Adelynn Grace

Guess who decided to show up? :) thats right-- our baby girl, Adelynn Grace Rickels. Born ON her due date 4/12/12 at 5:16 pm weighing 8 ibs 6 oz and 21 inches long.

Since then it has just been a whirlwind!

Where to start? I was cramping all day long on the 11th but no contractions. I bounced on my ball all day long, then when Joey got home we met his parents for dinner at Chili's. I also had slight spotting, so I was hopeful I'd be in labor soon. After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood and then settled in for the night. We went to bed around 10pm but I couldnt sleep so I was watching netflix on my iPad- around 11:30 I had my first contraction- caught me totally off guard! Right away they were 5-6 min apart. I waited until 1:30 am to wake up Joey and we called the doctor. The doctor on call told me I could come in but theres a chance they would send me home. by 2:30 we were at the hospital and I was 2cm...20 minutes later I hit 4cm...and we knew it was game time. We called both our moms and they came up right away. The plan was for both of them and Joey to be in the room with me.

I progressed pretty quickly, and easily- once I got my epidural I was feeling AWESOME ;) and then we just waited to hit 10 cm so I could start pushing. We were sure I'd have her by lunch time! Everyone came to the hospital ( our parents, vicky, my niece, our siblings, etc.) and Claire, Aunt Mary & the girls jumped in the car to come from Charlotte. We had a FULL lobby waiting for our sweet girl!

After they broke my water, the doctor said there was meconium in the fluid. This is NOT GOOD. but the Doctor didn't seem worried. She said they would have a respiratory therapist and NICU come in, that they wouldnt let Adelynn cry when she came out until they could clear her lungs. Joey and I were worried because everything we'd read and been told...this was bad. but the Doctor seemed to be fine with it...

Around 11:30 I was stuck at 9 1/2 cm... they said there was the last 1/2 cm, a "lip" of the cervix they called it, that just wasn't budging. but the Doctor wanted to wait it out...I didnt find out until later but around this time is when they turned off my epidural cause they were sure I'd be pushing soon. It didn't take long for me to start having some serious pain. This is when things get fuzzy for me so I'll no doubt be leaving a lot out but I was a bit out of it...

I remember people coming in and out of the room, and my MIL crying in the corner. I remember Joey being really upset and continuously asking the nurses to do something. I remember my mom asking over and over if there was anything they could give me. I remember the doctor coming in and mentioning the word C Section. I don't remember a lot. I was so out of it, and so exhausted. The nurse had tried helping me push around that last 1/2 cm but we had no luck- I never went to bed the night before, and hadn't gotten any sleep since. Between that and the pain I was in and out of it.

After a few hours of THAT awful experience...the doctor called a C Section around 2:30pm. But scheduled it for 5pm....looking back I'm shocked she made me wait- especially since there was meconium in the fluid. They finally gave me back the epidural and I got some relief. Then we waited. This is when it hit me what was about to happen, and I just cried and cried. I was so frustrated- I'd worked so hard, and this was SO not what we wanted. But at this point I just wanted the baby to be okay.

A little before 5pm the nurse told me they were getting me back a.s.a.p...apparently my BP was high, my fever was 104, and the babys heart rate was low. They got me back there quickly, called the doctor in, and had Adelynn out within a couple minutes. They had me SO doped up I kept falling asleep on the table. I remember fighting so hard to stay awake, I wanted that moment- you know...where they bring the baby over, I get to see her, kiss Joey...but I didnt get it. Joey filmed her coming out, and her first few minutes of life- he was so sweet...he cried so hard! then he brought her over to me and I barely remember seeing her- I kept falling asleep. I remember hearing the word "infection" while they were stitching me up, and I remember thinking "me or baby??" and being so worried...but then off baby and Joey went and i was there another 30 minutes getting sewn up. When they wheeled me back in our room Joey and the baby were in the corner- but shortly after NICU took her away. This is when they told me both the baby and me had infections. Which meant no visitors. I told them I wanted to see my mom- and Joey tried to get her back there, but they wouldnt let anyone back.

We stayed in that L&D room till almost 11pm that night before they finally moved us to the Mother/Baby room. but we didnt get to see our baby girl until the next day. It was heartbreaking.

We were in the hospital Thurs-Sun before they finally let us go home. Baby girl was and is doing GREAT. mama not so much! They took my staples out too early (I'm not just saying that, the doctor said it!) and my incision got infected. So for the last three weeks they have had me on 3 different antibiotics trying to fight off this infection. I was having a really hard time eating, and when I did eat it would just come right back up. The meds were making me feel awful and the incision was making it hard to get around. OH YEAH! and my dang milk never came in- so much for breastfeeding. They wouldnt let me try to feed her in the hospital bc of all the antibiotics I was on- but I was pumping in my room to try to stimulate my milk...never got a drop. Even if my milk HAD come in, I wouldnt have been able to feed her cause as I said the last three weeks I've been on antibiotics...so much for that right?

My L&D, and recovery has been a MESS. It was traumatic, frustrating, disappointing- nothing like I thought or wanted it to be....but that baby girl? IS SO WORTH IT. She is beautiful, and has such a personality already. I love all her noises, her facial expressions- she looks just like her daddy. I love her SO much my heart explodes just thinking about it. Shes already sleeping in 5 hour stretches and drinking 5 oz of formula- she is an eater!


To everyone who prayed for us throughout this pregnancy, L&D, and since- THANK YOU. I can never say thank you enough for the prayers, the truly mean the world to us. And to everyone who has wanted to come visit and hasn't yet- I'm sorry we've pushed visitors off for so long-- we had a rough start to this and just needed time for me to heal a bit and get into some kinda routine, we wanted and needed time to be a family.

And to my mom and MIL? THANK YOU. They tag teamed in shifts so one of them was always here that first week- even spent the night a couple nights. They were GOD SENT! I seriously couldnt have made it through without them. I love you both so much.

I'm sure I'm leaving out a MILLION details and things I WANT to say- but this will have to do for now. I have a baby girl who is opening her eyes from a nap and needs her mama :)

40 weeks

well, my due date is this week. Thursday to be exact. I have an appointment with the Doc today so we'll see what they say as far as progress...my last few visits I haven't been dilated at all. So I'm honestly not getting my hopes up on the progress front. I'm thinking since my appt. is today but my due date isn't until Thurs they'll end up scheduling me another appt. NEXT Monday...and if I make it to that then we'll schedule an induction. Which I REALLY don't want to do.

I woke up today feeling defeated and emotional- but a big part of that may just be fatigue. I haven't slept well at all. Everyone was so sure she would come early that I started to believe it too. I want to make it clear before I get all the judgements... I'm not rush her for selfish reasons. or maybe it is considered selfish-- I just really wanted to go in to labor on my own, I really don't want to be induced or use pitocin if I don't have to. So I was trying to help her along and get things started. we tried EVERYTHING....

-Sex

-Nipple stimulation

- Eating a whole pineapple

-Pomegranate

-Raspberry tea

-walking, walking, and more walking

-Exercise ball

- Eggplant Parm

- Pressure points on hands/feet

I think the only thing I haven't tried is hot sauce or castor oil- and I don't plan on doing either...I'm not gonna make myself miserable and it NOT work! there was a full moon AND a storm last week so we were hoping that would help too. but got nothin'.

i'll get crampy, back pains, few contractions... and then it just stops. frustrating! yesterday morning i lost my plug, or part of it at least- so i'm hoping that means she will come on her own in a few days. fingers crossed.

so anyway...feeling defeated this morning. and exhausted. we're so ready to meet her, and I've hit that wall of just...DONE being pregnant. but shes still in there for a reason, and she WILL come out when shes ready-- hopefully this week. and if not...then medicine will help her along by next week. I just really hope we have this baby on our own terms this week. we'll see.

come on out sweet girl....we are so ready to meet you!

39 weeks!

well, 39 weeks- almost done! almost time to meet our sweet girl! joey and i were talkin' about it last night and we just can't believe how quickly this pregnancy went by!

today is my first day out of work; when i left on friday i still didn't feel like i was off yet but waking up this morning and realizing i didnt have to get ready for work...weird! i miss my coworkers already! but i honestly haven't been this relaxed/stress free in a long time. it was nice to wake up slow (especially after tossing and turning all night long) eat some breakfast, sip some coffee, takin' a quick walk, and now just relaxing with my pups! (i know they're glad i'm home too cause it means they aren't locked up all day!) i have a doctor's appointment today but not until 3:00.

over the weekend i had some more contractions/pains, and i can tell she's dropped more too. she's still wild as ever in there though! i'm not getting my hopes up about progress, last time i went to the doc i wasn't dilated at all, and i'm prepared for that again today. Just trying not to get my hopes up about anything. i'm ready to meet her, and ready to not be pregnant anymore lol, but at the same time- i know i'll miss being pregnant. i was blessed with a great pregnancy, these past 10 weeks have been rough BUT realistically i've been lucky. i just hope L&D goes smoothly and my baby girl gets here safely. i hope her and i are both okay and all is well!

i just can't believe how soon she'll be here. maybe this will be my last pregnancy post?? we'll see :) maybe i'll have one more! who knows?! Easter is coming up this weekend and we pretty much told both our families we're playing it by ear. I'll either be miserably pregnant, giving birth/in the hospital, or have a brand new baby. if i'm still pregnant we'll probably go to all the Easter celebrations: Saturday lunch with his family, Sunday lunch with my mom's family, and Sunday dinner with my Dad's family. but if i've just had her we'll probably hang out at home, as much as i dont want to miss Easter and seeing everyone (and all the great food!) i just don't want to take her out/expose her to that many people while she's so new.

i just can't wrap my brain around the fact that we get to meet her soon. i'm so so nervous about L&D still, but so ready for her to be here. i can't wait to see her, hold her, love her. i have so many thoughts running through my mind: how will L&D go? how will breast feeding go? will she be a good sleeper? how the HECK am i gonna make myself go back to work!? how will the dogs do with her? will i have a hard time losing the weight? plus about a bagillion more things running through my mind!

but more than anything? i cant wait to meet her :)

38 weeks. ALMOST there....

well... 38 weeks now! Had my doctor's appointment yesterday which included my first pelvic exam. ZERO progress. bummer! I didn't have my hopes up, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. He (doctor) said " well, your cervix is long...and closed". Long? what the heck does that mean? who knows.

My next appointment is Monday 4/2 so we'll see where I'm at then. In the meantime I'm almost half way through my last week of work, Friday seems so far away. Super busy this week, and just NOT sleeping. I swear nature is preparing me for feedings, I wake up every 2 hours each night. on top of that getting up to pee a million times a night, and then just not being able to get comfortable or get in to a really deep sleep. i'm one miserable mama right now. I've tried very hard to keep a good positive attitude, not be whiney, and really hang in there! but i'm done! i hit my wall! i'm exhausted, and just...dyin' for a good rest. hopefully once i'm out of work next week i can lounge around, nap, and just relax. at the same time i'll probably do some walkin too to see if i can get some contractions goin' ;) we'll see.

joey told me this morning he had a dream about Adelynn :) he said we were at her baptism, and she was huggin' his neck...and she had curly blonde hair. HOW freakin cute!!! it made me teary when he told me, sweetest thing ever. i cannot wait to meet her and see what she looks like!

Two weeks away from her due date.. come on out Adelynn! We're so ready to meet you!!

ohhh...THATS what contractions feel like!?

well on my way to 38 weeks-- and finally got some contractions. i never got braxton hicks so i was never really sure what i was looking for but everyone said i would "just know"...turns out they were right.

they hurt, but obviously its not the real deal, and they are bearable. they stop me for a second and then i go about my day. they started a few days ago and have become more often/painful but still not the big ones that mean its go time! nothing time-able or consistent yet. My doctor told me to wait until they are 5 min apart, for 2 hours, and bad enough that i cant talk through them. so we wait! we took a long walk today; i figure i'll try to walk the next week or so, see if it helps contractions along at all.

everyone still seems pretty sure she will come early; i'm not sure what i think anymore! lord knows the girl has dropped majorly in the last week, but i'm still not sure when she'll be here. i have a doctor's appointment on monday at 4, my first pelvic exam--so im anxious to see if i've made any kind of progress. i'm not getting my hopes up by any means, just curious! but i will say... i'm ready for her to be here :)

this week is my last week at work; i kept saying i was working till she came but thats just a big red flag that i'm new haha...i hit that wall everyone told me about. i'm sore, i'm tired, uncomfortable...just feeling worthless. i'm ready to either have a baby, or be done with work- i just can't waddle around the office anymore lol. so 5 more days of work, and 2 weeks till my due date.

cant wait for this little girl to make her debut so we can meet her, and her daddy & i can love on her :)

37 weeks! FULL TERM!!

well I made it! FULL TERM this week! Which means our baby girl can come anytime and I'm A-OK with it!

She has dropped big time in the last week; I could feel it but wasn't sure if it was visible to others- but when strangers, along with friends/family, started commenting on how low she is...I realized it IS visible lol. All the fun stuff comes along with her dropping too-- sharp shooting pains, cramping has started, full blown waddling now, uncomfortable at a whole new level...its hard gettin' around these days!

and everyone seems to think she'll come early- i still dont know!

Kim had a dream she was born 3/28 and weighed 7ibs 6oz

Rachel thinks she'll come 3/31

Joey says 4/6 (FULL MOON)

Court says 4/7

Candace says 4/8 (Easter)

My Mom says a week before due date which is... 4/5

so..who knows! I'm just taking it day by day, resting as much as possible, and really paying attention to my body.

My next doctor's appointment is 3/26 and that'll be my first pelvic exam, so I'm anxious to see if theres any progress at all :)

Regardless...all I know is...she WILL be here SOON! so exciting!!! I can't believe its already here, and I can't wait to meet her!!

36 weeks!

36 weeks, and officially less than a month till my due date. HOW CRAZY. I start going to the doctor every week now but they won't start examining me for progress till 38 weeks. so we'll see when this little girl decides to come! Most are saying she'll come early, while a few are sticking to the stereotype of first babies being late. we'll see!

part of me thinks she'll come early; she feels so big now, and i feel like i've dropped some too. yesterday i looked so high-- but today i look lower. so weird. last night i got ZERO sleep. i felt so sick and was just wide awake. i also now understand the meaning of lightening crotch ha- not unbearable, but not fun. i also think maybe im finally getting some contractions? i never got braxton hicks... and still havent gotten the whole stomach tightening thing... but ive been having some pains- just randomly. they either seem to be like a period cramp, or hurt enough to take my breath away- but are gone as quick as they came.

so who knows. i hate not knowing when she'll be here- i'm such a planner! and i hate not knowing what to look for as far as labor. i mean..i KNOW what to look for but not all at the same time. she can come when she wants, i'm in no hurry- and its flying by still so i'm not trying to rush it, just hate the not knowing!

yesterday work threw me a shower- we had lunch brought in and they had the conference room decorated all cute! also a yummy cupcake cake- i shouldve taken a picture! we got more cute stuff and the company even got me our monitor! SO excited! My bosses also got us the pack n play! i was so surprised, and it was SO generous of everyone!

i had my prenatal last week, along with my doctor's appointment! pre natal was good, i had kinda a love hate experience with it lol. it felt good, but some parts of my body were super sensitive and it just HURT. but overall, i liked it- and i'd do it again! Doc appointment went well, got to hear her heart beat, shes still head down, and had my group b strep test thingy. in and out as always. and like i said- now i go every week. next appointment is this friday!

joey & i have the baptism class this weekend, and we're also trying to squeeze in some date nights while we can! i think this weekend will be Olive Garden..maybe a movie,not sure. When Hunger Games comes out we are gonna go see it with Becca/Zach, Court, and Mom since we all read the books- hoping I can sit in the theater that long, dying to see the movie!

so yeah, we have no hardcore plans for the next few weeks- just relaxing, waiting, finishing some last minute things and trying to soak up these last days as just the two of us :)

we'll be meeting our baby girl SO SOON!