He has a name!!

Lincoln "Link" Charles

Below are some photos Marc took. I'll be adding another post later with some of the photos Ginger took. I hope you enjoy :o)


A family cuddle between contractions

Ken showing Gwendolyn how to help Mommy through a contraction

Some of my support. We had moved into a bigger birthing suit at this point.

Ken timing contractions

Gwendolyn giving me strength

I've been in active labor for many hours at this point. LOVE the jacuzzi tub!!

Getting through transition. The noodles were a totally awesome trick to keep me on my side without me having to give any effort to stay that way.

Starting to push (my water still had not broken yet. YAY, that's exactly what I had wanted)

A proud Daddy indeed! :o)

We are holding our son in our arms!!!

We welcomed our son into the outside world at 10:46 pm on August 26th after 19 hours of labor and delivery. We haven't finalized his name yet but here are his stats; 8 lbs 14 oz, 22 inches long, 14 inch head circumference and chest circumference.

I'm going to write up a full birth story as soon as I can see straight but here's the day in a nut shell. I woke up at 4am and believed my water had broken. I started getting ready to go to the birth center and paying attention to my contractions pattern. My Mom came over at 8 to walk around the block with me and help get me into a regular contraction pattern. I called the birth center at 9:30 and reported my stats at the time. We left shortly after for the birth center. I was glad to find out when I got there that my water had not broken but I was indeed in early labor. Since we live kind of far from the birth center we decided to stay down there to kill some time as I progressed some more. I'm lucky enough to have had many support persons there. My Mom, Marc, Ginger, Stephanie and Ken's parents were all there. So we all piled into a couple cars and drove to Ihop for breakfast. This was fitting as the last meal I ate prior to going to the hospital to deliver Gwendolyn was Ihop. LOL After Ihop we drove over to Costco to walk around. It's kind of funny to walk around in Costco while in labor. We were continually asked by several different employees, if I was ok or needed them to call someone. I'm pretty sure they couldn't wait for me to leave. LOL When we got back to the birth center, they set me up in one of the birthing suites. It was a VERY busy day at the birth center so we did some rotating. When another mother was through with one of the bigger rooms, we were able to move into that birthing suite. That was really great because it had a jucuzzi tub, which I couldn't wait to get into. Once I was in the tub I stayed there for many hours until I had to get out for other complications. Labor progressed textbook normal through transition. At delivery it got pretty crazy for us. I had some complications to work through which I could only do because Ken was an amazing coach and I had excellent midwives.

After he was finally out, it was complete bliss and euphoria. Everyone stayed for a little while, which I thought was amazing considering the very long day and how late it was already when he was born. We couldn't wait to go home so, as soon as baby and I were stable, we left for home at 4am. It was a pretty crazy 24 hours for us. There was very little to no sleep so, we are trying to catch up now. How lucky are we to have so much family and friends near by to help us!!

More pictures to follow and a more detailed birth story when I can. We will have a name for sure by Friday when we go back to the birth center for our first check up appointment.

I think I'll have a baby today

My water broke at 4am this morning. My body is trying to find a regular contraction pattern. The contractions have progressively gotten stronger since 4. My Mom is here and we are going to start walking the block and timing them. Then I'll call the birth center and give them all the info.

It's going to be a great day. The sunrise was gorgeous (you know this night owl pretty much never sees those) and I'm getting very excited feeling confident that this isn't yet another false alarm.

Past due update

There's my 40 week pg photo. It really doesn't look much different from my last photo. It's typical to not see much of a change in size at this stage (at least not for the mother, the baby is only getting bigger and bigger). I know that doesn't make much sense. If the baby is getting bigger, why wouldn't I continue to grow too? It was the same way for me with Gwendolyn's pg. He really can't get any lower unless he is born. My next appointment is on Wednesday when I am 40 1/2 weeks. I'm uncomfortable at certain times but far from miserable which is what most people think I must be since I'm past due in the end of August in Texas. If Ginger wasn't going out of town on Friday, I don't think I'd even be that anxious about when I was going into labor. That said, I hope he decides to come by Thursday but, since I don't have any control over that, I'm trying to relax when I can and not stress out about it.

I haven't given an update on Gwendolyn in a while. She is doing quite well and seems to understand that my belly isn't named "baby braher" but that, there will be a baby joining the family. She likes to look at his clothes and tell me "cute" as she holds them up.

Her favorite color these days is yellow. When I've gotten caught up on laundry, we have great mornings. As soon as her yellow clothes are dirty, I'm in for a challenge trying to convince her to let me put on her clothes. Thankfully, she's also in a phase where she always wants "2 ponytails!" and points to the sides of her head where she excepts them to be. If I put in yellow hairbands, sometimes, it's enough to keep her happy even if she can't wear yellow clothes that day.

Gwendolyn loves to color as long as she can give you the crayon and you color or draw where and what she tells you. She of course always colors with the yellow crayon and each of the rest of us has certain colors that are usually assigned to us. The other assignments she usually has for us is where we sit. As far as she is concerned, everyone has their seat and she'll be happy to tell you where it is. It doesn't matter if we are in a car, at the table or in the living room.

Would you say we have a very particular daughter who knows exactly what she wants?? ;o) LOL Gwendolyn is also a cuddler and enjoys twirling your hair while she sucks her 2 fingers and enjoys a favorite show. She's very into "Super Why" which we have protected on our DVR. There are a few other shows she enjoys but nothing holds a candle to "Super Why". She still loves music as always and will often just burst out in song. Her other favorite activity is "bimming". Gwendolyn would go swimming at any time for as long as you are willing to let her. She's loves jumping in from the side and going under the water. She always pops up with a big smile and says she's going to do it again.

We are still very active with our playgroup. With the boy being born any minute, I'm sure there will be some time when we need to slow down on our playdate schedule for at least a little bit. I hope I'll recover from the birth very fast and we can adjust quickly enough, that we aren't away from our friends very long. We have the best time at all of our playdates and have the greatest friends to spend time with.

A couple days shy of 40 weeks pg

Today's appointment at the birth center wasn't very exciting. I've progressed a little farther but am still in the "it could happen any minute or still be weeks away" place. I doubt it will be weeks but I've found patience from somewhere and really am not begging for labor at this point. I sort of feel like "whatever, when it happens it happens". Being the control freak I am, I'm surprised at how laid back I feel about it all. Hopefully it'll be a new leaf turned for me and I'll keep this laid back don't need control attitude. Only time will tell on that one ;o) Meanwhile, I'm just going to enjoy the end of this PG and be thankful that I got to see so much of the Olympics and wasn't in labor for any of my favortie events. I'm actually really hoping I get to see all of the closing ceremonies too :o)

On comes the edema

I've been very lucky in the swelling department. I didn't have any edema at all with Gwendolyn. I've recently noticed in the last week that a have some lower leg and feet swelling at night, until today. Today I decided to take my rings off because they were feeling a bit snug earlier this afternoon. I feel lucky to have lasted this long being PG through the summer in central Texas to only now be experiencing some swelling. It's still minor in my opinion and doesn't cause me too much discomfort. Hopefully the boy will arrive soon and I'll only look like a bloated whale for a couple days. ;o) LOL

Hoping to post videos, here's my first one...

This is a movie of my Dad Ski Skiing this summer

39 weeks update

TMI ALERT!!!!

There could be information in this update that is more information than you want to know about me. Consider yourself warned ;o)

My appointment went well. My midwife still has me at 2cm 70% effaced. Today she said my cervix was very soft and very well behaved. LOL She did a membrane sweep and cervical massage since I'm totally ready to go into labor now that Ginger is home. The exam has given me a small amount of bloody show through the day. If is stops by tomorrow, I'll think it was just from the exam but, if it continues or gets more in volume, I'll think, just maybe this is it! I've started accupressure points and intend to climb the stairs a million times and maybe even break out some jumping jacks if I get really desperate. ;o) Oh yeah, during the exam, she also said he's lower. I swear, if he gets any lower he really will be hanging on my ankles. LOL I have contractions daily and many at night but even if they form a regular pattern for a while, they subside eventually proving them to be false labor.

38 weeks update

My appointment went well. The current standings are; 2cm dilated, 70% effaced and the boy is at a -1 station. I've been having lots of contractions daily which apparently is helping him go lower and lower but not changing my cervix too fast. That's okay with me since I'm hoping he stays put until next Friday when Ginger will be home and Lisa and Stephanie won't have to take time off of work. Also, if it works out that I do have him on a Friday afternoon, that will give Ken the most time at home with the baby before having to return to work. I'm still fairly comfortable until the evening sets in. By the late afternoon, I start to get pretty tired and I'm shot in the energy and comfort department by evening. I contract a lot in the evening and he's so low that every time I stand up, I keep checking to see if he's hanging on my ankles. ;o) LOL My midwife told me he's in perfect position for the birth. YAY!!! The boy is doing very well in there, his heart rate this week was in the 150's. His movements are regular and not hurting me to bad even when he gives me a good kick in the ribs. ;o) My midwife also thinks he'll be a good sized baby but, is thinking less than 9lbs. We shall see! I'm not totally convinced of that with all the family history on both sides of larger babies. I'm actually okay with a big baby as long as his head is small. ;o) LOL!!

37 weeks appointment update

My appointment went well today. I'm coming along and labor could be any day but, could also be weeks away. There's just no way to know for sure. I'm still showing signs that the boy will be making his appearance early. My midwife told me to stop taking the magnesium now (I was taking that to help stop the contractions I was having) and let nature takes it's course. As a recap, a week ago I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced, the boy is engaged and ready to get the show on the road it seems. I have contractions every day but, they aren't regular just yet. Since we live a decent distance from the birth center, my midwife asked me to call when I felt like I was in any kind of regular labor pattern. She's a bit concerned that I'll go quickly and not get to the birth center in time if I spend too much time laboring at home. If I don't go into labor by my appointment next week, I'm not sure I'll be able to avoid asking for a cervical check. Curiosity will most certainly get the best of me. The boys' Aunt G won't be home for another couple weeks. It's probably not the best idea for him to start out defying her right away ;o) LOL