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After 41 long weeks of pregnancy, my baby girl has finally arrived into this world! I’ve blogged about my entire pregnancy; from finding out I’m preggers to wondering if my baby was ever going to be born being that she was a week late! So folks, I’m super excited for you to finally meet my Stage 5 Clinger – little Ms. Life Changer – Annabelle Grace! She was born on Monday, July 25th at 8:56am, weighing in at 7 lbs and 5 oz and is 19.5” long. She’s a total baby doll. Precious as can be – sweet as pie – and cute as the cutest button! There’s so much to say right now that I almost don’t know where to begin! But since this is her birth story, we’ll back up a week ago to Sunday the 24th, when I went into the hospital for my scheduled induction.
Even though I had a scheduled induction, I was still holding out hope that I’d go into labor naturally up until the last hour before leaving for the hospital. I just wanted to experience labor pains and my water breaking and nervously going to the hospital, excited for what’s about to happen. I wanted the element of surprise, which I wasn’t getting with an induction. But it is what it is – my Stage 5 Clinger wasn’t budging. Jeff and I arrived at 8pm and within an hour or so, I had a Foley Balloon inserted which is supposed to help the cervix mechanically open, preparing me for a pitocin injection at 5am on Monday morning, which would force contractions to start. Despite the fact that I was 41 weeks pregnant, I was still only 1 centimeter dilated and about 70% effaced. The nurse said she expected me to deliver my baby sometime Monday evening.
Not going to lie, the insertion of the balloon hurt like hell. As soon as the doctor left, I cried. I was thinking; OH GOD, if I’m crying over this, how the hell am I going to handle labor? It’s going to be a long night! I felt like a wimp. The nurse told me I’d experience some mild cramping from the balloon, but I noticed not too long after the balloon was inserted that I started feeling contractions and they’d last maybe 45 seconds and come and go every 3-4 minutes. I asked my nurse if it was possible for Mother Nature to step in at the same time I’m here to be induced and I could go into labor before the pitocin shot. She said it was unlikely since this was my first baby. But I was sure I was having contractions because it was more than “mild cramping”. As the pain increased, I asked what kinds of pain meds were available. I felt like the nurse was thinking I was a total pussy because in her mind I wasn’t even having contractions and I was already asking about narcotics and epidurals! So she gave me some pain drug that made me feel totally high as a kite and it did numb me…for a bit. But then my contractions got stronger and they felt really trippy being on this pain drug. The pain got worse and I was telling my judgey nurse to get me an epidural stat! I didn’t care if I hadn’t even had my pitocin shot, I was suffering! It’s all a bit of a haze, but about 1 or 2am, the anesthesiologist came in to save my day. I was a little nervous about the epi shot because of all the hoopla surrounding it and how big that needle is that people always talk about. But hell, I never even saw the needle because dude was behind me! And with my level of pain, it literally felt like a freaking bee sting! It was a joke! Ladies – don’t’ fear the epidural shot. It’s nothing! Within about 20 minutes or so, the lower half of my body was numb. Relief!
Then, I slept. And slept…
The nurse would come in periodically through the night/early morning to check me, and by about 4am she informed me that I was now 5 ½ centimeters dilated and will not need a pitocin shot anymore! Ha! So I was right – Mother Nature stepped in before the pitocin injection had a chance to come near me – awesome! Then, I went back to sleep. By about 7:30am on Monday my new, nicer nurse (shift change) came in and told me that I was now 10 centimeters dilated and will be pushing as soon as the doctor gets there. I’m all; WTF? So aside from those 1-2 hours of horrid contractions pre-epidural, I slept through my entire labor? How. Freaking. Awesome. Around 8:15am my nurse said we should do some practice pushes, so we got into position — by the way, this moment is so surreal to me because it’s what I’ve seen in movies and on TV my entire life, but I could never actually picture myself in this position — and I pushed. The nurses were impressed, telling me I was a great pusher and they could already see the head!!! But we needed to wait a little longer for the doctor. I was like; do we really need a doctor anyway? By 8:30 the doctor arrives and I have 4 sets of pushes (which have 3 rapid pushes in a row per set) and my baby is born – 25 minutes later! *Tears*
Holy swollen mama!!!! But look at that wittle girl....!
It was a bit scary for a couple minutes because she wasn’t crying. Suddenly, it went from a room of 4 people to about 15 people, either working on the baby or working on me. They told me the baby was just stunned because when she came out the chord was wrapped around her neck twice. This has always been my fear. But soon she was crying and they were placing her on my chest. I did that ugly cry thing where I close my eyes and try not to cry but I fail miserably and just look pitiful as I sit there shaking in silence! But obviously they were tears of pure joy to finally hold my baby – that little thing that had been kicking and hiccupping and rolling around inside me for all those months! I couldn’t believe I was finally meeting her. And she had my nose…and my lips! When you’re able to see a reflection of yourself in your baby so fast like that, it’s………………….it’s hard to explain the miracle of it all…
My next blog will be a part 2 of this birth story to discuss what nobody ever seems to talk about – the after birth. And breastfeeding…oh the breastfeeding….. (ouch!) Ya, nobody ever talks about the “ouch” part either!
What’s in a name?
The name Annabelle Grace has a special meaning for me. Back in 2006, my Granny passed away and I was absolutely devastated. She was the classic grandmother that cooked the best Southern food and doted on me just as a grandmother should. I was HER stage 5 clinger when I was a kid! :) When she passed, I told Jeff immediately that I wanted to name my future daughter after her. And her name was Anna Grace. But when I moved to California 4 years ago my boss at the time was named Anna, and suddenly the name reminded me of work! So for a while I kind of lost interest in the name. When I found out I was pregnant I was reading a list of top baby names and I really loved the name Isabella, but it was the #2 baby name in 2010. I just didn’t want her to have the same name as 5 other girls in every classroom she’s in growing up. I moved all the way down the list and my eyes landed on name #73, Annabelle. There it is, I thought. This is the perfect combo of my two favorite names. I could pay homage to my Granny but the baby will still have her own name. I added Grace as the middle name and ta-dah, Annabelle Grace it is. And I love it so much.
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Nope, I have not had my baby yet. Yes, my due date was Monday the 18th, and today is FRIDAY the 22nd. And I’m still f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g pregnant!
The anti-climatic passing of my due date has caused me to feel somewhat depressed in the past few days. I wake up every morning at 9am with the sun shining in and no contractions or a soaked bed under me (you know, from water breaking!) and I just pout as a lie there. I’m almost through three full weeks of maternity leave with no freaking baby! There’s only so much you can do to pass the time before it starts feeling like Groundhog’s Day and you’re doing the same thing over and over again. The highlight of my day is going to the dog park with my husband and red puppy and walking the 20 minute loop around the park. That’s about it! And then every few days or so I go to the pool and do my own little version of water aerobics to help with flexibility. Today, Jeff said he was going to the gym and I wined; “Well, what am I supposed to do?” And he said I should go to the pool. I then said; “I’m so sick of the pool.” And Jeff’s all; “Who says that???”
The hard part is that throughout this whole journey you look toward this arbitrary delivery date that your doctor gives you and everything revolves around that date. You begin to love the sound of that date…the number becomes perfect to you – it’s going to be your child’s birthday! And then when the date comes and goes with zero fanfare, it’s SO deflating. And then people are constantly calling, emailing, texting, Facebook stalking trying to find out the latest news and all I can say over and over again is: No baby. Annnnnd it can definitely add to your depression/frustration over this whole lack of a baby situation! Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s really sweet that so many people are interested. I just didn’t realize HOW MANY people were this interested! It’s pretty cool actually.
The bottom line, I will have the baby by or before Monday, July 25th – my official induction date. So I’ll be a mommy in 4 days or less. So when I say it like that, it makes this entire blog post sound kind of complainy for complaining sake! But I think those ladies that have had late babies can attest to the feelings I’m feeling. It doesn’t matter that you know the baby is eventually coming; it’s just that you can’t wait to meet your little one that even one more day is too many days to wait!
But now I’m trying to just be patient and enjoy my final days, baby free. Patience is a virtue they say. Soon, I will be doing ‘round the clock feedings, diapering, and sleeping – all with a super packed schedule that is recommended in my current baby book “The Baby Nurse Bible”. After reading this schedule, it really opened my eyes to the hard work this is going to be – not that I ever thought it was going to be a cake walk! But there’s something about seeing a 24 hour schedule laid out for you in half hour intervals that include; “Mom, take a shower”, which definitely makes reality set in. Sooooo…maybe I should shut up about going to the pool?
Alrighty peeps, this will be my last blog post before the baby is born! I’ll try to get my birth story out as soon as I can find some free time to blog after the baby is born! Hmm….free time after the baby is born…. Perhaps these are mutually exclusive things here? Ha! Well, I’ll do my best! I’m sure my excitement over sharing the news will help me power through! Talk to you on the other side!
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Today is July 18, 2011…
Do you know why this date is significant, dear readers? Well, today is my baby’s DUE DATE!!! Today is the day I’m supposed to meet my baby girl…the love of my life, the apple of my eye – the doll that I get to dress up every day for at least the next 5 years…. But I don’t know, something tells me little one is getting cold feet. This little chica is turning out to be stubborn as hell! And she doesn’t get it from me!!! SO, because of her lack of urgency in joining this world, I now have an official INDUCTION DATE of July 25th. Yep, if my stage 5 clinger doesn’t come on her own in the next 7 days, she’s getting forced out!!
Oh why me? Why did I have to go and eat such horribly awesome things that taste so good throughout this pregnancy that baby doesn’t want to ever come out? Why would she give up pizza and daily Wendy’s Frosty’s for a bland milk diet? (I can’t say I blame her in that regard.) People try to make me feel better about my still being pregnant problem by saying I’ve created such comfortable living quarters in my belly that the baby just doesn’t want to come out. And then I feel comforted. But technically I know that has nothing to do with it. I just don’t get why some babies come 2 weeks early and some come a week late and have to be dragged out kicking and screaming (no pun intended!).
These days, I feel like a total masochist. I can’t wait to feel contractions – bring on the pain! (Sure, I say this now!) I learned in my birthing class that this is the only time in your life when pain equals a good thing because you have to feel it in order to get the baby out. Apparently, a contracting uterus is no walk in the park. You know the saying: no pain no gain! But I’ve felt nothing – no contractions, at least I don’t think. I feel little aches and pains here and there, but nothing consistent, so I don’t know if they’re contractions or if last night’s bratwurst just isn’t agreeing with me.
My celebrity friends are rubbing their newborn babies in my face!!
Can I just tell you how jealous I am reading about all the celebrities popping out their babies in the last few weeks? As I’m sure every loyal reader of Us Weekly knows, about 90% of Hollywood has been preggo this year, including Kate Hudson, Pink, Jewel, Victoria Beckham, Alicia Silverstone, and Natalie Portman, to name a few. And one by one, I’m reading about them all dropping like flies and having their babies. And here I am…all alone on my pregnant island (no more celebrity friends ) and I’m dying of envy.
NEWS FLASH: I just read that even Ivanka Trump had her baby today. I thought for sure she was way behind me. HMPH!!
Ahhhh well, even though I feel like I’m going to be pregnant forever, there is definitely an end in sight – and it’s 7 days or less. Even though I think I’m ready, nothing can really prepare you for the responsibility of being a parent – especially of a newborn, because you don’t really know what the hell you’re doing! It’s an overwhelming thought and even now, days away, I still find it so surreal that it’s almost here…
My final baby bump watch pic – 40 weeks!
Forty freaking weeks pregnant! Ten months! Two months shy of a YEAR! I’ve been pregnant for so long, I literally can’t even imagine not being pregnant now! It’s become my identity! So anyway, this is my last baby bump watch picture. Even though I’m SO ready to not be pregnant anymore, it’s kind of bittersweet knowing this is my last weekly bump pic! It’s been an amazing journey to say the least.
Babycenter.com actually says this week: “It’s hard to say how big your baby is now…” HA! I’m just praying little girl doesn’t literally walk out of me a freaking teenager at this point! I actually gave little girl a pep talk today as I rubbed her extended little footsie poking at my side. I told her that it was ok to come out now, not to be scared! Mommy and daddy love her and are ready to meet her, so it was time to enter this world! I hope that eases her cold feet a bit…!
P.S. Does anyone think I look skinnier in my40 week bump watch pic than I did in my 37 week bump pic in the same dress and pose? It’s all that walking I’m doing I think! Just sayin’!
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You know how when you’re about to embark on a big life change, like going to college or getting married, you were wide eyed and didn’t quite know what you were getting yourself into it? And then looking back years later, you wish you could tell your 18 year old self to major in something different or study more? Well moms, what would you go back and tell your preggo self pre-motherhood?
My friend sent me this great video called “Reflections of Motherhood”, created by Nummies.com, and it asks moms if they could go back to just days before they had their first babies, what advice they’d give themselves. Being days away from motherhood myself, I found this video so touching. The advice the moms gave, coupled with the song on the video of course made tears stream down my face!
SO, being due on the 18th of July, I’m curious what advice all the moms out there would give themselves if they could go back to that wide eyed pregnant girl with only visions of grandeur in their eyes. Watch and enjoy the video, and please take a minute to leave a comment of the advice you have for me…I’d love to hear what you have to say!! Thanks mamas!
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I have never prepared for anything more in my life than for having a baby. Ok, a wedding is a very close second because that was a year and a half in the making and included loads more money, pre-marriage counseling with a priest, pre-cana courses, moving in together, and a body overhaul that included Weight Watchers and lots of time logged on the treadmill! Come to think of it, all that wedding prep was a lot of work too! But having a baby certainly seems more life changing and educational than which wedding flowers are in season and the best honeymoon destinations!
I feel like I’ve been preparing for a guest to arrive that is taking their sweeeeeeeeet time in getting here! I’ve had the nursery done since May, I have a diaper caddie sitting in the living room complete with diapers, wipes, and hand sanitizer and those dang newborn sized diapers are so darn cute that I just want to use them already! I’ve had my hospital bag packed since early June, and the car seat has been secured in the car by a professional car seat installer since mid-June. We’re ready for baby. Like, really ready. Oddly, I’m a big time procrastinator, but you’d never know it by my baby nesting gusto! My husband finds it fascinating to watch! Ha!
So I figured while I’m waiting around for the baby to enter her new home and see her room for the first time, I could at least show you, my dear readers! So I’ll first say that I didn’t go crazy fancy or uber creative in putting this motif together. Originally, I lacked creativity because I didn’t know the first thing about decorating for a baby room. After doing a search on “baby nursery decor” I was blown away by the little worlds that people have created for their babies with the use of wall decals, cool paint and a hip modern style. And after seeing that, I DID want to have fun with wall decals like trees and her name in fancy font like what I found on Etsy.com, but my husband put the kibosh on that. He couldn’t get it out of his mind that the decals I was thinking about are not like stickers or something tacky – they were super freaking cute! But oh no, since we were paying to have the walls freshly painted, we weren’t going to be applying anything else to the walls besides picture frames. WHATEVER. FINE. Sometimes all that “out of the box” decorating creativity is intimidating anyway!
So together, we chose this cute bedding set from Babies R Us that is a jungle theme for girls. Jeff’s family has a thing for monkeys because apparently his dad used to look like one, so Jeff was in love with a girl room that incorporated monkeys. Great – this decision was easy and not too girly for him! The colors however, were not that easy to deal with when it came to painting the room. Originally, I wanted to avoid the traditional baby pink walls for girl rooms. But my new bedding was lilac, browns, olive green, and orange. A lilac room would really match well with what we had, so I decided on a two-toned painted room with lilac on top and beige on the bottom. So not all pink! We added a chair rail to break up the paint and crown molding along the ceiling for a nice finishing touch.
I’m really happy with the way it came out. Ya, I didn’t get my decals, but I think the room is really cute, comfy, and most important — practical. It’s my new favorite room in the house! And it smells like jasmine with one of those good smelling oil scent thingys with the sticks! I often just go in the room and sit on the glidder and rock back and forth imagining my little girl…
So without further ado…enjoy the baby nursery! (You can click on the image to enlarge!)
The bedding collection, crib, dresser, and glidder/ottoman set are from Babies R Us. The leaning shelf was purchased on Amazon.com. (I can’t remember the exact brand!)
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I’m officially on maternity leave now for the next 4 months –WHAAAHOOOO!!!! I used to say a couple months back that I hope I get to enjoy the 2 weeks of maternity leave I have before the baby’s due date so I can just enjoy the “calm before the storm” and have a little “me” time. You know, get some last minute things done. But now I’m all about popping this baby out ASAP – screw the ‘me’ time! If all those extra hours of sleeping in aren’t even comfy and I’m self-conscious rockin’ a bikini at the pool, what’s the point? But with that being said; I’m definitely being productive this week and getting some much needed last minute things done.
Choosing a pediatrician
When choosing a pediatrician, do you go for length of experience or someone you can just relate too? Jeff and I went to a “meet the pediatrician night” at a local pediatrician practice (which came recommended by my coworker) and we had our choice of an older pediatrician with 20 years of experience and lots of OPINIONS, or the younger pediatrician that has little babies still and believes drinking alcohol in moderation while breastfeeding is A-OK? I mean, obvy I want to go with the one who is cool with the drinking! (Please pediatrician, don’t guilt me into waiting another 6 months before I can have a margarita on the rocks with salt!!) I thought for sure that Jeff was going to say the younger doc didn’t seem as knowledgeable and she wasn’t as assertive in speaking in front of the small audience she had at the office that night. But he said he’d prefer her because he likes the idea of someone he can relate to and someone that can essentially grow with our baby since she’s fairly young (like early-mid 30s). I’m kinda cool with either because it’s not like we can’t change our minds and go with a different doc if we don’t feel comfortable with her after a couple appointments. So deciding on a pediatrician –CHECK!
Choosing the right child care center – educational offerings vs.price
Visiting child care facilities is hard because obviously you want to go into a place that is totally pristine and everything is in perfect order. You want older, motherly looking ladies that are retired teachers caring for the infants and you want it to be dirt cheap. The reality is, most daycare places are going to look a bit out of sorts by the end of the day with a bunch of babies and toddlers running around and it’s going to stink like dirty diapers and cleaning solution. The ones that tell you they’ll have your baby speaking fluently in English AND French by 6 months old sound amazing, but when it’s like paying a second mortgage to send your kids there, you find yourself re-evaluating whether the smell of dirty diapers and cleaning solution is really all that bad. And as long as everything else seemed acceptable, in this case, price may be king. I still want to tour a couple other places, but do you realize that spots are filling up for child care 4-5 months from now?? The baby isn’t even born yet and we already need to get her on a “list”. Good grief! So, deciding on child care – almost CHECK!
Pampering and general housekeeping
My new haircut!
Let’s see…I’ve had a mani, pedi, eyebrow wax, and cut and highlight all in the last 3 days. Hey, you never know when you’re going to be able to get away and do this kind of stuff with a newborn in the house, so you gotta do it now! I went to a movie and enjoyed having the popcorn all to myself! I’ve gone on walks, the beach, and the pool and I stretch every morning to help promote flexibility – which equals comfort – in these final days of pregnancy. Other random productive things I’ve done this week include several loads of laundry, paying a parking ticket, cleaning my makeup brushes, reading baby paperwork stuff, exchanging some baby items and tomorrow – a dry run tour of the hospital maternity ward, parking and the registration process! I feel like I’m really getting things done!
Am I going to be pregnant FOREVER?
I have this irrational fear that I’m going to be pregnant forever and never have this baby. I’m due in a week and a half and my doctor won’t let me go beyond a week past my due date, so I know that at the very most, I’ll have a baby in no more than 2 ½ weeks. At first I thought I’d go early because everyone I’d talked to said they went early – as if it’s contagious and I can catch the “going early bug”. But now I feel like I’m going to have to be induced and the baby is STILL not going to want to come out, so they’ll have no choice but to give me a c-section. AWESOME. But one thing I’ve learned from all the reading research I’ve done throughout this pregnancy, and classes I’ve taken, is that you have to be flexible with the child birth process. Obvy I’d prefer a V-birth, but if a c-sec is what it takes to get the baby out, then by all means, do what you gotta do. So like I said last week, my birth plan is pretty simple: Get the baby out – and gimme the drugs! Here’s to hoping little Miss Stage 5 clinger decides to come out SOON and greet this big ole world and let mommy have her body back!
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Oh how life can change in the span of a year.
<——This time last year I was down in Hermosa Beach celebrating our nation’s b-day by binge drinking for 3 days straight. It was so fun. I’ll never forget that weekend because my hangover on the ride home officially ranks in my top 3 worst of all time. But you don’t get into those high ranks without it being a memorable time, so you gotta take the good with the bad! To read about my super fun binger, read this: “Happy B-day America, let’s binge drink!”
But this year, I’m trading in binge drinking for an ice cream binger – or food binger, whatever you wanna call it. Hey, I wanna have fun too! Instead of doing an all day “crib crawl” with friends starting at 9am like last year, tonight we had hot plans to go to the local family park and watch the fireworks show. We packed a cooler filled with 3 beers for Jeff and a Wendy’s Frosty for me. No joke. Fifteen minutes after we arrived, the fireworks show was over and we were on our way home! Now that was worth the 365 day wait!!! But what else are you supposed to do when you’re two weeks away from your baby’s due date and you’re praying to God that he’ll have mercy on you and send you into labor early? Too bad the fireworks didn’t scare the baby out – it probably scared her into staying safe and sound in the womb. DAMN! My plan backfired.
Finding “family friendly” ways to have fun
These days I think about all the new things Jeff and I will have to get into doing once the baby arrives. Like, going to family parks to watch fireworks on the 4th of July, or going to the farmer’s market and listening to some silly Frank Sinatra cover band. These are great family friendly activities. Basically, you have to think of new ways to have fun that don’t necessarily involve alcohol. Not that it has to be like that all the time, I know you can drink when you have kids. But binge drinking – not a good idea. So we’ll need to get creative. I’m totally making us sound like major lushes but we’re not. Well, Jeff is but I’m not. (Ha, let’s see if he reads my blog and comments about that one!) No really, we’re just like everybody else who likes to relax with a few cocktails on the weekends!
Anyway, I keep thinking about how fun our first family vacation is going to be. I picture us in some tropical locale with the baby in the water because we’ll have put her through Water Babies at this point, and she’ll be doing laps around us! Yesterday, Jeff and I went to the beach and there were TONS of families with babies and it made me excited for next summer when baby girl will be a year old and freaking adorable in a tiny bathing suit and likely walking and playing with a little shovel in the sand. A few years from now, I am SO excited to take her to Disneyland and see all the Disney characters. Maybe it’s something about experiencing the world through the eyes of a child again.
So ya, life is definitely changing pretty soon for Jeff and I, but I’m honestly looking forward to what’s to come and doing new things we haven’t done before. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when you’re married and just do the same things over and over again; so this will be a whole new set of activities for us to get into and I think it’ll be fun! And can I just say I haven’t missed drinking at all throughout this pregnancy, but with the weather being 100+ degrees these days, knowing an ice cold beer is literally in my future within the next few weeks is like the greatest thing on earth. Well, like waaaay behind having my baby that is…you know what I mean!
Baby bump watch continues –week 38!
According to Babycenter.com, the baby weighs almost 7 lbs and is about 19 ½ inches long. Her organs have fully matured and she’s ready for life outside of the womb. Man, I wish someone would remind her of that….hey little girl, there’s a whole new world out here just waiting for you to see it!!!
I would so love for this to be my last baby bump watch picture! It’s been fun to document this pregnancy for my friends and family and whoever else cares enough to follow, but I’m just so ready for it to be over. My aunt told me she’s going to miss these bump watch posts, but hey, I’ll be blogging about life with a newborn and that should be loads more interesting, right? Everything will be new again and I’ll have lots to say! In the beginning of pregnancy I had a ton to say about how things were progressing, but after a while it’s like; “yep, another week, more pounds, more back pain – nothing new!” Anyway, I’m officially on maternity leave now, so let the waiting game begin! Here’s to hoping for a 4th of July baby!!!!!!
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With 3 weeks until my due date, I’ve taken my final class of pregnancy – childbirth preparation! From 9-4 this past Saturday, Jeff and I learned the various techniques of pain management, watched videos of women giving birth with and without an epidural, and learned all the many details I’ll need to know to help prepare me for this monumental event coming up. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been experiencing anxiety about childbirth the closer I get to it, but thanks to this class, I feel a lot more prepared and a little less anxious. And one thing I’m positive about is that my birth plan is going to be pretty simple: gimme the drugs.
Lately, when thinking about childbirth, I have this feeling like I’m driving right into the eye of a tornado. I know I’ll make it through the storm, but I have no idea the extent of the damages I’ll endure to make it to the other side! And don’t say I’m being dramatic – have you seen movies? I mean, I know they dramatize childbirth, but it’s not like I’ve spent any time in my life watching real labor and birth, so all I know is what I have seen. I was even watching that new show on Lifetime, Born Every Minute, and that’s supposed to be real life, but of course they only show the drama, drama, drama. After my first childbirth nightmare from watching that show, I decided it was time to stop watching! To calm my nerves, I keep reminding myself that this is only one day of my life, and millions of women have gone through this before me and they are just fine. And hey, if I can do a 5-hour, 65 mile bike marathon (in which I wanted to literally amputate my own feet and ass afterward!), AND run a 13.1 mile half marathon nonstop in the same year – then I can do childbirth. It’s all about perserverance and not giving up. I can do this, I can do this – this is my mantra.
Slow dancing through labor
That being said; understanding the techniques of how to deal with labor can’t hurt. Of course Jeff was all; “Do we have to go to this? This NOT how I want to spend my Saturday.” But he needs to understand that this isn’t just my thing, this is our thing and he definitely has a role in getting us through this. Jeff thinks this kind of stuff is for hippies, so I was a little nervous when the instructor had us stand up and slow dance with each other as a way to stretch my hips and help release a hormone that is thought to move the reproductive process along. But to my surprise, a few minutes later Jeff asked for my notepad and pen and wrote down; “slow dance to release oxytocin.” Awww, so cute! You better believe that when I’m at home and experiencing the first stages of labor pain, we won’t forget to slow dance to get this show on the road!
While watching the video of a woman giving birth sans an epidural, I literally held my breath the whole time! Why oh why!!? I know every woman is different and each have their own reasons for wanting or not wanting pain management drugs, but when I see how miserable “natural birth” looks, I’m just like give. me. the. drugs. In fact, in a class of about 30 couples, only 2 ladies said they wanted to try a drug free birth, but even they didn’t seem sure! I wonder if they’d changed their minds by the end of the class!
And finally, we did a really cool exercise at the end where our partners poured a cup of ice in our hands and we were supposed to hold it for 90 seconds and breathe through the stinging cold pain – like we would through labor. The first time we did it we were supposed to have a focal point in the room, and the second time we did it we had to close our eyes and envision our happy place. When it’s over, whatever helped us get through and focus less on the pain is supposed to let us know what we’ll prefer during labor. For me, I definitely prefered eyes closed. I had a simple picture in my head of me floating in the pool with a salt-rimmed margarita, a good book, and a skinny body! I’ll say the pain was definitely less noticeable in my happy place!
To my surprise, Jeff told me that Saturday was probably the most memorable day of this pregnancy for him, and I think it’s because of the bonding we went through as we learned how to manage this tornado together, and he saw just how much I’m about to go through to bring our ’lil baby into this world!
Baby bump watch continues – week 37!
Well, baby is now considered full-term! I may have 3 weeks until my due date, but I could go into labor at any time. However, according to my doctor this past week, I’m still on track with my due date and as of Thursday, she didn’t see any signs that I’ll be going early, at least on that day! Babycenter.com estimates the baby weighs about 6 1/3 lbs and measures over 19 inches long.
One thing I learned in my childbirthing class was that right before you give birth you experience a strong “nesting” urge to prepare for baby. And boy have I had that! I enjoy nothing more than washing all the new baby clothes, folding them, and organizing them into draws or in the closet by size group! I chuckled to myself when I was reminded of this whole “nesting” thing as I was upstairs literally ironing tiny baby dresses! I HATE ironing — I barely iron my own clothes! When am ever going to be ironing baby clothes once the baby arrives? Probably NEVER! But even if little girl only gets to wear some of these newborn sized clothes once; at least they’ll be wrinkle free and picture perfect! Oh it’s been SO long since I’ve played “dress up” and I cannot wait to get started!! :)
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On Saturday night, as my husband was putting together the new baby swing and I was organizing the baby’s dresser drawers by clothing size, my mind shot back to that fateful night in October when I read the word “Pregnant” across that little EPT stick. I was in New Orleans and, unfortunately, was nursing a [...]
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Today I’ve been married for five whole years. On June 17th, 2006 I walked down the aisle in a beautiful church with stained glass windows and arched ceilings; an emotional dad on my arm, and a husband with a quivering bottom lip (awww!) waiting for me at the altar. (Hey, when I think about how [...]
After 41 long weeks of pregnancy, my baby girl has finally arrived into this world! I’ve blogged about my entire pregnancy; from finding out I’m preggers to wondering if my baby was ever going to be born being that she was a week late! So folks, I’m super excited for you to finally meet my Stage 5 Clinger – little Ms. Life Changer – Annabelle Grace! She was born on Monday, July 25th at 8:56am, weighing in at 7 lbs and 5 oz and is 19.5” long. She’s a total baby doll. Precious as can be – sweet as pie – and cute as the cutest button! There’s so much to say right now that I almost don’t know where to begin! But since this is her birth story, we’ll back up a week ago to Sunday the 24th, when I went into the hospital for my scheduled induction.
The name Annabelle Grace has a special meaning for me. Back in 2006, my Granny passed away and I was absolutely devastated. She was the classic grandmother that cooked the best Southern food and doted on me just as a grandmother should. I was HER stage 5 clinger when I was a kid! :) When she passed, I told Jeff immediately that I wanted to name my future daughter after her. And her name was Anna Grace. But when I moved to California 4 years ago my boss at the time was named Anna, and suddenly the name reminded me of work! So for a while I kind of lost interest in the name. When I found out I was pregnant I was reading a list of top baby names and I really loved the name Isabella, but it was the #2 baby name in 2010. I just didn’t want her to have the same name as 5 other girls in every classroom she’s in growing up. I moved all the way down the list and my eyes landed on name #73, Annabelle. There it is, I thought. This is the perfect combo of my two favorite names. I could pay homage to my Granny but the baby will still have her own name. I added Grace as the middle name and ta-dah, Annabelle Grace it is. And I love it so much.
) and I’m dying of envy.
