Showers of Good Wishes!!

Pamela at Happy Panda is hosting a cyber baby shower for Susan and Janice at 5 Minutes for Mom. I thought I would join in on the fun!!

I don't have any pictures of me in labor. I don't even have any pictures of me with baby in arms right after they were born. With both of my boys, they were not handed to me after they born. With Logan, I think it was because I was at a teaching hospital. However, with Lucas, they handed him off to pediatricians for two reasons. One, I wasGBS+ and they wanted to get him suctioned really well. Two, they had given me some i.v. pain meds not long before he was born and they had to check him over.

Here I am after just giving birth...even though I didn't get to hold Lucas right away, I was still happy to have it over with!!


Here is the closest I have to just being born...(They had just handed Lucas over to me!!)..



Here are some pictures of me while pregnant. In the first picture, I was pregnant with Logan, my oldest son. I was 38 weeks pregnant. My husband was in the Army at the time and had just gotten off of work (the night shift). He had a formation that he had to go to, but I insisted that we go take these pictures at a park on post first. I was afraid we would run out of time later because I had a doctor appt. later in the day that we had to drive to. It was only about 30 miles away, but it was at the National Naval Medical Center in the D.C. area and traffic is unpredictable. So, we literally ran around at the park taking pictures because hubby had to get home and get in his Class A's before going to the formation. Later we went to my doctor'sappt. and they checked me....I was 4cm dilated. I wasn't having contractions and my water hadn't broke, so they allowed me to go home and get my bag, car seat, etc..., but made me promise I would come right back to the hospital. When I called the OB dept. to tell them I was on my way, they informed me that they were full and told me to call back if my water broke or contractions started. I did end up in labor that night, so this picture was taken the day I went into labor!! Good thing I insisted we take them. I told hubby that I could have baby that day and then we wouldn't have a picture. Of course, I didn't really think I would go into labor that day, but sure enough I did!!

Hubby likes to say that I am glowing in this picture. Not sure what really caused it to have that effect

This picture is my second pregnancy....Lucas. It was taken exactly one week before he was born.



As I already said, my husband was in the Army when I was pregnant with our first. He had joined one month after we married, left for basic, then AIT, then a year in Korea. He came home on mid-tour and we decided we would try for a baby. I was a bit nervous, but really thought with him only being home one month I wouldn't get pregnant. He returned to Korea on Feb. 2nd and on Feb. 14th I had my positive test!! He came home when I was 20 weeks pregnant and we moved from northern CA to MD (and we drove!!). As I said earlier, I went into labor with Logan at 38 weeks pregnant. I had just drifted off to sleep and the phone rang. It was my dad. I talked to him for a while and while on the phone, I started having contractions. After getting off the phone, they weren't going away. I woke hubby up and had him time them. Remember, he had worked the night shift the night before, then went and took pics at the park with me, then went to a formation, then to my doctor appt., then home to pack up the car with everything I would need at the hospital...so, he hadn't had any sleep in 24 hours. After a while, they were about 10 minutes apart, but I was not in pain during them. I called the hospital and they told me I wasn't in labor because I wasn't in pain. They said I could come in to be checked if it made me feel better. We drove to the hospital at 1 in the morning. They checked me and I was still at 4cm. They monitored my contractions and said they didn't seem to be strong enough to be real labor....I still wasn't in any pain.They had me walk the halls and after an hour, my water broke. They checked me again and I was 5cm....they admitted me. I got all settled in my room...still not in any pain. The doctor checked me again and I still hadn't made any progress. My nurse told me I looked like I was at a picnic, not in labor. After a while I started to get a little uncomfortable and I had to stay on my left side because my blood pressure was getting high. I had to go to the bathroom so bad, so they let me up. They told me not to push while on the toilet...LOL! I did not want to get back in the bed because I knew I would have to be on my left side and I was getting very uncomfortable. I got back into bed and the pain really kicked in. I started throwing up and the nurse offered an epidural. I had just been checked and was STILL 5cm. I thought it was going to be hours still, so I agreed to it. It took about 30 minutes from that point get the epidural and when they finished and laid me down, they wanted to insert an internal monitor because they still thought my contractions were not strong enough. Lo and behold, I was 10cm!! I went from 5 to 10 in about 30 minutes!! I was a bit disappointed that I got the epidural because I wanted to to it natural and I made it to 10cm and got the epidural just in time for the pushing. I pushed for about an hour and my sweet little Logan was born. At one point I opened my eyes during labor and there were about 10 people lined up on the wall watching me push. I closed my eyes again. After Logan was born theycongratulated me and all filed out of the room. I guess that is another joy of birthing in a teaching hospital. Of course, you can request that no one extra be allowed in, but it wasn't something that I thought to request. Now I know, if you don't want 10 strangers lined up on the wall watching you birth your baby, make sure your nurse knows that ahead of time...LOL!! After about 7 hours, they became very concerned about his breathing and took him down to the NICU to be monitored. Hubby was totally passed out on the couch and it was everything I could do to get him to wake up to help me out of bed so I could go to the NICU to see Logan. When we got there, he was on oxygen and had wires everywhere. He ended up having pneumonia and had to stay in the NICU for five days. On day 5, we were at home getting ready to go visit him for the day and the phone rang. It was his doctor telling us that he felt Logan was ready to come home if we were willing to give him oral antibiotics....UMMMM YES!! So, we drove down and got to bring our little bundle home!!! I forgot to mention that I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 24 weeks pregnant. I was able to control it with diet and exercise and did not have any complications. I do have one note of advice. They started giving me an episiotomy , but didn't tell me to stop pushing. As they started the cut, I pushed and out came baby. I tore and needed stitches. A student got the honors of stitching me up. It took forever and he did a horrible job. Never again will a student give me stitches....especially down "there". I wouldn't recommend it to any one else either!!...LOL I was due on Oct. 23, 2002 and Logan entered the world on Oct. 9th, 2002!!



Just before we headed home!!

When Logan was one year old, I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. So, when I got pregnant the second time around, I had to be on insulin the whole pregnancy. I had to go to the doctor very frequently, too. At the end, I was having stress tests two times per week and reg. OB appts one a week. It was a very busy pregnancy. Because of the diabetes, they wanted to induce me at 39 weeks. I was scheduled to be induced on Feb. 26, 2006. My dad flew in on the 25th so that he could watch Logan for us. I was really busy on the 25th and we did lots of walking at Costco after picking my dad up from the airport. While we were out, my lower back was really hurting. We made it home and got Logan all tucked in. I was going to the bathroom often and thought maybe my water broke. Strange as it sounds, I kept feeling the urge to pee and was going to the bathroom constantly. The same thing happened when my water broke with Logan. Somehow it didn't just all gush out of me, but I had some control over it in the beginning. I told hubby that I thought my water had broke. Just as I was getting ready to call my doctor, a larger gush came and I knew my water had broke. Once again, I didn't seem to be having painful contractions, so I took a shower before heading to the hospital. This time we only lived a few blocks from the hospital. When we got there, we had to enter through the ER and walk all the way to the OB wing. With each step more fluid leaked out. When I finally got to the OB wing, they took me to my room and gave me my gown to put on. When my nurse came into my room, she only saw my husband. She asked if I was in my gown yet and I called out from the bathroom. I was sitting on the toilet because the fluid was leaking out non-stop and they didn't have my bed ready. So, I finally made it to my room and into my bed around midnight. Once again, I wasn't in any pain with my contractions. They didn't want to check me since I was GBS+, so I had no idea how much I was dilated. That was very frustrating to not know how far along I was. I was GBS+ with my first as well, and when I told them about him ending up in the NICU, they wanted to make sure I labored fast and that they suctioned this baby really well. My midwife told me that when I was begging for meds, they would check me. That finally happened and when they checked me, I was 4cm.....WHAT??? I really thought I was further along because I was in LOTS of pain now. They got me all set up for an epidural, but there was an emergency and the anesthesiologist couldn't get to me. They told me they could give me i.v. meds and I agreed to them. I was told that if I wanted to use the bathroom I had to do it before I got the meds because I couldn't get up once I had them. I went to the bathroom and the contractions were so painful I couldn't stand back up off the toilet. My husband helped me up and to the edge of my bed, but my stomach was so tight that I couldn't relax the muscle enough to lay down. My nurse finally gave me a little i.v med to relax me enough to lay back down. I laid down and she finished the i.v dose and gave me a shot in my rear. Once again, my blood pressure was high and baby'sheart rate was dropping with contractions. I had to lay on my left side to labor. I also had to be hooked up to an insulin drip and have my blood sugar checked every hour. After getting mymeds my body relaxed and things moved quickly!! My nurse came in and asked how I was doing. I told her that I felt like my body was pushing and I couldn't stop it. She said she would get my midwife. I think she thought I was kidding since I was checked about 15 minutes earlier and was only 4cm. She came back about 10 minutes later and the midwife wasn't with her. I told her the baby was coming and she got my midwife. Once again, I moved quickly. I went from 4cm to 10cm in about 30minutes . At 4:59 am, I was complete and ready to push, but they told me I had to wait for the pediatricians to get there. I pushed through two contractions and Lucas was born at 5:12 am.....three hours before I was scheduled to begin my induction!! No episiotomy, no tears, no epidural!! I didn't even feel like I had just had a baby....I felt great!!


This is about 3 hours after Lucas was born!

Logan was so excited to meet his brother!

Lucas had a head full of black hair!!


Oh...and as a side note...Apparently I am good at making 7 pound, 2 ounce babies, because both of my boys weighed that...even with one being born at 38 weeks and the other at 39 weeks!! And the only thing I allowed my husband to do while I was laboring was dab my forehead with a wet cloth. At one point while laboring with Logan, my nurse was lightly stroking my belly and telling me to relax. It really worked. When hubby tried it when my nurse left the room, he pushed down on my belly and exclaimed, "Oh my word!! Did you feel how hard your belly is?". Ouch!! That was it...he wasn't allowed to touch me after that. Just dab my forehead thank you very much!!

I would love any of the prizes, but my top picks are:
1.Signing Time
2.Graced Designs
3.Mom 4 Life

Here are some questions/answers for more fun:

1.Tell us your favorite baby name for a boy and a girl.

Well, I really love both of my boys names (Logan Wesley and Lucas Riley). For a girl, we really like Morgan Rae.

2.Tell us your favorite nursery rhyme and/or children’s book.

I saw that someone else also chose this. I really loved Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, too. I have fond memories of my Papa reading it to me.

3. What was the best/worst baby shower gift you received?

With both of my boys I didn't live close to family/friends. With my first I didn't have a shower and with my second, a group of internet friends chipped in and got me some homemade pampering products.

4. What did you like the most/least about being pregnant?

I really loved being pregnant. With both of my boys, my pregnancies weren't the easiest, but I just loved having that bond with my growing baby!!