More pics

What a day, what a day!! I guess I'll fill you in on the rest of our birth story after our last update. :) I'll say things got moving. Dr. broke my water and finally by 2pm, I would say I was in active labor and having to breath through contractions--no problem, right?! I think it was about 3:30 that I was asking the nurse (who was awesome!!) about the benefits of Nubane and I was starting to wimp out. I decided against after finding out I was at 7cm and keep trying for the next 30 min. to do it on my own. I knew I definitely didn't want to go the Epidural route. Well, contractions/pressure picked up and I thought I was so done on the breathing crap as I was getting overwhelmed. Come to find out not too much longer and it was pushing time. I knew the boy was coming out and Matthew and the Nurse forced me back in bed and I had to start pushing. The nurse sent Matthew out to the hall just to yell "Nurse!" as she needed help and was by herself. Well, that brought in help to try to paige the Dr. Too late, this kid was coming and I was so not doing my part (I really feel I wimped out here). Matthew and the nurse worked to keep my focused and in just a few pushes, Grady came right on out. Yep, the nurse delivered by herself - she deserves a HUGE paycheck - she was awesome. As I opened my eyes, I saw we weren't short on nurses in the room - fabulous! Well, my OB Dr. was actually in surgery and a few minutes later Dr. Kemp came in after all was done.

So, active labor latest 3 hours and honestly, I couldn't have taken much more.

Here are a few more pics from today.

Brand, brand new and scruncy!

PROUD daddy with his son

Working on Ryane warming up to Baby brother...
Giving Grady hair tips and showing him what a combover is. :)

Helping Lotion him up after his bath (she helped get him extra slippery!)

5 Hours Old and sleeping away. Time is passing and his swelling is going down and I think I am seeing more and more of Ryane in him. Whatta cutie!!

Birth Announcement

1:40 PM update

Not really progressing much so the Dr. broke Seresa's water around 1:15. Contractions are getting stronger and lasting a little longer. It still could be a while so don't get your hopes up. As you can probably tell, Seresa is not typing this, Matthew is.

quick update

..or rather there really isn't one! :)

Arrived at 6:30
Started Pitocin Drip around 8:30

Feeling good - came in having some contractions and they are continuing, but I wouldn't say increasing or anything.

I feel like it could be a long day....

39wk 2dy Dr. Appt.

Hmmm, where do I start???!!!! Dr. appt. went absolutely fantastic - never mind our appt. was at 3:15 and we didn't see the Dr. until 5! She measured my fundal height as she mentioned I think you are having a contraction (umm, yeah, I have them all the time!) I didn't get the measurement and then she listened to the strong heartbeat which was 138bpm. Dr. Sohl left and came back to check for progress only to listen to me tell her how much I was done and this kid was fully baked. I told her do what she could to help us out and mentioned induction. I joked and told her to go ahead and break my water and we'll just call it an "accident". :) Well, she checked and I am more progressed and she went ahead and stripped membranes to help us out--yeahhh! Then, she turned to the nurse and said "Contact L&D and schedule her for the morning" I'm thinking 'Yeahh, we are getting induced.' Then, she turned to me and said "I don't think you'll make it until then!" What? Really? I told her I've already learned not to get excited by my contractions. I've already had two other instances that I was getting them every 5 min. for over an hour and then they subsided.

Sooo, that brings me to this blog update. I am so so elated. I like that we know when we'll be going in - 6:30am and it has helped a bit in final scheduling for Ryane and getting the house in somewhat of an order for guests while we are in the hospital. Honestly, not too thrilled about getting hooked up to Oxytocin as we are all about natural child birth, but I REALLY am ready to do what it takes to get him here. Wish us luck and be checking back on the blog for a birth announcement at some point - I'm taking the computer with us to the hospital!!

Drumroll please.....

Here are our last comparison pictures.....

Oh so DONE!

Alright, this is so not cool. How in the world am I still pregnant???? I know I’ve had about enough contractions for 10 women, but yet, I still have a little guy all snuggled up in my belly! Matthew has finally joined me in the getting anxious part and wondering if and when he’ll come out too. He is offering to go on walks and asking him when he’ll come out. Ryane and I have been telling the little guy to “come out” for a few weeks now! I think I have been pregnant for about 11-12 months now, or so it seems. I am so done! We go to the Dr. tomorrow afternoon and I will have to bring up the big “I”. I’m not sure how she stands on inductions and timing of them, but this pregnancy lasting forever is so not cool! Wish me luck and perhaps a few more patience to go along with it. :)

Such a good boy!

Our little guy did a good job at listening to his parents! He stayed put for our St. Louis trip. Matthew was able to attend some of his conference and Ryane and I were able to spend some much needed good quality mommy-daughter time together hanging out and doing things. We were also able to do things, perhaps for the last time, as just a family of 3.

Matthew is headed back over to the conference again this morning and then we might take in the zoo and are driving back to Emporia today. So, for all those wondering (and some who’ve called that we haven’t answered the phone), no baby yet for us. He really wanted to be born in E-town!!

37wk3dy Dr. Appt.

Quick summary:
Heartbeat = 133bpm

Mommy's weight = +29lbs, lost 2lbs. While we were waiting on the Dr., Matthew kindly pointed out that now we weigh the same amount. I recall with the last pregnancy I passed in him in like month 3 or 4 - not a good feeling! Bless my husband for not saying I weighed more than him last week!!! ha. :)

Fundal Height = 31cm, lost 2cm since last week. Dr. Sohl said this was normal as the baby moves lower - never knew this happened! :)

Progress = Dr. said baby's head was lower, dilated 2ish cm

Other Dr. Comments = "See you in a couple days" We don't know if she meant, a couple days as in next week for an appt. or our baby is on his way??? She also mentioned "Let's have a baby this weekend". hmmmm

Our Plans = Unless this kid comes in the next day or two, to still travel to St. Louis on Sunday for Matthew's National Athletic Trainers Conference and a family vacation. Matthew really needs to go for his career and I'd much rather be with him if I went into labor than have him miss his son's birth. Plus, I looked it up and my insurance provider covers 491 OB's in St. Louis, so I think we will be well taken care of it something should happen.

Hormones!!

I knew this time was coming for awhile, but I think it started to really hit me today....I'm going to have to be away from Ryane for a couple of nights when this baby arrives. Thanks to the help of pregnancy hormones, it makes me all emotional knowing that Ryane won't be getting kisses and hugs from her mommy right before she goes to sleep or I won't be one of the first to get her out of bed in the mornings. I know she'll be very well taken care of by Nana Howe, but it's tough for me considering I have yet to spend the night away from her and have only missed kissing her for bed 1, maybe 2 times in her life. I've been writing out her schedule and other things that Ryane says and does to help those who take care of her (as if they can't do it without a list - I know I'm probably going a little far, but I find comfort in it). The one thought I'm having that is helping me with leaving her is knowing she has had her mommy for over 20 months by herself and now her brother deserves to have his mommy for at least 2 nights to himself.

36wks3dys - Dr. Appt.

This doctor visit was so nice and quick. We were one of the Dr.’s first appts. of the day, so there wasn’t much waiting room waiting, which was soooo nice and not the norm. First, I was weighed to learn that I put on another pound since last appt., which puts me up to 32lb gain so far. I only put on 25lbs total with Ryane, so while this is more I was down 15lbs pre-pregnancy than starting out with Ryane. I am fine with it and know my baby must need it.

As Dr. Sohl enters the room, I let her know that she is supposed to tell me I’m in the early stages of labor and that I would probably see her later that day.  Wishful thinking on my part. The day prior I was having regular contractions starting about every 30 min. and started getting closer to less than 10min. apart, but never increased in intensity, then eventually faded before bedtime. I was having them again the next morning every 15-20min. So, I was thinking maybe, just maybe, something was getting underway. Not really, just my body practicing I suppose. It was enough of a reality check for me that I was eventually going to have this baby, so Matthew and I started packing our hospital bag on Weds. night and put one of the car seat bases in the truck. We aren’t totally packed, but rather more prepared for now.

Back to the appt., I discussed my symptoms with Dr. Sohl and she seemed to care, but told me she hoped everything would hold on for at least another week---as in 37wks is considered full-term. After an “umcomfortable” appt. (meaning I was seriously getting concerned for my son’s soft spot with the poking and prodding), it was nice to hear from the Dr. that I am starting to dilate (1cm). I’ll take it!

We go back next Thurs. and this will be the appt. that will be a deciding factor if I do infact go to St. Louis on Sunday for a mini-family vacation. Wish me luck!

Going Greener

Having another child and remembering how many diapers we went through with the first one has made us decide to go greener with this one. We are going to attempt cloth diapering part-time at least. I remember those first few months with Ryane of the diaper trash can filling up so fast and all those wet/dirty diapers weighing so much as we lunged them out to the dumpcart. The guilty feeling of filling up the landfills with stuff that wouldn't break down for years is what got us more into recycling in the first place. We recycle just about everything that the Emporia center will take.

So, in order to prepare for kid#2, I've started my research and purchasing of "supplies". All I can say is WOW! There is so much to learn and so much information out there to research. I've researched everything from the different types of cloth diapering - prefolds, fitteds, pockets, AIO (all-in-ones), or AI2s (all-in-2). For covers, you have options, PUL fabric, fleece, wool. For prefolds, there are guaze, birdseye, hemp, terry, chinese prefolds, indian prefolds, bleached, unbleached. I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but gives you an idea at how my head was spinning from all the options. In the end, we are going to try chinese prefolds with thirsties covers. I've also been amazed at the actual cost of cloth diapering--some diapers run $20-$25 EACH. Some people say they save money, but I've seen how much some of the stuff cost and if you aren't planning on full-time cloth diapering and using them on more than one kid, it would be tough. I'm not sure if we'll save money doing it, but I am sure we will feel like we are doing a little more to help out the environment. Our plan is to do it at home, but still use 'sposies at day care and while out and about. So, we are going to give it a shot and see if it's for us. If not, I'll know that I gave it a try.

I'm including a picture of our stash (as it's called in cloth diapering world - yah, I'm learning their lingo too). Many of the experienced CD mommy's recommend getting more, but I want to try it out first before sinking more money into it. We have prefolds for newborn and infant sizes and the first XS and S covers, so we should be covered upto 18lbs -- isn't that around 4 months??? Also, for those of you cringing thinking of having to pin a diaper on and poking the baby or ourselves, they have these handy little things called snappi diaper fasteners (in middle of picture) that you just hook and stretch to hold the diaper on--genius invention! It all sounds easy enough to me. They've made cleaning up those #2s easier these days with biodegradable throw-away inserts that are supposed to hold it away from the diaper. We are set, just waiting on that cute little tush to change....

Dr. Appt - 35wk 2dy

We had a quick Dr. appt. today. Basically the Dr. measured my fundal height and it was 34cm and then we listened to the heartbeat. I saw it from 136-138bpm when the Dr. was showing me and when Matthew was showed, it jumped up to 142bpm. Is daddy already getting this kid wound up like he does with Ryane??? Dr. Sohl made mention that we need to make it another 12 days to be considered full term. I go back and forth whether I'll make it or not. Reality is though that I'm not due until June 30th, so I'll be updating on Dr. appts. a little longer I suppose. Just getting anxious to have my little guy in my arms, but who doesn't get this way towards the end?!

Here are some maternity pictures we took last night. I had more ideas I wanted to include Ryane in, but she had more fun being behind the camera thinking she was running things rather than be in the picture. We managed to trick her into being in one.....and only one!!!





This is NOT his name, just initials. Hint for you - last initial is an "H". :~)

Comparison Pictures Update

Hopefully we won't have to take many more of these. :) We were a week late in getting the latest picture taken. Better late than never.

Here's progress pictures of the bare belly pictures we've been taking all along. Hope the bare belly doesn't gross you out. I'm not one for showing off my pregnant belly, only in pictures. The woman's body truly amazes me at how it grows and stretches and helps God create a little life in there!

Dr. Appt. 34wk1dy

I ended up rescheduling my bi-weekly Dr. appt. for a day earlier due to some extra contractions and uncomfortable pains I've been having. Overall, Dr. appt. went pretty good. Baby's heartbeat was measuring 138-146bpm and sounded perfect. Dr. Sohl did a lot of feeling and pushing around on my belly and let me know he was head down now. I was pretty sure of that as I have his little frog legs and feet pushing up quite often these days. We discussed all my contractions and while she stated it was pretty early for them, she said it wasn't too terribly early if things progressed. She went ahead and checked me and said everything still looks good and said I was not dialating yet. She asked me to come back next week to get checked again to make sure everything is 'holding'. So, now I have my next 3 appointments scheduled out.

On a side note, while I was waiting on the elevator to go to the Dr. office, an older man mentioned "You look like you're at that uncomfortable stage." Umm, thanks! So, I asked him if it was just the look on my face or what and he said "yes, you should go home and take a nap" NICE! So, I guess I have that look about me now - watch out!! It's interesting what some people say and obviously aren't thinking when the words come out of their mouth. I should start compiling my list.

HOW many weeks left?

While I try not to pay attention to EXACTLY how many weeks are left, it's hard not to. I’ve had a rough past couple of days with a sizable number of Braxton Hicks contractions. Some are small and many others have been attention getters making me stop what I’m doing and bend over and grab my tummy. I had a photo shoot the other night and thought I was going to have to call a nurse or Dr. or something afterwards - no fun! I just don’t remember them coming this early with Ryane or coming this strong. Maybe there is a chemical in a woman’s body that helps her forget things about previous pregnancies. Maybe it’s just because it’s a second pregnancy and I hear a body remembers what to do. Not sure what it is, but I can’t imagine going through this daily for another 6.5 weeks. It’s a fresh new day, so maybe things will change and be “normal” today?? Anyone want to share their 2nd pregnancy stories vs. 1st, feel free to leave a comment on the blog.

32wk2dy Dr. Appt.

I had another Dr. appt. today. It's been two weeks since the last one and time seemed to have flown by. It was another quick appointment with getting weighed, gained a pound, Dr. Sohl measured my fundal height and it was the same as last appt., and we all listened to this little guy's heartbeat which measured between 133-153 beats per minute. All seems nice and healthy in there!

This past week has been one of those "fun" pregnancy weeks. Ryane and I both picked up a cold and have spent the last week with a nice cough and gunky sinuses. We are both getting better, so yeahhh! But, being pregnant I was limited on the medications that I could and would take. The coughing was the worst part as coughing episodes would bring on strong braxton hicks contractions. My poor little guy in there was getting all squeezed with the contractions and shaken around during the coughs - I'm sure he wasn't happy with me. Plus, the coughing would cause my stomach, chest and back muscles to be sore and then he'd push and kick on those sore muscles. Nice and comfy. But, like I said, I am getting healthy again, so hopefully, it will be a sick-free pregnancy from here on out--fingers crossed!

Self Portraits

I think everyone needs maternity pictures! So, at 31weeks I took a few self-portrait belly pictures today using a remote control and timer on my camera. I still want to get some family pictures with Matthew and big sister Ryane. I'm just unsure if we can get Ryane to cooperate, but it won't stop me from trying! Hopefully we'll get those taken soon and of course I'll share them as well. Here are a few all-big-belly pictures today (sorry if you didn't want to see my belly). It was interesting being on the other side of the camera and guessing how the picture was going to look. Odd to be posing a body part rather than a whole person.



I also took one of these with his first name, but since it is a secret until he's born, this is what you get to see for now.