A few more pics for Grandma and Grandpa Flores and Grandma and Grandpa Camacho

Still one of her favorite things to do...

She rather enjoys bath time. :)

More Aria Pics...

I want my pacifier back!


Hehe, getting some chub.


Her favorite pastime.

Aria Hope's Birth Story

Early on the morning of January 17 TJ and I headed to the hospital to be induced. Aria was about 5 days overdue and I was very ready for her to come. :) They started the pitocin at 6:00 am (after getting my IV wrong once) and we started waiting for those lovely contractions to come. Things weren't too bad for a couple hours, so we mostly passed the time by reading some scripture and watching tv. At 8:00 am my doctor showed up to break my water - then the fun really began. Immediately I felt those strong true-labor contractions and we were in for the real thing. For the next three hours I both sat in a rocking chair and laid on my side (to position the baby better) to pass the time. The contractions got stronger and stronger until I knew I needed a little something to take the edge off the pain. However, I'm a little paranoid about trying different pain killers because I've had bad reactions before...so, at 11:00 am the nurse gave me just half a dose of Stadol (a common painkiller used during labor) to make me drowsy between contractions. Forty minutes later I was telling TJ he needed to get a nurse because I felt it was time to push. The nurse was a bit skeptical because the last time I was checked I was only at 5 cm...but she did check me again and I was indeed at 10! The nurses were very surprised things had progressed so quickly and began scrambling to get the doctor there and prepare the room for delivery. Ten minutes later our sweet little girl was born! TJ was able to cut the cord while we waited for the placenta...which decided not to co-operate. Needless to say, I kept bleeding pretty badly and they quickly took me in to surgery to clear the rest of the placenta out and stop the bleeding. It was kind of a bummer to not be able to nurse her right away when her instinct was strong, but the nice part about the surgery was that they had to put me under, so when I woke up I felt very rested even after the delivery! :) (Which was good because the next couple nights were not very restful with the nurses waking both me and the baby up for all kinds of random checks.)

We are now home with our baby girl and are so thankful for all the help we've been getting. My mom and sister have been taking turns helping out here at the house, and wonderful folks from our church have been providing meals. It's great to have so much wonderful help and support! My hubby has been the best of all. He's already such a great daddy and enjoying having a little girl of his own. I will try to post some more pictures soon!

Aria Hope

A few pictures...Story to come soon...

Almost smiling!
My mom and Aria Hope! I love this one.
All bundled up to go home...her snowsuit is quite large on her right now. :)
Daddy making calls.
Just after birth. Happy, huh? :)
Shortly after I got out of post-delivery surgery. More on that later...

I love this one!

Family pictures!

The Plan

Well, I had my last (hopefully) prenatal doctor visit yesterday. Everything went fine and they sent me over to the hospital to do a non-stress test...that turned out to be an interesting experience. Firstly, when I got to the family birthing center to get hooked up to the monitors, I was very thirsty, very warm...and getting hungry. Secondly, Aria does not like getting cramped with belts while I'm reclining at a 45 degree angle. Those four factors made her a very active child for the monitors. So...the nurses waited and waited and kept commenting on how she is such a busy baby (when, in reality, she had been sleeping a lot that day and was just catching up on her exercise). So...after 1 1/2 hours of sitting (changing positions) and waiting for her to settle down, they brought me supper. After I started eating, and drinking water, she began to relax. All the action looked great and her heartrate was fine during her active times, but they just needed to get her resting heart rate. I knew all along she just didn't like those monitors strapped so tightly to her...but, what ya gonna do. It turned into a lovely bonding time with the OB nurses. So, anyways, as of now we are set to be induced early Thursday morning! That is, if she doesn't decide to come before then. :)

Still Here!

Well, these are two members of the preggie club from church. :) Laurie and I are very ready to finally hold our babies...but the hard part is waiting! We decided to get a lovely last-week-of-pregnancy shot last night at the staff activity. Laurie was incredibly brave and even went to the tubing hill! :) Bring on the castor oil! :D