Jaime Homemaker

Once again, we are getting settled in a new home and I am finally able to sit down and catch up on a few things!

So we live in Germany! Definitely never thought I would be able to I say that and it felt like forever getting to this point, but we are here and having a blast - for the most part. Living in a new country is probably the biggest challenge I have ever faced, all on top of being a mom, which is also another huge challenge. We are ever so slowly moving into our home and getting things set up.

First off, let me start with what is new in the Rogl home! Keira is doing amazing. My *almost* ten month old is now living abroad and has done amazing with the transition with us. She is the happiest baby I have ever been around and I feel so blessed every day that she lets us know how happy she really is. She is crawling now and this momma is always on the go!

We live in a village called Eulenbis which is close to the base here. It sits high high up on a hill so that when there are clouds and fog covering most of Germany, we are sitting above it like we are in heaven. It's beautiful! Ryan has started flying and is very busy supporting his squadron, so Keira and I are becoming the best of friends while daddy is away. It's definitely challenging for Ryan to be away, but we are figuring things out day by day and it is getting easier.

Being a mom has changed so many things in my life, including my priorities. Updating my blog has definitely fallen on the very low priority list, but I recently met some women who inspired me to get back into it. Living abroad has opened up so many opportunities to travel and why wouldn't I want to document all these amazing places that we get to visit?? Along with that, we have decided to transform our home decor and create a style that fits us. Being a new mom + traveling + fabulous home decor = redefined Jaime Homemaker. Enjoy!

We have a baby! Ryan and I welcomed Keira Nicole on July 23rd, 2013 and it will forever be the best day of our lives. Her birth stats were: Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces Length: 20 1/2 inches Fingers: 10 Toes: 10 Lungs: Powerful I have had a few requests to share Keira's birth story so I though share the incredible experience with everyone! And guess what, I have *tasteful* pictures to go along with it! So where do I start? Wednesday, July 17th I went in for my 39 week appointment and I wish I could say I was feeling absolutely amazing, but I was miserable at that point. My feet were so swollen and I was lightheaded and dizzy and HOT all the time. When they strapped the blood pressure cuff on me, everyone went into a panic because my blood pressure was pretty elevated. This triggered talk of induction. I never wanted to resort to induction and always wanted to experience labor on my own, so I was a little disappointed for about .2 seconds. My doc went ahead and stripped my membranes at the appointment and promised me I would be in labor by 9 am the next morning on my own. He encouraged me to try to induce labor on my own at home (if ya know what I mean). So Ryan and I had our "date night" and almost immediately I started having consistent contractions. Five minutes apart and a minute long, we were headed to the hospital! Soooo... Long story short, contractions stopped the second I laid down in that uncomfy L&D bed. I was disappointed, but still hopeful that I would be back in the morning in labor on my own. My doc was wrong. I didn't have a single contraction Saturday morning, not even Braxton Hicks which was a first for me since 29 weeks. At this point, my doctor decided to schedule our induction and here was the run down: Sunday night: Insert Cytotec Monday morning: Start Pitocin Monday afternoon: Have baby You know when you have a plan in your head and you know that you really shouldn't be making plans because most of the time things will not go according to that plan? Yeah.... Lesson learned. Sunday, July 21st, 2013 Induction Night

Ryan and I headed off for the hospital Sunday evening to start the induction. We decided to stop for our last meal as just "Rogl's: Party of two" so we went out for a nice dinner and then went across the street to get things going! Once we got there, the nurses got us settled into our room very quickly and had me change into a hospital gown. Almost immediately they got me started with an IV, quickly pumped a big bag of saline into me, and checked for dilation while inserting the Cytotec. Despite my previous dilation check and the membrane strip, there was still only 1 1/2 cm of dilation, so the nurses were hopeful that the Cytotec would do good work on my cervix overnight. Around 1 am, I woke up with very strong contractions and feeling awful. I was getting excited because this is exactly what I was hoping would happen. Contraction stayed about 5 minutes apart lasting about 90 seconds each, so they sure seemed like the real deal. At 2 am, the nurse came back into to check my cervix and insert the second dose of Cytotec. I was still 1 1/2 cm, but the nurse said that with the contractions I was having, I was sure to be in full blown labor soon.

Well, 6 am rolled around and it was time to start Pitocin. I was getting so excited because it was the morning I was going to be meeting my daughter and I just knew that with all the contractions I had been having that we were getting closer and closer to that moment. But the nurse came in, started my Pitocin, and when she checked my cervix, I was still a measly 1 1/2 cm. No change whatsoever. The Pitocin started doing work on my body and my contractions continued throughout the morning at a very steady 3-5 minutes apart and 90 seconds long. It was around 11am that my doctor came in to check on me and check my cervix himself. Still 1 1/2 cm. At this point, I decided I wanted something for the pain because I was really starting to get tired from trying to manage the contractions on my own. My first dose of Demerol felt amazing. I got some sleep and was ready to take on the rest of the day and meet my little girl. But the hours kept passing by and so did dilation checks and I still did not budge from a 1 1/2.

At this point I was wondering what I had gotten myself into with an induction. I never wanted an induction in the first place. Should I have gone with my gut and tried to press on with my pregnancy on bed rest? The nurses had a good feeling that I was either going to be sent home or I was going in for a C-Section, which is my biggest fear. Not that there is anything wrong with having a C-section, it doesn't make anyone less of a mother if they went that route, but I never pictured it that way for me.

Around 4:30 my doctor came in and checked me one last time. As I suspected, I still had not progressed. My doctor stepped out of the room for a minute to compile his thoughts on the next step and came back in and delivered some very hopeful (and quite far-fetched) plans: Instead of sending me home like most cases, we were going to stop Pitocin for the night, I would stay in the hospital, and we would start the Pitocin in the morning at 6 am again. If I still was not progressing, we would start an epidural in preparation for a C-section and that could either do one of two things: 1) Not a damn thing besides making my legs numb or 2) relax my body enough for me to dilate. If I started to dilate, my doctor would break my water and hopefully get my body to go into active labor and increase my chances of having a vaginal delivery.

This was me trying to keep a smile on my face...HA! So once they stopped my Pitocin, I continued to contract the rest of the evening and all through the night. Thankfully, I was allowed to eat dinner since they had stopped the Pitocin, so Ryan and I enjoyed some awesome cafeteria food and set off for a walk around the hospital to wind down from the day. Six came very quickly. Between all the nurse's checks and the uncomfy bed, I didn't get much sleep so I was starting off the day already exhausted. They started my Pitocin right away and the contractions got strong again very quickly.

My contractions were already so much worse than the day before, so I was starting off very hopeful that they were finally starting to do some work. My doctor came in around 7 to check on my and see if I was dilating. Still nothing. So my doctor told me whenever I was ready I could get my epidural. I should have just begged for it at that point. But I didn't. I wanted so badly for my body to do what it was supposed to.

At that point my amazing sister helped me get myself ready for the day. She did my makeup and helped me get out of bed for a few. We were hoping this would start off our day a little happier. It made me feel so much better.

At 10am, I finally gave in and begged for the epidural. I was exhausted and in so much pain. All I wanted was to just get it done and over with. And it was at that point that I almost caved and asked for the C-Section. I didn't know how I was going to go the entire day contracting and not getting anywhere. I was so discouraged.

About 15 minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in and put in my epidural so quickly that I couldn't believe it. I was so scared of the epidural, but it was nothing compared to what I had made of it in my head. One thing they didn't really warn me about was how bad the epidural would make me feel at first. Once the anesthesia was injected, my head immediately started to spin and I felt like throwing up. Luckily, they were able to get me laid down very quickly so I could recover from it.

Once I was set up with the epidural and comfortable again, my doctor came back to check on me. I was pretty discouraged, so I figured nothing would have changed from the last time her was in. But when he stood back up after my check, he exclaimed loud enough for the whoe floor to hear, "Finally, we are at a 2!"

He very quickly broke my water and after that, time seemed to fly. All of the details of the room started to stand out. I paid attention to the monitors, I could picture my baby in the warmer, I could feel my body working. Everything felt so natural and beautiful. It was the first time I was looking at my hospital room as a place that I was going to delivery my baby, rather than just a gloomy room.

Since I had been in the hospital for a couple days now, word had gotten around that I had been in labor for a couple days. I had nurses from all over coming in to check on me and tell me they were rooting me on. The mother-baby nurses were fighting over who would get me when I got to their unit. They all kept my spirits so high. No one thought I would hold out for a vaginal delivery, but I did, and they were all so genuinely excited for me. Each time I had a dilation check, a whole round of nurses would come in excitedly and cheer me on.

My doctor cam back around noon to check me and I was dilated to a 4. When he was feeling around for her head, he laughed to himself then looked at us and said, "Your baby is so bald. I don't even think there is peach fuzz on this baby." That was something we were sure to laugh about soon.

Things were starting to go quickly and he predicted we would have a baby by 4 o'clock. Each hour that passed I could feel more pressure from the contractions and I just knew things were going fast. At 2pm, the nurse checked me and I was an 8!

I tried to collect my thoughts, but about 5 minutes later, it felt like my baby was going to fall out. There was so much pressure and since the epidural anesthesia had worn off so much, I was feeling everything except my feet. We called the nurse back in and she checked me. I was finally a 10!

Wow, what a whirlwind. When you hit 10cm, everything in the room changes. Warmers go on, stirrups come up, lights fill the room, people start swarming.... It's game on when you hit 10cm.

There are so many emotions at that point. I can't tell you how many times I said, "oh my gosh, we are about to meet our tiny human." Ryan was my focal point. He helped cheer me on and coach me through the hard parts. My mom was also there for our support. I don't know what I would have done with out her there. My sister was helping count and cheer me on from behind the camera. She is the one who captured all these amazing pictures, so you can't see her yet.

Finally my nurse had everything ready to go and ready to have me start pushing. I had it in my head that I was going to push twice and this baby was going to come right out. Ha! Again, don't assume anything when in labor.

I pushed for an hour.... Nothing. Our baby was in the wrong position, which explains why the doctor was feeling her forehead and not her actual scalp earlier that day. Keira was "sunny-side up" and he shoulder was caught on my pelvis, so she wasn't coming out without a fight. Again, another thing that had come up to completely discourage me. I was not going to have a C-section. I refused. I told them to do whatever they could to get her to change positions because I was not having a C-section after getting to this point.

So they flipped me onto my side for about 15 minutes and waited. My nurse kept changing my leg position and checking to see if there was any change. She decided to roll me back after the 15 minutes had passed, and when she checked me, her eyes shot open and stared at Ryan and I for a second in disbelief... "You should see the hair on this baby! Get down here and look!" I was totally not for people looking down there... until she said that. Then I wanted everyone to look and tell me how much hair was on my baby! I hadn't seen her hair yet, I wasn't too keen on checking what my vag looked like at that point. So now that she was in the right position, we started with the pushing again.

45 minutes had gone by when finally she yelled, "STOP! Get Dr. Harrison, we are having a baby!"

All of the nurses flooded the room and my doctor strolled in with them. We were all so excited at that point. Nothing but pure joy filled that room. Everything was finally all ready, and then the doctor told me to push... and so I did...