Take that Dust!

You always hear stories about awful mother-in-laws, well any of my sisters-in-law will tell you we have an AMAZING mother-in-law. I mean who could dislike someone who spends their day off cleaning your house and taking care of your baby? That's exactly what mine did today. Let's just say I was a little behind on some cleaning. After doing laundry, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the nursery, feeding the baby, etc Laura was kind enough to dust the ENTIRE house. However, I noticed something just as she finished:

Yes, Laura, Pledge has a yellow lid as well, but it doesn't have dead roaches on the can. At least we know our furniture will be free of rodents.
Seriously...thanks Laura for cleaning my house!!!

Riley's Debut

WARNING.
This is going to a VERY long blog post. This is probably the only place I will ever record Riley's story so don't feel you need to read the entire blog. I'll try to keep it organized so you can read the parts you'd like.

How it began.

After waiting 41 weeks and 1 day we finally had everything scheduled for Riley's stubborn arrival. Of course he was not going to have that- we already knew no one was going to tell him when to come! At 2:30 AM Thursday January 28 my water broke. It was a bit like a TV moment except not as cool- I hope my water never breaks again because it doesn't stop until he arrives! I contemplated for about 10 minutes what I should do. Craig and my mom were sleeping and I was trying to decide if I should wake them or hold out a bit longer. I finally decided I should call my midwife and wake Craig.

We arrived at the hospital around 4:00AM and I was examined etc and a room was arranged. I was still only dilated a mere 1 cm.

Labor.

After no progress around 9AM I was given Cervidil which is used for about 12 hours before beginning Pitocin. It was a slower route to labor that's a little more natural for your body and we opted for this since there was some concern about his size and the ease of a vaginal delivery.
After about 10-11 hours I was 100% effaced although still only 2-3cm. The Cervidil causes contractions to begin but slowly so I was never in too much pain until the end and I was becoming fairly uncomfortable. Around 9-10PM I was started on Pitocin and Antibiotics due to my water haven been ruptured for so many hours. They started the Pitocin slowly while I waited my turn for my epidural. (My nurses and midwife were awesome!) It was a crazy night- I think 11 babies were born. I heard it was b/c the moon was full. I got my epidural- which was actually more painful that I thought it would be and it spread really fast. I was having some heaviness in my chest and throat and had to take oxygen for a little while but was soon okay.

Delivery.

Around 4AM Friday January 29 it was time to push. They allowed his head to drop really low in hopes of pushing being shorter. I was completely numb, but amazingly able to push which seems odd. However, Riley was stretching himself out and causing me a great deal of pain in the upper abdomen, making it very painful to lean forward and push. Everyone was so encouraging, but I became very frustrated about halfway through and stopped and declared I wasn't even doing anything. I tried to think of some ways out of this situation, but it seemed pushing was the only route- so I was back at it. 45 minutes of pushing and about 26 1/2 hours since my water broke Riley was here!

Stats.

Riley Chet Copeland
8 lbs 9 oz
20 inches
4:59AM January 29th

Postpartum.

The Grandmas were waiting anxiously in the waiting area because Craig and I had decided we wanted it to be just us for the delivery. It was a pretty special experience.

Later that evening we were moved to a knew room to rest up and recover. Del, Rachel and Michael came by to meet Riley and bring us some decent food and we played the oh so proud parents! While they were there Riley started spitting up and neon greenish/yellow fluid. I thought it was odd since he spit up more than he had even eaten at this point, but we didn't think too much of it. Our friends left and Riley continued to spit up...Alot and we knew that something wasn't right. When the nurses came they too knew something was wrong and Riley was suddenly whisked away from us.

The turn of events.

We went from showing off our perfect little baby to being scared out of our minds. we quickly followed Riley to the special care nursery where they began inserting a tube down his throat. It's amazing how fast you fall in love because my heart was breaking as he screamed. I couldn't watch and began pacing the nursery and crying while Craig had to stay by his side and help hold him for the tube and IV. I knew it wasn't any easier for Craig and I felt so guilty that I couldn't pull it together for Riley. It was just the saddest sight.

They were concerned the substance could be bile or perhaps an infection. No one really knew, but of course I could only imagine the worst. He was started on antibiotics that would take 48 hours during which he could not eat. They did xrays to check for blockages and problems internally and blood work. As the next 48 hours went on we patiently waited for each result- each one indicating no problems. I sat in the nursery for hours into the night holding him and trying to comfort him. I don't think I've ever gone so many days without sleep.

The results.

Everything seems fine. All the test looked good and after draining more of the substance from his tummy he didn't spit up any more. They think if it wasn't some sort of infection it was just amniotic fluid or something he swallowed that had to come out. Also, by the time we left they couldn't hear his heart murmur anymore...I forgot to mention he was born with a murmur. So Monday evening we got to bring our baby home!

Mushy stuff.

We feel so blessed that he is healthy and everything is okay. Looking back it doesn't seem like too big of a deal especially since it ended so well, but at the time there was nothing bigger in the world. It made us realize very quickly how precious this little boy is and how only hours after birth we couldn't live without him.

Of course I've attached some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

On our way to the hospital

One night while Riley was still in the Special Care Nursery I came back to the room around 2AM and this is what I found.

The Copeland wrist- the Sister-In-Laws know what I'm talking about.

The last pregnancy update (hopefully)

I went to the Dr. today and had another ultrasound determining this kid is healthy, the placenta is healthy, there is plenty of fluid and NOT a lot of progress. However, he is estimated at a whopping 9 lbs so that got my providers moving!
We were given the option to go ahead and have a c section because of the concern of his size or try a vaginal birth with induction and c section as backup. We decided to go with getting induced and hope for the best (Nicole, all I can think about is your labor story!)
I check in to the hospital tomorrow (Thursday) night and I will be induced Friday morning. So, it seems this kid will be here Friday one way or another!
During the ultrasound she was able to get some great views of his face and she determined he was going to be a great kisser because his lips looked huge! The thought of those lips will be what gets me through the next couple of days!!

Dear Blog Readers

You know that day the big news is supposed to come? Your college acceptance? If you got the job? Well our big day has come and gone and now we've moved on. Leading up to my due date we were frustrated, impatient and just waiting hour after hour. Now that is has passed we've accepted our fate: this will just be a way of life for us. I will be pregnant forever- never to see this baby. And now we must move on, but to what? Should I go buy the new wardrobe I will need for forever pregnant? Start applying for jobs? Return all the baby stuff? Perhaps begin doing all those things I was going to do after I had the baby? So many things to think about.
We're grateful for everyone's thoughts and concerns. I believe there are many out there who are more anxious than even us. I hope that yall are able to move on as we have.
Hopefully any day now, but we've prepared ourselves for forever pregnant.

Sincerely,
Forever Pregnant

Nothing.

Two people asked me today if I am having twins. This has gotta end.

Christmas and New Years 2009

Christmas was very different this year. It was our first Christmas with just us. Craig's parents were cruising around New Zealand and Australia and we decided b/c I was 8 months pregnant not to travel too far away. I was a little sad not going home since it was my very first Christmas not at my parents house (I'm not quite sure how I've pulled that off after 3 married Christmas's). But as you can see my Mom made sure we had plenty of presents from Santa! It was fun to just be together and to have some quiet time before our lives so drastically change...at least for a couple of days. Craig and I aren't very good at doing "nothing" and grew bored very fast, but somehow kept each other entertained with movies and games and getting things ready for Baby Boy.

At one point we had a lot of decorations on our tree, but Mia took care of that.

Of course Momma didn't forget to send Mia a present.

Even a homemade present...

and she loved it!

I made my first Holiday dinner, but I think I overdid it a bit. After 3 days of eating we threw out so much food!

We spent New Year's at the Perry's...the boys somehow managed to beat us at Cranium.

It looks like I fell on the floor and couldn't get up...I don't think I fell, but I probably couldn't get up.

This would have been at about 37 weeks. I swear some of the puffiness is swelling!! At least that's what I tell myself every day.

Graduation

I thought I'd better do a little "nesting" and catch up on some blogging! I graduated from UF in December with my Masters of Science in Management. I can't believe it's come and gone already! It didn't feel like as big of a deal as I thought it would, perhaps because much bigger things are pending. However, I worked really hard this past year and am so grateful for everything to have gone so smoothly with the pregnancy, work, and school. I was so fortunate to be able to balance it all with the help of good bosses, great friends at school, and an amazing husband! They all put up with a lot- especially Craig as he was often neglected while my school, job, and church calling received all the attention. I'm excited to now focus on being a wife and mother for awhile! I couldn't have done this all without Craig and I'm so thankful to be married to the kind of person who has supported me no matter what I've wanted to do, even when it adds to his own busy life.

The gang.