Atalie Mariah Brendle

It's a girl! Born on 8.29.07 at 7:56 PM
7 lbs. 4.2 oz. and 20" long

Headed to the Hospital

Made ya look!

So today's the big due date, but no activity so far. It was such a beautiful day, too! Overcast and cool with just a bit of rain. Oh well, I guess she's just not ready, or perhaps she just wants to be fashionably late??

The Born Ultimatum

Today was the doctors visit. Two centimeters and 70% effaced. To quote the doctor, "Well, your body's going to need to do a lot of work to get this baby out by the due date..." So she decided to schedule my induction. If the baby doesn't come by the due date, we have her birthday picked out for her: August 29th.
We were fully aware that we're having a baby, but realizing that we will be parents in one week or less is exciting and unreal.

We are three days to the due date! Any second now Gina & I could go from relaxing in the house, to rushing off to the hospital - and the craziest adventure of our lives yet. These days are going by extra slowly, all we can do is watch the clock until something happens... no point in making a lot of elaborate plans!

Well, not much is new. I've gone to the doctor twice since I posted last; the first visit everything was pretty much the same, then at my appointment today she told me that I'm almost 2cm and 60% effaced. A little progress, but not much. She suggested that I start drinking raspberry tea to help me not have to be induced (much more appetizing than castor oil... which many people strongly recommend against). I picked some up at Wal-Mart and when I got home looked it up online. I haven't found anything that says that it helps bring on labor, but there seems to be some that suggest that it might help shorten labor and make your contractions more effective. I'll take whatever help I can get! :) We also went to the mall to walk around for a few hours. It's way to hot to be walking outside. Hopefully something will help me progress a little bit faster!!
I couldn't just walk around the mall without at least stopping in some of the stores, and while I was in Kirkland's I found a really cute lamp for in my kitchen! I was wanting something to be a soft light for under the cabinets so that it's light at night without always having to use the blinding overhead light. I really like what I found, and it was only 8 bucks!!

Haven't posted a picture in a while, this is me at 37 1/2 weeks :)

We've been busy since my last post. Last weekend was the event that Ben had been planning for weeks. Our church took over the "children's center" at a local event at the park. We had two bounce houses and a few other games, plus several different crafts for the kids to do. Ben still had to work those days so we went over on Friday morning nice 'n' early and set up the tent and all of the supplies, then did our best to get the volunteers organized and feeling like they knew what was going on, then he had to go to work. We've been needing to take a childbirth class and our last option of one to take was that Saturday, so Ben had to ask off work for that and had to set up the volunteers like the day before. It was really a challenge to try to plan something that you aren't going to be able to be there for! :) He did a great job though... as always. All of the feedback we got from the volunteers was positive, so that feels good. The childbirth class was from 8:30 in the morning till 5:00 in the evening... talk about information overload. It actually wasn't all that bad, we knew quite a bit of the stuff but it was nice to be able to ask the questions that we've had and to find out more of the specifics of this particular hospital. They also ran us through breathing/relaxation techniques, which I'm sure will come in handy. I of course had trouble not giggling through that. Go figure. That class really made it real though, not just because of the video, complete with full view of a baby crowning... oh joy, but practicing breathing, touring labor and delivery, and seeing the type of room we'll be in after she's born. I can't believe we'll be there in around 20 days! (are you in there little fetus, in 20 days will you come greet us?? haha, just for you Lisa!! love you!) Wednesday was my Dr.'s appointment. This kicks off my weekly visits. The doctor talked with us about how to know when to come in to the hospital and all that good stuff, then she checked me and I'm 1 1/2 cm dilated at 50% effaced. Could be more, but I'm glad I'm at least progressing. We'll see what happens this Wednesday, I think that will give us more of an idea how it's going.


Our anniversary is this Monday! I can't believe it's been two years! It's so weird, these two years have flown by, but at the same time it feels like we've been together forever. Everyone tells you that you'll only feel closer to each other over the years, and you think... "oh that's just a nice thing they're telling me... I couldn't love him more than this!" but it's true. All of the experiences you go through, both good and bad, just tie you together even tighter. I feel so corny but I hate doing anything without him. It's torture to have to do something away from him when it's his time off from work! I can't believe what a wonderful husband God gave me. Ben, if you read this... I love our life together, and I'm so excited to see where we are next year! I love you so much, Happy Anniversary! Oh, and your dinner is in the freezer, don't wake me up when you get home. Hahahah! I'm totally kidding... :)