I'm officially a MOM!

Our little girl finally made her debut! Sydney Noelle Lyons was born Monday, December 22nd at 7:14 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs and 11 oz and was 19.5 inches long.
I am still amazed by the entire pregnancy and birth and I must say that having a child is truly a miracle! A definite gift from God!
Short version of the story:
I started having contractions Sunday evening around 8:00. I didn't think anything of them. They were mild and were about 15 minutes apart. Felt like minor cramps. I called my college roommate Sophia (who is a nurse), and she said to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart for 1 hour before going to the hospital. I thought that would be sometime Monday morning because I know the first stage of labor usually takes a while. Plus, I had been to the doctor on the previous Thursday and was not dilated at all. So I thought this would be a slow process. Well, by 11:00 the contractions were coming closer together and were definitely starting to get stronger. I tried to go to sleep and was hoping to wake up later on in the morning when they were closer together. Then we could go to the hospital. Sleep was not an option. By 12:30 a.m. I was in a lot of pain and I told Ricky to start timing the contractions. They were 3 minutes apart!
I decided we should go to the hospital just to get checked out. I figured the worst they would do is send us home. We got there around 1:45 a.m. and come to find out, I was not dilated at all. I'm sure the nurse thought I was a wimp because my contractions couldn't have been that bad if I wasn't dilated. She said she would monitor me for a little while. She came back 45 minutes later and told me she would give me something for the pain and she was about to say "go home and come back a little later". But before she said that I told her that I was starting to feel fluid leaking. (sorry for the details) She checked me again and said "oh my gosh, you are 3 cm dilated, you aren't going anywhere". That was music to my ears!
We were moved to a labor and delivery room and they took blood, hooked up my IV, and gave me some pain medicine. That didn't help at all, just made me a little loopy. After another hour, I was 6 cm dilated. By the time the anesthetist came by to give me the epidural, I was at 7 cm. She told me I was going to have this baby in the next 2-3 hours so they recommended just a temporary spinal block instead of an epidural. Basically it just numbs you for a short period of time. That worked for me! By 6:30 a.m. I was pushing and Sydney was born at 7:14 a.m. She did not waste any time making her way into the world! Which was fine with me!
Ricky and I are thrilled to be parents and can't believe she is finally at home with us. We are all doing well and will definitely enjoy this Christmas!

I'm ready for this baby girl to arrive!

Here is a picture of me at 39 weeks and 4 days. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby. I'm definitely feeling run down and tired (as you can tell in the picture). I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday and she said I was still not dilating, but continuing to thin out. Since my due date is Tuesday, she asked me to come in on Monday for another check. She seems to think our baby will be a few days late, meaning sometime between Christmas and New Year's. So all we can do is wait...

Getting ready for baby

I just have to share this picture with you...

The past few weeks I have spent a lot of time in the nursery - arranging clothes, organizing the closet, sorting through gifts, etc. Ricky has done his fair share of work too - he painted the nursery and installed the shelves in the closet, hung the artwork, and put together the crib. Two weeks ago I washed all of the newborn baby clothes, sheets, blankets, burp cloths, towels, washcloths, etc. I wanted everything clean so when we brought her home I didn't have to worry about anything. Well, Ricky helped me fold some of the clothes and that's where this picture came from. He was having way too much fun with the socks! We both couldn't believe how tiny they are!

No Baby Yet!

38 Weeks
Well, I had a checkup yesterday and our little baby girl is not ready to enter the world yet. Things are progressing, but I'm not dilating yet. I was really hoping the full moon tonight might influence her to arrive early, but I don't think that's going to be the case. She might be a Christmas baby after all!
I have decided to stop worrying about it and enjoy the last 2 weeks of pregnancy. And the quiet! Because I know our lives are about to be turned upside down!
We got our Christmas tree and put up all of our decorations last weekend. I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday, thank goodness. I had to shop in short intervals because my legs and feet get really tired. It's funny to see everyone at the mall staring at me. You would think they had never seen a pregnant woman before. :)
I will post a picture tonight or tomorrow. My belly hasn't changed much from 2 weeks ago. I don't think it has gotten any bigger. Maybe just a little lower...

Nursery pictures at last!

I promised nursery pictures a long time ago, and I have finally followed through on my promise! We have had the room painted for over a month now but all of the decorations were not in place. Now we have curtains, shelves, and artwork. The only thing left to hang is her name, which will go above her bed.
I must give Ricky all the credit for painting the room. He measured out all of the stripes and painted them two shades of red. Then he painted the top portion of the wall a pale pink. He also put the white chair rail along the middle of the wall. It was a lot of work and he did a great job.

Only 1 Month to Go!

36 Weeks

Wow, I can't believe I only have 4 weeks until our little girl is supposed to arrive. (I'm hoping she will arrive in 2-3 weeks so we can be home with her on Christmas!) It seems like these past 2 months have flown by.

Ricky and I attended a childbirth class 2 weekends ago on Nov. 15th. We learned about the entire labor process and got to watch a detailed video of an actual labor. OUCH is all I have to say about that...

We also learned about epidurals, natural childbirth, etc. We took a tour of the labor and delivery area at the hospital and saw the nursery. But there were no babies! I couldn't believe it. I have heard that a lot of people are due in December so the nursery will probably be full when I am there.

We practiced breathing and relaxation techniques. They seem like good ideas in theory, but if people actually remember to do them is the question I have. I think they might go right out the window if you are trying to push a baby out. I guess we'll see!

Then we learned some basic childcare and first aid for infants. Overall it was a good class. Some things were pretty self explanatory but I'm still glad we attended.

This past weekend my parents visited us. We had lots of fun shopping at the outlets and watching football. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Sunday, which was the highlight of the weekend! I have been craving blueberry pancakes and man did they hit the spot!

I am now going to the doctor every week. My next appointment is tomorrow - my 36 week checkup. I doubt I have started to dilate, but they did tell me last week that the baby is in the right position. She is head down and turned to the side. Let's hope she stays that way!

We're getting closer!

I can't believe I am 34 weeks pregnant! Only 6 weeks to go! I am technically full term as of 37 weeks, but I have a feeling this little girl will not be early! If she's anything like her mom, she will be fashionably late. :)
I'm still feeling pretty good. Just tired and sore sometimes. I know that's normal. I'm still at the gym 5 days a week, but my workouts have become a lot less intense. It doesn't take much to get my heart rate going these days! But I feel better just being there. I can't imagine not working out. I don't know how I'm going to fit it in when we have the baby, but I will figure it out. Just knowing I'm doing something that benefits me both physically and mentally is such an exhilirating feeling.
Ricky and I are attending a childbirth class on Saturday. It's an all day class so we should be full of baby knowledge when we finish. Should be tons of fun! I know Ricky is thrilled about it. Ha ha!
I go back to the doctor next week for my Group B strep test. I'm now going to the doctor every 2 weeks. Once I get to 37 weeks, I will be visiting them every week.
I know some of you are still waiting on nursery pictures. We're almost there. I plan to hang the artwork this weekend and then I promise to post pictures! We plan on putting her name on the wall above her crib, but since she doesn't have a name yet that will have to be put on hold for now. :)