Scarlett's birth

 

** I apologize in advance for the length of this post**

 

Well, she's here!  Our little angel has finally arrived and we could

not be happier :)

Scarlett has already completely stolen our hearts

and definitely runs the show around here.

 

I decided to jot down little notes and thoughts during

my labor so that I could remember little details,

and I'm so glad that I did.

Looking back, I don't even remember half of what I wrote

due to complete exhaustion from being awake

for 50 plus hours.

 

It all "began" at the beginning of that week.

 

August 5, 2013 03:10

First painful contraction- woke me up from sleeping with cramping.

 

I had been contracting for a couple of months and was just waiting

for them to become painful.  Looking back, I find

it funny that I counted this episode as painful.

This was absolutely nothing compared to the real deal.

I woke up, took a shower, and the "pain" was gone.

 

The rest of the week was spent with Chris's sweet family.

This was the only time that they were able to make the trip

and everyone was crossing their fingers that they

would be here to meet baby Scarlett.

Unfortunately, she's a stubborn one and nothing happened...

until the day after they left.

(I'm sorry, Mark and Dee Dee!)

 

August 10, 2013 05:00

Started having uncomfortable cramping with contractions.

 

10:00

About to leave for a walk around the lake!

 

Working in labor/delivery, I've heard lots and lots

of ways (both legitimate and a little goofy) of ways

to get labor moving along, so we tried

nearly all of them that day.

We walked a couple of miles around the lake,

had spicy Korean food for lunch,

and once I heard that pizza will do the trick, so that's what we did next!

 

17:00

Starting to get back pain with painful contractions.

 

19:00

Getting more intense!  Going out for pizza :)

 

At the pizza parlor, they were getting to the point where I

would have to stop eating, close my eyes, and breath

through my contractions.

But I've seen countless women come to the hospital

thinking they're in labor and not even be close to it.

Perks of the job, I called a friend at the hospital

and gave a heads up that I might come in

to be examined "just in case".

I was mainly curious if this could really be it.

So we went on home to pack some last minute things.

 

2100

Headed to the hospital!  Chris just came in and changed his shirt

because quote, "Everyone's gonna be looking at this picture for

years to come and I want to look good."

:) I've trained him well :)

 

2107

.....Car is dead.....

 

That's right, our newer car, that we had just been driving ten minutes

earlier, and that I had had packed with hospital bags

and the car seat all hooked up and ready to go

for about a month ahead of time, was completely dead.

I swear, the timing could not have been more ironic.

We  had to quickly move everything over to Chris's

old junker, cause by now, I was seriously hurting.

 

 

And we're off!!

 

 

August 11, 2013 00:30

We're officially admitted to the hospital!  I can't believe it! 

Pain is 6 out of 10.

I am a wimp and am in line for an epidural.

I'm dilated to a 4, 100% effaced, and 0 station.

Contractions are about every 2-3 minutes.

Watching Iron Chef reruns :/ Not much is on at this time of night.

Chris is super tired and feels sick from the gigantic

pizza and dessert dinner we had before coming.

 

Here we go!!

 

02:30

I have my epidural, they are wonderful things!

I am now 5 1/2 centimeters dilated and Chris and I

are both laying down to rest.

I'm thinking about how crazy it is that I'm going to be a mom today.

I can't believe that it's finally here and I get to see my

angel's face for the first time.

I am blessed beyond words.

 

05:50

I am now 6 centimeters, 100% effaced, and still 0 station.

Water was broken, clear fluid!!

My stupid scoliosis is making my epidural one-sided.

I can still feel everything on half of my body.

I got bolused with extra medication three different times.

Thankfully the extra bit is helping.

 

07:40

I'm dilated to a 9!  And Chris is super sick, he's

in the bathroom throwing up :(

I'm not sure if it was the gigantic dinner we ate or some nerves,

maybe some of each.. It makes me so sad.

Hopefully he'll be able to get it all out before

the delivery, cause those sights and smells would not

help the situation.

** Jessica was my night nurse and Jenny is my day nurse.

Jenny trained me on days and Jessica trained me on nights.

Two of my favorite girls!!

My private doctor happens to be the attending physician

tonight and my favorite anesthesiologist was on as well.

It seriously couldn't have worked out better, it

is my perfect idea of the dream team!

 

08:00

Completely dilated, ready to start pushing!

Scarlett's heart rate went down for several minutes

and I was mentally preparing myself for a crash C-Section.

My doctor was so calm. 

I prayed that Scarlett would be safe and that her

heart rate would come back up and eventually it did

after I got a medication to slow down my contractions.

We were able to proceed with pushing and although I couldn't

feel my lower half of my body, I pushed

for just 24 minutes and gave birth to the most beautiful

angel I'd ever seen.

It was such a tender and spiritual moment.

Scarlett was born at 08:32, weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces,

and was 20 inches long.

 

 

This is when Scarlett's heart rate dropped.

As I switched positions and got oxygen on,

at first I panicked at the thought of needing a c/section.

I thought to myself "well, this is what I get.  I had

such a perfect and uncomplicated labor so far that I

was bound to have something go wrong eventually."

But my team of nurses and doctors were so amazing

and calm that amazingly, all concerns left me

and I felt so at ease that no matter what happened, this group

would take care of me and my baby and I was

able to focus on just slowly breathing.

It was a little miracle.

 

Getting ready to push!

Gosh I love my husband, he is too cute for words :)

 

 

 

 

Here she is!

 

 

 I can't even describe that moment.

It was so surreal that this was our baby,

but at the same time it felt like I'd known her forever.

 

 

 

Getting all cleaned up!

 

 

The two loves of my life.

There's nothing more precious than seeing Chris

with our daughter.

She is going to be a daddy's girl with how

much he adores her!

 

 

I couldn't have done it without these two-

thank you so much, Jessica and Jenny!!

You girls are amazing!

 

 

 

Unfortunately we only got the grams

documented, but she's 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

Such a chunk!

(Yet still less than what both me and Chris weighed)

 

 I did it!

I was so relieved it was over :)

 

 

Poor baby girl's pinkie toes on both of her feet

are overlapping, haha.

They're pretty cute, though!

Made for some interesting foot prints :)

 

 

What an amazing daddy already.

He took such good care of Scarlett those first couple of nights

while I was delirious.

Seriously, though, I was so out of it from exhaustion.

I've never been so unbelievably tired in my life.

I couldn't focus on what people were saying to me,

I felt like the room was spinning,

I'd start weeping randomly for no reason.

I kept saying over and over "I feel like I'm in a dream,

is all of this really happening?"

So weird.

 

 

Chris's smeagol picture.

One happy, tired family :)

 



 

 

August 12 05:00

I'm overwhelmed with emotion right now as I hold you

in the dark and listen to your sweet little noises while

you dream.  This is the closest to heaven

I've ever felt, I'm literally holding an angel in my arms.

How am I so blessed?  What did I do for the Lord

to entrust me with one of his beloved daughters?

I just pray I won't let Him down, that I can be the mother

that He needs me to be.

She is a miracle sent straight from heaven.

I've always heard that you can't understand a parent's love

until you experience it and I'm catching a glimpse of that now.

I didn't know I could love someone so much in such a short period

of time and I know that love is only going to grow.

 



05:30

Did I mention how much I love Christopher?

There's nothing sweeter than seeing the way he looks at his daughter.

They are the two loves of my life.

He is completely smitten with her already.

He is going to be the most amazing dad.

I knew that he would be helpful and sweet like he always is but he is just

amazing me.

He is always thinking of his girls first.

He's changed every diaper, helped me breastfeed,

keeps Scarlett wrapped up snug, and spent most

of our first  night pacing the room with her so that I could

try to sleep.  I'm the luckiest girl in the world :)

 

Getting ready to finally go home!!

 

Scarlett wasn't as excited about her cute outfit as I was..

 



 My sweet baby :)

Though these past couple of weeks have been an adjustment,

we've loved every minute of having this little girl in our lives.

She is such a blessing and we couldn't be more grateful.

Dear Baby...

Dear Baby-

Well, you are now 37 weeks old- officially full term!

And this is your final eviction notice.

The following complaints have been reported from your fellow tenants:

1.  Inability to sleep due to being awakened every two hours for bathroom breaks.

2.  Causing extreme pain, not to mention waddling, with walking.

(though I take credit for this, it's not your fault that

that my back and pelvis are all screwed up)

3.  Causing mommy's ankles and legs to look like sausages,

and forcing daddy to constantly give foot and leg massages :)

4.  Causing extreme clumsiness- I drop everything I lay may hands on

and run into walls all too frequently.

5.  Making mommy blind as a bat.  My vision has seriously gotten

ten times worse during the last nine months.

6.  Causing extreme forgetfulness.  (Pregnancy brain

is a real thing, people!  I walked across the grocery store

about 5 different times the other day running

back to get things I'd forgotten...and still

managed to come home without things from my list)

7.  And finally, forcing us to wait anxiously for nine months to meet

your beautiful face.

 

As fun as it is to take pictures to document the belly, I'd

much rather be photographing you.

 

 

 

And I'm trying my hand at crafts to hopefully make

some cute accessories for said photo shoot.

 

 

Did I mention that you make me clumsy?

I'm frequently found with food stains on my shirts.

 

 

 

 



While daddy and I were sorting all of your clothes,

I couldn't help but take a picture of this little cutie.

I cannot wait to dress you up in this teeny tiny swim suit and spend

some time by the pool :)

 



I haven't been able to eat sweets for a while,

but we definitely splurged with this delicious fruit pizza.

You're welcome, baby girl, I know you enjoyed it too!

Your cute daddy was so excited with all the goodies

that we got with our gift cards that he wanted to open EVERYTHING right away.

Here is your new bottle warmer, which I never

even knew something like that existed (and it's awesome by the way).

He was soooo confused why it wouldn't actually heat up

the bottle after the timer went off multiple times.

I soon discovered the problem...

Don't worry, we still love him anyway :)

Our bags are all packed and ready to go to the hospital!

So that's your cue to come...like....now :)

You are getting so big now!!

We are sooo SO ready to finally meet you,

we love you so much already!

 



Omaha

As a final little get-out-of-town before the babe gets here,

we took a trip to Omaha to visit Chris' sister!

It was so good to see her family.

They're vegan,

so naturally our first stop on the way to Nebraska was

a BBQ joint to get a final fix of meat :)

And it was THE most amazing bbq I've ever had.

Chris really enjoyed it too :)
(PS- our first experience with vegan food was actually surprisingly tasty)

 



We spent some time outside and playing with our niece,

who was just LOVING on Christopher the whole time.

He is really going to be the most amazing daddy.

 



 

 

Sara totally hooked us up.

She was soooooo generous and gave us SO much baby stuff.

Clothes, shoes, a car seat, a bath tub, aaaand a changing table.

Such a life saver!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 



I woke up one morning and was just thinking

about how lucky I am to get to wake up next to this cute face every morning :)

 



Mmmm, mmm, mmm!

My breakfast nearly every morning, AND completely vegan!

Bran flakes with fresh fruit and soy milk.

But don't tell my doctor, I'm not supposed to eat cold cereal

cause of the diabetes,

but I had to splurge.... :)

We also went to the zoo while we were there!

Other than the intense heat and a LOT of walking....

which isn't such a good combination for someone 34 weeks pregnant,

it was so fun.

Sara and Kate are so cute, especially with a creepy shark in the background :)

 

Ah, one of my favorite pictures

This was by far my favorite exhibits, I love orangutans and monkeys!!

 



We're starting a little tradition to try to visit restaurants that have

been on the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives when we go places.

(Yes, we are food network nerds)

We've actually been to quite a few now, and this one didn't disappoint!!

So tasty!

 



I don't know what they were talking about, but I love this picture

because it shows their relationship.

Chris and his sister are goofy and funny and so cute together.

 



On our way home we had to hit up another BBQ place again, of course!

And our server gave us a free entree, four free side dishes, AND free dessert.

He must've felt for me and my gigantic belly.

 



Apparently Chris can't go on a trip without some kind of injury.

Just before leaving for home, he threw out his back :(

We had to make an emergency trip to the chiropracter

and luckily it helped enough to be able to still drive home,

but it took him a while to fully recover.  Poor guy.

 



I love road trippin with this cutie :)

 



Working on the changing table that Sara gave to us.

Of course Chris did most of the work,

but I helped a little bit :)

 



The finished product!

I can't believe how well it ended up matching everything.

Last night there was some serious nesting going on.  We did a billion loads

of laundry and organized all of little girl's clothes.

Any time now, little one!

 



On one of our last days in Omaha, we took a Sunday stroll around a beautiful lake

and Sara was sweet enough to snap a few pictures for us :)

This shirt makes me look like a whale...or maybe that's just how I really look now haha.

 



This one's our favorite.

We love you so much already, baby!!!

 



32 Weeks

32 Weeks!!  What?!?!

I can't believe it, only eight short weeks to go.

It makes me nervous because I feel like I have sooo much to do before

my sweet baby gets here, but at the same time I feel like it's never

going to come!

Even just the last week has crawled by.

 

Now other people are starting to see as much as I can feel how much I've

popped in the last few weeks.  She's getting so big!

She's supposedly almost four pounds by now and I'm starting

to feel her all up in my ribs...not the most comfortable thing!

I kind of feel like a whale, especially when trying to get up from

the couch or bed, it's pretty amusing.

Chris has been the sweetest and gives me back rubs almost every day

to ease the aches.

 



 

So the newest thing in the pregnancy is being diagnosed with

gestational diabetes :(

I was pretty upset about it at first and frankly just embarrassed...

I felt like I had failed and was unhealthy for my baby.

But as it turns out, it's really been a blessing in disguise.

What better motivation to live a healthier lifestyle than for your baby?

This was our cart the other week, I had never bought so much produce in my life.

 



 

It's been really hard, because I'm pretty sure I have the biggest sweet tooth on the planet,

but it's definitely been good for me. 

I've come to discover that Splenda is my new best friend...

who knew there was sugar free ice cream?!

The hardest thing is just having to be constantly aware of

what I'm eating.

I can't just grab anything I want when I want it.

This will definitely be a lifelong lifestyle change for me,

and for that, I am grateful :)

My sugars have all been fine with watching my diet,

so hopefully baby won't be negatively affected,

all I care about is having a healthy baby!

 

I used to hate peanut butter....but now we're good friends.

It has protein, which I need, and is also a free carb for me to munch on!

(I hate carb counting!)

 



 

Now that the day is getting closer, I've been feeling pressure to get everything

ready, including the hospital bags.

So for fathers day, I got Christopher some essentials.

 



Chris brushing up on his Baby Wise skills :)

Yes, I have a husband who will iron curtains for the nursery :)

 



It's finally almost finished!!  Just missing the changing table.

I'll sit in my comfy glider and read because I just love being in that cute room :)

Can't wait to meet this little girl!!!