Pics of little Alida!!

Some pics of Alida in recent days.....she just loves to have her picture taken!! :-) I have so many cute little clothes and dresses that I can't wait till she fits in them and I can take pictures of her in each one!!!! She is getting so big already!! She sent to the doctor's for her 2 week checkup and she looked great! She has already gained a half a pound since birth and I am sure she has gained at least another half a pound since her appt. She is starting to show her little personality a bit....she has some very alert moments and loves to listen to people talk to her. I swear that she is already smiling....it is very rare but I swear that she has done it once or twice already. Last night I transferred her to her own room. It was very difficult for me to do, I loved having her right near me, but she is one of the loudest babies I have ever been around. She grunts and groans and stretches for up to an hour when she is falling asleep and/or waking up and although she might sleep through it (and Daddy!) Mommy hears all of it!!! I slept much better with her down the hall!! I sent out her birth announcements this week....if I have your address you will certainly be getting one :-) Hope all is well with everybody!!!!!

Pics with Mommy and Daddy and her little BLUE (Matt is already sick of pink :-) dress!! Happy Father's Day to Matt!!!!!!!!!

WOW!

Here we are...home at last. What an amazing journey this has been!!!!! I NEVER expected labor and delivery to be as much of a challenge as it was. Man, I thought I was going to have it so easy (you know, with the epidural and all) but now I know how unpredictable it really is! In a nutshell I am going to share the birth story....I don't want to scare anyone, especially those that are currently pregnant or are thinking about doing so very soon :-)

Friday (June 1st) seemed like any other day this past week. I hadn't been able to sleep much the night before and I ended up going in to work later than I had planned. I felt a little worse at work than I had during the beginning of the week but didn't think much of it. As the day wore on I began to feel a bit better. Matt had Fran and Amy's rehearsal dinner that evening so my mom came over and made me dinner and then we ran out for some Rita's Gelati's. I felt great that evening...even made a comment to my mom about how good I felt! Matt returned home around midnight at which point I was feeling quite hungry (unusual for me at this time of night). So, I made some mac and cheese and sat on the couch watching some TV. I ended up going to sleep around 1:30 am or 2:00 am......I woke at 4:20 (on the dot) from a contraction. It was quite strong.....strong enough to wake me but not strong enough to make me think anything was going on. In fact, I think I was having a dream about contractions so I might have had several before I actually woke up. So, I got up to pee and then got a glass of water. After I drank the water I got comfy on the couch again ready to go back to sleep. Then....POP...my water broke. GUSH, it went everywhere!!!! I rolled off onto the floor and began yelling for Matt. He came downstairs pretty out of it but quickly realized what was happening. We called the doc and they said to come right in. The whole way in to the hospital I got on the phone and made some phone calls....didn't expect to be this comfortable heading to the hospital!!! We got there around 5 am and they admitted me. I didn't have any contractions until close to 6 am or so and they weren't very strong either. The nurse on duty gave the doctor a call to see how they wanted to proceed...once they got wind of Matt's wedding they decided to put me on a Pitocin drip to see if we could move things along so he would still be able to make it for the ceremony and pictures. It definitely got my contractions going!!! At around 8 or 9 am I asked for some Nubane (painkiller)...they administered it right away and I immediately felt groggy and maybe even a little drunk. But...like I was warned by friends it didn't do all that much for my pain. After about another hour or so I asked for the epidural....the contractions were getting stronger and more regular and they were mostly in my back - OUCH!! Those tennis balls actually came in very handy!!! Luckily the anesthesiologist was in the hospital so the epidural was administered within 30 minutes or less from the time I asked for it. Smooth sailing from this point forward!! Once the epidural kicked in I felt great! I could still move my legs and I still had a little bit of feeling in the lower half of my body but with each contraction I only felt a little bit of pressure....if that. I watched the computer screen to see when I was having them....boy, some of them looked they would hurt A LOT! :-) Around 3 pm they checked my progress....I was around 8 cm at this point and they thought I would be 10 cm in no time. About 30 minutes later they had me do a practice push to see how things would go....then they decided to let me labor down for while (let the contractions do the work of bringing the baby down - she was still pretty high up). Then around 4:45 they had me start pushing. My nurse was excellent and I was really blessed to have her assigned to me....I could have never done as well as I did without her. We even got to practice the towel trick (the nurse holds a towel and I pull on it while pushing and having a contraction). The pain started getting a lot worse almost as soon as I started pushing....the epidural was not working like it had been. At this point they would not turn it up!! :-( I ended up pushing for almost 3 hours...only took two breaks - breathing through contractions. The pain was too intense not to push. The baby was in the wrong position - face up and was hitting my spine over and over....no amount of pushing was going to get her out. Unfortunately, she was too high up to tell that her position was wrong (we found this out after she actually came out)....the doctor was wary to use any procedures to help bring her down because she wasn't exactly sure what the hold-up was. At the 3 hour mark I had just about given up....I asked for a C-section - even though it was the last thing I wanted. They prepped the Operating Room but my doctor, who is also incredible, offered to make an attempt with the vacuum....I agreed. So, with the next two contractions I pushed and she pulled......here she came. When the doctor announced it was a girl I couldn't believe my ears!!! For the past 4 months I had believed that it was a boy for sure!!!!! Although the pain was intense and basically indescribable (my screaming could attest to that) the feelings that overcame me when they placed her on my chest were even more intense!!! I took one look at Matt and I knew that this was the moment that would change both of us FOREVER!!

The entire day I had the best supporters/cheerleaders EVER! I couldn't have done what I did and I wouldn't have been able to go on as long as had without them! Matt, I freakin' love you - you were incredible!!!!! A HUGE thanks to my mom, Matt's mom, my sister.....I made it through. Oddly enough.....I plan to do it again :-)

I will do my best to continue posting every Friday.....I have been pretty bad with getting things done lately - as you can imagine. I am still healing......Alida tore me up pretty badly. But, it was all worth it!!

What a beauty!

Here she is!!! Beautiful baby girl Alida!!!!! More to come in the next few days.....time for me to get some sleep!!!!! :-)

She's Here

Well she is here. Alida Marie was born June 2nd at 7:48pm and weighs in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and is 19 in. long. Words cannot express how proud I am of Erin doing the amazing job she did getting this baby out. As for myself, I always said I wanted a boy, but it all changed once I saw her beautiful head come out followed by her body. I just completly lost it and couldn't stop crying. Erin pushed for 2 hours and 58 minutes. Doctor Hamilton, by the way has got to be the best doctor out there, told us that if she didn't deliver by 3 hours then Erin would have had to have a c-section. The doc applied the vacum and on the second try little Alida came out into the world. I would have some pictures but left the camera at the hospital. When Erin comes home, she will write some more and have some pics for you all to see our beautiful daughter.

When does labor actually start?

That's a question that I have been thinking about for quite some time. In my opinion it started at least a week ago, if not two weeks ago!! HAHA!!!

I always pictured "the end" being the most exciting time. The baby is almost here, the baby stuff is all set up and ready to go, family and friends checking in to find out the latest on the ETA. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited but more than anything I am anxious!!! I hate that feeling. Not knowing when or where, not knowing what the pain will actually be like, not knowing if Matt will be there when it happens. I dream of being able to sleep in my bed again (actually laying on my back or even my stomach!!)....of being able to tie my shoes or shave my legs.....of not waking up to go to the bathroom for the zillionth time!! The rumor is (abundantly) that first pregnancies are usually overdue. I am still hoping that this happens before my due date or even on my due date. No one tells you about the aches and pains that creep up on you in the last few days/weeks of pregnancy. Sure, you hear about some of the horror stories, which I can honestly say isn't me (not at this point). But, I don't remember anyone telling me that I might end up sleeping on the couch in an upright position for the last week (or even two at the rate I am going). OR that my stomach would be harder than it's ever been and even painful to the touch. OR that the baby could choose positions that would make your back throb and ache long before you went into actual "labor". Or that the pressure from the baby would make you feel as though something were ripping inside of you. Ahhhh....the joys of pregnancy. Well, if I had known all 0f these wonderful facts I would still be here where I am at today and all of you would still be "listening" to my daily complaints. My mom always said that I liked to complain....she was right. I just never shut up!! Anyway, I need to remind myself that this journey hasn't been that bad....that what I have had to deal with does not even compare to what others have had to endure. God has been quite good to me and I know that he will continue to give me the strength I need to bring this little bugger into the world.

Well, at my last Dr. appointment the baby was doing great. The heart rate was around 123 again. I am now a "full" 2 cm (the doc said there was wiggle room) and 70% effaced instead of 50%. That doesn't seem like much progress to me but the doc was very happy with it. We talked about my options if I don't go into labor by my due date. Their practice is to induce 1 week after the actual due date. So, come June 12th we will have a baby one way or the other!! There is finally an end in sight!!!!

I guess that's about all for now.......the next posting should be from Matt! At least I hope it plays out that way!!!!

Please keep us in your prayers!!!!!!!