As you all know... Eliaya made her debut Friday March 30th at 9:41am! She was 7lbs even and 18.25 inches long (where did the short gene come from?!?). She's absolutely perfect. Of course, I'm a bit biased, but we've voted her the cutest baby ever :)
Alright, so here's the play by play, minus unnecessary details. Well, we started in "prodromal" labor Monday. Contractions would come every 5 minutes or so for hours and hours. When we were on the verge of saying 'yes, this is it', the contractions would go away. They were strong enough to keep me awake at night, but not enough to be the real deal!
Went to work Tuesday and Wednesday, determined to walk her out. Contractions came on and off, but again not the real deal. Doctor's appointment Wednesday was encouraging, we went from 1cm to 3! It was that mental victory I needed to know that I wasn't hurting for nothing. Wednesday night, contractions spaced out... tried to sleep.
Thursday was my day off, so Jarrod went to school and I tried to rest / take my mind off contractions as much as possible. What did I really end up doing? Cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, laundry... Come lunchtime, I was certain this was the real deal. Contractions were every 5 minutes and strong enough to stop me in my tracks. Excited!
Okay... so fast forward. 10pm Thursday night, Jarrod is helping me through each contraction (thank you Jericho, watching 3 episodes was the perfect distraction) and we started making goals for how long we stayed home. At 1:30am, I was ready. We packed up, called in to labor and delivery, and headed to the car. Ooo.... that was the roughest car ride ever! Poor Jarrod, I would tell him to hurry, then we'd hit a bump and I'd yell "slow down!". He did so well coping with my craziness.
We checked in, got all the paperwork done between contractions and found out I was 7cm! Alright! Thinking it was the homestretch, I walked around. Then the long road started.... we made it to 8-9cm and stalled. My water hadn't broken, the contractions were strong and every 2-3 minutes. Mentally, I was losing it. Jarrod was the best coach: rubbing my back and helping me focus through one contraction as at time. When I was at the end of my rope (not having slept in a few days was definitely a stumbling block to coping with the pain... ) my wonderful nurse suggested some pain meds. We agreed to a half dose and while it didn't take the pain away, it dulled it enough to give me a mental break and regroup. Just as it was wearing off, I had a WHOLE NEW understanding of the phrase "I gotta push!" I'm sure I looked like a crazy women scaling back into bed and panting. Next thing I knew, there was a gush of fluid and Eliaya was just shy of crowing.
30-35 minutes later, Eliaya Carol Reed was born. Praise the Lord! What a miracle. Despite the exhaustion, a flood of emotions welled up in me. She was beautiful. She cried and instantly began to suck on her fingers. Jarrod cut the cord (he didn't faint!). And so we began our life as three.......
Thank you all so much for praying for us. Even at 3am. We covet your prayers as we learn how to be parents and strive to teach Eliaya the ways of the Lord. He is good. I'm so glad He brought Eliaya out in time to celebrate Easter together. To think that my God went to such lengths to pay my debt. To bring me into His family. How awesome!
Love,
the Reeds
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
We made it!
Hooray!
Today marks the wonderful arrival of "term" pregnancy. For all of Eliaya's drama a few weeks ago and everyone, myself included, preparing for her to come early... she's been a good girl and now we wont have to call her a premie on the delivery record :)
Doctor's appointment yesterday, everything's looking great! She's in approximately the 57th percentile for weight (guessing around 6.5lbs) and apparently has very dense bones. At least I know all the milk cravings did their job! She had the hiccups during the ultrasound, and as always, was sucking her thumb. I wont be surprised at all if this kiddo has sucking blisters when she's born. It was a wonderful change to go from telling her "not today baby, just stay in another day" every morning when we got up to, "okay, today would be okay. Can't wait to meet you!" Work friends joke that now she's settled in and likes being in the womb, so much so that I'll probably have to be induced. Haha, we are definitely praying that's not the case.
Jarrod finished one of his big term papers and did really well on his midterm, thank you so much for praying for him! We, and by that I mean mostly he, are working hard to get as much of his work done before Eliaya makes her big debut.
Gave Jarrod a haircut for the first time yesterday.... if I get brave I'll post pictures later. Not an epic failure, but I think I will do well to keep my day job. Speaking of which... had the coolest experience the other day: I was in a store and saw a man who looked familiar, though I couldn't place from where. We kept crossing each other in aisles and finally he asked, "you're Megan, right?". Oh no, guilt quickly piling on.... not only did he recognize me.. but he remembered my name! What was I gonna do?? Play it cool? No... not even close, "yeah, I am. I'm sorry but what was your name again?" After a few seconds (probably spent in utter shock that I couldn't remember), he responded and told me that I helped delivery his first baby a few weeks ago! Then it all came back to me and I could actually recall details of that day. It was great to hear from him, that his wife and child were doing well and how they had such a great experience in L&D. Sweet moment :)
Not much time right now, it's finally WARM outside so Simba and I are headed out for the day. Wanted to check in and let you all know we are doing well, ready for Eliaya any day now, and that the Lord has blessed us with some sweet experiences here in Louisville recently. When I can find the cable, I'll post more pictures of the baby bump and Jarrod's hair. I pray you all are doing well, enjoying spring and being reminded that the Lord brings for new life from what was dead. So thankful for the heart of flesh He gives!
~the Reeds
Today marks the wonderful arrival of "term" pregnancy. For all of Eliaya's drama a few weeks ago and everyone, myself included, preparing for her to come early... she's been a good girl and now we wont have to call her a premie on the delivery record :)
Doctor's appointment yesterday, everything's looking great! She's in approximately the 57th percentile for weight (guessing around 6.5lbs) and apparently has very dense bones. At least I know all the milk cravings did their job! She had the hiccups during the ultrasound, and as always, was sucking her thumb. I wont be surprised at all if this kiddo has sucking blisters when she's born. It was a wonderful change to go from telling her "not today baby, just stay in another day" every morning when we got up to, "okay, today would be okay. Can't wait to meet you!" Work friends joke that now she's settled in and likes being in the womb, so much so that I'll probably have to be induced. Haha, we are definitely praying that's not the case.
Jarrod finished one of his big term papers and did really well on his midterm, thank you so much for praying for him! We, and by that I mean mostly he, are working hard to get as much of his work done before Eliaya makes her big debut.
Gave Jarrod a haircut for the first time yesterday.... if I get brave I'll post pictures later. Not an epic failure, but I think I will do well to keep my day job. Speaking of which... had the coolest experience the other day: I was in a store and saw a man who looked familiar, though I couldn't place from where. We kept crossing each other in aisles and finally he asked, "you're Megan, right?". Oh no, guilt quickly piling on.... not only did he recognize me.. but he remembered my name! What was I gonna do?? Play it cool? No... not even close, "yeah, I am. I'm sorry but what was your name again?" After a few seconds (probably spent in utter shock that I couldn't remember), he responded and told me that I helped delivery his first baby a few weeks ago! Then it all came back to me and I could actually recall details of that day. It was great to hear from him, that his wife and child were doing well and how they had such a great experience in L&D. Sweet moment :)
Not much time right now, it's finally WARM outside so Simba and I are headed out for the day. Wanted to check in and let you all know we are doing well, ready for Eliaya any day now, and that the Lord has blessed us with some sweet experiences here in Louisville recently. When I can find the cable, I'll post more pictures of the baby bump and Jarrod's hair. I pray you all are doing well, enjoying spring and being reminded that the Lord brings for new life from what was dead. So thankful for the heart of flesh He gives!
~the Reeds
Is it really March?!?
It's March. Holy smokes. Eliaya could come any day!
Jarrod had a new-found appreciation for this fact this morning. Before a 'good morning', a sigh, or a big stretch to move the dog off his legs, he said "Megan, we're gonna be parents this month, like for real!"
I think that pretty well sums up our past few weeks, we've been trying to get as much ready as we can, stocking up on diapers and other essentials, doing a LOT of reading, and most importantly basking in time with the Lord.
I was let off bed rest, praise the Lord! Last appointment showed that Eliaya was doing great, and while I'm still contracting any time I try to do anything, they're not doing much in terms of bringing her here too early :) So with the doc's approval, I went back to work this past Sunday. 12 hrs later I was still pregnant, a victory if you ask Jarrod and I.
This week we hit the 36 week mark. I'm still feeling great, noticing fatigue sets in quicker and I'm sure I resemble a duck when I first get started walking... but so glad to still be preggers! Jarrod has installed the carseat (only took two attempts!), our hospital bag is packed.... Now we wait. Hopefully she wont change her mind and decide not to come out at all and we have to be induced at 41 weeks.... haha.
Jarrod is a reading machine these days: his classes will have a significantly lower workload come April, but that comes at the price of having a heavy load right now. He's been reading a book by Dempster called Dominion and Dynasty, from what he's talked to me about, it sounds like a great book. One of his big papers if going to be on how the "image of God" changes from pre- to post-fall, then following the redemptive work of Christ, and finally the culmination of His work when we are perfected in heaven. You should ask him about it! I'm so proud of him, he's juggling a million to-dos and the stress levels average a little less than sky-high, and through it all he has realized how desperately we need the Word and remains passionate about his classes.
We have one last childbirth class to attend this Saturday. Despite the frequent giggles and joking (he is a Reed after all), Jarrod has found the class helpful, as have I. Please pray for us as the delivery is looming ever closer: that it would be smooth and without hiccups, that I would cope with contraction discomfort and not give in to fear, that Jarrod would remain strong and not faint (a big deal if you know him...), and that most importantly Eliaya would be healthy. We are so stinkin' excited!!!!!
We've also been blessed by our friends up here, they threw us a baby shower; it was so fun! I consider it a huge blessing to be going through this transition into motherhood with a great group of godly women, both moms and not-moms-yet, to encourage me. Thank you friends! I came home with the spoils and Jarrod decided to put the carrier to use. Since there's no baby to put in it yet, what did he do? As you probably guessed, Simba was volunteered. Poor dog, he's probably most excited for Eliaya to come so that we stop torturing him!
Other than baby-stuff, we are enjoying helping with the Cubbies ministry (Awana) at Ninth & O, I've been able to join a women's Bible study on Thursday mornings going through James, and Jarrod has become the coupon king! If given a list, he can do quite well at the grocery store :)
I'm sure there's more to share... but my bladder has a 5 ounce maximum capacity and well, I've been sitting here too long already. Promise to keep everyone updated as to when Eliaya makes her big debut, until then - thanks for reading and especially thanks for praying for us!
We pray the Lord draws you nearer to Him today-
the Reeds
Jarrod had a new-found appreciation for this fact this morning. Before a 'good morning', a sigh, or a big stretch to move the dog off his legs, he said "Megan, we're gonna be parents this month, like for real!"
I think that pretty well sums up our past few weeks, we've been trying to get as much ready as we can, stocking up on diapers and other essentials, doing a LOT of reading, and most importantly basking in time with the Lord.
I was let off bed rest, praise the Lord! Last appointment showed that Eliaya was doing great, and while I'm still contracting any time I try to do anything, they're not doing much in terms of bringing her here too early :) So with the doc's approval, I went back to work this past Sunday. 12 hrs later I was still pregnant, a victory if you ask Jarrod and I.
This week we hit the 36 week mark. I'm still feeling great, noticing fatigue sets in quicker and I'm sure I resemble a duck when I first get started walking... but so glad to still be preggers! Jarrod has installed the carseat (only took two attempts!), our hospital bag is packed.... Now we wait. Hopefully she wont change her mind and decide not to come out at all and we have to be induced at 41 weeks.... haha.
Jarrod is a reading machine these days: his classes will have a significantly lower workload come April, but that comes at the price of having a heavy load right now. He's been reading a book by Dempster called Dominion and Dynasty, from what he's talked to me about, it sounds like a great book. One of his big papers if going to be on how the "image of God" changes from pre- to post-fall, then following the redemptive work of Christ, and finally the culmination of His work when we are perfected in heaven. You should ask him about it! I'm so proud of him, he's juggling a million to-dos and the stress levels average a little less than sky-high, and through it all he has realized how desperately we need the Word and remains passionate about his classes.
We have one last childbirth class to attend this Saturday. Despite the frequent giggles and joking (he is a Reed after all), Jarrod has found the class helpful, as have I. Please pray for us as the delivery is looming ever closer: that it would be smooth and without hiccups, that I would cope with contraction discomfort and not give in to fear, that Jarrod would remain strong and not faint (a big deal if you know him...), and that most importantly Eliaya would be healthy. We are so stinkin' excited!!!!!
We've also been blessed by our friends up here, they threw us a baby shower; it was so fun! I consider it a huge blessing to be going through this transition into motherhood with a great group of godly women, both moms and not-moms-yet, to encourage me. Thank you friends! I came home with the spoils and Jarrod decided to put the carrier to use. Since there's no baby to put in it yet, what did he do? As you probably guessed, Simba was volunteered. Poor dog, he's probably most excited for Eliaya to come so that we stop torturing him!
Other than baby-stuff, we are enjoying helping with the Cubbies ministry (Awana) at Ninth & O, I've been able to join a women's Bible study on Thursday mornings going through James, and Jarrod has become the coupon king! If given a list, he can do quite well at the grocery store :)
I'm sure there's more to share... but my bladder has a 5 ounce maximum capacity and well, I've been sitting here too long already. Promise to keep everyone updated as to when Eliaya makes her big debut, until then - thanks for reading and especially thanks for praying for us!
We pray the Lord draws you nearer to Him today-
the Reeds
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