Claire Alyse Has Arrived!

Claire Alyse Pohlman arrived March 4th at 3:36 pm, weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz and 20.5 inches long. She is gorgeous and a true love--and might I add, looks nothing like me but all Kevin. She shot into the world after only 4 or so pushes. It was a great labor and delivery. Seriously, it was really not bad at all and I feel very fortunate for the entire experience.
We have had a lot going on lately with our new arrival, as most of you know we found out she has a heart defect called, Muscular Ventricular Septum Defect(VSD). This is a fairly common heart defect, however, our Claire has multiple holes in her heart and one rather large hole, about 5 mm's. This will possibly require open heart surgery in the coming months. I can easily say, it was the most shocking, worst day of our lives. We took some time to wrap our minds around this but understand now this is fixable and possibly will heal maybe without the surgery. Right now the goal is weight gain, weight gain, weight gain! She at 3 weeks was back up to her birth weight of 8lbs 4 oz, so we were elated! With this condition comes being very tired and having difficulty eating, takes a while to eat only 2-3 ounces, also labored breathing due to the blood flowing into her lungs from these holes. We are working very hard to make sure she is getting all she can as far as eating and sleeping. She is also on 2 medications to help her breathing and blood pressure. She is getting better each day at this point so we just keep plugging along hoping she will not need the surgery. The cardiologist and pediatrician have been very helpful, we are very blessed to have these 2 men in our lives. If anyone needs a good pediatrician in the Steele Creek area, I would highly recommend Dr. Steven Bernal(new building behind Harris Teeter). He found this defect(not Presby) and sent us strait to Dr. Greene, our cardiologist. These offices are taking great care of us and have all fallen in love with Claire :)
Kevin and I are trying to stay strong and positive for Claire, we are pretty much at a "wait and see" point right now, each day, week counts. We just keep hoping and praying for these holes to close or get smaller and for Claire to keep getting stronger and bigger! We appreciate all the prayers, notes and love we have received, it has been a source of strength and we feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. Also, thank you so much for all the meals, we so appreciate it!!
Please keep in touch with us, we love seeing/hearing from you all!

Spring has sprung...and burglers beware!

This week has been especially great, spring is here! Well..we hope for good! I just love the Carolina's for these 70 degree days in February, gets no better!
Along with enjoying the weather, we have been busy getting the house ready for baby and spending lots of time taking classes downtown at Presby Hospital. The people there are great and the rooms are almost spa-like, really hope they let me stay a while. For some of you who have seen me lately, the belly is getting big! We found out Friday this baby already weighs in at 7lbs 7oz, um..WHOA, 3.5 weeks to go..you do the math! She is going to be a plump little booger for sure :)
Over the past few week there has been some serious project going on here...it is my electrical engineer husband hard at work to protect the homestead. Yes, we are installing our VERY own security system.(we as in, Kevin) My dining room has been home to many parts, tools and manuals for about 2 weeks now and it's not over. Right now we have the system working but all the sensors are not hooked up. So, burglars beware, we have a very sophisticated, home spun security unit. I am thinking I need to outsource his services? He'll be a real pro after it is all said and done!

Charlotte Baby Shower

Last weekend my dear friends Katherine and Jenny had a shower for me and baby P. It was so beautiful! Katherine hosted at her house with a lot of the friends from GD and a few of my Huntersville girls. It was a really nice day, sun shinning and about 65 degrees. Those girls are very creative, down to the game, "name that Hollywood baby"...sadly, I knew them all(thank you US Weekly) The food was so yummy, fresh fruit and veggies, little sandwiches, and of course, Jenny's home made chocolate raspberry cake-YUM! They really put a lot of effort into all the cute details, Katherine hung these adorable pink poms all over the house(think Rick even helped!). Thank you friends for a wonderful day!


Biggest Diaper cake EVER!

No More Complainin' here!

It's official, I am having the "Perfect" Pregnancy...according to my Doctor. I went in this week for a regular check, feeling crappy, large and uncomfortable, preparing to have her participate in the pity party. WELL, as she said, "Your weight is great, your BP is great and your measurement is great..everything is perfect" I sunk. Here I was feeling sorry for my large self as I can't sleep and feeling overall bad, she had the nerve to tell me that?! Also,any hope of my husband feeling "sorry" for me and completely waiting on me hand and foot... Not so much, he heard every word. OH, also, my baby is already head down and in the right location for a regular birth. That was enough for me, so guess I am officially not allowed to complain or gripe? Dr. Yavorski finished by saying, "You were made to have children" Who freaking KNEW? All I can say is, all you moms who have done this more than once, I am NOT worthy! You are all my heroes :)

Favorite Things

So, lately this economy and other things out of my control have me in a bit of a funk. I have had my own job issues but my friends and family have been hit as well, it is down right depressing. Kevin and I are both lucky to have jobs right now, and blessed in many big ways. Sometimes it is the small things that make the day more enjoyable and seem not so bad. Here are a few faves from 2008. (There are a lot more but these stood out).

Donatos Pizza-One of the Best pizza places in Ohio comes to Charlotte/Fort Mill!!! Check it out, you will not be sorry!



Sparta, NC. I actually get the pleasure of going up there for work. I was so overcome by the beauty I stopped to take some pics. Please go visit, especially to cut down a Christmas tree or golf at Old Beau, it is a gorgeous, secluded gem!

Baking extravaganza, I baked for 2 weeks strait. My first time making buckeyes and they were a hit!

Bunco-need I say more?! This is one of my joys, I have met so many great girls!

Hanging Christmas decorations, it was like 65-70 degrees and we loved spending our first Christmas in our house no snow or long drive to Ohio.

Last but NOT least..CEREAL! I love you and you have been my savior during the last 8 months. (If General Mills happens to see this blog, please feel free to send on any free samples)

Mama Drama

Since I have been preggers, I have been feeling great, it's been an easy pregnancy overall, so much that I was thinking "this is a breeze" and feeling lucky that I have had no weird things going on. Okay, well in the last month, things have shifted and today was my latest meltdown. Throughout the the last few months I have felt so much movement, the baby has been all over the place and kicking me(often). This weekend we were in Ohio and Sunday I felt nothing, no kicks, no movements...nothing. I ate a ton of sugar and 2 large glasses of OJ(speed for babies) and NOTHING. So, today, Monday, when I didn't feel much of anything I called the Doctor. They called me back and said to come in "immediately" I drove downtown thinking the worst, called Kevin and he was going to leave work to meet me. They brought me in, hooked me up to some machine that printed out the heartbeat and movements. The nurse basically hooked me up, let it start and said "OH, well...I'll be right back". She promptly left the room without saying a word. How freaky is that?! So, I am crying in the room by myself. Kevin walks in and I start crying more. He sees the monitor and hears the heartbeat, says "that is good right?" and I respond, "Yes, I think but she ran out without telling me anything", maybe somethings wrong? So, she finally comes back and sees I am upset and says "oh, are you crying b/c you are happy things are fine?" I say "...um yah, I guess so, thanks for telling me this 10 minutes ago!" So...things are fine, false alarm. They said it may have been because I was out of my normal routine and/or dehydrated, but things were perfectly fine. AND, wouldn't you guess as I was laying there hooked up, she kicked me about 100 times...nice! They didn't' make me feel crazy or neurotic so I was thankful(as I felt both) So, I gathered myself and headed to the lobby again to wait for the Doc to come talk to me. While thereI met this very nice lady who was pregnant with her SIXTH child. She started talking to me and I started crying...AGAIN. So embarrassing, those pregnancy hormones are raging. She told me she made many trips for "false alarms" throughout her 5 previous pregnancies and that I am completely normal. Yah, I didn't feel "normal" as I sobbed to this stranger but it was nice to hear.
I should also add, everything I touch falls to the ground(and bending over ain't the easiest right now). Mainly I am breaking things, here is a broken list (so far)
1. my (large) planner at my customer's office -all my business cards went flying
2. 1 glass and 1 coffee cup at Kevin's parents
3. wine glass, one of my favorite stemless
4. whole bottle of red wine--this was the worst, all over the kitchen!
*I'll be sure to keep the tag running, we have about 6 more weeks

Kelly & Eric's Wedding

This past weekend we headed up to the snowy white Ohio for Kevin's sisters' wedding. Kelly looked gorgeous and seemed more relaxed and the happiest I have ever seen her. We enjoyed visiting with the entire Pohlman/Gavit family, it was a small wedding for Kevin's hometown, only 280 people :) Everyone really pulls together to make the wedding happen. The bride and groom are now off to sunny Jamaica for 10 whole days, I am sure they are happy to leave the snow. (it snowed almost the whole weekend, but it was really pretty!) We couldn't be happier for the new couple and also excited our new baby will have a cousin--chocolate lab, Sadie. Congrats Kell and Eric!