More Noah, The Month Of May and Other Random Things

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while.

Noah is now almost 8 weeks old, which means mommy heads back to work. This coming Monday to be exact. So many people in the last week have been asking me if I'm ready. And, what I tell them is that I feel like I have a healthy balance in attitude about it. I know it's going to be hard. I know when I drop him off at his wonderful day care on Monday morning that I'm going to cry. I know I'll walk into our Monday Morning Production Meeting needing a touch up of make-up. But at the same time, I know this is what is best for me and for Noah. We are completely blessed to have found a home day care with one of our neighbors who lives right behind us. There will only be at most 5 other children there on any given day, and Noah will be the only infant. We went over to Miss Jennifer's yesterday and Noah was able to spend time with Miss Jennifer, and the other children were able to meet Noah and get excited about him joining their clan. I think all in all, this will be a blessing for him. He'll get additional exposure to other children in a wonderful environment. I say this, but it's still going to be hard.

Noah is growing and thriving and just making us smile and laugh each day. Speaking of smiling, our little guy started smiling on Memorial Day. It was just the absolute sweetest thing I have ever seen, and now, we just melt when we get that gummy, wide grin that he has mastered so well.

I was fortunate enough to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year with Mike, my mom and my sister. My mom made the trip to Dekalb for the weekend and we had a great time. Noah treated me to a massage that was absolutely wonderful, and Mike treated the three of us to a great lunch on Mother's Day.

Noah's First Two Weeks

Mom & Noah's First Photo Shoot

Dad & Noah's First Picture

Noah's First Bath

Relaxing With Mom

Tummy Time On The Lilypad

Welcome To The World, Noah Robert Murcia!

I’ll start by begging for forgiveness. It’s taken me 2 weeks to get anything posted on this blog about the arrival of our son, but I’ll just plead the new mom case. We’ve spent the last 2 weeks learning more about our little boy, and helped him get acclimated to life in the real world. In short, it’s been a wonderful 2 weeks.

To go back to the beginning, I’ll give as short a story as possible about Noah’s arrival. We were induced on Sunday, April 19, arriving at the hospital very, very early in the morning to check in. By 7:20am, I was set up on the Pitosin and trying to get some rest (which wasn’t coming easy…there was just too much to think about!) The next 12 hours went by with little progress, and a lot of frustration and very little rest. By 7pm, my doctor finally came in and gave us two options – stop the Pitosin and re-start it the next morning, or break my water and start the time clock to getting our little boy here. Thankfully enough, the doctor decided to assess where I was and he said the words I was longing to hear – “you’re progressing, let’s break your water!” I think when he said that, I actually yelled out “Rock On!” and from there, he said, “We’re going to have a baby tonight!” So, from here, things started moving and each hour brought more progress until we got to 1:50am on Monday morning. This is when my nurse (her name was Kari and she was the BEST nurse I could have ever asked for) said it was time to push.

Pushing started and lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes. The strangest thing about this night was there were 6 women all in labor at the same time, with 3 of us with my doctor. So, my nurse kept telling me that we were in competition with the woman in room 2. Let’s just say the doctor went to room 2 before my room, but I don’t feel badly about it – it was her 2nd or 3rd baby, so she was able to move things along faster than I could.

Then, finally, at 4:18am on Monday, April 20, 2009, Noah Robert Murcia arrived into the world. He spent 15 minutes with a neonatologist since he had been a little stressed out during the delivery and I had a fever during labor, but he screamed the entire time which was the best sound I had ever heard. Finally, around 4:45am, Mike brought our son over to me so that I could hold him. And, he was the most aware and awake newborn I had ever seen. And, then finally around 5:15am, our family was able to come in and meet Noah – everyone had stayed up all night, waiting for Noah’s arrival. And, then by 6:15am, Mike, Noah and I were settled into our new room on the Mother/Baby Unit, and it was finally time to sleep for Mike and me. Sleep didn’t come so easily though for either of us…we were a family now and there were so many other things to think about.

This is the story of Noah’s birth, a day, night and another morning that we will never forget. It’s amazing to us just how much he’s already changed in just 2 weeks. We are truly, truly blessed and fortunate to have a healthy, thriving little boy that has stolen our hearts and made us understand a completely different and new kind of love.

Love,
Mike, Ash, Noah & E!

T-Minus Four Days And Counting....

Well, here we are. For this entire pregnancy, I have been receiving weekly e-mails from Babycenter.com, which tell me how many more days I have left to go. I remember when the number was in the 200s. Today, it's 4. Wow. Four days left.

So, here's an update...bascially, not a whole lot is happening. Without going into too much detail, this little guy seems to be perfectly happy with the free ride he's getting right now - warmth, no direct exposure to the northern Illinois winds, an adequate supply of bagels (which I eat in bulk these days). I went to see my doctor yesterday and I asked the $1 million question - "So, if we get to Saturday and he's not arrived, what's the plan?" And, my doctor said something that made me want to jump up and down and hug him. He said, "Well, I feel good enough that if he's not here by Saturday, we can just go ahead and schedule you to be induced on Sunday." SUNDAY!!! After I told him that that news made me a very, very happy woman, he made the call and the hospital expects us at 6am on Sunday morning!! That is, if the little one doesn't decide to arrive before then. So, that's where we are. Waiting still - either for what might happen at any moment of any day, or for Sunday morning at 6am.

Just something else to share...last night, Mike asked me what I wanted to do on Saturday. And all of a sudden, I realized that if induction is our path, Saturday will be the last day that it's just Mike and I. Obviously, when you're expecting, you know that any day can be that "last day." But when there's the knowledge of when that "last day" might be, it makes you stop and think. Do we go out for a really nice dinner? A movie? Or just hang out and not make a big deal of it? It's amazing to know that this time next week, we will have met our son and will be able to hold him and introduce him to this world.

Keep checking back for updates...as soon as the little guy arrives, we'll be posting about it!

Love, Ash

The Great Ceiling Fan Debate And More....

So, as I was looking back through my paltry and pathetic posts from this pregnancy, I realized that in our announcement post, I called out some of the new experiences I was going through as a newly preggers woman. I love hearing other people’s experiences and thought I’d just put together a quick run-down of the fun stuff that comes with an almost full-term pregnancy…

1. The Great Battle Of The Thermostat/Ceiling Fan…I’ve always heard that your body temp tends to rise in pregnancy. No joke, it was 32 degrees when I left for work yesterday morning and I got in my car without a coat and turned the air conditioning on. If I could, the A/C would be on in the house. But for poor Mike and Einstein, we’re compromising.

2. Cravings….Something a lot of people don’t understand is that when you’re 9 months pregnant, your stomach is no longer in the shape of a perfect oval/circle. Rather, it’s squished and just about 2” high. Which means for me, I don’t have the capacity to eat everything in sight, or really have the desire to. As for cravings, I’m a regular at Wendy’s for Chicken Nuggets. On a good note, fruit, water and salad are all on my cravings list. Of course, so are the regular chocolate chip cookies that Mike makes.

3. Why, Oh Why Do The Bottoms Of My Feet Hurt So Badly???...This is a total shocker and I can’t explain it.

4. Sleep….Doesn’t happen. Well, it happens for about 2-3 hours a night, then it’s pretty much a lost cause for the rest of the night.

5. Getting Appropriate Treatment At The DMV…So, I got the honor of going to renew our license plates a couple of weeks ago. Just what I wanted…to go and experience the loveliness of the DMV. But wouldn’t you know it, when you’re pregnant, they are actually NICE to you! They got me in and out in minutes and even made small talk. Wow.

6. Feeling Like You’re A Pretty Strong Chick…I’ve come to understand there’s a process to getting to the point where you say, “Whenever the time comes for this baby to arrive, I’m ready.” For me, I went through the Childbirth class and watched the videos and all that, and came away feeling like, “Okay, I can do this.” Then, there were a couple of weeks where I started to doubt myself. But now, I can say that I’m ready and I believe it. And, it’s kind of a cool feeling to get to that point where you feel strong enough to bring another life into this world.

With that, I’m off to walk around the block 25 times tonight to see if I can’t move things along!

Much love to all,
Ash

A Big Puffy Version Of Ashley

Oh my. Thirty-eight weeks. I’ve been going through this adventure for 38 weeks. For the most part, everything has been wonderful. There are days, moments, but I’ve felt overall pretty good. And, now we’re down to less than 2 weeks to go and I’m ready. I’m ready to meet our son and to see what he looks like and what his personality is. So, for the next 2 weeks, I’m going to do my best to hang in there and wait.

For anyone who’s wondering what a pregnant Ashley looks like, I’ve included the latest photo below….

So, we’re going to wait it out and see when our little guy is going to decide what day he wants to arrive. Keep checking back for updates!

Love, Ash

Less Than 4 Weeks To The Big Birthday

That’s what we’ve been calling it. The Big Birthday. Admittedly, it makes me feel better. Less nervous about the actual giving birth part and more excited about the celebration that will ensue after his arrival. I always like a good party, and a birthday party isn’t a birthday party without a birthday cake. Yes, there will be birthday cake at the hospital to welcome our little man. (Thanks to my mom, her last stop before leaving Muncie to get here when we give her “the call” is at a wonderful little bakery that makes amazing cakes to make sure we have a proper celebration!)

There’s been lots going on and a lot of waiting in the last several weeks. Mike finally made his last business trip this last week back to Atlanta and I am so thoroughly excited that he is finished with trips until well after the baby arrives. We’ve both been crazy-busy at work, which we feel blessed with, especially when the news we hear everyday isn’t as great around the country.

I can pretty much say that when it comes to the material needs for a baby, we’re ready. His room is ready, there are diapers, wipes, pacifiers and lots and lots of clothes. (Which are of course organized in his closet by size. Not too big of a surprise to anyone that knows me!) We had a great weekend at the beginning of March with my dad and Ash B. where we got to introduce my dad to Babies R Us. Honestly, it was quite possibly the most adorable scene I had ever seen – my dad scurrying around Babies R Us to make sure that our little guy (and more importantly, his grandson) has everything he needs to be comfortable and happy. We feel so very, very blessed for both of our families and all of our friends that have been so generous in making sure our little man has everything he needs.

Now, to how I’ve been feeling…for the most part, I’m doing well. I have nothing to compare it too, so I just assume that I’m feeling good. Sure, I have my days where it is just so uncomfortable to sit at my desk that I can hardly stand it, but I’m hanging in there. The evenings are probably the worst – I now completely believe that the beginnings of sleep deprivation that occur in the 3rd trimester are preparing you for after the baby comes. I would have to say that I’m pretty much waking up every hour to two hours, either just plain uncomfortable, or with raging heartburn. But, I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. This has been such a wonderful experience and to know that at the end of it, our son will be here is just the greatest feeling.

We also got to make our last trip back to Indiana at the end of February for a lovely baby shower. My dear friends Culleen, Allison, Patti and Megan threw a wonderful shower for me that was just the greatest afternoon with dear family and friends!

We’ll keep everyone posted in the next couple of weeks, as we count down to April 18th!

Love, Ash