Early Christmas Present

Sarah Noelle Cooper was born on Dec. 23 at 8:19pm in what was probably one of the best delivery experiences ever!!
I went into the hospital at 3pm on the 23rd because I thought my water had broken. It turns out my water hadn't broken but I was 4cm dilated and having contractions. So the doctor decided to keep me there and break my water for me.

I had driven to the hospital (St. Ann's) by myself since I thought they would probably just send me home. Instead, I called Erik and said "we're having the baby today! Yipee!!".

Erik packed up Jenna and took her to Erica Daily's house. Erica watched Jenna the rest of the day and the next morning while we were at the hospital. Jenna had a good time there :). Then my sister Amanda took over.
Thanks Erica and Amanda!!!

After dropping her off, Erik got to the hospital around 5pm. At 5:30pm the doctor broke my water with a knitting needle (well...that's what it looked like). At around 6:30 I got an epidural and contractions were pretty intense.

The doctor arrived at 8:10pm after two contractions of pushing and 9 minutes, Sarah was born!! She cried immediately and had a very purple face. It turns out that if labor is that fast and you push that hard, the babies get pretty bruised. Oops.

Compared to my last delivery, this was wonderful. I'd have babies all the time if the delivery could be like this (maybe I should consult Erik first....). Praise God!! I feel like all my prayers were answered with little Sarah. She is such a joy and has a full head of dark brown hair. Sarah was able to be with us the entire time (unlike the last time when they whisked Jenna off to the NICU and I didn't see her for a few hours).

I've already eaten the following forbidden foods:

1. donuts from Tim Hortons
2. donut holes
3. Reeces cups
4. Kit kats
5. Fast break bar
6. M&Ms
7. Apple, orange, and cranberry juice
8. potatos
9. bread
10. pudding

All things I couldn't eat before!!

We were able to leave the hospital today (Christmas) and we even opened our stocking gifts. It has been a wonderful experience. One thing we do need to check tomorrow is her bilirubin levels in case she has jaundice. Babies who are that bruised often have jaundice. We will be praying she does not have it. Our wonderful pediatrician Dr. Franks, prayed for her today in the hospital too. How awesome!!

Psalm 127: 3 says "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,The fruit of the womb is a reward." I have been so richly blessed with my 2 beautiful girls!!

Still Cooking....

Since Jenna was born on my Father-in-law's birthday, I thought it would be cool if this baby was born on my Mother-in-law's birthday (the 17th). Well that came and went and no baby. So I thought it would be cool if the baby was born on my parent's anniversary (the 18th). No baby. Then I went to the doctor and he thinks the baby won't come early. NO!!! I'm so huge!! I'm ready to pop.

Today we went to Tuttle Mall to ride the Santa train. Jenna loved it! It was a cute little three car train and she wanted to ride in the caboose. So much fun.

After dinner we made a gingerbread house. It actually turned out pretty good (we didn't eat it, just constructed it). You can see from the box what it is supposed to look like. Jenna and I had a great time decorating it.


Jenna might have had more fun eating the icing but that's life :).

In other news:

1. Erik has been obsessed with Airborne. It is fancy vitamins (very $$$) that are supposed to boost your immune system. I think he takes a tablet of this stuff a couple of times a day. We might have to take out a second mortgage to pay for his Airborne addiction.
2. I'm reading the Mallorean now. It is the sequel to the Belgariad and I like it a lot. It is a similar tale, but I like the characters and it is a fun read.
3. Tomorrow is the last day of the semester at Devry. If I make it through tomorrow and turn in my grades then I'm set to have this little one!!
4. BNT moves a LOT and has a lot of hiccups. I can't wait to meet this little one.
5. I got 83 on Quiddler today with 2 5 letter words. I was allowed the word "wizen" which I wasn't allowed on Scrabulous (facebook).
6. My friend Jen Wahl had her baby Allison Ruth on Monday. How exciting!! She was due Christmas Eve but scheduled a C-section a week early. Allison Ruth is a pretty name.
7. If we have the baby sometime in the next few days we'll go with Sarah Noelle. It is so close to Christmas and that is a pretty fitting name. No boys names are very Christmasy (not going with Rudolph!!).

That's all for now. Hopefully next time I update we will have had this baby!

I thought I'd post some comparison pictures of me pregnant with Jenna and pregnant with BNT. The first picture (with the black pants) was taken when I was 33 1/2 weeks and the second picture was taken when I was 28 weeks pregnant with Jenna. I look a whole lot bigger this time :). Same shirt though!
Jen mast hosted a sprinkle for me Nov. 18 and here is a picture. It was at her new house which is absolutely beautiful! Joy, Erica, Me, Nicole, Christine, Jen, and Heather are pictured. Jill had to leave early so she wasn't in the picture. It was a great time and she even made a diabetic menu for me!

I also had to include a picture of Thanksgiving. We hosted it at our house with my family and Erik's family here. It was an excellent time! We had great food and I ate enough to send my sugar through the roof *smile*. Jenna had a wonderful time too. I had to include a picture of her dressed up as a princess. She is so cute.

In other news:

1. I got 66 on Quiddler today. Quiddler lets me play a lot more 2 letter words than Scrabulous online
2. I started having contractions Monday night (Dec. 4). I spent 2 hours at the doctor's office and was hooked up to a machine. He put me on medication to stop the labor. Keeping my fingers crossed!
3. OSU is playing LSU in the National Championship. Go Bucks!!!
4. Today it snowed about 4 inches. While it took Erik over an hour to get to work (should take 20min) Jenna and I had fun playing in the snow.