For your viewing pleasures...

More details to come, obviously but, Jayla Tamia was born by c-section on Wednesday, August 24 at 9:01pm. I am recovering nicely, unfortunately Jayla is still in NICU at the hospital. It kills me but, I'm trying to take it day by day. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 oz. and measured 19.5 inches long! Not bad for only 37 weeks gestation. Here she is:

Finally...nursery pics!

6 days and counting...down...

Well, it's official. This little girl will likely be born on Wednesday, August 24 - 19 days before her estimated date of delivery. We are scheduled to be induced on Wednesday morning after having Cervidil on Tuesday night.

Part of me is really, really excited - about the prospect of seeing her finally and about the prospect of taking my body back!! (It really has gotten out of control the last two weeks or so. Check my pics!) Another part of me is just hoping that everything goes as planned and I don't end up undergoing a c-section. Then the other part of me still has a twinge of concern for the health of my precious little girl. I'm also excited that my mom will be able to be here with us. She's driving in from Mississippi on Tuesday. My husband's parents are also planning to drive down from St. Louis next week. I'm BUMMED that my dad won't be here though. He has been working in China since May and is scheduled to return on September 7 - no way he can move the date up. :(

But, my dad has offered some interesting insight on this whole bowel blockage thing. He suggested that I make sure the doctors know that he and all of his brothers and sisters (13 children total) were born with umbilical hernias. Likewise, my sister and I were born with them. I've done a little research and this condition is definitely associated with bowel/intestinal blockage. I little snip and tuck and that can be fixed - although I do have a permanent scar from my surgery. But, if it turned out to be something like that, I know she will live a normal life and according to the Internet, she'd heal from the surgery in just 5 days or so. Anyway, I will remember to make sure they check for that when she born.

So, tomorrow is my last day at work!!! I've been running around all week trying to get my leave papers filled out and trying to transition things to the not-so-bright lady that just started working with us last week. She seems very overwhelmed with my leaving so soon. My boss is shaking his head because he depends on me to pretty much do everything. So, it'll be interesting to watch them survive without me. I've decided to take 16 weeks off - returning to work on December 12. I will, however, be working from home for 8 of those weeks off. I just can't leave them high and dry for 4 whole months!

On the home front, things are shaping up good with all of the last minute preparations for the baby. It looks like I'm going to be writing Thank You notes while at the hospital since I haven't finished those yet. Other than that, I really just need to get my hospital bag together and prepare my list of people to inform when she is born. My sweet, sweet husband has been taking care of EVERYTHING else around the house for us - laundry, assembling baby gear, etc.

Tonight my husband played his last church league basketball game before entering fatherhood. I missed the beginning of the game but, he said he did the group prayer (both teams come together for this) and dedicated the game to his wife and his daughter...so sweet. The awesome part is that he hit the winning shot with 3 seconds left in the game: They were down by two points, he hit a lay-up and was fouled, then hit his foul shot so they won by one point - AWESOME!!! :)

She's coming sooner than we thought...

Last night, I went on my regular 2-mile stroll through the neighborhood. I had decided that I was going to take a long bath when I got home. But, as I was getting undressed, the phone rang - it was my doctor! She's never called me at home before. She wanted to discuss the last ultrasound results. She said that she wanted me to see a high-risk doctor that would be able to tell her more about the excess fluid that the ultrasound was showing in the baby's bowels. She feared that there may be some sort of obstruction/blockage and thought a high risk doctor could tell her more than the general radiologist that I've been seeing for ultrasounds in the past. Before we got off the phone, I reminded her that I'd see her this morning for my 36 week appointment.

So, this morning, I go in. We do the normal stuff - weight stayed the same, blood pressure up to 128/80 (first time it's moved since I've been pregnant), baby's heartbeat still at 150 bpm, and I'm measuring 40cm!! Then she tested me for Group B strep and checked my cervix. She said that my cervix was "pretty soft" but "closed". Slightly disappointing to me but, she said for 36 weeks, I'm on track. Then we wrapped it up and she said that she would have her nurse make an appointment with the high-risk doctor so that we would at least know when we would get to find out more about our baby's condition. So, we waited and the nurse finally told us that we could go straight over there. It only involved taking an elevator from the 10th floor down to the 7th floor so, we went.

It was initially very annoying to have to show insurance and fill out paperwork and stuff. But, they got us in to the doctor in about 20 minutes, including paperwork time. The doctor started taking a look at the baby. She mentioned the regular stuff that we've heard already - lots of hair, beautiful brain, 4-chamber heart, perfect spine, even estimated her at 6 lbs, 3 oz again (I think this ultrasound estimate was more reliable)...but, she also agreed that there appeared to be some sort of blockage in her bowels/intestines. She even mentioned something about an enlarged colon - in terms that we couldn't understand, of course. But, the one thing we do understand is that she hopes it's just an obstruction that can easily be cleared but, they have to get her out of me and examine her with x-rays, etc. All they can tell from the ultrasound is that she isn't eliminating like she should be - no real indication of why. So, the doctor started by saying that I shouldn't stay pregnant to my due date. Then decided that I would probably need to have this baby this week or next week. And certainly not be pregnant for more than 2 more weeks!! Then she called my regular doctor while we were still there. My doctor agreed with her and said that she would call me tonight to start discussing options. I'm hoping that we can hold out long enough for me to dilate some on my own - unless they think a c-section is the way to go since there's an "unknown" condition in the baby.

I cried like a baby when I left that office - good thing my husband was with me. I know everything will be fine and I'm ultra excited about the prospect of meeting this little girl so very soon but, I don't want anything to be really wrong with her. I don't want her to have to undergo surgery as a newborn! I don't want her to be taken away from me in the hospital!! I don't want her to spend alot of time in the hospital!! I just have to remind myself that she is going to be fine. This time next month, this will all be settled and she will be a normal, healthy little girl. I am not worried about it and I totally trust God for healing her but, it just makes me sad that she could be uncomfortable or in pain or anything like that.

My husband's response was very different. He started to worry about all of the things that he wants to get done around the house before she gets here. It's funny but, his nesting instinct is so much stronger than mine!! He has sworn off any activities that we had planned during the evenings this week - he's preparing for his little girl! :)

So, maybe we'll know even more about the specifics of delivery after we talk to my doctor tonight...meanwhile I'm teetering between excited and scared to death!!

The Pimple

Okay, for all practical purposes, I have had flawless skin for all of my adult life (I don't know what was wrong with me when I was like 8 years old). So flawless that last year, I went to get a facial as a birthday gift from my husband. The lady kept marveling over my skin and she said it looked like I exfoliate everyday. First of all, I have NO CLUE what it means to exfoliate!! She asked me what I use on my skin - ummm, yeah - nothing but, water.

So, anyway, as of day #1 of this pregnancy, I have had this little pimple on the left side of my nose. My sister hates it and wants to pop it every time she sees it. Other people act like they don't notice it. Regardless, it has always been my constant reminder that I am pregnant - especially in the early days when I wasn't showing and needed to convince myself that this pregnancy was still viable and thriving. In my head, there was no way I could have a pimple unless I was pregnant! Well, I guess you can say that I've even grown attached to the little pimple (maybe I should name it!) in the past 8 months.

So, this morning, I wake up - and the little pimple is GONE!!! GONE!!! GONE!!! Sadly, I miss it. And with it's dissappearance, I am reminded that this pregnancy will soon be over.

Interesting Doctor Update

Okay, so I went to the doctor today. My appointment was at 10:10. I got there at 10:08 and they called me straight back. I left my urine sample and then waited a few more minutes to be called into an examination room. While I was waiting, I saw a lady who wasn't getting a heartbeat on the doppler - broke my heart.

Anyway, the past 2 weeks or so, I have noticed a major growth spurt. I went from barely feeling pregnant to being uncomfortable almost every time I move. I also have felt alot of stretching in the abdomen area - like my skin is constantly pulling. And my pelvis should not still be connected to my body as it aches with every movement. Most of my stats were normal today - baby heartrate = 152bpm, my bp = 120/70 but, it was no surprise to me when I had gained 8 pounds (how did I exactly estimate how much weight that cake cost me!?!?) and that still wasn't a huge deal until my doctor measured me. In just 2 weeks, I went from 32 cm to 38 cm!! Most importantly, I'm only 34 weeks + 2 days today! So, the doctor sent me over to the Women's hospital for my third ultrasound. She said that it could be one of a few things: 1. I have too much amniotic fluid. 2. The baby is really big. 3. The baby is in an unorthodox position. 4. I'm growing a cake along with my baby in the uterus. :)

So, I called work and asked them to cancel my afternoon meetings and then called my husband to tell him that I was getting another ultrasound. He, too, had a doctor's appointment this morning so, wasn't even at work yet. He came straight over to the hospital. Since I wasn't on the schedule, I was told that it would be about an hour wait and would be fine if we went to grab lunch and came back. So, that's what we did - went to a nearby Wendy's. When we returned to the hospital, they immediately called me back. Well, it turns out that this little girl growing inside of me is now officially growing like a weed! Yes, this is the same child that we had to have back-to-back ultrasounds at 18 and 22 weeks to see if she was growing. And today, she is estimated to be 6 pounds, 3 ounces already. Okay, that is a birth weight - not an "I have 6 weeks left" weight. So, I was right about the sudden onset of aches and pains and sheer growth that I thought I was experiencing. But, one cool thing about having such a late ultrasound is that we could totally see what she looked like. Her cheeks have filled out and she clearly looks exactly like her daddy! - so cute!

I don't yet know what this will mean when my doctor gets the ultrasound results. Will she retest me for gestational diabetes? Will she talk to me about possibly inducing the baby early? As of now, I am scheduled for a regular appointment on Monday, August 15.

Slackin'

Okay, I have to admit that I've been pretty slack on updating my blog - especially considering all that's been going on. I wanted to definitely update on my shower. I will post pictures (and video?) later. The shower was so awesome. It was reminiscent of my bridal shower four years ago. As I got dressed that morning, I had the same feeling that I had back then. My mom came into town on the Wednesday evening before the shower. Then, I had about 12 other aunts/cousins that came in between Thursday and Friday. Oh yeah - and my mother-in-law. Only my mom and my mother-in-law stayed at my house though. I was exhausted by the end of that weekend. But, I felt so loved by my friends here and the family that decided to make the trip.

The house (site of the shower) was decorated beautifully! There were purple and yellow elephants everywhere (the nursery is purple and yellow and my sorority collects elephants). The food was GREAT - main dish being a couple of Chick-Fil-A trays and everyone knows that I can eat chicken 7 times a day!! The games were even fun - classic stuff that I usually don't like at other people's showers but, for some reason they were fun at my own shower!! Best of all, I got lots of great gifts. Hardly anything that I could even remotely consider returning to the store! Oh yeah - and the cake was awesome, although I'm sure it put about 8 pounds on me last week. And yes, all of my hostesses liked their little goodie bags. Everyone thought they were cute. So, everything was perfect.

My friend and my aunt who just moved to town (she's only 29 so it's okay for us to hangout!) came over on Friday night and finished eating all the cake for me. More importantly, they organized all the shower stuff and got everything put away in the nursery. They, of course, left me with a pile of things to wash but, I plan to get those done tonight while my husband is out of town.

I have a doctor's appointment today. I think this will be the last one before they start "checking me" - could it be that I'm going to have a baby soon?