My sweet Amelia Rose

She's here! Welcome baby Amelia Rose Choummanivong. She was born on 6/17/12 at 8:27 pm. 6lbs 6 oz and 19in. She came a littler earlier than the docs would have liked. But she passed all her preemie tests with flying colors. We were released today and are getting acclimated at home. She's less than 48 hours old and has been such an angel. We love her so much! She came on the most perfect day, Father's Day! That can only mean she will be her daddy's little girl.

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about how wonderful my labor was. I had Benson naturally and had the same expectations with this labor and delivery. I'm sure I've explained before but my thoughts on natural vs epidural derived from my mother, who had all 3 of her children naturally. My mom is the strongest woman I know and I can only hope to continue in my life doing and being half the woman she is. As the days grew closer to my due date, I was getting more and more nervous about the pain. All I could remember with Benson was how long and painful the 7hours of labor was. I had been reading/watching videos of different pain easing labor techniques and positions were. I read a book called the Buddha Mom which had some enlightening thoughts on the birthing process and how to overcome the pain with self control. The more I "prepared" myself for another natural birth, the more I was freaking myself out. I had asked Eric to make sure to give me as much support as possible to help guide me through it. I even read a google fact saying labor pain was equivalent as being burned alive!

So last I knew I was 2 cm dilated. At my last appt (36 weeks) the doctor did not check my progress and just told me it didn't really matter how far I had progressed because it would not predict when the baby would come. Saturday night I had THE WORST sleep ever. Tossing, turning and wishing to no longer be pregnant. Sunday morning, Benson and I woke up and surprised Eric with our Father's Day Gift and card. That morning, my mucus plug came out. (It's a mucus membrane that protects the amniotic sac). With Benson, my plug came out and later that night my water broke. So I only assumed things would repeat itself. We went out to lunch with my parents and came home. I wanted to rest thinking I would be spending the rest of the night having a baby. Eric had taken Benson to the pool. Around 6:30 the boys came back and I started having sharp contractions. I had originally thought they were my Braxton Hicks but thought I should time them JUST IN CASE. Within 15 minutes of starting the timing, they were 2 minutes apart!!! I told Eric I thought I was going into labor so he got in the shower. My water did not break so we assumed we had time. He wanted to eat before leaving so he decided to grill a burger. I called my mom to let her know I was in pain so she headed over with my dad. As they sat in the dining room laughing, eating dinner and enjoying each others company, I was in labor in our room. No big deal. I called the doctor to let her know and I also called the hospital so they could expect me to be there. At this point the pain was almost unbearable. I did everything I could to breath through them. My only goal was to get to the hospital.

We checked in at the hospital at 7:30pm. I know this because I had to write the time down. Although I had already pre registered, completed and signed and mailed back I still had to sign and fill out some more. So you can imagine having to take breaks to breath through my contractions to sign the freaking papers. The lady finally rolled me to my delivery room. I got to my room around 7:50-8:00. I was asked to change into a gown and give a pee sample. I tried to give a sample but instead had the urge to push! I told the nurse and she had me lay down to check my dilation...I was 9cm already. She had to call the doctor 4 times to tell her to come NOW. As soon as the doctor got there, I pushed through 3 contractions and bam, welcome baby. She was born within the next 30 minutes. Had we not left the house any sooner, I would have had her in the car. I lucked out. I am blessed to the max.

Benson has been a complete doll with her. Giving her lots of love and affection. He has been acting out but I know its for our attention. I'm excited to see what lies ahead in the Choummanivong household. So far, I've had tons of fun dressing up my little baby doll. It's so fun to have a baby girl! I'll have to post pictures when I get some time. :)

36 weeks - Any day now

I am 36 weeks today and will be welcoming our Amelia "Mila" Rose any day now. And by any day, I literally mean any second. As I type this, I am sitting at work nervously hoping my water will not break here. I have already informed all my co-workers that I refuse to have my baby in Atlanta and that if my water and/or contractions start here, SOMEONE please drive me back to Gwinnett. (and if any of you know my sarcasm, you better believe I had to add a little extra punch to make sure my message came across)

I had my 35 week visit last Monday. As of last week, Amelia is measuring 36 weeks (a week bigger, holy big baby) and I am 2 cm dilated and 80% thinned out (or effaced). I have begun the first stage of labor! So for those of you that have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, your cervix has to thin out to 100% and dilate to 10cm before all the pushing begins. And a lot of times you'll hear about women who can stay dilated at 2cm for weeks and weeks. But since I've simultaneously thinned out that much, I only have a little more to go before there's nothing to do but dilate. And from my pregnancy with Benson, I was told on a Friday that I was 2cm and by Monday my water broke and he was here! Every pregnancy is different. I can only compare from what I know. But I am told by my doctor and nurse that she will be here any day. So we are patiently waiting for her arrival. I'm so excited to meet her but so nervous for the labor part of it all. I had Benson naturally (no epidural) and I plan on doing the same with baby number 2. And that pain sucks!

We had babyshower #1 this weekend. We got a ton of great stuff. It is no lie that little girls are fun to shop for. The caaauuutest outfits ever. I will have tons of fun dressing her up. Now that we know what we did and did not use with Benson, it was easy to sort through everything and return what we know we won't use and exchange them for essential things like diapers, wipes, lotion and shampoo. Some things that people forget are the most important.

Benson has been acting up lately. He is the most well behaved child and listens so well. But these last few days have been terrible. I can't think of a better name then "cry baby". Non stop crying about everything. There is always something wrong. I can't quite figure it out but I'm going to guess that he can sense the change. With the presents and prepping I'm sure he feels he's getting neglected but we try and include him in all we can. We've even gone so far as to buying him his own big brother gifts. We have transitioned (or trying to anyways) him into sleeping in his own room. I would say we've done pretty good so far considering. He'll fall asleep in his own room but be back in our bed by 2-3am. At least it's a start. I'm hoping he'll realize how much will be going on through the night that he'll just decide to stay in his own bed. He got to see Amelia's decorated crib and said "she has the best bed" - haha Eric and I counter responded with "no way, your bed is way cooler. It's the coolest bed ever." Gotta keep the competition to a minimum starting NOW! (which I will post up pictures I promise)

I've got an appointment today and am excited to see how much my body has progressed into the first stage of labor. I'm definitely feeling the change. I'm uncomfortable all the time. So needless to say, I'm ready! We've got all our ducks in a row. The last thing left on the list is for Eric and I to spend some individual time with Benson before baby comes. I want to make sure he knows he's special. Hopefully when I say "you're the best boy in the whole world" he knows I mean it. :)

I'm giving Amelia another week. Otherwise, I will begin the process of the eviction paperwork. hahaha. Comeee on baby!