Shelby's Birth Story

I don't know if it's just me or if every mom is like this, but I love to read birth stories! So, I decided to add mine to my blog for all to read. All of "my plans" were not as I had hoped even in starting our family so a little word of advice, even if you are an OCD Mama like me, plans change and the only plan that you need to rely on is God's. His ways and plans for your life are ALWAYS perfect!
My Belly shots were NOT very organized nor were they consistant so....this is all I got...

Josh and I had been married 3 years when we decided we'd start to try for a family. We always knew God's ways are better than our own, but you never really know how true that is until you have to, I guess. We tried on our own for a year and nothing happened so we visited w/ my dr. and he made a plan for us. It included fertility meds, a schedule, montly dr. appointmens, you name it! Well, a year went by, nothing....so I had given up and finally had enough after months of suffering and tears and struggles of doing EXACTLY what the dr. said and just trying MYSELF soooo hard to make this work. Nothing did...So, we went on a little getaway, alone, and just forgot about all the troubles and all the months of let-downs and did what we loved to do, camp. We went camping and had a blast! We grilled, watched movies, slept in, etc...it was great!
I laugh now as I read this b/c looking back, I had no idea what God has in store for us. Isn't it funny to look back sometimes? Well, needless to say, that weekend DID THE TRICK! I've always heard, "when you relax and stop trying so hard, it'll happen." Well that worked for us! LOL...We found out we were expecting Oct. 6, 2008, almost a year to the day I that we started trying for a baby. You can read here about how we announced it to our families and how I told Josh.
We didn't have an easy time conceiving, but God had the perfect timing in His plan for us. Yes, it was hard, the meds were awful, the monthly visits were awful, the waiting was awful, but God's plan was not. It was, and STILL IS, perfect! My pregnancy was great and un-eventful and PERFECT! I enjoyed being pregnant, even if I did have 10 full weeks of "all-day sickness"! You can trace back through my blog archive to see my pregnancy pics and the documentation of my journey and feelings as they came. It's fun to re-read them now. Hahah...
So, after reading all the "pre-birth" stuff...which that was just in a nut-shell pretty much, here's the good stuff!! I copied my initial post that I wrote on June 15, 2009 (3 days after)to give my initial emotions and excitement!
"Well, Baby Shelby Lynne Kee arrived Friday, June 12, 2009 at 7:54a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz., 21.5" long. She was weighed again before we left yesterday (Sunday, June 14)and lost 12 oz. so she weighed 7 lbs when we left. She's also breastfeeding well! It's trying at times and we're both waiting for the "real treat" to come in but I feel it coming! haha..
She came 3 DAYS after my due date and I wouldn't change a thing if it meant life w/o her in it!She is soo perfect and worth everything we went through for her to get here, from the fertility meds to the birth story below... OMG gals, my birth story is one I'LL NEVER FORGET!!!

here goes!:

We were set and admitted into the L&D ward at 7:30a.m. on Thursday, June 11th and shortly after gettin settled in, they admitted the cervidil pill, hooked me up to the monitors and the wait began. OK, so i was STILL not dilated at all before that was administered. So, the day progressed, still only a 2 - 3, so when i was like a 2.5 dilated and he checked he said everytime I had a contraction he could feel the water bag bulging so he waited on a contraction and burst it, which btw, HURTS LIKE NO BODIES BUSINESS! STILL NO PAIN MEDS AT THIS POINT BTW... I had been having contractions and weren't feelin them and the dr. was suprised but after they broke my water, it was still too early to give me an epi so they gave me stadol and phenegren mixed b/c i was getting so nauseated and that hurt more so than the contractions. During our wait, I got to walk the halls and dear hubby decided to take these 2 pics of me....haha...:


this pic below was me smiling but it was a TOTAL fake smile:




So after the water breaking and stadol/phenegren cocktail i was given, which just knocked me out for a while, the only sleep i got the whole 24 hours btw.... the real "fun" (yeah right) began! t About 2 am and then they gave me my epidural after seeing i was a full 3 almost 4 and guess what?! it didn't work the first time b/c he didn't push the needle in far enough so i had to have it AGAIN and be stuck all over again=#1 horrific issue... THEN... they decided to start the pitocin drip and OMG... every time they administered the pitocin, it would counteract w/ my epidural (meaning I WAS NO LONGER PAINLESS!) so my thighs to my toes were completely numb but from there UP was COMPLETELY feel-able so i felt ALL of the contractions each time from the pitocin=#2 horrific issue. THEN, about 5 am friday the ONLY NURSE i didn't like pushed up the pitocin drip W/O being told to do so by my dr. b/c she checked me and said i was 4 cm and wanted to see..OH and she kept makin me lie on one side for 30 min then switch over and over b/c she wanted to make the baby active, which SHE WAS AND HER HEART RATE WAS FINE! So, when she pumped up the pitocin drip, i had a contraction for ONE WHOLE HOUR STRAIGHT W/O ANY RELIEF AND FELT ALL OF IT B/C OF THE PITOCIN COUNTERACTING MY EPI! The epi man came in every hour after he gave me my 2nd one to give me more pain meds and nothing worked! =horrific issue #3 So at 7am my dr came in and said, "What's goin on? !" b/c i was still in horrific pain and he wondered what was goin on and why and that stupid nurse said, "Oh, haha, I guess i over-stimulated the pitocin drip..haha" UGH! YEAH U DID! OMG! So then he said, "well ur still at 4 cm and it's been too long (24 hours) so we've gotta do something so i'm calling it; C-section" Aww the best words i heard all day! After the 5 am incident josh was soo ticked at the nurse and helpless b/c i was in such pain that he was ready for it too! So, no even 30 min later i was being given anesticia by THE NICEST man named Stacy and all was well in happy land! haha... I continuously shook b/c #1 i was terrified of surgery (only had my wisdom teeth out and i was knocked out for it and this i was awake and numb), #2 i kept thinking, "OMG, what if he was wrong and she's a "he" and the room is all pink and all those outfits and..blah blah blah" haha.. and then i was terrified of the baby being ok, not huge, etc..general worries... but, she was born at 7:54am on Friday, June 12th! the dr. said, "Josh look!" and i thought she was out and being sucktioned out and what not and he said, "Umm no! he was pulling her out all i saw was her head and then her being delivered!" haha.. bless his heart! haha... he got to help clean her off and then i got to see her, which was kinda hard to see her but what i did was WONDERFUL! I WAS SOOOO CRYING! The only discomfort i felt w/ the c-section was the pressure of him pushing her down, which i know understand b/c she was 21.5" long and i kept thinking, "if she's dropped like the dr says, why is she kickin me under my boobs?" that's b/c her legs are super long! so he had to push from there down! It was THE BEST delivery! i HIGHLY RECOMMEND a c-section and will have one from now on!! probably only 1 more time though! haha.. it was great from there out though and we had THE BEST nurses ever in my room after being moved! the lactation specialist was soo helpful and amazing! felt like a part of the family! all of this was worth it though! She was 7 lbs, 12 oz, 21.5" long

Here are pics of our precious miracle, Shelby Lynne Kee:




1st Time I got to hold her after her delivery:







Shelby's 1st car ride! On the way home yesterday from the hospital (WHOLE HOUR DRIVE home and she never made a sound or woke up! haha)

THERE WILL BE more pics to come! these are just some we have from our cell phones, stacy and that were on the computer already. We've got more on our camera but I'm not sure where the cord is! Life is a little upside down these days! LOL..

She's already got THE WORLD wrapped around her fingertips! It's amazing to see Josh w/ her and talk about her! I cry everytime i see her w/ him, hear him talk about her, etc.. well, I CRY AT EVERYTHING these days actually! haha... I TOTALLY am overwhelmed w/ emotions and hormones right now! haha..

I'm recovering well. Taking my pain meds religiously but felt a lot better today than before! My incision is SOO TINY! it's a little over 6" long and TOTALLY where it won't be seen if I CAN EVER get the guts to wear a two-piece again. Not sure if that dream will happen b/c of some stretch marks Miss Shelby gave me the last few weeks of her baking!

last night was rough, our 1st night home. shelby was gassy and up and down. i only got 30 min of sleep so we got gas drops for her and aren't lettin her sleep a lot this evening. we're tryin to get a schedule set around her needs as well as our sleep need so we're resting during the day when she does. just pray for us! we r havin so much fun w/ this new journey and miracle in our lives!

~THE END~"

WOw, that's so fun to read now! LOL...Shelby ended up NOT sleeping for the first 8 weeks of her life due to collic & my breastmilk hurting her stomach so we had to stop breastfeeding, which was really tough for me to let go of, and after we stopped that, she was fine! Her poor tummy would just churn to the point you could hear and feel it and she would just cry and cry...broke our hearts and mine to know I was the one hurting her. Well, we tried all the formulas in the world and ended up settling w/ Parents Choice Sensitivity (we tried Soy for a while and it worked but then made everything worse all over again so we played "Dr." and worked it all out :) ). She's a great eater, still, and is still lovin her some Sensitivity formula. We did eventually get her on a "schedule", which works for some parents and for others it doesn't, but for us, IT WORKS! She goes to bed about 8:30pm every night and sleeps (praise the Lord!) till almost 7 am every morning. She takes 1, 30 min nap in the morning, 1, 2-3 hr nap in the afternoon, and a 30 min nap each evening about 7pm. She is a jewel and the light of our lives! Each day is a new day w/ her and we are enjoying all her accomplishments and developments! She started crawling well last month (Feb. 2010), pulling up well this month (March 2010) and we are pretty sure walking is on it's way soon! We also think her vocabulary is getting more defined and advanced b/c she said "Maa Maa" last night (March 2, 2010)!! She loves us soo much, and that is THE BEST feeling in the world to see her joy and love for us expressed now! She lights up when we walk into a room and reaches for us and longs for us! It's amazing to see the love we have for her equivalent through her actions now too! She was dedicated to the Lord Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010 and was the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen. Go here to see that post and pictures.
That's a little tid-bit into the lives of us as a family of 3 so if you wanna catch up on the FULL journey to Shelby Lynne, start reading my posts starting in Oct. 2007 and take a seat and hang on! haha..it's a LOOONNNNGGG ride!

My favorite verse to this day, and is on the wall above Shelby's crib,
1 Samuel 1:27, "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him." This verse I LIVED AND BREATHED and still do to this day. Thank you Lord for my family! You have blessed us tremendously!