Santa Baby wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

Some new, random pictures

Sorry...we've been busy!

Little Miss Reilly is doing very well. We had a one month check up and she weighed in at 10 pounds 9.3 ounces! She is gaining well and it's fairly obvious by looking at her. (2+ chins, dimpled fingers, etc.)

She is becoming increasingly aware of her surroundings and makes some pretty great faces. She is a sleep fighter to say the least. She takes cat naps during the day which makes it hard to do anything else but the good thing is that she is sleeping on average 5 hours at night.

Heather had her out to Children's on Tuesday to say hello to several folks. We think she likes to be out and about!

Here she is hanging with Mom.

Anybody want to claim the mystery gift???

A mysterious package arrived at our house today with the coolest baby t-shirt in it but we don't know who it is from though we have some ideas! Help! If you sent this...thank you!!! (And could you let us know?)

The Birth Story

So I thought I'd take a moment and tell everyone the story of Miss Reilly Pierce Mountel's birth...

9/6/07
Woke up and got ready for work - just like any other day this week. Around 7 a.m. noticed I had cramps which seems to be the trend lately. So I took some Tylenol and headed out. Mark and I got in the car to leave and I was grimacing - cramps were pretty fierce. Mark decided I didn't need to go to work - thank goodness for him!! Went back in took a bath still the cramps were nasty - after another hour I realized that the cramps were actually coming and going. We started timing them and discovered they were 2 1/2 - 5 minutes apart - oops. Went to the doctor's office was 4 cm and 90% effaced - they admitted me.
My OB came in and decided to go ahead and break my water - to speed things along. With that the pain intensified and she suggested an epidural. Epidural's are a girl's best friend! So much better. After an 1 1/2 hrs or more they finally came in and cathed me and checked - there was no dilation and with that the babies heart rated dropped. There was suddenly 5 nurses in my room and the resident on call. I was trying not to panic. I had apparently dilated from 4 to 8 cm within minutes of having my bladder emptied. They got the babies heart rate back up. Apparently in the process they had given me a drug to stop contractions temporarily - it was supposed to last an hour.
About 1/2 hour later I was having some pains so I asked the nurse when she came in and she decided to check my status and lo and behold I was dilated to 10 cm. (Not sure what happened to that hour reprive from contractions.) She left to page the doctor and then we sat there waiting for what felt like an hour (this from the woman having contracts every 30 seconds). My OB finally came and asked the nurse to help me push - we started but every time I would push the babies heart rate would drop. After the third time it didn't go back up so the doctor came in and got out the forecepts. Welcome to the world Reilly!
She came out and wasn't making a peep. The doctor suctioned her mouth and still no sound - she quickly passed her to the nurse and said get her under the warmer and call the pediatrician all the while trying to tell me that everything was ok. I was in a panic to say the least!!! As soon as they got her in the room and paged the pediatrician Reilly started screaming bloody murder - that's my girl :D.
For those who know about APGAR scores - her initial was only a 5 but her five minute was a 9.
Apparently she was just a little resistant to her entry and has been hollering about it ever since. :D

Reilly Pierce Mountel: The 1st week in pictures


Hi Mommy!



May I please have a snack?


Hi Daddy!



My big sister Jackie!


My big sister Micaela!


Hi Nana!



Hi Papa!



Dante!



Zeke!



My bouncy seat



My Daddy makes me giggle



Loungin'



What?



Aieeeeeee!!!



Sweet cheeks



A rare moment

Reilly Pierce Mountel!


Born 9/6/07 at 5:09 pm. 8 pounds 2.5 ounces and 20 inches long. She is a keeper! Will update soon. Heather and Reilly are doing well!

All pain....no gain

The doctor visit yesterday showed nothing new. The baby appears to be in charge right now and she is comfortable where she is....but Heather certainly is not! We have the hospital bag packed and ready to go but at this point it is just taking up room in the trunk! We have been trying several different tricks to move the baby along, not all of which can be discussed here, but I can tell you that singing happy birthday and tempting her with cake didn't work! :o(

2 Centimeters

The doctor told us today that Heather is now 2 centimeters and 50% effaced so we are moving in the right direction! Heather is quite uncomfortable now almost all of the time. I truly appreciate Heather's ability to continue working and still be an excellent wife all while dealing with the additional life she is carrying and caring for. :o)>

Gettin' Close!

We are seeing the doctors weekly now. The baby has dropped quite substantially this week. Heather is much more down and round. There is not much room to move around in there so, when she does move, Heather's stomach looks like a scene from Alien or something. Little quack has been doing the happy dance a lot and she looks like she's ready to bust out!

The nursery is in good shape, we have washed many, many loads of baby clothes now all we need to do is store up some sleep! I know you can't really do that but it sounds good.

Heather will be working right up until labor time and her boss and coworkers are very supportive and caring.

We are looking forward to Nana coming from Germany to stay with us for almost the entire month of September and Papa will join us for a week in mid September.

I hope the baby will some day appreciate that Heather kept her cool and healthy during the hottest August on record here in the Cincinnati area. 15 days in a row in the 90's and several days recently above 100. Heather is a furnace unto herself let alone carrying another little fire stoker!

The girls are getting excited about the arrival of their sister. Micaela is back at school and Jackie heads to college for the start of classes on Sept 19th. Good times....gooooood times.

Knock, Knock......
Who's there?
The bun!

We had a doctor visit today and the baby is definitely head down and in good position PLUS Heather is 1 whole centimeter dilated! OK....that could stay the same for awhile but hey, it's progress!

She is certainly crammed in there and H is feeling it. Considering the fact that the baby has dropped there is a little more room in the rib cage which gives the baby a tiny bit more room to wind up before she kicks the ribs! I have seen it and I have felt it but certainly not to the same degree as Heather.

We began our birthing classes last week. (Better late than never!) We will meet each Tuesday and the last class is set for the projected delivery week.

We are very happy to have had a shower at Heather's work and we received some fantastic items. Her division was most generous! Our furniture came in Friday so the nursery is almost ready and we have a small family shower in Michigan this weekend. We are just about ready to welcome our little girl into the world!

Thanks to all who have called/emailed/or otherwise communicated! We'll keep you posted. H&M

Lookin' Good Today

We had an ultrasound today and she looks great! She was playing with her feet and making sucking movements with her lips...how cool to see. She weighs 3 pounds 1 ounce and we may be biased but we think she is pretty cute.

We are finally registered

We spent the day at Babies R Us today mulling over every little item in the store. Heather actually let me wield the scanning gun for the latter part of our excursion! Man we are tired. So much to look at and so many decisions to make. We actually had a good time imagining how the items will be used and what they will look like in the house and on the baby. We also started an online registry at Target but we didn't really add much since Babies R Us had just about everything we might need. Maybe some specialty items will work their way onto the Target registry...who knows.

The nursery is painted and ready to go; we are waiting for word that our crib has been delivered. We are also waiting for our nursing rocker/recliner that will also find it's way to the nursery. Now we get to decorate!

The Bun returns from Germany

We spent a week in Germany and had a fantastic time! Trip pictures may be posted here a little later but the Bun enjoyed herself immensely and relished the fact that she got to "hang out" with her grandparents and our friends the Gueldners.

I was shocked and disturbed that during our tour of the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam a woman, pictured below, was trying to give her unborn child a sip of beer. The woman's face has not been fully exposed though I have a good mind to do so and may in the future. I'm sorry to share this but felt it had to be done.

The Bun Will Have a Place To Sleep

We decided to get the Bonavita Peyton crib and dresser in a chestnut color like the picture of the crib. (I couldn't find a picture of the dresser in chestnut!) The crib is a lifestyle crib that goes from a crib to a toddler bed to a day bed and then to a full bed. I hope she likes it....she's going to have it for awhile!

Happy Mother’s Day Mommy!!!

I asked Daddy to write these things down because I want you to know just how much I love you! I am soooooooo glad that you are my Mommy and I want to thank you for taking such good care of me during my first 5 pre-birth months. Though I can’t wait to see your face smiling looking at me I think I’ll stay put for a few more months and just imagine what it will be like if that’s OK.

I apologize for using your bladder as a trampoline but it is just so much fun I can’t help it! As for heartburn; I hope it’s worth it when you see how beautiful my hair is.

It‘s time to stop reading and open the presents I asked Daddy to get for you. (I have a present for you Mommy! Hee hee hee….better get used to that!) After you open your presents come back to this because I want to tell you about them. Take your time….I’m not going anywhere.

Dum dee dum dee dum dum….. dum dee dum dee dum dum….. dum dee dum dee dum dum….. dum dee dum dee dum dum…..

Are you ready? Did you open them?

I asked Daddy to get a couple of books. I would really like it if you start reading to me now because I love to hear your voice and the books I chose are going to probably be a couple of my favorites.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: I chose this book because the hungry caterpillar, well, that’s me! I am eating everything now (thanks for sharing) and I will keep eating and keep growing and I too will push my way out of my little cocoon and be a beautiful butterfly!!! I know, I know, it is just a metaphor; I won’t really be a butterfly but I hope to be the beautiful little girl you hope for after my 9 month transition.

Goodnight Moon: I may need you to read this on a regular basis too because I am, as you know, an active child and may need a soothing story to calm me down and get me to sleep. I think this book may just do the trick. You could probably read me some of the books you read for book club Mommy and your beautiful voice could lull me to sleep but it might as well be something we both enjoy like Goodnight Moon! Who knows? It may put you to sleep too!

I love you and I am so very glad that you are my Mommy. Thanks again for your love and care and I can’t wait to see you in September!!!

Love, your daughter.
(I haven’t decided what name I like yet but I’ll let you know!)

The Quickening

I finally felt the first movement of the baby almost 2 weeks ago. Mark was resting his head on my stomach and the little bun decided it was time to kick her dad in the head. Unfortunately, Mark couldn't feel it. For the next few days, any time my belly was up against Mark she would start kicking him - I think she is going to be a bit of a daddy's girl.
Last night we were watching American Idol, Mark's arm was barely resting against my belly. Jordin Sparks came on to sing and our little pumpkin decided it was time she be heard as well so she kicked her dad again. I asked Mark if he felt it and he said he thought it was his arm twitching. He proceeded to rest his hand on my belly and our little one started to beat on him. She kicked him (or head butted him) at least 4 or 5 times. It was very funny.
She has been moving quite a bit, especially during the work day. She is also starting to cause quite a bit of indigestion. Not surprisingly I think I'm going to end up with a girl with a full head of hair at birth. I read an article recently that said that the indigestion and hair story isn't an old wives tale - it's actually based in medical fact - it has to do with the hormones that increase hair growth also cause indigestion.
So I think we're going to have a hairy soccer player :D

Circumference 40"

WE KNOW THE GENDER!!!
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW DON'T READ ANY FURTHER!!!

We had our second ultrasound today and found out that......we are having a GIRL!!!
She is active, healthy, and about 12 oz or the size of a Coke can.

Unfortunately the pictures don't scan well this time. She has some big ole feet that's for sure. During the ultrasound she was fully pressing her legs straight out and mashing her upper body so that she was bent in half like Gumby. Pretty limber she is!

Apparently her favorite thing to do is jump up and down on the bladder trampoline causing Heather to get out of bed to go to the bathroom about every hour and 1/2. Fortunately she IS still getting out of bed to do so. I figure this is nature's way of getting Heather ready for middle of the night feedings. (Feeding the baby, not herself.)

All in all things seem to be going pretty well. Heather is experiencing some growing pains. The pants just aren't fitting quite the same! We should get some pictures of Heather onto the site soon. :o)>

Congratulations Jackie!!!

As I had mentioned earlier in the blog Jackie's dance team has been working very hard on their Zombie routine and it paid off! They participated in State/National competition this weekend and received Superiors for Officers Dance, Pom, Hip Hop and Open category (Zombie).

For Zombie they won the State of Ohio championship and then placed second nationally! Quite an achievement and the girls were fantastic. I imagine that the video of the performance will soon be on the net. If it is (whether I upload it or somebody else does) I'll let you know.

The Zombie dance was the only dance Friday through Sunday where the two level gym was packed at the time of the dance. The team has received quite a bit of recognition and the girls and coaches from the other teams and their families all flocked in to watch the dance...pretty amazing.

We are so very proud of Jackie. She has had a stellar high school academic record and has been involved in so many extra curricular activities. She is a good person to boot which is most important. She will turn 18 in a month and will move on to college in the Fall.

Some pictures from the Dance Competition (You can click to enlarge)

Onward We March (At least today since tomorrow is April 1st)

Heather is feeling MUCH better these days! We are enjoying the above average temperatures we have experienced so far this Spring and looking forward to a long, hot summer with Heather having an internal heat generator...should be fun!

We get to have new pictures of the Bun (Tater) on April 19th! We can't wait to see the little Bun again and we will be sure to put the new pictures here on the site as soon as we can.

Speaking of pictures: I am very excited because my wife gave me a super nice camera for my birthday so that I can take lots of pictures of her as she and the baby grow. OK mostly it's because I have really wanted one and so I can take lots of pictures after the baby is born; she is not too keen on the thought of prego pictures of her quite yet! Either way I love it! (and her!)

Still Beating Strong (and moving a lot!)

We had our visit with the doctor today and we heard a good strong heartbeat though the doctor had a difficult time keeping the monitor in the direction of the baby because the old bun was moving around quite a bit! We have got a mover and shaker!

I know we call it the bun but I am starting to lean toward the nickname "tater" for some reason. I guess I am easily amused.

Heather is still feeling pretty rotten but she is toughing through it a day at a time. Eyes on the prize honey, eyes on the prize!!! (Now she will smack me!)

Lack of updates

Sorry about the delay in posts; we have been very busy.

Micaela became a teenager on St. Patrick's Day.

Jackie has had dance competitions the last couple of weekends and they scored superior ratings in each of their 4 dances this past weekend!!! Their dances are sooooo cool. All of the dance teams, including Jackie's, come out all cute and perky so it's fun to see them come out and dance their zombie dance. Here is a shot of them after their Zombie dance....

















(Click to zoom in if you dare!)




Both of Heather's parents are in from Germany in a staggered fashion. Katie, John, and Emma came down from Michigan

To top it all off, H hasn't been feeling so hot! Go figure. She gets past 3 months and starts feeling yucky.

We have a doctor visit tomorrow and we learn new things about pregnancy almost everyday. Heather has already read, and I am reading Jenny McCarthy's book titled Belly Laughs and it is funny, straight to the point, and in a style only Jenny McCarthy could produce.

We are taking suggestions for baby names! We have several (thousand) in mind and we have a while to decide but it has been fun thinking about possibilities. Feel free to leave names in the comments as we go along. Maybe I can come up with a voting gizmo to put on the site. I'll look into it!

Thanks for visiting the site and we have appreciated the cards and phone calls!

First Pictures of The Bun!

We had our first ultrasound today and we got to see The Bun! We couldn't take our eyes off of the screen. The baby was moving around a LOT! The feet are about as long as a penny at this stage and total weight is about three ounces. Here are the first pix....

I just wanted to add a few notes to Mark's comments below about the visit. Hearing the heartbeat was amazing! The OB has made a guess that it's a girl (she figures she has a 50/50 chance) :) I think it's because the heartbeat is fast. We also heard some thumping against the doppler which she thinks were kicks. Sounds like we might have an active little one - no surprise there! I'm feeling more excited now - although still quite tired and green. I'm looking forward to feeling the little kicker in action.

I hear the rhythm

We had a doctor visit today and got to hear the baby's heartbeat! So strong and fast. Wow...H and I both were incredulous and had tears of joy in our eyes. WOW! We are set for an ultrasound next week and we are certainly eager for that. It was a great visit and the doctor was quite pleased with how things are progressing.

The Agony of Waiting

Our next visit with the doctor is Thursday. (2 more days) It seems as if it has been MONTHS! We can't wait to hear the heartbeat and maybe even get a peak at the baby if they think an ultrasound is in order. H has felt better than she has recently. Nauseous....yes, feeling blah...yes, excited....YES!

Who to tell and when?

We have been letting the family immediate know about our news and for those of you who won't find out until later we apologize for the delay but we really wanted to wait to make sure everything is OK. We felt we needed to tell immediate family earlier on for various reasons. We hope you understand.

Heather's parents, who live in Germany, were on a weekend trib to Salzburg where they had some beautiful snow to enrich the scenery while they shopped and took the Sound of Music tour. Heather asked if her Mom wanted an early birthday present and Sandy could barely contain herself and said, with a hesitant drawn out "Yeeeeessssss"! (She knew what H was going to say but didn't want to say it in case she wasn't right.)

H told her and they were both ecstatic. Sandy and Tom had been doing some shopping and Sandy said that they had seen some great stuff for babies and that she was going to have to go back out to get some things! It will be nice to see her in March when she comes for a visit.

We called Heather's brother; Tom and his wife D'Ann. He and his family are all coming down with the ol' (hopefully only) 24 hour flu or whatever is making their son Jakob hurl. Tom jokingly said he didn't know how Heather could possibly be pregnant because that meant, well, you know. :o)> Heather told him that at least we waited to become pregnant until after they left Cincinnati to go back to Amesbury after staying at our house over the Thanksgiving holiday! The funny thing is our due date is the same as D'Ann's birthday!

We called H's sister Katie in Michigan and, after some pleasantries, H told Katie and Katie screamed for 2 minutes. No really. 2 minutes. I think she's excited. She can't wait to go through her maternity clothes and find some things that H might be able to use. I imagine we will be seeing a lot of Katie as we move closer and closer to the due date!

Not feeling so well

Heather didn't feel so well yesterday. Went to bed a bit early feeling mighty rough. There has been a fair amount of nausea since day one but fortunately she hasn't been driving the bus!

It is so fantastic to realize that there is another life forming! We can't wait to have an ultrasound at the next appointment. We believe now but seeing is really believing!

1st Dr. Visit (Not much to tell)

We had our first visit with the doctor today and...yep...Heather is almost 8 weeks along! Unfortunately we didn't get an ultrasound nor did the doctor think we would hear a heartbeat yet. We will get all that at our next appointment in a month. Don't know if I can wait until then! :o)>

Our due date has been set for September 8th! Huh. Right around Labor Day. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. (I am easily amused.)

Now THAT's a Happy New Year!

What a New Year's Day!!! We found out that Heather is pregnant!!! Happy New LIFE Day! A home pregnancy test was positive and we couldn't be happier!