A Birth Story....

Greetings from Bessies' Best Dairy.  We've only got one customer, but the reviews are all raves!

November 6th at 12:24pm one tiny little cry erupted from behind the curtain separating Husband and me from what was surely a gruesome scene as the doctor and nurses worked to bring our little one into the world. 

One little cry and our world completely changed.

She still didn't have a name.  The nurses that had prepped me for my surgery were kindly reassuring that the name would come.  I was a wreck, scared out of my mind for the next part... the surgery part and I finally lost my cool, quietly crying into my chest, pressing the top of my head into the nurse standing in front of me as the needle for the spinal block was put into my back.  My resolve was lost.

Husband was brought in, covered from head to toe in blue hospital garb.  Oddly enough, the blue scrubs amplified the blue in his eyes and he looked calm and strong--excited, but calm.  He was sat near my head and the medical team informed us that they had already begun the procedure.  "This is so weird,"  I remember telling him as I felt his hand on my head and nothing from my chest down.  The nurse gave him a tissue to mop up the tears that were still quietly streaming from my eyes.

Lord knows what was going on behind the sheet.  It must have been a textbook surgery because my doctor leisurely talked with the nurses about his son and a few colleagues they had in common.   

And then we were told she was almost here.  To be exact, my doctor said, "just a few more layers."  And then there was the little cry and nothing as been exactly the same since.

With big blue eyes and a head full of light brown hair, she weighed in at a respectable 6 pounds, 2 ounces and measured in at 18 and a half inches long. 

Speechless and overwhelmed my tears of fear changed to tears of joy.  Before I knew it I was in recovery with my tiny new family learning to breastfeed and being poked and proded by several nurses.  The OR nurses were right, a name finally came to us. We went traditional and looked to family names for inspiration.  Her name is Elizabeth Aldon and we think we did a good job... but of course, I'm biased.

She is perfect in that way that all babies are perfect and we couldn't be more proud.  These days she calls the shots.  Simply leaving the house takes hours it seems and most days if I can find the time to wash a few dishes or fold a couple of pieces of clothing, I'm on cloud nine.

Yes, everything is different with just that one little cry....

She's Here....

Our Little One has arrived November 6th, weighing in at a respectable 6 pounds, 2 ounces!  I promise to fill in the delightful details very soon... but it is hard to type with one hand and hold a beautiful baby in the other.  For now the baby wins.  You understand riht?

38 Weeks: Only 5 Days Left to Go...

Tuesday was the start of our 38th week of being pregnant...  and surprisingly I feel really good.  I've had little to no swelling in my feet and just on rare occasions my wedding bands become a little snug.

My blood pressure is holding steady as is my weight... things seem to be going well and more than anything, I'm relieved.  After going through months of infertility, I had sometimes thought that maybe I'm just not "meant" to be pregnant.  And then after finally getting a positive and then becoming so very sick that first trimester, I for sure thought that it was true.  But somewhere near the end of that first trimester the sickness lifted and from there out I've felt good.

Now my biggest complaint is that I'm running out of time to prepare and I'm exhausted.  My afternoons and nights are spent trying to figure out what I need to do next in some desperate attempt to try and be prepared.  Let me just tell you, it is hard to be prepared when you don't know what to prepare for.

But as of tonight... My gowns are washed along with several receiving blankets, burp cloths, blankets and some tiny little baby clothing.  They are folded neatly in a laundry basket just waiting to be put into a bag for the hospital.  The car seat, although not installed into my new car, is downstairs and ready to go.  The baby bassinet is in the bedroom.  The crib is set up, dressed and ready to go, even though it will be a few weeks before our little one lays in it.  The newborn diapers are ready to go.  The nursery, although not 100% perfect is very close to perfect and getting closer everyday.

5 days and counting...  it is so surreal to think that very soon there will be a whole new person around...  a person that we are responsible for and hopefully a person that we can teach not to be scared of clowns-- unlike the dog who is terrified of small children dressed as clowns for Halloween.

Surreal, impossible... truly a miracle and I hope and pray that things go well. 

37 Weeks and Waiting...

So we are a go for a C-Section... in less than two weeks!  Today was our 37 week appointment and to be on the safe side, an ultrasound was scheduled to confirm if Little No Name is upside down like she is supposed to be or right side up like she wants to be. 

Low and behold, she is right side up... as she has been the whole time, as far as I can tell.  We were not able to get any really good shots of her face as her face is facing my spine.  But the utlrasound technician could tell that she has a head full of hair and she weighs about 5 pounds and 15 ounces, this weight does not exactly put her in the top weight percentiles, but seeing how I'm a smaller than average person and Husband is not a huge guy, the doctors' are not concerned.  The ultrasound tech felt for sure that by 39 weeks she'd be around 6 pounds or so... which has been my target goal.

Now we just have to ready ourself for her arrival... putting away the last few baby related items and packing our bags for the hospital stay and deciding on a name...

I'm feeling pretty good these days.  My weight, although much higher that I'm used to seeing on my scales, seems to be well controlled as is my blood pressure. I've, so far, experienced very little swelling and for the most part besides being tired, I'm feeling pretty good.

As we head into another weekend, I'm hoping to get much of my "to-do" list checked off.

Check out our maternity pictures at www.marymephotographyblog.com

Pottery Barn May Be My New Favorite Store...

I ordered a picture frame for the nursery from Pottery Barn.  A basic white frame with a white matte that would perfectly set off the pink graphic print I ordered from Etsy.

Today it arrived. 

Damaged.

The outside shipping box was fine, but the inside box that contained my picture frame looked as if something heavy got the upper left hand corner.  The thin cardboard box was ripped and the bubble wrap that was protecting the frame flattened.  The wooden frame was crushed...

Great.  I thought.  Now I'm going to have to return this frame and wait for a new one.  What a hassle.

So after eating my Bojangles and taking care of a few odds and ends, I pulled up the internet, just as the packing slip recommended and went to the Pottery Barn website to start the return process.

Just Great.  I thought as the little box I was supposed to check, never popped up.  So I called the 1-888 number for customer service.  Just Great!!!!

To my surprise I was promptly connected to a customer service representative.  She was kind, courteous and understanding.  I didn't even have to get ugly... I just gave her my order number and she took down my story recounting the damage.  And get this-- she just told me to discard the current frame, a new one would be sent to me in the next few days!

I don't even have to send it back to the company!  Can you believe it?

I'm in complete and utter shock!!!!  And that is why Pottery Barn may be my new favorite store.

Pottery Barn May Be My New Favorite Store...

I ordered a picture frame for the nursery from Pottery Barn.  A basic white frame with a white matte that would perfectly set off the pink graphic print I ordered from Etsy.

Today it arrived. 

Damaged.

The outside shipping box was fine, but the inside box that contained my picture frame looked as if something heavy got the upper left hand corner.  The thin cardboard box was ripped and the bubble wrap that was protecting the frame flattened.  The wooden frame was crushed...

Great.  I thought.  Now I'm going to have to return this frame and wait for a new one.  What a hassle.

So after eating my Bojangles and taking care of a few odds and ends, I pulled up the internet, just as the packing slip recommended and went to the Pottery Barn website to start the return process.

Just Great.  I thought as the little box I was supposed to check, never popped up.  So I called the 1-888 number for customer service.  Just Great!!!!

To my surprise I was promptly connected to a customer service representative.  She was kind, courteous and understanding.  I didn't even have to get ugly... I just gave her my order number and she took down my story recounting the damage.  And get this-- she just told me to discard the current frame, a new one would be sent to me in the next few days!

I don't even have to send it back to the company!  Can you believe it?

I'm in complete and utter shock!!!!  And that is why Pottery Barn may be my new favorite store.

36 Weeks and Counting...

This weeks marks our entry into the 36th week of pregnancy and with this milestone comes the realization that after this week our baby will be considered full term.  She can come anytime and that will be medically okay... crazy huh?

As we leave the 35th week, I am finding Husband in all out nesting mode and I am finding myself in some strange buying mood, purchasing all sorts of things for the nursery.  I guess we are readying ourselves in very different ways.  As I type there are woven, colorful storage baskets being shipped to the house along with baby clothes hangers, closet labels, a green and white curtain and a coral vase-- although the vase is going in the living room. 

There is also a picture frame coming for the Audrey Hepburn quote that I purchased off of Etsy... there may not be much hanging on the rest of our walls, but there will be things on our daughter's walls.

We still haven't picked a name... which I think is more alarming for our friends and family than it is for us.  In fact, in my passive aggressive way, the more others seem to worry about it, the less I tend to.  A name will be picked, but I doubt it will come to us before she does.

But all this baby preparation, specifically how much time and effort I have put into getting the nursery ready has got me thinking... why don't I spend as much time worrying about all the other rooms in our house?

To my surprise all the rooms in our house are officially filled with some sort of furniture.  By making the guest room the nursery and making the once empty spare room the new guest room, we officially have something in every room... but there is little as far as design goes. 

After the baby comes, I'm hoping that some of my attention will be back on getting our house as wonderful as I think it can be... although I know that that probably won't be as easy as it sounds.

So as Husband hangs lighting fixtures and builds high chairs and baby swings and adds more landscaping to the yard, and I burn a hole into my gold card... our baby is making herself ready.  As far as I can tell she is still breech... so how she gets here is a little questionable at the moment and what she will be called is a little questionable as well.  Regardless, I'm feeling pretty good... pretty calm... pretty relaxed... and I'm hoping that the next few weeks are more of the same.