Grace's Arrival- Part 1

Remember a few weeks ago when I said that "Operation Eviction" was going into effect at 37 weeks? Well, I had long forgotten about that little plan and honestly was feeling a tad apprehensive about the whole "labor, pain, and responsibility for another human life" thing. The weekend before G's arrival D and I had a nice little movie date on Friday night and decided that we would use Saturday to run some errands and go out to a nice lunch. I may or may not have been nagging that we would only have so many weekends to spend by ourselves...little did we know, it would definitely be our last!

On Saturday, at approximately 37 weeks, my dumb ass did all of the things on my Operation Eviction list without even realizing it. I walked. I ate some labor inducing food. I walked some more, went to the gym, and lucky for the hubby, even engaged in a little sexy time. We went to bed Saturday night and I was awoken around 4:30am on Sunday morning with some cramp-like pain. When I went to the bathroom I noticed I had some bleeding and just decided I could attribute it to Saturday nights festivities. Still, I did what any neurotic first time mom would do and called both my mom and the Labor & Delivery floor at the hospital to make sure everything was normal. I was assured that the bleeding was nothing to worry about from the hospital and my mom promised to check in with me through out the day. She immediately suspected that things could be a sign of early labor, but I totally thought that there was no way being that 37 weeks, 1 day was just WAY too early for that sort of thing to happen.

I don't think I ever went back to sleep that morning. Instead I lounged, went to the bathroom obsessively to check on things, and googled things like "signs you are in labor". Very healthy.

All day I timed things on and off. They would get closer together, further apart, and then sometimes even stop completely. When my mom got off of work, she started looking at flights and found one that would get her to Louisiana around 10:30am...we just had to make up our minds by 11pm that evening. Fast forward to Sunday night. Contractions stopped completely around 7pm and I told her to not worry about changing her flights. No big deal...it just looked like things were not progressing. I went to bed around 8:30pm, and part of me was relieved, but another part was kind of disappointed that this wasn't the real thing. I had gotten more and more excited about the prospect of meeting our baby girl throughout the day. Luckily I didn't have to wait much longer. I woke up again at 10:30pm with raging contractions that could be easily timed. Molly and I sat up watching Kendra's E True Hollywood Story and kept a log of how far apart things were until about 1am. Then we woke up D and he sat with us and timed things for a little longer. Finally, we decided that we better make our way to the hospital, so at about 2:30am I called my mom, let her know we were going in, and headed out.

Once in Labor and Delivery I was checked to see how much progress we had made and hooked up to a machine to monitor contractions and that babies heart rate for an hour. At the time I was only 2cm dilated (bummer!) and barely effaced. At the end of the hour they checked again and really the only thing that had changed was that things were softening up, so I was about 50% effaced at the time. They sent us home with some Ambien, said to try and get some sleep, and if this was early labor, things would progress while I rested. Unfortunately, sleep never happened and things just continued to intensify. We held out until about 8am, got to shower and make sure everything was in order and then headed right on back to the hospital. This time there was a new staff on duty and the nurse that was monitoring me was awesome. I was almost a 3, but she said that at the end of the hour if I was still close she would try to "stretch" things when she checked me and see if they would admit me even though I was under 4cm. Basically that is exactly the course of action that was taken...and thank goodness, because not 10 minutes after I was in a room and getting hooked up to a monitor my water broke. (Or in my words..."I either peed myself, or my water broke!")

It was officially the real deal!

Rough...about to start pushing.

After my water broke contractions continued to intensify, quickly. Because they were already coming at 1 to 3 minutes apart, with no indication of slowing down, we decided to go ahead and get an epidural after my lab work came back. I had planned on waiting until I was more dilated, but honestly, I figured that if I was going to get it either way, why wait? Plus, I didn't really care if it slowed things down because by this time my mom had found another flight that would get her in around 9 pm and I wasn't in a rush.

Let me tell you something about epidurals: They. Are. Amazing.

I seriously don't know why anyone would opt out on the option. I mean, come on people, this is 2010. We have modern medicine that is literally here to help us...and I decided that my baby would much rather meet a happy mommy than one that was in agony all day and totally exhausted. I completely understand that people have their personal feelings about the whole thing, but in my experience it made for a great day and a happy labor.

I was happy enough that I sent D home to take care of the dog, give our keys to the neighbors, and rent a bunch of movies for us to watch while we were in wait mode. We had a really fun day (at least that is how I remember it now...), relaxing, talking, and getting pumped up for the big event! He was an awesome person to have around. I got trashy gossip mags picked up for me and he dealt with phone calls and letting our family in on what was going on. Things progressed very slowly. We were originally told that our baby would be here around dinner time...but as we approached 7pm and I was still only about a 6, it was clear that we had a few more hours to wait. It took me awhile to get to 4cm, but once I was there, I would say I progressed about a centimeter an hour. Meanwhile, my mom landed around 8:45pm, got on the road from the airport and headed to the hospital. At about 9:30 when the nurse came into check me we were told that I was ready to go! Since I didn't feel an urge to push, we decided to let the baby labor down some on her own and start pushing when my mom arrived. She made her way in to the hospital about 10:15 and things started getting set up for push time! I was so happy to have her there...and who would have thought that she could make it in time with the huge change in schedule!? On Monday evening, as we prepared to start pushing the baby was a gestational age of 37 weeks, 2 days. How's that for an effective eviction plan?

xo,

H

Happy 1 Week, Grace!

Ok, this picture isn't from today...but here's one from her first bath at home a few days ago. I have a perfect, sleeping baby girl right now, so we will take 1 week photos later today. We've been taking tons of pictures each day, so lots more to come! :)

xo,

H

A little something...

I think I finally have an excuse for being a bad blogger. :)

There are so many things I think about writing throughout the day, but the moment I get free time I find something else that seems more important, like you know, staring at my baby.

We came home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon and had one of the roughest nights of our lives. Things have really gone up since that night. Grace is getting better at sleeping and thanks to my milk coming in, eating has gotten a lot better too, which contributes to the sleep factor. I won't lie- there have been two mini cry sessions on my part...but I think that not sleeping since Sunday and my raging hormones probably had something to do with those.

I have to give major props to the hubby, who has been the most helpful, hands-on daddy I have ever seen and also a huge thanks to my mom who has seriously kept me from quitting breast feeding multiple times and is the best swaddler in the world. Also- she changed her flight and made it to the hospital just in time for me to start pushing. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect situation. I will definitely be writing up a detailed birth story for Grace, full of TMI moments and uncensored, but really, what else would you expect? I love all of the dirty pregnancy details that I have found out in the last few months.

As for the post pregnancy body...I'll have to share on that too. I may post a week 38 update with a pic of the aftermath. It's really not that bad, but everyone is totally right when they say you leave the hospital looking 5-6 months pregnant. The stomach literally gets flatter every day (thank the sweet baby Jesus) and the el-bees really do "fall off". I'm proud to gloat and say that I've officially lost 20 + lbs since Tuesday and once a little more swelling goes down, I expect that to continue to drop. I also imagine each of my boobs weigh about 5 lbs...haha...no, joke...so that has to factor in too, right?! I feel about 95% normal as far as soreness and getting around, but I'll dive deeper in to that during my delivery story. OH- and p.s. since I'm gloating and all, guess who ended up not having stretchmarks? Thank you for being so early Miss Grace. I totally owe you one someday when you ask for a treat or something.

On to my sweet baby girl. She is the most precious thing I have ever seen in my life. I know every parent says that, but it is so true. I can't wait to see her grow and learn more about her little personality, but for now I can say that she is one tough cookie. She has the strongest little legs I have ever seen on a 7lb anything, she has big slate blue eyes, her daddy's nose and feet for sure, and my mouth and hands. I'm sure it will change daily as she grows, but when I look at her I think it is pretty obvious she is D's child, which works for me, cause he's pretty good looking if I do say so myself. ;) She's also a big eater, which solidifies that fact that she is part of our family. I felt so lucky taking her home from the hospital...it was like, "someone is really giving me a baby to keep?!" We are still in learning mode. I am not quite to the point where I feel like she has always been a part of our lives because it really has taken some adjusting and hard work, but I feel a love and protectiveness for her that are out of this world. I couldn't be happier with my little family.

Speaking of the little one, I have tons of pictures to share, so check back for those. Also, thank you for all of your sweet comments and texts, calls, and emails. I'm slowly trying to get back in to communicating with everyone, so bare with me and know that I really do appreciate every one of your well wishes!

Off to check on the little one...

xo,
H

Introducing...

Grace Evelyn "M"

Born on September 21st, 2010 at 12:51am,

weighing 7lbs 12oz. and measuring 20 3/4 in.

xo,
H

Pregnancy Week 36

and a half, but who's counting?

Completely contradicting how I felt last week, I now feel like I really need Miss G to stay put for at least a couple more weeks! I want every little last thing done in our house and my mom has officially booked her flights for early October, so it'd be nice to not have to scramble to change things. Both D and I are getting really excited for her arrival...it's just so hard to not have any control over when and how it happens. I'm sure it will all turn out wonderfully. :)

How far along?: 36 weeks, 3 days

Total weight gain: +38.5

Maternity clothes: All bottoms aside from yoga/workout pants, most tops, some dresses.

Sleep: So much better now that I am the proud owner of a body pillow. Seriously, how did I go 35 weeks without one?!

Best moment of the week: Watching the Redskins win Sunday night! Haha...I thought the end to that game might put me in labor...

Movement: Yeah, and she's getting strong.

Food cravings: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...which is super weird because I literally refused to eat these growing up. I honestly don't remember the last time I have had one, if ever, but they are really hitting the spot these days!

Gender: Girl

Belly button: Still the same. I think it's finished going out.

Stretchmarks: I think we may have our first stretchmark...on my belly button ring hole that has been out for several years. The skin between the holes is red and looks angry...not sure what that will turn into after things settle back down, but I totally am regretting getting that stupid piercing now. Ugh...should have listened to mom! :)

What I miss: Nothing really...I'm sleeping, eating, relaxing...life it pretty darn good right now.

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our girl!

Weekly wisdom: Don't re-try on your wedding/engagement rings after you've retired them for the rest of your pregnancy...it will just make you sad. Luckily where we live people don't look twice at a pregnant lady without a ring on, but that's another story.

Milestones: Filling out hospital admissions and anesthesia paperwork TODAY! It's really getting close people!

and finally, a badly taken pic...but at least I included it in the post this time:

Ignore the too tight dress. It is actually a cotton Gap maternity dress and used to fit appropriately. I'm at home today, so no one should have to publicly see this "pregnant streetwalker" look.

xo,

H

36 Week Appointment

Everything went great. Grace's heartrate was wonderful, she's still head down...which even though we knew, we got to confirm via a quick little portable ultrasound. It's pretty cramped in there, which made it really heard to make out what was what, but we saw her head, belly, and some longgg legs and little feet. :) It was nice of our doctor to do that for us. Finally he measured and the belly is measuring 38cm, which as usual, puts her a couple weeks ahead size wise. Since I haven't been having any contractions, we decided not to check to see if I am dialated at all, so no news there. I think I appreciate not knowing...if I was I would get all excited and anxious, and if I wasn't I'd probably be annoyed. I can wait a couple more weeks, no biggie.

From here I go back early next week to do some hospital paperwork so that is taken care of and then my next appointments are 38, 39, and 4o weeks...it's crunch time!

Alright...I'm off to get my Mexican food fix and a pedi. Hope every one's weekends are off to a great start!

xo,
H

Product Review- Boppy Body Pillow

So, I originally thought I could make it 9+ months with just my cozy bed and by stealing all but one of the pillows in our home from D. I did an okay job for awhile, but in the last few weeks my hips have started to get increasingly sore and would cause me to wake up in pain and switch sides probably 5-10 times a night in addition to waking up for my 3-5 pee breaks. It was getting a little exhausting to say the least.

Last Friday I got a care package from my mom and in it was this little gem:


It has become the new love of my life. Not only is it cute, but it works like a charm. I was worried that D would get annoyed at the space that it takes up, but I think its actually less bulky than the mountains of pillows...and I'm complaining less, which always goes over well in this house. ;)

I finally understand what momma's with body pillows are talking about and to those of you who haven't yet experienced a need for one of these...just be prepared to get one. Seriously. As soon as you find out you are pregnant, go take the plunge. Or shoot, tell me your pregnant and it will be my congratulations gift to you because it is THAT worth it. I'll probably have to wean myself off of it after the baby gets here...

xo,
H

Random thoughts...

Every time I view my own blog I get SO excited at how far the "ticker" at the top of the screen has progressed to the right. Today as I was taking a peek I got a little nervous...no more mini-milestones left! We are literally right around the corner from D-day...aka delivery day, haha.

Things around here have been going very well lately. D got back on Monday night from being out in the field for work for the previous 5 days and that was last time out before our girl arrives. I'm feeling so relaxed knowing that we shouldn't have a problem getting BOTH of us to the hospital when the time comes and not me by myself frantically trying to get in touch with him. God bless the Army. :)

While he was gone I stayed busy by scheduling some dinners with girlfriends and my mini spa day- which was amazing. I'm so glad I did both the wax and massage. Several people warned me about the pain level of the bikini wax being a little crazy for prego ladies, so I went in knowing that it wasn't going to be pretty. Even the waxer was nervous and said that she would stop if it got too bad...but it never did. I mean, it wasn't nice feeling, but I was so relieved to not have to deal with things myself that I got through it. Totally loved the reader comment on that post...glitter! :) The massage was great as well, unfortunately they only will do them through 36 weeks because they can induce labor (umm, hello, can I bribe anyone here?), so I'll be sticking to pedis and leg massages- another great suggestion.

Switching topics completely, football season is here and I am so into it. We are kicking things off with a little get together tonight to watch the Saints and Vikings, and I'm sure we will do it up even bigger for the Skins v. Cowboys game on Sunday. I just realized that none of my Redskins gear currently fits so I'll have to borrow from the hubby. Hah...so attractive. Since we currently reside in "Who Dat" nation, Washington gear is scarce. Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm rooting for the Vikings tonight. Black and Gold is really starting to get on my nerves!

Tomorrow night a few of the girls here are going out for Mexican and pedis in place of a traditional baby shower. I'm definitely looking forward to a mini night out and mexi food, as usual.

This weekend the hubs and I are gonna do some errand running, hospital bag packing, and I'll be finishing thank yous. It's not a crazy life...but these days, it's seriously the best.

To any mommies out there- what were some of your hospital bag essentials? What did you bring and not use at all?

To anyone reading- What are your thoughts on video cameras? I'm not interested in taping the entire birth, but I think it might be neat to do the whole "we're going to the hospital now...here we are in labor...and then- BAM- here's the baby!" Haha...make it look painless and effortless, not show any goo and guts and be a nice little keepsake for the baby one day. Necessary or no?

That's all I have for now...sorry for the jumpy post, but it's been awhile since I've caught everyone up on the day to day stuff!

xo,
H

Week 35 Pics

I actually took these earlier this week, but I've been super busy and haven't had time to post. I'll be around more tomorrow and get caught up. I also have my 36 week appointment tomorrow afternoon, so if anything interesting comes out of that I will update you as well! Yay for the week almost being over...

xo,

H

Pregnancy Week 35

35 weeks down, 35 days to go! (Less now, since I've procrastinated on posting this.) Crazy, crazy. I've been feeling SO much better than last week- thank God. I'll have to do a weekend review and let you in on how my mini spa day went. I think it was helpful. Now it's already Tuesday and this week is almost halfway over. Love it.


How far along?: 35 weeks
Total weight gain: Let's skip this week and I'll update you after my next appointment. Prob around +36. It's pretty out of control. Good thing I'm planning on having a 12lb baby... ;)
Maternity clothes: I just wear whatever works. Some of my "outfits" look borderline rediculous these days, but I refuse to purchase any more maternity clothes. I'm looking forward to investing in some non-maternity Fall lovelies here in a few weeks.
Sleep: Better than earlier last week. I pee alot, I toss and turn, and I deal with it.
Best moment of the week: My pedicure. Those people seriously know what they're doing.
Movement: Yup. Still rocking out like she's listening to music most of the time. I hope she's not into Miley Cyrus or anything creepy like that. (Minus "Party in the USA"...I love/hate to love that damn song.)
Food cravings: Earlier this week it was anything covered in cheese. Now we have moved onto healthier options and I'm back to loving apples and veggies.
Gender: Girl
Belly Button: Same old flat with the top poking out.
Stretchmarks?: None that I can see. I wonder if they will show up when I "deflate"- you know, once she's not in there pushing everything out into a smooth bump?
What I miss: Still too excited to really miss things. I'm getting anxious for wine and jogging, but we're so close that it's not something I dwell on as much as just look forward to.
What I'm looking forward to: Being off work Monday, dinner with lady friends tomorrow night, being full term in 2 weeks! So much to look forward to these days.
Weekly wisdom: It's okay to park in the Expectant Mother parking spot, even if you could totally walk the extra 20 feet from a regular spot. :)
Milestones: This isn't really a milestone, but just for my own notes to look back on...I've been having Braxton Hicks- aka practice contractions - like crazy lately! Nice to know my body is gearing up for the real deal, which seems just around the corner.


...and now, the moment you've all been waiting for...or not, either one:

Kidding. Again...I will post these later today. I'll do it quickly this time and not make you wait for 3 days, I just thought you might prefer a picture where I don't look like a cracked out homeless lady. :) Check back later.

xo,

H

TGIF

Seriously.

What a week. I hit 34 weeks last Saturday and by Monday, felt like I also had gotten hit by a monster truck. It was shocking what a difference I felt physically and mentally in such a short period of time. I went from being on the go and hitting the gym pretty often to wanting to cry due to sheer exhaustion and passing out before 7:30 pm...only to wake up even more tired the next morning. Getting up every hour on the hour doesn't really equate to a good night's sleep, no matter how long you lay there for.

Then came the sore legs.

I know sore. I know how it feels to recover from a 20 mile run and have every step ache. What I don't know is why I'm feeling the same leg, ankle, and foot pain after doing relatively little the day before. It blows my mind.

I'm puffy. This is not an exaggeration. In fact, I weighed myself last night (like an idiot) and saw that I was 4 pounds heavier than at my doctors appointment a week ago...at which I was 4 pounds heavier than the previous appointment 2 weeks prior. 8+ lbs in 3 weeks? This is bloat at it's finest. If another person tells me I'm not I may strike out and stab them in the eye with a cocktail fork, a la "Hot Tub Time Machine". That is all I will say on that topic.

-End annoying pregnant rant-

I'm not the type to complain, although you wouldn't think that after reading the first portion of this post. I effing love being pregnant- and aside from this week, I've been really good at it. More than being tired and achy and puffy, I'm just annoyed because I really didn't see myself feeling this way for another few weeks. Yes my baby is the size of a 37 weeker at this point, but I really wanted to make it to 37 weeks before I hit a wall. I really can't imagine feeling this way for another 5 ish weeks. So, onto Plan: Pamper Myself Like I'm a Pregnant Heidi Klum. You can call it P.M.L.I.A.P.H.K. for short...

Wednesday night I got an amazing, relaxing, foot rejuvenating pedicure. I may get them weekly from here on out. For realsies. Why not? It's a small price to pay to feel human and walk without a slight limp. I don't even think the hubby will argue, but it really isn't up for discussion at this point, so his opinion doesn't count. (Plus mine counts as 2 right now, so I win every time...muahaha!)

Next, I booked a bikini wax (TMI?) and pregnancy massage for Saturday. Depending on how these both go, they may also become regular occurrences for the next few weeks. Hell, I might throw in a some other fun spa treatments, because if now isn't the time to pamper myself, when is?

I'm going to cut back on the gym- or at least the amount of cardio I've been doing and start walking like there's no tomorrow. That coupled with the absurd amounts of water I will make myself consume should help with the bloat. Plus, I'm going to really start eating as best I can. The more good foods I eat, the better I should start feeling right? Just go with it...I already threw out the Mrs. Field's Cookie Ice Cream sandwiches I bought last night.

My goal is to go to my next appointment in a week and not cry when I see the scale. I'm not trying to lose weight, just cut out some of that puffiness so that my legs don't ache and some of my energy returns. I actually feel better already. I'll attribute some of that to the pedi and some just to the sheer excitement I'm feeling about my first ever massage tomorrow. Let's hope this week was a fluke and I'll be back on the happy preggo train in no time. :)

xo,
H

Breastfeeding Basics Class

Today I learned that the nipple has 9 holes. Just a fun fact I thought I'd share with the group.

Hahaha... :)

xo,
H