We have grown by two tiny feet

We are now a family of three! Hadley Ellen entered the world at 6:55 pm on Sunday, March 22nd. She is 19 3/4 inches long, weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces and is doing great. We might be slightly biased but we think she is perfect!

There are not a whole lot of exciting or gory details- my water broke at 6am, Kerry shot out of bed, we got to the hospital a little before 7am and then we just waited. I was having a bunch of steady contractions but only felt three of them. So after 11 hours of no progress the doctor suggested a c-section and off we went to the operating room. Twenty minutes later, Kerry was holding our daughter. All is well with all of us! Here are a few photos:

And, heartburn does equal a lot of hair!

 

 

We are looking forward to introducing her to family and friends soon! Thanks for all the well wishes and congrats! We will certainly be taking more pictures for all of you to see.

A fun Friday trip to L&D

Sorry- the Comcast story has to be interrupted by our Friday into Saturday adventure to Labor and Delivery at Sibley Hospital. Comcast did call back but I have not spoken to them and the person who left me a message won’t be back until Monday.

But anyway, back to Friday. We were scheduled to have our ‘big talk’ with the doctor about all the fun things that were going to happen when I went into labor. We got to the doctor’s office and did the standard blood pressure/weight check and then as he was checking me he started getting concerned.  I was having contractions. And, they were frequent. And, I had NO idea. And, the doctor got flustered (this NEVER  happens because he is usually the calmest, most relaxed doctor ever) and this reaction made both Kerry and I stress out a little. The doc never gets alarmed about anything and he was filling out paperwork, calling the L&D floor , telling them we were coming over, telling us where to go and letting us know that he would be seeing us shortly. Luckily, our appointment was at the medical offices connected to Sibley so we could just walk right over. Within a few minutes we had paperwork and were being admitted. Few minutes after that I was connected to monitors and IV and we were just waiting to see what was happening.

I was definitely having contractions (still not feeling ANYTHING) and they were really frequent and consistent. Then the ultrasound got wheeled in and after 40 minutes (and a few new pictures of Baby V) we were able to relax because she was under no distress and everything looked great with her and her surroundings. However, we were staying on the L&D floor and we were not going anywhere. Kerry and I got as comfortable as possible and were treated great by the staff. My doctor visited many times and each time it was that nothing had changed- baby was doing great but I was still having the contractions and they were still very frequent.

After an overnight on L&D we got moved off the floor around 8am this morning because the contractions had slowed down and we got moved to a ‘normal’ room. My biggest fear was they were just going to keep me there. But this afternoon they did release me but I am on ‘home rest’ for the next 10 days and I have to go to the doctors on Monday for follow-up.  After being discharged, we really appreciated that Baby V decided to stay put for a while longer. Also, we talked more about names and still don’t have the front runner but I think we are getting closer.  

We never did get the ‘big talk,’ but we did get a practice run. We know where to park, we are already in the admissions system, all my paperwork is already complete for the next time and hopefully we will see all the great nurses we had this weekend again!

For now, I will be working from home and we will keep you all posted on progress. Right now, I am happily 36 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

Winter Storm Warning and other weekend happenings

DC and the metro area are under a winter storm warning until 2pm tomorrow. We are supposed to get 5-9 inches of snow but so far no flakes, just gray outside. Supposedly we will have 3 inches prior to 8pm tonight. We are waiting.

Kerry thought this was hysterical as we were waiting to start our hospital tour at Sibley. I promised I would post it. (Officially 35 weeks 3 days pregnant today). The hospital tour was very useful and the tour guide gave us some great information BUT there was a couple in our group who could not follow directions. On the hospital website and when I called to book the tour, it was clearly state- ‘this is an adult only tour. We have a siblings tour for couple’s who already have children. This tour is intended for parents to be only.’ The aforementioned couple showed up with their SCREAMING, out of control three year old and thought we would all appreciate ‘seeing what we had in store.’ The mom really said that. Are you kidding me? The tour guide was annoyed, the other people were annoyed, the nurses on the floors we visited were annoyed and this couple was completely oblivious to everyone else. I am positive they did not hear anything the tour guide said because they were having to stop her from running down the labor and delivery floor, find the pear she threw, answer her questions, stop her from going into a patients’ room, find her book and muffle her screams. If I had been the tour guide I would have kicked them out. Otherwise, it was a nice tour.

Minor home projects today too. Kerry replaced the awful light bar in the guest bathroom with something much more appealing.

Now, we just need to replace the vanity and the flooring. More to come on that project soon.

In February, my mom’s co-workers threw her a ‘Grandmother Shower,’ and she got some nice books, toys, towels and baby things for her house. And, she got a boat load of clothing for Baby V! Elementary school teachers know how to pick out clothing and our clothing collection has now tripled. Baby V got dresses, onesies, sleepers, pants, socks, the cutest jeans and t-shirts (plus bibs and burp cloths that coordinate). She is going to be well-dressed in the coming months.

I finally finished sewing the curtains I started last week and made another pillow. I need to find some hardware to hold back the curtain tie but almost done.

Chip’s mom made us the baby blanket on the back of the chair. It is so soft and so pretty!

And, I met up with my mom’s group this weekend and we had a ‘diaper exchange.’ Basically everyone bought a different brand of diapers and we mixed them up so everyone left with all the different brands and now we can see what will work best for us. We have over a 100 diapers now and hopefully one will be our favorite. Scary to think that 100+ diapers will probably only last us a week.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and if it does snow we will post the pictures!

Bad fruit punch and other updates

I had my 29 week appointment today (well, officially 29 weeks and one day) and part of the check-up was a gestational diabetes test that involves drinking this bad fruit punch tasting mixture, sitting for an hour and then having blood drawn. I don’t have any of the symptoms of GD but some people don’t always have smptoms so as a pre-caution they give all expecting women the test. My results should be back on Tuesday. While I was at Sibley Hospital for my appointment this morning, I pre-registered so that they have all my insurance and medical information on file for delivery. Kerry and I will be taking a hospital tour and class in February and at the end of February we have our ‘big talk’ appointment with the doctor. We both really like my doctor and one of the best parts is that we never wait more than 5 minutes when we arrive for an appointment. I don’t know how the office keeps such a good schedule but it is so nice to just come in and be seen. It might sound silly but when you go to the office every two weeks it is nice that it does not take a huge chunk out of the day. I had an appointment at 8am this morning and when I arrived at 7:50 he was waiting for me. Also, he is very direct and does not sugar coat things- for example this morning I had a choice of ‘drinks’ for my test and asked what one tasted the best and he looked at me over his glasses and said, ‘they all taste equally bad.’ Now, I picked the fruit punch and it was not horrible but it was nice to be prepared. He is great about answering questions but I have learned that over the past few months to be prepared to get a very direct, sometimes very short medical answer (‘is this going to hurt?’ ‘yes’). But, it is nice to hear from his staff that he is really great to work for and he is who they would want as a doctor, especially in any kind of emergency. And, he was in the Army for several years so Kerry approves.

Other updates for the week:

-It is 11 degrees here today. Just plain cold. We know it is much colder in Minnesota and South Dakota but this is DC and we don’t usually have cold like this.

-We will be spending most of the weekend avoiding Inauguration mayhem. And, avoiding the cold.

-We will be finishing up our guest bathroom remodel plans so Kerry and Jorge can get working on the new floor, vanity and lights so we can update the look (and rid ourselves the stick-down tile linoleum). More to come on this later.

- Baby V is the size of a head of lettuce/cabbage- she weighs over three pounds and is about 17 inches long. Her heartbeat is still 14o beats per minute she is very active (mainly at night). Kerry says I look like I am trying to shoplift a ball out of a store.

-Still have heartburn (thanks for all those that suggested cures). And, as the doctor said today, ‘all the major growth is done- now she is just adding weight and baking.’

Hope everyone has a great weekend and we promise to post pictures soon!