Introducing: Liam Michael

Isn't he absolutely adorable?

Liam Michael was born January 31st, 2010 at 2:09 PM. He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 20 in long.

I started feeling contractions about every 7 minutes starting at around 11:30 Saturday night. We finished watching Knocked Up (Ironically) and I went and took a bath to see if they would go away. I'd been having contractions off and on for a while, but they'd go away with a good warm bath.

They continued and started getting a little closer together, so we went ahead and went on to the hospital. By the time we made it there (about 30 minutes away) at around 3am , they were coming every 2-3 minutes. The doctor came in around 7 am and checked me and I was still only dilated to a two. He broke my water and I got the epidural and continued the wait. When he checked me again, I was still only a 4 and Liam was still kind of high.

At around 1pm, they checked me again and I was STILL only a 4 even though I was having some SERIOUSLY strong contractions. So, the doctor thought that the cord might be wrapped around Liam's leg or hip or something that was causing him to "bungee jump." (See, already adventurous!)

So, we ended up having to have a c-section :( I was super duper scared ... but Aaron was absolutely amazing through the entire thing.


I'll leave you with that for now ... it's time to watch the Super Bowl!

Liam says "WHO DAT!"

Induction scheduled for Monday

BUT!

There is a full moon tomorrow. Like, a super full moon. Apparently, it's a really rare one where the Moon will be the closest EVER to the Earth, meaning the gravitational pull of water will be even greater ... or something.

So, here's hoping for water breakage tomorrow and labor to start shortly after!

I'm READY! I'm SOOO ready!

Let's get this thing on the road! I'm tired of having random contractions that have no substance and no rhythm, bring on the GOOD ones.

I'm dilated to a 2 and over 60% effaced ... so that's DO THIS!

Otherwise, I'll be stuck with Pitocin ... and I hear that stuff HURTSSSSS.

Oh, and I swear, if my baby gets any bigger ... he's going to rip me in half. He's something like 8+ lbs. My doctor says "Will he fit? It'll be close! But, there's no point in not trying."

So, please pray for a healthy delivery and no c-section ... I barely have ANY time to take off from school (Stupid unpaid maternity leave) and really don't want to have to spend the entire thing on recovery from a C.

Next time you hear from me ... there might be a little baby to post pictures of!

Donate for a good cause!

Aaron will be running in a 5k on March 6th for Stride for Strokes in honor of his grandmother, Lily Taylor. This is a race solely dedicated to Stroke Awareness.

We'd love to have people donate to the cause if possible. We'd like to raise 1,000 dollars, but every little bit helps!

If you'd like to donate:

Go to Methodiststride4stroke.com
Click on Sponsor Participant at the top of the website
Put in Aaron Allen as the person you are sponsoring
That will take you to his website where you can see how much money we've donated so far and how much more we have to go!

Thanks for any and all help and prayers!

Still no baby

But, we still have a week to go. I'm off to the doctor again tomorrow ... maybe he'll say something like "WOW, Rachel ... you're dilated to a ten with absolutely no painful contractions what so ever ... just push a little bit and we'll have this baby right here! No hospital stay!" ... Hah, I crack myself up with my wishful thinking.

So, here's things that I've been thinking about lately:

I totally haven't taken a picture in forever ... so there goes THAT resolution. But, in my defense, I know that when I'm in a big hurry on my way to the hospital when this baby FINALLY wants to come out that I'll forget the camera. So, it's already packed up. And if it's packed up then I can't very well use it now can I?

I really really really want to change my layout on this thing. I want a cool blog ... a cool blog with my very own cool banner and such. Think someone can make that happen for me? That'd be great.

I think I'm going to have to stop lending out my books. Or ... at least the books that have been signed by the Great Jen Lancaster. Our friend's cat took a bite out of the cover of Such a Pretty Fat. I took the news with grace ... smiled the entire time ... and then explained to them that she'd be back in May and they should go and buy me another one and get her to sign that one too. We'll see if that request happens. They were going to try and email her a picture of the book and a 100 dollars to send me another one. Either way would be cool with me. I mean, I can't be too mad ... Link has chewed up some of my books too. But, you know ... not the good ones that are signed by awesome authors and all.

Nope, No Labor

False alarm!

My contractions started about 2:30 am and were roughly 10 minutes apart. They were very light, like the start of period cramps, but nothing unmanageable. After about 12 hours ... they just stopped.

So ... no baby!

I'm still a week and 4 days from my due date ... so I guess it's just back to the waiting game now.

I'll be keeping everyone posted! Thanks for the well wishes!

Early Labor?

I went to the DR again today.
I'm officially 1 cm dilated.
And 40% effaced.

So, as I'm leaving, the nurse whispers in my ear about "labor sex."
We tried it out tonight.
Besides the whole "OMG I can't breathe on my back" kind of thing ... I think it might have worked.

I've been having random contractions throughout the night. They aren't getting closer together ... or any stronger ... but they are continuing. Even if I lay on my side and/or drink some water.

I haven't slept much. I think that Tuesday inadvertently was my last day. There's no way I'll be trekking my pregnant stomach up to school today and risk going into ACTIVE labor around those kiddos. Nope. No way.

I think it's time for a good old fashioned walk? Any other suggestions?

Lazy Saturdays

are the best of the best!

I've had two naps already today and have sat around in my pajamas nearly all day. It's an amazing feeling that you have nothing to do but sit around and watch television and read your Kindle.

I have one more week of school before I go on Maternity Leave (YES!), so that I can further prepare for baby Liam's arrival! VERY exciting! I can't wait to meet him! He's so dang adorable.

The last ultrasound we did (37 weeks) found him sucking on his arm in the womb. He looks a little upset ... but I think that he was pouting because Daddy wouldn't let us have Cheesecake for dessert at lunch. :)