Two Weeks Old!

Just thought we would post some pics of Jacoby, can't believe he is two weeks old. He is more alert and opens his eyes more; tries to focus on mommy and daddy when they are close and tracks lights. Night time is still challenging, hopefully we will get on a more regular schedule soon. Big brother is still adjusting a bit, but warming up. He tried to give Coby his bottle today, but still not sure he wants to try to hold him. Enjoy the new pics of our sweetheart!!

Playing in the leaves

Here is Nate having a great time in the leaves today. He is working hard to become a good big brother - he has been the only one for so long so there have been some trying moments. but here, he is having lots of fun and getting some much needed outside time.

Jacoby Maxwell Dell Arrived!!!

He's here!!! We can hardly believe that he is here, healthy and we are so in love. Jacoby, or Coby for short, decided Tuesday the 13th was a good day to get the ball rolling. Contractions began around 3:30 p.m. and were about 10 minutes apart in my back. They weren't bad, so it took about four regularly spaced to convince me to really pay attention. I called my nurse and let her know, and she said I had two options: lay down and maybe they would stop (ha, ha) or go for a nice walk. So I called Mike, in tears, to let him know things were starting and then went for a big walk with my dad. By the time Mike got home contractions were regular at five minutes apart so he called the hospital and said we were coming.

Timing was perfect; we got there and got checked in. I was 4.5 dialated and the contractions were starting to pick up in intensisty. One of the doctors we had met on Mac 6 last year came in to talk to us and told us she was convincing the attending to keep us regardless of what this labor was producing. So with my dates in hand she went to get our birthday arranged, and she did! When she came back to tell us we both cried and she told us to stop because she was crying too. Then we got our first labor nurse, Leslie, who was incredible. She recognized how hard the loss of Max would be emotionally on the entire labor and delivery and did everything she could to help us through. She made sure when it was time for my epidural the best man for the job did it and promised he would do a good job - and he did. :)

Around midnight they checked me and decided to add pictocin to the mix. We were both able to rest for a while before we were checked again with little progress. So we napped for a while. I awoke with a start, a pop and a SPLASH around 2:30 a.m. My water BURST! I called my new nurse, Sarah, and she got the attending to check. Much to all of our shock, I was complete.....10 centimeters. Instead of having me push immediately, they told me we would wait until I could feel the urge to push. They sat me up and allowed me to labor down. I felt contractions and pressure, but nothing that reminded me of the intense pain from Nate or Max's delivery, so I kept waiting. Finally around 4:31 they decided it was time to push. I still did not have the intense pain from the contractions or rectal pressure, but pushed anyways. Progress was very fast and sixteen minutes later, Jacoby emerged into the world. He was plopped onto my chest, my dream since Nate's birth, and I got to see his dark, dark head ful of wavy hair, his ten perfect fingers and toes. I didn't feel any pain and I couldn't believe this was my birth story. It truly resembled something from TLC a Baby Story, and I honestly didn't belive those were possible. Jacoby weighed in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 18 inches long.

We are now the intensely proud parents of three beautiful angels. Two of those angels reside on earth with us to continue life's journey with all of its twists and turns. One of those angels is waiting for us when we are called to continue our journey in eternity. We truly believe he is here with us, watching and knowing our love for him equals that of the love we hold for our earth angels. He is one of the reasons little Jacoby is here in our arms. We hope you will enjoy these few first pictures, and thank you all for your support along this rocky journey.

38 Weeks

Well we are still pregnant. This little one seems to be pretty darn comfy where he/she is. We are guessing we will probably make our appointment on Thursday, but hoping otherwise. There's no more room at the inn!!! We'll keep you posted!

Exciting News!!

It's a............. pregnant Jen!! Yup, no baby yet. Had a visit with Dr. Judge today and we are now just shy of four centimeters dialated and 80-90% effaced. So, baby could show up tonight or we could go another week. Who knows. Dr. Judge will be out of town this weekend, so our bet is it will probably be this weekend at some point. We are hoping, though, that we can hold out maybe to Monday and she can be there to meet the little one she made possible. :) So, keep those bets coming.....could still be tonight, Friday if you're in today's pool,......well, you predict!!! (Just a heads up......if we make it to Monday, remember back to Friends when Rachel was ready to deliver Emma???? Jen will be trying all means necessary to evict the baby!!!!)

Cerclage Out!! Liberation Day!!!

Well it's out, yippee! It came out around 9:30, um ouch, and then after Dr. J checked I was 2-3 centimeters dialated with some scar tissue from the stitch. She said she thought that if we had any future children the cerclage was the route to go. So, maybe it was my cervix that caused my water to break with Max, but we still don't know. Regardless, it made me cry; if infection caused my water to break it probably ascended through the open cervix so it seems like the culprit no matter what.
Then, we had to sit for about 20 minutes and CONTRACTIONS began!!! They were 3-6 minutes apart and hurt a little - relative to childbirth anyways. Just annoying. So, the next step was to walk around for two hours to see if anything really kicked in. I was pretty hopeful, contractions continued and hurt a little more. So, after our two hours we returned to our delivery room and got checked again. This time 3 centimeters dialated with the same contraction interval. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out into anything except a teaser.
So where does that leave us today?? Well we are now full term and dialated three centimenters - maybe the baby will decide to come tomorrow, and maybe I will have to be induced. Either way, we are not preterm anymore and the baby is ready to be born. So, place your bets and get ready to ante up.......our little gobbler may wait to make his/her debut on the big day or he or she may decide to be here for it. Either way we are now very hopeful that this will be a wonderful year to give thanks for the inredible blessing of good friends, supportive family and a beautiful bundle in blue.....or will it be pink???

36W 6D....

Wow, so close...on Monday we will be FULL TERM!!!! Yup, 37 weeks is considered full term though traditionally 40 weeks was the target. We had an ultrasound on Thursday of this past week and all looked great with the baby. No we didn't look to see if we saw a bobber down there, we couldn't really see a whole lot because there is so much baby in there. So here's what we Do know:

1. Baby is vertex; head down! Yay!

2. Baby is 6 LBs 10 ou - right on target to equal big brother Nate's 8LB 11 ou. A nice healthy size. I still don't know how he/she is squished up in there though.....

3. Baby has DEFINITELY dropped (engaged in the old pelvis; but has been since 32W for me - just FYI - most subsequent babies do not drop; I don't know why. So in some ways I'm luck for this, more breathing room and unlucky in others - um, it hurts a bit baby crushing the cervix and lots of pressure. However, I don't care; he/she is still in there so I am....suffering best I can in silence....ok don't ask Mike about that!!)

4. Cerclage (old cervix stitch) comes out on Monday morning; we have to check in at 6a.m. (yuck) then we are slated as the first procedure for 8 a.m. Don't know why we have to be there so early; no IV's, spinals or anestheia for this one; just a speculum and a pair of scissors. Oh and it's a big speculum (T.M.I??? Too bad - just think, it's not you!!! :)

THEN - we wait to see what happens! Our due date, set by ultrasound, is November 26th. I am a cramping, braxton hicks contracting mama right now. Tons of pressure and pain in my legs/hips/thighs - hence the waddling people; I WISH it was because I am so big (ok I am that too), so please be merciful and spare the hee-hee she's waddling because she's a whale tales IT HURTS, every step and I am a little cranky about that.... So I am the poster preggo for preterm delivery - BUT we are no longer preterm! So it is anybody's guess when this little one will decide it's time to arrive. The baby actually gives off the hormone that initiates labor, so it really is up to him/her. Few people deliver after the stitch comes out so I don't expect Monday to be our little one's big day; maybe week 38 will look good.....my legs/hips/thighs/mind sure hope so.......so does Mike!!! He has been my rock though, through the entire crazy trip...I just hope we can end this journey with fabulous APGAR's and a beautiful bundle to introduce to you all. It is the home stretch, but things still do happen so keep those fingers crossed.

** FYI** Our friend's Denise and Matt welcomed their new bundle, Trey Bohden on the 30th, safely and soundly. Thank you to all who included them in their hopes and prayers, he is beautiful and we are so very happy for them all. It has been a long road. His name has a lovely meaning: Trey = the third and Bohden = gift from God; hence, their third gift from God.......welcome little Trey, we are so happy you are here.