Introducing...

Adoniram Allen Baird (Adon for short)
August 19th, 2010 1:55pm
7 lbs 14 oz, 20 in. long

I had an AMAZING labor & delivery!!! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us - prayer works, let me tell ya!
Real labor began at around 9:00am on Thursday, the 19th and I had my Doula, Gracie Davis come over with her labor gear (birth ball, heating pad, etc) to help me labor at home as long as possible. Both she, Ryan and my mom helped me through the hard contractions with massage and acupressure. By around 12:00pm, I was starting to really think about drugs and with my contractions being 2 minutes long and 3 minutes apart, I was ready to go to the hospital...

...We got to the hospital at around 12:30pm and they started the admission process and hooked me up to the external fetal monitor to check on Adon. I was really starting to go through the "self-doubt" phase and told the nurses that I thought I might be in transition. Sure enough, after checking me, I was 6-7 centimeters dialated...

...As soon as they were done monitoring the baby, Gracie helped me get onto all fours for the rest of my labor (I was having a lot of back labor and this was how I was comfiest). As soon as I did this, things blasted off from there! I immediately dilated to 8 and my body was already pushing the baby out on it's own!!! This was the most bizarre yet AMAZING feeling EVER!!!
The baby was coming and there was NO amount of breathing it off to stop it!!!
I announced this to the world and they decided to check me again and sure enough, it was time to push =D I pushed for maybe 3-4 contractions and my little guy entered into the world.

This was by far the most painful experience I have ever gone through but for some strange reason, I'd do it again!!! I am filled with sooo much joy and excitement as I look back on the whole process. As painful as it was, it was awe inspiring and amazing to see my body do all of the work on it's own (with God as it's comander, of course) and feel the baby move through the canal and out into the world!

Not only was the delivery amazing but recovery has been 10 times faster and easier than it was with Kai. I didn't tear so to not have stitches down there really made recovery a lot easier =)
Now, I know there are other factors too like the fact that it's my 2nd baby and I was in much better shape to begin with ( I'm 7 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight already) but, I'm convinced that not having all of the drugs going through my body helped my body to get back on it's feet a lot faster.

Needless to say, I am soooo doing this again with my next baby!

Here's the proud and happy big brother! It was amazing how he went from being my little guy to my big boy in just one weekend =) Kai has been doing great with little brother. He loves to give Adon his pacifier and he always makes sure that the baby has his blanket too. Those are the 2 essentials in Kai's life =) hee hee

Will continue to keep you posted... still need to find the darn camera cord!

Love you all! =D

Comming Soon...

Hey everyone!

Sorry to have not posted in a while. I lost the cord that connects my camera to our computer so, I have several pics still on my camera that I would like to post (Ryan and I's 5th year anniversary pics & the most recent belly bump pics).
Hopefully we'll find it soon so that I can update y'all on the life =)

I'm 2 days away from my due date and I can't tell you enough how excited I am! My goal is to have this little one all natural - the Bradley way. I've been doing lots of studying and reading and training with my doula friend and feel as prepared as I'm ever going to be =)
With Kai, I had the epidural experience and, although it was pain free, I didn't like the experience as a whole. To begin with, the whole process of the epidural being administered was intense and just the thought of someone sticking a NEEDLE into my spinal column still gives me the creeps =P
I ended up still feeling a lot of "pressure pain" right before I started pushing for a good solid hour and then just the fact that I couldn't tell if I was even pushing when it was time because, you know, YOU'RE BASICALLY PARALYZED, I didn't like that either.
So, with that experience, I am REALLY motivated to try an unmedicated birth. Not only will both I and the baby benefit from this physically but, I'm also really excited to experience God in a whole new way =)
He has created my womanly body to perform this role and it is HIS hand alone that is making my body contract and deliver this little blessing! All of the details of the happenings of child birth are just so obviously an invisible God making things happen in a visible world and I can't wait to see Him in bigger way because of this experience.

I probably won't be blogging again until after Adon comes (unless I find my camera cord and post some belly pics), so please pray for Ryan and I as well as for this delivery.
Pray that God would unite Ryan and I in a deeper way as we work together to bring this little one into the world and as a result, love each other more deeply.
Pray also for God's protection over Adon as he's born, that there will not be any complications and that he would be a completely healthy little boy.

In the meantime, praise God from whom all blessings flow!