Hadley Sue Linderman

The past 12 days have seemed like 1 long amazing day and finally I have a moment while Hadley sleeps next to me to update our blog and get some pics of our little cutie pie up here! Hadley Sue Linderman was born on Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 1:30am after laboring for 21.5 hours. Amazingly, I went into labor on my actual due date of 6/17, but she decided she would rather wait to have her birthday on the 18th. :) I pushed for over 3 hours and the doc had to eventually use the vacuum to help her get out, but she came out healthy and crying, which of course made us cry tears of joy along with her! We were feeling like she was never coming out!!!

We all are doing just great, very tired, but great...I am sore and healing, but doing good overall, and we all are adjusting to life as a family of 3. Our days consist of nursing, sleeping (well, Hadley at least), changing diapers, changing clothes and then we do it all again...Chris and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing, beautiful, healthy daughter and are loving every minute. Chris is such an amazing dad...he is so hands on and just amazes me every day of how much he loves Hadley and I. As most of you can probably imagine, we have taken about 500 pics in Hadley's first 12 days of life, so here are a few of our favorites. I will try my best to update more regularly now! Bear with us...

It Ain't Over 'Till the Pregnant Lady Swings!

We had our 40 week (FULL TERM) appointment today and had great news that I am now 3cm dilated and 100% effaced! My body is doing exactly what it is supposed to, so we just need it to keep going with the dilation! This is my first week not working and with it being only Tuesday, it feels like the LONGEST week of my life so far just waiting to go into labor...so knowing we are making progress is very encouraging! Chris and I have been going stir crazy waiting for Hadley to make her appearance, so we decided to get out of the house today after our doc appointment and head to Sacajawea State Park in Pasco. We brought Koda along and all had a great time. Koda swam to her heart's content, we walked around, and I swung on the swings because I read somewhere swinging can help you go into labor...HA! At least it was fun...tomorrow is my official due date and my 4 year old nephew, Rees, said he thinks I'm going to have the baby tomorrow, so let's hope he's right! Thanks for the prayers...we'll keep you posted!

Sacajawea State Park is where the Snake and Columbia River meet...it's beautiful!

39 week, 6 day belly

Chris throwing a stick for Koda...cheap entertainment!

Waiting patiently for dad to throw the stick...

She LOVES to swim!

It ain't over till the pregnant lady swings...

No Progress, But a Light at the End of the Tunnel

We had our 39 week appointment today and were told I am still dilated to 2cm and 50% effaced...so no change from last week.
:( However, things have been moving in the right direction (down) and I continue to have more Braxton Hicks (fake) contractions, so we know my body is doing what it is supposed to. My cervix is "favorable," says the doc - which just means it is looking good and doing what it should for Hadley to come out. The doc doesn't want me to go too much past my due date, so we scheduled an appointment at the hospital to get induced on Sunday, June 21 at noon (Father's Day!), if I don't go naturally before then. Hopefully "Murphy's Law" will kick in and because we have an induction scheduled, I will go into labor naturally before...that is what we are praying for! I don't want to be induced if I don't have to!!!

So, all in all we were a little bummed cause we thought things were picking up speed, but relieved at the same time that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we can just relax and be patient. We are getting so close and who knows, Hadley could come at ANY time!

I have still been working up to this point, and think that this week will be my last. It is just getting to the point where it is really hard for me to be at work because I am uncomfortable and completely exhausted. My hope is that I can have some time to rest and take care of some final preparations before Hadley comes. And let me tell you, it is not a good feeling to be sitting in a meeting, having a contraction while getting kicked in the ribs, thinking "What would I do right now if my water broke?!" :)

We will keep you posted...thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

Belly Dancin'

You may have noticed a trend in how I post on this blog...I will let some time pass and then I post like 2 or 3 entries right in a row! If you saw my previous 2 already that I posted last night, go down and take a peek again cause I just added a video tour of the nursery from Chris that I wasn't able to load until this morning...good times!

Anyway, Hadley has been a VERY active girl lately and the other night I caught some of her moves on video...looks like she's trying to rip through my stomach! Kind of feels like that too...

She moves really big right away at the beginning of this video and then has a HUGE move at about the :49 second mark...it was one of the biggest moves I have felt from her, so I'm so glad I caught it on tape!

Locked and Loaded

I had my 38 week appointment today and found out that I am 2cm dilated and 50% effaced! The doc said I am progressing really well and he could feel Hadley's head when he checked me!!! He said she is LOCKED AND LOADED with her head down in the right position! He said he doesn't think we will go past our due date of June 17, but we shall see. I asked if he could tell how much she is weighing these days, and after poking and pushing my belly around he said he would guess that she is probably about 7 pounds right now, which is a great size! She is gaining about 1/2 pound a week. I also found out I tested positive for Strep-B, which is kind of a bummer but not a biggie as 1 in 5 women are. It just means they will have to give me antibiotics when I go into labor so I don't pass anything onto the baby. After this appointment, it's starting to feel a bit more real...and it is so hard to believe we will have a baby in our arms soon! We have pretty much every emotion going through our minds these days...excited, nervous, scared out of our minds, you name it...but all in all we just can't WAIT to meet our sweet baby girl in person and are so thankful my pregnancy has gone so well. Now we are just praying for a smooth labor!

My 38 week belly

My belly last week at 37 weeks (to compare)

Hadley's Crib

Hadley's "crib" (AKA - her nursery) is ready for her! I finished a couple of projects I wanted to get done - I painted letters for her name to match her crib bedding (above) and made a bulletin board to put pictures and other fun things (below). Chris helped me hang them up and with all of her clothes washed and everything in its place, we are ready for little miss Hadley Sue! :)

I covered a canvas with fabric, criss-crossed ribbon and

secured with brads to make this bulletin board.

Here is a special video tour of the nursery that Chris did....ENJOY!!!

And here are some still shots in case Chris moved too fast...

I had to put a pic of her closet cause her little clothes look so cute hanging up!