Genevieve Lea's Birth Story - Admitting (Part 2)

We got to the hospital around 4:00.  The admitting nurse took one look at me and said, "You're still smiling.  They won't be admitting you."  I have to admit, my heart sank a little.  I'd been laboring for 8 hours by this point and I was hopeful that I'd made at least some progress.  Plus, my contractions were pretty intense (although there was so much more in store for me) and I was tired.

We got put in a room right away.  I'm glad I didn't have to sit in the waiting room, at least.  They immediately hooked me up to a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor and left me flat of my back for "twenty minutes".  An hour later, they finally let me get up and move around as per doctor's orders.  I was 4 cm dilated, my contractions were regular and strong, and the baby's heart rate was perfect.  However, the doctor on call wanted proof that I was progressing before he admitted me.  So off I went to pace the halls.  While I was walking, my parents showed up and Matt went to the cafeteria to grab some milk.  My contractions got to the point that I had to stop and lean on something to get through them.  I was doing great as long as I wasn't on my back, though! 

They hooked me up to the monitor again, supposedly because they were seeing some decelerations in the baby's heartbeat.  Laying down for the monitor was the worst.  Walking the halls wasn't too bad, so we did more of that.  Matt's dad and stepmom got there at some point.  The rest of our time in admitting is a little blurry, but they finally took us back to a room in labor and delivery by mid morning.  I was still able to walk at that point, so I did!

Genevieve Lea's Birth Story - At Home (Part 1)

Yesterday marked one week since I went into labor.  I don't want to forget everything (ok, I might want to forget some things...), so I'm going to try and describe some of it here.

Tuesday Matt and I both worked, like usual.  I had been having mild Braxton-Hicks contractions since Sunday, but nothing that required immediate attention.  After work, I went to play practice, but cut out early because we had things to do at home.  Matt got home not long after I did, and we went out to Babies R Us and Target to get some things for the nursery.  We bought a mattress for the crib and splurged on some really cute stuff from the baby girl section at Target.  On the way to the grocery store, where we were hoping to find a bucket of fried chicken, I felt a particularly hard contraction.  I told Matt about it, but just kept driving.  We got our dinner and headed home.  I let Matt drive because I'd had a couple more contractions in the store and I wanted to try and figure out how far apart they were.

We came home and had dinner, although I wasn't very hungry and only ate a little mac n cheese and a bite or two of chicken.  My contractions established a pattern of lasting about 1 minute and being 10-15 minutes apart.  Matt and I started gathering hospital bags, packing last minute things, and putting things away in the nursery.  We both emailed work to set up sub plans.  Throughout our preparations, my contractions continued, as close together as 7 minutes.  We kept stopping to look at each other in amazement - "Is this really it?  Are we going to meet our daughter soon?"  We were so excited!

Matt went to bed around 1:00, and I laid down with him for a little while, but I couldn't sleep.  I timed contractions and thought about Baby Girl and tossed and turned.  After an hour, I couldn't stand to lay there anymore, so I moved my cell phone (with its contraction counter app) and my big 'ole belly to the living room, where I watched several episodes of the original X-Men cartoon while rocking on my yoga ball and relaxing with a heating pad on my back. 

At around 3:00, my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart, but they were only lasting about 45 seconds.  I decided to call the on-call service for my doctor's office, and the nurse advised me to go ahead and make my way to the hospital.  I knew there wasn't a rush yet, so I took my time.  I went to wake Matt up, and he started out very confused - he was muttering something about observations.  It only took him a minute or two to wake up, though, and we started getting ourselves together.  I called my mom and she said she was going to go ahead and start getting ready.  We left the house around 3:30.  Poor Jazzi didn't understand why she was in her crate at such a crazy hour. 

23 weeks!

Our sweet baby girl (yes, it's a girl!) is getting bigger all the time!  I feel her kicking me when I get still at night and any time I'm not sitting up straight enough.  She doesn't like being squished.

Today I had an ultrasound.  It was like a visit with my little girl.  I loved every minute of it (except when the tech squirted the gel in my belly button - ick!).  :)

Apparently according to their super-high tech measurements, our little girl's head is 20 cm around, her tummy is 18 cm around, and her tiny femur is 2 inches long!  What a miracle is growing inside me.

Perfect, tiny fingers and a thumb!

I love this one!  Her chubby bottom is on the right, and then her knee is on the left, with a little foot underneath.  Too precious.

In this one, you can see her profile and she's got her mouth open.  :)

The cat is out of the bag!

That's right, we're pregnant again!

Specifically, I'm 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant.  The baby is due March 20.  All is well so far!  We saw the baby's heartbeat at 7 and 10 weeks.  It was amazing how much the baby developed in those three weeks!  At 7 weeks, the ultrasound kind of just looked like a banana, but at 10 weeks, we could really see the baby!  In fact, it kicked while we were watching it!  It was truly wonderful.

 7 weeks

I told everyone at work this week, which means I can officially announce it to all our friends here too!  We're so very excited!

This past weekend, we had friends visiting, and the four of us went shopping (as usual).  Only this time, we shopped for baby stuff!  We found teeny tiny baby shoes with hedgehogs on them, and bought them even though they were pink.  (Yes, we plan to find out the sex of our baby, but our appointment for that is not until October 21.)  We also found a onesie and pants set with hedgehogs, and a bib set to match.  Those were gray and yellow, so we snagged them as well, and Baby can wear them no matter the sex.  Our friends also bought us a t-shirt that says "Kiss me, I'm Irish."  As our baby will most certainly be Irish, it's quite adorable.

It's been so much fun to call our family and out of town friends and tell them.  I've been floating on a cloud the last couple of days!  The responses have been so joyful!

And here's a picture of me, just because.  It's not all that flattering, but that's ok!  Just remember, I took it all by myself before 7 this morning.  I'm not really starting to show, but I don't think it'll be long.  My pants haven't fit in weeks.  ;)

Garden Update!!

The garden isn't doing all that well, but I've got some cool pictures to share anyway!  I think that the square foot garden boxes are too shaded.  Next year, we're going to have to look at moving them or building additional ones, maybe out in the field or in the back yard where they won't be so shaded.  Another problem, pointed out by a friend, is the lack of bees to pollinate the squash and eggplant!  Bees are a struggling species in the southeastern US, and although that might sound at first like a blessing, it's really kind of scary!  What will happen to all the bee-pollinated plants, especially vegetables and fruits that we eat, if the bees die?

Anyway, here are some pictures of our tiny cherry tomatoes!  They are delicious!

We also have cucumbers.  I love how the little tendrils curl around things.  They are so deceptively delicate!  And they grow at a crazy rate!

We also have a few shell beans drying in their pods, but I didn't take a picture of them.  And finally, just for your viewing pleasure, a very unusual bug in extreme close up!

Saying goodbye

The last three years have been really good, career-wise. I have had the opportunity to work with the most wonderful, supportive staff I could imagine.  They have been and still are like an extension of my family.  My personal connections to the job I've had run deep.  My dad and his siblings went to the school where I've been teaching.  One family of my cousins went there, and the youngest of them was in 8th grade when I started.  The building, with all its history, has become like home to me. 

The jobs I had down east were good jobs.  I learned and grew and made friends.  There are many teachers in Eastern NC about whom I care very much.  But I've never had the privilege of working with a group of people who take care of each other, who laugh, cry, celebrate, grieve, worry, pray, and wait together like the men and women I've worked with the last three years. 

Many things can be said about my school.  It has changed, it has problems, it is old, it is not what it used to be.  But a school is really only as good as the teachers in it, and I've been so lucky.

It was really hard to say goodbye.  I might not have seen everyone, and I kept my emotions very much in check, because if I had started, I might not have been able to stop.  My GMS family, you will always be just that: a family.  Thank you so much for your love, support, kind words, prayers, laughs, and general good times.  It's been an honor to work with you.  I love you all so much!

My Venus fly trap caught something!!

Yesterday when I came home, I checked out the garden, as usual.  When I got to the carnivorous section, I discovered this!  My little Venus fly trap caught a huge granddaddy long-legs!  After I endured a momentary shiver, I was enthralled.  All those legs sticking out everywhere!  :)  It's amazing that a *plant* can catch and eat something so much bigger than it.