Wednesday, December 8, 2010

our first week (scroll down for pictures)

Well little miss Beatrice is 8 days old already!  It's hard to believe that a little over a week ago this little beauty was still growing in my belly.


I don't want to ever put her down, and Jason and I just spend hours of our day just staring at her in amazement.


She is truly beautiful and perfect.


 


I wasn't planning on this being a blog about her birth, but I have had a request that our story be told.


So this post will be a long one, but one with lots of pictures at the end!


 


First of all, little miss Bea was breech for about the last 2 months of her life in my womb. This posed a myriad of concerns. She was a little bit sideways and because of that I could feel her head poking out of the side of me. This made about every position uncomfortable and sleeping was pretty much unheard of the last few weeks. Because she was breech I was referred to the OBGYNs in Marquette. They told me we could try to turn her in a procedure called an external (cephalic) version, where they would manually try to manipulate her into a head down position, or we could schedule a c-section.  I was so uncomfortable that I just wanted to get her out so I just told them to schedule the c-section. When I got home that day I  did not feel at peace about our decision. Jason and I decided that we would try to turn her. Because I was almost 38 weeks they wanted to do it right away....like the next morning.


That night I couldn't sit, stand, lie down, or walk without feeling miserable. I decided to take a sleeping pill and I woke up two hours later to go to the bathroom where my water decided to break. I was so happy!  I knew that one way or the other we would be having a baby that day. I calmly walked into Jason's office and asked him if he wanted to go have a baby. He just looked at me. We finished packing our bags and called the hospital and got going. Being that it was 2am it took about 2 minutes to get there (gotta love small towns). I checked in and they did an ultrasound and sure enough, she was still breech. This meant that I was going to have a c-section.


If you would have asked me at the beginning of my pregnancy about how I felt about having a c-section, I'm pretty sure my answer would be that it was the worst possible scenario. On that day though, I was so happy. I was going to have my baby and I didn't have to wait another two weeks!  It helped that Jason and I had known for weeks that the likelihood of having a c-section was very high, and that we were educated about what would happen.


I was the first section of the day, and I couldn't be happier about how everything went. The staff was amazing (my surgeon held my hand while they put in the spinal) and there was a specified person to stay with Jason and make sure he was okay, and she also took all of the pictures in the operating room.


My little girl was stuck, VERY stuck. It took them awhile to get her out because her feet were up by her ears and her hands were above her head. The general concencus was that she would not have turned if we had been able to try the external version, and that made me even more thankful that I didn't have to try it.


They held her up and Jason got to tell me that she was a girl. She was bloody and covered in white goo, and I fell madly deeply in love immediately and I haven't looked back since.


After they cleaned her up a little they put her on my chest and she just stared at me. After a few minutes they took her and Jason and went back to my room while I went to recovery.


Jason was so happy because he was able to bond with her skin to skin, and because he got to do it before I did.


We had a very quiet hospital stay, and by Friday I was ready to get out of there. I just wanted to be home with my stuff and my bed.


We had a rough first night, but since then she has slept for 3-5 hours between nursing, and I am getting the most sleep I have gotten in months.


We are madly deeply in love with our daughter and don't know how we lived the rest of our lives so far without her.


 


My family took the motor home up on Thursday, and spent the weekend taking care of us and blessing us by just being here.



Grandpa TerBeek getting to hold her for the first time.


Great Gram Troost


Aunt Andrea


We had to unwrap her to see how little she was.


She's so little!


Cuddling with mom at the hospital


Dad checking her out.



Great Grandpa Troost


Going HOME!!!!


Uncle Ross


Her cousin Sophie just loved her.


Look at those eyes! 


Aunt Ashley


Saying goodbye to cousin!Auntie Jen came to visit on Sunday.



Instead of a Lions jersey we decided to support Detroit, just in another way!


Bea and Dad have been doing a lot of this the last few days.



Even mom needs to nap once in a while too!My beautiful girl. My life will never be the same ever again and I couldn't be happier that you are the reason for this. I love you so much, and the love I have for you makes my heart hurt.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Hello world!

BEATRICE HARLOW SHRONTZ


Born November 30, 2010


7.5lbs 19in


pure perfection


 


 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Meet my new niece! Laura Joy Shrontz


My new niece!


LAURA JOY SHRONTZ


Born November 21, 2010


7lbs 3oz


19.5 in


Congratulations Steve and Amber!

Friday, November 19, 2010

36 weeks 1 day

 

 



Had the 4th ultrasound today. The baby is still breech and is measuring at 37 weeks 6 days and 7.5 lbs. We'll have to see what the doctor says on Monday! Oh and the baby has hair!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

35 weeks 2 days

 


We are still growing a kid up here in the UP. The baby is currently stuck in the position of transverse breech. (see above picture) We are just waiting to see what that means for getting the kid out. I'll make sure I update if I find out anything else!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

the bird mobile is up!

Last night while Jason was at darts I put up the crib for the sole purpose of being able to put up my mobile.


I LOVE my mobile. I got the idea from this website. They even have a free pattern for the birds.  I hand sewed and stuffed the birds and left the logistics of hanging the birds on stick up to my dad.


He didn't find just any ole sticks though. He went and cut sticks off of an over 200 year old beach tree that sits on our property.


And the crib, I LOVE the crib too. We don't really have room for a full size crib, so until we need to get a real crib, we are using the crib that my Grandpa TerBeek and his sister used. My dad fixed it up and is letting us borrow it.


Wow!  Is this kid going to be loved or what?
















Tuesday, November 2, 2010

A weekend in Grand Rapids


Well, after making the 7 hour road trip to Grand Rapids and back, I am very thankful that I will not be driving any further than 10 minutes until after the baby is born. Wow!  Was that a LONG trip or what!


The reason we went home was because our families blessed us with two baby showers. It was such a blessing to see family and to be reminded yet again just how blessed we are.


 


In other related baby news...we had an ultrasound on Monday and it appears as if the baby is measuring slightly big...like TWO WEEKS big!  The ultrasound tech estimated the weight to be around 6lbs already. Oh boy!  We have 6 weeks left, and next Tuesday I'll see what my doctor says.


My mother in law threw my first shower on Saturday,and here are some pictures from that.


 



When you have a ginormous belly it tends to be a magnet for all sorts of things, so right before the shower I had to spot clean a couple of spots. (Can you see the ball I'm carrying in there?)



Prefold diapers  and diaper covers from my mom!



My niece Ava and her new little cousin Gabrielle (Jacob and Linda's new little beautiful one!)



Another of my nieces Sophie, playing with all of the ribbons!


 



This is from my shower on Sunday that my mom threw for me after family pictures and a great family lunch!



Emily and Ava in their Halloween costumes.



Ringing the door bell!



Debby, Denny, Steve and Jason took the girls trick or treating, while the two pregnant ladies got to hang out at the house!



Sophie was  a bee for Halloween!


 



I had to get a picture of this.


This is a one and a lifetime thing.


We are two weeks apart in our pregnancies, and we are both ready to see the little buggers!



And finally a picture of Sophie and me playing!