Grace's Birth Story

Ok, get ready. This is going to be long and probably boring to everyone except myself, but I want a written record of Grace's birthday because one day it won't be so fresh in my mind and I don't want to forget all of the details.

May 19, 2009

I could barely sleep a wink the night before. I awoke at 2am, 3am, and 4:30am and stared at the clock until 5:30 when I finally got out of bed and started getting ready to go to the hospital. Micah woke up around 6:00, we gathered our stuff, Terry prayed over us, and we headed out the door. On the way to the hospital, we stopped by Starbucks for Micah's morning coffee and bran muffin. I was starving, but couldn't eat a thing per the doctor's orders.

We arrived at the hospital and knew which building to go to, but had no clue which floor. We made our best guess, got out of the elevator and found some nurses in the hall who smiled at us, asked us if we were having a baby and kindly directed us to another floor. It was kinda humorous because I'm sure we looked so lost and naive.

We got all checked in at the correct floor, were taken to room 112 and started the whole process. Our nurse was Shelly, the charge nurse for the day. She was great at her job and nice. Another nurse came in to do my i.v. She was super friendly and talkative. I told her about my horrible experience with my i.v. last time and she reassured me that she was the best i.v. giver around....unfortunately she jinxed herself! No problem, because she had used a numbing shot beforehand that made the actual i.v. needle painless. We had to repeat the process on my other arm.

Dr. Williams came by at 8:15 to break my water. Our plan was to do that and see how things went before we decided if I needed any drugs to induce labor more. (Fortunately that didn't have to happen-same with Annalee.)

Micah and I hung out in the room and watched part of a Marky Mark movie about football...exciting, I know. We were in such great spirits, it was nice to have some time with just us before all of the real excitement started. After I was on the baby monitor for a while, they told me I could walk around or sit on the birthing ball (like an exercise ball that's nested in a small rolling chair). I was super excited about this because I wasn't able to get out of the bed with Annalee. I walked some and bounced some, but didn't quite know what to do with my freedom. :)

Around 9:15 Kandi arrived to hang out with us. At this point I was having regular contractions, but they were not very painful. It took things longer this time around to really kick into action. Kandi stayed a couple of hours, the nurse checked me and I was at 5 centimeters at about 11:30, and then Mom arrived to hang out too.

About an hour later my contractions were getting stronger, Summer and the Beck's arrived with Annalee and we did more hanging out. I was off and on the monitor still and was able to sit on my bouncy ball and give Annalee her 'big sister bag' full of toys from Grace. She was so excited and wanted to open them all right there.

Then the anaesthesiologist came in to tell me that he had a meeting to attend soon and if I wanted my epidural anytime soon I had better go ahead and get it. I really felt like I could last a little longer, but I certainly didn't want to miss my opportunity! At that point I sent everyone out of the room, I received a dose of some loopy medicine to help with the pain and anxiety of the epidural and then the doctor came to do it. In the meantime, Papa strolled Annalee around so that she could get a nap in before baby sister arrived.

By this time, I was really glad that I went ahead and told him to do the epidural because I was in quite a bit of pain. He did his thing and I was so relieved at the thought of the pain going away...only it didn't! Actually it went away in splotchy areas. It was really weird. I couldn't feel my feet, but I could feel the right side of my back and my stomach. After waiting for 15-20 minutes they called the doc back in to give me another dose of the medicine. After another 15-20 minutes of waiting for that to work and being in severe agony (my contractions were every minute!) they finally decided that the whole epidural needed redone. The doc ripped the tape off of my back, took out the old epidural and started all over from scratch. The first one had slipped out of my back slightly and this was causing it to only work in patches. About 15 minutes later I was a new woman! By this point I was 8 centimeters. During all of that drama, someone came to deliver the most beautiful flower arrangement from Kandi! I was in a weird state of pain and drowsiness from the loopy medicine. I really wanted to look at them, but my eyes wouldn't let me.

Everyone came back into the room for a little while. My old neighbor, Susi, even stopped by. Then my doctor came in to tell me that the lady next door needed a c-section because her baby wasn't coming out. She said that she wanted to check me one last time, and if I was ready then I could go first. Guess what? I won.

The nurse started running around getting the bed ready for Grace and things went pretty fast from that point. My contractions were still one minute apart, I had four of them in four minutes, and she was born at 4:43pm! It was, of course, pretty amazing to experience. It was a calm birth that went perfectly. God is truly amazing and blessed us beyond belief.

We spent time with Grace, I nursed her, and then Micah went to get Annalee. She was so adorable when she came in the room. She had the biggest smile on her face and she said "baby Grace came out of your tummy?" It was priceless. We spent time just the four of us and then Micah went out to get his parents, my mom and Summer. All in all, it was a great labor and delivery. I was only in misery the hour or so it took to get my epidural to work. I am so thankful that she is here, healthy, and happy.

By the way, it took about 4 hours for my epidural to wear off enough for me to be able to walk. I guess the triple dose of numbing medicine did the trick.

All dressed and ready to go home. The picture people never showed up, so we left without getting a hospital picture! Sorry Grace. :(

Heading home!

Sweet Baby Grace

Sweet baby Grace is finally here! She arrived at 4:43pm weighing in at 8 pounds on the dot and 20 inches long. We had an exciting day, that's for sure. The Lord definitely blessed us with another precious daughter. She is healthy and very happy. I want to chronicle the whole day's events, but I have to gather my thoughts and consult with Micah and my mom on the exact timeline. I will tell you that I had to have my i.v. done twice, as well as my epidural! And that I only pushed for 4 minutes (a huge deal to me since I pushed for an hour with Annalee.) Off to get some rest.



Last belly picture, you're welcome Kandi! :)




Meeting big sister for the first time...Annalee couldn't have been sweeter or more excited to meet Grace.




First bath...look at all those suds!




All clean and under the warmer for a few minutes.

The Big Day

Finally, good news to report from my doctor! Looks like tomorrow morning at 7am I'll be checking myself into the hospital to have a baby! I had my last appointment today and the doc gave me the green light. We are excited and anxious and would really appreciate your prayers for a safe and quick delivery. I'll try to post pictures as soon as I can.

Still here, still pregnant

Hello folks,

It's me, sitting in front of my computer at home and not in a hospital bed! I had a doctor's appointment this morning and she recommended that I wait another few days before we try to induce this sweet girl. She said she would send me to the hospital if I wanted to go, but I'd have to be on pitocin all day and probably have a long labor with the possibility of a c-section at the end...no thanks. Although the thought of having a baby today was nice, I don't want to do anything that will put us at risk for complications. So, here we wait. I have another appointment on Monday and we'll see how things are going then. I'll leave you with a fun pic of Annalee and her daddy taking a bubble bath last night!

Day O' Fun

I'm so very thankful to my husband and my mother-in-law for allowing me to have a day all to myself today! Jodie gave me a gift certificate to have a pregnancy facial, and today was the day for it. Micah ended up taking the day to spend with Annalee. They rode the train to Dallas and went to the aquarium downtown. He said that they had a blast. Since they were gone all day, not only was I able to get my facial, but I also had a pedicure and did some shopping for myself too! I sure did buy myself a pair of "regular" pants and a shirt...hey, someday I will get out of these maternity clothes, right? :) Speaking of not being pregnant, I also had a doctor's appointment this morning and we were supposed to schedule my induction for next week, but she said I hadn't changed much from last week. Boo. I have an early morning appointment next Wednesday and I can bring my hospital bag just in case everything looks favorable, but no guarantees. Double boo. I'll keep you posted.

More Milestones

We were greeted this morning with a sweet little voice right by our bed! Annalee is still sleeping in her crib (we didn't want too many changes all at once with the move and the new baby soon), but today she decided that she would climb out of it! She actually did this twice yesterday before nap time and it didn't take her long to become a pro. Needless to say, we converted her crib into a toddler bed today. She was pretty proud of her new found freedom. I knew tonight would be interesting getting her to bed, but what happened was downright hilarious. After we did our night-time routine, we had a little talk about staying in the bed and calling for us when she awoke in the morning. (I can at least try, right?) I left her room and a few minutes later I heard her calling for me. I was pretty proud that our little talk had worked. I went back in, we sang some more and then it was night-night time again. It was quiet for almost 30 minutes, so I was pretty sure she had gone to sleep without any problems. Then I started hearing a thumping sound and after that something that sounded like one of her toys. When I went to check on her, she had gotten into her closet and put on a pair of shoes, turned on one of her lamps, and was just cooking away at her kitchen set!! As soon as I opened the door and she saw me she busted out in tears! Amazing. Let's just hope we get this down before Grace gets her in a couple of weeks!

Our other milestone is potty training. I bought her a potty a few months ago just so we would have it and she could get used to the idea of it. I had absolutely no intention of potty training her (I still don't!) I've heard so many people tell me that it's best to follow their lead and not force anything. Plus, if there are major life changes going on in addition, it can make it much harder. I was just going to wait it out as long as she needed to. Is that terrible that I would rather change diapers than deal with potty training at this point?! Anyway, I say all of that to say that she is pretty much potty training herself without me! She will come to me several times a day and ask to go to the potty. She'll take her pants and diaper off and start to go without any assistance. This morning she woke up with a dry diaper and peed in the potty first thing after she woke up. What? I guess we'll be car shopping by next week and picking out colleges. How do they grow up so fast? Crazy.

Easter

It's not too late to post Easter pics, right. Here are some from Annalee's 3rd Easter.

We managed to dye real eggs for the first time, but somehow forgot to hide and hunt them! Oops.

Tough Day

Well, today was kinda tough. I said goodbye to my house. I know it's just a house and there will be others that I love, but it was still sad. I met my cleaning lady there this afternoon and worked a little while she cleaned the main stuff. I had lots of time to sit on my porch swing for the last time and reminisce.

We had a huge porch on that house and that's where we spent lots of time. I loved to sit on the swing and talk on the phone. We endearingly called ourselves porch monkeys because we were out there so much. My house was great too, to me. Annalee's nursery was so cozy. It was the smallest room in the house, but I liked it that way. I loved my huge closet, very uncharacteristic of that style house (the 1920's), but someone at some point enclosed a back porch area to make it. Micah's bathroom was hilarious...teeny tiny. I've never seen a sink as small as his. But, just like everything else in that house, it worked for us.

We were so blessed with the greatest neighbor in the world, Ms. Susi. She loved Annalee like her own grandchild. I trusted her like a relative. She even took Annalee on a walk and to the neighborhood park once. Annalee loved her too. I could also go on and on about the neighborhood itself. I will really miss being able to walk to so many neat things close by. We used to walk up to the botanic gardens, the museums, Central Market, our favorite custard shop, and of course the Wardlaws house. We even walked to downtown once, although that was a little far for my liking!

Lots of things happened in that house; we brought home our first baby, lost our first dog, hosted many get togethers, started a company, etc, etc. Although we've closed the chapter of that part of our life, I am excited to see what God has in store for us next. We would appreciate your prayers as we enter this new phase of life and we are still waiting on direction from Him for exactly where we'll be in several months. Thanks for letting me ramble on about my house, it's just been a sentimental kind of day.

The Big Move

Well, I survived. Yesterday was moving day and everything went off without a hitch. Micah is working quite a bit these days and with my whole pregnancy situation, we decided it was high time to hire some movers! That was the best money I've spent in a long time. We decided to use a company that is staffed by off-duty firefighters. I figured that was the safest bet in case I went into labor! Fortunately, we only had to use their delivery services for our stuff, not our baby! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post today, but hopefully I can at least get one of our storage unit. I honestly don't think we could fit a toothpick in that thing now, it is packed to the brim...floor to ceiling! We have a few more things to tie up at the house before Wednesday and I need to get my stuff organized at the Beck's, but all in all I'm feeling pretty good.

For the Morbidly Curious!

Ok, so I'm not big on standing alone and getting my picture taken, especially when the purpose is just to see how humongous my stomach is!! But some of you have asked for belly pics, so here's what you get! This was taken at a diaper shower that some of my sweet friends threw for me last weekend. Thanks so much girls, it was awesome!

Here's me in all my glory at nearly 34 weeks. I talked with my doctor and she is more than happy to induce me at 39 weeks if "everything looks favorable." You can use your imagination as to what that means exactly! So, by my calculations, that is in exactly 5 weeks! Yikes.

Does this really need explaining?

Bring It!

Well, it's official. We are homeless (as of April 15th). Our buyers option period ended today and we are set to close in a little over 2 weeks. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing, but I know in the long run all of these changes will be better for our family. In the meantime (while we are still trying to figure out what we want to do when we grow up!) we are moving in with Micah's parents. I reserved our storage unit today and packing will officially start tomorrow! I am going to try really hard not to over do it. I have already had several people offer to come over and help me and I am graciously going to accept, so if you offer, be ready for me to schedule a day for you! We also hired the off-duty firemen to help with the bulk of the move. This is going to be interesting, but I am up for the adventure. Next time you hear from me I'll be up to my ears in boxes.

This girl loves a carousel

We have a new favorite attraction at the zoo these days, the carousel! Looks like we'll be riding it every time we go this summer.

Thieves

I am so sick to my stomach today....thieves stole our jogging stroller from the side of our house last night! We used that thing a ton, and even worse, it was on loan from our generous Aunt Kandi!! Glad we're getting out of this shady neighborhood soon. :) Just kidding, I don't think our neighborhood is shady, but apparently there are some dishonest people here! Who would steal from a baby???!!!

YIKES!

We have a contract on our house!! We actually have a back-up contract as well in case this one falls through. Thank you for all of your prayers, they worked! We have a 10-day option period, so after that is up I will officially be a crazy lady trying to get everything packed and ready to go. I secretly love to pack and organize/clean out as I go, so I am kinda looking forward to it. Although, I've never done it with a big belly in the way!

Some New Fav Products

I haven't done a list of some of my favorite products lately, and I have a few new ones to add to my list, so here it goes.

Annalee loves taking bubble baths and for several weeks now I've been wishing that there were a baby friendly bubble bath...well what do you know?? Johnson and Johnson came out with one! It smells really good and is safe for their little eyes, plus it doubles as a body wash. On top of that, I found a $1 off coupon for it in last Sunday's paper-even better.

I've also discovered a new sippy cup that I really like for her. She has started chewing on the tip of her cups (she can drink from a regular cup, but for independence sake and the sake of her type A momma, she has to have a sippy cup). I found one at Walmart for .97 that is BPA free, comes in fun colors, doesn't have annoying characters on it and has a hard plastic spout that should be pretty indestructible. We shall see. (this is the closest picture I could find, our spout is hard plastic, not clear silicone).

This was on my list of favorites when I was pregnant with Annalee and is back on it for this pregnancy. Mimi Maternity stretch mark cream! I slather up with this stuff everyday and so far we are free and clear of the lovely marks. The only pain is that you can only get it at Mimi Maternity and it's about $20 a bottle, but to me it's totally worth it. (I usually have to buy about 3 bottles per pregnancy).

Baskets and containers...can't live without them. If you open just about any cabinet, closet or drawer in my house, you will find plenty of them. I love the little white shallow ones that you can get in a 3 or 4 pack at walmart for a couple of bucks. They are great for holding baby socks in drawers, small tupperware lids, odds and ends in the "junk drawer." You name it, it's probably in a basket or container at my house.

Target brand sensitive baby wipes. Love them. A.) they're cheap! B.) they won't tear apart

What more could you ask for?

Method granite cleaner. We recently updated our kitchen and I am terrified of damaging our granite, don't know why! But I found a daily cleaner that smells really fresh and makes the counter tops sparkle.

Pregnancy Brain

My brain is an absolute jumbled mess these days!! Just today I managed to misplace a package of hot dogs and spent 30 minutes looking for them, only to find them in the meat drawer in the fridge...that would have been a good place to start looking Lori! I also thought I had lost my phone and spent the majority of the day thinking it was missing, only to discover that I had it in my pocket the whole time. Oh, there's more. We had a cookout at our house for some friends and I came in the house 3 times to get a plate and left 3 times without a plate! I also left my diaper bag and wallet at a friend's house all day and I never leave it anywhere. And that was just today.

In addition, I am completely scatter brained about what I need to do to get ready for this baby. I feel lost and confused! I pretty much haven't done a single thing in order for her arrival. Part of that problem is the fact that our house is for sale and I don't know where I'll be living when she does arrive. On that note, please say a prayer for the sale of our house. I am getting really tired of showing it at the drop of a hat and it's getting really hard for me to bend over and clean everyday. We've shown it 37 times since Christmas! That makes me tired just thinking about it!

Ok, I feel better.

Just For Fun

Daddy took this picture the other night. We are slowly making our way through the hundreds of books that I have from my teaching years. Annalee loves to pick out new ones to read every few nights. This one was about a dog...things she loves in pictures, but is absolutely terrified of in person!

Another favorite past time, coloring. She loves to color (and can now identify the colors red, orange, blue, purple, green, yellow, brown, and pink). I took her picture without her looking at me first, and she stopped me and said, "No, I say cheese Mama!" So then I took this one!

Another, 'take my picture while I say cheese' moment!

My Little Ice Skater and Sledder

Here are the videos as promised. Enjoy.

More Breckenridge Pics

Jodie just e-mailed me some more pics of our trip.


Here are the guys on their dog sledding adventure. They were each able to drive the dog sled by themselves and also ride as a passenger.


More sledding



Annalee loved her snowsuit and boots. One night she worked and worked to get her boots on over her jammies...so proud!



Jo Jo and Papa with their horse "Blondie" before their sleigh ride.




The whole gang waiting for the horses.

Micah and Annalee made this snowman on our balcony the day we arrived! Annalee missed it so much that when we arrived home, Micah had to make one out of paper balls before she would go to sleep.

Lovin' the snow!