She's here!

It's been a hectic last few weeks but I am pleased to announce that on August 17, 2009 at 5:01PM I gave birth to Miss Maggie Grace Wilburn. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. She's absolutely beautiful! Our journey began on Thursday, August 13. I had a scheduled doctors appointment and was having contractions all day. Nothing serious, maybe 10-12 minutes apart. I told the doctor of this and he examined me. Everything was fine and closed but he made the comment to call him Monday morning. He was on call and said he wanted to hear how my weekend went. It was as if he knew something. He said depending on my weekend he might go ahead and induce me since he was on call. So, Friday came and my contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes. So Joe and I made our way to DeKalb Medical and they examined me and I had dilated to 1 and the contractions were still continuous. So the on-call doctor had me walk around for an hour in hopes that I would dilate more. Well, no luck! So I went back home. Then on Saturday I began having contractions every 2-3 minutes apart so back to DeKalb we went. This time they examined me and I was 2 centimeters dilated. Wooo hooo! So the new on-call doctor admitted me. They took me out of triage to an actual labor and delivery room. Got the iv in and got me all hooked up. I was ready to go. This time, my contractions stopped! The on-call doctor made a visit to my room and said she didn't feel comfortable with giving me pitocin to induce labor since she isn't my primary doctor. So we went back home. Then on Sunday, Joe and I went out to eat with his family to celebrate August birthdays. We enjoyed our day and I enjoyed having spontaneous contractions rather than steady ones. On Monday morning I called my doctor just as he ordered. He was quite upset that they even sent me home and told me to get up to DeKalb that we were going to have a baby today! So that's exactly what we did. I checked in at 9:00am. They monitored me for a couple of hours and finally at 12:00PM my doctor came in, asked why they hadn't started pitocin yet and ordered them to do it immediately. I got my blood work back and thankfully my blood was thick enough to enjoy an epidural. The contractions began coming and I was feeling great! The nurses came in and said that the pitocin could have been making Maggie's heart rate drop during contractions and wanted to monitor me more closely. Then the doctor came in. He broke my water and put an internal monitor on her head to make sure the pitocin wasn't making her heart drop. Thankfully it wasn't. She was perfectly fine and as they kept saying "happy!" The next thing I remember is this horrible shooting pain in my back. A pain that came every 3-4 minutes and was quite intense. They gave me an IV drug called Demerol but that didn't work! I was begging for the epidural but the nurses said I had to finish one complete bag of fluids, a bag that was already going and still extremely full. I went from 4 centimeters to 5 in less than 30 minutes. The doctor came in and said to call the anthistesiologist for the epidural. The nurses informed the doctor that hospital protocol is that you must have a bag of fluids before the epidural. My doctor informed the nurses that he knew what protocol was and that HE was THE doctor and he wanted my pain to go away. Thank you Dr. Arshad! So about 5-10 minutes later my best friend, Mr. Epidural, walked through the door. A couple of hours later they examined me and I was ready to go. We had to wait just a few minutes on my doctor as he was delivering another baby. When he came in, they took apart the bed and I pushed twice and out she came. She is the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. As soon as she cried we heard the boys outside the room giggling. They were so excited to meet their new sister. Once they got me together, Joe went out and got the boys and we were able to share our first family moment together. It was a moment that I will never forget. Of course, it lasted maybe 3 minutes but the greatest 3 minutes. Then the flood gates opened. My mom, dad, Joe's mom and dad, Sarah and Debbie all made their way in to see our little princess. I cannot tell you how much it meant to have friends and family surround us with love and support. I am blessed to have these people in my life! It's been busy around the house but things are starting to get to normal. The boys come in and check the cradle every morning before school to make sure their sister is ok. They enjoy hugging her and loving on her but have made it quite clear that they will not change any poopy diapers. What a journey we are on and how thankful I am to have God leading our way.

And we're off!

This past Monday the boys started their first day of Kindergarten. What a momentous occasion in their little lives. I was quite worried about my little Ethan. The Friday before his little nerves truly got the best of him and as soon as we got to the school for their "mini day" he got sick and had an upset tummy for the remainder of the weekend. We managed to get through it fine but on Monday morning he began complaining of a tummy ache. He used the bathroom and felt much better. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing for myself. I was so worried about my babies (who have informed me that they're big boys, not babies!) Joe and I made the 15-20 minute drive to Creekside Christian Academy, parked the car and walked our "big boys" into their classroom. Both boys went in with huge smiles on their faces and began talking with their teacher. No hugs or kisses for mommy and daddy just a reassuring smile that they were fine. Joe and I walked away both in tears. I find myself tearing up right now. I just think back to the day they were born. A day that I didn't even get to enjoy completely due to my illness as well as theirs. A day that I didn't even get to hold them. And now, here they are, 5 1/2 years later, perfectly healthy boys and starting Kindergarten. Where has the time gone? I am so proud of my boys. They are so smart, well behaved and have manners better than most teenagers/adults. It's been very quiet around the house but I've managed to get things in order and have them stay that way. As this week has come to an end, the boys are really enjoying school and they just love their teacher. I am so thankful that God allowed the doors at Creekside to open and accept our boys into the school.

On another note things are taking off in the Wilburn household. I have 3 due dates. August 30, 31 and September 2. We're now going on the August 31 due date. However, due to my blood clotting disorder, my wonderful doctor has agreed to induce me on August 25 at 8:00am in the morning. I am so excited. I am a planner and this to me is great news! Not to mention I didn't want to take the chance of having an on call doctor deliver me. My doctor knows all of my history and was the one to diagnose me with Factor V Leiden. I asked him if I could go into labor on a night when he is on call and he said that sounded like a wonderful idea. I'm nervous about the whole inducing process but looking forward to (hopefully) enjoying an epidural this time. We had two doctor appointments yesterday. The first being at my high risk specialist where they did an ultrasound and took measurements. The first set of measurements they took, she said that Maggie looked to be very small. As in the 9th percentile small. She started telling us that we would have to come in once a week for measurements to confirm that she is growing the way she should. Then I asked her if the measurements could be wrong so she got a better angle of her head and jumped to the 30th percentile. She's weighing in at 5 pounds 15 ounces so almost 6 pounds (and their measurements are almost exact!) They say the baby usually gains a 1/2 a pound a week so by the 25th she could be weighing close to 7 pounds. For most that probably sounds average or small but for me, it scares me! Ethan was 4 pounds and Bryce was 5 so adding 2 pounds is a big difference to me! I know that God is good and He never gives us more than we can handle so I'm not worried. The nursery is just about complete. I've had two wonderful showers given by three of the greatest ladies in my life and I have two more this weekend. I'm not sure why so many people feel the need to want to throw us a shower but there will never be enough words to thank them. Joe and I had nothing! NADA! We have been so blessed. Maggie's nursery is near complete thanks to the thoughtfulness of others. So that's really about it. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on the arrival of Maggie Grace. Please keep us in your prayers. They are greatly appreciated.