Charlotte: A Birth Story

It's hard for me to believe that exactly a week ago yesterday I was in labor and getting ready to meet this precious little one that had been growing in my belly for 9 months. Now she's a part of our little family and making it known. ;-)

Last Tuesday, we woke up kinda early (for me, anyway) and called the hospital to see when we could come in. Just my luck - they told us to call back around noon. At first I was a little irritated, but then I was relieved because I wasn't quite ready. The extra time allowed me to calm the heck down and finish packing our bags. {Procrastinate much?} Just as we were getting ready to have lunch before calling the hospital, they called. When I told them we were getting ready to have lunch, the nurse told me just to go ahead and eat and then come in. So we ate lunch, finished packing, took Jasper over to the neighbors', locked the keys in the house, broke into the house {like really? this is when this happens?!}, loaded the car and hit the road.

Cue tears.

I made the mistake of texting a few family members... Because when we got to the hospital they were full again. Fail. We spent about an hour and a half waiting to be admitted. Fortunately, we were there long enough that I got hungry and had Joe get me a snack. As soon as I finished my snack, there was a nurse saying they were ready to admit me! And in case you don't know, no more food after they start inducing. Sad face.

It took a little while to get things started, but by about 4:00 they had me admitted and started checking me out. Around 5:00ish, they determined I was 2cm dilated and about 50% effaced at -2 station. I was {and still am} super thankful that I had dilated a little bit on my own. Then came the fun stuff: they put a catheter in my cervix {OUCH OUCH OUCH} to help me dilate and a little dissolvable pill called to help thin things out. A couple hours later - about 8:00 - the catheter came out and I was dilated to about a 4/5 and having some irregular contractions, but contractions nonetheless.

Once the catheter came out, the contractions started coming pretty hard, but still not really regular. It felt like it was taking forever, but looking back it went kinda fast. Somewhere around 10 or 11, a doctor came in to break my water. I was under the impression that this was going to hurt as badly as the catheter from earlier, but I was totally wrong. The only part that hurt was the cervix check {as usual}. I didn't even feel the little thing they broke my water with...although it did look a little scary. =P By this point, I was dilated to about 6cm. Woo for being over halfway there!

This is when things started getting serious. The contractions were more painful and getting harder to breathe through. Yeah, you read that right. No pain meds at this point! Although they hadn't checked me, I'm assuming that I asked for pain meds at around 7cm. I got a shot of nubane {not sure on that spelling} that worked like a charm for a little while.

I don't know what time the nurse came back in to check on me, but by this point the contractions were pretty much back to back and I was ready for something else. Although I didn't realize I was ready for something else. =P The nurse told me that the anesthesiologist was about to go do a c-section for someone else so if I wanted the epidural, it would be a good time. Well, between contractions I finally decided to get the epidural... And the nurse came back to tell me he'd already gone into the OR. =( Somehow she was able to convince my doctor to get me another shot of nubane even though it'd been two hours. Initially it worked great, but it didn't do much to take the edge off. I'll never forget the feeling I had when Charlie walked in to give me that epidural. I don't know if I vocalized it, but I definitely thought "Thank You, God!!!" This guy was probably my favorite person of the day. It took him about 5 minutes to get it in, but I didn't feel a thing thanks to some pretty powerful contractions. And, oh, sweet relief when the meds kicked in! Not feeling the first contraction after that {other than some pressure} was pretty stinkin' amazing. Joe got a pretty good kick out of it when I said, "I think I'm having a contraction" and smiled. If he only knew!

After they put in my catheter, someone {I really can't remember who} came in to check my cervix... I was at 9/9.5cm! Almost baby time! About 2:30am it was time to start pushing. At first it was just us and the nurse in the room pushing, and now I totally understand why. It kinda takes forever to push a baby out. =P When I started pushing, my contractions decided not to come so close together anymore so they started me on pitocin just to get things going. Not much since my body was doing pretty well on its own, but enough. After a little while, they noticed that Charlotte wasn't tolerating the pushing too well. Not badly enough to be worried, but they did put me on an oxygen mask and kept rolling me onto my side. I'm pretty sure they wanted me to push on my side, but it was way too difficult. Sometimes they'd make me wait out a few contractions just so Charlotte could recover a little bit from the last one. This meant a little bit more work on my part when I did push, but it was worth it.

The nurse and doctor I had in there were really phenomenal. They coached me through the whole thing {as they should, really} and really advocated for both of us. The doctor was determined that I could push her out on my own even though one of the midwives didn't seem so certain. It was pretty comforting.

I haven't really said much about him yet, but Joe was amazing through the whole thing. He hardly ever left my side and reminded me to breathe through every contraction and held my hand through the really tough ones. He told me over and over again how proud he was of me. He got me ice chips and helped me beg for drugs when I needed them. When it came time for pushing, he held one of my legs {which I couldn't feel or hold up thanks to the epidural} and watched our little girl come out. In fact, he had to tell me when her head was out because I was so focused on pushing. Haha!

Pretty quickly after she came out and started crying, the doctor put her on my belly and we got to meet our baby girl. It was a priceless moment I'll never forget. I think I cried about as much as Charlotte did, only for different reasons. {Side note: I don't know how anyone wouldn't want their baby on their tummy immediately after, "dirty" or not. There was a girl in our child birth class who was totally grossed out by this. I don't get it.}

In all, I pushed for about 2.5 hours. Miss Charlotte Ann made her appearance at 5:06 am on Thursday morning. She weighed 5 lbs 5.4 ounces and measured 18.5 inches - my little bean!

Getting all cleaned up!

Joe stayed with her while they were cleaning her up, and oh did she ever do some crying! So much so that I started crying! Ah, hormones. Thankfully it didn't take too long and I had her back in my arms.

Joe took this shot without me knowing. I like it. =)

Daddy finally got a chance to hold his little girl!

I don't know how long it was after we got moved into a mother/baby room, but our pastor and one of the deacons stopped by. =/ I was a little irritated that they came without telling/asking us, but we got our first family photo out of it so I guess I can't be too upset.

And there you have it - Charlotte's birth story. =) Full of medical intervention, but ending in a completely healthy little girl and mommy. 

I'm healing very well, probably mostly because I didn't tear - praise the Lord! {Well, I had one itty bitty tear on the inside that required 1 whole stitch.} That was one of my biggest fears going in and God totally answered that prayer. I had/have some scrapes and scratches, but mostly I just feel bruised. Charlotte is doing great, even though she had a bit of jaundice in the hospital. She was doing great with breastfeeding, but since my milk came in {read: my boobs got super huge} she's had some difficulty latching. She does eventually latch and she eats well enough to have plenty of diapers, but it's frustrating for both of us.

My MIL got here Saturday and has been a HUGE help to me even if all she does sometimes is encourage me. Joe does the same thing, but it's kinda different because she's been there and gets it. I still need him, too, but it's just different. =)

All in all, we're doing well and just adjusting to this change in our lives. Forgive me for not posting so much, but I get to hang out with this cuteness all day - frustrations or not.

Be back soon!

Maternity Photos!

Today is the day, folks!! At some point today, I'll be going to the hospital to be induced and meet my little girl! So I figured it'd be appropriate to share some of the maternity photos we did a few weeks ago. Now, I haven't been keeping them from you... I actually just got them on Sunday. Just in time!

I am completely in love with the photos she took... She did such a great job! And you'd never know that the weather was less than perfect here that day. Amazing! All the photos were taken by a girl we go to church with here. If you're interested {and in Hawaii}, you can check her out at Koti's Photography.

This is Joe's favorite. =)

Hand hearts on the baby belly!

This is one of my favorites...but I can't say exactly why.

Sweet baby shoes.

Kisses for baby!

Walking along the beach. =)

This shot was Joe's idea. The onesie he's holding says "Daddy makes me smile." The one I'm holding says "Mommy loves me." =)

I think this is one of the best shots of us.

I really love this one.

Window into the belly. =)

This is definitely a favorite. We have one sort of like it from our engagement photos too.

Had to have a smoochy picture. Hehe.

This one might be the best one of us. =)

Don't ask me where my belly went... 

No idea! I guess it was the way I was standing, maybe?

So what do you think? They're great, right?! =) I love them. Now to choose which ones to print! And because I'm off to the hospital today I'm thinking it might be a while before I actually get to that... Oh well!!

Speaking of going to the hospital, I have a few guest bloggers lined up for the next few days. I'm sure you'll enjoy them while I'm gone. And don't worry, I'll be back soon with tons of baby photos and stories! =)

Strong Enough

I haven't done one of these in a while, but today I'm linking up with Goodnight Moon for What's Your Song? 

I heard this song - Strong Enough by Matthew West - on the radio on my way back from my entirely-too-long doctor's appointments today and it just seemed fitting. The lyrics start out with:

"You must

You must think I'm strong

To give me what I'm going through." 

Um, hi. ::waves:: I'm about to go through something probably more difficult than I ever imagined. And while it will be totally worth it, it is definitely going to be hard. I'm pretty nervous about being induced, being in labor, delivering and, well, becoming a mommy in general.  This song pretty much screams the attitude I have/need to have. And I may or may not be requesting my hubby download it to play in the delivery room. ;-) What really speaks to me is the chorus:

"I know I'm not strong enough 

to be everything that I'm supposed to be

I give up

I'm not strong enough

Hands of Mercy won't you cover me

Lord right now I'm asking you to be

Strong enough

Strong enough

For both of us"

Great, right? Well, listen to the song and be prepared to be even more moved. =)



Love! Even if you're not going through something difficult (or about to), this song is awesome. I mean, you really just can't go wrong with Matthew West.

P.S. If you're interested in guest blogging for me next week, let me know! I'm gonna have my hands full!

Thirty Seven - The Last Week

How far along: 37 weeks!! And only one week until she's here!

Weight gain/loss: Um... 30ish? My OB appointment got cancelled last week and I haven't weighed myself in a while.

Body changes: Nothing out of the ordinary so far. Growing, growing, growing belly! 

Gender: It's a GIRL!

Movement: Lots of moving going on in this belly! In fact, I finally told a nurse this week that I don't do kick counts because I feel her all the time. Even better, I keep reading on my pregnancy app that I won't be feeling the baby as often because she's getting bigger... And all I can think is "LIES!!" Haha. =) I'm totally ok with feeling her move so much. I only wish she wouldn't shove her tiny little feet into my ribs! {Which, coincidentally, don't feel so tiny when they're in my ribs.}

Sleep: Depends on the night, really. I have a hard time staying comfortable and I still get up a few times a night. But I'm sleeping really well for the most part.

What I'm looking forward to: Um, meeting our baby girl in a week!

What I miss: Not waddling, not grunting when I get up from the couch, being able to sleep on my stomach and eat whatever I want.

Cravings: Nothing specific... Just everything I can't have. Soon, though!

Symptoms: Lots and lots of pressure "down there," heartburn even with the Zantac, and some back and hip pain.

Best moment this week: Talking with Joe about how things will be once Charlotte is here... Having him help me get things ready... I don't know, there were a lot of good moments this week. Well, this weekend, really. We also found out at dinner Saturday night that some good friends of ours are expecting!! =D We are super excited for them, of course, and can't wait to give them some good practice with Charlotte! ;-) Haha!

Taken before dinner on Saturday... In Charlotte's room. =P

I just can't believe she'll be here in one week. This pregnancy has gone by much faster than I thought it would! Though I'm definitely ready to meet her, I kind of wish it hadn't gone by so fast... Despite the GD, hypertension and now GBS {group B strep}, I've really enjoyed being pregnant. Yeah, there were some really sucky times {I'm lookin' at you, morning sickness} but it's really been...amazing. Growing this little girl in my belly has been one of the greatest - and strangest - experiences and I'm still in awe of how it all happens. And super thankful that God chose to bless us with this little girl. I know the road ahead is going to be tough, but I'm going to have some great help along the way. I couldn't think of a better person to do this with than Joe. =) He's not so sure, but I know he's going to be a great daddy. I can't wait to see him with her!

Ready or Not...

Here she comes!

That's right. Miss Charlotte will be here in one. week! Which is why I've been spending most of my time nesting cleaning like a crazy person. My main goal for last week was "de-cluttering" the house. I'm kind of a clutter person... It really just happens and I don't know how to make it stop! Piles of paper/mail here and there; piles of clean clothes in the laundry room and our bedroom; baskets of dirty laundry... You name it, it has happened in my house. Not usually all at the same time, but it does happen. And for a few weeks, if you'd walked into my kitchen you would have seen a big box of "stuff to get rid of" in the middle of the floor. Not pretty. Then there are the dreaded storage closets... 

So I tackled almost all of that last week. By Friday, most of the house had been de-cluttered and all I had left was the storage closet. And I totally overdid it on the storage closet. =P I took out a whole bunch of stuff from the outside one {which was originally supposed to be for a garage sale} and piled it in the car to take to Goodwill. It took me a good 2 hours to get everything out, organized and put in the car, but I did it! And then I paid the price in the form of a few contractions. Smart, right!? 

But it didn't stop there... I had a whole list of things for Joe to do this weekend. I really felt bad for asking him to do so much, but I can't do all that I want to do by myself. And, hey, if he's not going to be here during the week to help, that's what he gets! ;-) Just kidding. I know he'd much rather be here tackling my "honey-do" list than "playing Army" and staying in the barracks all week. 

Thankfully, by the end of Saturday afternoon he completed my list. =) Well, mostly. There's still one big box that needs to find its way to Goodwill {I can't lift it} and the grass very seriously needs to be cut. But those can be done later. 

This week, my goal is to do as little as possible, pack our bags and just keep the house picked up. This is always easier with only one person in the house. {Am I right?!} So all I really have to worry about is getting through the weekend...with a clean house. ;-)

And just as proof that she's really coming soon, I got to spend my afternoon here:

No worries, though! The people in the NST office freaked out a little because her heart rate dropped. In all actuality, though, her heart rate was just going back down to normal after having been high for a while. And it took a 30 min NST and 1.5 hours in L&D to determine this. Sigh. Better safe than sorry, I know, but 2 hours of monitoring is a lot...and uncomfortable.

Question for you mommies out there: What do I really need to pack in my hospital bag? {For me and for baby.} 

And holy cow... One. Week.

Socks. Rocked.

I haven't really talked about it that much on here, but before a few weeks ago I was very seriously freaking out about the lack of things we had for Charlotte. I made a mental decision not to purchase anything for her (other than a few clothes I couldn't resist) before my baby shower. After the shower, I pretty much went into full panic/nesting mode. If you couldn't tell. ;-) We still didn't have everything we needed for her - from clothes to high chair and a few things in between. Quite honestly, I was worried about where all the money was going to come from. In case you don't know, baby things are expensive! Not only are they expensive, but they are more expensive in Hawaii...just like everything else.

After my initial freak out and shopping spree (in which I was able to get all of the absolute necessities), my "real dad"/bio father/whatever you wanna call him sent me a message asking if we had everything we needed for Charlotte. I was honest and told him that while we had all the basics, there were still a couple things we'd like to have (a high chair and Ergo carrier) that we couldn't afford to get. I also told him that we didn't need them right away, so it wasn't the end of the world. Guys, he ordered them off my registry the same day. This is just amazing to me because not only did he spend like $200 on those things, he also bought us a Pac N Play and Exersaucer. And he gave us a decent amount of money for Christmas which I used to pay for fabric for her bedding. So basically, he's given us a lot. And I...am completely overwhelmed by this generosity.

Then, my bestie did a little shopping for me. First she went and got me some reasonably priced bibs, burp cloths, etc. She also went "shopping" in her own little girl's closet. All this stuff is coming to Hawaii with my MIL. I am beyond excited to get all the cute stuff from her! And I'm relieved that Charlotte will have more outfits. ;-)

A while back one of my bloggy/Twitter friends sent me a box of clothes, bottles and burp cloths for Charlotte. This was before my panic/nesting began, but I was still very thankful to get them!

Yesterday, another Twitter friend said she was going to go through her kids' baby clothes and send some to me. Then, my neighbor texted me telling me she found 2 seemingly new baby swings on someone's curb for trash day and picked them up. Only one of them ended up working, but I now have a baby swing. It doesn't have a power cord, but it does take batteries and I can order a cord from Amazon if I need to. So...this FREE baby swing is sitting in my house ready for my baby girl. (And, yes, I washed and cleaned the whole thing immediately. ;-)) Also, do you know how much these things cost?! This one is over $100 brand new! I paid $4 for batteries today. Four. Dollars.

This morning, my sweet friend Miranda (who also threw my baby shower) texted me to ask if I wanted some of her daughter's recently-outgrown clothes.

Seriously, y'all, I'm surprised I haven't broken down into tears by now. I can't believe how much God is blessing us through these amazing friends and family... And even through friends I've never even met!

I'm just gonna be honest with you - I'm convinced that all of this is because we recently started tithing again. We'd been in between churches for a while and had "gotten out of the habit" of tithing, for lack of a better excuse, I guess. Even after we joined the church we're at now, we didn't tithe for a while. And our finances took a hit because of it. Trust me, they did. But for the last few paychecks we've been faithful and obedient and God is blessing us because of it. Not only are we being blessed by amazing people, but for the first time in I-can't-tell-you-how-long we have extra money this month. Not a lot, but it's still extra. If that's not God's doing, I don't know what is because we haven't done anything different other than tithing.

And in just under two weeks, we'll receive the biggest blessing He's ever given us - our baby girl. I'm excited; I'm ready; and I'm very...humbled.

So, yeah. This is one of those {many} times in my life where God is very seriously rocking my socks off. 

Thirty Six

How far along: 36 weeks!! Which means it's crunch time!!! 2 weeks until she's here...crazy, crazy, crazy!

Weight gain/loss: Ummm...around 30, I think. Last week I was up like 3 pounds which was really weird. I want to see what it is this week because I don't understand what happened. Lol!

Body changes: Meh. Not much, really. I think I might have a few more stretch marks, but it's hard to tell at this point. Definitely a bigger belly though!

Gender: It's a GIRL!! Trust me, it's a girl. ;-) They double checked at my ultrasound last week and there's really no doubt she's a girl!

Movement: All the time. I'm starting to think for sure she has red hair {just because I have it doesn't mean she will!} because she's so feisty! Unless it's a hard kick in the ribs or belly button {which really feels weird} I don't mind. I'm just glad she's healthy and moving around in there.

Sleep: Not so bad lately. I think I'm so tired by the time I get to bed that it's not really a problem. I still get up a couple times a night, but it doesn't bother me anymore.

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our baby girl! It's crazy that there's only 2 weeks left... It's gone by so fast!

What I miss: Just the usual: sleeping on my stomach, not having heartburn or back/hip pain, not waddling when I walk, and eating what I want to eat. =P

Cravings: Nothing specific... Just all the sweet stuff I can't have!

Symptoms: "Breakthrough" heartburn, back/hip pain at night and in the morning... Yeah, I guess that's it.

Best moment this week: A couple best moments, actually...

• Getting to see her via ultrasound!!! It's really amazing to me how much you can see on those things.

Such a sweet little face. =)

• Joe and I had a little date night Saturday and had a really good chat about us and Charlotte and...lots of things. We hadn't done that in a while and it was definitely needed. It does make me a little sad, though, that we have so little time together in the next 2 weeks. We'll make the best of what time we do have but it'd always be nice to have more, you know? Stupid Army and WLC. =P

Baby Love: The Nursery

After returning from the doctor's office this afternoon, I was finally able to finish the little missy's nursery! I was really hoping the last little piece of "artwork" I ordered would be in the mailbox and it was! I've really been working on the nursery all week and I'm glad to have it finished. Especially with the news I got at the doctor's today. More on that later.

As you're all probably aware by now, the "theme" for her room is elephants. I fell in love with some elephant print fabric right before we found out she's a girl and there has been no turning back! I never really even liked elephants that much before...now I can't get enough of them. Without further ado, here is Charlotte's nursery!

The photo on the top left is the view when you're standing at the door to her room. Walking in, the wardrobe is on the left. The print sitting on the wardrobe is the one I got in the mail today. It says, "First we had each other. Then we had you. Now we have everything." LOVE. =)

Then we have the changing table/dresser, which is now completely ready for baby! Diapers, wipes, lotion, butt paste, cotton swabs, etc. The photo on the bottom right is what I have deemed the "nursing corner," complete with the chair, Boppy pillow, burp cloths, blankets, etc.

The crib and vinyl I made with my Silhouette. =) It took me all day to make that!! You can click on it to see what it says, but in case you don't want to it says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above." Her name still isn't as big as I'd like it to be, but I ran out of vinyl. If I ever order more hot pink, I'll probably make her name bigger. Until then, this will just have to do! Thoughts?

More shots of the crib area.

And now we're back to the doorway. Shelf with knickknacks and photos... Table with monitor, lamp and little bear. I have no idea where else to put that little guy. =P Diaper bag by the door, ready to go!

I'm so relieved to have her nursery done! It's been bugging me for the last few weeks. I feel like I can relax a little bit now that it's done. 

✽✽✽

I may have mentioned that I had an ultrasound scheduled for today, which means  I got to see our little girl!! I was very excited to see her little face {and the rest of her, of course} but I was a little sad not to have Joe there with me. The ultrasound took around 30 minutes because our sweet little girl was being feisty. =P I'm fairly certain she didn't want to have her pictures taken today! Thankfully, though, the tech was able to see what she needed to and we got a few photos of her too. =)

Isn't that the cutest, smooshiest little face you've ever seen?! =D {I know, I know... It's started already, LOL!} We got a few more photos of her face, but they all pretty much looked like this one. The tech tried really hard to get a profile shot, but her little head is smooshed down in my pelvis. {TMI?} Good for delivery, bad for ultrasound photos!

I loved every minute of seeing her move around. It was so neat because I could feel and see when she was moving! I got to see quite a bit of those feet she keeps putting in my ribs, and guess what?! They look exactly like mine. Poor baby girl. I'm sorry!!! One of the coolest things I got to see was her "practice breathing." Her little chest was moving up and down so fast! I'm assuming this is what causes her frequent hiccups... The tech said that was a very good thing. Anyway. She's pretty much perfect. Weighing in at about 5 pounds...a little petite for how far along I am, but small babies are common in our families. 

After the ultrasound, I met with a couple of the maternal-fetal medicine doctors. There, they informed me that I will be induced (because of the hypertension tendency and the GD). This sent me pretty much into panic-attack mode. They wanted to induce me at 37 weeks, but since Joe will still be in WLC then they postponed it until 38 weeks. In case you need a reminder, I'm 35 weeks. Translation?

Charlotte will be here in 2.5 weeks. 2.5 weeks. Holy. Moly!

Now you see why I'm glad to have her nursery ready! All I need to do now is pack our hospital bags and put the carseat in the car! Eeeeek! 

I'm still a little nervous/terrified, but the more I talk about it the better I feel. I'm not thrilled about being induced, but it is what it is. I want her to be healthy and if this is the way it has to happen, I'll deal with it. Plus, Joe will be there with me. =) I can get through this. 

So. Any tips for packing the hospital bag and advice/tips/info for being induced?!

Thirty. Five.

How far along: 35 weeks!!! Holy. Cow.

Weight gain/loss: Probably about the same... Around 29 pounds. {Thanks to the GD diet!}

Body changes: None that I can really see...other than the ever-growing belly, of course. =)

Gender: It's a GIRL!!

Movement: She's a crazy active little thing. I feel her almost all the time, mainly because she loves to stick her feet in my ribs. =P Other times I feel like she's trying to kick and punch her way out of my belly! I keep reading that movement will decrease, but not with my little girl!

Sleep: Some nights are good, some nights aren't. Last night was awesome. I only got up once to go to the bathroom! Still woke up with back/hip pain, but that's nothing new.

What I'm looking forward to: Growth scan {aka ultrasound} on Thursday and maternity photos on Saturday!!! =D

What I miss: Not waddling, sleeping on my stomach, being able to eat what I want when I want, not being in the bathroom all the time... You know, the usual. ;-)

Cravings: Nothing really specific... I've been "deprived" of my go-to cravings because of the GD, so it's rare that I have an intense craving for something. I just have a hard time deciding what to eat.

Symptoms: Heartburn off and on {even with the Zantac}, back and hip pain {mostly in the mornings} and Braxton Hicks!

Best moment this week: My super-awesome baby shower!!! I'm seriously in love with her bedding... =)

I also had a great time shopping for baby things with Jennifer today - despite the rain. I finally feel like we're ready for her, even though there are some things I think we could use more of. Like clothes.

The smaller pile is all of the newborn clothing we have {minus 2 dresses} and the bigger pile is all of the 0-3 month clothing. I have more clothing in each size up to 12 mo, I think, but each pile is about as big as these. It's not like she can't wear the same things over again, but...the nester in me is kind of obsessing.

Speaking of obsessing, since I went shopping today I should have a nursery reveal post soon! I've got one more thing to take care of in her room and then it should be all set! I'm really looking forward to having it done...if you can't tell. ;-)