The Ragsdale's

I decided I needed to video this to show her daddy. I couldn't stop laughing.

And again...

I love my girl! :)

Merry Christmas!!

1. You wanna know what has been consuming my time?! First, it was a book. I started reading Marley and Me when it got cold. We'd make fires and I'd read by the fire. It was so peaceful. I read half of the book in 3 days. But then....I got it in my head that I wanted to make a stocking for Makena. My mom made all of her kid’s stockings and I always thought it was really special that my mom MADE my VERY OWN stocking. And now, I appreciate it so MUCH MORE. Holy cow. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I thought that this "kit" came mostly together...and that I'd just sew on a few sequins here and there. It LITERALLY comes in SHEETS of felt. And the directions are not very explanatory. I've worked on this almost non-stop, and it still doesn’t look like I’ve gotten very far. I'm an amateur, so it doesn't look perfect, but hey, I’m doing it with love. By the end of this, I’m going to be a pro. Here is the progress so far:

...but any one that knows Luke knows he loves to fish, and wants to do it ALL the time.

Or this one b/c of Luke's love for ice cream.

...or this one, and being reminded of our trip to Europe for our anniversary last year. We got this on the Rhine River in Germany. He dances. I love it.

5. Makena was sleeping peacefully in her swing today....so...i ran to the bathroom and took a quick bath and dried my hair. I know, I know, that wasn't very safe, and I felt guilty...that's why I didn't shave my legs. (which I haven't done in 2 weeks, and they desperately need). I’ve had Pocohantas hair all day today. (that’s what luke calls it when I don’t do anything to it and it parts down the middle and lays flat on my head).

6. Speaking of Makena, she never really got sick (knock on wood). I think she was on the verge of a cold. Now, I feel stupid for taking her to the dr, but the nurse did kind of freak me out when she told me "if she's fussy, we need to see her, I’m going to transfer you up front to make an apptmt to bring her in today". Then, what was I going to say to that? NO!? It scared me, so of course I went in. At least he checked her out and told me she seemed ok and told me to increase the Axid (his "cure all" pill for everything). :) On Monday, we went BACK to the dr for her 2 month check up. she's grown 2.5 inches and weighs 12 lbs! She got her shots...it was the saddest thing ever. She immediately looked at me and started SCREAMING a high pitched shrill. We came home and she fell right to sleep. I hoped that would be our only side effect, but when she woke up 3 hrs later she was SCREAMING in pain. Her poor legs hurt her. I gave her Tylenol which took about 30 minutes to kick in. Note to self: give Tylenol beforehand. And, I'm pretty sure Tylenol made her poop a funky color. Could this be?

7. I trimmed Makena's nails last week and it looked like a murder scene afterwards. Ok, it wasn't THAT bad. But, I obviously cut one too low and it bled and wouldn't STOP bleeding. I felt awful, but she barely even noticed. I think she might have whimpered...but I didn't even know anything happened until I saw the blood. Now, she needs them trimmed again, and I don't want to do it. Someone told me about using scissors to trim them instead of clippers, but those seem a lot harder. hmm...

8. Makena has the LOUDEST poots EVER. It's semi embarrassing. We'll be walking through the store and she'll rip one. and, of COURSE i immediately talk to her about it, excusing her and asking if she feels better. I just know everyone around us thinks I'm crop dusting the area and blaming my child. (They're loud and LONG). It's really pretty funny. If she's on the verge of taking a dump...they SMELL (and this is just w/ breast milk and formula...i can't imagine what actual food is going to smell like).

9. I need to work out…BAD. But, we had to move my exercise machine (one of those elliptical type things, but the cheap kind) to the other room to have a spot for our Christmas tree. And now, I REALLY want to use it. I KNEW that would happen. When it's not around, you always wish you had it, right? (Yeah, I'm not using it in the other room b/c there is no TV to occupy my time while I'm using it). So, for Christmas, I’m asking for a step and DVD so I can do workouts and not have to move a huge machine. Know of any good videos?

10. We’re going to 2 Christmas parties this weekend. It seems like we have friends, but we really don’t. At least we can borrow some for the holidays. :) Just kidding! I’m excited though, because there will be other little babies at the parties and I’m really interested to see how Makena interacts (or doesn't) with them.

11. The end. I’m going to go sew more. I’m learning lots of patience.

12…ok, I thought I was finished, but as I was spell checking, spell checker told me to change Makena’s name to McKenna. And it made me think of a story. We were eating Thanksgiving lunch at Luke’s parent’s house, and Luke’s little sister made place cards for everyone. She misspelled a lot of people’s names (especially mine – Rashchelle – at least she remembered there was an “s” and a “c” both in there somewhere). And she had a place card for Makena. One of the parent’s friends was teasing her for how she spelled Makena’s name (which she spelled correctly b/c it is spelled phonetically). It was so funny to say “nope, she spelled it right” and semi-awkward/uncomfortable because he thought he was going to make a joke and was completely shut down. Haha! Oh well!

13. K, i'm going to end with a picture of my sweet girl and myself b/c I FINALLY got in a picture with her. (For some reason, I can't get the 'red eye' out of one of her eyes, it always seems to happen to her pics).

I had every intent to post this yesterday as a slight joke. She's been extremely fussy in the evenings lately; i'm pretty sure it's colic. Anyway, 2 nights ago, she was crying ALL the time, which is very unlike her, but I realized if I put her in her swing, it would rock her to sleep. (I tried rocking her and then sneaking her to bed, but she'd wake up when she was laid flat). So, finally, I decided to quit fighting it and get some rest myself. I made a little bed up for me on the couch and Makena slept peacefully here the majority of the night.

...then...yesterday happened. fussy baby ALL DAY LONG. it was so sad. she wasn't cooing and smiling at me like normal, so i could tell something was brewing. I decided last night I was just going to start her off in the swing and let her sleep b/c she was so fussy the entire day and I KNEW she had to be exhausted. Even the swing wouldn't sooth her. She just wanted to be held. We decided to take her temperature. I was scared to death! It was late, and I wanted to call every single one of you friends out there that have babies and ask what the heck to do, but I decided to let you all sleep. :) Under her arm, w/ adding a degree, she was running 100.3...so i decided i should take it rectally to see how it compared. It scared me less, b/c it was 99.8. I looked at the Children's Tylenol and Motrin I'd bought a while back as a safety net, but Tylenol says not to give to children under 2 yrs and Motrin says not to give to a child under 6 months. AHH! So, I decided to wait to see if the fever went up any. Finally, she fell asleep in my arms and we cuddled all night long in my bed.

I called the doctor today, and now we have an appointment this afternoon. Hopefully I'll have some kind of answer, or at least peace of mind. All though, they said they don't consider it a fever until it is above 100. They told me it was best to bring her in since she has been fussy, to see if they can figure it out. :( Sorry to be whiny. Sick babies make me sad.

But...these pictures make me happy... :)
Here are some pics of her loving her swing. It has a mirror above her head and she loves to stare at her reflection and the little mobile. It's adorable.

World Financial Network National Bank underwriting Express Credit Cards.

I received the following letter in the mail (it was actually sent to my parent's house). Immediately upon reading it I was concerned, thinking someone had applied for a credit card under my name.



At first, I was a little cautious about calling the number, wondering if the letter could've been sent from someone trying to get information on me - hoping I'd be stupid enough to give them personal information over the phone. I called them last night and waited on hold for 15 minutes, and finally decided to hang up and try them again today.

The customer representative I spoke with was VERY unfriendly from the beginning of the conversation - but he SHOULD hate his job, and the company he works for, so I'll let it slide.

I first told him that I'd received the letter above - and that it was actually sent to my parent's house, so it concerned me because I haven't lived there in several years. (Luckily it's my parents that live at that house, and not some strangers receiving pre-qualified offers in the mail...I can't believe after this many years that mail still comes to them in my name. Fortunately, I'm able to go through all of it and shred the items i do not want). ANYWAY, I told the representative that obviously whatever was sent in to the company was fraudulent because I have not applied for any kind of credit card. So...I gave him a number that was listed on this letter, the "application number". He looked it up and said that had i received the letter as a follow up because they'd sent me a pre-qualified offer that i had not returned. Then he says, "so, what we can do is continue filling out this information over the phone if you'd like to receive this credit card".

My blood begins to boil because I am realizing that they had sent this letter to try to trick customers into calling them, freaking out about fraudulent activity. I told him how sick this was and that i was incredibly annoyed that they'd wasted my time from a very dishonest and deceptive business practice--that the letter clearly states that there WAS a RESPONSE to a pre-qualified offer and that they were "unwilling to extend me credit at this time". i told him from now on, if i ever want to apply for a credit card, that i will make sure that World Financial Network National Bank is NOT the issuer of the card/underwriter of the card because I'm so frustrated at the way they TRY to gain business. Instead of keeping his mouth shut and listening to my complaint, he obnoxiously said, "we are not the only companies that do this"...and he kept trying to talk over me - which frustrated me even MORE. But, i let him get out that "they weren't the only companies that send out pre-qualified credit card offers". I told him i understood that and that I have received other "pre-qualified offers" but World Financial Network National Bank is the ONLY company I have EVER received a letter from stating that I was not being issued credit b/c my "name, address, or social security number was different from the information included in the pre-approved credit offer" and that THAT statement alone (taken directly from the letter) was completely deceptive b/c it forced me to waste MY valuable time thinking something fraudulent was going on, and realizing that all it was is a marketing scheme to try to get customers to call in to complete the application--which he basically agreed to (saying it WAS a marketing scheme).

i told him that I'd let EVERYONE that i know about this company and their deceptive practices. so..I'm telling you...and hopefully anyone that googles "World Financial Financial Network National Bank" OR "Express Clothing Company". i am LIVID.

1. Bath & Body Works Foaming Hand Soap.

It’s amazing how quickly a day goes by with a newborn. She pretty much only gets up one time at night….usually around 2 am. I’m usually up for about an hour and a half and then she’ll get up again around 6:30 am – and right now, I go back to sleep after that feeding for about an hour. But, I swear the day FLIES by.

It’s also amazing how hard it is to get ONE task done – like showering, or folding clothes, or vacuuming, mostly because when she’s sleeping, either, I want to nap, or I have time to get a bath, the awesome relaxing kind – but then you feel guilty and realize if you want to be able to dry your hair you should probably get out before she wakes up wanting to eat again.

The dogs have gotten used to her—kind of. They are pretty jealous of all the attention she gets, but they haven’t been aggressive at all, and that was my fear with the little dogs. When we first brought them home (b/c they stayed at their Mimi and Papa’s for a few days) they couldn’t figure out what was going on. Here they are meeting her for the first time…(and Luke and I don’t look as rough now…we were REALLY tired here). Gus kept hiding, and mostly, it was under Makena’s crib…really odd. Howie didn’t really care.



I’m pretty sure, because of the medicine that drugged her, that it affected my milk supply, and she realizes how easy it is to suck from a bottle. I haven’t completely given up boobing yet. I want to keep doing it for a while, to try to help her build up immunities. It’s frustrating because she was so good at it and caught on SO quickly and she LOVES it. It’s so sweet how calm she gets when she latches on…It was SO HARD at first. It hurt like bloody hell. I cracked and bled – and called my mom when I didn’t think I could take anymore and almost gave up, but I worked through it and it’s SO much better right now and is almost completely enjoyable. One boob produces WAY more than the other (the stupid boob doesn’t produce as much), but now, I boob, and then she’s usually STILL hungry because I think she’s going through a little growth spurt – so I feed her even MORE from a bottle. (Needless to say...our “feeding sessions” take FOREVER, about an hour to boob and then 30 minutes from a bottle). I was concerned about overfeeding her, because I have a little piglet on my hands, but the doctor said I shouldn’t worry about that right now and just feed her when she’s hungry. I do like chubby babies. I just don’t want a fat kid. Know what I mean? Bottles are VERY convenient. Yesterday, I braved the germs and went to Walmart (and completely forgot to get one of the major things I was going to get… so now, I have to go back) but, I boobed before I went and just knew she’d be fine for ONE hour…luckily, I’d made a bottle and brought it w/ us for ‘just in case’. She started the inconsolable hunger cry that isn’t appeased with just a pacifier, because she's smart and realizes it’s a trick after a few sucks. So, I whipped out the bottle and threw it in her mouth. She was so satisfied; she fell asleep sucking it and had formula ALL over her face, but I didn’t want to dry it off while I was shopping for fear of her waking up and wanting to be held. I should’ve taken a picture and put it here, but I felt like a bad enough mother at that point…(I covered her chin with her blanket so strangers couldn’t see the mess).

She LOVES being in her sling. I received this at a shower and didn’t think I’d ever use it b/c the first time I used it I felt like she was suffocating but she LOVES being right by my side and snuggled so close.


We LOVE our little swing. My lil’ lamb, so tender. The swing rocks either front to back (like a normal swing) or side-to-side, which is our favorite direction. It has this cute little mobile on it with a mirror in the center and plays the sweetest music. Makena is so happy in it and often naps here.

We’ve had TONS of visitors. It’s been so sweet. I guess it’s kind of a mixed blessing. It was VERY overwhelming at first. I was/am SO ready for things to slow down and to be able to do nothing at night (as far as entertaining or feeling like I HAVE to make myself presentable). Makena has lots of people that love her and care for her and I’m grateful for that.

Her hair is so healthy and shiny...and she gets the greasy-ness from her momma. I have to wash my hair daily or it looks like you've fried bacon on my head. I'm sure partly because we hold her and love on her, that our oily hands and faces make her hair get dirty...but I have to wash it quite often, or I can easily do this. I LOVE YOU MAKENA, silly girl!

We dressed up to go to Walmart. It was a little cool outside, so she got to wear her warm, cozy outfit. I tried getting a picture with her eyes opened...(and only accomplished this because the flash woke her up). Poor girl, I'll let you nap now.

I love all the faces babies make...(I ESPECIALLY love her poop face, but I haven't gotten a picture of that yet).

I don’t even know where to begin…so much has happened in the last 2 weeks…

I told ya’ll about the doctor thinking she had acid reflux and prescribing her medication. It worried me that he wanted to put her on something so early in her little life, but who am I to judge? I’m a first time mom that really doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, and I’m just going with the flow. The first night we gave it to her, she was OUT – she wouldn’t wake up, even to eat. We have some friends whose child is on the medicine also and they remembered their baby being tired after the first couple of doses, so that made me feel better. I just figured she had to get adjusted to the medicine. She was constantly fussy. Even after she ate, which really concerned me because I figured she’d be satisfied and ready to nap after her belly was full, so I knew something wasn’t right. We went to the doctor on Tuesday for her 2 week check up and she had LOST weight. She weighed less than when we went home from the hospital. I panicked. I was alone at the doctor’s office with tears streaming down my face. I felt like it was my fault, but I thought I’d been doing everything I could to feed her and to try to keep her awake while she was supposed to be eating. (I tried everything from taking her clothes off, to blowing in her face, to using ice or cold water on her feet to try to wake her up, and nothing would work and she was sleeping ALL the time---but as far as I knew, newborns are SUPPOSED to sleep). It was a depressing day to say the least. The doctor was VERY concerned about her (it scared me to death to see the look on his face) and told me I needed to supplement with formula to try to get her weight up. I cried more. I felt like he was saying it was me – he tried reassuring me that it was Makena, that some babies are lazy eaters and would rather snack every 2 or 3 minutes and nap for 5 or 10 and then snack more. SO…I kept boobing, but on TOP of that, I would pump, feed her anything that pumped out, and then offer her formula. I even let Luke feed her once, which he loved. Here’s a pic.

This is way too long…but I wanted to remember each detail for later…so this is more my recollection of it ALL, so I can share it with Makena someday….and remind myself what happened the next time I do this.

It all started on Monday, October 6th… I just knew because of the rain that the drop in barometric pressure might set things off. (I know that’s an old wives tale…but I swear it helped). Luke was playing in a golf tourney in Fort Worth, and I was a little concerned because that’s quite a ways from our house. I was cramping more heavily this day…I’d been cramping for a few days before, and having lots of Braxton hicks contractions. Then, I started noticing the contractions feeling like more severe menstrual cramps, but they were very sporadic, so I really didn’t think much of it. What I DID think about was what all I needed to get done before the baby arrived. Now, looking back, obviously it was the “nesting” instinct, but I was too afraid to admit it at the time - but even after thinking about it that evening, I wondered if labor might be imminent. On Monday, I dusted the entire house, vacuumed all the floors, swept the tile, mopped, shampooed the carpets, finished all the laundry – AND folded it, cleaned all the dirty dishes, vacuumed the dog hair off the couches and took one of my dogs to the vet to get his shots. Looking back, it makes me exhausted thinking about it all…but that day, I had endless energy – and usually on a given day (especially towards the end), I might do one or two of the tasks mentioned.

Tuesday, I woke up during the middle of the night feeling the cramping again. But, I still wasn’t sure what I was feeling because my Dr’s partner assured me I’d know I was going into labor when I was having severe pain that I wouldn’t even consider taking Tylenol to dull the pain…so, I kept that in mind.

I woke up feeling like I was about to start my period – I usually have pretty bad cramps. So…I got up extra early b/c I started worrying and wondering if I should be timing these “cramps” I was feeling, or if I should be concerned. Luckily, I had my 39 week check up that morning, so I was glad to be able to go in and ask the doctor if what I was feeling was ok. The cramps started coming at regular intervals – but I didn’t want to cry wolf and call Luke and tell him to get his behind home if it wasn’t the real thing. I mean, I’ve never been in this position before, I just knew I hadn’t felt what I was feeling. I lasted until 7 am and called him. I told him I’d just really like for him to come home from work to take me to the doctor appointment, and if she said it wasn’t anything, then he could go back to work…but I was concerned there might be a problem and wanted him to be with me just in case. He came home – he was nervous and excited and kept asking me to tell him when I was having the ‘cramps’. It was hard to know exactly how to time what I was feeling, but I was pretty sure I was having real contractions and not Braxton Hicks ones any more. I had all the bags packed and had Luke go ahead and load it all in the car for just in case. We went to the doctor’s office, and I thought the contractions were getting a little more intense – but sometimes my cramps do that too…so AGAIN mass confusion. When the doctor checked me, a LITTLE progress had been made. I was dilated to a 2 or 2.5, and about 75% effaced, so whatever was happening to me was doing SOMETHING. The doctor told me, especially w/ a first baby, that it was possible that these contractions might stop later that day and resume again tomorrow, and could go on like this for 10 days (holy cow). Then she said BUT….it’s possible that you may be calling us today at 4 o’clock saying you’re in labor SO, I suggest you go eat a nice big lunch because it may be your last meal for a while and you’re going to need your energy. I found out that my doctor was luckily on call all week b/c the partner was out of town, so if I was having the baby this week, she’d be delivering it. I was happy about that.

We went to eat at Luby’s. Yum. And I kept having contractions throughout our lunch, and they were getting more and more intense. We got in the car, and were trying to decide where to go – did we want to get back closer to Baylor in case this was the real thing? I made my decision. I needed to poop, BAD (like I’d been doing all morning). I HATE pooping in public bathrooms and needed my privacy. So, yes, we drove all the way back home, just so I could go. It was explosive. (Too graphic?) ha…but they say that your body will try to naturally clean itself out during labor, so I wondered if that was what was happening. Then I decided I was going to lie down for just a few minutes and see if the contractions would stop – if they were “real”. I felt like they were coming closer together, but, again, was unsure since I’ve never been there before…and the doctor reminded us about 5-1-1 (every 5 minutes lasting a minute for one hour)…and that wasn’t happening yet…at least not for an hour. I laid down. I had a HUGE contraction and felt a couple “pops”. Thank GOSH I’d gone to the bathroom right before this, or I would’ve thought I’d peed myself through the pain, but I just KNEW my water had broken. I motioned for Luke to get up and get the dogs put up b/c we were going to the hospital. Then, I walked to the car and realized the fluid was leaking, so I felt confident that’s what had happened. Luke called the doctor for me while we were in the car b/c contractions were suddenly coming ever 2-3 minutes. I was DYING. I was so afraid I was going to have the baby in the car. I got on the phone w/ the nurse at the Dr’s office and she said it sounded like my water did break and to go to triage. I was FREAKING out the entire car ride. Luke was driving like a mad man w/ our hazards flashing and honking at people trying to make them get over. I was screaming in pain. I called my mom to tell her we were on the way to the hospital…and I think it helped as a distraction from the driving chaos. The bumps made each contraction worse. My mom would try to talk to me between contractions and make sure I’d breath when I stopped talking b/c she knew it was a contraction. Finally, we made it to triage. Luke ran in as fast as he could to make sure we were in the right place and to get me a wheel chair.

Drama starts here…
This old woman comes out like a freaking turtle asking me if I’m having contractions while I’m SCREAMING. What the heck do you think woman? At our prepared child birth class, they told us we could park under the admission area so husbands can help get their wives checked in. This old bia told Luke to go park the car, but I was in so much pain, at that point I couldn’t argue. Then she wheeled me into triage and tells me to get up out of the wheel chair to sit in one of their chairs…FINE…if you want fluid all over it. I could’ve cared less. I sat. Then she brought me a stack of paperwork to fill out (the part that my husband could’ve done for me…but she sent him to park instead). I looked for each line that said “sign here” and signed. I had no clue what I was really signing. I was in PAIN. Luke got there and finished filling out the paperwork for me and was pissed that they’d think a woman in that situation could possibly have the mind to fill this out. Was the old hag waiting around to help me back to triage? Heck no. Luke went to find her and said, “she’s finished”. I had to WALK back there…OH THE PAIN. She SLOWLY got me a gown to change into and told me to lay in the bed when I was finished. I was out of my clothes and into the gown in no time. I wanted an EPIDURAL. I laid there. Luke said, SHE’S FINISHED. Seriously? How long do you think it’s going to take me to get undressed?? Then, she came in and asked the same dad gum questions I’ve answered a million times – why these were necessary right now, I have no CLUE. Then she’d ask me during a contraction (and she can tell at this point when I’m having them b/c I’m hooked up to a monitor) and she actually thinks I’m going to pay attention to what she’s saying. Luckily, Luke could answer mostly for me and I’d just nod. Then, she says she’s going to test the fluid coming out of me to see if it’s amniotic fluid. It took her forever to rub whatever swab she had around, but sure enough it was (obviously). After that, she says, “I need to check your cervix for dilation”…fine w/ me…do whatever you have to do. I spread ‘em. She is DIGGING in me during SEVERE contractions…and says “did your doctor say your cervix was posterior (or some medical term) today at your appointment?” I SCREAMED, “I HAVE NO CLUE – I DON”T ASK HER MEDICAL QUESTIONS!” She calls another nurse in b/c she “can’t find it and thinks I’m ‘posterior’”. The other nurse, whom I loved, came in and IMMEDIATELY found it and said I was dilated to a 4.5 and 100% effaced. Then the old hag asks, “was she posterior”…who freaking cares at this point, right? But the nice nurse says, “nope, I found it right away”. STUPID OLD WOMAN. I HATED her at this point. I asked when people normally get an epidural, and the nice nurse says, “right now”. Holy crap…hurry up…I want it NOW. Then the old hag says, “well, we have to get you to L&D and then you have to have an IV bag of fluid before you can have it and it’ll take 30 to 45 minutes.” I’m worried. I hear the nice nurse making a phone call to my doctor telling them how far along I am and that I’m being admitted, etc, etc. I knew this baby was coming. Then the old hag asks me if I want to walk to L&D or ride in a wheel chair. WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK? My butt is showing in my gown and I have fluid dripping out of me – of COURSE I want a wheel chair. She gets back with one – and asks Luke to push me because she’s “got a bum back”. I HATED HER. I wish I could remember what all I said to her – I actually think I was WAY nicer than I wanted to be.

I get to the room and get hooked up to the fluid bag. My nurse in there was so amazing. SUCH a breath of fresh air. She reassured me that she’d called the anesthesiologist and that there was no way it was going to take 30-45 minutes like the old hag said. A resident doctor came in the room. I thought it was one of the staff OBGYNs, so I was trying to be nice in case she was going to have to deliver my baby. She was asking me the most RETARDED questions, questions I’d JUST answered to the old hag, but again, I didn’t bark at her in case I was stuck w/ her. My nurse rolled her eyes at the woman doctor, and I liked that she was telling me that she was annoyed at her also. The doctor left, she’s a family medicine doctor on a rotation…WHY do you come in my room BEFORE my epidural? I hate you. Finally, “The man” (anesthesiologist) comes in. I love him. The nurse explained to me what I’d be feeling as he was doing it. She asked me if I wanted her to explain what was going on, and I wasn’t sure…I didn’t want her to say “and here comes the huge needle”…but it wasn’t like that at all. She just explained that he was wiping soap on my back, that it would be cold, that he was going to give me a shot to numb the area – at the child birth class, they explained it as a bee sting, which was NOT appealing to me, and I’m telling you, it was NOTHING like a bee sting…maybe a slight pinch if anything….I was just praying the whole time that my contractions would stop while he was working. Anyway, she guided me through it. I felt relief almost immediately. I was so happy. Luke asked the nurse if I was loopy b/c I was being weird. Haha! Nope, I’m just not in pain anymore. I loved that man and kept telling him over and over. I have no clue how much that’s going to cost, but it was worth every penny.

The scary part…
My nurse comes in and tells me she’s going to roll me over on my side. I didn’t think anything of it b/c they usually tell you to lay on your side while you sleep anyway, to avoid the vein – so I figured that was why. She rolled me. Another nurse came in…they rolled me to the other side. A staff OBGYN came in and said, “we’re going to give you some oxygen while your body adjusts to the epidural”. I STILL thought nothing of it. Then 3 more doctors came in and they were all whispering. Now, I KNOW something’s wrong. They were looking at the monitors…apparently I was having one contraction on top of the other, my blood pressure dropped, and that caused the baby’s heart rate to drop. I started crying. I want my baby to be ok!! I realized, I’ve got to calm down b/c whatever I was doing was going to affect the baby. I tried to concentrate on breathing the oxygen. They put an electrode on Makena’s head to get her heart beat and finally, they found it. Phew. A breath of fresh air. I started to relax as one by one, the doctors leave the room. By this point I was dilated to 6.5…and this is RIGHT after the epidural..so it hadn’t slowed things down as I’d heard it could. I laid there for maybe 30 minutes, if that long, and my doctor got there. (if you recall, I really hadn’t had a pleasant experience with her previously, but she was AMAZING throughout this delivery) . She checks me and says, “we’re ready to push”. SERIOUSLY? Holy cow. Luke was amazing throughout the process. Everyone was so encouraging. They kept making me feel good saying “don’t tell your friends how quickly you progressed, they’ll be jealous”. Haha. I was happy. They told me I’d probably be pushing at least 2 hours. I decided I wanted to use a mirror b/c they kept saying “I see the head!!” It was more motivation once I could see what was going on. It wasn’t nearly as bloody as I thought it would be. I kept telling them I didn’t want to poop and was afraid to push hard. They were so sweet about it, saying, if you poop, you’re doing it right, and IF it even happens, it’ll be cleaned up so fast you won’t even know it. At least I’d warned them. Ha! No, seriously, they say I didn’t poop, but Luke said I did squirt pee. I asked them if they thought I was going to rip bad and she said she didn't think so, if at all and kept bragging about my “strong perineum” …again, keep the complements coming…just more motivation. Haha! j/k. (I DID rip a bit - and my lips were swollen for like 4 days looking like man balls and it hurt like balls to pee because the saltiness would get to the cut, but that's beside the point). Anyway, I pushed for 1 hr 15 minutes total. It was weird, I always envisioned pushing in stirrups the entire time. I pushed for the majority of the time with Luke and the nurse holding my legs and me pulling myself to push. Then, when the baby’s head had crowned, they put the stirrups in, the doctor got all dressed in a cover suit, and I got excited. I pushed SO HARD. One push, the head was out, the last push, her body, and then I hear suctioning and her sweet cry. It was the most perfect thing I’d ever heard. They laid her on my chest. I didn’t care how bloody she was. I wanted to hold her. We loved her immediately. I even kissed her goo. (They had wiped SOME of it off, but she wasn’t going to be bathed for several hours and I couldn’t wait). The first question I asked the nurse was “is it for sure a girl?”. It was (obviously). Our baby girl was HERE. I couldn’t believe it. And now…she’s already a week and a day old. I can’t believe time is going so fast!

Everything went well! It's very reassuring to hear everyone say what a good little baby she is, and how healthy she is (good skin tone, nice moisture, etc). She weighed 7lbs 3oz today...so she's gaining weight nicely. (She was 7lbs 6oz at delivery, and 7lbs 1oz the day we went home). The Dr was happy w/ her progress and said she should have no problem returning to her birth weight by next week. He answered so many of my questions and I felt very good about the whole situation - he acted like he had all the time in the world to answer my questions, and that made me really happy.

I thought she'd been having gas a lot lately...and told him i'd been trying to watch what i eat to not pass the gassiness on to her and asked if there was anything else I could do. He told me from the symptoms i was describing it sounded like she had acid indigestion and gave us a Rx for it...so i'm interested to see if this helps! I really feel like it will...and if it does, i'm so glad to figure out what is finally causing her pain!!

I asked about the CF testing, and he's going to do some more research on it...but said he didn't think it was very likely she'd have it (and it felt good to hear him say that), and that the "wheezing" i felt like i was hearing when she was feeding was just from having an immature system (that an adult would clear their throat, but she doesn’t know how to do that yet...) so it was nothing to be concerned about, and that her lungs sounded great. so...phew!

After our appointment today, Luke and I ran into the Minute Clinic at CVS (so nice b/c you don't have to have an appointment!)...and we got flu shots and T-Dap shots, which Dr. Granger also recommended since we are getting into flu season and Makena can't get a flu shot until she's 6 months old. And, he said it was good to go ahead and renew our Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis (whooping cough) immunizations as well b/c those are extremely contagious (or whooping cough is...) to babies. (It was kind of scary being there b/c he told us to avoid large public places until she's 8wks old...so we hurried and got our shots and Luke took Makena back to the car while i finished filling out paper work).

Anyway, everything went great! Here are a couple pictures of her on her first outing. It was almost nap time, so it was hard to get a semi-happy picture :) ...and speaking of nap time...that's what I'm going to go do myself!

It took me forever to upload all the pics to facebook...blog is next, but there won't be as many...I'll have to tell you MORE about the stories, but now, my boobs hurt and Makena is hungry (thank GOD). :)

Now...we just need a baby... :)