Riley Grace Tate

SHE'S HERE! Riley Grace Tate was born Sunday, February 27 at 9:29 p.m.

She was 22 inches long and weighed 6 lbs 14 ounces.

Last Sunday, I wasn't feeling great when I left church. I felt like I had a fever and had the chills. Around 3:30 in the afternoon I started having some contractions. They got increasingly regular and closer together, yet they were only lasting for about 20-30 seconds. We called the hospital around 6:30 and they told us to keep an eye on things for the next hour and call them back and let them know if they were starting to last longer. As the nurse was about to hang up, she mentioned to keep an eye on how much the baby moved in the next hour. When she said that, I realized that in focusing on timing contractions, I hadn't noticed that I didn't feel her moving at all for most of the afternoon. We decided that because of that, it was worth going to the hospital to just check things out, figuring they'd tell us we were in early labor and send us home.

We got to the hospital and I was hooked up to all the monitors and they noticed I was running a fever. Things were pretty calm and seemed like it really wasn't going to happen tonight. They checked and I was only a little over 2 cm. dilated. Our doctor (who was wonderful!) was watching the baby's heartbeat on the monitors in another room and came in and told us that because her heart rate was elevated (up in the 170's when it had been consistently in the 150's) that we would be having this baby tonight - either normally or via c-section, but we'd make that decision in the next hour or so once my lab work came back. About 10 minutes later he came back in and told us that we'd need to have a c-section - and quickly. Her heartbeat was dropping down to the 90's during contractions and they were worried about what kind of infection was causing my fever. As soon as he said that, things moved quick. I was immediately prepped for surgery and Kirk had just enough time to call our parents and get scrubs on before we were whisked to the operating room. I was terrified but also felt a sense of peace that the doctor we knew and trusted was on call and that we were doing what needed to be done.

I'll spare you the details of the c-section - but it all happened so fast, it felt a little like an out of body experience. We had gotten into our hospital room at 8:30 p.m. and Riley was born at 9:29 p.m. The cord was wrapped around her torso and she had breathed in a little fluid on the way out. But she was strong and healthy! She had the cutest little raspy cry.

I am so full of emotions that I'm not sure able to describe what it was like to see her for the first time and to get to hold her. She is beautiful and it's slowly sinking in that she's ours. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this - but I'm so overwhelmed by these feelings and emotions I can't get them into words yet.

We were in the hospital until Tuesday afternoon (which happened to be my b-day). The recovery from the c-section has been slow and painful. I get frustrated that it's so hard to move around and need to remind myself that it was fairly major surgery and I need to take the time to heal.

One of my favorite things is watching Kirk be a dad. He's so good at it and was meant to be a daddy. I can't get around too easily and he has been taking such good care of both me and Riley. I think I've only changed about 3 diapers so far. He brings me water and holds it for me while I'm nursing and is up in the middle of the night to make sure her feedings are going OK. I'm so impressed with him and so proud to get to parent with him.

We have enjoyed time with Kirk's parents and my mom and Mike. My dad and Jill are coming in a couple of days. People from church have started stopping by and it's been fun to show her off!

It's been an adventure so far! Her days and nights are mixed up, so she sleeps like a champ during the day but that means we have had some long nights! I just try and take night time hour by hour. And she's hungry now ... so I gotta go. More to come!

Due Date

It's our due date today! :o)

No baby yet. :o(

We'll let you know when something happens...if she ever decides to come out.

39 Weeks...

Tuesday was our 39 week mark which means we are less than one week away from our due date! We went to the doctor this morning and he said that it could be tonight, this weekend, next week or two weeks from now. Helpful, huh?! :o) We have another appointment next Thursday if I don't go into labor before then. They said they will probably schedule induction at about 41 and a half weeks, but I'm really hoping that I don't have to be induced. We are still just waiting for her to decide she's ready to come out. I am VERY ready for her to come out...I am uncomfortable and not sleeping at night. I guess the not sleeping at night is helping to prepare me for once she's here - I'm getting good at catching up on sleep during the day.

The doctor guessed that the baby is a little under 7 pounds right now, so she's not too big - which is nice! Kirk and I were both big babies so hearing that she's on the smaller end was a nice surprise!

The funny part of the appointment today was when the doctor asked me "Who bit you?" I had NO idea what he was talking about at first but realized that the huge burn I have on my hand kinda looks like a big bite mark. (I burned myself on the oven the other day and have about a 2 inch burn on my hand). I just thought it was funny that he thought that I had been bitten!

I haven't really had many pregnancy cravings during the pregnancy but they seem to be kicking in. Thankfully - lots of the things I'm craving are from places that we don't have here in Goldsboro so it helps me not become huge! If we had a Chipotle in town - I'd be gigantic by now! In the past few days I've craved mozzarella sticks (i don't even like those!), fruit roll ups, vanilla pudding with whipped cream, buffalo wings and fried chicken (another thing I don't really like). Most of these pass after a day or two. I try not to even watch the food commercials on TV because then I start to crave what I see on TV!

We'll keep you posted if anything happens!

38 Weeks...

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Most importantly, we passed the 37 week mark which means the baby is considered full term and now is welcome to come at any time! I'm still 2 weeks away from my actual due date (Feb. 22), so we may still have a little while to wait. Kirk had a huge youth fundraiser last Saturday and that was the last major youth event we were hoping to make it through before the baby comes, so now we are just waiting on her to decide she's ready.

2 Sundays ago, the church threw us a wonderful baby shower. It was fun to celebrate with them and they have been so supportive and excited for us. People were so generous and we were able to get pretty much everything we needed for her. They played a game where we gave them a sentence that contained all the letters of Baby Tate's name and they were supposed to guess what the name was. No one guessed! We wouldn't have told them anyways, but it was funny that no one got it. It's not a weird name either! I promise! :o) It's driving people CRAZY that we aren't telling the name, but I'm so glad we're keeping it a secret. It's fun to keep it between us and not have to hear any opinions about it! :o)

Kirk's parents and grandparents came up for that weekend so they could come to the shower. It was fun to have them here and of course we made a trip to the baby store at the outlet mall and stocked up on some more clothes for her. They also helped us finish up the nursery. We assembled a bookshelf, hung shelves and hung up the quilt my friend Katie made us. We still have the final few things to put away (not sure where to put everything!) but her room is ready for her. There's a picture posted below for you to see!

I'm feeling very uncomfortable and am pretty much exhausted. I pushed it a little to hard this past weekend helping with the youth event and am still paying the price for it. I have a bad hip already and it's been killing me! I also have heartburn and I get it no matter what I eat. She also hasn't dropped down yet, so my poor ribs are still taking a beating. BUT - it's all good! It's totally worth it and it's much easier to stay positive about it all when the end is in sight. Plus, I still love feeling her move around so it's totally worth the rib pain!

We see the doctor again on Thursday. I'm not having any contractions or anything so it should be just another uneventful check up. The nurses who teach our baby class at the hospital said the next full moon is February 18 and they said that they see a lot of women go into labor on the full moon. We'll see!

Here are a few pictures...

Here I am at 38 weeks ... I feel huge! :o)

Here is the nursery. Once she comes and we tell her name, I'm going to ask my friend Becky to paint cute letters of her name to go on the wall between the shelves and the quilt.

Here is a new member of our family...our awesome new camera! We have wanted one FOREVER and a bunch of people from church went in together and got us it for our baby shower! I'm excited to learn about all the neat stuff it can do!

36 Weeks...

Here's a picture of me at 36 weeks. Notice the nice new shirt Kirk bought me that covers my whole stomach! Since I'm still trying to wear my normal (non-maternity) shirts, most of them are too short and I have to keep tugging them down. This one is nice and long! :o)

We go back to the doctor tomorrow morning since we have to go every week now. It feels like we are there a lot! It's pretty uneventful when we go, but I like getting to check on her every week. Her head is still facing down and they are guessing she's between 5 1/2 and 6 pounds so hopefully she'll stay in that position and not get too much bigger! :o)

The church is throwing us a baby shower on Sunday and Kirk's parents are grandparents are coming up for the weekend so they can go to it. It's so nice of the church to do that for us and we're looking forward to it. Once that's over, we'll be able to set up the final things and be able just to wait for her to decide to come out!

We've been taking a class at the hospital and it's been really good. I feel smarter and better prepared. The nurses who are teaching it are great and it's only us and another couple so it's easy to ask all of our questions. Some of the videos they have showed us are a little traumatizing, but oh well!

Things are going well! We're so thankful for such an uneventful pregnancy. We're just hoping and praying that she is healthy and for as easy as a delivery as possible!

Moving right along...

We went to the doctor this morning and everything looks good! Her heartbeat is in the high 140's and I'm measuring a week ahead (measuring at 36 weeks when I'm actually 35 weeks along). That really doesn't mean all that much and my due date is still the same. The doctor guessed that she's about 5 1/2 - 6 pounds right now. Her head is still down, which is good and hopefully she will stay that way.

I'm still nauseous a lot and I get dizzy really easily. The doctor isn't too concerned about it. I just need to eat smaller meals more often and take it easy.

Our goal is to get the nursery finished this weekend and we also need to get our hospital bags packed and the car seat in the car. The next couple weekends are really busy so we want and need to get those things crossed off the list. The next weekend, Kirk's parent's and grandparents are coming to town because the church is throwing us a baby shower that Sunday. The first weekend in February is the big youth fundraiser at church. The baby can come any time after that fundraiser! :o)

Ugh...

It hasn't been the best week. I don't want to complain too much because, really the whole pregnancy has been pretty easy and uneventful so far. But for the past week the nausea I had during the first trimester is back. I pretty much feel nauseous all the time. The only thing that seems to help is laying down. It makes it hard to eat because nothing sounds good and when I do eat, I feel sicker afterwards. I thought that ended in the first trimester...no one told me that it could come back!

Last Sunday I had to make an unexpected trip to the doctor just to get some things checked out since I ended up passing out during church. They think my blood pressure just dropped a little too low and that the baby was pushed up against an artery which is what caused me to pass out. Thankfully, I'm fine and Baby Girl is fine. I just had to take it easy for a few days. I also now know the feeling I had before I passed out so now I can be aware if I feel like that again. It's not a big deal or anything to be worried about - more of just an inconvenience.

The good news is that I'm almost 34 weeks along, which means only 3 more weeks till I'm considered full term and 6 weeks till our due date! Not too much longer to go! We still have some things to do (finish the nursery, organize some things here, etc) but we're getting more and more excited to meet her soon! Also, we figure parents are going to be visiting once she gets here so we'll just let them finish up all the stuff we don't finish! :o)