....And...Bree makes three!

She is here!  Our sweet little critter was born at 12:04 pm this afternoon.  She weighed 7 lbs even, and was 18 1/2 inches long.  Her name is Bree Michonne Terry and she is beautiful!

We went in for our induction this morning at 8:00 am.  I felt lots of contractions last night and I was dilated to a 4+ when I first got checked.  As I started to feel the contraction pain, I asked for my epidural.  I figured I was going to get one at some point anyway, so I might as well get it early and avoid any pain!  During the epidural I felt the "electrical shock" that women sometimes feel.  I had not felt it with Tess or Miles, but boy, did I feel it this time.  It was crazy.  I imagine that's what it would feel like to be hit by lightning.  I could feel the electric shock go from my back, all down my leg, and out my foot.  Bryan said my whole leg twitched from it.  At first the epidural wasn't kicking in and I was still feeling quite a bit of pain during the contractions, even though I was pushing the little "give me more drugs" button as often as I could.  The anesthesiologist came back in and gave me a "re-dose" right into the epidural tube.  Whoa betty....it really worked that time!  I have never been so numb!  The nurse re-checked my cervix and I had gone from a 6 to a 10 in about 20 minutes. They told me it was time to push. I felt completely useless during the pushing because I was so stinkin' numb, but it was lovely to feel absolutely no pain, And apparently I did OK because I probably pushed for only 10 minutes and she was here!

 At the hospital, they have started doing more immediate skin-to-skin contact with newborns, which I think is awesome.  They used to take the baby to the crib for the initial stuff: a quick wipe down, weighing and measuring, sucking the goo out of their nose & throat, etc.  Now, they place the baby on mom's chest immediately and do that stuff right there (except for weighing, of course.)  Then, when baby is cleaned up a bit, they lay her right on mom's skin to keep her temperature up and to help get her heartrate steady.  It was so neat; I loved having her right by me so soon.

 (So sorry for the "lots of skin" shot, but this was right during our skin-to-skin time.)

 Bree has lots of dark hair!  Here she is after her first bath.  It's her "mug shot." 

 And there's nothing cuter than a sweet little newborn yawn....

We are so happy that this sweet little angel is in our family!  I was just praying and hoping for her to be healthy, and so far, she's perfectly healthy and strong; sweet as can be.

38 Weeks: She's a stubborn little sucker!

Well, at my 38 week appt today almost nothing had changed (darn it!)  My belly measures 36 weeks, I'm still 80% effaced, and only dilated to a 3.  So it's not looking like anything will happen really soon.  However, my wonderful doctor did say that she feels fine about inducing me at 39 weeks if I don't go naturally before then.  So, the hospital will call me tomorrow to set up a day & time for induction sometime after next Thursday.  Maybe I'll do a bunch of jumping jacks in the meantime :)

37 Week Update

Well, I've never been this pregnant before.  I delivered Miles at 36 weeks 6 days, and Tess at 37 weeks exactly.  I'm now 37 weeks 1 day and I shouldn't be pregnant anymore!  At least that's how I'm feeling.  I really need to have a better attitude about it, but I guess in my head I just figured I'd have the baby by now!  But, things have progressed (a tiny bit) since last week.  I'm now 80% effaced and 2.5 cm dilated.  So, I guess I'll take it.  (I have no choice, do I?)  I was hoping for more but I need to just relax.  Anyone who knows me knows that I'm very, very impatient, so this waiting around is hard!  Bryan sure has a point though when he says that the baby is easier to take care of now.  She never cries, and there are no dirty diapers to change. 

In other news, we gave Miles his summer haircut/buzz, and I also decided to cut Tess's hair. It had gotten really long and it was becoming a fight to brush it and fix it each morning. We debated about donating it, but 10 inches of her hair would have made it SUPER short. It turned out really cute and we all like it.



36 Week Check-up

Things are progressing!  At my appointment today I had gained 1 pound, my uterus grew 3 centimeters (in 2 weeks!  Yay!  So now I'm measuring 33 weeks.)  AND.....I'm dilated to a 1 and I'm 70% effaced!  I'm really excited.  I asked the doc if she thought I'd have this baby around 37 weeks (like the other 2 kids) and she said that most women "tend to do what they've done in the past."  No guarantees, of course, but she said that she'd be surprised if I went to 39 or 40 weeks.

We'll keep you posted. :)

Belly Bump Update

I had my 34 week appointment today.  Since my appointment 3 weeks ago, I've gained 2 pounds and my uterus is measuring 2 cm bigger (I measured 30 cm today.)  So, still on the smaller side, but my doctor assured me that I need not worry because that ultrasound looked so great. 

Now I feel like I'm just counting down!  Since I had both Tess and Miles at 37 weeks, I'm feeling like I might only have 3 weeks left!  But, this critter may surprise us and stay in the oven to cook longer than 37 weeks.  We'll see. :)

Dinner Conversation

Tonight at dinner the kids were asking about how the baby is going to come out.  Before I could even really answer (thankfully), Tess said, "Hey, do they ever just cut it out of your stomach?"  So we started talking about c-sections and I mentioned some friends of hers who were born that way.  Miles asked if they ever cut the baby (specifically, what would happen if the doctor cut the baby's arm off.)  Then Tess said that you'd have to just get a new baby.  The conversation was beginning to de-rail so I said, "the baby is fine.  It's pretty protected in there."  And Tess quickly replied, "by what?  Force field?"

I love it.

And here's a recent picture of me...some people who don't see me often requested one, so here ya go! (I'm 33 1/2 weeks along in this photo.)

Me & My Torso...

My mom used to always complain that her body was all out of proportion...short legs and a long body.  Even though I'm a bit taller than she was, I got the same proportions.  I've got a long torso.  Shirts are always too short for me.  When I'm pregnant, this can be considered an advantage or a disadvantage...  I remember that with Tess I could wear my regular jeans until I was over 5 months pregnant!  Since she was my first baby I remember wanting to wear regular clothes for as long as possible; I didn't want to "show."  I was happy when people would say "you don't even look pregnant!"  "you're not even showing!" etc.  With Miles I got bigger sooner, and with this critter I got bigger even sooner.  I thought that surely I looked pregnant this time.

Well, once again, I keep getting the comments.  I told Bryan that if I had a nickel for every "you don't even look pregnant!" that I heard, this hospital bill would already be paid for!  I know that people only mean it in a nice, flattering way...but for some reason it's really bugging me this time around.  I am feeling very pregnant, my guts feel very squished, I'm waddling everywhere, my back hurts, I've got heartburn, I'm constipated...all that fun pregnancy stuff, but I guess I don't feel like I get any credit for all that annoying stuff because my belly just isn't that big.

So at my last OB appointment, 3 weeks ago, even my doc said "wow--look at that flat belly!"  I asked her if I need to be concerned because I'm not that big.  She said to not worry about it; I just have a long torso.  She said that the baby had lots of room and that she was just "standing up in there."  Then yesterday I had another OB appointment (I'm now 31 weeks) and my uterus was only measuring 28 cm (it should coincide with the weeks--31).  My doc said that it was just barely within the normal range.  I was really concerned when she told me that at my 28 wk appt I had measured 26 cm...so I was small even then, and I had only grown 2 weeks worth in 3 weeks time, so I was getting more and more behind.  I started to get worried that I might have IUGR again, which is what I had with Tess when they had to induce me because she was not growing.  To put my mind at ease we scheduled an ultrasound for today.  They checked everything and our little critter is right on track.  She still looks perfect and her size is just great.  I felt very relieved.  When I asked the neonatologist today if he had any guesses as to why my uterus is measuring so small, he just said "well, I think it's just your build.  You have a long torso."

So, that's it then.  Me & my long torso.

One more thing...

I forgot to mention this, but it's cool to me ('cause I'm a dork like that...)  I grew up in a family with 2 girls and 1 boy, my big sister has 2 girls and 1 boy, and my big brother has 2 girls and 1 boy.  So, I had to follow the trend!  It's as if someone in heaven hand-picked the grandkids and made it work out "just so."

A silly little observation; Bryan will tease me for even thinking about it (or especially blogging about it), but like I said, I'm a dork like that, and I think that it's kind of neat.  So there.

We're having a....

GIRL!!!  I have said all along that I would be thrilled either way.  And I would.  Truly.  There are lots of reasons that I wanted another boy, and there are lots of reasons that I wanted another girl.  We are lucky to have one of each, so this one was really just exciting either way.  And almost everyone that I had asked during the last little while had guessed a boy.  I don't know why, but everyone was thinking boy, even Bryan was.  I had no guesses either way, but just to antagonize Bryan, I said that I thought it was a girl.

Today during the ultrasound, the sonographer even said "he" at first.  I said, "oh--can you already tell it's a boy?"  And she said that she had just slipped, and that she hadn't even checked for the gender yet.  So, she moved the magic wand around to see if she could tell, and I saw it before she even said anything.  I knew it was a girl.  You can't miss the "hot dog bun."  (I had a friend from Logan tell me that analogy--it either looks like a little hot dog bun, or a little hot dog--and I've always remembered that and thought it was funny.)  So, sure enough, the hot dog bun was right there and I was so very happy!  Bryan told me later that he knew I was really hoping for a girl, deep down inside, and maybe he's right.  I'm really, really excited to have another sweet little girl.  Tess is too.  Miles kept asking during the ultrasound, "now is it a boy?  When will it be a boy?"  So, he'll have to get used to the idea. 

Bryan is also a little bit freaked out by the idea of another girl.  He is scared of the "girl drama" that we've already seen in Tess, and I'm sure we haven't even caught a glimpse of what the teenage girl drama will be like....  But on the other hand, maybe we won't have to utter the phrase "don't hit!!" as often with another girl.  Miles is so dang quick to hit, kick, or throw things at someone when he's mad.  So, as with all things, there is good and bad to both boys and girls.  I'm just so relieved and happy that everything looked healthy and normal.  No red flags to signal anything out of the ordinary.  I love that.

So, now begins the quest for a name.  As most of you know, Bryan & I like to keep the name a secret until the baby is born.  So, for now, it'll still just be "the critter."  But, we'll be thinking.  Or I should say that I'll be thinking and suggesting and then Bryan will be vetoing.  (Isn't that how it always is with the dads?  They can't ever come up with anything they like, but they can definitely tell you if it's something they don't like.)

In the meantime, I'll be shopping for some fun fabric for a few new blankies and getting some yarn for a sweet lavender afghan.  Shopping for girl stuff is so much fun!

The Holidays

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  We were with the Jensens this time, at my dad's house, and it was wonderful to visit, eat ourselves sick, and play games, as always.  The really exciting part for me this year was telling our family the happy news that we're having a new little critter next June!  We let Tess spill the news to Gramma & Grampa Terry and we let Miles spill the news to Papa and family.  Miles doesn't seem to understand or care that there will be a new baby, but Tess is really thrilled and talks about it all the time!  Today we were decorating the tree and she made sure to put a baby-rattle out as part of the Christmas decorations.  I am due on June 16, 2011 and I'm so excited!  I've been pretty sick this time around; sicker than with the other two for sure.  And, what they say is true about your belly "popping out" much sooner with 2nd or 3rd babies...I'm about ready to break out the maternity clothes already, and I'm only 3 months along!

Here are some photos of the kids decorating the tree this morning...

 

 

 I'd like to call special attention to the lower left-hand side of the tree.  Notice, if you will, the beautiful arrangement of decorations that I like to call "the red blob."  That is the handiwork of our sweet 2-year-old helper.  I think there are 15+ ornaments on about 2 single branches.  Now there is a battle going on within me...the proud mom who thinks her baby boy is darling versus the anal perfectionist who looks at the red blob and cringes.  I think the proud mom will win out this year.