Annabelle's birthday!

Our beautiful girl has finally made her grand debut!  Annabelle Lynn Hammer was born January 17th at 12:44am (only 12 days late...but who's counting!)  She weighed in at 9lbs 1 oz and was 22 inches long.  It was a long labor (24 hours), but we wouldn't have it any other way - Annabelle is perfect!

 Here is mom's version of Annabelle's birth story:

We went in for induction at 1am Sunday night/Monday morning.  I tried my best to get some sleep, but I was too excited thinking about meeting our newest family member!  So dad got some sleep and mom took a bath and tried to relax.  When it was finally time to leave we were of course running late (you will learn that with dad this happens a lot!)  We finally got to the hospital and were able to skip triage - those nurses aren't very nice.  They checked us in and took us to the room where you were to be born!  I got hooked up to lots of machines - one to check your heartrate, one to check the contractions and an IV to deliver the saline and pitocin.  That meant for awhile I was confined to bed...not my favorite thing! 

I sat with dad and we got a few hours of sleep while the pitocin worked its magic.  When I really started to feel the contractions we asked the nurses to hook me up to a portable monitor so I could walk around - that was super helpful for awhile and I think it helped you to descend a bit.  But that's when things started to get pretty painful and I'm pretty sure I was scaring your daddy!  Around noon, I was 4cm dialated and contractions were very intense, so after much discussion we decided to get an epidural so I could enjoy the actual delivery (if you ever decided to come out!)  I felt much better after that and had visitors to keep me company - your ya ya, grandpa and uncle Ben all came to see me and daddy.  Around 4pm, the doctor came and broke my water and told us I was about 5cm dialated.  Boy, you were taking your time in there!

One important thing to remember is that I was not able to eat once we got to the hospital - so I sat and watched everyone eat yummy meals all around me and all I could do is drink water and eat yucky jello!  But I'm pretty sure it was worth it :)  So after the doctor broke my water, we waited, waited, waited and waited some more.  Around 9pm, the doctor came in one more time to check me and viola! I was 9cm!  Half an hour later it was time to push!  After that long day, the pushing seemed to come very quickly and boy was I tired.  Daddy was encouraging and I pushed for 3 long hours...but you were just not coming out that way.  That's about the time I started to yell at everybody in the room - they must have all thought I was crazy!  I kept telling the doctor to get this baby out of me - I was in a lot of pain!  After the nurse calmed me down a bit, they wheeled me to the operating room to deliver you by c-section.  I was very nervous and your daddy was too.  We just wanted to meet you!

They finally pulled you out at 12:44am and both mommy and daddy cried because you were so beautiful (mommy also cried because you were 9lbs 1oz and 22 inches long!)  I didn't feel so bad about not being able to push you out after I heard those numbers!  They cleaned you off and wrapped you up and daddy brought you over to me.  I had lost more blood than normal, so they made sure I was okay and then after everything was finished I was able to hold you in my arms as they wheeled us to recovery.  It was the happiest day of my life!  I nursed you right away and soon learned that you would be hungry all the time!  Grandma & grandpa Hammer and yaya and grandpa Stone and uncle Ben came to see you.  They all fell in love with you and couldn't believe how big you were!  Then they finally took you, me and daddy to our room and we all got some sleep - our first night as a family!

I'm now watching you sleep and you are 10 days old - so much of you is changing already!  I can't wait for this amazing journey with you and dad - we are so excited to welcome you to our family!

Love,

Mom

Due date!

D-day comes tomorrow and I don't feel any closer to having this baby girl!  Of course I absolutely love carrying her every day, but the aches and pains are definitely something I will not miss!  Annabelle will be worth the wait and in the long run, it really isn't that long :)  We have set an induction date of January 16th, but I'm hoping that it won't last that long...and I'd really like everything to start naturally (less pain for me, less complications, less risk of a c-section!) 

In the mean time, I'm keeping myself busy at work and trying to get everything in order for my absence.  I haven't been able to be on deck much due to pain in my legs and it is something I really miss.  In the end it will be worth it though (that's what I keep telling myself!) 

The cold weather is finally upon us in Wilmington and I can't say I'm ready, nor that I really missed it in the month of December!  Having a bundled up newborn is not going to be fun!  But we're ready for it and hopefully all the snow will fall during my maternity leave!

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and happy new year!

Almost at the finish line!

Well, this Thursday will mark 38 weeks carrying this baby girl and I can say I am more than ready to meet her! We've had two hospital trips in the past week - one for my hip (couldn't walk) and one for some pretty strong contractions...but no baby yet!  It is kinda cool to watch the baby's heartbeat and your contractions on the monitor though :)  I'm not sure whether she will be early or late or maybe on time, but I do know that we are ready for her!  We finally organized and completely finished the nursery this weekend and everything is ready to go.  I've even made a video to give everyone the official tour of her room.  Hope you enjoy!

In not so great news, our dog Winnie passed away Saturday morning.  She was an older dog, but a great companion to Brandon and me.  We have so many great memories of her and we're glad we were able to have her for as long as we did.

We'll keep everyone updated on the status of our baby girl, have a great holiday week!

Forgot the most important thing from the past week...I'm 2 cm dialated already and 50% effaced, which Brandon and I think is great news!  Woot!

A few more pictures!

The rocky statue!

Annabelle's Room

Annabelle's future rocking spot

This week marks 5 more weeks (more or less) until we meet our baby girl!  My parents came to Delaware for Thanksgiving and they helped us finish the baby room - all is done but a few final details!  Seeing Annabelle's room makes me more excited to meet her and spend time with her.  She is going to be a very loved little girl and the closer it gets to her birth, the more anxious Brandon and I get to meet her!

Dresser/diaper changing table (with Bianca in the bumpo)

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with my parents!  It was smaller than both of us are used to, but we made great food and 4 pies, yum!  The turkey was fantastic, having been soaking in brine for my parents drive up here - I now know how to make a great turkey!  It was great to finally have family in our home and we even got to spend a day in Philadelphia climbing the Rocky steps!  Overall, I was sad to see them go, but excited that I will see them again in less than a month.

The crib and my grandma's handmade quilt

As we head into December, there is a lot to look forward to in the Hammer house.  My birthday is at the end of the week, we are decorating for Christmas tonight, and my parents come back to visit the week after Christmas.  Not to mention...maybe the arrival of our little girl!  Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving full of family!

My diaper stash so far!

My parents helped with this project - chalkboard & magnetic

Our cool Ikea find - put together by Brandon!

Delaware and big bellies!

As we're nearing the 31 week mark of the pregnancy, I find more and more things I can't do!  Tying my shoes, for example, was quite the chore this morning!!  Don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant and feeling my beautiful baby girl move around inside me...but thank goodness there is an ending point to the madness :) 

I have to say the closer we get to the holidays, the more I am missing home.  It is always difficult going into winter - no one wants to be out in the cold and there are only so many times I can clean the house!  I adjusted to living in Chicago for four years in college, but I think this transition will be a little different and a bit more difficult.  Having a baby is something best shared with family and mine are far away!  I encourage anyone and everyone to visit - our apartment is small, but we can always find a place!  When Annabelle is born, we want to share in the love with everyone!

Here is a picture to share with everyone of my growing belly:

Looks are deceiving!  It definitely feels bigger than it looks!

Love you and miss you all!

Sarah

No drugs!

Well, I had my first bout of sickness being pregnant and let me tell you...it is not fun being pretty much without the necessary drugs to cure a sinus infection!  You can take a lot of things for a cold or for allergies, but sinuses create a problem - especially when they aren't working well.  Anyways, 4 days later I am about 85% back and able to pretty much fully function.  I must say, I was very useful as a bitchy, sick, pregnant lady when we went to the car dealership on Saturday.  I really don't think they knew what to do with me and all my complaining - so they decided to give me a new tire.  Goal accomplished!

Speaking of cars - we purchased a new car two weeks ago, a Hyundai Touring to be exact, and its great.  The only problem is that it was a "demo" car, so it already had 8500 miles on it.  We got a discount, had everything checked out, and life was good.  Or so we thought.  The tire pressure light has come on for us twice now and we have been back to the dealership three times to get it figured out.  Finally they found a nail in the back tire, fixed it, and sent us on our way free of charge.  Well it wasn't five miles later, I got out of the car and looked at the front tire only to find a nice bubble in the side.  So back we marched and 20 minutes later left with a new tire ordered.  The only thing I'm happy about is that all of this is getting figured out before the baby gets here.  Thank goodness for that!

We are settling into Delaware great and working on the baby room.  My parents come to visit over Thanksgiving and we'll finish everything up then!  I'm so excited to finally meet my baby girl in a few short months.  She definitely will fill our house with lots of love (and good cooking!)  It will be a fantastic January...or sooner!

Love and miss you all.