Pictures From The Hospital

mama and baby



Ben preparing to "assist" with the C-Section...
"assist"=hold my hand...which he did a wonderful job of


Our precious baby girl


Daddy and baby just after delivery


Ben's first diaper change...he did a great job!


All wrapped up

What the heck?

Why did no one tell me that having a newborn is SO much work? I mean, yeah, people always jokingly say, "oh, get ready for no sleep, and poopy diapers every 20 minutes," but I never took them literally. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not completely naive. I knew that there would be nights with not very much sleep, but I didn't know it would be EVERY NIGHT!!!
I have chosen to breastfeed, and I don't know how you other breastfeeding mothers out there stayed sane through the chaos! It is SO hard. It's uncomfortable, and a little inconvenient. For example...Thursday was the return of our favorite TV show, "The Office" (if you don't watch it, you should!) My parents and my sister and her boyfriend and Ben and I were all sitting down at 9pm sharp to watch, when Samantha decides that she's starving all of a sudden. Of course, this is my parents house and there is company over, so I had to go into the other room to breastfeed...AHHHH! My wonderful husband was so amazing and came into the other room with me so that we could watch it together later (thank goodness for DVRs) But still, no one else can feed her but me. I can't give her a bottle with pumped milk until she's about a month old and regular feeding is well established, she eats every 2-3 hours, sometimes she eats every hour on the hour...it's INSANE!
I feel like I haven't talked to my husband in days...and he's been right here the whole time. New babies are just so consuming that it feels like Samantha is the only other person in my life right now... Don't misunderstand me...I love her so much and it's totally worth anything that I might have to sacrifice to have a happy, healthy baby, but it's just a lot of work.

...A little more than I was expecting!

She's Here!

She's finally here! Samantha Elizabeth Russell arrived on April 1st at 6pm. I was in labor from 9pm on Monday night until 5pm on Tuesday when my doctor decided that she wasn't progressing AT ALL! (for those of you who know anything about labor, I hadn't dilated past a 1 that whole time). The doctor decided to do a C-section at around 5pm and she was born at 6. It was pretty crazy but it was so worth it. Ben and I have an absolutely perfect little baby girl. We are extremely sleep-deprived, but so so so happy to have her finally here!

More pictures to follow later...

So Close...Yet, So Far

So today is Sunday...that means tomorrow I will be at week 41, which for those of you who don't know, means that I will be one ENTIRE week past my due date! Tomorrow is also Monday, which means that if I don't go into labor between now and 9pm tomorrow evening...The Doc is going to put me out of my misery (or at least start to) with pretend hormones and drugs...Yeah for modern medicine!

I am SUPER anxious today and I know I will be even more tomorrow. I have a doctor appointment in the morning and then am scheduled to go to the hospital tomorrow night... The doctor did say that they would give me some meds to help me sleep through the night, which is awesome because that's definitely the only way I'll be sleeping.

It's crazy to think that in the next couple of days, Ben and I are going to become parents! I'm really excited and I think Ben is even more excited than me (of course, he also doesn't have to go through labor). I know that God is watching over us and Samantha. If anyone reads this...please keep Ben, me and Samantha in your prayers. Samantha to be safe and healthy, for me to have strength and be at peace with delivery, and for Ben to not say or do things to make me want to yell at him :) He will be awesome, I already know it!

I guess the next time I blog will be after I am a mother...holy cow!

4 Days...Late!

Okay...I was due on Monday and it's Thursday afternoon? What's the deal? I know, I know, only like .5% of women (or something crazy like that) give birth on their actual due date...but really, we're going on 10 months here! Come on Sam!

I went to the Doctor today and he said nothing has changed. I had another ultrasound, and it looks like Samantha is perfectly healthy and perfectly content inside the womb and just doesn't want to come out! I can't really blame her, I mean, the world is pretty crazy these days...but enough is enough.

It looks like I will be getting induced on Monday evening/Tuesday morning...go figure...an April Fool's Baby! Pretty darn funny huh?!?

1 Day and Counting

So, yesterday was my due date...still no Samantha! At my doctor appointment last Friday, my doc told me that NOTHING had changed. She set me up for an ultrasound and an exam for Thursday with a different doctor (she's on vacation this week!) Then, if I still haven't gone into labor by Monday, they will induce me Monday night/Tuesday morning. From what I've been reading, inducing labor is a rather scary thing. My doctor even said she really hates to do it to women with 1st time pregnancies because it's very traumatic on the body. I was reading a forum online, and these women were saying that getting induced is really painful and there is a much higher chance of having a C-section. Oh great! I know that I'm in for a pretty long labor experience anyway, and I know I'll get through it. Thousands of babies are born in this country every day. It's just the whole fear of the unknown thing...I've never been through anything like this before and that is what scares me...

That and all of a sudden becoming responsible for another human being...pretty intense!

We're Still Waiting...

Well, my goal of writing once-a-week hasn't really worked out so much. As most of you know, Ben and I are staying in Tillamook with the folks. My dad decided that he was sick of the phone company (with good reason) and cancelled the home phone and DSL internet...We are now patiently waiting for the nice New Internet company to come hook it up so that we can all be "connected" to the world once more.
Anyhow, Samantha STILL isn't here... My due date is in 2 days! I know that the majority of 1st time pregnancies are "late" but I'm tired of waiting! I'm not looking forward to the whole giving birth part of the process but I do want to have a little baby girl to hold and I kind of want my body back to myself. I know, I'm selfish, but I've shared it with another human being for 9 1/2 months now, I think it's time for her to have her own space!

I have a doctor appointment today, so we'll see what she has to say...I really don't feel any different than I did last week (when nothing was happening) so I'm not getting my hopes up. Only time will tell.