June 28, 2008

I feel like I have waited and waited for this day to get here and now it's turned out to be just an ordinary day! Today is Hannah Cate's original due date. For the last 9 months we have looked towards June 28th with such expectation and anticipation. I never thought I would have a baby that was 18 days old when this date finally came around.....but we sure do and couldn't be happier!

We've had a busy week (I realize this is relative with a two week old).

We celebrated my 28th Birthday with lunch at Guy Harvey's and a trip to B and Pop's house where Hannah Cate got to meet three of her Great Grandparents.

We went to The Nebrig's Pink and Blue party to find out that they are having another baby boy! Hannah Cate will certainly have her pick of boyfriends when the time comes....Finn, Ethan or Shands!

And today we celebrated our original due date with a picnic at the bay!

Two Weeks Old

Baby Girl is two weeks old today, how can that be? She got a good report from the pediatrician this morning and barely cried when they stuck her heel. We are so very proud of her. She still has a little more weight to gain back, so we're working on eating a little more frequently. I'm wondering how that's going to work out considering I already feel like I'm feeding her all the time! For the record, she now weighs 7 lbs. 5 oz, is 19.5 inches long and her head circumference is 14 inches.

Happy Two Week Birthday Hannah Cate!

Lesson Learned

Caffeine + Nursing Mommy = Unhappy Hannah Cate!

She spent most of the evening saying "What have you done to me?"

No more caffeine for me!

Fortunately, she woke up this morning back to her normal happy self!

The Story

I realize that so many are interested in exactly how our baby girl came into this world, especially considering she came a solid 18 days before her actual due date. So, here's my recount of the story.....

I'll start on Monday night. Matt and I went for an extra long walk down by the bay, plus we walked around our neighborhood again after dinner. I by no means was trying to bring on labor, just enjoying a little time with my husband!

I woke up at about 3am on Tuesday morning with some pain and a few other early symptoms of labor (I'll keep it clean here and not give you all the medical details). I finally woke Matt up about 4am to tell him what was going on and see what he thought we should do. We decided it would be best to just wait until the morning and call Dr. Shoemaker's office and try to move my appointment that was scheduled for Wednesday to that morning. After all, I still wasn't feeling any contractions, so I was pretty sure this was just the precursor to labor and not the real thing. Needless to say, we didn't sleep much for the rest of the night. Looking back, I should have been up and about getting a few things done around here! Oh well!

I finally got in touch with the office at about 8:30 on Tuesday morning and they worked me in for an appointment at 10:30. Dr. Shoemaker was in surgery all morning, so I was set to see the Nurse Practitioner. As the morning progressed, my early symptoms continued to get stronger and a little scarier but still no contractions. No contractions combined with the fact that from my last appointment I was not dilated at all, convinced me that I would get to the office and be sent back home. So much so that we didn't take anything with us when we left for the doctor. No bags and no camera, and gone was my vision of taking one last pregnancy picture before we left for the hospital. To compensate, I do have a picture of us on Saturday night when we had dinner with Matt's parents, brother Lee and nephew Charles. Definitely gives a picture of how large Hannah Cate had grown in my belly.

Once we got to the office, we only had to wait a few minutes. I explained the reason for my earlier than scheduled appointment and the NP came in to examine me. I was 2 cm dilated. Shocking to me considering I had felt no contractions, and contractions lead to dilation. One of the early symptoms I was experiencing lead me to believe that my water had broken. During the exam, it was hard for the NP to tell whether or not my water had broken. So, they hooked me up to a fetal monitor to watch my contractions (which I was constantly having and not feeling at all!) and Hannah Cate's heartbeat. More so to capture and record the moment for the future, I will also say that before this point Matt and I both had shed a few tears because everything seemed so uncertain and they couldn't seem to tell us exactly what was going on. There was some blood and this "water" but still uncertainty as to whether or not I was in labor. For us, it was scary, but we realize now that this happens every day and we are glad to have the experience under our belts and behind us!

After about an hour on the monitor and a few more checks by the NP, they felt pretty sure that we were in for a trip to labor and delivery and June 10th would be Hannah Cate's Birthday! It was all starting to sink in and seemed extremely hard to believe. After they were able to reach Dr. Shoemaker and pass along the details, he gave instructions to send me over to the hospital. They called the hospital to admit me for what would be an "augmented" labor and delivery. Augmented meaning they would go ahead with a Pitocin drip to speed up the delivery. By this time, we had called all of our parents to share the exciting news and get them going and heading our way. Mike (Matt's Dad) had already made it and was in the waiting room at Dr. Shoemaker's office. Bobi (Matt's Step Mom) was in North Georgia for a girls weekend and couldn't make it back in time. My Mom was on her way (John had to work and hold down the fort on Lay Lake), as was my Dad and Jami rode down with him (Mary Rose was in Spain and certainly had no chance of making it in time). Sandra and Bill (Matt's Mom and Step Dad) were also on their way from Birmingham. They all made it in time to welcome Hannah Cate into this world.

We got to the labor room at about 12:00 and the process got started from there. They started my IV and Matt and his Dad went back to our house to retrieve all of our things for a 2 night stay in the hospital. Soon after my IV, they started the Pitocin drip to speed up my contractions. I still wasn't in pain and was thinking this labor thing was going to be a cinch. Time was flying by! Matt and his Dad made it back to the hospital and we just hung out in the hospital room. I remember that I was extremely hungry, but they wouldn't let me eat anything. I wish I could have napped, but even given the minimal sleep the night before, I was wide awake. After the Pitocin drip, I continued to dilate. Dr. Shoemaker came in to check me after one of his surgeries and I had progressed to 3-4 cm and was 90% effaced. During that check, he confirmed that my water had not broken and he broke it himself. Quite the interesting sensation! Still no pain, amazing! We just watched the contractions on the monitor and I felt nothing....even when they peaked to their highest point. Dr. Shoemaker thought we would have a baby by 6:00! That was only 3 1/2 hours away.

Shortly after the visit from Dr. Shoemaker, I started to feel the pain and started to consider getting my epidural. Thank goodness, because by the time the anesthesiologist got to my room, I was REALLY feeling the pain! Once the epidural was in, I was on cloud 9. The advances in medicine amaze me and I am so thankful for them! The next few hours went by extremely fast. I remember being hungry, thirsty and had some heart burn but otherwise I was extremely comfortable. I went through a couple of labor and delivery nurses as the shifts continued to change, they were all phenomenal. 6:00 came and went with no baby, but Dr. Shoemaker still felt like she would make her grand entrance on the 10th.

Jamie was going to be our nurse for the actual delivery. She was great! At about 9:30, I was ready to start pushing. I've always had the hardest time imagining what this would be like. I mean, if I'm numb from the waist down and I have no idea how to really "push" out a baby, how was this going to work. Well, it all just works itself out! Our God is so good and in tune to details and it's comforting to know that He's involved in all of the details. In the midst of my pushing, I was sure that I was going to have to quit, that there was no way I was going to be able to push this baby out and there surely wasn't a chance I was going to try it again! It is one of the most tiring things I have ever done! I'm glad to say that I was wrong, and after about an hour of pushing, Hannah Catherine Miller was born at 10:41 pm.

So many people have told us that our lives will never be the same and that we are in for the biggest change we will ever experience. Boy were they right, but I only see it in the most positive of ways. This baby girl has indeed changed our lives forever and we are already the better for it. We love her so much and welcome the other changes that are headed our way because the Lord has entrusted her to us.

Here is a link to to pictures from the last week:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=231991641/a=24035494_24035494/t_=24035494

Just in Time!

Hannah Cate came just in time to be a great Father's Day present for Matt! He is going to be the best Daddy and it has been such a blessing to watch. My love for him increases every day as I watch him love our baby girl.

Happy Father's Day baby! Your girls love you so much and are so thankful that you are ours!
Hannah Cate and I thought Daddy needed a little fun on his special day, so we got him Mario Kart to play on the Wii. He did have to go pick it up himself.....but it has been a hit!

Happy Day to all the other Daddy's in our lives. We love you and thank you for the example that you have been to us all of our lives. We only pray that we can be the parents to Hannah Cate that you have been to us!

Hannah Catherine Miller

Our baby girl came a little sooner than expected. She was born on Tuesday, June 10th at 10:41 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 19.5 inches long. We couldn't be more in love and proud. Thank you for all of your prayers, phone calls, support and love. For now, here are a few pictures from our last few days. I'll share more details later once we adjust to life at home! We are praising the Lord for our precious baby.

And the chandelier was hung in the nursery with care

"Hang Chandelier in Nursery" has been at the top of my "to-do" list since I brought it home from Birmingham almost two months ago! Even though it was on my "to-do" list, that really means it was on my list to remind me to continue to ask my "I hate projects" husband to do it for me. I say that lovingly, but he really doesn't always love the projects that I come up with for him to help me with!

So, after much begging and prodding, the chandelier is up. I'm very proud of it. I found it at an antique store in Bluff Park and paid a whopping $35. I wish I had a before picture to show you....because it has had a definite transformation. I took it to the lighting store in Homewood to determine what it would take to get it in working condition, only to find out that their initial estimate was $75 and that was just to look at it! Feeling a bit defeated, I hoped that I would get it home and miraculously it would just work......that truly would have been a miracle and you would understand if I had those before pictures! Having to pay another $75 wouldn't make it such a good deal anymore.

Little did I know that my Dad is an excellent electrician, which he picked up from his own Daddy. How great for me! After a quick trip to Lowes and only $18 worth of supplies (and that included the paint and primer I needed to get it looking good), Dad was sure he had everything he needed to get it working for me. I left it with him for a few weeks and sure enough, on my next trip to Birmingham, it was working and ready to go. Thank you Dad, you are the best!

Though Matt couldn't understand why I wanted to replace a perfectly good light that was already in the nursery, he agreed to help me make the switch. He did a great job and I know it wasn't easy.....it seems that working with "antiques" never is! After a few trips to the hardware store, it's perfect and hanging beautifully! Thank you Matt for your perseverance, you too are the best!

And here's a little sneak peak at the nursery. All I have left is the Roman Shade and panels for the window. Krista is so talented and is helping me, so I'm hoping we'll get them finished up next week after the fabric for the panels finally comes in from back order. Once it's really finished, I'll post some more detailed pictures.

A quick update on the baby front.....we went to the doctor yesterday. I've started to "thin out" but still no dilation. He says she's dropped even further, so it's just a matter of time. We'll go back on Wednesday (6/11) for another check up and see if I have progressed any further. For now, we are just hanging in there and enjoying the heat!