Busy Mama

It's been since August since I last posted... where does the time go? TJ is almost 8 months old now and he is such a lil blessing! He has a fun personality and definitely keeps us on our toes. I never knew how amazing being a mom could be - I love it!

Over the weekend I began - OPERATION LOOSE THE BABY WEIGHT. I have worked out for the last three days - So this is just the beginning, but I'm feeling very motivated. I got my body fat percentage measured yesterday, and eek things sure have changed since before I was pregnant.

My goal: loose 15 pounds by June, lower my body fat percentage, and fit into my pre-prego jeans. I CAN DO THIS!

I'm going to do my best to post my progress on my blog - but we'll see how that goes. Things are busy in the dance world for me right now... competitions, recitals, exams, private lessons and so on. But I'm hoping my blog will serve as my accountability posts.

Inspiration for working out and so many other things in my life right now:

Baby Items I Love!

I thought I'd share some of the items that I've loved using during my little ones 1st month.

Aquaphor - http://www.aquaphorhealing.com/
Best stuff for diaper rashes and the dry skin newborns get. I cannot believe how well this stuff works!

Rock N Play Sleeper - 
He sleeps right next to our bed in this, it's great. When he fusses I just rock it with one finger.

Nursing Tank Tops -
I purchased all of mine at Target.

Mother Love Nipple Cream - http://www.motherlove.com/product/1001-Nipple-Cream.html

All natural, and works great! Safe for mom & baby. I purchased mine at Valley Natural Foods

A Water Bottle -

Nursing makes me so thirsty, plus drinking plenty of water helps with milk supply.

Baby Nail Clippers-

I cannot believe how fast his nails grow, we've had to clip them weekly.

Pampers Swaddlers-
Do not use the Target Up & Up brand! We've had issues with blowouts with the Up & Up diapers. We also tried Huggies and have decided that Pampers are the way to go.
Pampers also has a Gifts to Grow program where you enter a code from each package of diapers and you get points. Then you use the points to get stuff... We almost have enough points to get free photos from Shutterfly.com

Comfy Rocking Chair -

I've spent many long nights in our rocking chair.

Being a mom has been truly wonderful... however Tom & I are still learning as we go. I'd love any tips or recommendations on products from other moms. 

It's a BOY!

Thomas Daniel Buckley Jr. "TJ" was born on July 25th, 2012 at 8:58 p.m. 

7 lbs. 13 oz.   21.25 inches

I woke up at 5:30 in the morning feeling "crampy" and thought maybe I was hungry, but then couldn't finish my bagel. Around 7:00 a.m. the cramps got stronger and started coming in waves about 5-6 min. apart. I called the nurse line at 8:30 a.m. she said to call back in an hour if my contractions continued. By 9:30 I let Tom know that my contractions (which just felt like bad cramps) were 4 min apart and that he should head home. I then called the nurse line back, she told me that my hospital was full and that they would have to send me to Methodist. I was so bummed because my Doctor was on call and I was looking forward to having her deliver our little one. I asked the nurse what my other options were since I didn't want to go to Methodist Hospital. She said I could wait it out for about 2 hours at home and see if the hospital opened up... just then I had another contraction while on the phone. She said that she didn't feel comfortable with me being in labor at home, so she sent me to my nurse practitioner at my clinic to get checked. By now Tom was home and we headed to the clinic where they got us into a room right away. My nurse practitioner checked me out and said, "congratulations you are dilated to a 5, you are in active labor." I then asked if we could go to St. Francis Hospital in Shakopee, she said yes. We were then on our way to the hospital... with contractions now 3 min apart.

We arrived at the hospital around 11:15 a.m. They hooked me up to an IV, got the epideral started, and before I knew it it was time to push. Little did I know that I would be pushing for 4 1/2 hours. In the delivery room I had my mom, mother in-law, and Tom. They were all very helpful & entertaining, we had some good laughs, I seriously couldn't have lasted the 4 1/2 hours without them.

Even though I was deverted from my hospital, and didn't have my Doctor deliver our little boy I couldn't have been more pleased with the way things went at St. Francis. The Doctor that delivered TJ was a funny guy, I really liked him. The nurses were also amazing!

I'm so very thankful that everything went well. Tom & I feel so blessed to have a healthy and handsome little boy in our lives.

Time to go home:

I cannot believe he will be 3 weeks old on Wednesday. We love him so much!

1 Week until D-Day!

Hoping our little one will arrive soon! In the meantime I thought it would be fun to do a pool:

Hi everyone,

As you probably know, Gena & Tom are expecting a little bundle of joy very SOON! (due 07/30/2012).

We decided to use BabyHunch.com to put together a Baby Pool where you can guess certain things such as Baby's Birthdate (date and time), Baby's Sex, Baby's Weight, etc, etc.

If you'd like to play, simply click the link provided below to submit your hunches! Our little one is due in about 1 week so get your votes in SOON!

Winner will get bragging rights, and possibly a small prize or a beverage next time we see you.

IMPORTANT: The password for this pool is: buckley

Once you visit the page, click 'Enter New Hunches' to submit your hunches...

http://www.babyhunch.com/poolpage.php?poolid=cc7f0dc384c937c81a9aa27c4cc57739

Good Luck,

Tom & Gena

38 Weeks

Nothing really has changed since my 37 week post... So here are a few updates.

• It's another HOT week above 90 degrees. Which is fine if I stay in the AC, but it's getting kind of boring around here. The house is clean, nursery is ready, bottles washed, baby clothes washed, and I've read all of my parenting magazines & books.

• The other day when I was on a walk a guy up the street asked if I was even going to make it around the block. I guess I look like I'm about to pop! I laughed and said, "I'm almost home, and I'm actually trying to induce labor."

• I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks until the due date - My doctor says they won't induce until 1 week after I'm due. I'm praying it won't come down to that! 

• At my Dr. appointment on Friday my doctor was shocked at how low the head was. So baby is ready... it's just a matter of WHEN it wants to meet us.

• I've had some cramping and lower back pain, which I haven't had at all during the pregnancy. I feel very lucky - it's been a pretty easy pregnancy, hoping labor and delivery is the same. 

• I put together the baby book last night. Filled in everything up until I go into labor.

SHOPPING-

I saw this on Facebook this morning and I think I'm going to go - Junk Bonanza September 13th-15th at Canterbury Park in Shakopee: http://www.junkbonanza.com/

Totsy has some really cute kids clothes and baby toys for great prices: Totsy.com

Zulily has some neat stuff on sale right now, including Spanx: Zulily.com

I discovered Buy Buy Baby when I received a coupon when I was at Bed Bath & Beyond back in June (they are owned by the same company). I checked out their website & registered just for fun, then I stopped in the Woodbury store (the only one in MN) this weekend! Very organized and pretty reasonable prices. If you register there you get a free gift bag full of goodies. Buybuybaby.com

Nursery - Ready for baby!

A lot of people have asked us "what color are you doing the nursery since you don't know what you are having?" That was easy - we painted the guest room asparagus green when we first moved in, I did this knowing that some day it would possibly be a nursery. Then I added lots of fun bright colors for our little one.

The closet is full - we are very thankful for all the gifts we received at the baby showers! We could use more sleepers and clothes, but I'm going to wait and buy gender appropriate clothing since we have a lot of yellow and green stuff already. The dresser is stocked with toys, bath stuff, and blankets.

I sewed the buttons on the top of the curtains to add a little color, and the cute little button chair I got at a Just Between Friends Sale for only $40.
My mom purchased the vintage lamp and the mobile hanging above the glider at a thrift store and garage sale. I guess they sell for as much as $100 on ebay - Got to love thrifty finds! Vintage Mother Goose Mobile on Ebay and Vintage Irmi Wood Ferris Wheel Lamp

The glider we purchased off of Craig's List  for $100, it's a Shermag and they can retail for around $400. It came from a nice family who used it for their 2 kids. It just needed a little cleaning and it's perfect for our nursery.
The items on the shelves are from when Tom & I were little, and the dresser was Tom's growing up. We recently spent an evening going through stuff from when we were little and looking at our own baby books - it was fun to see what our parents wrote about us when we were babies.

I have 2 boy and 2 girl outfits ready to go. The top hat on the guitar was Grandpa Buckley's - I can't wait to take pictures of our little baby in it and wearing it.

I'm just so pleased with the way the colors turned out - this room makes me happy and I hope our little one likes it too.

I will be 38 weeks on Monday - WE ARE READY FOR BABY! 

37 Weeks - Full Term

Today I am 37 weeks and 3 days - The baby is now full term! We are more than ready to meet our little one, I feel like I've been pregnant forever! 

Updates-

• On June 24th my wonderful friend Amanda threw baby Buckley our 4th baby shower. I cannot get over how spoiled this little one is already. These photos are from the shower. I will have to get a more recent one of my big belly. 

• 4th of July- Hung out with the neighbors in the Winslow's pool and ate Wade's amazing ribs. Tom was on call for work so we were in bed before dark... pathetic I know. It was HOT - over 100 all last week. The pool and AC kept this prego nice and cool.

How far along?  37 weeks 3 days

Work out: Last 2 summer classes at the studio are on Thursday. Today I went on a 30 min. walk... cleaning the house. I feel like my belly is getting heavy, so working out isn't all that easy any more. 
Maternity clothes? Yes. 
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: I'm shocked when I sleep for 4 hours straight without waking up to go to the bathroom... this happened last night, I was excited!
Best moment this week: Spent the weekend with my mom and sisters. We went shopping on Friday and out to lunch. Then Saturday mom, Anna and I went to a winery in Red Wing, I had a 1/2 glass of wine - it was delish! The we did a little shopping in Stolkholm. Sunday I helped Tom with some of his nesting projects... I swear he's nesting more than I am. 
Miss Anything? My old body, and getting a full nights rest (but I know this won't change anytime soon.)
Movement: Yes, we have a very active baby. Sometimes it will stick a foot out and just leave it there for a second, it kind of hurts. It also gets the hiccups a couple of times a day.
Food cravings: Been feeling full a lot faster lately. Popsicles have been my favorite treat since the weather has been so warm.
Anything making you queasy or sick:  No
Gender ideas: I'm still not sure... can't wait to find out though!
Symptoms: Sore pelvic bone... other than that I feel pretty good.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Off. :(
Happy or Moody most of the time: Anxious, uncomfortable, but mostly happy... just trying to go with the flow and keep busy.
Labor Signs: Nope... but at my 36 week appointment last Thursday I was dilated to a 2, which really doesn't mean much. My doctor said you could have this baby is 4 days or 4 weeks. I'm hoping for sometime in between. The week before that they did an ultrasound and the head is down. So... now we wait.
Looking forward to: Meeting our little one!


According to the What to Expect website - Baby is 20 inches long and weighs between 6 1/2 to 7 pounds now.