It has been quite a while, hasn't it? Well, in case you didn't hear yet, I recently popped that baby boy out. And by "recently" I mean 4 weeks ago today. And by "popped out" I mean not popped out. More like worked very, very hard to get an 8 pound baby out of a very small hole in 7 hours.

I started having contractions Tuesday night (April 3rd - 4 days past my due date) just before midnight. I had been waiting so long to finally have contractions and go into labor that I waited a good hour or so before telling Scott what was happening. At 3am the midwife on call said that I was in active labor and that I could come in. 

3:30 we got to the hospital but had to wait in a Labor and Delivery room because all the birthing rooms upstairs were being used. The midwife on call came to check on me at about 4am and all I remember about her was that she was highly annoying and caused me a great deal of pain. She started asking me some dumb question when she came in and I didn't answer her since I was clearly in the middle of a contraction. Right when it finished my water broke so I hobbled over to the tiny bathroom to take care of business. When I finally came out she asked me how I was doing and I told her, "I think my water just broke". Her reply, "Why do you think that?" I don't remember my exact tone at this point but I do remember wishing I was physically capable of performing a round house kick to her face right then. I think I said something along the lines of, "Well, I just had a lot of fluid and blood come out of there and there really hasn't been much coming that way in the past 9 months"

She proceeded to check how far along I was and I believe it was at this point that I decided that I hated her. I shudder just remembering. Yeesh.

Well, I was 6 cm dilated - on my way. Just after this adventure they moved us upstairs. We had a wonderful, large room with a Queen sized bed and they were just filling the portable tub for me. Ahh. This was how it was supposed to go down. There is a very long blurry stretch in my memory of laboring for a few hours, about 3, before going into transition. Transition is what they call Active Labor, because before we were just cruising along being lazy I guess. It's usually when you are around 8 - 10 cm dilated, your contractions are longer, stronger, and closer together (joy!), and sometimes it's when the baby starts to descend. I might also call it Hell for short. I do believe there was a moment when I turned to Scott and told him something like, "Never again. This is horrible. We are adopting from now on".

Transition probably lasted about 2 hours for me and I thought I might just rather die. I was so tired and it took all of my concentration to not make noise and just breathe through the contractions. I really thought the...more colorful side of me might make an appearance at this time, but I think I was just so concentrated and tired that I saved myself. 

Finally the midwife (new one!), a midwife in training, and my AMAZING nurse (I would name my daughter after her if her name wasn't Berkley - she understood) came in and announced that it was time to push. I could not have been any happier. At last! I had heard so many stories about "I pushed three times and my baby popped out!" - really, how long could this take?

Well, about 25 minutes into pushing is when I think I started making, "Seriously?! What is he doing?!" comments. The worst part was with all the people in the room (Midwife, midwife in training, Berkley the Incredible, my mom, Scott, and my sister) after every push, I mean, every push, I would receive multiple, "That was so good Heidi! Great pushing!" to which I would perk up, "Oh yea? So is he almost out??" -- "Uh, no. We just caught a glimpse of the top of his head. But it went back" DEAR LORD. Stop telling me I'm doing such an amazing job if nothing is happening! The next time someone says how great it's going there better be a baby flying out.

45 minutes of pushing and finally, at 10:36am, my baby boy was born. Praise Jesus. I wanted to be alert and joyful but I was so tired, it was all I could do to remain conscious. 8 pounds 10 ounces, 21 inches long, full head of hair. I was in love. 

The worst part is, I can tell...I can already tell that although I have not forgotten how painful labor was (no drugs baby), I will somehow be conned into doing this all again. He's just so cute, I know I will want another one. Fortunately, the next one is supposed to be easier. And really, I had a pretty short labor. 7 hours is not that bad when I compare war stories. And now I have this:

10 pounds in this picture. I'm super in love and he is just the best baby. Such a good little spirit, he's hard not to fall in love with.

So that is the story...next time I won't gross you out so much. But next time might also be at 3:30am while I'm up with him for a half hour. So...there may not be quite enough of a filter at that hour. Let's cross our fingers. 

Loving being a Mommy

h

Baby Induced Madness or Nesting?

There are some projects that I've been working on. I've been a little hesitant to do too much because I know that once I start this ball rolling, it will be hard to stop it. And it turns out I was right. I've got the itch now and I'm finding it difficult to stop.

I'm making E a small collection of personalized onesies. Is that partially insane?

Does it help or hurt my case that I bought a range of sizes so he will fit them for the whole first year?

This blanket was actually not originally intended for Ev when I first started it. But as it turned out in the end, whether it's because I took too long to make it, or the baby moved states, it's Evan's now. I finally finished it and held onto it until we found out whether we were having a boy or girl. If it was a girl I would feminize it a little more, but as luck would have it, it's perfect for our little papa bear. I stitched his name in it last week when my craze picked up hot and heavy again. 

I can't help it folks. I am the girl that knitted scarves for all of her wedding guests as wedding favors/an alternative seating chart. I love doing this kind of stuff. If I had the time (and a rockin pattern) to make the onesies themselves, believe me, it would be happening. In my defense, we don't have a nursery for E yet so let's call this my version of nesting for now. I'm sure I'll burn out eventually....right?

If not, sorry husband.

Happy Day of Giving Thanks everyone! I hope you all are surrounded by people that you love and that love you!

h + e

Oh babies

Today I spent my entire hour lunch break hanging out in the new infant room at work. Two little baby boys, both under 6 months I believe. Oh the chubby thighs, the toothless goofy grins, the cooing as they told me about their days...too much I say.

After I left that peaceful room I thought, If I just wasted an hour of my time completely entertained by these two babies I don't even know, then I am doomed when Evan comes along. He just gave me a little punch to confirm that.

The first time I (and we) felt him really move was three nights ago. We were laying in bed, ready to turn the lights out when I felt a little Hiyah! I heard it described best as the way you feel when your eyelid twitches and you can't control it. It is simultaneously the coolest and the weirdest thing I have ever felt. It honestly freaks me out a little bit if I think too much about the fact that it's a live baby making those movements. It's probably best to not have a panic attack about my unborn baby moving inside of me. But I just start thinking about Wrath of Khan, or the scene of The Matrix where they extract that bug from his stomach. Bleaaahhh...I just gave myself the willies.

In any case, I am still feeling great, a little preoccupied with work stuff, but ok. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we are actually going to have a real baby in 5 months. Just insane.
Guess I should get all my sleep in now :)

It's time for something new

It's time to put up a new post, if for no other reason than to move the belly band photo down.

Week 15 1/2. Still feeling good. Albeit a little large. And around 12pm I suddenly lose all will to live, or at least move one iota. Apparently my scrubs (work mandated attire) hide the bump quite a bit because when I was changing out of them today Scott's reaction was, "Whoa! You are definitely bigger than last week". Good thing I am not self-conscious...or emotional. And for once I am not being sarcastic here :]

In case I hadn't blasted you with it yet, here's a video Scott took of the latest Dotson viewing. Just wait till Baby actually comes out...photos galore.



T minus 17 days until we find out what Dotson is! Woot!!

Happy Monday~
heids + baby

I have an idea for you

If you would like to find a really great way to have your Saturday morning breakfast revisit you, try typing in "maternity..." and follow it with very nearly anything you please on google, or even on etsy. What in the world people??

Did you know that there is something called a Maternity Belly Band/Bow?? No, you probably didn't because you are still innocent of such ridiculous things.

Not any more you aren't. This is actually the most pleasant picture of one that I found. I've had people try to convince me that we should do a pregnancy photo shoot, but I just don't know. If you know me at all....you know that would be pretty tough for me to swallow. It would have to be amazingly tasteful. And you might need to pay me to do it.

On a much more uplifting note - here is the video that my sister took of when we revealed the news to my family. It was the day after my brother's wedding, also the day after my dad's birthday and the whole family went out to breakfast together. Scott and I gave my dad a book called, The Really Useful Grandparents' Book. Inside the front cover was a copy of our first ultrasound.


The Reaction from The Diehls on Vimeo.


Enjoy your weekend.

It's part of my job

I had a moment today that will either make you grin or make you think that I am a horrible person.

I was in my classroom and it was time for the kids to clean up, so I announced "Clean Up Time!" and my little monkeys got to work putting their toys away. All except these two little girls. I was helping a child close a puzzle box when I heard one of the girls say to the other, "Let's hide from Ms Heidi" and they crawled under a table. Oh heck no.

I quietly walked over to their ingenious hiding spot, squatted down and startled them with a sharp, "You two better get out NOW." I saw both sets of legs jump in surprise and they quickly scrambled out. "Pick up a toy." They both grabbed the nearest toy and started putting things away and as I walked away I heard one of them say with a nervous giggle, "Well, I guess hiding was not a good idea". I had to stifle a laugh :)

Now, I'm not just mean. The reason I snatched them up was because this was not the first time the ring leader girl had hidden under the same table to get out of doing something. None of that now. Someone's got to lay down the law.

Gotta run for now, but just for the record - got a pumpkin spice latte today (DECAF) and decided it is much like drinking a scented candle. That needs to be toned down please.

Lata.

It's a done Diehl

AT LAST. The news is out! After weeks of agonizing, joyful torture - we are finally public. And by public I mean that we announced on facebook that we are having a BABY!!!!

*Deep Sigh of Contentment*

Now I can finally start writing about what's really going on in our life (/my body). We are 9 weeks as of yesterday, and next Thursday we will have a new ultrasound of little Dotson (=Daughter or Son - not actually the front runner for its name). Hopefully we'll get to hear a heartbeat then.

For now, I'm feeling pretty good. A little hungry most of the time. And by that I mean every hour on the hour I feel like I have a tapeworm living inside of me. I eat at least two breakfasts, maybe 3ish snacks before lunch, early lunch, a few more granola bars and fruits before I get off (4:30), and then I barely make it home before I start gnawing on the steering wheel. One and a half dinners and then I'm pretty good for the night.

You know, for a human the size of a grape, Dotson sure is making a ruckus. Pushing around in there, blowing me up like a balloon, eating man-sized portions of my meals...Sweet Moses. Tonight after my second (and a half) dinner Scott predicted that Dotson was going to be humongous. Very encouraging :]

The only other "symptom" I've really had is feeling a twinge drained of energy which is why I need to sign off for the night. I was up waiting until my bedding laundry was done, and now that the buzzer has gone off, it's time for me to shut my blurry eyes and get some rest!

xoxo
hd & baby