Grandpa and Grandma Time

Grandpa and Grandma Brinkman and Gabe came down and were able to be there Thursday when she was born and stayed Friday. Then the Grandpa's went home and the Grandma's stayed another night. They loved every minute of it (although Leah slept through most of it) but here are some pictures.

Baby Leah is finally here!!!

Well, on March 25th, at 6:57 pm, Leah Elizabeth Gabe decided to make her appearance to the world!!
My water broke at 3:30 in the morning on Thursday, so we drove to the hospital. I got admitted around 5 am and was already dilated to 3 centimeters. I got an epidural around 8:00 am and was dilated to 5 cms around 10 Am and then 8 cm by 1:30, and 10 cm at about 2:20. I started pushing at 3:00, and pushed for 3 hours until the dr. decided that Leah wasn't going to come out. They prepped me for c-section and I was wheeled into surgery about 6:30 and Leah was born 6:57 pm. Finally! THat was a long day!
Labor was really nothing like I expected.. at least the first 12 hours of it anyways. The nurses kept telling me I was doing great but I thought I was just laying there doing nothing.. thank god for epidurals! :) Eric kept watching the screen saying, "Whoa- that was a big contraction" and I was like.. sure, it may have.. I cant' feel it :) And then 3:00-6:00 was a little bit more of what I thought it would be like. They had me on so much pitocin that I was pushing every minute, and couldn't get any time to rest and get my strength back up. That was the 1st 2 hours. Then the last hour, I finally was just having contractions about every 3 minutes, so I at least had time to regroup after each one. But still, Leah wasn't moving.
Both Grandpa and Grandma Brinkman and Grandpa and Grandma Gabe were able to drive down and be there when she arrived. Eric was a very proud daddy, and was also glad when the whole process was over and he could show her off. Here are some pictures from the delivery day!

Happy Due Date..continued

Had my dr. appt after school--- good news- I'm 3 centimeters dilated! yay! Her heart rate was 150, and my blood pressure was still great. Bad news-- I've really got no other signs of anything happening anytime soon! They scheduled me for next Tuesday, and then if nothing is going on by then, they will probably induce me sometime later next week.

Happy Due Date!

Today is my ultrasound due date, but no signs of anything being due! :) I have a dr. appointment after school today, so hopefully I'll know more after that (if I am dilated at all!) My original due date is the 28th. So, we will see when she decides to make an appearance :)

Back to school..

Well, spring break has come to an end, and no baby!! So, back to school it is. The only good news about this is the longer she waits to come, the less likely of a chance that I will have to go back to school before August! So, I guess that's a good thing. I've got a Dr. appt this Wednesday (ultrasound due date), and they will check me then to see if I am dilated. No signs really as to anything happening soon except a few Braxton Hicks contractions (at least I think that's what they are) here and there. My original due date was the 28th, so maybe by this weekend, something will happen.. I've told myself I can make it through this week of work, but I may have a mental/physical breakdown if I haven't had her by next Monday!! :) alright, probably not, but these last few weeks have just seemed to drag on forever.

She's probably going to take after her father and arrive fashionably late.... :)

38 1/2 weeks

Well, I had a dr. appointment today. Everything was still good.. blood pressure was good and her heart rate was 147, and was measuring right on target. However, when the dr. felt around on my stomach today, he thought she was feeling awfully large. He wanted to do an ultrasound to get an estimated birth weight. The ultrasound estimated her at 7 1/2 pounds right now, and he mentioned she's got long legs! So he said I'll definitely get into the 8's if not 9's by the time she's born. He doesn't think I'll make it to my original due date which was the 29th, which is good, because I don't think there is anymore room in there for her to get any bigger!! I'm feeling slower and slower, and puffier and puffier with the swelling. It just doesn't seem to be going away, but the dr. didn't seem concerned, so I guess there isn't much I can do!

Denny and Linn also came down this past weekend, and Denny and Eric helped Eric Nixt finish his basement, and Linn and I went shopping and picked up some last minute things for Baby Gabe. We got a saying for the wall in the nursery that looks great. They also brought us down our dresser so I got things put away in that.

Good news is that we are on SPRING BREAK all week! YAY! We are headed up to Greene tomorrow just for a couple days, and then will come back here and wait for me to go into labor! :) Let's hope its soon!

Nursery

Ginormous...

Bare belly shot.......yep, ginormous! :)

37 weeks!

Only 3 weeks to go...... I'm feeling bigger and bigger everyday. No contractions yet, but I am having some major swelling in my feet all the sudden! So that's not fun.. but other than that, I'm doing well. I have a dr. appointment this Friday, and weekly from here on out.. She's becoming not as strong in her little kicks, but now it feels like she's trying to stretch out in there.. I say several times a day, "Make yourself comfortable in there"-- because it feels like my stomach just won't stretch any farther! Some people think I'm carrying her lower, but I beg to differ-- she's still sitting on my lungs I think (well, that's what I blame it on when I walk up the stairs and get tired!)

This past weekend, my parents came down and brought us our chair to put in the nursery! Yay. We also put together our swing and got the diaper bag ready to go, and I still need to pack my bag. We got the car seat bases put in the cars, so we're getting more and more things done and ready. I'm hoping that she doesn't come until at least the 24th, simply so then may not have to go back to school before the end of the year, but I guess she will come whenever she's ready!