Elly's Birth Day

Once we arrived at the hospital, they immediately took me to labor and delivery (Room 13). After about an hour, I received pain medication through my IV. Two and a half hours later I was begging for that epidural!! I had a fantastic doula in the room with me who was able to help me focus off the pain. Even with her calming voice and my steady breathing, I was ready to turn around to that anesthesiologist and give him a piece of my mind if he didn't hurry up. It seemed to me like he was taking his sweet time opening all of his packages while in the mean time I withering around in misery. I know it was probably less than 2 minutes but to a woman in labor it might as well had been two hours. Why on earth would anyone want to do this naturally??? I couldn't even speak the pain was so bad. Once the medication kicked in though, I was a happy soon to be Mama!

6:30am - Time to start pushing!! I had quite the audience in the delivery room. Wes was by my side along with his mom and my mom, Vicki (our doula), two nurses, and Dr. Bacon. Now I figured once you got in position to start pushing, you would have a baby soon. Wrong! After two hours of steady pushing, I decided that was enough. Though I couldn't feel anything from my waist down, I could tell I was exhausted. Dr. Bacon came in with the vacuum and Elly Satcher came into the world at 8:44am.

They placed her up on my chest and I remember thinking to myself, this is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. Are you sure she is mine?? We were moved to the postpartum room (Room 213) where I stayed until that Sunday when I was discharged. Then we brought Elly home for the first time.

October 12, 2011

Due to life being absolutely crazy over the last few months, I am going to do my best to update you on what's been happening at the Satcher house.

On Sunday, October 9th, the Scruggs clan threw us a baby shower. I had a fabulous time! These ladies sure know how to put a spread out on the table, complete with my favorite - chocolate dipped strawberries. Elly received some amazing gifts ~ lots of cute outfits, video baby monitor, pack and play, two adorable diaper cakes made by Aunt Susu, and much more. The gift of note I must tell you about is the teddy bear. When Wes was a baby (and I won't tell you how many moons ago that was!) he had a little brown bear. Later on in life, he passed his bear to his cousin, Britton. Over the years, they have kept this bear. He never made it into the Goodwill box! It just so happened that they located the bear in the attic and had it wrapped up as gift for Elly. I can't wait to tell her the history behind this old bear one day when she is old enough to understand.

As the evening went on, I began to not feel well. I thought maybe I was just really tired and really big! I started having pain in my back so we came on home. The pain never subsided, in fact it only became worse. I didn't make it to work that Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Every time I attempted to get up and walk around the pain would return. Come to find out, little Miss Elly had found her way to my sciatic nerve and found it to be quite cozy. On Wednesday, I called the doctors office to make an appointment for the doctor to take me out of work. While on the phone, the nurse said to me, "The only way to make this pain go away is to have the baby." "Great.", I thought to myself. I'm going to have to deal with this for the next two weeks. Later on that night, with the help of Wes, I took a long hot bath. Amazingly when I got out of the tub, I felt so much better. I could tell the baby had moved off the nerve. We called it a night and went to bed. At 9:15pm my water broke!!! After speaking to my doctor on the phone and timing the contractions at 10 minutes apart, we started getting our things ready. We were told it would probably be the next afternoon before we would deliver. No matter how hard I tried, I could not sit still. Some time after 11:00pm the contraction time jumped from 10 minutes apart to 4 minutes! They didn't gradually get closer together. I had one after ten minutes, then four minutes later another came. And another, and another, and another!

We arrived at Lexington Medical Center at 12:00am on October 13, 2011.

Finally Fall Weather!

The seasons are finally changing. Gone are the days of 100+ temperatures and blistering sun. The days of fall are finally upon us. It has been so nice this past week opening the doors and letting in the fresh air.

Last weekend I ordered Elly's crib bedding and changing table. I was so excited when it arrived on Tuesday. I sat in the living room floor like a child on Christmas morning. In less than an hour I had the changing table assembled and placed in the nursery. I'm getting pretty good at putting all these things together. Wes will remind me of this next year when we have to start assembling Elly's Christmas and birthday presents! After the changing table I brought in the bedding to compare it to our wall colors. As I sat there staring at it, I realized the set doesn't match. The quilt and bumper matched just perfect, but there was something just not right with the skirt and crib sheet that came along with the set. For a moment I was on the verge of a meltdown until I remembered that the quilt was purchased separately. I had been on the fence about using a padded bumper from reading several articles online about how your baby could possibly suffocate themselves with the crib bumper. So I packed up the bumper, skirt, and sheet set to return and decided that I'll just use the quilt with a matching crib sheet and buy a breathable bumper. Walla!! That was a close one! Now if I could find a crib skirt....

It was a pretty rough week at work. I can't move as fast as before and when I am up and moving around I begin to have back pain and abdominal pain. Usually it's manageable but Friday it was more than I could handle. It wasn't until I got home and took off my shoes did I realize why. The swelling has begun. We had plans Friday night to attend a couples baby shower for our friends (and my new found preggo buddy) Thomas and Ashley. They had a great shower and I was able to stay off my feet most of the evening. We left right after the opening of gifts though as I really wanted to get home to rest my back and prop up my feet. Unfortunately the rest of the weekend hasn't been much better. Thankfully it was a gloomy weekend and we had no other plans. I think I've slept more than I have been awake the past two days. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. The next doctors appointment is on Tuesday afternoon so we will see what she has to say.

Well I went to upload a picture of the crb and changing table to show our progress but for some reason I cannot do so from my iPhone. The next post will have them and I'll take an even better picture (maybe it will have daylight) ;)

Baby Shower with Friends

Last Sunday my four best friends threw a baby shower for me. The snacks were yummy and the pink punch was unbelievable good. There was a huge pink carriage cake that was delicious and cute favors made of rice krispy treats cut into baby shapes....on a stick! I had a great time hanging with the girls and discussing various baby topics. Elly received a bunch of wonderful things such as the whale bath tub, bottles, adorable outfits, diapers, bumbo, and a bouncy swing. We all had a great time. The guests played Baby Bingo while I unwrapped gifts. The other game was trying not to use the word "baby" throughout the shower. We each had a safety pin on our shirt and if you said "baby" whoever caught you could take your pin. I was up by 3 baby pins until I said the word. That was hard! But it was a fun time and I am so thankful for the friends that I have. It was very special.

This weekend we have pretty much just stayed at home relaxing. Yesterday Wes finished up Elly's dresser so it is now in the nursery and filled with her wardrobe.
This morning we met up with a family friend to take maternity pictures at the Riverwalk at 8:00am! I am excited to see how they turned out with the sunrise and the beautiful day that we had today.

It is officially Football Season!!! Both Clemson and Carolina won their games yesterday. I have to say one of my favorite things to do is lay on the couch, watching football with Wes. Even though we always cheer for the opposite team, we have a blast doing it.

We have 50 days to go until Baby Elly makes her debut. I have now started counting days instead of weeks. I have gained about 22 pounds so far and have managed to keep it all in my belly. Must be good genetics because I eat what I want, when I want, and HOW MUCH I want all the time! In comparison to others, I feel pretty fortunate I've had a good pregnancy. My only complaints are the occasional Braxton Hicks contractions that seem to come on when I'm trying to work or get things done in the house...or shopping, the daily back pain, and sleepless nights. I guess I better get used to not getting sleep now. Maybe that's preparation for what's to come!

Getting Ready for Elly's Arrival

So far so good! I am on bi-weekly appointments with Dr. Bacon now. The next appointment is next week. There are about 8 1/2 weeks before the due date and I feel like I am swamped with things to do to get our house ready for our daughter. I know things will get done in time. I can't seem to keep myself from going into the nursery to look at all her cute outfits and dreaming about the day she will be wearing them. Daddy has been awesome through this pregnancy. We've had a lot of "to go" dinners as there are many days when I don't feel like making dinner, especially after work. He deals with my tossing and turning at night since I am now finding it difficult to get comfortable laying in bed. And then there are the snack runs. Banana splits from Rush's, stock pile of candy from Walgreens, and the emergency run to get milk one night because I can't function the next day without my 6:30am bowl of cereal. Thanks for hanging in there with me Honey!

Last weekend my mom and sister threw a baby shower for me. We had several family members there and some long time family friends. It was so great to see everyone. And oh my goodness all the food she had - including the chocolate fountain. Elly received a complete new wardrobe along with several bibs, burp cloths, diapers, lotions and shampoo, and a play mat. Granny bought her stroller / car seat system. She also received a wooden toy box made by Jena. It was a fun afternoon. That evening my sister spent the night with me since Wes went out of town to visit his mom. She helped me remove tags, unpack gifts, organize everything, and completely assemble the stroller. I really enjoyed having her here even though by the end of the night we were both exhausted! I have a second baby shower tomorrow afternoon hosted by my best friends. I am so excited to be able to spend time with the girls and see everyone!

Whoa Baby!

Only 14 Weeks To Go!!!! My weight really started picking up around the 23rd week. I had another visit to the doctor last week. All measurements are looking great and I passed the glucose test for gestational diabetes. Phew! Don't know what I would do without my sugar fix, especially since I've had to back off the caffeine when I became pregnant. New developments along with the weight gain would be heartburn / indigestion. I've had a little throughout but these days I can't lay down in bed without getting it. The old wives tale says that if you have a lot of heartburn throughout your pregnancy, the baby will have a lot of hair when she is born. We shall see if I can prove that one wrong, too! Elly moves all of the time! The other night I was laying down watching TV when I could actually see her kicking. I can't really tell what body part it is so it could definitely be a punch as opposed to a kick. It was pretty neat to watch. Wes came in the room to talk and during our conversation I told him to watch my belly. Elly put on a show for him! He started talking to her and of course like she normally does she calms down. Interesting thought.....guess we know which parent will be the one to get up in the middle of the night!!

We had a great time the weekend before last - well Elly and I did! We went Saturday to Jena's baby shower. She is 6 weeks ahead of me and is having a little boy. I made my first diaper cake and gave that to her as one of her gifts. She had a great shower! And she looks fantastic! There were several of us "mommy - to - be's" there. My mom, grandmother and sister were there as well and it was really great to hangout with them for the afternoon. Brittney (aka Aunt Bee!!) felt her neice move for the first time, a really special moment for her. She's going to make a great Aunt! My mom is hosting a baby shower for her side of the family and some family friends. She's a really excited Grandma!! Between Baby Elly and Baby Hardin she's going to have her hands full!

On Sunday we had lunch at Olive Garden with two of my favorite gals, Heather and Eva. I miss them so much! I love when we are able to get together and catch up. I don't have a big appetite since I eat throughout the day to help reduce the heartburn. So at lunch I ordered a sampler plate with chicken tenders. Heather thought it was weird that I was dipping my tenders into the alfredo sauce that I dip my breadsticks in. So far that's been the only "weird" thing I've eaten. I don't think it's all that weird, but it is something I've never done before. After lunch we had a little "photo shoot" outside. Everyone's been asking for belly pictures so we did a few. After looking at the pictures I realized just how pregnant my maternity clothes make me look!!

Last weekend we painted the nursery. It's not complete yet, but it is pink and purple!! Can’t wait to see it completed with her furniture and bedding!


Eva and Elly


23 Weeks


Diaper Cake for Baby Hardin

A Pleasant Surprise!

I can't believe seven weeks have passed since my last entry! I have a lot to catch up on!! On June 2nd I felt Baby Satcher move for the first time! It happened twice that day. Every day after that I kept anticipating for it to happen again. It's by far the most awesome experience of pregnancy. To begin with, it felt as though the baby was tapping me from the inside. Over the past few weeks those taps have turned into kicks, jabs, and even a summersault! Some days (and nights) it seems like my tummy has turned into a Baby Gym. I can't put into words how I feel right now. It is so amazing. Many Mommies I have spoken to say this what they miss the most of their pregnancies. I intend to cherish every movement possible, even those that happen at 2:00am!

Another new development is that I no longer look like the girl who needs to refrain from Dunkin Donuts but rather a newly pregnant mommy - to - be. Of course with that comes the uncomfortable feeling of wearing clothes. I purchased some really cute maternity clothes a few weeks ago. Most of them are now too small or uncomfortable. Bless my good friend, Heather, for letting me borrow a box of her maternity clothes. And bless Wes for giving up his lounge pants and soft t-shirts! We went on our annual beach vacation last week so I missed a week of stepping on the scales. I decided to wait until yesterday to weigh myself. I am seeing numbers now that I have never seen before. I am now thirteen pounds more than my pre-pregnancy weight. According to my pregnancy tracker iPhone app, I am right on target. I am addicted to that app. Every Monday morning it lets me know what to expect for the week, what things are to come, what things I should or shouldn't be doing, how big the baby should be, and what things the baby is experiencing. It's really a neat thing to download and I recommend every new mama do it! The one I have is by the author of "What To Expect When You Are Expecting". An example of this week says that I am 23 weeks and 2 days with a countdown of 16 weeks and 2 days. It also tells me the baby is about as big as an ear of corn (8.5 in, 1.5 lbs) from the top of it's head (crown) to it's bottom (rump). Hard to believe Baby Satcher is 8.5 inches plus the length of the legs however long those may be!

I had another ultrasound on June 13th. This was our official sex confirmation ultrasound and to take all the necessary measurements to ensure baby is growing as it should be. We had a big surprise that day!! Previously we had determined that we were having a little boy. We found out differently that Monday afternoon. We are in fact having a little girl!!!!! I had a brief lesson in anatomy and physiology that day. Apparently the reason they wait until you are about half way through your pregnancy to determine the gender of the baby is because girl genitalia can in fact be mistaken for a little boy. That is exactly what happened with us. We were happy either way but it was still a pleasant surprise. I now have doubts on the Chinese calendar (predicted a boy), the "ring" test (predicted a boy), and my dreams (again....boy!). Children are full of surprises even before they are born!! Wes and I are very excited and can't wait to meet our little girl. She's already on his side when it comes to music. One day while we were driving, he was blasting some loud rock music (I can't remember now what song or artist). I think my tummy turned into a dance floor for Baby Elly. Yep! We have a name (for now!). We have decided on Elise Janean Satcher or Elly for short. Of course our minds could change between now and then!

We were also given pictures from the ultrasound and a DVD where we can watch her moving and hear her heartbeat.







I think that about wraps everything up for now. At the next appointment I'm going to inquire about the 3D ultrasounds I've seen some people have. I used to think they were a little scary looking but I view them a little differently now :)

4 Month Check Up

Today I went in for the 16 week check up. My doctor is moving to Lexington!!! That's ok though. I plan to follow her right on over there. It's actually pretty good news considering she's moving to a practice that has a highly recognized high risk OB. She will still keep her privledges at Palmetto Richland for those of us under her care. Phew! Our check up went great. The heart rate was 151 and it was easily found this time. I guess he was resting because last month he was moving so much all you could hear was the movement. It took forever for him to slow down long enough for us to catch the heart rate. I was bummed a little though. I was expecting an ultrasound. At our first visit she mentioned bringing in a blank DVD for ultrasounds so. I woke up in the middle of the night remembering that I didn't have any and needed to buy one before my appointment. Walgreens is my one stop shop. They have everything! So I went bee bopping my way in only to find out that next month is when they will do one. Oh well. I still have my ways of watching Baby Satcher grow! Next months we will do an ultrasound to determine the baby's sex which of course we are pretty sure is a boy.

This weekend Wes is an usher in a friend's wedding. We are driving down to Murrells Inlet, so kind of a little get away. Unfortunately though clothing has started to become a bit of an issue. Tomorrow morning I'm on a mission to find a dress to wear. Odd I've only gained two pounds but the thought of even trying to get into any of my summer clothes makes me want to bury my head under the blanket. Dang I just realized I forgot to ask the doctor my number one important question!!! I wanted to find out if there is a possibility of eating too much fruit. Speaking of fruit, one of our students actually brought me one morning a huge fruit salad because he had heard me talk about my craving for fruit. He works at Publix while he is in school and just so happens to be the fruit cutter person. I was surprised by this enormous container of cantleope, honey dew, watermelon, strawberries, and grapes. I devoured that container in two days. Had I not been at work where I'm running around all day, I probably could have finished it that day! So sweet of him. Hmm. I better put on my to do list to pick up fruit for the trip tomorrow.

Back to pregnancy....ok apparently you have some out of this world dreams. Boy have I ever! A few nights ago I dreamed that I stole a beer truck. Obviously I am craving something I cannot have. The others not so funny but just whack. Ones where you wake up and you ask yourself "What was that all about???" Speaking of waking up, I get up at least twice during the night to pee. Today I had my first real sneeze and loss of bladder control situation. Thankfully I was at home.

That about wraps up this update. Not a whole lot going on right now, but from what I've heard from a friend who is about 6 weeks ahead of me things are getting ready to start happening.

It's A Boy!

Odd how since the start of this pregnancy I've had this feeling I'm carrying a boy. Not sure if it's because of all of the throwing up I've done or maybe the dreams I have of looking down into the face of the sweetest baby boy I've ever seen. Maybe it's some crazy pregnancy intuition. A few weeks ago after Wes brought home a bull frog (and gave it a bath in the kitchen sink....yuck!!!!), I started really praying for a girl, even trying to make myself dream it's a girl. My instincts were pretty much confirmed today when we got the perfect between the legs shot. Yep, it's a boy! Guess I better learn to like things like frogs, insects, and boogers. Our official doctor's appointment is in two weeks. I'm not sure if they'll do another ultrasound then or not. (I forgot to post about the genetic screening appointment. Everything went very well. During that ultrasound though, it was too early to determine the sex of the baby. All of the genetic bloodwork came back great as well.) Below is a picture from today where we measured his length at 9.?? centimeters long. I can't remember the exact number but just last week he was 7 centimeters.




Even though my number on the scale isn't going up any, my waist line sure has started to move. I put on a swimsuit last weekend to go boat riding on the lake and realized that it's already time to invest in a new one. I didn't look so much pregnant as just a girl who could really use some excercise and a good diet plan. I'll eat those words in a few months I'm sure.


Now that I am finally in the second trimester (week 14) the nausea and other symptoms have for the most part disappeared. My biggest craving is fruit. Perfect timing too since there are fruit and vegetable stands everywhere! My other craving would be bacon cheeseburgers :). A few weeks ago I realized how unappetizing deli meat is to me now so having a sandwich at lunch will not work anymore. And oddly enough, the same with grilled chicken. But now fried chicken......pass me the extra crispy!

The first home pregnancy test picture. By the way there were 6 more of these tests taken!




The first ultrasound picture! For some odd reason, it kind of looks more like a crab claw to me than an embryo. But this was the day when it really felt like I was really, truly pregnant. I know there are days to come when I know I will really feel pregnant!

Our Lives Are About To Change

Seven weeks ago today our prayers were answered. The word "pregnant" appeared in the little window. We're having a baby!!! Of course by now our family and close friends have heard the good news. I didn't really know what to expect being pregnant. Oh sure I've heard stories of morning sickness and so forth. Which brings me to one question I've been wondering for the last two months. Why is it called "morning" sickness? For me, it may happen in the morning, afternoon, evening, or middle of the night. Sometimes it may last all day long! Never in my entire life have I ever felt so tired. For the past five or six weeks I have been the biggest couch potato. Speaking of potato, let's talk about food (especially since the thought of it no longer makes me run to the bathroom). It took until the tenth week of my pregnancy to find my cure to nausea. I tried everything ginger, the BRAT diet, saltines, even cottage cheese someone told me. Vinegar was the cure I was looking for. I came to realize that anything with a vinegar base did not make me sick. Now the next time I'll know sooner! Thankfully though, I think I've reached a turning point ... and a snug waistband!

So let's get up to date on a few things. We have had our first OB appointment. Wes went with me to the doctor's office where we first had a discussion with my doctor. Turned out to be a great Q&A session. Then we had our first ultrasound. The experience of watching your baby's heartbeat for the first time is an indescribable feeling. Naturally, I cried, though I'm sure part of that emotion had something to do with watching Daddy's expression as he watched the monitor. Next week we have an appointment for genetic screening. This has become somewhat routine testing to check for birth defects such as Down's syndrome. They will do more bloodwork (oh how I just love being poked like a pin cushion) and another ultrasound.

I guess that about wraps it up for the first entry. More to come next week! Now I'm off to find something else to eat.....