Welcome to the World Liam!

It has been an absolutely crazy past 17 days. For those of you who don't already know, the world welcomed Liam Tommy Kilpatrick on April 11th at 10:35am. Weighing in at almost 11 pounds (10lb 14oz) and almost 2ft long and born au natural. I still am not sure how my body handled that one!

My water broke at 11:55pm on April 10th. This is after literally trying every natural labor inducing method out there (with the exception of caster oil). I still didn't have any signs of labor so my midwife said to get some sleep and I would probably start labor within 6-8 hours. 30 minutes later, I went into labor.

This picture was taken pretty soon after I went into labor. I wanted to document how massive I was before he arrived. (39 weeks 5 days)

Time is funny when you are in labor. You would think that it would drag on because of the discomfort of contractions but it flew by. In no time at all my contractions were 3 minutes a part and Mike suggested we call the midwife again. We met her at the birthing center at 4:30am. I was really relieved to have my favorite midwife Roswitha for these first stages of labor. She was reassuring and comforting. The next few hours were a blur of handling contractions. Sometimes I like being massaged, other times I hated being touched. I knew things were progressing nicely when I was in writhing pain and Roswitha came in really excited and said "yes, this is going wonderfully!" It did not feel so wonderful at the time. Luckily I was far enough along to finally get in the big tub. She didn't want me to get in too soon because it may slow labor down. I'm not sure how long I was in the tub for but eventually Roswitha had to go home and we got a midwife we'd never met before named Michelle. I was so far gone it could have been a homeless man in scrubs and I wouldn't have known the difference. After some of the hardest contractions of my life they told me I could start pushing. So I pushed, and pushed and pushed, then they said I had to get out of the tub "do I have to?" yes. So I did. Then I pushed some more. Mike then announced that he could see the head! Keep pushing! All I could think of was what my mom had told me "Once the head comes out, the rest of the body will just slide right on out" so I pumped myself up. All you have to do is get the head out, that's all. Push..Push...Push..Push..."Okay, the head is out! Now I need you to give me two big pushes and some small pushes" PUSH..PUSH..."Okay, I need you to give me two more big pushes!!!" what the hell?!? What seemed like centuries later, Liam finally made it out. He was put on my chest and he was blue with a cone head and he was the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on. He hadn't cried yet and Mike said "What do we do?" the midwife said "Talk to him" so he did and as soon as he heard Mike's voice he took his first breath, well wail. It was magnificent.

He lay on my chest for over an hour or maybe it was two. I hadn't slept all night and sleep was far from my mind. I kept looking at his little hands and feet and his wrinkly little face. He is so perfect.
Eventually it was time to weigh him and the midwife said "anyone want to take a guess?" I don't know, 9 1/2 pounds? Nope. Almost 11 pounds! It was the biggest baby the midwife or the midwife assistant (also named Michelle) had ever helped deliver. They measured his head and then his chest. It turns out his chest was bigger than his head! No wonder it was so hard to push him out!

The days that followed have been a bit hazy. It turns out that newborns eat a lot and often. I sometimes find myself feeding him every hour! We are continually learning to communicate with each other. I catch myself just staring at his face and totally losing track of time. I can't believe we created this amazing creature. I met a woman once who had a son. She described him as her heart walking around outside her body. I totally get that now. I am so excited to share this amazing world with him.

We have also been graced with some of the best friends this world has to offer. Shortly after Liam's birth we were given loads of pre-prepared meals. I cannot even explain how amazingly helpful and wonderful these gifts have been. I cannot help but think that if it weren't for all this food, we would be living off of Ramen noodles and cold cereal. Thanks to everyone who has helped us!

Instead of posting all of Liam's photos on the blog which would take forever, I've created a photobucket album which I am continually updating with his most recent photos. If you would like to see them, you can check it out here:
http://s1181.photobucket.com/albums/x432/Britt_Kilpatrick/Liam%20Tommy%20Kilpatrick/

Once I get my bearings a little better, I will try and continue posting on this blog updates on how our little man is doing.

Get Ready Earth, I'm Coming! Weeks 37-38

Last week I started having much stronger Braxton Hicks contractions. (side note: for those who don't know what these are they are considered "practice contractions" or "false contractions") It dawned on me, he could come at any minute now! It was a really overwhelming feeling that this was actually happening! Then...nothing happened. The contractions stopped and I realized I had to get myself really mentally prepared for this!
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, dummy, you've had 9 months to do that! I thought that I was mentally ready until the actual symptoms of labor began to happen. Skip forward to a week later at present time. The contractions haven't stopped, the morning sickness hasn't stopped, the limbs numbing haven't stopped, my hips hurt, It takes me several minutes to do simple tasks like get out of bed or get up from the couch. I AM READY!! I am mentally ready, physically ready and now, thanks to a week of final preparation, I am baby ready!

I have my birthing bag packed with receiving blankets and tiny hats, I have the nursery ready and almost complete (with the exceptions of just a few more alphabet letters) *Pictures posted below*, I have cleaned the house top to bottom, I hand-washed the car and vacuumed it out so our little man wouldn't be insulted by all that Nico hair, I made a birthing music mix and I stocked the house with labor foods like Gatorade and frozen peaches (my favorite).

Last week the day after I started having contractions the midwife checked my baby making bits to see my progress. I was pretty nervous because of the last examination. She was even a little rougher which made me even more nervous but all went well. She told me that I was still 1cm dilated and that I had gone from 30% effacement to 80% effacement (side note: for those of you who don't know what that is it means my cervix or "baby exit" is getting softer and easier for him to come out). I decided not to get checked at this weeks visit. I wasn't as comfortable with this midwife and Mike wasn't with me which is always a sign that something bad will inevitably happen. It's interesting on that note. I'm discovering that if Mike is not at the appointment with me my blood pressure is higher than when he is there. I'm not sure if it's coincidence or if he really does calm me. I am going with the fact that he calms me. Which is perfect for someone who is going to be my labor coach.

Also on the big news front, we have FINALLY decided on a name!
Liam Kilpatrick
It's a name we've liked from the beginning but have avoided because it's fairly popular right now. Mike and I were driving one day and I was thinking about the name Liam and he said out loud "you know, I still like the name Liam" I took it as a sign, that and it has been the only name so far that just feels right. Now all we have to do is come up with a middle name! Zeus? Thunder? Man Hammer?

I am hoping beyond all hopes that this is my last pregnancy picture to post and that the next blog will be me actually holding my son. If not though, you can bet it will be a really sour face picture.

On a fun note, I am posting a picture of my Mom the day she went into labor with me. She looks like how I did 3 months ago! Needless to say, our pregnancies have not been the same. She is so cute!

The Nursery!

 The infamous Alphabet Wall! 

*Beka and Rooney, you may notice that your cookie shaped "C" is not on the wall. I am sad to say that shortly after we received it, the dogs ate it, well attempted to eat it, it was pretty hard. They are such jerks sometimes!

It's the Final Countdown! Weeks 34-36

This little guy is packing on the pounds!
At least I would like to think that it is him gaining all this weight and not me.
There are lots of changes happening to my body that it has now become an alien force that I am unfamiliar with.
I now have fingers and toes that no longer look spidery but sausagey. It takes all the strength in the world to move from my right side to my left side once I've laid down in bed. I'm like a reverse turtle.
I also find several of my limbs falling asleep from just sitting or laying down. Like I said, alien body.
It is also 100% impossible to find any outfit that covers my belly. That sucker cannot be tamed.

I am now officially full-term; meaning that if I go into labor I will be able to deliver him at the birthing center and have him be healthy.

There was a slight scare the other day when I had my midwife appointment for my 36 week check up. She did an exam to check my cervix to see how it was doing. She said I was 1 centimeter dilated and my cervix was softening nicely. After the exam was done I began bleeding a lot. Enough to scare me and the midwife. We ended up doing an ultrasound to make sure my placenta was in a good location and not compromising anything.
The ultra sound found that everything was normal and our little guy was doing just fine. He is head down and facing the correct direction and everything.
Eventually the bleeding stopped and I was able to calm down. Apparently it is fairly common for bleeding to happen on those types of exams, it was just very worrisome. I wasn't prepared for that kind of a scare.

After my midwife appointment, I was really able to feel my Braxton Hicks contractions. Before they had been painless but now I could really feel the pressure. I can't help but feel like this is a sign that he is going to be slightly early. That and he is monstrously huge.

Today is also my last day of work at Evolution Graphics. It is bitter sweet because I hate to leave the job but I am also excited to be able to relax a bit before this little guys comes.

Now for the freak show...My belly:

Balloon Tops and Baby Drops Weeks 32-33

When I first got pregnant Mike and I sat down and made a list of all the things we were going to need as new parents. Needless to say the list was very over whelming. How on earth were we going to have enough time or money to gather all of these essentials?!
Little did I know, that with the amazing support of my family and friends this list would not only be fulfilled but then some! These last two weeks we were showered with even more amazing generosity!
My older sister Jen, who as most of you may already know, lives in California. She came up with the brilliant idea of throwing a shower by mail. This way family and friends who live far from the lone star state could help outfit our little baby bean (that's right no name yet) and get him ready for this world! The shower was themed to go along with the nursery idea we have for his room:

Each guest mailed a gift and an alphabet letter. I can't even explain how fun it was opening these gifts! We signed on to Skype and via internet I opened some of the most spectacular gifts and letters. With the exception of just a few letters, I am almost ready to decorate the alphabet wall. I will hopefully have it all put together to show pictures in the next blog post.
My sister, even though she was so far away made this day so special, she even surprised me with balloons!

As if this weren't incredible enough, this past weekend my amazing friend Kendall threw me a shower with all of my friends from Austin. I couldn't believe how many people gathered together on Mike and I (and bean's) behalf! It wasn't until I sat down to open my gifts and looked around at all my friends that it hit me how absolutely blessed the three of us really are.

I just want to thank everyone and I mean EVERYONE for not only helping us fulfill our baby "necessity list" but supporting us in this exciting adventure of new parenthood.
I am so grateful to have such amazing family and friends that would bend over backwards for us. I can't even express enough how much I truly appreciated all of your generosity. It is bringing tears to my eyes just thinking about how absolutely blessed we are. Thank you all so so much.

On a quick note about Baby Bean, he is now head down (yay!) and my iron levels are back to normal. He is still moving around like crazy all the time. This past Friday he was trying to kick his way out through my belly button which really hurts! It kind of freaked me out so I called the Birthing Center to make sure that something wasn't wrong. I feel silly now but at the time I was thinking "is this was a contraction feels like?" I was assured that it was normal to feel pain around the nerve endings in the belly button if he's moving around there and no, that is not a contraction. It's really crazy to think that in about 7 weeks he will be here. I forget sometimes to appreciate these quiet moments in my life because soon they will be no more.

I now present my belly!

I had a bit of a shocking realization that he is still going to double in weight before he is born. Where on earth am I suppose to put that much baby?!

Decision 2012...The Name

Not having a name for our unborn bean is driving me bonkers!
I've worked up a survey so you guys can put in your opinion and help me pick a name in the process.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CG68PV
I look forward to seeing what you think!

Woah! Put That Thing Away! Weeks 28-31

I am not doing so hot with keeping up with this blog every two weeks am I?

It has been a pretty hectic past 3 weeks. It started off with a shared shower in Fort Worth with my sister in law Stephanie who is due any day now!  Most of the turnout was from Mike’s side of the family who were so generous and great to hang out with! I also got to see my friend Jayne who I haven’t seen in almost 5 years!

This is also the busiest time for work at my job. I would typically thrive on being super busy at work but having a human strapped to my abdomen definitely makes it difficult. Sitting for too long makes my ribs ache and standing too long makes me dizzy and have to pee. It pretty much makes me feel like a whiney beast all the time.

It was all worth it though because of this past weekend. Me, Mike and our friend Dehron all flew to Colorado (last flight before the baby!) for a fun-filled extended weekend.  My amazing friends Shannon and Heather threw me a spectacular shower where not only did we get a plethora of children’s books and wonderful gifts I got to see friends who I haven’t seen since we moved to Austin.  I was in heaven.

The weekend’s greatness just continued from there. We attended our dear friends Grant and Abbey’s wedding (the main reason for being in Colorado) that was held in the snowy mountains of Estes Park. All in all is was dream-like.

Enough about what I’ve been doing, let’s talk about baby bean!

I know you’re probably wondering, have you picked a name yet or what?! The answer is no. We do have a list started though. Unfortunately nothing we have our hearts set on. I had no idea how difficult this naming business would be!

At my last visit to the midwife I did the glucose test which we passed with flying colors. Unfortunately we didn’t do so hot on our iron levels. I am trying to eat more iron rich foods and I have a supplement I’ve been taking every day.  It’s sad that a lot of iron rich foods are ones that I don’t really like right now like red meat, dark greens such as kale and arugula and kidneys. It’s a shame there isn’t iron in chocolate because I would probably be over-dosing on that!

All in all I think everything is going well, with the exception of morning sickness, achy ribs, over active bladder, the baby kicking the over active bladder, the baby kicking all my organs all the time, and not sleeping. I put that in small print for those out there who don’t want to hear me whine or those out there who are planning on getting pregnant anytime soon. That is what you have to look forward to. Ahhh…

Now behold the next magical act…Britt turning into a killer whale!

This is what I would look like if we were expecting twins!

Nesting and Resting Weeks 25-27

I have officially lost the luxury of comfort. I can't do anything comfortably. Sitting, Standing, Walking, Sleeping, Eating, the list goes on. That is my one bout of complaining and I am done. I don't want anyone to think for a second that I am not grateful for this massive miracle. Usually it just feel massive but I have to keep telling myself how lucky I really am.

The beginning of the New Year has brought with it my nesting bug. I cleared out my craft room and moved it all into our office. It was kind of hard to say goodbye to my personal space but then I looked down at my belly and realized my personal space has been invaded for months now. I also ripped off all the couch covers and did a deep clean on the couch. I don't know why, it just seemed like it had to be done. I also gave our dog Klauss a deep clean and hair cut. Poor guy got sucked into my nesting tornado. He does look like a million bucks though!

Last week we started our Bradley Birthing Class. I really like our teacher Chan. She makes the idea of giving natural birth sound doable and not this impossible torture that can't be done. 

Also on the list of good news, our baby is paid off! Well, the prenatal appointments and delivery anyway. It's comforting knowing we won't (unless something goes terribly wrong) have to pay hospital bills for months afterwards. 

Last subject to bring up is names. No we don't have one yet. Each blog entry I hope to have one to reveal. My hope for the next two weeks is to find one and pin it down! I can say that Mike has been doing some family history searching and there may or may not be some gem names in the family. We'll see...

Please try to hold in your vomit as you see how grotesquely huge I've gotten. Also, don't look too close but the belly button has popped. **sigh**

I am also going to show off Klauss's sweet hair cut. What a hansom man.