Back at It

So I suppose I should have been updating this all along, but like I said, I'm a horrible writer (I sure can't keep up with some of the wonderful blogs of my friends) and to be honest, being a new mommy has kicked my tail!!!!!

I'm going to use this site mostly to give brief updates of what's going on int he Downs family now that we have a new bundle of joy and to share pictures of her.

To sum things up.........

Rebecca Nichole Downs was born on Thursday September 17, 2009 and 4:48am

7lb 4oz

20 inches

I was induced at 37 weeks on Tuesday September 15 around 6:00pm. As you can see, this was a LONG.....................labor. I had grand plans of going all natural, but after hours on the pitocin and my water being broken I broke down and took the epidural on Wednesday afternoon. As of midnight on Wednesday I was still only dialted 4 centimeters and thought I was going to be pregnant forever (well actually I was really fearing a C-Section). Since I had a VERY effective epidural I was able to fall asleep around midnight that night. They came in to check me around 3:00am and we were ready to go. (Maybe I should have fallen asleep much earlier!) Things went super fast once I started pushing. I pushed through 4 contractions and welcomed our baby girl into the world! It was kind of funny how it all happened. I was so numb I barely felt any pain and I had a conversation with the doctor and nurses between pushes. Mark did an AWESOME job and was so supportive.

The whole family was at the hospital when she was born. It was really neat to have everyone there to see her right after she was born. The kids thought it was pretty cool and probably didn't mind that they got to stay home from school that day!

I'll continue to post pictures on here.

God is Good

Amazing news at the maternal fetal specialist.
I met with the MFS yesterday about the preeclampsia. I still am not having any symptoms (although any time I get a weird feeling in my tummy I freak out.) so she went over my most recent lab work and 24 hour urine. She was amazed. My protein levels are back in the normal range and all of my lab work looked good .(platelets were 6 points low, but she said that is common in pregnancy, but we will watch it b/c it can be a sign of HELLP syndrome, please be praying for that to not be the case) She said, " that just doens't happen." I know God was looking over Becca and me and he answered the many prayers that were sent up on our behalf. Thanks again for the support, I am so excited to share this news with you and to let you know how faithful God is. I'm not just on modified bed rest so I can get out a little bit each day and we continue to pray that He will watch over Becca and I and that I will learn what He is trying to teach me through this experience.

Awesome Family

I just have to take a minute to brag on my family. They have been so amazing through this whole pregnancy issue. My mom and Jerry were down at the beginning of the the week while I was on full bed rest and they took such good care of me. They fixed things around the house, fed me well, did the grocery shopping and anything else that needed to be done around the house. This weekend my dad and Beth are here and they have spent the past two hours in the drizzle weeding my front landscape area. if you ahve ever seen that area you know how large it is and it is OUT OF CONTROL. It is love when you would do that job for someone. I'm very lucky to have a family that loves me so much. Thanks guys!

Photos of Becca

18 weeks

19 Weeks

21 Weeks

29 Weeks

Plenty of time!

I knew I wasn't going to be good about keeping my blog updated, but now that I have been put on bed rest I at least have the time. These may end up being boring for you to read, but maybe they will give me a chance to vent!

I suppose you are wondering why I'm on bed rest. Well after developing like four different conditions that only like 5% of pregnant woman experience I now have been diagnosed with preeclampsia. I'm still trying to totally understand what it is, but I know our goal is to do whatever we can to keep my blood pressure low and stay stress free to keep Miss Becca in my belly. It would be VERY scary if she were born now and we need to keep her in their as long as possible to give her the best chance at life.

My mom is coming down today to stay with me for the week and help around the house and my dad and Beth will be here for the weekend. Mark's family has been AMAZING taking care of me, Mark and the house so far. I couldn't ask for better in laws. My friends have been so supportive also. Thank you so much guys.

This is so hard for me. I'm not one that accepts help very easily. I've always been so independent and private. Two things that I can't be in this situation. As a try to figure out why this is happening I have to wonder if God is trying to teach me about allowing others to help and letting them in. I also realize He is teaching me about who is really in control. As much as I like to be in control and have thing go according to plan, I'm realizing that, that just isn't going to happen. Please pray that I will surrender that side of me and trust in Him. I know He's watching over me.

If you have any suggestions on how to stay busy when stuck on the couch or in bed let me know. I need some ideas! I could use a lesson on how to make my blog look cute. Jill, Tracy, Tina, I know you girls are good at this!!!

sweet blessings

Ok, so maybe I will start posting more on here now that I actually have somethign to write about. I have mentioned in previous how Mark and I are trying to get pregnant. Well..........................we are. We are 8 weeks in fact. We got to go listen to the heartbeat and see some current pictures of him/her yesterday. We are very excited. I will use this blog to post updates as it's easier than emailing everyone every time.

It has been a crazy ride so far. I found out during the ice storm while we were out of power at our house and staying at Mark's sisters. That actually made it a pretty neat family experience. It wasn't very private, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I've also been pretty sick. I enjoyed a day at the hospital getting re hydrated as I've had pretty severe nausea and vomiting and got very dehydrated. I'm doing better now so keep the baby and I in your prayers.

I'll post more as we learn more. I'm not really sharing this with everyone until after the first trimester so keep it on the down-low please.

Nothing like a 2 night slumber party with the whole family!

Like many of you, we are out of power due to the ice storm. We spent last night at Mark's parents house because they have a wood burning stove. We still froze. I'm so thankful we have a place with electricity to stay tonight. In fact the whole family is staying at Lori's house. I'm happy because I have my creature comforts back. (computer, Wii, straightening iron etc. ) However, I'm sitting here wondering if it was better without electricity as I watch and listen to the guys play Rock Band. Rock music is bad enough you don't need to hear it sung by tone deaf wanna be rockers! (No offense guys :-) ) Oh well, at least we are warm. We are truely blessed to be safe, warm and well fed.

Right now I'm surrounded by the kids and we are loving on the hamster. This is the part that makes this whole ordeal fun. It's a huge slumber party!

Hopefully the power will be back tomorrow. One can hope, right?