Maternity Pictures

I know this is way late, but my friend Elisenda did such a great job I just have to share!

With every outfit I wore a ring of my grandmothers, who passed away when I was 23 weeks pregnant.  It makes me sad that she never got to meet our beautiful daughter, but I know she would of loved her so much! I miss her so much it hurts, and I look forward to telling my daughter all about her great grandma Orlene. 

Our Birth Story

Adam and I were at home watching the Olympics.  We stayed up late every night and went to bed at midnight when they were over.  On Saturday, August 4th, we specifically were watching Michael Phelps get his last gold.  It was about 11:30 at night when I started feeling contractions, and they were hard.  I knew already that I was 3 cm, so I figured as soon as they started that they would be painful, and they sure were.  I tried to lie down and sleep, and being on my back was a no-go.  I tried to take a bath, and that was super uncomfortable. So what did I do? Clean the house, naturally.  Did the dishes too.  Even managed to curl my hair and do my make up because there was no way I was going to have any ugly face when I met my baby :)  Every time a contraction came, I just tried to move around because they helped the most. I felt pretty good for the most part, but I knew that would change sooner than later :)

What was Adam doing this whole time?  Well after he panicked and ate another dinner, he slept :) I finally woke him up at about 3:15 A.M. because my contractions were a little under 4 minutes apart and I wanted to go to the hospital.  So I woke him up and told him to move quickly :) The car ride was so awful!!! I couldn't move around and sitting was horrible. HORRIBLE! I just kept telling him to drive faster :)

We got to Labor & Delivery at about 3:45 A.M. and luckily for me, there wasn't anyone else checking in the same time as me.  I can't imagine if they were actually busy, because this part dragged...and when you are in pain every 3 minutes for a minute or longer, it makes it seem even longer.  I don't know what they did for 30 minutes, but they sure didn't seem to be in a hurry to check me in and get me in a room.  And the whole time I am freaking out! Finally they get me in a room and and got me all hooked up to the monitors.  The baby was doing great during my contractions so that was good :) I wanted to be standing up and moving around, but the nurse told me I had to lie down until the doctor saw me.  I told her no (politely, I'm sure!) and that as soon as she walked out of the room I was going to be back on my feet. And as soon as she left I did! It hurt to lie down, duh! SO I got an earful from the doctor when she came in, but I didn't really care :)
(My beautiful hospital gown is from London Grace Designs.)

So after being at the hospital for an hour, I finally found out I was 6 cm! Wahoo! I was pretty excited about that because my fear was that after all that pain I would only be 4 cm :) They asked me if I wanted the epidural, and I looked at Adam and said "should I?".  And he said "yes!".  Poor hubby, he was freakin out a little. I was in so much pain...I don't know why I doubted the drugs.  Part of me wanted to be tough and stick it out but I knew I couldn't.  That mess hurts like a motha! TWO HOURS later...I finally got my epidural.   And I don't know what that girls problem was, but it took her way too long to place it.  They told me I might have 1 or 2 contractions while it was being placed (mind you, you can not move at all during this process), and I ended up having somewhere between 5 & 6.  Ya. It. was. awful. I couldn't move, I was in so much pain, and I just wanted it to be over with.  But as soon as that kicked in, I felt much much better! It was from heaven.  I couldn't believe I couldn't feel them anymore! I got the shakes, and I even hurled a little (gross, I know) but I was so happy!

I was an even luckier girl because my doctor happened to be the one on call on Sunday, so when she came on at 7 A.M. I was so very happy to see her. (She was going to deliver me anyways, but it was nice that she was there all morning with me too!) She told me to get some rest and save my energy because I was going to need it. She wasn't kidding! Not that I thought she was, but man! Before I rested, Adam went and got our visitors out of the waiting room so they could come see me.  My mom, dad, and best friends Lanaya & Josh were patiently waiting for the baby to arrive. I was so glad they were there and it was nice to see them when I wasn't in pain anymore :) After that I slept.  The nurse checked me at about 9:30 and I was borderline 8 cm, and my doctor checked me at 11 and I was 9 cm and my water still hadn't broke, so she broke it.  She told me to get ready because when she came back it was going to be time.

Randomness and coolness: The nurse that I had was the same one who helped deliver my doctors two children.  That was so neat! And personally knowing your doctor is awesome because she told the staff she didn't want anyone in the room except her and the nurse.  I delivered at Loma Linda University, and it's a teaching hospital, so there would of been 5-6 people in there including the staff, so I was very appreciative of that :) It was nice a intimate, the way I wanted it to be. 

She came back at 12:20 and I started pushing.  I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be! The baby was stuck behind my pelvic bone, so I did a lot of pushing to get past that point.  But once the baby crowned, it was over pretty quickly. I didn't even know the baby's head had come out until I heard Adam (who was holding my left leg up) make a noise, and I looked at him and he was crying! So I looked down and I could see the baby's head and I started SOBBING! And one push later our baby was out and on my chest! I heard my doctor say "here she comes!" on that last push.  So when she said "It's a girl!" as she was handing the baby to me it was like I already knew and it was so surreal and beautiful and the most wonderful thing ever. She was already screaming on her way to my chest, and mind you she went straight to my chest, so baby girl had some lungs on her! I just held her and cried and cried...and then threw up from all the pushing. Gross, I know. But it was good timing because that's when they had Adam cut the cord.  And then he turned around and said, "Well, what is it?!" and we laughed and I said "a girl!" and he said "a girl?!" and my doctor said "You would of known if it was a boy!" ha ha we all just giggled :)

Those few first moments with her are such a blur.  I was so emotionally overwhelmed and there was clean up and all kinds of stuff going on.  All I remember is just holding her and talking to her and kissing her head.  I'm so glad Adam was taking pictures.  They are so precious.  I couldn't believe she was here.

I absolutely loved that they let me hold her and do skin to skin for the first two hours before they did any of her stats.  They left us alone and we just got to hang out as a family.  Adam went and got our visitors to bring them in, and by that time by brother and his girlfriend had made it as well.  The story goes that Adam went to the waiting room and just held out his arm with his pink colored wristband, and my BFF gasped because she knew what that meant and my mom asked what I had and Adam just kept his arm out, and then everyone got it :) I wish I could of seen the look on their faces but it was so much better seeing their faces when they first saw her :)

We spent much of the first two hours talking about names and narrowing down our list.  We knew we really liked Anabelle, but I was trying to decide if I wanted to do a family name, or a name that started with an A.  The nurse came back eventually and did her measurements and she came in at 7 pounds 3.5 ounces and 19 inches long.  She got a little more cleaned up and swaddled and daddy finally got to hold her.  Such a sweet moment.  Makes me teary just thinking about it.

                                                           Our Beautiful Baby Girl!

The last few weeks of being prego

The last few weeks of being pregnant went by really slow and really fast at the same time.  I thought our baby was never going to come, and my doctor kept reminding me that I couldn't stay pregnant forever.  I felt huge, I was more hungry than ever, and I just wanted to sleep on my back again and meet our baby! I worked out HARD everyday and still this baby would not come! But she did finally grace us with her presence and our lives have been forever changed :)  Here are the last few weeks of being pregnant:

Recap: 37-39 Weeks
Total weight gain: up 30+ lbs.
Maternity clothes? Still pants/shorts but not really any tops. Mostly just large tank tops.
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: What sleep?!
Best moment from these weeks: Getting everything ready for baby.  Packing the hospital bag, washing clothes and linens.  It's so exciting!
Miss Anything? Sleep, I always say sleep!
Movement: still moving and grooving, although we did have a little scare at 37 weeks when I didn't feel the baby move for 24+ hours, so I went to the hospital for a stress test and I was there ALL DAY.  It was so boring and the baby was fine :)
Food cravings: Mexican food. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!
Gender: It’s still a surprise!
Labor Signs: One night of light contractions, but they didn't turn into anything :/
Symptoms: Goodnight this baby is low and I can feel it with every step! Even hanging out in the pool is not comfortable anymore.
Belly Button in or out? Out
Wedding rings on or off? On! Still On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, oh so very happy!
Looking forward to: not being pregnant anymore and being able to bend over and touch my toes :)

Yup, that's me in my bikini 4 days before our sweet love was born :)

next post: the day Anabelle Mae was born

Are you done cooking yet?!

I know I said I would get better at this, but I haven't! It's been a while since my last update, oops! Life has been crazy busy planning and executing both mine and Adam's baby showers (which were so fun!) and wrapping things up at work so I can be home and stay home.  My last day of work was July 2nd, (6 years!) and I can't believe how incredibly busy I've been since.  I think Adam thought I was going to be bored, but I'm not.  It takes a lot more energy to do things these days, and I'm quite slow.  It's annoying to me, but I'll get over it :) Now the highlights of my day consist of: gym, grocery store, cooking dinner, and cleaning.  Adam sure does love coming home to a clean house.  He tells me almost every day :) I've also been busy planning my best friends bridal shower, wahoo!!! And I made the baby's bedding.  More of all that to come later with pictures.

Recap: 29-36 Weeks
Total weight gain: up 28 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Still pants/shorts but not really any tops.  I don’t like the feel of them so they still have tags on them.  Dresses are my favorite right now, but I wear mostly regular ones.  The two maternity ones in my closet were given to me by a dear friend.
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Took a turn for the worst at about 33 weeks.  My hips hurt and I have to pee more now than ever! BUT I know it will be over soon!
Best moment from these weeks: Our baby showers were so much fun!  And our maternity pics turned out great :) Adam started falling asleep with his hand on my belly to feel the baby move.  He is getting really excited!
Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night :) But overall I’ve had the best pregnancy and I can’t complain!
Movement: still lots of movement.. they say it starts to slow down by 36 weeks....nope, not my child!
Food cravings: It’s summer and there is so much fruit around our house!  I can eat it all day :)  And I still LOVE Mexican food.
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!
Gender: It’s still a surprise! Up until about 33 weeks everyone has been saying it’s a boy.  Now strangers tell me it’s a girl...so we will see :)
Labor Signs: No...darn!
Symptoms: Started feeling pressure at 34 weeks.  Now when I’m walking and the baby is moving at the same time it’s really uncomfortable, but funny :) And I hit the tired wall at 34 weeks, the day after I stopped working. Coincidence?!
Belly Button in or out? Out
Wedding rings on or off? On! Still On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, oh so very happy!
Looking forward to: Meeting our little love!

Let's see how big I've gotten, shall we? (Adam was gone on a fire, so some pics don't have the chalkboard :/ But you get the idea.)

Despite what people have been telling me for the last 3 weeks, my belly hasn't grown!  I've been measuring around my belly button out of curiosity, and it hasn't changed since the beginning of July.  So now when people say, "oh! you look so big!" or "wow, look at the belly!",  I just smile inside and tell myself I look just fine :)

And here is a pic just to make you laugh :)  And another to prove there are no stretch marks and I'm still in a bikini! Yay for summer and a tan baby belly :)

It's been 500 years...

So it's been a while since my last post...oops! I thought it would be a good idea to show pictures of my belly every 3 weeks because I thought every week was too much.  But apparently I can't even handle that! Let's see...it's been about 10 weeks since my last picture!!!

I'm going to try and be better from now on :)

Weeks 18-28 recap:


Total weight gain/loss: 20 (From 125 to 145)  EEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!


Maternity clothes? I have a few tops, but I'm still wearing my regular clothes for the most part.  I also bought some regular clothes in a size larger than normal, because for some reason the word "maternity" associated with tops makes me not love life.


Stretch marks? No, thank God! I've been putting on stretch mark cream since week 17, so hopefully it pays off :)


Sleep: I went from peeing once in the middle of the night to now 2-3 times.  I'm surprised at how not annoying it is. Maybe because I can always fall right back asleep. 


Best moment from these weeks: Finally feeling the baby move at 21 weeks!!! That was the most intense kick/punch ever! My Grandma Johnson rubbing my belly for the first and last time @ 24 weeks, I cried like a baby! Seeing Sally and Dean and reading to him @ 24 weeks. My mom moving back and hearing the baby's heartbeat at my appointment @ 26 weeks.  My brother Greg feeling the baby move like crazy @ 26 weeks.  And Nina (Lanaya) finally feeling the baby move at 28 weeks! 
Miss Anything? I miss not being able to bend forward all the way.  It's annoying.  It also makes it hard to garden :/
Movement: Oh yea.  If it's 10 PM the baby is very active.


Food cravings: Not really, but I am down for Mexican food at any time :) 


Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope


Gender: We are going to be surprised!

Labor Signs: No


Symptoms: None

Belly Button in or out? OUT now
Wedding rings on or off? on


Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, so happy!


Looking forward to: hitting 30 weeks so I can start a countdown :)

 

That's quite some growth in 10 weeks! Love it :)

Weeks 15, 16, and 17

Weeks 15, 16, and 17 recap:
Total weight gain/loss: 4 (From 125 to 129)
Maternity clothes? Finally caved into maternity pants at 16 weeks.  They are AMAZING!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: I HATE sleeping on my side, and now my back hurts.  I can't help thinking they are connected.
Best moment from these weeks: Starting our Baby Registry.  That was fun to do together, but exhausting!
Miss Anything? I really need a good tan right about now.  I miss fake-n-bake.
Movement: Not yet!
Food cravings: Orange Juice still.  I have to have it every morning with breakfast or I go crazy.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes! People are starting to notice
Gender prediction: ???
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In...but slowing heading out
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Feeling the baby move, I hope it's soon!