And Then There Were 4

Wow! What an event. Let me give you the Dad's eye view of the birth of Sarah. First of all, we have been monitoring Rachel's blood pressure for months, which has been a real help in telling what is dangerous and what is just stress/headaches/etc. We borrowed the blood pressure monitor from my Stepmother, Marcia. I'm really glad we had it. We were able to see that Rachel's blood pressure was steadily in the mild high blood pressure range -- usually about 145/90. The OB/GYN was keeping track of her like a hawk, so it was nice to just do as we were told. On the last visit on Mon. the 23rd, the doctor wanted to schedule Rachel to be induced for labor on Sunday morning. He would be at the hospital anyway and this way if he needed to do a C-section, he could.
So Rachel and I waited till Sunday at 5:30. Thats when we got the call to be at the hospital by 6 - 6:15. So we both got in the car (Rachel dropped Avah off at Mum's house Sat. night) and headed out for the hospital. Speaking of heading out... that kid's head was HUGE. Anyway, Rachel was induced and after 12 hours of contractions, she was ready to push. After about 1/2 hour of pushing, it was determined the head was too big and Rachel was as far as she could go without tearing. So the doc made a small cut, and the next contraction was all that was needed to let that gargantuan nogin out into the world. When I saw the head out I thought, "Holy cow! There's probably a body with that head!" And sure enough, a quick shoulder turn and Pooof! Sarah was born! She is 9 lbs. 2 oz.
She sleeps quickly, eats quickly, and poops quickly. Luckily the diaper was close...
So, yeah. She's just a little bundle. Cute as a button. Just adorable. Her cheeks are so big, they make her eyes squint. We were all able to come home at about noon today (Tuesday). We picked up Avah from Nanny and then I realized... now we are four. Pretty cool.
All I (Rachel) can say is.. Andy needs to tell these stories more often. He is alot funnier than I am.

Jewelry contest entries.

So I have finally decided to be brave and post pictures of my entries in the jewelry contest. Keep in mind that the pictures aren't that great. I look at other peoples photos' from last years though and they are about the same. Feel free to give your honestly brutal opinions, as I have already entered and can't do anything about it.

Okay, so in the Hearts Design category I entered...

In the plastics category I entered...

In the metals category I entered...

In the crystal category...

And last but not least the pearl category...

I have to say I think the plastics entry is my favorite. It's also the funnest to wear. Anyway those are my entries let me know what you think.

The Last Sarah Update.

Until she is born that is. My doctor doesn't want me to go past my due date so if I don't go into labor before Sunday he is going to break my water for me. The only problem with it happening on Sunday is that it is also when Shaylee is going to be blessed( Sorry Mark and Alicia. I hope I didn't spell her name wrong). I really want this part to be over though. My doctor is concerned about my blood pressure. He said that if it continues to climb at a steady pace I'm to go straight to labor and delivery. So far I have managed to get it back down when it gets kinda high. I believe that that is all the highlights so next time I post I will hopefully have pictures of Sarah!

All about Sarah.

I just had another doctors appointment today, and I am 37 weeks and 3days along. I could go into labor at any moment and that would be OK. The baby is in the right position, and the doctor stretched me to a 3( yes it was as horrible as it sounds). So the odds of me having a v-back are really good right now, and Sarah is sounding healthy. So yea, I am going to have a good birth and Sarah will be able to come home with me! I can't wait to see how adorable she is. I hope she looks like me, they can't both look like Andy right? If for whatever reason I don't give birth this week I have another doctors appointment on Monday the 23rd. If you can't tell I really want it to happen this week. I'll let you all know what happens!

I did it!(kind of)

OK, so for one of my new years resolutions I wanted to get at least one piece of jewelry published. Well I just barely(like two seconds ago) entered not one but five pieces into the beadstar competition. Magazine editors pick the pieces they like most and then post them so anyone can vote for their favorite. I wont know if I made it that far until June 30th. I entered five hoping that at least one will make it that far. If I make it to the top 5 they will publish it in the Beadstar magazine. I would publish the pictures here but I'm feeling a little embarrassed and insecure at the moment. Maybe in a later post I'll put them up. I should have waited to enter until I had Sarah. I'm already really nervous and that can't be good for my blood pressure. The hardest part of filling out the entry form was naming the jewelry. I suck at stuff like that. Needless to say the names are really lame. Hopefully that wont matter. I'm glad I did it though, I think that entering was the hardest part of it(so far anyway). Who knows, maybe I will do really good. Fingers crossed.

quick update on sarah

I have basically been put on bed rest, not by the doctor, but by Andy. While the doctor did say it was important for me to lay on my side with my feet up, if I sit up for two seconds Andy gets upset. I thought the doctor was going to do an ultrasound but he didn't. He did say that my cervix(?) was soft and open by two cm. which is a good sign for a vbac. He did also say that because of the possibility of toxemia he wont let me go late, but that inducing labor would cause greater risks. I had a big weight gain of @$lbs. and the bottom number of my blood pressure was a little higher than normal. Don't worry, the weight gain isn't as big as your probably thinking, and when the doctor saw the blood pressure numbers we've been keeping track of at home he wasn't as concerned. He did say that if the numbers go up steadily even a little we need to call him. So in a nutshell, I am not sure how I will be giving birth and am spending a lot of time off my feet. None of it matters as long as me and the baby are good and healthy afterward right?

Picture tag.

OK, so I haven't done the tagging thing before but this one was doable for me.

This is picture number six from file number six.

I believe it is from Thanksgiving.

I can't tell what they are doing, but aren't they soooo cute!?!

Four weeks left.

I have to admit that I'm really nervous about giving birth to Sarah. Not that I think anything will go wrong, it's just that I don't know what will happen. Even if I end up having another c-section for whatever reason, I'm not going to know what to expect. I really don't like not knowing what to expect.
On another note, I have been having the strangest cravings for the last couple of days. For example all day today I have been craving sugar. Not candy, not even kool aid, but pure sugar. I figured that it can't be good to give in to cravings like that one so I ignored it all day until about five minuets ago. The cravings gone, but I can't believe I ate a BIG spoonful of pure sugar.
I am just going to hope that that is the strangest thing that happens in the next four weeks.