Izzy had her first doctors appointment yesterday to check her weight and I am in love with her doctor!! I kind of picked her out of about 10 other doctors in their practice and struck gold! Sweetest woman ever. She just made me feel like the best mom ever! Isabella's weight was only one ounce short of her birth weight at 5 days old and apparently that's a really good thing? She said most babies have to come back a few times to have their weight checked, but it's definitely all her because this baby wants to nurse 24/7. At first I thought maybe I wasn't giving her enough since it's so hard to tell how much she's getting unless I pump it out and give it to her through a bottle (which she hates!). But it was so comforting to know that the little one was getting enough to eat (and I love chubby babies, so I'm dying for her to get FAT!) Other than being mildly jaudice, everything was perfect with her, and it gave me comfort - that is, until we got back home and I went back to checking on if she's breathing everytime she stops moving! I really can't believe how I feel about her. Now I know how much you love me mom!! Such a good feeling to have and to understand! Speaking of the baby, she needs to eat AGAIN!

Isabella Grace Hefferon was born on March 4th, 2009 at 5:13 pm!!! She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 ounces, 19 inches long, and perfect. I wish I could write about how I feel now that she's here but just like everyone says, it's indescribable. I was induced tuesday night with that insert they put around your cervix to help start contractions and an hour later I was feeling them. They got worse as the night went on and I had to accept some medication to get a little sleep. I still felt every bit of the action but was too out of it to care so I was definitely relaxed but didn't do much sleeping. The next morning around 9am they started the pitocin and the contractions started to get more regular. The hours passed and they were about 2-3 minutes apart and intense. LITTLE DID I KNOW there was nothing intense about those. My water broke right in the middle of one and I thought my insides would explode. However, God was definitely watching over me as I had asked for the epidural about 10 minutes before this happened and the doctor was going to break my water for me after that to get things rolling. But my body had different plans and I have to say that I have never felt such horrible pain. The contractions started coming at 1 minute apart and I think I nearly broke the Nurses call button begging for some relief! I didn't feel the epidural at ALL and the relief was so great. I finally got some sleep. After about 2 1/2 hours of napping I woke up to a lot of pressure and just knew she was ready to make her debut!! I called in the nurse to check me and I had gone from 3 cm to 9 cm in just a few hours! Baby Bella was born an hour later! I only had to push for about 45 minutes and they placed her on my chest and I was speechless. I looked up and Gerard and saw him crying and I just lost it. I'm tearing up just thinking about seeing her for the first time. It was the most amazing experience and worth every day of waiting. Gerard was by my side every minute and wouldn't sleep unless I was. He helped me take a bath, use the bathroom, and held my hand through every contraction. Once my water broke he talked me through every painful minute, helped me breathe, and told me jokes to take my mind off of it. He is head over heels for this little girl and wants to be with her every second of the day.. he is so amazing. Now for the pictures!!


























And more to come!!

39 weeks and nothing.. hmph.

Anyone ever had their membranes stripped?? Never again.. no sir. On a happier note, the induction starts tuesday night and is carried onto wednesday so just a few more days!! I never thought I'd be so ready. The day I was born, March 21st, it snowed (in Texas!) weird right? Well check this out..






It is really coming down! How cool would it be for her to be born while it's snowing in March - it was in the 60s just 2 days ago!! Rocky is LOVING it by the way. I wish I knew how to upload videos because I got a few hilarious ones of rocky sticking his head under with his rear in the air. So cute. And here is hopefully my last belly shot.. everyone keeps telling me I'm going to miss having her in my tummy, and I'm starting to think they're right now that it's almost over (or beginning I should say).

MASSIVE!!!!

I'm officially 9 months pregnant and the baby has already dropped.. I'm so tired of waiting! The Dr. said (don't read this is if you don't want to know anything about my cervix) my cervix is completely thinned out.. by the way I've had that thing checked about 3 or 4 times now - not fun. I've been feeling those fake contractions - a pretty painful one yesterday, maybe she'll come early? My mom suggested bribing her by informing the little one that if she does come soon, she can have her ears pierced. I told her I would try it, but also that I'd wait to drop that doozey on her after my mom gets back from the beach.
My doctor did a quick ultrasound just for fun and it showed her in the face down, rump up, rolled up little ball position (the technical term, obviously) which is exactly what I had predicted whenever I play "name that bump". She is in the birthing position and with that BIG head of hers, I don't foresee her changing it before the big day. (Her daddy holds the record for largest head ever.. well, he might!) His mom told me lovely stories about how it took her hours to labor his head through.. I wish I was joking.

COME OUT LITTLE GIRL! I can't take much more of your squirming and pushing. Although it is wonderful to feel your elbows jerk upwards and those little legs stretch out, I'd rather SEE YA DO IT! I love you so much already little girl, please don't be stubborn like I was. Come out and play!!

35 weeks and counting..

Only FOUR more weeks until I get induced.. I find out the baby's birthday at my appt on Thursday, I really can't wait. We all have baby fever. Gerard even made her a facebook, it's pretty amusing. I feel so large and uncomfortable, I hope these 4 weeks go by fast because I'm so ready for her to be here!! And to sleep on my stomach! My mom is SO amazing, she set me up a prenatal massage today and I got to lay on my chest for the first time in nearly 6 months!! It was so amazing, probably the best massage I've EVER had! THANK YOU MOMMA!!

My belly at 34 weeks



Now compare to my belly at 24 weeks..


BIG difference!!


I feel much larger than I look though - I can't even remember the last time I saw my feet.. Just four more weeks..

Dear Mom,
I wanted to write a letter to my unborn daughter for her to read one day. As I thought about what it would say, I realized I would be signing my name as "Mom" for the very first time. It made me think about all of the letters you would put in my lunchbox when I was little. That was always the best part of my day when I was younger; It would always make my day to see a piece of paper folded on top of my lunch and everyone would notice, it made me feel so special. I remember complaining when you started telling me I had to pack my own lunch, not because I was too lazy, but because I knew I wouldn't have anymore letters from you. You have always taken the time to let me know you love me just they way I was and even when I would get into trouble you would let me know that nothing changed about the way you felt about me. Everytime I'm around little children, I act as you would. I know that if I can be just half as good a mom as you were to me, then I would have succeeded in loving and caring for my daughter better than anyone else ever could. You were always there when I needed you, even times when I didn't know I needed you. When everything seemed to be falling apart, you tried to stay strong for all of us. But I want you to know that not only are you my mom, but my best friend. And I will be there to pick you up when you feel weak, I owe you 21 years (and counting) of support and friendship. I love you more than anything and I can't even begin to thank you for preparing me for what lies ahead. As a child, I wanted to be just like you, and that hasn't changed.

I love you with all of my heart and I'm so thankful I get to call you my mom.

Love,
Kristin

I'M BACK!!

Well, I have actually been back for about a week BUT we came home to find that our computer decided to give up on us while it was turned off for a month.. I was pretty upset. So my abosolutely wonderful and most amazing mom bought me a laptop this past weekend since we have online classes to keep up with. So I unfortunately cannot upload any pictures of our trip because I can't find the software that goes with the camera, it was all set up on the other computer of course. But considering everything that happened while I was gone, I really did have a great time. I will say that I will never travel that far this pregnant ever again, US airways is designed for little people I swear. Even their international flights are just overcramped with extra seats. My knees were against the chair in front of me and my tray table wouldn't go down past my belly.. for 9 hours I suffered. Little girl seemed to enjoy it however because she didn't see to stop moving the whole way. I was so happy to meet all his family, they are all wonderful and kind and took such good care of me. His mom and sister are nurses and his brother is a doctor so every little ailment was fixed by them. Unfortunately, I lost someone very close to me while I was gone to the flu.. I never in a million years the flu could take a college athlete who stayed healthy.. I'm still in shock.

Although I can't show you any of our pictures, I can upload a cell phone picture of my 32 week belly.. only 7 more weeks until she gets here!!! Getting a bit nervous...

Once we got back into charlotte I got to see all of the amazing things Hollie gave us for the baby. Thank you so much for everything!!! We appreciate it so much! And I love the sleeping baby sign that hangs on the door, I can see how that was so hard to part with, all the stuff is perfect and I can't tell you how grateful we are!!

Hopefully I can figure out how to get the pictures uploaded soon.. it's good to be back!