Smiling Happy Baby

So, we have a new trend! Miss Brie is a very happy baby, especially in the morning. She is all smiles and is even starting to giggle a tiny bit. It is the most beautiful thing ever:) She is not a fan of road trips, however. Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be when she met her grandpa Alfred and Shannon and her uncle Alfred. We embarked on our auspicious journey from McEntire after Danny got off of work Thursday evening. By 9pm we were still in SC, 5 miles away from GA and we had spent 45 minutes in a Burger King parking lot feeding then changing then feeding then changing and there was no end in sight. Danny decided that we were definitely not ready for a road trip with Gabrielle yet, so he called and broke the news and we turned around and headed home. It still took us until after midnight to get back because we had to stop 2ce more for feeding and changing. We may try again, but we will definitely start with a shorter goal in mind before we undertake such a magnificent feat again:)

4 week checkup

So, we have a very growing girl! At her 4 week check-up on Wednesday, she weighed 9lbs and 6 oz. She has only grown 1/4 of an inch lengthwise...so she's getting to be a little babyball:) She's doing well. The sad thing, she's started losing her hair on the front sides :( Apparently, I lost all of my hair and was bald until I was about 2...but I was hoping for a better fate for Gabrielle. She is doing so many cool things now too! She smiles on purpose and she loves her mobile in her crib where we change her. She is content to sit and stare at everything around her for hours at a time. Last night, she was awake and just checking things out with only very short catnaps in between for almost 8 hours! She's even starting to entertain the idea of taking a pacifier and she's eaten small bits from a bottle about 3 times now. So, I know she won't starve when I have to drill. On Thursday when I was getting ready to head out to bible study, I had put her in her carseat and I was gathering everything by the back door. She was sitting there crying and when I started to get close to set something down, she stopped. Then when I walked away again to gather the rest of our stuff, she started crying again. I never once touched her or talked to her! She's a little goober already! I can only imagine what we have in store:)

2 Things

Okay, just for Philip we're posting the poopy face pictures. What do you think about the resemblence?

We've been having a great time. This week we got a stroller/travel system and took our first walk...we got a spiffy bathseat for a present and had our first enjoyable bath...and we had our first mother's day. It's been a busy few days! Brie is staying awake longer now and not all that time involves screaming:) She's enjoying her new vision and starting to find her voice in very small doses. She stayed awake for her entire walk yesterday and just enjoyed it. We will be heading to the pediatrician on Wednesday to see what progress she's made and make sure all things have healed properly. I think she has a perfect little belly button now:)

Yesterday being mother's day was a little freaky. We had lunch with my parents, and so being with my mom and having my own daughter put a lot of things into perspective. I can't fathom that I was so small once and that one day Brie is going to be as big as me with her own child(ren). It's very humbling to see things in the big picture sometimes and also very scary. I mean, I can't even imagine her with teeth...much less with her own family! Anyway, I'll keep you posted on updates from the doc. She's starting to fuss again, so I better get the pics attached so I can relieve Daddy.

Family Adjustments

As you can see, here's our routine. Eat on mom's lap, fall asleep. Repeat frequently. Every once in a while, she lets me put her down to sleep, and I can get some things done. It's actually not bad, she's a delight and changing every day. We've had a couple of outings, including church on sunday and the baby shower.
Tuesday, we went to the chiropractor, and THREE stores! She even nursed in the sling in Baby's R us :) Her awareness range is expanding beyond a foot now, and she is noticing toys in her bouncy chair, yay! She smiles at stuff, and coos. Now if we could just get her to stop swallowing giant bubbles of air that result in instant gas pain, we'd be set. Not much else for now, but will post again soon. Enjoy the pics :)
Heather

At Home with Gabrielle

Well, we haven't killed her yet, and nobody has come to take her away, so I guess she's really ours:) We have overcome the nightly gas trouble with Mylicon drops (thank you God for that miracle stuff) and she generally only wakes up once a night to eat and goes right back to sleep. She makes up for it by taking an hour and a half or so to go to sleep and eating every hour and a half in the morning...but Daddy gets to sleep all night and not be a zombie at work, so it's all good:)

It's hard to do a whole lot, so I'm sorry about taking so long to update and post pics...but we'll get the hang of this routine eventually. There have been some wonderful souls coming out to stay with me while I'm healing and that has been a life saver. And I never knew that having dinner made for you was something that would make such a huge difference, but it really does!

It's still amazing that we are actually parents, but I guess it will eventually sink in. Danny is a truly amazing father...which I knew he would be, but he has far surpassed my expectations. He is also EXTREMELY protective of me and a great caregiver. I didn't change a single diaper until Gabrielle was a week old! He is definitely one of a kind and I am completely blessed to have him as my partner.

So, Gabrielle makes the most amazing faces while she's trying to fight falling asleep...and she looks just like her Daddy while she poops:) The very best is when she finishes nursing and is all content and sleepy and she grins. I'm sure she's not aware of what she's doing...but it is just as beautiful all the same. Perhaps eventually I'll be able to get a picture of that to share, but for now, I'll enjoy it as mommy's special blessing. I'll attempt to post a few new pics and hopefully I'll be able to update a little more regularly as we adjust and I get better from the C-section and require less naptime. Until then, enjoy:)

More pics

Just making multiple posts for pictures since they are so big. Enjoy.

Gabrielle Pics

Now for the follow up :) Enjoy.

BABY!!!

Yes, it's about dang time too. Heather's water broke around 5pm monday, and she immediately started having contractions. At about 7 I started timing them, and they got close enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.
Upon arriving, they were around 3 min apart avg. Heather did very well, and labor for roughly 23 hours. She only got to about 3cm by this point, and things weren't looking good. Baby was fine, Heather was fine, but no progress.
We discussed options, and decided on Petosin. Starting off at the smallest increment, and graudally increasing, Heather labor for another 5 hrs, only to increase to 4cm. At this point, we started to worry, as we had reached our 24 hour mark after ROM, and Heather had developed a fever. Instead of giving up, we gave Heather anti-biotics, and ordered an Epidural. Once complete, we hoped it would 'relax' her enough to make progress. And we were dissapointed to find out that after 2 or so more hours, only 5cm.
Once again, we discussed our options and prayed, and decided that with all the curcumstances, the only option left was C-section. So they changed the type of epidural, and wheeled her out. I was able to sit in, and help "push" baby out, take pictures, and even carry our new arrival to the nursery while heather was finishing up. Shortly there-after, I arrived in the hallway to the birth team with our beautiful new baby GIRL.
Her name is GABRIELLE ELISABETH, and she is perfect in every way. She arrived at 7lbs 8.5 oz, and 21 inches long, with a little bit of brown-ish hair. I gave her the first bath, and eager on-lookers peered through the nursery window.
Everyone eventually went home to catch up on rest, and Heather sat in recovery for about an hour, where she fed Gabrielle for the first time :) Every thing went far off course from our original birth plan, but we couldn't have asked for a happier ending.
I would like to thank all the ladies helping me and Heather through out all this. In no particular order, Sandi, Sandra, and Miriam. 3 SUPER women who this would have been next to impossible to complete withouth their help. Heather and I love you very much and thank you for all that you did, and continue doing.
I would also like to thank Phill, for his prayers, and quick organization of people to pray for us during this difficult time. Phill's words touched my heart as he said, "this is the best part. This is eternal life you are participating in. God has allowed you to help him create an eternal soul. Every thing on earth we touch or make will wither and die and be lost forever. But when you make a baby, god is allowing you to make a person who will live forever." Thank you for that, and for sharing your wisdom with us.
And thank you finally, to all who prayed for us, or thought about us, or visited us, or wished us well, your support made things that much easier. (unfortunately, there is a problem posting pictures, so that will have to wait untill a later date....SOON I promise)

Danny

Well, as Jessica G. would say...I am as pregnant as I can get!

So we've passed over both "due dates" and still there's no Deather entering the outside world. This weekend has been a bit trying, but also a good bonding time for Danny and I. We've walked, cleaned, packed, discussed and he's basically held my sanity together. I've had contractions every night...and actually, last night I started at about 1130 and had contractions every 20-30 minutes until about 8 this morning. Then it stopped and started up again around 230 this afternoon and it's been steady at every 30 minutes. I also started spotting a TINY bit around 1130 today...so there's progress...just not super promising progress. I'll go back to the midwife tomorrow afternoon. I've probably dilated some by now, but I'm convinced that Deather is quite happy in the current situation and not ready to come meet us just yet. The good news is that I'm not super excitable anymore about every little pain and Danny is doing well at keeping me grounded. If I'm tired I sleep and even when having contractions, I'll sleep at night. I'll wake up every 30 minutes or so, when it's a pretty hard one...but I'll go right back to sleep so I'll have my energy when it's really needed. I'm very thankful for all the thoughts and prayers that are with us right now. It's really nice to have everyone's support.

Yes...we are still waiting...

So, I decided after 3 crying spells yesterday that it would be better to come in to work today. The first occurred after I finished folding all the laundry. I had just put all the baby clothes away in Deather's room and I started to talking to Deather of course. I was telling him/her, "you can come now, all your clothes are clean and ready for you". Danny says I'm pathetic, which is likely the case. But, it seems less likely that I'll break into crying fits at work...so as long as this kid is happy in the womb, I will be working. Grrr.

Will it ever end?

I know...it is promised that it will...it just doesn't seem like it some days.
Yesterday I saw the midwife and there was no good news...except for my fundal height measurement saying I'm due anyday now. Actually, there was other good news too. Deather's heartrate is doing well...in the 120s when sleeping...and in the 150s when moving around. I had fallen asleep waiting for the doc...so when they did the initial heartrate check it was low...apparently Deather was sleeping too:) So they hooked me up to the monitor just to make sure since that was much lower than the normal heartrate has been. It's all good though:) I still hadn't dilated...but the yeast infection is gone...which is very good. Also, they didn't do a retest of the GBS because they ended up getting a sensitivity test on the old one. I tested okay to use Erythromicin or Cleocin. I mentioned that when taken orally Erythromicin makes me sick to my stomach...so I guess I'll be getting the other one. I was hoping for the retest and to need nothing, but oh well. I also had some spotting last night and some contractions...but to no avail, I'm still not in labor. I've done all the laundry in the house, including baby clothes and Skoshi and I have paced the house and walked the neighborhood. Still, we wait.

Hilarious Sequence

Okay...so we spent the day Saturday over at Sandra's house chilling and enjoying her backyard...and of course taking more pictures. She's so good and she has fun and makes us crack up...who can resist? I had to share this funny picture sequence though. It is totally freaky and I think may reveal Deather's character:) You may have to view each one separately to make them big enough to notice what's going on. Danny's expressions are priceless!

EVERYTHING IS BREAKING NOW!

Except (of course) for my water:) Which is probably a good thing. So, between my last two midwife visits I've been found to be Group B Strep positive, I've developed PUPPP (see picture to the left....which is NOT my belly but looks very similar to what's going on on mine) and I have a yeast infection! I have not dilated yet, but my cervix is soft. So, we still have an undetermined amount of time to go...and things keep getting more miserable. Some of you may be familiar with all the things I just described above, but some of you are likely not pregnancy complication pros...so I'll share what all of this means.
Group B Strep: Is a normal bacteria found in human intestinal tract. They are normally found in the urinary tract and sometimes in the throat as well and it comes and goes depending on what you eat and how much "good flora" verses "bad flora" you harbor regularly. There are varying levels of this and depending on the "colonization" if they are found in the vaginal or rectal area during labor and delivery there is a SLIGHT chance that the baby could test positive for too many of these bacteria and then if so, there is and even slighter chance (1 in 10,000) that the baby will get VERY sick with long term effects and potentially die. SO, the solution is that they test women for this during pregnancy now b/w 35 and 37 weeks and if at that time you test "colonized" with Group B...they automatically plan to give you antibiotics while you are in labor. I've been doing a lot of research on this...and there are benefits verses risks...and I'm not really sure I want to take the antibiotics...for a variety of reasons. I may discuss that later...but for now, I'm working on increasing my "good flora" with a variety of methods. The good news there is that they were supposed to test my sample for sensitivity to decide what antibiotic to administer since I'm allergic to penicillin and therefore can't take that...but they didn't. SO, I may have to have a retest next week at my appt. Which means all this "good flora" preparation may cause me to test negative at that time and hopefully it will be a nonissue. Let's pray for that!
PUPPP:This is the least dangerous (it causes no harm to baby, no harm to mother) but the most uncomfortable. I have a rash...so far only on my stomach...that itches uncontrollably and isn't really treated with anything. The solution: give birth and it will almost always go away by 10-14 days post delivery. They don't know what causes it, they don't really have any treatment for it...and options vary based on the person. Some people need dry and hot, some people need cold and wet, some people need sedation...so far, I'm managing...but praying that it does not spread. The common thing is for it to start on the belly and spread to the trunk and extremeties...NORMALLY sparing the face, palms and soles of feet. Since it's only on my belly right now...I'm hoping to keep it contained...exactly how, I am not sure, but I'm of course doing MUCH research and I have several ideas to try.
Yeast Infection: Very normal during 3rd trimester of pregnancy...and needs to be treated before delivery because it would likely cause thrush in the baby. Not super serious...but it's hard enough for a first time mom learning how to nurse and deal with a new baby without the added complications of thrush (which is also a common side effect of having antibiotics administered during labor...one reason I don't want them).

So, as you can see, I'm having a VERY eventful final few weeks. So far, I'm still doing okay at work and miraculously my blood pressure is low:) While I'm dealing with all this...Danny is experiencing his first pollen season in SC. For those of you unfamiliar with this, let me tell you what they say. If you don't have allergies, spend March in SC and you'll get them. He's been pretty miserable and still has to deal with me not being able to take care of him like I normally would...and actually requiring him to still be taking care of me. He is doing all of this surprisingly cheerfully...even if in a drug-induced stupor (he's recently discovered Benadryll). How did I get so lucky?

Picture Day

So, I've always seen pictures of the beautiful blossoming woman in the white dress showing off the growing belly...and I decided I wanted to have some of those pics too. Plus, since it's spring, it seems pretty cool to me that I'll be bringing forth life (shortly we hope:)) while all of nature is coming alive again and so I wanted to portray that with pics of my blossoming belly and blossoming trees and flowers. That may seem cheezy...but whatever. My sister will thoroughly enjoy it, I'm sure:) So, here are some of the shots from picture day. Sandra Snyder came over and put her expertise to work in the nursery and outdoors and Danny tried his hand at a few outdoor shots as well. Since it is gorgeous here, these are all really cool! And I wanted to share with all the "devoted" readers:)

Baby Shower!

yay! heather had her baby shower at work today, and received much gifts and love :) Everything is going great at the moment, and we expect a baby any time now. Enjoy the pics

danny

Ramblings

So, the Midwife visit wasn't so informative yesterday. It was rather short and sweet. My "fundal height" (belly measurement while lying on my back) is a little over 37cm...which meant nothing to me, so I did some research. Apparently the measurement is supposed to be the same as your gestation week from 20 to 37 weeks...so now, the measurement really does nothing for me. Oh well. They also checked my iron and blood pressure which are both good...and they did my Group B Strep Culture...which I will receive the results for next week. The big thing is they told me that I am not considered pre-term any more so if I go into labor, we go with it and don't try to stop it. Good to know...although I seriously doubt that I will have the luxury of early labor :( That's okay, I'll have a great big healthy baby:) Danny keeps saying I'm going to have a 14 lb. boy and it will be a great natural childbirth story. Yes, I have left him alive for now...but if his prediction comes true, I do reserve the right to murder him.

In other news, we bought a carseat this weekend. Special thanks to Mikhail and Ted from Babies R Us for teaching us how to properly install the seat. We tried the model into both of our vehicles before purchasing it. So, now, it is in the back of the station wagon ready for Danny and Mom to install it in the hospital parking lot after the baby arrives. We have arranged that Mom will come over to drive us to the hospital so Danny can be dealing with me in the backseat...so we thought actually installing the carseat would be counterproductive at this point.

So, that's it for now. Any tips for the waiting game?

Promised Pics

I wanted to do a close up of the curtain so you can see the colors and pattern.The mobile plays the "lullaby song" that Joey's favorite animal played from when he was a baby.

The puzzle is Jesus with two children and two angels and a lamb.

So, I took some pictures of the nursery now that we have the crib. The hammock bed is back in our room on my side of the bed so I can get used to having it there. If I can manipulate around it with the kid inside me still...I should have no problems once the kid actually comes out:)

I've been having interesting dreams lately...and interesting sleeping arrangements. I've started sleeping for part of the night sometimes in the baby's room on the futon. The support on my back makes it much easier for me to fall asleep now. Naptime is coming more frequently and I'm doing that in the baby's room too. Somehow, it relaxes me to be in there. We actually had to leave church early today because I was nauseated (for the first time since the first trimester!) and exhausted. I passed out within ten minutes of walking in the door and slept for a good hour before I woke up hungry. I'm feeling like I'm on a newborn schedule already! Tomorrow is another midwife visit, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of updates when I finish with that. For now...enjoy the pics. I'm putting some on there of the puzzle that we are working on to hang up in Deather's room....and just the new cool lamby crib stuff that's in the room now:)

Fun from Tuesday

So, yesterday we got the crib delivered and set up! It is so beautiful and goes great with our room decor. That was really neat since it is a hand me down crib and we never saw it before choosing the other stuff...but it fits perfectly! Dad and Danny got it all set up in the room while Mom and I worked on the puzzle that we are putting together to hang up in Deather's room. I washed all the linens in my Dreft sample pack, so I'll be putting all the cute lamb stuff together and hanging the crib mobile when I get home today. If all goes well, there should be some pictures this week:)

Now...funny story. I was resting when Danny got home yesterday ... and I've been wearing his boxers lately because they just feel better than any underwear I've procured for this pregnancy. He was teasing me about stretching out the waist band, so I argued that they were made for 38-40 according to the tag. He said he thought I was definitely bigger than 40 ... so I of course had to measure the belly then. He was right...45.5" around!!! How scary is that!?!?! And I'm not done yet! That'll teach me to open my big mouth!

Hospital Tour

We took our hospital tour last night. It was AMAZING! The doula's who gave the tour were very knowledgable and calming. They answered all the remaining questions on our birthplan about hospital policies on things. They said almost all of the nurses in Labor and Delivery are doula trained so they handle things differently than a regular nurse. They are totally geared toward natural childbirth and will help in anyway they can to make that a reality for those who desire it. The C-section rate at Lexington is 23% (which is below the national average)...the C-section rate with a doula is 9%! :) Very encouraging. They are completely supportive of breastfeeding and instead of you having to specify NOT giving the baby a bottle or pacifier...you have to have written instructions if you want them to give that to the baby...it's not something they just routinely do. It was just a wonderful experience and has completely put me at ease about having a hospital birth. I am not worried about it anymore, I feel like I will be in good hands, and I think Danny has been able to relax too. One thing they said was to make sure they had a copy of our birthplan because then they could remind the doctor of things that were on it if the doctor forgot. That means that Danny doesn't have to worry so much about making sure that we aren't set up for failure...because it seems like everyone on our birth team is completely about setting us up for a successful natural childbirth. So, now...this baby can come whenever it wants to:) I'm calm, I'm cool and collected....for now:)

Midwife Visit

So, I had an appointment today with one of the other midwives in the practice...LOVED HER! It was a really great appointment. I still have GREAT blood pressure (104/70....and that was after dealing with having to air up the donut and go 50mph on the interstate!). She said the baby is very low into my pelvis and settled which is highly unusual for "this early" in my pregnancy. That could be good news and mean I'm farther along and will deliver before April 14th...or ... it could just be because I'm a munchkin and where the heck else is the baby going to go? :) Either way, baby is doing well....moving constantly and has a good strong heart rate in the 130s-140s. Apparently Deather is spine to spine with me, which explains some of my low back pain...and is not surprising considering my desk job. I better get to walking the stairs and doing my pelvic rocks more if I want to get him/her to flip around and be face down when it's time! But, if not, I'm told that I am allowed to give birth in whatever position I want. She said, "We can catch them however they come out. We prefer that you are on the bed instead of the floor...but whatever position is going to be easiest for you to birth in is completely up to you." Great news since Deather is face up...it's good to know hands and knees to get that pressure off my spine is actually an encouraged option! Jaime, Holly and Teresa...Have I mentioned how grateful I am to you guys for helping me ask questions and find a good place that will actually work with us to have the birth experience we want? You guys are awesome and I'm so glad you pointed me in this direction. I like knowing that I have full support for natural childbirth, with the security of a hospital in case complications do arise. It truly feels like the best of both worlds.