Abbie Brooke Shaw 4-29-10

Abbie has finally arrived, well she is 11 days old today. It has taken me a while to post anything because we've been adjusting to little Abbie and it is exhausting but so much fun!
For those of you who don't know my "labor story," here it is:
I went in to be induced on April 29 at 7:30a.m. The nurse started me on pitocin about 8:45 and the doctor broke my water around 9:15. By that point I was already 4cm dilated and 80% effaced. The nurse took my blood and found out that I had a low blood platelet count which means that I might not get an epidural. So by that point I just broke down b/c the pain was getting worse and my contractions were about 2 minutes apart. The anesthesiologist looked at my results and decided that I could get my epidural. By that time I was 6 cm dilated. After my epidural I felt soo good! I highly recommend them :). Anyways the rest of my labor was extremely easy and Abbie arrived at 4:47p.m. and weighed 5lbs 15.8 oz, but the doctor rounded it to 6lbs which is on her birth certificate.
Life with Abbie is wonderful and I don't know what I ever did with out her. Jeff is such a great dad and I love the way Abbie just stares and him when she hears his voice. I'm not sure how well she can see but you can tell his voice is very familiar to her. (Jeff used to talk to my belly at night before we would go to bed) Today is Jeff's first day back at work after having 11 days off so it has been tiring getting up at all the feedings in the middle of the night, but I'll get used to it. Jeff did such a great job with Abbie. He is such a great dad!

My Belly at 38 weeks and 2 days!

Here is a picture of me at 38 weeks and 2 days. I am very swollen! I haven't been able to wear my wedding and Aggie rings for a couple of weeks now. My legs and ankles are really swollen too. My ankles are non existent at the moment. My feet are swollen as well. I had to buy a shoe in a size 10 this week and I am really hoping that they go back to normal once Abbie is here!!! My skin is also always like a reddish purplish color and now it's just a little worse as you can probably kind of see from the picture! Ok enough about me complaining about the way my body looks right now, it's very temporary and for the best reason in the world!!!
So last night I slept through the night! It was awesome. Before I went to bed I drank 2 cups of chocolate milk, and ate a nutri-grain bar and a banana to keep me full so I wouldn't have to wake up and eat. It worked!!! I feel good and I have been having more Braxton-Hicks contractions. I have every sign in my book that labor is imminent and have had them for over a week now but Thursday is Labor Day for me if it doesn't happen for me sooner. Please keep praying it does!
I feel very blessed that my pregnancy has been pretty perfect minus me feeling bad. I can't wait to hold my little girl!

38 week Check-up

Today we had our 38 week check up and it went well. Abbie's heartrate was 140 bpm and my blood pressure was good. If I don't have her before then I am being induced on APril 29th @ 5:30 a.m.! (That's my mom's birthday!)
I was 3cm dilated and 80 % effaced. I get an epidural once I hit 4 cm so it should be an easy delivery since I'll probably dilate another cm from now until then so he can just break my water, and then I can get my epidural. (That's what we talked about anyways)
I broke down as we were leaving the doctors office for no reason I just started crying uncontrollably which was weird and embarrassing because I don't cry ever, and I don't like it when I do. The receptionist was really nice and reminded me that I am almost done.
I just need to focus on the positive that everything is going well with my pregnancy and that Abbie is healthy and growing strong. The doctor said that he thought she would weigh about 7lbs. :)
I have not been sleeping through the night so please pray that I get a good nights rest!!! The night time is the worst when Jeff is peacefully sleeping and I'm up eating and trying to settle my stomach!

False Alarm 4-18-10

I lost my mucus plug on Saturday and ever since then I felt weird and was having irregular contractions. I thought that I had some "leaking", and Jeff and I went to the hospital to make sure everything was okay. While we were at the hospital the nurse checked my cervix and I was still 2 cm dilated. I was hooked up to the heart rate and contraction monitor and everything was healthy and normal.
We were at the hospital for three hours getting everything checked out and waiting for the results of the fern test (which determines if there is any amniotic fluid present) which came back negative meaning there wasn't any. We were bummed because we had convinced ourselves that, that is what it was and that we were going to be having our baby the next day.
I was glad that I had this experience because when I went into the hospital this time I was freaking out and shaking uncontrollably and just so nervous. Now that I have a better idea of what the procedure is when I go into the hospital I will be more calm.
Jeff and I had our bags packed and everything ready in the car to bring the baby home, and it was so sad to bring an empty car seat back in the house. :( WE ARE SO READY!

Finally Full Term!

Jeff and I went to the doctor yesterday for my 37 week check up. I will be going every week until the baby arrives from now on! I was 2cm dilated and Abbie's head is down in position. My doctor said that we should be prepared to have her within the next 2 weeks. After he checked my cervix, which hurt so horribly bad and just reassured me of how much I want an epidural, I started having contractions every 7 minutes for the next few hours, and then sporadically throughout the day and night.
Abbie has been so active and last night before I went to bed she was the most active she had ever been. She was very squirmy like she couldn't get comfortable. Jeff had his hand on my stomach when she was moving and it's funny to see his reactions to movements I feel all the time. He's like "AHH do you feel that, that's so cool". I love when he gets to feel her move. Jeff is so wonderful, and I am so thankful for him!
Please pray for us to be patient. My feet and ankles are so swollen and I'm getting pretty uncomfortable, but most of all we want to see and hold her!!!

Doctors Visit Update

I went to the doctor today and was 35 weeks and 5 days pregnant. My blood pressure was normal and I had the strep test done. My stomach measured 33 inches which is 2 more inches than I was 2 weeks ago when I went in. I go back to the Doctor next Friday and Jeff gets to go with me this time :) and I will be 37 weeks and full term :). I can't believe it! He is going to check to see if I'm dilated at all and I really hope that I am!
Abbie's heart rate was 146 bpm and as the nurse was checking it Abbie kicked the little heart rate monitor off my stomach and you could hear the kick through the machine. It was pretty funny, she is so strong. :) I am so ready for her to be here. Please pray for patience for me and for the labor and delivery to go smoothly. I really need to work on that because everything is out of my control and I just need to enjoy this time.

35 1/2 Week Update

It has been a while since I last posted an update so sorry about that. We have been busy getting Abbie's room all finished before she arrives and I haven't been at the computer as much.
An update on how I have been feeling...I have days where I have a ton of energy and days where I need to sleep half the day! Some days I can take 2 naps after a full night of sleep, and I feel very lucky that I am able to do that. Jeff has been great when I have no energy and takes very good care of me! He's going to be such a wonderful dad! So as I mentioned before I sleep a lot, but then I have nights where I don't really sleep at all. Maybe that's just my body's way of getting me used to an irregular sleep schedule since that's how it will be once the baby is here!
We have the bassinet set up in our room and our strollers, bouncer, rocker, and play things put together just waiting for her. Everywhere I look in our house there is something baby related to look at (besides looking down at my stomach, which by the way is getting bigger everyday :)). So it's hard to get my mind on anything else. I am just so excited to meet our baby!!!
Abbie is getting much bigger and will respond if you push on my stomach. She also has the hiccups like twice a day and the lady that taught the breast feeding class we took said that it means she is at peace in the womb. She was very "earthy" :) and helpful. Abbie also jumps almost every time I pull the drain to our bathtub because it make a really loud noise and I guess it startles her. I love love love feeling her move, that is the best part about being pregnant!
I go to the doctor this Wednesday and then at my next visit I start going every week and my doctor will start checking for dilation YAY!

32 weeks and 3 days

I am now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! I just had my 1st baby shower this past weekend and it was so much fun. Some of my best friends, Ashleigh, and Valerie helped throw it for me and they did such a wonderful job!
So when I got home from my shower I was in nesting mode! I stayed up till 6:30 in the morning washing all her clothes(that was 3 loads of laundry since I did it by color) and wrote and addressed almost all of my thank you notes. Then I watched some t.v. It was the longest night of my life! I felt so restless and when I get that way I try to be as productive as possible.
I am really trying to be patient with waiting for her to get here and it's so hard for me! I watch the show bringing home baby almost every morning at 7:00 a.m. on TLC (b/c I'm up eating my 1st breakfast) and that show helps me to be patient and to appreciate that I could just sleep all day if I wanted to! I don't know if those shows make everything look more difficult b/c they are trying to make an entertaining t.v. show, but I hope that I don't have as much trouble with every possible thing like most of the women on the show do.
Abbie has been moving around a lot more and her movements feel like little rolls, and as I am typing this she is moving around, I guess she senses that I' m writing about her ha! My lower back has been hurting a lot and I've been very tired but I still manage to walk atleast 3-5 miles each day and I lift my 3lb. weights still lol, so I am trying to stay as active as possible. With each week I start to do less and less because it's uncomfortable or I have less energy. I am so excited for the day that I can go outside and just run! That will be a very good day.

Pregnancy Pictures

My friend Valerie took our pregnancy pictures last Saturday. She did a great job! Here are a couple from the shoot.

29 Weeks

My baby Bump at 29 weeks!

A few 3D Ultrasound Pictures

Here is Abbie Brooke Shaw at 28 weeks & 1 day!!! I know she has a little while to go before she is born but here is our prediction of whose features she will have.
We think she has Jeff's lips, and dimples and we think she has my chin, cheeks, and nose.
We have no idea whose eyes she will have.
It was the best feeling to see her sweet little face on the screen and to know that she is part Jeff and me.

BABY ROOM!

Here are a few pictures of the baby room, there are still a few things we have left to do, and I will post completed pictures when we are done!

Paint Color

Jeff & I decided on a paint color yesterday and have painted the room with the help of my mom. Here are a few pictures of us in the painting process.

27 weeks!

Abbie's bedding finally arrived a few days ago, so now Jeff and I are trying to find a paint color that we like for her walls. It has been so hard to pick a color! We want a soft green for the walls but we also want it to feel warm so tomorrow my mom is going to help us pick something so hopefully by the end of the weekend we can have her room painted!
I am trying to be as patient as possible with getting everything together. I am definitely in nesting mode. I just want everything to get done before I get too big. I have been so uncomfortable and it's getting hard to sleep on my stomach which I like to do. I was also super tired today for no reason and haven't had energy in the past two days, maybe it's the weather?
Hopefully by Sunday I can post picture of her painted room.

We Registered!!!

Jeff and I have been busy registering this past week. We registered at thelandofnod.com, Babies R Us, Target, and Wal-Mart. I had so much fun picking out things for Abbie and picturing what she will look like in all her little clothes.
Her bedroom furniture came in last weekend and Jeff has been busy getting the room together. We also found out that we will get our bedding this week! When we finish getting the room together we will post pictures!
I went to the doctor this past Friday for my glucose test for gestational diabetes and everything came back good! YAY! Abbie's heart rate was 157 bpm and after I drank the orange drink for my glucose test, which had 50g of sugar, she was kicking me like crazy! It's funny how even little unborn babies are affected by too much sugar. I am now in my 3rd trimester and have Dr.'s appointments every 2 weeks.
Abbie's kicks are getting more frequent and stronger which is my favorite part about being pregnant. :)

We found our baby bedding!!!

This is a picture of the bedding we ordered today! We were so happy to finally find something that we liked! Thanks for the suggestions! Now we just have to wait till the end of February to get it because they don't have it in stock right now.
We went to our childbirth class today and learned a whole lot about the end of pregnancy, labor, delivery, and post-partum care. It was a very good class and we left feeling a little more confident about beocming parents.
We watched 3 different women on our videos give birth naturally, and I am never ever going to do that, especially after today. It was scary! I want any pain medication that they are willing to give to me to make this experience as comfortable for me as possible, especially for Jeff's sake!
Jeff was so good in class. He was taking notes and into everything, he's just so great! Thank goodness God blessed me with a mature, wonderful, responcible, loving, I could go on forever but you get the idea :). I just love him more and more all the time! He's going to be such a great Dad, and he reminds me more and more of my dad all the time which is such a wonderful thing because I have the best Dad in the whole world!

24 weeks

Here is what I look like at 24 weeks. I am getting bigger and bigger everyday and my lower back is starting to hurt more. I already feel so huge so I can't even imagine how it's going to be when I'm in my ninth month!
Tomorrow morning Jeff and I are going to our child birth class, and we are really excited to learn more about what is to be expected when the baby comes. On Sunday, we are taking a tour of the birthing center and the NICU at the hospital we will be delivering in. I will probably blog about it after we are done :). I did not feel sick at all this morning and slept through the night YAY!
I am also in the process of trying to find cute and affordable baby bedding so if anyone knows of a place or a website I can look at I would love some suggestions. I am really trying to find the crib bedding before our furniture comes in about a week so we can paint the room beforehand.

Week 22 & 23 Updates

Jeff and I went to the doctor on Dec. 31st and got the results of our fetal anatomy ultrasound. Our baby is in the 83rd percentile of weight and was too big to be measured length wise now. She is getting much stronger by the week. At 22 weeks I started to feel her on the outside so I immediately called Jeff into the room the next time I felt her kicking and he got to feel her too. I was laughing so hard at how excited he was when he could feel her kick! It was very cute. He was like aw she's so strong!
So last night I was laying in bed and looking at my stomach and how much it had grown in the past week and could see her kicks from the outside. I called for Jeff to come and see and saw her little twitches as well. It was very cool!
I still have to wake up almost every morning at around 5:30 (which is when Jeff usually is getting ready for work) to eat a meal because I am so hungry! I always watch the show 18 and counting and bringing home baby on TLC. Watching those 2 shows, is a good way to look at children at every stage of life, and a look at the first 36 hours of the baby being home which us right up my alley right now. So at least when I am not feeling well, I am thoroughly entertained!