Eli Thomas has arrrived!!

Eli Thomas Allison was born March  20th at 4:38 pm. He was 8 lbs 7 oz and 21 1/2 inches long! A big baby compared to Isaac's 7 lb 11 oz. His little feet and hands are huge... no wonder my little nudger baby made me so uncomfortable!

Eli's Birth Story:
I went in for an induction on the 20th because he was overdue. I had hopes that he would come on his own and had pushed the induction date back from the 16th to the 20th to give him extra time.. but to no avail. I was 3 cm and 50% effaced for 2 weeks with constant painful braxton contractions. So.. we had to evict him from his warm womb and choose his birthday :(  We got to the hospital at 7:20 after stopping for a quick bagel for breakfast. It took 2 nurses and and  an IV specialist to get my IV started.. 4th attempt was the charm. Evidently my veins have valves and they couldn't thread the catheter through without the vein blowing. They started pitocin around 10:00 and I labored until 12:00 when I was 4 cm and 80% effaced. My OB broke my bag of waters and contractions started picking up in frequency and pain. Josh and I used the techniques we had learned in birthing class to keep things going. I walked the halls, used the birthing ball and Josh was constantly massaging my back (back labor is soo fun!) and reminding me to breathe. It was a very calm labor; we did allow some family to come in before the pain starting picking up too much. Around 3:00 the contractions were intense; the devil drug pitocin is not much fun at all.  Our nurse checked me and I was 8 cm and right at 100% effaced. I requested the epidural and by the time everything was finished I was feeling pressure... sure enough it was time to push! I ended up pushing for 48 minutes and baby arrived! We still had not picked a name.. it was down to Eli or Seth. I told Josh to name him and I did not care which one he picked. He looked at him and said if the baby was smaller he would name him Seth, but since he had such big hands and feet that he looked like a NFL player and went with Eli. After skin on skin bonding and a nursing session, Josh went to announce his arrival and we started letting family in to meet our newest family member.. Eli Thomas. Isaac was the first one it to see the baby and I think he was a little speechless!

Eli is a great baby.. except for sleeping! He is definitly a sweet, sleep-robber! He is very calm and alert. He did not close his eyes for 6 hours after he was born. He is a chow hound and loves to eat. These newborn days are tough but I am trying to cherish them because they are gone way too quickly.

Nursery Pics and lastest update

Here are some pictures of Baby Allison's nursery. We will probably put up wooden letters with his name after we decide what to name him! He is still nameless :)

I went for my 37 week check up today and  baby is head down and in position to exit! My blood pressure was normal, I gained 1 lb, and my belly measurements were right on track. So far I have gained 31 lbs... I sure hope I can get this weight off after he arrives. Josh has gained 20 lbs right along with me and even Isaac has added a few. Braxton hicks contractions are a constant everyday occurance and get pretty uncomfortable at times.  I was 2 cm and 50% effaced today. It seems like progress is being made weekly. I hope I can make it until March 5th because then I will have all my IEP meetings finished at school and things will be in order :) 

Baby Showers!!!

We have been very blessed! My sister, mom, and Aunt Jane gave us a shower on Saturday and then my school gave me a shower on Monday after school. They were both wonderful... everyone was so generous and thoughtful. Here are a few of the pictures from the showers.

Pictures from Countryside shower given by Mom, Audra and Aunt Jane

Diaper cake made by Mom and Audra

Me and one of my besties, Amber (she is 16 weeks preg)

Opening gifts :)

Aunt Jane--love her!

Yummy Cake!!

Belly Shot!

Pictures from School shower:

The 5 Pregnant Glenwood Gals

Handmade cradle

Josh's dad lovingly hand crafted our new baby a cradle! We are so excited that it will be a family heirloom to pass down through many generations.

Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from our baby shower that Josh's family gave us. This was the third try.. it was cancelled twice due to snow!!

35 Week Belly Shot

35 weeks 4 days

Front view

I am back...We moved!

Okay.. well we have moved is about all I can say. Are things put away? "NO"! Are things organized the way I want them? "NO"! Am I going crazy with nesting? "YES"! We have a little over four weeks to go and we are soo not ready! I have boxes sitting in my kitchen, boxes in my bedroom, boxes in the baby's room.. boxes, boxes, boxes.. I am sick of boxes! I don't know how we accumulated so much junk in two and a half years!

The bad part is my ability to move things around is severely limited so now my job is to nag ask my husband after he gets off work to get stuff moved. I can't sit still though; it is definitly not in my nature. I have tried to be better after I started having contractions three minutes apart for two hours without stopping when I had over done it one night! I even took a bath, chugged two glasses of water and laid on my side trying to get them to go away. I finally ended up calling the doctor and he told me to try to go to bed and not to do any more moving! I also have cut down on my work load.... instead of working three jobs I cut back to one :) Now I can come home right after work and work on the house  rest.

Normally I would be thrilled with all the snow we have had but....we have had two baby showers cancelled due to the wonderful winter weather! We really need a shower too!  Unfortunatly I did not save a thing from Isaac's infancy. My sister did send me a box of clothes that my nephew has outgrown so that is nice.. now to get them washed and put away. Will we be ready?

Belly Progression

30 Week Appointment

We had a good appointment today: BP 118/62, weight gain of 5 lbs, baby's heartbeat nice and strong, and my belly measured at 30 weeks. We start visits every two weeks now.  I am feeling fine other than it is getting harder to take a deep breath. Josh complains because I keep him up at night tossing and turning and getting up to use the bathroom. I think God intended that parents don't sleep well during pregnancy to get ready to be up at night with a newborn! I have had to take off my engagement ring b/c it was getting a bit tight.. but so far my wedding band still fits.  Braxton hicks contractions are getting to be a regular occurance and this little guy gets the hiccups everynight before I go to bed. We are counting down... 10 weeks to go until we can meet my little 'nudger'.

Nursery pattern

We finally decided on a nursery pattern and bought furniture for Baby Allison's room. We got a great deal on the baby furniture and were able to get a convertible crib, armoire, and a dresser. We went ahead and bought the pieces to convert the crib to a toddler bed and then to a full bed. The furniture is an expresso color with silver hardware. This is just a clip of the patten from the babiesrus website. We don't have the nursery set up yet... we are in the process of moving!!