9 Months and 34 Hour Labor

Wow! Where do I begin? Well I am currently a few days over 37 weeks pregnant and have taken my final "monthly picture." I can't believe 9 months has come and gone so quickly. Daniel and I have had quite the adventure lately. I have been having early contractions since about week 32, I believe. As a result, my doctor reduced my shifts to 8 hour shifts instead of 12. I much appreciated that. So it comes as no surprise to me that I went to sleep on Friday night having contractions-- painful but not "oh my gosh" painful-- every 10 minutes. Because this was not the first time this has happened, I just went to sleep. I woke up a few times having contractions but was able to fall back asleep so I really wasn't all that excited. I woke up at around 5:45am and decided I should probably keep track of the frequency. I also noticed that I was having an incredible amount of pressure "down there." It literally felt like her head was coming out. I was contracting pretty much on the dot, every 10 minutes. After keeping track for a little over an hour, I figured I should try to get a little more sleep, as I really had only about 3 hours of sleep at this point. I woke up around 9:30am and continued to have contractions. At around noon I'd say, I decided that instead of keeping track of the timing, I'd try to distract myself and see if that would help. My dad and I went on a walk. Shortly after our walk began, the contractions seemed to be coming about three minutes apart and were much more painful, especially in my back. After we got home, I figured I better give the doctor a call. I called the on call doctor who said I should come in to the hospital to be evaluated. This is me, photographed by Dan, shortly after our arrival to the "prove it" room, as I lovingly call it.

After a couple cervical checks, a lot of activity, and very painful contractions every two minutes, the doctor determined I was in labor and I should be admitted. She thought that because I had dialated 2 cm and almost completely thinned out in such a short period of time, it would be unlikely that my labor would stop. The nerves really started to kick in, as I've always been a little nervous about delivering a baby. In fact, I found a poem I wrote in Junior High about my fear of giving birth. It made me laugh, because the end of it pretty much said I'd never have a baby! Anyway, I was taken to our room where I was poked like a pin cushion! Oh-My-Word! I cannot believe how painful those IV attempts were. When I found out they had to use an 18 gauge needle, I knew this would be painful. I know how big and how hard those 18 gauges can be to get and I was not excited. The first nurse who attempted was HORRIBLE! I literally was in a sweat and seeing stars by the end of her proding. She even let one needle hang from my arm as she attempted another vein, while the hematoma grew larger and larger in my arm. I was mortified. The IV nurse eventually got a site, which I was very unhappy that it was basically on my wrist. Dan wasn't happy with the first nurse. Here's my IV that Dan proudly took a picture of! Haha!I continued to contract and eventually was talked into taking some Fentanyl IV. Why was I resisting? That stuff was G-O-O-D! Exactly what I needed! By this time it was nearly 1am and the nurse wanted me to try to get some sleep, if possible, as she predicted I'd be in active labor by 5 or 6am. Well I did sleep... some... by 6am came and the contractions had slowed down to about every 10 minutes. They were becoming more mild and I no longer felt I needed fentanyl. At 9 am, the doctor came in and said he was going to send me home. He said that because I was still considered "pre-term" (I was 36 weeks and 6 days), they wouldn't keep my labor going by inducing... I was please with that. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed and SLEEP! And sleep I did! I slept all day Sunday and slept 10 hours that night. I couldn't even imagine how exhausted I'd been if I actually delivered our daughter that morning! The Lord was looking out for me! That was quite an experience for Daniel and I. We are both glad we were able to experience this prior to the real event because now we feel we have a little better idea of what to expect. We were able to talk about what went well and what didn't go well. I think we both feel we have a better plan in place now. And while I am anxious to meet our daughter, I am going to cherish these last few days, weeks, or however long it is until our bundle of joy arrives!

8 Months & Baby Showers

We're rounding the bend; she's almost here! I can see the finsih line and the anticipation to cross is really setting in! Here we are: 8 months pregnant. I can't believe how fast it's gone by. I'm really starting to feel pregnant physically. I'm at a point where if I eat a large meal, I'll have horrific back pain until the food is out of my stomach. There's just not a lot of room for both food and baby. Once I eat a bigger meal, you'll find me adjusting my position very frequently to no avail! Nothing works. Sitting doesn't work. Standing doesn't work. Laying down definitely doesn't work. I've begun to learn that I just can't eat full meals anymore. Oh well!

I didn't get any pictures from the Longs baby shower, but this is a picture I took before. My sister-in-law Beth did a really cute memory game at the shower. With each match you made, you'd get a prize that correlated with the match. Example: The match was "Daniel and Monica's new family" and the prize was a three musketeer bar. Another example (I believe this is correct): the match was "conception" and the prize was a Skor bar. I thought it was cute, creative, and fun! My mom and I went home with something like four candy bars. It was very fun and a game I might have to use in the future!
My sister Stephanie threw me a phenomenal baby shower a couple weeks ago. She did such a good job with decorating and everything! Daniel made a cameo appearance. It was fun to open presents with him. But it was kind of funny because my friend Mary was talking to my mom through the gift opening and by the time the gifts were opened and we'd all chatted awhile, Daniel wisked the presents away to be organized. My mom laughed because she never got to see any of the presents. Daniel's response: you snooze, you lose! Not really, but he's got to have order in the home!

Very eager, and excited parents-to-be!
My cousins Amber and Michele and my Aunt Barbara got me the CUTEST outfit from Gymboree. I absolutely love Gymboree and had actually just purchased a dress and t-shirt from the same collection the outfit was from. They got me a cute little fur jacket (as seen below), a t-shirt, these little suede grey pants with matching hat, and the matching socks! Just adorable! Oh and on my lap you can see the first blanket my mom has EVER quilted! Yes, our daughter will get a quilted blanket from her grandma. I love that!

I think this bib is hilarious! I would Never buy it for myself (obviously), but it definitely provided a good laugh! I think it's adorable. Thanks Kehaulani.

7 Months!

How the months fly by! In the beginning, it seemed the days dragged on, but towards the end, I can't keep up with the days! Here I am at essentially 7 1/2 months pregnant, or 30 weeks. I've noticed the biggest change this month. I feel like this is the month where you can definitely tell I'm pregnant. Last month I still was in the "she could be just fat" stage.

I'm 90% sure we have her name picked out. We think we will name her Maya Long. The middle name is still not decided upon. I kind of want to do a family name, but Daniel is stuck on the name Elizabeth but I say NO GO! He killed my dream of Olivia, so I guess it's payback... Not really. My pick for the middle name: Norene or Jenine, my grandmother and mothers name.

Maya Jenine Long or Maya Norene Long... Hmmmm

I really want to emphasize the way I'm really feeling here! :) Doctor Hoffman says I am carrying her inside me, which sounds like an oxymoron. He says women either have their uterus fall forward or hold it inside, which is what I'm doing. So moral of the story, my back is starting to ache. Mostly noted while working my 12 hour shifts. On my feet. Running around. Sometimes without breaks. No. Fun. But I like my job, and am grateful to have one!

Can't wait to meet you my little sweet, precious, angel, princess Maya Long!

6 months... 3 weeks ago!

I cannot believe that I am 27 weeks pregnant! This picture was taken over three weeks ago and in another week, I'll be taking my 7 months picture. Time sure does fly! It's insane to me that in three short months, our little baby girl will be an official member of our family. Pregnancy is going pretty well. A few weeks ago, I developed some horrific sciatic pain and have since been going to physical therapy. The last week I've been completely pain free and it's made all the difference! Pregnancy is so much better when it's not spent in a lot of pain. I can only pray that the pain free state continues! I have so much compassion for my brother in law Rich who has had horrible sciatica for two years and will soon be getting surgery. Sciatica is just an awful thing to suffer from and I'm so glad I only suffered for three weeks or so. Makes you grateful when the pain stops.

Still no name yet for our little one. We kind of agreed on Taylor Olivia Long, and I'm hoping that we'll just call her Olivia. I really love the name and I am hoping that if I keep calling her Olivia, Dan will get confused and think that's what her name already is and then there you have it, she'll be Olivia. Doesn't that sound so cute? Olivia Long. I like it. It has a nice ring. This is how I see it going:
Stephanie Olivia Long
Olivia Stephanie Long
Taylor Olivia Long
Either way, I want her to be Olivia!

22 Weeks

I haven't been the greatest with the blogging as of late. It's sad actually. I did take a four month picture, but never posted it. If my laptop ever starts working, I'll post that at some point. So as you can see, I'm 5 months pregnant. Technically, I'm 5 1/2 months today, but who's counting?

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I discovered we are having a GIRL! We were both under the impression we were having a boy, but neither one of us cared what we were having so long as it was healthy. When she said it's a girl, I was totally surprised. Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm SO happy it's a girl! Dan and I both talk about how when we see little baby girls our hearts melt. I am very happy to have a girl because we know she's going to be a little spitfire, just like her mom! She's a wiggle worm for sure! She's always moving and kicking. And I've discovered she's a fan of Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Anytime they're on, she starts with her exercises. I think it's adorable! Cannot wait to meet these little monkey!

12 Weeks (3 Months) Prego

I'm 3 Months Pregnant!

I recently went to Dr. Hoffman for a check up and heard the baby's heart beat for the first time! For the last couple weeks I've been a little worried that I wasn't pregnant any longer because I really didn't feel "super" pregnant, whatever that means. So when I went, I was full of anticipation to hear the heart beat. When he placed the doppler on my stomach, he found the heart beat immediately. I was so happy. I can't really describe the feelings that went through me. I felt peace, happiness, and a calmness, as well as a total sense of amazement that I really am carrying a person inside of me. It's a feeling of amazement that cannot be described, and I don't think should be. It must be felt. If words could adequately describe that feeling, all women would get pregnant and their would be much less selfishness when it comes to whether or not to have children. I feel so blessed to be trusted with such a holy and important task as motherhood.

Baby Crib set Project

I'm trying to decide whether or not this fabric would work for either a girl or a boy. It definitely fits for a boy, but I'm up in the air as to whether or not it's girly enough. One thing I'm not up in the air about is that I LOVE THIS FABRIC! It's so my taste and style. I want it but am too afraid I won't like it if it's a girl. Any opinions? And your honest opinions are appreciated...

Sisters Night Out

Escape From Reality: Sisters Retreat!

Because all eight of us were in the same city, we decided to make a night of it and stay at a hotel. We stayed at the Marriott. This picture is actually at the end of the night. We stayed up WAY too late playing games. We played BS, where Michele's infamous line is now often quoted when she announced rather matter of factly that she had two elevens! HAHA, clearly she didn't have any jacks!

We also went to dinner at Stanfords. We ate sooo good that night. We ordered a myriad of appetizers, including: macaroni and cheese, wood-fire grilled portabello mushrooms, and beer battered onion rings. Most of us had salads for our main course and me and Mindy shared an amazing berry cobbler! Such a good time!

All of us together. Wish we would've got a picture of all of us eight together!

And after four or five Diet Cherry Cokes (not spiked, I swear) our true colors came out. Lindsey, looking very beautiful tonight.

Mindy didn't know what to do with all the sugar and caffeine running through her veins when the camera clicked.

And Michele may or may not have thought that I was Rich while taking her picture!

Proof that they are cute little danty girls!

This was a night to remember! Yes, it may have took us twenty minutes to decided that the bar was NOT too loud for us Vrtiska girls but one thing we learned is that we have fun no matter where we dine! Love you sisters!