NoraGrace's Grand Appearance

To start it off, let me give all you expectant mothers out there a good tip: Never assume you'll deliver your baby by your due date because it may not happen. Unfortunately, noone gave me this little tip, and I was miserable for the last couple of weeks. I assumed I'd deliver by or near my due date. NOPE, did not happen! I had to be induced, which I was totally against the entire time I was pregnant. But by the time you get to the 40 week mark, it gets pretty miserable. Not only are you swollen and tired, but you're so anxious to see the baby. Waiting to see Gracee was the worst part. I wondered whose eyes she would have, if she'd have hair, or if she'd be bald like I was. So at that point I decided to go ahead and be induced, which turned out to be a good idea because my cervix would not dialate. Even at 40 weeks I was not dialated at all. The baby had come down, but for some reason I wouldn't dialate-which caused for some very painful checkups. I really got aggravated with a few people that kept telling me not to be induced because the baby just wasn't ready. Well that wasn't the case with me. She moved down into position, but my body wouldn't cooperate. So there you go--Not everyone knows everything about every delivery.

So Tuesday, November 8th, at my 40 week check, my midwife decided to induce me because she figured my cervix wouldn't dialate on its own. Wednesday we loaded our packed bags into the car and headed to the hospital. I was admitted and taken back to a labor and delivery room at around 5 that afternoon. The plan was to use Cervadil for the entire night to soften and dialate my cervix. Once it was inserted, I started feeling crampy, but it wasn't a big deal. I slept off and on all night, thanks to the help of a sleeping pill. Punkin was there of course, but so were my parents. My Mama and Daddy couldn't stand the thought of something happening and them not being there, so they stayed the entire night.

Thursday morning at 4 o'clock the Cervadil was removed. I had dialated a whopping centimeter. WhooHoo.... Not. Cervadil was supposed to help soften my cervix and get the ball rolling, but it didn't really help. It definitely had a mind of its own. My midwife came in and broke my water to help speed the process along, and, oh my goodness, did that hurt. About 8 I started becoming uncomfortable from the Pitocin that was started at 4 that morning. I wasn't hurting yet, but was just really uncomfortable. My midwife thought I should relax because I still wasn't dialated. They gave me a shot of Demerol, which really did nothing but make me feel loopy. My sister still picks on me because out of the blue that morning I interrupted their conversatio with , "I LOVE DEMEROL," Apparently I was in love with Demerol, and had I been in a cartoon, little floating hearts would have appeared over my head. At about 11, it was decided that I should go ahead and have an epidural to relax me compeletly because I was only about a 2. I got the epidural, which was bliss and so not what everyone told me it would be. Yeah, it made my nerves stand on end knowing I had a huge needle in my back, but I didn't mind because I was started to feel strong contractions. That epidural worked for a few hours and allowed me to rest, but I still progress really slowly. At about 5 I started feeling everything, and by everything I mean pure natural hell. Contractions are no joke! I didn't have any back labor; it was all up front. Oh I thought I would die. My epidural was working on my left leg, but no where else. It looked okay when they checked it, so they decided to give me another shot of something else (I was too much in pain to remember the name), and it did absolutely no good. By this point, I moved up to about a 7 and was hurting so bad, but I didn't want to redo the epidural because I didn't want it to slow the process down.  My doctor ended up telling me to go for the second epidural because I was in so much pain. I did, and it was so much worse because I was feeling pressure and it hurt to bend over. It worked a little but not very much. I still felt all the pressure down below. Noone thought I was ready to push because I had been dialating so slowly, but my body was telling me to push. They checked me and I was 9 with a little rim. About 5 minutes later I called the nurse back and made them check me again. I was a complete 10! Guess where my doctor was...about 10 miles away at home. Holy crap. I couldn't not push because it felt so good to. I had to wait at least an hour with my body telling me to push, but not being able to. That was the absolute worst part of labor. When my doctor finally walked in the door to tell me she was there, I was crowning. She barely had time to put her gloves and jacket on before I was delivering at 8:18 pm. I was in labor from 5 that morning to 8:18 that afternoon. Talking about a fun day! Boo.

Overall the experience was wonderful. Knowing my body was capable of creating a little tiny human is amazing. It also made me feel bulletproof and powerful. I mean everyone says giving birth is as close to dying as you can come without actually dying, well I must be a badbutt woman because I made it through it.
I know most women go through it, but it really makes you realize just how strong of a woman you are when you have a child.

Gracee weighed 7lbs 3 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was a little cone-headed because she was in the birth canal while I waited for the doctor to get there, but it's went away now. She was perfect. I know everyone says its an undescribable moment, but it really is. Nothing can describe the way I felt about that little girl as soon as she was laid on my stomach. Well here she is world:

Welcome Miss NoraGrace "Gracee" Ann Daniel

Hunting Season Blues

Just to let everyone know (if in case for some strange reason someone doesn't know), I love to hunt. I didn't realize I'd like hunting so much until my husband, who is one of many proud country boys, started letting me tag along with him. Little did he know that those tag alongs would turn a light switch on inside of me and cause me to be so passionate about hunting. I do everything that my husband does involving hunting, minus shooting muzzleloaders. But that's only because I haven't tried it yet.

    Before I met my husband, I didn't know what "running dogs" meant, much less how it all worked. But now, I run dogs every single day of hunting season, and this past year I was able to bag my first deer (spike). I'm not one of those wives who sit in the truck all day and whine about how hot/cold it is. Instead, I'm usually the one running down the dirt road, shotgun in hand, praying the deer decides to come out near me. Needless to say, I love running dogs. There's nothing like hearing my 15 head of beagle babies in hot pursuit and the excitement that it brings. What, you say, does this have to do with my pregnancy? It just so turns out that my due date is about 2 weeks into hunting season! What in the world am I going to do? I'm going to try to tough it out until I have Gracee, and I know after she's born I won't be that interested in hunting. But you never know, I'll probably still have the fever. Maybe we'll be able to work it out.

On another note, I probably will be able to bow hunt, which opens up in a few weekends.  My husband bought me my bow for my birthday in April, and I've been practicing off and on every since. But in a little over two weeks, there's a tournament at a local church. I hope I shoot well. (I stopped writing with intentions to come back and finish, but unfortunately I never did. So I'll fill y'all in on my hunting season)

Added about 7 weeks after delivery:
  I did do really well in the bow tournament. I actually placed 2nd and ended up shooting with my husband, which must to have made him nervous because he only shot 3 points higher than me. He would have been devastated to have his pregnant wife whoop his tail, so I took it easy on him---or so I say anyways.

  Being pregnant never hindered my hunting season. I ran up and down dirt roads with my 12-gauge in hand, and hunted blood trails for endless hours. The spike I killed took about 8 hours to find (even with the help of the beagle babies--I shot his leg off, which I completely blame on the scope being off). I walked across bedded clearcuts and through knee-deep Cypress ponds. Everyone told me to take it easy because I was pregnant, but I decided against it. I knew I'd never be the type to pile up on the couch and eat an entire bucket of icecream. Instead I decided to be proactive and keep going, which is what I think made it easier during labor.

  Hunting season hasn't actually been so bad. I was able to kill another spike this year with my bow (at about 36 weeks) and a spike with my trusty .243 (At nearly 40 weeks). Even though my belly poked out about 12 inches, I was still able to climb in my two seater ladder stand all the way up to delivery. I had Gracee on Thursday and was climbing that Tuesday-not that I saw anything.

  Never ever listen to anyone say a woman can't do what a man can, because I'm here to say that a man can't do what a woman does! Also, never listen to anyone who tells you that being pregnant causes your life to change. It does when the baby comes, but being pregnant doesn't. Pregnant women can do all that a non-pregnant woman can. All I had to be careful with was falling. For some reason my equilibrium was off-balanced and caused me to fall often. I fell out the door of my house a couple of times and off the steps quite a few times. Mostly I just stumbled, but a couple of times I fell all the way down. I never hurt myself though.

Since the baby has been born, I've went and ran dogs a couple of times for a short while. Punkin hasn't had much time to hunt either. And since the season is nearly over, we're pretty much done with hunting for this year. Not that we don't miss it, because we both do; it's just that we have more important things to worry about--Gracee! I'll give all the details of the birthing process and all that's went on since then in a different blog. I'll get that to work on that soon!

Completely and Utterly Past Due

Yes, yes. I know. I'm a total slacker and haven't updated my blog in forever. How horrible right? Well, by posting a ridicously long blog, I hope to make up for it. In order to get everyone up to speed on what's going on, I'm starting with an outline. This outline will help me, as well as readers, keep up with everything that's happened.


I. First Sonogram Appointment
 A. Sonogram
 B. Gluclose Testing
II. Gender Sonogram Appointment
 A. IT'S A GIRL
 B. Little Bitty
III. Sonogram Appointment #3
 A. Spots & Shadows
IV. Dr. Boddy Appointment


As you can see, this outline basically consists of doctors visits. The reason being is that when pregnant, life seems to revolve around doctors appointments. Of course there's a ton of other stuff that I want to mention, so I'll try to fit that in too.


To start it off is my first sonogram appointment, which I believe is basically used to make sure there's a bun in the oven. There could be other reasons, but none of those were made evident to me. Anywho, it was so exciting to see my little egglet in there and to hear her heart beating. (By the way, I've always heard that the gel was super cold. However, I was pleasantly suprised to get warm gel, which actually felt good). Suprisingly, I didn't cry as I had expected. I figured I would start crying when I saw her, but I didn't. I held it together like a big girl.
At that same appointment I had to take a one hour glucose test. Most women I have talked to that uses/used Southern OBGYN didn't have to take their glucose test until around 26-28 weeks. I don't know why she went ahead and tested me early, which worried me at first. A couple of days later, my midwife called to schedule a 3-hour glucose testing because my results came back kind of high I guess. My 3-grueling-hour long test, which did I mention was completely horrible, came back perfectly fine:)

At my next big appointment, the awaited gender-sonogram, I was so anxious! I felt like my insides were trying to beat their way out of my belly. While I laid there biting nails and pulling my hair out, Punkin looked perfectly content. It's just like a man to not be super excited to be finding out what the baby is. I thought it was going to be a boy honestly; alot of people had told me that. Punkin swore up and down that it was a girl though. I guess I suck at guessing because he was right. On that screen was an adorable little girl.

I had been hoping for a boy, mostly for Punkin. His dad passed away in May, when I was about 15 or 16 weeks pregnant, and it was pretty hard on him. I figured having a little boy would make him excited about hunting, fishing, etc. with him. Even though I thought Punkin wouldn't be excited that it was a little girl, he was. Just because the baby is a she doesn't mean she won't have her butt in those woods just like her daddy. She'll have it bad because I'm just about as bad as Punkin when it comes to deer hunting. So needless to say she'll be sporting camo pretty early in life. Actually, she already has about 4 full camo outfits, bows and all.

At that same appointment, my midwife pulled us in her office to tell us that the baby was abnormally small. My due date was correct, she was just a small baby. Her head circumference and her femur length worried my midwife a bit, so she scheduled us for another sonogram four weeks later to chart her growth in a month. At my doctor's office, they only do three sonograms the entire time you're pregnant, so her having me come in for another made me super worried. For four straight weeks I almost went crazy wondering if something was wrong with my little angel. I was worried anyways because I was 22 weeks and not feeling her at all.

At the third sonogram appointment, the tech who did the sonogram told me she had more than doubled her weight, which was good, but she was still small. After the sonogram, my midwife again pulled us in her office to tell us that the tech saw what she thought could be air or fluid in the baby's belly and chest. Oh my lord, I freaked out and immediately started crying. Punkin and my midwife tried to calm me down, but I was hysterical. I didn't want anything to be wrong with my baby. I never knew I could love someone I've never seen before, but this little booger has surely won me over. To think I could lose her tore me apart. My midwife scheduled me to go see Dr. Boddy in Macon to see what it was in the baby's belly.

What scared me the most was that I hadn't felt her yet. I was 24 weeks and not feeling even the littlest flutters. The day I turned 24 weeks, Punkin and I had lost one of our beagles in the woods while running dogs. We spent the entire day looking for her. That night, I was sitting in the truck in the pitch black dark while Punkin was standing outside the truck listening for the dog when I felt my tummy rumble, or so I thought. At first I thought I was hungry, but it kept on. After about the third jab, I realized what was going on. I got so excited! I knew it was the baby. I screamed for Punkin to come feel, but he couldn't feel what I was feeling yet. I must have been overlooking the flutters that people say you'll feel because when I started feeling her, it was little jabs. There wasn't any fluttering about that.

Finally feeling her kicking and rolling in my belly made me feel better about my doctors appointment with Dr. Boddy. We went all the way up there, and all was well. Dr. Boddy couldn't find a thing wrong with her. He even said she was a very good size. Needless to say, my shopping at BassPro went pretty well considering my good mood. He did say that she had a tiny bit of urine backed up into her kidneys, but that it was fairly common, and she would more than likely outgrow it before she's born. I'm supposed to go back in October right before I have her to make sure it hasn't gotten worse.

So that's where my baby and I are as far as doctors visits go. Now for the fill in on little information.

We've picked out a name: NoraGrace Ann Daniel. But we're going to call her Gracee:) Nora is his mother's first name, and Ann has been in my family for a little while. Grace has always been a favorite name of mine.

I also picked out a theme for her room: bees! I used bees for my wedding, and I know having her nursery in bees seems like I'm addicted to bee decor. But when I saw that cute bee bedding online, I couldn't resist. At least I'll be able to use a bunch of my wedding stuff for decorations in the baby room. Yay for money saved! The bedding has yellow, green, brown, and white. It sounds like a lot, but its cute!

I ordered her bedding yesterday, which included her crib, dresser, and changing table. Punkin and I put it all together yesterday, but by the time we got done, it was too late to decorate and put everything together. When I get home from work and get supper cooked though, I'll have it all pretty. I can't wait! I'm so excited everything is coming together like I want.

Now I'm 26 weeks, and growing. I don't know how much weight I've gained. Two weeks ago I was still 2 lbs less than I was at my first visit. I lost about 15 lbs before I started gaining, so I'm not mad to have my baby belly showing good:)

And, this past Sunday, Punkin finally felt her kick! Usually she stops kicking about the time he'd lay his hand on my belly. But now he sneak attacks her and does it really fast so he'll feel her. It's like she's already playing peek-a-boo with daddy:)

So I know most have given up on me and stopped reading, but thats okay:) At least I have it updated, and I'll try to keep it up from now on!

Twin-phobia

I'm sure all new expecting mothers share this fear of having twins. I haven't went for my first sonogram yet, and I haven't heard the baby's heart beat. So technically, it could be twins, and I just don't know it yet. Oh lord.

I believe the most favorite thing to say to a newly expecting mother is: "You're going to have twins!" People get some sort of thrill out of making pregnant women feel like they're about to throw up, as if we don't feel that way enough.

I'm not saying I'd jump off of the top of the Empire State building or anything, but I would probably be pretty crazy for a while, say 20 years. I mean having twins is a super serious matter. You have to think about the fact that everything will be doubled. Double strollers, double diapers, double wipes, double clothes, double the college tuition. Oh lord, now I feel like I'm going to throw up.

If I happen to be pregnant with twins, please pray for my husband. He'll need it more than anyone. I'll be sure to update on Wednesday after my doctor's appointment. It's funny. I use to pray for doubles or triples in softball. Let's pray for a single now!

Peace and Love!

Emotional Much?

It amazes me how many emotions run through my mind on a daily basis. One second, I could be flying off the handle, and the next, I could be crying my eyes out over a stupid tv show. I've always been pretty tender-hearted, but this is taking it to an extreme. If any sweet moment at all comes on the tv, it's over with. For instance, watching The Blind Side today, I started crying while watching Michael playing football. REALLY? What's sad/happy about football? Actually as I'm sitting here right now, I feel like crying, over nothing at all. I am such a titty baby these days.
  And when it starts, there's not chance of it stopping any time soon. I'm an emotional ball of tears is what I am.

Another prego symptom I feel the need to fuss about is my insane sense of smell. Usually cleaning out my rabbit's change is no big deal, but today I got super sick. I mean I actually throwed up because of the smell.  But anywho, I guess it all goes with being pregnant. Just don't say anything to make me mad, or be too sweet, or stink, and we'll all be okay.

Peach and Love until next time.

As I sit here eating pineapple chunks with a glass of grape juice, trying to decide whether or not to do some much needed homework, I remember I haven't posted lately, thus giving me an means to push my homework back a little further. Plus, today has been a very eventful day; it was my first prenatal visit. I know my family members want to know how it went, so I'll just post here because most of them religiously follow my blog---hail to the true followers.

My honey decided to take the day off to go with me to Valdosta, even though he had to drop me off at school twice and pick me up twice. By the way, he got lost in between VSU and Lowes, which I must say is a pretty difficult feat. I even drew a map with street names, but I forgot he was a man. Men take no advice from women, especially directions. But anywho, kudos to my husband and his great directional skills.

After I got out of class, we headed over to Southern OB-GYN, with my stomach churning inside. Overall, the experience wasn't bad, just slightly uncomfortable. If anyone has had a pap, the prenatal check is the exact same. They also had to draw my blood, which I'm not very good at at all. I got a little queasy, but it turned out okay.

Positives: LOVE my midwife, Teresa Johnson. She seemed very thorough and did not treat me like one of the 300 patients she sees, even though I know I am. Most of the staff were pretty nice, as well as the financial adviser.

Negatives: My honey couldn't come back until they put me into my own room, which took about an hour. The lady who took my blood was sort of rude, but hey, if I had to look at and draw blood all day, I'd be a little cranky too. They only do 4 ultrasounds the entire time you're pregnant.:(

They didn't do an ultrasound today, but my appointment for my glucose test (ewwww) and my first ultra sound will be in three weeks. Let's home I'm not having twins.

9 more weeks until we know what the baby is!  The million-dollar question is: what do you want it to be? I want a boy for the sake of my husband, but either would be perfectly fine by me. I know everyone says it, but as long as it's healthy, I don't care what it is.

Until next time, peace and love:)

Perpetually Tired

Does it ever end? I'm usually pretty good about staying active all day. I've always got up in the mornings rather cheerfully and stayed up late doing homework. However, now-a-days all I want to do is sleep, and I never have time! I wake up every morning around, or before, 7. Then I head to school, nearly falling asleep while driving. After school I work until around 8, and by the time I get home, I have two hours of homework to do.

I'm slacking in school because I never feel like doing homework. I have about ten deadlines hovering over my head, but guess what? They will hover over my head until the day before they are due. I'm not about to stay up late doing work that isn't due yet. I'm not that motivated. I've got a bad case of senior-I just don't care--itis. It's going around like swine flu, so beware.

PEOPLE, give me a break! I'm so absolutely, incredibly tired. I know, I know. It'll supposedly be worse when the baby gets here. But, the baby isn't here yet, so let me sleep! I need just one day to sleep all day, no work, no school, no household chores.

That brings up another thing, doesn't someone feel compelled to come clean my house for me? I never have time! My hubby's doing a good job at cooking supper every night, but he definitely doesn't do the dishes too. Any takers? I'm kidding. No really, if you feel compelled, I'll let you borrow my key.

I say I'm going to bed now, but I know I won't. Here's to hoping I won't snap on someone tomorrow--Peace and Love--CD