A few pictures

I've had several requests to post more pictures so here are a few I took yesterday. Sophie is doing great, still not sleeping much at night but I know that will one day get better. We took a trip to my office today and I got to show her off to my co workers. She was a hit and everyone was amazed on how good she was, didn't make a peep the whole time I was there. Of course the car ride over put her to sleep so she pretty much slept the whole time. She did open her eyes a few times and that made everyone happy.

2 weeks old

Mike and Sarah: This doesn't fit her yet, but it will soon!!

Sophie is 2 weeks old today!! This was my first week home alone with Sophie and I must say it's been quite an adjustment. We are still trying to get into our groove but things overall are going well. I'm not sleeping much at night, she pretty much wakes up every 2-3 hours. She has a very healthy appetite and I'm amazed on how much this little girl poops and pees!

Some pictures to share! She was a wiggle worm while I was taking these and seemed to enjoy looking at the butterflies on the quilt.

Happy Father's Day

Daddy and Sophie

Mommy and Sophie


Pam came to visit

Gran and Pop before the left

First family photo

Today Ricky celebrates his first Father's Day. With the help of mommy, Sophie got her daddy a fishing polo shirt, Tervis Tumbler, and a Costa Del Mar car sticker that he wanted. To top it all off, we made a brunch for Ricky and Chris (Amy, Chris, and Garrett came to visit this weekend on their way to the beach). We made blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hashbrowns. Yummy!!

Gran and Pop left yesterday. My mom stayed for the week to help out around the house. She made us dinner every night and cleaned the house. She was a huge help and I will miss her this week. Next time Sophie sees Gran and Pop will be at Mike and Sarah's wedding in a month.

Just a few pictures to share!

1 week old

Sophie is 1 week old today. Wow, this week has gone by fast. All I've really done is feed her, change diapers, feed her again, change diapers again, sleep for a little bit, and feed her. You get the idea. I think I'm going to nickname her Squirt because that's how it sounds when she's pooping (can't wait to tell her that one when she gets older :)

Other than the usual baby stuff, we ventured out yesterday to pick up daddy's Father's Day present and this morning we went on a walk before it got too hot out. Here are a few pictures I took while holding her. She was awake and looking all around.

Sophie 4 days old

Things are going pretty well overall being at home with Ms. Sophie. She seems to like her surroundings. I can't say that we're getting sleep at night, she seems to enjoy being awake during the night and sleep during the day. Have to see what we can do about that. I am handling this OK. It seems like as soon as I get her back to sleep and lay my head down and start to doze, she wakes up. It will take some getting used to for sure. Feeding is going well, that little girl can latch on like no other!!

Today we are going to the pediatrician for our hospital follow up appointment. Then we're going to come home and relax, I will hopefully get a nap in. Ricky goes back to work tomorrow so I better get used to being up all night.

Here's a few pictures we've taken over the last few days. She is such a good baby overall. Hates having her diaper changed, worst thing ever :)

Sophie Elizabeth Bell

Sophie made her entrance into the world yesterday, June 12th at 2:25 pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.

I was only in labor for about 6 hours and could not have asked for a better labor and delivery. We came in at 6:30 for the induction. My paperwork was done and my room was all ready. I had my blood drawn and put on the gorgeous hospital gown. All set and ready to roll, just waiting for the doctor to give the word. Around 8:00 or so they started me on pitocin to get things rolling. I was already having some mild contractions before the pitocin so it didn't take long for me to feel contractions. A little before 8:30 or so the doctor came in and checked me out, I was still about 2-3 cm, and then broke my water. As the morning went on the contractions started getting more intense but I could still carry on conversation, my pain level was about a 3 or so. Well, as they upped the pitocin contractions got much more intense and with the water broke, that really set things off. No longer could carry on conversation and was really having to breath my way through the contractions. I must say you hear about how painful labor is, and they're right, it HURTS!!!!!

So the nurse, who was AWESOME by the way, came in and told me that the anesthesiologist was in with the Dr. doing a c-section and it would be about an hour before I could get the epidural. The doctor came in after the c-section, checked me out, and I was dilated to 4 cm (he was super happy with the progress I had made, it was about 11:15 at that point). A little after 11:30 I got the epidural, which was not the horrible experience I thought it would be at all. It was quick and pretty painless, especially when you having these most intense contractions. With in 10 minutes I could feel everything going numb and it was WONDERFUL!! Epidurals rock!! The only downside is I got cold and started to shake a little. My blood pressure dropped at times, but nothing that they seemed overly worried about. Just needing some extra monitoring.

So by Noon I'm all relaxed and the nurse suggested that I try to rest for pushing later. Feeling like a million bucks, I snoozed here and there, Ricky went to lunch. While he was at lunch the nurse checked me and I was 5 cm dilated. That was sometime around 12:30 ish. So during this time we're chilling and I'm resting the doctor comes back and checks me and he says "OK, are you ready to push?" I thought he was joking for some reason because just a little while ago I was 5 cm. I know that they had upped the pitocin since I'd had the epidural, but I was sure that it would be hours and hours before anything would happen.

So they got things ready and before I knew it I was starting to push. It's a very difficult process when you have no feeling down below but my nurse was super. Plus I had Ricky at my head and my mom and sister each holding up a leg. At one point they had to give me the oxygen mask because Sophie wasn't tolerating the pushing so well. That seemed to help both of us because I was bearing down hard and could not catch my breath. She came down and started to crown after only a few pushes. Nurse called the doctor and he came in, couldn't believe it when they said she was crowning and I was a heck of a pusher. So he gets ready and I start to push some more. It's funny because the doctor thought he had another contraction before she came out but when he turned around the head was coming out and he was surprised. So one last push and out comes Sophie!!

This was the most amazing thing that I have ever experienced. They laid her on top of me and she was wide eyed and gooey (Ricky did so awesome). Doctor cut the cord and they handed Sophie off to the nurses. I had to get stitched up (tore a tad) and they had to finish getting everything else out.

So that is my short story and we are in love with Sophie. She is such a beautiful little girl, such a combination of Ricky and me it's difficult to tell who she looks like. Here's a few pictures and there will be many more to come.

Friday is the day!

Had a really good doctor's appointment this morning. I am 2 cm dilated, almost to 3 and 80% effaced. This is great progress from last week. We did the non-stress test and Sophie passed with flying colors. She was very active and I had some contractions going on too.

After the test we discussed "what's next" with the doctor. He said that I could go a few more days if I wanted to, since she's pretty healthy in there. As long as I'm delivered before 42 weeks, but I'd have to come back in and do the NST test again in a few days. At this point he said I was very favorable for an induction and Friday would be best. I agreed with Friday.

So Friday morning at 6:30 am we're heading in. There's still a chance that I could go into labor between now and Friday but at this point it doesn't matter. Today is my last day of work and tomorrow I'm going to rest and save up my energy for the long day Friday.

We're super excited and now I'm starting to get nervous. There will be pictures to post before long and be on the look out......

Still waiting.....

No baby yet.....5 days past due. I had very high hopes for this past weekend, especially yesterday. Throughout the day I was having contractions here and there. They still weren't painful, just uncomfortable, and they never got intense or regular. I was so sure something would happen last night, BUT nothing did. I slept fairly well and did not experience any more contractions.

I am at work today and not overly happy about it considering everyone thought that I would have a baby by now. When I arrived I had some shocked looks from people who couldn't believe that I had not gone into labor. Sophie seems to be happy where she is at the moment, we may have to force her out later this week.

Still have my appointment scheduled for Wednesday, which I will then find out when I will be induced (hopefully it will be Friday like the doctor had mentioned last week).

Mike and Sarah

My brother had sent me some pictures the other day and I wanted to post them on the blog because they are such great pictures of him and his fiance.

Mike and Sarah are getting married July 25th and we can't wait!! The wedding is in Charlotte, NC at St. Matthew Catholic Church (all "kids" have gotten married there, by the same priest!) The reception is going to be at Firethorne Country Club.

This is an exciting year for the Miller family. A baby and a wedding!

Past Due

Yes, the baby ticker has been removed. I no longer need to see that I'm past my due date :)

Thought that maybe something was happening last night. I woke up about 12:30 and felt a little nauseous with some stomach cramps. Didn't really feel like I was having strong contractions but I could still feel the belly harden every now and then. I stayed awake to see if anything would happen. Of course, nothing did and everything went away.

Just another day of my body playing with my emotions. Still have a couple more days to get this labor started before my doctor appointment. I really don't want to be induced but I need to have this baby very soon!!

40 weeks!!

I've made it to 40 weeks! I feel some sense of accomplishment making it this long. I went to the doctor this morning and am still not dilated but my cervix is still thinning out. He assured me again that I could still go into labor anytime.

Sophie has "dropped." My belly was measuring smaller than it has been the last few weeks. He said this is because she's dropped further into my pelvis. He still thinks she's going to be about 7 pounds or so and her heartbeat is still good and strong. My blood pressure is great once again and I have not gained any weight since my last appointment despite my continuous swelling.

So what happens now? Well, I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for next Wednesday. They will do the NST or Non Stress Test where I will be hooked up to the fetal monitor. I will then get scheduled for an induction. The doctor was looking at a possible date of Friday June 12th for me to be induced. His prediction is that I won't make it to my Wednesday appointment. We are counting on that :) I still think I will go into labor during the full moon on Sunday. That is my own little prediction.

So that's the latest and greatest news. I feel a little bit better knowing that there's an end in sight. It may be a week or so away but at least I know it's coming.

June is here...where is baby?

Well, Sophie decided that she wants to be a June baby. This is actually a good thing, May is just a really busy month for our family. We have Sarah, Mike, and Amy's birthdays, Addison's birthday, our anniversary, Mother's Day. All within a week of each other.

I had a pretty good weekend of rest and relaxation. Well, as relaxed as I could possibly get. I was able to workout both Saturday and Sunday with more energy than I've had in the last 2 weeks. I've had no back aches, no contractions, nothing. Is this the calm before the storm??????