Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Some Photos!

Thought I'd post some updated photos of the little girl since coming home. She's so beautiful!! Things are going super great, and Shepherd is adjusting quickly to the idea of the "bee-bee" staying here. He wants to go "night-night" with Colette in her crib, he gives her hugs, and this morning, he asked to "holg it" (seriously, Justin, he said "holg it" just like you used to!!). I'm working on the rest of the Birth Story, bear with me... it's a lot harder bloggin this time around! :)



Sleepyhead!!!



Toes!!



Baby Hair!!!



Cutiepie!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Birth Story: Part 1

It started Wednesday morning. I called my friend "J" who was due the day before to see how things were progressing for her. She said after the doctor had stripped her membranes, she'd started having some mild, irregular contractions that had continued until that morning. We planned to meet up at the mall that afternoon to walk, hoping to get her contractions regular and send her into labor. We met and walked for close to 2 hours, stopping from time to time to look around a store or two. We waddled from Sears to Macy's and back again, trying to figure out if she was having contractions (this was her first pregnancy). Finally, Shepherd had enough of the walking while being confined to a stroller, so we wrapped up our walking, and said our goodbyes. As my friend walked away, I joked, "See you at the hospital tonight!!" (Really meaning that I hoped she'd go into labor... I had no intentions of going into labor that night).

On the drive home (around 4), I noticed some contractions, irregular, and strong. I sighed and chalked it up to false labor again. I'd already had several nights with episodes of regular strong contractions lasting several hours only to fizzle out, so I wasn't getting my hopes up. Shepherd and I got home, and started piddling around the house, playing with his toys, and getting supper ready. Around 5, I noticed that my contractions were pretty regular now, and if I guessed, I'd have to say they were about 5 minutes apart, not that I started timing them, because this? This was false labor, my friends. Forrest got home, and insisted we start timing the contractions. They were lasting a minute long, coming 3 1/2 to 4 minutes apart. Again, unconvinced that this was true labor, I waited for another hour. I checked again around 7, and they were still the same interval and length. I'd been timing the contractions for 2 hours, and with them not letting up, decided to call my friend "S" who has 4 children (all under the age of 6), and who also happens to be a nurse. She said for me to drink a ton of water, walk around the block for an hour, and then see if the contractions were still regular. My mom came over, and we walked. The walking only made the contractions come harder and last longer, so after 30 minutes, I was ready for a break. We sat in the living room, and timed them again, with them coming every 3 minutes and lasting a full minute. We timed them for 30 minutes, and then I realized I'd had regular contractions that I'd been timing for 3 hours now (non-timed, 4 hours). I called another friend who is a nurse at my OB, and told her what was happening. She suggested I go on in, as she knew that the Labor and Delivery at the hospital had been packed out lately, and beds were short in number. She said if I wanted an epidural (and boy, oh boy, was I going to want one), I needed to go on in. I hesitated. I still wasn't completely convinced that this was true labor, and even if it was, I probably would be more comfortable at home. But something in the back of my mind reminded me that I would most definitely want that epidural. I showered, packed my things, straightened up. Forrest packed the car, got ready, and we called my parents to comeback over to watch Shepherd.

Once we got in the car, I decided to call my friend "J" to let her know that I was on my way to the hospital, and to see how she was doing. Her husband answered the phone, and let me know that they had been at the hospital since 10 (it was 10:30) and that they'd see us in a little bit. I laughed, not believing the fact that I'd be laboring with my friend. Maybe, just maybe our children would be born on the same day after all!!

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Home!

We're home!!! We were discharged yesterday around 11 am, allowing us to settle in at home. Shepherd is adjusting well to the "bee-bee" and loves running up to her and rubbing her hair, saying "hay!" over and over. Last night, I knelt down beside Shepherd's high chair with Colette so that he could get a better look at her. He grabbed a piece of cheese and tried offering it to her. I smiled, thanked him, and told him Colette couldn't eat cheese yet... that she only drinks milk. He put the cheese back, grabbed his sippy cup, and tried to give it to her. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen, and I totally lost it crying. :)

So we're home... hopefully, I'll get cranking on the birth story soon. :) Thanks for all of your well wishes and congratulations. They truly mean the world to us.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Happy Birthday, Colette!

(This is Forrest, Corinne's husband.)

Just wanted to let everyone know that Colette was born to two ecstatic (and very tired!) parents yesterday at 2:57 pm! She is 7 lbs. 3 oz., 20 inches long, and was born healthy and active.

Corinne is doing wonderfully, as there were no complications, and is already up and about and taking care of the new little one. She will most likely come home sometime tomorrow.

She's already begun writing about the incredible birth story and we have tons of pictures to upload. (Here's a quick pic to pique your appetite!) More to come in the next few days.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

this is it! UPDATED!!

hello everyone, this is corinne's brother, justin. i'm updating you all on corinne's status, and the first thing to say is that she has been admitted at the hospital in winston-salem. last i spoke with her, she was 3 cm. dilated and 50% effaced, which means the time is most likely upon us. i'm waiting to hear word from them again, but i'm sure i'll be updating this as soon as i get word. so we're just getting ready to welcome the new baby girl into our lives!

ok so i'm talking to corinne right now. as of 1 pm, she's 7 cm. dilated, 90% effaced, plus 1 station. the doctors started a little bit of pitocin because labor was slowing down. everyone is doing fine, and corinne says "this is a much better birthing experience than the last one, even though the last one was good."

check back for more updates throughout the day.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

37 weeks

First off, a hearty congrats are in order for Reesh and Devinder (and of course little Lily) over at 2 Pink Lines on the birth of their second daughter, Nadia. I have to say, I'm awfully jealous of the name, since it was my number one pick for a girls name, but didn't sit right with Forrest. :) So congratulations to you all!

Second off, I'm finally full term. Which means my body has kicked into high gear with all sorts of contractions. In fact, yesterday, I had a day full of semi-regular contractions. They tapered off towards the afternoon, only to ramp up again last night. The PA at my doctor's office checked me at my appointment yesterday, and said the baby was low (between -2 and -1 station), my cervix is still thick, and I'm a "fingertip" dilated. So... there's some progress. Today I haven't had many contractions, but the few I've had were intense and put a lot of pressure on my pelvic girdle. So, we'll see when it all happens.

My mother-in-law and father-in-law are placing bets on when the baby will be born (not literally, yo, just for bragging rights) and I thought, why not include you guys in on the game?

Cathy has voted for August 28th.

Jim, for September 1.

Bear in mind, my due date is September 7, that Shepherd was born right on time, and that there's a full moon on the 28th. That is all information they are privy too, so you now have all the information needed to make an educated guess as to the birth date.

Hey, I may even throw in a nice little surprise... a gift card to somewhere or something like that. So, happy guessing!! And here's hoping I don't have to wait 3 more weeks in this heat to see this baby. :)

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Early Riser

So, usually I wouldn't complain about it being 7:20 am and being wide awake. If you'd asked me a month or so ago, I'd have told you it was pure heaven to sleep until 7:00. But see, the thing is, Shepherd has been sleeping in until 8 or 8:30, and some days even 9:00. I know... you hate me, right? And today, I'm really not complaining about Shepherd waking earlier, because really, that would be incredibly unfair.

Today... I'm annoyed at the neighbors stupid burgler alarm that went off at 6:20 this morning, and didn't stop for a good 10 minutes. So I've been up since then, unable to go back to sleep... yet trying so hard, as Shepherd was still sleeping. But now, as it's 7:30, I can hear him through the monitor, talking and laughing at his toys. I know I should go get him... but would it be so bad to let him play in there until he gets cranky? Because these eyes? Just won't stay open any longer.....

Monday, August 06, 2007

Hot and Hott

So last week, while hanging out with some friends at Starbucks, I was suddenly struck by the urge to, well... you know, potty. I get up, and there in the seat is the most beautiful ass-print of sweat. I'm totally rocking the ass-sweat look these days, it's HOTT!

I bring this up because it's a relatively new thing to me, this butt sweat thing. I've poured over my archives with my first pregnancy, and nowhere do I mention the massive amounts of sweat that pour out of my body. I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that my 9th month being pregnant was in January, and this time around, it's smack dab in the middle of August. Not only so, but it is HOT outside. This week temperatures are supposed to soar into the upper 90's (Wednesday, 98 degrees... heat index 104) (I'm sweating right now just thinking about it).

It's so hot, that I'm only taking cold showers now, and even those I'm dreading because I have to blow dry my hair. Yes, I have to. Otherwise, it'd be days before my hair would dry, and even then, it develops this funky smell and feel to it. So on the days that I do shower (which isn't often enough) (I know, you were just DYING to know that) my internal thermostat gets so out of whack that I can't seem to get cool. Just last week, I almost passed out at church from the heat... even though everyone else said it was rather cold in the building. The doctor checked me out Monday and said he thought it was a combination of heat, the baby not dropping and sitting in my ribcage, and sitting down that did it, so no more Sunday morning showers for me.
In other news, the baby seems to have dropped. We'll find out Friday if any progress is being made, but I've had some pretty rough Braxton Hicks contractions, accompanied by some wonderful pelvic pain from the baby engaging. I keep hoping that I'll be a little early, but then I realize that these last few weeks are the last weeks that Shepherd will have my full attention... so I'm trying to give him 100% attention and do as much as I can with him, which is getting harder and harder to do, being 9 months pregnant and all.

Well, I'm going to go curl up in front of the fan on our bed and take a quick nap while the little man is down for his. I'd better enjoy the rest while I can!!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Expanding

Exhibit A: 22 weeks pregnant



Exhibit B: 27 weeks pregnant



Exhibit C: 35 weeks pregnant