Oh Aisy Girl,

At almost 41 weeks pregnant I was miserable. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that I would go over my due date. I had been a centimeter dilated since 35 weeks. I took off work early because I had every sign imaginable that labor was coming since 36 weeks. Prodromal labor was my worst nightmare. I could time contractions all day long at less than 10 minutes apart, wake up in the middle of the night due to the pain and be all but out the door on the way to the hospital when they would stop. Incredibly frustrating. Pregnancy has not been good to me. I was sick from 6 weeks all the way to almost 24 weeks. I had a nice break from the sickness only for it to start back around 32 weeks. This time with swelling, contractions as well as Nausea.















At 40 weeks I begged my obgyn to strip my membranes. At which point he exclaimed, your baby is very bald! James nearly flipped. As I was squealing at the thought of our sweet girl he was terrified that the doctor could actually feel her with his hand. We left and he encouraged us that the strip should work and labor would come soon! He allowed us to schedule an induction for the following Monday the 16th.

Of course, nothing happened other than light spotting. At this point I was convinced my baby was over 8 pounds and I would end up with a C section (crazy pregnant woman). James parents and my mother and sister planned to come down that weekend to be there for the birth as they were four hours away from us.

The countdown began, James was blessed enough to be off from work and able to spend a lot of time with me. Sunday the 15th, I felt contractions all day long. James' parents were staying with us and his mom was convinced I was in labor.

12am: I was convinced too. The contractions were awful and I begged James that it was time to go. On the way to the hospital the contractions were getting bad, I was convinced it was real. Long story short, I begged them to admit me but it was again just prodromal labor. I was livid. They sent me home at 3am advising me to call the hospital at 6am to check and see if a bed was available to come back for induction.

6am: Come on in, we have a bed.
Bless it! I was so happy I could have cried to the nurse who told me to come in. I couldn't sleep due to the pain of the contractions and literally laid on the floor of our bathroom in pain. This had to be real.




7am: All hooked up to the monitors they expressed to me that I was having early labor contractions and they wanted to wait to give me Pitocin to see if I could go naturally. The doctor came in and broke my water (the doctor I really hoped would deliver Aislynn) and we were back on the waiting game.

11am: Nothing. Just pain, and starving. James and his parents stayed in my room and ate. I can promise that wont happen next go round haha. So my nurse went ahead and ordered Pitocin. I was still in a lot of pain and she asked me to try moving around to get things going. I sat on the ball and practically cried the whole time. Still nothing. So they bumped the Pitocin up. (a few times over the period)

At this point my contractions were coming closer together and increasing in pain. I was not aware of how far along I needed to be in order to get the epidural, but I really wanted to stick it out if I could take it. My nurse, her name was Allison, was so amazing and told me I could get it whenever I felt like I needed it but to try and stick it out if I could.

3pm: I begged for the epidural. Hours of contracting on Pitocin, every minute with no rest had me miserable. I felt like my head was going to spin off my shoulders Never in my life had I felt such pain. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced, and that is saying it lightly. I was crying and trying so hard not to scream. My mom and sister had gotten there and my sister (who is not emotional) said she had texted my daddy saying it was the saddest thing she had ever seen watching me in pain like that. My mom was such a sweet help and tried so hard to help me breathe through it. I just couldn't take it. When I asked the nurse for the epidural she checked me and I was only 5cm dilated.

5pm: Almost two hours after begging for the epidural that I wanted RIGHT THEN, the anesthesiologist came in. I have never been more happy to see someone in my whole life. I wasn't even scared. Nothing could hurt as bad as those contractions with no break. I barely even felt a pinch. James watched in awe at the long needle, and I didn't even flinch because I was so happy that the pain would start to go away.

After the epidural I was just in so much relief. I don't think I have ever thanked God so hard. However, the next worse thing- the catheter. I felt it, and it hurt. Easily one of the weirdest hurt ever. Now I could lay in bed and just relax after all the pain. I was able to talk and friends started to show up and see how I was doing. I called my daddy to tell him I was okay. I knew he was so scared for me and wanted so badly to be there.

7pm: I had a crowd in my room. They ordered another "bulbous" of medicine to help the increasing pain and pressure I was feeling. I was great. Friends brought gifts and came to visit and talk to James. It makes me so emotional thinking of all the sweetness we had from so many people.

9pm: most of our friends left in hopes I could get some rest, it looked like I wasn't going to have the baby any time soon. I was still only at a 6cm. I hadn't slept since Saturday night and it was now almost Tuesday. James and his parents left to go get some dinner and my mom and sister sat in the room with me. I was so tired and really could have taken a nap, even with the awful pressure I was feeling. I asked my nurse to bump my medicine again, as the pain was getting bad.

10pm: I was almost asleep, my mom had dozed off and my sister may have too. The nurse came in and told me that they needed to check my dilation. She said the baby's heart had dropped and they needed to put a monitor on her to make sure everything was alright. The doctor, Dr. Mclean, came in and said in a very nonchalant type of way that if things didn't get going somewhere soon... other options may needed to be discussed. I was in no way ready or okay with a C-section. I prayed so hard that I could deliver normally.

The nurse (at this point I had a new nurse, Ashley who was just as amazing as Allison) went to put the monitor on Aislynn (vaginally), and as she did so she exclaimed "wow, Dr. Mclean... the baby is right here... you are ready"

I had just got the extra medicine and was feeling kinda loopy, so it almost didn't register with me. I had expected to wait hours until this moment would come. I knew the pressure was getting bad, but I was trying to just rest. My mom teared up and was so happy and excited. They got James back inside and he immediately called Michael and Ashleigh and told them to come back... baby is coming! Dr. Mclean started getting drapes on and they dimmed the lights with only a direct light down there. It was very calming and quiet. Nothing like the movies. Nurse Ashley said to get ready and explained to me about pushing.

At this point my mom and sister were still in the room. James looked at me (we had decided from the start that it would be just him and I in the room for the birth). My mom teared up, I knew she wanted to stay. I had her leave and I still to this day feel so much regret over it. I could tell she wanted to be there. My next child, I wont be so set in my ways. The experience will be amazing no matter who is in the room.

11:32 pm: After just a few pushes, and an awful pain (totally felt it)... They laid my beautiful girl on my chest. She was blue and didn't cry, but her eyes were open. The nurse patted her back and James cut the chord. After a few minutes she let out the sweetest raspy cry. I will never forget looking at her saying "hey sweet girl" and she stilled, immediately looking up at me. She knew I was mommy and that was the greatest gift that God has ever given me. The doctor said I did great and that Aislynn had James' eyes.. and left (she totally was not my favorite). Aislynn weighed 6.15 pounds and they rounded up to 7 even, and was 19 inches long. Even a week late she was a small baby.

They showed me how to breastfeed and after about an hour of alone time, we let the family and friends come in. I have never felt better in my whole life. SO much adrenaline to have my sweet girl finally with me.




The best day of my life so far.

I am by no means a great cook. I may be slightly above average for a stay at home mom. Pretty much everything I have learned has been from my daddy or from James or his mom. My daddy is the bomb at winging it with "one-pot-wonders". This type of cooking requires the mixture of all random things into an amazingly yummy dinner. Trust me, it is genius. However, if you are one of those people who cannot stand their food to be touching (totally don't get that by the way), this may not be a hit for you.

It is easy, super quick and really cheap in the grand scheme of things! I totally made this while Aislynn snacked on blueberries and cucumbers (okay she may have thrown most of them... whatever works).

Sausage Goulash (as my daddy would call it)

1 yellow onion, diced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1-2 boil in bag pack of brown rice
1 McCormick Montreal seasoning sausage
Salt
Pepper
Canola oil
Minced garlic (spoonful)
1/2 cup of light half and half
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese



In a skillet heat up the canola oil. Once hot, add the onion and bell pepper. Let cook while you slice the sausage into slices. Add the sausage and salt and pepper. Cook until the meat has some brown/crispy edges.

Meanwhile make the rice according to the directions.

Lower heat and then add garlic to the meat mixture. Add tomato and half and half. Stir until combined. Let simmer and add the cooked rice. Once all is incorporated add your cheese. We like mozzarella and parmesan, but any cheese would be good.

Serve with broccoli on the side of you like!

I have had so much fun subscribing to Fabfitfun's subscription box. The box is a quarterly surprise that arrives in the mail with over $200 worth of great seasonal favorites.