First Born-Brielle

I don't usually do these sort of things, but I was tagged by Deb, and thought this would be interesting for my own journaling sake as I start thinking the delivery of our next baby.

All about Brielle:
1.Where were you when you first found out that you were pregnant?
In the bathroom at my house in Lansing..I had a pretty good inclination before though due to pregnancy symptoms (I won't go into details) while I was jogging.

2.Who was with you?
Just me. James knew I was going to take the pregnancy test and wanted to be there, but I woke up early and couldn't wait.

3. How did you find out that you were pregnant?
Home pregnancy test

4.What was your first reaction to finding out you was pregnant?
Excited, a bit shocked and nervous...but mostly excited.

5. Who was the first person you told?
James. I went back to bed and waited till he woke up to tell them. Of course I couldn't fall back asleep, so I just tried to lay quietly as my mind raced about all the changes that would be coming in our life.

6.Did you plan to get pregnant?
Yes. We kept praying to know when the time was right. We got a clear answer at the Temple the month before we got pregnant...we just didn't know it would happen so quickly.

7.Did you tell everyone else right away?
No. I wanted to wait, but then needed someone to talk to about it (other than James) so told my Mom at 6 weeks. Since I told my mom James thought it would only be fair to tell his parents...and then from there the families found out pretty quickly.

8. Was everybody happy for you?
Definitely.

9. Did you go out and celebrate?
Probably, I just don't know for sure what we did.

10.Did you want to find out the sex?
James did; at first I didn't think I wanted to know, but then I was so stressed about coming up with the name that I changed my mind. I'm glad I did, because for me it helped start bonding when I knew it was a girl and could call it "she" instead of "it"

11. Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you knew you wouldn't put on your baby?
Ummm...I don't think so. I have picked up some other free clothes that I didn't use...they just weren't my style.

12. How much weight did you gain?
I didn't trust the doctor's scale, since it depended on my shoes and clothes. I didn't weigh myself on our scale the last couple weeks though, so i'm not exactly sure. According to my scales beginning weight and the doctor's scale ending weight I gained 36 pounds.

13. What did you crave the most?
Oatmeal and Popcorn. James was disappointed that I didn't have an major craving that he had to go out to get. He was hoping I'd crave ice-cream or cookies or something fun for him.

14.Did you crave anything crazy?
No. I really didn't have any strong cravings. It was mostly just things I liked anyway that I felt I could indulge in more because of the excuse of pregnancy.

15.Who or what got on your nerves?
I was still working for progressive, so it was just the crazy or angry people that I had to talk to on the phone once in a while.

16. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
Nope, just the normal pregnancy stuff. Acid reflux starting at 16 weeks and not quitting until the end. Throwing up through the end...but no real complications.

17.Where and when did you go into labor?
I was at work. I wasn't postive I was really in labor but kept track of the contrations the whole time I was there. I only worked a half day since we were supposed to go to James' grandparents in Ohio that day. I came home and told James it would be better to stay home. I had to call my mom before I believed I was really in labor though.

18. Who drove you to the hospital?
James

19.Who was in the room when you gave birth?
Just James, the nurse and a resident. My Doctor didn't get there fast enough. There could have been other nurses or something but I honestly didn't notice anyone else.

20.Did you go early or late?
A LOT earlier than I expected. I told myself I would be a week late (I didn't want to feel to anxious when it got close to the due date). Ellie was born 3 weeks and 2 days before the due date and we were not ready, at all.

21. How long were you in labor?
about 13 hours. Starting at 8am at work for four hours (contractions were 8 minutes apart). I then labored at home until 7:30pm when James said it was probably time to go in. My goal was to labor at home as long as possible, I didn't want to go to the hospital and only be dialated a couple centimeters. We got there and I was at 8 centimeters...Ellie was born at 9:39pm.

22. Did you have any drugs for the pain?
No, I didn't want anything. The bath and walking helped the most.

23. Did you go natural or have a C-section?
Natural

24.What was your first reaction after giving birth?
I was still shocked that it was all really happening. I remember laying there telling myself I needed to focus on my baby, but not knowing what to do.

25.How big was the baby?
7 lbs 5 oz, and 21 in long

26. Did your husband cry?
I don't think so. He was just excited and busily taking pictures.

27.What did you name the baby?
Brielle Christine Finlay. We didn't really decide until the 2nd day at the hospital. We had it narrowed down to 4 and this was my favorite...I was just waiting for James to say okay.

28.Does his name have any significant meaning?
Brielle means "Heroine of God" or "God is my might"-it is the femine version of Gabriel. I heard the name when I worked at summer camp about 10 years ago and fell in love with it. Christine is my mom's name. My Mom has always been my hero, so I knew I would want to pass her name on.

29. Did you have any visitors?
Yes, a good friend who brought by some needed supplies (I didn't yet have a nursing bra or nursing pads and didn't want to send James to pick those out.)

30. Did the baby have any complications?
No. She didn't nurse great at first and was considered "failure to thrive" for the first week or so until we started getting the hang of it. It wasn't too bad though...I knew I didn't want to use formula, so was glad that it wasn't bad enough that anyone pushed me that direction.

31. How old is your baby today?
20 months

32.When is the next one coming?
In roughly 2 1/2 months, or whenever he gets here.

33.If you could would you do it all over again?
Yep, she is a sweetheart (most of the time). I love being at home with her, and I enjoy the challenge of trying to be a good mom.