Unconditional Love

The first thing I think I learned as a new mom was unconditional love.  There was  something indescribable when they put that baby in my hands and left me for the night with him.  I examined him, hugged him, kissed him, and snuggled him; I breathed in all his baby smells and knew no matter what, I would love him.  I know, as his mother, I will always maintain that love , even in times I might not like what he is doing... I will always love him. 
Becoming a mother and more understanding unconditional love, has helped me understand God's love for me. Unconditional,  willing to go the distance,  and fiercely gentle.  I understand why God watches me, "hugs" me, and breathes me in as much as possible.  Why He wants to give me riches in heaven and why he wants to spend eternity with me.  Unconditional love.  God might not always like what I am doing, but He will always love me.

Virtues of a Mom

A virtue is a characteristic of a person which supports individual moral excellence and collective well being.
As a new mom I have gained and/or strengthened many virtues. These virtues vary from woman to woman and are influenced by many different things. I feel this picture really expresses my virtues and plan to talk about them over the next few days; with personal stories of how these were revealed to me.

Back or Belly or Side?

Baby SMoore is a belly sleeper through and through... On rare occasion he will take a 5 minute nap on his back, but then he wiggles himself awake.

I know "don't let them sleep on their tummy!!!". I understand the risk of SIDS and trust me I check this boy every 10 minutes. However, here's the deal... We tried back sleeping, we tried swaddling, we tried it all; and the conclusion was that he is like mommy and daddy. He is a tummy sleeper. And now that he can lift his head and move it around (which he does multiple times during a nap) I don't feel 'as' worried.  Here is the other "no no", he sleeps in our bed at night. What can I say, we are risk takers, but really, it makes my life easier!  With him in bed with me I can check him throughout the night without getting up, nurse more frequently with ease, and the morning snuggles are the best.  I know eventually we will need to move him into his own bed, but for now this works for us.  Everyone is a lot happier and less sleep deprived in the morning. 
We have a tummy sleeping snuggle bug and I will soak it all in while I can.  What are you? A tummy sleeper? Side sleeper? Back sleeper? Leave me a comment below.

Mama!

My little baby SMoore is growing up so much! He is 101 days old today and I can hardly believe it. I adore him so much!  We have officially strolled out of newborn phase and into infant.  I say this because he can control his neck really well, has begun rolling tummy to back, can pull his toy to his mouth, and has said mama. That's right... He says mama!  I don't expect you to believe me because I don't have it on video yet, but it usually comes out when he is super tired and desperate to nurse to sleep.
It breaks my heart to hear his little crying mama sound, but I embrace every moment he needs me. I know time is fleeting and soon enough he will not need me nearly as much.  Already he is becoming more independent; more able to self soothe.  I love seeing him mature, but remember to stay in the moment and soak in all the snuggles I can.
Make sure you live in the moment today and reflect on what's bright. Take every snuggle you can get from your kids or grandkids.

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Sorry I hadn't been on top of my blog during the newborn stage; I worked full time and well, had a newborn. I plan to go back and cover what I missed. I have notes and drafts... Just need to date them and post them.  So keep checking in.

Debut of Baby SMoore

April 8, 2013
The day my life changed once more. I obtained a new title and discovered a new love.

*warning this is the birth story... may get graphic*

3:50 am - I woke up like I usually do and had to pee.  Went to the bathroom,  sat down, a shppsh... a gush of water. This immediately pulled me out of my sleepy state.  I looked down and saw the plug and meconium (not good)
3:55 am - I tell Jonathan (who had only been aslerp for 1.5 hrs) that I thought my water broke and I needed to call the DR. 
4:00 am I finally get through all the automated stuff and explain to the nurse what had happened.   Right as she asked if I was sure my water broke, another gush came... "yep, it broke".  She says she will page my DR/midwife
4:05 am My midwife calls me back. Itell her about my water and the meconium.  She tells me to try to go back to sleep after timing my contractions, but to call her if I can't feel the baby move.  She says, "you are going to have a baby today!"

So Jon helps me keep track of my contractions.  They start to become more painful and are every 2 minutes on the dot.  After a half hour I hadn't felt baby smoore,  so I called my midwife back.  Around 4:30am she said to come on in.

4:30am we loaded up the car and hit the road, because our new delivery hospital was about 40minutes away. 
Since the hospital wasn't truly open when we got there we had to enter the emergency area. They explained how to get to labor and delivery and before we know it I am on the elevator... that is when it hit me! "We are going to become parents today".
About 5:30am we were checked in and waiting in our room for the nurse.
The rest of the details are a little eh on time because it all happened so fast.
Shift change happened at 6:00am so I don't really recall my original nurse, but I did get checked and my water had indeed broken and I was already dialated 2 and effaced about 20%.  My contractions were still 2minutes apart, and getting stronger!  A few hours pass and I had met the nurse who would help deliver baby SMoore.  Her name was Stacey and she was awesome! My midwife had come checked on me and said it eould be a long day.  Stacey checked me again around 10am because I kept having the urge to push!  I was 10cm and ready to go!!!!

My midwife came, the on call pediatrician came, and we were ready to go!  I pushed a few times and my midwife said wait you aren't full dialated, yet.... you are only 6cm.   Boy was that disappointing.   So she told me to get into the shower and try to relax.  Around 1pm they gave me an iv with a little bit of medicine to help me relax to allow my body to dialate.  This required me to stay in bed and on my side.  My contractions were still every 2 minutes,  but they lasted about a minute and were very intense.  My midwife checked me at 1:30pm and I was really 10cm now!  Time to push she said!  The whole team came back (my midwife, my 2 nurses, blood nurse bc diabetes, pediatrician,  and baby nurse because of the meconium)

I was so happy to be pushing knowing contractions would end! I pushed and pushed and pushed.  I think it only took maybe 4 rounds of pushing (was about 20 minutes) and our baby SMoore had arrived! 

We were so full of joy! The baby cried right away, peed on me, and then started nursing.  The pediatrician actually left because all was well.  Then we looked.... it was a BOY!

Gestational Diabetes

I love sweets!
I love tator tots!
I may be addicted to carbohydrates (like most Americans)

  These are things I didn't really realize until I failed the sugar tests.  I hit that third trimester mark and had to drink the "orange" drink... I can only describe it as an orange crush soda with a cup of sugar mixed in.  I had to drink it quickly, wait an hour, then hand over some blood...
I unfortunately failed... and I failed by a lot!

So I got the pleasure of doing the 3 hour test (which is really 4 hours).  In order to prep for the test I was required to eat 3 candy bars each day for the 3 days leading up to the tests.  I also had to go on a Saturday morning due to work.  When I got there the nurse explained to me that the drink would be about 10 times sweeter. (YES! It was most definitely jam packed with sugar).
I chugged it down and then waited.... 1hour - draw blood... 2 hours - draw more blood... 3 hours - draw more blood.   They couldn't release the results to me until my dr saw them.

                                   So I waited for the call.

A few days later a nurse called to explain my results.... I had indeed scored gestational diabetes' numbers.  Next step - meet with a gestational diabetes dr and dietician.   I learned how to check my blood sugar numbers and was required to every morning, night before bed, and every 2 hrs after a meal.  This became tedious,  but necessary so I could control it with my diet.  I kept my numbers recorded and would email the dietician every Monday.  During this time I basically ate meat,  veggies, and drank water.  Although,  my morning numbers continued to be too low, so I 'had' to eat 2 cookies and a glass of milk before bed :).

Throughout the remainder of my pregnancy I controlled it with my diet and didn't have anymore issues.  Praise God

From now on I am supposed to continue watching my diet; I am more susceptible to diabetes outside of pregnancy now.  This has really made me more conscious of what I eat and as a result a healthier person. I think I just ate things out of convenience and not wisely. I am grateful for the new lifestyle this is creating for me.  Thank you gestational diabetes.  ;-)

Picking a name...

What a task if you really think about it... We get to decide what this human is to be called. Forever.  Legally. Talk about pressure!

I knew if we had a boy we would name him Drake, because we were married on Drake's beach in California and the name was so unique... But other than that we were clueless.

We had multiple girl names picked out, but decided that we would have to meet her (if in deed we were to have a her) before we could name her.  I love the name Naomi due to the Biblical character.

So as my due date approached I felt more and more stress about tge name... I prayed intensely that God would provide a perfect name because He already knew our baby.

Shortly after amen I heard the name Finnegan in my head... I knew God had given that to me. So the boys name was decided... Drake Finnegan... which means dragon fair.

The girls names we like are: Naomi, Elise, Elizabeth, Clementine, Alice, and a few more... But no for sure names yet... Keep you updated!

Can hardly wait to meet this little baby SMoore!

*written during 3rd trimester... Posted later due to lack of organization on my part*

Coming Soon!!!

Anticipation is building! The thought of my life changing so much any day now is hard to describe. It is more anticipation than climbing the big hill on the roller coaster. More excitement than being a child on Christmas Eve. More anxiousness than moving away to college.

The drs gave me a date that our baby is 'due' and I think that makes my anticipation build even more!  Today I officially have 2 weeks until that date... until the day my life will change forever.  I know that becoming a mother is a true blessing and that God will use this to teach me so much.  I anticipate to learn a love I have never known before... a love that will make me see things so differently.

On another note I am excited for all the preparations that are done:

• bags packed
• clothes prepped
• diapers ready
• baby showers over
• thank you's written
• carseat installed
• bassinet and changing table ready
• birthplan written
•  and much more!!!

Although there are a few things I still need to do:

• prep meals
• clean our room
• fix a few things in the house
• get the cat and dog treats for while we are gone

Anything I am missing???

   

Who was that in the mirror?

So I have been blessed with a high metabolism all my life.  Which means I have been about the same size since high school.  Sometime a little more fit, but always the same general size.  I typically have always weighed between 105 and 110.  Now that I am pregnant I weigh a little more :) which I feel no negative feelings towards at all;  it is just a big shock when I walk past the mirror and have to do a double take.  
It has taken some getting used to... especially with only 3 weeks to go!!! I seriously feel like I stuffed a balloon or soccer ball under my shirt.
I am weighing in around 130 lbs. And my dr says that is a good gain for me.  I know they were worried at my previous hospital (we changed because our labor and delivery area closed down) due to my gestational diabetes that I might gain a lot, but I have managed it with my diet.  (I need to do a blog about my gestational diabetes experience).  Going from where I was to where I am now does make me pause in front of the mirror, it catches my attention every time.   I just pause and think...

Who is that in the mirror? 

That is a soon to be (kinda already am) new momma!  Full of joy thinking of her anticipated blessing.  A new momma anxious to meet her baby SMoore!  A daughter of God ready to experience a new kind of love; ready to experience a miracle. Who is that in my mirror?  A beautiful reminder of God's plan, His timing, and His hand in it all.

I praise Him for it all and look forward to meeting this little one He has designed and He knows very well... even in my womb.

Night Owl

I keep telling my husband that I know I will go into labor at night because Baby SMoore is a night owl.   This isn't a new thing development either... it has been this way the entire pregnancy.   Early on I would just wake up throughout the night.  Then as the baby grew and I noticed more movement it was like there was a nightly dance party in my tummy.   Seriously.... the only way I can explain it is like being on a continuous roller coaster.   That feeling in your stomach when you drop down the big hill... every night around 3 or 4 am!  Now that I am 35 weeks pregnant there is little space for all that moving, but I get kicks and jabs and still at 4am.  Just another amazing reminder that my blessing is there.  I have grown to love my 4am moments with Baby SMoore and can only imagine what it will be like to hold my SMoore at 4am :)  I praise God for the night owl and thank Him for blessing me with this journey.  

Mommy Club!

Did you know there is a secret club out there just for women in my circumstance? A club full of new vocabulary and gadgets. A club full of support and advice. This club is totally open, but you must be a mommy to be (well the alumni are still a part of the club and will jump at the opportunity to tell you about their glory days).
I soon found out about this club shortly after we revealed our secret. And boy was I welcomed by the alumni; all so eager to share there solutions, advice, stories, tears, and much more. Some people hate this, but I was giddy after keeping my secret so long and absorbed every moment and detail of this induction.
I am now in my 3rd trimester and have fast realized this club has many layers and continues to develop as you advance.  Since I am now showing, or appear to be stealing a basketball, I meet the most alumni... strangers with no fear. I love it! When I go out it totally feels like I am wearing the club's emblem, which opens the door for discussion. However, it also brings questions from those not in the club. Quite funny questions as well:
How did I get pregnant?
Did you just have a baby?
And some other comments about stealing basketballs.
I take these in stride, knowing full well the blessing it was to become inducted into this club. I adore every story, every moment, and every question.
Praise GOD for this!