One week Portraits

I Love my girl (:

Baby Rachel Lynne

So where to begin? My dr appt on tuesday I found out I was dilated to a 3 and -2 station. My dr was worried because she was speaking at a conference and would be out of town from thursday to sunday so she said I better have this baby soon or cross my legs until after sunday, lol. Even though I really tried to take it easy, I still went in to work and sure enough thursday morning at 3 am my water broke! Blake, my mom and I went to the hospital and for 2 hours i still wasnt having contractions so on came the Pit. A few hours later I was dilated to a 6 1/2 when I got the epidural (amazing!). Took a nap and before I knew it, it was time to push and it was 1 in the afternoon. THREE hours later I had no progress. But we were all in good spirits and I was still energized and excited. I didnt look at the clock and I didnt ask how long I had been pushing for. I was determined to have a good attitude and I think it paid off. Our nurse started preparing us for a possible c section but Dr. Rice came in for the rescue. She whipped out the vacuum (which is really just a small hand pump) and started having me push again. Baby Rachel was so stuck that the vacuum popped off her head. Then out came the scissors for an episiotomy but i had to tear the rest of the way before we were finally able to get her out! whew. And right away we realized she was worth it, and that she was a good pound and a half bigger than we were told to expect!!! No contractions yet...

Napping after the epidural, ahh....

shes finally here!!!

what a chunk! 7 lbs 10 oz, not 6lbs... 2 1/2 weeks early, mommy and daddy are in love with her! BTW, besides her actual birth, the best part of labor was when the nurse said I was 10 centimeters and Blakes eyes went as wide as dinner plates and he says "I just got butterflies in my stomach, im so excited!"

Just glad shes here and healthy!

My chunky monkey. She had some jaundice when we left the hospital, she hadto be on the bili blanket or in the suitcase 24/7... not fun. but she loved being naked all the time!

stupid bili bed. both of us bawled all day the first day, it was so sad. my mom came over and helped blake calm me and the baby down even though it was her birthday. Thanks mom (:

Jaundice gone. yay for wearing cute outfits!!!

one night her jaundice was so bad she wouldnt nurse, so blake had to feed her with a syringe.

Fell asleep during first sponge bath. LOVES having her hair washed, combed, etc, like a little lady.

Besides a few minor setbacks we are so lucky to have Rachel Lynne. She is our little miracle baby. She is the best nurser and she only cries when shes hungry. She is so happy and mellow, and she already sleeps 4 hours at a time at night! woohoo! Her daddy is in love with her. shes my little angel and we love her so much(:

Baby Shower

Just had to post a few baby shower pics... Gerbera daisy theme (same as her nursery)
Classic diaper cake (thanks mom and sisters)

a few silly shower games...

another shower with blakes mom and sisters. Man we are spoiled.

sneak preview of nursery. I was going to post baby pictures and birth details tonight but Im tired and I'd rather hold my baby(: Will have to wait another day.

34 Weeks and Counting!!!

Wow. Despite the discomforts, I love being pregnant. I love feeling my baby girl move. I love rubbing my belly, and i even love other people rubbing my belly! So far everything is going well. I am still having low blood pressure but we've slowly but surely figured out how to adust to them so it doesnt bother me near as much as it did before and I am able to drive again. Still cant even slightly recline though so I am missing that! We started and have finished our childbirth prep class, it was a lot of fun and great bonding time with Blake, though after seeing the forceps he threatened to choke our Dr with them if she tries to use it on our little one (: I feel like she is getting so close now! Only 6 weeks left! Shes almost here!

30 weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

34 Weeks

PS_ No one mentioned anything about how you will grow out of your maternity clothes! sheesh have i really gotten that big?

How To Freak Out a Pregnant Woman

Step 1: Schedule her for a regular 24 week appointment. Step 2: Call her into the office and ask her if she has any concerns. Step 3: When she says shes been having shortness of breath, widen your eyes and say, "I wish you had told me sooner, how long has this been going on?" Step 4: Proceed to take her vitals. Allow her to lie on her back and check babys heart rate. When she sits back up and says she feels extremely ill, add to her anxiety by telling her that her pulse is rapid and climbing. Step 5: When she is about to vomit everywhere, frantically look for the emesis basin, resorting to a urine basin. Step 6: While shes vomiting her guts out, have 3 different people come running in the room, and tell them she has no blood pressure. Step 7: Tell her shes going to Labor and Delivery. Step 9: Tell her shes having contractions. Ta da! Well folks thats how to freak out a pregant woman, and that just happens to be exactly how my 24 week appointment went. (So glad Blake was with me). Fortunatly my contractions fizzled out and it turns out i just bottomed out on my blood pressure (which has always been low) when I layed on my back to get measured. I stayed in triage for a few hours and then was sent home. at least im all registered now! lol. Now theres a really good way to help the pregnant woman recover from a freak out like this: Step 1: Give her a gift card for maternity clothes. (: Thanks Blakie.

17 weeks

18 weeks 22 weeks

Its a Girl!!!

21 Weeks Its a Girl! The excitement cannot be contained! When the ultrasound tech told us for sure I got so emotional that my mascara ran into my eye and I could hardly watch the rest of the ultrasound :) And to my excitement at week 17 she announced herself by doing some gymnastics that I could no longer mistake for gas! She gets the hiccups all the time which I secretly love, a thumbsucker like I was, and she loves to snuggle right on top of my bladder. This pregnancy finally feels like its real! And I already love her so much! So much that Ive forgotten my 4 1/2 months of misery. Its been so fun to see Blakes excitement. after 2 years of stifling excitement weve busted out and already bought a few things and tackled some furniture projects.

And I almost forgot, Blake had an ingenious and completely hilarious way to announce the gender to our parents, (or as my mom said "its sexual orientation" lol). We filled two Sobe bottles with jello and let it harden. Our parents had to dig through the jello to find the paper at the bottom that they thought had the answer! When they finally reached the bottom (by using knives and banging it on the sink for 30 min) it was an invitation to our house. Upon arrival we had an ice cream cake and balloons saying Its a Girl! With all the ruckus we caused youd have thought we had already had her home with us :)

For now though, I enjoy everyday that I have her all to myself.

13 1/2 Weeks!!!

It may not seem so in this picture (due to a frusterating camera phone) but Blake and I are so happy and so excited. Our baby gave us a high 5 at our ultrasound and despite me not being very healthy for the 1st trimester everything is progressing normally. Food is my mortal enemy. Can hardly eat it, hardly anything tastes good, thank heaven for Zofran. Allow me to vent for a moment, I never thought the day would come when food would be my nemesis and I couldnt enjoy my favorite things because they tasted horrible and everything else tasted less horrible. ok im done. its worth it a million times over. There is happiness here trust me. (:

We did have to say goodbye to Dr. Faulk and Dr. Slater, our fertility specialists which was sad but they did their job well. As for the baby bump which i thought for sure id have by now... well theres nothing there except a whole lot of bloat. I get a kick out of people thinking im finally showing when its really just my lunch that they are rubbing, lol. Im determined to enjoy every minute because i know baby will be here before we know it.(: