Warning- This is very long!

On Thursday before I went to bed I lost what I thought was my mucous plug.  I went to bed unsure that’s what it was but I thought positive and told myself it was a sign the baby was finally coming.  That day he was two days late.  At 3:00am I woke up, went to the bathroom, and sure enough lost more (the rest) of my mucous plug.  At that point I was sure and very excited about what was coming.  Shortly after that I had a few contractions and I stayed up to see if they were progressing.  I fell asleep for a few hours and, after I was up for awhile in the morning, contractions started around 10:30am.  They were very sporadic and I prepared myself to have them every 15-20 minutes or even stop completely.  At 12:30am I decided I wanted to try to get things moving along so I mowed the lawn.  As I was mowing they stopped completely.  After I finished, I decided to just come in, watch TV and wait.  At 3:00pm they started back up.  I tried to time them but I quickly found myself just trying to focus on coping.  I realized they were a little closer than I was expecting and was starting to panic a little.  At 4:30pm I called Keith and told him I thought he should come home.  Keith got home at 5:00pm and he started timing them.  We timed them for an hour and they were consistently three minutes apart.  I called our doula, Jodi, and told her about the timing of the contractions and how they came on pretty fast.  I could tell she was surprised and said “I am coming over now.”  She lives in Grandview so she is about an hour away.  At that point I realized this was serious labor and I could have my baby boy at any time.

I continued laboring at home with Keith timing contractions until she got there.  She arrived and gave me some tips on breathing and after an hour or so I said I wanted to get in the bath.  She left me and Keith in the bathroom so I could have some privacy and we could just work together on our own.  She was listening outside the bathroom door and after awhile she said “You’re contractions are still three minutes apart and they are 60 seconds each.  I don’t want them to get any longer or you could be pushing in the car.  I suggest we go to The Baby Place now.  You haven’t been checked since 39 weeks and we can always come home if you are only dilated to a 4.  But from where your contractions are at I would guess you are a 6-7.”  This news was very exciting to me and I told Keith “We could have this baby by midnight!”  Keith called Rachel (the midwife) and told her we were on our way.  We got to The Baby Place right around 9:00pm.  Rachel checked me and said “You are dilated to 3 centimeters and are 50% effaced.  I know you wanted to labor at home as long as possible.  You are welcome to stay here and labor or you can choose to go home.”  I was in disbelief that I was only a 3 when just earlier I was told I could be a 6-7.  I chose to go home, so back in the car it was.

Once at home I labored on the birthing ball for awhile to open up my pelvis.  After awhile on that Jodi suggested that I labor in bed with Keith so we could sleep between contractions.  During each contraction Keith would rub tennis balls on my back.  I hated the side lying position because it put so much pressure on my hips so we went into the bathroom and I labored backwards on the toilet resting on a pillow.  While doing this, labor really seemed to pick up.  Jodi came into the bathroom and helped me labor for some time.  It felt pretty intense and I started saying “I don’t know how much longer I want to do this at home.”  Things really started to seem intense and after maybe an hour longer Keith called Rachel to tell her we were heading back to The Baby Place.

We got there at 5:00am Saturday morning.  I had now been laboring for 12 hours.  Rachel checked me and told me I was 5 centimeters and 50% effaced.  Not as good as I was expecting.  I said I wanted to get in the tub so they started getting that ready.  I don’t remember what I was doing in the meantime.  I got in the tub and it was cold!  I started shivering and they quickly took me out and realized the pilot light wasn’t working.  Luckily Coleen’s husband quickly came and fixed it.  The next couple hours are a blur.  I’m not sure how I was laboring.  I think I was checked again at 7:45am and I was 5 centimeters and 80% effaced.  Again this was a little discouraging.  I am writing this four days after his birth so right now things are a little blurry.  I remember not having a real sense of time in labor.  I would ask how long I had been laboring in a certain position. Sometimes Keith would say two hours and I would be stunned.  Other times I was looking at the clock slowly pass.  I tried all kinds of positions.  I labored on the birth ball, I tried the side lying position again (quickly quit), I was in the tub multiple times, I labored on the toilet a lot, I squatted on the squat bar a lot, and me and Keith did the labor dance.  I’m sure there were other things that I don’t even remember.  I just wanted to keep moving and I tried all the positions that Rachel and Jodi recommended.  At some point in time I was checked and I was 7 centimeters.  Four hours later I was checked and I was still 7 centimeters.  That was very hard but Rachel assured me that I was still doing very good for a first time mom and said “I promise you this baby will come out.”  I felt confident when she told me that I was doing well.  I trusted her completely and everything she said just put me at more ease.  Riley was moving like crazy all throughout labor.  Every time they would check his heart rate they had to chase him down.  They kept telling me I had a very strong baby in there and he was just trying to find his way out.  I asked at one point if we could help him out and shine a flashlight down there.  I really did keep my humor throughout the labor and that helped immensely.

Two hours later I was checked again by Jerusha and I was at 8 centimeters.  At this time she checked his position and we learned that he was posterior and that was what was taking so long.  She told me to go outside and get some fresh air.  Keith and I walked in the garden and at that point I told him “I’ve made it this far and I don’t want an epidural.  There is no reason I can’t go the rest of the way.”  Just before being checked I was in the tub laboring.  I decided to go back inside and squat on the bar again.  This made my labor extremely intense but I knew it was putting pressure on my cervix and I wanted to get this baby here so I just kept powering through it.  When I couldn’t take it anymore I got back in the tub.  Immediately when getting in the tub I said “I think I have to push.”  Jodi told me to go through a few more contractions and see if the feeling remained.  Every contraction I would say “I want to push.”  Jerusha was listening outside the door and she told Jodi “She’s not ready yet just tell her to keep laboring.  She is doing great.”  I labored longer and I started getting a little more vocal about the fact that I HAD to push.  Rachel had me get out of the tub and she checked me.  She said that my water bag was bulging and baby’s head was pressing on my cervix but I still wasn’t fully dilated.  They wanted him to have as much time as possible to turn and the fact that I was already starting to push was causing my cervix to swell.  Rachel gave me these crystal like balls to put on my tongue that would help my cervix not to swell.  Jerusha told me I had to lay on my side on the bed and not push.  This was hell!  The side lying position was already my least favorite and on top of that the urge push was so overwhelming that I just could not make my body not push.  This by far was the worst part of my labor.  Keith was on the edge of the bed just inches from my face doing the short breathing that Jodi told him I needed.  I kept telling him “I can’t do this anymore!  I have to push!”  He just kept me breathing and kept saying “You have to do this.  Keep breathing and focus!  If you push, you will make it worse.”  I’m not sure how long I was doing this but it was horrible.  I would be breathing and then my contraction would peak and my body would just bear down.  Keith would just say “Breathe.  Breathe.”  After the peak I would come back and breathe.  I started freaking out and saying (yelling)  “I can’t do this. I have to push!!!”  Rachel and Jerusha came back into the room.  Rachel said “I am going to let you push through a contraction.  I am going to holding your cervix to see if it is swelling.  If it swells when you push, you have to stop.”  She told me how to push and the next contraction, finally sweet relief of finally being able to push.  She told me that I could keep going.  After a couple contractions I said “I don’t want to lay down.”  I want to get in the tub.”  She told me I couldn’t get in the tub until the cervix was around the baby’s head.  Jerusha then said “Do you want to try the birthing stool?  Then you at least have gravity helping you out.  I said yes I would try that and then Jerusha took over.  She gloved up and said “OK.  You’re really not going to like me now.  I’m not going to be as gentle as Rachel, but I’m going to get him past his cervix.”  She did her thing while I pushed and I don’t remember “not liking her”.  I really didn’t care how bad it hurt at that point I just wanted to do it so I could get in the tub.  After every contraction I would say “Can I get in the tub now?”  For what seemed like forever the answer was “No.”  But when they finally said ok you can get in the tub, I am pretty sure I was in a dead sprint there.  I got in the tub and instantly felt better.  I was in a squatting position and that is how I pushed.   It wasn’t painful until he was crowning.  When he started to crown Rachel had me do a little push and then 3 breaths and repeat.  That part obviously hurt but I didn’t mind because I could feel progress and I could reach down and slowly feel his head coming out.  Crowning was intense.  I remember pushing a little harder each time cause I wanted to just get it over with.  Rachel then said  “Give me one more big push.”  I thought “Oh yes, his head will finally be out!”  This was actually what everyone in the room thought.  I pushed with all my might and he shot out like a rocket.  The next thing I knew Riley was crying and on my chest.  It was the single craziest experience of my life.  So many emotions at one time and one perfect baby finally in my arms.  I just remember looking and Keith and saying “We did it!  He’s here!”  I couldn’t believe it.  I was kissing his head and talking to him and he was just crying the sweetest cry that I had waited over nine months to hear.  It was perfect.  Every last bit of it!

I won’t go into detail but the after birth was much worse than I was expecting and really hard to focus on with a new baby in my arms.  After everything was done I asked Keith was his middle name was.  For those of you that don’t know I told Keith he could pick he could pick his middle name.  Keith decided he wanted to wait until he met our son before naming him so I’ve been anxiously waiting to see what he would pick.  He chose Riley Keith Adams.  He told me picked Keith because during labor Jerusha kept telling me I had a stubborn baby.  Each time I would reply “He gets that from his dad.”  Keith said that if he was like his dad he should be named after him.  I love it!  It fits him perfectly and I love that Keith has a reason for the name he chose and there is a little story to it.

I’ll try to sum this up now because I know it’s excruciatingly long but there are so many things I know are already left out and I want this for my own reference someday.  But Riley Keith Adams was born on May 12, 2012 at 9:02pm.  He was four days overdue.  He weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.  We can’t find a flaw on him.  He is absolutely perfect in every way!

Well I am just 4 days away from my due date and anxiously waiting.  Keith is(was) convinced the baby will come before Monday.  (I think he’s losing hope)  From the beginning I said the baby wouldn’t come early, my guess was May 9th and I feel I’ll be lucky if he makes it by then.  I really just want this baby in my arms by Mother’s Day.  Fingers crossed!

This week was my first week as a “Stay at Home Mom”.  I got a lot of house cleaning done, ran errands, walked, met with friends and just got life ready for a baby.  It was a nice week.  I stayed busy and it went by super fast.  I still feel pretty good.  I am getting more of a backache and having more pains.  Not sure if you would call them contractions or not.  I have no real signs of labor coming soon.  At my appointment on Monday I was 1 centimeter dilated and 20% effaced…….I don’t feel that is really significant.  I think baby is pretty comfortable and has no desire to leave home any time soon.  He is still moving like crazy.  Here are me and baby in all our hugeness.  I also got my haircut this week.

Hopefully, the next post features a sweet little baby boy….not in my tummy! 

Only 8 weeks to go!  It’s crazy!  It still feels surreal, like the day will never come but it’s flying by so fast all at once.  A LOT has been going on.  First, we recently hired a doula to attend our labor.  She will act as a constant labor support, coming to our house whenever I feel I need her and will tell us when it is time to go The Baby Place.  She’ll also take pictures at our birth (nothing graphic) and offer breastfeeding assistance if I need it.  Since this is my first birth me and Keith agreed it wouldn’t hurt to have extra support since neither of us know what to expect.

Also me and Keith started our birth class last Tuesday (today is our second class).  The class is seven weeks long.  We meet each Tuesday from 7:00-9:45.  It sounds like a lot but it really was better than I expected.  I like the teacher and it’s nice spending the bonding time with Keith.  He cracks jokes, makes me feel comfortable and I just feel connected to him and confident about us going through this labor process together.  I never had my doubts before the class but it’s fun to see us take this class together and see all the stuff we agree on or think is totally nuts.  We’re a lot more alike than I realize sometimes.

Anyways, momma and baby are both doing great!  I had a problem with headaches for three days straight.  I was pretty fed up and very sleep deprived.  My boss gave me my first adjustment and since then…..no headaches.  (My boss is a Chiropractor for those that didn’t know)  We also had an appointment today at The Baby Place.  All my measurements were good and baby is head down and centered and ready for birth.  He moves from side to side a lot but since 26 weeks he remains head down.  I really feel pretty comfortable and have only had one day where I thought I didn’t want to be pregnant any more.  Other than that I keep telling Keith “I feel way too good to be having a baby so soon.”

I know that lately the blog has been taken over by all things baby.  In reality that is all our lives seem to entail lately.  But there have been a few things that have happened recently.  First, Ella got her haircut.  She has been somewhat neglected so we decided it was time that she get a full groom.  Turns out us taking time for our pup really lead to her just being miserable and not getting much accomplished.  Short version of the story goes something like this:  Keith dropped Ella off at the groomers on his way to work with directions to cut her hair so it was only half an inch long.  He left for lunch early to pick her up and save her from miserably waiting at the groomers any longer than necessary.  Keith arrives at the groomers to find Ella looking like they never touched her.  Turns out they only cut half an inch off.  Keith made them re-cut her and he went to pick her up later.  Apparently, they have no idea what half an inch is because it is still was way too long and it was a complete hack job on top of that.  But we still think she’s the cutest, sweetest dog ever!  Here’s the before and after.  The after doesn’t do justice to how bad her hair really looks.

Keith and I have been talking for over a year now about planting a garden.  Our yard is tiny so we went back and forth about it for awhile until we decided to just do it.  I’m glad we did.  Keith built a 8′ by 10′ planter box and it really doesn’t take up as much room as I thought it would.  Just today we planted peas and carrots (a little behind schedule).  I’m excited about having a garden and I really hope we are successful with it.  We just learned that almost everything needs planted the first week in May…..not too convenient since that also happens to be the baby’s due date.  Me and Keith joke that this will be my early labor project……and who knows it actually might be just that.

For my birthday I coudn’t think of a single thing I really wanted or needed.  After having dinner at Tony and Char’s house and talking to them about making bread I decided I wanted a bread maker.  Keith bought me a bread-maker and it arrived less than a week ago.  Since then I’ve made bread twice and plan on making another loaf today.  I love it!  There is nothing like fresh, hot baked bread.

That’s about all that has gone on around here.  Now that we only have 8 weeks until the baby’s arrival almost all our projects are baby related.  Plus I’m not doing a whole lot of moving around or going anywhere exciting lately.  I’ll post an update on the pregnancy later.

Riley’s room is done!!!! Now we just need the little babe to arrive!  Here’s the big reveal……

My Valentine’s actually started last Friday.  I came home from work and Keith surprised me with cupcakes from a cupcake shop in Eagle that I’ve been dying to try.  There is no better Valentines gift for your pregnant wife than cupcakes!  Yesterday on Valentine’s there was a really sweet card taped to the mirror when I woke up.  After work we had a nice quiet night at home cooking dinner together and our tradition of sleeping in front of the fireplace.  This tradition started 4 years ago.  We closed on our house on Valentine’s 2008.  We didn’t have plans to move furniture in until the weekend so we took our air mattress and camped out in front of the fireplace our first night in our first home.  It’s something we plan to always do kids and all.  We had a very sweet last solo Valentine’s.

Today I finished a project for the babe.  I wanted to make something fun and extra cute to put in his room.  I found a pattern for a dinosaur online and am very pleased with the results.  93 days till the little man is due!!!

Another month came and went and I’ve made it to 25 weeks.  I’m coming to the end of my second trimester and it is crazy how fast it is going.  Yet it feels like the day we finally meet this little boy will never really come.  It’s surreal.  A lot of changes have happened.  Now my biggest accessory next to my belly is my boot.  After a night of excruciating pain, a visit to the podiatrist, and learning I broke my sesamoid bone in half, I am now sporting this.  My pregnancy waddle has begun….and not due to my belly as I had expected.

We are also working very hard to get the nursery done and it is coming together nicely.  I can’t wait to post pictures.  Riley is moving around like crazy and Keith has even felt him now.  I love feeling him move in there and letting me know he is healthy as ever.  We have even been able to sit and watch my stomach and see his movements.  It’s so fun.  If you can’t tell by my posts, I happen to LOVE being pregnant.  There is nothing more exciting than awaiting the arrival of your first child and dreaming about what his sweet face might look like.  All the kicks, watching him grow in the ultrasound pictures, me growing with him is all just very magical.

Another big thing was we purchased Riley’s swing, highchair and pack and play.  It was a very “in the moment” decision when we learned that the set we wanted was on clearance and they were getting rid of everything.  My parents were the ones that found this out and bought the swing for us as an early baby shower gift.  We set it up when we got home and I LOVE it!  I can’t wait to have a sleeping baby swinging away.

Me and Keith are both hard at work preparing for baby Riley to be here in 15 short weeks.  Keith has been awesome at helping assemble miscellaneous things and assisting in all my baby projects.  In less than two months we will also be completely debt free (aside from student loans and the mortgage)!!!!!!!  We just have two more payments on the RZR and we’re free!  It was a goal before baby comes and it’s so nice to know it’s going to happen.

I’ve reached the halfway mark in my pregnancy, 20 weeeks.  I feel great, my appetite has returned along with some more weight.  I think I’ve steadied out in that department.  I’m still a little behind but not by much.  By far the funest thing is feeling his little kicks.  I’m starting to feel them more regularly now.  He has a busy time at about 10-11AM but I feel him stronger at night from about 9-11PM.  I also was up at 3:00AM last night and he was very active.  On the down side I am having some nasal congestion issues so we bought a humidifier.  It is on backorder but I’m hoping when it gets here it solves the congestion.  I feel my only real complaint is sciatic nerve pain.  It really hurts more than I let on and sometimes my left leg gives out on me it’s so bad.  But I still don’t want to see a chiropractor so I’m just coping with it for now.  I was also told by one of the midwives that I’m having Braxton Hicks.  I didn’t think you could get them this early but I knew almost immediately that’s what it was.  She said it is fine unless they start getting timable and right now I only get maybe one or two a day.  I’m still tired but I really just push through that and have gotten a lot done over the last couple weeks.  Baby now has a closet full of clothes (mostly thanks to Zach and Rochelle), a finished crib comforter, the wall is painted and other things are being added to the nursery.  My sister also sent the baby his first book.  I cried when I got it in the mail and I can’t wait to read it him.  It was very sweet.  Me and Keith are working on a project to display his name above his crib right now.  Most importantly this little man (we think) the little guy has a name.  Riley Adams, we are still undecided on a middle name and I have given Keith full rein to pick what he wants.  I think we might want to meet him first and see what fits.

I’m really just esctatic for him to get here and finally be able to hold him and see his precious little face.  I feel that these 20 weeks have flown by.  Keith says it’s felt longer.  But at the same time I feel like 20 weeks till we meet our little boy is so far away.  So for now I’m just loving my tummy and learning about the baby’s growth.

I really didn’t want to blog about the nursery until it was completely finished and show it all at once.  BUT, this blanket really deserves it’s own blog.  So, the Sunday after learning the sex I went shopping with my mom for fabric for the crib bedding.  During this shopping trip many times she offered to help and gave advice to which I answered “It’s a square blanket.  It’s not rocket science.  I’m sure I can figure it out.”  This is all very funny now.  I think it was Wednesday that I finally had all the fabric washed and ironed and was ready to begin cutting quilting squares for the first part of the blanket.  I came home from work and got started right away….cutting squares one by one.  Keith came home and I had about nine squares cut.  He saw my method and told me it was “stupid”.  He began to take over and fold the fabric so he could cut multiple squares at a time.  I did think about this method but was certain that the fabric would move and I would never get perfect squares if I didn’t cut them individually……now the second time during this project I was wrong.

So after Keith finished cutting all the squares I laid them out, spent hours making a pattern, which in the end turned out to be completely random.  And then started sewing the squares together.  After two rows of sewing I realized my squares were not “perfectly” lined up.  I nearly had a melt down and tore the whole thing apart to start over.  Keith assured me these “flaws” were “love” and it’s homemade and the baby is going to think it’s perfect.  After, getting more assurance from much more expirenced sewers that “it will never be perfect” I continued on. I must also admit after sewing all the strips together I  realized that one of the strips was sewn in upside down and my now “random” pattern was off.  Against Keith’s advice I took it out and resewed it it.  That was day one.

I think the project got put on hold for a couple more days until Friday when I decided to sew the brown on.  Originially I was going to have much more brown but then realized that this blanket was going to be huge (I was going off dimensions I found on the internet).  Very small meltdown #2 happened on this night when once again I almost ripped the whole thing apart so I would have less squares and more brown like the “perfect” blanket I had in my head.  Keith was taking a bath at this time and told me if I was going to take it apart he was not going to help me with things went south.  He said it looked great and I needed to leave it.  After a little hair ripping I realized he was right and I was being ridiculous.  So before he even got out of the bath I managed to sew on all the brown with almost no problems and ended up being very happy with it.

Day 3 was this Sunday, and after not getting much done on Saturday I wanted to get right to work because I was detirmined to take this thing to Emmett and show it off.  I laid out and cut the batting and the soft fabric for the back and things were going great.  I basted around the edges to get ready to put on the final edge (an edge I was going to make “all by myself”).  Keith once again helped me cut the fabric for the edge so it would be “perfect”.  I ironed the edges in just like binding and started pinning it to the blanket.  I got to the corners and thought “How in the heck am I going to do this?”.  Fumbled with it for a good 15 minutes, swore multiple times, continued to fumble with it and finally called Keith in to help.  He looked at me and said “I don’t know how to sew what do you think I’m going to do?”  And this time VERY BIG meltdown #3 took place.  I just started sobbing, not crying, full on sobbing like a small child that was just told Santa wasn’t coming because he got shot…..not joking.  Keith told me crying wasn’t going to solve anything but I knew in my head this whole blanket was ruined and this was NEVER in a million years going to work.  He tried to offer me some suggestions on how we could make it work and I hated all of them.  After he finally said “I don’t know what to tell you” and insisting the blanket would never be perfect I realized he wasn’t going to console me in any way.  So still sobbing I went to take a shower (we only had two hours before we had to be in Emmett).  I sobbed some more in the bathroom and finally realized “Ok, I am just going to have to take this unfinished blanket to Emmett and ask for some help.”  At this point I’m just trying to get ready as fast as I can so we can get there and someone can tell me what to do.  I get out of the shower and put on my towel and Keith comes in and says “Come with me and close your eyes” he takes me back into the living room where he has fixed the edges EXACTLY like I had wanted them in my head.  I have no clue how and I’m just shocked and relieved “Yes!  That’s what I wanted!”  I hurry and get ready and sew the edge in place so we can take it to Emmett.  Here is what we took…

Now I have to add that after sewing on the edge I was not fully impressed with it.  I love the edge but it needs to be sewn on way better.  Also, in Emmett after taking time to inspect it we found that not everything was “caught”.  So sometime this week I need to take the edge off and re sew it on.  I’m hoping this does not lead to another meltdown.  I’ve thought about a lot of ways I can do this to make it work and I want to wait till I’m not in a rush or tired to begin with.  But for now the baby still has a blanket and I have an incredible husband who saved this whole project!  He amazes me; first that he pulled off exactly what I wanted, but even more that he puts up with me!  I do want to add that this is only my second meltdown since I’ve been pregnant and by far the worst.  Other than that I really do try to keep my pregnancy hormones in check