The day we met Avonlea face to face 09.09.13

8:45 -10:30 pm  (Sunday, September 8)

It was a typical Sunday evening filled with lesson plans, laundry, grocery shopping, and prepping for the long week ahead. I had made a grocery list for Chris and he had headed off to Publix. While he was gone, I started to feel a little different. I thought to myself, "Is this it?" I started using an app on my phone to keep track of my contractions, or "surges". I will explain the shift in terminology a little later. I had always had very strong Braxton-Hicks, or "practice surges". They lasted anywhere between 2-5 minutes. These, however, were not going away, and definitely felt different. I had texted my mom to let her know how I was feeling. She said that she would be over in a little bit and for me to go for a walk and take a bath.When Chris returned from Publix I told him we should go for a walk. The look on his face was priceless. I am not a big walk or outside person so he knew something was going on. I told him that I think this is the real thing. Off we went into the night with Reagan on his leash and me holding my iPhone tracking every contraction. We went for several trips up and down the block and eventually made it back home. I hopped into the bathtub dressed with lavender essential oil, cranked up my relaxation music, and started to "get in the zone". At this point, I am beginning to realize that this is the real thing! In my heart I remember feeling so many emotions and in my head thinking so many different things...Yay, I finally get to meet her soon! How is this going to feel? What is going to happen next? The bath was short-lived. A. I did not take one bath my entire pregnancy so 38 weeks pregnant was not a good time to practice maneuvering myself in the tub (Don't judge me) B. I'm not a big soak in the tub person. C. It was really not that soothing.. So out of the bath I came!
I continued to listen to my relaxation music and just did some last minute packing of the hospital bags, checking on Chris, and just walking around the house.

10:30- 1:30 am
Mom arrived at the house. It had been about two hours since it had all started and I knew that I wanted to labor at the house as long as possible. The last thing I wanted to have happen was get to the hospital and they send me back home. We turned the lights down low in the living room, turned on the essential oil diffuser, got out the birthing ball, pillows, and anything else we could think of to stay comfortable. Bless his heart, Reagan knew something was going on and would not leave my side. In fact, he wanted to be right next to me or on top of me or on my pillow. Animals have that special instinct. This period of time seems like such a blur to me. Time seemed to just fly by. At 1:30 mom insisted that Chris pack up all of the things in the car and we head to the hospital. I was not very convinced. Again, didn't want to be sent home. But, mother does know best! Boy am I happy we did head to the hospital.

1:45 am
We arrived at OB triage. After some paperwork the nurse took me into a room to see how far along we were. Yep, I was 5-6 cm, 100% effaced. They then asked that question: "Would you like for me to order any medications for you?" This was the moment of truth. I had practiced for the past several months with the hypnobirthing mindset and was determined to delivery naturally. I said "No, I'm good." I took a big sigh of relief and straight up to the labor/delivery room we went.

2:30-5:01 am
The next few hours went by so quickly. Denise, my wonderful midwife, was on-call that night and assisted in the birth. My mom was by my side as my doula. Chris was my labor partner. My dad was even joining in on the action- behind the curtain, of course. I had two lovely nurses that were also assisting. It was then focus time. I tuned in to all of the hypnobirthing preparation that I had done. Focusing on my breathing, visual imagery, and thinking positively helped me have such a relaxing birth. With my wonderful team at my side, we were able to labor together peacefully and Avonlea arrived at 5:01 am.

Here she was....all 6 lbs. 8 ounces of her..This beautiful person who I had been carrying for these past 38 weeks was now here! She was here! She was beautiful and already so special to us and so loved. There really is nothing like it. She already had such a personality as you can tell by this picture.
God really did bless us with a beautiful pregnancy. I am so thankful for His care and provision over us each and every day.

Throughout this post I have mentioned Hypnobirthing. If you are not familiar with that terminology or birthing method, you can read about it here: http://hypnobirthing.com/

I was introduced to this method by my mom. She had used hypnosis for both of her pregnancies.
Through some of my own research, reading up on various birthing methods, and calling a local hypnobirthing instructor to ask some questions, I was convinced that this was the method for me!

Mainly, it is about approaching childbirth without fear. With practice of both breathing and guided imagery, it doesn't promise a pain-free birth, but definitely a calm and peaceful approach to birthing your baby.

I could talk forever about all of the many ways I think it is amazing, but I do know that I will be using this method for my future pregnancies and encourage any and all of my friends to at least look into it as you prepare for childbirth.


Ultimately, healthy mommy and healthy baby is all that is important.
Thank you, God, that we had both!

Our Maternity Pictures 07.21.13

I know that it is a little late in posting these pictures. I was planning on posting them about a week before her EDD (September 22nd) but she decided to grace us with her lovely presence a few days early... (I have been fine with her decision!)

Our sweet friend, Collette, took these gorgeous photos. Make sure you check out her facebook page. I have added the link below. She is absolutely amazing and I am in awe of her talent and expertise.

At the time of this photo shoot, she was 31 weeks. She would have weighed approximately 3.3 pounds and measured over 16 inches long. I am still amazed how huge my baby bump was and how tiny she ended up being.

I still remember looking down at my big belly and reveling in the idea that a precious life is being formed. How can you can already love someone so much and have never met them face to face? Now that she is with us, it makes me appreciate the time that I was able to carry her. For those 38 weeks she was just mine. I was her protector, provider, and home. I could feel all of her movements from her hiccups to her dancing and to her sudden jumps in the night. These maternity pictures are so much more than a visual memory. They remind me of those tiny moments that only I was able to feel, the focus and plans that I was preparing, and the intimate relationship and bonding that was already being formed between her and me.

Collette Marie Photography

A Southern Tea: Baby Girl Drake Makes Three (July 27, 2013)

The lovely hostesses of Baby Drake's shower were the Ladies Committee from our church and some close friends and family. They went above and beyond to make this "Pre-Birthday Party" for our sweet angel a lovely event.

What goes great with tea? Sandwiches of course! There was a lovely spread of chicken salad sandwiches, pimento cheese, and ham sandwiches. Yummy. To top it off there were deviled eggs, a pickle/olive tray, fresh fruit, delightful homemade mints, cupcakes and a coconut cake. It was a perfect girly afternoon meal. I did not go hungry, that's for sure! I hope Baby Drake is a foodie like her momma.

To start off the shower I wanted to make a speech..I know, I know...Why would I want to cry my way through a long-winded speech and make everyone listen and try to figure out what I was saying between the choke-ups and tear wipes? I know that once the cake gets cut and the presents begin to get unwrapped I have lost my captive audience. I wanted to take the time to really thank everyone for attending this event, ask for continued prayers, and tell certain people how much I love them. I mainly was trying to speak on behalf of our precious little girl. She is already so loved and blessed by having such wonderful friends and family already in full support of her! Surprisingly, I made it through the speech! Whew!

My Miss Dinanne- the person who watched me every day from practically birth-Kindergarten

So much PINK! OOOHHHH....AHHHHHH....AWWWWWW

How cute is that toy box? Thanks, Marietta :) It is already set up in the nursery

Sweet friends sitting "front row"

The only clue about our precious little one's name 

Hopefully these ladies will let me have a turn holding her once in a while!
(Cousin Fonda, Momma, and Mamaw)

Me, Miss Dinanne, and Suzie doll!

My precious Sophie

I loved opening all of her lovely gifts. Who knew you could get so tired sitting in a chair, opening gifts, reading cards, and talking? It must be a pregnancy thing. What is so much fun about going to showers is seeing motherly wisdom passed on through gifts. So many people gave clever gifts, things that I had not put on my registry or even thought twice about getting. Hearing all the ladies say "You are gonna use that!" "You can never have too many of those!" "That's going to save you so much time!" I loved hearing everyone's input. There was wonderful advice written in cards, blessings poured out over our little girl, and sweet words for Chris and me. I feel so grateful to have so many wonderful women around me. I know I can call on them for anything.

Ready or not.....Here she comes!

Gender Reveal Party- "Waddle It Be?" 05.12.13

I had to make a post about this...(It IS a little late) but I love re-living this night!

 

 

Chris and I knew that we wanted to be surprised in some way when we found out the sex of our baby. We wanted to know but wanted to find out in the presence of close friends and family and celebrate that time together.

My mom and mother-in-law went with us to our ultrasound 11 days before this party! We told our tech that we didn't want to know but that we wanted our mothers to know. We were able to look at our precious little one for part of the ultrasound but the large monitor was turned off when it was time to check..well, down there. The tech went out to the waiting room and called the mothers in. She told them en route to the room. They did it! They kept it a secret that whole time!! I was super impressed.

My mom and mother-in-law, along with other close friends and family, planned a beautiful get-together the night of Mother's Day. The theme was ducklings (you know, Drake...ducks..). My mom came up with the clever phrase "Waddle It Be?"

She went above and beyond with the decorations, the food was super yummy, and everything was so detailed.

 

 

To add some fun for the guests, everyone was to vote  either "pink" or "blue".  The guests who had voted the correct color were part of a drawing and won a prize.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was when all the guests selected their guess by picking up either a blue or pink Peep. It was a very colorful room with everyone's guesses. I do have to say..there were more blue than pink Peeps in this group picture!

 

I am sure that you can also tell that I had been crying. When I turned around and saw all of my close friends and family in the same room excited about our little baby, I had no other emotion than sheer joy...the waterworks started!

 

 

It was now "reveal" time! The center table was decorated with gifts and cards. My mom made the diaper cake which housed our beautiful surprise. The surprise was under the second layer of the diaper cake in a sealed container. We were able to see the color first when we lifted that lid, sharing that moment, just the two of us.

 

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

 

 

 

It was such a lovely surprise! Chris and I were so excited to find out what our little one would be, regardless of boy or girl. Everyone started to celebrate and the tears began to flow!

Our sweet friends from Nashville came down to surprise my mom. Teresa took all of the pictures!

We are so ready to meet you, sweet girl!