Introducing to the world, Shannon Grace Ratliff

Wha-? Huh? What’s going on? Ow! Something’s pushing me! Hey now! I wasn’t bothering anyone….Wait! I know what’s going on. I’m being evicted! Help! Someone help me! Oh! I don’t want to gooooo!

This is what was going through my mind on the weekend on September 5^th, 6^th and 7^th. Yes, that Friday, Saturday and Sunday something in mommy decided that I needed to leave her tummy and come out to the outside world. And thus, her contractions started. Of course since mommy has never had a baby before, she didn’t know what contractions were. She just felt dull pain every so often and thought maybe it was gas or something. She didn’t want to call the Dr. on the weekend since she didn’t want to look silly for something that really wasn’t worth calling for. So she waited for Monday. Monday came and she thought maybe it really could be contractions since they came rather steady. But then they would stop or there would be more time in between. So Mamaw Patty came and hung out with mommy all day Monday. They went to Walmart, walked around, came home and watched tv.

Finally at 3:30pm Monday September 8^th, mommy really felt like she needed to call the Dr.’s office and see if she was in labor. She told them what she had been feeling and the nurse said that mommy should go to Riverside hospital (where she was going to deliver) and get checked out. She told the nurse that she wanted to wait for Daddy to come home and the he would be home in the next hour. (By 4:30pm) The nurse said it was fine to wait for him but if mommy’s water broke that she would need to leave right away and go to the hospital. Daddy got home by 4:30 and so they loaded all of the stuff they would need into the car along with Codey and his stuff and they were off to Arbys. Wait Arbys???? That’s not where you’re supposed to go mommy! But mommy told daddy that this was “IT” and that he had better stop for dinner because she felt like it would be a long night. Little did she know, it truly would be a long night! Daddy didn’t want to stop to eat but mommy used her last “I’m pregnant do what I say” card and he got dinner. So about 6:30pm they got to the hospital parking lot with not a moment to spare – you’ll see why soon…. So they pulled to the gated lot and daddy tried swiping his pastor’s card at the gate but it wouldn’t let him in. **Side note – Daddy has a Pastors card that lets him in to all central Ohio hospitals parking lots with no charge since part of Pastor’s ministries are visiting the sick and those in need at the hospitals. Now back to the story!** So his card wouldn’t work. Knowing that mommy needed to get in he tried just taking a regular ticket and would sort it all out later. Fooey lot’s full! Oh no daddy where will you park? Wait! It says lot full but I see plenty of spaces….Oh look! Finally the attendant is going to help. Unfortunately, she wasn’t much help and after daddy saying “My wife is in labor! I need to park!” 3 times she got the hint. She manually opened the gate for him and then they parked. Just as they were pulling into a space mommy looked back and there was about 3 other cars trying to get in too! Oh boy! We beat the baby rush! So up to the labor and delivery floor mommy, daddy and Codey went. Mommy checked in and they said they needed to observe her for about an hour to see if she really was in labor and then they could admit her. So for a whole hour, mommy and daddy waited. Poor Codey had to wait in the waiting room with his PSP. At least he had something to do.

Finally at 8:45pm they said mommy was at 5 centimeters and allowed to stay. Then they told her some really happy news. They said she could have her epidural right when she was moved to a labor and delivery room. And that’s right where they went. By 9pm mommy was in a room and being prepped for the epidural.

For those of you who may not know, and epidural is a procedure where the place a long needle in your back and then a long tube that’s the same diameter of the needle takes its place. This is inserted in your spinal area and it only has a small window in which to fit.

This was the scariest thing for mommy. But daddy was there to comfort her and they did some praying and mommy got poked 3 times! WAIT! Isn’t it only supposed to take 1 poke? Yes but the doctor couldn’t find the right spot so mommy had to sit through 3 long needles being poked into her back. Not fun. But finally it was done. OR was it?  Over the next could hours they monitored mommy and daddy sat there. The time really flew by. The only problem was, mommy could feel contractions again. So she started breathing through them again. Daddy was not too happy that she was in pain and told her to push the button for more medicine. Mommy didn’t want to because she didn’t like the way it made her feel so daddy went out to the doctor and told them. They came in and pushed mommy’s button anyway. Ah relief…..for like 30 minutes.

Then more feeling of pain. Man this medicine stuff wasn’t working! They had to come in and give mommy some other drug to help. And let me just let you in on a little secret….Mommy didn’t cry. Nope not one tear - not one complaint. She really just troopered through it. I’m not sure if troopered is a word but I just made it up hee hee hee. Then at 12 am on Tuesday September 9^th, the nurse who was taking care of mommy the whole time came in and said mommy would push starting at 1am. Wew! From 6:30pm to 1am….7hrs at the hospital and then she could push.

At 1am like the nurse said, they started pushing. The nurse said ok, let’s have a baby before 2am. Cool a goal! Mommy likes goals. We can do it! Well, after much waiting and laboring and pushing, I made my grand debut to the world at 1:53am on Tuesday September 9^th, 2008. They took me to the incubator to get my vitals and weigh and measure me. Now before we get to the numbers…anyone want to make any guesses? The doctor told mommy at her last visit that I would be 7-71/2 lbs. That I would be an average size baby.

Well, I was NOT an average size munchkin! I tipped the scales at 8lbs 7oz! I was 21 inches long and my head was 13 inches around. I was the fat cute baby daddy wanted. He told mommy that he wanted a really fat cute baby and boy did he get it! He also said that he wanted a little girl that looked like mommy and he got that too. I think I look like her but you can look at the pictures and judge for yourself. We stayed in the hospital till Thursday September 11^th and then got to go home. I’ve been growing a whole lot and for being 2 weeks old I’m growing like a weed! So world, I told you I was coming. Mommy and Daddy waited a whole year for me and now, here I am.

Shannon Grace Ratliff

September 9^th 2008, 1:53 am, 8lbs 7oz , 21 inches long…..Hi! :o)

   
   

 

  

  

Get Ready, Get Set.....Here I come!!!

Hey everybody Gracie here.

In the spirit of the 2008 Olympics, I say, on your marks, get set GO!

As you can tell from the title of today's post, "Get Ready, Get Set.....Here I come!!!", this a good indication of what's going on with mommy. Watch out world, I am on my way!

Mommy went to her weekly appointment with Dr. Diaz yesterday and they listened to my heartbeat which is still very good. They measured mommy's tummy and it measures 37 centimeters because she is 37 weeks complete and they did some other measuring. At the end of the visit, Dr. Diaz said, "Well, baby could come any time now." That's right. Any day....any hour....any minute I could be coming to a world near you. Well actually, mommy is planning on having me at Riverside Hospital but I'm still coming into this world hee hee hee.

So here I sit. Waiting. Head down ready for my big entrance.....This is BORING! I have nothing to do but hiccup and stretch and practice breathing. The problem is, there is only so many times you can practice in and out, in and out when it's fluid you're practicing with. That's lame. I can't move around too much any more because I've gotten too big. Daddy keeps telling mommy he can't tell that she's gotten big (He's so sweet to her.) but I tell you what, mommy knows how big she's getting because she reminds me everyday that she's going to be skinny again when I get out. Well, what ever makes her happy. So back to me being bored. I'M BORED! My lungs are fully developed, I can blink, suck my thumb, squirm, look towards light and I can even make facial movements. Most of my time is taken up by listening to mommy talk or sing. It's a pretty boring schedule that mommy has though. She mostly sits at the computer at work and doesn't talk much since she has to be quiet there. Oh I just remembered, I can even move my fingers around and grasp stuff or slide my fingers down the inside of mommy's tummy. She giggles when I do that. It must feel weird to her. All it feels like to me is a wall. A very squishy wall....This is boring. I need some excitement. The only cool thing that's happened so far is mommy drank a little caffeine the other day. Whooo hooo! That was COOL! She can only have a little each day but she never drinks any. The other day though, she hadn't felt me move for a little while and so she drank a little Coke-a-Cola. I sure got to moving then. Today, we are practicing hiccuping. I can't figure out why this important but it must be since that's all I seem to do. It gives me a headache. Hic - hit my mead. Hic - hit my head. Ugh. Oh well. Maybe mommy's body will get the hint and start trying to evict me from this temporary home. Well, being bored makes me tired. I think I'll try and sleep and get some rest stored up for my big day.....that could come at any time.

I can't wait to see you all! I can put a name with a voice then!
Lots of love - Gracie

Baby Shower

Hi all! This is Audrea!

I want to take the time to thank my mother in law Patty and sister in law Dina for a WONDERFUL baby shower last weekend. They had a baby shower for me and Gracie on August 19th and it was the nicest shower ever! They had fun games like Baby Bingo, What's in the diaper (different melted chocolates squished in diapers), Name that Food (What baby food is in the jar) and Nursery Rhyme Game (Little Jack Horner ate what pie?). There were great prizes like gift certificates and people were in a special drawing for a gift card if they brought diapers or a Dr. Seuss book. Before the party started, Patty and Dina came over and decorated so nicely! It was in my Dr. Seuss theme colors (bright blue, red, yellow, green and orange). They had banners in the hall on the front door and in the kitchen. It was so nice of them to go to so much effort! I had a wonderful time and so did Gracie! She bounced around in my tummy the WHOLE time :o) Then for food we had sandwhiches, chips and bean dip (yum) veges, pasta salad and Patty's famous punch. They even had my favorite sandwhiches, ham and swiss on wheat! They thought of everything! Then the cake was just beautiful! It was chocolate and white with the whipped icing! My favorite! I am attaching some pics of the party.
I want to say thank you to all who came to my shower! I am trying to get thank you's out the door but I wanted to mention you all on here so you didn't think I forgot to say THANKS!!! You all mean the world to me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for ALL of the wonderful gifts. I am having so much fun putting them all away in her room. This was the best thing ever.
And in no perfect order I want to say Thank you to :
Patty and Dina for the shower!!!!!
Aunt Diane
Michelle
Stacy
Betty
Cindy
Tina
Elma
Grandma Caines
Bean
Beth
Shawna
And the kids! (Alyssa, Codey, Abby, Meghan, Talyor and Hunter)
All of you made my day so great. Words will never convey just how thankful I am.
THANK YOU!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!