Sibley's Birth Story

The original plan was for us to be second on the surgery schedule Friday morning. We would to arrive at the hospital at 5:30 to get prepped, then as soon as c-section #1 was finished, we'd be up about 8:30 or 9 that morning. Well, that was until the hospital called about 10:00 Thursday night as we were trying to make ourselves get some sleep to tell us that the first patient had delivered her baby, so we were being bumped up to the 7:30 a.m. surgery slot. That's when the nerves kicked in.

After virtually no sleep at all, we arrived at River Oaks bright and early Friday morning, we filled out our paperwork, got settled into a room, and the nurse immediately started the pre-op prep work. I was a nervous wreck, but before I knew it it was time to go! These doctors were READY to get this done. We might have even been a few minutes ahead of schedule for all I know!

The next 45 or so minutes were a bit of a nervous blur, but I remember clearly that at 7:47 a.m., my beautiful baby girl was brought into this world. As soon as she came out, the surgical team told us she was perfect and beautiful, then Dr. Moses held her up over the curtain for us to see. I saw her, she let out a big cry, and I immediately started crying tears of relief, elation, and absolute amazement.

As it turns out, Sibley was waaay up high nestled under my ribs with the cord wrapped around her neck. It took Dr. Moses and two other members of the surgical team working together to pull her out. She wasn't as big as predicted, but the c-section ended up being a blessing for a safe delivery.

Once they weighed her and cleaned her up, Derek brought her over to me for me to give her a kiss and take a few pics before bringing her back to the room to meet family while they wrapped up my surgery.

It all went by SO INCREDIBLY FAST. Before I knew it, I was back in the recovery room with my new little family and my big extended family. And then the love fest over our new addition began... :)

She's here!!

Sibley Elizabeth Grey arrived at 7:47 a.m. Friday, June 7th. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long.

She's absolutely perfect, and we are so thankful for a healthy baby girl. We are totally smitten.

I'll write all about her birth story as well as our first few days with her later this week, but here are a couple of pics from her birthday. I just can't get enough of her!

This time tomorrow...

This time tomorrow we will have met Miss Sibley! I think as we get closer most of my anxiety has turned into excitement. I absolutely cannot wait to meet her!

I've been off work all week and have enjoyed plenty of downtime and taken care of a few last minute errands. It's been a nice way to ease out of the work mindset and into maternity leave. I've made sure to DVR plenty of silly shows and movies to watch in the middle of the night for the next few weeks!

I'll leave you with one last belly pic... 39 weeks today! I have to say, I'll kind of miss the bump, but I'll be happy to have her in my arms. :)

Please say a prayer for us tomorrow for a safe delivery, healthy baby, and smooth recovery!

Eight Days!

We are 38 weeks today, and next Friday, June 7th, we'll get to meet her!! I am beyond excited, anxious, terrified, elated, nervous and a lot of other things all rolled into one.

We collectively (Derek, Dr. Moses, and myself) made the decision to schedule a c-section based on several factors. After this week's check-up, I hadn't dilated more than the same 1 cm I was last week, she's still sitting very high with no signs of dropping anytime soon, and she seems to have flipped again and likely is no longer head-down (it was hard for Dr. Moses to tell just by feeling my stomach because she's so big). Not to mention her head is measuring in the 90th percentile and her belly is measuring in the 98th percentile.

It's still very surreal. The thought of a c-section scares me a little, but honestly the thought of delivery in general scares me. I really take confidence in the fact that she'll be delivered in minutes with no time for distress. What I didn't want was to be induced, labor all day, then still end up with a c-section when my body was exhausted. As it turns out, Dr. Moses didn't feel like an induction would be successful in my case since I hadn't really progressed on my own at this point, and we were running out of time for my body to do it's thing naturally since they like for gestational diabetic babies to be born at 39 weeks.

Anyways, sorry to bore you with all those medical details, but regardless, I'm thrilled that we have an actual plan now and a DATE. Sibley's birthday will be 6/7/13. What a perfect day for a birthday!

Bittersweet

Unless she decides to make her arrival sooner, looks like we'll be meeting our baby girl in two weeks! Dr. Moses doesn't want me to go past 39 weeks because of my diabetes and her size (as of Tuesday she was estimated at 8 lbs., 3 oz., at almost 37 weeks). Her method of arrival is still to be determined, but most likely it will be via c-section or induction sometime that first week of June.

That leads me to this post. I have ALL kinds of emotions running through my head right now. It's very bittersweet. I could not be more excited to meet this little girl and start our new life as a family of three. But with that comes saying goodbye to seven years as a pretty dynamic duo.

I realize that probably sounds ridiculously irrational, but we've always been go-ers and do-ers. We like to eat nice dinners out, we like to travel, we like to go to happy hour (or we did prior to the past nine months!), we like to just enjoy life as the hip, young kids we are! Haha, but seriously... we're about to be thrown a huge curveball that comes wrapped in pink and goes by the name of Sibley.

I know you're never truly READY for a baby -- no matter how prepared you think you are or no matter how long you've hoped and prayed for that little blessing. We're at a great place in our lives, and I think God knew that when he said, "It's time."

While it might be the end of an era as a twosome, it's the beginning of the best years of our lives, and I truly believe that. Our world is about to be rocked, and she's about to make our good times even better.

In the meantime, while I can't really enjoy happy hour in the traditional sense for the next two weeks, I do think I can fit in a few nice steak dinners out at my favorite restaurants, peaceful bubble baths, and afternoon naps. Sounds like a nice way to spend the "in-between" time if you ask me. :)

Sibley's Nursery

We finally are completely finished with the nursery, so I thought I would share some pics. I just LOVE it. It's my favorite room in the house, and this whole room was a true collaboration my ideas and Derek's ideas. We didn't really want anything too frilly, and we didn't want pink. So we went more gender-neutral and fun with a touch of Dr. Seuss whimsy. I just love how it turned out. :)

This was the "inspiration piece" for the room. Derek's mom always collected pineapples, and right after she passed away in 2009 we saw this piece of art at a gallery in Orange Beach. We bought it with the intention of one day putting it in a nursery. And now here it is...

Speaking of moms, we had these two similar photos of our moms with us as newborns, so we blew them up to 8x10s and had them framed to hang on the wall when you enter the room. The piece in the middle is a Walter Anderson "S" that our friends Melanie and Trey gave us at our first baby shower.

We had her bedding made by Polka Tot Designs in Mobile, and we found this precious mobile on Etsy. Again, I'm just thrilled with how it turned out. I love the gray-red-yellow combo.

We saw this light fixture at I.O. Metro Furniture, and we knew it was perfect. It's a little different, but it goes so well with everything else in the room. You can't really tell from the pic, but it's distressed wood, and the medallion on the ceiling adds a feminine touch.

And here is the panoramic view of the whole room. Derek and I have spent many an hour in here already reading to her and getting everything ready for her arrival. The rocking chair in the corner was one of the first pieces of furniture my grandparents bought when they were married in the 1940s. A sweet co-worker made the quilt that hangs on top.

There's a lot of love in this room already. We can't wait to share it all with her very, very soon!

Mother's Day Weekend

What a great weekend! We started Saturday out with our very last baby shower, so generously hosted by Derek's co-workers. It was so nice! Here are a few pics.

It was a wonderful shower, and I can honestly say we feel pretty prepared for her arrival now! Or at least as prepared as we can be, I suppose. :)

On Sunday, my parents and grandparents came up to our house for a Mother's Day brunch. It was finally time to show them the big nursery reveal. We've kept it a secret until it was all finished, and we couldn't wait to show it off. Don't worry, that will be a totally separate post. Ha!

It was a beautiful weekend, and I feel very blessed to be so loved. It was a true honor to be able to celebrate Mother's Day myself this year. I'm  clearly in great company and can't wait to hold my daughter in my arms in just a few weeks!