Poop pryotechnics!!

My sweet Ruthie did a number yesterday and still has me cracking up about it! Ok, I'm going to post something that isn't very genteel and certainly will embarrass her when she's a teenager:

Ruthie has been blessed with very LOUD poopies and farts. I mean you can hear what she's doing for across the room. They are so funny. And, of course almost every time you change her she sends another loud load into her brand new diaper before you can get her off her changing table.

Yesterday, I was changing her at my mom's so we didn't have our normal set up. I had her on a changing pad on the table in the family room. As I was examining her bottom (I though I may have seen some diaper rash) and trying to get the new diaper on, I had her legs in the air and her bottom pointed straight out into the room.


Yes, you know what happened...

She sent another loud load into my mom's living room and it went for the distance!! It shot almost 6 feet across the room getting everything in it's path! My mom and sister in law heard it and thought something had fallen off the table. When they came out to help me we all laughed so hard that this sweet little thing can make such LOUD and forceful poos. Now she's breast feeding so it's not like it was super smelling or anything like that. But the force, noise, and distance gave her a 10 from all of her judges!!!

My brother, who was also their to witness this very special talent, started to sign the 1812 overture, you know the one with the cannon blasts. Well, in our house, instead of cannon blasts we have Ruthie blasts!!!

I have to go... Ruthie wants lunch!! :)

Happy Birthday Ruthie!! One Week Old!!

Wednesday was Ruthie's one week birthday!! She has already grown and changed so much just in this little week. She has had a lot of firsts... Heres a list:

* First breath
*First Cry
*First Poo
*First visitor
*First outing (to the pediatrician's office)
*First ride in her swing
*First bounce in her bouncy seat
*First night at home
*First meal
*First smile (it may be gas, but we're calling it a smile)
*First card game (well, she wasn't playing just being held by the players...she would have won though if she was playing)
*First shot (ouch!)
*First Bath (sponge bath)




Tummy time for Ruthie...she her smile? :)



Bouncy seat!! She loves it! Thanks Aunt Bev, Aunt Eileen, and Alison for this wonderful gift!!

Great Grandma Ruth

Yes, Ruthie's Great Grandma (her namesake) came to visit this weekend. She came with great Grandpa Bill and Aunt Bev. We were so excited to see them and they were tickled pink to get to meet Ruthie. Here are some pictures from this visit!



Great Grandma Ruth



Great Grandpa Bill



Aunt Bev


I am so blessed to have such loving grandparents. (Aunt Bev's not bad herself!!) :) My grandparents are examples of Godly parents, grandparents, and husband and wife. (They've been married 71 years!!!) That's why we named Ruthie after my Grandma. We hope and pray that she will grow up to love the Lord, live her life for Him, and become a Godly wife, mother, and young lady, just like my grandma.

Ruthie's First Visitors!

Ruthie had many blessings while in the hospital. We are so obviously loved and God rained his blessings upon us during Ruthie's first days. Here are some pictures, they say a picture is worth a thousand words!!!



This is Grandma. Can you tell how proud she is? :)



Here is Grandma Zeller and Grandma Fogle and Daddy!






This is her cousins Bailey and Luke!! Aunt Mardi and Uncle Jack and cousins Luke and Bailey were there to see her on her very first night!



This is our Pastor and his wife, Billy and Donna!



All of Ruthie's cousins that live in Florida came to visit her on Thursday (day 2) and her Aunt Angie and Aunt Mardi!!



Aunt Holly was actually at the hospital the day of her birth (she was working) and she was able to go to the nursery with Tony and Ruthie while I was in recovery. But, here is a picture of Aunt Holly with Ruthie the next day!



Mommy, Daddy, and Ruthie



Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matt came all the way from Maryland to visit their first niece!



This is her Paw-Paw (Grandpa Zeller). He calls her his candy bar (after the candy Baby Ruth).



This our family in the hospital as we were about to leave to take Ruthie home!!! (Saturday, July 21)



Here is Ruthie in her car seat for the first time!! We are going HOME!!!

Happy Birth- Day RUTHIE!!!!

Teresa at 39 weeks on Tuesday, July 17th before going to the hospital to have Ruthie!!

Welcome to our Family Ruthie Grace Zeller!!! She was born on July 18, 2007 at 4:12 pm and weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces, and was 20 inches long!!!!!

Now that you know the facts, let me tell you the story!

We were admitted into the hospital on Tuesday, July 17th at 8:30pm for Cervadil. We were put in Labor and Delivery Room 7. And that night they put a medicine on me to "Ripen my cervix". The contractions started about 4:00 in the morning. They weren't very strong and were about 10-15 minutes apart.

At 6:30am the nurse started my Pitocin drip. This was supposed to induce labor. At 7 :00 our new nurse came on duty. Her name was Nicole. She was a God send. We had prayed that the Lord would put the right nurses and doctors on duty the day of Ruthie's delivery (whatever day that was to be). And, God sure did answer our prayers with both our nurse and our doctor. Nicole was awesome. She was understanding, encouraging, supportive, and knowledgeable.

About 9:00am Dr. Hershberger came in to try to break my water. I was only 1 cm dilated. However, he was unsuccessful and did not break my water. We continued to labor (without any pain med as I was trying to go medicine free!) I really liked to labor on the birthing ball. (It's like an exercise ball but used in labor.) It really helped me to work through the labor pain. At about 10:30 the contractions got much stronger and closer together (they had been progressing in that direction all morning, but they were suddenly very noticeably stronger and closer). At about 11:00 my water broke on it's own and after that they put me back in the bed. At this point Dr. Minton was on duty.

They were trying to monitor her heartbeat externally, but after my water broke it was difficult to monitor it. So the doctor put an internal fetal monitor on Ruthie. It was a good thing he did that because after my water broke Ruthie's heartbeat started to do funky things. Of course the contractions were much stronger and closer together (they were coming about every minute).

All of a sudden I had my nurse and her intern coming into the room, along with several other nurses. They were concerned about something, but I didn't know what. They turned me on my side, and then had me go to my other side. Then they put the oxygen mask on me. Apparently, Ruthie's heartbeat went from 140 beats per minute to 40 beats per minute. I was so impressed with how quickly they came storming in the room, and how many nurses above my own nurse came to help.

At this point Dr. Minton came in to check us both out and started talking about what might happen. He told us that I was only 2 cm. At this point it was about 1:30 and I'd been laboring for about 9 hours and should have progressed farther. He said that if Ruthie's heart beat continued to make those drops then we would have to do an emergency c-section. If I didn't get an epidural then they would have to put me under general anesthesia. So, Tony and I prayed about it. I really didn't want an epidural at all. I was a little afraid of them jabbing something in my spine that made me paralyzed. But, we felt that it was the best decision for the situation. Knowing that I didn't want to be completely out of it for the birth, and that it was most important to have a healthy baby, we went ahead got the epidural.

About an hour and a 1/2 later around 3:00 Ruthie had another episode of a drastic heart beat deceleration. Again, about 6 nurses stormed in my room and started working all around. They called the Dr. to come to my room and I knew that this was probably going to be the end of my laboring. Sure enough when he came in to check me and I was still 2 cm. he started talking seriously about c-section. He was really great. He was thoughtful (knowing I really had wanted a no-med natural childbirth) with giving us the choice and the facts. He said that we could turn up the pitocin and hope that with the epidural the pitocin would progress labor further, but then we risk Ruthie's heart beat. Each time they increased my pitocin Ruthie had another episode. He thought that we would probably end up in a c-section at the end of the day, but he said I could choose to labor longer and see or we could just "cut" to the chase.

Again, Tony and I prayed about this decision and felt that going to a c-section sooner was better than later. It would be easier to recover if I didn't spend half the night laboring before the surgery. Also, we were very worried about Ruthie and her heart beat. So we decided to c-section. This was about 3:30. I was in the operating room by 3:45 and Ruthie was born at 4:12 .


This is Dr. Minton with Ruthie directly after she was pulled from my belly. He was walking her to the baby's nurse. (Which happened to be Nicole, my Labor and delivery nurse. She was such a wonderful blessing. They were so wonderful in the operating room. Everyone went out of their way to make this c-section a very personal birth experience. They were very interested in the baby's name and in our family. The nurses took our camera to take pictures of Ruthie as they were cleaning her and getting her ready for me to hold. The Doctor said that Ruthie had the cord wrapped around her neck and that was why her heart beat started to have problems. Once we made the decision to have a c-section, everything went fast and before we knew it we heard this faint little cry (Dr. Minton said she came out crying!). Soon, her cry got much stronger. Tony and I are so blessed to know the miracle of birth and the absolute perfection of God seen in a little baby.



This is Ruthie as she was being weighed!! 7 pounds and 15 ounces!!!



This is Ruthie right after being held by Nicole (our awesome nurse!)



Mommy and Ruthie!



Daddy and Ruthie!



Our First Family Picture!!!

A picture of me

Here's a picture of me. I haven't done any editing (or my husband hasn't) so this is the real me...

Perhaps after the baby, I'll pick a different picture...but for now, here's what we have!! :)

WEDNESDAY, July 18th

This is our new induction date!!!! It is so cool how God works, even in the little things. 18 is our special number....

My birthday is Nov. 18th, so when we were looking for dates for our wedding we knew we wanted February of 2006. We looked at all the Saturday's of that month and choose the 18th because that would be easy for Tony to remember (my birthday and our anniversary!!) NOW, our daughter will be born on the 18th TOO!!! Isn't that way too cool?

We were joking about that happening and now it has! So, keep us in your prayers. We'll keep you updated!

We're going to spend our weekend getting the final things ready...
Packing our bags
Spring cleaning the house
Putting up her drapes
Putting up valences in my dining room
Painting the rocking chair
And, my husband still needs to complete the paintings for her wall

I know I promised pictures of the nursery, and I will absolutely come through with those pictures. I am hoping to get those posted this weekend even though the finishing touches like my husband's paintings and some other wall decorations will not be up yet. You'll get the basic idea!! :)

And of course, we'll post sweet pictures of Ruthie Grace as soon as possible!!!

38 Weeks!!!

Today went well at the doctor's. Ruthie is measuring 8.2 pounds!!! WOW!!! AND, I'm a fingertip dilated!!!! IT's not as far as I was expecting, but I'll take it. So his office is trying to schedule me for induction on TUESDAY!!! YEAH!!! But, the hospital is booked (no room in the inn). So we're on the waiting list. Pretty crazy huh? It's like a restaurant, but what's on the menu is pain. However, the grand finale, the precious baby, is well worth it!!! So pray with us that there is a cancelation (meaning someone goes into labor on their own over the weekend) and I can be moved into their spot. If not, I'm on the waiting list for the entire week. We'll keep you posted with any updates!

I'll copy below what Baby Center says about week 38 development!! Keep in mind the size difference. Oh yeah, the doctor said she feels BIGGER than 8.2!!!! Lord Help US!!!

"Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs between 6 and 7 1/2 pounds (boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls), and she's nearly 20 inches long. She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old."

37 Weeks! and 2 days...

Today was the day...I was going to hear GOOD NEWS from my doctor!!! I just knew it. Yesterday, July 4th, during the Transformers movie I had 4 strong contractions about 1/2 hour apart!! I thought, "There must be something going on down there!". But when I saw the doctor, my dreams of good news came crashing to a halt and it was the same old story once again!

Apparently, I have the cervix of steel and it isn't budging. So, we're still on for an induction on July 24th, we're still on for a 10 pound baby, and now instead of going to the doctor's once a week, I will be going twice a week. They really love me there and can't get enough of my humor!!

So, Monday and Thursdays are my doctor days for the next few weeks. Thursday will be another sonogram (which my mom will finally get to attend!!!) and we'll have another update on size. Until then, we're walking as much as possible. The mall is great for that in the summer heat. Below is what Baby Center says about development at 37 weeks!!:

"Congratulations! Your baby is full-term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. He weighs a little over 6 pounds and measures between 19 and 20 inches. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long."

Don't you love how they say a little over 6 pounds (well a week ago Ruthie weighed 7.2 pounds, so I guess we've blown there info!!

Keep checking back for more updates on the cervix of steel!!