Introducing Max Stewart Stowers

Max joined us on 12/30/08 at 6:18pm! He is 6 lbs 11 oz and 19.5 inches long.

Nursery Pics

Ok, so everyone has asked for nursery pics. I know this will be a long post but I decided to wait until the nursery was complete to post pics. We just finished the last decoration in the nursery the other day so here it is - Baby Stowers nursery complete!!! Just waiting on our little Mountaineer to fill it.
Here is a pic of all of my Snoopy memorabilla over the years. The top left pic is a stamp collection of Snoopy that my Mom had professionally framed for me as a suprise. To the right of it is a clock with Baxter and Daisy's picture in it the his parents gave us a few years back as a present. The bottom left has a green picture that Chris made for me of Snoopy. The bottom right is a Snoopy and Woodstock picture that my girlfriend Kristina sent me awhile back for the nursery. The shelf my Dad made for my room when I was little and I just placed some Peanuts collectibles on it. The bunnies hanging from the shelf have hung in many, many houses over the years. My Dad first made them for my Grandma Mills and I have had them in every house / apartment I've lived in since. I can't tell you how many times he has painted them for me.

Here is a coat / clothing rack my Dad made for the baby. I cannot change the glare coming off the top of the rack because he put a lot of glitter and clear coat on it. One side has daytime Snoopy and one side has nighttime Snoopy. All of the Peanuts characters are running around the post. I took two shots, the first one is the nighttime one (above), the one below is daytime though I doubt you can see the difference with the glare. I have shelves in the background to put stuff on, just haven't decided what yet.

Here is a pic of the inside of the crib, sheets washed and ready and waiting on baby.

Here is a pic of the front of the crib. Paul and Kathy bought the crib and the mattress for us.

This is what pretty much started the decorations for the room. I always thought I would have my Mom turn this blanket into a wall hanging. It has all of my favorite colors on it, green, blue and yellow. I just always thought it would be a perfect centerpiece to a nursery.

Here is our WVU mobile, curtosey of our friends the Hattens in WV. I love the WVU bears hanging over the crib. To the left you can see our fish aquarium for the little one, from Roberta, one of the people Chris works with. It plays music and makes "ocean" sounds, very soothing!!! Almost puts me to sleep, it's remote controlled too so we don't even have to wake the baby to turn it on.

Here is a blanket my Mom made for the baby. She suprised us and gave this to us early on. It's dated July 2002. Chris and I were just married when she did this. She said she picked neutral colors and something she thought we would like - the puppy. We hadn't really talked kids yet and again, just got married. Didn't even have Baxter at this point. Mom said she just wanted to make a baby blanket just in case!

Here are two paintings of Baxter and Daisy that my Dad did. We hung them over the crib so it looks like they are watching over the baby. I think that they are going to love having a little one to play with and love.

This is the shelf on the other side of the nursery. I put all of the baby's books here.

There is another pic of the curtains my Mom made.

Here is an upclose shot of the curtains. You can barely see it, but on the yellow gingham border, she suprised me and embroided the initials MS - since either way (Max or Morgan) that will be the baby's initials. It is so subtle and looks really good. I fell in love with this material when I found it, again - all my favorite colors and just perfectly neutral.

Here is a pic of the glider my Mom and Dad bought for us. It is soooo comfortable and I love it because it's leatherette so I can just wipe it off. That is so key for me with my allergies, the pups and the baby. Just in the right corner you can see the dog's bed I left in there for them. There is a nightstand to the left with a cute lamp my parents got us of Snoopy and Charlie Brown. You can also see the shelves hanging up that my Dad made me when I was little. I think it's neat that those exact shelves used to hang in my room with my quilts and dolls on them. We hung one on each side of the window.

There are the name signs for the baby's door. Once we know which it is, my Dad will hang their name on the room.

I had to take a pic of this: Chris's family back in WV, his grandmother and two of his aunts sent an entire package of all WVU baby gifts. We loved this window cling but instead of putting it on the window where we wouldn't see it much, we put it above the light switch. It looks great there and you see it every time you are in the room.

You can't tell what this is but I took a picture of it anyway. My Mom and Dad worked hard on this as a suprise for my shower. They called Chris' family and got their info and they put together a 5 generation family tree. It's got everyone's name and who they married to lead to our baby. It's so amazing to see just how we got to this point. Chris and I bought the sign below it that says "All because two people fell in love". We thought it was just perfect to hang below the family tree because that's true - we got to this point because of 5 generations of people falling in love. Wow!

Here is the changing table. It's actually a hutch from Chris' childhood furniture but Paul (Chris' Dad) and I worked hard on making it become a changing table. We searched online for a long time to find a changing pad small enough to fit on there. It works great and we didn't have to buy one and it's really neat using Chris' childhood furniture. The only thing in the nursery we haven't hung yet are the WVU banners - for now I like seeing them on the table until we decide on the perfect place.


Here is the stork sign that my Mom said was her inspiration for my blue / pink baby shower. The green balloon says "A bundle of joy". But as soon as we know what the baby is, there is another balloon you hand over it that says either "It's a boy" or "It's a girl". Also the cloud right below it has a cloud that you attach with the baby's name, birthdate, weight, etc. The space right below the stork is where my Dad will hang the Max / Morgan nameplate you saw in the earlier pics. I think all kids should have their name on their door.

One final look at the nursery. Hope you all enjoyed getting to see it. I know that it's a lot of pics, but most of you will never be in Florida to see it firsthand so I wanted you to be able to be apart of it from far away.

Finally...9 Months & the Big Baby Name Reveal

Marianne came over on Saturday and took pictures for us - I am mid 36 weeks in the pictures which is the start of 9 months. Can't believe it's almost here. I am still due Jan 7, my birthday but we shall see. I think that Baby Stowers will make an earlier appearance, but I still can't tell the sex. I just keep waiting to see what it will be. Chris and I are very excited and anxious to meet our little one. Here is a picture of my pregnant belly. I love how Marianne had us do this, making a heart and showing our wedding rings.

Here is a picture of the valance and roman shade in the nursery, handmade by my Mom. It's Snoopy - all green, yellow and blue. Beside me is a little clothing rack handmade and handpainted by my Dad. It has all the Peanuts characters running around the post with Snoopy on his dog house on top.

Here we are holding blocks with our choice for a baby girl's name. We decided on Morgan Taylor if the baby's a "she". Morgan after Morgantown, WV where Chris and I met, fell in love and married. We will always be Mountaineers and we thought it was a fitting name for a girl. Taylor came from months of baby letter scrabble. What we did was take my Mom's name (Laura Rose) and his Mom's name (Mary Kathyrn) and jumble up the letters to make her middle name. We decided on Taylor for several reasons - the letters came equally from my Mom's and his Mom's name and it's a great brand of guitars which we all know is one of Chris' loves.

Here's our choice for a baby boy's name: Max Stewart. We actually were watching a Simpson's episode (we LOVE the Simpsons) a while back and Homer had renamed himself Max Power. We kept saying that over and over because we thought it was sooo funny, then we realized Max Stowers was a great name for a boy. Very POWERFUL (haha) but it was the winner of all of our choices. Stewart obviously is my maiden name. It was important to us for Max to have this because I am an only child and we wanted him to still carry on my family name.

Here is Chris talking to the baby, which he does a lot. The baby usually kicks him in the cheek when he does this, it's our fun game. The baby likes when Chris plays guitar for it and when I play Beatles music. Also, I do play the baby the Mountaineer Music from THE PRIDE our marching band. It can't hurt right? This baby will be a Mountaineer tride and true. Lots of things in the nursery are WVU related: either from what we had/bought or lovely gifts from family and friends.

Happy family - waiting on Max or Morgan. Can't wait little baby - we're ready. Let's GO Mountaineer and get this show on the road.

Baby Shower

Here is a picture of some of the decorations at the shower. My Mom hosted my shower - complete suprise to my on the colors, theme, etc. She had a stork wall hanging she had sewn up and you attach either a blue or pink balloon to it. She said that lead her in the decision to do a pink and blue shower. There were pink and blue balloons with the baby's name hanging from there, M&Ms, "It's a boy" and "It's a girl" Hershey's kisses, etc. Everything looked beautiful and it was all quite a suprise. The baby received lots of wonderful gifts which helped us complete our nursery.

Mom and Me

Here is the head table with Mom, me, Kathy (Chris' Mom) and Lori (Chris' sister). We all had a great time. Lori and Marianne helped my Mom out A LOT with the shower.

Here is the beautiful cake Lori MADE for me. The bottom layer was white cake with starfruit filling and white buttercream frosting. The top layer was for me - made with Splenda and all chocolate!! It was soooo good. I think the baby carriage is too cute.

More Puppy Fun

Here is Daisy snuggling on their bed I put in the nursery. I wanted Baxter & Daisy to still have a special place that they could call their own. It seems to be working, for the most part. They realize that their bed is ok to be in but not in the baby's things. We shall see how long this lasts.

Here I am around 33-34 weeks which is mid 8 months. Baxter wants very little to do with my belly, he doesn't like being kicked. He is such a paranoid dog anyway, he doesn't like leaning up on it because something kicks him and he can tell it's not me. Daisy on the other hand would lay down anywhere. She will huff and puff when the baby moves because it's moving her, but she won't dare give up her spot. So, now you all have a pic of my pregnant belly.

Here is Baxter on a pile of the baby's receiving blankets. I was sorting laundry to wash all of the baby's things and found him asleep amongst the mound. The seem to be getting used to all of the new things coming into our house and all the commotion in / around the nursery. We'll just have to wait and see how the take to the baby.

On another note, I promise to get shower pics posted soon. I just don't have them ready yet, but when they are - up they will go.

Update on my health / Baby Stowers status: I am currently in my 36th week (start of 9 month). I know I got a few weeks behind on the blog posts. Anyway, I am now on mandatory bed rest. I tried to keep working but ended up back in the OB ER again with another round of preterm contractions. They gave me meds again to stop them but left me with no choice this time - BED REST! So, since Wed of this week I have been at home going stir crazy. Baby looks great they say and it's ok for me to deliver at any point now.

More to come :)

Puppy Fun

We have been trying to expose the dogs to all of the baby items coming into the house. This way, they are less interested in them (or so we hope). Anyway, here is a pic of Baxter and Daisy checking out the baby stroller. They really didn't care for this at all, as you can tell by their faces they are ready to bolt as soon as we say GO!


Here is Chris starting to put together the play yard (basinette, changing station and playpen combined) that my Aunt Nancy and Cousin Tabitha bought us. He turned his back and Daisy claimed it. I think Baxter looks like he is laughing at her.

Hope all is well. I will post shower pics soon.

32 weeks - start of 8 months

Here I am coming home from work, not the best picture I know because of how tired I look. I have been putting in long days, it is season here. I wanted to get a picture in this outfit because my Mom made me this beautiful scrub top - it's the BEATLES!!! You can't find cute maternity scrub tops or pants. I have gotten through with wearing maternity cargo pants (look enough like scrub pants) and scrub tops my Mom has made.

Update on the health: my gestational diabetes really went into full force these past couple of weeks. I went to a gestational diabetes class to help with what to eat / portions / etc. It helped because I don't know this stuff well as a nurse (cardiac is my field) and I felt better having a nutritionist explain everything. However, I basically couldn't touch anything without my blood sugar being elevated. My regular OB tried medications, but those didn't work. My blood sugar would go the other way - too low - and I would get really sick.

So, I was referred to a maternal - fetal medicine specialist who I just saw this past Tuesday. He did an extensive 3 hour work-up. Lots of questions, family history, etc. The most thorough ultrasound ever (but I kept my eyes closed so I wouldn't see the sex) and the appointment. He started me on a new med that seems to be helping. I spent about 3-4 weeks since the gestational diabetes diagnosis barely eating due to everything elevating my blood sugar. I lost 5 pounds and got somewhat malnourished. Now, the baby is fine. But is has taken a toll on me and my body. I really don't feel the best right now - low energy, pale, bad circles under my eyes, etc. But, I have reason to hope - because as I said the med is working and I am starting to eat a little more.

My shower was yesterday, I will post pics and stories soon I promise. Again, the baby is fine!!! I see the doctors now on a weekly basis and will keep you all updated from the blog.

End of 7 Months

Here we are today at the annual Ft. Myers Beach sandcastle competition. We go every year on Sunday morning very early, around sunrise. It's the best time to go and you get to see everything before it gets too crowded. It was chilly (by Florida standards) this morning so you can see I am dressed as a true Floridian, whereas Chris looks like a northener still in shorts and a tee shirt.

We took this picture for my "lil sis" Lee Ann back in WV. I just knew she would love this - she loves celestial stuff and this guy's giant moon was really neat.

So, looks like my 7 month is coming to a close. I will be starting 32 weeks (start of the 8 month) this week. Looking forward to the home stretch and finding out what the baby is. We still have a lot of work to do, the nursery is no where near ready. I hope I get everything done in time..... will keep you all updated. My baby shower is in 2 weeks, promise to post lots of pics.

Halloween

Here I am 30 weeks pregnant. Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. I just had no energy this year to decorate, which is sad because I have the most beautiful Halloween decorations - most of which my Mom has made me. I have never not dressed for Halloween in my entire life, so I wasn't going to let pregnancy stop me. I was a WVU Mountaineer fan for Halloween. Now yes, I realize that the season isn't going well but I am a Mountaineer fan tried and true every day of my life. The shirt says "It's a Mountaineer", which you can see in some of my earlier posts. It's amazing how much bigger I am, what a difference a few months makes. My mother-in-law Kathy suprised me with the shirt as a Mother's Day gift and it has been well worn during my pregnancy.

7 Months

Ok, so these two pics with the dogs are a little blurry - I don't know why. I am wearing the best shirt ever though. It says "not finding out". We love this shirt. It gets a lot of reactions when I wear it. Some good, some bad. It's amazing how many people these days expect you to find out the sex of the baby and then get upset when you don't know. I am 29 weeks in these 2 pics which is mid 7 months. Notice the dogs posed with me on either side of my growing belly.

Here are two pics of me at around 28 weeks, early 7 months. Marianne and Todd had a Halloween evening and invited Mike, Josh, Bethany and us over for dinner and pumpkin carving. The pumpkin that looks like a Jackolantern is the one Chris carved - he won the vote amongst us all for best pumpkin. In the picture below - you can't tell - but Marianne's two months pregnant. Bethany is in the blue shirt and Marianne in the pink shirt.

Update on the pregnancy: my anemia is improving. My blood count is coming up partly from the iron pills I am taking and partly from all of the iron rich food Chris keeps making for me to eat. I recently found out that I have gestational diabetes. The positive is that it looks like my lab work is fairly normal and after the baby I should go back to normal. So for two more months, I just check my blood sugar, eat right, exercise and keep things under control. The doctors are considering inducing the baby around the end of the year due to the diabetes and the baby potentially getting too big to deliver. My due date is still Jan 7 (my birthday) but we are looking more like a Dec 29/30 delivery. We shall see - will know more as I approach weeks 35-36. Not such a bad thing though - our insurance deductable will be met and can anyone say TAX CREDIT!!

Hope all is well, will post more at the end of 7 months. Love, April

End of Second Trimester

Here is a picture of Lori (Chris' sister) and me at her birthday party. This marks the end of the second trimester for me, I am at 27 weeks (end of 6 months) pregnant. I really am all belly. Everyone keeps speculating on what the baby is and how I am carrying it. Well, I can truly say I have gained very little weight anywhere else but my belly. It literally goes from my ribcage to my pubic bone, straight up and down. Not sideways, just up and down all belly. So, if that tells any of you anything, there you go.

I have had a rough few weeks regarding labwork. My hemoglobin and hematocrit came back fairly low, low enough to take serious action. I have been eating more iron rich foods and taking iron supplements. I will have my labs repeated this week to see if there is any improvement. Also, I failed the glucose toleranace screeing test for gestational diabetes, but not by much. So, I just took a more extensive lab test this weekend and should know the results soon.

Hope that all of you are well and I will post more this week with updates and 7 month pictures.

6 Months and Counting

Here is a pic of me with the finished crib. I am 24 wks, which is early 6 months. According to our FL friends, I don't look that big in real life. I think the top I was wearing plus the angle of the pic.....oh well. Something to accept. I will post a later 6 months pic in a couple of weeks and you all can decide for yourselves :) I go to the doctor tomorrow to see if I can get off of bedrest....here's hoping, fingers crossed.

Starting the Nursery

Here is Chris getting a good look at the directions for the crib. They made it real convenient by glueing them to the bottom of the crib so you would never lose them. However, didn't think about it later on when you still actually need to read them and the crib is put halfway together.

Here is Chris in jail
Hard at work
Final product

Here I am, just waiting on that Lil' Mountaineer to fill the crib. (But little one, don't come too early.)

I had a bit of a scare this week. Wed and Thurs night I had a lot of back pain which NOTHING I did would relieve. Thurs night I also had some stomach cramps and a little bleeding. I ended up at work Fri am in a lot of pain and when I called my ob, they sent me straight to the hospital for the ER / OB Triage dept. Looks like I was having VERY MINOR contractions. They were only lasting 20-40 secs, at most 45-70 secs. The official diagnosis was "irritated uterus". Now, what in the world did I do to "irritate my uterus" you ask? I have no idea, nor did I even know that was possible. Anyway, I was sent home from OB Triage on modified bed rest for 4 days. I go back to the doctor on Tues am and hopefully I can go back to work / normal life / housework / etc. For those of you who know me well, this bedrest thing for me sucks. I just don't know how to stop / slow down / not do things. UGH!!! Guess I am going to have to learn....we will see how this goes.