Photoshoot with Chloe!

I feel like almost every day is some sort of photo shoot for Chloe, but this one was more legit. James and I made our kitchen into a studio with white sheets everywhere and used a basket and a vintage suitcase with blankets found around our house from props. She was wide awake the entire time and didn't fuss once... although she did pee on one of the blankets in the very end... We used some of these photos for the birth announcements. Isn't she just a doll? Enjoy!

♥ Michelle

Birth Story

It took me some time to write this, but here it is :) It's long, but I am glad I have it written down so I can share with Chloe some day.

 It was November 27th; my mother in law was in town staying with us because our precious little one was due in 2 days. We had all been up laughing and chatting away and making sure that we got every bit of our Christmas decor up and the house spot clean because I had been having the "nesting" feeling all day (and was in no way going to have a baby while the house was not prepared for her arrival.) We finally went to bed around 1:00 am and about 2 hours later I woke up to having sharp cramps and pains in my stomach and back. I knew they were contractions because I had already gone into pre-term labor about a month earlier and they felt the same way. The contractions were super strong and were 7 minutes apart. I got up, drank some water and tried to go back to sleep, figuring this was another false alarm and that they would go away in about 30 minutes or so. However, they started getting stronger and as I was lying there trying to sleep, I found myself just staring at the clock and counting down the minutes between each contraction. 30 minutes go by and now the contractions are 5 minutes apart and still pretty strong. I wake James up and told him to help me time them to make sure that I wasn't just hallucinating due to my lack of sleep. Nope, they were definitely getting closer! After about another 30 minutes, the contractions were now 3 minutes apart. We decide, "ok, let's go in. They will probably go away once we get there, but let’s just go to be safe." I take my time and took a shower, put some regular clothes on and tried to look halfway decent. All while stopping every few minutes to deal with the pain. We wake James' mom up to let her know she should start getting ready and I called my mom who lives about 2 hours away letting her know we were heading in and to get ready to make a drive down if they admit me. We end up leaving the house at around 5:30 am to go to the hospital.

Once we get to the hospital, it was pretty quiet. We got seen relatively fast and although my contractions were strong and constant, I was still only 2 cm dilated. The nurse asked me to walk around the hospital or walk across the street to get something to eat and come back within another 1 1/2 hours. So we walked around the hospital and went to get breakfast at Einsteins Bagels. I had to stop about every three minutes because the contractions were the strongest I had ever felt. I couldn't finish my bagel, I think it was a mix of nervousness and not wanting to eat because the pain. We finally came back to the hospital, but by then it seemed like every pregnant woman in San Diego had gone into labor, and it was ridiculously busy. We had to wait another 1 1/2 hours to be seen. James and I actually fell asleep since we had so little sleep that night. When I woke up I realized I wasn't feeling the contractions anymore and thought for sure they would send me home again. Finally, around 9:30 am, a nurse came into the checking room and told me that I was 4 cm and it turns out the contractions didn't stop, I was even having some right on top of the other, I just must have a high tolerance for pain and couldn't feel them anymore. They decided they were going to admit me and said I will have this baby today! James and I just starting crying, we were so happy! My mom and James’ mom were both there and they started crying too! I think it was a "Omg, it is actually happening this time and it’s for real. We will be meeting this tiny person that we have been preparing 9 long months for!" kind of cry. It was endearing and a super special moment for the moms and I.

We called the rest of the immediate family to let them know we were getting admitted. They all came down to be with us during the long labor process. The room they put me in was perfect and HUGE so it fit all of us (about 20 people). I couldn't feel the contractions at all, but I could see when they were happening on the machine, still really consistent. The midwife came in and told me that if I wanted, she could make this baby happen by the time she got off around 8:00pm, of course I was all for that. She hooked me up to pitocin, which is supposed to make the contractions stronger and closer, however, I never felt a difference. I still was happy and smiling and talking with everyone and hadn't felt a thing since we were admitted. The only thing that I could feel was the IV that had been inserted incorrectly and the killer pain in my hand. I finally got the nurse to switch the iv to the other arm and it felt 1000 times better. I am not sure what time later, but the midwife came back in to check me and told me that I am 5cm and she broke my water immediately. I didn't even get time to brace myself, then all of a sudden a GUSH of water came seeping out of my body and soaked the whole bed. It was crazy. I started to actually feel the contractions after that, but they still weren't as painful as they were earlier that morning.

I had let the nurses and midwife know that I had planned to get an epidural if I was in too much pain, but I wanted to see how long I could take the pain first. They suggested that I at least get the epidural placed, and then I could just hit the button to inject the medicine if I needed it. I agreed and the anesthesiologist came in pretty soon after that. When they sat me up, I finally started feeling the harsh pain from the contractions, and my body started shaking with each contraction. It made me so nervous because they told me I had to sit really still for the epidural. The anesthesiologist had trouble placing the epidural and I could feel everything, even though they gave me a local anesthetic that was supposed to numb that area of my back. She had to take out the tubing and replace it lower. It was tiring and painful, but finally it was in. They had to give me the medicine just to test it to make sure it worked. It worked all right; it numbed me up all the way to my chest! At one point later on, I was trying to cough, but I had no control over my diaphragm that would normally help me cough harder (due to the epidural meds) and so I started choking, but I couldn't really sit up either because of how far the epidural had affected me and I had to have people help prop me up so I wouldn't choke. My leg also fell off the bed at one point and I had no idea and when I realized it, I couldn't move it back up, James had to pick it up and put it back on the bed. I thought that was pretty funny. Around 5:30 in the evening they checked me again and I was only at 6 cm. I figured I was in for a long labor.

Around 6:30 I had everyone go take a break, get some dinner and told them to come back later. James and I tried to rest, but about 10 minutes after everyone left, I felt like I had to use the bathroom, like I had to go #2. And if you have ever given labor before, you know what that means. My epidural had worn off by that time and although I could feel pressure, the pain wasn't anything I couldn't bare. I told the nurse that I feel like I have to go to the bathroom and I think the time to push is coming soon. She pretty much ignored me and told me that she would come back and check me in two hours. She left the room and I was telling my mother in law that I really have to use the bathroom and I need to use it NOW. She noticed that I was saying that every time a contraction was happening, so she went to the nurses station and pretty much MADE the nurse come in to check me. When the nurse unwillingly checked me, she said "wow, it's time you are 9 1/2 cm" and started rushing around like crazy. James woke up and we started calling everyone to come back because it was time!

The nurse took away my epidural button, so I didn't really get the choice of having the pain medicine or not for the actual delivery, so I ended up feeling EVERYTHING. I pushed for a little under 45 minutes. I could feel every time I needed to push and eventually stopped listening to the nurse who was pretty much conflicting everything the midwife was telling me. They were not on the same page with each other which made it worse and at one point I yelled at them both "One of you at a time!"  I pushed 4 times for 10 seconds each during each contraction. I looked into James eyes pretty much the whole time. There were so many things going on in my head. The pain and pressure, the love I felt for my husband and the bond that we share. The anticipation of Chloe whom we were going to meet literally just minutes away. I never got mad at James or blamed him, I kept telling him how much I loved him. He was telling me how good I was doing, he loved me and he was helping me stay focused. He would count to ten for each push and really encouraged me. The midwife even let me feel Chloe's head. Something I thought I would have never wanted to do. It was right there and it really helped me get through the last few pushes. I started tearing up when I felt her head and knew that it was going to be just any minute now. Oh and let me tell you, it DOES feel like a RING OF FIRE! In fact, I kept saying "Ring of fire, Ring of fire!" James told me later that at one point I told him I wanted to cuss so bad. He said "go ahead, you’re allowed to right now" and all I could say was "Mother of... Pearl!" hahahaha. I don't know where that came from, but it cracks me up every time I think of it. We were only allowed to have 4 people in the room while I was actually pushing, so the rest of the family stood in the hallway with the door slightly opened so they could hear everything that was going on. The nurse told us that wasn't allowed, but they did it anyway and I was glad they did. I really felt like everyone was there with us, experiencing the moments that have changed our lives forever. Chloe was born at 7:12 pm. The first thing I said was "Oh my, she is real! and She is mine!" And we all were just crying with the biggest grins on our faces! It was perfect and I couldn't imagine that moment being any better than welcoming Chloe with ridiculous amounts of love from all of our family.

 

♥ Michelle

my life as a new mommy

I can't believe it has been a week and a half of having my darling little girl here. It's hard transitioning to the life of a mom, and a stay at home mom at that (at least for the next 12 weeks). I have to eat, sleep, shower, and clean all around this little ones schedule. Luckily, she is a pretty deep sleeper and I can vacuum right next to her while she's sleeping and she doesn't even flinch. She actually sleeps for about 3-4 hours at a time and I sometimes have to wake her up to make sure she eats every three hours. She is taking to breastfeeding VERY well and I haven't really had any problems with it. I have read tons and tons of books and articles on breastfeeding, so I am pretty confident that we both can stick with it.

One of the adjustments I am having a hard time with is being stuck at home all the time. We only have 1 car and James uses that to get to work. I could drop him off and take the car, but it is really hard getting up that early in the morning when I was up for an hour or two with the little one and just got to go back to sleep when James' alarm goes off. Also, I am so used to just going going going and hanging out with everyone, that is hard to not be able to participate in all the fun get togethers that are going on right now. Especially because of the holidays coming up.It definitely is different, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 The other hard adjustment is spending less time with my 1st love, James. I am so used to seeing James 24/7 because we work together and now I see him about 4-6 hours a day before it is time to get some shut eye. I think that has been the most hardest transition for me. I love spending all my time with Chloe and have no problem, for the most part, going around her schedule. It is our lack of family time we get to spend together with James that is so hard for me. I know it won't be like this for long, he has been putting in overtime hours everyday because of an emergency situation at the job, so more family time will be coming soon. :)

I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that have been visiting every day and staying with us to help me out. I am going to be so lonely when everyone leaves. I have a million park and zoo trips planned in my head for Jackie and I.

My life is definitely completely different than it was two weeks ago, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.


Here she was at 1 week old...

♥ Michelle

She's HERE!

After 15 hours of labor (relatively easy labor) and 45 min of pushing, Chloe Darling was born on November 27th. She weighed in at 7.9lbs, 19 inches long. She has a head full of hair and beautiful long lashes.... She is so gorgeous! We couldn't be more proud.

I will update with the birth story and how my life as a new Mom is in another post, hopefully soon. It's hard to find time for the computer when you have a precious little one you just want to stare at 24/7.

♥ Michelle

Baby Update

Still no Chloe yet. Although, little Noah Cruz Yourdan did make his presence in this world on 11/10/10. It was such an honor to be there to witness the miracle of childbirth. We are so lucky God has designed women for such amazing feats. I feel so lucky to be able to experience giving birth to our little girl and feel kind of bad that James will only be able to witness it and not actually physically take part. If that makes any sense....

While in the laboring room with Jackie, I actually was having contractions about every 5 minutes the entire time she was laboring. The Dr told me later that sometimes women who are so close to their own due date and are assisting in a birth can cause your body to go into labor as well... Interesting. Is it kind of like when you have a house full of women and they all end up on the same "cycle" time? Haha. But seriously, I found it interesting. Anyway, I wanted to rest a bit before going to the Dr. because I was living on very little sleep and I knew I needed some rest before going through labor. So we decided to go home and try to sleep for a bit before heading to the hospital, then about 4 hours after we got home, the contractions slowed down again. ugh! This girl is really playing with my emotions!

I went for my final Dr appt on Thursday and she said that Chloe will be here any day now and wouldn't be surprised if it happened that night. Well, it didn't happen and has yet to happen. However, contractions had been going pretty strong, just not close enough to admit me into the hospital. We walked for 3 days straight (and finished all our Christmas shopping while we were at it!) and all I got in the end was lots of contractions and pains and no baby. The contractions finally have stopped coming and I only been getting about 2-3 a day since Monday, which is actually nice now that I can get a full night's sleep! Not to mention, I still have free time and ability to go visit Jackie and baby Noah.

I guess many of James' and my family members who have given birth have said they had tons of false alarms where they go to the hospital and eventually sent back home. So at least this isn't something out of the ordinary. I am actually kind of hoping it is sudden and that my water breaks, instead of having to sit around in the house for hours on end in anticipation and having contractions then finally going in. I think it kinda sounds fun to have your water break and to be honest, all the movies show a lady having her water break. Although, it's a very small percentage of women who's water actually breaks and no one in our families have had their water break on their own.

Luckily, James' mom gets here tonight and will be here until December 3 to help us out and then my Grandma comes out to help too. We are so fortunate to a have loving and helping family!

I am still working so I can get a full paycheck and it helps keep my mind of things. Wouldn't it be funny if my water broke at work? Funny might not be the word I will be thinking of when it happens, but when I look back on it years later, I am sure I will think it is hilarious.

Anyway, that's the not so quick update and I hope to have some time to be able to actually start blogging again. At least I have time to still read all of your lovely blogs. :)

p.s. My coworkers had made guesses as to the birth date, sex of the baby, wait gain and wait of baby early on in the pregnancy and we just took a look at it. It is quite funny. I will have to share it in my next post!


♥ Michelle

Right now, James is painting a big "C" in Chloe's nursery. I love that he wanted to paint something in there himself, I feel it makes it special.

We were so close to having a little Halloween baby. The contractions were coming strong and fast for quit sometime. As soon as I laid to rest a bit before deciding to go to the hospital, they started to subside. :( Another close call. Chloe sure is a tease! I think she likes keeping us on our toes.The anticipation for the little one is killing me!
I am so excited for to finally hold my baby in my arms and not in my tummy! Not to mention all the fabulous family coming in from out of town to meet her. I feel like the next 2 months are going to be the fastest months of my entire life!

James birthday is tomorrow. Wouldn't it be a sweet birthday present to have his baby girl here in the outside world? Lots of fun to be had the rest of the week. Birthday get togethers, baby shower for my sister in law and of course our 2 weekly meetings with our church families. 


Anyone else already half way done with Christmas shopping? I always make it a point to be finished by December 1st. So far, so good! I am really loving Amazon.com... and I just realized they have tons of FREE mp3 downloads! woot!

p.s. I don't like that the spell check always tries to change Chloe's name to Cleo.

 ♥ Michelle

I am VERY sorry I have been so neglectful of my blog lately. I still do read all of the lovely blogs, but have not really taken the time to comment on them or to post anything myself. Usually I only go on the internet at work, and things have been crazy busy here! So, to sum up about 5 post in to one, I am going to give you a quick run down of what has been happening around the Schmitz home.

The first thing I wanted to say: I WENT INTO PRETERM LABOR! although, it was short lived. Not that 5 hours with contractions every 3-5 minutes was all that short, but the doctors ended up giving me terbutaline to stop the contractions. The medicine was like magic. The contractions and pain went away, although it made me super jittery, my teeth were even chattering! When I left the hospital, I was told that I would most likely be back there and ready to deliver around 36 weeks. I am already 2 cm dilated and I still have contractions all the time.

Since the early labor scare, the doctor has put me on partial bed rest. I can go to work (as long as I sit all day) and then I have to go home and stay home to rest and relax. This seems like it would be great, but to be honest, I am not one who likes to be locked up inside all the time. We have had to miss birthday parties and Halloween costume parties which is definitely put me in a bummer mood. I know it is all for the better health and safety of Chloe, and that is what I have to keep telling myself so I don't go insane. James does let me go out once in a while, to church or small group or to Sombreros. Off subject: totally want Mexican food all the time now! We also have had to permanently take over our living and convert it into a bedroom. We now sleep on the couch every night. James loves it though because that is where our only tv is and he gets to watch movies all the time while I sleep.

I know it is more hopeful than anything, but I am really wanting Chloe to grace us with her presence around the 10th or the 11th of November. James' mom will be in town for that weekend for a family function and it would be perfect timing. Not to mention, I get to hold my little girl sooner and I get to finally be done with all the aches and pains!

I have been lacking in taking weekly photos, which I really need to make sure to do because I want to make a flip book out of them. When I take some more, I will update them again on here.

I had my baby shower earlier this month and then my church and is throwing one again tonight. I am so excited and will have to tell you all about both of them and post some pictures. I can't wait to share, Chloe is so loved!

Also, not only am I pregnant, but 4 of my friends are, and my dearest friend, Jackie is due only 2 weeks before me! It has been so awesome to get to experience the same thing and have someone to talk to about all the craziness of pregnancy! Please keep us both in your prayers as the time is soon upon us and we are both feeling pretty done with being pregnant.

anyway, that is my sort of quick update and I will try to actually make legit post with pictures and all very soon. :)



♥ Michelle

Baby Bump - week 33

"Your baby's crown-to-rump length is about 11 1/2 inches. She weighs about 4 1/2 pounds and gains about eight ounces every week. (She is getting SO BIG!)" - Fit Pregnancy

"Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies. (Good thing Daddy's a musician!)" - The bump


♥ Michelle

maternity photo shoot (picture overload)

♥ Michelle

Maternity Photos - preview

Heather Pepin is an amazing photographer. She had photographed our engagement pictures for our wedding and was also the one taking the pictures on my wedding day of the girls and I getting ready. I really love how she captures everything, especially the love and romance between two people.

We just finished taking our maternity pictures with Heather and her husband Brett on Sunday and boy was it fun! We got to romp around in the tall grass and random fields. Heather totally makes it a warm experience without making it awkward. She makes you feel so lovely and beautiful, which boost your self confidence and really helps you shine in a photo. We are in LOVE with our photos and cannot wait to have Heather capture our little Chloe Darling.

I will post some pictures from the shoot on here soon. Until then, you can see some of them and read about Heather's experience with us from her blog here.

I definitely encourage you to take a look at Heather Pepin Photography on her website.


♥ Michelle