Doing so well :)

Paulie had his first checkup a couple days ago, and I thought I'd share that he's doing very well! The day or two after he was born, his bilirubin level was checked and was a little high. His doctor said that he should come in for sure on Saturday to have it checked again to see that it hopefully has gone down.
(http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/common/jaundice.html)
His doctor also said that it's common for newborns to lose weight, up to 10% of their birthweight, and to start putting weight back on after about a week. So his saturday checkup showed that his bilirubin is down and he actually gained 2 ounces! Both the nurse and the doctor on call were suprised.
We all want to say thank you again to EVERYONE that was praying for us while i was in labor and that have continued to pray for us during the transition of bringing Paulie home and learning a new routine together that works for all of us.
We have been truly and entirely blessed throughout this whole experience.

We did it!

Paul was born at 11:58PM March 16th, 2010 Weighing in at 6lbs 15oz and 20in long!
This is how it all began...
Saturday night Ashley was over to spend the night and we stayed up til 4-5AM talking. I had been feeling a little funny, with what felt like cramps but nothing strong enough to say it felt anything like a real contraction. And so... when I woke up contractions started. It was about 10:30 when I actually woke up... thinking it was 9:30 and planning on going to church but forgot to set the clocks ahead the night before... All day they were approximately 6 minutes apart, sometimes 3 or sometimes 10, but no shorter than 3 and no longer than 10. So, when they started getting to be 3-5 minutes apart for about an hour, we made the decision to go in to the hospital. When I arrived that night at about 8:30PM I was at about 3cm dilated, and almost completely effaced. And when I left the next day at about 5 PM I was the same! So frustrating! I think that I was a little scared that at any point I could progress very quickly at home and not be ready for it. But, that did not happen! So with opting to go home to wait it out a little longer we were told to call or come back when contractions were more consistantly 5 minutes apart or when my water broke. SO - I did my best to sleep, and finally fell asleep around midnight. Every hour to half hour I would wake up with a stronger contraction, and by 4 AM it seemed they were getting really close together. So much so that I couldn't get back to sleep and I waited until about 5, when they seemed to be right on top of each other, to go back to the hospital. So now it's 5 AM Tuesday the 16th. We all joked and thought how cool it would be if he come on the 17th so that he could be a St. Patty's Day baby, but... by this time... I didn't really care. Contractions started to slow down, then pick up... I was 3cm, then 4.... then maybe 5 then between 6 and 7... And just for me to get to 7 it took me until ... well now i don't remember, but I stayed at 7 until 10:30 PM and we agreed with our Dr. that if we hadn't progressed any further before 10 then we would start Pitocin. This was agreed upon because we also opted to have my water broke to help move things along ... Hours earlier. Anyway... Once the Pit started... there was no more time wasted. I went from 7 to 10 in about 30 minutes, since the Pit wasn't started until ... well I can't do math now either, but I do remember that it takes about 30 minutes to start working, and they started me off with a low dose and then by the time I had gotten to just about 10 cm I was having a real hard time not pushing... I just couldn't not. Ha... That was also scary, but I only had a few contractions with that feeling and then was able to push. 15 minutes later and 2 minutes before St. Patty's Day, Paul was born! Hurray! It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life and I would totally do it all over again.
God moved so deeply in little and big ways that made this whole experience what it was. He gave me wisdom to say no to pain relief the first night I was there, which kept me from getting an IV in my hand until I was really ready for it. Also, the decision to have my water broken when we did, and the pain relief I did receive and when. As well as when to call the Dr again so that I didn't hurt myself with pushing too soon and also so that I could push when I was finally ready to. And with some more meaningful things to others... My sister Kris was able to come and see me that night and stayed through to the end, helping me with breathing and rubbing my back. Ashley was also able to see me through by praying for me, calling/texting friends for me and doing whatever she could to make me as comfortable as possible. Lea, Jerry's mom, was able to see her first grandchild born, and also help by doing whatever she could do to make me as comfortable as possible. Jerry was there, the whole time, never passed out and didn't get so overwhelmed that he had to leave. He also didn't freeze, so he was able to see his first child born, cut his son's umbilical cord, gave him his first bath and love on me through it all! Doing whatever he could to make me as comfortable as possible. :) Dr. Lee was so great, patient, and cared enough to go through all my options with me as far as pain relief and what I could do to help move things along if I wanted and when. As well as come back to the hospital, even though he wasn't on call, to be the one to deliever Paul. Hurray! The nurses on staff were amazing as well. I had a few favorites and was glad I got to see them more than once or twice in the few days I was at the hospital.
We are so happy to finally be home... to sleep in our own bed and eat all the DELICIOUS food that my sister Kris made for us. What an amazing blessing she is.
Our cats are adjusting interestingly to Paul being around. Nala doesn't like him and Naomi couldn't care less.
Anyway, I know that I'm leaving stuff out that I want to include, but I'm also still exhausted and trying to keep up with what's going on now... :)
Thank you to everyone who was praying for us and who have been able to visit and share your lives with us in this time! We greatly appreciate it and the adventure has only just begun! 

Contractions!

Woke up, and started having contractions! Woot! They've been on average about 6 minutes apart! Hurray! Still at home... waiting for them to get closer together! Don't worry - only 2 minutes from the hospital! Feel free to give Jerry a call... I'll be talking a little here and there... :) Maybe today will be the day! Awesomeness!

2 days to go...MAYBE

Blargh - That is my word of impatience. Yes, we have a couple of official days left, but I was hoping he would be out and about already! Things are going well. I can tell that things are changing, because... things are changing! My last visit to see the doc went well, though I'm not dilated any further... My next appt. is on the 18th and I'm REALLY hoping that we won't make it until then. Last night I was bored and feeling a little down so I wrote little notes to myself all over my belly. It was fun. :)Another fun thought is that maybe he'll be born on St. Patrick's Day! He'd be a green baby every year! ~haha~ 
Jerry had to work today, but he's going to get all of next week off. Hurray! That's another reason why we'd really like Paul to come out now... That way we'd know that Jerry will be around for the birth and so that he can get in as much time with him before he goes back to work.
I'm still getting some things settled. I feel like today is my last day alone for a while, so cleaning and reorganizing has been on my mind all week and I'll be hoppin' to it very shortly.
I would also like to think that spring has arrived already. All this nice warm weather, snow melting and bird chirping has been so wonderful. Some of the grass is already green and our cats beg to go outside all the time. I just wish there was a bit more sunshine. And... I just checked the forecast and they are saying tomorrow with be a high of 51 degrees and sunny! Woot! That makes me happy. :)
Well - since I don't have much else to report... I hope that my next update will be Paulie's birth! Can't wait to see!

Braxton-Hicks...interesting.

Okay... 10 days left as of today. I've been taking note that I HAVE been having braxton-hicks... I just never really noticed because they aren't painful at all. Hope labor goes that well! haha... A couple of days ago I developed a sinus infection... yuck, but it's gotten so much better since I finally bought a Neti Pot!
I've got another check up at 11AM. I'm hoping he'll tell me I'm dilated(Yup - dilated 1cm!), possibly meaning I could go into labor sooner, rather than later... I'm really ready to have him out. Every day I get more and more excited for the whole experience! We've got everything ready... so... we're just waiting... and waiting.

Jerry's parents will be here Sunday visiting with Jerry and I... uhm.... I don't know what else there is. Here's a picture of Nala in Paul's bassinet. And a video of Nala...