Gabby's Blessing

Tony had the wonderful opportunity to bless Gabby last Sunday, June 12th, 2011. It just so happened that it was my father's birthday as well, which made it a little extra special to me. We had mostly family in the circle. Some of Tony's friends were able to make it too: Ramesus and his wife Anadee and Colby. We are so blessed to have had so many people be a part of her special day. Here's some pictures:

I tried to get some shots of just her. I told her to smile, and this is what I got:

No matter what I tried, she would not stop crying. Poor baby...

Now here are some pictures of the men in the circle:

From the left: Colby Schlensker, Tony and Gabby, Ramesus Stewart-Johnson

Me, Tony and Gabby, Ramesus, Anadee (his wife)

Us and Schlensk (?) I think that's what Tony calls him. Either that or dook...silly male nicknames for each other :)

All the men in the circle

Steven Short, Garrett Hall, Jeff Sullivan, Tony and Gabby, Charles Lansford, Wes Lansford, Brent Kimball, Aaron Lansford

All the family that came:

Aaron Lansord, Janis Kimball, Me, Breant Kimball, Tony and Gabby, Charles Lansford, Geraldine Lansford, Nate and Savannah Lansford, Lynette Lansford, Wes Lansford, Baylee Lansford, Stacy Lansford

Everyone minus Colby, Ram, and Anadee

Garrett Hall, Jeff Sullivan, Steven Short, Janae Short, Aaron Lansford, Brent Kimball, Me, Janis Kimball, Tony and Gabby, Charles Lansford, Geraldine Lansford, Nate and Savannah Lansford, Lynette Lansford, Wes Lansford, Baylee Lansford, Stacy Lansford

And last but not least, me holding my sweet baby girl. I look awful in this picture, but it's a good one of her.



Thank you again everyone that came and supported us in this wonderful event! It was truly such a special day!

Newborn photos are in!

We got Gabby's newborn photos done when she was 8 days old. For those that haven't seen them on facebook yet, here they are:

This one was just a spoof one. Her paci takes up 1/3 of her face :)


Look at her little feet!


Our wedding rings on her toes...so cute!

Our little flower girl

Beautiful blossom

This is my favorite!

Close up

Just precious

A different tutu

No tutu

A little over 7 pounds!

She's awake!

My mom really likes this one. The photographer actually bought this vanity with Gabby in mind

We really like this one.

Tony LOVES this one.

Family pictures

That's it. Hope you enjoyed them! I'm entering one of these in the Gerber generation photo contest, but I can't decide between my favorite and Tony's favorite. What do you think? I absolutely love being a mom. There is no greater joy in this world! I love that little girl so much. We're blessing her tomorrow at church so stay tuned!

LABOR AND DELIVERY

Hello everyone! Gabrielle Rose Green (Gabby) is 4 weeks old today so I thought it would be a good idea to finally update this thing. This post is about the labor and delivery. I will post more later about our first month with her as well as her newborn photos. Enjoy!

Most of you know that I was scheduled to be induced on April 19. Gabby's due date was April 13 but I guess she just didn't want to come out yet, even though I was sooo ready for her to come. So the induction was scheduled for April 19 at 6am-the butt crack of dawn in my opinion. I decided the night before that I wanted to go in looking my best so I set my alarm for 4:45am to do my hair and makeup. My body woke me up at 4:27am. Even though it was a little early, I decided to go ahead and get up. So I sat up in bed...

"Wait, did I just wet myself? I just went to the bathroom a couple hours ago. Surely I didn't have to go that bad..."

So I got out of bed and smelled the sheets just to be safe. I DEFINITELY did not wet myself...my water broke. I was really stunned, but of course my water would break the same morning I was scheduled to be induced. Why would it break before then? Tony was already up getting ready in the bathroom. I went in and said,

"Um, we need to go to the hospital now."

"Why?"

"Because my water just broke."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure I didn't pee my pants hun. Hurry because we need to go now."

So he finished getting his stuff together and we went to the hospital a little early.

Even though my water broke, Dr. White told the nurse to go ahead and give me pitocin (the drug they use to induce labor). I didn't really agree with that decision because it meant I couldn't leave my room, but I had to follow doctor's orders. As you may know, I made the decision to have a natural labor. After we were admitted and in the room the anesthesiologist came in and I pretty much told him he was wasting his time with me and he needed to leave. He suggested I go ahead and sign the release form to receive an epidural just in case I chose to get one because it had to be signed before he can administer it and I may not be in the mood to sign it in the moment. I confidently told him,

"I'm not getting an epidural so there's no need for me to sign it."

He kinda laughed it off, wished me luck and left the room.

When we were admitted I was only dilated 1cm, which came as no surprise because I had been 1cm for over a month at that point. I had some contractions before Dr. White got there at 8am to check me. They were painful, but nothing I couldn't handle. Then after the doctor exahmined me, I immediately jumped to 5cm-I guess he has magic hands or something. Almost instantly the contractions got way worse. They were so intense and lasted a lot longer than the previous ones. I was crying they hurt so bad. Dr. White offered the option of an epidural, but I was still against it. He then offered IV pain medication-demoral. He said it would help take the edge off. I was concerned it still wouldn't be considered a natural birth with IV meds. Dr. White said it was completely up to me. I really like that he didn't pressure me into anything. He was always willing to do what I wanted. I decided to go ahead with the IV medication. In my head, it was still a natural labor as long as I didn't have the epidural. So as I said, Dr. White said the demoral would take the edge off. HA! What a crock! What a waste of money! That thing did jack squat! No edge was taken off there!

So after a few hours of labor, I think it was around 9am or so, Tony finally suggested again that I ge the epidural. I was in so much pain and I think it hurt him to see me like that. I finally agreed. Women who have had children say there is no way to describe the pain of a contraction. Dr. White said they would feel like menstrual cramps, but intensified. I guess that's true but he neglected to say they would be intensified by a million! I am disappointed in myself that I didn't have a natural labor, but now I know my pain tolerance isn't as high as I thought it was. So I told the nurse I wanted the epidural and she said,

"Well, you need to sign the paperwork for it."

"I'll sign whatever you want. Give me the dang paper and get that doctor back in here!"

I couldn't even sign my name straight on the line I was in so much pain. It was a VERY crooked signature LOL. Then of course the anesthesigiolost took his sweet and precious time coming to my rescue. It took him at least 20 minutes to get there. I swear he did that to pay me back for the way I treated him before. When he finally got there he told me to lean over and stay perfectly still so he could insert the IV in my back. My first thought was,

"This guy is nuts! I am in probably the most intense pain anyone has ever felt and he wants me to stay STILL?"

Somehow I sucked it up and he said I did great. Tony let me squeeze his hand and he said he didn't know I could squeeze that hard. LOL. I FINALLY got some relief!

By the time my mother got to the hospital I had already had the epidural. I was passed out, so she didn't get to see any of the action. She got to see me look like this:

Dr. White came back probably around 11:15 or so, did his exam and said,

"Ok, it's time to push."

"Wait, it's time???"

"Yep. It's time."

Then the guy left! He told the nurse to call him when I got close. I didn't know the doctor doesn't stay there the entire time of pushing. They do in the movies! So I pushed and pushed and pushed. I used the mirror so I could see her come out. I know some people think that's gross, but it was so cool and it really motivated me to push hard. I think I pushed for about 20 minutes or so and then the nurse tells me to stop pushing!

"Stop pushing? I can see my daughter's head and you want to me STOP pushing?"

"We need to wait for Dr. White now for the rest."

Somehow I fought the urge to push-miraculously. It probably took Dr. White a good 15-20 minutes to get up to the roomand then it was maybe 5-10 more minutes of pushing and she was here! The nurse said I did really well for my first baby. I only pushed for a total of 35 minutes and I could actually feel Dr. White pull her out of me and that was really cool. I wasn't expecting to feel anything because of the epidural, but I am so glad I did.

Gabrielle Rose Green was born on April 19, 2001 at 12:09pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces and was 19 inches long. She has long fingers and toes-compliments of her daddy.

The hospital stay was more exhausting than I thought it would be. I felt like our room had a revolving door because so many people come in and out from visitors to nurses to technicians to check my blood pressure and temperature.

All in all I think we got pretty darn lucky having such a beautiful baby girl. She is our pride and joy and I just can't get enough of her. We love her so much and we feel truly blessed the Lord has entrusted us with such a sweet spirit.

All of the photos we took right after she was born are either on my phone or Tony's phone, so here is one we took in the post partum room:

And here are 2 the day we went home:

She HATED not being wrapped in a blanket

passed out in the car seat...

Maternity Photos

For those of you that don't see me regularly, here are some maternity pictures. My photographer friend Becky got some new wraps for pregnant women and she needed a model so I got some free maternity pictures. Here are the ones that are appropriate for all eyes to see. (I was 9 months pregnant when these were taken).

Sonogram Pictures

I know I have been absoultely horrible about keeping up with this blog. I thought I would go blog crazy, but nope. So....3 days before my due date, I've decided to FINALLY post the rest of the sonogram pictures we have.

This set is from October when we did our "peek" sonogram.

This set is from November when we checked for any deformities:

From top to bottom:

1. Profile of body-doesn't she look so cute?

2. Spine-isn't it such a good looking spine?

3. 1 foot

4. 2 feet

5. close up profile-she looks good huh?

When we went for our March checkup, Dr. White was doing the exam and he thought she was breech, so we got to do another sonogram! Turns out he was feeling her butt and not her head. She's got buns of steel baby!

Her nose and lips looked huge when he applied more pressure, then they thinned out when he didn't press down so hard, so who knows if she'll have big lips or a big nose...we'll find out soon enough!

April update:

We've been going to the doctor weekly now for the past month. At 36 weeks I was 80% effaced, but not dilated at all. He said that was a good sign and that I was farther ahead than most women at my stage in the pregnancy. I, of course, took that to mean I wouldn't go full term, which was fine with me because I was already super uncomfortable. Then, the day I was 38 weeks I just knew I was in labor. I was having contractions all night and they HURT! BUT...they weren't consistent. I would have them consistently about 2-3 minutes apart for 20 minutes and then nothing for 40 minutes, then they would start back up again. We decided not to go to the hospital, but we went to the OB the next morning, just to be sure. I wasn't dilated AT ALL! Nothing! The doctor said it was just intense Braxton Hicks because there was no dilation. Talk about a disappointment. I didn't know Braxton Hicks could hurt that bad. He told me to take it easy the rest of the day and I would either go into labor that night or I wouldn't. Obviously, I didn't. So, here I am, 3 days before my due date, and I haven't really had any contractions. We went ahead and scheduled an inducement date of Tuesday April 19, just in case she's late. I am set on inducing naturally at home if needed. I hate the idea of being medically induced, especially because I am doing the labor naturally, but we need to keep that option open as a last resort.

I promise I will do better about keeping up with this, especially now that I am not working. Tony and I are so excited for Gabrielle Rose to grace us with her presence...which will hopefully be soon. We love you guys and can't wait to tell you she's here!

October OB Visit

I thought I would be so good about keeping up with this blog, but as it turns out...I'm not so great. But better late than never! Here's the update we got on our last OB visit on October 21:
Our wonderful doctor let us a do what they call a peek sonogram a few weeks early just to see if we could tell the sex of the baby. From what I've heard, a lot of doctors don't do that, so I LOVE our doctor more than ever now! So we're doing the sonogram and he's showing where everything is (the heart, lungs, eyes, etc). This sonogram was waaaay better than the first because we could see more than a black hole. We actually got to see our baby! So as we're looking for a tail like feature to say its a boy, Tony is talking and keeps referring to the baby as "he." Doctor White says, "You really shouldn't say he." Tony didn't catch it, but I did! So Tony keeps talking and the doc says again, "You really shouldn't say he." Tony is still oblivious. After the (I think) fourth time, the doctor says, "YOU REALLY NEED TO STOP SAYING HE!" And then I say after him "Tony, it's a girl!" Tony freezes..."Are you serious??? It's a girl?" The doctor says, "I told you it was a 70/30 shot, and I'm giving this 90/10." Tony was through the roof! He started dancing and cheering like he had complete control over it. It was so cute! He was literally dancing down the hall when we went to check out.
I was a little disappointed at first because I really wanted a boy, but I'm so excited to know what we are having. I'm going to love little Gabrielle "Gabby" Green to pieces! We haven't done any shopping yet, but with black friday approaching, it will probably be super hard to not buy at least one thing...maybe 10.
I am 18 weeks now and my belly is definitely starting to show. It's rounding out already which I am so happy with because I don't just look fat...I almost look pregnant! Hooray! We go to the doctor again next Thursday, the 18th, when we will do the full blown sonogram process and check for demorties and such. However, Doctor White said he didn't see anything abnormal on the sonogram last month so I'm not too worried. We love you guys!
PS-sorry there are no pictures on this post...we have two sonogram pictures from October, one of them Gabby is sucking her thumb, but my preggo brain has taken over and I have misplaced them...I'll find them though and post them soon!

Doctor Visit #2

We finally went back to the doctor yesterday. We got to hear the heartbeat! YAY! Our baby is a live one...160 beats per minute. We've heard wives tales that faster heartbeats, like this one, tends to be a girl, but our doctor wouldn't confirm or deny the sex this early on based on the heartbeat alone. He said, "I'll give you a 50/50 chance." Thanks doc...that really helps us out. He did say however that he will do a peek sonogram next month off the record just to see if we can see the sex. He said it's about a 70/30 shot we'll be able to tell in 4 weeks, so we're hoping our little baby will be positioned just right so mama can start shopping! He said all my blood work came back great and I even lost almost a pound since my last visit. I attribute that to the many episodes of preggo sickness I get on a weekly basis. He prescribed me Zophran which helps with the nausea, but not the random spurts that come from nowhere. And I'm supposed to take 2 a day but the pharmacy only gives you 20 at a time so those script copays will start to add up. I asked him if there was anything else I could do to help me keep my food down and there is! He said I could take a 1/4 of a unisom pill with a 25mg pill of B6 and the nausea and preggo sickness should basically completely go away. I was so happy to hear that! I can eat again! Hooray!

I've been having this pain in my butt. I know that sounds really weird but it hurts and I have it almost all the time, but usually only on my left side. So I pointed to the doctor where it was and he said that it was my SI joint. He said 1 in 4 women develop pain there because they are trying to help support the weight of the baby and your back tends to sway back a little which causes more pressure on that joint. He said I can put heat or ice on it and of course I can take tylenol. He also said I could rub that cream like icy hot on it as well but that stuff really burns so that will be a last resort.

So Tony and I are convinced I'm already showing. Several of our friends have said I'm not, but I swear my belly has gotten bigger...and it's just in my belly...well my butt too. So I asked the doctor about it because from what I've seen, most women don't start showing until their 2nd trimester. He said most women don't start showing until their 5th month but because I'm pretty small and it's my first baby, my body doesn't really know yet how to handle the little person inside me so he said it's normal and that I am already showing...so the doctor confirmed that I am not crazy for thinking this (thanks goodness!).

I can't say enough how amazing my wonderful husband is to me. Every time I get sick he asks if I'm okay and if there's anything he can do. He's such an awesome help and I am very very lucky to have him. So that's our update. Oh! And for those that don't know, my sisters due date is March 19, just 3 weeks before ours, so it's gonna be a blast having a double baby shower and being preggo together. She, Sam and Elizabeth will get here on October 13 and then Sam ships out on November 1 for ANOTHER stupid mission for 6 months so Krysten will be having the baby here. I'm so excited to share this experience with my big sis. It's gonna be soooo much fun!

Update

So nothing dramatic has happened since the last post, but I figured I would check in.

Tony and I are really curious about what we are going to have. Some of the ladies at Tony's work told him about an at home gender prediction test. It tests the gender of the baby as early as 6 weeks. We talked about it and decided to go to Walgreens and check it out. Those dang tests are $30! Are you kidding me? We're way too cheap for that. So we decided to hold off. We can use that $30 for our copay at our next visit to the OB, or get stuff for the baby, or just keep it in the account to use for something else...like food. We're hoping we will have a good idea of what the baby is based on the heart beat next time we go to the doctor.

So I've only gained 2 pounds so far and I am already showing. I can't fit into ANY of my pre-preggo jeans, so today I had to wear the maternity jeans I bought on Thursday. I can't believe it! I'm only 8 weeks along. I shouldn't be this big yet. Tony and I think it's because I was already small to begin with and my torso isn't that big, so the baby has to go somewhere, which has caused my belly to grow out. I'm in the "I feel fat" stage. You can't really tell I'm pregnant; you can only see this big belly. I don't like it...not one bit! I knew your body changes but I didn't realize it would change this fast. Is that normal?

We bought a new couch today! We sold the couch and love seat we had on craigs list today and the new couch won't get delivered until Thursday-ish so we are without living room furniture for almost a week. Oh well. It's worth it. We bought a sectional so Tony can put his feet up. He's always wanted a sectional. We got a heck of a deal on it and it's really comfortable so we are really excited.

So that's what's been going on this week. Nothin too exciting, but such is life. It's nice to settle down and take that next step with the best man in the entire world :)