Gardening 2011

I have never had a super green thumb. I've never been one to kill every plant I come into contact with, but it's not like plants and flowers just flourish under my care. I tend to kill a lot of indoor plants that I have. I actually think I've only kept two or three indoor plants alive and that's only because they're pretty hearty plants.

Last summer was our first summer in our house and I was really excited about planting flowers and vegetables and doing some gardening in our yard. We planted some beautiful flowers in the front yard and we had some amazing hanging baskets. One weekend, I went away with some girlfriends and when I got back, Tyler had built me a garden box for my vegetables that I started from seed! Sweet man.

However, at the beginning of the summer I got pregnant and I basically laid on the couch all summer and threw up. Fun times! All I could get myself to do was water things. No weeding or maintenance-- period. The flowers were really pretty, but my vegetable garden got out of control really fast. When we took it down in the fall, we had a vegetable box with a lot of overgrown plants. We had little to no yield all summer-- just a zucchini and cherry tomatoes that I would pick off and eat while I watered. I think I over watered and under weeded/ maintained. I also planted waaaaaay too much in such a small space.

This year, we made a few changes. First, I did not get pregnant again. Praise you, Lord. Second, I didn't start vegetables from seed. I just bought the vegetables that were already started at Lowe's. Our house is already overrun with baby gear and between taking care of a baby and taking care of a baby, I couldn't quite stomach the idea of raising up the seedlings again. It takes up a lot of time and a lot of space. Third, we were much more conservative in what we decided to plant. Instead of planting 12 tomato plants (I'm not kidding), we planted 5. We planted 4 different types of peppers and one zucchini, squash, and cucumber plant each. It's much more manageable and I've already grown way more in about a month and a half than I did in a full season.

This post is more for me to remember next year, but I always like seeing what normal sorts of things people do with their time and gardening is one of my things. Also, I wanted my parents to be able to see how well things have been growing since they were here the last time!

My cucumber plant (brown scraggly thing in front) has officially bit the dust. I'm not sure what happened. Everything else is doing so well!



My tomato plants. I have five different kinds-- grape, cherry, Roma, Mr. Stripey, and just a regular large tomato.

My first ripened vegetables of the year! Some grape tomatoes and a sweet banana pepper. I actually haven't the slightest idea what I'm going to use the banana pepper for. Any suggestions?

This is our main flower bed in front of our house. I love red and yellow flowers, so marigolds and geraniums seemed the best way to go. Huge props to my parents for helping us with our flowers every year!

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower! They were my wedding flower. These came from my aunt's house and they are getting huge. They are so beautiful!!

The little pots that I planted that sit on our porch stairs.



We got these daisies from my parent's next door neighbor last year. They were really small last summer and now they are enormous! They are so sweet. I love daisies; they really are the friendliest flower. You've Got Mail, anyone?

And finally, a picture of our sweet little house. I love the way it looks in all the seasons, but especially in the summer when everything is green and the flowers are colorful. This part of being a homeowner sure is fun!

My BFing Journey-- Part 1

First and foremost, I would like to address any men that might be reading this post. This is one that you might want to skip. I'm going to talk about breastfeeding and I'm going to be pretty honest. Reason being that I want to remember this, but also, if someone ever goes through what I went through, I hope they would somehow find this entry and know that they aren't alone. So gentlemen? Adios.

Breastfeeding. It sounds easy enough. I certainly was under the extreme misconception that it was easy for everyone. All I was told about the potential hardship of breastfeeding was that it usually hurts for the first two weeks, but by the end of that two weeks, the pain is gone and it's smooth sailing.

To that I say-- HA. Ha, ha, HA HA HA.

Now if you're pregnant and planning on breastfeeding, I don't want to scare you. It's easy for a lot of people, but what I have found since having Griffin is that it's also hard for a lot of people. I was one of those people.

When Griffin was born, it was my desire and expectation that he would nurse almost immediately. When he wouldn't latch, I wasn't worried at all. I was told that there are many babies who don't latch after birth, that many babies take a few hours and then "get it". We had 24 hours for him to latch and nurse before supplementing would be suggested and I was on cloud 9 with my new baby, so I honestly didn't even worry about it.

Those first 24 hours, we tried often and we tried hard. The nurse helped me and they sent in a lactation consultant, but he just would not latch and eat. When Griffin was 24 hours old, he still had not latched and sucked long enough for them to count it as a full feeding. They brought in formula and instructed me to spend 10 minutes attempting to nurse, then feed him formula, then pump. We did this every 2 hours. I remember feeling very disappointed that we had to do this, but I was still so elated with everything that I didn't dwell on it too long. I figured that Griffin would pick it up in a day or two and we'd be on our way.

When we got home from the hospital, I continued with the pattern of attempted feeding, bottle feeding, and pumping. It was exhausting, plus I developed a fever that hung on for the better part of three days. A day or two later, my milk came in. Shortly after that, Griffin finally latched and started nursing! Hooray! I thought we were golden. Within a day of nursing, I started to feel pain. I remember thinking, "Oh, this is what they were talking about." The only problem was that the pain got so bad that I began to dread every nursing session. I would tense up and in turn, Griffin would get tense. After nursing for a few days, I was sobbing through every feeding. Now, I went through 21 hours of natural labor and never cried once. This? It was awful. Every time he ate, I felt like someone was stabbing me with knives and that is the very best way I can think to describe it. I was in awful pain and I was bleeding badly. I ended up calling a lactation consultant at the hospital and she was not very helpful. She actually asked me where I picked up my fever. Um, I don't know? Maybe the hospital that I just lived in for 48 hours!? I kept thinking, "I can do this. It will get better. I can do this." It didn't get better, though. It just got worse and worse.

Ten days after Griffin was born, things took an extremely scary turn. I won't ever write about that time in detail on this blog, but if you need more information, feel free to contact me privately. In short, he had some weight gain issues and they put him on formula exclusively for three days until our follow up appointment. When they told me that, I fell apart. I don't know if I've ever cried so hard in my entire life. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

They wanted him exclusively to have formula for those three days to ensure that he could gain weight. Praise God, when we returned three days later, he had gained almost a full pound. It was at that point that they told me I could start feeding him breast milk again, but that it needed to be in a bottle so that we could see how much he was eating. If he continued to gain weight on breast milk after a few days, I could go back to nursing.  I pumped and fed him that way exclusively and he continued to gain weight. It was SUCH a relief. However, it was still the desire of my heart to be able to nurse him.

For the next three weeks, I fed him every 2-3 hours on the dot. I started with pumping exclusively, but within a week, I returned to the routine of attempting to nurse (with our pediatricians blessing), feeding him a bottle, and then pumping for 20 minutes. It was extremely tiresome and very tedious, especially since he just wasn't picking up on the latching and feeding part. I'm so thankful my mom stayed with us for 2 weeks. She was a saint and helped so much with washing pump parts, bottles, helping to feed Griffin and giving me moral support. Tyler also was indispensable. I absolutely would have given up without their help.

My mom went home when Griffin was 2 weeks old. Shortly thereafter, I contracted a mean case of mastitis, complete with nausea, a high fever, and some near fainting spells. I don't recommend getting that sick when you have a two week old baby. Thankfully, Tyler was able to take over that day and did everything. It was not fun.

When Griffin was almost 4 weeks old, he started latching and eating again! I was elated and again, thought we were turning a corner. Little did I know, it was just the start of more issues.

In writing this post, I realized that this is a really, really long story. I'm going to post it in at least two parts, maybe even three. If you're still reading this, God bless you! I'll be back with part two in a day or so.

You can read part two of this story here.

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, our lives changed forever.

That day, I decided to take a pregnancy test... just in case.

I'm sure that by now, you've figured out how that turned out for us.

I hope that I'll never, ever forget the emotions that I felt the moment that little stick changed. I was without my husband and I had to keep the knowledge of the pregnancy to myself for a few days. Hardest thing I have ever done, hands down. Even when I got home and was able to tell him, I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I was going to be a mom. It was extremely weird seeing as though I've pretty much wanted to be a mom since I was a baby myself. I just couldn't fathom the fact that in 9 short months, I would be someone's mother.

I had a lot of fears about being a mom, but that's pretty in line with my personality. I worry a LOT. One of my greatest fears was that I wouldn't be able to love my child fully. I knew I would love my child, but would I really love him? I would talk to my mom all the time about that and she would tell me, "Just wait. You'll see."

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The second I saw this boy, he had my heart. I was with some of my best girlfriends yesterday, and after going up to check on Griffin during his nap, I told them that never have I loved something so much that it physically hurts sometimes.

This little boy and his daddy are the best two things that have ever happened to me. I'm so thankful that God gave me them. Tyler and I could have never dreamed of all the last year has brought us. A lot has changed in 365 days. I seriously can't picture what our life was like pre-Griffin and I like it that way.

He has brought so much joy and love into our home. There are times where I look at him and get teary because I am so thankful to God that He gave us this sweet boy to raise. It's a huge responsibility, but I'm thankful that Tyler and I are in this together. Being a mom has been the hardest thing I've ever done thus far, but it's just like everything else-- it has its good days and bad days. The good days and moments far outweigh the bad ones. I'll do just about anything to get this guy to laugh and smile because it absolutely melts my heart every SINGLE time!

A year ago today, we got the amazing news that we were getting a little addition to our family. Griffin, I'm so glad it was you!

Griffin :: 3 Months

Griffin, you are three months old!

June 6, 2011

What were you up to this month?

--You are still in 0-3 month clothing. You are very long, but very skinny. You could probably do 3-6 month clothing for length, but you would swim in those clothes! We have lots of 0-3 month onesies. You will live in those this summer when we are hanging around the house.

--You are wearing Pampers Swaddlers size 1 and Huggies size 1-2.

--We were at Grammy and Papa's earlier this month for a week and during that week, you started smiling up a storm. Since then, it's very easy for Mommy and Daddy to get you to smile. You are super smiley after you eat and when you just wake up. You also have begun to coo like nobodys business. You smile and coo when people talk to you. You just love it when people pay attention to you!

--You sleep through the night without any problem. We can usually count on anywhere from 7-9 hours straight. It has been such a blessing. You are not a great napper. You nap very well for your Grammy but not for me!

--I went back to work for three weeks. Your Grammy and Grandma both came for a visit and to take care of you. They loved it and so did you! You came to work with me for my last day (with staff) on Monday and oh boy, did everyone just LOVE YOU. Your "aunties" couldn't keep their hands off you and we got so many offers for babysitters.

--You went through a phase of not liking your paci, but you have fallen back in love with it. You still love your monkey Wubbie. He is getting a little worn. I have a feeling he is going to be your "lovey" so I may pick up a few more to keep on hand in case we ever lose him.

--You have also discovered your hands and feet this month! You love to sit in your swing, raise one leg straight in the air and just stare at it. You kick your legs ALL the time and you love to "stand". You also chew on your hands a lot and have taken a liking to sucking on your left pointer finger.

--You still love to nurse and you continue to be a nursing AND bottle champ. This makes it easy for me to go out and do a few things without you, like my Thursday night Bible study. You still scream bloody murder when I burp you during a feeding and arch your back so I can't sit you up and burp you. You throw your head back and throw quite the tantrum!

--Each night, before bed, I read you Night-Night, Little Pookie by Sandra Boynton. You just love it! You smile and coo the whole time and it just melts my heart. You love it when I read to you-- a boy after your momma's own heart. You also love just sitting quietly with your daddy. The other day, he was out of town and while feeding you, I watched a video he had made of you on the iPad. When his voice came on the video, your eyes flew open and you kept looking from side to side to try and find him. It was so precious!

--Your hair has gotten longer and curlier on top. You have a natural mohawk that people comment on all the time! I love your hair so much. People also comment often on how big your eyes are.

--I will post your 3 month stats when we go to the doctor next week. According to our baby scale, you are just over 12 pounds. You are a shrimp!

--You are a beautiful and perfect boy. Your daddy and I love you so very much!

Happy three month birthday, baby boy! We love you!



Griffin's Birth Story: Part 2

Part 2 of our birth story...

We got to the hospital around noon and they took me back to check me immediately. Now, as a side note, I had never been "checked" before. I know a lot of women like to start getting checked at their weekly appointments around week 36, but my personal philosophy was that it wouldn't make any difference to me one way or another how far along I was. If I had been dilated at all, I would have just been stressed about it. I had decided that if I went over my due date, I would let them check me at my next appointment. So when the nurse checked me-- OW. Not fun. I was really glad that I had never had them check and I'll absolutely be doing that with my next pregnancy. Ignorance is bliss, right?

As she was checking me, she said, "Wow. WOW. His head is really slammed down there!" Yes, that is a direct quote and she indeed used the word "slammed". NOT HELPFUL. She then said, "Hmmm, his head is so far down that I can't really feel how dilated you are! You're either a 2 or a 7, so I'm going to say that you're a 5. I've never had such a hard exam in all my years of nursing!" Okay, lady. A few things, if I may.

1. Did you just GUESS how far along I was? I could have done that myself at home. You went to nursing school, but I GUESS you aren't very good at your job! UGH.

2. The terminology "slammed down" is really not helping me feel better about being on hour 14 of labor. Please, choose your next words WISELY or else YOUR head might be slammed against a WALL.

3. I'm sorry this is so difficult for you. Maybe you'd like to switch places?

Actually, she was really nice other than that first little interaction. My mom asked very sweetly if there was someone who could come in to check me who would know exactly how dilated I was. I about died laughing at my mom's next question-- "Um... are you going to be her nurse?" Well, as much as one can die laughing while contracting something fierce. Luckily, she wasn't going to be (praise ye the Lord) and they sent the charge nurse in to check. She quickly was able to figure out that I was about a 6. I was so afraid I was going to be a 3 or some low number like that.

My water hadn't broken at this point, but I really wanted it to break on it's own. This was part of our birth plan. They told me that they could easily break my water but I really didn't want them to at that point. I decided to walk around the labor and delivery floor for an hour and see if that would help. I'm not sure why I felt like this was a good idea because walking while contracting? Not fun. Poor Tyler had to basically hold Big Momma up every time I had a contraction and they were coming every 3-4 minutes at this point. He gained some good strength that day. I also didn't have the foresight to think about how embarrassing it would be if my water broke in the hallway.

I didn't need to think about the embarrassing factor, though, because my water didn't break. After about an hour, I'd had it and Tyler and I decided to have them break my water. We said that if that was the only thing that didn't go according to our birth plan, we'd be happy. When the nurses called my doctor, he told them to wait and that he would come to the hospital to break my water himself. Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY DOCTOR? He came and double checked that this is what I wanted. He knew that it was a part of our birth plan and wanted to be very, very sure I was okay with the deviation. We were okay, so he proceeded. That was at 3:30 pm.

The next 3.5 hours were a blur. I had the best labor and delivery nurse named Cindy who was very on board with our plan. I distinctly remember begging for an epidural one time (see, I'm not so tough!) and she looked at me and said, "Nope. You don't need one!" I am so thankful that God gave us Cindy as our nurse because most nurses would have called the anesthesiologist right away. Again, no shame in having an epidural, but I really never wanted one. I am so glad that it all worked out the way it did.

Not gonna lie, transition labor was HORRIBLE. I still haven't forgotten how bad it was. It is all very fuzzy in my memory, but it's clear enough, let me tell you. Tyler told me I screamed a few times but then kind of buckled down and got very determined. During pregnancy, I really thought I would be all about changing positions while in labor. I was dead wrong. I laid on my right side pretty much the whole time. I was just in so much pain that I couldn't even think about moving. Even and measured breathing was what really saved me. Tyler and my mom were absolutely amazing.

Between 6:00 and 6:30, Cindy checked me again and said that I was nearing 10 cm. My doctor started back to the hospital. At 7:00, things really picked up. Cindy's shift ended which made me so sad. I wanted her to stay with me. Just before shift change, my labor changed BIG TIME. I felt a noticeable difference and all of a sudden, I had this incredible urge to push. I started pushing at 7:00 and my doctor got there shortly after. Cindy left and my new nurse, Shannon, came in and was there for the rest of the birth. She was wonderful as well! I remember watching the clock while I was pushing and every 15 minutes, I would think, "In the next 15 minutes, I will have him." At about 8:15, I just felt like I was totally done. Sure enough, Griffin was born at 8:33 PM!

The moment he was born was absolutely the most joyful and breathtaking moment of my entire life. I still tear up just thinking about the moment that my doctor put him on my chest and I saw him. He was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen with a head full of hair! I did not expect that. Tyler was up by my head and Griffin opened one eye and then the other. He didn't even cry that much! I love that the first thing he saw was his mommy and daddy together. I started telling him that I loved him and just cuddled him close. It was absolutely the best moment of my entire life!

The next few hours were a whirlwind. We spent some sweet time as a family before they took him next to my bed to clean him up. Our hospital has a tiny room connected to the labor and delivery suite where they clean up the baby and get them all cozy in their blanket. The whole "post-delivery" ordeal was very easy and I didn't think much about it. The first meal that I ate was a turkey sandwich and it was the best thing I've ever eaten. Seriously. Deprive a girl of food for almost 24 hours and make her labor through most of it and she'll eat just about anything.

We had a great hospital stay with lots of wonderful visitors and excellent medical care. I can't say enough about my nurses, especially my labor and delivery nurses. Griffin and I actually went back to visit Cindy when we had a follow-up appointment at the hospital when he was 6 weeks old (more on that another time). I could have stayed in the hospital FOREVER.

I obviously really, really, really loved my doctor. I felt like he went way above and beyond to make sure that we were as comfortable as possible and that our birth plan was followed as long as Griffin's safety wasn't compromised. If you're having a baby (especially a first baby), I would strongly recommend you find a doctor you're very comfortable with. I trusted him 100% and would have done just about anything he told me to do. My doctor was in a practice with only two physicians, and I felt this way about both of them! I asked them so many questions during my pregnancy and they always validated me and helped me to calm down. All in all, Griffin's labor and delivery and our hospital stay was fantastic. You know, minus the horrible pain that I still haven't forgotten.

And to those of you who were wondering, I did end up have a completely natural Bradley method birth. The only medication I got was some ibuprofen after they cut the umbilical cord. I didn't even need an IV (just a heplock in case of an emergency). This doesn't make me a he-woman or anything special; trust me, any woman could do this. It was just a personal choice that I am completely satisfied with. I wouldn't have done anything different and if we have any more children, we will do the same thing. When Griffin was born, he was SO alert and bright eyed and stayed that way for a few hours. It was just amazing! I'm planning on writing a post on the Bradley method and how it worked for us, but in the mean time, if you have ANY questions about it or would like to see our birth plan, just email me or comment and I'll contact you back. I'm super passionate about natural birth, but again, I would never make anyone feel bad for their preferred birth method. Different strokes for different folks, especially when there is medical issues involved for mom or for baby!

Right after Griffin was born! Tyler was an amazing support.

Our big boy!

His first bath

The picture on the left is the part of his personality that he gets from Tyler. The picture on the right  the part of his personality that he gets from me. Ha!

Grammy and Papa!

Grandpa and Grandma Haney

My precious little family!

Getting ready to go home!

In the end, we got our boy. I can't stop thanking God for a perfect and healthy baby! He is so precious and beautiful. Sometimes, I'm just overwhelmed with tears when I look at him because of how much I love him. The Lord has done GREAT things for us!!

Griffin :: 2 Months

Griffin, you are two months old!

May 6, 2011

What were you up to this month?

--You now wear all 0-3 month clothes. It was very sad for me when I packed away all your sweet newborn sleepers! You are also in a size 1 diaper.

--We finally figured out what is going on with your nursing problems. You had  posterior tongue tie. We had to travel to Dayton to get it taken care of, but we met with the most wonderful doctor who took very good care of you. Nursing has gotten easier, but we still struggle. Thankfully, we have an excellent lactation consultant who has worked with us several times and who has helped us immensely. We have been supplementing and Mommy has had to let go of some of her pride. It's been hard, but I'm very thankful that you are growing and healthy!

--You go back and forth between nursing and the bottle without ANY problems. That has been such a blessing! You eat every three hours almost on the dot.

--Your hair has fallen out in patches. It's not as thick all over but it's very fluffy and curly on the top! It is one of my favorite things about you!

-- You are sleeping in your crib at night now! This first few nights, I was a nervous wreck and I got up to check you about a billion times. You've taken to it very, very well. You also love to be swaddled when you are tired and ready to go to sleep; it calms you down very quickly.

--You only wake up once at night and you are sleeping through the night every few days. You are not a good napper, though. You eat and wake just fine, but sleeping during the day is another story!

--You are still the sweetest thing unless you're hungry. :) You also get extremely angry when we try to burp you during or after a feeding. You holler something awful until you burp, then you're fine!

--You still love your swing (most of the time) and you've been spending some time in your bouncy seat.

--You still love your pacifier! You have started using a WubbaNub pacifier and it has a monkey attached to it. People comment on it all the time and I think it is so cute.

--You have started to coo and smile a little bit. Every time you do it, my heart just melts into a big huge puddle. It is the best!

--You absolutely hate tummy time. You scream and scream until I pick you up and then you're as happy as a clam. It makes it hard to get any substantial tummy time in!

--We survived our first overnight without your dad. I was a little nervous, but we did great! We sure did miss him, though!

--You made your first trip to Michigan and you went to church for the first time! Everyone just loved you. You travel like a champ, which is a good thing because we're going to be driving a fair amount in your lifetime! You never have an issue with being in your car seat unless you're hot. You get hot very easily!

--You made your first trip to Momma's school. All your aunties just loved you and couldn't get enough of you. You are blessed with lots of women who love you!

--At your two month appointment, you weighed 11 lbs, 4 oz (50th percentile), measured 24 inches (90th percentile) and your head measured 15.75 inches. You had your first shots ever-- rotavirus and dTap. We both cried and then later we took a nap together to soothe our souls. You were very brave that day!

--We still can't believe you're our baby! You are the best.

Happy two month birthday, my sweet thing! I love you!



Griffin's Birth Story: Part 1

I am the worst blogger in the entire world.

No, seriously. I am.

But honestly? The last seven weeks have been so extremely different from anything I've ever experienced that blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind. However, now that things are settling down a bit, I remember my love for blogging and how much I want to remember this time of life. If pregnancy taught me anything it's that I can't trust my own brain anymore. I think I'll remember things, but let's be honest-- I won't. So, finally, I am sitting down to write Griffin's birth story. It is not the most exciting story and it is about a birth (which means it might be a little graphic at times, so men, read at your own risk), but it is our story and I get emotional any time I think about the night he was born. It was the hardest and best night of my life

Friday, March 4 was my due date. I didn't feel any different when I woke up and I just knew I wasn't going to have a baby that day. I went to work and taught. When the kids lined up to go home, I asked them to pray that I would have the baby that weekend (I teach at a Christian school). I had finally hit the point of being DONE with pregnancy and I knew that due to work, my dad would not be able to be at the hospital when he was born if I went another week. If I had the baby on Saturday or Sunday, my dad would be able to spend the whole week with us before he had to go back home.

Those third graders? They can PRAY. If you have anything you need, just ask them to specifically pray about it. They get things done.

That night, we went out for Mexican with friends and I ate the spicy salsa in hopes that I would smoke the baby out. No such luck. I went home and went to bed for what would be my last night of uninterrupted sleep. I don't remember if I enjoyed my rest, but looking back, I surely hope that I did. I had no idea what sleep deprivation would do to me. Worth it? Yes. Still hard? YES.

Our last night out. My word, the PUFFINESS and the quality of this picture-- both horrible!

On Saturday morning, I went to a gardening class with my friend Libby and then Tyler and I went walking at the mall. I didn't feel any different, but I could feel my belly tightening and then releasing all day long. I couldn't feel it inside, but my belly would feel like a rock on and off. Tyler and I hung out at home for the rest of the day. We watched a movie and ate homemade deep dish pizza and garlic knots. Around 10:30, we Skyped with my brother in Chicago and headed up to bed around 11:00. No sooner did we get into bed then I started feeling weird. The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I had a charlie horse cramp in my lower belly. I felt a few of these cramps before I thought, "Hmmm, could this be labor?"

I answered my own question pretty quickly

By 11:30, things were feeling more intense and my mind got sort of hazy. I kind of remember watching SNL while trying to fall asleep (HA!), but that didn't work. At 12:40, I got the bright idea to start writing down my contractions so that we could be sure that this was actually labor. Looking back, I'm not sure how I thought it could be anything else. First time mom, right here. My contractions were generally about 7 minutes apart and lasted for 40-50 seconds. At 1:30 AM, we decided it was time to call my parents. I called my mom's cell phone and she answered like she'd just been sitting around waiting for my call. It was actually kind of funny, except I wasn't in a very funny mood. I told her that I thought this was it and I started crying because I was so terrified that it was a false alarm and that they would drive all the way here and have to go back home when I stopped my false labor. Again, there was NO way this was a false alarm, but how could I know?

The notebook where we recorded my contractions

I labored through the night and the contractions definitely got closer together and stronger. Bless his heart, Tyler tried to stay awake, but he definitely started falling asleep between contractions. I would gently wake him up by hitting him every time a contraction started. At about 5:30 AM, he took over recording the contractions because they were too painful for me to think about anything else. That was when I called my doctor-- he is the most PRECIOUS man. He was fully aware of and in support of our birth plan and our decision to have the baby naturally. He knew it was my desire to labor at home for as long as possible. He asked me a few questions and told me I could stay at home if I wanted to. Call me crazy, but I wanted to. Again, personal choice.

Labor progressed very normally and my parents got to our house at 8:30 AM. It was then that I got the bright idea to take a shower and do my hair. Yes, you read that right. I really was under the impression that doing my hair would ensure that it would hold up during labor. HA. My mom and Tyler both let me do what I wanted and I showered and blew my hair out. I'm sure they were discussing how insane I was while I was getting ready, but they made the right choice by letting me do my thing. Don't cross a contracting woman. It will never be a good choice.

I did many different tricks (shower, birth ball, walking, etc.) to help ease my labor. I ended up calling my doctor back around 11:30 AM and it was at this point that he suggested we go to the hospital. One thing I want to mention is that between 5:30 AM and 11:30 AM, my doctor called me THREE TIMES to check on me. He is wonderful. I honestly can't believe that he cared that much, but he really did and it eased my worry about the whole thing. Anyway, we packed up at 11:30 and were on our way to the hospital around noon. 

 

My last pregnancy pictures. Bless my heart, I look so pitiful, but I had been in labor for nearly 13 hours at this point, so I think I have a right to look a little worn out! Ha!

You can read part 2 of his birth story here.