Just Born!

Drew Kaylee Sanders was born on February 9th, 2012 at 11:53pm.  She was seven minutes early of her due date which was February 10th.  It was a long 22 hour wait on her arrival but worth every second.  She weighed in at 7lbs. 1oz and 20 inches long.

She is not very happy here

Having her temperature taken with the little heart shaped thing.

Peaceful before her bath and measurements

Has no idea what is to come...

20 inches long

Getting set for the head measurement

33 cm head or 13 inches

Chest measurement = 34.5cms

Bath Time!

This bath is not making her happy.

All the hospital stuff is done!  Now she can just concentrate on bonding with her mom and dad in the hospital.  Also, she has lots of visitors to get ready for.

~Candi

Candi's Reaction

When Drew first came out, I was a little worried.  It was too quiet.  I thought babies came out screaming.  Jonathan cut the umbilical cord.  The doctor held her up to let me see her and then she went to the little baby warmer thing to have all her stuff done.  As the nurses were trying to get me situated, I kept looking at what they were doing to her.  Jonathan was with her the entire time.  During the quiet, I tried to read his face to make sure everything was okay.  He had been so fantastic during this whole process.  I don’t think I breathed easy until they gave her the Vitamin K shot and she finally screamed.  That is when Jonathan looked at me and smiled. Then I finally felt myself breathe out. 

Only then did I start to notice little details of her.  She was born with a head full of hair.  Her fingers were really long.  Her hair was dark.  Nose was a bit rounded.  Things like that. 

When they finished with her at the baby warmer, they handed her to me.  I attempted to nurse her for the first time.  I can’t remember if we did a decent job or not as I was a bit mesmerized. 

If I had to use a single word for how I felt during all this, I would have to say that word would be “awe”.  I was in awe that she was out.  I was in awe that she was ours.  I was in awe of her hair, her skin, her fingers.  I was in awe that the labor and delivery was over.  I was in awe that we were parents.  I was in awe of the whole scenario.  It was all a bit surreal.  I thought being pregnant was surreal! 

Lastly, I feel as if this time happened all too fast.  I feel like I have already forgotten important details of her entry into this world.  I feel like I have forgotten exactly how I saw her on that first look.  Before I knew it, they came to take her to the nursery for the rest of her checks and her bath and they came to escort me out of the delivery room into a recovery room. 

I did know at that moment that my life was changed forever.  However, I did not feel some big revelation that many people talk about.  It was just there.  Not a big deal…just lying right underneath the surface.  Here was someone I would love everyday of my life unconditionally, regardless of anything else that may happen.  No big A-Ha moment.  Just this bit of truth that I now knew.

My nose is so huge in this picture...lol

~ Candi

Jonathan's Reaction

The night that Candi's water broke was a rather non-eventful night.  We had been laying around watching a little television and had gotten in to the bed around 1130.  She woke me up and after several attempts to get her to leave me alone she finally convinced me that it was go time so I hopped up to pack my bag and get ready to head to the hospital.  Even though that it was four in the morning I called my mom to let her know that we were en route to the hospital.  She was as thrilled as anyone could be at four am, but I knew that once she finally digested it she would be a little more excited.

As Candi and I were driving down the road to Newnan, I just ran my mouth about anything and everything to try and keep my mind off of what was truly about to go down.  Over the past few weeks we had talked about how we couldn’t wait to meet Drew.  I had made jokes that I wanted her to come out as ugly as me so I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone wanting to date her for a long time.  I had also said that everything was good and well while she was still inside of mommy.  I couldn’t screw anything up as long as she was in there.

We get to the hospital and they take Candi back to get her checked in, changed in to her gown and hooked up to all of the different monitors so we can keep a safe eye on Drew.  All of this takes almost an hour so at this point all I can do is think about everything that I was trying to avoid thinking about on the way there.  As all of these questions went racing through my head, I began to think that I will find the answers in due time.  No need worrying about things that I cannot control from here and realize that every single day is going to be a learning process.

Over the next twenty hours or so, I feel like Candi and I became closer than we had ever been in the past eight years that we had been together.  It hurts ones heart in such a way that hopefully Drew will never know.  To sit there and watch the one that you love the most going through such pain and knowing that there is nothing that you can do take any of that pain away is one of the toughest things that I have ever had to do in my life.  The only thing that I could do is be there and do whatever she would ask of me with the thought of having both of my girls home safely in a few days to being what would be the best chapter of my life.

To spare many of the details of the next few hours, Candi and I did everything that we had to in order to make sure that we had a healthy baby.  When all was over and Drew was finally out in the world, I cut her cord and the nurse took her away, all that was left to do was to fight back a tear and be strong and tell Candi that I loved her.  We shared a moment together until we realized that everything was a little too quiet in our room.  At that point I stepped over to see what the nurse was doing to Drew just moments before she gave her a shot and set her off.  To hear her scream at the top of her lungs after that was the happiest sound I had ever heard in my entire life.  At that point I knew down in my heart that Drew was going to be just fine.

I was there when Drew got her first bath and watched the nurses run a few more tests on her just to make sure she was as good as I thought that she was.  All was great in the world at that moment when she said that Drew was a healthy baby.  At that point I went back to be at Candi's side as we were being moved from one room to another.  That night after being up many hours once I was finally able to lay down and sleep,  I dreamed of what our life together was going to be like.  I woke up the next morning very excited to see if all of my dreams will come true…..well the first one has and that is I will get to spend the rest of my life with my baby girl.

~ Jonathan

The Arrival

Drew is here!  Drew is here!  However, I feel as if I should probably catch you up as to how exactly that occurred. 

Monday, February 6th - I had my weekly doctor's appointment.  I was so nervous b/c this was the first time I was being checked for any progress.  I so wanted some progress.  So I got there and went through the appointment to be told I had made no progress what so ever.  0% effacement and 0 cms.  I was so disappointed when I called Jonathan and I could tell he was too.  My blood pressure was still stabilized at 136/84 and they scheduled me for another appointment for Monday, February 13th.

Jonathan and I were so bummed.  We wanted something to happen.  I had been drinking raspberry tea and taking evening Primrose Oil.  I am still not sure if I believe in these remedies.  What I really think is that women are already so close to labor when they start these at home remedies that they would have gone into labor anyway.  But that didn't stop me from trying.  I was also taking daily walks to help things along.

Thursday, February 9th - Jonathan and I went to bed as normal on Wednesday nite.  I had been having trouble falling asleep for a few weeks now.  At 1:20am,  I was laying in bed watching TV and had to get up to get something to drink.  When I rose, I felt a small gush of water.  I woke Jonathan up and told him that I thought my water had broke, but that I wasn't sure.  He asked if I was having any contractions and I told him no.  He said to wake him when I was sure and went back to sleep.

I read online that if you were not sure then to lay back down for 30 minutes and then rise again and see if another gush comes.  So I did that and it happened again.  This time I woke Jonathan and told him that I knew my water had broken, but that I was going to hop in the shower and get ready and that I would wake him in a bit.

So I took a shower and blow dryed by hair before I woke him up to make him start getting ready.  While he was getting ready, I ate breakfast and started gathering all the stuff we would need to take to the hospital.  Jonathan got ready and off we were to the hospital at 3:45am.

On the way there, we each called our parents.  I told my dad that "in true Candi fashion, I was going into labor in the middle of the nite" but I told him that I was not progressing and having contractions so just to hang tight until I had more information. 

We got to the hospital at about 4:30am.  It took a while to get checked in and to get into a room.  Finally, I got into a room and they checked me out and told me that my water had indeed broken.  They set me up on monitors and somewhat let me be.  The problem became that I was not progressing on my own.  I was not having contractions and when they checked me I had become a bit effaced but had not dialated at all.  I asked them to let me try to progress on my own as long as they could.

My parents arrived at about 9:30am.  I was in my room just chilling without a whole lot going on.  My aunt Tammy and grandmother also came to the hospital that morning to see what all was going on.  And Drew's godparents, Dave and Amanda came later that evening to check in on us.

At about 10am, the doctors made the decision that it would be best to help my labor along and gave me some Pitocin.  I was given anywhere between 2-18 mls an hour as they were trying to find the perfect amount to help me go into labor with stable and consistent contractions.

The thing about Pitocin is that the contractions are a lot more intense early on than with natural contractions.  So between that and the nurses altering the dosage every so often, I would have contractions that spiked really high and painful but would not last very long.  Because of this, I was given some pain medicine to take the edge off.  They kept playing with the dosage amounts of the Pitocin until I was finally dialated 3cms.  At that point, I was allowed to be given the epiduryl.  After receiving the epiduryl, I finally got about 2.5 hours of sleep.  (At this point, I had been awake since 9am on Wednesday morning, so well over 24 hours.)

After I awoke, I was hanging out for a while.  By this time, my aunt and grandmother had to leave and Dave and Amanda had brought Jonathan some Red Robin for dinner.  All was well until I started to be able to feel my contractions again b/c they were beginning to be that intense.  The worst part was that I could feel them in my right hip and that part hurt the worst.  We told the nurse that I was feeling them again and she decided to check me again.  Low and behold, I had gone from 3cms to 8cms and baby was engaging herself into my pelvis. 

At this point, my contractions hurt pretty badly.  Dad, Drew, Amanda, and Dave were in the waiting room.  Jonathan was on one side holding my hand and my mom was on the other.  Jonathan was so great!  He talked me through each and every contraction until I had to start pushing.  Mom made sure I had ice chips to suck on.  I couldn't have asked for a better team.  About 2 hours of this agony and I was checked again.  I couldn't believe it when the nurse said I was fully dialated and ready to start pushing.  At this point, Mom left and Jonathan became my sole partner.  He talked me through each and every push until the very end.  I really can't express how great he was through this entire process.  I pushed for probably 35 to 40 minutes and Drew was born at 11:53pm on February 9th.  Seven minutes before her actual due date.

~ Candi

I think we may finally have a finished nursery!

Finally, after so many redo's with the furniture and the long wait for the crib, I think we have finally completed the nursery.  I love it so much that I can just sit in there and look around.  Actually, I go in there daily and sit in the glider to read her a book a day.  We still need to hang the windowpane, but that is all.  There are lots of pictures in this post, but I hope you enjoy.

The pictures below are before the crib came in.  Most were taken before the shower with my family.  Jonathan was so cute setting up everything to be on "display" for all to see.

The dresser and mirror that we worked so hard on.  It looks fantastic now!  We have to thank Tessa for the beautiful vinyl saying at the top of the mirror.

 A closer look at the vinyl saying.

Top of her dresser

The piggy bank that Kristin made for her.

Drew's little nite stand.  You can notice the crib mattress on the floor because we had not received her crib at this point.

Her initials are on the other side of the piggy bank

The changing table

The window pane that still needs to be hung

We received so many lovely cards and I didn't know what to do with them.  Finally I decided to tape them to her closet door to be reminded of all the wonderful people who are awaiting her arrival.

The next pictures are of the last step of putting together the crib and the final completed pictures.  We still need to hang the window pane.

Jonathan working hard on the crib

Making sure all the pieces go in the right place

View from the doorway

The dresser

The mirror

Dresser

I have a feeling we will spend a lot of time in this chair

Cute blanket on the glider

Glider corner

The completed crib

Another look at the crib

The window wall

The card door is so full!

And last but not least, her little closet.

Now we are just waiting on a baby to complete the room.

Another shower? We sure are loved...

On January 22nd, sweet ladies who are friends with Jonathan's mother threw us a shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Drew.  There were so many people who attended and we felt so loved. 

Look at all the people who attended!

Look we got her memory book!  Now we just have to be committed to filling it out.

This basket was full of all types of goodies!

Drew got her first backpack and it was already full of books!

What a cute embroidered burp cloth!

Andrew gave Jonathan lots of diapers...hope he got the point.

James Henry (above) and Owen (below) helped Jonathan open our new stroller!  We are so excited to take baby Drew out on walks in this thing!



We are so appreciative of all the love that has been shown to us during this pregnancy.  Now, we are just waiting for Drew to arrive to share in all this love.

Shower with Candi's Family

On January 21st, my mother, Valerie, and my bestest friend Amber through me an awesome shower at our home.  I was so excited for everyone to come and see the nursery (post of it in the near future).  The shower was such a great success.  Some of the highlights are seen below.

Val had this gorgeous cake made for the shower.  It was so beautiful and it tasted good too, which I was surprised by because so many pretty cakes taste like wax.

The food table.  Amylia Grace helped to ice the cupcakes.

One can never have enough diapers!

This is our first little healthcare pack for her!

My aunt Gail put her time an love into making this quilt

Check out the Georgia cheerleader outfit

Sweet Ansley bought a stuffed puppy for baby Drew

Thank you Anna and Terry for such a great Pack N Play

My mom put this very sentimental gift together for me.  In this box is the blanket I came home in, the outfit I came home in, and the bathing suit I wore as a baby.  There were also pictures to show me in each.  There was also a letter in the box which I refrained from reading b/c I didn't want to cry in front of my guests.

This gorgeous window pane was given to me by Val, Chris and the kids.  How awesome is it?  I can't wait to see it hanging on the wall in Drew's nursery.

Amylia Grace won the clothespin game!  She is showing off her winnings.

My lovely grandmother and I

My grandmother, my mother (her daughter in law), AG and I are granddaughters, and the first great granddaughter in my belly.  4 generations in one picture.  5 if you think of the number of years between AG and me.