Your Name

When we found out we were pregnant we did one of our favorite things. We started talking about baby names. When we look at names we like to find names that are pretty (or cool - if it’s a boy name), names that are unique (nothing in the top 100 if we can help it), and names that are meaningful. I don’t care how pretty the name is, if it doesn’t have a strong, important meaning, it’s not for us. We eventually had our two names picked out - Ariani Celeste if you were a girl, Milon David if you were a boy.

I was so excited when I found out you were a girl. (Of course I was a little bummed that your daddy wouldn’t get a boy to play with, but I had secretly hoped you were a girl all along.) But I just couldn’t quite settle on your name for sure yet. It’s kind of a funny story, but there is a UFC “ring girl” named Ariany and I didn’t want people to think that’s where your name came from. I decided to look her up on the internet and then found out that her middle name was Celeste! I was so bummed because I really didn’t like the idea of you sharing your name with a girl who was so worldly and was famous for showing off her body. So your daddy and I decided to change your first name just a little bit - Ariana. The meaning was the same - “holy.” We talked about alternative middle names and decided we liked Celine, which had the same meaning as Celeste - “from heaven” or Noelle since you would be born in December. We never really settled on your middle name, although we did agree that if you came in November we would not use Noelle.

Finally it was time for you to come! We had loaded up the car with our bags, Penny was at her cousins’ house for the night, and we were driving to the hospital. As we neared the entrance I looked at your daddy and told him that for a few weeks now I had wanted to put the middle name Celeste back on the table. I thought he would think that was weird or tell me that he had already decided on Noelle, but instead he just said, “Okay. I really like that name.” I couldn’t believe he was fine with a last minute change like that! I asked him if he was sure and he said that he liked all three choices and was fine with any of them. After another moment I said, “I have been thinking about the name Ariani again too.” Again, he said he loved the name Ariani and would be fine with naming you that instead of Ariana. It should have felt like a rash decision - changing your name at the last moment like that - but it didn’t. It just felt right. I just knew that your name was Ariani Celeste - in a way, it had been all along.

Once we checked in at the hospital, I looked up the names Ariana and Ariani on my favorite baby website while we waited in the waiting area. I was surprised to see that Ariana was #74 on the list of most popular names in the US. Ariani, however, was around #400. And somehow, that confirmed our decision. Your name was Ariani.

We waited until our family came to meet you to tell them about the change. It was fun to introduce you to your grandparents and aunts and uncles, who were certain that your name was Ariana Noelle. (In fact, Grandpa had told Pastor that was your name and that’s what they announced at church the night you were born!) They were so surprised that we would change our minds so late! But they all loved the name and were smitten with you from the moment they saw you.

Your name is very important to us. We hope and pray that you will live up to its meaning. We want you to know the Lord from a very early age and to live a holy life that is dedicated to Him! And we will always see you as a very special gift from heaven, an answer to a prayer that we prayed for over two years before seeing it answered with a “yes” from God. I can’t wait to tell you the whole story some day when you are old enough to understand it!

One Week Postpartum

I thought this would be a good wrap up to my pregnancy journal. There is so much that goes on after having a baby and I wanted to record it, if for no reason other than to glance back and remember what this week was like. It has been a week of adjustment and recovery and absolute bliss. I will warn anyone who reads this that I will speak frankly about what life is like for a mommy who is just recovering after giving birth. If any of that would gross you out, I would stop reading now. :)

Recovery: I am recovering well, but it certainly does take time. Although my labor was relatively easy (compared to the last time I had a baby) the delivery was very long and difficult. Baby A never quite got into the right position and entered the birth canal at an angle. I pushed for a very long hour and twenty minutes and still required vacuum assistance to deliver her. So I am very sore. Also, I dealt with some SPD (Symphysis Pubis Disorder) during my pregnancy and expect that it will still be a few weeks before things get better in that regard. Fortunately, though, I didn’t tear at all so my recovery seems much better than last time.

Belly: My belly looks about the same size now as it did when I was 18 weeks into my pregnancy. For me, that is not too bad! I have already noticed that it is smaller than it was the day after Ariani was born.

How I’m Feeling: I am not feeling quite “human” but getting better each day. I have had a lot of muscle soreness all over my body (probably from pushing for so long) and of course have soreness from the delivery itself. I am moving pretty slowly. I have tried to stay on the ibuprofen the doctor prescribed to help with that but haven’t taken anything else for pain.

Nursing: Nursing is going great for Ariani! For me, it’s a little harder. Without going into too much detail I will say that my nipples are not ideal for nursing. So the baby latches on perfectly and nurses well but I have been dealing with cracking and bleeding. So I took a day off and pumped and bottle fed baby A, and now I am alternating between pumping and nursing until I am able to nurse exclusively again. I dealt with this exact same issue when Penny was born and I remember that around the two week mark I was able to breastfeed exclusively and never had problems after that. Looking forward to reaching that mark again!

Sleeping: I think Ariani already has her days and nights figured out. She usually stays awake between her first and second meals of the day. So she wakes up between 7:00 and 8:00 and stays awake until she eats again around 10:00 or so. We are working towards a 3-hour nursing schedule (allowing some flexibility, of course) and she is doing pretty well there. Her last meal is usually around 10:00 or 11:00 and she only wakes up one time between then and her 7:00-ish breakfast. That’s not too bad! Since I’m pumping some, I have been pumping around 9:30 and going to bed. Then my husband feeds her the last meal and puts her to bed. I have been able to average 7 hours of sleep each night (interrupted once, of course) with his help! I haven’t even needed a nap every day, although when I can get one I take one. :)

Baby’s Personality: For now, Ariani seems like a pretty happy baby. When she is awake she is very alert, keeping her eyes wide open and looking around like she is taking everything in. She doesn’t fuss much at all, but what does make her fussy is having her diaper or clothes changed. She absolutely hates that! Getting her dressed is so difficult because she just flails her arms and legs the entire time I am putting her clothes on. We have also learned that she doesn’t like to be swaddled because she likes to put her hands in her mouth or keep them on her face. (She always had them on her face when we saw her during ultrasounds!) And it looks as though she will be a paci girl. I tried a couple of different pacifiers, but she prefers the Soothie or Gumdrop pacifiers. We’re only a week in; I can’t wait to see what else we will learn about her!

Big Sister: Penny loves her baby sister. She asks to hold her several times a day. She loves to pat her and kiss her. She has been behaving much better than I had anticipated, but has pushed the limits some. I knew to expect that. Her routine has been demolished this week, not just by the arrival of her baby sister, but also by staying the night with different family members while I was in the hospital and then by the constant stream of visitors in our house this week. I will be glad when we settle into our new normal. It’s nice to have the people you love come share in the excitement and joy of a new baby, but it’s hard to relax and recover with so many people in and out of your home. This next week should be a good chance to get back into our routine.

Daddy: David has some paid paternity leave from his work. Can you believe that? He has been the biggest help this week. He kept everything organized in our hospital room because he knew that was important to me. And since we have been home he has done dishes and cleaned and straightened up. He has spent extra time taking care of Penny so that I can feed the baby without being bothered or take a nap when I need it. I cannot imagine making it through this week without him! We would be hungry and living in a pile of junk, that’s for sure. :)

Our First Days at Home: We stayed in the hospital for 24 hours and then came home on Monday evening. David’s family brought dinner that night and stayed to eat with us. The Dars came to see us for a little bit that night too. Tuesday night the Boleys brought dinner and stayed to eat with us. It was nice to catch up with them and was a nice low-key evening. Wednesday was a day full of visitors! My mother-in-law came by with Jenna Roberson and then I took Ariani to her doctor’s appointment. Not long after I got back home David’s co-worker Kalley came by. And then a little while after she left Jade and Cole came, and while they were still here Ai and Kayla came by. During the evening my parents came and brought pizza for dinner. (Three meals in three nights - how nice!) Thursday was a quiet day at home. David took Penny up to his work for a little bit and then got some groceries while I stayed home with Ariani. During the evening his Uncle and Aunt came by for a bit. On Friday we had no visitors. We did go out to breakfast and to the hospital to meet my new niece Ralee (a cutie!) Today has been an easy day. Penny went to the circus with her Nana & Grandpa and her cousin Jase. David and Ariani and I stayed home and watched football and just hung out. I am looking forward to a more “normal” week next week!

I am still beyond thrilled at this new addition to our family! When she was born I cried so many tears of joy and gratitude. Every time I look at her I am reminded that my God loves me dearly and chose to answer my prayers with this special little girl. I am looking forward to watching her grow and be a special part of our family!

Delivery Day

I plan to share MUCH more about this sweet baby of ours, but for now, I just have time to share our “birth story.” I was scheduled to be induced on Saturday night, November 30th at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa.

We checked into the hospital at 7:30 p.m. By 8:45 I was in bed, hooked up to monitors and an IV, and the nurse had administered Cytotec to ripen my cervix and hopefully get things going. I had contractions all evening, but nothing painful. At 3:30 the nurse said that Dr. Nilson wanted to start me on Pitocin. Soon after we started that my amniotic fluid started leaking a little bit. Still, things progressed slowly. I had expected them to since prior to checking in I was still dilated to only 1 cm and wasn’t effaced much.

The nurse checked me again at 5:00 in the morning and said that I was dilated to 4 cm but was still “thick” (meaning not effaced) and the baby was still very high - she had not yet begun to descend into my pelvis. However, the contractions were getting stronger and I asked for my epidural. Dr. Woolard came and gave me my epidural at 5:30. He was very pleasant and did a great job.

At 7:30 a.m. I was still only 4 cm dilated, not really effaced, and the baby was high. At 9:30 I was still only 4 cm dilated, but I was 80% effaced. Dr. Nilson came in and broke my water. The nurse checked me an hour later at 10:30 and told me I was 6 cm dilated but the baby was not engaging. She was face up instead of on her side like she should have been, so we tried various positions to get her to move to her side and move down into my pelvis.

By 12:10 I was 6, “almost 7” cm dilated, almost completely effaced, and the baby had turned and come down some. We were still trying to get her to move a bit more though. At 1:00 I was between 9 and 10 cm dilated, completely effaced, and the baby was almost all the way down (she was at -3 station) but she had only turned part way.

At 2:00 I started pushing. I was fully dilated but the baby was still at an angle so I pushed to try to get her to move. My epidural worked perfectly. I was not excited about having one, but knew from past experience that trying to endure hours of Pitocin without one is just too painful. I was so pleased that although the epidural worked, it didn’t numb me completely. I was able to feel the pressure and know when I needed to push. I was so pleased, especially because I ended up pushing for an hour and twenty minutes! Rather than the back center of her head entering my canal, the head had come down at an angle. She was very hard to get out! Eventually the doctor decided to use a vacuum to assist in the delivery and get her out safely. Overall, after starting the Pitocin, my labor was 12 hours.

Ariani Celeste was born on December 1st at 3:21 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces and was 19 ½ inches long. She was like Mary Poppins - “practically perfect in every way.” We were home just over 24 hours after she was born and are blissfully happy adjusting to our new life as a family of four. I am so thankful that God gave us this beautiful miracle baby!