A Birth Story: Part 1

Dear Noah, the day of your birth, and the weeks following, are the happiest memories I have. I often find myself reflecting on those first moments with you feeling overcome with joy at being your mother. I thank Heavenly Father often for the sweet blessing he gave me on October 23rd.

 

Here is the story of your birth...

 

Your due date, October 18th, had come and gone and we were at yet another doctors appointment on the 22nd for an ultrasound. It was about 10:30 in the morning when we were told that we needed to deliver that day. (The placenta looked very "ripe", or ready to deliver, in the ultrasound.) We were told to go home and get our things together, have something to eat, and wait for a phone call from labor and delivery saying they are ready for us to come in. We were given an estimate of about 2-3 hours until they would be ready.

 

An induction was not how I had planned to go into this delivery. I was hoping to have an epidural free birth and I knew that would be much harder to do with a started labor. I was nervous as we drove home, even a little afraid. I was also very excited, this was the day we had been waiting for! The house was all ready to welcome home a new little member of our family, and I was ready to be a mother, but anxiety still worked its way in and I could not help but cry from all that I was feeling. I also knew that I should do my best to try to sleep until we were called in. It had been a very early morning and I knew that it would be a very long day. But sleep was not easily achieved with so much on my mind.

 

And so we waited. And waited. And waited. After about 4 hours I decided to call in and see how things were going. I was informed that it was a very busy day and that women kept coming in already in labor and that they needed to give them the available rooms. The told me to wait another 2 hours and then call back if I had not heard from them by then. This went on all day. We tried to make the most of it, going out to lunch (Great Harvest, yummy!) going to the store to buy a 0 candle, and taking it very easy at home. My mom came that evening to lend her help while we were in the hospital and for the first week of being home. She was so sweet to do that. I will forever be grateful for her help!

 

We were finally told to come in at 1 am on Tuesday the 23rd. It was so peaceful on the drive to the hospital. It seemed very surreal that we would not be returning home as a family of two anymore, but a family of three. Exhausted and still very anxious we arrived at Logan Regional Hospital, made our way to Labor and Delivery and got settled into our room. I was given some medicine to start the labor as well as a sleeping pill and was finally able to get some rest. This was going to be a long day.

 

Due Date...

40 weeks pregnant and still going strong!

Today is our due date but still no baby. I think he is just way to comfortable in there. My nest (as we call it) is made and ready to welcome our little baby boy. Now we will just keep on waiting.

Here a a few photos of my nest:

the nest

baby bed (my belly tends to get in the way these days)

baby station

baby clothes

more baby clothes

baby socks and hats

Hopefully the next post will included a baby picture! (but I won't get myself too excited....)

Chubby Cheeks...

We got another look at our baby boy today. All is going well. The due date is this Thursday. We are really hoping that this is the week we get to meet him. I will be sure to keep you all posted.

Cute little nose. His hand is in front of his mouth. Can you see his closed eyes and chubby cheeks?

Looking forward to kissing that sweet little face.

I love my baby.

The Bapron...

Photo Courtesy of CINO

My good friend is having a baby girl in November and I was invited to her baby shower this weekend. While talking to Sage about what I should give her, he suggested I try to make something. After quite a while of thinking and internet searching I came across a blog (Craftiness is not Optional) with this lovely tutorial and decided that I would give it a try. (Because I do not have a baby of my own yet to model my creations, I am borrowing CINO's pictures from her tutorial.)

Photo Courtesy of CINO

Photo Courtesy of CINO (isn't she cute?!)

They were so much fun to make! I love sewing and am not sure how much time I will have once baby boy gets here to make things like this so I was very happy to have a day I could devote to working on these. Here are the two I made:

I made my own bias tape mostly to be sure I got the color I wanted but also to save some money. It would have gone a lot faster had I just bought some but that is just fine with me. If you are interested in making your own here is a wonderful tutorial from MADE which I used to make mine. (ps. I love this blog.) These would be ten times better if I had used oil cloth instead of cotton so that you could just wipe the mess off instead of having to wash the whole bib but I was going for economical with these ones. Next time perhaps... 

Now I just need to find some great boy fabric and make some for my little one!

The unexpected pregnancy symptom...

(Enjoy this photo that has no relation to today's post. Just a picture of my favorite person on a walk by a beautiful river  during my favorite time of year.)

Today marks my 39th week of pregnancy. And what a blessing these past 39 weeks have been. I am truly grateful for the gift I have been given to be able to carry this baby and very soon be his mother. Even these last few weeks with this unexpected pregnancy symptom have been a blessing because they are making me want to hold my baby outside of my belly more than ever before. And it has also given me time to reflect on the relatively easy road this whole experience has been.

I expected a lot of things coming into this pregnancy. I expected to be more hungry and tired than normal. I expected to really enjoy feeling a little person move inside of me. I expected my belly to grow and stretch more than I thought possible leaving the expected marks of such stretching behind. I expected I would nest, wanting everything in perfect order before the arrival of this tiny baby. And I expected that I would love being pregnant. (which I really do.)

However, what I did not expect with pregnancy is the almost unbearable itching that I am sure is a result of the expected stretching of my 39 weeks pregnant belly. This itching is probably worse than any mosquito bite I have ever had times 10. It is pretty close to constant and is very hard to relieve. I try not to touch it, look at it, think about it, and should probably stop blogging about it because doing so seems to be making it itch even more. But I felt that I should let my future-mother-friends out there know about this pregnancy symptom which for me was very unexpected so that they can add it to their list of expected things that may come their way when pregnant. But remember, everyone is different so you may be lucky and never have to experience the itchy belly. But if you do, also remember that it is a blessing. Because as my sweet sister once told me, if pregnancy were without difficulty we would forever want to remain pregnant. Instead we get to dream about the day when our little one is wrapped up in our arms and not in our bellies.

(So please come out soon little boy.)

Baby bump...

I was looking through some old pictures on our computer the other day and had to laugh at some of the earlier pregnancy pictures I had taken thinking that my belly was so big and finally showing when it was just a little bump. There is not hiding it now. (This was one of those rare days when I actually wore real clothes. Believe me that those pants were quickly changed once my errands were over.)

As much as I am ready for this baby to be in my arms and not in my belly, I really have enjoyed being pregnant. It has been very easy compared to what so many other women have to go through which I am very grateful for. I still get excited when I feel this little guy wiggle inside of me. Even when his little feet find the most uncomfortable spot to wedge themselves into, it makes me happy thinking that he is in there and doing well. I sure do love this little baby of mine.

ps. Today marks week 37. That leaves only 3 more weeks until the due date. Which means that if baby boy were born today, he would not be considered premature. What a relief. I do not feel bad now wishing that he would come soon. But I will keep being patient because as my sister said, the world is a scary place and he can just stay inside his safe little corner until he is ready to come out.

Sometimes I pretend it's snowing...

(Last December)

Especially while eating warm maple and brown sugar oatmeal with apples and listening to some Pandora Christmas music. (Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Holiday) radio) Makes me so happy!