She's Here -- Our Birth Story!

Almost 5 weeks later, I'm back and ready to catch up!

Saturday, April 24th, 2:20 pm, 7 pounds 6 ounces, 21 1/4 inches: Happy Birthday Olivia!

That Friday night Kyle and I watched the second Twilight movie and ordered Pei Wei -- a typical Friday night in the Lugg household. I looked at him at dinner and told him to consider the thought that tonight might be our last night "alone" in the house. He really thought she was going to wait until her induction Sunday night, but humored me anyways. As easy as it is for me to say this now, I really had a feeling that she was going to come either Friday night or Saturday.

Sure enough I woke up at about 5:30 am Saturday (the day after her due date) with some pains that I hadn't had before. I had been having contractions on and off for weeks, but nothing that felt like this. Something had to have been happening before seeing as I was 4 centimeters dilated that Monday before she was born! Anyway, I was pretty sure this was it, though, because the pains were beginning to wrap around into my back. At 6:00am, I woke up Kyle and told him I was 90% sure it was time. I said 90% because lets just say this wasn't the first time I woke up Kyle to tell him I thought I was in labor. Its true what people say, though, that when you know -- you know.

He leapt out of bed and to his feet about as quickly as you could ask. He was remarkably lucid, too, for being jolted out of bed. My first instinct then was not to call the Dr. yet, but to jump in the shower. All I knew at that moment was that I wasn't going anywhere until I got a shower. Granted, it ended up being a quick one, but a shower nonetheless.

After the shower I called the Dr. and waited...and waited...and waited. After two phone calls in 30 minutes, no return phone call, and contractions that were 5 minutes apart, we got in the car and headed for Riverside about 7am.

By the time we got to Triage, I was starting to feel the contractions pretty good. No kidding because I was almost 5 centimeters at that point. After all the standard pokes and prods, we were admitted and in our Labor and Delivery room by around 8:30am. The much anticipated epidural came by about 9:30am and I was sitting much more comfortably by then.

Once we got all settled and the nurse did her thing, she told us that it was a good time for us to rest not knowing what was ahead of us. A nap sounded pretty good, even after a "full" nights sleep. Kyle brought the recliner over next the bed and we both got comfy. As the nurse left the room she told me to be sure to call her if I, at any point, felt the need to push. No sooner did Kyle and I both settle into our napping positions when I got the urge to push, go figure.

By 11:16am, the nurse was ready and in position to help me push. The next 3 hours, yes I said 3 hours (and 4 minutes, but who's counting), there was lots of pushing, pushing, and more pushing. Then at 2:20pm, Olivia Claire was born into this world.

That moment will be forever burned into my head. We are completely head over heels in love with our little girl. She is precious in every way and we couldn't feel more blessed.

40 weeks

Happy Due Date, Olivia! Now...it's time for your birthday:)

Even though her birth is impending (whether it be today, tomorrow, or Sunday at her induction), it almost doesn't seem real. I can imagine what it 'might' be like to see her for the first time, and what she 'could' look like, but it seems so out-of-body to imagine this is REALLY all about to happen.

You spend so much time anticipating getting pregnant. Then you worry for the first 12 weeks about having a normal pregnancy, and then the next 12 weeks you spend thinking about everything you have to do to get ready for this new person you are bringing into the world, but it still seems so far away. And THEN, one day, you are here. Big, uncomfortable, and anxious just waiting for the pain that says "it's time" or for the clock to tick down to your scheduled induction.

We have exactly 2 nights, or less, in this house as it is. Starting next week we'll have another person that LIVES here. I swear, for something so common, and natural, it seems so abstract to me.

Can't wait to meet my baby...

Ok, so as of Monday I am 4 centimeters dilated and all the way effaced. Thats right, 4 whole centimeters.

We have an induction scheduled for Sunday night at 9pm, but I'm really hoping we don't need it. The doc said given my stats that I'm not increasing my risks for anything, c-section included, by inducing before the traditional 10-days are up. In fact, she thinks either way its going to go pretty fast given all the progress that I've made on my own. I just would prefer Olivia decide its time on her own, but if she hasn't made that decision by Sunday it looks like I'm going to have to make my first motherly executive decision.

So, here I am, on Wednesday, just waiting...and waiting. This part is hard! I feel like a ticking time bomb. The planner in me is freaking out. What if Kyle is in a meeting and my water breaks? What if I want to run to the store and my contractions start? Yeah, I am known for over-analysis -- this situation is definitely not exempt.

Soon. Soon...

Ok, so I'm now almost 3 centimeters dilated and nearly ALL the way effaced. I'd say it's time, right?

I finished my last night of class last night and tomorrow is my last day of work. Of course, now every little pain I feel I'm sure its labor. I'll know for sure, right? Thats one of my biggest fears. I've had so many Braxton Hicks that I fear I won't know the difference. I hope my water breaks. Not just because that means Olivia will be on her way, but because it's a sure fire sign it's time!

Doc had me schedule an induction...just in case. She says since I'm already so far along on my own she would feel comfortable doing it as soon as the weekend right after my due date. So, for now, we have an induction scheduled for next Sunday, April 25. I REALLY don't want to have to use it, but her next suggestion was April 30 so the 25th sounds pretty good in comparison.

Is it too early to be impatient? We still have the better part of 3 weeks left and truthfully, right now, that seems like an eternity.

Went to the Doc this morning. Apparently I'm 90% effaced now, but still only 1 centimeter dilated. She said that could mean soon or it could mean "a few days after my due date". Huh? Late? Ick.

Update

1 centimeter dilated

80% effaced

Head - LOW (no wonder my groin feels like I just ran a marathon!)

Doc said she'd be surprised if Olivia made it to her due date. What have your experiences been?

Today marks the first of my weekly appointments. Up until about a week ago I was overwhelmed by the idea that we were getting so close. However, now, I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm sure some of my fears will resurface once I'm actually in labor and this is really all about to happen, but for now, I feel so ready.

I'm sure some of this new feeling has to do with the fact that I can't sleep, I'm uncomfortable, my body aches, I have to pee every 15 minutes, and I'm back to being nauseous in the mornings. Things definitely could be worse, I realize that, but at this point, I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore and hold my baby in my arms rather than in my tummy.

This past weekend was what felt like our first official "all baby weekend." We had a shower with Kyle's family all day on Saturday and then an eight-hour birthing class on Sunday!

The shower was great. His family is amazing and there is definitely no shortage of excitement or love for Olivia. We came home with more then I could have ever imagined, including the car sear and the highchair! My favorite part of the shower, though, is that his sisters took a picture of the nursery to the cake woman and had her frost flowers onto the cake that look just like the flowers that are on the nursery walls. So touching.

Birthing class (I write birthDAY class almost every time I go to type this!) was long, but good. ALL day was a long time to spend in an itty-bitty education room at the hospital, but we were surprised how quickly the time passed. I guess when its information you feel like you not only want to have, but HAVE to have, you tend to be a little more engaged. All I know is that I'm thankful I wasn't the woman who's water broke DURING class! I guess not really DURING class, but on the dinner break from the class she was headed up to visit a friend in the maternity ward and her water broke on the elevator! She was 35 weeks. Needless to say that sent shock waves through our class. Talk about being at the right place at the right time, though, right?

As we approach 33 weeks, I'm feeling good. We've gotten most of what we wanted to get done before she is born and have a few more to check off the list (including the completion of our addition! -- hopefully!!) in these next several weeks. Although, Kyle keeps making me feel like we have less time then we probably actually do because he is convinced that Olivia is going to come early. Last night he asked me to start working on packing our bags for the hospital. I think his fear of that comes from several areas. He was 2 weeks early (because his mom was determined that he wasn't going to be born on his Christmas Eve due date and ruin Christmas for his older sister), my sister was 6 weeks early (my mom was 40 and considered high(er)-risk), a good friend of ours has been in and out of the hospital with pre-term labor contractions and their due date is the day before ours (her and her boyfriend have had lots of problems including her moving out for a time= lots of added stress), and then this woman from our birthing class! I'm not feeling the earlyness, but like he said...you never know, I guess.

Olivia. Thats going to be my little girl's name. Now that we have decided "for sure", it makes me feel like I know her even a little bit more. We've been trying it out at home and it feels just right:)

She's a little stinker already. Little Miss. Active that's for sure. The last two Drs appointments she has played hide-and-go-seek with the Dr's doppler. Literally, last week she moved five times before the Dr. could get a good read of her heartbeat! The Dr. was cracking up! I'm beginning to wonder if this is a small peek into my future. Her Daddy can't sit down for more than 5-minutes and I'm thinking she may have inherited that gene.

I just set up a "meet and greet" with the pediatrician we are interested in. Do you think I need to set up more than one? I've heard you should interview a few, but everyone raves about this practice so I'm assuming I'll feel the same way. Maybe thats not a safe assumption?

Left to do: washing clothes, attending all of our various classes, showers (!), pre-registering at the hospital, final preps!

By special request:) The ever growing belly...


11 weeks

16 weeks


23 weeks 3 days



28 weeks 3 days

And that was 2 weeks ago...I've definitely grown since then:)

So, I know its been awhile. Not sure if anyone is still paying attention - or ever really was (except you KP!) - but I figured some of this is for me so I should probably get back into it.

So, I'm closing in on Week 30. Wow. Its really sneaking up on me. For all the planning I have done and "prepping" I continue to do, it just seems like time just keeps going faster and faster. I'm not complaining, in fact, as I continue to get more and more uncomfortable I'm finally beginning to be able to picture, and look forward to, what its going to feel like going back to not being pregnant and, of course, meeting my little girl:)

We registered her for school this morning. Felt rather weird to be signing on the parent/guardian line. I don't quite feel like one of those yet, but I'm sure that, too, will sneak up on me. We are taking her to an adorable little center around the corner from our house that is owned by the Jewish Community Center. I wasn't really into the daycare idea, until I walked into this place. Its warm, the teachers are special, and best of all, it really feels like a school. She can go there until pre-K and then even after that for after-school and summer programs. One more thing checked off the list!

Next, a pediatrician. I have had several recommendations from friends and family so now I just need to figure out how to decide. I trust all of the people that gave me these tips so how do I know who to ultimately choose? If only the pedi. I had when I was kid was still practicing - I loved her.

I'm feeling pretty good, but definitely big. The belly is starting to get more and more cumbersome and, boy, am I a klutz. I've tripped, stumbled, and dropped things more times than I think I ever have in my entire life. And I definitely feel off-balance. That in combination with all of this snow and ice...sucks.

Happy New Year! It's a GIRL!

What a whirlwind the holidays were. Not only did we have the typical holiday madness, but we got to experience the joy of finding out that we are bringing a little girl into this world.

We ended up opening our envelope Christmas Eve, just the two of us. The excitement and anticipation had built up so much that we could hardly stand to wait another minute! It was such a surreal moment. The doctor had written a note that read "Two lines between legs GIRL, Merry Christmas:)". She had written GIRL large enough that both of us honed in on that life-changing word at the same time. Nothing could have been more amazing.

Inside the envelope were three pretty distinct pictures of her girl parts. The doc had them labelled for us and everything -- just in case.

Since then we have spent a lot of time in the nursery, putting together furniture, painting, putting up wainscoting, and I've been making adhesive vinyl wall art. Pics to come...

So, I'm counting down the hours until I get to find out whether my baby will be wearing dresses or suspenders (for those of you who don't know my dad -- the suspender thing runs in the family)! I keep playing that soon-to-be-moment over and over again just imagining what its going to be like. Obviously we will be SO thrilled either way, I just want to know!

Kyle has to bring home the envelope tomorrow night since hes off work Thursday and Friday -- how am I going to stay away from it?! Hardest. Two. Days. Ever.

I love feeling the baby kick. Its so relaxing and reassuring. I'll admit, there are times -- when I'm trying to sleep namely -- that I'd like it to cool it, but there really is nothing like it. Its getting to the point now that I can even see my belly giggle when it really gets going. I could stare at my belly for hours.

AND, we bought our first pieces of baby furniture last night. God bless Kyle. I started to get stressed last night when I realized the furniture I had originally picked out was junk. I hadn't really read the reviews I guess because once I did I realized quickly it wasn't the way to go. So, Kyle made me jump in the car at 9:00pm to "just go look" at Babies R Us. We ended finding the crib and a "baby" armoire that was on clearance. With the coupon I had, it was a deal that was meant to be.

Now we have the wainscoting on the wall and two of the four pieces of furniture and I love it. The nursery is starting to come together and I can start to picture my little one all cozy in there. Now, I just have to find out which way I'll be decorating!!

Kyle felt the baby kick! Not the most sentimental moment, but still a milestone.

We were in the $1 movie theatre (which costs $2 now) watching "The Hangover" and the baby was going crazy. He got to feel the "pop, pop" a couple times.

Very fun.

Its been brought to my attention that I haven't given an update in awhile:) My life feels like its been a bit out of control these last couple weeks.

First, we went on a fantastic cruise with Kyle's family. We were supposed to go to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, but due to a sleepy propeller system they changed our itinerary the day before we left to Half Moon Cay and Nassau, Bahamas. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! There was some uproar prior to boarding the ship, but after setting sail, its really hard to be mad at the mall on the blue water and the 80 degree weather. Take me anywhere, I don't care.

So, before I left my mom wasn't feeling great, but due to a recent Chron's Disease flare (or so we thought) I didn't feel bad leaving her because unfortunately this wasn't rare. I spoke with her last Saturday, from Miami, and although she wasn't feeling great told me that she was "better." Well, the next time I was able to call (at $3/min) was last Tuesday. You know its bad when your 17-year old sister answers the phone saying, "Don't freak out." Great.

Turns out mom had a perforated bowel. Scary. They removed two more sections of her bowel leaving her just enough to not need any sort of "waste bag." Thank goodness. So, they had done emergency surgery on Sunday while I was in the middle of the ocean. My sister is quite mature for her age, but I felt an immense amount of guilt that she had to figure this out without me. After all, she is just a kid.

Needless to say, since we got home last Thursday (turkey day with no turkey) I have spent most of my time helping my mom get on the road to recovery. She is better, but still has a long way to go.

---

On the baby front, half way tomorrow! Its hard to believe really. Our "big" u/s is next Thursday. Can't remember if I posted our plan or not, but we are going to have the Dr. write down the baby's sex on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope for us to open X-mas eve. Kyle is going to either have to bury the darn thing in the backyard or give it away for 2 weeks because I have zero willpower. What ever made me think I was going to be able to wait another 20 weeks to find out?!

I'm off work for almost 4 weeks around the holidays (I love education) so my plan is to start getting my ducks in a row. Start the nursery, the registry, that sort of thing. I figure I'm feeling pretty good now so I should probably take advantage while the gettin' is good.

So it turns out that all my worrying was for nothing -- thank goodness. My cervix is a normal length and it isn't funneling or dilating at all. Whew.

The Dr. was back to her normal-self so that was a relief, too. She was bubbly as ever and was completely understanding as to why I wanted this extra ultrasound. I understand we all have our bad days, docs included, so I forgive her.

I got to see my baby's spine! Since the ultrasound was really about the cervix and not the baby, we didn't spend too much time looking at our little "tater" (as my husband's family has taken to calling he/she), but we did get a special glimpse of all those little bones in there that have formed since our last ultrasound 6 weeks ago.

We scheduled our "big" u/s for December 10. We decided to ask the Dr. to write down the sex on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope for us to open on Christmas. I'm pretty excited about this idea (which I owe to my 17-year old sister) although I told Kyle he is either going to have to bury the envelope in the backyard or give it to someone else to hold onto because I will find it and I will open it despite my good intentions. Heck, I've even already tried to talk him into opening it on his birthday, Dec. 13, but just as I almost had him convinced he snapped out of it and reminded me that his birthday is for him and Christmas is for our family:) How can you argue with that?

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We will be on a boat this holiday headed down to the Caribbean. Doesn't get much better than that.

So, we had a sucky Dr.'s appointment yesterday. I have always loved my Dr. for how bubbly and sweet she is, but either she was already mad before we got there, or I pissed her off.

My cervix has undergone two separate, but related, surgeries one of which was an emergency repair surgery. So, naturally, I am worried about the strength of my cervix as the baby gets bigger and bigger. She originally told me that she would begin monitoring it at 20 weeks. That sounded fine at the time, but here I am, getting ready to board a cruise ship for the Caribbean in a week and I'm slightly nervous about the state of my cervix. So, it only seemed logical to me to have her check it before we left to ease my mind. Keep in mind, this is only 3 weeks earlier than she had planned on starting to monitor it anyway.

Well, when I brought up that I was starting to get worried about it she practically made me feel like I was asking for a kidney. How hard it is to do an extra ultrasound? Eventually, after some tears, she did offer up to do the extra ultrasound, but not super willingly. I left there feeling bad for standing up for myself, but that hardly seems fair. Yeah, my worry may be premature, but after the trauma I went through "down there" it isn't hard to believe that I can't quite shake the terror I have from imagining that my cervix is shortening too soon.

I go back in on Wednesday for the "extra" ultrasound, but now I'm dreading it even more. Partially because I fear the unknown, but also because I don't feel all that warm and fuzzy towards my Doc at the moment.

I had a silly meltdown yesterday. It didn't feel silly at the time, though, of course. I was supposed to have my 16-week Dr. appointment and they had to cancel at the last minute for a delivery. Instead of being understanding that we had to reschedule for Thursday, I broke down. Yes, it would have been reasonable to have been disappointed that I wasn't going to get to hear my baby's heartbeat that day, but it wasn't that reasonable to have the sobbing-fit that it resulted in.

One good thing came out of though, Kyle finally realized that there are just times when I need to him to just listen and not talk. I called him in tears and when he realized I didn't want his positive spin on things he said, "So, is this one of those times you just want me to listen and not talk?" Good job, honey.

Voting: check. Next on today's agenda: the H1N1 shot.

I'm really not looking forward to standing in line for hours at the community clinic, but at this point I'm running out of time to get it. We leave for a Turkey Day cruise in about 3 weeks minus the 2 weeks that it takes to protect you, so here we are at today's clinic.

I'm a slight hypochondriac, I feel nauseous already.

In other news, we are sneaking up on our 16 week appointment. People weren't kidding when they say how fast this goes!

I've never been much of a drinker, but that old adage about wanting what you can't have sure does ring true when you attend your college Homecoming and a Halloween costume party all in the same day. Luckily, my friends weren't into the boozing it up in the middle of the day this year at our Homecoming, so that was a blessing, but I would have definitely liked my costume to be as funny as the rest of the party thought it was by the end of the night.

Kyle and I went as Bacon and Eggs. Didn't mean the pun, but it just sorta worked.