A Night of Firsts

Last night Brady had a few firsts. We took our first car ride (besides the ride home from the hospital) and first store trip to Walgreens and then got ice cream. It had been SO long since I had ice cream, and it was amazing! He was very good and enjoyed just staring out the window. I of course sat in the back seat with him because I'm paranoid of everything. I'll eventually get over that (at least hopefully). We also took a short walk with the stroller when we got home. Everyone enjoyed the walk especially our dog, who has been feeling a little attention-deprived since we've come home.

Happy Birthday Claire and Brady

I had every intention of posting this on June 8th, Claire's birthday, but it turned out Claire had other plans for us that day. Her little brother, Brady Marshall, was born on June 8th, exactly one year from Claire's birthday. I have no explanation for this, other than there is some higher power and this was how it was supposed to be. Claire wanted to share her birthday with her little brother to make sure it was always a happy day for us. It's beyond bittersweet.

I had a routine weekly dr, visit Friday morning and was expecting to be told I was still stuck at 4 cm dilated and hadn't made any progress despite the fact that I had had contractions off and on the night before. I expected to stop at the cemetery on my way back to work and then work the remainder of the day, hoping that Brady would be born over the weekend. That's not what happened. I requested to be checked because of the contractions the night before and was told that I was 5-6 cm dilated and they wanted to hook me up for a NST to see if I was having regular contractions and just not feeling them. Turns out I was contracting, just not regularly. They sent me home since I wasn't in pain, but said they were sure I would have this baby today of all days. I was secretly hoping that Brady would hold off until 12:01 AM, but that didn't happen either.

It was around 4PM that I finally started feeling regular contractions about every 3-5 minutes lasting for a minute or more. I still wasn't in much pain, but figured I better call the on-call Midwife and let her know what was going on. She told us to eat dinner and then head in to be checked for progress. We got there around 6PM and I was 7cm and 90% effaced. They admitted me and broke my water shortly after being admitted. I was able to get a room with a tub, and that was absolutely wonderful. I recommend laboring in a tub to everyone! The contractions got intense as soon as my water was broke. I labored until about 8PM when I started feeling the urge to push. I was checked again and was 10cm and ready to go. Unfortunately, the MW was delivering another baby right at that time so they brought in the on-call OB. She was wonderful. I pushed for not even a half hour and Brady Marshall was born at 8:26PM! His cry was the most wonderful sound I have ever heard.

We are all doing great! I was able to go completely med-free and I truly believe that my recovery has been so easy because of that. I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. I also believe that Claire has been watching over us this entire pregnancy, and that is part of the reason everything went as it did. Brady is so amazing and I've never loved anyone so much. He is (so far) a very easy baby and is breastfeeding pretty darn well.

So Happy Belated Birthday Claire Bear! We love you and miss you so much! Your little brother will know all about you, although we know that he already knows you. 

And here's Brady! He weighed 8 lbs. exactly and is 20 inches tall.

More Good News

Still no baby...obviously, but I tested negative for Group B Strep! That was nice to hear since I tested positive for it last time. One less IV!

A Surprise

At my weekly appointment on Thursday I was tested for Group B Strep and had an internal. I was shocked when my midwife said, "Dang girl, you are 4 cm and 60% effaced." Umm what!? Last time at 4 cm I was already at the hospital and in quite a bit of pain. I've had no contractions except for some random Braxton Hicks. She said I could be stuck at a 4 for a week or more, or he could come any time. Since it's Sunday and he's still not here, I'm guessing I'll be stuck here for a while.  On the up side, I'm really hoping that being this far along already, will help in my plans to have a med-free birth. I don't care what other people say about the epidural (I've been there done that too), the after effects for me were terrible.

I almost wish I didn't know. Our hopes were up that he would come this weekend, but it's now looking like we'll be at work on Monday. I'm secretly crossing my fingers that the full moon tomorrow will work some magic. I am so ready for him to be here. It's pretty much been 2 years in the making.

I also wish that we hadn't told our families. I get multiple texts per day from mine asking if there's any progress and Brad gets daily calls from his family. People, do you really think that he's here already and we're just not telling you?! We'll let you know when something happens, but there's nothing new to tell.

Please cross your fingers for some labor progress. Thankfully it's nice out, and I can go for a very long walk today.

A Couple Pictures

Here are a couple pictures that go along with my last post.

Here's the poster that they attached to the tribute tree at last weekend's Heart Walk.

This picture is my belly pic from Thursday at right around 36 weeks. Unless I'm wishful thinking, I really do think he has dropped.

He's Dropped

I know I haven't blogged in a bit. We had a very busy May complete with 3 baby showers, 2 for us and 1 for Brad's cousin. They were all wonderful! We also did the Heart Walk again this year. They do a tribute tree every year and this year the tree was in honor of Claire. They had a little story about her and a quote from me. It was so nice and very emotional. I also had an emotional Mother's Day. We went to visit Claire and I was a wreck. I didn't imagine I would be like that, but it's hard thinking about what Mother's Day would have been like sharing it with our baby girl. I miss her.

I am now officially 36 weeks pregnant, and this guy has definitely dropped. I've had a few comments just today at work about him dropping and "I don't think you're going to make it 2 or 3 more weeks." What do they know, but these comments kind of freak me out, because it hasn't 100% sunk in yet that any time I will be going into labor and getting to bring a baby home from the hospital this time. I'm nervous, but I'm so ready to meet our little guy. 37 weeks would be ideal, but with his largeness, I think we'd be just fine if he came any time now. The nesting will be in full force this weekend! Hope everyone enjoys the holiday!

Score!

I had remembered hearing something a while back about breast pumps possibly being covered by insurance now. Since I knew I would need one and had shopped around and found that the one I wanted would be close to $300, I figured it couldn't help to call our insurance provider and ask about coverage before dropping that kind of cash. Sure enough, pumps are covered as "durable medical equipment". I had to get a prescription from my midwife and take it to a medical equipment store, but it's well worth the extra couple steps in order to get a free pump! I guess the point of this post is to make sure that any of you mom-to-be's out there call your insurance provider before going out and buying a pump on your own. You might be pleasantly surprised what they tell you.

Wow, I can't believe it's been 11 months. One more month would have been Claire's 1st birthday. I can't wait for Brady to be here, but I hope to God that he doesn't come on the 8th.