a baby is born!

october 27 was my 38 week check up with my obgyn. mom had stayed in town from the weekend because we thought i might go into labor any day and she wanted to go to my dr appt with me to see how i was progressing. turns out i was already 4 cm dialated and about 60% effaced. so of course we got really excited and wondered if i was possibly going to have an october baby.

the next couple of days i was frantically working because i had a few projects that i promised my clients i would get done before my due date. i thought i would have a few weeks to get all of it done, but now it looked like it could be any day or it could even still be a few weeks away. mom stayed in town for obvious reasons (thank goodness!) and we decided to try to get things moving along a little quicker so we could have an october baby! i was having pretty consistent contractions, but they weren't getting any stronger yet. on wednesday we did some shopping and my contractions started to progress. on thursday we went downtown to river street to walk. we ended up walking for 3.5 hours! i actually felt pretty good and my contractions were getting a little stronger. when we got home they really started picking up and getting stronger. by about 9 or 10pm i was starting to feel more pain and the contractions were averaging at about 5-6 minutes apart. (figures that i would go into labor while the yankees were playing in the world series)















by 11:30 we decided to call the doctor to see if we should go to the hospital. we were concerned that if i really was in labor (which we pretty much knew i was), then i would be up all night and we were worried about my sleep deprivation. the dr said to go ahead and go to the hospital… YAY!

after taking a shower and getting our things together, we got to the hospital at midnight and i was admitted. (notice the 'not so thrilled' look on my face as lucie was taking pictures of me during contractions!)

































as you can see here, the contractions got MUCH worse as time progressed. i'm not sure what time this picture was taken, but i can tell you that i wasn't a happy camper.















at about 4am i got up to go to the bathroom and walk around a little bit to get things going a little faster. i was leaning on the bed during a pretty strong contraction and all of the sudden my water broke. about 5 seconds later i had an incredibly intense contraction that words can't even explain! now, during this whole pregnancy i was wanting to go natural with no meds during my labor, but after my water broke and my contractions REALLY kicked in, i quickly realized that i wasn't as strong as i thought i could be and requested… no… demanded an epidural. in a matter of minutes the greatest and quickest anesthesiologist came to my rescue and gave me an epidural in less than 2 minutes. no joke… he was awesome! soon after that i felt halfway human again. :)

skip ahead 3.5 hours… the nurse came to check me and i was 10 cm! she was shocked at how fast i had progressed and said the head was right there and i was ready to start pushing ASAP! so fast that dr stone barely got there in time! i was told that i pushed about 8 times (thank goodness!) and then i heard, "IT'S A GIRL!!" Holy cow… i was a mom!

























































































my fantastic doctor, dr stone and 'bubbles'… that's what she nicknamed her:


















































so, there she was. we had a baby girl who we call Amelie Faith! born october 30, 2009, 7:46am, 6lbs 9oz, 19in long. she is so precious and we couldn't love her more. her journey began rough (more on that in the next blog), but she is stronger and more beautiful than ever!

pimp that nursery

well, this post is WAY overdue, so i apologize, but i've been a little preoccupied. let's back up to october 23… mom and alice faye came to visit and take care of some important business: preparing our room/nursery for the arrival of our peanut. also, oct 23 happens to be mom's bday, so naturally we did some celebrating :)


















on saturday we did some shopping in preparation for the overhaul of our drab bedroom/nursery. here are some before pics:

the armoire that ant refinished (before):


















this is where the crib will go:














bed & windows (before)














this is mom & alice slaving away to finish the room in 1 1/2 days:
























































And here is the beautiful room, all complete!

(there are some really cool lamps on these nightstands now, but i don't have pictures of them)














(notice the refinished armoire with new hardware… ant did a fantastic job!)
































































it was somewhat of a rush to get this done because i was 2 cm dialated and having mild contractions during all of this and we were wondering if i was going to go into labor the whole time. luckily peanut held off so we could get the project done :)

the room turned out great and it felt so good to get all of that done before peanut got here. THANK YOU MOM AND ALICE FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN! you guys are so great and we REALLY appreciate it!

a baby ruth and a peanut

I got good news in the mail yesterday…

"Thank you for your faithful and generous support of your sponsored child, Amie Ellie, during a challenging time in her life. The purpose of this letter is to update and inform you about her pregnancy. We have been notified by our in-country staff that Amie delivered a baby girl in our COTN clinic. The baby's name is Ruth and she has been dedicated to the Lord at our COTN church. Amie and Ruth are both doing very well. Amie was able to take her school exams before giving birth and she passed the National Primary School Exams. When she returns to school, she will be in Junior Secondary School 1 which is equivalent to 7th grade. Enclosed is a photo of Amie and her daughter Ruth…"



















As much as I would like to see her smiling, I am so thankful that she is healthy and so is baby Ruth (HA!). This made my heart smile yesterday :) I am so happy that COTN understands that this is important to me and that they are keeping me in the loop. Please continue to keep Amie in your prayers as she raises baby Ruth (HA!).

In other baby news, Peanut is growing, thriving and preparing! We went in for my weekly check-up today and Dr Stone says we are 3cm dialated now! On Friday I lost my 'flower pot' (aka, mucus plug). We're calling it a flower pot (thanks to Lynn) because the real term is actually not very fun to say. So, after much debate I decided to go ahead and go down to Orlando for my last baby shower. Unfortunately Ant couldn't go at the last minute because he was assigned too much school work over the weekend. The whole weekend I just took it easy and prayed that I didn't go into labor! The shower was AMAZING!! I had so much fun (despite the fact that I was sans husband) and loved spending time with family and friends. It's always so good to be back and it makes me miss it so much. Thank you to everyone who made the shower so special. It was so cute and everything was peanut themed! It's always a bonus to have creative friends :) Hopefully those of you who took pictures will share so I can post soon!

So, here I am, back in Savannah and now we just work (a LOT) and wait. Peanut is moving around like crazy and sometimes I feel like he/she is going to punch out of my uterus. I can't wait to see him/her! We are so excited, but we are both SO busy, so hopefully peanut can keep cookin' for another week or 2 so I don't go completely crazy with unfinished work. Speaking of… I gotta get back to work now!

peace.

let the games begin!

We went to the doctor for our 36 week check-up today. All is good! I'm feeling great and can't really complain. I'm getting less and less sleep as time goes by, but I know this is my preparation for what's to come. My neurologist increased my medication AGAIN. I'm up to 600mg a day (I started at 150mg pre-preggo), so needless to say I am exhausted ALL the time. I'm having trouble staying focused when I'm working cause I'm so tired, but luckily I will only have to deal with that for a few more weeks. After that I will have to blame it on the baby, but the baby will be so cute it won't matter!

Back to the doctor appointment… I don't know i I mentioned this before, but I LOVE MY NEW DOCTOR!! She is so great and I'm SO glad I switched! Anyway, I had the streb B culture done today (no biggie) and she said, "do you want me to go ahead and check you?" "Why not, you're already down there," I thought. So, she checked me and much to our surprise I am 2cm dialated! She said she could feel the head and everything looks good… WOO HOO!!!! I couldn't be more excited! I'm praying that God will keep the baby cookin' for at least another 2 weeks, but I'm excited either way!

In other news, my showers in Spring Hill and OP were FANTASTIC! We are so blessed to have amazing people in our lives who are so generous and thoughtful. Thank you to all those who made those showers so incredible. The 'nursery' (aka, our bedroom) is starting to come together. We got the crib all set up this past weekend and it's so cute! The bedding looks adorable and we have so many cute blankets and owls everywhere :) (pictures to come later) Ant finished staining the armoire (which is now the baby's closet). All of the clothes and blankets have been washed, folded and put away, so now we just wait :)

I'm currently enjoying some much-needed girl time with old roommie and friend, Jenn (we're trying to get work done as well, but we have yet to be successful at that so far). She came to visit for a few days and then on Friday we are headed to Orlando for another shower! I couldn't be more excited to see everyone!

Here's a 36-weeker for ya, compliments of Ant's creativity:

















One last thing: below is a blog posting from one of Jenn's friends. I thought it was hilarious and well-written, so I thought I would share… enjoy!

You know its time to go into labor when:

1. Your maternity clothes don't fit anymore.

2. Your one year old has to help you out of bed.

3. Your one year old keeps falling out of your lap and grabbing on to your tender boobs as handles to help him back up.

4. Your baby can simultaneously kick your diaphragm and punch your cervix. I mean, really. There is Just. No. More. Room.

5. You can no longer sit or lay down comfortably and standing makes your back and feet ache.

6. You long for drive-thru grocery stores because the idea of walking back to your car that is parked far away in 95 degree heat when your one year old may or may not be screaming a protest about one thing or another makes you want to cry.

7. You are losing sleep because of being uncomfortable and it really seems like you might as well just have the baby because at least then when you are not sleeping, it won't be because you are uncomfortable, but because you are spending time with an amazing new little person.

8. Your belly button sticks out like a thermometer on a cooked thanksgiving day turkey signaling that you are indeed, "done."

9. When random strangers ask you when you are due you and you say, you aren't pregnant and that your husband just likes a little something extra in the middle, they know you are lying.

10. You start blogging about these silly things because that is all you think about when you are trying to go to sleep and can't because as I mentioned, you are uncomfortable.


well-said :)

So, let the games begin… I'll be keeping everyone posted on the progress :)

honeydew and a new doc

Your baby is now the size of a honeydew!
Things are heating up inside as well: Baby may grow up to a full inch this week alone, and his brain is developing like crazy. Pretty soon, he'll be able to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. Also, his bones are hardening, and he's started to keep his eyes open when he's awake.















I can't believe how this time has been flying by. It seems like we were just telling people that we were pregnant. So, I'm 33 weeks now, which means only 7ish to go and we're really excited! For the most part, I feel good and I've had a pretty good pregnancy so far, so I can complain. Other than the minor aches and pains, I haven't really had any problems - Praise Jesus for that! Sleeping at night is getting more an more difficult and really, it's just more annoying than anything. I have found that if I power through that urge to nap in the afternoon, I sleep much better at night, so I've been trying to ignore those urges.

As of yesterday I was FINALLY able to get a new doctor! I have been contemplating on switching doctors for a few months now, but I finally made the move. I am SO excited! I haven't met my new doc in person yet, but I've talked to her on the phone and she seems much more personable than my current doc. With my current doc, I have always felt somewhat rushed when I go in for my check-ups. And when I tried to talk to her about my birth one day, I felt like I got no support from her when it came to my wishes to try to do things as naturally as possible. She kind of scoffed at me and said that I would probably change my mind anyway. ICK!! It gave me such a bad feeling. Then Ant and I went to take a tour of the hospital that she delivers at (there are 2 hospitals about a half mile apart here) and we weren't exactly thrilled. First of all, they only allow 2 people in the room during delivery which I'm not a fan of. Second, they have you deliver in one room and recover in a different room which was really tiny and not comfy at all. We felt like it wasn't horrible, but definitely not the greatest place, either. One plus with that hospital is that they have a level 3 nursery/NICU, so if anything were to happen with the peanut, they definitely have the facilities and drs to handle it. ANYWAY, I have my first appt with my new doc on Tues and I'm so excited! Updates to come on that.

Until then…