Home for the New Year!

We are very happy to be home with our new little girl, our big sister Zoe and our puppy! Everyone is getting along wonderfully and Chris and I made sure to spend time individually with Zoe today. Abby loves when Zoe sings, it's the only thing that distracts her when she wants to eat.

Thank you all so much for your comments, texts and calls in the last few days. Chris and I are really lucky to have such a wonderful support system of friends and family!

We spent most of the day just trying to settle in and figure out where everything and everyone goes. Everyone is asleep right now so I am going to take that famous advice and sleep while babies are sleeping. We took some more pictures today and I will post them in the morning (or more likely at like 3 am)

Oh way home

Yay!


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This baby has her days and nights mixed up!

I can't sleep anyway, I can't stop thinking about how amazing my life is and how lucky I am.

Posted by Melissa



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More

Hospital Pictures

Big girls do cry! And eat a lot!

Abby eats a lot! She's doing great, and Zoe thought she was pretty awesome.

Here is a picture of the flowers daddy and Zoe got for me. I thought the thank you card was so sweet.




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Massage

After a nine pound baby she deserves it!



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Whoo hoo

I have the best husband ever because I am about to get an in room postnatal massage!!

Melissa




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Visitors

Abbys big sister and pop came to visit.


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Abbys first morining

Abby is up and very playful right now. She loves to eat which is good because of her size. She definitely is not acting like she is less then 24hours old. She has been picking up her head to look around, and even tries to get her legs underneath her when she is on her belly, like she's gonna crawl away.


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Back from the doctor.

Abby just saw her pediatrician for the first time and he says she is doing great!




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Abby wants to go home!

The people in the hospital are driving her insane! They keep coming in bothering her. We are trying to get some sleep and have been doing well feeding her. She has opened her eyes and had a few periods of alertness, these are really fun. She hates being put down already, and Chris is accomodating that!




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Bath time

Abbys first shapoo.

Getting warmed up after her first bath, face is a little bruised.


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Mommy is doing great!

Up walking around already


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Sleeping

Lasted two hours before passing out.


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Pics

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9 pounds!

Hurray for mommy!


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She's here!

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She's coming

9-10 cm... Getting into position.

Starting to push

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Not much longer

Contractions are really going now. 6cm dialated, and a strong sense to push. Mommy is in very good mood, everything is going great.



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Getting there

5-6cm dialated and completely effaced. Shouldn't be very long now.



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Waiting

Contractions have subsided a little and we are up to 18ml of pitocin, 3cm dialated, 80% affaced. Just playing the waiting game.


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Contractions

Good strong contractions on the monitor, last check was 2-3cm.



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Epidural

Epidural is in, doctor was awesome she didn't feel a thing. Contractions are getting stronger. Pitocin has been upped to 12ml.

Below are pictures the baby table.











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Contractions are here

Contractions are here and they are getting pretty strong and very regular. Pitocin is at 10ml, epidural is on the way. Video below.

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Water is broken

The good doctor just came in and broke the water. Now we're starting to have some contractions, and the nurse is busy setting up the room to have it all ready. Epidural is being ordered. Still 1-2cm dilated.


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Even more pitocin

Just upped the pitocin to 6ml. No contractions yet, nurse says that the baby looks really good. On the monitor you can hear her swimming laps in there!


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More pitocin

No contractions yet, just upped the pitocin from 2ml to 4ml, so we'll wait and see. Mommy is going to try to take a little nap, she's tired and didn't get much sleep last night.


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Quick update

Just playing the waiting game now, no contractions yet.

Funny thing, Kevin Smith was in the area and dropped by to say hey.




Ahhh... 99 cent app, hours of entertainment.

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Checking in

I figured I would say hello while I am still cognizant!

I am feeling great and Chris is keeping me very entertained. I am jealous of his coffee. We have really awesome nurses so far, which is a huge relief because they are really the ones that do all the work.

They keep telling me to get the epidural the second I feel anything!

Melissa




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Pitocin time

Pitocin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin

They just started the pitocin iv at a low rate so hopefully something will start happening here soon. The contraction monitor has still been mostly flat so far, it'll be interesting to see how the pitocin effects her. Doc checked the cervix and it's still about 1.5 cm. He says he'll break the water in about an hour or so.


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Location:N Mac Dill Ave,Tampa,United States

Mommy in the bed

Goodmorning Zoe!!!


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Location:N Mac Dill Ave,Tampa,United States

All wired up

All the doo-dads are hooked up, and getting some fluids into mommy. Below is a video of what the monitor looks and sounds like, as always it awesome to hear her little heart beat.

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iv

Nurse is in here setting up the monitors and iv. Mommy is happy but still a little tired, didn't get much sleep last night.

Just giving her some fluids for now, nurse siad they should start the pitocin in about 30 minutes.


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Got our room!

Finally got called back to our delivery room, which almost seems to be too nice of a room to accomodate what is about to happen in here.... Pics below.















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We're here

Saint Joe's womens hospital at 0540 in the morning, this will be our home for the next day or so.

























I know no one else us up right now to read this, but I'll try to do a running blog of events... Right now we are still in lobby waiting to be called back.

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Little more info..

Yes, so I was terribly remiss about updating this blog in the last nine months. It's very easy to sit down and do when Chris is gone, but when he is home I get so caught up in living life that I sometimes forget to document it!

The new baby is a girl, we found out the gender, couldn't help ourselves. Her name is going to be Abigail Bobby Hall, which Zoe essentially chose with some help from Chris's sister. It means "her father's grace" and is a character on Sesame Street. The middle name is after Chris's grandmother who he was very close to. We have been calling her Abby for months now, so it's essentially a done deal!

The other big news is that she is HUGE. As in was already nine pounds two weeks ago. My husband and mother have been infinitely patient with the fact that her size has caused near constant contractions for the past month. They show up on the monitors, they are big, they are there, they are just doing....NOTHING! So sometimes things get a little exciting and then just peter out. We have had a few false alarms, like the one last night where we spent several hours at the hospital getting fluids and anti nausea medications with my poor mother asleep on the couch in our living room and my poor husband in an uncomfortable chair in the triage unit at St Joe's. Don't know what I would do without them, honestly.

So Monday morning at 6:15 am we head in for induction, and hopefully all will go well and be over with soon. I think everyone is ready for this pregnancy to be OVER. Chris plans to keep this updated in real time during the delivery, and he is a LOT better about following up then I am.

Thanks for all the well wishes from everyone! Can't wait to post some pictures of our new baby here.

Going home

No baby tonight... We'll see if she can wait till Monday.

Goodnight :)

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While we wait

Everyone can enjoy Zoe and her new bike.

Update

Nine months later... New hospital, Saint Joseph instead of Brandon, thank god because tonight is the third time we've had to come in thinking that the baby is coming.

We are here because of intense contractions, and other signs that point to labor. My plan is to pick up this blog for the time we are at the hospital. If we get sent home again tonight be sire to check back Monday morning as we have a scheduled induction then.

Will update with more news.

Christopher