Miss Alexa Leigh!She was born on December 29, 2005 at 3:22 p.m. She weighed in at 5 lbs 6 oz. and was 19 inches. Here is her birth story...On Monday night, December 26, I was not feeling too well. I don't know what it was, but I just wasn't feeling like myself. On Tuesday morning, I woke up with some of my mucus plug coming out with some blood with it. I was having contractions throughout the day, but they were not regular. On Wednesday I was having contractions all day long, so at 7 p.m. I decided to time them. They were about 6-7 minutes apart. I called the doc and she told me to take a hot bath and drink plenty of water. I did as told, but it didn't help. They were not that painful and I had the 34 checkup appointment the next day, so I decided to deal with them. About midnight, I could not take it anymore. They were painful and were about 5 minutes apart. I called the doc again and she told me to go to the hospital and get checked out. We arrived at Northside around 1:30 a.m. and was told that I was 4 cm dialated! I couldn't believe it. I thought I was being silly for going in and that they were going to tell me they were just braxton hicks and send me on my way. Boy was I wrong! So they tried to stop the labor by giving me some shots, but that didn't help. So they just decided to let me have the baby since I was 34 weeks. So we got sent to the real delivery room and got prepped up. They gave me the epi, broke my water, blah blah blah, and we just waited. The doc said we would be lucky if she was born by 7 p.m. We thought we were in for a long delivery. However, around 3 p.m., the nurse decided to empty my bladder, and when she was down there, she said she saw the head, so they prepped up for delivery. It was hard to feel myself pushing because the epidural made me so numb, but she came out at 3:22 p.m. The doc said she practically crawled out herself. I was delivered by midwife Becky. All the nurses were very sweet and I actually had a great time. I was actually up and walking in no time. I wasn't in any pain at all except for some cramping, which I still have.She is a preemie, but she is doing extremely well. The doc did an x-ray of her lungs and her brain, and he said everything has developed wonderfully. The lungs could have used a couple of more weeks of developing, but she will be just fine. No long term effects. She breathes fine on her own. However, during feedings, she doesn't grasp sucking and breathing at the same time, so the first couple of days, she was being fed through a tube. However, she started on bottles today and she was able to suck and breathe at the same time, so the nurse and the doc both think she will be able to come home by Tuesday or Wednesday. Originally, they said a couple of weeks, so we are extremely happy and proud of our little girl.The first day was very hard for me. I cried all day. I was able to hold her for a minute after she was born, but didn't get to see or hold her for a long time after that. When I was finally able to see her, she had an IV that was in her head and that just made me cry even more. Today was especially hard because we were discharged and had to leave her behind. I cried right there in the NICU unit. The nurse cried with me because she knew how I was feeling. I cried a lot tonight also. I just miss her so much.Tomorrow they are taking the IV out, so they are going to take her hospital pictures. Also, I will meet with a lactation nurse so she can teach me how to breastfeed Alexa. On Monday, Jeremy and I have to take an infant CPR class (they will not release her unless we do) and hopefully on Tuesday, we can take her home. I really want her home to celebrate her daddy's birthday on January 7.Some good news. My mother flew down yesterday and is staying with us until January 15. That will be a big tremendous help. She just fell in love with Alexa. She thinks she is just the most beautiful thing in the world. One more thing...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
This was so sweet that I thought I'd share with everyone. While laying in bed this morning, Jeremy rolls over and puts his hand on my stomach. He loves to feel Alexa first thing in the morning. Out of nowhere he says "thank you for carrying my baby". I thought that was so sweet. I didn't think he noticed all the bathroom breaks and the aches and pains I am going through, but I guess he does, and he was letting me know he appreciated it. HOW SWEET!
Merry Christmas! I know it's not Christmas just yet, but since we all will be so busy this weekend, I thought I'd go ahead and say it anyway. So...Merry Christmas!!! I am so bored. I have been stuck in our bedroom these past two nights because our living room is all messy. Jeremy bought a new surround sound for the living room and so things are scattered around everywhere. He is building a shelf tonight so hopefully by tomorrow, everything will be back to order. It sucks that everyone has tomorrow off and I have to work. I have Monday and Tuesday off instead of Friday and Monday. But I'm only going to work half a day tomorrow.Good news! Our photographer called and said our wedding pictures are ready. We are going to pick them up Saturday morning before we go to Jeremy's mom's house for Christmas because the photographer lives up near her. We have the pictures uploaded on the internet for family to view and order, so I will post some pictures on here once I get the website address.We are going to be so busy these last few days of December and all of January that Alexa will be here before we know it. This weekend is Christmas, next weekend is New Years, the weekend after that is Jeremy's birthday, nothing the next weekend, the weekend after that is Tristyn's birthday party and my brother-in-law's birthday, and then Alexa will be here two weeks after that. I can't believe how fast January is going to past. I have been having braxton hicks contractions often lately, and I don't know how I am going to handle the real thing. I am getting very nervous every week that passes. I don't know how I am going to do it. Hopefully Jeremy will be a great coach.Once again...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Our weekend was filled with endless fun and we finally finished our Christmas shopping! On Friday night, Jeremy and I had the privilege of babysitting Miss Little Tristyn. She was a doll. We had a great time! We just love seeing her.On Saturday, we got up early and went to the mall to finish our Christmas shopping. Afterwards, we headed over to Jeremy's neighborhood so that he can show me some houses that he is building (he's a builder for Ryland Homes). Some of those homes are gorgeous, and he wanted to show me the kind of house he would build for us when that time comes. Afterwards we went and got our nails and toes done. Yes, WE. Jeremy and I both got a manicure and pedicure. Jeremy's first time. The real reason he wanted a pedicure was for the massage. He loved it. After being pampered, we headed to Chili's for dinner. We wanted to go watch The Family Stone afterwards, but we wouldn't have made it on time. So we went to Blockbuster instead and rented The Island (stupid) and The Skeleton Key (okay).On Sunday, we woke up early and headed to Church. Our preacher was not there because there was an infant death in his family. That's so sad. Afterwards we came home and a couple of my friends came over. One of my friends is a painter and she came over to paint butterflies in the nursery. It looks really good.I haven't had a fun weekend in awhile. We usually just relax and sit around and do nothing, but we've kept ourselves busy this weekend. One more week of work and I have a four day weekend. Can't wait. Hope everyone had a great weekend and have a great week!
So I woke up this morning with Jeremy telling me not to go to work today...NO problem with that! See, he leaves for work before me and he saw 5 accidents on the way to work. He said the roads were really icy. So I turn on the news and there were tons of school delays and closings and tons of accidents. God was on my side this morning.I had my 32 week appointment yesterday. Taylor had come over early yesterday afternoon because her power went out, so she drove me to the appointment. I told her it's the usual checkup, nothing new and I wish they will tell me something different than everything is fine. I mean I love to hear that Alexa is doing wonderfully, but I guess it's the same old thing each time. So at this appointment, my wish came true. The nurse tells me I have sugar in my urine and something called k-tones? I don't know if I'm saying it right. I'm just spelling it the way she told me. Then she said I lost a couple of pounds. So here I am freaking out because she seems concerned and I just wanted to punch myself for saying what I said to Taylor about how I wish the doctor would tell me something different at this appointment. But when I got to see the midwife, she said everything was fine. I had sugar in my urine because I had fried rice for lunch and that is a carbohydrate and that breaks down as sugar and the reason for the k-tones is because I am dehydrated. Needless to say, from now on, all I want to hear is everything sounds great!Glad it's Friday. We are going to finish our Christmas shopping tomorrow. I love shopping and I love wrapping presents while listening to Christmas music. It gets me in the spirit. Anyway, my favorite show, A Baby Story, is about to come on, so I'm going to sign off for now.
We finally got our house decorated. The one of the Christmas tree is sideways and I didn't know how to turn it, so I'm afraid you will just have to turn your head to see it. I'm going to have to get together with Taylor and ask her about loading these pictures onto these blogs because I still can't figure out how to put text, then picture, then text again. It seems like all my pictures get moved up to the top even though I type something first. Anyway, Jeremy and I finally got off our lazy butts and decorated the front of the house, the inside and finally put up the Christmas tree.There's been such a commotion on artificial trees this year that we decided to purchase a real one. Jeremy is scared, as well as I, when we've heard that artificial trees can cause birth defects that we just went ahead and bought a real one. We were going to wait till next year to get a real one, but this year is fine too. I actually like the real one better because you can stick the lights inside the tree instead of hanging them on the branches like the artificial ones do. This is actually my first year having a real Christmas tree. My family always had fake ones.No new news on the baby. Everything is still going great. My neighbor just had her baby a few days ago. She was due at the end of this month, but her little girl decided to come before Christmas so she can get some presents...haha. I am getting excited, but a little nervous and anxious at the same time. I only have 8 more weeks to go. I had tons of dreams about the baby. One dream I had, she turned out to be a he. The second dream, someone else had our baby and I was still pregnant. The third dream was that she had brown hair and blue eyes. Such weird dreams. Next week is finals and then Christmas break. After that, I start my online classes. I'm so glad I don't have to travel to campus for awhile. I'm going to enjoy that.Well, hope everything has a great week!
So here I am at 30 weeks and I thought I was in the clear. Not a hint of stretch marks, pimples or back pain (the usual complaints about pregnancy). Well, let me say that I spoke too soon...way too soon. I practically jinxed myself. I found a small stretch mark about a week ago next to my belly button, and it is sort of spreading. There are a couple more right next to the original one. I have a few pimples breaking through on my face and a couple on my back. And to make matters worse, I have to attend a Christmas party that Jeremy's company is throwing tomorrow night. First time meeting these people and I am not looking my best self. Tonight Jeremy and I went to the mall to find an outfit for me to wear. Went to JC Penney's (they are having a HUGE sale) and bought a pair of black pants and a red sweater. I tried it on and can I say beach whale. Yes, the sweater is the clinging one and I just look huge. Jeremy liked it because he thinks red looks great on me. Seeing myself in that outfit really made me realize how big and pregnant I am looking.Don't get me wrong. I love being pregnant and I wouldn't trade in this moment for anything in the world. And I know this is going to be all worth it, but I've grown up chubby all my life and I just feel that embarrassment and insecurity I felt during my chubby years. Some good news. Alexa is moving like crazy. She is no longer kicking, but moving. I feel a lot of waves in my stomach. I even see her moving when I look at my stomach. At my doctor's appointment the other day, the doctor was using the heartbeat monitor and Alexa kicked it. I swear, she is going to have a temper just like her dad. I can't wait to see her.Thanks to everyone for their kind words on my previous blog. Maybe it was a little inappropriate of me to share my intimate problem, but I just wanted assurance that I wasn't going crazy with all this hormonal stuff. I mean I feel like such a cry baby because I cry about everything, but I guess that's normal. Well thanks again!
