The Making of Lilah Ann

Here is a link to a movie that Chris made in iMovie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjpvDLxVH48

It documents the entire pregnancy, labor, delivery, and coming home! It is really cute; check it out!!

Here is a picture...just because she's cute :)

She's Here!

Lilah Ann Allison decided to finally grace us with her presence on Sunday April 26th, 2009 at 11:32pm! Last weekend Chris, Mom, and I set out with a busy schedule. We went all over town and walked miles around Costco, the Mall, and other various stores. Saturday evening we had a nice BBQ at Mike and Mary's and shortly after arriving back home I noticed my water had started leaking (This was around 10:15pm). We called Nadia, our doula, and she advised that we try to get some rest. We laid down and rested for a few hours. I was easily able to sleep between contractions at this point. Nadia came over around 3:00am and had us walk around the neighborhood for a while. Things were moving slowly at this point so Nadia went back home and gave us instructions to rest, walk, eat, and drink. We could tell things were progressing some early Sunday afternoon, so Nadia came back to the house around 3:00pm on Sunday and had me walk around the neighborhood a few more times. At this point, I was definitely feeling more discomfort and I was 'in the zone'. Chris and Nadia filled our bathtub and had me stay in there for almost 2 hours, although I don't recall most of that time. My contractions were getting more and more intense. Once I got out of the tub, Nadia checked me and I was about 5cm dilated and the baby was already very low. She said to take one more walk around the block and then we would leave for the hospital. Mom loaded the car and shut down the house while we got ready.
We left for the hospital around 7:00pm; I was laying in the backseat and was actually quite calm. I remember taking one contraction at a time; I didn't say anything to anyone the whole way there. We arrived at the hospital around 7:35pm and got checked into our room in L&D around 8:00pm. Our midwife met us in our room and checked me again; I was about 5-6cm and the baby was even lower. I was able to stay in my own clothes and labor standing against the side of the bed and then on the birth ball for the next 2.5 hours. I had no monitors, no IV's, no pain meds, or anything else to tie me down to the bed. This was wonderful! At about 10:45pm, I was starting to get the urge to push, but my midwife had me resist it because I was only 7.5cm dilated. This was the most difficult part of the whole labor. Within 15 minutes, I was ready to really start pushing. This part went so quickly for me! Chris was the best labor coach I could have asked for!! Once I started pushing, there was no stopping me. We had a mirror set up so that I could see the baby, and I was able to hold my own legs back. Once her head was out, my midwife had Chris and I reach down and guide the rest of her body up onto my chest! I had been pushing for less than 30 minutes when she was finally born. It was such a rush to finally see our little baby! She was so awake and alert when she was born. Her little eyes just kept looking around the room trying to take it all in. She was so pretty and pink :) She had a tiny little scratch on her cheek because she had her hand up by her face when she was born. When we were ready, Chris carried her over to the warmer and told us that she weighed 7lbs. 6oz. and was 19 inches long!
We spent the next 36 hours in the hospital recuperating and cuddling in the tiny hospital bed. She is doing perfectly...nursing like a champ and creating plenty of dirty diapers for Daddy to deal with!
Her birth was such an amazing experience! It was something that I will never forget!!

What's in a date?

I sit here today trying to figure out why we, as human beings, feel the need to set arbitrary deadlines on everything we do...including having babies!
Tis true, today is our official due date; however, for whatever reason, this little girl isn't quite ready to take on the world, and I am perfectly okay with that. I am trying to set aside my selfish reasons for wanting her to be here, including not being pregnant anymore, and just trust that she will arrive when she is really ready. So for now, we are going along with life as usual; mom and I are still conquering household projects. We get bored and go shopping all day some days, but we continue to stay busy. Yesterday we pampered ourselves with pedicures. My pedicurist even painted pretty little flowers on my big toes so that I would have something pretty to look at while I am in labor!!

So despite the fact that we don't have any news to share, we can confidently say that our little girl is one day closer to being here!!!! :)

It's Skedaddle Time Kiddo!!

Despite my intense hope that I would be blogging about our beautiful little baby by this time, here we are...still playing the waiting game!
I know, I still have 6 days until my actual due date, but I am definitely ready to meet this squirmy little girl. We had an appointment with the midwife on Tuesday and everything is looking great; we are just waiting now!
Mom and I have been running all over the place this week getting things in order. I have Mom chained-up in the sewing room upstairs :) She has been making some really beautiful baby carriers/slings, pack-n-play sheets, bassinet sheets, and other various baby accessories! We went a little crazy at Jo-Ann's Fabric the other day!
We have been cleaning, organizing, packing, and reorganizing non-stop. I have been going to yoga 4x/week, the chiropractor 1x/week, and went for a prenatal massage Wednesday (Thank you Mary!) In addition, Chris and I have been going for 30-45 minute nightly speed walks. Chris is convinced that we can walk this baby out!
Here is a belly picture taken last week at 38 weeks:

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

Well folks, here we are at the 37 week mark! Essentially, this baby is full-baked! She is ready to make her appearance any time now. Despite the fact that I would love to meet her a little early, I have a feeling that she is going to be in there for the long-haul! I would be very surprised if she arrives before her due date (April 23rd).
We are pretty much ready. We are meeting with the midwife every week now; last week we had our final ultrasound to check the position of the placenta, and we got some very good news! The placenta has migrated up enough to be out of the way for a natural birth. Our birth plan is complete, hospital tour/registration complete, we finished our 12-week childbirth-prep class, and we have our breastfeeding class with our Doula next Monday. I still have a few small things to finish up around the house, but overall we're ready!
I am still feeling pretty energetic; sleeping is becoming a little more difficult, but I am still walking regularly and going to yoga 3-4 times/week. Although not miserable, I do long for the days when I could easily roll over and jump out of bed in the morning!
I have been meaning to post some pictures of the baby's room but kept forgetting, so here they are: