TiME fLiES

We've just passed the 3 month mark with G. In the last 2 weeks we've had a great Easter weekend with friends, been to the beach a few times in the last 2 weeks because we've had probably 4 holidays (haha, we have a lot of those here), and she continues to smile big and be happy 90% of the time :) We got her a little rash guard for the beach to help protect her from the sun (see pic below), it's so cute on her! I got a swim bottom for her also a few weeks ago that a friend brought but it's already to small and tight on her legs....she's a chunk! 

It's so fun being home with her all day, yea sometimes i'd like to leave but for the most part I love being home, I can't imagine missing all the things I see all day if I had to work....the moms that work must have a hard time leaving every day then every minute they're gone they can't wait to get back. Babies don't do much till 2-3 months and then maternity leave is over and mom has to go back to work when all the fun begins, to those moms....you're amazing in every way! I'm very thankful for this life i've been given and all these great opportunities that are so amazing, there's nothing better than being able to watch her grow and change day in and day out....one day she's on her back and the next she can roll over and the next she can grab toys and put them right in her mouth!! She's also laughed a couple of times but Darin can really get her going and it's so funny listening to how she laughs and watching her stare at Darin waiting for the next funny thing to happen.

G had her first birthday party to attend (Liam's 5th) and as it was her first, it was also our first...with a kid lol...we're usually in the adult side group with no kids and a beer or wine in hand watching all the crazy happen around us and not having to do anything about it, haha, not anymore! She had a great time watching all the kids run around screaming and playing with all sorts of toys, she just sat there and grunted a few times as she kicked her legs and arms while the kids ran by her. She'll be amongst them soon enough :) 

I can't help but be jealous of how my daughter gets to grow up, the older she gets the easier it is to bring her around places so we go everywhere. She's been to the beach more times than some people go in an entire year and not just a beach but the most bluest, turquoise beaches. I'm not sure how old I was when I saw a beach for the first time, but the first time it was a blue, turquoise, clear water beach, I was 18 years old. I moved to Florida when I was 11, but the beaches there don't count as they are brown :( I hope G appreciates all this one day and I hope she continues to love the water as much as her mum and dad do.

Craig and Kaitlyn come in 2 weeks and we're so excited!! Gemma and I also go back to Florida the end of June for 2 weeks and we can't wait!!

Gemma Loves:
-her play mat
-watching daddy make her laugh
-holding a blanket when she sleeps and likes it on her face too (that's my girl :))
-her BIM (barbados) cousins, aunties and uncles 
-sitting holding mommy's hands and standing, she likes to see what's going on around her
-the beach

Gemma Hates:
-again, STILL hates tummy time, a part of me doesn't think she'll ever like it

Gemma Stats
-next apt is @ 4 months and is the end of May....we think she's 12 + lbs so we'll see, maybe 13 by the time we go to her apt.

BeAch TiME

We're approaching the 3 month mark and so much has change in the last week and some. Gem has become quite the smiley little baby, she's always happy, just chatting away and she loves when we listen to music. My favorite smile is the one in the morning when I get to her crib and she sees me, she's all swaddled up and just gives me the biggest smile, I need to get that on video soon!! She's gone from 4 hrs at night to 6 hrs the last 3 nights, lets hope it stays that way!

Last week our friends had a house for a few days on the East coast so we went up for 2 days to play at the beach with them. Gem has put her toes in the water a few weeks ago but it was cold that day and a little rough, so while on the East coast at low tide the rocks make these little pools that all the kids play in so Darin brought Gem in and she LOVED IT!! She smiled and her legs were going a mile a min under the water jumping on the sand and we learned she is SUPER buoyant! So glad she loved it because if she didn't then we aren't sure what we're gonna do with her, all we do here are things that involve water.

We had some sticky eye boogies last week and went to the Dr but it wasn't pink eye (PHEW!!), just a little irritation maybe a small start to an infection so we got some eye drops and those have helped SO much, plus Gem is a super star and the drops don't bother her one bit :)

I've started doing crossfit with 2 of my friends last week and ouch!!!! I could barely walk for about 4 days lol, feels good to get back to working out though. I have 6lbs till my pre baby weight which is great for not working out or breastfeeding which helps loose the lbs. Happy to get back to that weight where I felt right, I felt like me :) Plus I have to wear a Kadooment costume in 4 months.....so I must look fab!

Last Sunday Darin and I went out with our friends to Harbour Lights because they launched their costumes for Kadooment which is always one of the biggest parties of the year. Since all of our friends were going, we had to get a sitter for Gem! Tanya helped us and referred a friend, so when she (the sitter) came over a little early to meet us and meet Gem we instantly felt at ease. Never having to give instructions to take care of a baby before, I tried the best I could lol. We'd left at 5:30 and a few hours later, she texted us when Gem ate and was down in bed just fine :) We got home around 10:30pm and all was good in the Doty house. Our sitter said Gem was so good, such a happy baby and she'd love to come watch her again if we needed another date night!

This weekend is Easter and though i'd love to be home and go to church and spend time with our families we'll be spending time here with our island families and having a big big lunch! Candice came in town and rented a house on the East coast in Bathsheba and since Friday and Monday are holiday's, Darin has 4 days off and we're headed up to stay with Candice!! Last Easter we only had ourselves to pack, this year should be interesting because we have to pack Gem for the long weekend also. Can't wait to get up there and lay in the hammock and enjoy the nice breeze on my face :)

    First time in the ocean April 13, 2014

Gemma Loves:
-bath time
-watching mommy in the kitchen
-snugs in mom and dad's bed in the morning
-having her first baby sitter so mom and dad can go out

Gemma Hates:
-STILL hates tummy time and licks the fabric the whole time, if this is the only thing she    doesn't like, I can handle it :)

Gemma Stats @ 3 months: 
11lbs, 21.50 inches               

OH BABY!!

It's been 2 weeks since all my prayers were answered, we finally have our healthy, happy, perfect little baby girl, Gemma Lyn!! With all the feeding and changing and adjusting and learning in the last 2 weeks I haven't found the time to sit and write what I want to, so i'm glad that today I have found an hour (if G stays sleeping) to sit and share her story while it's still fresh in my mind, one day she'll be able to read this and know how she came into the world in such a special way and how much her mom and dad love her already. So...here it goes :)

It was Thursday Jan 23rd, I had my 38 week appointment (2 days shy of 38 weeks) I was effaced 80% and dilated 2 cm. My Dr said she could strip my membranes and i'd probably go into labor in the next two days but Darin wasn't in town yet so she said when he gets here and I come back next week she could do it then, so we had some time to think about it. I also only gained 1lb this past week, so a total of 32lbs all together, not bad.....hopefully the next two weeks will be another 1lb lol. The internal checks always make me a little crampy later that day so at night while eating dinner I just ignored it. I'd talked to Darin before he went to bed because he'd just flown from Antigua (he worked all week there) to Barbados, he was tired and had to be at the office the next morning so he ate dinner, left his suitcase still packed and headed to bed. Me and my dad watched Thor 2, then I headed to bed. 

Friday the 24th, 4:30am came around and as usual around 4am I get up to pee....every day....so this wasn't anything new. I peed and got back into bed but couldn't get comfortable, I still had some cramping. I gave it a few mins and then thought maybe I needed to pee again but when I got up I felt like I was going to pass out, so I went into my moms office to ask her to get me some water (my mom works from home and works the early shift from about 2am on), I have a syncope (not sure you knew that) so passing out sometimes is pretty normal for me. Mom came back with some water and was finished working, but by this time I was so uncomfortable in bed and I was timing these cramps because I wasn't sure what it was so just in case I decided to time them. My mom asked if she could go back to bed or if she needed to take her shower so we could head to the hospital......I wasn't sure what to tell her so she just took her shower in case, lol. Meanwhile, it's about 5:40am and I called Darin....I told him I wasn't sure if it was labor but i'm uncomfortable and they hurt and they're about 5 mins apart so it seemed like labor. He told me I was fine, and to try and relax and not freak myself out....I agreed, I was fine, don't freak out.....but these "cramps" i'm timing were 5 and 6 mins apart and the passing out feeling for every cramp was starting to freak me out. I told him i'd call him later and let him know how I was, so we said our love yous and hung up. I decided to lay on the floor so I wouldn't fall if I was up and passed out, I had Casper keeping me company on the floor and he never left my side. When my mom came back, she brought my dad and by 6:00am we decided to grab my stuff and head to the hospital just in case. My dad helped get everything in the car and my mom and I headed to Winnie Palmer Hospital. During the drive there the cramps finally turned into labor and I realized, THIS. WAS. IT. I wasn't going home like i'd thought I would be. We got to the hospital by 6:30am, and at this point I couldn't walk the pain was so bad...how, from 4:30-6:30 is it this bad?? People say they take showers and do stuff when they start labor, not in my case. I had my eyes closed trying to focus on NOT passing out because this labor was intense and it didn't give me any breaks of relief whatsoever.....I was 5cm, got admitted and the labor was just a constant 10 of 10 for pain and one long 3 hr contraction. My mom called Darin back and told him this was it, I was in labor and it's going fast....of course Darin starts to freak out because it's 2 weeks early, he's not in the states, he doesn't even have a flight, he wants to be with me so bad and not miss the birth. He couldn't believe I was in labor when an hour before that I called him and sounded ok. With my eyes still closed, I had no idea where I was, what people were doing to me, didn't know what anyone looked like and I can only remember pieces of the next 3 hours. With out Darin there I did my best to hold it together, I can remember almost loosing it and crying my eyes out because I just wanted him there but I had to do this for Gemma so I sucked it up and tried to just focus as best I could. It's now about 9:30am and somehow I had changed clothes and was brought up to labor and delivery for my epidural (don't remember a thing). I couldn't sit up because if I moved a centimeter i'd go right into a contraction again so we tried with me laying down, clinging to the bars on the side of the bed (where i'd been gripping for the last 3 hours), but when that didn't work, I HAD to sit up to get the epidural. That may of been the worst part of labor, moving to the sitting up position. Finally the epidural worked and my passing out feeling went away so I finally got to open my eyes, see my nurses and actually talk to them :) I was a whole new person haha!! I told the nurse I felt like I gotta poop (tmi, sorry....what did you expect reading a birth story??), so she checked me and I had gotten to 10cm all on my own, WHOOP! GO ME! So when the epidural was in full effect they told me I could push because I was ready, but I had to get Darin on facetime first. The internet at the hospital was pretty crappy and between 2 phones, 2 ipads and my macbook we couldn't get him on video...very frustrating, but we finally downloaded this video app and it worked great, just like facetime. The nurses decided to let me enjoy my epidural for a little while since I hadn't had a break all morning, so when we finally got Darin on video, it was push time!! It was about 2 hrs later (11:30am) as Darin sat at work in his office (in Barbados), my phone propped up next to me in the bed, I started pushing with my contractions. I had my mom on the left leg and Laura on my right leg to help me push. In the middle of contractions we talked and joked with the nurses until the next one. Darin eventually had to hang up, connect to the 3G and call back as he drove home to grab his suitcase lol. The whole time he would tell me to push and encouraged me in between contractions just like he was really there, he did a fantastic job :) When he got home and got his bags, he told me I had 10 mins and he had to leave for the airport to catch his flight to Miami (my brother was picking him up and driving him to Orlando, there were no connecting flights to Orlando that night....figures). I pushed her out just before he left the house....he was standing on our patio out front as he watched our daughter come into the world. Thanks to my mom, she picked up my phone and had the video on Gemma the whole time, so he got to see her cry for the first time, get her cord cut and see that full head of dark hair. She was here, she was healthy and she was perfect!! Gemma Lyn was born at 1:16pm, weighing 6lbs 3oz and measured 19.5 inches long, our tiny peanut :)

I got to hold her for a brief moment but she had to go to the transitional nursery to have her breathing and her sugar levels monitored. Once I was ok and got up to my room, I got to go visit her in the nursery and hold her more but couldn't take her until her sugar levels stabilized. I had my family stay for a bit and the Doty's came up for a while but visiting hours were over so they had to leave. Laura stayed with me for a while and Gemma finally came into my room at around 10:30pm....for the first time she was all mine. Darin got to the hospital at 12:30am, he picked up Gemma, sat in the rocking chair and stared at her for the next hour before we both went to bed.

This was SUPER long.....i'll catch you up on the last 2 1/2 weeks with my next post :) but until then, here's a picture of our new little family :)

Here's Darin on our porch watching Gemma being born:

Here's our little family:

                                                1/24/14  -  6lbs 3oz  -  1:16pm  -  19.5 inches

34 & 35 WeeKs

I've had this post written for a while but my computer was giving my issues so I spent 3 days at the Apple store and now i'm finally able to retrieve all my photos and post this blog!! Sorry about the delay :)

Christmas day I woke up and made a big breakfast for Darin and I, we exchanged our stockings and then I got him a few fun things to open, since he already got his new surfboard a month ago for Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a little Pandora box!! I wanted something with a G on it for Gemma so Darin got me a G bead and a bag of money bead....it took me a second but then realized, duh, we call her "G Money" sometimes lol....so hence the G and the bag of money bead haha, good thinking babe!! :)

Been in Orlando for a little over a week....SO SO glad we (G & I) made it safe and sound with no complications, besides A LOT of walking because of gate changes at Miami airport and the crying children that seemed to follow me around from flight, to flight, gate to gate and through immigration and customs.....I just kept telling G, don't be like them, you're gonna be a good baby right? The thought terrifies me bringing a crying/screaming child through the airport.....i'll be "that" mom one day i'm sure of it. When I finally got to my parents it was almost 7pm! We had family Christmas dinner and then Christmas presents to open which was nice, I was glad they waited so patiently for me :) My mom got us all tickets to ICE at the Gaylord Palms, i've been wanting to go there for years.....glad to finally make it with the family :) I did manage to get some of my suitcase put away but I was exhausted so I tried hard to just stop what I was doing and then get some sleep. 

The next day I had my first Dr. appointment but because of some misunderstandings and neither the Dr or his office manager weren't there, I ended up not seeing anyone and as a prego should, I cried in the car to my mom :) With a friends help we got things figured out over the next few days so the following Friday I finally got to see the Dr. and boy do I love him!! I'm so happy to have him and feel 100% comfortable to see him for the care of G and I while we're here. He's happy with my belly size and weight gain, listened to G's heart rate and said she sounded awesome!! I have to re-do all my labs, blood work, sugar tests etc because although i've had it all done in Barbados, he isn't quite sure what the numbers mean for the results lol....guess it's not that bad but it does stink it's just something else I have to do here.

I've been splurging on fun foods I haven't gotten to eat in the last 8 months, but I know it can't last long or i'll gain 100 lbs in the next 5 weeks and that CAN NOT happen!! I bought a couple goodies at the food store for me to snack on that I don't have in Barbados like cheeze-it's, goldfish, ravioli, yummy cereals and MILK, finally normal MILK!!!! (see pics below haha) It's been nice that i've got to unpack completely and put my suitcase away and have my mom and dad making sure i'm comfy all the time. It's nice that I don't have to rush off so fast back to Barbados but at the same time we miss Darin, a lot! Wish he was here to spend the relaxing time with me before G arrives but hopefully the time will go by and he'll be here sooner than later and make it in time for our daughters arrival.

New Years my mom made her traditional donuts which were amazing as always!! I think I had 4 or 5 total?? I had to make up for missing it last year duh! :) I went about a mile down the road to a friends family house on the lake to watch fireworks and hang out to ring in the new year but sadly, with me being pregnant and my friend with a new born, we made it till 10:30 before we left hahahahahaha, I was in bed by 11pm...LAME!! Oh well, there's always next year!!

Prego Quirks, Symptoms & Info:

*gained 3lbs since my last visit....not bad if you knew how much i've eaten in the last week alone :)
*love my 3 rotating maternity pants and shirts, how do people NOT like these things?
*my nose closes up at night so those nose strips are my friend, except when i have to pull them off in the am
*missing Darin 24/7, i send him videos or G in my belly so he can see her move, he says she looks like she's            dancing :)  still my sweet girl, not hurting mommy one bit 
*love my moms dunkin donut chocolate glazed donut coffee.....i'm bringing back BAGS of it!!
*looking forward to my shower this weekend!! YAY!!

30 & 31 WeeKs

You know what sucks.....when you have an event to go to and you're planning on an outfit, then when the time comes to get dressed you don't fit in it and have a slight panic attack because you've waited so long to get ready and you thought you already knew what you were wearing....now your in complete rush mode AND pregnant AND feel like you're put together like a rag doll. After 5 or 6 different outfits, I ended up in a "go to" cotton dress that i've had forever, but dressed it up with some wedges so it didn't look half bad in the end....Ugh the joys of being pregnant :) It was also probably the first time in 5 or 6 months i've worn heels and I made it about 15mins at our friends birthday before I realized the extra 18lbs was already making my feet hurt (good thing I packed flats!!), no more nights when I can make it till 3am in heels for a while. So not only was it my first time wearing heels in months it was sadly, most likely, my last.......

Anyway.....I leave in 3 weeks to go to Orlando until G arrives. I had what I thought was my last appointment yesterday but my sugar was high again, I only measured (belly) 2cm larger than 3 weeks ago and I haven't gained any weight in 3 weeks so the Dr is having me go for another scan to check her growth and I have to do some more blood work. He assured me it's only as precaution and not to worry but I instantly wanted to cry from worry.....I held it in till I got to the parking lot. I don't care who you are, when you're a first time mom and a Dr says anything besides "looks like everything is going well", you immediately think the worst and what did you do as a mom to cause anything to not be perfect. I've talked to some friends and feel much better about the situation, i've got a lot of advice and support so i'm not nearly as worried as I was yesterday. My scan is Thursday (tomorrow) so we'll find out everything then.

As i'd hoped (YAY) everything is just fine (YAY). G is actually measuring 2 weeks ahead of me but my due date hasn't changed yet. We go to see the Dr in 2 weeks so maybe he'll change my date, maybe not. Purchasing Darin's ticket is now put on hold until I get to Florida and meet my Dr there and see what he says then we'll have a better idea of when to get Darin's ticket. 

Prego Quirks, Symptoms & Info:

*finished my baby registry! Yay!
*G is 4lbs and head down, feet up, completely vertical :)
*gained zero since my last visit so still at 18lbs, that's going to rapidly change soon...ahhh!!!
*feeling great!!
*3 weeks till Orlando!

NeW HoME

Well not yet....but we did SIGN OUR LEASE!!!! And OMG is it awesome! You'll all want to visit us as soon as possible too! When Darin and I were in Barbados a few weeks ago we looked at a few places that we liked and pretty much fell in love with all 3 of them. 1 was out of our price range, and 2 we told our realtor to start putting our bid in. By the time the day was over one of the 2 we liked was taken! So we were down to our last love. We got the ok about our price and everything approved and signed the lease! Darin and I are quite the excited little kids over here, it's fun to see Darin so excited about a place to live, usually it's the girl who's more excited. Although we don't move until the middle or end of March, we're just glad we got something that we love! Take a peek....

BarBaDoS

THIS WEEK in our life......we got to visit Barbados for a week. Originally Darin was going to get the shop demolition started and interview some people, but it ended up that I got to join!! I was asked to do a comprehensive demographic report for the investors and directors of the company while I was there. At first I had absolutely NO clue what that meant, but with the help of some special people in my life, lol, I think i've slowly figured it out. You'd be surprised how much I know about this island now that I probably would of never known. It's kind of like my homework with a professional report attached. I have a feeling i'll go above and beyond my duties, but it's just because i'm not sure what to put in it so i'll just put in everything. I'm sure that's not all you want to hear about sooooo......i'll talk about the island. Barbados is pretty awesome. The structure and roads remind me a lot of Nassau, not so "pretty" but lots of older buildings they're trying to preserve, roads that are super narrow from the "horse" days and almost like poverty next to the rich. All of that i'm used to so I don't mind it at all. Barbados though, has LOTS of beach access, plenty of bars and restaurants on the water and on the beach, plenty of world class surf spots, tons of people our age and so much to do at night! Everyone we met says "trust me, you'll fall in love living here", I can't help but be so excited about this place. I have a lot to learn, with the health system and having kids, as well as the school systems here, but i've heard it's not at all bad and the schools here are really great!! Darin and I have looked at a few places to live and we love all 3, but the 3rd is WAY out of our price range, even though i'd love to have a pool on my second floor which is also the roof top of the building, UGH!!! So the first two will be just fine if we can negotiate the right price (which I think we will). We're stayed in a few places one was our realtor's guest house, which is PERRRRFECT! It's right on the beach, with a hammock, and the waves to listen to, the breeze, a bar just a short walk down the beach, just the best little set up. I can't wait to be there and live there and have all of our stuff in one place, FINALLY!! The flight wasn't bad, 3 hrs from Miami, where Darin's last trip was 3hrs 45mins. It went by pretty fast, especially since there was an in flight movie and a tv show after.  COME VISIT!!! I'll post some more when I get home, until then.....enjoy the pics as usual!!

Oh yea, and don't be jealous that sea rocks can spell our name and not yours, ours is just that awesome!!