In my last post, I mentioned my trip to the ER. Well, I had to go have another procedure on Nov. 9th. That one was even more severe and I spent 7 straight hours later that day in excruciating unrelenting agony. After spending months with a bad case of SPD pain and then this problem in my last month, it was just getting to be so much. I really think that spending those hours on the 9th in that kind of pain made my body say “ok, it’s time to get this baby out”. The following morning at 5:30am I woke up with contractions. Not Braxton Hicks, the real ones. So, at exactly 38 weeks pregnant, I knew that this was the day!

Ron took some photos of me that morning:

While we were waiting for the contractions to be regular and 5 minutes apart, I passed a pretty big blood clot, and that scared us enough to want to get checked out at the hospital, so we left around 10:30am to go do that. We took a photo in the parking lot by the sign (same thing we did last time when Jaimee was born):

I just love the trees in the background. It was a gorgeous fall day!

They checked me out & monitored me and determined that baby and I were ok and that we should go home until contractions were regular. So now it was 12:30pm and I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced.

We went home and labored some more. My sister Missy arrived and brought us lunch (the yummiest caprese sandwiches from the Nugget) and we waited. By 3:00pm we were headed back to the hospital… the contractions were coming fast and hard! I went from 5 minutes apart to 2 minutes by the time we reached the hospital! In triage they said I was 5cm dilated and I wanted my epidural ASAP. By the time I got it and they checked me again, I was 8cm.

Me, happy and pain free, with Ron – we’re so excitied!

And ohhhhh, that epidural. I was so thankful. It was the first time in months I was feeling no pain. And there I was with my ideal birthing situation with Ron and my sisters by my side. I was so enjoying it, I was in no hurry for baby to arrive.

Me with my sisters Juli and Missy:

The epidural slowed the progress waaaaaayyyyyyy down. By 9:30 pm I began thinking that maybe the baby would wait until after midnight and have a birthday of 11-11-11. But at 10:40p my water broke (more like EXPLODED – it shook me and the hospital bed!) and Bennett starting coming. I let the contractions do the work, gave one genuine push, and there he was at 11:04pm!

I created a layout with a photo taken just before leaving the hospital. A family of six!

(using all Basic Grey digital)

and then a page with photos I took yesterday:

(using all Designer Digitals – click for larger view and details). I just love how those photos turned out!

So now we’re settling in to life with a new member in our family. He’s nursing well, yay! Now we just need to get his days and nights turned around. We’re so happy and feeling so blessed to have a beautiful healthy baby boy in our family. And I’m so glad I’m not pregnant anymore.

Let’s start with some crazy good. Like how you can win a Basic Grey collection of your choice!! Check out today’s Basic Grey blog post. If you create a layout based on today’s “Basic Sketch”:

"Basic Sketch" Nov. 7, 2011

I mentioned in my last post another Basic Grey blog post with a layout of mine, but couldn’t share the layout here at that time. Here it is now:

This uses the Lauderdale Collection from Basic Grey Digital. So vibrant and fun and perfect for Holly’s tropical-themed birthday party.

One of my favorite Basic Grey creations so far is this layout using a photo from when Holly and other family and I were at the mall… we turned around to see her being this adorable:

What a cutie!! She makes me smile all. the. time.

Ok, ready for some just plain crazy? First, I’ve got only about 2.5 weeks left in this pregnancy. That is CRAZY! My most recent page documenting the pregnancy:

(all supplies from DesignerDigitals.com, click image for larger view and details)

What’s even crazier… early in the morning on Saturday Oct. 22, Ron was awakened by excruciating pain. He’d had an episode about a week before with terrible pain in his back. Now it was worse and was radiating around his right side and a bit in front too. I finally convinced him he needed to go to the ER. If you’re one of my FB friends, you saw me post about the saga. Turns out it was gall stones and he had sugery that evening to remove his gall bladder. I spent the first night in the hospital with him and was so glad I could. He was able to come home late the following night (Sunday). He was mostly recovered within a week. Which is a good thing because…

Are you ready for more craziness?! That week, I starting having some outrageous pain myself. Thank goodness Ron’s mom was here for the week to help with meals and stuff since Ron and I were both incapacitated. That Sunday, it became so bad, I couldn’t take it anymore… the pain coming from a pregnancy-induced problem. Ummm… I hate to say the ugly word, but it was… hemmorhoids. If you’ve never had a serious case of these, you have no idea how painful and incapaciating these can be. There are actually lots of nerve endings there. Anyway, Ron took me to the ER. They couldn’t offer the full hemmorhoidectomy surgery since I’m pregnant, but they were able to do a smaller procedure. Within three days, I could tell it was a good decision as I was able to at least be up and around and take care of the kids. My OB has told me to stay resting for the rest of the pregnancy. Thank goodness it’s not too much longer!

I hope to be updating this blog within a couple weeks and share some wonderful baby news and happy just-had-a-baby kind of craziness!

It’s getting pretty tough now. The pain from the Sympysis Pubis Dysfunction has kept me reclining for most of the day. Even just sitting upright is bad and makes things worse. Things should resolve after the baby comes as long as we’re careful and don’t cause further injury during the delivery. And nope, still no name! We may just leave the hospital with “Baby Boy Summers” like we did with Jaimee!

Today, my first assigment was posted on the Basic Grey blog! The challenge was to use their Lauderdale collection including three specific products from that line. You can see that blog post here. I think my page turned out pretty cute!

On Saturday, this page:

was featured at Gallery Standouts, yay! Love when that happens!

Ok, time for me to get out of this chair! Ouch!

Yesterday I hit 30 weeks. I can’t believe I’m in the home stretch of this pregnancy. It’s going so fast now! As I’m looking forward to meeting our son, I scrapped a page about things I’m looking forward to this fall:

This was fun to make and I challenge you to make a no-photo layout or a layout about things you’re looking forward to. Be sure to post a link so I can see it and give you some love!

Did you watch America’s Got Talent this summer? I completely fell in love with Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. and his velvet voice. I would seriously pay money to see him perform and I really couldn’t say that about any of the other performers. If you missed out, start by watching his audition. My mouth dropped open when I saw this… a magic moment:

If you want to see more, my fave performances of his were Fly Me To The Moon and Kick In The Head. Wow! I guarantee I will be buying his CD when it comes out. And I truly do hope I can see him perform live someday.

Drew and Holly started school:

and it’s going well. I’m so pleased. I’m sad that they’re not home with me and Jaimee and I miss them, but I’m happy they’re doing so well. Drew made the football team and has already played a couple games. It’s fun for the whole family! Can’t wait to scrap some of the cool pics I’ve taken with the 70-300 lens (I rarely get a chance to use that thing). Holly’s making all kinds of friends and loving it!

And last, but not least, the announcement has been made so now I can share… I was asked to join the Basic Grey Design Team!

I am so geeked out. I have been a Basic Grey fan forevah… since they first came out in my paper scrapping days. Ever. since. then, I have waited and hoped they would have a DT call. And of course… applying is one thing. It’s a dream come true to have been asked to join the team! I’m so psyched! Be sure to keep your eye on the Basic Grey Blog (bookmark and/or add to your reader!) so you can see some great stuff and be inspired!

supplies by: Katie Pertiet, Anna Aspnes, Ali Edwards, template #9 by Nettio Designs

Other fun pages I’ve created lately about some of our activities this summer:
(click for larger versions and supplies details)

The kids go back to school next week. *pout* They’re super excited (especially Holly) so I’m glad for that. I’ll just miss them being home and the fun and casual living of summer break. Here’s a wrap up of our favorite things about this summer:

(supplies: Nettio Designs FAVE-OR-ITES Vol. 3 template, everything else DesignerDigitals.com)

Hope you’re all having a lovely August!