Me, G, and E makes Three!

Well, here it goes...Ethan's birth story. :-)

Monday night I was feeling kind of bad, but no worse than I had been feeling off and on during the past week so when I woke up at 2:30 with Braxton Hicks like contractions I figured I would try to go back to sleep and would wake up feeling fine like I had all of the other times in the past two weeks. Well at 3:30 am I woke up with contractions again and they were much stronger than earlier and I had to breathe through them, but I still figured they were fake contractions since this had happened before and led nowhere. I started sorta timing them just for grins although I told myself I wouldn't start counting in earnest until they had lasted an hour. My plan was that if they continued I would wait until 8 am to go into my doctor's office and have them check me out and make sure that they were real before going to the hospital for another false alarm.

Well at 4:40 am, just an hour and ten minutes later I knew it was real because my water broke! Although, at the time I was still a bit hesitant to call it the real thing, I knew deep down that it was- I was just afraid to call it and be wrong! As luck would have it, we were out of clean jeans so Garrett started to run a load while we called ahead to the hospital to tell them that my water broke and that we would be coming after we finished a load of laundry. I had been told in the past that since I wanted to go with a natural birth that the best thing for me to do would be to labor at home as long as possible. They told us to forget the laundry and come right on in! For some reason it took us a while to get on the road (not really sure why now- the contractions were coming every two minutes at this point and they hurt so hard that I couldn't stand, walk, or speak) but when we arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am I was starting to go through transition (but didn't know it yet). I threw up in the waiting room and proceeded to throw up from the pain of the contractions. I was 4 cm and 100% when I checked in and an hour later I was 10 cm and starting to push!

When they checked me at 4 cm I still thought that I would be laboring for 12 + hours since I'm a first time Mom and I couldn't imagine going through that many hours hooked up to IV fluids (since I was throwing up) and confined to the bed so when they told me the anestegiologist was outside giving epidurals to four other woman and asked if I'd like one before he left the hospital I decided to jump on it. He was in a rush so they decided to let him do the epidural before they checked me again which actually worked out in my favor because when they checked me before he gave me the medicine (but after the epidural was in) and they told me I was at 9.5 cm he told me that if they had checked me first he would have never given me the epidural. I might not have gone with it if I had known how close I was, but I was thankful to have the edge taken off the pain and stop throwing up. Because I was feeling the need to push before he had even given me the meds he wasn't able to give me the usual dosage. Instead he gave me a small amount to take the edge off the pain- which was great! I could still feel my legs, move my toes, feel the contractions before they showed up on the monitor and know when and how to push.

Because Ethan started to come so fast his head got turned a bit to the side on the descent and he got stuck for a bit. I pushed for 2 and a half hours before the doctor had to use the vacuum. Finally at 10:28 am (30 minutes later) Ethan Garrett was born! I ended up having an episiotomy and a 3rd degree tear that took about 30 minutes to stitch up (ow!) and because I'd had a low dose epidural and pushed for so long the medicine wore off before the doctor was done stitching me up. It definitely wasn't fun, but I was just so glad that it was over!

I never thought it was true when I heard people say that after the birth you start to forget about the pain but it really is true. 30 minutes after his birth I felt like I had already started to forget. Isn't it great? Another great thing is that after the birth and once I got to recovery the nurses were talking about my "high pain tolerance" and how I was having contractions through the epidural and was silent and handled it so well. I was like...."Are they talking about ME?" I've never heard anyone say that I have a high pain tolerance before! In fact, its usually the opposite! Anyways, I just want to say "Thank You" to all of you out there who were praying for me while I was going through labor- I felt your prayers! That "high pain tolerance" definitely wasn't my own.

I can hardly believe that I am now 6 days postpartum. I'm still taking Motrin round the clock for the pain in my stitches, I have a bra full of cabbage leaves since I am unable to breastfeed, and I have to sit on a inflatable donut anytime I sit in a chair (which I can finally do as of today!) but I'm already feeling a lot better than I was a few days ago. Going from two to three is definitely quite a transition! However, I know the recovery pain is temporary and we will make it through the transition and once we do we will settle into the "new normal" of our life. We are already starting to feel more comfortable in our new roles (diaper changing is no longer a two person job) and I know it will get a little bit easier every day. We are quite blessed by little Ethan!

Here are a few pictures from his birth!





































Ethan and I were both tired- being born is tiring business!

4 Years of Marriage!

Time has flown by! I can hardly believe that we have been married for four years. Of course I also can hardly remember a time in my life where Garrett was not in it. These past four years have been so much fun- I love being married!









































Garrett and I on our Honeymoon cruise! You know its actually been 4 years when you look at it and think "Wow, I look young".













The two of us on our first anniversary. We went to Galveston and visited Moody Gardens and walked along the beach!

















Garrett and I on our second anniversary. We went to Austin to see a play and while we were there we visited the Capitol building, and toured a nearby cave!













The two of us on our third anniversary. Unfortunately we don't have a photo that we are both in together that turned out! We went to Fredricksburg and hiked Enchanted Rock. We also went to the Nimitz Naval Museum and on our way home drove through a metal sculpture exhibit that we just happened to see signs for from the road. I love those sort of surprises on road trips!



















The THREE of us on our fourth anniversary! We celebrated by checking out of the hospital and bringing home our son- Ethan Garrett Moring!

I know what you really want to read is a post with photos of our new son- but I had this post pre-written before Ethan was born so you're getting this post instead! ;-) I promise I'll write my birth story and post more photos and even a video or two of Ethan soon- might be two weeks soon but I'll get it done!

A few pics... (by Garrett)

Liesl is still up at the hospital with mother & Ethan, but I wanted to show off our new kiddo ASAP. I'm sure many more will follow soon.

Parenting: Level 1 (by Garrett)

Fast Facts:
Name: Ethan Garrett Moring
Weight: 7 lbs, 13 oz.
Length: 20"
Time stamp: 1-12-10, 10:28am
Toes: 10
Fingers: 10
Special Powers: Can sleep through a hurricane (unconfirmed)

Well, the day finally came at last. I told him last night he needed to come out, but I didn't expect he'd listen. This could be a good sign, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Liesl did a great job and she and Ethan are doing fine. I'm so proud of her!

After her water broke at 4:40am this morning, we gathered up whatever wasn't already packed in the car and headed to the hospital. By the time we got checked in, Liesl was already entering the transition phase of labor (the bad stuff!). In about one hour she was ready to start pushing, which lasted a bit longer than expected. 3 hrs later, with a little vacuum assistance, Ethan made his debut.*

It didn't take long to get him all cleaned up. He got all his tags and anti-theft device strapped on and was soon wrapped up tight in a blanket and sporting a snazzy beanie cap as well. Everybody says your own baby is always the cutest baby you've seen... and this was definitely the cutest baby I've seen! But then, I haven't seen that many babies. :)

It was a pretty surreal experience, and I'm certain the gravity of the event has yet to sink in. Liesl and I couldn't be happier to be blessed with a healthy child and to be starting our parenting adventures together with a new member of the family. Our lives are about to change drastically in many different ways that we don't yet fathom, but that will simply become the "new normal." We look forward to the many joys & challenges that lay ahead and ask for your continued prayer and support as we take on our new roles as a family.

Fortunately, we get to start at level 1. We'll learn the ropes, figure things out, and prepare for level 2 (whatever that is!). For now, we're just enjoying holding him and keeping him fed and happy.

Pics and videos to come, so check back soon!

A great big thanks to our friends & family for your prayers & support!

* Husband's point of view is grossly understating the difficulty of this labor.

39 Weeks!

Well folks, I'm now at 39 weeks pregnant. The doctor didn't think I'd make the 39 week mark but here I am!

I am now at 3.5 cm and 90% effaced, only my child has decided to float back up to the -2 to -1 mark. Guess he decided otherwise about making his birthday during a record cold week.

Today I started having some painful contractions at Church and by the time the service was over and we had reached the house I was seriously wondering if my water had broken (like a small leak) or not. I tried the whole moving around, laying down for 30 min trick, etc and it was still non-conclusive so I called L&D to ask them how to determine if it had or hadn't. They told me its sometimes hard to tell but that it sounded plausible that it had so they asked me to come in for a quick test.

Well, the test was negative, but I did show that I was having regular contractions about 5 minutes apart so they checked me for progress and made me stay on the monitors for 3 hours to see if my contractions would get closer together or if I would progress further. At the half way mark the contractions were around 3-6 minutes and sporadic. I could feel them more strongly and my back was hurting, but at that point I pretty much guessed that it would be another case of painful braxton hicks contractions. Sure enough at 3 hours I was around 5-6 minutes but had no change in dilation or effacement. So I got to come home! Which in this case was actually a GOOD thing, because our Sunday School class was throwing me a baby shower today at 4pm! We got out of L&D with enough time to make it to the shower. Whew! :-)

We had a great time at the shower and everyone did such a great job with the food and decorations! It was a blast! It also took the sting out of any disappointment from the false alarm L&D trip too. :-)

Here are a few pictures from the shower!

















Punch with floating sailboat!

38.5 Week Photo

My 38.5 week photo!
























Garrett's 38.5 week photo!




















Garrett's getting pretty excited! I haven't been having much in the way of contractions, but frustratingly I've had two days in a row where out of the blue I've had contractions that last every 2-5 minutes and go on for about 45 minutes before they stop. Tonight I didn't even bother timing the contractions but from the length of time I was feeling them I think it was following the same pattern as the last two days. Guess he'll just get here when he gets here! I'm done with trying to time them until they start becoming more painful or last for more than an hour or two. To distract myself I rented a movie, knitted about 1/3 of a scarf, and played video games with Garrett. Much better than focusing on when the baby will get here. :-)

38 weeks + 2 days

Well, I had another doctors appointment today and so far everything is going good! The baby's heartbeat is excellent and accelerating like it should so he's doing fine. My stomach measures 38 weeks but its solid so she thinks that he's probably already averaged size if not in the low 8 lbs. Yikes! However, the good news is that she doesn't think that I will make it to my due date. If I did he'd be huge! I'm already 90 % effaced and 3 cm and he's somewhere around 0 to +1 station. So things are moving along! Of course, just because she thinks I'll won't make it to my next appointment doesn't mean that my son is ready to agree. The weather forecast is looking mighty cold this week- he might just decide to stay put in his warm home. Guess we'll see!

Our Home- Before Baby

Well, we are down to 14 days until my due date! I am officially off work now until the end of March.

Starting Friday I began a major cleaning and reorganizing effort to hopes to get the house ready before the baby comes. I have finished the baby's room. Yay! Garrett varnished and installed the knobs on the dresser, and its now all arranged as if we were bringing him home tomorrow. Also, I took down all the Christmas decor and put the regular decorations back up, dusted, vacuumed, de-cluttered, and rearranged furniture. (Well, Garrett did the furniture lifting)

I don't think I like change very much. I really liked the way that we had our living room arranged before but we have arranged it now in a more practical manner. The cat scratching post had to move to the living room a while back in order to make room for the crib but now I had to say goodbye to our favorite living room chair. We put it in our bedroom so its not really gone, but Garrett and I liked how it looked in our living room and think it looked a lot better than the rocking chair we replaced it with. The rocking chair used to be in our bedroom and pretty much just held pillows from our bed when our bed was made down. It looked a lot better in our bedroom but maybe I just need to get used to its new location. It will be a lot more useful where it is now. My mom helped recover the rocking chair when I was home at Thanksgiving so it does match the futon.

Well as sad as I am to see our home get a little bit smaller and more child proof I have to say that I am more excited that our son will be joining our life. I know that he will enrich our lives and fill our home with lots of laughter and love!

Here are pictures of our house prior to re-arranging. We took these photos so that we could remember what our first home together looked like. We'll have to take pictures again so that our son will have photos of the first house that he lived in.



















View of the living room (standing in the dining room)



















Can't say that I've ever been thrilled with having the exercise bike in our living room but I use it when its sitting in there and that's all that matters!










































Entry



















View of the living room standing in the entry.























































View into the kitchen



















Dining room (view from the edge of the living room)




































Hallway to the bedrooms/bathroom. Its our painting "gallery" where we hung the paintings that Garrett and I did in college.



















Our room. The photos behind the bed are black and white landscapes that we have taken of places that we have been together during our dating days and early marriage!
















Quote on the living room wall.

Well, I know that I used more photos than I needed to get the point across but I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and want to remember everything. It must be these hormones! :-)