BIG NEWS!

Well, this entry may come in pieces and/or just be really really long...It's a girl!!!!

Our baby girl Allison-Rae Noel Cavanaugh was born on Christmas Day! She was 7 pounds 5 ounces, 19.5" long and came into this world at 2:58pm. She is beautiful and great and, well there aren't really words for how hard we have fallen in love with her! So cliche that people always say how they never knew they could love something or someone so much, but I now understand. I thought I loved Jason that much...which I do, but this a completely different love and awe that I have never imagined or felt before.

So, last week I left off still working - very reluctantly - and sick with a sinus infection (which still lingers by the way). Thursday I felt so sick and exhausted, but made it out for burgers with friends that we haven't seen in so long. Friday I woke up feeling oddly energized and went on with my day full of laundry, cleaning, organizing, assembling, etc... That night we went to Christmas Eve dinner at Aunt Therese's house with the whole Cavanaugh clan. While driving down there, I felt some cramping in my lower belly, but didn't think anything of it since it was just a new pain - or so I thought. We made it through dinner and the cramps kept returning and at 8:30 when we were going to leave for 9pm church service I felt like we'd better head home as I was not up for going to church at that point. We got home, I googled (yes I googled) what contractions feel like and sure enough after timing the cramps I had been feeling, I figured out that I was in fact in labor. I called the hospital at 10:50pm asking how close the contractions needed to be to come in and the nurse said 5 minutes apart for 2 hours or until I couldn't talk or walk through them with close frequency. I was at about 5-7 min apart at that time, but not nearly severe enough to go in yet. Shortly after 1am I woke Jason up with 3 minutes between the worst gut twisting pains I've ever felt - they literally bent me over with pain.
When we got to the hospital I was 3cm and 3 min apart. Within an hour I was at 4 and they assured me that they were not sending me home - we were having a baby!
They got me in the delivery room and had me set up with an IV and antibiotics and fluids, then provided a bit of relief with a pain killer too. That made me super loopy, but did help take the edge off...for a little while. After all the pokes and fluids, they checked me again and I was at 5-6 so they wanted to get me going on my epidural. We were then at around 4am and I was able to finally rest - as was Jason after he went home to get (another) bag since I literally had no idea what I had packed in the one very bare bag that I threw together. The baby had clothes to wear home...but we didn't!
While getting to sleep we had the "enjoyment" of hearing a lady next door deliver, with what I can only guess was without any meds. Thank God I did have them because she would not have encouraged me to go on without them we'll just say that! So, we turned on the Yule Log and slept for 4-5 hours with Christmas carols playing. Around 11 the dr checked me and we were still at 5-6 so they broke my water. Shortly after that they started pitocin to help the contractions along. When I got to about 9-9.5cm our nurse, Julie, had me start pushing. I was doing really well and then started to feel pressure of the baby coming down. The epidural at this point, was helping I'm sure, but not the full numbing feeling that I thought. The Dr came in and could see the head coming down at about 2pm so she had me keep pushing. It wasn't long before the pushes were progressing a lot and I could feel the baby's head really bearing down. It felt better to just keep pushing rather than take a break in between. The contractions were 1-2 minutes apart so with each contraction, if I could find the energy, I pushed my 3 - 10second count pushes, and then some just to keep the baby from moving back up a bit after each push. Within the hour I was feeling a lot of pressure, Dr Ritter grabbed my hand and had me feel my baby's head crowning (mind you I'm pretty dilirious at this point). I just kept pushing as much as I could and at 2:58 the little baby came out and was up on my belly! The nurses originally told me that my birth plan noted that I wanted to keep the baby with me as much as possible at first, but that my not happen right away with the meconium in the amniotic fluid. Thankfully the baby cried right away so the Prenatal Nurse was out as quickly as she was in because they didn't need to drain the baby's lungs. As they lifted the baby up on my belly I asked Jason what it was, he was looking like he didn't know so I looked and thought for sure it was a boy...well, then we figured out that "it" was the umbilical cord and I heard Jason say "It's a girl!!!" - queue the water works and happiness and surprise! Jason did so extremely well too! He actually watched the baby come out...and the placenta (ew), and was right by my side the entire time.
A nurse came in letting me know that my sister was at the hospital - I was so out of it I told them to have her come in after I got stitched (yep, little tear but nothing too bad) and covered up. She came in - she didn't even know that we had the baby, she was just antsy sitting at home so decided to come! The Drs couldn't tell her any of my progress so she walked in the room to her brand new niece and little sister ready for her visit!
After a short while I was able to get out of bed (the epidural had started to wear off a while before that so I could actually walk and feel most of my body at this point). I went to the bathroom, took a short soak in the tub and we moved into our recovery room. We were very thankful to have Jen there to have extra hands and eyes as we made the move - after all we had another body to care for at that point! Oh, a few things from while we were still in our room -Jason's parents came to visit for a short bit, I ate - YES! - finally, I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before which wasn't a big meal either with my "cramping" I was feeling! We had watched Christmas movies all day during the labor and naps, but somehow ended up being on the cartoon network watching Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo during the delivery - that we'll never forget!

To be continued...baby's waking up!

On the up...compared to the other day!

Well, after my venting session the other day I felt much better - thanks for letting me a griper! On Tuesday afternoon I went to my Dr's appointment and....we're at 1cm!! That literally means I could go at any moment...or in a few weeks. haha! It's progress though and as I write this 2 days later...I think we are progressing!

First things first I did want to get some pictures up, they aren't great, but at this point - it'll have to do!

39 weeks for both...two different angles of my hugeness!

As you can see, we've reached the picture! I have some older shots of me standing in this very spot using the picture as a way to measure the belly. I'm not sure if we'll have another one before this little (or maybe not so little) peanut comes out!

So, after my appointment I went to Target. I lasted all of about 10 minutes in the store before my innards felt as though they could just drop out at any second. That seems to be the trend right now. If I do feel like I have energy, it is short lived and I need to try and stay on top of the actual level of energy there is to be spent! I'm not sure that it helped that on Tuesday morning I woke up with swollen glands. Dr. Covert said to take some Tylenol and kids robitussin if necessary. I did take the tylenol, but not the robitussin...and now here I'm home from work with a horrible sinus infection, raw throat and nose...and no robitussin in sight! Poor Jason slept out on the couch two nights ago becuase of my snoring and dead-sleep. Last night he did sleep in the bed, but neither of us got much of any continuous sleep due to my nose draining, blowing, coughing, etc...all that glamorous stuff. If it isn't enough to have to push a watermelon out soon...a cold is exactly what I need right now!

A friend of mine told me that with all 3 of her kids, she got a cold shortly before going into labor. I don't mind the swollen glands and runny nose, but this yellow goo coming from my sinuses hopefully subsides by the time any nurse expects any true effort given from me!

Up to this point, I haven't noticed any contractions - at least not that I knew were contractions. Turns out I have progressively had some Braxton Hicks contractions here and there. Those are fairly painless and just tightening of my stomach. It gets super hard and the only comfort loss is dependent on how the baby is laying. If it doesn't like the squeeze and tries to move, tight quarters get event tighter! Last night I woke up and had to blow my nose. I was lying on my back and tried to sit up. I must have been having one of the BH contractions because my stomach was hard as a rock and when I sat up, the muscles in my back totally spasmed. I thought I was in labor - it brought tears to my eyes with how it jerked me out of sleep with such a shock, but I had Jason help me sit up and I walked around. After my back relaxed, no other issues came up. So...we still wait! We're still a week out so we have time yet...I'm just not sure how much time or patience my body will have.

All in all - we're on our way. I don't plan on going back to the office until after my leave. I do plan to work from home next week if there's no baby yet, but now that I'm home bound...I can rest and get better I hope!

Until next time...

So many worse things, but I can't see past....my crap!

Okay, so I have friends, great close friends that have serious things happening in their lives. Illnesses, true grievances, crises', etc... many other things that do not justify me complaining about anything in my life right now. I am well into the final days of bringing an amazing new life into this world and yet I am just down-right nasty today! Seriously feeling like I accidentally took a crabby pill this morning instead of my vitamins.
I woke up with very swollen glands in my throat and a headache, not really behind my eyes, but behind my nose - sinus issues days/weeks before going into labor? Not the best feeling right now. "that sick taste" lingers in my mouth and it worries me to think about the trials of labor...and then put a cold on top of that!
I am literally on the verge of tears at work. I just want to be done and pass on my projects, but rolling eyes on one side and me fearing that I'm dumping too much on the other side (literally speaking to my desk arrangement at work with the two people who will be covering my projects while I'm out) are not helping the situation either.
If anyone has been around my Father when he is ready to go - whether it be to the grocery store or driving to CO - you would know that he stomps his feet saying "lets go lets go lets go...!". I inherited that lovely impatience. I am patient for anything else as long as the days last, but if there is an end in sight, but it just keeps lingering somewhere out there - without a firm end, I just get so restless! It is aggrivating to me because it makes me cranky and the people around me suffer.
The baby is doing great, lots of movement and still head down - no major issues...at least not as of last Monday. I have an appointment this afternoon with the Dr so we'll be sure to post anything extreme or exciting if it comes up, but I'm not expecting anything too significant. I do, however still have 11 days until my due date is even here. One light that has been added to the end of the tunnel though is at my chiropractor last night. He had me schedule for Monday the 3rd and said "if you go into labor, don't show up, we'll know why. If you show up - we're gettin' that baby out!". Thank God for Dr D, who is very knowledgable (and has a wife that had 3 kids' labor induced through natural chiropractic reflexology)!
So - all in all, I am fine - still don't have decent pictures to post, I'll get some up soon I promise - wait till you see the "dropped" belly! I don't have any reason to be upset at life except that I was not put on this Earth by God to inspire others to procreate. The end result is great, but the journey there is not one that I will be writing inspirational books about!

Ohhh, more (and hopefully positive) news to follow after this afternoon!

Picture and news...

Not news about me and not very happy news at that unfortunately. We had a very good friend lose their baby this week and my heart, along with many others, is just broken for them. Our friends Niki and Christian got pregnant on their wedding night (10-8-10). It was meant to be, destiny and everything else that it should have been. They found out this week, after just having shared the great news with their family and friends around Thanksgiving, that the baby didn't make it. Here I sit, wanting to get this baby out so badly when all they wanted was to carry the baby. I feel selfish at times, but I do know that God truly works in mysterious ways - lots of the time he works in ways that seem so unfair and unforgiving, but nonetheless, Niki and Christian will try again and love the next baby with all the more might in their hearts. We have had other friends go through this very same tragedy, I'm fortunate to say that Jason and I have not. It seems to be that when this happens, it happens to strong people who come out even stronger in the end. I don't doubt that it takes a piece of their heart for the rest of their lives in the healing process.

I originally wanted to post this picture as a qwazi-belly-pic, but now I did for a more important reason. The night this was taken, Niki and Christian told many of their closest friends that they were expecting. It was a wonderful night and the joy shared that night should never be forgotten. There will come another day when we all get to celebrate again with them, their next feat in life - making and giving life! So, as bittersweet as this message is - and before I start up with the pregnancy crying that cannot be controlled - I send my love to both Mr. & Mrs. G and pray for their hearts to mend and for them to enjoy their days now as husband and wife - and soon enough, Mom and Dad to be.

Venting and an update...

This time I'm not venting about the baby!!!
Okay, why around this time of year to people overreact and freak out at EVERYTHING?!?!? Work has a huge project starting up and people have just started going nutso! I think in the middle of the summer we would be having a much different pace vs. now! It's cold, well, you live in MN, it's the holidays, well - deal with it - no one takes Christmas all that seriously anymore anyway so stop trying to make it an excuse to be all up on edge!!! Okay, maybe that's a little bit drastic, but for real, when did people take the holiday time and turn it from an opportunity to have a few days off into a chaotic stressful time that people just want to get over and done with?!?!

Now, with that said - I had my first weekly appt with Dr Covert this morning...nothing too exciting to report. She did say that my cervix is thinning though, no dialation yet, just thinning. I suppose that's better than nothing though!
The heartbeat is holding strong in the 140's and all of my other issues (swelling, snoring, acid reflux, etc...) are sounding normal so no need for additional testing.
I am up about 30lbs though - I know that is about average, but I wasn't exactly small to start with. She said that a lot in the past 2 weeks is probably from water - I'm up 4# just since my last appt.

I will work on getting a belly pic before the end of the week, it may be the last one before we get to see what's IN the belly! I can hope at least. There's no room left to fill so anything more will be uncomfortable stretching!

Dr tomorrow...

I cross my fingers, but try and remain level headed as I anxiously await my Dr's appt tomorrow. It is the first of my weekly check-ins as the due date approaches. Most likely, I'll have made no progress yet as it is till 3-4 weeks away, but in a perfect world...we'd be progressing! I do want this bun to stay in the oven as long as it needs for health reasons, but - well, who am I kidding? For health reasons only!!! I am so uncomfortable! I have never been so crampy, slow, achy, tight and full feeling all at the same time. In fact, I've never imagined feeling this way either. I try to keep positive and not be a negative-nelly type, but it is tough.
Cute lil baby that makes it all worth it - just so you know, any time you want to make your appearance...please feel free!

29 days!!!

Dear Baby,

You've got less than 4 weeks to get here so we can meet you!!! Well, I suppose technically you couls take longer, but I'd prefer if you didn't...just sayin!

I go to the Dr on Tuesday and I'm anxious to find out if we're making any progress. Things have started to feel a bit different - in and down there without trying to get too graphic!

I so badly want to know if you are a boy or a girl. Honestly we'll be so rediculously in love with you either way - just be healthy!!! Really the only wives tales that apply are that you should have lots of hair because of all the horrible heart burn you've been causing and you might be a girl because I got sick with you at the beginning. Now, as for how I'm carrying you and all that other funny stuff...I'm tall, you sit where you want, and when I'm standing, you carry in the front, but wait until I sit down, then you're all over the sides - boy or girl on that one! As for your action, you have hiccups all the time, you move when I eat - you move a lot! Especially with chocolate chips, you like those. Things you don't like (and I wouldn't either, but I can't really help it) - you don't like when I sit for along time, you push up diagonally under my ribs. If I'm not wearing sweats, you move your hands around and push your head up (down) into my bladder which doesn't only make me have to pee, but pinches it, ouch! You don't like when I sleep on my right side, you push with your feet and what feels like hands too just to let me know I'm rolling over too far. You really don't like when I eat too much food or drink too much liquid, you move around as my belly rumbles and sloshes - almost like it startles you - that part is kind of funny. Good news with that is you're most likely not deaf!

Regardless, you seem to be doing well - wanna come out soon?!?! I may sound like I'm rushing it, but really - we would love to have you as our little reminder of when "we" started. Your Dad and I started dating after a New Years party so it's only fitting to have you around that time. I have gone from excited to have you on 1/1/11 to just around that time if you haven't noticed:). Any time will do.

Love you Baby C.

Found this and thought it was cute:

Baby's Eviction Notice:

I am issuing a 30 day notice for EVICTION. Tenant will have 30 days in which he can either gather his belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, he will be physically removed from the property. He's being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back fo the house were also made! Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances. After 30 days from this day that he doesn't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal and my discretion.