Baby Donovan is here!!!

Whew! It's been a busy last couple of weeks as new parents! Donovan Briggs Merrill was born on Monday, October 13 at 10:31 p.m. weighing in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long. My water had been leaking since the night before, but I wasn't sure what was happening because I didn't have the stereotypical gush of a water breaking that you hear about. So Josh and I went to work Monday morning as usual. Meanwhile, wildfires raged in the hills of the Porter Ranch community less than a mile across from the church where we work, and we decided to head home at 1 p.m. But the 118 freeway, which gives us a 10-minute commute home, was shut down because of the fires, and we had to take an alternate route home that took an hour. I called my doctor on the way, just to be find out whether or not I should come into the hospital. He said, "Angela, remember that I told you if you were sitting in a pool of water or your contractions became so painful that they take the smile off your face, you should check into Labor and Delivery right away?" Oopsies...

We were admitted into the hospital at 5:00 p.m. After the the nurse did some tests to make sure it was amniotic fluid, she called the doctor upon confirmation. At this point I was already three centimeters dilated. We thought it would be a good time for Josh to go out to the car and get our overnight bags, but while he was gone, doc arrived and broke my water completely. Soooo painful! A few minutes later, I started having major contractions. Josh came back into the room and I was like a different person--eyes closed, in the zone, trying to remember my relaxation techniques to get through each intense contraction as they came. Between each contraction, I got the words out to tell Josh I thought he needed to call both of our moms. I had a feeling this baby was coming soon!

"You know," the nurse said, "you can get the epidural any time. You're four centimeters dilated and you don't have to go through this pain any longer if you don't want to..."

A word to those who have labored naturally:

God bless you. You are superwomen. I can't imagine going through an entire labor with the pains I endured for an hour that were only going to increase in frequency and painfulness. My mom did it with all three of us girls, and my mother-in-law labored naturally for 24 hours with Josh--and he was nearly 11 pounds!!! I know that the Lord gives us the strength to get us through the pain, and women have done it without drugs for thousands of years...but needless to say, I took to the nurse up on her offer for that epidural!

Once again, I was a new person. The anesthesiologist was amazing and about 10 minutes after he administered the epidural, I was completed pain free--I couldn't believe it! Then Josh and I watched a couple of episodes of The Office on DVD on our laptop, and our moms arrived around 8:30 p.m. God was so good to clear up the traffic from the wildfires so they could get there right in time.

After about six hours of labor, I gave birth to Donovan. Besides meeting and marrying Josh, it was the most amazing experience of my life. We stare at this beautiful little guy every day in awe of God's goodness--how He perfectly formed this person, our son, and entrusted his life to us. Thank You, Lord, for this gift!

Stayed tuned for more Merrill Family news. This is the last post on this blog, but Josh and I will be starting a family blog soon! (And in "mommy time," "soon" could be a few weeks, haha!)

Love to you all,

Angie, Josh, and Donovan

Almost 38 weeks...and the serious countdown begins!

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. This little momma's been busy! I will be 38 weeks along tomorrow and this photo was taken earlier this week, at technically 37 1/2 weeks. :)

My tummy looks really big in this picture! Whoa. Baby Donovan is growing of course (according to babycenter.com he's about 6.8 lbs now and 19.5 inches). I still feel like my stomach is smaller than I imagined it would be and from other preggy women I've seen this far along--but that is great! I'm hoping for a seven-pounder, and since Josh weighed nearly 11 lbs. at birth (yes, God bless his momma!) I was worried in the beginning that I was going to have a huge baby, haha!

Feeling lots of movement every day. Donovan has been in the correct, "head down" position since about 30 weeks. He hasn't "dropped" yet (a settling lower into the pelvis to prepare for birth), so I feel him sometimes on my ribs, which is more uncomfortable than painful for a few minutes. It seems to help if I elongate my torso by sitting up straighter or change positions.

I got a fabulous pregnancy massage this week at Aveda Spa, thanks to my friend Sherri who got me a gift certificate for Mother's Day. (Thank you again, Sherri!!!) It was soooooo awesome. I could go for one of those every day. With my mid-back feeling more strained in these last few weeks, I'm so glad I saved the gift certificate until I got futher along. I told the masseuse I wish I could have her there with me when I go into labor, because I hear being as relaxed as possible is the key, and boy was I relaxed! I actually had to focus on NOT falling asleep so I could consciously enjoy every minute of it. :)

"Are you ready?" is the question I'm getting asked a lot lately. Josh and I packed our bag for the hospital today, and that was pretty much the last thing we needed to do to be all set if the baby came today. Thanks to help from my mom and Josh's mom the last couple of weekends, Donovan's room is completely ready; all his clothes are washed, organized by age group, and hung up. Josh and I love going into his room. The decor is so happy and colorful and it's neat to imagine our baby there.

Emotionally, I feel ready--very excited and thinking a lot about what it's going to be like to see and hold and cuddle Donovan. I have had a little bit of "fear of the unknown" regarding labor, because I've never experienced it before...but I pray, trust, and know that the Lord will take care of everything. Physically, Donovan's ready (at 37 weeks, a baby is considered full term) and so am I, although I haven't hit that miserably uncomfortable state that many women say they experience toward the end. I'm still at work (I want to use my time off to be with my baby), and have a good amount of energy.

And so, the countdown continues... Can't wait!

34 Weeks

Donovan is growing and growing! He's about 4.75 lbs. now, according to the books. When I see photos of myself at 12 weeks, I can hardly believe it's me! And when I look at my pre-pregnancy shirts they look so small! It's strange to think there was ever I time I fit into them, haha!

Having some mid-back pain now as I'm supporting more weight in front, so I may soon need to see a chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy. Six weeks away seems very short at times, but when I'm hot or having back or sciatica pain, it sure seems like a long ways away, haha! It's all worth it though. God bless! :)

Video: My Preggo Journey

Hi everyone - Check out this video Josh made for me as a surprise for my baby shower in San Diego last month. What a sweetheart! :)

First Braxton-Hicks contraction & 33 weeks

I had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions on Saturday night. Josh and I were at our friends Matt and Jamie's house playing cards, and at about 10:30 p.m. I said, "I feel funny." I had been craving lemonade for weeks and Matt and Jamie happened to have some (yes!) so I had a big glass with dinner. At first I thought the acidity from the lemonade or dinner was not sitting well with me. Then after a few seconds, my whole stomach got really tight and hard and uncomfortable. "I think I'm having a contraction," I told them. Then Jamie described perfectly what I was feeling. I'm so glad she was there. I'd like to think I would have figured it out eventually, but it was so good to have a friend and three-time mom there to reassure me. The guys were interested at first, and then they realized all our talking and bonding was infringing upon card time, haha!

It last several minutes, and then came back about 10 minutes later but not quite as long or intense. I felt really warm and prickly afterward, like I was having a hot flash. Jamie assured me that was normal, too. :)

I didn't have any contractions yesterday. For the past three or four weeks, my pregnancy book/journal asks you to indicate whether or not you've had any contractions, and I haven't had any, so it's kind of cool to be able to say "yes" now, and know what they feel like.

Donovan is 33 weeks as of yesterday and should be about 4 lbs and 17 inches long. I've been a little more uncomfortable lately as I've definitely "popped" now and I have to sit tall and elongated so that my ribs don't tempt Donovan to play the harp with them with his feet or so they don't dig into my ever-expanding uterus. Had some mid- and lower back pain and sciatica pain this week. I'm so blessed that I'm just barely starting to experience the major discomforts of pregnancy...but it's going to be a long seven more weeks, haha!

32 Weeks!

Can you believe we are less than eight weeks away from meeting Donovan?!! I can't wait! Well...yes I can, because there's lots to do yet to prepare for our little prince's arrival. At our 30-week check-up and sonogram, Donovan's head was already down, which is great!

He's definitely taking up more and more real estate in my tummy (he is about 3.75 lbs. and 16.7 inches long and should gain about a half a pound per week in the next seven weeks...ouch for momma!) and moving lots and lots. It's fun to watch my stomach warp and move as he kicks and turns. I'm feeling a bit more pressure on my back and against my ribs at times. But it's all worth it. :)

San Diego Baby Shower

My heart overflows with gratitude (or is that the shortness of breath from Donovan pushing increasingly on my ribs and diaphram? hehehehe).

Thank you, Grammy Sue, for throwing us such a cool shower at your home in San Diego! We loved the beach them with the monkeys on surfboards literally hanging from the rafters! Everything was so adorable and perfect.

Thank you Mom, Adeena, Sherri, Darah, Stacy, and Willy for all your help! And thank you to the rest of my family, friends, and neighbors who came to celebrate this blessing with us and shower Baby Donovan with awesome gifts. (Peggy wins the award for furthest distance traveled, coming all the way from Alpine. Thank you Peggy!!) You all are such gifts in our lives, and Josh and I are extremely grateful.