Introducing...

Whitley Jane Gapinski

June 28, 2012

12:08 PM

7 lbs 11 oz

20 inches long

We are busy learning all there is to know about being parents & as if it were possible, we are falling more & more in love with this sweet girl every day.

Stay tuned for Whitley's birth story...

Still Preggers!

Well here I am again, posting on this blog very much still pregnant!

{Last week I snapped this pic at the doctor's office hoping it would be my last time holding this pager for a while...I was wrong}

Tyler & I went to an appointment this morning & found out that while I am still only 1 cm, I am 70-80% effaced & our baby girl has dropped, which is very optimistic!

But it wasn't all roses and cherries this morning - we also found out that my Doc is going home to Hawaii for 2 weeks with his family & he leaves in two days & won't be back until July 9th! Which means.... unless I have this girl tomorrow, he won't be delivering my baby! {insert pouty face here} I am bummed to say the very least - I absolutely love my doctor & want him to be the one who delivers our first baby. He made sure to give me a hug before he left the room & told me to call him regardless when I am having her.

He was kind enough to strip my membranes this morning, which sometimes works to put women into labor, but sometimes doesn't. We will see! I have an appointment scheduled for the morning of my due date next week with the on-call doctor. If I make it to then, we will schedule an induction date which I am hoping will be at the end of next week!

I'd love more than anything to go into labor naturally (cross your fingers for me) but if I have to be induced to not go into July, I am willing to!

{I've been having fun trying anything & everything to get this labor started. So far I've eaten practically a whole pineapple, eaten spicy yellow curry & spicy chicken wings, gone curb walking, among other things I won't name here - but the most relaxing of them all was when my sister did acupressure & massage on my feet, hands, back & belly. Oh how glorious it was! I'd pay good money to have that done on a regular basis - I am so lucky to have such an amazing masseuse so readily accessible :) She's a saint for so willingly touching my big swollen pregnant feet}

{We have found a new favorite place to take our doggies & feed the ducks. Toby just cries & whines at them - I am not sure if it's because he wants to eat them or just play with them - lol. Our last trip there Toby actually started getting into the pond to try and get the ducks - I never thought I would willingly see him swim in water!

{Tyler & I went and saw "What to Expect When Expecting" it was hilarious & it's purchase worthy for sure!}

{and of course we had such a great day celebrating our father's on Father's Day. I was hoping I'd have our baby on this day (how cool would that have been?) - but I am happy I was able to celebrate & visit the Father's in my life.}

Even though this has been a great month, I have been so impatient so it has seemed to drag forever! Lucky for me, I've had the opportunity to work a few days a week with my Dad at his office. This has helped me not go crazy! It's been kind of interesting going back to an office job since I haven't had one for 3.5 years. But it's been a little refreshing & I enjoy spending extra time with my Dad.

Everyone cross your fingers and send labor vibes my way! Let's get this baby here already!!! :)

We love June!

So far June has been a great month! We have celebrated some birthdays and celebrated the graduation of Tyler's little brother, Kalen, from Davis High School!

Way to go, Kalen! And to think all those lovely locks are gone now!

My Mom & I took a quick trip down to St.George this week just to visit. I was hesitant to go at first just because I am so close to my due date. I made sure to call the hospital there to make sure they were covered by my insurance - just in case! I wouldn't have been too disappointed if I had my baby girl there - it's where I was born!

My Mom & I were hoping to catch a show at Tuacahn while we were there, so we drove out to the Amphitheater to see about tickets - SOLD OUT :(

I snapped this pic while we were out at Tuacahn just because of all the memories it brought back for me. When I was younger I participated in the production, "Utah!" & I loved every minute of it.

We found time for some shopping for our baby, I just couldn't resist!

I am obsessed. And I LOVE baby girl shoes!

We got home just in time for my 37 week appointment (or possibly really 38). I am definitely dilated to a 1 & 50% effaced. After the ultrasound, the calculations came out to say she was weighing 7 lbs 10 oz already - but my doc said she was most likely about 7 lb 5 oz. (not much of a difference anyway - I may be having a chunky newborn!)

My doc also informed me of a new rule put into place at the hospitals stating that new mothers were not to be induced before 41 weeks - eek! If I go that far I will seriously have a 10 lb baby I am sure of it! ...not to mention that would put me at the 4th of July - & I just really would prefer not to have her on a holiday! He reassured me that he didn't believe I would be that late & that next week he is going to do everything he can to get things progressing :)

Growing like a weed - This may be the last belly photo I post!

To top yesterday off, my family all went to see Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband at the Sandy Amphitheater. It was to celebrate Alta View Hospital's 30th anniversary - and since my Mom works there we all got to go for free! It was such a great time!

Who knows, maybe the next time I post I will be holding my sweet baby girl in my arms :)

35 weeks or most likely 36

We had an appointment this morning which was oh so fun! I got an ultrasound done like usual, but I also had the privilege of getting the Strep B test done plus he checked my cervix for the first time! He made me think it was going to hurt incredibly bad, but I'd like to think I was tough & I survived it! :) He said I was dilated to about a 1 so I guess that's better than nothin..

Well during the ultrasound, Doc told us our baby was growing nicely & he measured a bunch of different parts of her body & according to those measurements she is already 6lbs 4oz! Which would put her a week ahead of our original schedule & mean that I am actually 36 weeks along today! I'd like to think this will change my due date up a week - to June 20th. So everybody cross your fingers for us because we are SO anxious to meet our beautiful little girl!

{this pic is from last week so I may be slightly bigger?}

On Saturday night, after I got home from the baby shower my amazing friends Jacque & Kiera threw for me, Tyler & I went to Babies R Us to get some of the things that we still needed. We had gotten a duplicate item so we returned that for store credit, we had some cash from our family shower & a gift card from my brother's family - so we used it all up & not a penny more on some essential items we needed before Baby Gap makes her grand entrance.

We bought a pack n play that we plan to have in our room for the first while until we feel she is old enough to sleep in her crib, we also got the carseat headrest inserts, some more hangers (because we were overly blessed with clothes as gifts!), and a much needed Boppy pillow.

We feel so blessed by all the gifts we have received that have helped us so much. All the little expenses add up when having a baby, & it can be a stressful thing. So we are so grateful that we have such amazing family & friends who have made this journey so far an easy one.

Family Baby Shower

We were thrown an awesome family baby shower!

Tyler came to this one since most of the family who were able to make it are from his side. We were overwhelmed by how many people came & by the generous gifts they gave us for our baby girl. We've also had numerous family mail us gifts from around the country & we feel so blessed - thank you everyone!

{only some of who came!}

{my poor niece Ava was sick}

{this isn't even all the clothing we received! I just ran out of hangers!}

{the loot! our baby was spoiled rotten!}

Maternity Pictures

At the end of April we had the chance to get my maternity pictures taken by my magnificent friend Dustin Izatt! I had a hard time convincing myself to get these done because it is hard to see myself on the chubby side after promising myself 6 years ago that I would never go back there. But I knew deep down before I got pregnant that I would inevitably gain weight during pregnancy so I am trying my hardest to accept it & find the beauty in it. I believe all pregnant women are beautiful in every shape & form. There is just something that radiates from a pregnant woman that you won't find anywhere else.

For these photos I wanted to, more than anything, show the love the Tyler & I share - and the new love we are forming stronger and stronger everyday with our tiny baby girl.

Thank you Dustin, from the bottom of my heart, for these & for doing such an amazing job!

Here are just a few of our favorites.

Tyler's Graduation!

Two weeks ago Tyler graduated with honors from Weber State University! He graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Business/Marketing. It seems like I have been waiting for this day for such a long time, I cannot even imagine how amazing it must have felt for him to be finally finished! Although he is contemplating going on to get his Masters degree, at least we have made it to this milestone!

I am so incredibly proud of him, he is such a dedicated hard-working man. I am so lucky that he chose me for his wife. He started out his college career at UVU before we met, took a year off when we were dating/getting engaged/getting married, then started back up at Weber State FULL time every Spring & Fall semester until he finished! All the while he has been working 40+ hours a week for AT&T and the last year & currently Managing his own store for Verizon. He even managed to get AWESOME grades & graduate with HONORS. I think that this definitely deserves some bragging rights. What an incredible man! And I am grateful every second of everyday for him - & I know our baby girl will be too.

Two special graduation gifts for Tyler this year -

First, I surprised him with plane tickets to HAWAII! We both have never been & it was somewhere we both want to go. It was always so hard to commit to spending so much on plane tickets to get there, so each time we looked into it we always changed our minds to other vacations {caribbean cruise, mexico, etc.}. I found an amazing deal on plane tickets this time around & I just couldn't pass it up! So we will be packing our bags & going to paradise for a week & a half this November!

Secondly, and most important, our baby girl will be born next month! {NEXT MONTH?! Wow, I can officially say that!} We hadn't planned it this way, in fact, we had been trying to get pregnant for over 3 years. But of course, Heavenly Father knew what was best for us. As much as we longed for a baby, looking back we know things would have been much more stressful for Tyler to be doing full time school, full time work & parenting. Isn't it amazing how oblivious you can be with out even realizing it? We trusted in Heavenly Father's plan for us & had faith that when the time was right, we would be blessed with a child. That was definitely not an easy task, especially for me. But I strived to have faith continually & I am now so anxious to finally meet my little girl!

Thank you to my parents, & Tyler's parents & Grandparents for coming to his graduation and supporting him! It meant so much to have you all there to celebrate.