My apologies for the delay in blogging...things have been a bit busy and overwhelming for us the last few weeks! :)
In order to keep a record of the events that have transpired in the last three weeks, I will be posting a few blogs. Praying that I just get through this one tonight before passing out. To say that Jared and I are lacking in the sleep department right now is an understatement!
Anyway...on Monday, March 8th, Jared and I went to what would be my final prenatal visit for Addi. My blood pressure was up, so the doctor came in and told us that he wanted us to get to the hospital by 7:00 pm so that I could be induced the next morning at 7:00 am. It was overwhelming how many emotions I felt when he said that. Jared and I had to take a few minutes to take it in before we called our families and told them the news.
The rest of the day was a bit chaotic. I still hadn't packed my bag for the hospital, Jared had a couple stories to submit, we had some last minute house cleaning to do, the carseat base had to be installed and the list went on, but we somehow managed to make it to the hospital at 7:00 pm.
Once at the hospital, I was given something to help the whole dialation process. My mom came in around 8:30 pm and visited with us for a while. Then came the Ambien... At the doctor's and nurse's recommendation, I took an Ambien to help me sleep. I do not take sleeping aids at all and apparently there is a reason I don't. First I grew very nauseous...and then I became very tired, but also very confused. I was sort-of in and out of sleep, but was mainly trying to figure out what was going on and remember being very concerned about being sure I was going to get a shower the next morning. Anyway, I managed to sleep at some point and was woken up numerous times because our sweet baby girl would kick herself away from her heart monitor and it would have to be reattached. She was feisty in the womb, and yes, she is feisty outside of the womb. :)
Anyway, I got my shower at 6:00 that morning (even though they weren't supposed to let me take one) and then at 7:00 they started the Pitocin (sp?). 7:00 to 10:30 was pretty uneventful...I wasn't feeling any contractions and basically passed the time just talking to Jared, my mom and Jared's parents. Around 10:45 things started picking up...my water broke and the contractions started. The first time they checked me I think I had dialated 2 centimeters. The contractions grew worse and I eventually got to the point of tears...and was crying out to Jesus with each contraction. Seriously, I was afraid I might curse or be rude or something in labor, but I was begging God to just help me through each contraction. Anyway, I held out as long as I could before I was checked again because I knew that I had to be at least 4 centimeters before I received an epidural. Around 1:30 or so, I had enough. I looked at my mom during one of my contratctions and told her not to touch me (yes, that was rude), but to please go get me help. I apologized right away, but it did get the nurse in there...she checked me and I was 7 centimeters. Within 15 or 20 minutes, I received the epidural...HALLELUJAH! :) It releived the pain, but not the pressure...but it was well worth it!!! :) Around 4:00 or so, the pressure intensified to the point that I was in constant discomfort. I finally started pushing at 4:51 and at 5:27 pm, our family of two became a family of three when our precious Addi arrived, weighing in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces and 19 inches long. I am quite proud that I only pushed for 36 minutes...I was determined to get that baby out...and I knew with each push my blood pressure was going to go up. Which I was told later definitely happened.
When Addi arrived, all pain truly did disappear. It was amazing. I cried, Jared cried...we were totally overwhelmed by our dark-haired beauty. Her cry was priceless at that moment and I couldn't believe that our beautiful miracle was here and was ours.
Throughout the labor and delivery process, Jesus was my strength and Jared was my rock. He was totally amazing. He was a constant encouragement and would not leave my side. The only time he wanted to leave was when he wanted to go buy bubble gum cigars after Addi was born (How sweet is that??). He was and is such a proud daddy!!
Our moms got to witness Addi's birth and I am so glad they did. They were great the entire time and I've never seen two prouder grandmas!
Anyway...there is more to come. More about Addi's first and second week of life, but for now I will leave you with this...
THANK YOU!!! For your prayers, your encouragement, your support...for reading this blog and going on this journey with us!!!
And to Addi...we couldn't have prayed for or asked for a sweeter, more beautiful daughter!! You are such a joy!!! We are so proud to be your parents...you have changed our lives forever and we LOVE you more than words could ever express!! :)
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Addison's Debut
More details about the day of delivery to come, but for now...
Addi - Daddy and Mommy couldn't love you more!!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Something for me to keep in mind...
I love how God never fails to reveal so much to me when I spend time with Him. I don't know why I often turn to other, unfulfilling things to occupy my time when God is so fulfilling.
Today I came across this verse:
"Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day." 1 Tim. 5:5
At the time this scripture was written, a widow had a tough life. Widows were usually not able to support themselves and had to rely on family to support them. If they did not have family, they relied on the church. A true widow - who in my mind had a reason to whine and complain - trusted in God and prayed. If someone who was completely alone in the world could do that, how much more should I do the same no matter the situation?
Today I came across this verse:
"Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day." 1 Tim. 5:5
At the time this scripture was written, a widow had a tough life. Widows were usually not able to support themselves and had to rely on family to support them. If they did not have family, they relied on the church. A true widow - who in my mind had a reason to whine and complain - trusted in God and prayed. If someone who was completely alone in the world could do that, how much more should I do the same no matter the situation?
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Catching Up - Weeks 35 and 36
The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind! To recap the last two weeks of pregnancy briefly...
Symptoms - Morning Sickness - Still coming and going; energy level was pretty low until I was put on bedrest this week...now I just want to do everything I can't; emotions - I go from smiling to crying too many times throughout the day and am not really sure why.
Memorable Moments - Will get to in a minute
Thoughts / Feelings - Excited, scared, nervous, happy, reflective and on and on and on.
So, since the last time I wrote we've had a few memorable moments...
We had 2 surprise showers from 2 different classes in our church (one from my Wednesday night class and one from our Sunday School class). These showers were done so thoughtfully and just completely made my day (one was thrown last Saturday and one was today). :) We are so blessed with such wonderful people in our lives and the extent to which people have gone to show they care is just amazing! :)
I began training my temporary replacement at work. We got through a full-day of training on Monday and an hour worth of training on Tuesday before I went to the doctor and was told I couldn't go back to work this week.
We have had two doctor's appointments, one overnight stay at the hospital and a follow-up blood pressure check at another doctor's office. That's right...Addi isn't even here and I have already had my fill of doctor's appointments and hospital stays (granted it was only one overnight stay). The appointment last week went pretty well. My blood pressure was a little elevated, but nothing too bad and another appointment was scheduled for this past Tuesday. Tuesday's visit was not good at all. My blood pressure was high...to the point that the doctor thought I needed to go to the hospital to be monitored for 24 hours...which turned into 30 hours. While at the hospital my blood pressure dropped and all was well. The highlight of the hospital stay...an ultrasound of Addi! :) Totally made my day to see our baby girl's beautiful face and to find out that she is doing great and weighing in at around 6 pounds right now! :) I was discharged on Wednesday evening and put on bedrest till Monday. We had another blood pressure check on Friday and it was up. They made me lay down for 5 minutes and it lowered, which showed that bedrest is a necessity right now. Who knows what will happen on Monday. We will either find out if I can be released from this stinking bedrest and go back to work for a week or so, if they will induce before 38 weeks, or if I will be stuck in the bed for another week. My vote right now...honestly, I don't know. I either want Addi here happy and healthy or want to go back to work. I do not want to remain on bedrest. If I have to though so that Addi can grow stronger and I can remain healthy, of course, I will do it.
I must take a moment to brag on Mr. Wonderful. Seriously, the man is amazing! He has been waiting on me hand and foot. He has wiped my tears when I have cried (on numerous occassions), has cleaned the entire house, has gone grocery shopping, prepared my meals, made me laugh, helped to plot a surprise shower for me, and the list goes on and on. All this while continuing to interview people and write stories. His attitude has been great and he is truly my hero!!
My family and friends are amazing, too! I already mentioned the surprise showers, but I have also received numerous emails, text messages and phone calls to encourage me whil I am on bedrest. My mom is finishing up shopping that I can't do right now for Addi and a friend from church who has a 7-month-old and is pregnant with another spent part of her night tonight shopping for other essentials that I will need once the baby is born. Again...the word that comes to mind is blessed!!!! God has truly blessed us in so many ways and we are overwhelmed!!
A special note to Addi...Daddy and I love you so much and we cannot wait for you to be here! We pray you're healthy and happy when you are born and hope that you will feel loved and secure as soon as you take your first breath. Being pregnant with you has been the most amazing experience of my life. Sure there have been ups and downs (that's the way it always is with pregnancy), but don't ever think that means I haven't LOVED carrying you!! We will see you soon...maybe even this week! :)
Symptoms - Morning Sickness - Still coming and going; energy level was pretty low until I was put on bedrest this week...now I just want to do everything I can't; emotions - I go from smiling to crying too many times throughout the day and am not really sure why.
Memorable Moments - Will get to in a minute
Thoughts / Feelings - Excited, scared, nervous, happy, reflective and on and on and on.
So, since the last time I wrote we've had a few memorable moments...
We had 2 surprise showers from 2 different classes in our church (one from my Wednesday night class and one from our Sunday School class). These showers were done so thoughtfully and just completely made my day (one was thrown last Saturday and one was today). :) We are so blessed with such wonderful people in our lives and the extent to which people have gone to show they care is just amazing! :)
I began training my temporary replacement at work. We got through a full-day of training on Monday and an hour worth of training on Tuesday before I went to the doctor and was told I couldn't go back to work this week.
We have had two doctor's appointments, one overnight stay at the hospital and a follow-up blood pressure check at another doctor's office. That's right...Addi isn't even here and I have already had my fill of doctor's appointments and hospital stays (granted it was only one overnight stay). The appointment last week went pretty well. My blood pressure was a little elevated, but nothing too bad and another appointment was scheduled for this past Tuesday. Tuesday's visit was not good at all. My blood pressure was high...to the point that the doctor thought I needed to go to the hospital to be monitored for 24 hours...which turned into 30 hours. While at the hospital my blood pressure dropped and all was well. The highlight of the hospital stay...an ultrasound of Addi! :) Totally made my day to see our baby girl's beautiful face and to find out that she is doing great and weighing in at around 6 pounds right now! :) I was discharged on Wednesday evening and put on bedrest till Monday. We had another blood pressure check on Friday and it was up. They made me lay down for 5 minutes and it lowered, which showed that bedrest is a necessity right now. Who knows what will happen on Monday. We will either find out if I can be released from this stinking bedrest and go back to work for a week or so, if they will induce before 38 weeks, or if I will be stuck in the bed for another week. My vote right now...honestly, I don't know. I either want Addi here happy and healthy or want to go back to work. I do not want to remain on bedrest. If I have to though so that Addi can grow stronger and I can remain healthy, of course, I will do it.
I must take a moment to brag on Mr. Wonderful. Seriously, the man is amazing! He has been waiting on me hand and foot. He has wiped my tears when I have cried (on numerous occassions), has cleaned the entire house, has gone grocery shopping, prepared my meals, made me laugh, helped to plot a surprise shower for me, and the list goes on and on. All this while continuing to interview people and write stories. His attitude has been great and he is truly my hero!!
My family and friends are amazing, too! I already mentioned the surprise showers, but I have also received numerous emails, text messages and phone calls to encourage me whil I am on bedrest. My mom is finishing up shopping that I can't do right now for Addi and a friend from church who has a 7-month-old and is pregnant with another spent part of her night tonight shopping for other essentials that I will need once the baby is born. Again...the word that comes to mind is blessed!!!! God has truly blessed us in so many ways and we are overwhelmed!!
A special note to Addi...Daddy and I love you so much and we cannot wait for you to be here! We pray you're healthy and happy when you are born and hope that you will feel loved and secure as soon as you take your first breath. Being pregnant with you has been the most amazing experience of my life. Sure there have been ups and downs (that's the way it always is with pregnancy), but don't ever think that means I haven't LOVED carrying you!! We will see you soon...maybe even this week! :)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
34 Weeks
Symptoms - Morning sickness was a little worse, but manageable. :) My energy has almost vanished, of course we were super busy so that could be part of the reason. Emotions are still pretty good...Jared's prayers continue to work! :)
Memorable Moments - We completed our last birthing class and I am not quite as freaked out about the birth now. We also toured the maternity area and it's awesome! Very excited that we chose the hospital we did! On Friday we went to the doctor and had a not so great appointment. My blood pressure was up a little bit and the doctor almost didn't allow me to make the trip to VA on Saturday for my shower. Thankfully, he did allow it and we had a great time! :) We were so blessed by all of the people who came and shared in our excitement! It's amazing how many people already care about our sweet little girl!
Thoughts / Feelings - EXCITEMENT!!!! :)
Memorable Moments - We completed our last birthing class and I am not quite as freaked out about the birth now. We also toured the maternity area and it's awesome! Very excited that we chose the hospital we did! On Friday we went to the doctor and had a not so great appointment. My blood pressure was up a little bit and the doctor almost didn't allow me to make the trip to VA on Saturday for my shower. Thankfully, he did allow it and we had a great time! :) We were so blessed by all of the people who came and shared in our excitement! It's amazing how many people already care about our sweet little girl!
Thoughts / Feelings - EXCITEMENT!!!! :)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
33 Weeks
Symptoms - Morning sickness is much better and much less this week...only once! :) Jared's prayers must be working, because my emotions have been somewhat more stable this week as well. I'm still really tired and still feel HUGE...somehow I don't think those two things will change anytime soon.
Memorable Moments - We went to the doctor's on Monday and Addi is doing great! :) Her heartbeat was beautiful! On the other hand, my blood pressure was up a little bit and the doctor is a little concerned. At this point it is nothing major, but he said that he definitely won't let me go over 40 weeks (works for me!). We learned infant CPR on Monday night and had another birthing class on Tuesday. I have decided that I don't want a C-Section, a natural birth or an epidural...basically, I just wish that Addi could punch her way out of my stomach. Since that is not going to happen, I guess we'll just see how it goes when it's time to give birth. :) Last night, Jared got tired of hearing me say, "You have no idea what it's like to be pregnant." So he attempted to learn by putting a huge pillow in his shirt and tried to sleep with it like that. I told him I would also wake him up each time I had to get up and go to the bathroom so that he could walk to the bathroom with me. He agreed to the challenge, but I didn't have the heart to actually wake him up each time and sometime during the night the pillow came out of his shirt. His efforts made me smile though. I am truly blessed! :)
Feelings / Thoughts - I have been like a mad woman when it comes to getting the house organized. I just want everything perfect for Addi's arrival. Jared has been really sweet and keeps reminding me that Addi isn't going to notice if certain things around the house aren't done. Still, I want it perfect for her.
Memorable Moments - We went to the doctor's on Monday and Addi is doing great! :) Her heartbeat was beautiful! On the other hand, my blood pressure was up a little bit and the doctor is a little concerned. At this point it is nothing major, but he said that he definitely won't let me go over 40 weeks (works for me!). We learned infant CPR on Monday night and had another birthing class on Tuesday. I have decided that I don't want a C-Section, a natural birth or an epidural...basically, I just wish that Addi could punch her way out of my stomach. Since that is not going to happen, I guess we'll just see how it goes when it's time to give birth. :) Last night, Jared got tired of hearing me say, "You have no idea what it's like to be pregnant." So he attempted to learn by putting a huge pillow in his shirt and tried to sleep with it like that. I told him I would also wake him up each time I had to get up and go to the bathroom so that he could walk to the bathroom with me. He agreed to the challenge, but I didn't have the heart to actually wake him up each time and sometime during the night the pillow came out of his shirt. His efforts made me smile though. I am truly blessed! :)
Feelings / Thoughts - I have been like a mad woman when it comes to getting the house organized. I just want everything perfect for Addi's arrival. Jared has been really sweet and keeps reminding me that Addi isn't going to notice if certain things around the house aren't done. Still, I want it perfect for her.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
32 Weeks
Hmmm...I somehow missed posting week 31...I'm sure it was pretty typical of week 30...same symptoms...same feelings. Memorable moment...I missed a class about nursing on Tuesday night because of a date mix-up on a flier and Jared and I missed an Infant CPR class on Thursday night because we went to the wrong hospital. Who knew there were two so close together? :) We also got snowed in and had a lot of time to spend together over the weekend. It was great fun and I realized how thankful I am that God gave us almost 5 years of marriage before children came along. We have truly been able to get to know each other so well as a result...but yes, we are ready for Addi to be here!!
And now for week 32...
Symptoms - Morning sickness was a bit worse this week, but nothing too major. :) I am amazed at how quickly I get tired these days! I am also getting a little irritable when it comes to being pregnant. I feel bad even saying that because I am so thankful for this opportunity. However, I am very moody, my muscles ache, I can't move as easily, I had to take my rings off this week because my hands will swell so much, and I just feel blah most of the time. The truth though...I would do it all over again and even experience worse if I had to to be able to experience the joy that I have felt every time I feel our Addi move, or every time Jared looks at me and says, "You are doing a great job carrying our baby." I am still so overwhelmed that God is using my body to carry a child that is "fearfully and wonderfully made" by Him.
Memorable Moments - We took our first birthing class on Tuesday night. It was so much fun and also a little scary. We watched a video of a lady who had a natural childbirth - with absolutely NO pain medication. I walked out of the class and told Jared, "I will have an epidural." Seriously, why do it without one?? I do not need to prove I'm a superwoman. I'm a big wimp and that's fine by me...I wonder if I could have 2 epidurals?? ;)
Feelings / Thoughts - Nervous that Addi will be here early and we won't have everything ready for her. Nervous that Addi will be late and I will be typing what my symptoms/memorable moments/feelings & thoughts were for week 40 and 41. Our excitement levels are also increasing and I didn't think that was even possible! :)
And now for week 32...
Symptoms - Morning sickness was a bit worse this week, but nothing too major. :) I am amazed at how quickly I get tired these days! I am also getting a little irritable when it comes to being pregnant. I feel bad even saying that because I am so thankful for this opportunity. However, I am very moody, my muscles ache, I can't move as easily, I had to take my rings off this week because my hands will swell so much, and I just feel blah most of the time. The truth though...I would do it all over again and even experience worse if I had to to be able to experience the joy that I have felt every time I feel our Addi move, or every time Jared looks at me and says, "You are doing a great job carrying our baby." I am still so overwhelmed that God is using my body to carry a child that is "fearfully and wonderfully made" by Him.
Memorable Moments - We took our first birthing class on Tuesday night. It was so much fun and also a little scary. We watched a video of a lady who had a natural childbirth - with absolutely NO pain medication. I walked out of the class and told Jared, "I will have an epidural." Seriously, why do it without one?? I do not need to prove I'm a superwoman. I'm a big wimp and that's fine by me...I wonder if I could have 2 epidurals?? ;)
Feelings / Thoughts - Nervous that Addi will be here early and we won't have everything ready for her. Nervous that Addi will be late and I will be typing what my symptoms/memorable moments/feelings & thoughts were for week 40 and 41. Our excitement levels are also increasing and I didn't think that was even possible! :)
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