welcome to our beautiful baby girl

Last Monday, I had my 40 week appointment to see how my pregnancy was progressing. My doctor told me it wouldn't be long before the baby came, defnitely before the week was up. I was 80% effaced & dilated to a 2.5. To speed things up, he recommended walking & eating tomato & garlic pizza. Well, after my appointment, I was pretty uncomfortable & kept pacing around, hoping that would help labor start. Around 5:30 (6 hours after my doctor appointment), my mom & I got Will in the car to go get some pizza at BJ's Brewery for dinner. Once in the car, my contractions started. They got more & more painful, so I started timing them - about every 4 or 5 minutes apart. I wasn't sure if they were legitimate contractions or not, so we kept driving to dinner, got inside, & ordered our food (of course, I was in enough pain & having contractions every 3 minutes by now, so when the waitress asked me what I wanted, I couldn't talk & kept firmly tapping the menu to let her know. She didn't get the hint, so I finally had to tell her "BJ's Favorite" through gritted teeth & a hard contraction.). Before our dinner even came, I told my mom I had to get to the hospital. The waitress ran behind us with our boxed-up pizza. I couldn't wait to tell my doctor that just getting in the car on my way to get pizza, my labor had started. I didn't even have to take a single bite of it for the garlic & tomato to kick in.

We got to the hospital where I was hooked up & monitored to determine whether or not my labor was genuine. Turns out it was. My mom & Will sat in the room with me (actually, Will climbed around the different machines & kept saying, "Oh wow!" whenever he saw something interesting), & then Scott showed up. I was so grateful to have him walk in the room (looking all fancy in his firefighter uniform), & felt instantly better having him there with me. By this point, I was 80% effaced & dilated to a 4. The nurses took me to my labor & delivery room, & within the next hour or two, I had my epidural (thank goodness for numbing medicine!). After another couple hours, the midwife came in & broke my "bag of water" (does that phrase sound funny to anyone else?), hoping to speed up the process. She predicted the baby would be here in 4 hours. I thought differently, but kept my mouth shut. At this point, my contactions got so bad that even though I had an epidural, I got really nauseous & was shaking horribly (again, so grateful I couldn't feel the contractions very well). Two hours after my water was broken, the midwife checked me & said it was time to start pushing. Within four contractions, our little girl was safely delivered to us.

our new addition

My entire pregnancy, Scott & I could not come up with a name for a little girl. We had a long list of potentials, but nothing stuck. At one point, we even decided on the name Camilla Jane, but after hearing people refer to my baby girl as "Camilla" or "Millie," I just couldn't take it. It just didn't sound right to me. The week prior to our baby girl's birth, Scott & I finally narrowed our list of names down to 5, & these were the names Scott listed on the whiteboard in the labor & delivery room.

As soon as the baby was born & the nurses handed her to me, I instantly felt like she was a Ruby. This thought was confirmed even more to both Scott & me when everyone in the room kept commenting on her beautiful rosy lips (they referred to them as little rosebuds) & her  healthy red skin. She was our beautiful little Ruby. While the nurses cleaned her up, weighed her & performed their tests, I looked at Scott & said, "She's not an Emma or a Clara." He went to the whiteboard & crossed those names off. I looked at her again & said she wasn't a Lucy - he crossed it off. It was down to Grace & Ruby. As soon as we were left alone for the first time after she was born, we both immediately decided on Ruby. After such a long time, it felt good to finally have a name for our sweet girl.

Ruby Jane

born at 2:20 AM on Tuesday, August 30

8 lb 2 oz, 20 1/2 in

11 June - heavenly craving

One of my favorite lunches this pregnancy:

tomato, avocado, pepperjack cheese, lite miracle whip, & honey mustard on wheat . . . heavenly.

11 May - all things coming together

After feeling like my head's been spinning in circles over the last couple weeks, things finally seem to be coming together.

I'm over halfway finished with Will's quilt . . .

I got a new runner for my kitchen, & I love it. It looks so fresh & oh the cushioning on my feet - beautimous . . .

Will's mind has been like a sponge, & he is impressing me so much every day with how smart he is - he "sings" along with Tangled's "Mother Knows Best" (hand actions & all), sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" & his ABC's, helps in the garden & chases buggies, jumps naked from the rock wall in our backyard (every smart boy does this, right?), & reads books to me (& his grandparents over the phone or Skype). He is at such a fun age, & I'm just loving every moment of him (minus the scratching problem we're still having, but let's not focus on that right now).

Love this boy (. . . & my new rug he's playing on)!

And the Little Lady is growing & growing. She likes playing peek-a-boo with my feet.

Where'd they go? . . . There they are (barely).

24 weeks today.

William Scott

William Scott. October 16, 2008 @ 22:38 7lbs 13oz 20in long.
10 fingers and 10 toes and we have never felt so blessed.

Waiting

I had my 40 week check-up today, & nothing has changed since I last went to the doctor 1 1/2 weeks ago. I am patiently (for the most part) waiting for our baby to arrive. I'm just excited that he'll be here so soon! I've already convinced myself that he'll be 2 weeks late, so I don't get my hopes up that labor will start any second. I just figure that the physical discomforts of waiting an additional 2 weeks past my due date is nothing compared to the emotional, mental, & physical pain of waiting 3 years to even have a child. We're just so grateful for this miracle in our lives. Thanks everyone for your love, encouragement, & prayers.

Make a guess

When do you think our baby's coming, and how much do you think he will weigh? His due date is Oct. 12 (9 days away). I went to the doctor yesterday, and he gave me some updates, as well as an estimated birth weight depending on when I go. Can you make a better guess than the doctor?

Baby Shower

Two weeks ago, Janice Darby, a friend from Danville who now lives up here, threw me a baby shower. Here are some pictures of the event (thanks Emily).



I had so many friends who helped out with the shower at Janice's home: Emily, Jillian, Tiffani, Meredith, & Lisa - thanks to all of you!



Opening presents Sara & Janice Lisa, Connie, Cherrie (pregnant w/ twins), & Lisa Cari, Monica, & Tammy This is not a maternity shirt, so the seams down the sides are skewed to stretch with my belly. My options for clothes to wear have diminished drastically. I decided it was either this shirt or my "Knocked Up" shirt - I thought the stripes might be a little more appropriate for a baby shower, even if it was a stretch to get the shirt on. I love my mom! Jillian & Emily

Belly, Bead Board, Visitors, & Trip

My pregnant belly 3 weeks ago - at 33 1/2 weeks.

Scott installing bead board in our dining room (with our wonderful neighbor's help - Allen always manages to sneak out of pictures, but he has been amazing with so many of our projects). That's my husband . . . aren't I lucky?

Scott's sister (Karen), her daughter (Kayla), and a family friend (Julie) came to visit us over Labor Day weekend. We got to go visit Scott at his new station, where he dressed each of us up in firefighter gear. We had a great time, and it was so much fun having everyone come visit us. We love them so much - they are truly amazing people.

Kayla & Karen Kayla, Karen, Julie, Scott Scott, me, Kayla, Karen Comparing bellies Kayla all decked out for a fire.

We then spent a few days down in Tehachapi. It is such a beautiful place, & it was so great to visit again. Our last visit was over a year ago.

The first night we were there, Scott and his dad got ready to play racquetball & came out of their rooms wearing the exact same outfit (minus the shoes). Like father, like son.

The Home Stretch

It's the home stretch, and Scott and I have so much to do before the baby comes - I need to put the nursery together, register, pick out a stroller (there are way too many different kinds), finish the baby quilt I'm making, finish the decorations for the nursery (Marisa, I need help if you can - it just recently hit me that I don't have much time left to procrastinate), pick out paint for the entire interior of the house, go to delivery, newborn, and breastfeeding classes, etc.

Yesterday, Scott went and picked up some of our newly arrived furniture for the nursery. It's amazing how close we're getting to having our sweet boy here - just under 8 weeks now if he's on time (I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up that he'll actually arrive before or on his due date). Scott and I are so excited. We love William so much already and can't wait to hold him in our arms. We continue to pray that all will go well and that he will be healthy and safe. It seems like we waited so long to get him, even though I know others have to wait so much longer for their own children. It still seems unreal that this miracle has happened in our lives. I am terrified at times that it will all disappear, but I know I need to continue to have faith, hope, and joy - I can't live my life in fear of "what if" because otherwise that question would never go away. I need to embrace the moments that I have and trust in God, believing that all will be well. Thanks to everyone for your prayers, support, and encouragement. We love you.