Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4 - C Section, Recovery, and Meeting My Baby

If you're just tuning in to this post you need to start here (Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1) . I've been working on writing Charlie's birth story over the last 2 and a half months, so the posts have been a bit spread out. Thanks!

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The tears continued to flow as I was wheeled out of my room and down the hall. I noticed as we passed the nurses station that a bunch of people were sitting there watching me. It turns out that I was the only patient in Labor & Delivery during the 3-11pm shift. It was nice to get all of the attention! I knew that JD was right behind me as we were going down the hall and Josh and the other nurses were all around. As we were going down the hall Josh explained that once we got in there they would begin numbing me up and I would feel a pinching on my belly to make sure I was good and numb. He said it was very important to let them know if I could feel the pinching because that would mean I needed more numbing medicine. Then we rolled through the double doors and were in the operating room.

I started looking around and calling out for JD. He was nowhere to be found. I didn't realize that he had been told to stay behind just outside the doors as I was prepped. I panicked and started calling out for Josh. He had stepped away to start prepping as well. One of the nurses called him over to me. I asked Josh to please pray with me since JD wasn't in there. He immediately grabbed my hand and many of the other people in the room came over and put a hand on me as well. I don't remember exactly what Josh said, but I do remember being so thankful that I was given those few moments. There wasn't anybody saying we didn't have time or blowing it off. It was very special.

I managed to scoot myself over to the operating table, but not without great difficulty and help from the nurses. My lower half was so numb! I didn't realize how much so until it was time to move. I laid down and the drape was put up in front of me. Josh introduced me to the anesthesiologist doctor and explained that he would be in there to oversee everything but that Josh would be taking care of me. A lot was happening in the room and I was still shaking and in tears. I kept asking where JD was and rambling on. I do remember Teresa coming in and whispering in my ear that she had just prayed for me before coming in. I vaguely remember her and Dr. Yarborough being on the other side of the drape and telling me that they were going to start prepping me and that we could talk about anything we wanted to.

Josh sprayed something cold on my arm because he said I needed to know what it felt like. He then sprayed from I guess around my hips all the way up to my arm pits and told me to tell him when I felt it. He said this was to be able to tell how far up I was numb. We repeated this several times. While they were doing this I was feeling the pinching feeling. I was panicking because I could still feel it and it was a sharp pain, not a dull feeling like Josh said it should be. My epidural continued to be adjusted, but I still panicked. Eventually Josh explained that they were pinching the fool out of me and that I wasn't feeling it as much as I had convinced myself.Soon after, JD materialized by my left side. I don't remember him coming in, but all of the sudden he was there. He held my hand and was talking and praying with/for me. I was still freaking out about not being numb enough, but Josh told me that they had already made the first cut. I didn't feel a thing. I even asked him at what point what that smell was... He simply said I didn't want to know.

Maybe it was the medicine, but everything was such a blur from here. It was very much a surreal out of body thing. I know I was rambling on and on, shaking, and crying. I don't even know how coherent I was, but I know I was trying to tell Charlie that he was going to be ok and that everything was going to be fine. I kept saying over and over again that Jesus loves Charlie more than I ever could so I knew that he was going to be ok. JD was holding my hand as we went through what felt like an eternity, but in reality was mere minutes.

I kept feeling the strangest sensations that I can't even explain. I could feel them inside of me, but it didn't hurt at all. At one point Dr. Yarborough called out, "PUSH!" Apparently I involuntarily started pushing! I certainly didn't do it on purpose! I couldn't feel anything! She told me to stop pushing and that she was talking to the team. Because I'd been dilated for about 4 weeks and Charlie had been sitting so low he was way far down. The nurse was having to push from one direction as Teresa pulled from the other and Dr. Yarborough lifted him out. In the midst of the fog I heard two things. One was my baby boy screaming. The other was Dr. Yarborough saying "Well that's what the problem was! He had the cord tight around his neck twice." I honestly don't remember which one I heard first. But my baby was here! And we knew why he was having the decels. As his daddy later said, he was just trying to wear a neck tie for his grand entrance.

I immediately started crying even harder than I was before and started calling out to Charlie that I loved him. I couldn't see him, but they held him up and said for JD to stand up to see him. He snapped a few pictures and sat back down to show me. In an effort to be fully transparent, when I first saw his picture I thought something was wrong with him. He was so skinny and not at all what I pictured. To be honest though, I don't know what I had pictured. We were in foreign territory now and I wasn't ready. I had read tons on being pregnant and getting through labor, but knew very little about what to do now that he was here. I just remember being relieved that he was here and that as far as we knew he was ok.

One of the nurses came and whisked JD over as they were cleaning up Charlie and weighing him. Dr. Yarborough and Teresa started the after process finishing up. I remember feeling another extremely strange sensation and asked Josh what it was. Once again, he said that I didn't want to know. I can only assume it was them taking out the placenta. I started complaining that my back was hurting. I think Josh said that it was from shaking so badly and that he was going to give me something to help with it. I was beyond thankful for him through the process.

After what felt like another eternity, but was really only minutes, I saw JD come walking around the curtain holding the most precious little bundle I've ever seen. He sat back down and showed me our sweet son for the first time. Oh the tears and the happiness. I just kept telling him over and over and over again how much I loved him. I had wanted to do immediate skin to skin contact and to try breastfeeding right away, but that clearly wasn't going to happen. I was only able to give Charlie and JD both a kiss and a "hug" before they had to leave to go to the nursery. All along our plan had always been for JD to stay with Charlie no matter what. On a side note- I'm so thankful to have known someone in the OR. Josh grabbed our phone from JD and was able to snap pictures of the whole thing when JD brought Charlie over to see me. Those are pictures that I will treasure for a lifetime.

Things finally started to calm down in the OR. Everyone was cleaning up around me as Dr. Yarborough and Teresa were finishing closing me up. It turns out that they must have done a good job taking their time because everyone has told me how pretty and neat my scar is. Thanks ladies! While I was waiting I asked about Charlie's stats. He was born at 8:25pm and was 5lbs 8ounces and 19 inches long. All initial signs were showing that he was a healthy little boy. He was just itty bitty. Now that he had the cord off from around his neck it looked like he was going to be fine. I thanked everyone in the room before I was rolled out next door to recovery around 9:00.

While I was in recovery I started to come out of my panicky and possibly somewhat medicine induced fog and began to get feeling back in my toes. JD came back from the nursery and told me that his parents and sister were actually arriving at the hospital right as he was walking Charlie into the nursery. He was able to talk to them for just a few minutes and explain that I had ended up having a c section. Now that the c section was over and we knew that everyone was OK, JD went ahead and text my parents to let them know he had been born. They were still about 40 miles out and were going to have to drop the dogs off at the house before coming to the hospital. JD left his parents to look at Charlie through the nursery window for a bit while he came back to check on me.

Charlie had his first bath while JD was with him in the nursery, so it was nice to be able to look at more pictures of my sweet boy all cleaned up. I started asking over and over again when I would get to see Charlie. I had been told that if all was going well that I could have him brought to me in recovery, but I still wasn't getting to see him. Honestly I don't remember what the hold up was. I was hoping that I would get to see him before then sine it would be almost 2 hours after he was born. Even though I had seen him and seen pictures it still didn't feel real that I had a son and was a mommy. I was supposed to be out of recovery no later than 10:15.

Time continued to pass and I went through the first of my very uncomfortable exams as I had to roll from side to side in the bed and have everything checked. I my urine output wasn't high enough so I had to stay in recovery a while longer. JD's dad had gone out to pick up some food for JD since he had now missed both lunch and dinner. It was utter hell to have to smell that Wendy's while I was only allowed to eat ice chips! My parents eventually arrived at the hospital and were able to see Charlie through the nursery window with JD's family. We all just had to wait while my new meds did their job to speed up my outputs before I could finally move on to my room.

Finally at 11:15 I was able to leave recovery to be taken to my room. We let the family know that we wanted to have some time alone with Charlie before we saw them and before they got to see him. I knew that I would definitely kill someone if anyone got to hold my baby before me! JD got all loaded up with my stuff and we were wheeled over to postpartum. I said goodbye to everyone in Labor and Delivery and was on my way!

Once we got to postpartum I was all set up in my room as the nurses came in and introduced themselves and made sure I was comfortable. I got changed into a new gown, had those super hot leg massage things put on, and had them crank the air way down. I was SO hot! I was also starving and was begging for something to eat even though it was the middle of the night. The nurses said they would try to track down some Jello for me since I could only have clear liquids.

Next thing I knew my sweet baby boy was rolled into my room! It was absolute torture as the nursery nurse went over the required information with us before she handed him to me. I honestly have no clue what she said. I just couldn't wait to get my hands on that sweet baby boy of mine! Finally, at 11:35, over 3 hours after he was born, my sweet man was set in my arms and I held him for the first time. Happy tears poured from my face. I couldn't believe that I was finally getting to hold my sweet angel. After a few minutes of snuggle time the nurse helped me get started with breast feeding and then left me and JD to have some alone time.

We soaked up the snuggles for about 45 minutes and wrapped our heads around now being a family of three. A little after 12:15 in the morning we called our families and told them that they could all come back. Visiting hours were technically over at 8:30, but since that was only 5 minutes after he was born and our family had come in all the way from Atlanta they were allowed to stay. Everyone piled into our room and soaked up the baby sweetness. I wasn't ready to let go of my angel just yet so I held him the whole time they were there. We shared the story of the day with everyone and spent some time visiting. Charlie had his first BM while they were there so JD had the pleasure of changing the first awful meconium diaper while under the pressure of 4 different cameras :) About 1:30 we finally sent everyone on their way with promises of lots of snuggles and visiting time the next day.

As hard as it was, we sent Charlie back down to the nursery so that we could get a few hours of sleep. One of my nurses brought me some chicken broth because she couldn't find any Jello, and I drank it right up. At that point I was convinced that it was the best "meal" that I had ever had! It was so good! By 2:00 JD was sound asleep in the pull out chair next to me and I was settling in to bed. I had so much adrenaline running through me that I couldn't help but go through all of the pictures and videos on my phone over and over again until some time after 3am. I finally went to sleep, but not for long before the nursery was sending Charlie back to me because it was time to eat again.

I sat up with Charlie in bed and was able to nurse him for a bit while JD was asleep. I talked to Charlie for a long time and told him all about me, his daddy, his family, how much we loved him, and more. Charlie ended up getting a bit fussy and since JD sleeps like a log he managed to sleep right through Charlie's cries. I had no idea what to do to get Charlie to calm down so eventually I just instinctively started singing "Jesus Loves You" (Jesus Loves Me, but changed to Jesus Loves You since I was singing it to him).

The moment I started singing to Charlie he turned his head towards me, looked me in the eyes, and stopped crying. I'm convinced he recognized my voice from all of the times I sang to him in my belly. It was in THAT moment that he knew I was his momma, and I knew he was my baby. That was the moment when I fell in love with him. That was the moment that I knew that my heart would forever go on beating outside of my chest. That was the moment that the past nine months had been leading up to.

And I would do it all again.

Jump to:

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3 

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3 - Labor, Epidural, and Some Scary News

If you're just tuning in to this post you need to start here (Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1) . I've been working on writing Charlie's birth story over the last few weeks, so the posts have been a bit spread out. Thanks!

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Sometime not long after my IV was started and they had broken my water, our friend Josh came by. He had just finished sitting in on a delivery for another lady that had an epidural. He checked to see if I was ready for my epidural and we came up with a plan for at what point I would call for him. I was currently only at about a 2-3 on the pin scale and I felt like I could make it to an 8 before I would call Josh. He said he completely understood, but also explained it was better to get it sooner rather than later since things could move very quickly as I got closer to 10cm. With all of that being said Josh headed downstairs to take care of some other patients that needed him, and I continued to ride out the contractions.

All the while JD was still in his suit and quite hungry. There were also things that we knew we would need from the house that Allison hadn't brought. Alyce assured us that since we lived so close to the hospital JD would have time to run home and get back before things got too intense. At this point it was 4:45 and I told JD he had one hour to get back.

During that hour I had to answer a lot of questions for Alyce and Teresa came in the check me again. Dr. Yarborough also came by to check on me when she finished at the office. I thanked her and Teresa for coming in for me because I didn't realize it was actually both of their scheduled days to be on call! They had both always told me they would come in for me even if they were off, so I just assumed that's what happened. I was so thankful for how God works things out! My sweet boy was being born on the day that my OB, midwife, and anesthesiologist were all already at the hospital!

I watched the contractions on my monitor and they slowly started to come more frequently and increase in intensity. They were still several minutes apart and only going up to about a 4 on the monitor. I also had my first experience with using a bed pan at this point. Since I had the internal monitor on Charlie I wasn't able to get up to go to the bathroom. Yet another reason I hadn't wanted an internal monitor... I'll just say using a bed pan was one of the most humbling experiences of my life! Everyone assured me all was going well and that they would be in the hall if I needed them. I settled in and decided to give my parents another call.

When I talked to Mom she said they were on the road and were going as fast as they could. Unfortunately they were leaving right in the middle of Atlanta rush hour traffic. I spent some time walking Mom through the events of the day and just talking about anything and everything to keep my mind occupied. While we were on the phone my Pitocin drip was increased and the contractions were closer and more intense as well. I had one contraction actually jump up to a 10 while talking to my mom and she had to talk me through it as I breathed it out. I could tell she was having a hard time with not being there!

We hung up after a while and I called to check in with JD. Sosha had come by the house while he was there because she was still planning to feed our dogs and bring the bags to the hospital. I talked with her briefly before she left and I had to walk JD through the last few items to bring. I'm so glad that I was as prepared as I was because I was able to tell JD exactly where my packing list was and it was detailed enough that he had no problem knowing what to bring. I also urged him to hurry back because I didn't want to be alone now that the contractions were picking up.

Not long after, Alyce came back in and asked me to get on my left side and to wear an oxygen mask. I don't remember getting told a lot of details, just that Charlie needed a little extra help. Ok. No big deal, but boy were these contractions picking up. At this point I think I described it as the worst period cramps ever. I called JD again to insist that he get back up there. Thankfully he was just in the parking lot.

We spent some time just talking and riding out contractions. I never screamed or cried when one came on. I just got very quiet and focused. I'd squeeze JDs hand and breath it out. I think I had JD turn my hospital playlist on at some point, but I honestly don't even remember hearing it. I had to humble myself again and use the bedpan in front of everyone. I was really dehydrated when I checked in so they had me on a steady fluid drip. It was certainly getting the job done!

I was definitely in a bit of pain now and started asking about where Josh was. Alyce said that he was still working downstairs, but she'd go ahead and page him. I asked if I could get a dose of Fentanyl in the mean time. She went ahead and started getting the process rolling, as well as increased my Pitocin again... Oh joy.

JD was manning the phones the whole time and our parents were both now around halfway here. It looked like they were going to make it in time for the delivery! I was only about 4cm at this point and well past the hour and a half mark that my mom and granny had for their labor. We had hoped for a quick delivery like both of them. I guess all that endurance training at the gym was going to come in handy!

Josh got back upstairs and told Alyce to go ahead and give me the Fentanyl to help me out as he got prepped for the epidural. He walked me through everything he was going to do step by step by step. I really appreciated this since I'm such an information junky. I want to know anything and everything that's going to be happening! I'm also glad that Josh let JD stay in the room with me. Alyce got him all set up on a stool sitting right in front of me and she kept one hand on my shoulder while JD held my hands.

Josh told me every single thing he was doing as he was doing it and really kept me calm. It was not that bad at all! Don't get me wrong. It was no walk in the park, but it wasn't as bad as you'd think, especially knowing how long that needle is! The worst part of the whole thing was the numbing shot. I just stared at JD and breathed through the whole thing. Still no tears! I'm proud to say JD did well with it too... He's terrified of needles!

After the epidural I was able to come off of my oxygen and lay on my back again. I started to feel the epidural kick in, but it really freaked me out, and honestly concerned me, that I was feeling it on one side more than the other, and in fact was barely feeling it on the other side as well. Josh assured me that it was all normal and would work itself out. I started to get the shakes really bad from the medicine. Everyone thought I was cold because my teeth were chattering, but it was really just the medicine!

Teresa came in soon after the epidural to start my catheter. Bless his heart. Josh was still in the room when they flung my legs wide open, so he just quickly turned his back to me as he kept talking to the nursing student. She had never seen an epidural before so he was talking to her about it. At this point all my modesty had gone out the window so I didn't even mind that he was still there. Josh stuck around long enough to make sure I was all set. He told us his shift was ending but that he would gladly come back for me if they ended up needing to do a C-Section and I wanted him to come back.

We rode out contractions for a little while longer. JD was his typical self cracking jokes and talking to everyone. Whenever a contraction would come on I'd get quiet and even told him to be quiet at one point! Fortunately the contractions started to get more and more dull as the epidural took over, but not before JD made a comment that was enough for me to tell him off! Ha! A particularly rough contraction hit and he said "Oh that only got up to a 6!" Only? ONLY? ONLY A 6?!? He was promptly told NOT to say things like that and that it was NOT helpful! Fortunately that's the ugliest I ever had to get with him. Eventually the contractions got so dull that I would ask if I was in the middle of one and JD would look at the monitor to see. Thank God for epidurals!

Over the next little bit Teresa explained to me that Charlie was having a bit of a hard time with labor. He was doing well in the beginning, but now he wasn't really responding as well as they would like. It's probably a good thing that I didn't realize they turned the monitor away from me. Apparently Charlie was having late decelerations. That meant that when I had a contraction Charlie's heart rate and O2 levels were dropping and not recovering as quickly as they should have. I had to go back in the oxygen mask and lay back on my left side.

Throughout all of this JD had been texting people and keeping them posted. One of those people was our trainer and friend, Billy.  He had been expecting JD at the gym that night, so when he didn't show up Billy figured something was going on. JD had told him that he was hungry, so Billy offered to swing by for a quick visit and bring JD something. Billy eventually stopped by and brought JD two Snickers bars. Honestly I was pretty oblivious to him while he was there. I was more focused on getting through the contractions and worrying about Charlie. Like I said before, the contraction monitor was turned away from me to where I couldn't see, so I had no idea what was going on unless I listened to the nurses.

Sometime a little bit after 7:45 Teresa came back in and asked Billy to leave the room so that she could check me again. Thanks girl! Billy's a great friend, but he didn't need to see all of that! I will admit to being disappointed at hearing that I was only 5 cm dialated. I had now been in active labor for close to 4 hours and had only progressed 2 cm.

I don't remember exactly how it all went down after that, but everything started to move and happen very quickly. After hearing that I was only 5cm, Dr. Yarborough came in and explained that Charlie was really starting to concern everyone and he wasn't tolerating labor very well at all. I also wasn't progressing as quickly as they hoped. At this point she felt like the best option was to go ahead and move forward with a C Section to get Charlie out and get his oxygen levels up ASAP. Potentially laboring for 10 more hours was not an option for him. This was all explained very quickly and when she asked if I was ok with that and if I had any questions I thought my head would explode.

WHAT?! A c section?! This wasn't part of the plan! I knew nothing about c sections! What would that mean for Charlie? And why was he in such distress? Was he going to be ok?

"YES!! Happy heathy mom. Happy healthy baby."

That's all they needed. The room filled with people. I told JD to get Josh back on the phone and back upstairs. Everything was in slow motion as consent forms were thrust in front of me. New monitors were hooked up. JD was given scrubs to change. People scurried all around doing I'm not even sure what.

Josh got back upstairs after what felt like a life time, but was really only a few minutes. I was completely calm at that point. It was actually probably really a mix of shock and numbness. As soon as I saw a Josh though I lost it. He came and sat right by me and started walking me through everything that was about to happen. He reassured me everything was going to be ok and that I would be holding my baby boy soon. JD asked me if we wanted to let the parents know what was going on. JD's parents were just shy of an hour out and mine were about 30 minutes behind them. Josh said there was no way they would make it here in time, so I decided it was better not to worry them while they were on the road.

Josh got up to start adjusting stuff with my epidural and let me get one boost before we headed out. I also remember him asking if it was ok for the nursing students to get to sit in on my c section. "Sure. My sister in law is a nursing student. They need to learn." Honestly they could have asked if I would mind being wheeled through the hospital butt naked. I was crying and shaking so badly and in such a fog that I didn't really know or care about anything. All I knew was I was about to get cut open. I knew my baby was in trouble. I knew things were not going according to plan.

I knew I was about to meet my baby.

Jump to:

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3 
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2 - To the Hospital We Go

If you're just tuning in to this post you need to start here (Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1) . I've been working on writing Charlie's birth story over the last few weeks, so the posts have been a bit spread out. Thanks!

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As I was leaving the doctors' office my mind entered what I can only describe as a state of shock. It was very much like I was watching myself in a movie and my body was just going through the motions. Looking back on it all it's very hazy and "other worldly," and that's not just because it's been 7 and a half weeks since it has happened.

Sweet Sosha walked me up to the front of the office and offered to go to the house when she got off of work so that she could bring me my bags. I was obviously concerned about not having them. I was so frazzled she had to explain to me to take my key off of the ring to give to her! I was also quite shocked that in my current state the girls at the check out counter were asking me to go ahead and schedule my 6 week follow up appointment! Yeah, ok, like my head was really clear to think about my schedule!

Before I even got out the doors of the office I was on the phone with JD. He was leaving work mere minutes before his big meeting. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon at this point and his meeting was scheduled for 3:00. He asked if I wanted him to go ahead and call our parents. The plan had always been for him to be in charge of making all phone calls. I told him I wanted to see him first and at least wrap our heads around what was happening. I did tell him to go ahead and call our friend Josh though. Josh is a nurse anesthetist and we knew that if I got an epidural he was the only person in the world that I would trust to do it. He had been at the top of our list of people to call on the way in because he said he would come in for me even if it was his day off.

Fortunately Valdosta isn't that big of a town and the hospital is less than 5 miles from my doctor's office, and JD's office is also less than 5 miles from the hospital. We both pulled into the parking lot at the same time. JD parked right away but I was so frazzled I tried pulling into the parking spot beside him at least 5 times before giving up and having to park somewhere else. By the time I parked and got my door open JD was standing right there waiting for me. I got out and gave him a huge hug and told him we were about to have a baby! I remember feeling like I was supposed to be crying, but that I was just very numb instead. Again, it's like my body went in to auto pilot mode and was just moving on its own as I stood back in utter shock. My plan? How I thought it would happen? Yeah. It was all out the window. We were flying blind.

When I get nervous and anxious I tend to talk a lot and really fast. I also get into a very take charge, here are the facts, down to business mode. I tried explaining everything to JD the best I could, but all the while still feeling like I had no idea what was going on. That became very evident as we checked in as well. The conversation with the girl at check in went something like this...

"I'm here to have my baby."

"Ok... But you're not in labor." (Obviously)

"Right. But my doctor told me to come here. Now. To have my baby."

"Why? Does labor and delivery know you're coming?"

"I have no idea. I'm just here to have my baby."

Several phone calls later we were sent on to registration where the conversation repeated itself. While we were sitting there and I continued to say over and over again that I was here to have my baby the weight of the whole situation hit me. I simply turned to JD and said to call my mom... NOW. He went back out to the lobby and called both sets of parents while I finished registration. I also sent a text to my best friend Allison that simply said "Call JD. 911." I'm sure that was fun!

When I was finished with registration we had to wait for someone to take us upstairs. JD told me he hadn't been able to get in touch with Josh, so I called his wife Terri and filled her in on the details and asked her to try to find Josh. It turns out he was already on call and working that day and at the hospital! How easy!

At this point JD was on the phone with his mom. Apparently all JD had said to my mom when he called her was something like, "Jessica is having the baby. You need to get on the road and come down." God bless my mother. She didn't even ask questions! She just said OK and hung up! It must have hit her what he said because she started calling back while he was on the phone with his mom. I talked to her and started explaining everything. It was SO surreal. I couldn't help but laugh when she said that Daddy was at the gym and she'd have to wait for him to get home before they could leave! No big deal!

I had also realized that waiting for Sosha to bring our bags from the hospital wasn't going to work. My oh so important epidural paperwork was in the bag, and I knew I needed it if there was any chance of me getting one. I didn't know what the plan was for the afternoon or if I could stand to wait until 6:30 to get my epidural. This is why we texted Allison. Thankfully she works at school with me, and the school is only a half mile from the house. I knew school would be ending shortly and asked Allison to go by the house to get our spare key and then bring everything to the hospital for us. God love that girl, when she heard what was going on she just told her paraprofessional and another teacher she had an emergency and walked out the back door of her classroom before school was even over! No questions asked!

By this point Transport had come downstairs to take us up to Labor and Delivery. I might have just been self conscious, but I feel like I was getting some strange looks being wheeled through the hospital. I obviously was not sick or in pain and I had this good looking man in a fancy suit following behind me!

We got upstairs and were sent into one of the triage rooms to get my vitals taken. I was glad at this point to have taken a tour of the second floor when we had our hospital classes. I knew exactly where we were going and what would happen. As I was getting on the scale (202 lbs), my nurse, started asking all about what was going on and why I was there. It became more and more clear that I had beaten the info from my doctors office to the hospital. Everyone on L&D knew I was coming, but they didn't quite seem to know why or what to do with me. Alyce told me that she needed me to explain my baby's condition because she didn't know much about it. Her exact words were "I was trying to Google it on your way up but I figured you could probably tell me more about it yourself." First of all I wasn't sure what "condition" she was talking about. I assumed she meant the IUGR since that's what seemed to have me here. It turns out she meant the Mega Cisterna Magna. Second of all, don't tell your patient that you were Googling her condition on the way up!

As I explained things to my nurse (whom I ended up loving), I was taken to room 2007 and given a gown to change into. The nurses still weren't sure of a game plan, so they just told me to change and get comfy in the bed while we waited for more information. Everything was very much in slow motion as I processed that THIS was it. The room where in *hopefully* a few hours I would be having my baby!

Not long after I got changed and was getting settled in bed, Allison showed up with all of our stuff. She was SO excited! It was nice to have her as a distraction while Alyce got all of my monitors hooked up and started going through the routine questions. Since Valdosta State University is minutes down the road I also had a nursing student. I can't remember her name for the life of me, but she was nice. She fluttered around the room as Alyce worked too.

By now it was about 3:30 and everyone was under the impression that I was just checking in to be monitored for a while. It wasn't until I explained that my midwife said I was having the baby TODAY did everyone realize what was actually happening! Thankfully Teresa showed up minutes later and got the show on the road. She checked mine and Charlie's monitors and said that we both seemed to be doing well. Everything started to happen VERY quickly! Allison had to leave and it's probably best that she did. Teresa explained that I was indeed going to have my baby TODAY one way or another. The plan was to break my water, start a pitocin drip, and see how things went from there. I had heard horror stories about Pitocin, but all along my birth plan was "Happy healthy mom. Happy healthy baby. They're the experts." I said ok and things got going.

A few minutes after 4:00 Teresa came back in and broke my water. I can't even describe that situation. JD stood by me and held my hand as I made some of the ugliest faces in the world and stared at the ceiling so hard that I'm surprised it didn't come down! It was quite uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt either. Teresa have me a warning what was about to happen just seconds before I felt the gush. Oh it was the strangest sensation, and I'm not even sure I could describe it. Let's just say I'm glad it happened in a hospital bed and NOT in the middle of my classroom when I wasn't prepared for it!

Before I really knew what was happening I realized Teresa was doing something else down there. She was attaching the kind of monitor that screws into Charlie's head. Honestly I was NOT happy about this, not because I really had any medical reason to be unhappy, but just because I hated the thought of something being SCREWED INTO HIS HEAD. It was already over and done with before I could ask why we were doing it or voice any opposition. This is probably the only thing about the whole experience that really upset me. I just had to trust that everyone knew what they were doing and why. As Dr. Yarborough and I had said throughout... They are the experts

My IV was put in at some point by now and they started me on fluids and my Pitocin drip to start increasing contractions. They had my monitor set up right by the bed where we could see the contractions. At this point they were only minor tiny rolling hills that would get up to about a 1-2 on the little scale and they really didn't have any regular consistency time wise. It looked like we would be here for a while, or at least until they turned up the Pitocin!

I was officially all set up. It was baby time... Or I guess LABOR time!

Jump to:
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3 
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1 - A Change of Plans

March 3rd started out like any other day up until that point. It was my seventh day of strict bed rest, and my plans for the day included grading papers for school and going to my doctors office for my 4th and final level 2 ultrasound. Throughout the morning I noticed that Charlie wasn't being as active as he usually was and mentioned it to JD. He assured me everything was fine and that I'd be getting to see Charlie shortly. I proceeded to have my mac n cheese for lunch and loaded up to head to the appointment. I was going to this appointment alone since the previous appointments went so well and we figured JD could stay at work for a big meeting.

Once arriving at the office I noticed that I was feeling Charlie move again and felt much better. Eventually, anew girl that I'd never met came to get me for the ultrasound which made me nervous since Mrs. Cheryl had done the rest. We went to a new room and got started. A second technician was in the room because she was learning how to do level 2s. I thought nothing of it and we began.

Pretty soon into the ultrasound the tech asked how much he weighed at his last scan. I explained that he'd been an even 5lbs at his 32/33 week scan. This started a back and forth with the tech about "Are you sure? When was that again? Did we do that scan?" etc. The tech got a certain look on her face that was undeniable. I asked how much we weighed today and she said plainly, "five pounds five ounces" and continued scanning.

The whole tone in the room changed. The other tech had gotten up and was standing right at the screen with the first tech. There was lots of hushed conversation and looks. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. I knew right away something wasn't right. There should have been more growth than that in 4 weeks. This was the point in the pregnancy where he should have been gaining about half a pound a week. According to that estimate he should be about 8 pounds. Something. Was. Wrong.

After having already had 3 scans I was pretty familiar with what they looked at on these scans. At this point I could tell they were no longer looking at his heart and brain as they usually did. Instead she was doing a lot of measuring. I noticed immediately that all of his gestational age predictions were several weeks BEHIND where they should have been. I was 37 weeks that day and the scans were estimating 32-34 weeks. I knew this wasn't a good sign because those scans had been measuring a week ahead since 18 weeks. Now they were several weeks behind. Again, I didn't have to be a tech to know something wasn't right.

I also noticed that she was spending a lot of time looking at his umbilical cord and watching the blood flow through the cord. This was very different than any of the scans before. She also started watching his chest and focusing on his nose and mouth a lot. I couldn't handle the tension so I asked... "I know you're not really supposed to tell me anything but can I please ask what we are looking at???" She simply said, "We are just doing a biophysical profile and watching how he breaths and moves."

Alarms went off in my head as I had read about these before. I knew that of they were doing this there must have been some concerns. Something. Was. WRONG. I was starting to lose it. Then I saw what I didn't want to see, and convinced myself I didn't see. What was that there near his neck? Why did it have blue and red blood flow patterns like when they were looking at his umbilical cord? We obviously weren't going to talk about it just yet...

The scan was over pretty quickly without even looking at his heart or brain, which, remember, were the whole reasons we were there. I was ushered off to the waiting room where I was used to waiting close to an hour before the MFM doctors were ready to Skype.  Because I didn't know what else to do, I text JD, my midwife, and my friend, Sosha, who works at the office. I quickly asked for prayer, explained that Charlie was too small, and said that they looked at the cord a lot. I was freaking out. Teresa, my midwife asked where I was and said she would be right there. I love that woman :)

At this point I was taken to get vital signs, which I had only done once before with these level 2 appointments. I was alarmed when by blood pressure was the highest it has been yet. I don't remember at this point exactly what it was, but it was definitely over the preeclampsia guide of 140/90. Bells. Alarm. Panic

I was sent back to the waiting room. I did the number one thing you aren't supposed to do. I got on Google. I started typing in things like baby too small, pregnant, ultrasound, gestational age is behind, etc. Every single search result said the same thing. IUGR -Intra Uterine Growth Restriction. Right as I was about to dive in to reading, Teresa walked up. She sat with me and discussed what had happened in the scan. She quickly told me she wanted to sit in on the Skype conference call with me since I was there by myself. I didn't know if this was a good sign or not.

Not even 5 minutes later I was called back into the room where we always Skype. The fact that it was only about 15 minutes after the ultrasound alarmed me. It usually took close to an hour for my office to send the scans and then for the MFM doctors in Atlanta to interpret them and get back to me. Not today.

The doctor appeared on the screen and I was relieved to see a familiar face. At each of my appointments before I had met with a different doctor. This was the same one from the third appointment. I knew that she was thorough and to the point. She quickly started by telling me I did have preeclampsia, the first time the word had ever actually been used by any of the doctors throughout the pregnancy. She then jumped right in to saying that the baby was too small and had IUGR. Yup. Google was right. She also said that he wasn't moving enough and seemed to be struggling with "breathing." He only got a 4 out of 8 on his biophysical profile (which measures things like movement, fluid levels, breathing, muscle tone, and heart rate), and anything below 6/8 is concerning. The shock of my life came when she said it was time to have the baby. Today. And soon. She didn't want to keep me any longer and was sending me to the hospital.

Questions flooded my mind - What? The hospital? It's 3 weeks early. JD is in a big meeting. And IUGR? My baby is too small? What? Is he ok?? What about his heart and brain? Are they ok? Am I being induced? Am I having a c section? How am I getting to the hospital? WHAT?!? I immediately texted JD and told him to get to the office right away.

Thankfully since Teresa was in the room she was able to talk to the MFM doctor and work out some details. I went numb and just heard Charlie Brown teacher "wah wah wah." The next thing I knew Teresa told me to call JD and tell him we were having a baby TODAY. She was going to go talk to Dr. Yarborough, my OB, and she would come back to see me with a plan.

Numb. That's all I can say to describe how I was feeling. Then the door opened as Teresa left and my friend Sosha was standing right outside. As soon as she saw my text from earlier and finished with her patient she came to find me. God love that girl. She came right in the room and prayed with me. She had just the right words to say and helped me process what was going on.

Teresa came back and said we were definitely having a baby today. Surely I had time to go home, change, get my bags, and wait for JD, right? WRONG.I was told to drive myself to the hospital and have JD meet me there. Teresa would meet me there in about an hour. The plan was for me to have some tests run once I checked in so that we could decide if I could labor on my own or if we needed a c section. Bottom line- The next time I went home it would be as a new mommy. It was go time.

Jump to:

Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3 
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4

Weeks 36 & 37... and Beyond!

 

*This post is obviously quite late seeing as how little man is 3 weeks old today! However, I feel like I needed to finish things up. This picture was taken on 3/10 which was the end of my 37th week and Charlie's 1 week birthday. I don't remember much of the information specific to weeks 36 & 37, but I'll do the best I can. Stay tuned for a full post on Charlie's birth story :)*

How far along? Currently 3 weeks postpartum, but this picture is 1 week postpartum! Charlie was born on 37 weeks exactly!

Total weight gain/loss: Hmm... On 3/3, which was 37 weeks exactly, I checked into the hospital weighing 202lbs according to the hospital scale, which was 4lbs over my starting weight. By the time I checked out of the hospital I was down to 194, and then one week later I was down to 185!! I lost 17lbs in 1 week and am officially 14+lbs below my starting "pre-pregnancy" weight. My weight has plateaued since then and in the following two weeks I haven't gained or lost anymore. I've also been wearing a Belly Bandit Bamboo to help shrink my tummy back down and give my back and abs some added support post c-section. The pictures don't lie. This thing works :)

Symptoms: 36 Weeks brought on full bed rest. My blood pressure continued to rise and I was continuing to spill protein into my urine. I completed another 24 hour sample and it showed extremely high protein levels. I was given STRICT orders to rest and keep an eye out for symptoms. Everyone seemed quite surprised that I wasn't feeling worse than I was. 

At 36 weeks I was also dilated to 3cm, 80%, and -2 station. Charlie was definitely likely to make his debut at any time. I had a fetal NST (non stress test) and ultrasound on the Friday of that week and he seemed to be perfectly fine! His heart rate, movement, breathing, and fluid levels were all great! I had to come back on Monday to repeat all of the tests and get checked again. 

That weekend was filled with lots of rest! Thank goodness for Netflix and House of Cards Season 3! I also had report cards and assessments to keep me busy since I was leaving school several weeks earlier than planned. We knew at this point that I wouldn't be going back to school for the rest of the year! 

Monday's doctor appointment showed no change. Charlie was still doing great on his NST and ultrasound. I was still at 3cm, 80%, and -2. The plan was to come back on Thursday to repeat everything again.  However things all changed very quickly when I went in on Tuesday for my final Level 2 ultrasound. You'll have to read our birth story for more :)

Wedding rings on or off? They were back on by the time I was out of the hospital :) I'm SO happy to have them back on!! 

Belly Button in or out? It stayed flat all the way up until delivery, but it's now gone back in. I can't believe the difference!

Sleep: Aside from the sleeplessness that comes with a newborn, I'm finally sleeping so much better! The first week or so was challenging just because of incision pain and all from the c-section. But, now that it's 3 weeks later, I am now able to sleep on my side without the Great Wall of Pillows!

Food cravings: I don't remember if I had any cravings during my last week of pregnancy. I take that back, the day he was born I texted JD saying I wanted crab legs! HA! Since then I've been crazy thirsty due to breast feeding, and I did have a mean hankering for some hotdogs! The church set up a meal train for us and it has been incredibly helpful having dinner every night and then leftovers for lunch!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Absolutely not!

Miss anything? As crazy as it sounds, I miss my belly! I miss feeling him squirm around in there! I'm so happy he's out and to hold him in my arms but I still have these phantom kicks from time to time! Whenever I've seen my pregnant friends or look at old pictures it just feels like something is missing!

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: Oh goodness. Happy and emotional around the clock. I'm over the moon in love with Charlie, but I cry all. The. Time. Every little thing will get me started! Hormones have been raging! Ugh and don't get me started on the emotions of the day he was born!

Workouts: Obviously I still wasn't working out. But once I was finally able to start moving and get out of bed post c-section I was SO thankful to have worked out as much as I did!! I know Billy kept saying he was preparing me for labor, but even though it never quite got to that stage I can say for sure the workouts were the key to my quick recovery! I couldn't have gotten up and moving as quickly as I did without all of our hard work in the gym! At least 3 more weeks until I can get back out there. I can't wait!!!

The Bump: Wasn't really getting any bigger during the last few weeks. More on that later, like probably in another post. Now it's gone and thanks to my Belly Bandit my belly is already flatter than it was pre-pregnancy!

Have you started to show yet?: HAHA!

Stretch marks? I'm very proud that I never got any on my tummy. However my chest is a whole different ballgame... :(

Maternity Clothes? Haha right now clothes consist of gym shorts, nursing tanks, and pajamas!

Gender: I am so incredibly in love with my little man. He's absolutely perfect in every way. Being a mommy to such a sweet little boy is the greatest feeling in the whole entire world! I love him more than I thought was physically possible :-) 

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Mr. Charles David Dillard

Labor Signs: Up until the day of 37 weeks there wasn't anything new from the last post. As far as for week 37… Let's just say read the birth story.

Movement: Week 36 brought some pretty scary moments involving movement. Again, wait and read the birth story. However, now that I have my little man out and he's here he is such a good snuggler! He loves to lift his head (Yes! Even at just a few days old!) and look around. He's very alert and tries to take it all in!

Best moment this week: Let's just summarize the whole last four weeks by saying I got to meet my baby boy and finally become a family of three :)

Looking forward to: Spending the rest of my life watching this precious angel grow up and also watching my sweet sweet husband teach this little boy how to be a man :)

Weeks 34 & 35 Wrap Up

*2 weeks in one again, and I'm still totally ok with it. A lot went on and I was just too busy, and too puny feeling, to do 2 separate posts.*

How far along? Finishing up 35 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Well, it's tricky for this post. See, in the first week (week 34) I actually gained 3.8lbs, which put me at a total gain of 9.6lbs (I think?). But then this week (week 35) I lost 8.4lbs. Yes. That's correct. No typo. The two weeks before this I also gained 9lbs. Then gained 3.8 more. But this week, yes, ONE WEEK, I lost 8.4lbs. That puts me at a total gain of only 1.2lbs from my start weight. What's up with all of the CRAZY fluctuations you ask? Well... let's move on to symptoms to explain....

Symptoms: In the weeks that I gained 9 lbs there was major constipation. Yeah. That's probably TMI, but this is a pregnancy blog, and it's a normal part of that, so whatever. I also had some MASSIVE mounts of swelling in my hands and feet so a lot of that was probably water weight. 

Well, in the past week I had a MASSIVE stomach bug. We're talking MASSIVE. It was so bad that on Wednesday morning I was sitting naked in the bathroom floor hysterically crying and being quite serious when I say that I thought I was either dying or going into labor. I've never done either one of those things before and the way I was feeling was nothing that I'd ever felt. I had a solid 2-3 hours of vomiting so badly every 30 minutes that I couldn't even keep down a few sips of Powerade. Those few hours were followed up with about 3-4 more hours of... other... stomach... issues. We'll leave it at that. This all started at 4am so I had to wait until 8:30 to hear from my doctor about what I could do/take. Fortunately they called in a prescription for Zofran, and that stuff is made out of baby angel wings and has magical healing powers. I was never sick again after I took my Zofran, and we can all say halleluiah and AMEN for that. 

I was so sick that I unfortunately had to take one of my oh so precious and sacred sick days that I've been hoarding to use for my maternity leave. I was NOT thrilled with that, but ultimately it needed to happen. JD was a bit reluctant to leave me at home and go to work, especially after my declarations of either death or labor. Fortunately, my parents were already planning on coming in town that afternoon, but they weren't going to leave ATL until about 10am. Let's just that say a 5:30am hysterical phone call to my mom got them on the road a little bit sooner and they were here by noon. They came bearing another magical healing potion... Zacadoos ice! Can't keep anything down and the doctor wants you to try to at least have some ice chips but you don't have a fancy crushed ice setting? Get you some Zacadoos ice. Magical stuff. "Ballpark ice" as I always grew up calling it!

By the next morning I felt like a completely different person and was back at work. Thursday and Friday were fine... until Friday night. Friday night some of my tummy troubles came back and continued on until Monday morning. Unfortunately they were the kind of tummy troubles that Zofran doesn't necessarily help with and I just had to stick it out. I had ZERO appetite most of Saturday and Sunday and was having to even force myself to eat or drink anything. I eventually broke down and got some Pedialyte, which wasn't awful, but even having water in my mouth made me feel like death. By the time Monday morning rolled around and I did my weekly weigh in I was shocked to see that I had lost over 8lbs. I know that most of it was just fluid loss and water weight, but I still couldn't help but feel a little bit concerned about losing sooooo much so quickly, and I'm a little anxious to see what, if anything, my doctor says about it at tomorrrow's appointment.

So, on to symptoms. Was all of that just a stomach bug? Was it a stomach bug AND a normal bout of pregnancy related third trimester tummy woes? I don't know. But that's been a big thing. Some other smaller symptoms... Exhaustion. Mood swings. Heartburn. The usual. BUT. The other big symptom...

CONTRACTIONS!!!! But keep reading to Labor Signs to hear more about that...

Wedding rings on or off? Off. They're permanently on my necklace now. 

Belly Button in or out? It's about as flat as I think it can/will get.

Sleep: Meh. Not good or bad. Just meh. Some nights are better/worse than others. 

Food cravings: I know I had a few "get this NOW" moments, but I honestly don't remember them now. That stomach bug just did such a number it's all I can think about.

Anything making you queasy or sick: HA! See above :) One of those days I did have some minor "morning sickness" type symptoms with the weird smells bothering me, but I think I was just jacked up in general.

Miss anything? Sleeping on my belly. Not being exhausted. A glass of wine. Being able to fit through smaller spaces without bumping my belly into everything.

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: Definitely a little bit of everything. Hormones/emotions are all over the place these days. Grey's Anatomy. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON GREY'S ANATOMY. OMG.

Workouts: I was officially told no more workouts once I was 34 weeks 2 days. My soul died a little bit inside. Because of some preterm labor symptoms and a weekend of modified bed rest (see below for more...) I was told that I'm definitely not allowed to workout until 37 weeks. If we make it to 37 weeks and there's still no baby then she said she will probably let me work out again if I feel like it, but she doubts that I'll feel like it. She must not know me very well! I officially hate when JD leaves to go workout on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I'm just here at home by myself. If it wasn't so cold I'd probably go just so I could sit out there for the social aspect. I miss my friends!

The Bump: I'm pretty sure I bruised my belly button from running into so many things! It's always in the way and I forget how far it sticks out there!

Have you started to show yet?: Um. Yes.

Stretch marks? I'm still very proud to say none on my belly!!!

Maternity Clothes? Absolutely.

Gender: BOY! Oh boy oh boy!!!

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Charlie! 

Labor Signs: Remember how last post I said that things felt "different" down lower and two of my friends said that they thought I looked like I had dropped? Well, they were right! When I went in for my 34 week appointment I described to my doctor all of those different feelings and how I had noticed an increase in frequency and intensity of my Braxton Hicks contractions. I was having 5-10 a day and some were strong enough to catch my breath and/or put me on the ground. She wasn't planning on checking me until 36 weeks but decided to go ahead since she could tell I was worried about it and just felt "off." She was very surprised to find that I was already 1cm, 50% effaced, and he was at a -2 station. 

Quick lesson for those of you that don't know babies... 1st times moms generally efface (thin out) before they dilate (um... dilate). Many people can walk around at 1cm dilated for weeks, but many can go from 1cm-10cm in just days or even hours (people like my own mother!). However, the number that had her more concerned I think was my effacement and his station. The station is how low he has dropped in my pelvis. He was "very low" to only be 34 weeks and the contractions weren't making things any better. As she put it "He could be here this week, or he could be here in a month, but I don't think you're going to make it another 6 weeks to your due date. You might want to go ahead and start packing your hospital bag." Awesome....

Being that I was only 34 weeks I was farther along than she would have liked at that point. A baby is considered full term at 37 weeks, and though he would likely have been fine if he was born at 34 weeks, she wanted me to try to make it to 37 weeks. She went ahead and gave me a progesterone shot to "slow things down" and put me on modified bed rest. Essentially that meant stay sitting or laying down as much as possible and only get vertical if absolutely necessary. That's the point when I was told no more workouts and to "take it easy." I was about to have a 4 day weekend ahead of me so she agreed to let me go to work on Friday as long as I promised to sit ALL DAY and then get off of my feet for the rest of the weekend. She wanted to see me again first thing Tuesday morning to recheck me and see how things had progressed, or hopefully stalled/regressed.

I did exactly as I was told and went to work the next day and only stood up 3 times from 7:30-3:30. I'm so thankful for an understanding team that stepped in to get my kids from place to place! I then went home and rested as much as possible throughout the weekend, only getting up to walk a short distance around the house or from the car into a restaurant. The timing couldn't have been more perfect since I had the weekend plus the two days off of work for winter break.

Thankfully the "bed rest" worked! When I went back in for  my 35 week appointment that Tuesday morning I hadn't had any more contractions since getting the shot. Pressure, yes, but contractions, no. I was still at 1cm, but was back down to 25% and he had backed back in to a -3 station. The doctor was pleased with this regression and cleared me from bed rest! Thank goodness! I still have to "take it easy" in order to get to 37 weeks at which point they won't do anything to stop labor if it starts up.

It was pretty crazy for a while there, and I had a whole slew of reactions from people. Some acted like it was a big deal that I was already "that far along" while others brushed it off because they were at __ cm for __ weeks. I just had to keep reminding myself that EVERY woman's body is different and that their story might not be MY story! If my doctor was concerned enough to give me the shot then I was going to take it seriously. Things got very real very quickly when we started to think about just how soon we might be parents! WOAH!!!

Movement: He's getting pretty crammed in there so from what I understand it's normal to feel him less frequently, but my kick counts are still good. He definitely has his awake/sleeping patterns down. During those few days when I was so sick he made me pretty nervous because he was overly quiet, but honestly I think he was thirsty/hungry because I was getting rid of everything I was taking in (which wasn't very much) just as soon as it was there for him! All is well though. Baby Boy is a mover for sure :) I still love feeling his hiccups! I hate that it took this long to feel them!

Best moment this week: WOW. A lot happened. I was able to get Charlie signed up with my first choice daycare! This fall he will be attending Josiah Christian School! I've been checking in with them for about a month now about open enrollment and how many spots they would have and such. Well I showed up the very first morning that enrollment was open to the public and I was able to get him in one of only 2 open spots for his age group! Of all of the places in town Josiah came the most highly recommended and had the least negative comments. We have a TON of friends there which makes me feel really good to know that he will have a lot of little friends to play with, and that there will be other families around to check in on our little man! Checking things off of that to do list left and right!

I had two baby showers during these two weeks! One was a SUPER cute couple's shower at Wooden Nickle where each couple got one gift for the mommy-to-be and one for the daddy. They then had to explain what it was / why they got it / and how it would be useful for a new parent. TOO cute! I also had another one hosted by my sweet friends Nina, Emily, and Laura! This ended up being kind of my catch all shower! Since I had the two surprise showers hosted by my small group and then the couple's shower, this shower was for all of my church friends that hadn't already been to something :) We had so much fun, and it's always nice to have my momma be able to be involved!

While mom was here I delegated the task of cleaning out my linen closet. It's been on my to do list for *cough* years *cough* and just kept getting put off! Even with me feeling puny and just sitting on the couch supervising most of the time, Mom was able to empty it and fill two large black trash bags worth of stuff to clear out! She then went through all of my baby stuff and put away all of the towels, washcloths, and baby bath stuff!  Before the picture below you couldn't even see the back wall and things would fall if you breathed on them the wrong way! That closet is the cleanest it's ever been since we moved in here over 6 years ago!

I also took my doctor's advice and got the hospital bag all packed up! That was quite the undertaking, but after lots of advice from friends I feel really good about what I packed. I had already heard everything that everyone suggested to take, with the exception of one thing! Everything is now packed and neatly sitting in the nursery just waiting to have those few last minute toiletries thrown in before walking out the door!

 (No, that won't all go in the hospital. The bag between the car seat and the pink bag is filled with the "leave in the car, but have it just in case" items)

AND I checked another thing off of my to do list... hospital goody bags! I love giving gifts (it's my love language) and will always take the opportunity to do something cute/crafty when it comes up! I wanted to have these little gifts as a small token of appreciation for anyone that in any way has anything to do with us while in the hospital - doctors, nurses, techs, anesthesia, lactation consultants, custodial staff, ANYONE. So if you're working in the hospital while we're there and you come see me there's a chance you'll get a little goody bag! As momma says, she knew she raised me to be a good hospitable southern woman ;) 

  OH! And the nursery is FINISHED. LIKE. FINISHED. OK not true... I still have to buy a changing pad since I never got one at any of my showers, and some mattress covers, but it LOOKS finished! YAY!!!!

AND his hospital hat came in! It's been a good two weeks :) 

Looking forward to: Gosh. A million things. I still need to get a mani/pedi and my prenatal massage. I had to put those off when I went on bed rest. I'm also looking forward to MEETING MY BABY BOY! I'm so ready to have him, but I'm not ready for the actual ya know BIRTH part. I'm also not wishing away these precious last few days/weeks. JD and I are trying to take full advantage of our time as a family of two before our third comes along. This Friday we are going out for one last "fancy" date before the baby comes. Steel Magnolias in fancy clothes and maybe a movie after :) I'm pretty excited!

*End longest post EVER. If you made it this far then you deserve a freaking medal*