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Today was the day that little Josiah was born! I was having the usual random contractions throughout the previous day and into the night, but later in the night they started to hurt more and so I got up to count them.
It was about 3:55am that I started tracking the really painful contractions and by 4:30am I told David that it was time to head to the hospital.
After I was admitted we called my parents who came immediately. I had originally told them that I only wanted David and I in the room when I was in labor, but my Dad decided to make himself at home when he arrived. Of course since I had the epidural it was fine because I wasn't in any pain and was sleeping most of the time.
However, when they examined me again we kicked my parents out. It was then that the fun began. They were so excited that they kept asking from outside the room "is he here yet?" or "can we come in?" At one point, we got a message from the nurse "Grandma wants to know if she can come back in about 20 minutes." To which we replied, "We will come and get you when it is time!" Finally when he was born, my mom asked from outside the door, "How much does he weigh" and we told her "9 pounds 15 ounces" and she said "wow what a big boy....can we see him?" Again I replied, "Mom...I am still being stitched up here, we will come and get you!!" Anyway...it was pretty funny...very excited first time grandparents!
Today, my friends Janeen and Heather threw me a baby shower. This was the shower that had been planned for a while. Mostly just my family came to this one, but a few friends from church came also. My Aunt Amy came all the way from the Tri-Cities and I hadn't seen her since 1999, so it was really nice that she could come. My Aunt Genny and her daughter Lauren came as well as my Mom. Carolyn (the pastor's wife from our church) came as well as my friend Audrey from my women's Bible study.
My mom led a really nice devotion and ended it with reading the book "I'll Love You Forever." We were all teary-eyed after that!
We played a couple of games and Heather gave prizes to the winners. Heather also made some yummy cake and Janeen provided other snacks like veggies and fruit. It was a really sweet time and I enjoyed it a lot!
We thought we might have the baby today, but it wasn't to be! I was having regular contractions that were 5 minutes apart and so I told David that we ought to go to the hospital. When we got there, they hooked me up to the monitor and noted that I was having contractions, but the nurse called them "irregular-regular" contractions. Isn't that an oxy moron? Anyway, it was really frustrating.
I was told to walk for about 40 minutes and then they would check me again to see if I dialated anymore than 1 cm. I didn't and so the nurse called the doctor and he said to send me home. I was really disappointed and at the time was really embarrassed that I wasn't in labor after all.
I discovered later though that this happens to a lot of women, especially in their first pregnancy. I also found out it happened to my mom as well with my brother Brent. I just had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and it was hard not to wonder if they were real or not every time they started becoming regular. We started about 10 "contraction spreadsheets" on the computer to track them, but to no avail. So...I had to wait just a few weeks longer!
Today, David and I began our pregnancy classes at the Valley Hospital. There are many things that we heard that we already knew, but also learned a few things as well. Since I am now writing this in hindsight, I can say that the breathing exercises turned out to be pretty pointless since I had an epidural and didn't feel any of my contractions. I guess it was good to learn them just in case though! One of the great benefits of this class was that I met a friend that I have continued to keep in contact with who lives nearby. Her name is Becky and she had her baby two days before mine on my due date!
Today, our church sponsored a women’s luncheon called “Queen for a Day”. It was a nice event at the Red Lion Hotel in Idaho. They had the room all decorated nicely and a buffet style brunch. They also had speakers, all of which had been involved in some kind of pageant at one time or another and spoke about their experience as well as some entertained us by singing a song or giving a speech. It was a nice day and I had fun pampering myself prior to the event to make myself look Queenly!! It was a struggle to find an outfit that would fit my large belly, but I relied on my trusty “stretchy shirt” to do the trick!
So...my Dad calls me one day and says, "I was at the store the other day and I saw some diapers on sale and got them for the baby." Later we spoke again and he said, "Well...I looked at the diapers and it said they were size medium and large, so I guess he won't be able to use them right away." I told him that was OK and that we would store them until the appropriate time. He came over to visit and I told him to just put them in the garage for me before he left.
So the next day, I go into the garage to get in the car and leave for an event and lo and behold I see the diapers stacked in the garage. Across the package in big, bold letters is the word "Depends"! I laughed so hard I could hardly drive! I called my Dad and said, "Yes Dad you are right...he WON'T be using these for some time!!"
As you can tell...it has been a while since my Dad has interacted with a baby! But he is a very proud Grandpa!!
David and I volunteered to help hand out T-shirts at Bloomsday this year. I was VERY pregnant at the time, but I brought a chair to sit on when I got tired of standing. When handing out shirts David and I saw our friends from Bothell, WA, Russell & Tanya from our Young Marrieds Group there at Northshore Baptist Church. It was such a surprise to see them and also that they happened to come through our line to get their shirts! We had a great time participating in the event and had happy thoughts about how next year we would have a baby to push in a stroller for the event!
Today the women's group that I belong to at church threw a baby shower for me and the leader of the group who was also pregnant. One of the gals called me over the weekend and said that we were having a baby shower for Elizabeth and they called her and told her they were having a shower for me. We were both surprised! I still didn't get it when I saw all the presents on the table. I thought that I should have purchased 2 gifts for her instead of one! Elizabeth said she thought that people didn't throw showers for you when you have your 2nd child. It was definitely unexpected and a nice surprise!
Our friends, Janeen & Ben Graham along with their children, Shere, Brolin, Joren, & Neriah came to have lunch with us after church. Mara was still visiting as well and so she came to lunch also. The Grahams used to go to our old church in Bothell, WA and so it has been nice to have them here in Spokane. Janeen and Heather share the common interest of music and so they often have conversations of the musical nature. We rented out the common area for our apartment complex so that we would have a bigger space to host our lunch. The DVD/TV wasn't working in this room, so David 
brought his laptop over so that the kids could watch a DVD while the adults chatted.
My good friend Mara came today to help me make diaper covers for little Josiah. I had decided to do cloth diapers and Mara found all the materials to make the covers. I had some other covers that were given to me and so we tried to make a cover that combined the best features of all the diaper covers into one design. We then made two different sizes (newborn and medium) as those were the sizes I had the least of at the time. The covers have 3 layers (outer cotton print, inner waterproof, and fleece against babies skin) and between the fleece and waterproof layer there is a pocket to insert a diaper. This way you can either have the fleece against babies skin or you can put the cloth diaper on top of the fleece to minimize the wetness to the cover.
Future Granparents Marti & Paul Walker came to deck out the nursery for little Josiah. Grandpa Paul put the crib and changing table together and Marti & Heather decorated the room. Josiah inherited his Beatrix Potter themed items from second cousins Luke and Abby Flory. Grandpa Paul won the shelf in the room when he was in a play up in Colville from a guy who made them and Marti and Heather painted it blue to match Josiah's room.
David & I attended a nice dinner/drama event hosted by the youth of our church at Valley Fourth Memorial on March 19th, 2005. The play was entitled "Dinner at Luigi's" and we had various courses served between the acts in the play. The youth were using this as one of their fundraisers to go on a mission trip in the summertime. We originally hadn't planned to go, but our friends the Michaelis' family were unable to use their tickets and offered them to us. It was a really nice date as the whole downstairs was decorated like an Italian diner and the food was really great! Little Josiah is with us too, only he is in mommy's belly hiding under the table!
Today was the day that little Josiah was born! I was having the usual random contractions throughout the previous day and into the night, but later in the night they started to hurt more and so I got up to count them.
