Our Little Skittle

I had to share these pictures. She is the cutest baby that ever lived. See for yourself!!!

She's Here and She's Perfect!

Anna’s Birth Story!!

This gorgeous little one was born on her due date at 2:20 pm weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz 21 inches long!!

Here’s Her story!

Well, Saturday the 27th I was having a nagging back pain and painless contractions so I thought maybe I might be headed toward labor. I ended up taking a lot of hot baths trying to work that annoying kink out of my lower back.

At 2 am I woke up thinking my water was leaking so we headed to the hospital. We got there and they took us into the triage room and hooked me up to the monitor. My contractions were barely registering, she couldn’t reach my cervix to even check for dilation, and the tests proved that it wasn’t even my water that had broken. That is such a crappy feeling!! The nurse told us to go home, pop some Benedryl and get some sleep. She said I was only in pre labor and this would probably take at least 12 more hours, etc. So we followed her advice. We got home at 4am and both took a Benedryl. At 6:30 am (2 ½ hours later!) I woke up in screaming pain with contractions 3 minutes apart. I was thinking, “No way am I in labor, the lady just told me that I wasn’t!” Meanwhile, I’m in excruciating pain and the contractions stayed consistent. I tried to wake my DH, but he was doped up on that darn Benedryl and all he did was sort of moan and tell me it was okay…I was NOT okay. I was dying!
I was afraid to go back to L & D because I didn’t want them to turn me away, but I was in so much pain, I didn’t know what else to do. So I waited. The contractions were 2 1/2 –3 minutes apart for 2 ½ hours. Finally, I couldn’t take it any more, I decided that if they weren’t going to admit me, I would stay in the parking lot until they did!
We walked back into L&D at 9am. They checked me- I was at 5 cm! OUCH. I went from 2 to 5 cm in two hours. I was progressing really quickly. They got me to my room and hooked up to an IV by about 10:45, got my epidural by 11 am- all ready 6cm dilated! Everything was GREAT after that. My mom and sister and Anna’s Godmother showed up. I gave birth in my room, it was very intimate and calming! We were joking with the Doctor, it was so casual, I loved it. I dilated so fast! I was at 9 ½ cm at 1:45. My mom held one leg, my sister held the other, and my hubby stood behind me. After only 20 minutes of pushing, Anna was here! She didn’t even cry- I think she was just happy to be able to stretch out! They put her under the heat lamps and she just laid out like a belly up fish. Poor thing was so squished in there! I ended up with a 2nd degree cut, which isn’t bad considering how huge this girl was!!! We’re doing great! Anna is such a good nurser, she could suck the drapes off the wall! I’m so happy to have her here! She’s absolutely gorgeous and mild mannered. She’s been so good letting us sleep and she rarely cries. We are so blessed!

A Long Awaited Blessing...

On the 28th of October, 2007 Anna Katherine Tillmans was born at 2:20 PM. Surprisingly, even after all the bets had been placed for the baby pool, she arrived exactly on her original due date. I guess the pot goes to the Doctor! Here are some pictures that we have been waiting to take for 40 weeks!

Officially OVERDUE.

This little lag. Well, actually, my original due date was October 28th, so I'm not really going to freak out until tomorrow. :) It's the only way to keep the sanity around here. Well, we're getting the keys to the house at 6 pm on Monday!! YAY. I will most likely be in the hospital, but who the heck cares, we have a house! I'm so insanely excited about that. Now, if only this little one would show up...

Cross Your fingers!

I had a few contractions last night, but they were sporadic and petered out before I had a chance to get really excited. Today I had my membranes swept again at my appointment. I'm feeling a little crampy and I'm spotting. I'm crossing my fingers that the full moon works it's magic tonight and I get to meet my little one in the next 24 hours!!

No Labor Signs :(

What's going on?? I'm due on FRIDAY. In 2 days! Where are the contractions? Where are the signs of impending labor? Is she going to stay in there forever? It's so annoying these last weeks where you're constantly thinking, "Is this is? Is this a labor contraction?..Or is it indigestion from the tacos?" What a mess. haha. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning, I'm going to let her strip my membranes again...hopefully it will help push me into labor atleast by Friday. Tomorrow is a full moon though, so maybe she'll get all worked up in there and shoot out! I just assume she's a native Texan and is scared of the cold :) She must have more Janet than Jim in her!! We're getting really anxious! That's the understatement of the century, I think. Things are really rolling over here, we're almost finished packing to move into the house NEXT WEEKEND!! WahoO!! Our hospital bags are ready to go, I've nested this place so much I think I washed the varnish off of the kitchen counter, and now we wait. Again. haha. It's really not bad, until the evenings. Then I HATE being pregnant. I feel like the good year blimp when I try to go to sleep. It reminds me of that old cartoon with the hippo wearing a tu tu and roller skates. NOT graceful at all. Really makes you appreciate your body and realize that you never want to be morbidly obese because it hurts your back too badly! On an even more pitiful note, we've been trying all of those self induction methods to try and help induce labor. Walking, eating random foods that people swear by, etc... I could make a huge list, but it wouldn't change the fact that I'm STILL pregnant. So none of it works. I really thought about castor oil yesterday. REALLY thought about it. But then I gagged and realized GROSS!!! What am I thinking? I just have a few days left! I don't want to spend them on the toilet!!! :) hahaha. Well, I always feel better when I blog- love you all.

Down to the Wire!

It's almost time! I have so much on my mind right now, it's keeping me up at 3 in the morning! I'm so sick and tired of being pregnant. It's exhausting. I'm tired of back pain and constantly having to pee. I'm tired of not being able to roll over in bed. It gets frustrating this late in the game! And I keep thinking, "What if I go past my due date?" UGH! I can't stand the thought of being pregnant for several more WEEKS. I don't know how people tolerate that. I am just holding on to the thought that SOME people go early...maybe will be one of those people. We've tried EVERYTHING though. All of the lame old wives tales that swear to put you in labor...well, all except the castor oil. No thanks. Well, I have come to the conclusion that NONE of those things work. She will come when she feels like it and not a second before. It really sucks not to have any control over this situation :)But I'm still going to walk 3 miles tomorrow, like I've done for the past three days. WHY? Because even if I don't go into labor immediately...and even if it makes me a heck of a lot more sore at night when I try to go to sleep...maybe the workout will fix a different problem----maybe my butt will go back to it's normal size after I have the baby. :)

MINNESOTA FAMILY!

Unfortunately, we will not be able to make it up there for December 1st like we had originally planned. I'm so bummed out about this, but with the move on November 1st, and all of the commotion with the impending arrival, I didn't think it through well enough to not stress myself out! We are going to plan for something in late January or early February depending on how cold of a winter you guys get. I hate that you'll have to meet little Anna via the internet for a few months. But I promise, we will get her up there sooner rather than later! I'm only taking the 6 alloted weeks off for maternity leave, so chances are, I will be back to work before the second week of December. Yuck. I wanted to see if we could swing a trip up there for Christmas, but I think my boss would kill me. I'm going to leave that decision for when Anna actually arrives though. It all depends on her. We love you guys! I wish that we could see you all more often!

When will it be my turn????

Went to the Doctor today! 2 cm and almost fully effaced. So she swept my membranes..which hurts like a mother, but will hopefully send me into labor in the next 72 hours. Cross your fingers!! I feel fine...a little crampy and exhausted, but I would perk right up if I started getting some contractions!! Come on labor!!!

Time...

Only about a week and a half left until it's time for Anna to show up!! I have another appointment on the 18th (Thursday). Part of me is hoping that I'll be dialated to 5 and she'll have to keep me there! :) I'm starting to come to terms with the pregnancy, and I've decided that rushing it is pointless. I'd stay pregnant for an entire year if that meant that Anna would be healthy. I just can't wait to look at her. And see a little Jim and and little Janet in there. Hopefully mostly Janet since she's a girl :) We're soooo excited. Every once in a while I'll just look over at Jim and say, "We're going to have a baby! Can you believe it!" hahaha. It's not going to sink in until I hold her. Everything is packed and ready to go. The nursery is ready....the dishes are washed...mostly everything is packed and ready for the new house. All we need is a little Anna to add to the mix! Just say a quick prayer for me that I go into labor naturally and don't have to be induced! I really want to do this on my own without all of the medicine (well, without the pitocin)

Baby Anxiety!

I'm DYING to get this little woman out here into the world, but I'm so back and forth with it right now. I've just become fully aware of how long FOREVER is as a parent. And it's not that I'm not ready and willing to make that sacrifice...it's that I'm not sure that everything is ready for her. The place isn't clean enough for a new baby...it's not big enough...it's not safe enough..it's not perfect..enough. I've read about this ridiculous desire to nest with the upcoming arrival, but I've been nesting for months, and I still don't feel like this place is ready. And now I'm afraid I'm running out of time! I've been packing the place up for the move, so maybe it just feels kind of cluttered right now. I can't wait to move into the house! Only 2 1/2 more weeks of this crappy apartment! YAY! I'm hoping Anna comes sooner rather than later so that we can get a little used to our sleeping patterns :) The good news, is that if she comes on her due dat, Jim is off that whole week anyway for paternity leave, and he can pretty much get the place in order before he goes back to work. We've been SO blessed with pretty much everyone we know offering to help move our things and help us unpack it all. Or come hold Anna while we unpack it all. That took the stress right out of moving! I've been having really vivid dreams about miss Anna lately. It's weird. She's always way older...like 4 or 5. I can't picture her as an infant for some reason. I'm not afraid of parenthood..but I'm afraid of giving her a bath! I'm afraid she'll be all slippery and jump right out of my hands! I would have a nervous breakdown right then. :)

Almost 38 weeks!

Went to the Doctor today...I'm 1 1/2 Centimeter dialated adn 75% effaced. What does that mean exactly??? Pretty much nothing. She could come today....or in two weeks. Let's hope she comes today :)

I Married Spiderman!!

Haha. Jim dressed up as Spiderman this weekend for Erin's son's 4th Birthday party! He's hilarious! He did such a good job, we're thinking of dressing him up as Tinkerbell for Anna's first B-day...just kidding!! Check out the pictures!


I go to the doctor on the 11th...hopefully I'll have some news! It's a "New moon" that day...maybe I'll get lucky and go into labor :) I'm feeling okay- today. But I have my ups and downs/ It's getting harder on my body. My hips are aching, and I'm swelling up. Sometimes I'm an emotional wreck. I'm definitely ready to meet this baby!!

Baby Talk!!

SO I went to my 36 1/2 week appointment. You'll be happy to know that Anna is still most definitely a GIRL! :) And that she's got some BIG Angelina Jolie Lips. I will blame this solely on Jim :) She currently weighs about 6lbs 15 oz....what a little fatty! The doctor thinks she's probably a little less than that. She's guessing about 7 1/2 to 8 lbs for our little one at birth. Anyone else got a guess? I'm starting a baby pool. On an upnote, I lost 4 lbs! Yay. I can't even lose 4 lbs when I'm NOT pregnant :) Dr says it's the hormones evening out and a lot of people lose in the last trimester. Made me feel good though!! :) Can't wait to meet this little critter! Only a few more weeks! I stop working on October 15. My boss is afraid my water will break at work. hahaha.

36 1/2 week picture

I feel like a hot air balloon. Get this baby out!!!