One Week Old

Miss Ensley had her first appointment with the pediatrician today. She passed all the poking and prodding with flying colors. She has grown a half inch and gained 5 ounces since her discharge from the hospital Wednesday. She is one ounce from her birth weight. He said they usually schedule a two week appointment to make sure they are back up to birth weight but it wasn't necessary in our case since she was practically already there. The girl can eat, I tell ya. We go back in 3 weeks. I can't imagine how much she will have grown by then.

I can't believe it has been a week already. Time is going by way too fast! I only have 13 more weeks until I have to leave her to go back to work. I feel so blessed to have that much time with her because I know a lot of working moms don't get even half that. That first day back will be the longest 12 hour shift I have ever worked. One thing is for sure, I won't take one second of the next 13 weeks for granted, and I will cherish every second with her.

Here are some pictures from our little mini photo shoot yesterday (6 days old.)

The Greatest Coach of All Time

Sunday morning about 9 am I started getting a little uncomfortable during church. After a little while I realized that my uncomfortable feeling was about every 8-10 minutes. I wasn't convinced that it was contractions because I wasn't feeling anything in my abdomen, only in my back. We went to Sunday School and the uncomfortable feeling continued about the same rate. We came home from church and ate lunch. Then I told EJ I was going to take a nap because Ensley might be coming today. I laid on my side and felt pains in my stomach and back...these were about every 6 minutes. So I told EJ I wanted to get in the tub for a while. I sat in the tub for quite a while EJ sat beside me recording my contractions, only we weren't sure they were contractions because they were not what I expected to feel. Then we decided to go for a walk to see if I felt anything different or faster. Bad idea! It was like 100 degrees outside so we just went to the end of the street and back. We came back in and I felt the same so I chilled on the couch for a little while and then decided we should at least go to the hospital to see what was going on since these uncomfortable pains were 4-5 minutes apart for the past few hours.

We got to the hospital about 5pm and they took my vitals and hooked me up to the monitors. I was indeed contracting about every 2 minutes but only feeling about every other one and only in my back. She checked me and I was 3-4 cm dilated and almost completely thinned out. I was relieved to know that the uncomfortable feeling in my back was indeed contractions but a little discouraged that I was at the hospital and only 3-4cm. Our original plan was to labor at home for a long time then go to the hospital when I was hopefully about 6-7cm. The nurse asked me to walk the halls for 30 minutes then she would check me again and call my doctor to see if I was going to be admitted...so we did. After walking I was 4-5cm and staying!! We knew we would see our baby girl in a matter of hours.

I stalled at 5cm so they started pitocin to augment labor. This worked and it seemed like no time I was at 7cm. By this time I was in my zone and EJ was helping me stay focused and relaxed. My water broke at 8cm and I remember thinking...Good! It will speed up, but oh my it's gonna start hurting now! Up to that point I was just super uncomfortable because of the practically constant back pain with no relief since the contractions were so close together.

EJ had done a great job all day staying calm and being supportive. He knew when to say the right thing and when to sit quietly. He had been putting counterpressure on my back and he made the whole process better. Once my water broke the contractions were so much stronger and I began to lose focus and my relaxation was for the birds is when EJ really stepped it up...he remained calm and coached me through each contraction breathing me through. I can remember in the middle of the worst contractions wanting so bad to stay focused on him because he was doing so great. Words can't say what a great job he did and I will never be able to describe how my love for him has grown over the past week. From laboring at home to the delivery and seeing his face when they laid Ensley on my tummy for the first time to his late nights with a fussy Ensley, watching him through this whole process has multiplied my love for him 100 times. I knew he was a great coach on the baseball and football fields but didn't know how he would do in the labor field and he far exceeded anything I could have hoped for and he is definitely coach of the century in my book.

Ensley Kate Wood

August 23, 2010, 3:52am

8 lbs 9 ounces, 20.5 inches long.

Here She Comes!

Ensley has decided she is ready to meet the world. We are at the hospital and I have been contracting every 1-3 minutes for about 3 hours. I was at 3 when I got here then after 30 minutes of walking I was 3-4. An hour and a half later and I am currently at 5cm.

I wasn't anticipating back pain like this. I can't feel most of the contractions in my stomach but I feel them in my back. I am having trouble finding a comfortable position to relieve the pain but breathing through. EJ is a great coach helping me through the contractions.

For all my prayer warriors out there, please pray for us as we prepare to meet our precious little girl.
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Countdown to Ensley

Well there seemed to be little change at my appointment yesterday, so we are going to give Miss Ensley a few more days to decide she wants to come out without help. If she isn't here by Wednesday then we will go to the hospital at 5 am for me to be induced. Being induced is not ideal but I am so ready to meet her that I don't care anymore. This also gives me a set date to look forward to now that the due date has come and gone.

FOUR AND A HALF DAYS TIL ENSLEY'S ARRIVAL!!!

Fun Day with the Girlies!!

My mom brought my nieces up to visit for the day yesterday. When they got here we ate some lunch then went straight to the pool. We played hard in the pool for two hours. Then the girls painted my nails. We ate an early dinner so we could go to the fair. We got to the fair about 530 and thought the girls wouldn't be interested much more than a couple of hours.

They rode ponies, watched baby ducklings, and snuggled with bunnies.

And rode just about every ride that they were tall enough for and that weren't too "creepy"...meaning looked like it would go too fast, ha!

At 830 we told them we were going to leave because they had a long ride home, and they were begging to stay a little longer. So they each rode a couple more rides and we left at 9 with them asking why they had to leave. I couldn't believe they weren't exhausted, but they must have slept good last night.

We had a good time and it was a good distraction for me not having to think about Ensley not being here yet. And the four hours of walking around hopefully helped prepare her to come on out!

Due

Today is Ensley's due date. As of right now she has 19 hours to make her debut on time. I am a type a personality who considers myself late if I am not at work, church, etc at LEAST 5 minutes early, so the fact that it is time and she is not here is a little frustrating, but I know God's timing is best.
Hopefully I will be distracted from her lack of arrival by playing with my nieces today. My mom is bringing them up for the day and we have a fun-filled day planned complete with swimming, blow up slides and maybe even the fair tonight. So now I am going to see if I can steal a few more minutes of sleep to prepare for our big day.

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We Are at the Hospital BUT...

Not because I am in labor. My brother, Andrew, is living with us for a while and this afternoon he started having severe back pain. After about 30 minutes of me triaging him and his pain not getting any better, I decided it sounded like kidney stones and I took him to the urgent care in town. They told us they couldn't give him anything for pain until after all the scans were done and even then it would be a prescription we'd have to get filled and it could take a while so we jumped on the interstate and headed to the ER. I decided we should go to the hospital where I will be delivering just in case I went into labor.
Babies tend to come in chaotic times in our family. When my niece, Karis, was born, the morning of the scheduled induction my other brother, Austin, starting having severe pains so my sister-in-law, Misty, took him to the ER and he ended up having an emergency appendectomy. He almost missed the birth but they rolled him in all drugged up...it was an interesting action packed day.
Just as Andrew and I were getting in the car, Misty called me to tell me my mom was taking her home to Indiana. She and my nieces have been at their house since Sunday just hanging out before school starts and she has not been feeling well. They were all supposed to come to our house tonight to stay a few nights with us but because she has not felt well for a few weeks my mom is taking her to Indiana to the hospital and my dad is keeping the girls so if Misty gets admitted to the hospital up there someone will have the girls.
So now that all of my family is tied up and going to the hospital, I am sure Ensley will come today...ha! However, I am still not having any contractions or pains so we'll see what happens.

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Failed Attempts at 39 Weeks

After Wednesday's doctor appointment and Thursday's decision to start leave a little early, I decided to start trying all the old tricks to induce labor.

Friday morning I had a prenatal massage. There are a few trigger points that can induce labor that they normally avoid in pregnant women, however when you are full term many times a massage therapist will help you along if you want. My regular massage therapist got sick and I had a new woman who was great and relaxed me but she was terrified to touch any of the trigger points because she was afraid I would go into labor on her table. So I came home and ate a bean and beef burrito with green chiles and extra salsa because everybody says spicy food will get labor going. Then I went to the pool and did squats for a while. Nothing worked Friday so...

Saturday we went to the fair to walk and get some homemade ice cream. We walked around for about 45 minutes and it was just too hot so we sat on a bench in the shade eating ice cream then we left. That afternoon I was told by 3 people that eggplant parmesan will induce labor. I had never heard this but thought I would give it a shot, so Sunday lunch was eggplant parmesan with no luck. After church Sunday night we went back to the fair and walked for about 2 hours...and here I am blogging 12 hours later...not in the hospital, so I am now just going to chill out and wait for Ensley to decide she is ready.

My sister in law and nieces are coming to visit tomorrow night for a few days so I am going to clean house a little today...maybe this will trick Ensley into thinking I am nesting, ha!

Making Progress

Well we went in today for our 39 week appointment and she said I was "a good 2 cm but she couldn't quite say 3 yet and still 80% effaced". She stripped the membranes and said to make an appointment for next Thursday but she didn't expect me to keep it. She is very hopeful that I will go in labor in the next few days!! Or maybe she just said that because she knows how ready we are to meet our little girl.

I haven't wanted to know how much Ensley weighed because I didn't want to fret over it if she was already big knowing I want to deliver without medication. However everyone has said that we should know so we can induce now if she is getting too big. My oldest brother was a week late and weighed 9lbs 3 ounces. My other brother and I were scheduled c-sections a week early and I was 7lbs and some change so we decided to find out how much Ensley weighed just in case. The doctor gave us an estimate of a good 8lbs right now and said if I do make it to my appointment next Thursday we would talk about scheduling a induction.

I have to work today and was scheduled to work next Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I am going in for my shift today but will find someone to work the rest of my shifts. That way if she does come this weekend I am covered at work and if she doesn't I will have some time to rest up for the labor process. This will also help the girls at work rest easier because they are all so afraid I will go into labor at work and they won't know what to do.

I am scheduled for a prenatal massage tomorrow morning and I am going to ask her to rub the trigger points that they generally avoid in pregnant woman because it can stimulate contractions. Then if we still aren't in active labor by Saturday morning EJ and I are going to walk around at the fair for awhile to try and kick start the process as long as it isn't too hot. This 100 degree weather is not a good mix with the hormones of a pregnant woman!

I can't believe it is already time!! I am so excited to meet our little Ensley Bensley!!
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Mind Wanderings of a 39 week Pregnant Woman

For as long as I can remember I have said I wasn't having an epidural when I had a baby, because for as long as I can remember I have not liked needles entering my body and the thought of a HUGE one entering my spinal area really freaks me out!! I don't even like for EJ to get to close to my spine when rubbing my back, and so I can't imagine a stranger sticking a sharp object in there so....
We are going natural. When people ask me if I am getting an epidural and I tell them no I hear the following statements..."You don't get any kind of award for natural childbirth" "why?" "You'll change your mind". My question to them is why ask me if you feel like not getting one isn't an option.

Since Eve, women have been giving birth without medication. I know it may be not be the most comfortable thing but I also know it can be done. Not only can it be done but God made my body to deliver a baby. When I think about the birthing process and how everything happens in a sequence (maybe a slightly different sequence for everybody) but generally slight contractions to dilate the cervix, stronger more regular contractions to bring the baby down, and extremely strong contractions to help push the baby out...I am amazed at my God and how wonderfully He made me.

I have friends who have gone natural and say they wouldn't do it any other way and I have friends who say they wish they could have made it all the way without medication and I have friends who say they can't imagine going through it without an epidural at the first sign of pain. So to each her own, but I will say don't drag a sister down for her decision. If you have gone natural don't crucify another woman for her choice to get an epidural and if you have had an epidural don't make a woman feel ridiculous for trying to go natural. Ephesians 4:29 tells us that 'No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, in order to give grace to those to hear.' So next time you don't agree with someone else's birth plan either shut your mouth or encourage the woman...mmmk? I'm just saying.

EJ and I have been practicing relaxation, breathing, and pain stimulation and he is a great coach. I have picked a happy place to go to when contractions get strong and I picture myself in the rocking chair in Ensley's room rocking our precious little one. It helps me relax as I imagine rocking her back and forth and it reminds me of what the pain is ultimately for...now mind you sometimes I rock pretty vigorously in my head during our pain stimulation exercises but again I am ready to get on with this so we can meet our little Ensley.

As I write this at the pool I am again amazed at my God who has a handful of sparrows swooping around the pool to remind me that He is in control and He will take care of me and our baby girl in His time and in His own way. I am anxious to meet Ensley but I know she will come right on time and all I have to do is continue to trust Him.

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Doggy Heaven

Our fence was finally finished yesterday and it looks great! EJ said his favorite part of the fence is that he didn't have to put it up. At our last house we had a much bigger yard and with the rocky terrain of middle Tennessee they had a rough time digging the holes for the posts. We have two sections of the yard fenced off. One section comes off the garage so the dogs can come and go and poop in their own space. The other section comes off the back door for Ensley to play in a poop-free zone. The two areas are connected by a gate so we have easy access.

We grilled out last night and ate on the patio. The puppies loved being out there with us in their new fenced in yard, although I don't think they would have strayed far from us without the fence because we had chicken our plate and they both thought it was for them.

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No Change

I went for my 38 week check up yesterday and there was no change. I am still 1 cm and 80% effaced. It is probably a good thing that we haven't progressed anymore because EJ has been sick all this week and I want him well when she comes. He has two more days of antibiotics and hopefully he will get some rest this weekend and he will be feeling all better thennnnnn Ensley can come. :)