Labor and Delivery....

Sorry for the delay, but as promised here is the big story. We went in for an induction on October 1st at 6:00 a.m. They started my IV and petocin(sp??)and broke my water, and we went into labor immediately at that point. I went in to the hospital 3 cm dialated. I went from 3 cm to 6 cm by 9:30 a.m. I had not had an epidural at this point. My nurse kept asking me if I wanted to get one, and I was refusing to get one until she told me I might want an epidural when I start to push. I started thinking at that point well I am at 6 cm, and we will be pushing within the next couple of hours so I said go ahead at this point and administer an epidural. This is when then problems started. The epidural only took in my right side so I felt everything on the left side. The nurse decided to give me a boost in my epidural to see if it would take on the left side, but then it only numbed the right side even more and numbed my arm and hand on the right side. My OB doctor (Dr. McKenzie) came in and said back off the epidural completely because I could not hold my leg with my hand on the right side and when we start to push, we will need to be able to do that. So I was only 8 cm at this point when they took me off the epidural completely which means we only had the epidural for 2 cm. If I could do it all over again, I would have never gotten the epidural because it slowed my labor way down and I was really doing okay feeling everything naturally. Don't get me wrong, it hurt a whole lot, but my mom was helping me breathe through it so it wasn't too bad with her help. She has had 4 natural childbirths. Okay, back to the story, it took me 4 hours to get from 6 cm to 10 cm. Then we got taken off of the epidural completely for the pushing part which I felt every bit of the pain on both sides. Anyway, we finally met our little Hannah at 4:30 p.m. on October 1st. After seeing her sweet little face, I forgot about all the pain I was in. She is such a blessing, and we honestly cannot imagine life without her. And as promised we have posted a some pictures. I have loaded several on facebook so check them out at your convenience.

The Stork Has Arrived....

Sorry it took me so long to post the big news. We have been a little busy adjusting to a newborn and no sleep at night so I rarely get on the internet right now. However, I am getting better at planning my personal sleeping patterns around Hannah so I will get better at getting online and updating the good ole blog. HANNAH IS HERE!! We are so thrilled to have her here with us. She weighed in at 8 lbs. and 7 oz. 20 1/4 inches long. Even though it has just been a week, it is hard to imagine our lives without her now. Pictures to come soon! We have so many to upload it will take me a while to upload them so I will do it when I have more time. Well it looks like we are up for another feeding so I better run. Stay tuned for more of Hannah!

Patiently waiting.....

Well we are officially playing the waiting game. At our last doctor’s appointment, Dr. McKenzie informed us we are 1 cm dialated and 50% effaced. There has been some talk of an inducement in the past because my blood pressure was elevated and still remains elevated, but my doctor feels like we are not looking at pre-eclamptic numbers so he is comfortable with the situation. He informed us we are no longer looking at inducement because she is dialating and my cervix is thinning out just fine on our own. Sorry for the details if you are one that does not like that kind of stuff. I kind of have lost all modesty about the subject. Anyways, the latest news is the doctor reassured us we would meet Hannah within the next two to three weeks with her coming on her own. We go back to the doctor tomorrow so all this could definitely change. You know how those week to week appointments go. Anything could happen from week to week. We are getting very excited!

On to other news, we are moving into our new house this weekend as well that is if Hannah holds off from coming. I think I posted a while back about building our house, but we are officially done with the building and moving this weekend. So we are excited about that too. Lots of news changes with the Bankston’s, but we are looking forward to them and the adjustment period. The good thing is we will all be adjusting together as a new family in a new house so it will be different for all of us. I will keep you updated with the changes as far as Hannah is concerned, and I will post pics of the news house when we get it all decorated and settled in.

Housing and Pregnancy...

I am so sorry we have not blogged in forever. We have been super busy with the changes that are coming up in our lives that we have not had time to really sit down and think about writing what has been going on recently. For starters, we have been going out to the construction site on our house just about every weekend to see what has been done lately. Everything looks so good and is coming along so fast. We are closing on the house the last week of August and plan to move in that following weekend on September 4th. We are so very excited and ready to have our own place again! I have several construction pictures, but I have not loaded them on my computer yet so pictures will come soon.

As far as pregnancy is concerned, I am feeling pretty good these days. I have right at 8 weeks left to go. I am so ready to meet my little Hannah. I am starting to feel really tired again. It’s funny, I think the third trimester feels a lot like the first trimester but without the throwing up. Well at least that’s how it has been for me. My energy level is shot completely. Oh yeah, and I had a fun experience in the shower the other day. I absolutely am having such a hard time shaving my legs. I guess it’s because I am carrying Hannah so high, my tummy only allows me to bend over to a certain extent. So anyways, it looks like Jordan will have to help me shave around my ankle area. He will be thrilled about this….not really!! My sister Keli is due in 4 four weeks, and we are super excited to welcome little Trenton into the world. I will also post pictures of this event soon enough. Until next time, I hope all is going well out there in the blogging world for all of my good friends!!

Pregnancy Insomnia....

And pregnancy insomnia begins. I read in my What to Expect When You’re Expecting book that I would be experiencing this now. So this past week, I have been experiencing the woes of getting woken up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep. I go to sleep just fine to start out with, but then about 4 hours later, I get woken up to use the bathroom, and I find it hard to get settled back down and go back to sleep. I think Hannah is confusing the late night potty breaks with “It’s time to officially get up for the day”. After the potty break is over, she bounces around like a wild woman in there which tends to keep me up for about 1 to 2 hours a night before finally falling back to sleep. I do enjoy feeling her kick. It is a relief every time she gives me a nudge but can’t we do these things during the day while I am at work and pretty active? I read somewhere that I needed to lower my intake of fluids before going to bed so I will not have to get up in the middle of the night. So I started doing that. Well the person who authored that book apparently forgot the fact that Hannah is using my bladder as her own personal trampoline. I guess this is just preparing me for the late night feedings and getting woken up every 3 to 4 hours. I am by no means complaining about that. I look very much forward to meeting my little girl. In fact, I find myself hoping time will speed up so we can meet our little girl who is such a blessing already. Come on October 1st!!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!

Well we went to the doctor yesterday and found out we are having a little girl! Hannah Morgan Bankston will be here hopefully no later than October 6th. YAY!!! We are so very excited!!!

Waiting...........

So as we wait for our doctor’s appointment on Monday to find out the sex of our baby, I am reminded of how precious this time has been of not knowing. I am extremely anxious and nervous about finding out what we are having. For so long, we have been referring to our baby as an “it” or as “he/she”. I am going to have to get used to calling “it” what it officially is. My prayer this week is that the Lord will just bless this time Jordan and I have together taking in the last few moments of the unknown, and that everything will be okay as far as growth is concerned as we look at the ultrasound on Monday. I cannot believe I have not seen my baby since I hit the 9 week mark. The past few appointments have just been heartbeat visits which are just as important and exciting. I find myself feeling a sigh of relief everytime I go to a heartbeat appointment and hear how strong little peanut’s heartbeat is. But I am super excited to actually see my baby again!!! Don’t worry, I will update all you readers out there on Monday when we find out. So stay tuned:)

And We Have Cleared The First Trimester.....

I know I am way overdue for a blog update. Ever since Jordan and I found out we are pregnant, it has been non-stop, and I have no idea why. So some baby updates are in order. First of all, 2 weeks ago Jordan and I went to the doctor to hear the heartbeat for the first time. We actually saw it on the ultrasound last time so we heard it this time, and honestly, I have never felt so relieved. I was so excited to hear peanut’s heart beat!! On top of all that, the heartbeat was beating really fast which is normal this early in the pregnancy. Our nurse told us it will be interesting to see if it slows down or if it is the same for the next appointment. We go to hear it again in two weeks so I am anxious to see if it is just as fast or slower. My sister found out yesterday she is having a baby boy so now we are itching to find out what we are having. That appointment is scheduled for May 18th so we have a while. Then again, I know those weeks will go by super fast. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going already. I just want to let all you readers know that I do intend to post baby bump pictures this weekend. Jordan and I have a couple of events to go to this weekend so I will be taking some pictures. I haven’t posted any so far because honestly, I have not looked all that pregnant yet. I just now started showing in the tummy so next blog belly pics will be posted. Thanks for hanging in there with me and being patient as Jordan and I were transitioning from our big news!!

What a week!!: Week 7 of pregnancy.....

Well, it’s week 7 of my pregnancy, and so far I am experiencing morning sickness in the worst way. The past two mornings have been 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. throwing up sessions. My sweet husband has been so nice to get up with me and get me a cold, wet washcloth. For some reason, these throwing up moments have woken me up out of my sleep, and then it’s quickly grabbing the trash can. Thankfully, I have put a trash can by my bed out of fear that I won’t make it to the bathroom in time. I am sure it is going to get better. My doctor offered to give me some medicine for nausea, but I have decided to stick it out for a couple of more weeks since he reassured me most women get over the sick part at 10 -12 weeks. My doctor also said the medicine he would prescribe is a little expensive with insurance so another reason why we have decided to stick it out.

On to some good news, Jordan and I went to the doctor this past Monday and saw our little baby’s heartbeart. Of course, being the emotional person that I am, I started to cry a little bit. Jordan thought it was funny so he laughed. I have no idea why he thought it was funny. More than likely, it was a nervous laugh. I got my first picture of our little baby, and I must say it is so cute even though it looks like a little peanut right now. I am extremely curious to see who our baby will look like. Some couples have similar characteristics that favor one another, whereas, Jordan and I have no characteristics that are alike. We are seriously like night and day so I am anxious to see which one he/she looks like. I will go ahead and answer the big question for everyone, we are going to find out the sex of our baby. We talked about not finding out for a little. In fact, Jordan was the one that did not want to find out, and I wanted to. After we saw the heartbeat, Jordan said, “I wonder what it is” since God has already determined the sex of our baby. So we have decided not to be surprised and find out what we are having. I think after seeing the heartbeat made everything so real that it got our curiosity going. Stay tuned for more updates. I will not put any pictures of myself up until I start showing because right now, I just look like I am getting fat and no baby bump…haha!! I am definitely in the awkward state where I feel pregnant and am just getting the chubby tummy not so much the baby bump. So stay tuned, baby bump to come soon!!

and we're cooking.....

I just wanted to inform all my readers that Jordan and I found out last week that we are expecting our first child. WE'RE PREGNANT!!! WOOHOO! We are so excited! We have our first doctor's visit next Monday so I will update you on what the due date is and all that good stuff. I ask that you be in prayer for us as we all know that the first few months are very crucial on carrying the baby. Thank you so much for your prayers thus far. I know several of you were praying for me and this experience in my life. I just wanted to let you know God has answered your prayers and mine. What a wonderful God we serve!!

Waiting.....

Well, I know I have not written anything since Christmas, and there have been so many reasons why, but I wanted to post something for this month. The only thing I can really think of is what has been on my heart lately. I really can’t share it in detail. All I know is God is trying to teach me something, and I don’t quite have an understanding of what it is. But I know He is faithful, and I am reminding myself of that everyday. My sister gave me a song that ministered to her during her difficult time she faced two years ago. I can’t believe how it completely describes where I am so I wanted to share it with you because maybe some of my readers are going through a difficult time as well and need some understanding or maybe even some peace. I for one am needing both peace and understanding. I hope it speaks to you the way it has spoken to me. Right now, this is the cry of my heart.

“In the Waiting”

Pain

The gift nobody longs for, still it comes and somehow leaves us stronger When it’s gone away.

Pray

I try and pray for Your will to be done, but I confess, it’s never fast enough for me.

It seems

The hardest part is waiting on You

When what I really want

is just to see Your hand move.

I want a peace beyond my understanding

I want to feel it fall like rain

In the middle of my hurting.

I want to feel Your arms as they surround me

And let me know that it’s okay

To be here in this place

Resting in the peace that only comes

In the waiting

Time

Time to let it go and just believe

Trusting in what no one else but You can see

Free

Freedom from the fears that close me in

When I can’t get beyond where I have been, but then

Again

The silence doesn’t mean that I’m alone

As long as I can hear that I am still Your own