Things nobody told me

Now that Collins is 3 months old, and we are getting to the point of some what of a routine I look back on these past few months and can't believe some of the things nobody told me! 

1. Breast feeding. Now from a post back anyone could tell how big into breast feeding I am. I was lucky enough to have my husband family and close friends supporting me right from the beginning. But nobody told me that my nipples may scab, bleed, and feel like the baby was ripping them off my boob! I had heard it would be hard but not the potential death of my nipples. So there I was. DETERMINED to breast feed. All the while I'm bleeding and watching the clock cringing knowing Collins needs to eat in 20 minutes. My thought, how come those girls on 16 and pregnant are able to breast feed and here I am a 28 year old woman struggling. Well let me tell you I can now see why so many moms give up. It is a hard thing to over come and I really didn't have it that bad (knock on wood no infections). But with the determination I had and support I was not giving up and I am still exclusively breast feeding. Just knowing I am the one who has kept her alive with MY milk and making her grow just amazes me. 

2. Hormones. I am no stranger to crazy hormones within my pregnancies. However the after pregnancy hormones, a few I was unaware of until they hit me. Like sweating, I'm not talking a little underarm and upper lip sweat. I'm talking waking up in the morning in a pool of sweat. I would wake up and look at Marty and ask him what is wrong with me I am sweating like a pig! All normal of course per Dr. Khater. So not only was I sweating as if I ran a marathon (which I clearly wasn't because my hips don't lie) my hair was also falling out. Yup this is normal too. Postpartum alopecia. I had this with Sloane too but it ended quickly since I had become pregnant with Collins. This time however I am loosing my hair in clumps. I guess I don't have to get a haircut anytime soon though since it just falls out. 

3. Body Image. You mean my belly isn't going to immediately go back to like it was and ill loose those 35 pounds ASAP. What? But Jessica Alba looked amazing just 6 week later. Guess what we aren't celebrities and don't have personal trainers, and chefs or don't have the money to immediately get a tummy tuck. I gained 25 pounds this pregnancy and had an extra 10 pounds from Sloane's pregnancy. So I had 35 pounds to loose. Immediately following my C-section I thought I'd at least drop the 6 pounds Collins was right? Nope. Instead I ballooned up. I'm not lying when I say my toes looked like tiny sausages packed far to much and my ankles, what ankles. I wasn't told that I would retain a crazy amount of water actually putting on more weight. Awesome. 

4. C-section recovery. After having Sloane via a vaginal birth that didn't require an episiotomy, I didn't really matter to me that Collins was arriving via c-section. I had all these women always saying they would never want a c-section unless absolutely necessary. To me you could have legit cut my body in half and have Collins fall out, I didn't care how she was born just as long as she was healthy. I still stand by that statement however holy cow recovery was rough. The c-section itself was a breeze. 20 minutes and Collins was born but it took at least 8 weeks until I felt completely comfortable with my c-section stitch. Immediately coming home I was unable to get in and out of bed by myself, showering was a production and I was unable to care for Collins on my own.

5. Hormones, again. I had heard about postpartum and knew that I might have it considering the loss of Sloane and then immediately getting pregnant again. This being a touchy subject that not many like to talk about I will say that for me the weeks following Collins birth everything made me cry. TV shows, just staring at Collins or the weather! I even cried during dinner once to Marty because I didn't want to die. Where did that even come from? I cried saying I never want Collins to grow up without a mother. Where was I going and why did I think I was going to die? Weird feelings that lasted a few weeks and every now and again they will resurface. 

When you're pregnant everyone has opinions, get sleep now because you won't when the baby arrives. Or oh with breast feeding you'll drop the weight just like that. Let me tell you EVERYONE is different and every pregnancy is different. But one thing is for sure. All those things I listed that I didn't know don't matter because the love you have for your newborn baby makes those all disappear. I don't care that I sweat, or if my belly still looks 4 months pregnant. All that matters is Collins and that she is perfectly healthy and loved more than she will ever know. 
I wasn't one to post belly pictures but it is truly amazing to see the before and the after :)



The night before Collins was born



Makes it all worth it

All 2 months of Collins

Collins will be 3 months next week, so to be blogging about all 2 months of her is embarrassing. I am late extremely late! I need to put Collins down and get some stuff done! Wait who am I kidding, I'm sorry I rather hold Collins than clean, cook, and blog :) Marty might disagree after having takeout for the past week! Kidding, kind of.

Collins had her 2 month check up and did amazing! She is in the 20% in weight and 29% in height. Weighing 10lbs 3oz and 22 1/2 inches. So she's just a petite little girl :) for now! She is playing with toys, is more alert and unfortunately loves TV! I say unfortunately because that is the last thing I want my child to do, watch hours of TV rather than go outside and play. I guess a few minutes here and there isn't bad, plus she's not even 3 months right!? She LOVES the pool and being outside. She could stay out all day. As far as her reflux goes it has gotten much better. She has her days where its puke city, but overall I think the probiotics are helping. We also have started taking her to a Chiropractor to see if that may help with the reflux. She went on her first visit yesterday and let me tell you the rest of the day, Collins was exhausted from all that massaging! She slept most of the day! We will see if it helps any, her next visit is Wednesday!

 

 

Collins had her first holiday too, 4th of July. She partied all day for two BBQs however when it was time for the fireworks that Daddy and Pop Pop lit off she went into sensory overload and had to go inside.

This past month has been very busy, lots of graduations, weddings (for mommy and daddy to go to) and birthdays. And they are not ending. August is full of parties! Including Collins' baptism. The Mitchells are coming to town and will finally meet their niece!

My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary back on May 22nd. Because it is on Sloane's birthday and we had just had Collins we finally were able to officially celebrate this past weekend with a surprise party! Uncle Zeke and Aunt Coty came into town too and Collins got to meet her Auntie.

I am dead serious when I tell you we are busy with parties. Literally every weekend we have had something since the end of June. Collins next visit isn't until the end of August for her 4 month check up however on Monday she turns 3 months! Where did my baby go :( it is going awfully fast and I am not happy about it. However I love watching her grow at the same time and watching her learn new things and getting more of that sweet little personality she had from the start. Promise I will be back sooner than later. In the meantime as always picture overload of Miss C!

My happy baby :)

Best Friends



4 generations

Not impressed with Mommy

Playing in her mamaRoo www.4moms.com

A day in the life of a mommy...to Collins

I guess writing a blog a week like I used to is harder than I thought. I mean I'm not just laying in bed all day anymore so I'll cut myself some slack :) Collins is going to be 2 months on Saturday and it has flown by! I remember everyone saying enjoy all the little moments because before you know it she will be ten, or time flies by! And you will never fully understand those statements until it happens to you. 2 months old! Woah. Already! Why! STOP GROWING! I think I say that to her at least twice a day. Now I may be a little, a lot partial to Collins since she's my own however she is just the best baby in the entire world! Even when we are dealing with acid reflux (I'll get into that later) she is still smiling and having a good time. She surprises her father and I on a daily basis with her new faces, new coos, and her new thing, snuggling her face into her blanket or into mommy's chest.

At almost 2 months old Collins weighs 9lbs 2oz and is still exclusivley breast feeding. Like I mentioned before she has acid reflux since her two week appointment. After each feeding you better believe you will either have to change her clothes or your own. Spitting up what seems to be everything she just ate however the little girl is gaining weight like a champ so it's not worrysome. At 2 weeks we started her on Zantac. An antibiotic that is supposed to help with the discomfort she feels (having a tummy ache 24/7 would suck so I can imagine where all her grunts and moans were coming from). We had had her on this until about a week ago. We felt like it just wasn't working and her spitting up was getting even worse. So with a good friend of mine, we decided it was time to try another route, the holistic route! Marty and I figured it couldn't hurt and we didn't like giving her medication anyway. We started Collins on some probiotics to help with her digestive system and to help with the exsessive spitting up. We also got some colic tablets for when her little tummy just isnt feeling too well and hurting. The probiotics is in powder form and every morning when daddy gives her their morning ritual bottle we put 1/4 teaspoon in with it. We do that once a day and use the colic tablets (which we place in her mouth and allow them to dissolve) whenever necessary. Let me tell you, taking her off the Zantac and going the holistic route has actually made a difference. I won't lie, I have been skeptical about this alternative form of healing but after using it on Collins I'm hooked. Spitting up has been minimal and when she does spit up it isn't much. She still is gassy from time to time but we work that out together and get her tooting and pooping :). DISCLAIMER: This is just my opinion of course, I do not judge those who choose a different approach, I am a FTM and learning as I go :)

Collins' schedule is pretty laid back. I really let her decide when and what she wants to do. She is usually up for the day anywhere between 8am-9am depending on her night time schedule. We will do some tummy time and then nurse for her morning breakfast. Lately shes been playing a little more but usually after she eats it's right back to sleep, because eating is hard work :). We may have a play date, or an errand to run (usually Starbucks) in the morning, or go out for some shopping! During the day we are usually go, go, go and she likes being out. She eats right on schedule every 3 hours so if we are out we find a quiet place to nurse and then go about our activities. Once Marty gets home from work, Collins and I make sure if we aren't already home that we start ending our girl's day and head on home to see daddy. The 3 of us usually go for a walk around the nieghboorhood before dinner or sit outside and enjoy what has been nice weather! Collins has what we like to call "crabby time" from 6pm-9pm where she fights sleep and needs to be held. Anywhere from 9pm-10pm we start bath night. Every other night she gets a bath with soap and we wash her hair. The other nights it's just plain water. Then we do tummy time before we nurse for the last time before bedtime. She will go to sleep anywhere from 10pm-11pm. She sleeps in our room in her rock-n-play sleeper (which I might add is the best thing ever). It is in an incline which helps her reflux and she seems to enjoy it because she has slept in it more than when we put her in her swing or bassinet overnight.

                                                            Rock-n-Play Sleeper

She will then usually wake up anywhere from 1am-3am to nurse. Usually for about 20-40mins and then go back to sleep waking up again between 5am-7am. She is a really good sleeper for only being 2 months. I cannot complain!

So, there it is a day in the life of being Collins' mommy! We are enjoying ourselves to the fullest and soaking up every ounce of her. We have her next doctor's appointment on July 10th, which I am anxious to see what percentile she is in height and weight. So until after her appointment I'll hold you all over with some adorable photos of my sweet Collins. 

Collins: 1 month old

Motherhood has been amazing, everything I expected and more! With that being said I apologize for slacking on blogging however I am soaking up every minute I have with Collins. 

I cannot believe Collins is already a month old. Ugh time, please stop! She is an amazing, adorable little girl who loves to be held, riding in mommy's car, and napping in mommy and daddy's bed :) She is a great eater too. And what goes hand in hand with being a great eater, being a great pooper! Collins weighed 7lbs 7oz this past week, already a pound more than at birth. 

If you all are looking to get a daily fix of my sweet Collins I do post a lot of pictures on instagram, you can follow me at aashley_mitchell and get your daily dose :) 

In one month Collins has stolen our hearts. She has daddy's looks and mommy's dramatics so watch out :) 

Birth Story...Finally :)

It took me long enough to finally update my blog and after a few "reminder" emails and texts I finally decided to update :). I am LOVING motherhood. Being a mommy is the best especially to my sweet Collins. She is the best baby! Obviously I am a bit partial however she is breast feeding like a champ and sleeping a lot at night. These past 2.5 weeks have gone by so fast but have been amazing! 

Now onto our birth story. The Thursday before Collins was born I had two appointments one at Dr. Fonts and then at Dr. Khaters. After seeing Dr. Font he decided that we would be taking out the cerclage on Monday. He wanted to speak with Dr. Khater first but ultimately decided that it would be best that if I dilated at all that he would want to do a section immediately. Let me tell you, after hearing that in my head I just knew Collins was going to be here. However it was getting Dr. Khater on board which I knew could be difficult considering he was all about getting me to 39 weeks. As we were leaving Dr. Font's office we could hear him speaking with Dr. Khater telling him he wanted a section done immediately following the cerclage removal. His main concerns were cord prolapse or my water breaking and going into labor when she was breech all along. I wasn't seeing Khater until later that afternoon so I had to wait a bit to see what would be happening. 

Walking into Dr. Khaters office I was both anxious and nervous. Please let him tell me that he was OK with Font's decision and that not only I'd be off bed rest but that I'd finally meet my daughter. Sure enough, Font got Khater on board! As long as I dilated, even if only to a 1 or 2 they would do a c-section! So we scheduled the cerclage removal and potential section for Monday April 29th at 7:30am. I needed to be there at 5am to get registered and prepped. 

Monday came slowly but surely. That whole weekend, Marty and I got everything ready to bring our daughter finally home! We got to the hospital right at 5am and I was brought to our room to get registered. They set me up with an IV and started administering antibiotics for the section. My mom and dad made it around 7am and right on time Dr. Khater came at 7:15am to go over what would be happening. Cerclage removal first, then prep for c-section if any bleeding or dilation. So there I went, back to the OR. To say I was scared would be an understatement. I think I was more afraid of the cerclage removal more than anything. Marty had to stay outside of the operating room while I had my cerclage removed. They would get him once it as out and we were prepped for the section. I got onto the operating table and prepared myself for the removal. Little did I know, the anesthesiologist was actually prepping for my spinal. Huh?! Was I really going to get lucky and have the spinal before the cerclage removal. Yes mam! Spinal was a breeze, I had one with my cerclage placement if you remember and this time it was even easier. They laid me down and Dr. Khater started removing the cerclage. Clearly feeling nothing, all I heard was, "OK it's out, we have dilation to 2cm and bleeding, let's proceed with the c-section." Holy Crap! I immediately started to tear up and start to imagne what was about to happen. Collins was about to come into this world. I am finally going to meet my daughter. As they started to prep my belly Dr. Khater came down to me and reassured me that everything was going to be OK. That this was it, everything we had been through, it was finally the end and beginning to our new adventure. With in minutes Marty came into the room and sat next to my head. They then put the sheet up and advised Marty not to look just yet. I felt absolutely nothing, I was more in a daze and just anticipating hearing my baby cry. The cerclage was removed at 7:30am and at 7:51am Collins Elise Mitchell was born!

 

 

 

All I remember thinking was so this is what it should be like. This is what it is like having a healthy baby girl. We were immediately in love. She came out screaming! Even before he had her completely out she was screaming. It was the moment I had been waiting for since I was pregnant with Sloane. 6lbs 7oz and 18.5 inches with a full head of hair! She was beyond perfect.

 

I had to be stitched back up so Marty was in charge of Collins and headed with the nurses to the nursery. Collins did amazing and scored a 9.9 on her APGAR test and when they finally brought her to me in recovery she immediately latched to eat. After 20 minutes on each side they needed to take her again to the nursery for her bath and let me know that she would meet me back in my room with in the hour.

 

We ended up having to stay in the hospital until Thursday because I had spike a fever of 103.6 from my lungs not expanding correctly when I would breathe. Other than that, both Collins and I were doing as expected. I was getting up quicker than usual walking around (what do you expect I had been on bed rest for 6 months). Our stay at St. Joes was great though. We had an amazing nursing staff the whole 4 days and were well taken care of.

 

I will say that the c-section itself was easy, however the recovery isn't so much fun. Almost 3 weeks later and its still hard getting up and down and out of bed but I am pushing through it. Breast feeding is still going good as well. She hasn't had a bottle, or formula, just strictly breast feeding. I will admit it isn't easy and Collins and I are learning as we go. We just need to work on latching because I am a bit raw if you know what I mean.

 

So would I sound crazy if I told you all I'm ready for another baby :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Happy Birthday Collins

She's here!

Collins Elise Mitchell

April 29, 2013

7:51am

6lbs 7oz

18 1/2 inches 

She's doing amazing and is absolutely perfect! We are so in love and I am resting kind of comfortably :) 

I will update with our birth story when I can. For now we are just on cloud nine :) 

Xoxo, 

Marty, Ashley, & Collins 

"I can feel her head"

So I wanted to wait until Thursday to give everyone some type of update, besides everything looks good. However I didn't anticipate what I am about to share.



As if anyone cares to see my IV however I wanted to "spice" up this update haha

Thursday morning at 7:30am I had an appointment with Dr. Font, and then at 1pm an appointment with Dr Khater. So we knew it would be quite a busy day. My mom would be bringing me to both since Marty was working all day. Dr. Font appointment started with a NST which went great. Collins was super active and cooperative. With all the rain and flooding that we have had Dr. Font was fashionably late coming in at 9:15am. I've had braxton hicks for a long time now, contractions that come and go, nothing regular. During the ultrasound (which might I add, Collins looks great, plenty of fluid, and still breech) my stomach started to have a contraction. He wasn't too happy with how hard my belly got and instructed us that we would be heading over to labor and delivery. Once in L&D I was told to change into a gown and start an IV full of fluids. They also hooked me up to the monitors to monitor the contractions as well as Collins heartbeat to see how she reacted to them. Contractions were about 7-9 minutes apart and sometimes 3-4 minutes apart. I could tolerate them at this point and refused pain medication in the form of an injection. Number 1 I wasn't in much pain and Number 2 I am over injections. They also wanted to take an urine culture to make sure I had nothing going on infection wise. It was basically a waiting game, waiting on Dr. Khater's orders on what he wanted done, and working through these contractions drinking a gallon of water and on top of that getting pumped of fluids. He did want the nurse to also check and see how my cerclage was holding up. She did and at 11am it was fine as expected. After a few hours of the same contractions Dr. Khater wanted to do 3 rounds of Terbutaline (anti-contraction medication) to delay preterm labor for up to 48 hours. I received these when I went into labor with Sloane and at this point (35weeks3days) we had spoken with both doctors and made the decision that we wouldn't interfere past 34weeks. So I also refused these injections (with the OK from Dr. Khater of course). At this point we had also learned that I had a pretty bad UTI. What? UGH! You've got to be kidding me. How did I get this, how did I not have any pain from it and we are practically at the end, why?! Then came the dreaded words from the nurse, "Dr. Khater is prescribing you antibiotics for the UTI." If anyone knows me, you know I am not a fan of any type of antibiotic during pregnancy since loosing Sloane and this medication he was prescribing was not my favorite. Insert water works. After speaking with Dr. Khater and Marty (who now has made it to the hospital) we decided the possible outcome of not taking the medication for the UTI outweighed the concerns we had for taking it.

At this point it is now 9 hours later on the monitor, having contractions, and IV fluid. At 4:15pm Dr. Khater ordered for me to be checked one more time vaginally and if the cerclage wasn't in danger of pressure then we were free to go. This is where it gets crazy, nurse checks me and says, "Well you are dilated to 1+ and oh I can feel her head!" I think Marty and I looked at one another and at the same time said, "HER HEAD!?" Ugh we don't think so, she's been breech for 10+ weeks and we just saw her this morning and she was breech. Dr. Khater was immediately called and he was on his way. Once he came we did a quick ultrasound to in fact find out that she is still breech which means my daughter has a nice firm butt Haha yes I just described my unborn daughter's butt as firm :). He then wanted to check me himself. He said if there was any pressure on this cerclage it would be cut out then and there and we would be on our way for a C-section. Fact was, yes I am dilated with the cerclage still in tact, however there is no pressure on top of it and I wasn't bleeding. Collins was also doing amazingly during the contractions, she could have cared less so stitch remains in and we were sent home. Which is a great thing for Collins. We want her to stay in until 37 weeks so she is full term. He did say that we shouldn't be surprised if that when the cerclage comes out I don't dilate more, which is fine by me.

So I am back at home, with crazy back labor but I am feeling good. I see Dr. Font Monday to go over taking the cerclage out and then we see Dr. Khater on Thursday, to discuss the C-section. AHH one more week on bed rest! I cannot believe it, and Collins will be here shortly. We are SO ready to meet her :).

Two side notes:
1: We only have 10 days left to donate to the March of Dimes for Sloane, and we are almost to our goal! Please help us and Susan get PAST our goal before she and her team walk in memory of our sweet little girl. xoxo

Sloane March of Dimes   <----click here

2: Since being on bed rest I have become obsessed with General Hospital, thanks to Taryn and when I came home exhausted from the hospital and just about to head to bed I had a package that was sent to me that day. Most of you won't even think this is funny let alone get it, but those of you that do watch GH take a look at how special I am, and what I'll be eating for a snack for now on...

Pickle-Lila Relish baby!!!

Nursery Sneak Peek

With the end beginning in sight, I thought it would be nice to bring everyone into a sneak peek of Collins nursery. We finally have it completed with all the bells and whistles ribbons and bows :) We had already painted and purchased the furniture for Sloane and when we found out we were pregnant again we knew we would with out a doubt keep it the same. Marty did an amazing job painting, I will say I did paint the green wall but opted out of the stripes. I left that up to the professional :)

 

 

 

 

 

We choose to have her main crib wall a different color than the rest of the room. We choose the paint color Jalapeno Jelly from Valspar her accent wall with black and beige stripes that you will see in the rest of the photos. The frame above her crib was actually a mirror from IKEA. Ikea Mirror I took the mirror out and purchased her initial from Hobby Lobby and spray painted it black. Similar lettering here

 

 

 

Every girl needs a million bows even before shes born...right? I actually made her one bow holder on the right from a frame from Hobby Lobby. I used scrapbook paper for the middle and scrapbook lettering to say BOWS. I attached ribbon and hooks to the bottom of the frame to hang head bands and bows. I am not that crafty and it actually came pretty good, however with all her hair accessories we of course needed another option. The green frame is also from Hobby Lobby. Just as every little girl needs bows, my little girl also needs her own chandelier :) Black Chandelier

 

 

We actually found the bedding first and based the painting around it. Both Collins' Nana and Nonna bought her bedding together. Harlow CoCalo Couture 

 

 

 



Like I mentioned before we had already had the furniture Davenport Collection by Baby Appleseed and of course my favorite piece in the room our rocker. Marty and I searched for a couple weeks at different stores searching for this exact chair. We knew what we wanted in our heads but didn't know for sure if it existed. Lucky us it did! Similar Here  Most of the accessories in her room are also part of the Harlow bedding collection, the window valence, three large frames, and hamper. Oh, that cute little bag sitting on the rocker is my diaper bag, obsessed! If you haven't heard of Petunia Pickle Bottom bags you need to investigate. Every bag they have I fell in love with, thanks to my good friend Taryn :)

 

 

 

 

Anyone who has been around during my bed rest days knows that I am constantly on Etsy. I worked with a woman for Sloane's lettering and she did an amazing job matching the letters to the room exactly. So as soon as we decided on Collins I went straight to her Etsy shop and had her do the new lettering. She was wonderful to work with and nailed it a second time. MiaEileen The black mirror we found at Target. Threshold Flat Mirror

 

 



 

 

 

Changing pad cover again from Etsy but from a different shop. Again amazing to work with. I haven't really had any shops where I have had any problems! LittleOwlsNest If you can see my cute little wipe holder that my friend Angelica made in the corner. Adorable, we told her she needs to get herself on Etsy and start selling these!

 

 

 

We needed a little something on the corner part of her wall. Something cute but also something that would be beneficial for we needed to put her video monitor somewhere. Whats better than shelves! Again we found the three at Target. Wall Ledge Set 

 

Well there it is, our sweet, spoiled little girls nursery. I will say we had a lot of fun putting it all together. Now all it needs is Collins!

Crushing Mini Goals

Can I just say that in 3 days I am going to be 34 weeks! We have started with mini goals at 20 weeks and with some tiny bumps in the road we are practically at the BIGGEST mini goal :). I have officially been on bed rest for 5 months, or 20 weeks, or 140 days, or 3,360 hours! Yes I used a calculator to figure those out. This means I have 3 weeks left of bed rest. 21 days. I sound positive but I'll be honest, I'm done. It seems like this last month is taking forever and I think I've "lost" it more in this last month than I have in the past 5 months. However only 21 days left! :) 

So a quick update from this past week. Monday we finally saw Dr. Font after a long 3 1/2 week hiatus. We had an ultrasound done measuring her weight, checking her fluid, and if she's moved. Great fluid, 4lbs 10oz, and little Miss is still breech. I found a neat picture that shows what Collins looks like all comfy in my belly. I mean do you blame her?  

After looking at my cervix and going over what had happened at 32 weeks Dr. Font thought it would be best to get the final dose "rescue" injection of steroids. They won't give it after 34 weeks and since I was still 33 weeks and it wouldn't hurt we all decided to go ahead with one more. I was so EXCITED for another injection :). He also wanted us to come back on Thursday for a NST and another check of my cervix. 

On Thursday I was placed on the monitors and Collins seemed pretty active and I had only felt maybe 1 or 2 contractions. Well I didn't get the memo that you should eat before a NST and apparently I was having way more contractions than what I was feeling. So Marty had to run and get me breakfast and back on the monitors I went for another hour. This time was better, she was more active and I didn't have as many contractions. He also checked my cervix again and we are holding up. The cerclage is doing its job so at this point it's a waiting game. We did schedule our potential last 4 appointments with him. The next 4 Monday's at 7:45am we will see Dr. Font for NST and cervical/baby check. As long as my stitch doesn't start ripping and my contractions don't begin to become constant she can keep cooking! The week of April 29th we will take the cerclage out and if I am dilated and contracting and she is still breech we will do a C-section that day! It is amazing to know she could be here in less than a month. It's also amazing to see a light at the end of this long long tunnel. 

Collins, mommy and daddy cannot wait to meet you. We have waited for what seems like eternity to finally get to hold you and see your sweet face. Please stay in for 3 more weeks but as soon as mommy's stitch comes out lets get the show on the road! 

Xoxo

March of Dimes for Sloane

March of Dimes Sloane Elise Mitchell

This is the link. Click Above 

 

 

For those of you who were able to make it to the baby shower a few weeks ago we had a "Guess Collins Birthday Pool" and all donations were to be made in honor of Sloane for the March of Dimes. Marty and I decided that whatever was donated that day we would match that, and you all raised $125 for our sweet Sloane and of course we matched it and donated $250.00. We were able to get a jump start towards their goal of $1000.00. Because of our bed rest situation we were unable to make a team this year, however a good friend of mine Susan Meier and her family have taken it upon themselves to not only walk for their niece Hannah who was born at 33 weeks but are also including Sloane this year for us. We cannot thank them enough for including Sloane in the walk this year, and I would love to get them above and beyond their goal. I have attached the link to the personal profile in honor of Sloane where if you'd like you can donate.

Thank you to anyone who has already donated in honor of our daughter and thank you to those who will. Throughout this entire process of bringing a sister in this world for Sloane, Marty and I have done what we can to keep Sloane's memory alive each and everyday, and April 28th's walk will just be one more event for that.

"We wanted you to walk, instead you learned to fly."