Wednesday, October 1
I came home from work, picked up Nick and we went to my doctor's appointment. It was the normal routine check-up this time. Blood pressure was good, weight was good (no gain since last week...which was a BIG shock to me because of how much my 'bump' has grown)...Dr. Allen was the one in charge of checking my cervix today. I had my fingers crossed that there had been a change, but she agreed that I was still at a 'good 2'. She asked me about feeling Lilly move...if it was still frequent and consistent and I told her that I felt like her movements had decreased (but I was not worried about this, because like any normal person I had "googled it" and discovered that as labor nears the baby doesn't move as much) Dr. Allen wanted to monitor her movements for 20 minutes so they hooked me up to a machine that kept track of her heartbeat and how often she moved. Everything checked out great! It's crazy how often I felt her move in that short amount of time because I was still and concentrating on her every move! I was glad to see that everything was okay!
Thursday, October 2...Nick's prediction of Lilly's arrival...
Pretty normal day at work...but all day I was soo excited because my Aunt Jan was coming over to finish the nursery!! She had asked me if it would be okay for Nick and I to not be home so she could finish it without us there and then us come home and have a big REVEAL like they do on the designer T.V shows! :) I was sooo anxious to see how everything was going to come together!! I stayed at work until she gave us the OK to come home...Nick had been out of town for the day traveling but when he came back she wasn't quite finished so he had to come up to my school and hang out until she let us know she was all finished,:):) When we walked into her nursery I was overwhelmed with so many different feelings! It was a huge since of "OHMYGOODNESS...it's BEAUTIFUL",,,,it was everything I had imagined and MORE!!....It also hit me that not too far from then we were going to have a BABY and this was her room!! It all became so real to me in those moments standing in the doorway for the first time! Here are some pictures of Lillian Mae Allen's GORGEOUS nursery..
(Taking pictures to see if I have dropped...well not me, but Lilly ;-))
Friday, October 3
I left school around 6 because Nick and I had our 'last' date night planned before Lilly's expected arrival. I tried my best to look extra pretty for him...if that is at all possible when you're 9 months pregnant! Haha! :) I thought my leopard print leggings looked quite nice though for what I was 'working with' these days. We went to eat at The Peddler! YUM!! We had Jalapeno Poppers as an appetizer (spicy foods are supposed to help bring on labor)...salad from their yummy salad bar...Nick had steak and I had grilled chicken with a sweet potato...then we also had The Peddler Pie for dessert and my oh my was it DELICIOUS!!!! Of course our dinner conversation was filled with talk about Lilly and how our lives were going to change in the coming week! It started to become so real to both of us that we were about to have a baby. I had gotten emotional several times over the past few weeks when Nick and I would be doing just "Nick and I" stuff...I began to realize that there would never be just 'us time' anymore... no more just the two of us...the rest of our lives together would be about more than just each other. Definitely a mixture of emotions. Knowing that there was nothing that I wanted more than to have a baby and for us to begin this chapter of our lives together... but also knowing that the life we had known for the past 4 years of our marriage would be non existent...no more just him and just me. Our conversation kept going back to the excitement and anticipation of what was ahead! When would she come? Where would we be when it happened? What was she going to look like? What would Jonah think about her? On our way to dinner we had talked about going by Starbucks after dinner to get a coffee so we could stay up late hanging out (I need the coffee more than Nick for staying up...he is a night owl and I love my sleep..as soon as I am warm and cozy I nod right off to dreamland!!)...however after our bellies were full we decided no Starbucks trip was needed...our bed was calling our names...we were exhausted! We didn't want to fall asleep because we knew our nights together...just us...were limited...the closer it got to our little bundle of love's arrival:) However, sleep overtook us and we called it a day. :)
Random BUMP picture to see if she's dropped anymore...these pictures became frequent the closer we got to the due date :) (Honestly I could never tell if I had 'dropped' or not, but people kept telling me I was...:))
Saturday, October 4- Sunday, October 5
Nick and I spent the weekend enjoying our time together and spending time with family.
His great uncle died and we went to his funeral on Sunday. It was a sweet service and I think what made it even sweeter was feeling Lilly kicking and moving around in my tummy. God is so good to remind us of His grace...His love...His mercy. To be saying goodbye to someone who left this Earth and then feeling a new life moving around inside me and knowing that we will soon be rejoicing at Lilly's arrival...what an overwhelming since of God's presence and greatness!!
We celebrated my birthday and Nick's step-mom, Joy's, birthday on Sunday evening at their house. We all talked about how perfect it would be for Lilly to start on her way while we were all together! BUT...nope...it wasn't time yet.
We all just continued to anticipate what was ahead!!
Monday, October 6
Normal day at work...no changes really except I noticed I was not as hungry as I had been over the past few months. I was pretty much making myself eat which was NOT at all how things had been. Hmm....Lilly are you letting us know you are getting ready to be here?!? :):) I was excited about my doctor's appointment on Wednesday! I couldn't wait to see if things had changed to let us know she was getting closer to being here!!
Tuesday, October 7
Well...Tuesday morning started off with a 'big' sign that I had heard about before going into labor...the 'bloody show'...as soon as I went to the bathroom that morning 'it' happened. Of course my first reaction was to be scared/nervous about what it meant and what was to come. All day at school I kept wondering if my water was going to break while I was there. I wasn't feeling the best...not really hungry and I would feel contractions every now and then, but nothing too extreme. However, the closer it got to the end of the school day they were pretty intense and the 'yucky' feeling just hadn't gone away. All of my 'teacher friends' were giving me advice on what to do..."go let our nurse check your blood pressure"..."call your doctor"..."go to the doctor"...they said they felt like I was within hours of going into labor for sure. Well...I did go through with some of the advice I was given...I called my doctor's office and spoke with the nurse. I told her the symptoms I was having and asked if I needed to come in and be checked. She said that I was more than welcome to come in and they would check my cervix, but I needed to have more frequent and consistent contractions to show that I was in fact going into labor. So, I decided to wait it out. I had expected to have a few more days at school with Thursday being my last day before my maternity leave started so I went into a bit of a panic mode with things that I needed to finish before my leave. I frantically began going around my classroom sharpening pencils and tying up any loose ends. All of my teacher friends told me to STOP what I was doing and get home. They were even offering to drive me home. After getting a few things finished up I gave in to their demands and I left for home. Sauvé followed me home to make sure I got there okay.
I hadn't told Nick what was going on all day...not even about the 'bloody show'. It happened at 5 A.M. and he was peacefully sleeping. I didn't want to wake him up with the gorey news!! Then when I went to kiss him bye at 7 A.M. I again didn't want to tell him what I had seen that morning when I went to the bathroom. SOOO I came straight in and told him how my day had been. I was in a lot of pain at this point, but I could talk through the contractions and I had heard if you could talk through them then they weren't as bad as they were going to be. Nick and I both decided to get ready in case a trip to the hospital was in store. His prediction was that we would be going in the middle of the night. I took a shower so I would be fresh and clean before going in case he was right. I felt a sense of relaxation after the shower...I went to lay down on the bed afterwards to relax. When I was laying there it was about 5:30 and I felt the most painful contraction that I had ever felt!! I was crying and screaming because it hurt so bad! I could tell by the look on Nick's face that it scared him to see me in so much pain! The contraction came and went after a few minutes and once I felt okay I got up to blow dry my hair so we could go to the hospital. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat for awhile if I was going into labor so my mom went to get us subs from Firehouse. When we were scarfing down our subs I had another extremely painful contraction. It was about an hour after the other one with not as bad contractions happening in between. I grabbed what was left of my sub and Nick and I got in the car...hospital bound!!
We got to the hospital in about 10 minutes...went up to the labor and delivery floor and they checked us into the section called triage. This was my second time going so we knew where to go and what was going to happen. The nurse hooked me up to monitors to watch the contractions, her heartbeat, and her movements. The nurse checked my cervix and it was at a . She would come back in an hour to see if anything had changed. The contractions were very strong and some were peaking as high as they could go. I found a focal point on the ceiling and was doing my breathing every time a contraction came. I was even reciting bible verses and saying them out loud. I had pinned things on Pinterest that have bible verses for labor and delivery. They really helped me draw my strength from The Lord and I could feel a sense of relief at times where I was hurting so badly. There were some contractions where I wanted to scream so loudly, but I held it in and got through it until the next one. Nick would let me squeeze his hand when I was in a lot of pain. I kept watching the clock and it seemed like an hour never took so long to go by. The nurse came back to check my cervix and there wasn't a change, so she said she was going to give me a shot of morphine for the pain so I could go home and get some rest. She said things could continue as they were for days. Nick and I were not happy at all with the outcome, but our hands were pretty much tied and there wasn't anything that we could do about it. She gave me the short of morphine...which she warned me would hurt worse than the contractions when she was giving it to me, but I didn't budge...probably because I was in SO much pain already!:(
I could barely walk to the car because the contractions were causing me so much pain...when we got to the car I just wanted to cry and scream and beg Nick not to leave the hospital, but I didn't. I was hopeful that the nurse was right..the morphine would reduce the intense pain I was feeling and I would get some rest. When we got to the house, Nick's mom was there. Nick texted her when we were headed to the hospital and told her not to come until we knew for sure what was going on, but she came anyway. We were talking in the kitchen and I laid down in the floor crying because every time I felt a contraction it hurt SOOO bad!! The morphine had done NOTHING for my pain. I tried to eat a bowl of cereal because I felt hungry and I thought it might distract me from hurting, but it didn't work. Nick and I climbed into our bed and every 5 minutes I was crying in pain. I called my doctor's office and spoke with the doctor on call, She said that if I did not have any relief and the contractions were consistent then I needed to go back to the hospital. Hallelujah! There seemed to be a light at the end of this tunnel of PAIN!! I asked her how long I should wait before going back and she said to give it an hour or so...Finally after a few hours of trying to 'rest' at home and things not getting any better...Nick told me to get in the car and we were going back to the hospital. He was going to tell them that either they were going to admit us or give me something to really help my pain. At that moment I'm not sure if I have ever loved him more! He was my knight in shining armor!! So...off to the hospital we went...labor and delivery floor here we come again!!
The nurse kind of gave us a 'look' when we walked in and I'm sure I gave her the same 'look' back.. yes it's us and yes we are back again only a few short hours later. I told her that my doctor told me to come back because the morphine had not helped and the contractions were still very painful and consistent. She put us in a room and hooked me up to the monitors again, She checked my cervix and it had changed a little. She would come back in an hour to check again, I tried to watch T.V to keep my mind off the pain...I found my focal point on the ceiling again and I did my breathing exercises when a contraction came. Nick once again was right there letting me squeeze his hand when I needed to and again I was praying and reciting bible verses to get my strength from the ONLY ONE who could help me get any relief.
Here's a picture of the contractions...you can see how some of them are VERY high!!
Well when she came back to check my cervix after an hour she said that I was up to a 3 1/2...almost a 4. She said she was going to call the doctor to see if that was enough for me to be admitted or she was going to ask the doctor if I could stay and walk around the hospital to help things progress. Nick and I both felt so doubtful about being admitted since I got sent home earlier in the condition that I was in. However, when the nurse came back she said that she told my doctor that I was at a 4 and she said to admit me. YAY!! I was seriously in shock though! This was REALLY going to happen! I wasn't going back home without our baby!!! Ohmygoodness!! Ahhhh!!! After all of this time it was REALLY going to happen SOON!!! The nurse said they were going to get me into a room and get my epidural. Then Nick and I needed to rest as much as possible before things progressed and I was at the point of giving birth. REST...that sounded so good!!
Here is a picture of Nick resting once we got settled into our room...
Here's a selfie that I took when I was supposed to be resting...
What do you do while you are waiting to be at a 10??? Have family members come in and take pictures...what else!?! Haha!!:)
This is Cheryl and my mom...getting SUPER excited about being grandmas for the first time!!
Yes, these ladies are going to SPOIL little Lilly for sure!!:)
Mom and I waiting on Lilly to come!!:)
Cheryl and I waiting on baby Lilly!:)
Nick and his mom:)
Nick and I getting excited that we are about to be parents to Lillian Mae Allen!!:):)
Kimberly and I getting excited!!:)
Nick and I with his dad:)
Lillian Mae Allen
7 lbs. 14 oz
21 inches long
11:05 A.M.
October 8, 2014
Nick going to tell our family that she has arrived...priceless...
Nick carrying our stuff when they moved us to the 5th floor...
His smile couldn't possibly get any bigger!!
There aren't any words to describe how I was feeling...
Nick's mom holding newborn Lilly...
Daddy just couldn't put her down...:)
We loved just looking at her...
So peaceful...
The sign says "I eat at Moms!" :):)
Nick and Lilly got in the bed with me:)
She always had her hands at her face and mouth when we had ultrasound pictures taken too:)
Precious, Precious baby!!
This was when they were giving her a hearing test...she passed:):)
Okay, so every outfit that I brought to the hospital was 0-3 months and it swallowed her whole! Lesson learned for future reference...NEWBORN outfits when a baby is first born (hence the label 'newborn') HAHA!...Anyway...in the picture below you can tell that outfit is waay too big for her...plus at first she just wanted to stay all balled up like she was in my tummy and she wouldn't stretch her legs out at all. Nick is swaddling her here...
Aunt Rhetta and Lilly
Erica and Daniel with Lilly
YAY! Look at our sweet family!! No words to describe how I was feeling!:):)
Kim...my best friend since 5th grade came o see Lilly:)
My grandma came to meet her great granddaughter, Lilly:)
Here's a picture of my mommy with her mommy and me as a new mommy:):)
Erica and Daniel brought Lilly a book and this is Nick reading it to her:)
Hello World!:)
Hanging out with my dad...
She loved being snuggled up next to her mommy!:)
A selfie of Lilly and I in the hospital:) No greater feeling in all the world than holding my precious gift from God!!
Okay...so her coming home outfit was TOO big...0-3 months...hello!! I have no idea why it was advertised on Etsy as a 'coming home outfit'..I would love to know whose baby could fit in that as soon as they are born. Anyway...I wanted a picture of her in it so this is her in her car seat on our way home from the hospital and I put that bow that was also TOO big on her, but obviously she didn't like what was happening. Really she just wanted to be held...but anyway...what a priceless picture.):
...next post will be Life with Lilly at home.:):)
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