Lauren is continuing her cognitive journey... and she has now learned to wave "bye-bye"! It started last week when my mom (Mimi) was getting ready to leave. She waved to Lauren and told her bye, as usual... only this time, Lauren waved back! We got really excited and tried to get her to do it again. Of course, this excited Lauren and she started waving both arms. haha Anyway, she has been consistently waving for about a week and a half now. I love this!! It is so cute! She is also having a lot fun with the activity table that she got for Christmas, and she spends most of her time standing at it and playing. She is almost to the point now where she doesn't fall and scare me by hitting her head, but every one in a while when she is trying to walk around the table, she falls. I seriously am thinking of investing in a baby helmet!
Report cards came out last week, and both kids had really good grades! Brittany made all As, and Zach had all As and one B. So, we were happy with that! :) Brittany had a cheer competition last weekend, and her team placed 2nd. They also got an invitation to compete in Baton Rouge in April, so it looks like Lauren will be taking her first LONG trip in the car! Let's hope she learns to like her carseat a little more by then.
Zach was sick last week, but he recovered quickly and has been in constant motion ever since!
We are out of school on Monday, and we are all SO happy to have a day off. Brittany will be going to cheer practice, since she has another cheer competition coming up next weekend in Hot Springs. Other than that, we are going to have a little rest and relaxations! :)
Baby Ticker
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A look back at 2009
I keep thinking about updating the blog, but so much has happened over the past seven months that it just overwhelms me to even think about where to start. A friend suggested that I do a "year in review", and then I can just start fresh for 2010. What a great idea! So, Kristi, here I go! :)
JUNE
I think I left off in June, when Lauren was almost a month old.
She was not a happy baby during that time. She cried a lot, hated her swing, and pretty much was miserable anywhere other than in my arms. We finally discovered that she has reflux, and after starting Zantac, she became a MUCH happier baby!
In other June happenings, Zach finished his baseball season with his tournament team. They came in second in their last tournament, which didn't make Zach happy at all. He is not good at losing. I thought they did great, though, and we had a lot of fun watching the games!
\
JULY
In July, Lauren went on her first trip to Winnamocka, to drop Brittany off at camp and then to pick her up when it was over. Brittany loves camp, and this year was no exception. She had a great time, and she came home with lots of new friends to keep in touch with! Lauren started smiling in July, and also had her 2 month well-baby visit with her pediatrician. She was 14lbs 6oz and 24in. She started bearing weight on her legs and wanting to stand up in my lap. She did really well with the shots and only cried for a couple of minutes. Clay and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a trip to Hot Springs. Lauren stayed with my mom, and we all had a great time!
AUGUST
August brought with it our first family vacation with Lauren. We didn't want to go too far, so we decided on Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. This vacation needs a blog post all by itself, so I may have to go back and do it later. It was one to rival National Lampoon's Vacation! In short, my MIL was going to go with us, got carsick just 30 minutes down the road, went back home, started out again, got several hours down the road, realized my cell phone wasn't in the car, drove an hour back, only to realize that the cell phone had fallen out as I got in the car and had landed on the step board thing of our Suburban. The only reason it hadn't fallen off is that it had landed in the spot where MIL had gotten sick earlier that day. So, yeah... quite a memorable start to the trip. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was without incident. We met Clay's sister and her family, and the kids all had a great time.
Brittany also started a competition cheer squad in August. She loves it, and it has been so good for her! Both kids started school at the end of the month... Brittany in 6th grade, and Zach in 3rd! Both have great teachers, and are doing very well in school.
SEPTEMBER
September was a busy month. Zach started soccer, Brittany was busy with tumbling and cheering, and we got ready to move. Lauren also went to her first Scrapper football game! I thought she looked super cute in her little Scrapper outfit! We also did a family fun run 5K for the Charitable Christian Clinic of Howard County, where Clay volunteers twice a month. We took Lauren and pushed her in her stroller. Brittany ran most of it, and we all had a lot of fun! That night, we took Brittany to see Taylor Swift in Little Rock. It was a fun concert, and it was also the longest that I had left Lauren at one time. Everything went well. :) Lauren went for her 4 month well-baby visit in September, too. She weighed 18lbs 5oz and is 26 in long. She cried during the shots, but was in a great mood all day. She also found her thumb, but she prefers to gnaw on it instead of suck on it.
Zach turned 9 years old in September, and we celebrated with a bounce house obstacle course at our church's activity building. The boys all had a great time, and Zach said it was his "best birthday ever." :)
OCTOBER
October was also a busy month. The first weekend of the month, we moved. We bought my grandparents' house, and it was a very exciting (and crazy) time! It isn't so easy to move with a baby! We managed to get settled, though, and as I type this (in January) we still have boxes that need to be unpacked. :)
Brittany celebrated her 12th birthday on the 23rd, and we had a Survivor birthday party. The girls completed challenges in order to win prizes. They all worked hard and had a great time!
The end of the month brought Halloween! We had a family fun night at church, and then on Halloween we had Trick or Treat on Main St. Lauren dressed as a skunk, Zach dressed as a wrestler, and Brittany was a hippie.
Lauren also started holding herself in a sitting position (if I sat her up). This made her SUPER happy! She spent a lot of time on her tummy "swimming" and playing, too.
NOVEMBER
Lauren's first Thanksgiving! She had a great time, starting the morning off by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade upside down. :) She loves to arch her back and hang upside down while growling like Monster Baby. After the parade, we went to Granny's to eat lunch. It was a nice day. The day after Thanksgiving, Clay's family came to stay with us. I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal by myself for the first time this year! I was pretty nervous about making it all turn out okay, but it was actually great! We all had a good time, and it was nice to see everyone.
Lauren also turned 6 months old on Thanksgiving Day, and she got her first tooth a few days before that! She started sitting up on her own at the end of the month, and she crawls backward. :) Zach started playing basketball this month. It is his first time to play, since it starts here in 3rd grade. He likes it a lot, and he is doing pretty well! Brittany is about to have her first cheer competition, so she has been working hard toward that.
DECEMBER
Ahhh! One of my favorite months of the year. Christmas! I love everything about it. I also love that we get a couple of weeks vacation from school. :)
Clay and I started the month off by taking a week off of work. We didn't take a vacation this fall like usual, so we vacationed at home. We took Lauren for her 6 month well-baby visit. She measured 27 inches and 20lbs 11oz. The doc was impressed that she is already crawling so well and sitting herself up. He said she is exceeding the norm for milestones, and that she is “a perfect baby.” :) We got 6 month vaccines and her first flu shot. They also took blood to check her iron levels, which came back fine. :) He also took a good look in her mouth and said it looks like she is working on her second bottom tooth and top two teeth all at once! All of that slobbering has to be for a reason!
We went to the Christmas parade on Main Street, and we also went to Breakfast with Santa. Lauren did great with Santa... this could be because she knows him really, really well! haha
We went to Brittany's first cheer competition on Dec 12-13. It was in Ft Worth, which is NOT an easy drive with a baby who hates her carseat. When I say she hates it, well... that is probably an understatement. The competition went well, with Cheer Fusion placing 1st in one division and 3rd in another. The girls had an injury at the very last second, so they did really well going out and changing things up. Brittany had a great time, and she is already looking forward to the next one in January.
This was a special December, because Zach was saved and baptized. We are so happy about that. He is excited and got up and spoke about it to the whole church. :) What a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas! Zach also was an elf in a 3rd grade musical. He looked so cute and did great!
Christmas was lots of fun. We had several family celebrations. Clay's family came over the Monday before Christmas, and we got to visit with them that night. My brother, Jody, and his girlfriend, Robin, also came in for a couple of days. We ate and opened gifts at Mom's with them the night before Christmas Eve. The next morning, we got up and went to Granny's to eat and open gifts. Then, we had Christmas Eve at home complete with a little bit of snow! We got up Cristmas morning to open gifts, and then spent the rest of the day playing and resting. Lauren's favorite part of all of this was the bows on the presents.
So, I think that catches me up! I will try to do better about keeping up during 2010!
:)
JUNE
I think I left off in June, when Lauren was almost a month old.
She was not a happy baby during that time. She cried a lot, hated her swing, and pretty much was miserable anywhere other than in my arms. We finally discovered that she has reflux, and after starting Zantac, she became a MUCH happier baby!
In other June happenings, Zach finished his baseball season with his tournament team. They came in second in their last tournament, which didn't make Zach happy at all. He is not good at losing. I thought they did great, though, and we had a lot of fun watching the games!
\JULY
In July, Lauren went on her first trip to Winnamocka, to drop Brittany off at camp and then to pick her up when it was over. Brittany loves camp, and this year was no exception. She had a great time, and she came home with lots of new friends to keep in touch with! Lauren started smiling in July, and also had her 2 month well-baby visit with her pediatrician. She was 14lbs 6oz and 24in. She started bearing weight on her legs and wanting to stand up in my lap. She did really well with the shots and only cried for a couple of minutes. Clay and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a trip to Hot Springs. Lauren stayed with my mom, and we all had a great time!
AUGUST
August brought with it our first family vacation with Lauren. We didn't want to go too far, so we decided on Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. This vacation needs a blog post all by itself, so I may have to go back and do it later. It was one to rival National Lampoon's Vacation! In short, my MIL was going to go with us, got carsick just 30 minutes down the road, went back home, started out again, got several hours down the road, realized my cell phone wasn't in the car, drove an hour back, only to realize that the cell phone had fallen out as I got in the car and had landed on the step board thing of our Suburban. The only reason it hadn't fallen off is that it had landed in the spot where MIL had gotten sick earlier that day. So, yeah... quite a memorable start to the trip. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was without incident. We met Clay's sister and her family, and the kids all had a great time.
Brittany also started a competition cheer squad in August. She loves it, and it has been so good for her! Both kids started school at the end of the month... Brittany in 6th grade, and Zach in 3rd! Both have great teachers, and are doing very well in school.
SEPTEMBER
September was a busy month. Zach started soccer, Brittany was busy with tumbling and cheering, and we got ready to move. Lauren also went to her first Scrapper football game! I thought she looked super cute in her little Scrapper outfit! We also did a family fun run 5K for the Charitable Christian Clinic of Howard County, where Clay volunteers twice a month. We took Lauren and pushed her in her stroller. Brittany ran most of it, and we all had a lot of fun! That night, we took Brittany to see Taylor Swift in Little Rock. It was a fun concert, and it was also the longest that I had left Lauren at one time. Everything went well. :) Lauren went for her 4 month well-baby visit in September, too. She weighed 18lbs 5oz and is 26 in long. She cried during the shots, but was in a great mood all day. She also found her thumb, but she prefers to gnaw on it instead of suck on it.
Zach turned 9 years old in September, and we celebrated with a bounce house obstacle course at our church's activity building. The boys all had a great time, and Zach said it was his "best birthday ever." :)
OCTOBER
October was also a busy month. The first weekend of the month, we moved. We bought my grandparents' house, and it was a very exciting (and crazy) time! It isn't so easy to move with a baby! We managed to get settled, though, and as I type this (in January) we still have boxes that need to be unpacked. :)
Brittany celebrated her 12th birthday on the 23rd, and we had a Survivor birthday party. The girls completed challenges in order to win prizes. They all worked hard and had a great time!
The end of the month brought Halloween! We had a family fun night at church, and then on Halloween we had Trick or Treat on Main St. Lauren dressed as a skunk, Zach dressed as a wrestler, and Brittany was a hippie.
Lauren also started holding herself in a sitting position (if I sat her up). This made her SUPER happy! She spent a lot of time on her tummy "swimming" and playing, too.
NOVEMBER
Lauren's first Thanksgiving! She had a great time, starting the morning off by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade upside down. :) She loves to arch her back and hang upside down while growling like Monster Baby. After the parade, we went to Granny's to eat lunch. It was a nice day. The day after Thanksgiving, Clay's family came to stay with us. I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal by myself for the first time this year! I was pretty nervous about making it all turn out okay, but it was actually great! We all had a good time, and it was nice to see everyone.
Lauren also turned 6 months old on Thanksgiving Day, and she got her first tooth a few days before that! She started sitting up on her own at the end of the month, and she crawls backward. :) Zach started playing basketball this month. It is his first time to play, since it starts here in 3rd grade. He likes it a lot, and he is doing pretty well! Brittany is about to have her first cheer competition, so she has been working hard toward that.
DECEMBER
Ahhh! One of my favorite months of the year. Christmas! I love everything about it. I also love that we get a couple of weeks vacation from school. :)
Clay and I started the month off by taking a week off of work. We didn't take a vacation this fall like usual, so we vacationed at home. We took Lauren for her 6 month well-baby visit. She measured 27 inches and 20lbs 11oz. The doc was impressed that she is already crawling so well and sitting herself up. He said she is exceeding the norm for milestones, and that she is “a perfect baby.” :) We got 6 month vaccines and her first flu shot. They also took blood to check her iron levels, which came back fine. :) He also took a good look in her mouth and said it looks like she is working on her second bottom tooth and top two teeth all at once! All of that slobbering has to be for a reason!
We went to the Christmas parade on Main Street, and we also went to Breakfast with Santa. Lauren did great with Santa... this could be because she knows him really, really well! haha
We went to Brittany's first cheer competition on Dec 12-13. It was in Ft Worth, which is NOT an easy drive with a baby who hates her carseat. When I say she hates it, well... that is probably an understatement. The competition went well, with Cheer Fusion placing 1st in one division and 3rd in another. The girls had an injury at the very last second, so they did really well going out and changing things up. Brittany had a great time, and she is already looking forward to the next one in January.
This was a special December, because Zach was saved and baptized. We are so happy about that. He is excited and got up and spoke about it to the whole church. :) What a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas! Zach also was an elf in a 3rd grade musical. He looked so cute and did great!
Christmas was lots of fun. We had several family celebrations. Clay's family came over the Monday before Christmas, and we got to visit with them that night. My brother, Jody, and his girlfriend, Robin, also came in for a couple of days. We ate and opened gifts at Mom's with them the night before Christmas Eve. The next morning, we got up and went to Granny's to eat and open gifts. Then, we had Christmas Eve at home complete with a little bit of snow! We got up Cristmas morning to open gifts, and then spent the rest of the day playing and resting. Lauren's favorite part of all of this was the bows on the presents.
So, I think that catches me up! I will try to do better about keeping up during 2010!
:)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A rare few minutes
Lauren is a baby who loves... no... INSISTS on being held much of the time. :) She is taking a nap beside me right now, and is happily stretched out like a starfish. So, this gives me a few minutes to update the blog.
Wow! I had completely forgotten how much work having a newborn can be. She is totally worth it, but it has been a shock because I had just plain forgotten what it is like to have this precious little baby who is totally and completely dependent on us for everything. I am completely in love with her, though, and this makes it all 100% okay.
Let's see... since she was born three weeks ago yesterday (6lbs 14oz and 19 1/2 inches), she has gone through two growth spurts! She is now 21 1/2 inches and a little over 9 lbs! This baby girl LOVES to eat, and she is definitely chunking up. She is starting to have a few more alert periods, but she still spends a lot of time sleeping. Up until the past couple of days, she would not sleep unless one of us was holding her. Clay says she definitely has my "snuggle gene." :)
She is starting to make new sounds. At first, she just cried. Then she started the grunting. Now, she squeaks and squeals, and I love it! This morning, I also heard an "ahh" sound, and she has never made that before. She is making eye contact more often now, and I was talking to her yesterday and she smiled at me twice. Now, I *KNOW* it is too early for it to be a "real" smile, but it was so absolutely precious! I can't wait for those smiles and laughs to become more frequent.
In good news for me, I have lost 24 of the 36 pounds I gained with this pregnancy! So, only 12 to get back to where I was when I started. I am determined to get back to the gym soon. Clay and I have been taking Lauren for a walk some evenings, but it has been really hot the past couple of days. We just have to figure out some sort of schedule so that we can still exercise and have a happy baby at the same time. :)
Brittany and Zach are technically with their dad and Julie for their six weeks, but I am still seeing a lot of them. Zach finished his regular baseball season, and his team won the league tournament (Go Ferguson Health Care!!) He is now playing on a tournament team, so we will brave the heat of summer to go and watch him play some more. He is really doing well, and I can tell that he has been practicing with his dad. He rarely lets a ball get past him anymore, and he is getting some great hits!
Brittany has spent a lot of her summer at the pool, and she has the tan to prove it! She definitely did not get my skin, because she tans a beautiful golden color. She is getting ready to go to camp next week, and she is super excited! She is such a big help with Lauren, and she loves singing to her.
Lauren is starting to stir... oh, and there went a poop, so I will add pictures later!
Wow! I had completely forgotten how much work having a newborn can be. She is totally worth it, but it has been a shock because I had just plain forgotten what it is like to have this precious little baby who is totally and completely dependent on us for everything. I am completely in love with her, though, and this makes it all 100% okay.
Let's see... since she was born three weeks ago yesterday (6lbs 14oz and 19 1/2 inches), she has gone through two growth spurts! She is now 21 1/2 inches and a little over 9 lbs! This baby girl LOVES to eat, and she is definitely chunking up. She is starting to have a few more alert periods, but she still spends a lot of time sleeping. Up until the past couple of days, she would not sleep unless one of us was holding her. Clay says she definitely has my "snuggle gene." :)
She is starting to make new sounds. At first, she just cried. Then she started the grunting. Now, she squeaks and squeals, and I love it! This morning, I also heard an "ahh" sound, and she has never made that before. She is making eye contact more often now, and I was talking to her yesterday and she smiled at me twice. Now, I *KNOW* it is too early for it to be a "real" smile, but it was so absolutely precious! I can't wait for those smiles and laughs to become more frequent.
In good news for me, I have lost 24 of the 36 pounds I gained with this pregnancy! So, only 12 to get back to where I was when I started. I am determined to get back to the gym soon. Clay and I have been taking Lauren for a walk some evenings, but it has been really hot the past couple of days. We just have to figure out some sort of schedule so that we can still exercise and have a happy baby at the same time. :)
Brittany and Zach are technically with their dad and Julie for their six weeks, but I am still seeing a lot of them. Zach finished his regular baseball season, and his team won the league tournament (Go Ferguson Health Care!!) He is now playing on a tournament team, so we will brave the heat of summer to go and watch him play some more. He is really doing well, and I can tell that he has been practicing with his dad. He rarely lets a ball get past him anymore, and he is getting some great hits!
Brittany has spent a lot of her summer at the pool, and she has the tan to prove it! She definitely did not get my skin, because she tans a beautiful golden color. She is getting ready to go to camp next week, and she is super excited! She is such a big help with Lauren, and she loves singing to her.
Lauren is starting to stir... oh, and there went a poop, so I will add pictures later!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Lauren Claire is here!!
Here is Lauren's birth story, for those of you who have been asking for it! :)
We went to my OB's office for my 9:00 appointment on Tuesday morning, May 26. Blood pressure was still 120/80 for the second week in a row, and my weight gain was at 36 pounds. It had stayed exactly the same for three weeks. He checked, and I was still 2cm dilated and barely 60% effaced. He asked if we had talked about inducing today (haha... we sure HAD!), and told us to get our bags and head on up to L&D. I was SO nervous at this point!! So many people had told me horrible induction stories, and I was really scared. I felt like this was my first baby, and not like I had already gone through it twice.
So, we got up to L&D where they put me in the exact room where Brittany and Zach were born! I was in my gown and sitting in the bed by 9:30am. The nurses came in to ask questions and to start my IV. That was a lot of fun! She tried putting it in my forearm, but something wasn't right and it stopped flowing and it HURT. She finally took it out, and did it down below the base of my thumb. That was much better, and it didn't hurt at all.
At 10:45am, she came back in and started my Pitocin. I had a wonderful nurse! I had told her that I didn't want an epidural or pain meds, and I was telling her about the things people had said about pitocin-induced births. She said that I could definitely do it if I wanted to do it, and not to let other people scare me. :) So, I kept that in my head. At 11:30am, she came back in an increased my Pitocin by one unit. Dr. S came in at 11:41am to check me and break my water. I hadn't really dilated a lot more at that point, but I was a little more effaced. He broke my water with the giant crochet hook, and we were on our way to a baby!
My contractions had already started to become pretty uncomfortable before that, but I was getting through them just by holding Clay's hand and him telling me when they were peaking and heading back down. Once my water was broken, they started coming closer together and were a lot harder. The nurse gradually increased my Pitocin again around 12:25pm and again at 1:21pm. By the second time, I was hurting pretty bad and we asked if she would check me, as it would give me some mental clarity about any progress that I had made and how this thing was going. She said that she had been noticing some "earlys" on the monitor, and I asked what this meant. She said it was when the baby's heartrate starts to decrease slightly with the contractions. She said it was an indication that things were moving a lot closer. So, she checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced (1:21pm). I was hurting a lot by this point, and she changed the position of the bed so that it was like I was sitting up in a chair. With every contraction, I closed my eyes, held Clay's hand, and he talked me through it. Although, I think I was doing a lot of the talking... things like, "This hurts." "Ow, ow, ow" and "I don't like this!" LOL He was SO great, and never left my side for even a second. At one point, I was having a bad contraction and the blood pressure cuff (my nemesis) messed up and was squeezing my arm so hard that I thought it was going to pop vessels. I had been telling Clay about the cuff when a contraction hit, and he just tore the bloated cuff off of my arm. For some reason, even though I was in the middle of a lot of pain, I got cracked up at the visual of him doing that and I laughed my way through that contraction. It still cracks me up now to think of it. Anyway, he was absolutely perfect, and I can’t tell him enough how much I appreciate him going through the whole thing with me, taking care of me, supporting me, and making me feel loved. He did absolutely anything that I wanted him to do, and he anticipated most of it without me ever having to ask. :)
Okay, getting off track... anyway, so I was sitting in the bed in the chair position when I had another contraction. This one felt different, and I could tell that the baby was getting closer. Clay called the nurse. She checked me again and I was 5cm dilated and 100% effaced. She said that she could feel the baby's head right on my cervix, and that she thought things would be moving along quickly now. She called Dr. S and told him how quickly things were moving along. The nursery people brought in the baby measuring/warming station thing, and my nurse went out to get her table. I had another contraction, and she came back in during the middle of it. She checked me again, and I had dilated to 8cm that quickly. She laid the bed back, had me roll over on my right side with one arm above my head, my right leg straight below me, and my left leg crossed over my right leg and with my knee up as close to my head as I could get it. That is hard to describe... anyway, she said that she had found that this position worked to help people become complete a lot faster. She said she would be right back and walked out as the next contraction hit. My body involuntarily started pushing, and Clay hit the nurse button without me even having to tell him. She came running in and saw what was happening. They were getting me turned over and into the birthing position, and I was hurting a lot so it was hard to turn. I think I was crying a little at that point, because I just wanted her out and I could feel her head pressing so hard. I was trying not to push because my doctor hadn't made it yet, but my body wasn't listening. I was so afraid she was going to shoot across the room and nobody was going to be there to catch her! During the next contraction, my body was doing its thing and I opened my eyes to see Dr. S come in just in time to make the catch and hold her up for us to see. :) I didn't have to do any pushing at all. She basically just shot out into his hands at 2:36pm. Instant relief! :)
He first thought I didn't have any tears, but then found a very small "skid mark" (that made me laugh). He went ahead and did a couple of stitches, which I can't even feel two days later. They did the measuring and weighing (6lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches), and then handed her over to me. She spent the next hour to hour and a half (I lost track of time) nursing, and then they moved us to our postpartum room. We were discharged 24 hours later, and we are at home doing great!! I feel SO much better not pregnant, and I am so happy to have her home. Clay took a few days off of work, and we have just been sitting around snuggling with her and loving her. Brittany and Zach are both completely in love with her, too, and life is just perfect!
So, she was 6lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Born 5/26 and 2:36pm. Welcome to our lives little Lauren Claire! We love you so much already, and you make our family perfectly complete!!
Of course, any birth story worth its weight wouldn't be right without pictures!
Here I am on Tuesday morning before we left for the hospital... nice and big and swollen and pregnant!
Here is Lauren just after delivery.
All wrapped up like a burrito and snuggling.
I have spent most of the past three days staring at her. :)
Zach and Brittany were (and still are) SO excited!
Such a PROUD (and handsome) daddy!!
Ready to leave the hospital with our baby girl.
Brittany is happy she is home!
Sound asleep and so peaceful.
Stretched out and relaxed on her boppy last night.
We went to my OB's office for my 9:00 appointment on Tuesday morning, May 26. Blood pressure was still 120/80 for the second week in a row, and my weight gain was at 36 pounds. It had stayed exactly the same for three weeks. He checked, and I was still 2cm dilated and barely 60% effaced. He asked if we had talked about inducing today (haha... we sure HAD!), and told us to get our bags and head on up to L&D. I was SO nervous at this point!! So many people had told me horrible induction stories, and I was really scared. I felt like this was my first baby, and not like I had already gone through it twice.
So, we got up to L&D where they put me in the exact room where Brittany and Zach were born! I was in my gown and sitting in the bed by 9:30am. The nurses came in to ask questions and to start my IV. That was a lot of fun! She tried putting it in my forearm, but something wasn't right and it stopped flowing and it HURT. She finally took it out, and did it down below the base of my thumb. That was much better, and it didn't hurt at all.
At 10:45am, she came back in and started my Pitocin. I had a wonderful nurse! I had told her that I didn't want an epidural or pain meds, and I was telling her about the things people had said about pitocin-induced births. She said that I could definitely do it if I wanted to do it, and not to let other people scare me. :) So, I kept that in my head. At 11:30am, she came back in an increased my Pitocin by one unit. Dr. S came in at 11:41am to check me and break my water. I hadn't really dilated a lot more at that point, but I was a little more effaced. He broke my water with the giant crochet hook, and we were on our way to a baby!
My contractions had already started to become pretty uncomfortable before that, but I was getting through them just by holding Clay's hand and him telling me when they were peaking and heading back down. Once my water was broken, they started coming closer together and were a lot harder. The nurse gradually increased my Pitocin again around 12:25pm and again at 1:21pm. By the second time, I was hurting pretty bad and we asked if she would check me, as it would give me some mental clarity about any progress that I had made and how this thing was going. She said that she had been noticing some "earlys" on the monitor, and I asked what this meant. She said it was when the baby's heartrate starts to decrease slightly with the contractions. She said it was an indication that things were moving a lot closer. So, she checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced (1:21pm). I was hurting a lot by this point, and she changed the position of the bed so that it was like I was sitting up in a chair. With every contraction, I closed my eyes, held Clay's hand, and he talked me through it. Although, I think I was doing a lot of the talking... things like, "This hurts." "Ow, ow, ow" and "I don't like this!" LOL He was SO great, and never left my side for even a second. At one point, I was having a bad contraction and the blood pressure cuff (my nemesis) messed up and was squeezing my arm so hard that I thought it was going to pop vessels. I had been telling Clay about the cuff when a contraction hit, and he just tore the bloated cuff off of my arm. For some reason, even though I was in the middle of a lot of pain, I got cracked up at the visual of him doing that and I laughed my way through that contraction. It still cracks me up now to think of it. Anyway, he was absolutely perfect, and I can’t tell him enough how much I appreciate him going through the whole thing with me, taking care of me, supporting me, and making me feel loved. He did absolutely anything that I wanted him to do, and he anticipated most of it without me ever having to ask. :)
Okay, getting off track... anyway, so I was sitting in the bed in the chair position when I had another contraction. This one felt different, and I could tell that the baby was getting closer. Clay called the nurse. She checked me again and I was 5cm dilated and 100% effaced. She said that she could feel the baby's head right on my cervix, and that she thought things would be moving along quickly now. She called Dr. S and told him how quickly things were moving along. The nursery people brought in the baby measuring/warming station thing, and my nurse went out to get her table. I had another contraction, and she came back in during the middle of it. She checked me again, and I had dilated to 8cm that quickly. She laid the bed back, had me roll over on my right side with one arm above my head, my right leg straight below me, and my left leg crossed over my right leg and with my knee up as close to my head as I could get it. That is hard to describe... anyway, she said that she had found that this position worked to help people become complete a lot faster. She said she would be right back and walked out as the next contraction hit. My body involuntarily started pushing, and Clay hit the nurse button without me even having to tell him. She came running in and saw what was happening. They were getting me turned over and into the birthing position, and I was hurting a lot so it was hard to turn. I think I was crying a little at that point, because I just wanted her out and I could feel her head pressing so hard. I was trying not to push because my doctor hadn't made it yet, but my body wasn't listening. I was so afraid she was going to shoot across the room and nobody was going to be there to catch her! During the next contraction, my body was doing its thing and I opened my eyes to see Dr. S come in just in time to make the catch and hold her up for us to see. :) I didn't have to do any pushing at all. She basically just shot out into his hands at 2:36pm. Instant relief! :)
He first thought I didn't have any tears, but then found a very small "skid mark" (that made me laugh). He went ahead and did a couple of stitches, which I can't even feel two days later. They did the measuring and weighing (6lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches), and then handed her over to me. She spent the next hour to hour and a half (I lost track of time) nursing, and then they moved us to our postpartum room. We were discharged 24 hours later, and we are at home doing great!! I feel SO much better not pregnant, and I am so happy to have her home. Clay took a few days off of work, and we have just been sitting around snuggling with her and loving her. Brittany and Zach are both completely in love with her, too, and life is just perfect!
So, she was 6lbs 15oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Born 5/26 and 2:36pm. Welcome to our lives little Lauren Claire! We love you so much already, and you make our family perfectly complete!!
Of course, any birth story worth its weight wouldn't be right without pictures!
Here I am on Tuesday morning before we left for the hospital... nice and big and swollen and pregnant!
Here is Lauren just after delivery.
All wrapped up like a burrito and snuggling.
I have spent most of the past three days staring at her. :)
Zach and Brittany were (and still are) SO excited!
Such a PROUD (and handsome) daddy!!
Ready to leave the hospital with our baby girl.
Brittany is happy she is home!
Sound asleep and so peaceful.
Stretched out and relaxed on her boppy last night.
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