Happy One Week

Baby Sophia is One week old today... I can't believe how quickly that went! We are learning so much about her and laughing at all the funny stuff she does! I can't believe how normal it feels to have this new person in our lives... I keep looking at her, and feeling so blessed.

Daddy's Girl...

Pictures

An Ode To Sara...

I promised to give props to my sister-in-law Sara Searle for WALKING from her house to our house yesterday... pushing two boys in a stroller and carrying a heavy heavy backpack full of treats for us... she blew me away and therefore I must acknowledge how awesome she is!!

Not to leave my other sisters out... Megan & Nina have been incredibly lovely by bringing us dinner & desserts... and their wonderful company! What a wonderful family to be a part of...

And can't forget Phil... who brought me epsom salts and baked cookies for us with his girlfriend Bianca!

The Birth Story

Before I forget all the details... 

October 13th, 2008 came and went and no baby. Then nine days past due, on October 22nd, we met our midwives, Sylvia & Lydia and Dr. Obioha at Ridge Meadows Hospital for our induction appointment. I was first induced at 8:40 in the morning of the 22nd with a gel and then again at 3:00 in the afternoon. I was placed on a monitor that recorded contractions and the baby's movements... Matthew became Midwife Matthew at this point because of his curiosity with regards to this fancy machine! In the afternoon of the 22nd I started to get Braxton Hicks contractions at more consistent intervals... but we weren't quite there. Home we went at 4:30.

Home consisted of being very uncomfortable... and just waiting around. My mom came over and we played Dutch Blitz... then I went to rest. By dinner time, Matthew had his boys over and was very restless... it's hard to wait around for something to happen.. Nicole came over to keep me company... and then started to time my contractions. Then finally.... as I was sitting on my exercise ball talking with Matty & Nicole... my little good luck charm walked through the door... JOEL! I looked at him... and then said: "Get out"... and literally a second later my water broke. We all laughed and thought how hysterical this was... that was the only highlight of the evening... because then things were in motion and the painful part had officially begun. 

The midwives came over and inspected the situation.. post water breaking.. and decided I could continue to labour at home. So Matthew and I went to it... and contractions were getting pretty intense. After throwing up twice from the pain... Matthew phoned the midwives (whom he now adores) and they suggested we go to the hospital. At this point I was not doing too great and wanted to reconsider pain options. We left for the hospital at 12:30... by 1:00 am they had given me Morphine and I was able to semi-sleep through the remainder of my contractions. They explained that the pain of contractions after being induced can sometimes be sharper... and therefore the Morphine would help dull the pain a little. I can tell you... I would not have been able to do continue on like I did without the help of that drug. 

Matthew, my Mom, Sylvia and Lydia then supported me while I continued having contractions until around 4:00 am. It was such a great relief to have them supporting me during this time. I kept my eyes closed for most of that time... and they rubbed my back and held my hands and totally helped me through it... My dream team! Then at 4 something... the pushing began. Thank the Lord for Matthew & my Mom who held my legs through the hours of pushing that came... that support allowed me to push until around 8:00 when the Doctor had to be called in to assess the situation. After 4 hours of pushing, baby's head was just not moving. So Dr. Obioha decided that a vacuum would be used to get baby out. 

At this point I could remember the room being bright with a beautiful morning light... I knew the end was near. I could hear people explaining what was going to happen... My job: to push with everything I had! Unfortunately... the suction of our Dirt Devil Vacuum wasn't working... so another option was presented. I remember just praying... please just no c-section, I can do this... I didn't want a c-section after pushing for so long because you have to heal twice: labour & cesarian section... not what I was hoping for. So forceps were brought out and the Doctor made it very clear that I had to do this... and so in the brightness of the morning at 8:31 am... with Matthew to my left and my Mom to my right... baby Sophia Grace Robinson was born. 

I had had my eyes closed that the first thing I saw when they placed her on top of me was her beautiful face and her little eyes looking up at me! She was here... and so present!!! It was such a gift to see her little face... and her arms all out-stretched! Then the madness ensued... testing, and stitching, and laughing, and tears... and JOY! Baby girl was out in the world and then Matthew was able hold her and take care of her... she loved him so much the moment she laid eyes on him! He was up and around showing everyone his daughter. My mom was pretty overwhelmed.. and started crying and then followed baby around with Matthew! I believe her first visitors were Joel & Nicole in the hallway (they had snuck in at 6:00 am and waited so long...)

After they had repaired me... the wonderful Mrs. Beattie (nurse and mother of a lovely Maple Ridge family that we know) took care of Matthew & I and gave us the inside track to a private room, and also helped us get the information we needed. Matthew & I then had visitors and then rested with our beautiful baby girl for the rest of the day.

I have to say that this experience was the most interesting of my entire life... And I don't mean "interesting"... I mean that I have learnt so much and grown so much as a person from those moments in my life. I was so curious to know what labour "felt" like and what it would mean... and it is so not a one person job. I know I could not have done what I did without the support of the many people around me... especially my incredible husband. We made this child together... and boy did he ever help bring this child out in the end.... full circle! He was such an incredible supporter and leader!

Our daughter is such a pleasure... We love her little cry and her little faces! She is a little doll and we are reminded of how much God has blessed us when we look at her. We honestly can not believe everything that has happened in past couple of days... but when looking at her it all feels so... right. What an incredible journey being pregnant has been and now with delivering baby girl into the world... we can't wait to see what new paths life will take us on!

Woot Woot... to Baby Sophia Grace Robinson being born!!!!

Welcome Baby Sophia Grace

Name: Sophia Grace Robinson

Born: October 23, 2008

Weight: 8lbs 13 oz

Time: 8:31 am

Length: 21 3/4"

Head Circumference: 38 cm

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Dark Blue

We are so incredibly blessed by this beautiful little baby girl. We had the most incredible support team and I couldn't believe how much God blessed us with the most amazing hospital staff and family members around us.  What an incredible experience. I'll make sure to update more later.

October 27th

So I do believe that this baby will be here sometime before October 27th... I'm in good hands with the midwives and feel pretty sure that baby should come soon... only because they say that baby should be here before week 42! Otherwise... I would be thinking that this baby might wait until the New Year! Har har! So hopefully my next post is an update on who this little person is and how the whole experience was!!! Cross your fingers and wish me relaxing thoughts! 

Also I thought it would be fun for others to share their overdue stories in the "comment" section if they feel so inclined! There are quite a few of you out there!

6 Things

6 Things

Here are the rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog

2. List 6 random things about yourself

3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post

6 Random things....

1. I have only broken one bone in my body... My left wrist. When I was in elementary school I played on a soft ball team and during one of our games, I bunted the ball and therefore had to book-it to first base.... well actually I tripped over first base and landed on my arm (classic, I know). I then had to play the rest of the game as back-catcher (my position that season) with a broken arm... I cried in my little face mask because there was no one else to replace me and it hurt so much!

2. During high school I loved loved loved daisies and the colour yellow! Now not so much... Currently I love roses and WHITE. ;)

3. I could only ever do three tricks on a skateboard... an ollie, shove-it and a kick flip... but I tried really hard... poser???

4. My biggest fear is falling... No bungee jumping, rope swinging, or sky diving for me ever!

5. I have been driven across Canada, backpacked in Europe (France, England, Holland & Spain), driven down to California, visited Peru, was born in Venezuela, enjoyed Belize & Guatemala, played in Mexico, honeymooned in Jamaica and spent New Years 2008 in Hawaii.

6.  My favourite books as a kid were the Anne of Green Gables series... remember Gilbert???

I tag everyone with a blog who loves doing these fun little things!

This week...

This week has been so interesting....

Well this baby has been on our minds for a long while now. After leaving work 2 and a half months ago... the preparation had begun. Now a week overdue.. It's sure funny how things work out. At the beginning of this week I really thought baby was going to come and dazzle us with it's presence.. and therefore went into hibernation mode... just waiting. By Thursday afternoon... I decided "I was over having this baby..." (JK) After visiting the midwife for a second time.. trying to get my membranes swept and not seeing any progress "up there"... I realized that this baby was not ready to come out any time soon. So I decided to forget about having a baby and get on with life.. no more hibernation. Thursday night I stayed up super late finishing some work that I thought would have to wait until late November... so that was a blessing because I was able to complete my project! Then Friday I ran millions of errands and enjoyed having my life back. Saturday... was a totally full day (back to being busy) with grocery shopping, cleaning, making meals, visiting, and even some xmas shopping. So for the rest of this next week... WEEK 41... I hope to continue to keep busy and hopefully my body will just work the way it's supposed to and we will see a baby before week 52!!! I do have to comment on my husband though... for any of you who know him well... he isn't the worry wart type nor is he normally too concerned with "things" like this... but he is at the end of his rope! He is trying so hard to be supportive and is doing a wonderful job! BUT I think if he could he would shake me ... VIGOROUSLY... he desperately wants to meet this baby! 

Thank you to all the people in our life that are praying for us and that have been a great help over the past 10 months! We so appreciate having people who are there for us and love us and cheer us on during special moments like these! Hopefully we will have some news that is a little bit more interesting sometime soon... I'm liking October 22nd... So we will see!

Soooo....

God has got my back... why do I ever doubt that... duh!

Anyhoo... It's a really good thing this baby wasn't born these last couple of days, because there have been so many births at the hospital it's crazy. Nicole screens newborns at the hospital (hearing tests) and every morning this week there have been a million of wonderful new babes waiting for her. Sooo... baby still wants to be cooked.. that's ok... because when the time comes it comes... and at least it will be this MONTH sometime! :)

Not super soon...

Well.. not going to happy today... going in on Thursday for a "treatment" and then maybe.... I'll keep you posted!

Stick a fork in me...

I'm cooked! Today is baby's due date! Well... i wasn't early.. probably won't be on time (have another 13 hours to go) so looks like late! OK... i'm ready! Start the lunges.. maybe a hike up the Cheif.. squats anyone? Come on baby!!!

Time's a Tick Tocking...

Any day now... any day now! 

So went to the doctor's yesterday to treat my little warts on the bottom of my feet (yes i know... waaaay too much information... but this is a funny story) If you didn't know... they freeze planter warts off with liquid nitrogen. Soooo... i'm in the exam room and my doctor comes in looking like the janitor instead of an MD. He then precedes to burn off these stupid things... and it hurts like heck! I swear I could hear him thinking... wow stop being a baby.. because ummm labour is upon you... and it's waaaay worse my dear. I thought the hurt would go away... but nope I limped around all day... and then because I don't walk properly to begin with (refer to swollen feet picture) I developed a sciatic nerve problem... that kept me up all night! Matthew rolls over last night... and again just says... lovingly... just go to sleep it's ok... O SERIOUSLY... I AM TRYING!!!! So hopefully today I learn to walk again... normally... and my foot plague disappears! O and ya... THE BABY COMES SOON!!!!

ONE MORE WEEK

DUE IN A WEEK............ that is all I have to say!

People are actually scared of me...

So this is hilarious.... People actually avoid me now because they think I'm going to pop all over them.. or something. Yesterday I had a salesman (who I was trying to buy something from... not a good sales technique) actually say to me... wow you should be sitting down... that baby is going to fall out. OK... so yes I am due in a week and a half and yes I understand that I do look pretty huge and the belly is now projecting out of my body... but really... the baby is going to fall out of me??? I guess it has gotten to the point where I can't suck in at all... and getting around is quite humorous... like when I have to take detours to avoid spaces that cannot accommodate my extra-ness... And sitting... funny with the legs wide open and belly touching the chair... I am such a classy lady! I just can't imagine having this belly (which will continue to grow) for another 3 and a half weeks... Totally possible... But please pray to the contrary!!! :)