One Month

It's hard to believe, but Miss Sylvia Sue is one month old today! Today she responded to music playing on the computer, we danced together to some reggae music! We also found out since she has started to smile, Allen and I will make complete fools out of ourselves just to try to get a smile out of her. Her smiles are the best!

We're BACK!

Here it is! The long awaited first blog after the birth of our precious baby girl.  My apologies to those of you who have checked this blog faithfully for four weeks and were disappointed each time by no new blog.  I failed to mention on the last post the day before our induction that there is a four week maternity leave from blogging after the birth of a child.

I feel like I have so much to say but not exactly sure how to put it all into words. Also, being as sleep deprived as I am, you can be sure there will be grammar and spelling errors throughout this whole post.  So I will apologize in advance.

Labor and Delivery:
We woke up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready for the big day, this was early but I don't think I slept two winks all night anyways! The hospital nurses wasted no time getting everything going for the induction.  The crazy thing is, that when I got there my contraction were already two to three minutes apart.  I had no idea I was already in labor! Everyone told me, oh you will know it, don't worry.  I knew I was uncomfortable and every now and then I would have a contraction strong enough to make me say I had a contraction, but I had no idea I was having them so often.  I really didnt believe them, but they showed me the tape that they were monitoring my contractions on and sure enough there they were.  They started the pitocin , which was supposed to help increase the strength of my contractions but we had a problem because it was also putting my contractions much closer together than what is actually productive for delivery. So, the levels of pitocin they had me on went up and down all day and all night. They kept asking me if I was doing ok with the pain, and for the most part I can honestly say the pain was much less than what I had been expecting, which was good because I wanted to go through it all sans epidural or pain meds.   The nurse I had told me that alot of patients she has had started their epidural only a couple hours into what I was going through.  This gave me a lot of confidence! I was expecting to have a baby before the end of the afternoon but it just wasn't in God's plan.  My cervix was dilating extremely slowly considering the amount of contractions I was having along with the amount of pitocin being administered.  I had mentally decided I could handle the pain, but what became the hard part for me was the length of time I was enduring the constant contractions.  It became an endurance race.  I was starting to get very tired.  The worst part of the whole thing was when they told me to walk the halls.  I ended up having what showed up on the monitor as practically one large 10 minute contraction. (It was actually just one contraction right after the other without any breaks.) This resulted in my puking.  UGH! I hate to puke, but puking because of pain is the worst kind. When that happened, I seriously questioned my decision to opt out of pain meds; but the nurses and Allen were very supportive of my choice. My dilation stalled at 7 cm.  When the doctor came in after 18.5 hours of the unproductive labor, she checked and said that my cervix was swelled, instead of thinning the way it is supposed to.  That meant time for the c-section.  I cried of course because I was disappointed.  It was a long time and a lot pain to go through without being able to deliver vaginally, but of course it wasn't about me, this was about bringing baby Sylvia safely into this world. The surgery room for c-sections has to be the scariest room I have ever been in, a room perfectly strerile, freezing cold, bright lights, strange machines beeping, approximately ten people running around in hair nets and masks. They wasted no time at all hooking me up to the machines, getting the anesthesia going, and securing me down to the surgery table.  Allen sat next to my head behind the sheet.  I felt nothing but some pressure and tugging.  In less than five minutes we heard, "Quick Dad! Look!" Allen stood, I heard him gasp, and then I heard what will be for the rest of my life the most memorable precious sound I have ever heard, the strong cries of our baby girl.  They disappeared for a minute to weigh her, clean her, and check her vitals.  Allen quickly came back to the table while the doctors were still sewing me up , crying the first thing he said was, "She has your chin and Josh's toes." Translation: Sylvia has the Downing dimple in her chin and my brother's abnormally long toes.  Then they brought her to me.  The second I looked into her beautiful wide open eyes was the moment I became a mom.  My whole purpose in life in my arms. It completely took my breath away to meet eye to eye with the tiny human being who spent nine months in my womb.  She was a hungry hungry girl too! I thought that she might fall asleep right away but she didn't.  She continued to stare at me while feeding and it was amazing.

The rest of the hospital stay was rough! Recovering from labor, a c-section, staying in an unfamiliar environment, constant interruptions day and night from nurses  and doctors, and a newborn babygirl who didn't and still doesn't know what sleep is, and was hungry all day and all night! They let us go home one day early because we were both doing so well.  We  were more than ready to go.

Life With Sylvia Sue
One of the first questions everyone always asks is how is our dog Penny getting along with the baby.  Well, Penny doesn't seem to mind her at all, what Penny does mind is the big decrease in attention she has been receiving resulting in a few "accidents." We're working on it...

The second question we usually get asked, "Is she a good baby?" My response to this is, "Define good baby".  Is she perfectly healthy and beautiful? YES. Does she pee, poop. sleep, and cry? Yes, yes, yes but not at night, and YES. However, she is a demanding baby and seems to be on the fussy side, and the biggest thing is that she has her days and night still completely mixed up.  I have never seen the sun come up so many days in a row in my life! We are working on this but it's a process. 

She has been full of personality from day one, but at four weeks she is really starting to develop.  She is looking around more, and smiling, and starting to occasionally coo.  Her favorite thing to look at are the curtains in any room of the house.  She can stare at them for a very long time without getting bored.  At my grandma's house she likes to stare at the border wallpaper. 

She's so darn cute! I want to take pictures of her all day and all night.  If you want to see the many many pics that I am taking , bookmark http://www.photobucket.com/sylviasue . :)

Allen and I both have admitted to crying when we're by ourselves, just holding our beautiful baby girl because it's so overwhelmingly emotional to look at her face.

We made it to church this past Sunday for the first time since she was born.  She made it all the way through service without throwing a fit! :) She was so quiet and good, we couldn't believe it.

We are sooo grateful to God for blessing us with such a beautiful healthy baby girl. Our lives have changed for the better.  We plan on still sharing our adventures through this blog. Again, sorry for the delayed "She's here!" post, but the "blogging maternity leave" was necessary, but now that we are starting to settle into our new roles as parents it will be easier for me to blog.

Love you all!!!!!

Our last Friday night...

...as parents to be. Tomorrow we will be just plain parents.  We have patiently waited for Miss Sylvia to choose to make her entry into the world on her own, however it has been determined that she is going to need some coaxing on out.  Tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. we will be entering the hospital to be induced. We will have a baby before the end of this weekend. If all goes well before tomorrow evening.  In some ways these past nine months have seemed like a long time, in most ways they seem to have flown by so quickly; I feel like we blinked from the day of the positive pregnancy test to now.  9 months is not enough to fully mentally prepare for the adventure we are about to head out on, I don't think even a year would be long enough, but ready or not the day is upon us.  I sit typing with a mix of emotions so intense I find it impossible to express adequately. We are grateful for this opportunity, this ultimate blessing to be able to bring another life into the world, and scared out of our minds at how well we will do.  We are about to meet the biggest responsibility of our lives.  We are so excited and so frightened, I really find nothing else to say at this time; other than please pray for us.  Pray for a healthy delivery of a healthy child; and we will soon be posting true color pictures of Miss Sylvia Sue, no more black and white ultrasound pictures.  We love you all. Thank you for all your prayers and support so far, and we thank you in advance for the continued support and prayers.

Anytime now!

Well, she isn't here yet...has been pretty still today.  Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe she is resting and storing up energy for a day or two so she can make her entrance. Every little pain I feel shoot across my belly I'm waiting for it to turn into real contractions.  This waiting is going to drive me CRAZY!!!!

A journey through ultrasound pics

6 weeks

12 weeks

20 weeks

                    

30 weeks

                  

38 weeks

Well, the doctor called today and she weighs approximately 9lbs 5oz, give or take a pound and a half. She said she looks good and thinks we should be able to try this vaginally because of my "good pelvis".  She doesn't think we need to plan a  c-section.  I have orders to rest today because of some serious pain I woke up with, but after rest, my orders are to walk, sit backwards in chairs, and to make frequent love to my husband! Can you imagine Allen's surprise at order number three? It's any man's dream come true. Dr's orders to spend some extra time in the bedroom. If we don't have her by Wednesday the doctor will strip my membranes, which in most cases means a baby within 24-48 hours.  Not for all women, but for most.  And she said if that doesn't work she will consider scheduling an induction for me. Either way this baby girl is going to be here in time for Thanksgiving! Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for strength for both of us and for the health of Sylvia. 

Ultrasound...waiting to hear from doc

The ultrasound was really neat this morning because we were able to see her practicing breathing.  Her little chest was moving up and down, preparing for life outside the womb.  The ultrasound tech couldn't really tell us anything and the dr was out of the office today, so I have to wait to talk to her about the results until tomorrow, but one thing we do know as a result of the ultrasound, and I quote the tech "She is definately a girl!"  Sylvia wasn't as shy this ultrasound and showed her little girl parts on the screen.

So, do we think she is going to be cursed with my giant forehead? LOL! Aren't her little lips and nose so cute! If thsse's this cute in black and white , how much cuter is she going to be in color! I CANNOT WAIT! :)

38 Weeks!

Where do 9 months go? We have two weeks until our due date and since we are full term as of last week, Sylvia can make her grand appearance at any time now without being considered premature. After today's dr appointment I don't think we have any reason to believe she is going to make an early appearance. The dr said I haven't progressed any further than last week. Besides no progress, she expressed concern over Sylvia's size. She thinks she is a large baby and wants to see how big, so we are going to have an ultrasound tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. We won't know the results of the ultrasound until Friday since the dr isn't in tomorrow. She just wants to see if we should be preparing for a c-section or not. She says that my pelvis looks really good and she doesn't think I should have any problem delivering a 9lb baby, but would still like to get some measurements. I myself am looking good. No weight gain this week. Total weight gain over 9 months, 15 lbs! :) No sugar or protien in urine. Blood pressure was fine and my swelling has been at a minimum. I am still wearing my wedding rings! YAY! Although I do admit the swelling has been worse the past week than it has been all pregnancy, I know I don't really have anything to complain about. I could do with out any of the recent migraines and completely sleepless nights. AND I REALLY REALLY WANT TO MEET THIS LITTLE GIRL!!!!! I think I may be suffering from the end of pregnancy craziness the books warn about. I am SOOOO over being pregnant. I am ready to see what she looks like and to look into her eyes.

So a few pics to post, the picture in the purple patterned shirt is a pic at 37 weeks taken last week. Then the pics of Allen and me are closer to 38 weeks taken this weekend. Then of course the car seat which is taking some time to getting used to seeing in the backseat of the car everyday!