Amelia's First Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

Amelia in her bunny hat

Miss Amelia

Amelia's Arrival

Well many of you are eager to know miss Amelia's birth story so here are the details as promised. Last Sunday after church I started feeling like I was leaking some amniotic fluid so Nathan and I debated whether or not we should go to the hospital to get it checked out. The debate lasted all afternoon and we finally decided around 8 pm to go to the hospital, better to be safe then sorry. By that time I had convinced myself it was a false alarm, Nathan reassured me that everyone has false alarms and this could be our trial run giving us a chance to familiarize ourself with the hospital in preparation for Tuesday. He packed our hospital bag in the truck just in case though and on the way over he said "Wouldn't it be funny if they just decided to induce you just because you were already there?" to which I told him that they never do that and Tuesday is our day. Blast him for being right.

At the hospital upon arrival I was at 4 cm. The amniotic fluid test came back negative and I had a deep sigh of relief, I had mentally prepared myself for Tuesday and I was glad I still had time. Turns out my doctor was on call that evening and she said that if I had any progress that they would admit me. Apparently I was having contractions every 5-7 min and sometimes 3-5 min but I could only feel them in my back so I had no idea they were coming that close. After an hour of monitoring I had progressed to a 4.5 cm and I was told I was staying put and having a baby. Enter emotional breakdown here, Nathan and I were both in shock. I began to shake and I didn't stop shaking until mid morning on monday.

They admitted us around 11 pm and we moved into our room where I received the epidural. The plan was to begin pitocin to help my contractions, and getting the epidural before the pitocin contractions started seemed like the smartest way to go. However the epidural's side effect is shaking- adding to my already existing shakes made me shake even more. Labor went pretty smoothly after that, Nathan was able to get a few hours of sleep and I tried to rest but I mostly just stared at the machines in shock. Six hours later it was time to push and about ten minutes later Amelia joined our family. Pretty speedy for a first time delivery. Thank goodness she turned and was no longer sunny side up- I was afraid I'd be pushing for hours. Amelia has a two little stork bites, one on her nose and forehead, we call them her rug burns because she came out so fast. Recovery has been the hardest part of labor and due to some complications that arose we are formula feeding, she is a very good eater and sleeper and is a very mellow baby.

Even though it was a huge shock that the hospital kept us and we had our baby a day earlier then planned, we are glad that Amelia is here and healthy. We are enjoying getting to know her likes and dislikes and she is constantly making us laugh. We are truly blessed to have her in our family.

She's Here!!!

Amelia Violet Wheeler finally came. She was born March 29th, 2010. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was only 19 inches long. The length was a bit surprising due to how tall her parents are. Both Mommy and Amelia are doing great. Here are some pictures that we have so far.

Some Visuals

The last little while we haven't posted any pictures of the things that we have been doing. Seeing that pictures are worth a thousand words, this will fill in the details.

After we finished painting "Lentil's" and the guest room Nathan got to pick out a color for the loft. As you can see it's very bright which makes up for not having any lights set up in it. Depending on the natural light that comes in from the windows it's any where from a yellow to a solid orange. It really helps Nathan wake up when he goes and exercises in the morning.

After the loft was finished being painted Stephanie was really worried that the mood of the walls no longer goes with the furniture. That lead us to the first piece of art that we have bought together. Stephanie still doesn't think the room goes together but since its Nathan's "Man Cave" she is learning to deal with it.

This was the night that we started to pack our hospital bag because we thought Stephanie would go into labor at any moment. As you can see there is much love between this mother and daughter.

This is Stephanie at a whopping 40+ weeks. For about the last two months Stephanie has been wearing Nathan's T-shirts with her yoga paints. She feels like she's a lazy slob for not getting dressed up all the time, but at this point anything that she can do to get a little comfort is worth it.

This lets you see a little better at how big she is. Most people can't believe that she is more than 7 months but this is also coming from people that have never seen Stephanie before she got pregnant. Nathan thinks its just perfect.

Hopefully you all enjoyed a little view of what we've been up to.

Due date is here without Lentil

Well Lentil's due date is passing us by, depending on who you ask (Nathan says its the 23rd and I say its the 24th) either way not much is happening. Who would have thought we'd go late? certainly not us, nor any of our family members, or even the doctor. So here we still sit and wait- patiently and sometimes not so patiently.

I can't believe how much our lives are about to change; most of the time when I really think about it, it really freaks me out. I'm so glad I have Nathan to go through these adventures with me, he keeps me sane.

P.S- Lentil is posterior (sunny side up) which explains all this awesome back pain I'm having (I have to say awesome to refrain from other words). Labor should be fun if she remains posterior, all I have to say is thank goodness for epidurals! This next week should be fun- we'll definitely join the parental ranks by next tuesday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well today is St. Patrick's Day and I celebrated with a bowl of Lucky Charms this morning, and yes I ate all the oat cereal parts first saving the marshmallow's for last. I thought about making something Irish for dinner tonight for fun but all I could think of was corned beef and cabbage, and I really don't like corned beef. Maybe I'll just dye our food green...

Well I just get to the update that everyone wants to know about- no baby yet. I thought it would be really fun for her to come today, however, I sincerely doubt it. My doctor was out of town for half the week last week and she told me not to go into labor while she was away, at this week's appointment she told me she was shocked that I haven't had her yet. Talk about sending me mixed messages! So here we wait for contractions to become regular. I do have an induction scheduled for March 30th so she has until then to come on her own or she'll be evicted. I can't believe that we only have two weeks left (or less!).

No baby but orange walls!

Well this past week or so Nathan's wish for an orange wall came true. He actually has two orange walls. We painted the loft over the weekend and it really brings some pizazz to our home. We are pretty spunky people so why not have our home reflect our personality? However, our downstairs looks really boring as all the walls are still a boring beige color. We'll eventually jazz them up too.

Nathan and I found a piece of art for the loft to tie in the other colors of the room (which is no easy task with the shade of orange he picked) but I'm debating if it will really work. So right now its just leaning up against the wall, my instinct tells me to find something else that is more funky. Anyone have any ideas on where to find a neat painting?

Lentil is doing well- still cooking. Nathan really wanted her to come today because then her birthday would have been 3-2-10 (blastoff!) but she had other plans to stay put. I am currently 37 weeks so I'm considered term today. I went to the doctors today and there hasn't been any change since last weeks progression, I'm still 2.5-3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I think I'm going to be walking around like this for awhile- which is okay because we need all the time we can get to mentally prepare!

Nathan is really starting to enjoy his job, he's a team leader for one project and is working with teams on other projects. He is a super busy boy. He is also getting even more excited and impatient for Lentil to come join our family.