Christmas Cutie

Ila in her Christmas dress her daddy bought her. She had just had a bath so her hair looks curly. She's so cute if I do say so myself!

Christmas Recap

We had an awesome Christmas. So many things this year were special. It was Ila's first Christmas and she showed as much excitement as a jellyfish. She was way more interested in filling her belly. My mom, Sarah, Tad, and Paisley came and stayed for 2 weeks! I have always been really lonely at Christmas time since the move to Maryland but this year was fabulous!! Too bad I didn't get to see Ben, Lexi, and Sariah or Jesse and Amie. Another year though hopefully.
We had a huge snowstorm the week before Christmas. We had snow up to our hips almost. It was really beautiful and nice to have a chance to stay home and enjoy the season. (Andrew got to take a break from Christmas Lights and spend it with the girls) It was so fun celebrating Christmas with my family and Ila. Paisley loved her new cousin and was very interested in her. They got matching pajamas on Christmas Eve and I think they both enjoyed being twinners!! Which is just the beginning of their matching outfits I'm sure. We even ventured out of the house at one point to the best place in Maryland which is of course THE RIBBON OUTLET. This happened to be one of Ila's first shopping trips (of course, where else would she need to go but there). Sarah and my mom can't come to visit me without an excursion there. And of course we had a wonderful time and found many great deals on ribbon.
Andrew and Tad made sure to escape the girls as much as possible. They went to a Red Skins game and college basketball games and kept us loaded with food. We had an awesome time wth them all her and they are always welcome to come and stay for 2 weeks or forever!!!

TWINNERS!!!

Grandma and 2 of her girls

I know you can't see Paisley's face but I love how interested she is in Ila

Ila in her Christmas giddy up from Grandma

JoY!!!

I have been wanting to write about the arrival of Ila Joy for a while now but with my more desperate need for sleep this post was put on the back burner. I finally feel a bit more normal now and thought I would get her joyous arrival down in words. Sorry this post is so long but it was a long 2 days!!!
My due date was November 21 and since I have a bizarre condition that requires frequent monitoring of both me and the baby the doctors decided it was in our best interest to not go past the due date. I was scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 6am that morning but we were to first call two hours ahead of time to insure a spot. So of course I could hardly sleep that night, worried both about the delivery and making sure I didn't over sleep and miss our chance at a good time slot. I dutifully called at 4am and the nurse acted like I was a moron for calling so early. I looked at my paper that the doctor's office had given me hopng that in fact I wasn't a moron and it said " your scheduled time is 6am but please call two hours prior to insure that there is room for you". The nurse said that that must have been a mistake because nobody came in before 8am. She told us to just come in then. I tried to go back to sleep (which of course proved impossible). We finally got to the hospital at 8am and were put in a delivery room. We waited for two and a half hours before a nurse finally came in and explained what our induction procedure would be. Apparently they had had a busy night. There were 12 baby girls and 2 boys in the nursery from the night before. At 12:00pm they gave me a pill that was supposed to dialate the cervix and bring on contractions. I had to lay around for a few hours before they checked me again. Very little progress had been made and at 7:00pm they gave me another dose. I was starting to have frequent but no super intense contractions. They checked me at 1am and no progress had been made. I was so frustrated and extremely exhausted. I went to the bathroom and started crying and could hardly stop. The nurse told me that I should just get the epidural now since I was planning on it anyway so I could get some sleep and be ready for pushing. I was worried that it would wear off if I got it too soon but she insured me that it wouldn't. So after I got it I slept until the next morning and they checked be at about 9am and said it was time to start getting ready to push. At 10am I started pushing. At this point I could tell when a contraction was coming but wasn't in any real pain. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I soon started vomiting and shaking and was so exhausted I could hardly muster up another push. We tried all sorts of ways to push. On my sides, with the hand holds, and finally they brought out the birthing bar and a bed sheet. It was really old school but it seemed to help. I was making really slow progress. For every push I gave the baby would move down a bit and then go back a bit. They started to be concerned that her cord was wrapped around her neck. Andrew and my sister Sarah were my coaches. They were really a good support team. I was really frustrated at this point because I was trying to push like the nurses wanted but whenever I did a wrong push is when they shouted that that was a great push. They decided to turn off the epidural so I could feel when to push a bit better. I think they thought I was going to deliver sooner because by the time I got down to the final pushes the epidural had worn off on one side of my body and I could feel everything pretty well. I hadn't planned on this and was not prepared to manage the pain ( I really was in no state of mind to try either) The nurses and Andrew and Sarah kept saying how much hair the baby had so I decided to get a mirror to see, which was an interesting choice. Soon after that the doctor came in and we got down to the real business. Ila finally showed her pretty face (almost 2.5 hours later) and we realized the cord wasn't around her neck but that she was face up. Her posterior presentation had caused the slow progress.

She let out 5 squaks and Andrew got to cut the cord which sprayed him and the doctor with blood. They took her right over to the neonatal team that had been called and they checked her out. My sister said that she had a huge cone head. I could barely see her. The nurses were pumping me full of pain meds so the doctor could sew me up because the epidural was basically gone. The meds made me extremely sleepy. When the baby finally got to come over I held her for a little bit and turned to my sister and said "You've got to take her, I'm falling asleep." Sarah grabbed her and I was out cold.
We were able to bond after she was bathed and I had had a brief nap. Andrew was such a proud papa. I was so glad to have him and Sarah at the delivery. They both have personality traits that helped me to feel encouraged and supported. Ila is such a beautiful baby, and it is true what everyone says about the flood of love that comes over you towards that new baby. She has a really sweet disposition so far and already is starting to show a bit of personality. We are so happy to have her in our home. She has filled our hearts with JoY!!!

New Arrival

Our baby girl arrived on November 22, 2009 at 12:20pm after about 24 hours of labor. She weighed 7lbs. 15oz. and was 20.25in. long. We named her Ila Joy. She has gobs of dark brown hair and is just beautiful. I will post more pictures and such later but I just wanted to put up our happy news. We are so glad she is here!!

Hostesses with the Mostess

Last week my good friend Sara and her mother, Calleen, threw me a baby shower! It was so fun and they went to so much work. They had their house decorated all in pink. On the front door there was a little clothesline of baby socks and when you came in there was this amazing diaper cake that Calleen made. The picture does not do it justice. It is so cute! Pinks balloons, pink punch, pink dishes and pink cupcakes were enjoyed by all. They served delicious food- chicken salad sandwiches, walnut salad, veggies, scrumptious desserts, and this fabulous pink punch. I need to get the recipe for it. Yummy. I received a lot of really nice gifts. Everyone was so generous and I am so grateful to everyone that came. I have to say this little girl is spoiled rotten already. She is going to be so fashionable. Little girl clothes are the best!! I can see myself making up reasons to change her so I can put her in all the cute outfits in one day. Thank you Sara and Calleen for such a wonderful baby shower!
I can't mention this party without mentioning a party my sister threw for me a few months ago while I was in Utah. My sister Sarah threw me a little shower with my friends and family that are out there in Zion still. She went to so much work as well. Sadly enough I have no pictures of the event. Hence why I haven't blogged about it before. (I need pictures to create a post..) She served some delicious food and had her place decorated so cute as well. Her house is decorated all in pink already and her husband doesn't even mind, if you can beleive that! Anyway it is perfect for a baby girl party. We got Paisley all dressed up and when people started coming she thought the party was for her. It was so cute and we all know everyone really came to see Paisley anyway:) I got some great gifts then as well and am really appreciative of everyone that made the effort to come. It was a busy time for a lot of people.

Thanks Hostesses! I had so much fun and you are so loved by me and Baby Girl Pratt!!

The Final Countdown

Here I am in all by big belly glory! I am 35 weeks and 3 days along. Which means I only have 32 days until due-day! I've hardly blogged about my pregnancy and I don't know why. Technically I have felt really great throughout the whole thing (so far:)and have really enjoyed being pregnant. The last couple of weeks I was getting discouraged/ aggitated/ anxious/ nervous but I went to one of my doctor's appointments yesterday and for some reason I felt so much better afterwards.
I can't wait until this little girl gets here! It has been so much fun getting ready for a baby. My mom and sister have been spoiling her rotten already. I will have to post pictures of the amazing blankets they have been busy making. My mother-in-law has painted a tree on our nursery wall and it turned out perfect. I am still trying to finish up the nursery so pictures will be coming soon.
I will say for me the hardest part of being pregnant has been the loss of my mind. I can't remember anything and trying to figure out projects has become really frustrating. I hear that this will get a little better after breastfeeding but then only get worse with each additional child. AAHHH!!

pAisLEy

Paisley and Sarah and Tad now have a blog! Check it out at princesspiccolina.blogpot.com
You can learn all about Paisley's disorder and her progress. You can also see the cute things her mom makes her to wear (like the petti skirt she is wearing in the picture) and all of the fun things the Tidwells do. So here's to the Princess!!!