A baby GIRL for the Prestage Family!!!

Last Wednesday, I woke up early to discover that I was in labor! Danny and I jumped up and got dressed and rushed to the women's hospital. We didn't even wait on someone to get Bryce, we took him with us! Once my mom arrived at the hospital to watch Bryce, Danny was able to join me - I was hooked up to monitors, waiting for the doctor to determine if I was really in labor. Sure enough, I went from 1 cm to 3 cm in an hour - so they moved me in to a delivery room and we got really moving.

Danny and I made a few phone calls to our family to let them know what was going on. It was so much fun getting to surprise everyone with that phone call! Over the next several hours, they started me on pitocin, broke my water, and gave me an epidural. From the time I arrived at the hospital at 7 am to 1 pm, everything moved at a slow pace. But, at 1 pm, I dilated from 5 cm to 10 cm in 45 minutes. Also, my epidural started to wear off, so I decided that it was time to push before the doctor could get to my room. For those of you who have delivered a child with no epidural, you know that when you gotta push, you gotta push. Danny stood right next to me and coached me through each pain I felt. He made me feel so confident that I was doing a good job. He was amazingly calm and reassuring. I know it was hard for him to see me in labor, but he never showed a minute of uncertainty. Danny is a wonderful husband. And dad.

The sweet nurses also helped talk me through the contractions and pushing for a while, until the doctor arrived. He walked in and I pushed twice - and delivered a beautiful baby girl named Bailey. She was tiny! Danny smiled and instantly fell in love. I cried tears of joy. I had no idea that you could actually fall in love that quickly.

After the nurses cleaned Bailey up a bit, I got to hold her and try to nurse. She latched right on! I was so proud that she was eager to eat - and it felt just right getting to hold her so close. My family got to come in to the room to meet our daughter - and the look on Bryce's face was so exciting to see! He jumped right in the bed next to me - he wanted to see what I was holding.

The next two days were great! Bailey weighed in at 4 lbs. 10 oz. and 17 inches long. Bailey was spitting up a bit, and we had a little trouble getting her to nurse. On Friday, we were getting ready to discharge from the hospital, and the nursery had taken Bailey to give her a few of the check ups they do before discharge. We got a call that they decided to move Bailey to the NICU to do some testing to see why she was still having trouble with her belly.

I can't really explain the next few hours - I only know that I was crying and scared. The nurses and doctors were so great - everyone was trying to help me remain calm - but that wasn't happening. Bailey was transported to Le Bonheur to have surgery on her stomach. Danny and I followed right behind. Once we arrived at the hospital, we learned that Bailey had duodenal atresia - a blockage in her duodenum that had to be corrected with surgery.

So, Saturday morning, Bailey had surgery. She came through like a little champ! We are keeping everyone up to date on carepages dot com/carepages/baileyprestage. If you haven't gotten a chance, please check it out. We have lots of pictures posted and are updating Bailey's progress daily.

We are looking forward to the day we get to bring Bailey home! We don't want to rush anything, as we know that this recovery will take time. We pray for healing for Bailey.

Spring Update....... finally

Danny and Bryce before the race

Danny and I - it was early! We left Sandestin at 3:45 AM!!!

People getting ready to swim - almost 1000 racers!

Bryce took a nap in his stroller so he could have the energy to cheer his Dad on after the race.

Aunt Laura and Bryce waiting on Danny to get out of the water and on his bike.

Danny at the last mile of the race! We were so loud!!!

Danny found the only shade and tried not to pass out!

Danny got his things together and we totally drove through McD's for cheeseburgers!

Danny and I - maybe I should have helped him carry his things!



We made it to the beach while we were down for Danny's race.

Yes, I let people take pictures of my pregnant belly. I was 20 weeks in these pics - halfway there!

My family

Bryce running after his Daddy at the Double Decker ride in Oxford.

Post-10k at Double Decker

Easter Sunday! My boys clean up great!

Notice the bike and trainer in the background!

Danny, Mark and Jon before the Double Decker ride.

Ok, I have to apologize for taking so long to upload these pics. We have been so busy these past few months, so lots to report. Danny completed a 10k run, a 46 mile bike ride, and his very first Ironman Half Triathlon (that is 70.3 miles total)! Bryce had his two year old birthday party and is celebrating his actual birthday on Friday! I have been feeling great - already 22 weeks pregnant! We had a sonogram and Baby Prestage #2 is doing very well!

Baby number two on the way!

Here are some pics from our vacation to the mountains in North Carolina. While snowed in one night, I found out we were going to be having another baby!!! At dinner, I told Bryce he was going to be a big brother. I think Danny choked on his food. His face lit up - and that was it for us! Totally in love with Bryce - and now our sweet baby number two!!!

A new Prestage Baby is on the way! Danny and I could not be more excited - Bryce is still not clued in to what is happening. I feel sure he will be completely surprised when we bring home his new baby brother or sister in September. He will be the world's most loving and sweet big brother! I am so unbelievably blessed to be able to have this family of mine.

Also, can't complain about the way things are going. I feel great most of the time. Once I determine that I am not going to vomit, I can usually fall asleep at night. And, as long as there is the perfect amount of the right kinds of food in my stomach, I don't feel too nauseous. I know that I am a very fortunate pregnant woman. My dear sweet loving (and sometimes scared of my mood swings) husband was very thoughtful and got me a prenatal massage (to be enjoyed later in pregnancy). I am quite sure that I don't deserve how patient he truly is.

So, get ready to place your bets. Since we have decided to wait until delivery to find out the sex of our baby, we will be taking bets on the gender and due date. If you win, you could choose the baby's name. (For those of you in on this with our first born, Bryce, you know the rules! If I get induced, all bets are off. And, WaveRunner is still eligible.)

Thank you to all of our kind and loving family and friends who are sharing this time with us. Our family is blessed.

It's cold outside...

I am so easily distracted, which is my latest excuse for not blogging more often. I will say that our December was filled with lots and lots of photo ops. We had a great time visiting family, friends, and even got some new toys from Santa. And, we had a fantastic New Years! I would have to say my favorite part was waking up on January 1st to Danny getting back into bed. He had been up with Bryce since 7 am. It was 1 pm when he woke me. No, I was not sick. I was sleeping in!!! Now, I am going to get all of my fave pics together and upload them. Soon. Maybe even today. Happy New Year!

We went to Boston

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Barrington, Rhode Island. Bryce got to go on his very first airplane - and he did great! The only thing that bothers that boy is running low on juice in his sippy cup! During our visit to the North - Danny and I went to Boston for a day. We did the touristy things... Quincy Market, Boston Tea Party, and some getting lost downtown. The roads do not have any reasonable layout. None. I was trying to take in all the sites and neglected the map. Needless to say, we ended up at Harvard due to my inability to measure distances. I am sure that is how most people get there.

We had a great time with our family over the break! I didn't get any pics of everyone, but Dobbie, PopPop, Pam, Heath, Courtney, Aubrey and Collin were all there with the three of us for a week! Courtney is Danny's sister - who lives in Barrington. Last year we went to Florida. It was cold. This year we went to Rhode Island. It was cold. Maybe we can figure something out for warmer weather next year. Or, maybe I will just get over it and buy a warmer coat. Either way, we are so blessed to have such a great family. Bryce certainly fell right in to place with his yankee cousins. We sure do wish they lived closer. And, if I can get any pics uploaded from Danny's mom, then I will post them, too. I think she got some pretty good ones...

Low on juice.

These are not real ducks. And, that is not my child. We just thought that it was cute to see some kid playing on the fake ducks.
Lots of stores... there is even a Cheers Bar. I, however, neglected to bring along my wallet, so I couldn't even go into a bar without my id.

That is me in the distance - the one standing. I don't know the man on the bench. He was yelling to some other guy. I tried to stay away.

This is the start of the red line that takes you to all of the touristy places downtown. And those are Danny's size 12s in brown. Not mine.

I think you can figure this one out...

This is me in front of our super cool sweet ride mini van. Danny felt so cool driving that thing around. I felt like a grown-up. We are way too young to need something so practical, right???

Smart people at Harvard.

Danny and Bryce playing during our layover in DC. I love my boys!

A bunch of Prestages

Bryce loves to pose for the camera!

Pop Pop, Cousin Emma, and Bryce

A bunch of Prestages looking at a lake.
Swinging - no, I did not fit in the toddler swing. That didn't stop me from trying, though.

Me, Pam, Carolyn, and Ruth - all Prestages

Pop Pop and Bryce - his sweet little hand just grabbed onto his grandfather's finger. So sweet.

Bryce and Annie hanging out in the Grove. We did not pose these pictures!

Bryce tried to get Annie to get up and go play with him. He didn't want her to miss any of the fun!

Bryce just wanted to be close...

Monkeys love Pumpkins

In an attempt to be creative, I decided to make Bryce's Halloween costume this year. I figure he will not let me choose his costume for him in the years to come, so I picked an adorable monkey costume for his very first Halloween (last year he was too small to go out trick or treating, so we didn't dress up).

This past week has been quite interesting. Bryce had his first ever ear infection, which was no problem to him. However, the antibiotic was a pain - side affects are not so much fun. Ok, so it wasn't actually interesting. In fact, it was the opposite. We stayed inside most of the week so we could go to Averi's birthday party on Friday night.

Rina and Allen put on quite a birthday bash for Averi's second birthday. There were tons of people, more food than I could even imagine, and lots and lots of costumes. Averi's blog has some great pics of her costume - but I forgot to get any pics of her. She was a very sweet peacock. But, since she can walk around on her own, Bryce didn't get his hands on her the way he did Maggie.

When the Oxford family arrived at the party, Bryce went straight to Emily. Then, he decided he needed to hold Maggie. No, I didn't say "want", I said "need". He was desperate to hold her. He whined, he begged, and he finally got his way. Maggie was given lots of lovin. And, when she left, he helped John carry her to the car in her carrier. What a gentleman!!!

Bryce trying to lift the carrier with Maggie in it!

MMMMM.... Candy.....

Can you see how much he NEEDS to hold her???


Emily and the Monkey

A monkey and a pumpkin... together at last...