And I guess that's why they call it the blues...

Exactly one week ago (I started this post yesterday at 2 pm and am finishing it now), I was being sent home from the hospital with contractions that were 1-3 minutes apart. The next 3 hours would be the most painful of my life. And the most rewarding. When I went back to the hospital at 5 pm (against medical advice - they told me that I wasn't in labor and was just dehyrated) I was 4 cm dilated. THANK GOD.
We just happened to be staying in the town that our hospital was in on Saturday night to watch the Pats game. I ate SO MUCH CRAP! (surprise, surprise) When I woke up in pain on Sunday morning I really thought I was sick from all the food I ate the night before. We headed to the hospital around noon and they kept us until 2 pm. They told me to push tons of fluids and that if (when) my contractions stopped I was free to head back home. Until then I should head back to my friend's house in town (the roads were horrible this day). My contractions were HORRIBLE and coming around a minute apart. I had nausea with every contraction. It was so bad at 5 pm that I told Shawn that we weren't messing around with calling the hospital for the "okay" - we were heading right there.

Shortly after we were admitted at 4 cm, the nurse came in to offer pain meds. I got a shot of nubain in the arm and labored in the jacuzzi tub for a bit. Both things helped tremendously with the pain. Once the pain got too strong, I asked for my epidural. It took them about an hour and 1/2 to get it administered and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I repeat for any moms-to-be out there (Sweety, etc) - GET AN EPIDURAL!!! Post-epidural I was happy as a clam. I didn't feel a thing. It was heavenly. At 5 cm dilated she came in and broke my water. She waited an hour or two and came in to see the progress which was only about 1 cm. At this point she decided to administer Pitocin to speed things up. When she came back in an hour to get it going, I rolled over a bit and Shawn noticed that my sheets were covered in blood. She said "this may be a good thing" and from here on things were a blur. She checked me and said that there was no need for Pitocin - I was 10 cm and ready to go. She called the doctor and within an hour I was pushing. In our quiet little room with the lights dimmed, Shawn, myself, the nurse, the doctor and the Pediatrician (she needed to be called b/c of meconium in my water) managed to coax this sweet little girl out in 5 contractions at 2:38 am on Monday. It was such an unbelievable experience. For both Shawn and I, it was love at first sight.

Rylee Carmella is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on. She is everything I've ever wanted and more - so why is it I can't stop crying?? The day I brought her home we lost the power due to hurricane-like winds for over 24 hours. No heat - no water - no electricity. I spent the first night home with her all by myself on my sister's couch. The girl poops about 15 times a day and it's true what they say about Huggies - they suck. She went through 4 outfits that first night and I was left crying on the couch with a crying naked baby at 4 am. Daylight didn't bring any relief... Shawn was back at work and there was still no power. It was quite a relief to finally come back home (even though my house is a disaster) and have daddy come home that next night!

Dear Rylee,
I simply love you more than I love life itself.

I have so many wonderful friends and family in my life. It means so much more to know that these people will be in Rylee's life. My friends have visited, called to check in and showered us with gifts. I can't even begin to say how much my sister, Darcy, has spoiled our sweet girl in her first few days of life. I think she has easily broken the $500 mark and more importantly, spoiled her with lovin'. Rylee is going to be auntie's little girl.

Thank you all for your sweet comments and encouragement! I am so excited to finally post ... and hopefully sometime soon I'll find the time to check my email as well. You are the best and I don't think I would've survived this miracle without you. Until next time... I'm off lovin' my baby girl. :) More pictures to come...

More pics of Rylee

Mama and Rylee

Here is Mama and Rylee :) How cute are they?!?!

Picture taken by Michelle

And Rylee Carmela is HERE!!

Hi everyone!! This is Amy!!! Jaime went into labor Sunday morning/afternoon. Her labor went smoothly (even though she has nausea with every contraction for the first part of her labor) and the baby and mom are doing fine!!!! Rylee weighed in at 6 pounds 5 oz. She was born around 3 am (I'm not sure of the exact time but I'll get that today.) I went up and visited them for a brief period yesterday and they both are doing well and look GREAT!!! Michelle took pics while we were there so I'm just waiting for those and I'll post them ASAP!!! Mom and baby are due home on Wednesday!

You have GOT to be kidding me...

So it definitely could've been worse. I could've been sent away for another ultrasound or NSD test. Instead I was sent away with this - an "induction slip". Translation: Your baby is quite comfy inside your belly and is never planning on coming out on her own. She will instead wait until she weighs 10 pounds so that 14 hours into labor after being induced they determine that she can't possibly make it through your birth canal and you will need a C-section."
Okay, so maybe that wasn't word for word but that's how it's all going down. Oh yes -I just know it.

So - the labor poll may not be so much fun if Miss Rylee doesn't come out on her own between now and January 26th but I'll throw it out there anyway. Anyone who thinks (thank you) that she'll come before then and wants to give your prediction, feel free. I'm sure my mother will be hoping that she comes out before then since her two week trip home to Maine to see her new granddaughter ends on the 28th - which means no time at home with Rylee. Who thinks my parents need to suck it up and extend their stay???

Thanks, little E!

On Friday night we were just about to head out the door to meet up with friends for Shawn's birthday dinner when the UPS guy showed up with this fun treat from Ethan over at Chateau Cookie. Apparently in addition to his striking good looks and charming personality, E has his mom's hilarious sense of humor. His little card read: "Rylee, be nice to your mom and dad. You get more stuff from them that way. Love, Ethan". Rylee has the PERFECT pair of jeans from Old Navy to match this cuteness. I already can't wait to put her in it so we can watch "Dirty Dancing" over and over... ;)

So... after the results from my Wednesday 8:30 am appointment, i'm going to start a poll on when little Miss Rylee is going to make her appearance so I hope everyone will check in then to give me their two cents. :)

A Smashing Success...

So Shawn's party was a success from start to finish. Holly and Tony came up on Friday night to help me out with set-up and on Saturday morning when Tony and Shawn went to pick up the keg, Holly and I ran out to pick up Shawn's gift (the Red Sox table set - which he LOVED) at my sisters.

Everything was done and ready to go so we had a few hours to relax before guests started arriving around 4 pm. We had a TON of food and cake and our 45 or so guests seemed to all have a good time. By 10 pm, I had the upstairs of the house spotless (where the kitchen, dining room, living room, etc. is) and I was in bed - exhausted - by 10:45. In spite of the fact that my ankles and toes were HUGE and I was sore and tired all over, it was totally worth it.

The majority of the crowd was gone by 9:30 and the remaining crew (a dozen or so) stayed until about 2:30 am. Yesterday morning I warned Shawn that he was on downstairs duty and he got to work. It wasn't long before he had that cleaned up (the majority of the people - and mess - were upstairs) and we spent the rest of the day relaxing (until Shawn had to leave for his basketball game, anyway). Shawn was so happy with the turnout and people were very generous with gifts. I was especially happy to get to see one of my best friends, Sonya, who made the long trek up from New Hampshire. A really great time - but SO GLAD IT'S OVER!!! :)

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, SHAWN!!!

THE BIG 3-0. Today is the day. Of course it doesn't really FEEL like his birthday yet because the party is tomorrow. I am excited for the party and even more excited for it to be over. If I can survive a party with 56 people 10 days before my due date and the house ends up clean on the other end, I will be one happy girl. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND - I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY!!

Yesterday was not a good day and really tested my emotional patience. We started out the day with a routine 8 am Dr. appointment and a lovely Maine snowstorm (1-3 INCHES MY ASS!). I had no idea it was snowing when I got up and therefore didn't leave early. The trip from house to hospital usually takes 45 minutes - yesterday it took over an hour (and that was pushing it!). The roads were horrible and I felt bad about being late. Once there the Dr. once again told us that the results of our last ultrasound were fine. THEN COMES... the belly measuring. She says that I'm measuring 34 weeks pregnant when I'm really 38 and that I need another ultrasound AGAIN - ASAP. I'm sent upstairs for a non-stress test b/c the baby hasn't been moving as much as usual. The non-stress test results came back that she "passed" - but by no sparkling measures. Apparently she was as sluggish for their testing as she has been lately. They immediately shipped me off for an Ultrasound an hour away. I called my sister to cover for me at work and headed off for the drive in the snowstorm. Shawn met me down there where the ultrasound also revealed less than sparkling results - the tech was having a hard time seeing her esophagus move or seeing Rylee breath. (Although she had gained a full pound - weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces!) At this point they need to give ME a non-stress test. Then the u/s tech and I have this conversation:
UST: What were the results of the NSD test this morning?
Me: Well, they said they wished that she'd "wake up" and that she "paaaaassed"...
UST: But barely...
Me: Well, they didn't say what measure she passed by, but they didn't seem thrilled...
UST: Well, same thing here: She passed - but barely.

She tells us that she thinks we'll need to come in for another ultrasound within the next couple of days and heads off to talk to the Dr. about it. We're managing to keep our freaked-out-ed-ness to a minimum. She comes back about 10 minutes later to tell us that the doctor thought everything looked great and that we were free to wait until our Wednesday appointment with our regular doctor to determine whether we needed another.
So - to review -
Non-stress test giver thought: Hrmm, not great.
Doctor thought: Yes, great!
Ultrasound tech thought: Hrmm, not great.
Doctor at the ultrasound place thought: Yes, great!

????

Sooooooooooo... at this point I'm thinking "Okay, clearly there is SOME concern with SOME medical professionals as to the health of the baby... she weighs a healthy 6 pounds, 13 ounces and I'm officially full-term with 11 days to go before my due date. WHY, AGAIN, ARE WE NOT INDUCING??". I called the doctor to talk to her about it. She tells me that everything is fine and dandy - that the ultrasound tech was just "squirrely" and getting us worried over nothing and that everything would be just fine to wait. WAIT. UGH.

So... at this point I am doing everything in my power to keep this baby moving so that I feel better and eagerly awaiting Wednesday's appointment. My bags will be in the car that day - one week before my due date - and if she says "ULTRASOUND" ONE MORE TIME, I'm putting my foot down and making them induce me. Even if I DO have to make my sister make them for me. ;) Tick, tick tick...

Eating in the New Year...

I hate to do this to y'all - esp. those of you who are pregnant and ravenously craving chocolate... but I think you all need a visual of what I was up against on New Year's Eve. YUMMMMMMM. HEAVEN ON A PLATE. EXQUISITE. This monster of a dessert was mine - and with only minimal help from Michelle, I managed to put most of it down (that's AFTER eating my meal!).

My New Year's started off with my maternity photos which I am SO EXCITED to have posted already! I actually like about 20 - I'm having SUCH a hard time choosing the best one for Rylee's first scrapbook page. I'm going to order several for a 2-page scrapbook spread but as for the first page, I want the best one in an 8 x 10. HELP! To view them, go here and click on "Recent photo sessions" on the left. Then to "Print room lab" then to "Jaime's maternity session". Enter password "manny". Once there if you click on the first picture, you can scroll through them larger than the thumbnails.

After the maternity photos, we had Jamie, Jenn, Michelle and Darren over for games before dinner. We headed off for my CHOCOLATE STAMPEDE and then came back to enjoy more Scene-it movie trivia and Apples to Apples (given to me by Deb!). It was a great night in!

On Friday we had a FABULOUS dinner over at Tonya's BEAUTIFUL PALACE. To say this woman is Betty Crocker and Martha Stewart wrapped into one person wouldn't be giving her enough credit. You would need to add in: designer and owner of all that is Pottery Barn. We had a wonderful time and an excellent meal with a group of great people. Unfortunately, Mr. Manny was not on his best bahavior. Not only did he try to make a "bitch" out of their 100 pound golden lab, but he had a little pooping incident on their floor. EEEK! We'll find out how upset Gerry really was by whether we are ever invited back or not... he he.

Okay, last but not least, I'm going to leave you with a few pages of Shawn's 30th scrapbook. The party this weekend looks to be a HUGE crowd and hopefully a lot of non-labor-inducing fun. :) Hope you all had a great New Year!!!