The Branch's

Finally...The Delivery

2010-05-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know having a baby changes everything. We have been so busy from the minute my water broke on April 2 at 4:00 a.m. Jeff and I had been praying the whole week that my water would break because I did not want to have to be induced on Tuesday, April 6th. Well, praying for my water to break was not the prayer that we should have been praying. Just because my water broke on its own did not mean that Mollie would be here any time soon. But after spending 9 hours in the hospital the Sunday before, I was determined I was not going back unless I was in labor.

So, starting this story from the beginning (for those of you who care) Ha!... Sunday, March 28th I woke up with really hard contractions. After a couple of hours with the contractions continuing Jeff decided to start tracking them because Dr. Martin said to call if the contractions were a couple of minutes apart. Well, they were 2-3 minutes apart so we called the hospital and they said come on in. We loaded the car and headed to the hospital thinking this must be it! We were so excited about finally meeting our sweet baby. Jeff called my parents and they met us at the hospital where we stayed for 9 HOURS! The contractions continued to be strong and I was still only 1 cm dialiated so they said it was not time to meet baby Mollie so we went back home, but left the car packed just in case.

On Friday, April 2nd I woke up to my water breaking! Wow, was that an experience! I knew that just because my water broke that did not mean we needed to rush to the hospital. So, we both took showers and then headed to the hospital. At this point, I wasn't having many contractions. After getting to the hospital, the nurses hooked me up to all the machines and they told us this time we would not be leaving the hospital without our sweet baby girl. The nurses checked me and said that my water had broke, but that I was still only 1cm dialiated. The next step was to start me on the drip to help me dialiate. After a couple of hours on the drip, I still had not gotten any further so the next step was a pill that would help me "thin out". After allowing 4 hours for the pill to work because I had to have 2 rounds on the pill they started me back on the drip. At this point it was well into Friday night and I had not had anything to eat since Thursday night at supper! Jeff had not had anything to eat either because he said that he was going to fast with me, but I finally convinced him to go with my Dad and get something to eat because who knew when I would get to eat again. During the night, my heart rate elevated so they had to put me on Oxygen and then the Oxygen made Mollie's heart rate elevate. So, they took me off everything and finally gave my the epideral at 1:00 am Saturday morning. After continuing to be checked over and over I still had not progressed any! Finally at 7:00 am Saturday morning Dr. Williams decided that I would have to have a C-Section. We were all TERRIFIED, but also relieved that we would finally be meeting Mollie because at this point Jeff, Dad, Mom, nor I had slept in over 24 hours! So, Jeff suited up and at 8:00 am we headed to the OR. Mollie arrived at 8:39 am and was 8lb 1oz and 19 inches long.

More Pictures of the Nursery

2010-02-03T15:09:00.001-08:00

Below are some more pictures of the nursery. My mama made the bedding and I think that it turned out so cute! My mama did a great job! I am so glad that she was able to make it. It means so much more to me than anything I could have ever bought. My sister bought Mollie her "M" nightlight, which is precious in her room and matches perfectly. The frog in the bed was given to me when I found out I was pregnant by my sweet friend Amanda because she says, "Every baby needs a frog." The only thing we have left to do is finish working on a lamp to go on the table. My mama and I found the lamp at Eastbrook and are working on re-doing it. I will post pictures of it when we are finished.

Valance/Cornice Board

2010-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well...we FINALLY got finished with the cornice board for Mollie's room. This seemed like an easy project, but took forever! I only ordered a yard and a half of the material to do the cornice board in. I had to order the material from Mobile, which took a week to come in. Jeff and my mom measured and measured and marked the material for You Name It to know where to put her monogram. Jeff and I went in You Name It and Jeff gave the woman SPECIFIC directions as to what we wanted done. They said the material would be ready on Friday...well it wasn't! My dad and I went to pick it up on Saturday and it was COMPLETELY MESSED UP! The monogram was NO WHERE NEAR where Jeff and my mom had marked for it to be. But...after Jeff had a little discussion with You Name It we had the monogram and material back and ready to finish the cornice on Monday. Below is a picture. Also, if you need a cornice made, Jeff can take care of it for you. Just let me know!

Mollie's 4D Ultrasound

2010-02-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we went on Thursday for our 4D Ultrasound. I had said that I really didn't want to do the 4D because they kinda give me the "hibbie jibbies", but we wanted to see our sweet baby girl one more time before she arrives in April. For the most part, Mollie cooperated, but the ultrasound tech wanted her to make some kind of facial expressions, but she wouldn't. She did get upset with the girl and sling her head back a couple of times, wonder who she gets that from?!? Below are some pictures from the 4D. I can't really tell who she looks like, so I guess I will have to wait until April to see.

Finally...

2010-01-11T16:05:00.001-08:00

Well...I am finally taking time to update our blog. We have been so busy, that updating my blog has not been one of my top priorities. I finally graduated with my Master's degree on December 19th. Yay! But the most important news from The Branch's is...

Jeff and I are expecting our first baby on April 10th. We are very excited that baby #1 will be a sweet baby GIRL!! We have been very busy getting the nursery ready for Mollie Elizabeth. This past weekend Mollie's Daddy, Poppy, and Ya-Ya put her furniture together and made the valance for her room. The material for the nursery has already come in and Mollie's Ya-Ya will begin working on her bedding soon. The only thing we are waiting on now is for the recliner we ordered to come in.

Time has flown by during this pregnancy. It seems like yesterday that we found out I was pregnant. I am 27 weeks now with only 13 (at the most) left to go. I have already started working on my maternity leave stuff for school. I am planning on starting my leave the first week in April and staying out with Mollie the rest of the summer. I have had a great pregnancy so far. The only thing that I could complain about is the fact that I failed my first glucose test. Therefore, I had to take the 3 hour test which was TERRIBLE! But, we made it through it and I passed the second time.

Below are a few pictures of the nursery so far. I will update the blog when the nursery is complete.

Vinyl Machine

2009-07-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Jeff recently bought me a vinyl machine, which is something that I have been wanting for a long time. I have not had much time this summer to play with it because of being in school, but am looking forward to playing with it now that classes are over. More information to come...

Family Beach Trip 2009- Orange Beach, Alabama

2009-07-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

We have been so lucky this summer. We have gotten to go to the beach 3 times this summer, that's more than any other summer! We just got back from our annual family beach trip to Orange Beach. We stay at the Caribe on the bay! We are able to stay here thanks to the Foshee Family! They are generous enough each year to give us some family time at their AMAZING condo! Each year we make memories that I will never forget. Just like most of you...family pictures is a MUST! Below are a few of my favorites and yes...we are missing one person...Harris, he was not able to come this year because of work.

Newest Project @ The Branch's

2009-07-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well most of you know something is ALWAYS going on at our house. Last summer Jeff and Josh tackled the sprinkler system so I HAD to find something for them to do this summer...TILE FLOORS! This project was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Jeff and Josh (or Pedro and Hector) did an AWESOME job! These two make a great team and we are so lucky that Josh is ALWAYS willing to help! THANKS JOSH!!!!

Snow in Montgomery?

2009-03-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago we woke up to snow. Yes, I said snow...in Montgomery, Alabama! It is always fun to get snow every once in a while. I would not like to live in a place that gets snow any more than we do. The snow did not last very long, but it was long enough for me.

Valentine's Beach Trip

2009-03-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

This year for Valentine's and Jeff's Birthday, we went to Panana City Beach. This was only my second time going to Panama City. I was a little worried at first, but after getting down there I saw that there is a good Panama City and a nasty Panama City. We were in a great part of Panama City. We stayed at AQUA and it was really nice. We went with some friends of ours, Josh and Renee Dickerson and I am pretty sure that the four of us were the youngest people there. AQUA was filled with mostly...Snow Birds!

We had a great time shopping, eating out, relaxing in the hot tub, watching Fireproof, and we also cooked in a couple of times. Overall we had a great, relaxing weekend!

Voting Booth

2009-02-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

This is a late post but, my Mama and I made a voting booth for the kids in my class and in the classes next to me. The kids really enjoyed getting to vote for the President. They had a booth, voting ballot, and even got the sticker, "I VOTED". After tallying the votes from Mrs. Branch, Mrs. Hagen, and Mrs. Brantely's Second Grade Classes...John McCain would be the President!

Super Bowl

2009-02-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

This year, at the last minute, we decided to have some friends over to watch the Super Bowl. Although I am not sure we watched much of the game, we had a great just hanging out! Below are some pictures of what was suppose to be the 3D Half Time Show. Yea, Not So Much! Cooper could not figure out where JP had gone. He kept saying, "Where are you JP?" It was too cute!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!!

2008-10-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We went for a long weekend to Helen, Georgia (German Town) and stayed in a cabin in the woods. It was very relaxing! Octoberfest was going on so there was so much to do. We enjoyed Anna Ruby Falls, the looonngg ride up the side of a mountain to Brasstown Bald (the highest point in Georgia), and the nice soaks in the hot tub on our porch.

Roll Tide!!

2008-10-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I have really enjoyed going to a couple of Alabama football games this season, especially since we are 7-0! I have posted a couple of pictures from the Alabama/Clemson game in Atlanta and the Alabama/Ole Miss game in Tuscaloosa. We really enjoyed going to Atlanta with some GREAT friends...The Gunter's, The Dickert's, Shep and Meagan, and The Pirtle's. We did learn that we will NEVER ride on the Marta and we will NEVER eat at the ESPN Zone. Thanks again Carol & Bill, for the tickets! ROLL TIDE!!!

WE LOVE YOU NICK SABAN!!

Home Away from Home

2008-08-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

The summer flew by with everything that we had going on. So for those of you who think teachers have "THE WHOLE SUMMER OFF" are not missing a thing...I promise! With workshops in Opelika, Graduate School, getting my classroom ready for this school year, and not getting out of school until the last week in May and starting back at the end of July...there was NO SUMMER!

Sprinkler System

2008-08-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who don't know we have just completed a really major project around our house....a sprinkler system. We had been talking about putting a sprinkler system in since we moved into the house almost two years ago. We finally decided to take the plunge on a weekend that we got 8 inches of rain. It did not rain the entire summer until we decided to put the system in. Hector (Jeff) had already gotten everything set up and was ready to go, so there was not backing out. He had his help lined up, Pedro (Josh) and Ryan, his trencher borrowed, and all the supplies we needed. It was a complete mess, but now we have a sprinkler system so, NO MORE moving a sprinkler!