Abby's birth

My induction date and time was set for May 2 at 5am. On May 1, Noah woke up puking. I was so mad - not only had my house been cleaned and sanitized about 3 times that week in preparation for the baby - but I didn't want to deal with a sick child and a newborn together. I wondered if Noah would even be able to see the baby when she was born. I kept Noah in his room and played movies for him from the laptop. Luckily, his sickness didn't last long.

I was so excited to have a baby and be done with pregnancy! We loaded the car and dropped Noah off with Grandma Vicki that night, then tried to get some sleep before waking up REALLY early to get to the hospital. At 3:30am, we got a call from the hospital saying they didn't have any beds available. I was SO upset! I didn't know if it would be postponed by hours or days. Russ stayed home from work that day, so it was nice to have lunch together even though the whole time we watched our phones and were bugged that the hospital wasn't calling us back! 

Finally at 9:15 that night, we received a call that there was a bed available if we could get there within an hour. We were dropping Noah off at Grandma Vicki's at the time. We hurried home so that I could shower and feel refreshed before starting the induction. I had a stomach ache and was feeling a little bit nervous about what was to come. This is the last picture I have of Abby inside of me - thank goodness! I look like (and felt like) I was going to pop!

Russ said a really sweet prayer with the 2 of us before leaving to the hospital and it helped to calm my nerves a little. We got to the hospital around 10:30 and after all the initial paperwork was done, I was checked and dilated to a 4. I was started on pitocin at midnight (May 3rd). Before that had even started, I remember telling the nurse that I was having a bad pain and she looked at the monitor and said "yep, you're having a contraction". I'm still confused about that and wondering if I would have started labor on my own! That whole night was so uncomfortable. I was feeling claustrophobic, itchy from the gel on my stomach, and like I was going to pee my pants every 15 minutes or so. Not to mention the contractions I felt up until the time I requested an epidural. I looked over at the couch beside me and thought "must be nice".

 Once I got the epidural, I felt so much more relaxed. My mom and sisters were all wanting to be there for the birth so Russ and I kept in contact with them through the night. Around 4:30am I remember being excited because the morning news was starting which meant there would be more interesting things to watch on tv! I couldn't sleep that night and was so bored. The next morning, I was worn out - I had been awake for so many hours - once my family was starting to get there, I couldn't stay awake!

Once things had progressed far enough for the nurse to tell me "it's time to start pushing", I got so scared. I was nervous about having enough strength to do it because I was so exhausted. I cried and wanted to postpone things until after I could take a nap but I knew that wasn't an option. Having Russ there holding my hand made me feel a little bit better.

I loved having my mom and sisters there to share the special day with us!

Russ is always making us laugh! Here he is ready to catch the baby.

This picture must have been taken during my pushing! I felt like I pushed for much longer than I had with Noah's birth. (By the way, my mom is holding Davis in this picture. He got to be there too!)

Finally... at 10:51am, our sweet baby girl was born.

She was the most perfect baby.

I couldn't say much about her through my crying but I instantly loved her so much. Her cry was the sweetest cry - kind of soft and quiet like she was trying to be a good girl :)

I like this picture for all the camera action!

Proud parents with our sweetest new baby :)

She was measured to weigh 8 lbs, 2 oz - and her length was 21.5"

My sisters caught her grabbing the nurse's tools on camera. She still (at 5 weeks when I'm writing this down) reaches up for something to hold and grabs whatever she can find - especially when she's getting her diaper changed - we hold our hands out and she always finds a finger to hold pretty quickly!

footprints

Russ got emotional on us after everything settled down. Our nurse Donna told my sisters they needed to get this on camera! haha. I have such a sweet husband.

This was our nurse Donna. She kept everyone in the room cracking up! Her and Russ made a good team helping me to push the baby out! (Don't mind my swollen face.)

Noah and Russ sadly had to miss going on the father & son's campout together which fell on the same day Abby was born, so some friends in the ward (the Cullimores) offered to take Noah with his friend and their son, David. Grandma Price picked him up from school and brought him to the hospital to see Abby right before it was time for him to leave town. So here he is meeting his baby sister for the first time when she was about an hour or less old! He was a little bit quiet and wasn't ready to hold her yet.

Grandma Price's first time to meet Abby

The 3 people I love more than anything!!

It looks like Abby is staring up at Russ with a smile on her face. I love it!

Grandma Vicki's first time to hold Abby

The first of many pictures taken with cousin Davis - these 2 are just 2.5 weeks apart.

After Abby and I both got cleaned up, we put a cute little headband on her and moved from the delivery room to a postpartum room. A few visitors came to see us. 

Grandma Riggs was a crack up in her pink glasses! She was so cute and went on and on about how perfect Abby was. She is so proud of how many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even great-great grandchildren she has! I can't remember what # Abby is.

The girls were able to come down later that day also to meet their new sister.

Kaitlyn

Sophie

Tayler

Sisters!

Grandma Price's first time holding Abby

We had 24 hours in the hospital from the time Abby was born, and that whole time the question of what her middle name would be was in the back of our minds. It hadn't been very long since we had decided on Abby for her first name - so we never got very far on a middle name to go with it. Russ was filling out the birth certificate paperwork that needed done before we were discharged. He pulled up google and did a search for "one syllable middle names for girls". He came across the name BLUE and liked how it sounded with Abby. I told him that the decision was up to him. I wanted him to be the one to choose the middle name since the first name was one that I had originally come up with. The other names we had discussed for her middle name were Sue and May/Mae. Both of those names meant something - Sue is my mom's middle name, and May is the month she was born (although I liked the spelling "Mae" better). The middle name he decided on was BLUE as seen below! It's funny that the name chosen didn't mean anything - he just liked it because it was different, and I love it because he chose it.

Daddy & his sweet girl after deciding on her name :)

Here is Abby with Dr. Huish who delivered her.

ABBY BLUE PRICE, our little miracle - ready to go home!

We LOVE having her in our family.

37-39 weeks

It's almost time to welcome our sweet baby girl! I was hoping I would go into labor at 38 weeks after having Dr. Huish strip my membranes, but it didn't happen. Over the past week, I have tried so many things to put myself into labor but none have worked. I'm now 39 weeks and being induced in less than 36 hours! 

For future reference:

*at 36 weeks I was dilated to 2.5 and effaced 50%

*at 37 weeks I was dilated to 3 and effaced 75%

*at 38 weeks I was still dilated to 3 but effaced 90%

*at 39 weeks I was dilated to 3.5 and still effaced 90%

Here are some pictures to document the last few weeks:

37 weeks

I think I'm holding 5 pounds of water in each of my lower legs / feet. "Cankes"!!

Suzanne had to compare her feet to mine and make me feel even more horrible about myself! haha

38 weeks

Russ set out to buy some flowers for me "and cuddles" (what he calls the baby). He took Noah with him and they stopped first at Sprouts and their flowers weren't good enough so he went to Safeway instead. I loved that he did this for no reason and picked out pink to welcome the baby. He said that he hoped the baby would know we were ready and waiting for her! I love seeing them on my kitchen table and I hope they stay alive for a few more days until she's born!

39 weeks and feeling like I'm going to pop!

Finally, a picture of my baby bump progression. It's so funny to see the difference between 16 weeks and 20 weeks!

Tomorrow is my last day at home before being induced. I have plans to clean this house one more time, wash all laundry, burn a candle all day, and make sure there are vacuum lines too for when we bring the baby home. I know I sound crazy but it will feel good bringing a brand new baby into a fresh, clean, good-smelling home. 

I am SO excited to see what she looks like and hold her. I also can't wait to have this experience with Russ. He is the sweetest dad and I'm excited to experience a newborn baby with him. I'm also excited for our kids to have a little sister that blends us all together! I'm pretty sure we've decided on naming her Abby, and we're still working on a middle name.

32 - 36 weeks

With just 2 months of pregnancy left, we thought it was time to start preparing for a baby! I washed all of the clothes, blankets, burp rags, etc (hand-me-downs AND new items) and shopped for baby items. 

Among other things (like diapers, wipes, a baby monitor...) we also bought a new car seat / stroller combo. Our house has a lot of baby items laying around and I love it!

 

At 32 weeks pregnant (actually before this point), I was feeling really huge with very swollen feet... that haven't gotten any better!

 

With Alisse being due with a baby boy right before me, we had to get a shot with the girls in our family and the baby bumps! I was 34 weeks at this point.

During the week of Easter - Christy and Megan were both in town with their families. That weekend, our families threw us a "couples" baby shower. It was perfect because we had most everyone from our famlies there, and all attention wasn't just on me - Russ helped me open gifts. Our families are so generous, and we opened up so many cute things for a baby girl!

Alisse and I with our baby bumps ... these cousins are going to be so close in age!

(I was 35 weeks here)

36 weeks

Hitting the 36 weeks mark has done something to me mentally! Now that I know it's safe for the baby to be born, I just want her out. Not only have my feet been hurting from being so swollen, but I've had acid reflux at night, making it hard to sleep. Sleep is uncomfortable as it is, and I also am a little bit stressed since I weigh 7 pounds more already than I did on the day Noah was born. (I did start out 7 pounds heavier, but still!) 

My hospital bag has been packed and I'm just playing the waiting game now! On my list of things to do to keep busy are a lot of items to get our house deep cleaned... but if the baby comes before that gets done it'll be just fine!

The one other thing we have left to do before the baby is born - is decide on her name! All along, I have liked "Abby". Other options on the list have been: Cozie, Maisey, Navey, and Posey/Posie. I thought that we had narrowed it down to just Abby and Maisey. I liked Abby better and Russ liked Maisey ("Maze-ee"). I was OK with his name as long as we spelled it with an S and not a Z. Well... just yesterday he told me he's back to liking the name Posey / Posie (I'm not sure how we would spell it). I actually really like that name and think it sounds really cute with our last name. So now, we may be deciding between Abby and Posey / Posie. Who knows what we'll do for a middle name! I would really like to decide on the name before going into labor, because I don't want to feel rushed into making a decision about her name. I'm not the type of person that thinks I need to see what the baby looks like before naming her, but it may come down to that if we don't make a decision soon!

The nursery

The day after getting back from Hawaii, I got on Craigslist to search for furniture for our baby's room. I didn't waste any time... I was so excited and obviously in the "nesting" stage. 

I had seen this bedding in Pottery Barn and fell in love. I was willing to look for fabric and have bedding made by Grandma Price, but I knew I wanted the same colors found in this bedding... soft pink, tiffany blue, and tan. 

The first thing we found was a crib, and Kaitlyn helped Russ put in together one afternoon. It was so fun to walk by the "baby's room" and see a crib in there!

 

Next, we found a lady (through Craigslist) that painted old furniture and made it look really nice. We went to her house and picked out a dresser. Before and after picture:

After searching for fabric with the colors I liked, I decided I wasn't going to find exactly what I was looking for, and I decided that I would buy the crib bumper from Pottery Barn and have everything else made with coordinating fabrics. Grandma Price and Grandma Vicki helped me pick out some cute fabrics... and Grandma Price made a really cute crib skirt. I LOVED it when we had all the pieces together on the crib - it came together just like I had hoped it would.

I spent several weeks working on the nursery. I had found pictures online of things I loved, and duplicated them in my own way...

Inspiration on the top: I loved the blue blanket hanging from the crib in the top left picture and I loved the simple look of a white crib skirt on the top right.

 

Inspiration on top: I wanted a cute way to organize headbands. I loved the "banner" hanging from the frame in the top left picture, and liked the idea of hanging headbands with clothespins in the top right. I had so much fun sewing the pendants for the banner with cute fabric that matched the bedding.

 

Inspiration on left: I have a thing for stripes, and I LOVE every striped window treatment I ever see, especially horizontal even stripes in 2 colors. I felt like these curtains were my biggest accomplishment since it was a somewhat complicated process, but Grandma Price gave me instructions every step of the way.

 

Inspiration on left: a corkboard covered with fabric and gold pushpins. I loved the idea of it but now that I've completed my own I can't decide how I feel about it. I haven't hung my creation in the nursery just yet... I'm waiting for Aunt Suzy's opinion!

 

 Inspiration on left: Cute bookshelves were the answer for what to do on a wall with just a little space. I can't wait to cuddle the baby and read her these books!

Inspiration on left: a simple mobile hanging in the corner of the room. I liked it since I had a wall that needed something to balance out the space because of where the crib was set up. I found instructions online and spent several hours on this mobile. It might be my favorite part of the nursery... and Russ's too. He has commented several times about how cute it is!

 

Inspiration on left: a cute lamp, obviously! I spray painted a lamp base to match the color of gold hardware we had used other places in the room, and then I covered a plain white shade with cute double-ruffled ribbon.

Inspiration on top: Big, scalloped frames. I found a frame I could paint to match the room and can't wait to fill it (and the others on each side) with pictures of our baby!

 

After lots of work by both Russ and I, we pretty much finished the room about 6 weeks after starting it. I really enjoyed every part of it - from painting, sewing, and organizing the clothes, diapers, blankets, etc...  I think it looks pretty good! All we are missing at this point (besides the pictures to fill frames) are monogram letters to go inside the frame above the crib. If we could decide on a name we could finish things up!

 

Panoramic picture...

20-29 weeks

 It was so exciting to add a new stocking to our entertainment center this year at Christmastime! I hung it right next to mine :)

 We had an ultrasound in December that confirmed the baby was a girl! We also got a cute little shot of her profile.

I had already been collecting girl clothes and was happy that I didn't have to return them!

20 weeks

This is a picture of us doing stockings at Grandma & Poppy's house on Christmas Day. Grandma included a pink baby onesie in our Price family stocking... so fun!!

24 weeks

 

28 weeks

 

At 28 weeks along, Russ and I took a vacation ("babymoon") to Hawaii for a week. We enjoyed it so much, knowing it would be awhile before we could do something like that with just the two of us. We brought home souvenirs for each of the kids and these are what we picked out for our sweet baby girl:

I was 29 weeks along when we got back from Hawaii, and I came home ready to start working on a baby room. I had really been looking forward to being able to do that!