Lewis Randolph

If only babies were delivered by storks...

During your pregnancy you spend 9 months wondering, "What will my delivery be like?" You approach the time with excitement and nervousness. Many friends and strangers told me their birth story and gave me lots of advice, but since every delivery is different I really didn't know what to expect going into it.

It all started Sunday night after our church Christmas party. I went home that night feeling very nauseauted. I didn't think much of it and went to bed early. The next day I woke up still feeling sick to my stomach. I tried eating a little that day, but by 6pm I was feeling much worse. For some reason I still went with Tim to meet our friends, the Jiles, at Zaxby's. (bad idea) On the way home I leaned over to Tim and told him, "If you can get me home in 8 minutes I won't throw up in your car." Thankfully, we made it home just in time. By 7:30pm the contractions began. I stayed up till 1am with many visits to the restroom and painful contractions. The

frustrating thing was- the contractions never timed correctly. The contractions would be 2 mins apart then 3 mins then 9 mins then 5 mins then 7 mins and so on. Therefore, we decided to stay at home and go to my OBGYN's office first thing the next morning. That night was one of the worst I've had. I was extremely dehydrated, but I couldn't keep anything down. By 4am the contractions became extremely painful and the back labor began. Even though the contractions still weren't timing correctly I knew the baby was coming.

Finally 8 am arrived and I was feeling very anxious to leave for the doctors office. Well that night was the coldest night of the year with the temps in the teens... and our pipes froze! Not good when you are still throwing up. Lets just say we left the house very frustrated.

We made the drive to Opelika (35mins away) to the OBGYN. Once we arrived they put in an IV and gave me a bag of waters. Soon the doctor came in and checked my cervix- I was 4 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. My contractions still weren't timing correctly, but I was in labor. She stripped my membranes and sent me to the hospital. I couldn't believe it! I was so excited.

We were admitted around 10am. We got settled into our room, which was really nice and big. Tim and I decided to keep the news to ourselves at first. I didn't want any visitors while trying to focus. It was nice- just Tim and I.

I labored till 5pm without drugs and I received the epidural. My only regret was I didn't get it sooner! Tim and I were pretty miserable before the drugs and it was utterly peaceful once they kicked in. I was 7 centimeters dilated at this point.

Within the hour they broke my water. By 10:45pm it was time to start pushing! This was such a relief! I was so ready to finally meet our little boy. Tim was wonderful- he helped me push and talked me through it for 45 mins. We even watched it for awhile through a mirror- amazing! Now, I didn't watch the end part... I didn't want to see the tearing nor cutting. (ouch)

11:34pm Lewis Gregory Randolph was born! He weighed 9lbs. 10oz. and was 21 inches long! (big boy) It was such a miracle. I couldn't believe it, completely amazed at God's creation. They handed me Lewis and I put him on my chest! Tears welled up in my eyes.

(Tim cutting the cord!)

(Lewis under the warmer)

It was wonderful. We stayed at the hospital till Thursday night when we were discharged.

Since then life has been a blur. Tim and I asked my parents to wait till Christmas (1.5 weeks after lewis was born) to come visit. This was such a good idea! Now don't misunderstand me, we love my parents and were super happy for them to finally arrive. (I cried when they left.) We knew once we brought Lewis home there would be a lot of adjusting and we wanted to have time to make those adjustments.

It's been 2.5 weeks and we are doing well. Lewis is now 22 inches long and 10lbs. 2oz. He is growing so fast!

Positive Pregnancy

I am 39 Weeks pregnant and not feeling so beautiful. Last night I reached the point I've only heard about, but never experienced. "I AM READY TO NOT BE PREGNANT ANYMORE!" I understand this is very common and most women get to this point. Well I woke up this morning and decided I don't want to feel like this. I want to cherish the last few hours/days/weeks of having our son so close to me. So here I am... I am making a decision... I am going to be positive!

There are a few things I want to do before he comes into this world:

1. I will take a shower, do my hair and put on makeup everyday.

2. I will leave the house everyday and do something fun.

3. I will take pictures.

4. I will not stress if we go into labor and the dishes aren't done.

5. I will hang out with Tim as much as possible.

6. I will make sure to get good devotional time with God.

Well I hope you friends and family can encourage me in my efforts and spur me on towards positive days.

Inducing Labor

I am trying to induce my labor.... I know I'm only 38 weeks along, but I have a fear of being induced with drugs and I don't want to get to that point.

So far I have been trying:

1. Evening Primrose Oil and using it during Perennial Massages.

2. I'm drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea.

3. 'Keepin' it real' with my husband.

4. Eating spicy food (mexican for lunch and italian for dinner)

5. Lastly, I'm going for a LONG walk through the mall tonight after our italian dinner.

Any other suggestions? I don't ask for advice very often, because I feel as though I get it all the time whether I want it or not. So take this opportunity and give advice.

Funny things children say

Yesterday I was able to get out of the house and go grocery shopping. It was actually nice- I know grocery shopping, who likes to do that. Well I do. While walking (or waddling) down the isle at Publix I passed a mother with her two daughters 4 and 2. I noticed the 4 year old staring at my belly (which happens a lot). As I passed by, the little girl said, "Mommy, I think she ate too much." I literally laughed out loud. This was so precious... and it made my day.

This was not the first time this happened. Little kids especially between the ages of 3 and 5 are amazed by pregnant bellies.

Our nephew, Keegan, was very inquisitive when it came to my belly. Tim and I were running some errands with him in the back seat. On our way back home to eat dinner Keegan asked me, "Why are we eating? Is the baby hungry?" "Well yes, he's hungry and so am I," I said. "Won't the food hit the baby?" Keegan asked."

Lastly, while I was over at a friends house, I noticed her 4 year old boy wouldn't come into the same room as me. In fact, he would stand in another room behind a chair and peak out to stare. I thought maybe he didn't like me, but as it turns out he only wanted to observe me. Later my friend told me I am the first woman he's seen go from skinny to a big belly. This weird phenomenon brought on many questions for his parents, such as: Where do babies come from? How is the baby going to get out of there?

These are some of my favorite memories from pregnancy.

Saran Wrap, Olive Oil and a very pregnant belly

Last night I went into the kitchen opened the bottle of extra virgin olive oil and rubbed it all over my belly, then wrapped the belly with Saran Wrap. You're probably saying, "What?!?"

Well let's back up a few days... I am 99% positive I have PUPPS (check it out here: http://dermatology.about.com/cs/pregnancy/a/puppp.htm ). Anyway, I have a friend who was also lucky enough to experience it. After one night of sleeplessness I was at my wits end and called my good friend for some sleep advice. She suggested the olive oil and saran wrap; therefore, I gave it a try last night. Oh boy did it burn! I guess everyone's skin is different, but after 10 mins of it I tore off the wrap and breathed a sigh of relief.

So I'm not sure what the moral of the story is. I am very grateful for the advice and I wish it would have worked. For my friend the olive oil kept her skin moisturized and the saran wrap blocked the tickling air from her skin and allowed her to sleep. Thankfully, modern medicine has created Tylenol PM... which I took and slept much better than the night before.

For those of you wondering... we go to the OB on Tuesday for the official diagnosis. I will let you know if it really is PUPPS.

Christmas at Home

Tim and I have been married for 5 Christmas' and just after our first son is born we will celebrate our first at home. We usually go home for the holiday's, either to Ohio or Kansas, which is always wonderful. It's kind of sad not traveling to be with family for the holiday's, but last night made everything exciting.

What did we do last night? Well we put up our Christmas tree, which we've never done before. We carefully unwrapped each ornament reminiscing as we went along. We hung the stockings (yes, our son has one too) and we put up a few lights outside. Once we finished we took a step back and admired our work.

Therefore, I am looking forward to this next month. It will be full of a lot of firsts for us.

Tell me, what are you looking forward to this Christmas Season?

He can come now

Thanksgiving is over... the turkey has been stuffed, cooked, and eaten- our son can now come into the world and I'm not going to freak out. For the past two weeks I have been trying to rest and not work out to hold him off. When I informed my OB of this- he just laughed at me.

The good news is I'm finally HALF a centimeter dilated- don't laugh. I know it is barely anything, but it's super exciting for me.

That's all I have to say for tonight.

joys of being a consumer

Since our baby's due date is just 5 weeks away we are trying to get everything installed and put up before he comes. Well yesterday we decided to install the car seat and put the stroller in the trunk. Well never in my wildest dreams did I imagine our stroller wouldn't fit into the trunk. :(

Tim and I discovered the only way to make it fit is to remove the back two tires. This is very sad to me. The last thing I want to do is to take off the tires and put them back on each time I want to use my stroller. The other problem is I love our stroller... I would rather trade in my car than trade in my stroller.

Filling the Love Bank

I love to show Tim I love him. One of the best ways I can do this is to cook dinner and occasionally surprise him with breakfast in the morning. Since our son is due in 6 weeks and I know dinner will be less than great for awhile I'm trying to fill his love bank until it's spilling over. Dinner is my weak point. I HATE, I HATE, I REALLY HATE making a menu for the week. It usually takes me 2 hours and I second guess everything I pick. I say this to explain how big of a feat this was for me. In September I set out to make a new dinner every night until the baby came. So far this has gone pretty well. I've actually enjoyed this new adventure and I've discovered that I could do things I never thought I could. Yes, we've had a few not so good meals, but so far they've all been edible.

If you know of any good recipes or good websites I could visit for some inspiration please share.

The one I usually use is www.allrecipes.com

Pregnancy

It has been a very long time since I last posted. A dear friend, Cristen Kirksey, informed me that I needed to take up blogging again. 

Tim and I are pregnant! I'm 26 weeks to be exact. Our son is due December 16th; although, I have a feeling he'll be a little early. My last two visits to the OBGYN I was measuring 2 weeks ahead. 

Pregnancy has made me very aware of my body and it's many changes. It seems that everyday my bellybutton pops out a little more, my skin is either itchy or burning, and my feet are usually swelling. It has made me a little 'self-involved'. Thankfully, Tim has been very patient and even enjoys hearing about the new changes. 

Well maybe this is the beginning of something new... we shall see.