Birth Story Part 1

So I want to document as much as I can, and I know i can't do it all in one sitting, so here we go.  My due date was Thursday, March 21, and even though I had been having lots of contractions over the past several weeks, nothing permanent was happening. They were much more real contractions than I've ever had before, I could tell because I would feel them in my back, and any time I've been in real labor that's where my contractions go.  Last Monday I almost thought I was in labor for real but then they stopped. Thursday we had nothing going on, so I took the kids and went to spin class at the gym, just to get us out of the house and give me something to do! And it felt really good to have a good workout. I figured it wouldn't get the baby out, the day before I'd jogged for 1/2 hour and it just made me hurt. Spinning never made me hurt afterward it just felt good. Mom got here Thursday night and we were set to go in Friday at noon to be induced.

Robby took Lily to preschool on Friday morning and then, about 15 minutes before we were going to leave we got a phone call from the hospital telling us they were full and they'd call us in a couple of hours when/if they got room. Talk about disappointment! I'd been doing really well handling my nerves until then.  And Robby was frustrated too. I had to leave the house and go on a walk for a few minutes to not lose it.  Mom and I went and picked up Lily from preschool, and she was very confused as to why I wasn't at the hospital having her baby brother! I told her hopefully he'd come today, though they probably wouldn't be able to see him until Saturday now.

After we got home Robby and I decided to go to Cheesecake Factory in Beaverton and then go and buy the carseat at the Target or Toys R Us nearby, and then go from there. So we did, and that was a nice distraction, and when we were on our way home around 2:30 they still hadn't called us. So we decided to swing by the hospital and basically see if they had room. I called my midwife's office because I was a little bit afraid that I was leaking fluid, and if they weren't going to induce me Friday and make me wait until Monday I wanted to make sure that I wasn't. So the midwife told me to go over to triage in labor and delivery and said most likely they'd let me stay no matter what.

At the hospital the lady at check-in was very nice and tried to make sure they checked me in by the doctors orders saying I was there to be induced, to reduce the likelihood of them sending me home.  They then hooked me up to a heart rate and contraction monitor, and I was having pretty decent regularly spaced contractions. I wasn't leaking fluid but they talked to the midwife and they said there was room and that I could stay. We had told them if at all possible we'd like to.  So that was great.  We later found out his heartrate had dropped while in triage; I don't know if that had anything to do with them letting us stay or not. So we waited for about another hour until they had a room for us, and then at 5:00 they took us back to labor and delivery.

Grant is here!

Grant was born on Saturday march 23 at 1:37. His full name is Grant Robert Hammond. He was 7 lb 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches, my biggest baby by 1/2 lb. I'll try to post the whole story soon, but it went well.

Due Date!

Its here! I made it to my due date for the first time ever. I've always been induced before it.  Now I don't feel as bad about it since it appears my body doesn't want to go into labor on its own. At least when I think it should. I'm being induced tomorrow at noon. I'm dialated to a 3 and 75% effaced so at least I've made some progress. I have been going a bit crazy having no plans for today. Last night I had a panic attack about having this baby.  I had to get out of the house; I went on a walk and took lots of deep breaths and said lots of prayers. It's hard to describe the anxiety, I think unless you have had something traumatic happen when you have given birth before. Or have lost a child.  Serious, serious anxiety.  Today we didn't have any plans and the house is mostly clean. I wasn't planning on going to Spin class but when I told the kids we'd go on a walk they said they wanted to go to the gym and I figured what the heck? I was having more anxiety and I love spin because I don't think when I'm doing it. I think the people there thought I was crazy but it was a really nice break. It's the one thing I still do that gets my heart rate up and it felt really good! It was only for about 40 minutes.  So now I'm ready to finish cleaning and relax and pray this baby makes it here safely tomorrow!

House and baby update

Such a great, exciting title I know.  So here's the quick update on the house-it closes tomorrow! We've signed everything and so has the owner; it just has to fund tomorrow. We're very excited, but we won't move in until April 20. They are renting back from us until April 15 and our lease in our house isn't up until April 30 so it works out really well. The house is 2,380 square feet, in a great neighborhood on the end of a cul-de-sac. It has a living room, dining room, kitchen, family room and den on the main floor and then 4 bedrooms upstairs. And then in a separate building in the back yard there is a media room-basically a movie theater. They are leaving the screen, projector, heat and A/C, couches, and then it has 2 levels of movie theatre chairs above the couches. So it should be a fun place to have people come over and hang out, and if the cousins want to spend the night out there or something. The house doesn't have a bonus room, and we really wanted one that did, so this was a nice compromise.  We have already discussed limiting games, etc. 

 The backyard; there is a bunch of dirt where I'm taking the pictures from; it goes probably 10 more feet toward the fence.

 Looking in from the kitchen to the family room and then into the study.

 The Study. I'm excited to have all this storage space in here.

I'll have to post more pictures later. As far as the baby; I'm feeling ready though I've never gone into labor so it probably won't happen this time. My due date is next Thursday, March 21 and if I'm ready I'll be induced Friday. I've never been patient enough to make it to my due date so that will be something! I've definitely had way more contractions with this one than any other but I've heard that's pretty common for number 4. He's still weigh up high; my babies don't drop until they come out. I'm 70% effaced and at a one, so we'll see what happens! I get so nervous before I give birth; I just think of all the things that could go wrong. I'm grateful I have un-eventful pregnanies, even if I am super uncomfortable by this point. I'm still walking, every once in awhile I try to jog but it lasts about 30 seconds and then I stop. I have still been going to spin once or twice a week. Tomorrow will probably be my last time. It hurts way less than walking or anything else; I've been pretty surprised.  We don't have a name yet, William or Grant probably. We're leaning toward Grant. Not too much else is going on.  Just anxious to have this baby here healthy and safe!

Sorry!

So I looked on my blog tonight and my slide show of Hawaii that I just haven't removed was replaced by adds, including porn! I'm so sorry if anyone saw anything they did not want to, and does anyone know how I report it to Blogger?  I was so annoyed!