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Mommy caught me being silly

Mommy captured me in a beautiful light

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"