December 15, 2007--Five months, two weeks

Dani is HUGE nowadays. She is one plump little girl. The poor thing has definitely got my thighs...just rolls of plumpy goodness, ha ha. She's rolling like a pro, laughing, and can sit by herself for a little while before plopping right over. I leave her with a babysitter and no longer come home to breastfeed...I haven't breastfed her for three weeks now and I am not as sad as I thought I would have been. I was upset and emotional for a couple of days but I wasn't producing much of anything to keep her from being hungry...so she has been on the bottle full-time since then. We've given her some rice cereal and carrots which she loves, but it is not every day yet. She had just started it at four months but then she had a baaaad cold so we stopped until she got better enough and it's every other day for baby foods. My mom came in November and stayed for a month. She loooooved the baby. It was great to have her help me...and I wish she was here now!

August 29, 2007--eight weeks, three days old

We all have colds. :( It's not fun.

Tomorrow my SIL, her two girls and her two nephews are coming over. Hello! We're leaving the country next week and our house is NOT in the best conditions for three adults, six kids (the oldest nephew is staying with us) and an infant. I'm sick, Jack is sick and Dani is sick, I will have two teeth pulled in the AM, have to go into work to pick up some money I have coming to me, PLUS finish packing some of our stuff up to be stored at my husband's cousin's house while we're overseas. It's not like they won't see us...we will spend the night before we take off at her house. What pisses me off is that I KNOW she'll look through our things and claim that she can use this or that and not to box it up. UGH! I'm also really ticked at my husband because he says, "We always go over there and she rarely comes over here." WELL, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO START COMING HERE!

end rant/

Dani is 11.25 pounds and too cute. She'll get her two-month shots on the 6th, the day we leave the Kyrgyzstan. I hope she doesn't get a fever...that'll not be a nice flight if she does. They won't do them a couple days early...which is cool with me...and ı don't want them to be done in Kyrgyzstan (Hepatitis is common there).

I'll respond to personal messages soon...been busy.

August 10, 2007--five weeks, four days old

It's my wedding anniversary today. We've been married for three years now.

Jack is at his aunt's house until Sunday. It is so nice to be at home with just me and the baby. I love Jack, of course, but it's so much easier without him following me around or demanding to kiss the baby every two seconds. I actually got the floors mopped and am washing our area rugs and will wash the couch covers soon. Our house was getting NAAAASTY!

My husband is going to be so upset. He hasn't "been with" me since March or April and I'm not putting out tonight. It hasn't been six weeks yet and I'm still spotting. Poor Veysel.

August 9, 2007--five weeks, three days old

My normal pre-pregnancy clothes don't fit...they're waaaay too big. I only gained eight kg when I was pregnany and I've lost...21 kg! (I was at 96 kg at the last days of my pregnancy and am now 75 kg...or 211 pounds and am now 165 pounds). Rock on.

Dani started smiling yesterday. She also coos on occasion. She had a bad yeast infection last week (I was on antibiotics for a slightly infected incision) and thankfully that has passed. She can sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time now...cos her butt doesn't hurt.

August 1, 2007--almost a month old

Dani will be a month old tomorrow. HOLY SMOKES does time go by quickly. It seems like it was just yesterday when I was complaining about time taking so long to pass. Now my Chunky Monkey is a month old. Sheesh.

I added some new photos.

Breastfeeding is going well. My milk is gold--the baby is FAT! :) My nipples don't hurt anymore and I haven't had any bleeding or scabbing... The nipple pain never went away when I was pumping for Jack. I'm happy that for real breastfeeding, it does cease to exist.

I'm sorry for not writing comments back quickly...but when I get a free moment, you know I will write. I haven't forgotten any of my pregnant friends. :) I love you all!

July 14, 2007--12 days old

I added four new photos under the Photos area of my VIP page.

Also, my post-partum bleeding stopped on Tuesday. Is that early or what? I bled with Jack for EIGHT weeks. Nine days...wow.

July 13, 2007--11 days old

I tried on my pre-maternity jeans...and they're too big. I am so happy. :)))))

Dani's umbilical cord stump fell off on Tuesday. She had her first real bath yesterday. I wanted to make sure the area was dry enough and healed enough before bathing her.

Jack and Daddy are at the park and Dani is sleeping (although I expect her to wake up to eat shortly).

Breastfeeding is going well. My nipples don't hurt as much as they did a week ago. Proper latching on is the key.

July 8, 2007--Six days old

Dani Fianna Müyesser Kilic was born on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 10:35 AM. She was an even eight pounds and 19.5 inches long (3650 grams and 50 cm). My C-section was rather eventful. I had the epidural and the second the needle was in, it felt like something wrong had happened because the left side of the injection site got very, very hot. I'll explain that later. Anyway, within five minutes I was numb. Within about six minutes, my blood pressure dropped and I fainted. I woke up with something on my face (an oxygen mask) and the anethesiolgist asking me if I was okay. At that point I heard a baby crying and I was so confused and out of it, I asked if the baby that was crying was mine. I didn't even know my doctor had come into the operating room or that the surgery had started. I felt light-headed, passed out and the baby was here. It was NOT the C-section I was expecting. They didn't even give me pain meds like I had had with Jack--no morphine drip or anything. Five hours after the surgery, most of the feeling came back in my legs, so I was able to walk around with assistance and a couple hours after that, I was able to slowly make it to the bathroom to pee. I didn't pass and gas until 48 hours after the surgery but by that time I was already at home.

The burning feeling I mentioned was due to a "wet tap." The needle went somewhere it shouldn't have gone (this apparently happens in 1:200 epidurals) and my spinal fluid leaked somewhere it should not have--which caused excruciatingly crushing headaches when I would sit or stand up. They finally passed yesterday and I am feeling all right enough to update my page.

When I got back to my room, I saw my husband and immediately started to cry. He was very worried and I told him that I had passed out and my blood pressure had dropped. It was so weird because it happened so quickly. Anyway, while I was being put onto my hospital bed, Veysel told me that our baby was in the room (I hadn't noticed her) and he was all teary-eyed. It was cute.

Jack spent most of the week at his aunt's house (except when they came by on Wednesday) and came home yesterday. He is not the same and is very jealous of the baby. He's really sensitive to any remark we make and sulks a lot while at the same time he wants to hold the baby or cuddle her.

Thanks to everyone and their comments. I hope to be able to get back into correspondence soon!

XOXOXO

July 1, 2007--38 weeks, 0 days

I have my C-section tomorrow. I never thought this baby would stay in this long. I wonder how long she'd stay in if I weren't having her tomorrow. Last night she was all knees, feet and elbows and I thought she'd come right out of my stomach. I think she's a big girl... We'll find out tomorrow, eh? :)

If everything goes well, I'll be released on Tuesday. I hope to add some pictures on here of the baby then...but if I don't get to it, please check back from time-to-time to see if I have finally done so.

Good luck to all of you out there! :) KISSES!