Its so hard to say good bye.........

We were fortunate enough to have Nick's family out to visit for Christmas/his birthday. I was happy for him to be able to spend that time with them. After the holidays they flew back home and we had family time for the rest of the week 28th-2. Eva had her 4 month well baby appointment on the 29th and as the doctor said several times she's one very healthy baby and we're doing a great job. :)The New Year came upon us fast, 2010 was such an amazing year for me and I dreaded entering 2011. But it has arrived we spent it as a quiet evening watching the ball drop (an hour early for us) and then heading to bed. Nick headed back to work on Monday Jan. 3, he only had to work a few hours that day so we went and got Eva's 4 month shots. She was a trooper and didn't complain. That night Jimmy and Ali came over for dinner, I made one of Nick's favorites, Pasta Carbonera. After Jimmy and Ali left Nick and I battled each other some good ole Tetris on facebook...... of course I whooped his but several times! The following day Tues. Jan. 4 was a very hard, and very long day for myself and I'm sure Nick as well. Nick left for work at 10a, around noon Ali came and picked Eva and I up. We headed to base and hung out with Nick all day in the CP while he ran around getting stuff organized and ready to go. His platoon was to head out that night to Kentucky to join up with another Unit, then on to Afghanistan for a year long tour. It was a lot different than when Nick headed to Iraq. For starters in Iraq they left at like 3am and I was the only family member hanging out with the boys so late. This time there were so many families there, kids, pets, parents and spouses. When Nick was told the bus would be arriving soon we decided to pack up the car and send Eva and I home. Watching Nick interact with Eva, place her in the car seat, carry her to the car and say good bye in that back seat was the hardest thing to watch in the world. It brought tears hard and fast, as hard as I tried to hold them back so he wouldn't see was impossible. I gave him a big hug and didn't want to let go.
We then said our I love yous, see you soons and kissed as I walked around to get in the car. I backed out of the parking lot and drove away waving to my soldier as we drove past. This year will be a very long, hard year, I have a beautiful angel to take care of and motivate me every day. We look forward to the day her daddy gets to come home to us again.
This is how I found Eva the morning after her daddy left, cuddling with her daddy bear!

Catchin up......

So the last blog I put up was WAY back in September when my mother came to visit and Eva was only weeks old. She is now 4 months old and growing so fast and learning new things every day. Since I'm way behind I'm going to do one big blog of catching up and try to stay on top of this weekly at least! So lets rewind back to October!!

October:
Let's see for starters Eva lost her stump on Oct. 1st, which I was very excited about so that I could start giving her real baths, which she LOVES!! She gave me her first real smile on Oct. 4 and it melted my heart.
Her Uncle Josh came for a long weekend to meet his niece. He absolutely fell in love the moment he saw her. He couldn't put her down, he rocked her to sleep, and read her stories.
While Uncle Josh was in town we made a trip to the Pumpkin Patch (unfortunately a little over one month olds don't enjoy pumpkin patches!). We got our pumpkin and came home. While Josh was in town Nick was going to WLC so he had to work but we got to spend evenings and lunches with him. Nick graduated from WLC on Oct. 22 and he made the commandants list (top 10% of the class). He is now a squad leader in his platoon with a few soldiers underneath him. The night before Halloween Eva and I carved her pumpkin. It came out pretty good :)
For Halloween I made a lady bug costume for Eva and of course she was just adorable :) Well that was a nice little fast forward of October! Eva also got her first round of shots this month and she did very well! Only cried for a little bit and was a little lethargic the second day but bounced right back!

November: So November was an interesting month! Eva is now 2 months old and has very good head control, and smiling every day.
To start off the month of November we had a visit from Aunt Sharon, Uncle Jon and "Aunt" Sarah (my brother, sister, and sisters best friend). They came out for a long weekend as well. Since my sister is allergic to cat's they had to stay in a hotel but it was great having them over to meet Eva.
They all took turns holding her and playing with her. On Sunday while they were here we made a trip to the Zoo in Manhattan. It was Eva's first zoo adventure! It was free for Veterans day and the weather was perfect.
We saw all sorts of animals, had to take a break and feed Eva and then she fell asleep. We got a couple family shots and got some exercise! After my family left the following weekend we had a couple of friends stay with us while they looked for apartments, Jimmy and Ali.
The week following that we had the whole Bourdon Clan arrive for Thanksgiving, Bob and Anna (the grandparents), Josh (again) and Josh's Fiance Leah. We had a crowded house for the week of Thanksgiving! It was great having them over though and of course they enjoyed every minute they had with Eva. My mom had purchased a cute little outfit for Eva's First Thanksgiving, she loved it! :) The day before Thanksgiving Nick got a phone call informing him that he would be heading to Afghanistan in January, talk about short notice! We put this news aside and enjoyed time with our family and hosting our first thanksgiving went smoothly!
The family flew back home the day after thanksgiving and we got the house cleaned up and back to normal. November was a month of visitors and meeting new family for Eva. We really enjoyed all the time we got to spend with our family and friends.
December: We started out December by celebrating my 26th birthday! I had a few girls over and we played games, ate ziti and had some Ice Cream Cake! Eva woke up for a little bit but went right back to sleep.
Josh and Leah found a really cute "Santa's Little Helper" outfit for Eva and of course I purchased a santa's hat for her. She just looked so adorable in it!Nick's good friend Jimmy moved in with us as he re-up'd and got stationed in Fort Riley. He ended up getting into Nick's platoon and will be heading out next month as well. His girlfriend came and stayed with us for a few days before block leave began. On the 4th of December we went out and got our very first Christmas Tree!
Dec. 18-Jan 2 has been a whole lot of family time. I've been getting lots of pictures of Eva and her father as he will be heading out soon.She's getting so big! I found her tickle spots and have gotten a few laughs out of her.

She's learning things quickly as well, she can hold on to items and learned how to use a few toys on her jumper. She is standing up with support not problem and actually prefers it most times.On Dec 21 Uncle Josh flew in again, he originally wasn't going to come for the Christmas holiday but as Nick will be departing soon he decided to spend it with us. On Christmas Eve I decided to test out some solid foods for Eva. We started out with single grained rice. She took a few spoonfuls down and made a few faces but didn't do to bad for her first time!
On Christmas day Nick's parents flew in so Nick and Josh went to pick them up, while Eva and I stayed here and prepared Christmas dinner.I made some ham, mash potatoes, squash, beets, corn, and a birthday cake for Nick as it is was his 26th birthday. The Bourdon's arrived back at the house around 4 o'clock. We all sat down and had dinner, Eva joined us at the table as well and tried her second round of single grained rice. She took a few more spoonfuls this time around. After dinner we gathered in the living room to open up our Christmas gifts.Eva got all sorts of clothes, toys, and stuffed animals. She got a little fussy in the middle of gift opening so mommy had to put her down for sleep. The family left on the 27th and 28th, and Eva had her 4 month appointment on the 29th. She weighed 13 lbs 12 oz. and was 24.75 Inches long (73% weight, and 85% height). We couldn't give her shots at the appointment until she was EXACTLY 4 months old, otherwise she'd have to get them again before starting school.
Other than that we have been spending quality time with Nick and are not looking forward to saying good bye! But its what we signed up for and we'll be waiting for him when he gets home safe and sound!

Mimi Comes to Visit

Keeping up with this blog thing is hard when you have a cute little baby to cuddle with. So now I'm posting for a like month ago! So Eva and I got to come home from the hospital on September 2 (when she was 2 days old). We got her all bundled into the car seat and headed home. When we arrived princess came over to check out what we brought home.

(Eva ready to go home)

She did very good though just came over sniffed and walked away. So us new parents had two nights and two days of taking care of a new born. It went very smoothly Eva learned to latch for breast feeding very well in the hospital and my milk came in the day after we arrived home. So every three hours I was waking up going in her room and waking her up to feed her (thankfully that is over with). We had to feed her that often to help get rid of her jaundice. On September 4th my mother flew into Kansas City to meet her first grand baby! Mimi took the shuttle from Missouri to here since I had to feed Eva regularly and she didn't want our one car to be away from the sweet little lady. Nick and I went and picked up mom up and almost didn't fit her suitcase with the stroller in our trunk. We got it all in and headed to the Px and Commissary to pick up a few items to have a BBQ. When we got home we got Eva out of her car seat and handed her over to her Mimi!

(Three Generations: Mimi, Eva, and I)

The first night Mimi was here we had a few of our neighbors over and Nick grilled some food on the grill. After the guests headed out mom just hung out holding baby girl in between my feedings, then after a long day of travel and caring for Eva we all headed to bed. It was great having my mom here to help out with Eva (especially when Nick went back to work). She would help me out by taking Eva and getting her to sleep and let me go take a nap. She helped me with cooking dinners, and cleaning the house it was great! While mom visited we made a couple trips

(Mimi pushing Eva)

the the hospital for Eva to check her jaundice, went for a couple of nice walks in good ole warm, sunny Kansas, and of course I brought her to Hobby Lobby. While at Hobby Lobby mom found a picture frame in which you can put a picture as well as comes with a mold for a hand print or foot print. Since Eva's prints were so tiny we could fit all four! That was an adventure trying to get her little prints in there and uncurling her little fist. Mom took lots of pictures as scrap booking is one of her hobbies (hence hobby lobby). She took pictures of my new family with the adorable addition.


(trying to get Eva's hand print)

It was so wonderful having my mother here to meet her granddaughter and I was very sad to see her go. I look forward to when Eva gets to see her Mimi again. Of course we web cam regularly with her and Eva has learned how to smile (not just when she's got gas) and Mimi has gotten to witness that, as well as seeing Eva creep across her play area :)


(Eva with her Mimi)

I am officially a Mommy!!!!

Well after a very long and somewhat painful process my daughter Eva Marie Bourdon has officially arrived in this world. It all started on Monday August 30th I had a scheduled appointment for my 40 week check-up. So my husband went to work for PT and then came home to get me and we went to the appointment scheduled for 11a. Once there the nurse called my name and I was brought in to get weighed (234lbs) and taken into the exam room. The nurse then took my vitals, when she took my blood pressure she said that it was high so they were gonna take my blood pressure again when the doctor came. When Lieutenant Colonel Williams came in she decided that she would check my cervix first then they'd check the vitals. Well the cervix was 50% effaced and only 1 CM dialated. She then took my blood pressure again, and again it was high. So she then asked if I had, had any complications throughout the pregnancy. I explained to her about the concern of Eva's belly size and birth weight from Germany and that I was never told the results from the Ultra Sounds I had received 4 weeks prior. So she sent me down to the lab to get some blood taken to check, and a urine sample to be sure there was no protein in my urine. After I was done in the lab she said to come back up for a non stress test as Eva was past her due date. So my husband and I went downstairs got the labs done and came back up to see the doctor again. When we arrived upstairs again she informed us that she had looked at the ultrasounds from 4 weeks ago and said that the baby was again still small so she wanted me to go down to Ultrasound and get another ultrasound and see the status of Eva at that point and time. So Nick and I made the trec back downstairs to ultrasound, waited in the waiting area for about half hour and got called in. The lady took the pictures she needed then told us to wait in the waiting room til she said she had the results. About 15-20 minutes later she told us we could go upstairs and see the doctor to discuss the results. We had to wait for about half an hour for Lt. Cnl. Williams, as it was lunch time. When she came to get us in the waiting room she walked us into the Labor and Delivery section of the Women's Health Facility, where she "handed us" off to another doctor. Since there were no rooms available and people in the waiting area she explained the situation to us in the hallway. Our new doctor (no name was given) informed us that the ultrasound showed that Eva was in the 7th percentile for weight, and my amniotic fluid was low. Since the Fort Riley hospital had no rooms available they decided they were going to send me by ambulance to Topeka, the closest hospital that had a NICU. Once this decision was made they brought me to a small room to be monitored while waiting for the ambulance. Nick went downstairs to call family and his platoon sgt. to inform him of what was goin on and that he would not be going back to work. I was put on a baby heart beat monitor, had a heart rate monitor for myself, and a blood pressure was takin every 15 minutes or something. When Nick came back upstairs I told him I was hungry because at this point it was about 2 in the after noon and I ate last at 10 before headin to the appointment. So he asked the nurses if I could eat something and they told him where the cafeteria was. He brought me up a ham and cheese sandwich and had a salad for himself. We probably waiting at LEAST an hour for the ambulance to show up. The nurses gave Nick directions to the hospital and he headed to the house to grab last minute items and was going to meet me at the hospital. The drive to Topeka was about an hour, when I arrived the paramedics brought me up to the 4th floor at Stormont Vail in the birth and babies triage section. Here I had to give a urine sample, put on a pretty gown and was placed in another small room. They hooked me up to the baby heart beat monitors and took my blood pressure as well. There was a small tv in the room so I started watching that until Nick arrived. Once Nick got there the nurse came in to give me an IV, she attempted to put in an IV on my left arm and blew the vein so they called the anesthesiologist to do it on the right. He came up and got the IV in no problem and they started putting fluids in my system through IV. They checked my cervix, nothing had changed, at this point it was about 8p. The doctor came in finally a little after 8 and explained to me what the plan was. They were going to induce me with the pill first dose at 9p second at 1a. He figured that she would be born "tomorrow if not definately the next day". Nick and I asked our questions and he left informing the nurses what was going to happen. The nurses came in at about 8:30 to take my monitors off and escort me to the Labor and Delivery Room. This room was nice and big and had a sort of bench for Nick to sleep on (not very comfy unfortunatly), personal bathroom, and a tv. The nurse set up all the monitors again and went to get the stuff ready for induction. At 9p on the nose she inserted the pill in my cervix to start the induction. Slowly but surely I started to get contractions but they weren't strong or painful, just crampy. I fell asleep until 1a when the nurse came in to check my cervix and place the second pill, at this point I was 2-3 cm dialated. She placed the pill and checked the monitors. I was then placed on Oxygen because I wasn't getting enough apparently according to the monitors for the baby. I then went to sleep again until the morning. At 6a the nurse came in and informed me they were going to start the petocin to move the labor along. Once she placed this in to my IV I was starting to feel the contractions more but they weren't too bad I breathed through them and thought about what was coming in the end. Nick was hungry so he went down to get something to eat and said he'd be right back. Well while he was gone another doctor came in to check my cervix, I was still the same dialation but fully effaced. She then broke my water, after doing so she informed me she broke my water and that my contractions were going to start coming stronger and closer together. No sooner had she warned me that I had a very strong contraction, in which the doctor said "I'm assuming you want an epidural?" to which I replied...... um YES!. So they started the paperwork and called the anesthesiologist to place the epidural. After signing the papers necessary they had me sit up and told me to relax my back. As they were getting ready to put in the epidural Nick came back from breakfast (he didn't want to eat in front of me knowing i couldn't eat). He was concerned and asked what was going on, so they explained how they broke the water and were placing an epidural so he held my hands and helped me through the contraction until the epidural was placed. It didn't take long until I started feeling the really warm sensation in my legs. The nurse was looking at the monitor and said can you feel that contraction, which I couldn't thank the lord. After the epidural was placed the doctor inserted two internal monitors fetal heart beat, and a fluid replacer as my amniotic fluid was low, they also insterted a catheter as my legs were heavy and I was not capable of walking. Once the epidural took its full affect I could finally get some sleep. I slept for about 2 hours until the Nurse called in some help and they had me flip from right side, to left side, then back again. Eva's heart rate was starting to drop when I had a contraction. Her heart rate went back to normal after switching sides a couple time, this occured about 4 or 5 times until the doctor came in to see what was going on. They then decided to give me a shot in my arm to stop my contractions as this was really stressing the baby out and her heart rate kept dropping. So they cut off the petocin and gave my the shot in my left arm. It was about 11a at this point and they decided they'd monitor the baby for a while and see how she was doing. She went back to normal heart rate and was doing just fine when I had no contractions. Around 12:30 they decided they would try again with the petocin and see how the baby reacted. So they started the petocin dripping again. Not more than 15-20 minutes later the nurses were in again to help me flip around right side, left side, on your hands and knees. The doctor came in and cut off the petocin and informed Nick and I that the baby wasn't reacting well to contractions so the safest route for mommy and baby was c-section. Of course we agreed to whatever was best and they started prepping for the Operation Room. At around 2p the doctor came in to remove the fluid monitor and check my dialation I was at 4 cm at this point. They had to give me another shot to my shoulder as I was starting to have contractions on my own and the baby wasn't liking it. They told us that we would be heading into the Operation Room in about an half hour. Nick went downstairs to inform family of what was happening and came back up. The nurse came in about 2:30p to tell us that another woman was in need of a c-section and that since Eva wasn't in stress at that point they were goin to bring that woman in first. Finally at about 3:00 the nurses came in, as well as the new anethesiologist and lifted me onto a new bed, and gave Nick some clothes to put on for the OR. They then pushed my bed to the OR, Nick had to wait outside the room while they prepped then they brought him in and he sat in a chair next to my head. My arms were braced down and they began pushing the meds into my epidural to numb the area for incision. They kept poking me and asking me if I could feel it, if this hurt, etc. The anathesiologist informed me that I may be able to feel touch but not pain. They made the incision the anethesiologist was giving us the play by play, her "lil girl parts" came out first, then the head...... then there was that first gurgly cry. Then my tears started flowing, they brought her over to my right side and held her up so I could see, she was just beautiful. They then brought her over to a table to check her vitals. Nick went over to take pictures while they stitched me back up. He came back and showed me the pictures of our baby girl, she was so precious I couldn't hold back the tears. Then daddy got to go over and pick her up and bring her to me. I got to give her a kiss on her forhead and they left me have my hands to hold her. It was the greatest feeling in the world having that lil lady in my arms. Nick then took her back and they were ready to transport me to the recovery room. So nick had to place Eva into the bassinet for the hallway. Once in the recovery room Nick stayed with Eva and they put braces on my legs since I couldn't feel them to prevent blood clots. Nick brought Eva over for me to hold but my arms felt really weak from the meds so I only held her a little while. We were in the hospital until September 2. We got to bring our baby girl home on Thursday September 2, and everyone was healthy and happy. And even princess enjoyed meeting her lil sister :)

Eva Marie's Nursery

Well once Nick and I officially moved into our apartment I started getting anxious and ready to beginning the adventures of setting up the Nursery. First step for me was ordering a Whinnie the Pooh border from aafes. They had a really cute one with a sort of watermelon pink color to it. So after ordering the border I had to wait for it to arrive in the mail. It took about a week and a half to arrive here. Once it arrived my neighbor from downstairs Jackee (who has a 5 month old girl), and neighbor from the next street down Ashley gave me a ride to the hardware store to pick up some paint. The girls and I matched the colors to the border and got the color pink we needed. I also purchased painting supplies, as well as a border kit to help when we needed to put that up.

So once I got home that evening I was so ready and excited to start painting her room. So I went around the border and put painting tape around so as to not paint the wood pink. Then laid down my plastic as to not get paint on the carpet. I started rolling :). I rolled about half the wall while my husband went around with a trim brush to take care of the borders and around the outlits. Then we were invited to dinner at Nick and Ashley's so we left it to dry. When we got home that night I was tired so I went to bed. The next day Nick's friend Jimmy arrived from Iowa to visit. While the guys were playing xbox I decided to continue my project. So I finished painting the pink for the second half of the room. Once I had finished that I went and hung out with the guys for the rest of the evening while it dried. The next day my husbands friend left to go back to Iowa and the two of us went around and put a second coat on the wall to get rid of the white lines and spots that I could see from the first coat. I was very excited to see how the color went with the border, we did a very good job matching our paints. The next day my husband had to go back to work so we took a break from working on her room. When we went back to working on the room we purchased a level and went around the room marking where we would be putting the border. With my border kit I had purchased at the hardware store it was a very easy process getting the border up. Had no problems just using water and the glue on the back of the border. After the border was up I was very happy and placed the crib in the corner that I wanted, as well as set up the mobile, and bed spread for her crib. We also put together the changing table and placed that in one of the corners of her room, a feeding chair in another corner which no has baby eva's hospital stuff ready to go. As well as the stroller and car seat are ready to go as well. This past weekend my friend Ashley and I made a trip to Manhattan (kansas) and checked out a store called Hobby Lobby. Where I found some wooden letters that were on sale 50% off. Of course I had some paint left over so I went ahead and purchased the letters of her name. When I got home the evening I painted them the color from the wall. Let them settle to dry overnight and today my husband and I measured and leveled them onto the wall. I'm happy to say that I am fully satisfied with how her room looks and very anxious to meet my lil angel Eva Marie..... who is due to arrive in exactly 10 days.