Lincoln William Snyder

Better late than never, right? Lincoln arrived on September 29, 2010 at 12:15 p.m. via emergency C-section. It was a wild ride, let me tell you. I went in for a normal, routine check up at 36 weeks. My urine test the week before had been abnormal, but I wasn't showing any of the signs of a bladder infection, so my doctor didn't think much of it. This time my urine test was again abnormal, and again I wasn't having any bladder infection symptoms. So that was odd. Then my blood pressure was elevated, and it has never been elevated. My doctor decided to have me walk over to the hospital labor and delivery department for testing. They took my blood and several urine samples. They monitored me for contractions and took my blood pressure every 10 minutes. No one was telling me much, and my doctor hadn't seemed too worried...he just wanted some tests, right? Then they had me do an ultrasound and Lincoln was doing great, but he was in the breech position. (Not a good thing for someone planning a totally natural, drug-free delivery). After the ultrasound, I thought they'd let me leave (I didn't have Elliott come at this point because I was just going to do tests). That was not the case though. I soon found out that I would not be leaving that night because my liver enzymes were elevated and my blood platelet levels were dropping. They wanted to keep me overnight for yet more TESTS. Then early in the morning on the 29th, my doctor called me to tell me I had Hellp Syndrome and that he had to deliver the baby as soon as possible for both my own health and for the baby's health. Hellp Syndrome would eventually cause liver failure for me and would prevent me from being able to coagulate blood. With my rapidly decreasing platelet levels, Lincoln would have lost blood supply to the placenta. I was in a state of shock, needless to say. I wasn't expecting to have a baby for another month and we had nothing at the hospital since I thought was there for TESTS. By 11:00, I was being prepped for surgery and was taken to the operating room. I was not prepared mentally for that experience! I was planning a very natural childbirth and really didn't want an epidural. Three tries later, the epidural was in (ouch!) and my reaction: violently shaking on the table. I was crying when Elliott was finally let in. The worst part was hearing my doctor ask for the scalpel! After much tugging and pulling, they said "Ok dad, time to get the camera!" Uh...what camera?...we didn't even have that because who needs a camera for TESTS? Then I heard the most beautiful scream I have ever heard from my little baby. My tears quickly turned to tears of joy and I couldn't wait to see him. I got to see him for like one minute while they tried to nurse him and then he & Elliott were taken away to the nursery and I was sent to recovery. I was in recovery for like 5 hours and I was finally insisting that I go see my baby (he needed to eat!). I finally got to go to my room and Elliott and baby Lincoln were there waiting for me. I was a mom. Finally. Oh what joy! It is the greatest feeling in the world and we are so happy to have him!

32 weeks down, 8 to go

Here I am at 32 weeks and at size HUGE. Seriously, how can my belly possibly stretch even more in the next 8 weeks?? I'm pretty sure there is no more room and that really I should be more like 38 weeks. Part of me is shocked that I am already 32 weeks, and then the other part of me is like "I am ONLY 32 weeks?? I swear the last week was 5 weeks long." I'm sure all you other preggers can relate. At least it is fun to see my whole belly move around and get lop-sided when the little guy moves around!

My Amazing Mom

My parents recently came out to visit us, which is always a treat. What was an even greater treat, though, was that my mom brought a suitcase full of adorable fabric to make a bumper pad for our little guy! For those of you who do not know, Florida is not exactly the sewer's haven for nice fabric. St. George, on the other hand, is awesome for cute fabric! My mom had been keeping an eye out for cute boy fabric to make a crib set for me. She makes the most amazing bumper pads...they are so fluffy and sturdy and stinkin cute!! Once she got here, she showed me the fabric. I had asked for bright colors as my only stipulation, and she sure came with brights! I was a little weary of the owls just because of the purple in them (not a boy color in my mind), but once we cut up the fabric and laid out the fabric, I was in love! The inside of the bumper pad is a tan minky that is oh-so-soft and the cording on the top is fabulous. She makes the bumper pad, crib sheets, crib skirt, valance (don't have that yet), usually quilts and blankets to match, pillows, blocks, anything she can think of to use any scraps. She is so creative!! Thanks Mom! You are super talented, and I'm so happy I'm your daughter!

Here is a close-up of the big owl fabric:

Here is a close up of the smaller owl fabric:
Bumper pads are REALLY LONG!! I tried to get a good close up showing most of the bright colors.
This is an all-minky quilt. The colors matched perfectly and my mom was in a rush to get here to Florida, so she begged a quilt shop to sell it to her already made since she wouldn't have time to put it together before she left. She was finally able to convince them to sell it (they normally don't sell their display quilts). I am so happy they sold it and that she bought it for me!! I don't think our little boy will really use this because I just might steal it every time. :)
Another shot of the awesome quilt on the crib.
His first stuffed animals. The bear has a bow-tie that matches perfectly with the sheet, and so we had to get it! The dinosaur/monster thing matches the green in the bumper pad really well too.
The crib!!!
Without even planning it, the big owls peek out of the slats on the crib perfectly! So cute!
So colorful and awesome!
I know, I know, you are all jealous! :) j/k...ok...not really...

Molly at 25.5 weeks

I am only posting this because all you crazy people asked for it, and mostly because my crazy sister is holding my coveted diaper bag until I post a picture of myself! Let me preface this by saying that I have never liked pictures of myself...even when I was in shape and at my optimal weight. I always look 50 pounds heavier than I am. So take that, add some extra weight, and then add in 25.5 weeks worth of baby making, and you can imagine how I feel about my pictures now! Oh well, what the heck?? Here I am in all my glory with 25.5 weeks of pregnancy under my skin!

"Well, it's not going to fall off!"

I had my 20 week ultrasound on Friday. I was so excited the night before; I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve again! I couldn't wait to receive the confirmation that I was having a baby girl. You see, from day 1 I have called it a girl. When I was only craving bean burritos and couldn't keep anything else down, even Elliott nicknamed the fetus "Juanita" (for those of you who don't know, Elliott is half Mexican). When I would read my weekly BabyCenter email and it said "he" in the development description, it didn't sound right. I had many dreams of my little girl...even before I was pregnant. Even Elliott had dreams of the same girl. I knew I was having a girl, and I wanted it confirmed. Her name would be Paisley Jo. Oh, the crafty things I had planned!! Plus, literally ALL of the friends/family around me have had boys. I thought it was high time for a girl in this area, and I was going to be the one to have it.

Elliott finally got to go to this ultrasound. The technician was really efficient and told us everything she was looking at. It was amazing to see the feet, hands, face, spine, heartbeat, legs, butt. Then it came time for the all-important question: What is the sex of the cute little thing inside me???????? The technician said:

"If I can find the sex, do you want me to tell you?"

"Yes."

"Ok.....pause.....it's a little baby BOY!"

"OK....are you SURE??? I know for sure this is a girl."

"No, it's definitely a boy [she points the cursor to his jewels and says]...See that? It's not going to fall off!!"

HAHAHAHA!! She made me laugh, though I have to say I was in a state of shock. Elliott turned to me and said with a huge smile on his face, "It's ok babe, I'll buy you some ice cream."

I must admit I had a hard time at first discovering that my baby was really a boy and not a girl. I mean, I was excited for a boy too, it's just that I was POSITIVE it was a girl! Plus, I think I would make a good girl mom, but I'm weary of my abilities with a boy. I'm getting more and more excited for my little boy everyday. I just wish I could come up with a name I like. Elliott likes Quinton or Wyatt, but I'm not a big fan of either name. We both kinda like Tyson, but still, not sold. Boy names are hard!!

Anyway, to get more excited about my little man, I decided to go shopping. Elliott's sister has been in town, so she went with me. I bought his first outfit. A couple days later, Elliott bought his second outfit. Elliott thinks that he'll get more compliments in the outfit he picked out versus mine. So, if you have read down this far, leave me a comment and tell me which outfit you like better for Baby Snyder!

This is Elliott's outfit. We were at Universal Studios and he picked out this thing for our little guy. Elliott wants me to point out that it has padding in the stomach area to imitate a six-pack:

This is my outfit(s). Little monkey PJ's, silly monkey t-shirt with shorts, socks, and blanket to match:

LET THE VOTING BEGIN!!

A New Life....A New Love

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but you all know how my blogging skills have been lately. So for the few of you who still occasionally check this blog, the Snyders have some post-worthy news:

We have a little one on the way!!

We are thrilled and a little scared at the same time! I am just about to start my second trimester, and the official due date is October 21st. We don't know what we are having yet, but for some reason, we both lean toward thinking its a girl. We find out on June 4th....forever and a day away it seems.

I have had two ultrasounds so far. The first was at about 8 weeks and was not under the best of circumstances. My blood work returned abnormal - very high white blood cell count and very low progesterone. They thought this was indicative of a miscarriage, so before they started me out on any treatments, they called me in for an emergency ultrasound. They didn't give me any real hope, so I went in to the ultrasound thinking that our baby hadn't made it. I was upset, needless to say. The ultrasound tech wasn't saying anything, so I said,

"Well, is there a baby?"

"Yes." Nothing else.

"And does it have a heartbeat?"

"Yes. Hold on a minute." Me sitting there with some relief, but not much.

Then she turned on the sound. And I heard the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life...a strong and healthy heartbeat. (Elliott couldn't be there because of board exams). And I saw the little kidney bean moving. I cried; I went from thinking my baby was dead to seeing a miracle....I was in love instantly.

Flash forward to 12 weeks along. This time I'm going in for other genetic testing and they do another ultrasound. Only four weeks ago, my baby looked like a bean and not much like a human. Now I get to see a perfect profile, arms, hands, legs, feet. And then the ultrasound tech turns on that sound, and I cry...again. (Elliott couldn't be there due to yet another test). The amount of love I feel for this child is amazing, especially considering I haven't even met it or felt it (except for excessive amounts of puking).

My life is about to change forever, and I couldn't be more excited!