Some Final Pictures

Baby Shower Guests

4/29/12

Pizza Hut

Baby's First Quilt

Made by his Great Grandma Jeffers

4/29/12

Pizza Hut

About A Month Before He Was Due

4/10/12

Getting Closer!!

Me at my Baby Shower

4/29/12

Pizza Hut

Welcome William!

5/8/12

North Valley Hospital

Whitefish, Montana

HE'S HERE!! (The REAL Labor Story)

The next day after my false alarm (Monday, May 7), I woke up and my Braxton Hicks were still feeling like mild mensy cramps. I went about my day, business as usual. After dropping my husband off at work, I met up with my friends, Ariel and Vanessa, at the mall. As we walked through the mall (which is a pathetic excuse for a mall if I'm being honest) I had to stop every now and then to get through a contraction. Then Ariel and I went to pick up her friend's son from school since his mom was at the airport about to go to California for the week. I picked up a SNAP application since I need a little extra help with groceries since we only have one source of income now. Then we went to visit Ariel's friend at the airport since her flight had been delayed for two hours. Contractions were still hurting. When we got done, we went back to Ariel's house for dinner. We munched on hamburgers and jalepeno flavored Pringle's. Yum. Contractions felt much worse by this point. Went over to Vanessa's house for a bit (she's pregnant too). Back at Ariel's house I noticed that I was holding my breath and clenching up during contractions.
At 10pm she was headed to bed and I still had an hour left till my husband was off work so I thought I would go sit in the parking lot for an hour. I talked on the phone with my half-sister, whom I've finally found after being separated from her my entire life. My contractions were really hurting and I had a full bladder so I drove to Walmart to go pee. When David got off work, I really don't know how I made the five minute drive home. I did everything I had done the night before, took a bath for a half hour and relaxed for a half hour. David timed my contractions: they were four minutes apart on average. He was practically begging me to call, but I wasn't positive. I didn't want to drive all the way to Whitefish to be sent back home again. My friend Alicia called me wanting to talk for a bit. She offered to give me a ride to the hospital if I needed it later.
I finally gave in to my husband's plea and called my midwife. This time she didn't leave the decision up to me, she made me go. I called my mom who wasn't able to give me a ride right away, but luckily, Alicia was still able to give me that ride. She packed up her children and came to get us. We got checked in around 1am on May 8.
After a couple hours of monitoring and the nurses noticing my pain, they had me get in the Jacuzzi bathtub to help me relax, and boy did it help. Finally my mom made it to the hospital, and so did my dad. My mom helped me in and out of the tub every time I had to pee and she even refilled the tub for me as it got cold. My mom arrived around 3 or 4 am, I had been admitted by the time she got there. Even more surprising, my best friend, Tiffany, showed up despite the distance that had been between us for 9 months. Alicia had to go home, her oldest had school in the morning and was refusing to try to sleep at the hospital.
My mom held my hand and comforted me all night while David got some rest. I labored out of the tub for a few hours cause the contractions were making the water move slightly which was making me sea sick. I labored in bed for a bit and then on a yoga ball and then back in bed until I was9cm dilated. That's when they broke my water and had me get back in the tub. Normally they would've had me in a birthing pool but they hadnt had a chance to clean it yet since another mother had a baby that night. Water births are getting more popular I do believe.
After 20 minutes of pushing (and good Lord did it hurt) I finally had my baby boy in my arms.William Seamus Ayers was born at 11:34am on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. He weighed 6lbs and 13.9oz and measured  18.5in long. He has light brown hair and blue eyes. I am so happy to have him.
All of the heartburn, morning sickness, anxiety, depression, restless legs, hormonal rages, lack of sleep from frequent peeing and more heartburn was completely worth it. I'm so happy to be someone's mom.

The False Alarm

On Sunday, May 6 I noticed that my Braxton Hicks contractions seemed different. They felt similar to my-time-of-the-month cramps, which I knew as a sign to mean "baby is coming soon." All day I breathed through them and then around 8pm I started timing them. They seemed pretty close to me. So after talking to my midwife, she had me take a warm bath for a half hour and then just relax for another half hour to see if they changed. Well I did what she said but even as they spaced out a bit more they still seemed awfully close. I called my midwife back and we through our all ready packed hospital bag in the car and drove the 20 minutes to North Valley Hospital (for the third time) to get checked out.
Just as I made the turn onto the road to the hospital parking lot I got pulled over by Whitefish City Police... because I had a headlight that was out. I was not happy and I have no idea how I didn't rip that cop a new one for pulling me over when I thought I was in labor. Okay, so I shouldn't have been driving anyway, but my husband doesn't have his license to drive currently. And no, I did not get a ticket.
So we got checked in and hooked up to the monitors. As the night progressed the contractions started to space out more. They were busy that night, there was a "supermoon" Saturday night and there's something about babies being born on or near a full moon and this one was the biggest one of the year. The first nurse attempted to check my cervix but she had short fingers: I thought she was reaching for my brains or something. So since they were busy they called in another nurse who had checked my cervix the very first time I made a hospital visit. I don't remember her name but I remember her as the "buff German lady." She was able to get it checked but, sadly, I was still only 1-2cm dilated. So I was sent home with a prescription of Ambien (for sleeping) and a really powerful pain killer. Well most mom's I've talked to that have taken Ambien while pregnant ended up hallucinating so I went straight for the pain killer. Which really helped for me to get to sleep. David and I were both bummed that baby wasn't coming that night.

Busy busy busy

Once again I have been away for a while. I've been busy preparing for baby's arrival. In the last few months I have completely cleaned my house only for it to be torn apart again due to my husband's lack of participation (I still love him dearly). I've made two trips to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish: the first time was because my adorable 70lb puppy got excited and pulled me down, belly first, into my car and then continued to run around like a crack head which irritated my uterus. After four hours and two bags of fluid through an IV I was finally allowed to go home. The next was for cramping and little to no fetal movement. 
And now here we are a week away from our due date: May 8. At my appointment on Wednesday I had my cervix checked and we are dilated 1-2cm!!! I have been doing a lot of walking to try to help the progress of this and it helped that the weather has been nice. 
Our baby shower was Sunday and we had a great turn out. I can say that my baby wont be cold a day in his life: he received tons of blankets. My husband and I are hoping that our son comes soon!! 

Pregnant and I Know It (a parody of I'm Sexy and I Know It)

Found this on Youtube. 

For your entertainment pleasure. If you're pregnant and watching this, please try not to pee yourself from laughing. 

Sick Again

Just when I thought I wasn't going to get sick much this cold and flu season, I get hit with a cold. It came on slow at first with a bit of a sore throat. It hit me pretty hard though. I've done more sleeping than anything else. And I've missed a week of work. My ears are stuffy, as is my nose. And I have a cough. Hopefully it goes away soon. 

A Good Film To Watch

I have now, twice, watched the documentary on Netflix "The Business of Being Born." It compares hospital births to home births with a midwife. I highly recommend this film to first time mom's as well as experienced mom's who didn't have as much of a pleasurable experience with a hospital birth. 
A great fact from it: 70% of births in Europe are home births, that number is only 8% in the United States. The United States also has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the industrialized world and that is for infants born in hospitals. 
I also used this film to kind of prep my husband for childbirth, since we are both first timers. David seemed a little creeped out at the thought of me pushing a human being out of my lady parts, but after watching this, he said it wasn't nearly as bad as he would have imagined. 
If you have a Netflix account (and if not sign up long enough to watch this) and check it out. "The Business of Being Born."

To the Men

Men, think you have a high pain tolerance? This guy proves you wrong :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6AdFdmE9A84

ENTER THE THIRD TRIMESTER!!!

Nesting?

When my paycheck came in I went grocery shopping, like I normally do. I stocked up on the drinks. Here is my list:

• 2 jugs of Arizona Sweet Tea
• 24pack of Pepsi
• 24pack of Mountain Dew
• 12pack of mini Dr Pepper bottles
• 2packs of Capri Sun
• 3 jugs of Tampico fruit juice
• 1 jug of cranberry juice
• 1 2liter bottle of A&W Root Beer

Think I have enough drinks? I didn't think I bought that many until I got home. After both my husband and my mother made fun of me for getting enough drinks to last till the apocalypse I realized I had a "nesting" moment. Which would explain why I bought the big pack of toilet paper, same brand, just different type since I wanted the big pack. I also bought the value box of cat litter and I was quite annoyed the Walmart did not have my brand of car oil in the big pack, just the small containers. 


A few weeks ago, at 11:30 at night, a night before my husband had to be at work at 8:30am the next day, I made him rearrange my living room. completely rearrange it.  

Attack of the Hormones

Last night while I was taking a shower, I was discussing with my husband about our upcoming shift change at work (we work at the same place). I'm not quite sure what triggered it but somehow I ended up in a fowl mood. I had finally put in a movie and laid down to sleep. When my husband finally came to join me he noticed I was in a fowl mood. 
"Can I have a kiss?" he asked me. I wanted to be stubborn.
"I wan't chocolate," I responded. "Bring me chocolate and I will give you a kiss." I thought we had no chocolate left in the house. 
He comes back in with a piece of chocolate and shows me the last piece of chocolate from our Valentine's Day chocolate box. 
"This was supposed to be my piece," he said, since I took no time in devouring mine. He made a pouty face and I instantly felt guilty for him wanting to give me his last piece of chocolate. I hid my face and refused the chocolate and started crying. But my husband insisted on letting me have that last piece of chocolate because "it would make me feel better." I told him I felt guilty and that he could have a kiss anyway and then he said he would be offended if I didn't take the damn piece of chocolate. I started crying again because I would feel guilty if I ate the chocolate but I would feel guilty if I didn't eat the chocolate. There was no winning. 
That was the first time I've ever cried over chocolate. Yay for hormones. 

Glucose Screening

So when you enter the third trimester you have to do a glucose screening for gestational diabetes. They give you a icky drink in fruit punch, orange or lime flavored and it's like a flat soda (mine was orange). You have to drink it within 5 minutes. Mine burned my throat and tasted like a very flat orange soda (*chill it before you drink it cause I didn't and I'm sure it helps*). As I drank it I noticed how I felt, nauseated and dizzy. I mentioned this to my husband who looked at me and said "Yeah, it says on the back it causes nausea," Psh, what does a baby daddy know? So I looked at the back, sure enough it read :The most common adverse reactions to Sun-Dex 50 are nausea, vomiting, abdominal bloating, and/or headache. Well that's fan-fricken-tastic. I drank mine in 2 minutes, and exactly an hour after finishing it, they draw your blood. Now last time I had my blood drawn at the beginning of my pregnancy, I handled it quite well, much better than I did when I have to get shots. This time, I was about ready to run away.
I said, outloud, "I can't do this, I don't want to do this, I'm not ready," I was acting like a big freaking baby. I was fine, of course. And after all that worrying about puking and passing out, I did not! Thankfully, I had David there to support me and give me something to focus on.

Childbirth Education Classes

This morning I woke up to get ready for my glucose screening appointment. As I retrieved the paper with my instructions on it I saw the list of Childbirth Education classes. And if I didn't sign up for the class at the end of this month, I wasn't going to be able to sign up for the 6 week course without running past my due date. So I called the birthing center where I will have my precious William and signed up. So starting February 29 (Leap Day!), and every Wednesday till April 11 from 7-9pm. I can't wait! Since I'm a first time mom, I feel that these classes are very important. 

The Third Trimester

That's right.... I'm OFFICIALLY there!!!!!!!!! Only one more Trimester to go!

Helpfuls

If it weren't for my midwives, I don't know what I'd do about some of the issues I have developed. Here is a list of some of the things I was told I could take (safely) while pregnant.

• Prilosec: my best friend for the 2 weeks the box says you can take it. Not a single day of heartburn during that period.
• Tums: when I can't use Prilosec, Tums are the bomb!
• Vitamin-D: without it, I would still be missing A LOT more work than I have lately and I would spend my entire day in bed.
• Tylenol PM: Great for sleepless nights; in fact I am going to take some when I'm done with this post since the reason I'm posting this is because I can't sleep at the present moment. 
• Sudaphed: I absolutely hate being congested and this really helps with that when I have a cold.
• Robitussin DM: When I had a really bad cough and I wasn't allowed to take Nyquill, this was listed as safe to use.
• Gas-X: great for when my lactose intolerance gets the best of me
• Lactaid: a dairy supplement that helps you break down lactose for those who are like me and mildly lactose intolerant. 
• Menthol cough drops: yes they're safe!
• Wine: I was shocked when my midwife said I could drink a little now and then just as long as I'm not getting drunk and doing shots of everclear. [note: I only drink half a glass every few weeks or so]

Here is a list of some other things I use to help make my life easier.

• Sweatpants: if you don't have to dress up for work, these are a must because they are stretchy and comfy and are fun to wear really cute shirts with to have a lazy/adorable look. 
• Hair ties: great for making your jeans last longer, just loop it through the hole and fasten to your button and TADA!
• Village Naturals brand Therapy: I have the "Restless Nights" bath and body wash[its purple and you can get it at Walmart in the health and beauty department] is great for bubble baths or as a shower gel to help you sleep. I also have "Muscle Relief" which is great for sore muscles, joints or Restless Leg Syndrome [which I am currently suffering through]. This is a green lotion and it smells like mint/menthol and its great for relaxing. 
• Tylenol: uh, painkiller, duh. 
• What to Expect when you're Expecting: this book is my best friend! I highly recommend it, especially for first time moms because it answers a lot of questions [including tips from trouble sleeping, sciatica and body changes]

Hope these lists will be helpful to someone :) 

Dreams, dreams and... WHOA! [mature content post]

I've all ready posted a once before about dreams. And boy do they continue to get interesting. 

Starting with the milder dreams, even though I am completely, 100% aware that I'm having a boy, every time I dream about my little boxer I dream he's a little girl. This has brought on much jokes within my friends. i.e. "maybe he's going to be gay?" 

There are more steamy, sexy, have made me orgasm in my sleep dreams. Anytime I'm dreaming that I'm having sex, only once have I dreamed that I was having sex with my husband. No, I'm not dreaming about other men, I'm creating people in my head while I sleep and they are usually women. My husband thinks its funny. He says "well that's a boy for you, men like sex."

"But, David, I'm having sex with women in these dreams,"

"Men like it when women have sex with each other?" 

Either way, these dreams are so amazing when the make me wake up because I'm having an orgasm. 

I talked to one of my best friends. She says that she never had a "wet dream" until she was pregnant with her son. And she, too, also had lesbian sex dreams. Could there be a link to lesbian dreams and being pregnant with boys? 

Hi, my name is__________!

William Seamus Ayers.


William: A family name. A strong name. A classic name. My baby's name. My great uncle, Willy is super excited to have a nephew named after him. According to my grandmother, Uncle Willy says "it's about damn time," that someone is naming their child William. William is an English name meaning "strong-willed warrior." http://www.babynames.com/name/William

Seamus: I get a lot of eyebrow raising when I tell people the middle name, especially from the older generations. It is not pronounced the way it is spelled. It is pronounced SHAY-muss. It is an Irish name for James meaning "supplanter." David has a little Irish in his family history,so we wanted something Irish in the name. We also wanted something uncommon and unique. Seamus also is a family name. David's great uncle's middle name was also Seamus. http://www.babynames.com/name/SEAMUS


The original name was Seamus William, but we changed it to prevent childhood bullying. 

IT'S A...........

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Singin' the Blues

I've noticed a change in my normally cheery disposition. It took me a while to notice it, but when I did it scared the living shit out of me. Watching a depression commercial I noticed that I had been showing some symptoms: no energy; lack of interest in friends, work and hobbies; there was just no get up and go in me. I'm not surprised if it's the real deal, there is a history of it in my family. 
Regardless of whether or not it is real depression or just my hormones creating Hell, it was a real concern for David and I. At my appointment at the beginning of January, I brought up my concern. The midwife on duty that day believes it to be a vitamin-D deficiency. That did not come as a surprise either as I am a sun person and spend many hours in the summer time outside in the sun. 
My treatment: take a vitamin-D supplement, IU 5000 twice a day for a week and then down to only once a day. 
It doesn't always work, but I have been more social, going to work more and throwing myself into stuff I love again. 
A few weeks later I took a survey with a nurse at my local health clinic. The score was a little higher than the average person; it was scoring me on depression. It was only a few numbers high, but it's still good to know that this is not just in my head (as in me freaking out over nothing). 

Gone Fishing

No, I have not actually "gone fishing." After foolishly choosing Christmas over bills, my internet was unfortunately turned off for a month till we paid off our bill and the reactivation fee. Now that it is back, I will continue talking about my pregnancy and the fabulous adventures of it. :)