That's right...in one day we made it to 40 weeks and welcomed Brooke into the world. She was born on her actual due date September 15, 2010 at 1:27am. Only 4% of babies are born on their estimated due date...we feel pretty lucky. She was 6lbs 12oz and 20 in long! After delivery our nurse also told me it was Neonatal Nurses Day...it must have been meant to be, LOL! I'm going to add more pictures but for now I will leave you with Brooke's birth story! It's kind of long but I wanted her to be able to have it for when she is older :-). It has truly been an emotional week but everything has been worth it for her and I am so glad I could document all that happened!
9.23.2010
40 Weeks and Our Sweet Baby Girl...
Posted by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold at 8:06 AM 6 comments
9.08.2010
7 days left...39 weeks!
**39 week midwife appt update** We had our 39 week appt today! I gained another pound...now up 15 lbs woo hoo! And she definitely dropped as my belly only measured 37 cm! Brooke tried to give us a little scare by having a low resting HR (which she had while I was in the hospital too) so our midwife put me on the monitor for a little while just to make sure. It was so reassuring to have her do this...I think had I been at a Dr. office they would have listened with the doppler for 2 sec and not even noticed. As soon as she put me on though Brooke decided to wake up and kick the monitor (she never has liked it, LOL) and did great through two strong contractions. We go again on Tuesday for our 40 week appt! It's at this one we'll start talking about natural ways to induce labor...I definitely do not want to go all the way to 41 weeks and need Pitocin...it's the devil, LOL!
That's right...just SEVEN days left until her due date! We've been working on lots of little craft projects to keep busy and are actually patiently waiting. I am pretty content with staying pregnant. Of course my back hurts but I love feeling this little girl squirm around inside me and know I only have a little while left to have her all to my self. We've been going on nice walks at Reid Park but no other crazy attempts to evict this little one. Many other mamas on my birth board are trying the entire gamut of "labor inducing" tricks but for the most part I feel too lazy or too scared to try them, LOL!
I actually woke up today and thought my water was leaking. We went in to the birth center to get checked and did an NST (where they hook me up to the monitor to watch Brooke's heart rate and my contractions). It wasn't amniotic fluid and Brooke looked great so we came back home. It was nice to see she was handling the contractions well that I was having...very reassuring :-). It was also wonderful not to have to go through the whole hospital experience over again to find out it's nothing...you just call the birth center, go in, and they have you sit in a comfy recliner in a cozy little room where they monitor you. We have been getting calls daily (sometimes more than once, LOL) from family to see how we are doing. We know they love us and can't wait for her arrival but I am starting think they think we won't tell them when she's coming HAHA! We'll just call a few days later and say "Guess what?!". But even if it's not in the next 24 hours...she is on her way...no doubt about that!
Posted by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold at 7:51 PM 3 comments
9.05.2010
38 weeks!
I can't believe her due date is now just two weeks away! At this weeks midwife appt I didn't have them check me...it was a little too much to handle last time and I felt like I had to recover just from being checked, LOL! But again Brooke's heartbeat was perfect, my belly measure right on at 38 cm, and I have now gained 14 lbs! I am still feeling pretty good...although her little head couldn't be pushing down any harder :-). I think she is getting restless as she never stops squirming now. I am surprised I do not have large bruises on my belly from where she keeps sticking her feet out, LOL! Brant and I have been trying to grab them every time she does it :-). My contractions are starting to get much stronger but are still not consistent.
This week we have finished getting some more things for her room and we even went to Reid Park one night for a very long walk! I decided this week that since my "belly" will not be at the baby shower that I really wanted to make a belly cast as a decoration. We thought if it turned out we might hang it in her room as well. Instead of buying an expensive kit we just went to Michaels and got everything our selves...luckily my husband is very crafty!
The new blog background is called "Brooke"...perfect!
I can just imagine her sucking on her little hand like that :-).
Posted by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold at 1:00 AM 0 comments
9.04.2010
37 weeks!
We made it to 37 weeks and couldn't be more EXCITED! Not only does that mean she is full-term now but that I can deliver at the Birth Center! We feel very blessed. On Friday (8/27) we went to our 37 week midwife appt and found out that I am now 3-4cm dilated, still 80% effaced, and her head is right there! It's weird to me that my body just keeps dilating without me knowing, LOL! Some people are screaming in pain at 3 cm! Now we just have to wait for actual labor to begin...I'm sure with consistent contractions the intensity of labor will kick in but that's what we have everything we learned in Bradley classes for :-). Brooke's heartbeat was in the 140s, my belly measured 36 cm, and I have officially gained 12 lbs (they were very happy about that!).
We were really excited to head to Phoenix after my appt but she said my water could break at any time and that we would need to come right in to have her hear rate checked and what not if this were to happen. We decided it would be safer to not go until after she is born...I was really bummed but I definitely didn't want something to happen to her just because we were 2 hours away or need to deliver at a hospital in Phoenix. Luckily my grandma was sweet enough to come and stay with us from Friday until Wednesday...it was so nice to have her! We were able to do lots of walking while she was here and get a pedicure...it felt wonderful!
Posted by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold at 8:00 PM 1 comments