Grandma's Visit

Brad's Mom came on the Monday before Thanksgiving, and she stayed until this past Thursday. She was SUCH a big help with absolutely everything!

Here's Brad and I on Thanksgiving Day, only two days before Isaac decided to come!

Grandma let December help with all kinds of baking, and December LOVED it!

Here's a picture Brad's Mom took of us as I was in labor and we were heading to the hospital (I had a hard time mustering up that smile!)

December loved playing with Grandma and reading books. I really don't know what I would have done without her! She kept December occupied, cooked all of the meals, did cleaning and laundry and anything else you could think of! She was absolutely wonderful. It was so nice to have her around!

Grandma getting to hold her new grandson


Isaac's first doctor's appointment, at four days old -- the nurse is trying to get his temperature, and he is NOT enjoying it!

The three of us in bed, getting some much-needed sleep!

Brad's papers were due on Friday, and I think he's pretty happy to have those out of the way! Although that doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet. His first exam is on Thursday, and between now and then he's got tons of reading to do for his classws, plus Greek notes to do, which are very time-consuming and tedious! He's a very busy man right now -- we can't wait until finals are done and we get to go to Michigan for Christmas!

Our Precious Isaac Bradley

Our sweet Isaac, right after he was born, under the warming light.

Me getting to hold Isaac for the first time!

Brad holding a sleepy Isaac on the night he was born

Isaac in his hospital bed

A close-up of our precious boy

Brad loves his little boy!

Getting ready to leave the hospital, in his going-home outfit

December welcoming Isaac home (he's not very happy, though)

Me with my two children...

Grandma with Isaac

On Saturday, November 29 at 2:53pm, Isaac Bradley arrived! Here's how it all went...

I woke up Saturday morning around 5:00am feeling strange. I felt sick and contraction-y and started having diarrhea. I started timing contractions, and they were about 15 minutes apart. Just before 7:00am and between trips to the bathroom, I told Brad that I suspected I was in labor. We timed contractions then, and they were just under 10 minutes apart. Around 8:00am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart. I was waiting to go into the hospital because I didn't want to labor while I was completely attached to monitoring machines and stuck in a hospital bed. When the contractions became 2-3 minutes apart, not too long after 8:00am, I still didn't go in because they weren't super intense yet. But Brad and I got cleaned up, Brad found a replacement for his Saturday shift at the library, and Brad packed everything in the van.

When the contractions became stronger, we headed to the hospital shortly after 11:00am. They checked me, and I was already 6cm dialated. That made me very happy! I got strapped to those monitoring machines and an IV stuck in my arm, and by 1:00pm I had dialated to 8cm. At that point, we let them break my water, and my labor became really intense. The baby was turned face-up, so I did end up having back labor. Around 2:15pm, they checked me again and I was still at 8cm. That completely took the wind out of my sails and I started begging for an epidural, thinking I could not handle any more of the intense pain. Brad and I went back and forth about it, him reminding me that I had wanted to do this without medication and me thinking I wanted to die. At 2:35 I had dialated to 9cm. As they headed the epidural cart toward my room, my doctor walked past and said, "She's getting an epidural?! This late?! Let's see what we can do..." So he came in and pushed the rest of the cervix around the baby's head and told me to start pushing. I pushed twice, and Isaac came out! With no tearing, too! At the end, the baby turned and came out just the way he was supposed to -- a BIG answer to prayer! The entire labor went very well, and we are so thankful that God answered our prayers.

Isaac Bradley weighs 7lbs 12 oz and is 19 inches long. He's healthy and has super dark hair like Brad. And we love him to bits!

Isaac's First Video

8 More Days...

December hanging out in her pajamas, taken just a few minutes ago...

Here she's showing us her newly painted pink toenails (she got to pick out a nail polish color for herself at the store a little while ago. She chose pink, naturally, and then promptly dropped the nail polish bottle on the floor of the store, where it exploded. I had to go find some poor maintenance kid to clean up the hot pink mess, and I was both embarrassed for myself and sorry for him at the same time!) But anyways, we got another bottle -- I got smart and didn't let her hold it this time -- and she's quite proud of her nails now!

Here I am, very pregnant...

December has been sick this week with diarrhea. No fun! Especially as the potty training with December is just finishing up...we had a few accidents, and cleaning that up was not cool AT ALL, as you might imagine. Both she and her friend Samuel had it, and then later this week I got it, too. But I think we're all better now, thankfully! Brad's stayed the healthiest so far, which is amazing considering all of the stress he's under! The semester is coming to a close, and it's always crazy, but this is definitely the hardest semester so far! He's still writing his papers (if you think of him, please pray for him!) and trying to get as much done as he can before the baby is born.

And that could be any day now! I am due one week from tomorrow. At my doctor's appointment, the baby's back was along my right side, which was great news! The doctor said that the baby's head hasn't engaged yet (the baby hasn't dropped into the birth canal), and that means he/she will probably be moving and twisting all around yet until it decides to engage itself. I have dialated to 1cm, though! Yay! Brad's Mom flies in tomorrow afternoon, and we're excited to have her come. I'm hoping we can do some fun things before Baby comes...after which I'm guessing we'll be quite house-bound!