Austin's Birth Story

I already wrote a very detailed description of this in a journal of letters I am keeping for my son to give him when he is grown so I will keep this post about his birth (relatively) brief.

I went to work on Friday, April 13 feeling sad and depressed. It was my last day of work. I cried my eyes out with my students when I told them I wouldn't be coming back next year. I drove home feeling somber and thoughtful.

Mark and I decided to go on a garden themed date that night. We planted the starter seeds for our garden and went to Olive Garden to eat. It was so much fun. At Olive Garden our young waitress took some extra time with us. She asked me when I was due and said she was 10 weeks along and so excited. I think she just wanted someone to talk to :) It was sweet. After dinner we went to the mall to just walk around and then we went home. We talked about how we were going to sleep in on Saturday and go grocery shopping and clean the house and get everything all ready for our moms to get there and just enjoy the day. Just before I went to bed my sister called. I asked her how she knew she was going into labor. She said simply "My water broke." Well three hours later at 1:45 AM mine did too.

I was laying in bed and I woke up feeling like I needed to go to the restroom. I didn't want to get up so I just laid there determining if I really needed to go or if I could hold it and go back to sleep. I decided I was just going to hold it when I felt a trickle. I jumped out of bed thinking I must REALLY need to go. So I went to the bathroom. In the bathroom I looked down and realized my pjs were wet. Then I felt another trickle from.... well... you know. I thought to myself "Did my water just break?" I waited to see if I was feeling any contractions. I wasn't. So I grabbed a towel and went downstairs to google water breaking but no contractions. Then I felt a HUGE gush and there was no question in my mind what had happened. But I wasn't having contractions.

So I went and woke up Mark and called the doctor. They said to go right to the hospital. We didn't have our bags packed or anything. So we looked up online what to pack in a hospital bag and packed one really quickly. Then we stopped at Walgreens to get Mark some snacks. Then we headed over to the hospital. They checked us in and hooked me up to all the monitors and and IV. They started me on Pitocin within 30 minutes. Unfortunately Austin and the pitocin did not get along. I did start having contractions. They were uncomfortable and pretty close together but they were not very strong and every time I did have one Austin's heart rate would go down into the 60s. The doctor was never able to turn the pitocin up high enough to get me to go into active labor. After 9 hours of trying to get me to go into labor they turned off the pitocin and said the doctor would be in shortly. I knew Dr. V would be advising us to have a c-section. Mark and I had a good long talk about it before the doctor arrived and we decided we would go ahead with it if that was advised. It was and we did.

It was a whirlwind after that. Between the time the doctor came in to talk to us and the time Austin was born was about 45 minutes or maybe even less. They unhooked the pitocin, put me into a wheelchair, wheeled me into the operating room, gave me a spinal tap, laid me down on the table, did the surgery, and Austin was here.

He was so loud! I was so relieved to hear his little cry. I just laid on that table in tears. There was this WONDERFUL nurse anesthetist who stayed with me the whole time. She held my other hand (that Mark wasn't holding) and told me everything that was going on. She told me when the incision had been made and took pictures for Mark and I. She was wonderful.

Mark got to cut the umbilical cord while I watched. It was really hard for me to watch everyone else handling my baby while I laid on the table just waiting. Mark brought him over so I could touch his little face. I couldn't hold him until they finished the surgery. After they sewed me up and moved me into a recovery bed they finally let me hold my new son.

The whole thing was relatively painless and very peaceful. I never went into true labor so I was relaxed and comfortable the entire time. The hospital stay was really nice. The nurses were fantastic. Unfortunately recovery has been difficult. It has been almost two weeks and I can still hardly walk without sharp abdominal pain at the incision site. Hopefully that will go away in a few more weeks.

Austin eats and sleeps like a little champ. He is becoming more alert each day and opens his eyes more and more. We love him more than we ever believed possible. Parenting is such a gift and blessing. It is hard and I have already had hard moments, but the sweetness more than makes up for it

He is the most beautiful baby. I love him so much. I love being a mother. I love being his mother. I just can't get enough of that sweet little face.

Link Up!

I know it is vain to assume that people actually read this blog but I think there are a few who read it every now and then. To those who may read it I have this AWESOME friend and her husband, Emily and Richard, who are trying to build their family through adoption. I have a link to their blog on the left side of my blog.

If you wouldn't mind taking a look and then maybe putting a link from your blog to their blog too that would be wonderful. I know you don't know them, but if the people who know you could visit their blog via your blog and so on more and more people would be able to see their blog.

Adoption is about word of mouth so if you could help spread the word by just posting this little link on your blog that this AWESOME couple is looking to adopt that would be wonderful.

Political Statements

I have pretty strong opinions when it comes to politics. I usually keep them to myself or share them with my husband only. Typically I do not share them with family or friends. I NEVER share my political leanings on facebook. I never comment on news articles. I find myself aggravated by the overt rudeness of so many people who do. It is like the anonymity of the internet somehow makes it okay for people to say in a public place what they would NEVER say to someone's face. I wish people were more considerate and polite. I wish there were etiquette rules people would follow. But I digress.

I definitely consider myself a moderate. I am neither staunchly liberal nor ultra conservative. I actually think most people fall into the moderate category with a slight leaning in one direction or the other. It depends on the issue for me (and for most I imagine).

I am tired of the republican primary. I am thankful it is almost over. I am looking forward to the general election. And I wonder who I will vote for...

At first I thought President Obama was doing an okay job. At least I do not think he was horrible. In fact, beyond the healthcare law (which I oppose), I do not think he has actually done much at all. With such an abysmal congress, especially these last two years, he has shown himself to be a pretty weak president I think. And as the election draws nearer I find myself less and less impressed with his statements and campaigning tactics.

So I wonder who I will vote for... I feel pretty confident Romney will get the Republican nomination. And I think it is kind of cool that the general election is going to come down to a Mormon and a Black Man. That would NOT have happened even 40 or 50 years ago.

Romney certainly has not won me over. But Obama is kind of pushing me away these days, especially with his comments about the Supreme Court.

November will be an interesting election. At least for me.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

It looks like Christmas morning over here in North Carolina the Bailey house and not because of the weather either! My house is covered in plastic wrappings, boxes, and paper. Christmas!

I can't believe this whole nesting business. The anxiety I have about having everything perfectly ready to go is almost more than I can handle. It is just this feeling of urgency and anxiety and every time I get one more thing done it is momentarily relieved until I start worrying about the next thing I want to get done. I just have to laugh at myself.

So back to the whole Christmas business. Mark and I subscribed to Amazon Prime. We got a student discount which is awesome. We decided to go with it because we can order Austin's diapers online from Amazon mom for a good price. Since we subscribed we have gotten nearly everything we were not given from Amazon. We will be getting a package (or multiple packages) every single day this week. Yesterday we got two. Today we got four. It feels like Christmas! The UPS man is going to be tired of us by the end of the week! But we never have to pay shipping so I don't stress about getting it all in one order.

It has been awesome and SO fun to shop for things for Austin! I made myself a wish list of items a while ago and I am finally getting around to getting most of them. Here are a few things that we have gotten/ordered. Some came from Amazon and some I got at Wal-Mart or other shops:

• New camera! 
• It is a point and shoot but it also takes full HD video and it is AWESOME (It came yesterday!)
• New bookshelf! 
• Mark put it up for me in Austin's room yesterday. It was the last thing the room needed. Now it is perfect!
• Baskets! 
• I got some blue lined wicker baskets to organize a few things on Austin's new bookshelf and changing table. They look awesome and are functional too!
• Bouncer!
• We couldn't decide between a swing and a bouncer but went with the bouncer in the end. We'll borrow a swing and see if we like it too before we purchase one.
• Nursing... accoutrements 
• I won't go into detail. Let's just say I got what I needed :)
• Diaper Pail!
• It is simple and uses grocery bags. But it will get the job done!
• Smokey Joe 14 inch Charcoal Grill!
• Not for Austin, for Daddy. He took Step One on Saturday and I am so proud of him. It is his little reward. We are super excited to grill on it this summer!

So there you have it. Those things have all arrived. We are now just waiting on a baby monitor and a few more... accoutrements. Merry Christmas/Nesting/Getting ready for a new phase in our lives to us!

And a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family who have been SO, so generous to us at this time. We can't thank you enough for everything you have given to us in the way of gifts for Austin and love and support as we anticipate his arrival! Thank you!

Conference Notes

How do I judge other people? Think about it as you rewatch Elder Uchtdorf's talk.

As for helping your friends, don't stew over it. Don't worry about offending them. Just do it. Call and set up a time. Say what you intend to do and just do it. And if they get offended, don't YOU be offended. Don't judge them.