Oops.

So, obviously, the first 5 photos uploaded in reverse from what I planned. Just use your brain to rearrange the captions. :)

Amelie-The WHOLE story

Soooo, even though I still haven't hit my due date, I've had my darling baby here for 2 weeks now. I'm sure many of you will already know the details, but of course, I have to blog the story of labor.

You should know that I was already dilated weeks before Amelie was due. My doctor and I jokingly decided that Monday (the 20th) would be a fabulous arrival day for everyone’s schedule, but I really didn’t think we’d go even that early. Well, it just so happens, that it was when I was at the computer typing my previous blog Friday the 17th post that my water broke. (I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I definitely felt a new sensation in the lower abdomen area.) I got up from the computer to go to the bathroom, and lo and behold-I just wouldn’t stop going to the bathroom! I waited a bit to make sure, but it was most definitely my broken water. It also JUST so happens that Jeff got off super-early from work that day and we had no plans, so we were all set and ready to head off to the hospital. We went in, and despite my wearing protection, I was water-ing down the front of my pants by the time we got to the hospital. (At the labor and delivery desk, they apparently always ask if you’re sure it was your water or was it possibly urine. However, they just took a look at me and gave me a room.) We got settled in there by about 5 (water broke about 4) and all exammed, prepped and waiting by 6 or 6:30. Well, by this time, I was still not having any kind of pain or sensation with contractions. We decided to wait a bit longer to see if I could get them going, as I was still dilating on my own (then about a 4-5, I believe.) So, almost aaaallllllllllll the family showed up by this point or another. (It was really nice to be able to see everyone and hang out in the beginning, but it did become sort of stressful by the time I was really laboring.)
Amelie kept having sketchy read-outs of her heartbeat, so I had to lay in specific positions, and eventually we had to put an internal monitor on her. (Her heart rate kept dropping during contractions, so I had to wear an oxygen mask throughout.) Anyway, after a few laps around the L&D and still not an ounce of pain in my contractions (I know, don’t hate me ladies) I started the Pitocin IV just after 8pm. From there, it was almost instantaneous-I started feeling those things right away! And it picked up really quickly, too. It was less than an hour later that I asked for the epidural. Well, actually my mother and Jeff asked for it when they saw me tearing up with contractions. (They knew because this was the only time during the whole process that I wasn’t making jokes and laughing with them.) The anesthesiologist took awhile, and I have to say that he was my least favorite hospital person of the entire experience. The epidural was also not the most pleasant thing, but I think it was mostly trying to deal with the painful contractions while holding the awkward positions and getting tubed in my back. It took a bit longer than normal for the epidural to kick in, but after I gave it an extra shot, it was smooth sailing from there on out. Really quick, too, actually. The only snag to slow me up was discovered when another nurse came in to place the internal heart monitor. Turns out that I was supposed to get a catheter with my epidural, but this happened right at shift change, so I never got one. This other nurse noticed, drained me (A TON) and then, it was like magic-all of a sudden, she was moving that head down! Not long after I was feeling good again, I started feeling lots of pressure, and I called in the nurse. She checked me out and said I was dilated to 8, so she prepped the delivery table and all that stuff. Once she left the room, it was only about 10 minutes more when I called her back in for super amounts of pressure. She checked me out and said I was 9+, time to call the doctor. She wasn’t at the hospital at the time, so she had to be called in. We tried pushing once to make sure I’d be ready to go when the doctor came, but the nurse instantly stopped me and said we were totally ready. That short time waiting for the doctor seemed like forever where I could feel her just pushing her way insistently out. The doctor finally arrived and we got right to work. (She said she would have been quicker, but she was behind a cop all the way here. Darn cops.) Once I began pushing, it was only 4 contractions before she was out! And the surprise we got at that time might explain why-she was only 5lbs. 14oz. I couldn’t believe it! Between Jeff and me, I thought she’d be huge. It was so strange and surreal to see her.
I’m not sure how, but everyone outside was notified and started pouring in the room. Having such a large audience was NOT my favorite, as I hadn’t delivered the placenta yet and still needed to be stitched up. My lovely husband then had the guts to usher everyone outside until my personal business was taken care of.
Amelie was checked out, and didn’t have any problems. Aside from a few precautions because of her small size, she was all healthy! While we were in the hospital, she had to have her blood sugar monitored pretty closely, since she preferred sleeping to anything, including eating, but she was a natural nurser and was good to go by the time we went home.
I have since been saying that if I didn’t have to go through the recovery, I’d deliver 100 babies! It really was nowhere near as unpleasant as I was anticipating. (I do get that it was pretty darn easy as labors go, though.) So, overall, I’m not sure how long you’d say I was in labor. If you count from water breaking to delivery, it was 9.5 hours, if you count from contractions to delivery, it was 5.5 hrs, and if you count the painful parts, I only had a blessed hour and a half or so. As for the recovery, I am 2 weeks past now, and still taking medicine and can’t be out more than an hour or so without super pain. But, I do feel human and wear regular clothes now.

Amelie is now awake, so I will have to come back with more pictures since the hospital. As for these, I don't even know who took them all, they're just on my camera!

I'm feeling good!


Woo-lots of oxygen.


OK, this is starting to hurt a little.


That is my baby!


Such a little thing.


Momma and Amelie both cleaned up and together at last.

Progress and Shower

First, a baby update. (Warning: if you don't like graphic info, you may want to skip this paragraph. Translation: Most males want to skip this paragraph. Which reminds me-why do women LOVE to talk about pregnancy?!?) My appointment this week was good again, but not overly good. I am now dilated to "3+" (official term my doctor used) and 60% effaced (from 50% last week.) So... not TOO much movement, but steadily in the right direction. My wonderful OB also told me that I'm getting softer, and she felt the baby's head... from inside, not through my belly. (THAT'S why that exam was so uncomfortable, to say the least.) She did say, however, that head was still a bit high, so no action 'til Amelie decides to move in downstairs. I've been given every piece of advice about walking, bouncing, sexing, and anything else that might encourage her to move down more quickly. I am quite excited and anxious, but not in a rush until it comes to November. (Although I will confess that this past week we did make very sure things were ready at home and packed for the hospital.) My doctor, Jeff and I all agree that early next week, like Monday or Tuesday, would be the perfect day for our schedules, so that's what we are all shooting for. :) (At this rate, though, I'm having my doubts.) Still NO pain in contractions or anything. We'll see!!!

As far as life goes, I had my first baby shower this past week-end. It was a pink open house thrown by my 2 sisters in law and my mother in law. It was so sweet-thanks guys! The food was great, turnout was great, and I had a lot of fun, not to mention all the adorable and practical presents I got. We're now only missing a few things for Amelie's arrival. (Like a crib mattress and some bottles-can you believe we have ZERO bottles? Or a breast pump and bath stuff if you're looking for ideas. (; ) I am having another shower tomorrow, thrown by my sisters and mom. I'm excited to see how it goes! My sisters are really fun about coming up with games and awesome embarrassing things to do. Showers are the best invention ever! Sincere thanks to all who planned, attended and have given gifts-everything has been really great!

As for Jeff, he's been doing some fun stuff at work lately. He's gotten to clear abandoned buildings downtown, watched protesters at conference. One day learning ground fighting techniques, his partner sprained Jeff's shoulder and they sent him to the hospital. Yesterday, he came home with a bruised nose, and today they practiced with paintball guns. He always does great at anything to do with shooting. (Runs in his blood, I think.) And then, of course, the rest of his life besides work and baby consist of football games, Jazz and his own Wednesday night ballin. Below is the best picture I could get before my camera died.



And me, well, I am basically inseparable from baby news-reading up, crocheting stuff and preparing things here keeps me quite busy. Here's a photo of the blanket I just finished for Amelie. Yay!

Wha...?!

So, today I had the first of my once-a-week doctor appointments. This time also began the resurgence of regular manual exams (as in doctor's hand up in my grill.) Well, the first thing I heard was "Baby's measurements are perfect." Great, I think to myself. The second thing I heard (after some squishing of my belly) was "She's head down!" Even better! I am so not wanting a c-section, so that greatly lowers the chances. Then, my doctor asks if I've been having contractions, and I say "Maybe?" I mean I've had some occasional pain or discomfort, but nothing severe and not what I imagined contractions to feel like. Well, once she does her business, she says "Well, looks like you've been having contractions-I'd guess you are dilated to 2.5 or 3."

"WHAT?!" I think in my head. Doesn't that mean I should be moving in, then? I mean, active labor starts at 4 centimeters, right? She says "no guarantees, but this is a great sign she'll be on time." Yeah, I hope so-dilated for 6 weeks? Can that be normal? I don't know the total deal, but she just proceeded to give me all the instructions about when to come in and what to do, not alarmed at all. It majorly caught me off guard-I mean, you need real contractions to dilate!

I thought this quite an interesting development. I would not be sad if Amelie came early, but 4 weeks seems a little scary. On the other hand, we are trying not to get our hopes up and end up having to wait until mid-November, ugh. You can be sure you'll get updates here!

FHE and Belly

Last night for FHE, Jeff decided to humor me and we went to have a fire up Millcreek Canyon. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, and it's only getting colder! We prepped for cold weather and brought food. We had dinner there (hot dogs roasted on sticks and potatoes from foil packs) plus hot cocoa and I brought some sweet rolls I made. We had so much fun and the setting was gorgeous-even the weather was nice! For our "lesson" we each listed 10 reasons our lives are better now that we are married. It was a fabulous night-please, feel free to steal the idea for yourselves!

Here's my sweet boyscout of a husband making a great fire.


It worked wonderfully!


A little woods action




And finally, the latest belly photo. Oh my word! When I looked back through older belly pics, I couldn't believe I even thought I was big! Less than a month now, and I can't wait!

Still no photos... Devoted readers only.

So, I had my final meeting with my Master’s Committee this past week and everything was, passed, approved and signed. The paperwork has now been sent to the Graduation office with a nice letter about counting retroactively. Their approval is the only step left… and I have NO idea how long that will take to find out. I feel good about it, though. My committee really worked with me after it all went to pieces. It feels good to have my part of it behind me, and to know that I did what I could in the process.

Now that that’s out of the way, we are getting SO excited fro baby Amelie to come-we are only 33 days away now!! One month, really-that just makes me so happy. I definitely now understand the hype about rib-kicking, being uncomfortable and not being able to breathe. (I was asked to sing at a Stake Relief Society function on October 21st… yeah, that’s not gonna happen!) It’s funny – I can’t tell if everyone thinks I am supposed to be bigger or smaller. Almost my entire pregnancy, people kept telling me how small I was and that I didn’t really even look pregnant until I was like 6 months along! Now, it’s also the opposite. The other night, some woman I don’t even know told me that she NEVER got as big as me, even through the end of all her pregnancies. Ew! Some people have no concept of boundaries. Either way, my doctor has consistently said I am exactly on track with measurements and weight the entire time, so Neener Neener to all of you who have commented on the outrageousness of my size, either way! :) No matter what you’ve been thinking, though, my belly is now undeniably large and in charge! Promise I’ll try to get a good picture up soon.

We’re very excited for this week-end. My cousin’s wedding open house is tonight, followed by Jeff’s mission reunion, then tomorrow we’re doing a sweet conference breakfast, of course. (Jeff has to run out during one of those times to go study protestors with the Academy. Funny!) Then, all of conference and dad’s birthday celebration. I hope your week-ends are going to be just as great!

Meanwhile, we’ve kinda got some serious spider action at our house. Any tips, anyone? Besides paying the exterminator, of course. We’ll get to that when we can…

How about that Utah game, eh? Go Utes!