Labor & Delivery

I want to share with yall the story of my labor and delivery.  I'm going to include some less than glamorous photos just to keep it real.  So here we go.

Last Tuesday I had my 40 week appointment where I had my membranes stripped.  My midwife Natalie said that labor typically can follow within 48 hours and sometimes occurs the same day.  By Thursday afternoon, I was thinking that baby wasn't budging.  I had been having contractions on and off for days and trying to stick to an early labor diet (broth, toast, popsicles, lots of water, etc).  Since baby's arrival didn't seem eminent, I threw the early labor rules out the window and requested one of my favorite pregnancy meals~ Taco Bell crunch wrap supreme, taco, and pintos!  Every bite needed to be coated in their Fire sauce.  Perhaps it was the spicy heat or maybe it was a family fast food tradition (my mom enjoyed a McDonald's Big Mac as her last meal before my big sister was born), but baby began to stir.

At 10:54pm I felt a little pop & release~ what in the world was that?  Was that my water breaking?  Only 20% of labors start with broken membranes; that's a minority.  I didn't expect to be one of the soggy few!  After a wardrobe change and a call to my OB, we had a plan in place.  If my contractions didn't kick in by 3am we were to head to the hospital to be induced (i.e. given the drug Pitocin to start the contractions), and if my contractions came on their own we were free to labor at home until 5am.  We took the time before the contractions kicked in to finish packing our bags for the hospital stay and showering one last time before our all-nighter.  Then I got comfortable in the living room~ we decided to watch some Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and then Chuck (season 2~ thanks Miss Foo for lending them to us; I promise we'll give them back one day).

Though not an actual labor photo, the sleeping bag on the floor with napping sustained me while waiting for my contractions.

Labor has started, and Kyle starts documenting the process.  Those pjs didn't survive the amniotic fluids.  In the movies & on tv it's just one big gush  and everybody runs into action to get into the hospital.  I experienced at least 3 movie-worthy gushes while we were hanging out~ pretty wild!

At 2am my body started working.  My contractions weren't necessarily painful; rather they were a lot of downward pressure.  Kyle had been awesome at timing my weird scattered contractions throughout the week~ at this point he was a pro.  I would tell him when they started and he would start the timer on his stop watch.  It didn't take long for Kyle to give me a wide eyed look and say, "Again?".  My contractions were fewer than 4 minutes apart almost immediately with some as close at 2 minutes 30 seconds.  So by 2:45am we were loading into the car and on our way to Northside Hospital.  Let me just say this was the perfect time to drive on the highway.  We were in the parking deck at 3am!

Round 2 of pjs as we arrive at the hospital.  This is not a pose, but an early indicator of how much trouble my back would be through the process.

We got checked into our room really quickly, I got my hospital gown on, and nurses strapped the external monitor belts around my waist (one for baby's heart rate & one for my contractions).  Those were pretty uncomfortable~ something I hadn't expected.  After all the consent forms were signed (including a consent for vaginal birth~ as if I could opt out of that one!),  it was close to 4am.  I got my first exam~ already 4cm!  The nurse was a little concerned though because she couldn't tell how the baby was presenting.  I was positive he'd been head down since 28 weeks, but just to make sure all was well we got one last ultrasound.  How cool to spy on the baby one last time before we met him!  Sure enough he was head down, but since labor had started he had flipped sides.  For the last 12 weeks he had been facing my right side and now all the sudden he was looking left~ how funny!

Feeling glamorous in my gown while Kyle rocks his stop watch and a cup of coffee

Kyle and I decided to walk a couple of laps around the labor and delivery halls (a few more miles on the Hamiltrots counter?  Not quite).  My contractions definitely intensified during this time.  Northside cleverly has installed railings all along the hallway so I would hold on to them, rest my forehead against the wall, and do my breathing exercises while Kyle counted for me and rubbed my back.  I was back settled into my room by 6am in time to start my IV fluids.  My nurse had some difficulty sticking a vein; with a bit of cringing on my part and some apologies from her, she gave both my arms a break and called for reinforcements.  A second nurse came in and nailed it.  My arms are still pretty bruised from the first attempts, but with a blood clotting disorder, it's definitely nothing new for me.  Kyle popped in a Fred Astaire movie for me (Royal Wedding) and we were good to go.


My awesome midwife Natalie arrived at 7am.  After a short chat, she left me to labor for a bit.  At 8am I got checked again~ 6cm.  Natalie was concerned I was not progressing as quickly as I could because I have some scar tissue from surgeries.  She offered to manually break it up for me~ oooh!  This was intense and uncomfortable like getting my membranes stripped, but I survived because it was for the cause.  Natalie also offered me Fentanyl, a narcotic that should "take the edge off" as so many have told me.  I was super grateful for it & enjoyed a new dose of it every hour to hour and a half.  The Pros:  It really relaxed me so I could really concentrate on breathing and force myself to rest the tension in my muscles during my contractions.  It also relieved the crazy intense pain in my lower back which probably was caused by baby resting on a nerve.  The Cons:  Narcotics pass through the placenta to the baby so we needed a team of folks to take care of baby after birth in case he was groggy and his breathing or heart rate were depressed.  We prayed lots that he'd be alert and healthy while we also trusted that we were in good hands in the worst case scenario.

So you see the 4 lines~ the second graph from the top are my contractions.  I had 7 in 12 minutes from 10:40am to 10:52am~ yow!

It wasn't until 11am that I got checked again~ 9.5cm and the dreaded lip.  You are basically at the finish line but if you start pushing, you can cause your cervix to swell and go down to a lower dilation and stall your labor.  Stalling labor is not an option when you've broken your water; there's a 24 hour time table to get that baby out au naturel before there is an intervention of some kind.  They do this to prevent fevers and infections.  So we decided to mix things up and try some new positions (up until this point I had been sitting upright slightly reclined in bed).  It was super painful to move, and I was reduced to banshee-like screams/moans and many-a-tear.  I first tried an all-fours position but was terribly miserable.  Then I got up on my knees and faced the back of my bed putting my arms over the back of it.  Natalie coached me to try to bear down a bit through my contractions.  It was so so painful on my lower back, and I spent more of my energy hooting and hollering and feeling so guilty for probably unnerving all my epidural-happy neighbors with my horrible sounds.  We weren't making any progress no matter how well coached I was by Natalie or Kyle.  Poor Kyle at this point was fighting back the tears because I was hurting so much and he couldn't really help me.

On a brief aside, I had read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth recently and learned that these positions are often very helpful for natural births~ they use gravity and puts a woman in a more instinctual position for pushing (rather than lying on her back).  I was pretty stunned when I found I preferred to be sitting and reclined a bit since there were many testimonies to these natural birth positions being more comfortable and easier on the body.  Definitely a surprise.

I got back into my comfortable position when a half hour of pushing was unsuccessful.  At one point a nurse came in and told us that the lady next door to me was praying for me to have a fast delivery since I sounded so miserable.  My sweet nurse continued to provide me with heat pads for my back since it was aching so badly.  I spent this time focusing and thinking about God as I breathed in 3 counts and out 4 counts while shaking my head back and forth to keep my rhythm.  I had been practicing my breathing with my eyes closed while I walked on the treadmill the last month or so.  Let me tell you that I was glad so many people recommended practicing before labor; it felt really natural to breath through my contractions and have a focal point (prayer and a mental image of God) because I wasn't just trying it out in the heat of the moment.  If I opened my eyes, I lost my concentration and my tempo.  Thank goodness for my workouts.

We waited for a little while until I got the urge to push; Kyle sought out my midwife and nurses to let them know.  They set up the room for delivery and summoned the baby team.  I started pushing at 1:10pm with Kyle by my right side speaking words of encouragement in my ear and cooling me off with a damp wash cloth on my forehead.  My nurses Stacy and Monica helped hold my legs up while Natalie assisted me with stretching the appropriate area.  I ought to brag on my midwife Natalie who gave me the tough talking when I needed it; if I was wasting energy screaming or crying, she would tell me to get in my zone in a stern voice and it totally worked.  When I got discouraged she would tell me I could do it.  The nurses were also so great at boosting me with calls to push.

When a contraction came on I would do 10 seconds of pushing with my chin to my chest then take a deep breath and repeat two more times until the contraction was over.  In spite of pushing being difficult and there being some pain (hello, I now know what the "Ring of Fire" is), I was actually in more pain between contractions because my back hurt so badly.  They would remind me that the baby was so close and even pushed hard on my belly to make sure the baby didn't go back up into my body.  I was so glad for that.  When I got the chance to touch his head as he crowned, I passed.  I was kind of feeling wimpy and figured I'd touch his head plenty in the days to come.  It took 43 minutes and finally I felt this amazing sensation of relief as the baby speedily slipped out of my body.  Instantaneously he began crying with strong lungs and I collapsed in contentment as the hard work was over.  He officially entered the world at 1:53pm.

Nurses smiling over my baby~ a very good sign!

Baby's first stink-eye.  He's thinking, "Unhand me, you knave!"

What a little cutie with his purple hands and feet!

Baby's exam began; he scored 9 on his Apgar score at 1 minute & 5 minutes (he lost a point for having purple-ish hands~ nothing serious).  He was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces.  Kyle went into action with taking pictures of those first precious moments of our little one's life.  Meanwhile, I was delivering the placenta (easy peasy) and getting some repairs.  I had two little tears~ one on the inside and one on the outside that required only 3 stitches total.  As soon as it was apparent that the Fentanyl hadn't adversely affected the baby, I got to meet him!

Kyle snapped a shot while we met.  I couldn't really see him, but I loved feeling his little meaty cheek on mine.

Look at that HAIR!

 I have to brag on my husband.  He was so great.  He and I both agree that we have never worked so well together on anything.  I had prayed that I wouldn't say ugly things to him during labor; often I feel like because women are in pain, they give themselves the excuse to be ugly and surly to the people around them.  I didn't feel like it would honor God or Kyle to say mean things or vent needlessly (turns out crying was more cathartic anyhow).  Anyways, I would say that I've never felt more loved and covered in words of affirmation by Kyle in my entire life.  From beginning up to this very moment he makes me feel like the best mother and wife.  It was a wonderful experience that I can't imagine surviving without my sweet Kyle.

My husband spoiled me with a little bijou~ a new pendant with fancy yellow and white diamonds.  Two new treasures in one day!  I'm a very blessed girl.

My water broke 15 hours before the baby was born, but we're counting only from when my contractions started at 2am.  It was a total of 12 hours which I thought wasn't so bad.  I've heard of some labors lasting much longer.  To be honest the time seemed to just fly by (except the few minutes before it was time for a new dose of pain medicine).  I had heard that women have a hard time remembering things from labor and sometimes even falling asleep between contractions in the transition phase.  I was skeptical that I would experience those things because pain tends to make me super aware of everything and never sleepy.  When it came to writing this blog entry, I had to admit to myself that I had fallen asleep at times towards the end of labor as well as ask Kyle to help me put together a timeline of the whole morning.  I couldn't remember how it all went down for the life of me.

Now that it's over, I think I can imagine having another natural birth down the road.  It seemed like an insurmountable challenge at times, and it probably would have been without God, my husband, my midwife, and a few great nurses.  I thank the Lord that I came through it with good health for both Bennett and me.  What a blessing.

Baby Banana

We enjoyed breakfast on the porch this morning!

My little Chiquito

He's Here!!!

On Thursday, August 18th, 2011 at 1:53pm Bennett Elijah Hamilton (aka the Hamiltot) was born!  He weighed 7lbs 2oz. and was 19 inches long.  He scored a 9 on his Apgar score; Kyle is already proud his son is earning A's.  We are so excited and happy.  I couldn't wait to share the good news with you!

Sweet face and little hands

Proud papa and his boy

My baby and me!!

Like a Library Book...

We are overdue.  After an eventful Friday night and Saturday of non-Braxton Hicks style contractions as well as a few new symptoms, Kyle and I were convinced I was in early labor.  Well, the funny thing about early labor is that it can last for a few hours to days to even weeks.  It's the preparation time before you go into active labor, but it doesn't give the laboring mother any assurance that the baby's arrival is eminent.  After a nap on Saturday afternoon followed by an awesome night of sleep, all these contractions came to a halt.  I felt a little responsible for resting too much and maybe ending my progress.  Naively we had started to believe the baby would come on his due date.

Well, since my body slowed down, I became determined to try to bring on labor using many of the old wives' tale tips.  I've been eating lots of spicy foods, going for long walks and doing squats with my husband, and doing house chores galore to try to kick this miraculous event into high gear.  Yesterday Kyle joined me at my doctor's office to see if my flurry of activity and diet swaps had yielded any progress.  Happily we learned that I'm now at 3cm and baby's station is -1 (basically as low as he can go before the main event).  I went ahead and had my membranes stripped to try to catalyze labor, too.  It was a fortunate event because I learned that poor sweet Kyle can easily get woozy in my medical situations~ a very important fact to know before labor and delivery.  Poor buddy started sweating, lost all color in his face, started to hyperventilate, and got very dizzy.  My friendly midwife treated him to a restorative juice box before we left the office.

After an afternoon of doing laundry, dishes, sweeping the porch and moving our wicker furniture around (this amazing weather has yielded a couple of wonderful mornings of outdoor Bible study!), and a few other miscellaneous tasks, I was more hopeful than ever that my body would respond.  Last night I started to feel super sick~ nausea and tummy aches galore mixed with contractions.  I was so excited because it was a new sensation~ perhaps it was that long awaited labor!  Alas, it was not meant to be.  I had a sleepless night not because of contractions (those disappeared) but terrible back pain (I'm afraid which were the result of so much activity).  I hit a low this morning fearing that if I went into labor now, I couldn't imagine getting through it with so much pain in my back and so little sleep.  I was terribly discouraged, but Kyle lifted my spirits with a back rub and so many words of encouragement.  I also could feel my little baby dancing while I cried; how can you stay sad when you can feel baby's hands and feet wiggling away?

Today is a day of rest.  I have been praying a lot and relearning the lesson everything is in God's timing~ not mine.  In spite of my best efforts, I can't make my baby come any sooner.  I've been reading Old Testament baby stories, and in each story God is a prominent player.  Abraham's wife Sarah was 90 years old when she learned she would have a son.  Not only was God's sovereignty intrinsic in the elderly woman's ability to conceive; I have no doubt that he sustained her during Isaac's birth.  God's will determines Rebekah's, Leah's, Rachel's, and Hannah's ability to have babies.  He blesses both Ruth and Samson's mother with special baby stories.  Of course I haven't read about Christ's birth recently, but Mary certainly was comforted by God while giving birth in a house for animals with only her husband who had zero experience in the birthing department (Joseph may never have even seen Mary unclad).  I have to believe that God is intimately involved in childbearing when babies are often at the heart of significant accounts of women in the scripture. 

To testify a bit about the blessing of my pregnancy, you should know that I was a rebellious girl in my teen years.  I indulged in self-gratifying and impulsive activities including pre-marital sex with 3 of my high school boyfriends (though it should be noted that I wasn't dating all 3 at once~ that's a bit wild even for old Leah).  I had decided at orientation for college that I wanted a clean start and maybe even commit myself to Christ.  It was at that time I learned I had HPV~ a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cervical cancer.  Throughout the first year and a half of college, I had 5 procedures/surgeries to excise abnormal cells.  Once I started have a clear bill of health, I thought, "thank goodness the HPV chapter of my life is behind me".  I had no idea it would become a factor in pregnancy.

At my first OB appointment, I learned that because I had had so many surgeries on my cervix, I would have to have an ultrasound every month to make sure my cervix was strong or healthy enough to prevent premature labor.  That much trauma to that particular area yields risks for expecting moms.  Blessing #1 in Pregnancy I Attribute to God:  Not only was my cervix completely normal, Kyle and I enjoyed the benefit of peaking at baby every 4 weeks and witnessing his healthy growth.  It is a privilege that we did not take for granted.  Apart from God, I cannot imagine something as awful as an STD yielding something so wonderful as being reassured monthly that we have a healthy boy.  Furthermore, it was by his grace that my body had healed well enough after the procedures that I was not reduced to bed rest for months but rather enjoyed a very active lifestyle throughout these past 9 months.

Another risk factor discovered early in my pregnancy was placenta previa.  This meant that my placenta was forming on top of the cervix~ it's a condition that guarantees a C-section because your special baby organ is blocking the baby's exit route on delivery day.  Undiagnosed (which doesn't happen much in Western countries with good healthcare), it can cause serious complications including hemorrhaging for the mother, brain damage for the baby, or potentially death for both mother and baby.  Blessing #2 in Pregnancy I Attribute to God:  By the second trimester it was determined that my placenta had moved as my uterus was growing and no longer was a risk.  In this instance I praise God for answering my prayers to have it heal.  There is nothing a doctor can do or I could do to change my prognosis.  Kyle and I prayed my placenta would move, and we give God the credit for that answered prayer. 

How can I waiver in my faith now when God gives me both the scriptures and the experience of witnessing his faithfulness to me throughout the pregnancy?  My prayers now are for the courage and ability to endure labor as well as receive good treatment from my good physicians.  In all circumstances whether with pitocin or a C-section with general anesthesia, I know my God will be with me.  I hope to be spoiled with a more natural/normal birth because he's spoiled me all along, but if not, I really have nothing to fear.  At the end of it all, I will get to meet my son (and likely have to redirect my prayers to the topic of nursing and sleeping).

So many thoughts...  here's the update on our time table if you've made it this far.  Friday I have an appointment to have an ultrasound done to see if my amniotic fluid levels are good.  If not, then Kyle and I will check into the hospital to have labor induced.  If all is good, we get to return home and pray labor comes quickly.  Monday is our deadline.  If baby hasn't come by Monday, we will definitely be admitted to the hospital and be induced.  By next Tuesday (August 23rd) at the latest we will celebrate baby boy's birthday.  My great hope today is that I get to cancel both those appointments, but we'll just take it day by day and not beat myself up too bad if we do have to keep those appointments.

Hope you are doing well.  I'm not going to jinx myself by saying my next entry will be baby boy's introduction to the web world.  Instead I'll just say à bientôt!

Last Belly Picture?

Boy, I hope so!  This might be my final pregnancy update.  Woohoo!  I had an appointment yesterday and learned that we've progressed to 2cm in the dilation department.  Everything looks good; baby's heart beat sounded strong.  We are just waiting and praying there won't be a reason to induce (though my midwife did offer to strip my membranes~ that was a first!  Saucy midwife...).  I've been trying my best to use gravity and fitness to bring about little Mr. Hamilton's debut.  I went to the gym 4 times this week to work it on the treadmill and walked a total of 14.3 miles.  Not bad for a big pregnant lady.  Since I'm sharing random pregnancy tidbits, I learned recently that it's pretty hard to gain weight right at the end of the pregnancy.  The past two weeks my weight sort of leveled off (a nice change of pace).  So for my overall pregnancy weight gain, I put on 20 pounds since baby's conception.  I'm pretty happy about that.  Alright~ here's how we look!

In my work out clothes~ I'm going to have to retire those shoes once this baby comes.

Speaking of my belly, I thought I'd share an easy summer salad pizza Kyle and I made.  It was inspired by yet another something I spotted on Pinterest.

The vegan pie that planted the seed~ click the picture to go to the source!

So Kyle and I had to corrupt the vegan essence of this pizza as we are carnivores.  Kyle made the pizza dough from scratch (I helped with folding the dough while he was at work).  We switched out the tempeh bacon in the recipe for the real deal frying up a few strips to crumble all over.  We also skipped making our own ranch dressing; thanks to Kraft we already had some in the fridge.  We also went for spinach over romaine because I can get a huge bag of spinach for cheap at the store.

We tossed the spinach, dressing, and bacon in a bowl before topping our crust.

Yummy avocado~ we sprinkled some feta on the top for funsies, too.

My pictures will never turn out as appetizing as the inspiration foods.  You'll just have to believe me when I say that the pizza was as delicious as I hoped it'd be.  This may be a good appetizer or salad substitute for us when we have friends or family over for dinner down the road.

I invite you to pray with me that my next blog post will be dedicated to introducing our son to yall.  We are so excited to meet him (even though I think I'll miss his little movements and hiccups in my tummy).  My prayer today is that he comes on his due date (this Sunday, August 14th).  I may have to ask Kyle to take me for another walk this afternoon...  I better get on my Project Runway time now before he gets home.  Happy Friday friends!

Soup du Jour

I've still been trying to keep on making a meal per week for my husband since he works hard for the money.  So hard for the money...   So, between relying on meals I make all the time (tuna fish casserole~ my favorite go-to dish) and pillaging Pinterest for meal ideas, I feel like a little chef.  Here's a couple of things that have inspired me~

*click the picture to go to the source*

This yummy treat is a french toast sandwich filled with sweetened cream cheese (using "sugar powder" as one of my french friends calls powdered sugar) and blueberries.  I made my version of this last week but had to substitute some ingredients based on what we had.  I made french toast using my husband's delicious baguettes.  We had some mascarpone cheese left over from an Italian food night so I used that as my spread and sweetened it with honey.  Our blueberries had started growing some friends (re: they were fuzzy) ~ so I sliced up some banana as our fruit filler.  It was a real treat, and it's fun to have a new way to enjoy french toast without syrup.

*click the picture to go to the source*

Tonight we are going to enjoy this quick and easy black bean soup.  We had most of the ingredients on hand (Kyle picked up some feta while picking out a fancy cheese to enjoy from Fresh Market).  In place of chili powder, we have a super spicy mix of peppers that were dried by Kyle's mom and then ground by Kyle in the food processor.  Don't inhale or touch your eyes when handling this super hot treat.  I left out the cilantro since Kyle and I aren't huge fans.  I also ditched the chives but would probably splurge on them if we made this for family or friends.  How I miss our little French herb garden~ remember when we could enjoy fresh herbs any time we wanted to?

Basil and parsley galore~ it was all ours.

Chives, rosemary, and thyme~ so much flavor in such a small box.

It's a shame we have an all shade no sun porch... Back to dinner! 

My modern day cookbook~ I copy and paste a good number of recipes into notepad and increase the font while enjoying a scenic shot from Strasbourg two winters ago.

One of the last times I'll be able to dress my little boy in flowers~ I love my girly apron.  I'll be glad to have my tiny kitchen companion seated a safer distance from the stove very soon.

It may not look crazy delicious here, but it is super good.

Topped with feta, this is comfort food central.

Hopefully I'll be able to be handy in the kitchen once the baby is here, but I make no guarantees to be a consistent cook in the weeks to come (sorry Kyle).  Only time will tell on this matter...

La Chambre de Notre Petit Prince

I have had this post in draft form for a couple of weeks now.  Sorry for the long wait, but every time I sat down to finish typing about the nursery I felt compelled to post something else (we've had an eventful couple of weeks with a fake broken ankle and new car).  I promised I would get it up though before we have the Hamiltot~ so here it is!

A reading nook for the little man~ We filled the bookshelf with framed cards with cute pictures from baby showers until he has a bigger library.

Baby and I can rock together while Pops (aka Kyle) plays music for us on his guitar or banjo.

Someday soon this will be where our baby lays his head to rest.  We snagged this great crib (mattress included) off craigslist for a mere $75!!  It was the steal of the century.

All of baby's friends are waiting for him to join them in this fun room.  I'm not sure if I've posted a picture of the tiger painting before, but Kyle did that as a middle schooler.  He seriously can do anything he puts his mind to, and it seems to always have been the case.

A place to change dirty pants and learn the alphabet

My mom cross-stitched this pretty prayer which we thought would be best over his little bed.  We love it!

It's no fancy boutique nursery, but we think we'll be quite happy spending time here with our little man.  It's filled with lots of homemade and fixed up things so we'll always be glad that his little room has such personal things made just for him.  It's officially week 39!  Be praying this week we get to meet him!

Feel Like I Could Burst

This could be the last weekly belly picture.  Probably not, but it's just crazy to think we're so close to meeting little Mr. Hamilton.  While we're waiting, I have been a busy bee.  I got some organization items for baby's closet (which happens to be the repository for all things junkie in our home~ left over craft materials, tools, winter coats, old video game consoles, etc).  That closet clean-up inspired me to take on my own which has been in disarray since I started sporting maternity clothes.  Both are much improved!  I also cleaned up the home today and hope the bathrooms and floors don't get dingy again before we have company in our home to see the baby.  I've been trying to take breaks and not put myself into labor just yet because Kyle has to attend a Daddy Boot Camp class tomorrow morning.  Once he's home from that, I'm heading back to the gym to put a few more miles on that treadmill.  I've missed it this week...

Not sure if this is TMI, but hopefully using just numbers won't gross out the sensitive readers.  At my weekly appointment on Tuesday, I learned that I am 80% effaced and 1cm.  It's good to know that there is progress, but I'm not really sure how close that puts us to labor.  I know each woman's body is different and there is no scientific method to predict when labor will start, but I hope to make as much progress in the effacement & dilation department before contractions kick in.  Anywho, let's check out my large & in charge body...

Short folks could catch a glimpse of the dreaded underbelly.  Bleh!

Thank goodness for Soffe shorts.  I don't anticipate wearing real shorts/pants until after the baby comes.

For those who have been pregnant before, how can you tell when the baby has dropped?  Perhaps it's already happened or maybe not, but I can't tell any difference at all in that department.  Maybe he hasn't dipped yet since I can't tell any difference.  Just curious on what you've experienced.  Alright, time to indulge in Project Runway before Kyle gets home from work...

A New Family Member!

We have a new addition to our Hamilton family!  It's a pretty exciting day, but just to have a reality check~ the baby isn't here yet.  Rather I guess you could say we've doubled our reliable family car collection.  We have a thing for Volvos...

This was the one and only Ham fam vehicle, but it's made one too many trips to the shop lately to have earned the name "old faithful".  It's currently struggling with some serious throttle problems leaving me feeling a bit throttled after driving it.

A man and his conquest~ Kyle did a lot of research and picked out an upgraded used car to be the family ride.  He's so good he had it checked out at a shop before paying it.

So happy about the new ride that I look cross-eyed~ yikes!  This happened to me once before....

I knew doughnuts made me deliriously happy; didn't know a new car would have the same effect...

Now that we're transitioning to a life of parenting, we had to stick with the wagon (we are not minivan folks nor could we endure paying for gas for an SUV).  We were hoping to remain a one car family after enjoying the no car lifestyle in France, but it's all good.  The old car will get Kyle to and from work each day just fine.  What other family can say they have two sweet wagons?

In other news, I am happy to tell you a huge answer to prayers!!!  Kyle and I went to his doctor yesterday to find out the results of his MRI.  Turns out what appeared to be a fracture on the x-ray was really a lesion in cartilage.  Sounds much better, right?  Yeah, I didn't think so either.... but it is actually really good.  The lesion could have been caused by his wake boarding accident or it could have happened really any time~ there's just no way to know when he injured it.  It will always be there and shouldn't really cause any problems.  So the discomfort/pain that Kyle was feeling running is a result of having bruised FIVE bones in his heel.  His doctor dropped some serious Latin on us naming all the injured osseous matter.  The glorious part about it all is that Kyle can kick his boot and crutches to the curb asap and only has to wear an ankle brace.  He can even return to exercising on a bike or elliptical right away.  He'll be allowed to return to real running (though very short distances) in a mere two weeks (though I think his plate will be full of other activities at the time).

I'll tell you that yesterday morning before we went to the doctor, Kyle asked me to pack his right shoe just in case he didn't need his boot anymore.  I thought to myself, "what does he think is going to happen today?  I'm hoping his injury won't lead to needing surgery, and he's thinking he'll walk out of the appointment in his normal shoes?  He's nuts!"  Oh ye me of little faith!  This was a very valuable lesson for me as we approach labor and delivery.  I ought to be praying with more confidence about how it will go and trusting that God can make the results better than I can imagine.

Anyways, I thought I'd share our news with you.  Lucky little Hamiltot with have a healthy daddy who can stroll around with him in his arms sans crutches and a fancy chariot for his homecoming.

Funny Story....

So last month Kyle and I went to North Carolina to visit his family for the 4th of July.  We had a really fun time playing in the sun with friends.  It's always good to be there and enjoy time on boats (I skipped the ski boat this trip and only boarded the very smooth riding pontoon boat).  Boat time always leads to a little recreational activity.  Some of you may know that Kyle is exceptional at wakeboarding.  Here's a sampling of his skills...

...that is, his skills about 5 years ago.  Not to say he's not a fit and athletic fella now; he's just more of a runner & weightlifter these days.  He just hasn't be tugged behind a boat very much the last couple of years.  Well, he went out on the water with a few friends to see what he could still do while I opted for a mid-afternoon nap (sun + pregnancy = one highly fatigued lady).  As Kyle was heading out, I asked him to be careful and jokingly said, "Don't break your leg."

Four weeks later, what does this story have to do with anything?  Kyle had a sore ankle after his day of wakeboarding, but it didn't seem serious.  He's been training for a half-marathon with some co-workers running several times a week (he's hardcore~ tempo runs, hill sprints, 8 mile runs in summer heat, etc).  That little ankle has just been giving him trouble on and off for the whole month of July.  After some encouragement/nudging by a few folks, he finally went to the doctor to see what was going on last Friday.  My sweet husband discovered he has a fractured ankle.

Check out that boot and those crutches...

So now neither Hamilton is functioning at 100%.  Now I certainly thought at 38 weeks Kyle would be waiting on me hand and foot, but as Michael Scott says, "Oh how the turn tables...."  So if yall are the praying types, we could use it for fast healing for Kyle.  He gets MRI results on Wednesday, and I'll keep you posted on how we weather the next couple of weeks as Ham #3 joins us.

Kyle was a bit bummed that he got hurt wakeboarding since he was once so strong and good at it.  His spirits were boosted though by an impressed co-worker who couldn't believe Kyle was doing long distance runs on a broken ankle.  This man bowed to Kyle's manly testosterone.  I just hope this doesn't encourage him to get too manly before he has fully recovered.