Isabella Inez O'Brien's Birth Story

It was Father's Day and we were attending the early morning service at Desperation Church when I was so uncomfortable we had to leave the service early. I called my OB/Gyn and she told me to go on in to the hospital to get the baby checked out and to see if I was having back to back contractions. When we arrived at the hospital I was having what they call "irritating contractions" that produced no change in the cervix. They figured out that what was causing the contractions was my right kidney acting up again. They hooked me up to an IV and monitored me overnight when my kidney started bleeding. The doctor came in early that morning and told me that she was going to induce labor to prevent any damage to my kidney.

Dr. Joy Saunders broke my water at 8:30AM on Monday morning June 18th. That was an interesting experience. Rather than a nice little trickle it was sort of like a fire hydrant that has had its cap removed. After my water was broken I started having contractions every 7 minutes. They started a pitocin drip and my contractions started coming every two minutes. I'm a WUSS so I had my epidural at noon. It was an AWESOME epidural. I felt nothing but some pressure as her head began to descend. We started pushing at 2:20PM and at 2:30PM the nurse told me to stop pushing and just let the contractions do the work. The doctor arrived at 2:40PM and I had about two more pushes before she allowed me to deliver Bella myself at 2:45PM.

Bella was born "grunting" which is a sign of respiratory distress...not to mention that she came out looking like a smurf. They found a spot on her lungs that they said could be pneumonia. We all began praying and thanks to the Lord's mercy the spot was gone the next day. She then jaundiced and we spent the next couple of days watching her sunbathe in the NICU. We got to bring her home on Friday June 22nd.

Awaiting the arrival of Bella

We have had a little scare with preterm labor a few weeks ago so my mom, aunt Frances, and father-in-law Bill have flown in to await the arrival of Bella a little earlier than previously planned. It has been hugely helpful to have some help during this time that I am supposed to "rest" to help keep the contractions at bay. Everyone has been here for a week and I think that they are exhausted from all of the unpacking, cleaning, and settling in that they've been doing. By the time the baby gets here we'll ALL be suffering from exhaustion!

Taylor is having a FANTASTIC time having all of these new playmates here staying in her new house. She likes to take Papa outside to play in the back yard. She likes to take Nanni out to play with bubbles. She likes to harass Maw Maw for food. She'll be so sad when everyone leaves, but maybe she'll be so entralled with Bella that the transition won't be that bad.

Y'all be praying for us as we await Bella's arrival. Please pray for a quick, safe, and as pain-free as possible delivery.

Taylor's 1st Night in a Big Girl Bed

We finally got bed rails for Taylor's big girl bed and have baby proofed the room so tonight is the first night for Taylor in her big girl bed. I'm a little concerned. We went to Target and WalMart looking for bedrails that go all the way down the side of the bed, but we could only find ones that went halfway down. Needless to say I'm a little worried about her falling out at the bottom of the bed. Jay had to inform me that he always fell out of the bed at the bottom. I have never heard of such a thing...but apparently that happens.

Right now I am watching Grey's Anatomy (DVR) and listening to Taylor babble on the monitor. She's clearly not unhappy with being in her new bed and I don't hear her jumping either. All good signs!!!

Jay's become the grass Nazi even though we've only been in this house for 2 weeks. He is currently oustide trying to jump the battery on his riding lawn mower with is truck. I somehow think that this is some really horrible scenerio that you see in sitcoms not in real life. I'm going to go outside and make sure that he is still breathing.

Spiderman 3

We have long anticipated the coming of Spiderman 3 and today it has finally arrived! Jay and I were blessed to be able to go see the movie today at lunch. Marian came by the house to watch Taylor while Jay and I ran off to the movies. Jay was disappointed by the movie because he is a comic book freak. I thought it was pretty darn good. Venom was pretty awesome. Jay didn't like the sandman much at all. He said that the character was unbelievable and inconsistent. I guess I don't go to movies to analyze them, I go to have fun and be entertained. All in all, I thought it was a winner.

Babies and baby snakes...

We had our 3D ultrasound last week and Bella is so beautiful! She looks very much like Taylor did as a newborn. She has a full head of hair, a cute little pug nose, very full lips, and chunky little cheeks! We got to watch her smile, stick out her tongue, drink, and play with her hands and feet. She keeps her hands and her feet up by her head. It looks reallly uncomfortable. At my OB appointment this week the nurse told me that I'm measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We'll see whether or not that prods Bella to make her appearance at the end of June.

Speaking of babies...I saw my first little Missouri snake today. It gave me the heebie jeebies. It was only like 8 inches long and it was really skinny and light brown. I looked it up online and it looks like it is a harmless earth snake that eats worms. Still yet...yuk!!! I was so freaked out by the snake that I just about locked myself out of my house with my two dogs and Taylor still inside the house. That would've stunk!

Exhausted bliss...

We made it...we are finally in our new home. Well, for the most part anyway. We are still sort of "camping" in our new home. We were sooooooooo tired after moving yesterday that we didn't get to go back home to get our so called "piddly stuff" that just so happened to include our clothes. Yeah, I know, not the brightest of ideas. But at the time going to bed sounded a lot more appealing that going for yet another truck load. So we get up this morning and we need to go get something to eat (because food is another one of those "piddly things" that we didn't pick up) and despite the fact that we are clean we have no clothes other than clean underwear to wear. So off we go to WalMart in clothes that we've worn for the past three days. YUK!

Right now Jay is in the back yard putting down an invisible fence for our dogs. Yes, our Georgia mutts are jumpers. Now if they jump they are going to get the fur shocked off of them. It is better for them to receive a jolt than to get hit by a car...or a train, right? We'll see how this bright idea works. Lord willing it will work like a charm and end our dog chasing problems.

Our new bed is AWESOME!!!! We got a king size bed and I slept the WHOLE NIGHT. Now, for those of you that have been seven months pregnant you know what a miraculous feat that truly is. For those of you that haven't had kids or are men we'll just say that it is every bit as miraculous as the parting of the Red Sea. Granted my bladder was ready to explode when I got up this morning but man was it worth it to get a full night of sleep.

I like to move it, move it...

Well, I really don't...but that song has been stuck in my head since watching dancing with the stars. Anyways, we are gradually getting our stuff transferred from our apartment to our new house. Our apartment looks like a small bomb has gone off in it and I see no end in sight. The guys from Desperation Church are coming tomorrow to help us move the furniture. That my friends is what you call ANSWERED PRAYER. I don't know what one man, his 7 months pregnant wife and 2 year old little girl would do if left to accomplish this move on their own. YIKES!

Thankfully the weather has been picture perfect while we've been getting some work done on the house and getting it cleaned up and ready for the move. It has been warm and dry, just the right conditions to dry carpet and paint quickly. It is supposed to rain on Sunday, but Lord willing we'll have all of our furniture moved over to the house before the downpour begins.

Taylor has totally enjoyed playing in our new backyard. I caught her yesterday picking the tulips. She wasn't old enough in Georgia to really get into our flower bed so this was a new experience for her. I couldn't get mad though...in fact I laughed. When I got to her she said "See mommy, flowers! For you!" How sweet is that???