Hadley's First Combine Ride

Hadley had quite an eventful week at 7 weeks. But probably the most exciting for me was her first ride in the combine with her Granddaddy. She loved it and went right to sleep on my legs in the cab. I told my dad that I was going to start bringing her to ride with him every day so she would sleep (at this point, she was not napping well at all). Here's the pictures from our outing.

Our Hospital Stay and First Night at Home

We stayed in the hospital until Wednesday, August 12. We had lots of visitors, friends, family, people from church. Hadley stayed in the nursery at night but was in the room with us during the day. She had to be in the nursery from 7 to 9 every morning for the peditricians to round. And then they did another assessment at 2pm. I had decided to breastfeed so the nurse would bring Hadley to me every 2 to 2 1/2 hours at night and then come back and get her after she nursed. We got much more rest in the hospital than I expected. And would have gotten more except my nurses would come in every 2 hours to take my blood pressure and temperature and give me medicine.



By law, the baby has to stay in the hospital for 48 hours. So we couldn't leave before 3:55pm that afternoon. Hadley had lost weight down to 7.8. By that afternoon, she was beginning to get pretty fussy. My nurse discharged me right after lunch and the nursery got everything ready for Hadley go not long after that so we were literally just waiting on the clock. I got all our stuff packed up and then got Hadley dressed. I had bought her this beautiful pale pink smocked dress with matching bloomers that had her initials monogrammed on the butt. I wrapped in the white crocheted blanket that I came home from the hospital in. But after the wardrobe change, Hadley was upset. Now I know that she was hungry (my milk was still not in). I had forgotten to pack a pacifier and she was sucking on my finger like crazy. We asked the nurse for a pacy and that helped.

We stopped by Steven's grandfather's house to let him see his great-grandaughter. Then we arrived at home where both our families were waiting to welcome us home. We enjoyed a great supper of KFC chicken and then got ready for the longest night of our lives.

Our first night at home was spent fully awake the whole night holding our screaming daughter. More than once, I thought, what in world had we done. My milk had not come in yet and I can only assume she was starving. I tried nursing her about every hour and a half but nothing helped. Finally about 6:00 that morning, my mom woke up to find me lying in the den chair with Hadley asleep on my chest and me crying and exhausted. She took Hadley for a few hours that morning and I finally got a couple hours sleep. All I can say is thank you Lord for my mom!

Hadley's Birth Day: August 10, 2009

WARNING: LONG POST!


Let me start with the Friday before Hadley was born. I had been to the doctor for my weekly checkup on Wednesday, the day after my due date. I was dilated to 2cms and 75% effaced. Hadley was very low. Dr. Williams was not ready to induce me that day but he also didn't want to wait another week. So he was going to have me come in first thing Monday morning. He would check me then and we would schedule an induction.


Sidenote: a little background, I was born on a Monday, August 1. My mom said that she also went to the doc on Wednesday, and they decided to check on her monday and schedule an induction if she hadn't begun labor on her own by then. Exactly the same as me. It is erie how alike my mom and I are. Also, she felt horrible and uncomfortable on the friday before she had me. You guessed it, I also felt horrible and uncomfortable on the friday before I had Hadley.


Back to the story, Thursday morning, Dr. Williams called to say that he had checked with the hospital and they only had monday available for an elective induction. He wanted me to come in the next morning (Friday) and he would check me and schedule an induction for monday morning. I went in Friday morning, was feeling horrible, lots of crampy feelings in my stomach and just bad in general. I was still 2cms but she had dropped even more. So we set up the induction for Monday morning.



The weekend was surreal. I can't describe the feeling of knowing that I would be in labor on Monday (if not before) and that she would be here. I would be a mother in a matter of hours now. I was excited, anxious, prayerful. I never really felt nervous. Steven and I spent sunday night together, finishing up packing and just savoring our last night as just me and him. We went to bed early because we had to be at the hospital at 5am.



I went to sleep easily and slept very soundly until my alarm went off at 3:30am. I got a shower, made sure I had everything packed for me and the baby girl I would be bringing home. I knew I couldn't eat anything at the hospital so I decided to have a glass of milk and a peach before leaving. Bad idea. We left the house at 4:30am and drove to the hospital. The drive was even more surreal than the weekend had been. All I could think was that the next time I was in that car, there would be a baby in that empty carseat in the back seat.


Once at the hospital, we got checked in. They put us in LDR Suite 6. I got into my hospital gown. We filled out paperwork, etc. Then the nurse came in to start my IV. I told the girl before hand that I normally had trouble with passing out with shots, IVs, etc because of a heart condition I have. I tried to explain the heart condition. I told the girl that I wouldn't pass out if I could just have some water to drink. But nope, they wouldn't let me have any water. So sure enough, after about 6 or 7 minutes of her trying to start the IV, I could feel my blood pressure dropping and I told her I was going to pass out. Steven ran to get my some ice chips. That got my blood pressure up so I didn't pass out. But then the peach made it's appearance again if you know what I mean. After about 10 minutes of being sick, things calmed down and my IV was in. Steven went to go get everything out of the car and the nurse started the pitocin about 6am. The drip was increased every 30 minutes. Not long after that, my parents arrived.


It wasn't long before I started feeling tightening in my abdomen, and it gradually got a little more intense. When my doc came in to break my water, which I think was about 8:00, I still wasn't really feeling anything more that just heavy pressure and tightening. By this point, NeeNee(my aunt), Steven's parents and Jessi were all there. Dr. Williams broke my water and almost immediately I could feel my contractions start to intensify. Still nothing I couldn't handle though. But when Dr. Williams poked his head in the door and asked if I was ready for my epidural, I jumped on the chance to go ahead and get it. I'd heard too many stories of waiting hours for the anethesiologist to come. I progressed pretty steadily. I was able to get a little rest and visit with everyone there. A little after lunch though I kinda hit a wall and was stuck at 6cm for a little bit. The nurse moved me onto my side and said she would check me again at 2:00. About 1:30, I started to have some pain in my left side so I called the nurse in. She decided to go ahead and check to see where I was. I was totally expecting to be at 7 or 8 cm. Nope! I was at 10cm! For the first time, I was finally nervous/overwhelmed/anxious. Hadley still needed to drop a little bit so my nurse sat me up in bed for about 30 minutes to see if gravity would help her move down. Everyone left the room, more nurses came in to get everything set up. Finally, a little before 3:00, I started to push. I pushed for about 40 minutes and my nurse could tell that I wasn't going to get her out on my own. So she went ahead and called Dr. Williams in. It only took about 3 or 4 more pushes and with his help (forceps) Hadley Lyn Sirmon was born at 3:55p.m. She weighed 7lbs 15ozs and was 20 1/4 inches long. The NICU nurses had been called in as a precaution because there was meconium in the amniotic fluid when my water was broken. So they took Hadley away immediately. They checked her out and declared her to be a perfect little baby.

The experience is completely indescribeable. I was totally overwhelmed by the miracle of it all. God is so good! Steven brought Hadley over to me and placed her in my arms. I was completely overcome with a love that I have never felt before. Tears came to my eyes but never really fell. The nurses gave Steven and I some time alone with Hadley before all the family came in. All I could do was stare at her and look at every part of her. Finally, I told Steven to go get our family. My mom was the first one in the room and I did cry when I saw her. I finally handed Hadley to my mom and from there she was passed around the rest of the night. We got to stay in the LDR suite until almost 10:00 that night. Which was good because we needed the room for all the visitors. In addition to our family, Russ, Jessi, Adalyn, Frank, our life group, Josh and Kyla Ward, my law school girls, and more I'm sure were all there. I felt very loved but by 10:00 that night I was exhausted and ready for some peace and quiet. We finally were moved to a post-partum room. My mom stayed to get us settled in and she finally left about 11:00.

What an amazing day!

Way Behind

So I'm way behind in the blogging. Honestly, since having Hadley, I just haven't felt like blogging at all. But my cousin Laura has blogged several times since having her baby and I love reading her updates so I guess I feel like a slacker. With this post, I'll just add a couple of pictures to introduce Hadley and I'll be back with more posts to catch you up on everything from the birth story to Hadley's first ride in the combine.

We have a date!

Just got back from the doctor and we scheduled an induction for Monday! That makes me a little nervous because I would prefer to go into labor on my own. But the hospital only had monday available for an elective induction and my doctor was not comfortable with letting me go 2 weeks past my due date. He was satisfied with how much progress I have made so far and based on how I've been feeling and other things that have happened, he really thinks we will just giving a boost to what's already started. So Hadley will at least begin to make her appearance by Monday, August 10ths at 5:00am. Please keep us in your prayers that all will go smoothly and that things will progress as needed.

August 4

Well, today is a special day. It's my due date! I'm 40 weeks today. Nothing happening yet. After my last doc appt, I was 2cm dilated and almost fully effaced. Dr. Williams thought I was a week away so Hadley's got to come today for his prediction to be right. Steven ate chinese yesterday and his fortune cookie told him "tomorrow will be a full and rewarding day". Who knows. I go back to the doc tomorrow. My last day of work was this past Thursday. It was really sad to leave everyone, but I will not miss the practice of law at all. At least not the civil litigation side of things. Steven was off this weekend which means he had yestersday and today off as well. So thankfully we've been able to spend the past couple of days together before we become parents. In the meantime, I'm just here, waiting on Hadley to make her appearance.

Did you notice?

See my little pregnancy ticker over there? Yep, that's right. I'm due one week from today!!! Crazy, I know! Here's to 39 weeks.

Nursery

These first pics are of the diaper wreath that my NeeNee made for me. I just love it!!!

Here are a few pictures of Hadley's "nursery" and the bedding and all that I made for her. I put that in quotations because we are momentarily living with my parents and so we didn't fully dedicate or decorate a room for her. This room is what was my old bedroom and it will be going back to being "my bedroom" once we leave. So the decor of the room has stayed the same. We just rearranged the furniture to accommodate a crib, glider, dresser, and chifferobe for Hadley. My brother has affectionately (read: sarcasticly, i.e.- he totally feels as though this baby has taken over his house and she's not even here yet, but don't let him fool you, he is loving every minute of this and can't wait to be an uncle) named this room "Hadley's Nook and Neenee's Room" (this is the room my NeeNee stays in when she comes to visit as well). Although the room has turned out to be a little more, Hadley's Room and NeeNee's nook, if you know what I mean.

38 weeks

Went to the doc yesterday. I'm 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant according to my little counter over there. Since last week, Hadley has dropped even more but she has not slowed down in her movements. Therefore, I am feeling extremely sore these days. I have dilated a little bit and I am about 25% effaced. The doc says I'm right on target for early August. When you say it like that, it seems far away but early August is in like 10 days. Crazy!!!

Baby Shower, Etc.

On June 28, my best friends gave me a wonderful baby shower for all the ladies at Steven's family's church. I was also able to invite my friends from undergrad and law school. It was so much fun getting to see those girls. Below are some of the pics from the day.

I go to the doctor today for my 37 week checkup. This starts my weekly appointments. As of 2 weeks ago, I haven't started to dilate or anything. But Hadley has definitely started to drop. Now when she moves, at lot of times she is rolling over some nerve that runs down my leg and boy does it hurt. Also, the braxton hicks have started to pick up some steam.

I have my last 2 showers this weekend. On Saturday, my mom's side of the family is throwing me and my cousin a joint shower. She is about 8 weeks behind me, due at the end of September. I'm so excited that she is having a girl too. Hadley and Kylie will grow up together just like their mothers, Laura and me (we're 10 months apart). The Sunday night is the churchwide baby shower at our church.

Hadley's "nursery" is completely finished. I know what I'm taking to the hospital for us, just haven't actually packed it yet. I'm just waiting for this weekend before I go get the last couple of items that I need (hoping for a lot of gift cards :) )

They say she looks like Steven....

Here's Hadley's pictures from her 4D photoshoot on Monday. As usual, she didn't really cooperate for the ultrasound. Not only did she keep her hands all in her face, but her particular position made it difficult to get a good view of her whole face. But you can still see my beautiful baby girl. So here she is:

2 Years

2 years ago today, I married my best friend. I can't even begin to describe how awesome our God is that He would give us this unimaginable gift of marriage. The past 2 years have been more wonderful than I could even imagine and I am so incredibly thankful that God gave Steven to me. He is an amazing husband and I know he is going to be an amazing dad too.

30 Weeks

I can't believe that I'm 30 weeks today. It seems like just yesterday I was at the doc for the first time. Only 10 more weeks to go! I'm still feeling great. Hadley just kicks and moves around all the time. She loves to wake me up in the mornings, but thankfully, she's right in sync with the alarm clock. My best friend's little girl, Adalyn, got to feel her move yesterday. Adalyn is going to be a big sister in December but their baby is only 12 weeks along and you can't feel him/her yet. Adalyn's eyes got a wide as saucers when she felt that little bump under her hand. She didn't know what to say. My next checkup is June 4th and I'll have my 3d/4d ultrasound. Is it 3d or 4d? I'm totally confused by all the d's.

Memorial day was good. Usually we go to the lake, but because it was raining and mom needed to go to a funeral we stayed at home. Instead, after the funeral, Mom and I went shopping and she ordered us our rocking/gliding/swiveling chair for the nursery. So comfy! Then we cooked out at the Sirmon's last night and played a hilarious game of Taboo. Anyway, that's all the updates for now.

Evidence of the Baby Bump

Finally, a picture on a computer that I can upload from. This was last Tuesday night at Steven's graduation (5/5). First of all, I'm so proud of him! Vet School is finally over and we couldn't be happier. School is finally behind us (at least for now- I won't rule out ever going back) But second of all, I am exactly 27 weeks in this photo so witness the baby bump coming on strong now.

Double Digits!

According to my little pregnancy ticker over there, we are officially out of the triple digits and into only double digits. 99 days to go!!! well, at least to my due date. give or take a few for her actual arrival.

Tomorrow, my mom and I leave for the beach for my cousin's wedding this weekend! This little vacation could not come at a better time. I am in some serious need for a few days away from work.

24 Weeks

So I'm excited to be crossing this particular milestone in my pregnancy...Viability Week! If Hadley were to decide to come early now, she should be viable (although probably with tons of complications) We want her to stay tucked inside my belly for as long as possible! This is a really fun stage of pregnancy now that she is moving around all the time and I'm still not so big that I'm miserable or anything. She gets in these moods where she just kicks and kicks like crazy- it feels like I have an octopus in there, not a little girl! She has also started playing with me when she kicks. She'll kick in a certain spot and pause for a moment, and I'll press on that spot, then she'll kick back. The other day we were at my brother, Jack's baseball game and she started moving so I told my mom, who promptly put her hand on my belly to feel her. Immediately Hadley stopped moving. So we waited a minute and decided she was finished moving around. But as soon as Mom moved her hand, Hadley started moving again! She did this several times and we found it hilarious (although, Mom was really a little aggravated I think)

Steven really enjoys her at night. After we get in bed, he loves to rub my tummy and talk to her for a few minutes. Usually she'll start moving and he just loves to see her make my belly move.

My newest pregnancy sympton, I guess you'd call it that, is leg cramps. Every night, they are awful, no matter how many bananas I eat or how much water I drink during the day. My doctor said it was because of the change in blood flow and blood pressure that my body is experiencing right now and the weight Hadley is putting on my spine and such. I'll be glad when these leg cramps finally stop!

Desires of My Heart

Bear with me, this will be a long post, but I need to get a few things off my chest. The last couple of months have really been testing my faith and today, Satan is attacking with a vengenance. At church, Buddy has been preaching a series entitled "Hold On", discussing the situation where you've put a call in to God, but you feel He has put you on hold. Maybe it's your health, a loved one's health, your marriage, or the economy. We've all desperately cried out to God for healing, answers, direction, whatever it may be, and yet God hasn't spoken to you yet. That is exactly where I am today.

When we found out that we were expecting, immediately I knew that I wanted to stay home with our child. I have wanted to be a stay-at-home mom since I was old enough to realize that was what my mother did for us. The childhood I experienced because my mother stayed home with us is something that I will forever cherish. And I want to be able to give my children that experience. Not only was my childhood experience what it was because of my mother, but also because of where I grew up. My childhood was spent on our farm, in the country, away from all the distractions of city life. I see such a difference in my childhood and the childhood my friends had and that most kids today have. For that reason, I am intensely connected to our farm and a country girl through and through. I even have my little piece of land picked out to one day build our house on. To take me away from my home and my land would crush me. Not only that, but both our families are here and we do not want our children to grow up far away from their grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins.

So on to the dilemma at hand. The economy is terrible. And Steven is looking for a job, preferably in Montgomery. So ever since he started Vet School, we have prayed that God would provide him with a job in Montgomery. We have been really intensely praying for his job ever since we found out Hadley was on her way. And I definitely feel like God has us on hold. Steven graduates in less than a month and has no prospects at the moment. Every vet he talks to uses the economy has an excuse for why they can't hire someone right now. I am extremely thankful for what God is teaching us through this time of our life. Through all this, Steven and I have grown tremendously in our spiritual relationship together. Our prayer life, both individually and as a couple has grown by leaps and bounds. God is teaching me to rely on Him in a way I have never known before. I know He is in control and that His timing is perfect. But on days like today, Satan loves to tear down my confidence and shake my faith, whispering in my ear that everything is NOT going to be okay, that we are NOT going to be able to provide for our family, that I am going to have to stay in a job that makes me miserable, that we are going to have to move far away. In my heart, I firmly believe in God's promise that He has a plan for us. I also believe that if God wants us to move away, that His Will is better for us than my desire to stay close to home. But still, sometimes I struggle, and get caught up in the "why" questions: why wouldn't God want to answer this prayer? why wouldn't God want to bless us with being able to live in the same city as both sets of grandparents? why isn't God providing an answer for us or revealing his plan to us?

My human flesh needs earthly security and answers to all those questions. But my spirit knows that all I need is to rest in Him. The rest will work itself out according to His plan and His purpose. As the Psalms say, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Lord, search my heart and help the desires of my heart to be Your desires. Help me to lean only on You and trust that You are in control of my life, and have a plan only to prosper us and not harm us.

Mark It Down

that at exactly 20 weeks, on March 16, I felt Hadley kick for the first time. I was sitting in a meeting with some clients getting ready for trial the next day. All of the sudden I felt 3 very distinct movements in a row on my right side, just under my belly button. It was the most amazing and unmistakable feeling in the world. The best way I know to describe it is that it felt kinda like a bubble popping. Since then, there have been days where I felt nothing, days where I only felt her once or twice and one day where she was moving ALL DAY! Steven got to feel her Tuesday night for the first time. Now that I know for sure what it feels like to feel her moving inside me, I think I've been feeling her little flutters for a few weeks now. I'm just excited to finally be feeling her!

It's about Time

To announce the name of our precious baby girl, don't ya think? I realized today that I have yet to update the blog or Facebook since we decided on a name. So without further ado, Baby Sirmon's name is Hadley Lyn Sirmon! Lyn was my middle name, after my mom. I don't remember exactly where Hadley came from but I do remember seeing something similar in a book about Steven's family. Maybe that's where it came from. Anyway, I have belly pics that I've been meaning to post but we don't have high-speed internet at our house anymore and the pics are on my computer at home. I was 20 weeks on Tuesday. Can you believe that I'm half-way through my pregnancy already? I haven't done the first thing to get ready for Hadley to be here, other than fret about where to start to get ready. I'll walk in a baby store intending to get something accomplished like pick out a crib or something. but immediately I get overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Nor do I feel like I have the time to actually knock out some of this stuff. Between work, moving, weddings, and my parents' renovating the house, I just don't have the time. Anyway, enough about that. Till later....

It's a.......

GIRL!!!!! Pics and more to come later. I have to go back Monday for another ultrasound because Baby Girl wouldn't be still long enough to get all the measurements needed. But she was active and healthy. Can't ask for more.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it Snow....

It's snowing here in Auburn! Just thought I'd share a couple of pictures. We'd planned on going to the AU/FSU baseball game today (our friend Paul is pitching) but don't know that that is going to happen now.

Our Christmas Surprise

I thought I'd go back and tell the story of how we told our parents that we were pregnant. Let me start with how we found out. First of all, we were not trying to get pregnant. This precious child was a Christmas surprise for all of us. The week of December 15th, I had felt really bad all week, especially in the mornings. For about a month or so, I had been experiencing extreme tiredness and just feeling weird. That week, I was having severe cramping in the morning just like it was my time of the month, but my monthly "visitor" had not yet made an appearance. Now I had a slight problem back in October that caused my cycle to get all out of whack so little did I know that I was late. That Friday morning, the 19th, I woke up with an overwhelming feeling that I should take a pregnancy test. (I had a extra one left over from my slight problem back in October) I guess God was ready to let us know. Sure enough, within seconds we had a positive pregnancy test. The next couple of weeks were some of the weirdest, most emotional weeks I have ever experienced. I was totally overwhelmed. I called my doctor and got an appointment for Jan. 8th. But Christmas was just a couple of days away and we couldn't resist the opportunity that presented to tell our parents. I was kinda in denial about the whole pregnancy thing. So 7 pregnancy tests later, I was finally ready to tell our parents. I made them ornaments that said "Grandmother" or "Grandfather" or "Aunt" or "Uncle" and then Fall 2009 on the other side, and wrapped them up. We had Christmas with Steven's family on Christmas Eve so after all the other presents had been opened, Steven handed them their last present. It was the most incredible thing, watching it register on their faces that they would be grandparents/aunt! Pure chaos ensued. Nelene figured it out first and just started screaming, jumped up to run hug me, crying all at the same time. It was amazing! We did Christmas with my family on Christmas day. So early that morning, we get up to do Santa and all that before we head to Hurtsboro. Again, after all the other presents are opened, Steven handed our little secret presents out. They all opened them and Dad figured it out first, but didn't react at all. I kinda looked at him, like what's wrong? and he said he wanted to wait and let mom figure it out before he said anything. So finally mom gets it and she just turns to give me a big hug with tears in her eyes. Again, amazing! Jack and A.J. were cool guys about it. It was so fun to surprise them all like that. I made my family keep the secret from all the aunts/uncles/cousins in Hurtsboro until I went to the doctor. Everyone did surprisingly well with the secret, even Jack! Below are some pictures. I wish we had a video camera. The reactions were priceless!

Beginning to open their ornaments.

Nelene's face was priceless. Too bad Leah's hand is in the way. But you get the idea.

The proud grandparents and aunt.

Mom and Dad starting to open their ornaments early Christmas morning.

Mom's reaction and Dad watching.

Jack opening his ornament.

A.J. opening his ornament.

P.S.- We go Monday for my 18 week ultrasound to hopefully find out the sex of the baby. Pray that he or she cooperates and isn't too modest.