doctor went very well on Monday. They said everything looks very good. Clementine is between 5 lbs & 5 lbs 7 oz right now, so is right on track for being 8 lbs at the due date. I am so relieved. I don't want a 10 pounder. That doesn't sound enjoyable.

My numbers are good & her heart rate was 142 bpm.

All of my family are getting anxious about meeting her, but she will be here when she's ready. Don't worry the day is not far now. :)

I got a few pictures & will try to post them as soon as I can.

33 week Update

I'm 33 weeks prego now and am still down 10 pounds. I had gotten down 15, but have gained some back as Clementine gets bigger. She should weigh about 4 pounds by now and is about the size of a pineapple. I'm sure glad I don't have to give birth to a pineapple, ouch! The doctor's have not worried a bit about me losing weight since I have some extra so that has been going well.

We had an appointment yesterday and they just checked the heart beat. It was between 130-140 which is just right. Next appointment (July 20th) they will do a sonogram, measure and make a guesstimate on how much she might weigh when she is born. Hopefully she will come in around the average of 7.5 pounds. I'm not really interested in having a 10 pounder. I'm also going to ask for more pics as I know several people would like some.

Everything else has been going just fine. I haven't had any notiable problems and much to the disappointment of several people, no cravings. At least not anything weird or out of the ordinary.

I've been lucky enough to have Chris travel with me down to south Texas, which has been really nice. It's good to have the company and if something happens I'd like to have him with me, just in case.

Well, until the next update, Everyone Take Care!
-Christine

First Post

Just checking to make sure this works as I would like to post lots of baby stuff, etc... for people to enjoy. Comments are always welcome (as long as you are not a spammer).
-Christine