Baby's Name, Room & Contractions!!!

We have chosen the name for our little girl! Those of you who have been with us on this journey to picking a name know that it got a little heated so I'm happy to announce the winner - Haylie Anne. This name has great significance to us. "Haylie" is the name we had chosen for the little girl we miscarried at 11 weeks (the pregnancy just prior to Braeden's). And "Anne" is the name of my beautiful, angel cousin who passed at about the same time I learned I was pregnant (after trying for over a year) making our daughter a little ray of sunshine during a sad time for my family. My cousin, Anne, has a beautiful story she shared through her journey in life that you can read about on her blog: http://wardandannecreager.blogspot.com/.

So, I suddenly realized that the last time that I posted anything was back in December when I was 23 weeks along, and now I'm 34! There has been good reason for this. You see, starting January my nesting phase turned into a bit of a neurotic obsession. It was like I couldn't stop myself! I was working on dozens of projects around the house that I feared would never get completed if I didn't do it right that second! But most importantly, I felt very compelled to have our little Haylie's room ready and completed by the beginning of February. People would roll their eyes at me when I would tell them this goal and remind me I wasn't even due until April 21st giving me a nearly 3 month cushion. But I had this feeling inside I couldn't suppress telling me that I needed to have this prepared and ready, but I didn't know exactly why. When I would explain that to others, they first would say "you think she's going to come early?". Well, I didn't know at the time but I have my answer now.

I ended up not meeting my deadline of the beginning of February, but instead finished the middle of February beaming with pride and excitement. I had a week or so of soaking in my little Braeden who just loves on his mommy and baby sister all the time. Then suddenly like a switch was flipped, I was experiencing contraction after contraction... realizing that they were 3-5 minutes apart put me into tears as I called my doctor's office. Now to be clear, these weren't labor contractions but Braxton Hicks. However, I remember from a previous appointment that my doctor had specifically told me that any more than 6 in one hour was unhealthy and could put me into preterm labor. At 32 weeks, I was not ready to give this girl up!

The doctor's office told me "go to Labor & Delivery right now!". They were clearly less than pleased with me wanting to give it at least fifteen minutes to subside firmly insisting I not wait another second. So I did, crying the whole way there. For some reason, I thought by going to the hospital they would make this go away but that didn't end up being the case at all. Drugging me up with Terbutaline and monitoring the baby and the contractions, three hours later they let me go saying I was stable enough. But I was still having 6 contractions per hour! Thus, on bedrest I was put and remain (although bedrest is kind of a joke when you have a 2 year old at home!). At first, I could only keep my contractions at the max if I was laying down. Then soon that wasn't enough and 6 days later I found myself back in Labor & Delivery. I was promptly given a priesthood blessing following that experience and suddenly I could sit up and keep the contractions at bay. So that's where I stand at this point- 34 weeks, contractions on and off but last they checked my cervix was closed and not prepared for an arrival anytime soon.

Alas, you've survived my sob story and deserve a peek at our Haylie's room so here is the big reveal! I chose a purple and yellow Dragonfly theme, as I was strictly instructed by Cameron (who randomly decides to have a firm opinion on things of this nature) that he didn't want a pink room. :) Thanks to Jenn (my sister-in-law) for helping me paint the walls... also Gary (my father-in-law) and Cameron for installing the chair railing. If any of you want to try and duplicate anything you see or want to know where I purchased something, let me know and I'd be happy to share my secrets! ;)

Here's the big brother to be! Love this kid!

Picture of Christ
I was so excited when I found a Dragonfly set of hooks!
Who knew I had a creative bone in my body? :)
A look from a distance.

I even made the white knobs these are hanging on!

This was done by using a wall stencil.

Sooo tedious but loved the results!