William Alexander

Blogging has definitely proven not be something I'm very good at...so I'm just going to drop in and write about my birth story with Alex. I at least want to document this!

I was woken up around 12:30 a.m. on Friday May 8th with some intense contractions (sound familiar?) which continued for several hours. I called my midwife and described what was going on and she agreed that I should come in to the hospital. I am GBS+ so I need antibiotics to prevent transferring it to baby (which requires an earlier than normal arrival to the hospital). So around 7 a.m. we head to the hospital, upon arrival the contractions completely stopped. Talk about a let down! Being 41 weeks + 2 days I was DONE being pregnant, so I broke down and cried..."please help me, I don't want to keep being pregnant". The midwife was so nice to me, she scheduled an induction for later that day and told me to go walking until then, maybe I'd kickstart labor again! So we did just that. She also stripped my membranes, I've never had that done before; let me just say OUCH!!!! I felt like she ripped my insides out!

We spent about an hour and a half at the mall, walking and peeing. I guess when you get your membranes stripped the urge to pee intensifies! I was going like every 10 minutes!! The weight of the baby on my bladder probably helped too. After the mall we went to Chick-fil-a, it's on the opposite side of town from where we live so it's a treat to go there. I figured we deserved a treat! Then we moved on to the zoo. That was my favorite part of this endeavor. We went to the zoo before we had Gwyn, so it only seemed right to do it for Alex! Maybe we've started a tradition! We walked around and finally found an uphill trek...that got my contractions really going, so we walked up and down that hill for a good hour! It was finally time to go back to the hospital, 3 p.m. was my induction. We arrived and contractions stopped again :( it just wasn't time I guess. They gave me a breast pump and I pumped for about an hour and a half which helped with contractions some. After that they slowed down again, didn't stop, but slowed down. So around 7:30 p.m. we started pitocin. I laid down for a while to rest before labor got really intense. After being up for 18 hours I needed rest so I'd be able to handle labor and delivery!

They slowly increased the pitocin and I was able to manage the pain fairly well. I labored in the tub for a couple of hours, then had to pee...while I was out the contractions seemed to hit me really hard. So, I went to the bed and sat on my knees and draped my body against the back of the bed, it was in the sitting position. I stayed like that for probably 2 hours. The contractions were insane! Bill continuously rubbed black pepper on me and the pain & nausea blend on my back. Sometimes I thought they helped other times I didn't feel a difference. I also had peppermint for nausea and Juniper Berry for fear. The Juniper Berry smelled pleasant, but I don't think it helped with fear. I was determined to do this naturally, but with each contraction my determination was dwindling. It hurt so bad, I was crying and moaning, and saying all the bad words my mind could conjure up...mostly, "shoot, holy crap, oh my gosh" (I know, quite the potty mouth I have!). I also said "owie" a LOT!!! "owie, owie, owie".... Bill said it was kind of cute. Gwyn says it a lot so I'm sure that's why it was fresh on my mind. I told Bill often "it hurts, please take it away, I think I'm going to die". My pillow was drenched with tears, snot, and sweat...poor pillow. My midwife was amazing, she stayed with me through the entire labor, coaching me through each contraction. BREATHE, she'd say...How the heck can I breathe when these contractions are suffocating me?!?!?! It was not pretty. I finally got to the point of wanting some pain meds. I asked for something to just take the edge off. With Gwyn the pain meds were a great relief, I was able to take a break and rest so I knew it would give me a little relief this time.

They first checked my cervix, I was only 4 cm...only 4 freaking cm after all those intensely awful contractions, I dialated 1 cm. I was glad I asked for the drugs. They gave me the meds and the first thing I noticed was heavy eyes, it typically causes drowsiness, which was fine by me...like I said, I wanted a break. Well, the pain did not subside, the edge was not taken off, and I was still in excruciating pain. What the heck!!! I looked at the clock, it was 1 a.m. How could I continue another who knows how long with this kind of intense pain. I had to though, I wanted to do it on my own...I didn't want an epidural. I wanted to be strong. Each contraction brought me down deeper and deeper into despair...it hurt so bad. OWIE!!! SHOOT!!! HOLY CRAP!!! MAKE IT STOP!!! I THINK I'M GOING TO DIE!!!! haha....oh me, I do not handle pain well.

At about 1:30 I felt defeated, I could not take this death feeling any more, I asked for an epidural. Bill had been prepped earlier that day to not let me cave. He did such an amazing job at attempting to talk sense into me. I told him please, I know what I said, but this is more than I can handle. The midwife was also on my original side, she knew I didn't want one. So, she also was trying very hard to persuade me to keep working through the contractions. This went on for at least 30 minutes...30 minutes of pure hell, I tell ya! I finally got loud enough that they accepted my desires. Somewhere around 2:30 a.m. the anesthesiologist came in and we started the process. That was a pain in the back, stomach, vagina (haha) to sit still. I did it though. It was glorious once the pain subsided. Finally a little relief.

BUT.....
I noticed a ton of pressure in my bottom. It was still slightly painful and I felt the urge to push. The midwife checked my cervix and said I was 9 and 1/2 cm. WHAT the what! It was almost pushing time and we didn't even realize it. I felt like I was dying before because I was in transition. So, that's what that feels like. WOW. The midwife told me to rest while my cervix finished opening. We took about a 45 minute nap before it was pushing time.

3:45 a.m. they come into the room and say it's time to push, baby's heart rate is getting a little stressed. So I started pushing at 4 a.m. With each push he got closer and closer, I could feel his head after about 5 or so minutes! That was really neat! Then his heart rate got really low.. the midwife told me he needs to come out now, you need to push now! They called for backup. Another nurse came in and started pushing on my belly. Kind of freaked us out a little...I started pushing again after a contraction ended. Push Push Push Push...I was getting really tired. I needed a break, the midwife said "ok, I'm going to have to give you an episiotomy, he needs to come out!" I was determined at that point to get him out with out being cut. So, I pushed and pushed and pushed (they pushed on my belly and pulled him too), finally at 4:13 a.m. Alex entered the world quiet. His arm was wrapped around his neck. As they were about to whisk him away to help him wake up he began to scream and flail his arms!!! It was amazing and a relief! They instantly put him on my chest and I was in love. I could not believe what I had just experienced and how fast he came. What a miracle!

Some after thoughts. As much as I wish I could have delivered without the epidural, I am grateful I got it. I don't think I would have been able to push him out as fast without the epidural. The pain was so intense I don't know how I would have responded. AND the kid was huge!!!
Both births were intense in their own way. With Gwyn I got an epidural much sooner in the labor process, I wasn't as far long in terms of dilating. However, the epidural wore off when it was pushing time and I pushed for 2 hours. That really sucked. With Alex I did most of the labor on my own and felt absolutely nothing during my 13 minutes of pushing... so I don't know which was better or worse! I think I liked Alex's a little more because I was more prepared, I knew it was going to suck and I also knew that he'd probably come a little faster. Ultimately, I'm grateful it's all over and I have a sweet baby to show for it!

Now we're home and adjusting to life with 2 kids. Gwyn has been away at grandparents for the past week, so the adjustment process will begin tomorrow. Maybe that will warrant a blog post. :)

Enjoy some photos! These were taken by my friend Alanna Tenney, http://www.photosbyalanna.us/

I think they turned out great!

Gwyn

It was 3:30 a.m. on Monday, May 20th when it started...I woke up in pain, I thought it was just because I had to pee really bad. I peed, felt better and went back to bed. Well, the pain came back.. I thought uh oh are these contractions?!?! I waited a little bit to see if they continued and they did. So I woke Bill up and told him what was going on, we were excited! Finally at 40 weeks 6 days I was in labor!!!!! We started timing the contractions, they were about 2 minutes apart and hurt pretty bad...I thought, yeah this means business, we'll get to the hospital they'll check my cervix and say you're almost ready to push!! Ha ha little did I know!

We got to the hospital around 5:30 a.m. and they checked my cervix, I was only dilated 1 cm. WHAT?!?! Seriously?! (I didn't know what to expect) So they debated sending me home, luckily my dr was actually on call that day and I was going to be induced the next day so they just kept me! I was relieved! I was moved to the labor and delivery room (which was sooo nice!! It was HUGE, lots of space for me to move around and get comfy, well as comfy as I could I guess) The contractions were intense but manageable. I thought, I can totally do this! I labored for a few hours and then they checked me again, 2 and a half cm. Then they put a pill next to my cervix to help move things along...boy did they move along. OUCH!!! Contractions got more intense, like way intense...I cried like a baby!!! Bill was so amazing through the whole thing, he held me, rubbed my back, did whatever I asked! After about an hour of that I decided to take some narcotics to take the edge off. That helped a lot!! I was able to sleep some in between contractions.


After some sleeping I got in the tub and soaked for a bit, that was probably my favorite part. I don't know why but the tub eased some of the pain and definitely relaxed me. So now I am about 14 hours in and they check me again, 4 cm and ready to break my water. That was very weird...felt like I peed myself! The contractions took off from there and I decided to get an epidural. If the contractions up to that point hurt that bad, then I didn't want to know what transition was like or pushing. I was a champ getting the epidural placed, I didn't move a muscle even while I was having a contraction (ouchy!!!) After that it was a breeze...I slept until my epidural started to wear off... things started to hurt really bad (this was about 3 hours later)  They checked me again and I was 10 cm!!!! Time to push. I thought oh yeah, this is almost over. HAHAHAHAHA..... no way mister, it was far from over.

So, I started pushing...push push push...breathe..push push push...breathe for about an hour and a half. The nurse kept telling me that the baby's getting closer, almost there... I thought to myself uh, where the heck is she, cause I don't see her!! OH MY GOSH, pushing hurt sooo bad I cried and cried and cried, I threw up some jello, then cried some more. I wanted to quit, I wanted to just rip the kid out of me, I was saying things like I can't do this, please make the pain stop!!! But I kept pushing through the pain. Bill kept telling me you can do it, you are so strong, you're doing great...I wanted to scream at him SHUT UP you fool, you have no idea how this feels. but I kept my thoughts to myself. Finally the dr came in and was ready for delivery, I finally saw a glimmer of hope (this is almost over!!!). It took me another 45 minutes to finally get Gwyn out. I could feel her moving out, so with each push I felt a little more confident. Then Whoosh!!! It was like a huge release (I almost kicked my dr in the face) when Gwyn came out. Her hand was next to her head so I tore. They placed her on my chest and I wrapped my arms around her. She was beautiful and perfect! I couldn't believe that I had this child now. She proceeded to pee and poop on me! Oh well, I was already covered in other bodily fluids, pee and poop couldn't hurt! Gwynevere was born at 11:39 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and 21.5 inches long.

The next couple of hours were a daze. After they took Gwyn to weigh and measure I just stared at the ceiling thinking to myself, what just happened?!?! That was the most traumatic thing I've been through thus far in my life and I was just trying to process each moment. Bill held Gwyn until they took me to my recovery room. I honestly had absolutely no energy to do anything. When I stood up I felt like my insides were dragging the ground...very weird. I could never get satisfied no matter how much I ate.

Anyway, this is my birth story. I was not prepared for birth. I didn't realize how hard child birth really is. It sucks majorly! Now, I'm home with a newborn which is hard too. No sleep, screaming baby, breastfeeding...these are just hard! However, I feel so blessed to have been given this sweet spirit. I believe it was a miracle that I got pregnant so I would not trade any of this. Each time I'm frustrated, soon thereafter I look at Gwyn and see how amazing she is and am reminded that I am her mother! She is beautiful and cute and sweet! She squeaks/honks when she cries, I can't help but laugh when she cries (my little squeaker). She can out fart anyone I know...this is one gassy kid; and she has the best facial expressions..I love just staring at her and wondering what's going through that mind of hers! I look forward to learning more and bonding more with my baby girl!

Here are some pictures
     
                       Right before pushing...I was focused!!

 Brand new!!!

I am so happy it is over...

Proud Daddy!

Going home shot, man I look like a mess!!

Gwyn asleep in her cradle

First bath at home. She actually really enjoys bath time, she'll just sit and relax while we scrub her down!

We tried to put her hand prints in her baby book...don't try this at home!!!! It was such an ordeal, Gwyn hated every second of it and the prints didn't turn out very well. We tried :)

February Already?

I cannot believe how fast time is flying. I have been so busy these days and I'm ready for some relaxing time before the baby comes. Let's rewind a bit, the day after Christmas we found out our little miracle is a girl! Then just a couple of days after that we bought a house. CRAZY thing to do when you're pregnant, but we did it anyway. The house is a fixer upper, built in 1901 and has a lot of character and needs a lot of work. We feel so blessed to have found it though, it was definitely God's will for us now. Bill has been working so hard to get the house in order.

Here is a picture of our house. It has an awesome backyard, which is currently covered in snow. I cannot wait until our little girl plays in it with our dog!! :)

 The pillars were one of the things we loved about the house, the woodwork is all original and just lovely. Also, the day after we closed on the house that nasty carpet came out. Original maple hardwood floors were hidden under that hideous carpet!!!!! (Can you tell I hated the carpet? ;))

 My pregnancy is going well, and I'll be 27 weeks on Tuesday. Almost in the the 3rd trimester!!! Woohoo!! Right now I'm feeling ok, I'm kind of emotional (ok I'm emotional a lot). I have a lot of back pain, a result of my job...picking up those heavy kids can do a number to your back. I'm really worried about the last few months and how much pain I'm going to be in. I really need to see a chiropractor. Anyway, here's a picture of me at 20 weeks and then at 26 weeks, baby girl is definitely growing!

 Here's a nice little photo of our baby! She's just precious :) I cannot wait to meet her in May!!!!!

Maybe I'll blog again before she's born...we'll see.

Happy Halloween

 Some changes are happening around here! We found out on September 11th that I'm pregnant, I was so surprised. I had been cramping so I just assumed it would be the regular negative test, but nope! We had been trying for 15 months and I was planning on visiting the dr in October to get some fertility help...but to my surprise the Lord had other plans! Here's a picture of me with the test...I look groggy because it's 6 in the morning



















I started taking weekly pictures at 6 weeks and this is a comparison of week 6 and week 12. I think I look thicker, certain parts are definitely bigger...haha! I also think I look really tired in the 2nd photo.
6 wks                                                                            12wks

  

Morning sickness is in full swing and I'm hoping it will ease up soon! Each day I send up prayers of thankfulness, because even though I'm suffering a little from nauseous and achiness I am so grateful to have this opportunity. I feel so blessed. Bill is extremely excited as well...you should have seen him the whole week after we found out, he was giddy! I loved it!

I've learned to forget about a good nights rest, I pee like 4 times a night and my brain won't shut off. Sometimes if I'm lucky I'll only pee once, but that's rare! Everyone keeps telling me that my body is preparing me for sleepless nights with the baby, I guess this is a good thing then.

I also have no motivation to do anything around the house. I work 40 hours a week and am beat by the time I get home at night...I sit on the couch and wait for Bill to get home. He has been such a big help, he really has picked up my slack. I do still help when I can, I've made dinner several times and I help with laundry sometimes...but it's just hard these days. I am so blessed to have a wonderful, loving, and helpful husband. He even holds my hair when I throw up in the morning...what a trouper. I've been trying to walk/exercise every week...I wanted to do it everyday, but that just hasn't been happening so I do it as much as I can. I'm hoping in the next few weeks my energy level will pick up and I can exercise more (I'd love to get back into my zumba routine!).

We announced our pregnancy to the Facebook world on Halloween with a picture of pumpkins we carved

 Bill came up with the idea and I loved it! I love the expression on his pumpkin, it's like he's thinking "what just happened?" HAHA!!

We are just so thrilled about our little miracle, we had our first appointment a few weeks ago and were able to see the baby, it was amazing! Last week I heard the heartbeat and I cried!!! As things progress I will continue to post pictures and updates!

My due date is May 14, 2013

5:15 AM

Here I am at 5:15 a.m. wondering why I'm not in bed. I've been awake for over a hour. It's been a rough night. Well, we've been living in Wisconsin for 2 solid months now and I can't believe how fast time is flying by us. My job went from being good, to ok, to being just plain awful. I wanted to cry every night after work, I was losing my hair, and I just noticed a stress rash has returned...I haven't had that since my (stressful) math major days in college 3 years ago. The job itself would be great, but I started mid summer when the kids had no structure (I work with school age kids) and they were just full of energy. Really, what child isn't full of energy; that's why I stuck with it. I enjoyed the happy moments when I was able to teach the kids something and play with them. I speak about this in past tense because technically those experiences are in the past, the summer is officially over!!!! The kids go back to school next week! I am hoping and praying that my work days get a little better, the kids will be in school and then spend time with me after school.
Here is a picture of me on our face painting day at work. I let the kids paint my face...


















This picture is from the School's "County Fair." Each room in the school was given an animal to use as a theme. At the fair children and parents would vote on their favorite class. My class was the cow. I bought sheets from goodwill and cut them up so the kids could paint black spots on them and wear them as "shirts" which actually turned out great. I made my cows Holsteins. Well, guess what!!! We won the contest. The kids wrote jokes that related to cows, such as What did the cow say to the other cow? MOOOve over! What is the cows favorite galaxy? The Milky Way. We had the jokes hanging on the wall. Also, the girls made udders out of gloves and taped them on their shirts and the boys made horns. I guess the creativity won over the hearts of many!! It was definitely a combined effort, I designed the shirts they came up with the rest! My outfit for the day...

 The next picture is of the cheese AISLE, yes an entire aisle designated to cheese (only in Wisconsin). The sweet lady in the picture is my mom. My dad and grandparents drove our things up from Georgia, and in the process got in an accident. They made it out ok with some minor injuries! My mom met my dad and they finished the trip while my grandparents stayed behind to heal. Anyway, I just had to show my mom the cheese aisle! She bought enough cheese to last her a while. I guess her Christmas list will consist of cheese from now on!

















I made popcorn recently, and not in microwave! I felt so awesome!! It actually wasn't that hard and it was very tasty.

Bill just started his new job. Well, it's still with Delta but he will be a customer service agent now. He is so handsome in his suit! It  was a blessing that he got the job. Originally, he was working a seasonal position and the last day for that was August 31st. After that we were not sure what he was going to do. Anyway, with many prayers a full time position opened up with delta here in Madison. It was amazing because we were told that full time positions never open up in Madison, this was definitely the Lord opening doors for us! Anyway, Bill applied and a few short weeks later he was offered the job! I am so grateful for the past year, it was a year of pain and lack of understanding, but also a year of faith and patience. I learned that faith is the only thing that will help us make it through this life. There is a reason we are here in Wisconsin and I know it is where the Lord wants us to be right now. Will we end up here? I have no idea, but I have faith that the Lord will guide us each step of the way in our future.

Empty Apartment

We are officially residents of the great state of Wisconsin. We've been here for almost a month and I cannot believe how quickly time is just flying by for us. I started my new job and am still figuring it out. I am working at a daycare and each day presents a new challenge for me. I really love working with the kids, but sometimes they really hurt my feelings. I'm a softie, I'll admit, and when negative things are said about my activities it just breaks my heart. I need to get tough skin, I know... and I'm working on that. I never thought I'd say a 6 year old could make me cry, but they have and it stinks. Bill's job is going well, he really likes the people and the atmosphere. It's much different than the Atlanta airport, it's smaller so he knows everyone!

When we moved our one small carload up the first weekend in July we stayed in a hotel for a week. From now on hotels are strictly vacation stays NOT living quarters. It was cramped, dirty, smelly, (the cheapest deal around) and just not good!!! The only decent part was the hot breakfast we had every morning. After the hotel stay we found an apartment. The apartment is decent, unfortunately, we have no furniture because all of our stuff is still in GA. Therefore, we live in an empty apartment. We are using the backseats of our car as our chairs and a cardboard box as the table. We bought a bed, so that's one thing we do have. I also brought the basics for the kitchen so I can make meals. It's been interesting when I want to reheat things, I'm going back to the techniques of the old days...using the stove to reheat my food. Ha, I needed to melt some butter yesterday, so I just put it in a saucepan and after a few minutes it was melted. I've enjoyed not having all of my crap around. I have appreciated the simplicity of not having much. My entire life I have been surrounded by stuff and I've wanted to get rid of things, but I have always felt so attached to things. Now I know I don't need them. By the time we get our stuff in August, I will have survived a month and half with practically nothing.

Bill has joined a community band and has started playing with them. Tomorrow is his first concert and I can't go. I have to stay late at work for a meeting. I am really proud of him for putting himself out there and taking chances!! Well, I keep putting off writing a talk for Sunday. I'm giving a talk in church and I continue to find other things to do instead of write my talk so I guess I better get to that. Until next time...

Wisconsin

We chose:


So, Bill moved to Wisconsin this past Sunday and got to his little apartment to find some not so great things (he is subleasing an apartment). The situation was bad enough that he only stayed one night and then told the apartments he had to get out or there would be trouble. Yesterday when I arrived we trekked all over the city of Madison with 3 roller suitcases a bicycle and two backpacks. INSANE!!!! Luckily, Bill had another place in mind to live so we finally got there around 7 pm, signed a lease, and set up camp. HA! It was a crazy couple of days for him, and he is so tired. He starts working today at the airport and I'm going back to Georgia tomorrow. I am job hunting, so for now I will be traveling back and forth from GA to WI. We decided to live in Madison for a year to gain residency then go to school. Out of state tuition is crazy!

In other news, last week we were coming home from Knoxville and couldn't get on a flight because they were all over booked. So we looked at other flights that took a round about way to Atlanta. We decided on NYC! The flight out of NYC was only about 2 hours after we landed, but I convinced Bill to spend the day in NYC...I mean, why not?!?! We were already in the city and we had never been before. He finally said yes and we spent about 8 hours walking around downtown NYC. 





Here we are at Times Square

Last week was also celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. I just can't believe it has already been 4 years!Time has flown by for me.