Audrey's Wellness Check-up

(Audrey in her pretty, pink bouncer)

It sure has been a whirlwind since Audrey's arrival. Matthew and I have been surprised at how many people want to see Audrey and share in her birth. We knew we had lots of friends and family who supported us, we just didn't realize to what extent they loved us!

We are really impressed at what a good baby Audrey has been. We were expecting much worse from her as far as being fussy and hard to soothe. Don't get me wrong she has her times when her gas is getting the best of her but on the whole she is pretty easy.

On Monday I took her in to see her Doctor for her first visit. I was surprised when they called her name for us to come back to the exam room. I am not used to hearing people calling her name out! The doctor said that most breastfed babies lose 10% of their birth weight in the first week, so we were expecting her to weigh around 7.5 lbs. She weighed a whopping 8 lbs. We are so proud of her growth and health! Please continue to keep us in your prayers: for a good schedule and continued health.

Audrey's Here!

(Matthew and I before inducing)

Monday we went to the hospital around 5:30 a.m. to start induction. By the time we got settled into the labor and delivery room and started the Pitocin drip it was 7:30. My good friend, Jeanne, was with us all of last week to be with us when I went into labor. Sadly to say she had to go back home the same morning we were induced, so she was not with us when Audrey finally came.


(Me and Jeanne)
So from 7:30 a.m. to 6:42 p.m. (to be exact), I was in labor! Yikes! Labor was managable until I got to the harder phases. The only medication that I had was a pain medicine adminstered through I.V. but by the time Audrey came out it had been at least an hour and a half that I was without pain killers. I thought that labor would never end but I owe my successful labor to my wonderful husband, Matthew. He was there with me through it all (for the most part except when he went and ate). He would breathe with me, let me squeeze his hand as hard as I could and would quote scriptures to me.

I cannot describe the relief I felt when Audrey finally came out. We were so overwhelmed at coming through the labor and more importantly, having this new little girl that we had created.
We still cannot get over how marvelous she is and how much in love we are with her.
Now that I am home and the birthing high is over...I don't feel like my old pregnant self or my old self. But when I think about all the stuff that I went through and how don't feel up to par, I remember that little Audrey was worth it all.

(Matthew and his daughter, Audrey)

40 Weeks and Pushing On...

(Audrey's face: Vertically facing with cute nose in center)


Well folks, since the last time I posted I was hoping for a baby any day but our sweet Audrey is enjoying her hotel stay. Today we had our 40 week check up 2 days after the due date...still no budging. We discussed with our doctor what our options were. We decided that for the health of the baby and myself we would seek inducement next week if the hospital had any openings.

While I got strapped up to a fetal monitor to see what the activity level of Audrey was like, our doctor found out that our hospital had an opening first thing Monday morning. The fetal monitoring consists of tracking the baby's heart rate and movement rate at the same time. Our doctor was looking for three spike heart rates within 20 minutes, corresponding to the baby's movement. During a 30 minute span the fetal activity had only spiked once. So our doctor called for a Biophysical Profile test, a sonogram. At this point we were getting a little anxious about our baby's health but once the sonogram was underway we were reassured that she was just sleeping and displayed normal activity.

Then they took our money for the sonogram. So we are scheduled for inducement first thing Monday morning....if Audrey does not come sooner. Please keep this situation in your prayers and for God's guidance.









(Audrey's face: Vertically facing, kind of smooshed)

39 Weeks...Will it Ever End!

Several of you who are regular visitors to my sight are wondering...is the baby here yet? "Surely the baby has come and I just haven't heard!" Well, I am sorry to say, for myself mostly, that Audrey is still not here yet. (You would definitely know if she was!)

The due date is set for this next Tuesday, the 12th of September. A day that will live in...
my memory until a new day replaces it, the day that Audrey comes of course. All I want is for her to come when she is good and ready to come. However I might mention some fine print: when I go 2 weeks past the due date, then I will look into induction.

It is not so much that I am getting uncomfortable with my pregnant body, I have learned to live with it and even accept it. No, I am just ready to have this baby that we have been planning for, praying for and anxiously expecting. About 3 weeks ago I was pretty nervous about Audrey coming because I felt so unready. But now we have the nursery finished (check), all of her clothes washed (check) the various baby items assembled (check), her baby bag packed (check), the car seat assembled in the car (check), and my bags packed (double check).

The only real major dilemna is that I am going out of my mind waiting!

However, on a slightly different avenue, Audrey's delayed arrival has given us some much needed time to sort out our new insurance. As of the first of September we were officially covered by Matthew's insurance (even though we had not heard from the insurance company). We thought we'd give them a call and make sure that we were all ready for the hospital visit. Come to find out they had no record of us : { . So very quickly we jumped on the ball to get our insurance information and find out exactly what our new insurance covered. The hospital we had done all our childbirthing preparation with and the one we were planning on delivering at, was NOT covered by our new insurance. SHOCK, SHOCK! So hopefully we will get everything cleared and ironed out for our little Audrey's arrival. (Doesn't God work in mysterious ways!)