Going Home!

Here are some pictures from our last day in the hospital, and Bradley's first car ride home to meet the dogs!

Last snuggle with mommy in the hospital bed.

Last snuggle with daddy. This is his favorite position!

Nurse Angela. We love her!

Lacy and Kilo meet Bradley. They sniff and lick. I think they are still unsure if this "thing" is staying.

Thanks to everyone who made my hospital room so bright and cheery!

Alas, a nap on the couch.

T, B & B

Bradley's First Smile

We think he was dreaming about his mommy and daddy and this is what happened.

T, B & B

The Birth Story

Bradley Carl

11-4-10

7lbs 8oz 20.5in

On Wednesday Nov. 3rd I went in to my routine 39week doctor's appointment at 11am. In the appointment I was hooked up to monitoring for 20 min. While everything was looking good initially, my doctor saw a slight dip in Bradley's heart rate while I was having a contraction. This alone made my doctor want to send me straight to the hospital for a few more hours of monitoring. It was when it happened again when my doctor said she was sending me to the hospital for a full admittance and induction. Do not pass go, do not even collect lunch. Boo.

The emotions were unexplainable. Excitement, nervousness, petrified, are just a few adjectives to describe how I was feeling. I immediately called Ben and he headed straight home to meet me and head in to have our baby!

"Hurry up and wait" has never meant more to me than when it comes to labor. All the rushing to get to the hospital only to be given a medicine that takes 12 hours to work. At 2:30pm on Wednesday I was given the medicine and at 2:30am on Thursday I was checked for progress. Not much. My cervix was only a finger tip dilated. I was then put on a second medicine which is stronger and only takes 4 hours to work. That was put in at 4am and at 8am I was again checked. This time I was "1 and a wiggle" dilated. Again at 8am Thursday I was given a second dose. During this second dose the baby began to show signs he wasn't happy. I was put on oxygen and told to change from side to side every 30 minutes. At 12pm I was then moved onto pitocin. The contractions started really to become painful. It was probably some of the worst pain I've ever been in. It was around 7pm on Thursday, right when I was going to ask for my epidural, that both my nurse and my doctor came in and said you are having this baby by c-section now. WHAT??

A little side note about my nurse. Nurse Angela had been by my side since 7am that day. She was so great and comforting. As you know nurses work 12 hour shifts and her shift was up at 7pm, right when I was told about my c-section. Nurse Angela was my angel and decided to stay over on her shift so she could be with me in surgery and I would have a friendly face. What a sweet heart. She walked me into the OR, and held me as I rested my head on her shoulder while I got my spinal. She kissed my head and told me everything was going to be ok. She really was my angel that day.

Because I had not had an epidural, I was able to literally walk myself into the OR. It was a freaky experience walking into this cold room where everyone was dressed as if there was a chemical spill. I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the staff. A girl game up to me and introduced herself to me as the nurse who would be taking care of my baby. "Great" I said. She then replied with, "Thank you for painting your toe nails for us, we really appreciate it!" Anything to take my mind off being scared was fabulous. I was laid down on the table and after what seemed like forever, Ben was let inside. He wasn't there for more than 5 minutes when, Bradley was born at 7:50pm.

I remember tremendous pressure and pulling on my stomach. Then I remember hearing the doctor say, "There's his head. There's the cord, 1, 2, 3 times wrapped around. It's a boy! And he's peeing!" They took Bradley over to get rubbed down and it took maybe 15 loooooooooong seconds to get him crying. Ben went with baby. I say Bradley maybe a minute or two after he was delivered and it was love at first sight.

I am so thankful and blessed to have had such an amazing team of doctors that truly were looking out for baby's best interest. I am so thankful that my doctor at my routine appointment decided to be cautious and send me to the hospital. I am so thankful that every nurse that we met was sweeter and kinder than the last. It was just such an amazing experience.

We came home from the hospital on Sunday the 7th. It was bittersweet to be home with my son as his actual due date of the 9th came and passed. Bradley is thriving and is so very healthy. Ben is already the greatest dad in the world and I'm just loving every minute.

There will be many more pictures to come, as it is now that this "Family Blog" can truly begin. For now, here is a link to the pictures taken by the hospital photography team.

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=e6deed86-3b79-4a0a-ab82-75b71db16641

T, B & B

38 Weeks

A quick update...

Cervix: Still closed, no thinning yet

Baby: Still head down, but he hasn't "dropped"

My Weight: Haven't gained in 2 weeks!!

Baby Weight: Who knows, I'm guessing right around 7lbs by now. (Or more, yikes)

Activity: Still trying to walk twice a day. I'd say we walk around 3-4 miles a day.

The House: Cleaned from top to bottom (as of the weekend) and ready for baby.

The Dogs: Had their bath yesterday and are all ready for baby.

The Family: All immunized with the flu shot and ready for baby.



Ready to get these next 14 (or so) days over with and meet our baby!



T, B & B

The 9th Month

I have been holding out on making this post for a week or so because I was really looking forward to having more baby pictures for you. We had another ultrasound today and I was hoping to get a good picture of Bradley's face to post. Although the actual ultrasound was amazing and we did get to see his cute little face with chubby cheeks, we did not get any good pictures to take home.

Today I am 36weeks 3days pregnant. I am now on weekly appointments. I cannot believe it. Where did the time go? As I was mentioning earlier, we had another ultrasound today. We finally were told that my placenta HAS moved up and is finally in the "normal" range. What a relief. Bradley is head down, facing backwards and all ready for delivery. His position made it hard to see his face but we got a few glimpses. What a cutie! He has chubby cheeks and puckering lips. We saw him yawn and suck on his hand. It was precious.

Along with checking the position of the placenta, they also do an estimation of what he's weighing. He is coming in at a whopping 6lbs 11oz!!! What a big boy! (Insert my half happy face, half panic face here.)

At that weight he actually is in the 57 percentile for his gestational age so I shouldn't be too worried that he will be huge baby. I just keep trying to tell myself he will be healthy and normal weight. At this appointment was a check of my cervix. Still closed. Also, he has not "dropped" yet either. Everything else the doctor went through as far as my weight, my size, the baby's size, blood pressure and fluid level was "perfect" in the doctor's words. Music to my ears.

I have now pre-scheduled my last 3 doctors appointments for the next 3 weeks to come. That is assuming that I make it that long!!!

We are feeling great. We're still walking every night. We think we have most everything prepared for when he decides to arrive. We're trying to sleep as much as we can because we've heard through the grape vine that sleep is hard to come by once baby arrives. We have felt very healthy and lucky throughout this pregnancy and hope our luck can hold out just a few more weeks!!

T, B & B

Baby Shower and Nursery

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to my shower and made it such a special day for us!!!! Especially a big THANK YOU to Amy for planning such a fun day and for Annette for opening her home to everyone. You guys are the greatest!



Here are a few memories from the day, and the new *updated* nursery now that we are all equipped Again, thanks to everyone for such generous gifts!



The incredible cupcake cake!

The baby boy party supplies

The nursery with all it's decorations!

A closer look at the cutest mobile. Thanks Grandma!

The rocking chair with shelf of memorabilia.

A closer look at Baby's first tooth and hair cut. Thanks Barb, Rach and Steph!

Dresser and changing table.

A closer look at the cute hanging toy holder for quick entertainment while changing messy diapers. Thanks Angie for the cute rattles, and all the feeding supplies that will make our little one have messy diapers!

Thanks St. Pierre's for all the supplies. Thanks Mandy for the matching organization bin. Love it!

Bradley's first rocking chair. Thanks Aunt Andrea and Uncle Jeremy!

It's personalized! How cute is that?!

The closets are stocked, organized, and ready to go! Thanks again Amy for the hangers...and the bunches and bunches of Alex clothes to go on them! Thank Carrie for the Birch Boy's clothes and toys as well! You gave so many cute clothes, and so many fun toys. Ben spent the evening organizing the toys, as I worked on the closet.

T, B & B

30 Week Appointment

Today we had our 30 week appointment and check up ultrasound. I was super excited for this ultrasound because by now little B is getting some fat on his face and I was looking forward to the 4D scan to actually see some facial features. Well...Bradley was not in the mood to have his picture taken today.

Let's get to the business. The placenta has moved up slightly and is no longer a concern for a vaginal delivery. Yay! Bradley's heart beat was 144bpm which is exactly what it was last appointment. He is growing really well and the Dr.'s told us he is weighing an estimated 3lbs 8oz. Big boy! The Dr. also found hair already grown in on his head. Oh yeah, and he's still a boy too!!

The reason we couldn't get a good picture of his face is because, in the Dr.'s words, "he's in there like a taco." He's folded in half with his legs straight and his feet over his face. She tried poking him, and buzzing him with this thing (which made him kick so that's a relief that he seems to have his hearing), and I even tried rolling onto my side. Nothing was moving him. I was worried that maybe I had low fluid levels and he had no room to move around but the Dr. assured me that there is plenty of fluid and he is just comfortable with his feet in his face.

Nonetheless here's the best picture we got. It's not in 4D. You can see a profile of Bradley's head, look for big round forehead (must be from Ben) and the light spot at the bottom of the picture is his ear. To the left middle you can see the shoulder and the beginning of the body. Then up top you can see the legs shooting across his face. If you look closely you can even see the outline of the knee joint and knee cap area (does he even have a patella yet?). You can see the leg get skinnier to the top right of the picture as to where his ankle joint is. Crazy kid, so flexible (must be from me!)

T, B & B