Thursday, May 23, 2013

london's birth story.



on the late night of May 15, 2013, i was getting ready for bed and our dog, wrangler, was just a little more clingy than usual. he even followed me into the bathroom while i was getting ready for bed. that should have been clue number one. i tossed and turned in bed completely restless. just wasn't tired. at. all. should have been clue number two. now, it's early morning on may 16, 2013. charlie comes home from his late night shift at work and i figured i'd get up to go pee since i'll need to soon enough! [gotta love having that bladder smashed to the size of nothing! haha] after that, i go back to laying wide eyed in bed. charlie decided to make a midnight snack and that's when i noticed i felt a little wet down there.."hmm but i just went pee?" i get up to the bathroom, charlie comes in to go to bed and that's when i realized… at 2:56am that MY WATER JUST BROKE! oh my gosh. OH MY GOSH. this is IT! i got a little nervous. charlie went into awesome husband mode. got EVERYTHING ready. told me "babe. we got this. YOU got this! let's do this!" love him and his ways of being able to calm me down in literally any situation. i married right. i then took a quick shower, fixed my hair, got the last minute hospital essentials together all while charlie called the hospital letting them know we're on our way! we got to the hospital around 3:30 am, went into triage to make sure that my water was broken. well, their test gave me a "false negative". they sent me home. all while my water CLEARLY broke. i was so frustrated. i kept saying "my pants are obviously wet! i did NOT pee myself. my water broke! why don't they believe me?!?" we waddled back [we meaning i haha] to the parking lot and that's where my doula/sister in law bethany met us. she was just as shocked as we were that they sent us home! but, looking back, being sent home was a huge blessing in disguise. i was able to get a couple hours of sleep, eat and walk walk walk to try to get my contractions regular.
around 2pm on may 16th, we decided to head to the hospital again even though my contractions weren't completely on a "normal" pattern yet.
we arrived at the hospital again and just in time for my parents that were driving from southern california to arrive! this time, the nurses and doctor on call had no question that my water did indeed break. [told ya!] i was 1 cm dilated, 80% effaced and she was at a zero station. woohoo! a nice start!


we were then admitted into the room where our beautiful daughter would enter the world. room 258. soon after, my doctor, dr. david johnson [best labor and delivery doctor EVER!] came in, talked to me about the possibility of starting me on pitocin if my contractions haven't gotten stronger and closer on their own. graciously, he decided to look past the 24 hour mark of my water breaking and would let me be in labor up to 36 hours. bless him! unfortunately after all the walking and ball bouncing and swaying, by 10 o'clock pitocin had to start. after about 30 minutes of pitocin running, the contractions started to get more intense but i was handling it all pretty well. when it started getting hard, i counted on my awesome team of bethany and charlie. they were there for me for every second of every contraction cheering me on, letting me pull on them, lean on them and squeeze their hands until they were blue haha- whatever i needed to do to get through. i could NOT have done it without them. i'm so thankful for my husband and my sister in law. 
a few hours later, they checked my cervix and i was a 2-3cm. immediately i was discouraged. but bethany quickly jumped in to remind me how awesome that really is. the first 6 cm is the longest, especially for first time moms. that gave me enough oomph to continue on. about 2 or 3 hours later, these pitocin contractions were getting unbelievably intense and started to "piggy back" each other. thankfully, the nurse checked me again and i was at a 6! which meant- no more pitocin for me to see if my body can continue with these contractions naturally. and good news- it did! HALLELUJAH! and it was sooo much more bearable. still painful! but, not pitocin painful. a couple hours later, it was 7am and my doctor was back! yay! i was so happy to see him. i wanted him to deliver my baby so badly, not the doctor on call who i barely knew. he checked my cervix and i was a 9! A NINE! such exciting news! dr. johnson told me to let him and/or the nurses know when i get that urge to push. about 10 minutes later, i was begging to push even though i was deathly afraid of pushing. turns out my intuitions were right. pushing is literally the hardest thing ever. EVER. mainly because i had to push for 2 hours and by this time, i was utterly exhausted. but, my team was keeping my spirits up. the doctor came in again around 9:30 and said "okay! are you ready to have a baby?!" umm 31 hours of labor and you're asking me if i'm ready to have this baby? haha. the answer is YES, YES I AM! after a few more pushes, at 9:54am our gorgeous daughter was born with her right hand on her face. [partially why it was 2 hours of pushing!] i looked at charlie and he had tears in his eyes. we were now a family of three! i'm a mommy! he's a daddy! and we have a healthy, beautiful baby girl. we are so blessed. we had skin to skin bonding for a good hour. the whole time everyone said "oh my gosh! what a peanut! she's tiny!" we were expecting AT LEAST an 8 pound baby. charlie and i were both big babies, my belly was pretty dang big and my doctor was estimating a larger baby. but, to our surprise our little girl was 6 pounds 6 ounces and 18.5 inches long with a head circumference of 13.5 inches. perfectly petite. 




dr. johnson came up to us after he cleaned everything up and asked if he could pray over our baby. what a sweet surprise! charlie and i looked at each other in awe and said "of course!" it was a short, sweet prayer and one thing that still sticks out to me is that he said "I pray that throughout her life, this little girl will be able to draw closer to Thee, God." that is what i pray for our daughter, as well. i am still put back with this kind gesture that we weren't expecting at all.

i am so thankful that my goal of doing natural labor with no pain medication came true! i am feeling great! and i do feel quite accomplished, if i'm being honest. :) 

words literally can never express the love charlie and i have for London. she is the answer to our prayers and we feel so blessed to be able to be HER parents. 




London Estelle, you are everything we imagined and more. i pray we will be able to be the best parents to you that we can be, and to give you the life you deserve. we love you baby girl. never ever forget that. xoxoxo



Monday, May 20, 2013

introducing!

LONDON ESTELLE OSBORNE


born on 
May 17, 2013 at 9:54am
6 pounds 6 ounces
18.5 inches long
31 hours of natural labor


mommy & daddy are very much in love.
birth story to come!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

pregnancy favs.

before i got pregnant, i always enjoyed reading about other's favorite pregnancy items. here are just a few of my favorites that i've been obsessed with these last 9 months.






1.  THESE 3/4 sleeve maternity tees are a definitely must have for me! i have them in black [my fav], white, turquoise & green. they're comfy and give lots of room. i also tend to pair it with a cardigan, like the leopard one i've had for YEARS, and a skinny belt to put above my belly. i just think it's a cute look.

2. i've literally been living in THIS maternity skirt day in and day out for the last 3 months haha. i should have bought multiples. even charlie said "umm, babe. you've worn that thing OUT." [don't worry- i wash it on the regular.] if you're pregnant, you NEED this skirt. in every color.

3. no need to have a link for this one. ICED water [emphasis on the ICE.] with either freshly squeezed lemon or those convenient little water flavor powder packets. gotta mix up the plain jane water every once in a while when you're thirsty twentyfoursev.

4. there's plenty of different stretch mark creams out there to choose from. i've used both pure coconut oil and THIS cream. all i know is that i've rubbed one or the other strictly on my tummy and sides and didn't get stretch marks there. but i did on my thighs. *siiiiigh*i'm kicking myself for not rubbing it all over! learn from me, new mamas to be!

5. can't find the exact link for the nursing bra i've been wearing, but HERE is one very similar from the same store. very comfortable and a great price!

6. again, can't find the exact link for the exact pre-natal vitamins i use, but HERE are similar vitamins. [i don't know why target.com doesn't have the actual gummy prenatal vitamins available online that i buy there, but the one attached to the link is simliar. it's not the prenatals that i take.] i, for one, will not take a vitamin on the daily if it's not easily consumed. meaning, if i  have to have water to take it, i'll be lazy and not take it! so since these are chewy, tasty and a little sour- i was all in! love 'em. yum yum yummy.

a couple other favorites that didn't make the picture list:

-charlie. he's a best husband and will be the best daddy. he's been so helpful setting up the crib and other baby essentials, letting me sleep whenever and however long, and loving me through all my "wahhhh i'm fat" whines while reminding me "babe, you're pregnant. NOT fat." thank you for the reassurance, sweetheart. :)

&

-sweatpants. whatever is comfy and doesn't constrict that growing bump! lately, i've been hittin' up charlie's work-out clothes.


there ya have it, folks! my pregnancy must have items.

now, back to wishing, hoping and praying this sweet little babe makes her appearance asap! we can't wait to meet you, little london girl! [just a gentle reminder, dear daughter, your due date is just a few days away. in case you forgot. ;)]


Thursday, May 9, 2013

baby's hospital bag

*disclaimer: i AM, obviously, a first time mom. so, this post is just what i think would be the essentials in a baby's hospital bag. after i actually go through this wonderful experience of childbirth and staying in the hospital with our brand new bundle of joy, i'll edit this post and write in what i wish we didn't bring, and what i wish we did.*

with that said!


let's take a closer look, shall we?!


i love london's going home outfit. the backside has a rufflebutt with a cute little bow. cue the "awww's". :)


these, i am well aware, will most likely be something that i wish i didn't bring as much of. however, i'm just anticipating her either spitting up all over or who knows- her first blow out! plus, a lady needs wardrobe choices, right? ;)
plus plus- even though we're planning on not staying there a second longer than necessary, what if we have to? might as well be prepared with enough clothes!
not pictured: about 2 or 3 more undershirts.


-again, these items [like the diapers and baby wipes] i probably won't even touch in the hospital. but! i've heard of some mommies wishing they brought their own diapers and wipes because they hated the ones the hospital provided. so, i'm bringing them just a precaution. [brought much more diapers than just three. don'tcha worry!]
-kleenex isn't for baby. it's for me. because i'm sure i'll cry happy tears constantly. :)
-who knows if london will even have hair to brush. but, if she does- as her cosmetologist mommy, she'll have perfect hair when not in a cute newborn hat. :)
-hand sanitizer so that i won't have to get up and wash my hands every time after i change her diaper.
[most of these items are in her hospital/diaper bag for future use. so i figure even if i don't use these items, why not just leave it in there for the future?!]


my mama made me these cute burp cloths and this receiving blanket. [oh, don't worry. we only have about 25 more blankets at home and about 20 more burp cloths. it was HARD to choose which ones to bring along!]
the receiving blanket is pretty much just for going home. she'll probably be wrapped up in that classic hospital blanket while we're there.


-i figured, we'll be having visitors & most likely, a few of those visitors will be there when little miss is hungry. and not everyone will be wanting to view london goin to town on some dinner. ha! nursing cover-up is definitely an essential.
-the boppy. just in case i need it for aid of nursing.
-and nursing pads. i only showed 2 in the picture. i brought a TON.



there ya have it! is there anything you think i missed that i absolutely need that you LOVED having with you in the hospital?? let me know! :)
*my bag has also been packed and ready to go for some time now too, with all my necessities, "just in case's", and comfort items. maybe i'll do a post on that, too.. :)


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