Chloe's birth story - One year later

The plight of the second pregnancy/child - not nearly as much documentation of the process. I remember taking a photo every month while I was pregnant with Blake. Now I'm lucky I have any photos of myself, let alone while I was pregnant with Chloe. I'm always the one behind the camera. I've reflected on this a lot and have decided to document our pregnancy/birth story, with what I can remember and with the few pictures I have.

My pregnancy with Chloe was easy - tired the first trimester, felt amazing during the second trimester and back to being tired and swollen the third trimester. I have a love/hate relationship with being pregnant. I love it until I just don't any more, usually around the 32 week mark. It FLEW by - running around after a three year old and working part-time will do that.

Joe and I at my cousin's wedding - 27 weeks pregnant

36 or 37 weeks pregnant. My underwater photoshoot. I cried before going - I was huge, I didn't have anything to wear, there's no way I could do this. Probably one of the best things I could have done - I have never felt so beautiful. Thanks Bonnie!

I was ELEVEN days late. My due date was November 25. I remember my dad jokingly saying to me, when I found out when I was due, to hold out for his birthday on December 1.  I thought, that's not very nice! Little did I know, she wasn't ready to make an appearance until much later. 

I had left for Thanksgiving break from school, anxious for her arrival, and when that came and went, my boss texted me that Sunday night before school resumed and said, "Are you really still pregnant?!" I think I ate spicy foods every day. Like, thai hot spicy. I walked everywhere. I ate eggplant. I ate spicy eggplant. I drank a million cups of Raspberry Leaf Tea. I saw two different acupuncturists three times. I rubbed my pressure points. I got a pedicure. I went to the chiropractor. This kid DID NOT want to come out.

It was a Friday. I had my membranes stripped and saw the acupuncturist at the birth center. She thought for sure I'd be there that night having this baby.  The night came and went. Saturday, I went back to have my membranes stripped again. I would be two weeks late on Monday, meaning, if this kid didn't come before then, I'd be transferring my care to the hospital. Low and behold, my water broke at noon that day! To be honest, I wasn't really sure if that's what it was, because it definitely wasn't like how they portray it in the movies. I unfortunately left out that piece of info when I called my midwife later when I was having some pretty painful, but irregular contractions. By 4pm, I was in full on labor, still at home! I couldn't believe how fast it was happening. Joe called Bonnie, our doula and Shaunti, our midwife, and told them the baby was coming!

Thankfully Bonnie lived close to us and was at the house in no time. My mom walked in the door soon after, just arriving from the airport with my brother. We immediately left for the birth center. I remember sitting at the stop light at Foothills and Arapahoe, breathing through my contractions, thinking, good God, this sucks. Joe grabbed my hand, with the most excited look on his face and said, "We get to find out what the baby is!" Murphy's Law, we got every single red light on the way - when we finally arrived, I thought this baby was going to be born in Joe's truck in the parking lot of the birth center! We beat Shaunti there, as she lived in Denver, so Bonnie ran in and immediately started filling the birthing tub. These things are HUGE and take some time to fill. I wasn't going to be able to have this baby in the water unless the tub was filled, so I had to "wait". Ha!

The rest is really a blur of pain and then sweet relief. All I can remember is that we arrived at the birth center around 4:30pm and Chloe Elizabeth Leggett made her appearance at around 5pm. Yup, that fast.

It was such a wonderful, happy, painful, joyful experience. I had the birth experience I wanted and it was beautiful. And here we are, over one year later. 

One year ago...

My how things have changed in a year. I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately over the last couple of years. Many amazing things have happened in what seems like such a short time - engagement, completion of graduate school, bought a house, moved to Colorado, marriage, and what I can honestly say has been the biggest life changer out of that list: a child! 

A year ago today, I found out I was pregnant with whom I now know to be the sweetest, cutest firecracker of a little boy. I say "firecracker" because already, this boy has his mama's temper. He's passionate and strong-willed. He's also a Scorpio. I am an Aries. Two fire signs. I can already foresee the teenage years being an interesting time in the Leggett household. Good thing we have Joe to balance things out.

Here's our story from one year ago:

Valentine's Day was approaching. Joe and I decided not to get each other gifts. I did get him a sweet card and some Costa Rican chocolate (two of his favorite things), but nothing big. Joe left for work while I began my day before I had to go to work in the afternoon. My period was late (I was at about 32 days), but really, it was always all over the place, so I didn't think too much of it. In the few months prior to this, I had also been this late, taken pregnancy tests and they came out negative. So I thought, "Well, I just take one for the heck of it. I totally won't be pregnant." I wait the five minutes, again, thinking nothing of it, and take a peek when the time is up. Two pink lines = pregnant. My first thought was, "No, this can't be right. I'm not pregnant. No f-ing way." I proceed to pace around my house like a madwoman for about an hour, every so often going back in the bathroom to look at the test, to see if it was still the same. I mean, what do I do from here? I can't call Joe and tell him over the phone while he's at work. But I have to do something, right? Go to the doctor, make sure it's real? So, I went to a clinic at our local Walgreen's - the doctor chuckles, "Sweetie, the pregnancy test I do here is the same one you did at home. If that told you that you were pregnant, than you are. Get some prenatal vitamins and start taking good care of yourself. Congratulations!" Holy shit. It was real. 

How was I going to tell Joe?! I didn't want to just tell him, I wanted to make it special. Another thing, I worked nights, so I wasn't going to be home until late. I had to do something to keep the suspense going until I got home. I didn't want him going to bed before I could tell him! This is what I did: I purchased a onesie that said, "Dad thinks I'm rad", wrapped it up with the positive pregnancy test and attached a note saying not to open it until I got home. I left it on the kitchen counter and skipped off to work, just counting down until my work day was done. 

I got home that night and he opened it. He was also in shock - it was like the gift didn't make sense. "Why are you giving me this onesie? Ooooh..." Once it sunk in, we hugged and smiled. It was a day of disbelief, wonder and joy. 

Here are some photos from that day, one year ago:

And here we are, one year later...

Happy Valentine's Day to Joe and Blake, the two best Valentines a girl could ask for :)

Blake Monahan Leggett

He has arrived! He was brought into this world on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 3:16pm at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. It wasn't the birth we were expecting, however, the end result was definitely what we hoped for - a healthy baby boy. He was 8 pounds, 21 inches - long and lean. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks - yes, it has taken about 3 1/2 weeks to get my bearings and get him down for a nap so I can do other things. It's still so surreal to me - this life with baby. All I can say is, "Wow".

Moments after being born.

The next day, tired and ready to go home.

Burrito-style.

He loves his Memere.

Blake's first diaper change at home.

Quiet moment with Daddy. He looks so small when he's with Joe.

Two days old, Blake was able to celebrate his first Halloween!

Moby wrap nap with Daddy.

Ah, milk drunk. Love that adorable smile.

Morning nap.

Two weeks old!

Blake loving his handmade quilt by Brenda. Beautiful!

Sunday Football, cheering on the Patriots!

Blake's first trip to the park.

Three weeks and four days old today. Amazing <3

Blake's Birth Announcement

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Week 39, Day 7 and Week 40, Day 1!

The due date is finally here! I know this day doesn't mean much to the little guy, but it sure means a lot to those of us who have been anxiously awaiting his arrival. We're ready to meet the little dude! Any time, Blake, any time...

38 weeks, 1 day

Two weeks from today until the due date! We can't believe how time has flown by - it seriously feels like we just found out we were pregnant and now, he's almost here! He's definitely dropped in the last week and I've been having more Braxton-Hicks contractions in the last two weeks. He's getting ready to come! And we can't wait to meet him! 

35 weeks, 5 days