This is part 2 of Adeline’s birth story. (Click here for Part 1)

I checked into triage again, only to find out that I was at 5cm and 70% effaced- and it was almost 19 hours since active labor began. We got moved up to our labor & delivery room at Bethesda North and things started to go downhill. I struggled through contractions for the next few hours, it’s really all a blur. I wasn’t handling the labor well. I couldn’t relax my body to let the contractions do the work they were supposed to do. My body was exhausted, and the contractions were absolutely overpowering. At 5pm Daniel and I started to talk about getting an epidural and at 6pm, we started the process of getting one placed. I mentioned in my “birth preferences” post that I wanted to do this birth completely natural. I am astounded of how my body made it through 22+ hours of labor before I decided to get the epidural. I am SO happy that we made the decision to get the epidural, it made the rest of my labor and delivery experience SO positive.

Anyways, the epidural was placed, I was at 7cm and 90% effaced and I “labored” and even got in a few short naps. I am so very thankful that I didn’t beat myself up over getting an epidural. I knew going into labor that my end goal was a healthy baby and I hoped that would also be healthy at the end of he day. 7cm-10cm is the “transition” stage of labor, a notoriously difficult part of labor where the body prepares to bring baby into the world. I was so weak and mentally exhausted before the epidural, and again, I’m so thankful that I got a chance to gain back some strength and energy for bringing sweet Adeline into the world.

My epidural was started around 6pm, my water was broken around 11pm and I was at 9cm and 90%. At 1am I was fully dilated to 10cm and it was time to meet baby! My doctor, Dr. Wall was fantastic. He came about an hour before we started pushing and was just such a calming presence. He kept the lights in the room low (no huge, glaring exam light) and we tured on an Enya CD. I invited my mom, Daniel’s mom and his sister Becky to stay for the delivery. Daniel’s entire family had come up earlier on Sunday, but things were moving slowly and most had to get back to Louisville for work the following day. I’m so glad I got to share the experience of Adeline’s arrival with Trish and Becky and my Mom!

Anyways, we started pushing at 1am, I had a little bit of feeling in a nickel-sized area, so I could feel when a contraction was happening. During each contraction, I sucked in a huge breath, pushed for 10 seconds and immediately repeated twice more. I tried my best to give good, strong pushes. Time seemed to FLY by! My contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart during the pushing stage, so I had a lot of rest in between. Daniel, Trish and my mom took turns supporting one of my legs (you can’t feel/move your legs with an epidural) and I ended up pushing for a little over 1 hour. There was one big push followed by some smaller “grunting” pushes and our sweet Adeline entered the world at 2:14am on Monday, October 1, 2012.

Dr. Wall immediately placed Adeline on my chest, and she actually had the cord wrapped around her neck two times. It was really frightening at first to see my baby with a weird purple color, but once that cord was off of her neck, she pinked up right away. She cried for a few minutes but after we started talking to her, she calmed down and opened her eyes to explore her new world.

I did have a tear, but Dr. Wall did a marvelous job stitching me up and my healing is going well. Then it was time to deliver the placenta, the life source for our little girl. Dr. Wall left the umbilical cord attached tot he placenta until he was finished stitching, so baby got all of her precious cord blood. He delivered the placenta, and Daniel cut the umbilical cord.

Our little girl was fully in our world now, and I was in awe. Actually, I was probably in a bit of shock because I never cried at her birth (my “first tears” happened the next day). We passed our sweet girl around and stayed in the Labor and Delivery room for 2 hours before being moved down to Recovery. I was able to nurse Adeline in the delivery room, and I am thankful that we established the breastfeeding connection early. She has done FANTASTIC with eating, and I know that part of that is probably because we got started pretty early on in the game!

Daniel and I let Adeline go to the nursery on the first night, we were both exhausted. Those 3 hours of sleep were the most glorious zzzz’s I’ve ever gotten. Later Monday morning, we decided on her name.

Adeline Alexandria Cooper
“Noble defender of men”

6lbs, 11.2oz, 19.5 inches long

I’ll try to get a post up on how we chose her name!

So, in short, labor was long (8pm on Saturday till 1am on Monday), pushing was a fantastic experience (1.5 hours) and choosing to get an epidural was absolutely the best decision for me.

Recovery is going great- Adeline’s bilirubin levels were elevated when we left the hospital (on Tuesday afternoon), and they were high at her first pediatrician appointment the following day. We’re feeding her as much as possible and she’s making poo like a champ. We’re praying that everything gets back down to a good level, and miss Adeline is acting exactly as she should.

I’m feeling better and better each day. Today (day 4 post partum), I have minimal swelling and my stitches are healing nicely. We took Adeline to the dog park last night so Silas could burn off some energy and I walk at what seems like a snail’s pace. I’m just planning on slowly (VERY slowly) returning to more “normal” activities. Taking care of a baby takes a lot out of you! I plan on doing a monthly “Post Partum” update, we’ll see how that actually goes though! I’m just really proud of my body for feeling so great just a few days after her birth, and I’m still shocked at how much milk I am making!!! God has designed us in a wonderful way!

Okay, well I think I wrote enough for this post. We are so thrilled for Adeline to be in our lives, and thank you for letting me share her story of how she came into our world.

Adeline took a while to come into our world, here is the first part of her story.

Just a friendly warning, I’m not being shy with details. I found a lot of enjoyment reading other women’s stories, and I want to have record of everything that went on.

One more note, I could NOT have done any of this without the love and support of Daniel. He was strong, encouraging and loving. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I love and appreciate him so much more deeply and intimately than before Adeline came into our lives. And I can’t imagine the experience  we would have had without the support and coaching from my mom. Thank you mom, I love you and appreciate you so much!

I hit 40 weeks, my due date on Friday, September 28th. My dear friend, Ashley was kind enough to spend some of my “due date” afternoon with me! I knew labor probably wasn’t going to start that day because I hadn’t really felt much different. I put up our 39 week recap on our due date, and spent some time with Daniel and Silas. Daniel and I decided to go to Jungle Jim’s where I thought I might have had a few mild contractions, but it may have just been gas

Saturday rolled around and I found some “bloody show” that morning. Daniel and I went to our favorite park for some outdoors time. I took a walk for about an hour and then went to the grocery (in hopes that it would be my last grocery trip). I napped a bit on Saturday afternoon and Daniel and I decided to go see Brave at the dollar theater.

(source)

We decided to go to Target for a while just to kill some time. I started noticing very mild contractions (squeezing) on our way to the movie, coming about every 7-10 minutes and lasting no longer than 30 seconds.

By the time we got home from Target, around 10:30, I started to use the Full Term Labor & Contraction App on our iTouch to time the contractions. They were coming every 4-6 minutes, lasting for 30 seconds or so. Daniel and I just hung out for a while, he would start and stop the timer while I bounced on our exercise ball. The intensity of the contractions started to pick up around one or two am and we took a walk around the block. It was quite chilly that night! We did have the light of a full moon, and Daniel’s mom thought that the baby might be born on a full moon night!

(source)

We labored at home until about 6am, when things kind of died down. I didn’t call the doctor or the hospital, but I should have. Prior to the contractions tapering off, they were definitely bearable, but I was having to stop what I was doing and lean up against a doorway and sway my hips. We went to the hospital, I had maybe one contraction in the car but they had stopped by the time I got to triage.

7am- Arrive at hospital, get checked into triage, 3cm and 70% effaced. We are offered the option to stay, but I was pretty sleepy and emotional by this point (about 12 hours into “labor” and definitely 5-6 hours into the more intense parts of labor). We went home and I actually got to sleep for about an hour before contractions picked up again.

I hopped in the shower around 10am and the contractions started to intensify. My mom had called earlier and she was going to come up to Cincinnati for the day, and she said she would be available if I wanted or needed her help. Around 11am I called her and asked her to come over because the contractions were picking up in intensity and I was needing coaching to get through them. I wanted Daniel to be able to rest, because had already been up the whole night with me. My mom helped me through some tough labor. Silas was pretty concerned and he stayed in the room with us for most of the day.

We played an Enya station on Pandora and I used an exercise ball placed on top of our bed as support for my arms and head while leaning over and swaying my hips (and making moaning noises) during a contraction. I rested in a chair placed a few feet from the bed. Daniel took Silas to the dog park and by the time he got back home around 2pm, I was having VERY strong contractions (but I was able to breathe, rock, moan and groan through them pretty successfully). Around 6pm, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes, and they were lasting about a minute. I had 4 or 5 terribly painful contractions in the car on the way to the hospital and I had a very loud contraction in the elevator with a very understanding stranger…

Part 2 is coming

Baby was the size of a WATERMELON!!!

Well, not too much excitement this week! Last week, Silas and I walked 22 miles!!! How cool is that? We’ve been getting out for at least 45 minutes each day, and then sometimes we’ll get out for a second short walk later in the evening (and the cat, Mowgli, usually comes with us too).

Anyways, we spent last Saturday walking all around Cincinnati when my mom and brother came to visit! It was great to show them around our “new” city- we visited Eden Park (where Daniel bouldered for a while), and we walked around Mt. Adams as we tried to find the “Farmers Market”. Turns out that it was a tiny little setup with a water cleaning company, supplements and one tiny produce stand. I need to get down to the Hyde Park Farmer’s market, it’s on my “to-do” list for THIS Sunday!

Well, our due date is today, Friday, September 28th. And we don’t have a baby… yet. BUT- my two dear friends from high school (the ones in the “triple baby shower” post) have both had their little boys! Amber welcomed her son Mason last Tuesday, and Melanie and her husband had little baby Levi this past Tuesday! And…. another friend had her little boy, Graham a few weeks ago as well! Our little one has two new little friends to meet!

Pregnancy Stats

• Weight gain: Holding at 11lbs (or 16lbs if you count what I lost in the first trimester)
• Baby’s Heart Rate: 140′s this time (it’s ALWAYS different!)
• Signs of Labor: Just a few Braxton Hicks while walking (tightening), still at 1cm and 50% effaced (same as last week)
• Rings: Back on at night actually, I guess maybe I had a few nights of swelling over the past few weeks? I don’t know, but I can wear them again when sleeping.
• Number of Bathroom Trips: 4x at night. Probably TMI
• Cravings: Anything sweet sounds good! Found some Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows at Walmart (they smell better than they taste, but they still taste delicious) and Daniel brought home some “just because” Pumpkin ice cream this week after work
• Nesting: I keep freezing stuff. I froze leftover enchilada sauce, I froze a giant batch of enchiladas, I froze whatever amount of spaghetti squash wouldn’t fit in a Tupperware, I froze extra homemade pumpkin butter. Our freezer is PACKED. And now that I think about it, it’s kind of silly that I keep freezing random amounts of strange foods!
• Names: We keep going back and forth on names! We’ve added another potential to our list… our baby has to have a name!!! Oh well, we’ll just keep talking about it until something clicks!
• How I’m Feeling: Actually, pretty darn good despite being 39 weeks pregnant. I think I felt “crappier” last week! My ribs are getting pretty sore, and I sometimes have to take Tums 2x per day because of heartburn, but I feel relatively “normal” despite my belly poking out!

I cried when we got home from our doctor’s appointment. I told Daniel that I was frustrated and just sad that I hadn’t progressed since last week. BUT, he sweetly reminded me that our little girl is doing so much important growing and maturing, and that I should be thankful that my body is doing such a good job of getting her ready for this world. The doctor did tell us “Whenever you want to meet your baby, we can make that happen. It won’t be pleasant, and it’s not something that we like to do- but you all get to call the shots. If you want an induction, it’s yours. If you want a c-section, we can do that.” As much as I want to meet our little one, I want even more for things to get going on their own, and I really would like an un-medicated birth. Fortunately, Daniel is 100% on board with letting my body do it’s thing, so I know if I ever get close to the edge of just wanting an induction, he’ll calmly talk me back from that ledge! So yes- I guess I just came away slightly ‘disappointed’ with myself at not having made any changes since my last appointment but I CANNOT beat myself up about that! I’m going to really try to focus on really ENJOYING these last few days before our daughter comes! That means: lots of walks with Silas, lots of quality time with Daniel, naps, cooking, trips to the store by myself and more. I spent some time with Ashley and Lydia this past week as well, and I’m so thankful to have a friend who is a mommy close by And Lydia kept giving me the cutest “angry” face while I visited, check out Ashley’s blog for Miss Lydia’s unbelievable cuteness!

Okay, that’s all till next week (or until she is BORN!)

Finally getting a “nursery tour” posted! Yahoo! We spent around $300 on our nursery- and most of that cost came from the purchase of our Pack ‘n Play and our glider! We repurposed a lot of items we already had and made artwork to give the room a little bit of personality!

We didn’t really have any “theme” in mind for the nursery. I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money, so I made some decorations for the walls. We’re also just using the Pack ‘n Play as our bassinet/crib until our little one is too big! I wanted to keep the things that we purchased fairly gender neutral, and I added in some purple as an accent color in some of the artwork!

From the door looking towards the left:

• Glider from Walmart
• Daniel’s file storage/nursing table
• Basket ‘o Blankets (will probably move this basket out to the living room so we have blankets out there)
• Dresser we found on the side of the road
• Changing table (repurposed desk)

Another view:

• Basket of books under the desk
• Laundry basket and nursing pillow

“Artwork” over Changing Table:

This art project was really easy. I just traced circles of different sizes onto purple tissue paper. I cut them out and then used Modge-Podge to adhere them to a piece of foam board. It was super simple, and I’m really happy with how it turned out!

From the door, looking towards the right:

• Closet (not pictured)
• Pack ‘n Play
• Bouncy Chair
• Mirror that I don’t know what to do with…

Close-up of the sleeping area with homemade tissue “flowers”

We practiced swaddling the bear! Can you see him in the changing table above?

Watercolor artwork (between the closet door and the Pack ‘n Play)

This was really easy as well. I just measured out a 1cm grid on a sheet of paper, and then I painted each square in with watercolors! I liked that I could choose which colors to put in each square! The frame was $1 from Goodwill, I purchased a bunch of frames (you can see them piled up on top of the dresser) and a can of white spray paint. I’m not sure where or if I’ll use the other frames, but they all match now!

Artwork above the glider/nursing station:

I purchased a 4 pack of 8×10 canvases from the craft store, 2 sheets of felt and a bottle of black and white acrylic paint. The top “prints” are simply toilet paper rolls that were dipped in paint. The bottom pieces of “art” are elephants cut out of two different colors of felt. I found the silhouettes online and just traced them onto the felt. I used Modge-Podge to adhere them to the canvas.

So there you have it! I’m sure we’ll be spending lots of time in the nursery (especially for nursing) and I’m really glad that there is a lot of open carpet space in the middle of the room for playtime! As far as sleeping goes, we’re planning on pulling the Pack n’ Play into our room for the first few weeks to make it easier during those nighttime feedings. I still may take baby girl into the nursery for those feedings so I don’t wake up Daniel, or we may move the glider into our room. We’ll see!

I think we spent around $30 for all of the art projects (including the unused frames). We purchased the Pack ‘n Play and the glider ($270 total). My mom found the bouncy seat and un-pictured swing for $15 at a garage sale. We repurposed a desk as the changing table, found a dresser, used a milk crate for book storage and used Daniel’s filing cabinet as a “table” in the nursing corner (free). We already had the curtains, mirror, and baskets and the rest of the items in the room were gifts. So there you have it, a nursery for about $300!

Baby is the size of a pumpkin! Perfect timing with the fall weather!

I thought that maybe I should be better about getting these recaps out “on time”, who knows when the mini will make her arrival!

Pregnancy Stats

• Weight Gain: 11lbs (made up for that little loss last week!) or 16lbs if you count the weight that I lost in the first trimester
• Baby’s Heart Rate: 120′s
• Swelling: Nope
• Rings: If i remember to put them on…
• Sleeping: Just fine! I do get to take a 45-60min nap most days Don’t try to reach me around 2 or 3pm…
• Signs of Labor: 1cm dilated and 50% effaced at my appointment on Monday. AND, I actually had 2 hours of irregular contractions (30-45sec contractions, anywhere from 2-5 minutes apart) on Tuesday night! Daniel was headed to Lexington on Wednesday morning for a work conference, and I’m glad I didn’t tell him anything that night because I had trouble sleeping!!! Anyways- that was a one-time thing, but it’s making me more and more excited for real labor to start! I want to meet our baby!
• **Edited to add**: Last night (Thursday) I had about 4 hours of pretty regular contractions- 45 sec contractions, 4.5-5 minutes apart. Not painful, just pressure! And then they just stopped We’ll see when this baby wants to arrive!

How I’m Feeling

First of all, thank you so much for all of the encouragement on last week’s post. Love you all I’m definitely starting to feel more uncomfortable, especially in the evenings. My lower back has been aching quite a bit- it makes me never want to pick up anything off of the ground ever again. Daniel had to push me off of the couch the other night, it’s just getting harder to do things with a belly in the way! I’m being dramatic, but I suppose it’s neat to be feeling different- change is coming!!! Still walking a lot. I think I only lifted at the gym once this past week!

I’ve been making a lot more time-intensive recipes these past few weeks. We had bibimbap on Monday, homemade potato soup on Tuesday (recipe below, froze half), homemade pork and white bean chili on Thursday and we’re headed out for dinner with friends tonight! I also made a batch of 5 ingredient dog treatsfor Silas!

Bibimbap!!

Easy Potato Soup

(6-8 servings)

Ingredients

8 Russet Potatoes, washed and cubed
2T Butter
2c. diced Onion
1c. diced Carrots (about 2 carrots)
1c. diced Celery (about 3-4 stalks of celery)
Water, Vegetable Broth or Chicken Broth
1/2 c. lowfat Sour Cream
Milk, Half-and-Half

Directions

1. Prep all of your veggies.
2. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté till veggies start to soften (onions will be clear).
3. Add cubed potatoes to veggies, just barely cover the veggies with your water/broth. I used mostly water and maybe 2c. chicken broth.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for about 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
5. Remove from heat, use a spoon or potato masher to mash up the veggies until the soup is as chunky or as smooth as you would like.
6. Stir in 1/2c. sour cream. Add in milk or half-and-half until desired thinness is achieved.
7. Season with salt and pepper
8. Serve with shredded cheese and a sprinkling of chives!

Look for a nursery poston Monday! Off to enjoy the weekend (who knows, this could be the last one as a family of 2!)

P.S. This is what it looks like when I sit down. I feel like I have a large beach ball sitting on my lap!

Baby was the size of a winter melon (18.9-20.9 inches, and 6.2-9.2lbs)

We’ve reached what the medical world likes to call “FULL TERM!” Well, we’re past full term now, but if baby girl came last week, she probably wouldn’t have had too many issues with breathing on her own! Sweet! I’ve got to say, it’s pretty neat that my body has been able to grow a HUMAN BEING to the point where she could enter the world without many problems!

Pregnancy Stats

• Weight Gain: -1lb from last week (apparently it’s normal to lose/not gain at the end of pregnancy) which brings my total weight gain to 9lbs (or 14lbs if you include the weight I lost in the first trimester)
• Swelling: Nope
• Stretch Marks: Somehow missed out on those too, darn
• Rings: On during the day, off at night
• Sleeping: Interrupted by bathroom breaks. I’m looking forward to having a little buddy to hang out with during those middle of the night wake-ups
• Hunger: I definitely feel like my stomach has more space. There were a few weeks where I felt like I could only eat a few bites of a meal, but now I don’t have much of an issue at all eating a full meal!
• Cravings: Nothing really, although I did mention to Daniel that I really wanted a McDonald’s ice cream cone and he convinced me that I needed one (I was just going to eat some yogurt once we got home, but I’m pretty happy that I got the ice cream instead). I put salt on some cantaloupe for the first time this week and it was amazing.
• Signs of Labor: None. Baby girl just sits LOW sometimes on walks, but I feel perfectly normal about 95% of the time! Getting off of the couch and rolling over in bed is becoming more difficult just because I can’t use my abs, but no other signs that would suggest she’ll be making her appearance anytime soon!

I’m Scared

Well, this is going to be the not-so-fun and honest part of this week’s post. So far during this pregnancy, I haven’t really freaked out very much. Sure, I cried when we found out that we were pregnant and I felt 100% responsible for this HUGE life change that we were about to go through. Daniel had a few “we’re having a baby” freak-outs, but I really haven’t had any… until this week. I was already kind of on edge (emotionally) when Daniel was gone Thursday-Sunday to attend a wedding in Georgia. We both told our little one that she was NOT allowed to come while daddy was gone (she did a great job of staying put!) But there were a few nights when he was gone that I started to get nervous about not being able to reach him if labor started. More than that, he was 10+ hours away and I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get home! But, once he got back safe and sound, I think the reality set in that we’re having a baby, and we’re having a baby SOON.

Picture sent to Daniel while he was gone

I don’t really like having plans set in stone. I’d rather keep my options open and decide when the time comes if I want to proceed with what had been “planned”. In the past, that part of me has made me a flaky and unreliable. So, when I started to think about the permanence of a baby (our CHILD) in our lives, I seriously thought to myself “I wonder if it’s too late to put her up for adoption”. The devil is obviously tugging on those strings of self doubt and second-guessing. Of course, I don’t REALLY want to give up our baby for adoption, but I’ve just kind of been avoiding the whole “I’m about to have a child” thing for the past 9 months and the worries are setting in. I’m really excited to be a mom, but when I try to think about how life is going to change, I get scared. I’m VERY thankful that I have such a wonderful support system- Daniel, our families, our old friends and our new friends.

But, I worry that I won’t be able to handle everything. I’m worried that my relationship with my husband will suffer. I’m worried that I’ll just get lost in “baby world” and that I’ll unintentionally lose touch with the things that I love. I know all of my fears and anxieties are probably pretty normal, and I’ve been praying that God just eases the fear of the unknown. I’ve been praying for peace and for strength, and I’m already “praying in advance” for those times when I know I’m going to need some help from the Lord.

After my little “freak out” sessions, I’ve walked away feeling even more excited about meeting our child. I am filled with a sense of renewed energy and gratitude of being able to go through this pregnancy journey. I am so excited to see how our little one changes me and how she will change our lives. I know that God gave us the gift of pregnancy, and I know He will equip us with what we need as we enter the world of parenting.

Fun Fact

Did you know that newborns can survive for longer than adults can without food or water? Their adorable squishy layer of baby fat helps to provide them with extra nutrition and they have relatively low metabolic rates (I mean, they’re not running around or anything), and babies tend to survive in disaster situations! Here’s a neat article on babies who survived the Earthquake in Haiti, and another article about a baby who was rescued after an Earthquake in Turkey. I just thought that it was so neat that God has equipped them to survive for a while if conditions aren’t ideal!

If our glider comes in this week, the 38th week update will have a little “Nursery Tour”!

Baby is the size of a honeydew!

36 weeks!!! I used to think that this was the “very end” of pregnancy, but 40 weeks is “the end”. Although I could go to 42 weeks… Anyways- in my mind 36 weeks= 9 months= baby. I think our little one will be “cooking” for a little while longer!

It’s really strange to think that our family of 2 will become a family of 3 in a matter of weeks. Daniel and I talked about it the other day, and while having a baby/parenting is going to be difficult, we feel like it will come so naturally at some times. Baby said “hi” to Daniel this week by sticking a knee/foot far out to the left side of my belly during church. She’s definitely moving A LOT still, but my pregnancy books say she’s rapidly running out of room! I’ve been at a pretty steady 1/2lb per week weight gain, which is pretty much exactly what baby should be packing on each week!

My dad and sister have booked their plane tickets to come visit after baby is born, I’m so excited! I’ve been taking the time this week to make many lists. I’ve made a “what to grab before we go to the hospital” list, a “Daniel’s Hospital Bag” list, I’ve put together my hospital bag, and I wrote “directions” to our friends who will help out with the animals while we’re at the hospital! It feels so good to get this information down on paper!!!

Stats

• Weight Gain: 10 lbs (or 15 lbs if you include the weight I lost in the first trimester)
• Fundal Height: 38cm
• “Waist” Measurement (string around the biggest part of my belly): 34 inches
• Blood Pressure: 85/50
• Baby’s Position: Locked and loaded- her head is down VERY low.
• Signs of Labor: Some pelvic pressure and more Braxton Hicks contractions that go away if I rest!
• Wedding Rings: Still on during the day, but I’ve been taking them off at night

And one last belly photo. I think it’s funny that my linea negra is crooked! It makes the whole belly look funny!

Dear Little One,
I wonder when daddy and I will ever come up with a name for you? You’ve been our “little one” or “little bubs” for a while now, but don’t worry, you’ll have a suitable name sooner or later! Did you know that we could have joined daddy on a 10+ hour road trip to see our friends Ben and Erika get married? I know that you probably wanted to go, but daddy and I decided that it wasn’t best for me to sit in a car for that long. I get pretty uncomfortable in a car on a 1.5 hour drive, I don’t think I would have been a very pleasant driving buddy for your daddy.

You are still moving a lot, despite all of the “books” telling me that you’re running out of room! Your little bum is up near my ribs on the right side, so I get lots of little feet/knee movements on the right side of my belly. Sometimes after a walk, you like to settle really low into my pelvis.

I’m nearly finished with the artwork for your room! We’re trying to stay busy until you decide to arrive! We love you a lot and can’t wait to see your little face for the very first time!

Love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Baby was the size of a butternut squash! Measuring between 17.2 and 18.7 inches and weighing between 4.2-5.8 lbs, baby is growing like a weed!

We had a doctors appointment this week! Here are some updated details!

Pregnancy Stats

• Weight Gain: 9lbs (or 14lbs if you include the weight I lost in the first trimester)
• Baby girl is still HEAD DOWN!
• Belly is measuring right on track
• The doc looked over our “Birth Preferences” and everything looks good!

Our Birth Preferences

I debated writing about our “preferences” here, because at the end of labor and delivery- we just want a healthy baby and a healthy mommy. We are planning on having a natural (nonmedicated) childbirth, so most of our “preferences” go along with that goal. I am completely prepared to do whatever I need to in order for our little one to be born (including a c-section if necessary), but if baby is doing well, here are a few of the things that we would like to have happen during our labor and delivery experience!

• Start labor naturally (my practice will let you go to 42 weeks if you and baby are still handling the pregnancy well)
• Use “natural” methods to induce labor if necessary (you can Google that!)
• Explain procedures/options to me/my husband before they are preformed (fortunately, our hospital is really good about doing this!)
• I would like to be as mobile as I want to be during the labor/delivery process (this includes utilizing the shower/tub)
• I would like to have a saline lock instead of an IV if I am well-hydrated (and if I don’t need any medication administered to baby through an IV)
• Please don’t offer me pain medication, Daniel and I know our options and Daniel will let you know if we have decided to use any type of pain relief.
• Please guide me in my pushing efforts so that I might avoid an episiotomy and/or tearing.
• Please place the baby on my chest (or on Daniel’s in the situation that I am not able to hold her) immediately following birth. Skin to skin contact!
• I would prefer to attempt to breastfeed immediately following birth
• No pacifiers please
• Supplements should not be given to the baby without our consent
• We would like to wait at least an hour before eye treatment, vitamin K shots and other routine injections or tests are preformed so that we have maximum bonding time with our baby.

All of these preferences, again, are things we would like as long as our little one isn’t having any complications. And fortunately, when we toured our hospital last weekend, most of these things are common practice in the Maternity Ward!

How I’m Feeling/Workouts

I’m definitely feeling more tired at times. I took 2 naps last Saturday! I usually do some sort of activity in the morning/early afternoon (taking Silas for a walk, going to the gym), and then my body kind of just wants to rest in the afternoon. We have plans most evenings (small group on Mondays, Daniel plays Ultimate Frisbee on Tuesdays and Softball on Thursdays, and our weekends are pretty full up until our due date!) Resting in the afternoon definitely allows me to have more energy to make dinner and hang out during the various weeknight activities!

Here’s what my workouts looked like for the 34th week of pregnancy:

• Saturday: 2 mile walk
• Sunday: Rest
• Monday: 3 mile walk
• Tuesday: 5 mile walk (3 miles in the AM with the pup, 2 miles around the waterfront while Daniel played Ultimate Frisbee!)
• Wednesday: Upper Body Weights (squats and calf raises thrown into the mix between upper body sets)
• Thursday: Rest/Doc Appointment/Super short walk with the dog and husband
• Friday: Rest

I’m gonna try to get to the gym a few more times this week, especially since I’m paying for it! Basically, I’m just listening to my body and trying to maximize my time outside (with the dog!) I’m really thankful that I feel good enough for at least a light workout on most days!

See you next week!

Baby was the size of a durian fruit! I’ve heard these are probably one of the most vile fruits around- a weird creamy interior with a super stinky stench. Baby should be 17.2-18.7 inches long (wow!) and should weigh somewhere between 4.2-5.8lbs!

There hasn’t been too much that has changed since last week, so I thought I’d do a fun survey! We visit the doc this week (week 34), so next week’s recap will have updated pregnancy stats! (Sorry for the horrible picture! There are two more almost as bad pictures at the bottom of the post!)

1. What name did you and your spouse call your baby before you knew the gender?

I think we just called it baby, maybe “it” a few times, or “the little one”.

2. When did “Oh-my-gosh-we’re-having-a-baby” really sink it?

I’m not 100% sure that ‘it has completely “sunk in” for me yet… but there are times when I think “what in the world is coming at us?” I don’t even know if it will feel real when she is actually here!

3. When you think of yourself as a mom, what’s the first thing to come to mind?

Being in the “mom club”, and by that I mean, having that special connection to all other mommies in the world!

4. Is your nursery complete? What’s the theme and what do you have left to complete?

We don’t have a theme, besides being functional! We did find a great dresser on the side of the road this past week, so I’m rearranging some of our things to make better use of our space. I’m also working on a few art projects for decorating the room! I’ll be sure to post pictures when it’s “finished”!

5. List 5 qualities you hope your baby will possess:

Love for God, Love for Others, Wisdom, Patience and Passion for life!

6. What’s your ideal labor experience?

I’m hoping that no complications arise so that I can have a natural (undedicated) childbirth! I know a lot can happen and change throughout the labor process, so I’m just hoping to stay flexible! I know that no matter what happens, we’ll be getting to meet our little girl at the end of it all!

7. List 5 things that have changed in your relationship with your spouse since you’ve been pregnant:

Daniel asks me more questions about what crazy things my body is doing. We’ve definitely made it a point to do more things together (little trips to the store, going to the dog park, taking walks, etc.) We talk a lot more about who we are- and who we want to be (who God desires us to be). We side hug more often (my belly gets in the way with regular hugs!) I think we’ve become closer though, knowing that God is entrusting us with one of his children is a pretty great thing to bring people together!

8. List 5 things you think will change once your baby arrives:

Our sleep patterns. The amount of meals that I cook (initially). I think we’ll savor quiet time together. I know I’ll fill up memory cards with pictures of our little girl, and Silas (the dog) will probably be getting less attention!

9. Where do you think you’ll be when you go into labor? Why?

Probably at home. I’m at home most of the time, but I guess it could happen when Silas and I are taking a walk, at the grocery store or if we’re visiting with friends!

10. Have you been talking to your baby? Playing music?

I talk, but not directly to my belly. And I play music, but I’m not putting headphones around my belly. I think I scared her the other day though- I dropped something in the sink and it made a really loud noise and she “jumped” in my belly (when she hadn’t been moving too much prior to that)!

11. In what ways do you hope your baby is like your spouse?

I hope she gets Daniel’s easy-going attitude! I also pray that she also learns to desire God like he does!

12. In what ways do you hope your baby is like you?

I hope that she is creative and playful. I hope that she is optimistic and positive. And, I hope that she has a WAY better sense of fashion than I do!

13. How long will you wait for the next baby, or if this is your last one, why/why not?

Let’s see how we do with one first! We’ve talked about adoption since we started dating, and that’s definitely an option that we’re still interested in pursuing! I don’t know about the when of adding another person to our family, but we’d like to have more than one kiddo!

14. What kind of grandparents do you think your baby will have?

Ones that LOVE her! Everyone is pretty excited

15. Who will be with you during labor? Who will visit you in the hospital during your recovery?

Daniel will be with me during labor/delivery. We’ve told our families that they can come to the hospital, but that we’ll be taking the first hour or so after she’s born to bond, but then they’re welcome to meet her!

16. Do you have any hopes for your child’s activities? (Sports, academics, school preference, activities, etc)

We’d love for her to be active, since Daniel and I both enjoy various activities. I can’t wait to teach her how to cook (if she wants to learn)!

17. Which childhood memory do you hope your child will have (similar to one you fondly remember)?

Daniel and I both have fond memories of family vacations, so we hope that we can create some of those memories for our kids as well!

18. And finally, what “advice” do you want newly pregnant women to know?

Just know that everything is in God’s hands! Your body will go through some weird stuff, but you’re growing a HUMAN BEING inside, so try to enjoy all of the strange changes! You can still do a LOT, even though you’re pregnant. Keep active (I think it has helped me tremendously in terms of feeling good throughout my pregnancy). If you need help- ASK. And enjoy this time! It’s only 9-10 months, and it FLIES by!

See you next week!

Baby was the size of a squash! In my experience, squash come in all shapes and sizes, so this *might* be one of the worst “comparisons” to date!

32 weeks marked our first full week in Cincinnati! It’s much nicer living WITH your husband! We did a LOT this week:

• Moved to Cincinnati (duh)
• Went to TWO weddings
• Organized the house (NESTING!)
• Took naps
• Went to the doctor!

Pregnancy Stats

• Weight Gain: 8lbs (or 13 if you add in the weight that I gained after I lost weight in the first trimester)
• Fundal Height: Measuring right on track!
• Naps Taken this week: 4
• Cravings: None really! I get thirsty at night, which leads to…
• Bathroom Trips per night: 3
• Nights of “bad” sleep: 3

So far, I’ve definitely had a VERY easy pregnancy. My body has adapted well to growing a little one! I’m pretty happy that I’ve made it this far along without any major complaints. The only thing that’s really changed is my ability to sleep. I find myself getting pretty tired around 3pm, but at night, I’ve been having trouble falling asleep (or going back to sleep after my 4am bathroom trip). Nap or no nap, there were a few nights where I just didn’t sleep well, and Daniel slept on the couch so that he could get some zzzzzz’s.

I asked my doc about my weight gain (since it seems so low compared to others) and he said that the baby felt good (head down, yeah!) and that my fundal height (pubic bone to top of uterus measurement) was right on track. He said that there are some people who just don’t gain a whole lot, and that I basically got lucky. I KNOW I’ll be putting on some pounds in these last few weeks because baby girl is bulking up in preparation to meet the world!

Check out that growing that happened in the last 10 weeks!

Fun Stuff

Daniel and I are realizing how quickly time is going, so we’re trying to get in as much fun “couples” stuff as we can! Daniel ran a 5k race on Saturday, they even had FREE beer!

Then we went for a little “coffee date” before heading to my cousin’s wedding in Louisville!

Baby girl is moving around a lot (it won’t be long before she runs out of room though!) and it’s fun to watch my belly shift from side to side.  We also got to see Daniel’s mom this week- she came up on Sunday to visit and we took her to Findlay Market for lunch! We’re going to the dog park as often as possible, and Silas and I are enjoying our afternoon walks together!

Dumb Pregnancy Moment

We have an electric stove in Cincinnati. I was getting ready to cook dinner so I turned on one of the burners. However, I forgot that I had turned it on and I noticed that the coils looked a little crooked (I didn’t want my pan to be lopsided!) Anyways, I decided to plop my hands down on the hot coils and burned myself pretty good. I looked like a fool eating dinner with my right hand submerged in a bowl of cool water. Note to self: Electric burners don’t visually tell you that they’re hot right away (unlike gas). BE CAREFUL!

See you next week!