Pictures

 Rose loves her daddy...and he is pretty in love with her too!!

 Rose meets uncle Matt...

 and Uncle Bruce and Kate...

 and Aunt Kate...

 and Great-Grandma Bechtel...

 and Great-Grandpa Bechtel

(she has also met her grandparents, but I seem to not have pics yet...)

 Mommy and Rose

 Rose and daddy outside for a little bit :)

A Birth Story

SOOOO, fair warning I am going to be very honest with my experience and Rose’s birth...there was blood and bodily things!!

I started having contractions Friday evening, but the were only 2-4 an hour and I was very aware that they could come and go, so Justin and I decided to wait and see...

Friday night I woke up twice with pain from contractions, but I was able to go back to sleep, so we just decided to wait and see...

Saturday we went out for breakfast with my dad and did our grocery shopping, contractions were still coming, but irregular and not very painful, so we kept waiting...

After we got home Saturday I made dessert for Easter at my parent’s home, we watched a movie, and took a nap. After this nap at about 6:30 the contractions were more consistent and started to get a bit painful. So we called the birth center and spoke with the midwife on call. She gave me some advice on positions to ease the pain and since the contractions were still about 10-15 minutes apart asked that I call when they were about 5 minutes apart. Justin and I tried to settle in for the night, but it was a rough one!!

I did not sleep and neither did Justin...all through the night the contractions got stronger and closer together. I tried lots of different positions to increase my comfort and found that just breathing and focusing on one contraction at a time worked the best for me.

Anyway, Sunday morning around 4 am I was having contractions about 5-7 minutes apart and it was starting to get pretty intense. I called the midwife and we again talked about what was going on and how I was coping. We decided I would call again when I consistently had contractions at 5 minutes or less apart.

Between 4 am and 8:30 am was REALLY a difficult time for us. I will be totally honest here, I was in much more pain than I thought I would and I had no idea if I was even close to having a baby. I felt I was losing my confidence to have a natural birth and definitely thought about just going to the hospital.

At 8:30 am the contractions were pushing my limit for breathing (and as someone who has had LOTS of training in coping skills and relaxation, even I was feeling like giving up) so I asked Justin to call the midwife and say I was ready to come in to be checked; she agreed and we decided to meet at the birth center at 9:30 am.

The car ride to birth center was again time for some soul searching... was I making the right choice for this birth. I decided that if we went and I was not more than 5 cm, that I could probably not make it to the pushing stage without some other type of intervention.

Sooo we go to the center and I WAS 8 CM!!!! AND my water had broke!!! (I kinda of thought it had broke, but due to the ultra absorbent pads I was wearing I could not tell) This made me cry, I was close; honestly I had already been feeling the urge to push, but just thought this could not really be the case. Justin reminds me that I had not given him warning that I was feeling like pushing or he would have driven faster!

We went to a birthing room and Nancy (the MW) called in the nurse on call and Jami (the therapeutic message student) who Justin and I had decided to use during the birth. Nancy did not tell me until later, but she was not sure everyone would make it in time! I received a dose of antibiotic for my GBS and just kept breathing through the contractions. Bev (the nurse) and Jami arrived within the hour. Nancy and Bev went about getting things ready for the birth and Jami relieved Justin (who was INCREDIBLE during this whole process) in messaging my body.

So just to recap all of this we arrived at 9:30 am and everyone who we needed to be at the birth was there by 10:30 am...Justin decided to tell out parents we were at the birth center. Justin was able to send a text to my parents at 11 am BUT then things got really moving and he never finished his text to his parents, because I was ready to push!!!

Here in not too much detail is how Rose arrived...I pushed...I had four contractions about 5 minutes apart and was able to get 3-4 pushes with each contraction. Justin said I turned purple/blue with a couple of them and I do have a popped blood vessel in my eye...but I could see her and oh, I just wanted to meet her so bad!!! Nancy gave me great encouragement during the pushing and everyone helped me relax and focus between contractions. It was about 20 minutes and then... ROSE WAS BORN!!!

I was able to help pull Rose out and then she was immediately put on my chest. Justin cut the umbilical cord. I was SUPER emotional...lots of crying :)

There are some details that I will now leave out...

Justin called our parents and they arrived at the birth center around 3 pm to meet the newest member of the family. There was lots of cuddling and kisses! Our parents left around 4:15 pm and we finished taking care of packing up and left ourselves around 5 pm to take Rose home.

Since the birth a nurse was out to check on us Monday and we have received a call everyday this week to offer support and answer any questions. We also had Rose’s first doctor appointment and a meeting with our lactation consultant on Tuesday. The support we have received from the birth center has been wonderful and really given us the ability to feel confident as parents.

Again, I’ll be honest here...it was more intense and WONDERFUL then I expected, I am so happy with our decision to have a natural birth at the birth center and would love to encourage other people to consider it.  (I finish typing this with a full newborn sleeping on my lap!)

An Easter Flower!!!

Rose Elizabeth Stillinger arrived on April 24, 2011 at 11:51AM.
She weighed 6 lbs 10 ozs and was 19.5 inches long.
LOTS more will come later, but we were able to stick with our plan to have a natural birth at the birth center and had an INCREDIBLE experience. Rose is perfect and Justin and I could not be any more in love!!!!!!

40 weeks

(So this is me after nap time in Justin's t-shirt and PJ pants!)

Well here we are...40 weeks! So for those of you who voted in the poll for 40 weeks or later, Congratulations :) While obviously there is no Rose yet, I think we are making some progress in that area ;) I am not going to share all the details here, but I think we are heading in the right direction (however a disclosure, this could mean anywhere from hours to days, so I really still have no idea when she is coming). Soooo Justin and I are taking it easy and enjoying our time together. We are just going about our normal routines and trying to relax when we can. This weekend we made our normal Saturday morning trip through Berks County...the last couple weekend we have been meeting my dad for breakfast at a local dinner and then doing our grocery shopping for the week. After Rose arrives I am going to miss those Saturday morning breakfasts for while. Today we then did our weekly house cleaning and I baked some yummy desserts for Easter with our family's tomorrow. Oh and we watched a movie and took a nap, my second favorite part of the day! We are packed for the birth center and Justin may try installing the car seat soon...so we just continue to wait...it'll happen, and when it does Justin can remind me between my screams how I was soooo anxious :)

39 weeks

sorry I will try to post a pic soon, you see, Saturday's are lazy and I just got up from my afternoon nap :)

Here we are less than a week from 'D' day, but I think Rose will decide to hang out a bit longer than that in her warm happy home ;) Sooo I have decided to count down the days until she MUST come out and then if she comes earlier it will be a nice surprise. At my appointment this week we scheduled another ultrasound and FNST for the 41st week, but as long as everything continues to look good she will not be evicted until May 6 (so 20 days to go!). They do say 'April showers bring May flowers' and we are certainly getting enough rain this month, so maybe my flower figures she'll wait until May! Honestly, I would like her to come on her own so I do not have to go to the hospital to be induced AND I am really excited to meet her, but if she needs a little more time, I guess that is best. The only compliant I have lately is my sleep. I seem to only be able to stay asleep about 5-6 hours at night and then toss and turn until it's time to get up. I have taken a few naps which have really helped :)

10 days and counting...

Well hopefully 10 days or less, BUT absolutely no later than May 6, 2011...
Fortunately (unfortunately?) Rose is doing very well snuggled in her womb, so there is no reason to coax her out and she will be allowed to hang out in there even past her due date if she chooses :) I am still optimistic that she will make her arrival on time, but I am SUPER thrilled that she is continuing to do well. At the ultrasound yesterday she was estimated to be around 6 lbs 10 oz and in the 40th percentile for her size. Her head was also very low and the doctor said her kidney's were very nice...AND she is definitely a she ;)
Also on a positive note, a BTI massage student is doing her externship at the Birth Center giving free hour massages...I had mine this afternoon and it was wonderful!! She will also let me come again with Rose after she is 4 weeks old to learn about infant massage, lucky Rose!!

38 weeks

Ahhh, 38 weeks, and waiting.....
It's not that I have had a rough pregnancy, really, I have no major complaints, I am REALLY just ready to meet Rose!!
In saying that this hasn't been a rough pregnancy I must share that this past week's check-up was not spectacular. I found out I was positive for GBS...long story short it's a bacteria that about 10-30% of pregnant women carry and if any woman was tested frequently enough would probably be positive for at some point in her life. (Here is a pretty good resource on it if you want to know more: http://www.babycenter.com/0_group-b-streptococcus-screening_1647.bc?page=1). What this means for me is that I have to receive an IV of antibiotics when I go into labor/water breaks so that Rose can receive them. They can give me the antibiotics at the birth center UNLESS my water breaks before I go into labor, then I have to go the hospital and be induced. So it's just a wait and see game at this point as to where I will go...
I will also have an ultrasound on Monday afternoon to check my water level and then we will discuss how long they will let me go after my due date (I, of course, am *hoping* not to make it to my due date anyway).
On a positive note I got two down arrows on my chart, meaning that Rose is really really low :)
This past week has been pretty good in other ways...last weekend Justin and I went to see a movie and yesterday we went out to breakfast (things we may not be doing for awhile after Rose arrives). I also had enough energy to make a batch of PB eggs and we are enjoying eating them! Next week I may make some pie shells to freeze, unless I am in labor ;) Someone told me my face actually looked thinner AND I was allowed to skip ahead in the bathroom line! Justin and I are also slowing down and enjoying our last few weekends together, which is such a change from even a couple months ago when I was still working at BBB and Justin was in the midst of finishing the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom. We do a couple little things on the weekend, but mostly just relax. So, I guess that's about it, we'll see how this week goes!!

37 Weeks!!!

How far along?  37 weeks, this baby is baked!!
Maternity clothes?  It's still a mix....
Sleep?  Turning over at night is a chore and my nose seems stuffy again :(
Best moment last week? I had lots!! Read below...
Movement? Even though the midwife said she seems to be in a little ball, she stretches out and and moves everything around!
Food cravings? All the yummy fruit in our weekly box :) and the oatmeal raisin cookies, peanut butter cookies, and lemon muffins I made this week!!
Labor signs? I was not dilated at my visit, but the baby has dropped!
Belly button in/out? IN
What I miss: Nothing really
What I am looking forward to: having a baby THIS MONTH :)
My thoughts:
So this week definitely had some rough spots...I got a letter from the IRS that last years wages reported by me and one of my employers was different and they thought I should pay them more money...I missed a breakfast date with a friend due to the accident on 222...and just some other little things that made life a little less happy :( 
BUT, there have been lots of good things too!! So I called my previous employer to figure out what had happened and it was an accounting error and I do NOT owe the IRS any money from last year. Justin is also working on this years taxes and it is better than we thought (meaning we owe less then we thought...maybe next year we will get some money back!). Both of our primary vehicles were inspected this week and so now we  can install the car seat bases, then I just have to finish my bag and we are packed. Justin and I also worked out my time off and I will now be taking 10 weeks off!!! I could probably manage the whole 12 for FMLA, but then I would return to work with no time available until I start to build it up again. BEST of all I have now started weekly prenatal visits. This week they checked Rose’s position and she is HEAD DOWN!! Nothing else was going on, but at least she is in the correct position for her exit :)