"I'm just eating my party lunch - turkey and ham, cheese, bread, blueberries, strawberries, and potato salad! YUMMY!"
Look at all of the presents just for Gloria!
Opening up her first present of the day "What's in there?"
"More cars! Vroom vroom"
"A nursery rhyme CD player."
"A big present to open!"
"Neat-o! It makes music when I push it."
"My last present of the day." She got a little shopping cart with a birthday teddy bear sitting in it. I have a video that I will post later.
"Corrie and Jason gave me a ball that's bigger than me!"
"Hahaha, it's fun being one!"
Gloria's first birthday cakes and her pretty plates
"I'm not so sure what to think."
Our birthday girl!
"It took me a few minutes because I wasn't sure about this birthday cake, but come to find out, it's really tasty. I ate almost all of it up - except for the bites I gave Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, and Auntie April. And for all of you expecting to see a messy face, think again. I'm a girl. I eat neatly!"
We took a picture of everyone that was at Gloria's birthday party, and plan to do this every year so we can have a record of all of the love that's present at her parties. (So, if you're coming to a birthday party for Gloria, bring a smile!)
"Eating my birthday breakfast - oatmeal, waffle, and strawberry banana yogurt."
"Reading my birthday card from Great Aunt Kathy."
"Another card?! Look at the stars and the stickers!"
"Reading my card from Grammy and Grandpa Chuck."
"Now that I'm one, I'm not afraid to get on my horsey and rock, rock, rock!"
"See, I wasn't kidding. I'm not afraid anymore!"
"Gotta give Boomer a hug before I go to library storytime."
"I love my Boomer."
"My birthday lunch at a restaurant."
"I still can't believe it - I'm one! And it feels GREAT!"
"My friend Maclain brought me a balloon during storytime at the library."
"This present makes noise!"
"My own set of keys and a remote car starter! That's what was making the noise."
"Not only did I get my own keys, I got a phone too! Feel free to call me. My number is 555-CUTE."
"Mommy and Daddy gave me two little cars. Vroom vroom!"
"What a cute kitty card from Mommy and Daddy. How do they know that I like cats?"
"My last present of the night."
"Oooh! A ladybug that plays music, has beads, and I can pull it around the house by the string. That's cool!"
"Even birthday girls need to take baths."
"I'm thinking of trying a new style for the new year. What do you think?"
Rob took the day off and we spent all day having fun with Gloria. We played, went to storytime at the library, and ate lunch at a restaurant. After Gloria's afternoon nap, Auntie April came over to play and have dinner with us. Once dinner was done, Gloria got to open her birthday presents and play with them for a little bit. She talked to Poppa on the computer, took a bath, and then it was time for bed.
"Welcome to the world little one. We've been waiting for you!"
Sunday, January 13, 2008
A few weeks after Gloria was born, I typed up her birth story so that I would never forget the amazing experience of giving birth to her. In honor of her first birthday, I am going to post what I had written. Just a warning - it's long.
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GLORIA GRACE HARBIN
Saturday, January 12
Rob and I went on a “date” that evening – went to see “Juno,” eat dinner at Panera Bread, and visit the book store. During the movie, I leaned over to Rob when Juno's water breaks while she's just sitting on her bed and told him, "It never happens like that in real life." Little did I know! I was feeling great. As we were walking out to the car to go home I was starting to feel pressure down there but nothing that alarmed me. While we were driving home I was still feeling the pressure coming sporadically and then started feeling some sharp pin-like sensations randomly. I figured it was just the baby moving down but since I hadn’t had any contractions ever, I highly doubted that this was it.
We got home around 9:50pm and I put my pajamas on and went to relax on the couch. About 3 minutes after I sat down on the couch I had the sharp pin-sensation again. I was about to get up to go to the bathroom when all of a sudden my water broke. It was 10:01pm. Rob was in his home office right off the living room so I said, “Either I just peed my pants or my water just broke.” (There was my Juno moment!) He came out in shock. He got me a towel and helped me to the bathroom. It was definitely my water that broke and the bloody show. I called the doctor and she said to come in. Since I wasn’t having any contractions, she said that they’d monitor me and would give me something to start them after a few hours.
After I called the doctor, I called my mom, but she wasn't home, so I called my sister. She was very excited to hear my news and started helping me track down our mom. They live an hour and 15 minutes away so they needed to get ready to come to the hospital. My sister and I tried to call our mom's friend but no answer. We found another number for her friend, but still no luck. We called our mom's husband at work and asked if he knew where she was. He helped us think of the name of another friend that we called, but no answer. By this time it was getting late, so April and her boyfriend Zach decided that they would drive around town looking for our mom's car parked near some of her friends' houses. As they were driving through town, they thought saw my mom's friend's car parked at a nearby restaurant. (My mom had been staying home every night and of course, the night she goes out with some friends is the night I go into labor!) They went in, found my mom and told her that I was in labor. She spit her drink out and started freaking out. They took her home and waited for our call to tell them to be on their way.
Rob and I decided that we didn’t want to go in right away, since we only live 5 minutes away from the hospital and I didn’t want to be stuck at the hospital longer than I needed to be there. We took a shower and sat down to watch some TV. I started to have some contractions while watching TV, but nothing strong enough to have to breathe through.
Sunday, January 13
Finally at 1am, we decided we should probably be on our way. When we got to the hospital the nurse that escorted us up to the labor and delivery floor asked if I wanted a wheelchair. I declined. I was still feeling great and had no problem walking around. We checked in and they put me in the triage room to check me out. I was at 2 ½ cm and 80%. Baby’s heartbeat was steady and sounded good. My blood pressure was high at first but she checked it again and it was fine. While lying there, my contractions started to get a bit stronger but still nothing unbearable.
They moved me to a labor room and monitored me. Everything was great so I decided to start walking around the hallways. Almost immediately after we started walking the hallways my contractions got stronger. Rob and I stopped almost every minute with me facing him and holding on to his shoulders and breathing. After a round of the floor the contractions were getting so strong that I told Rob that I couldn’t handle this without any meds. He kept encouraging me, telling me that I was doing great. The nurse found us and had us come back to the room to be checked. I don’t remember what time it was but I know that my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. Baby’s heartbeat was still steady and sounding good.
I asked the nurse about the different pain relief options. I went in not wanting an epidural but as the contractions got stronger and stronger, it started sounding better and better. I told the nurse I wanted an epidural and she called up the anesthesiologist. Then as she was walking out of the room, I told her I changed my mind. But as soon as I said that, I changed my mind back. Since I had to have a liter of IV fluid before they would give me the epidural, the nurse gave me some Staidol while I waited. That helped quite a bit but the longer I had it in my system I started to feel drunk. It did help me to relax, and almost sleep, in between my contractions. The anesthesiologist came in around 5am and I was really nervous for the epidural. Luckily he did a great job and did it really quick. He gave me a dose right away and I felt comfortable almost immediately.
At this point I was dilated to 7. Rob called my sister at 6am so she and my mom could head to the hospital. (They live about an hour and 15 minutes away.) About 30 minutes later, the nurse checked me and I was at 9 cm. I called my sister again to see where they were and to tell them my progress. They finally got to the hospital around 7:45am. My mom was glad to see that there was no baby in my arms.
The doctor came in around 8:30 to check me. I was about 10 cm. She helped me figure out how to push and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to feel how to do it the right way. I had a mirror set up so I could see and that helped too. The doctor had to go assist another doctor and said when she came back in I would push and have my baby. She came back around 9am and I started pushing. I was having really bad acid reflux as I pushed so I wasn’t being very productive. Unfortunately I threw up in the process, but the nurse and my mom and sister all helped to clean me up. I felt much, much better afterward and could push without feeling ill.
I don’t know how many times I pushed, but each time I could see the baby’s head move down and out more. The baby’s heartbeat remained steady and strong the whole time. My mom and Rob helped to hold my legs and my sister and the nurse helped to hold my back/neck.
I had always planned on having my mom in the room as I delivered the baby and had thought if my sister wanted to be in there too, I was going to let her. I was actually surprised that April was as involved as she was, but I'm really glad that she could be a part of the birth. My mom was surprised, as she told me later, that I wanted her to be in the room with me. I guess I had never told her my plans. She felt honored to watch her grandchild be born (and was very thankful that she had made it in time.) Rob had the video camera set up and recorded quite a bit of the labor and the delivery. The doctor had told us to have the camera set up and she would tell us when to press record, but Rob was sneaky and had it recording before she said to turn it on :)
As the baby was crowning, the nurse encouraged me to reach down to feel the head. I was really nervous, for some reason, to touch the head, but I did.
When the baby’s head was coming out it started to hurt really bad, and I started freaking out (for lack of a better word.) The nurse was awesome, and told me to calm down and that I could do it – I was doing it! I don’t remember the head coming out or pushing the rest of the baby out. I do remember as soon as the baby came out, the doctor said, “Dad, what do you have?” because we had requested that Rob be the one to announce the gender. And I looked at the baby as Rob said, “It’s a girl!” They placed her on my chest and started to clean her off. I couldn’t believe I had a baby girl!
Gloria was born at 10:21am on January 13, 2008. She was 8lb. 9oz. and 21 inches. Her apgar scores were 8 and 9. She was a pretty quiet baby and she latched on pretty quickly. (Though as I would find out, she wasn't latched on correctly and it was a rough and painful first couple of weeks of breastfeeding.) The nurse kept saying that Gloria was so beautiful and that she had such an old face - not the face of a newborn. She went out into the hallway to the nurse's desk and had some of the other nurses come in and look at Gloria. Gloria stayed awake for about 3 hours after she was born, not closing her eyes once.
Since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, we had two girl names in mind and one boy name. (If it had been a boy it was going to be named after Rob, who is the third.) After our baby was born, she didn't have a name for the first 30-60 minutes. When I called my grandma on the phone and told her we had a girl, I knew which name to pick - Gloria Grace. Gloria after my grandma. :)
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It's hard to believe that one year has already passed - and what a year it has been! There have been some struggles but more than enough joys to help us forget the tough times. Gloria fills us with so much love and warmth and hope. She is a delight to watch, to play with, to talk to, to be around. God has truly blessed us with the most wonderful gift He ever could give.
So, here's to your first birthday Gloria! May you continue to fill the hearts around you with joy and put smiles on the faces of everyone you meet! We love you Gloria Grace!
Last night I hung up some "Happy Birthday" banners and put a "Happy 1st Birthday" sign on the window. When she woke up this morning and finished nursing, Rob came in her bedroom and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Then we took her into the rest of the house to discover the signs. And she did - immediately! She knows when something is different.
We have a few presents that we're going to let her open today, and Auntie April is coming over for a birthday dinner.We're having a party on Saturday with Rob's family and my mom's family. That's when we'll have cake, ice cream, and lots of presents.Then, in a few weeks, we'll celebrate with my dad's family.
This year, instead of going to Taylor to see Rob's family on Christmas Day like usual, we stayed home and enjoyed the day with Gloria. The next day, the 26th, we packed up the car with our suitcases and a big box of presents and headed across the state to Rob's house.
Gloria was happy to see everyone - and be out of the car! We first opened presents with Rob's mom, dad, Amy, and Derrick.
"A teddy!" It's not just any ole' teddy either - it sings the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and different songs!
"Mommy, look! I got batteries!" (for the animal sound puzzle from Auntie Amy and almost-Uncle Derrick)
"Grandma, I picked it out just for you!"
"I love my teddy, my Mommy, and my Poppa."
Auntie Amy is ready to open her gifts!
After lunch and a nap, Gloria put on her Christmas dress and greeted the rest of the family. She had fun playing with all of the cousins. Julian even asked if she was Santa, because of her red dress with the white fur trim! Auntie Angela knitted a cute red jumper for Gloria and gave her some scarves to play with (like they do at Gymboree).
This was Gloria's first Christmas morning and she had a lot of fun. She noticed the presents under the tree right away and was ready to start opening them.
"My first present of the morning. I wonder what it is."
"It's a shape sorter!"
Gloria was able to open all of her presents with minimal help from me and Rob. Of course after each gift she wanted to play with what she had, so that gave me and Rob the opportunity to open our gifts.
"Another present! This one makes noise."
"Maracas!"
"Shake shake shake!"
I gave Rob some olive oil, an umbrella, and I put all of his Bliss 66 cds in frames so that he can hang them up and have them on display.
Rockstar!
"That's cool Daddy!"
Santa brought Gloria two books, a shape sorter, maracas, a tambourine, a drum, and three whiffle-type balls.
"Will you read to me please?"
After about half of her presents were open, Gloria was getting a little fussy so we took a break for breakfast and to change her out of her pajamas. Once she had some food in her tummy, she was ready to go again!
"Merry Christmas!"
What a curly head! It's really only this curly after a bath or sleeping.
Rob gave me all sorts of gifts, including two seasons of Home Improvement on DVD, a photo printer, and something that has to be installed in my car so I can play my iPod through the stereo.
"Happy Birthday-party Day to me!"
"I'm just eating my party lunch -
Look at all of the presents just for Gloria!
Opening up her first present of the day
"More cars! Vroom vroom"
"A nursery rhyme CD player."
"A big present to open!"
"Neat-o! It makes music when I push it."
"My last present of the day."
"Corrie and Jason gave me a ball that's bigger than me!"
"Hahaha, it's fun being one!"
Gloria's first birthday cakes and her pretty plates
"I'm not so sure what to think."
Our birthday girl!
"It took me a few minutes because I wasn't sure about this birthday cake, but come to find out, it's really tasty. I ate almost all of it up - except for the bites I gave Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, and Auntie April. And for all of you expecting to see a messy face, think again. I'm a girl. I eat neatly!"
