Drew's Birth

Well, I though it was time to tell the story of the wonderful experience we had delivering precious Drew.

Things started get serious around 9 pm on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009. Natalie had been having weird contractions earlier in the week. But this time, the contractions came at more regular 15 minute intervals. We kept timing the contractions throughout the night. By morning, the contractions were more painful and about 6-7 minutes apart. It was about time to head on in to the hospital. We got there at 8:30 am. Natalie was dilated only to 1cm so the doctor wanted to wait another hour to see if she was progressing. An hour later, 2cm. We were admitted. After discussing options with the staff, Natalie agreed to an epidural. Contractions were getting tougher. Around noon, the epidural was in and it was time to relax. Things hadn't progressed too far. Natalie was only at 3.5cm. I made a few trips to the car to get some more comforts and posted some updates online. By 4pm, Dr. Fitzpatrick did another check and still 3.5cm. We thought it would be a good idea to take a rest. It looked like it was going to be a long night. Only an hour later I was awakened by Natalie telling the nurse that she felt some weird pressure below. "You're at a 10. It's time to push." the nurse said. Wow! I couldn't believe it was time. So, I had a few moments to send out a couple of text messages while preparations were being made. By 5:30, the Doctor was ready and it was show-time. With nurse Joan on the right and me on the left we helped Natalie through her first big push. The nurses were great and coached her through each contraction. By the second push I could see the crown! There was a lot of long black hair. "That's the baby's hair, right?" I asked. By the fifth push little Drew was out and placed right into Natalie's arms. That's when I cut the cord. After a few minutes, Drew went over to get cleaned up, weighed, tested and warmed up. Everything went OK with that. During that time, Natalie was getting stitched up. The doctor said she bled a little more than he likes to see. But that everything was fine. Then, Drew was back over to Mom and got to eat for the first time. Little Drew had big blue eyes that looked around the room seriously until they gazed into Natalie eyes. She looked as if she was thinking quite seriously about the whole situation. After nursing for a little bit, I accompanied Drew to the nursery for her bath and a few shots. While we were there she received her first visitors, Grandpa Ted, Sharon and Adam, who greeted us with grins and smiles. Soon, we were all back in the recovery room.

We were so excited to have our little baby girl with us. That night we offered our thanks to a loving heavenly father who blessed us with such an amazing little spirit.

Week 27

OK, no more barf stories.

Barf-fest: A Festival of Barf

We had quite the terrible day. I was a little late to work because I had to run to the pharmacy to pick up some Milk of Magnesia for Natalie. She's been a little 'um . . . stopped up for a few days. She took some of the MofM then I left for work. I stopped in on Natalie after my lunch and she wasn't doing too well. She was... well on the "toto" and barfing into the trash can. The vomit was green and thick. We settled her down and I went back to work. About 30 minutes later, she called and said that she was still puking and to come home. I went right home so I could take her to the doctor. I found her waiting outside and she hopped into the truck. We started off to the doctor's office while I called them on the cell phone to see if they had any kind of opening. Natalie was up-chucking into a zip-loc bag. I explained the situation to the doctor's assistant and she said she would call in a prescription to the pharmacy that would stop the nausea. She also suggested an enema. So, we turned around and went back towards the pharmacy. I felt it would be best for Natalie to wait in the car and I went into get the Rx. The pharmacy counter was busy and it wouldn't be ready for a few minutes. So I asked the pharmacist where I could find the "enema section". He wasn't sure so he shouts out over all the people in line to the stock-clerk very loudly, "HEY DAVE! CAN YOU SHOW THIS GUY WHERE HE CAN FIND THE..." He stopped short. He caught himself right before he shouted "ENEMA!" across the busy store. Good. I told him I would find it myself. I did. But, I didn't pick it up because I didn't want to walk around Walgreen's with just an "Easy Squeeze Fleet Enema 2-Pak" in my hand. So, I went back to check up on Natalie in the parking lot. She was puking out the open door onto the parking lot. She was also upset because the zip-loc bag was leaking a little bit and she got drops of greenish stomach juice on her new white shoe-laces. I helped settle her down and we both went back in to wait. She went into the restroom while I picked up some gator-aide. The pharmacy was busy and it was taking long. I went to the Walgreen's ladies room and cracked the door open. I could hear Natalie's vomit hitting the tile floor. She cleaned up the best she could and we got her and the prescription back home.

Now, let's just say we got her all fixed up but not before she spent some time on the bathroom floor. She looked so pathetic. She was remarking how she feels like one of those rock stars you see in the movies when they hit rock-bottom from some bad drug addiction. I knew what she meant... there's always the scene of them writhing on some hotel bathroom floor in their own fluid. That made us kind of laugh which stimulated her into more vomiting onto the bathroom floor. That was pretty much rock-bottom for her. I helped her draw a bath and soon, she was "totally relieved" and relaxing in her own tub... Where she threw-up one more time right into the bath water. So, after draining the water and rinsing off, she took the nausea medicine and was wrapped up in a warm blanket, in bed, sipping on some gator-aide. She was so tired. She fell asleep. After making sure she was OK, I ran a few errands. She was sleeping soundly when I got home. After that she woke up and felt pretty good. We had a very small dinner and retired to bed. She slept the whole night through. I left for work in the morning and received a mid-morning call from her saying that she had a great sleep and besides her stomach muscles being a bit sore, she felt great.

So to summarize the puking...
• on the toilet at home
• in my truck
• in the parking lot
• in Walgreen's ladies room
• on the bathroom floor
• in the bath tub
She also puked numerous other times when I was at work including both bathroom sinks.

Natalie is wonderful. Even while puking, she really has a great attitude.
I can't believe how lucky I am to have her. Things are settling down and we're getting excited for baby.

25 Weeks and looking good.

Still smiling. And what a cute, glowing smile it is!

It's A GIRL!

We just got back from our Ultra-Sound appointment. Everything looks great! We're so excited (and not surprised) that we are having a girl.

Baby Bump 22 weeks.

Here's another baby-bump picture. Everything is going great. We're starting to get so antsy about what the gender is. We set an appointment for January 2 for our ultrasound. Natalie is having crazy cravings. Yesterday we were at McDonald's late in the evening (around 10pm) to get an Ice Cream cone. But she went ahead and ordered a cheeseburger, too. Natalie is doing so great! 

Pinchy - Fluttery - Bubbley - Crampy

Those are some of the words Natalie has used to describe what's going on inside of her body. I haven't felt anything yet from the outside. But, it shouldn't be long now.

Natalie is also feeling better. She actually seems to have a little burst of energy. With the Holidays coming on, we'll be ready for our last Christmas as a 2 member family. Next year it will be three. Because three, is a magic number.