Today was definitely a picture day. I took over 180 pics, Becky took about 50, and my mom took about 20. So, we have TONS of pictures! This post might be a little all over the place, but it has one common thread...MAELI!

I just realized that I hadn't shown you Maeli's room. It's so cute, I love it!!

And, of course, my beautiful girl in her cute bed!


At lunchtime today I found Trae reading to Maeli. He loves that girl so much! He's got a permagrin all day long. He wants to hold her every chance he gets!



I sat down to change Maeli and found that a nice...ummmm....explosion had taken place. So, I went ahead and stripped her down. Grandma suggested we take pictures, and I'm glad she did!


Grady, getting in on the action...

Check out that hair! Seriously! Braids anyone??


Love this face!

Then, we figured since she was already naked, and her chord had fallen off, it was time to dunk her!

I think it's great that my kids chords have all fallen off within their first week of life. What a blessing! That nasty thing scares me, and I'm not that good at sponge baths.

She didn't exactly love it. But she did enjoy some of it!




She really is perfect! I think I'll keep her! :)

She's here!!

She's finally here

 

and we love her so much!!

And now, for our little story.

Friday morning I was scheduled for a Prostaglandin Gel application. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, but as time kept going along I was ready to be done! There was no promise that this would work. Prostaglandin will either give you strong menstrual cramps and send you into labor, or give you strong menstrual cramps and stop in 6-8 hours. I figured this was my best chance at getting things moving, without being induced via pitocin. So, I went for it!

I actually started having some good contractions Thursday night, which kept me up most of the night. But, the closest they got to each other was 15 minutes apart. So, I tried to get some sleep, but didn't really succeed. By morning they had pretty much stopped, so we headed to the hospital. My mom stayed home with the boys (she got here LAST Friday so she wouldn't miss this event, not knowing she had a whole week to wait!) and we took Winni to a friends house for a play date. We got to the hospital and went forward with the gel. After about 30 minutes of monitoring the baby and I they said we were free to go. I didn't have any contractions while sitting there, so we decided to head to the mall to walk around. As I stood up I realized something was very different. My butt hurt! It hurt bad! It was my glutes. I could barely walk. I felt like my hips were falling apart. As we were walking out to the parking garage I started having some good contractions, but mostly lots of pressure, in my glutes. It was the weirdest thing. I told Walter to just get me to the car. So we headed to the mall. It was 11 AM and I was hungry so we went to the food court. My contractions were getting worse, so we headed to the family bathroom instead. The people in the bathroom were a little surprised to see Walter and I walk into the actual 'toilet room' together. Everywhere we went all I wanted to do was sit down. We sat on a couch in the middle of the mall and had some fro-yo. It was good, but I kind of felt like throwing up with each contraction, so I didn't enjoy it like I would have liked to. Walter got some Panda and I helped him eat a little, but again, didn't want to taste it coming back up. While Walter went to get the Panda Express, a lady from church walked by and talked to me a little. Luckily she didn't stay long, because she would have witnessed the beast I was becoming. Poor Walter! He refers to this labor as 'the time when the demon was released!' All I have to say to that is, 'I held back, I really did!' However, I still thanked him afterward for sticking around. During this time he really couldn't do anything right. While I was in a contraction he would 'shhh shhh' to show support, I took it that he didn't like the scene I was making. I almost beat him for it. After about 1 hour at the mall I decided I didn't want to be there anymore. I told him to take me back to the hospital. We went to my midwifes office and had her check me. Every time she would check me, the baby would do a flip, and this time was no different. She said I was at a 3 and should walk around the hospital. We went out in the hall and I kept sitting down. Just for the record, I know that wasn't the best way to get through a contraction, but my glutes killed and I was tired. I even tried laying on a bench in the hallway, but that didn't last long. Whenever someone came by or we were close to someone, Walter would talk to them and try to be light and comical. I wanted to beat him. I didn't think he was funny. So, after about 15 minutes I made him take me back to my midwife. She checked me again and I just about kicked her in the face. I was so loud! I felt like the baby was going to take the northern route out! Well, thankfully I was at a 4. She told me I could head to the hospital. I told her to tell them to have my epidural ready! During a contraction while I was on the table I asked Walter to hold me. I wanted him to hold me laying back, cause I felt like the baby was coming out. He started to push me forward, folding me in half and I yelled at him! We left her office and headed across the parking lot to the hospital. On the way up the elevator I had another contraction. It was time for us to get off the elevator, but I was still mid contraction. He kept trying to get me to get off the elevator and I screamed, 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!' Everybody just stopped. He told the people waiting for the elevator that it would be just a second, and that we would get off soon. By this point my contractions were about every 2 minutes! Some guy got on the elevator and pushed the button for his floor. He looked at Walter and said, 'sorry, I'm late for an appointment'. Luckily, Walter said to him, 'you couldn't wait 30 seconds?' I say 'luckily' because if he hadn't said anything, I think I would have unleashed the demon on this guy! As soon as the doors closed, my contraction was over, but we had to take this sorry guy to the top floor. We finally got back to our floor and I knew I was due for another contraction. I hurried up and got off and ran for the bench. Someone offered to get me a wheelchair and I said 'yes!' So, I get in the wheelchair and Walter wheels me across the tile floor, out the door, across the cobblestone parking lot, in the door and along another tile floor. Apparently they didn't ask a woman in labor what kind of flooring to use! It was the worst ride of my life. I don't remember blaming Walter for the discomfort on this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if maybe I just blocked it out. While on the elevator going up to L&D, Walter was tapping my wheelchair. I asked him nicely to stop the first time, then I just got angry.

They got me to my room and I ripped my clothes off as I ran for the bathroom. Once I was on the bed they started up the monitors and began my blood work. While they were doing this, Walter called my mom and told her to take the boys to our friends house and come straight to the hospital. While he was doing this I had a big contraction and told him to come hold me. He didn't. He came over after he was done with his phone call and I ripped into him for not coming when I asked. For the record, this is so not like me. I usually just take the crap, bottle it up, and cry later. Maybe labor is good for me! Finally the anesthesiologist came and saved my life. They checked me just before he started, I was still at a 4, by the time he was done I was a 6! Things were moving quickly. The time was now about 3-ish. Once the epidural took full effect we all sat back and pulled out our cell phones and ipods and started facebooking! hahha My midwife checked me again and I was at a 7 and she could feel my bag of waters. We decided to not break it, but to wait until my mom got there. My mom made it, and at about 430 they checked me again. We were almost to a 10 and my water was still intact. By about 450 or 5 my water had broken (unnoticed by me) and we were ready to start pushing. Then my contractions slowed up a ton! I'd have a contraction and push, then wait about 3-4 minutes. It really didn't feel like I was in labor anymore. I think that's because I was expecting more of a beating like what I got from Grady! It was just too easy! We were all just sitting back and talking and relaxing and then I'd push a few times. Her little head slowly came out and then it was all over with. She was here and smaller than expected! She was born at 5:24 and weighed 7 lbs 15 oz. She was about 1 lb smaller than we had guessed. She was 20.8 inches long, which explains why it was so hard to push. She was stuck up in my ribs the whole time she was coming out. Her head was 34 perfect centimeters, covered in lots of black hair. I don't know why I'm still surprised when every child of mine comes out with a head full of dark hair, but I am. We took some pictures and got all cleaned up and got to just sit there and love on this baby. The room got very quiet as we all went back to facebook and texting pictures all over the place.

As we were enjoying her first few moments, my mom decided to head down to the ER to get her cough checked out. She had done great in the delivery to stay back and didn't cough at all, but since we were there and weren't going anywhere for a while, she decided to get checked out. She called us after about an hour and said she had been put on oxygen and that they had ordered chest x-rays and blood work. They decided she had pneumonia and would be staying in the hospital for a few days. Well, Sunday came and Walter came and got me to take me home. My dad flew in Saturday night to be with my mom so we headed home. Finally she was released today and will be able to fly home to Utah in a couple of days. She is not contagious, so she will be staying either with us or with her cousins. We are just glad that everyone is getting healthy and we can move forward. My sister Becky flew out tonight to help me out. I'm so grateful for that!

Today

I feel like this...



I have so much to blog about! I'll start tomorrow! :)

hmmmm....

I wonder if she'll be anything like this...



cause dang, I was cute!!

Tall Ships

This weekend in our little town we had tall ships come for a visit! Apparently they come this weekend every year. Which is kind of cool because they look 'pirate-ish' and at night they are all lit up. Kind of spooky!!



You can buy tickets to go for a ride, but they sell out pretty far in advance. Maybe next year!


See all that water? Yeah! The water level rose half way up the street when the tide came in last night. Kind of cool...if you have a floating dock. I think C-town might need to invest in one!



My kids thought they were so cool! They loved seeing the cannons and all the fun detail. I think they liked that we let them out on the dock without a leash!



They also had a replica of John Smith's boat. Cute little thing!



These are my homies! hahha They refused to leave the house without their safety goggles today. HIL.AR.IOUS!!


I'm loving her 'Farrah Fawcett' hair! She's into the whole 'do my hair myself' stage, and I don't fight it!



Speaking of doing your own hair! He found the hair glue, and put some right in the middle! I think he looks kind of 'edward-esque' in this pic! My little boy, the vampire!



And, of course, we can't leave out a picture of this little guy! He loves his headphones, for a minute. I think he loves that I love taking his picture with his headphones on. His cheeks are so edible!

Goals...

Have you ever set a goal? I mean, a really big goal? Like, to have a baby! Then, you set a date, say October 28th. Is this the day you'd like to have this baby by? Or after? It is my personal belief, and practice, that this date you set is the goal. I want to make it to the due date, still pregnant. Otherwise I've fallen short...right? I'm sure everyone feels this same way. Who would want to have a baby early? Really? That's just cheating!!

So, for all of you cheaters out there who have never made it to 40 weeks pregnant, let me give you a little tour!

It's so delightful! Your baby keeps getting bigger and bigger and you get closer and closer to 200 lbs. In case you're wondering, that would be a 50 lb weight gain! Another highly attainable goal!



And your pants start to 'make room' for more of you!



But, you've got to look on the bright side. All of your friends who were pregnant along with you, and due after you, who have had their babies are experiencing sitting on ice, sleepless nights, and engorgement. While you are enjoying 3 hour long naps, still being kicked in the exit, and the wonderful onlookers who comment with a 'can't be much longer!' Oh, and I can still eat loads of candy, cause I'm not even thinking about losing weight yet! :)

So, welcome to 40 weeks gestation! Congrats to me! I made it! Now, if I hold out a little longer, I might have an excellent Halloween costume. That is, IF pregnant women are off the hook for the whole modesty thing. If so, Walter has requested that I paint my belly like a jack-o-lantern.




What do you think??

Just for the record...

I've made it to 39 weeks and 6 days without repeating THIS

And I plan on keeping it that way! :)