Lucy Katherine is here!! - Birth Story

Last Monday, May 7th (at 38 wks and 4 days along) I went into the hospital at around 8:45 p.m. as I was having contractions about every 5-7 minutes apart. I was admitted and hooked up to the monitors to keep an eye on my contractions and the baby. It became a waiting game at this point. I was dilated to a 4 when I arrived at the hospital and slowly progressed through the night to a 5. The hospital was super busy so the doctor wasn't going to break my water as he wanted me to progress naturally as their resources were low because the hospital was at full capacity that night.

At 8am the next morning (May 8th), my contractions just stopped out of no where! I was so tired and frustrated at this point, all I wanted was to have the baby already! Finally, my Dr. that had been treating me all this time was the "on-call" and she came in a broke my water to get this going. After about an hour my contractions came back and were every 5 minutes and getting stronger and stronger. Finally, I was dilated to a 7 and decided to get an Ipidural. The contractions at this point were putting me to tears and they were about every 2-3 minutes apart.

After I got the epidural my pain level got better and I was able to relax and watch my contractions comfortably as they happened on the monitor instead of tear through them. About an hour later the Dr. came in and I was a 10 and ready to push! She came out in 2 pushes and we finally had our little girl after 16 hours of labor! She weighed 6 lbs. and 10 oz., 20 1/2 in. long and her head was 13 in. around.

I would've laughed if you told me that I would be in labor for that long because Jack came in 3 hours, Henry came in 6 hours and lil Lucy... well she took her time coming into this world! To say the least, we are absolutely smitten with her. The boys absolutely love her and Daddy and I are so happy to have our little girl!!

34 weeks!

On Thursday I will be 34 weeks along in this pregnancy. So I've got about 4-6 weeks to go! The last couple weeks of this pregnancy have really been dragging so I imagine the next few weeks will too :( However, I still have LOTS to do before the baby comes. I still haven't gone through my "nesting" stage yet and I really need that burst of energy to get some things done around the house! Because Henry is still in the crib room we haven't even touched it to get it ready for a girl. Ben plans to paint this weekend, so Henry will be in a "pink" room for a while! I have been reluctant to get him into Jack's room because Jack is such a great sleeper and Henry wakes earlier, so most mornings I just let him be in his crib until I am ready to get him up. I'm not in too much of a rush because I think the baby will be in a pack in play next to our bed anyway for a month or so. But I would still like to start remodeling the room to cater to a girl. I also have lots of school things to wrap up as well before the baby comes. Finals week actually starts May 5th and the following week. Hoping to get all homework and tests done before she comes too! I might have to take some early/late if she decides to come a little early. Jack came 3 weeks early and Henry came two weeks early, so I just wonder what this little one might do.

We are having a......GIRL!!!!!

After 2 boys and alot of "tough boy stuff" around the house we are finally having a little GIRL. :) We went to our 19-20 week ultrasound yesterday afternoon and they confirmed what I had been hoping for, a healthy baby girl! It's also a little strange for us because having a girl will be a whole new responsilibity. Caring for the baby is much the same but as she gets older and eventually into her "teenage years", I can imagine a whole new batch of issues that will be interesting to deal with. I will obviously be prepped for because I am a woman but will probably be new territory for Ben! Right after the untrasound he said, "Oh my gosh, I'm nervous, we are having a Girl!" "We are going to have to pay for her wedding!".

We are going to update the nursery in girls attire. I am really excited to start looking for some good ideas. I'm starting with the color purple as a start.

Ben and I were at Target today and seriously buying clothes for her won't be an issue! There are sooo many cute things for Girls!! I'm a sucker for pink tutus and tights. This poor little things isn't even born yet but her mother is already playing "dolls" with her!

Baby # 3!!

Lil Christensen #3
Well to make things even busier and crazier at my house, we are having baby #3! I am due, May 17th and we are super excited. I'm secretly hoping for a little girl this time, however, I love my boys and all I really could hope for is another healthy kid. I am 12 weeks along and have been feeling alot better that last couple of weeks. I can't believe the first trimester is over already. This ultrasound picture above is from my 8 week doctors appointment. We got to see the little babe and hear the heartbeat for the first time. I tell you, it never gets old! :)