More Pictures

While we were in the hospital we had visitors that wanted to come and meet Finley.  Here are more pictures of her first few hours/days.

Daddy holding Finley for the first time

 Grandma getting her turn

 Gran getting some snuggles

 Pop saying hi

 First bath

 First diaper

 Grandma Sharma

 Grandpa Dale

 Aunt Cara

 Uncle Chris and cousin Janie (Aunt Emily was there too, but we missed getting a picture of her)

 Ben, doing his thing

 Janie and Finley

 The Zahrte's stopped by for a visit too.  Caden meeting Finley

 Aunt Lindsey

 Jeremy and Asher

 Uncle JZ and Finley

 Uncle David and Nolan (he always says "she's sooo tiny")

 Love this picture of Nolan and Andrew with Finley

 Andrew and Finley (all of Finley's cousin LOVE her so much.  They can't get enough of her!)

 Grandma and her grandkids

 Family picture

 Finley's going home outfit from Aunt Lindsey

 Sweater and hat from Grandma

 Newborn picture

 In the car on the way home!  The blanket was made by Gran

I just love this picture of daddy and daughter

So...I had a baby...

YAY!  I had a baby!  Like I said in my last post, I began having contractions on Sunday, November 4 in the evening.  They weren't close together and they didn't really have a pattern.  This being my first baby, I did call the hospital around 1:00 a.m. to find out what I should do.  They were painful contractions, but again no pattern.  Therefore, I was persona non grata at the hospital.  I woke Ferdinand up after I called the hospital and he got confused and thought it was go time.  I found him getting dressed and the bed had been made.  Poor thing.  He was just as anxious as I was for this baby to arrive.  Needless to say, neither of us got any sleep that night so we didn't work on Monday.  The contractions stopped around 6:00 a.m. which is what the nurse that I called in the middle of the night said could happen.  Nice.
The contractions began again later that day and were closer together than before, but they too, stopped around 7:30.  So, when they stopped I was so excited to be able to get some sleep!  I went to bed around 8:00 only to wake up again at midnight with contractions again.  I didn't sleep the rest of the night, but I still went to work on Tuesday.  I was having contractions off and on all day which is a fun way to teach children!  Again, no pattern but increasingly painful.  At this point Ferdinand was so confused.  He thought you have contractions you go to the hospital.  I had to explain to him that they don't want to see me until the contractions are closer together for at least an hour (5-1-1 Five minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute for at least an hour). 
The minute I went to bed on Tuesday night, the contractions started up again.  This time even more painful.  I began tracking them (with an app on my iphone - love it!).  They got closer and closer together so I called the hospital and they said I could come in!  YAY!  I still took a shower and took my time making sure I had everything together.  We arrived at the hospital around 3:45 a.m.
Once we arrived I had to begin in Labor & Delivery Triage so that they could determine if I was in fact in labor or false labor.  About an hour and a half later they decided I could be moved to a delivery room and I was dilated 3.5 cm.  A new nurse came in and discussed the process of labor with us.  She said I technically could not be admitted just yet because I needed to be at least 5 cm dilated to be considered "in labor."  She said that she was going to come back in an hour and check me, if I wasn't at least 5 cm dilated they were going to send me home.  That nurse later told me I shot her daggers with my eyes when she said I might get sent home.  I believe her.  After having contractions for a few days and finally being at the hospital, there was no way I was going to be sent home without a baby!  Ferdinand and I walked around the hospital for that hour and sure enough I was dilated to a 5 when she re-checked me.  After that I got the epidural and had to lay in bed until I had the baby.
I was so exhausted since I hadn't had more than 5 hours of sleep in over 48 hours and I wish I could have slept all day.  Ferdinand, my mom and my in-laws hung out in the room with me all day so I wasn't able to get any sleep.  Even when I kicked them out and tried to sleep I couldn't because I had a thing on my arm to check my blood pressure and it squeezed my arm every 15 minutes.  So. Annoying.
Fimally around 9:00 p.m. I was fully dilated to 10 cm.  I was ready to push but Ferdinand had just left to take a walk.  He was getting stir crazy and went for a few walks around the hospital all day.  Right before I was fully dilated it was looking like it could be another hour so off he went.  Then I switched positions and just like that I was fully dilated.  Problem was we couldn't get a hold of him.  He had his phone, but he didn't hear it.  I was ready to kill him.  I'm not sure how long it took for him to get back to the room, but it felt like forever.
Once he got back I started pushing immediately.  The whole process is not at all like the movies or tv shows.  It was just me, Ferdinand and a nurse for the first part of delivery. I had to push enough for the baby to crown and then the doctor could be called in.  Well, that lasted for an hour and 40 minutes!  I was so tired I kept falling asleep between contractions which was about 3-5 minutes.  Finally the doctor was called and he came in with more nurses.  By this time the epidural had worn off and I could feel EVERYTHING.  It felt like Freddy Krueger was going to town down there. 
Finley Grace Henderson finally entered the world at 11:03 p.m. (after 16.5 hours of labor) weighing 6 lbs 10 oz and 20.5 inches long.  We were so happy to see her and hold her! 

Here is the view from the delivery room and you can see the weather was beautiful and in the 70s.

Finley's first picture

Mom and daughter

38 Weeks

I'm WAAAYYYY behind in my blog posts. I guess I've been a little busy lately! Here is a quick post just so that I'm caught up to the end of the pregnancy. These are the pictures taken at 38 weeks.  I am D.O.N.E. being pregnant at this point.  I'm surprised I'm even smiling in these pictures!

 For Halloween at my school I put this sign on my belly.  It got a lot of laughs from the adults and older kids, first graders - not so much.

 Here is a picture of me and Sadie at the top of North Table Mountain in Golden.  Ferdinand and I did this hike every Sunday morning since the beginning of my pregnancy.  It is a steep hike up to the top and then it flattens out.  I'm really proud of myself for continuing to do this hike every week because I never thought it was easy pre-pregnancy much less carry 35 extra lbs!  This is a weird stance, I'm not sure why I look like I'm pushing my belly out.  This picture was taken at 39 weeks.  Later that night I began having contractions!

I wasn't very fond of being pregnant.  I hear stories of people loving being pregnant or how it goes by so quickly.  B.S.  I didn't think it went by quickly, granted I'm not the most patient person when I want something.  I hated being limited in what I could do.  I couldn't eat certain foods, drink a glass of wine, sleep on my back or stomach (both of my faves), wear cute and trendy clothes, tie my shoes without grunting and getting out of breath, go for a run....I think my list could continue.  Don't get me wrong, it was for a wonderful and amazing reason.  But, I'm not a fan.

I already miss feeling her kick inside my belly. People, especially strangers, were always so kind to me while pregnant.  I still think it's such an amazing miracle that she, my baby girl, started out as an egg, grew so perfectly inside of my body, and is now outside and a little human being.  Wow!  Such a miracle!  God is Great!

And now I must go because someone is waking up!

What's in a Name?

I told you a long time ago that I would update my blog with the baby's name.  I never did!  Oops!  Most people know it by now anyway.  Her name is .... Finley Grace.  I heard the name this summer while working for my sister.  One of her patients is named Finley.  I brought the name home to Ferdinand and he loved it too.  There was more of a discussion of course, but I won't bore you with the details. 
The name Finley is of Gaelic origin and has been widely known as a masculine name in European countries.  However, in the U.S. it has been steadily gaining popularity as a female name for the past several years.  Last year it ranked 364 out of 1000 girl names.  Since we decided on the name we have heard of other people who have a daughter with the name too.  Crazy.
The name Grace was apparently my great grandma's middle name but I was unaware of that when we decided on the middle name. I like that it is a family name though! We really just wanted a feminine name for her middle name so that there wouldn't be any confusion about gender on paper.


Here is her name spelled out in letters above her crib.  I love how this turned out!  This is a side view so it looks uneven, but it's not.

 While we were moving way back in September, my substitute for two days was a parent at our school that I have known for years.  My students wanted to give me something for the baby and together they made this alphabet quilt.  Isn't it amazing!?!?  We love it!  We realized when looking at the quilt with the letters in alpha order that Finley's initials are in alpha order as well.  Yes, it took a quilt for us to realize that....FGH.

 And here is a picture of me at 36 weeks.  That was two weeks ago!  I haven't been great about taking pictures at this point in the pregnancy.  I think it's because I don't feel too cute most days so I do not want my picture taken!  We are ready for this baby girl to arrive and we are hoping it is sooner rather than later.  I did remind myself the other day that God already knows her birth date and I just have to be patient, which is very hard for me to do!

Family Pictures

Way back in May we had a photo session with our friend Kristy Wedel.  Kristy is the girlfriend of Brian Roddy who is a ski coach with Ferdinand.  Every winter weekend the boys coach and Kristy and I ski together.  She is a great photographer and a good friend.  I had never been pleased with our engagement photos that we took 4 years ago and I wanted family pictures of just the three of us before the baby was born.  I was actually around 15 weeks pregnant in these photos.  We had a great time shooting with Kristy and I can't wait for our newborn session.  Here are our favorites: