time to revive this blog.

Top Ten Things that have happened since I last blogged (eight months ago):

1 - my nephew, Kalen, braved major brain surgery in hopes to alleviate his symptoms of Chiari Malformation.

this is what a hero looks like

2 - Charlotte celebrated her first Easter. We were excited. She didn't really care.

our little Easter bunny

3 - We went on a trip to Florida and Charlotte earned her wings. She handles flights like a champ, btw.

this picture straight up kills me

4 - Charlotte and I took a trip to Colorado for Liz & Sarah Thoma's wedding.

5 - Charlotte started walking and then turned one. We celebrated. I cried. She ate cake. I cried again.

6 - Morgan turned another year older and realized that he now needs TWO boxes of candles for his cake.

Morgan turned 25 on the 4th of July

6 - Suspicions confirmed - I'm knocked up. Due April 22.

shock of the century

7 - We took another trip -- this time to North Carolina. We brought Morgan along, too.

8 - I went to a Justin Bieber concert. Like a boss.

Bieber crew

9 - Charlotte swallowed a button, was taken to the ER, got an X-ray, and never pooped the dang thing out.

I don't have any pictures of the button - so enjoy this one of my child being adorable instead

10 - I was put on bed rest. Thanks a heap, low-lying placenta.

Bed rest = no make-up and sexy clothes.... and being your toddler's jungle gym

Why do I suck at blogging? Who knows. Clearly I'm unmotivated. But since I am on bed rest and bored out of my skull, I decided that this would be a fun thing to do during nap time. So now you'll get to hear about the joys of sitting on the couch for several hours each day, pregnancy with a toddler, being "unable" to lift your child, and my life of being waited on hand and foot. (Which is actually much worse than one would think...)

I know you're excited. I am. :) 

sweet kalen

as many of you may know, my five-year-old nephew, kalen, was diagnosed with chiari malformation last february. chiari malformation is a serious neurological disorder where the bottom part of the brain - the cerebellum - descends out of the skull and crows the spinal cord, putting pressure on both the brain and spine and causing many symptoms. (source)

the symptoms for chiari are wide ranging, diverse, and affect everyone differently. some common symptoms include: severe headaches; extreme pain in the neck & shoulders; trouble swallowing and sometimes speaking; loss of bladder & bowel control; loss of fine motor control; weakness, stiffness, and pain the the arms & legs; balance problems; numbness in hands & feet; and the inability to feel hot & cold.

tomorrow, kalen and his parents (jake & stephanie maine) will travel to chicago and prepare for kalen's decompression surgery, which will be done on monday, march 26. during decompression surgery, kalen's neurosurgeon (dr. frim) will remove a piece of kalen's skull to make more room for his brain. the surgery will last approximately 3-4 hours, and he will spend about a week in the hospital. recovery can take several months.

kalen jacob maine. my nephew & my hero.
photo by Cast of Thousands Photography

i am telling you all of this so you know how you can help. wilton is a small community and in a way, we are one big family. on may 19 from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, the first annual team kalen carnival for chiari will be held at the wilton high school track and field. there will be a variety of activities in which to take part, such as: a run/walk-a-thon, bounce house, children's games, raffle, concession stands, baked goods, kid's dash, cake walk, face paintings, and many more. it will be a great day to gather up the family, have fun, make memories, bring awareness to the chiari foundation, as well as raise money for a good cause. all proceeds will go to kalen's medial bills as well as the chiari foundation.

the maine family.
kaedon, steph (holding kinnick), krue, jake, and kalen

together we can raise awareness! please visit our website for more information. if you are interested in volunteering, donating, becoming a team kalen sponsor or joining the run/walk-a-thon, please contact us at goteamkalen@gmail.com

we hope to see everyone there!

piglets and other springtime adventures

i can't complain about this past winter in iowa. it has been pretty easy, and now it seems spring is making an earlier than expected arrival. (knock on wood.) today was absolutely beautiful. it was in the mid-to-low 70s and sunny. we totaled 3 walks around town (one with steph and 3/4 of the maine boys), 2+ hours of fun in the sun, and an evening of grilling out. charlotte is extremely interested in the sounds of the outdoors. she was intrigued by passing cars, walking children, and bicycles. she also got to see & hear her first set of cardinals! (grandma alsman is always close by!)

just a few of charlie's favorite cousins!

today in our front yard, enjoying some vitamin d!

last weekend we visited some adorable 3-week-old piglets at morgan's parent's house. charlotte was initially startled, as the piggies loudly and rowdily decided to eat. (man, am i happy i am NOT a mama sow... those pigs are ROUGH!) one piglet locked eyes with charlotte and that's when the water works began. it didn't last long - daddy got her calmed down and she soon became extremely curious. it wasn't long before she was sticking her little hand out and petting the piglets. she's already more of a farm girl than i ever was!

on sunday, charlotte and i went shopping with my mom and sister. we stopped at theissen's (no, i do not shop there... cassie and mom wanted to stop!) and they had sweet little baby chickens for sale!! charlotte was IN LOVE with them. i would have brought some home had i known where to keep them. i took a short little video of them and charlie watches it every day, giggling and clapping the entire time!

charlotte has also started saying "kitty cat" whenever our family cat, weasley, enters the room. he hates her - it's pretty sad. she is absolutely obsessed with him and follows him everywhere, whispering "kitty cat, kitty cat" over and over. he is a giant jerk and runs away, usually hissing. charlie also got a new tooth (an eye tooth - vampire baby!) and is eating solids like a champ. papa mays proudly taught her how to lift up her arms when we say she is SOOOOO big! she follows this action with a big grin and lots of clapping.   :)

this saturday we will head to vanderveer park to get her 9-month photos taken. i can't believe how fast this is going! it seems like only yesterday we were heading to the hospital to birth our sweet babe!

terrorizing weasley, ironically in her orange kitty cat jammies

-the mays'

procrastination!

i always think i'll find time to get to the blog, but time seems to slip away from me! it appears as though it has been 6 months (GASP) since my last blog. this also means that my sweet daughter is 6 months older - which makes me a little bit sad.

a recap of the past few months:

october: we had our first annual outing to wilson's orchard to get our pumpkins. charlotte was a cat for halloween. she was pretty cute.

november: we ate turkey. charlotte had her usual - milk. had a fun visit from morgan's cousin, damian, and his wife, victoria.

december: big month for charlie girl. she got her first tooth, learned how to sit unassisted, and started eating foods (started with avocado - she is not a fan, btw.) we celebrated our first christmas as a family and had an absolute blast. we also got to visit with our kentucky family - we love and miss them!

january: more baby milestones! charlie began clapping and pulling herself up to stand. (yikes.) i quit my job and began staying home with charlotte full time! WOOOOOO!!! charlie became the most popular baby at area wrestling meets. we also started a business.

february: baby girl is on a roll - she began waving bye-bye and crawling. (charlotte officially needs a helmet.) celebrated valentine's day and spent lots of time snuggling! charlie got her first "real" booboo - a picture frame fell and hit her on the head:(  also celebrated uncle logan's sweet 16!

that brings us to march - hello, march! so far this month, sweet charlie girl surprised me by using sign language for the first time!! we have been signing with charlie since she was 6 months old (just a few things for now, such as: milk, more, finished, bath.) yesterday afternoon she signed to me that she would like some milk! so off we went to nurse. i was so proud, i could have bursted!

so to touch on a couple of things i mentioned about the last 6 months....

I AM NOW A STAY AT HOME MOM (SAHM)!!!!!!!! easily the best decision i have ever made. there is nothing better than being there for every breath of charlotte's life. i swear she looks at me differently now, knowing that i'm by her side every single day.

the only way i am able to stay home is through the business we have started, which is already off to a good start. we are so excited to get everything rolling!!

we just re-painted our the entire downstairs of our house... i must say - WE LOVE IT. my sister-in-law, steph, chose all of our colors (because i am design-illiterate) and they look absolutely amazing. i will post photos when i have a chance.

i have been trying to stay busy by helping with the Carnival for Chiari. our nephew, kalen, was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation last winter and requires brain surgery - which will take place march 26 in chicago. we are putting on a carnival to raise money for the medical bills they have sustained as well as for the chiari foundation. the Carnival will take place on may 19 at the wilton high school track. if anyone is interested in being a part of the carnival or donating their time, please let me know!! we need all the help and support we can get.

i'm going to try to get back into my groove with a weekly blog. i may need a reminder from time to time so feel free to harass me:)

dinner and baby girl are calling....

-the mays'

playing catch up

i have a lot to catch up on since i last blogged, so here it goes! (get ready for a photo overload!)

our little hawkeye fan

charlie had a check up on september 12th (11 weeks old) and she continues to grow. she weighed 11 pounds and was 23 inches in length. she fell to the 36th percentile in weight and 55th percentile in height. still no signs of a "maine head" - 53rd percentile for head size. the doctor said she isn't concerned as long as charlie "finds her place" on the chart. in my opinion, we would know if something is wrong with charlotte. she is fed on demand (which is generally every two hours) and has a healthy number of dirty diapers each day. reglardless, i refuse to supplement with formula. it's just not for us. we go back in mid-november for another check up.

on september 17, we attended the conquer chiari walk across america in burlington in support of our nephew, kalen, who has chiari malformation. chiari malformation is a brain disorder consisting of the downward displacement of the cerebullar tonsils through the opening at the base of the skull. it causes headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness in the head and face, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, nausea, impaired coordination, and, in severe cases, paralysis. kalen had an amazing support group show up for the one-mile walk around crapo park. hopefully, with the money raised for chiari research, a cure can be found.

TEAM KALEN

us with kalen

the maines

after the walk, i helped get my sister, cassie, and morgan's sister, christina, ready for their homecoming dance. this was cassie's first homecoming and i am just baffled at the fact that she is in high school!! both cassie and christina looked absolutely stunning.

and now for sad news...i started back to work last week. :(!!! monday was definitely one of the hardest days of my life. my sister-in-law, steph, is taking care of charlie during the week until morgan's mom is finished with her seasonal job. my grandma takes charlie on wednesdays which is AWESOME because my grandma lives near my office, so i get to nurse charlie on my lunch breaks. it is so hard leaving her behind for so many hours, but we are so grateful that she is getting such wonderful care!! the only thing that is kind of a bummer is her new dependency on bottles. charlie had been exclusively breastfed up until last week. now she gets a few bottles a day while being babysat, which has made her extremely fussy and impatient when at the breast! silly little girl is quite picky. she will learn!



this past weekend, we had planned a trip to saint louis for the cardinals/cubs game. this was my anniversary gift for morgan and we were SO excited! it was our first family trip and my first MLB game! we were a little over halfway there when the odometer, speedometer, and cruise control all stopped working. confused, we pulled over at the nearest parking lot and shut off the car in an effort to "reboot" the system. when we did this, the car decided to stop working properly and would only go in 5th gear or reverse. so morgan got on the phone with our insurance agent immediately while i got our sweet baby out of her carseat and nursed her. (she had been asleep for the entire 3 hours we had been on the road!!) morgan was calling everyone - ford dealerships, towing companies, etc. trying to get everything figured out. meanwhile, charlie took a massive poo that ended up shooting up her back and leaking through her clothes. i got charlotte cleaned up while morgan continued on his quest to get our car situation figured out. finally, we discovered there was a ford dealership in the very town we had broken down in (palmyra, missouri) and they said they'd come get us. (this was after morgan discovered we had a premium warranty on our car, covering all expenses.) we spent a few hours at the ford dealership, realizing our hopes of making it to the 12:00 cardinals game were dashed. finally, the mechanic told us that we had an intermittent sensor issue and the part wouldn't be in until tuesday. he said the car would run and work just fine, but the issue would appear again at some point - but he didn't know when. we decided that it was best to get a rental car since we had charlie with us. we didn't want to get 20 miles down the road and have the same issue. so we got driven to the nearest car rental place - which was in quincy, illinois. charlie and i sat in the van with the lady who drove us while morgan went and got our car squared away. this is when charlie started to get a little impatient. she began fussing, so i nursed her. but then, after a while, she wouldn't calm down. i was trying everything i could until suddenly, i felt it. poop. all the way up her back, around her sides, and all over her onesie. again. my kid is a poop machine, i tell you!! so i get charlie all cleaned up and morgan gets the keys to our kick ass hybrid honda insight hatchback. LOL! we feel like complete tools in that dang car. after we got the car, we decided we should just drive home. we pulled in our drive around 3:00 pm - about 10 hours after we left. what a disaster!!! all we can do is laugh because it's just one of those things. we are all safe and that is all that matters. we were very fortunate to break down in podunk, missouri versus saint louis! perhaps the most devastating detail of the entire situation (for me) was the fact that charlotte didn't even get to wear her adorable cardinals outfit i had bought her. so, i put it on her today so it didn't go to waste. :)



the rest of the fall seems like it'll be pretty busy. morgan's brothers, logan and jerome, are both in football, so we try to make it to all of their games as weather permits. morgan is also working like a crazy person. he does his normal 40 hours with missman each week and then works another 25-35 hours a week picking seed corn with local farmers. charlotte and i miss him dearly!! we are ready for winter and for things to slow down a bit. maybe then i'll be able to blog a little bit more! (who am i kidding?)

-the mays'

50 rules for dads of daughters

i swiped this off a friend's facebook. i promise, you'll cry. (click below.)

bring on the tears.

babbling beauty!

sweet charlie girl is now 8 weeks old and has discovered her voice!! take a look at this video posted to our new youtube account.

click...HERE!

- the mays'

7 weeks old!

smiles!

we have a growing girl on our hands! charlotte is getting so big, and her personality is starting to really shine through. at her doctor's appointment last wednesday, she weighed 10 pounds (51st percentile) and was 22 1/4" long (70th percentile). she also began smiling last week, which is amazing in itself. she still gives off serious faces for the most part, but catching a glimpse of her smiles is seriously heart-melting!

pam, the midwife who delivered charlotte.

charlie & i have been able to spend less time on the couch and more time getting things done around the house. (even though we'd much rather snuggle all day!) i've been utilizing our crockpot and making meals a couple times a week. it's been very difficult to prepare meals due to charlotte's dairy intolerance. (i can't have any dairy as it is comes through my breastmilk and causes tummy issues for charlie.) i cannot explain how difficult it is to make dinner without CHEESE! we are going on week number three without dairy, and i must say it has gotten easier. (especially since i discovered dairy-free icecream!)

with cousin kaedon.

kash was evicted a few weeks back. having a puppy and a newborn was proving to be too much to handle, especially a dog with a "disability." he began acting out due to all the changes and was chewing up everything of charlotte's that he could get his paws on. there were a million other reasons why he needed to go as well. my mom has him, and he is happy out on the farm. morgan is devastated, to say the least. :(

with cousin kalen.

we are still waiting for news of the birth of charlotte's cousin. morgan's sister, martina, is a few days overdue with baby #2 and we are so anxious for his or her arrival! we may be heading down to kentucky if time allows. morgan's bridge will begin construction soon so he will be working overtime as well as weekends, making a weekend escape nearly impossible. i go back to work in 4 weeks and i could not be more devastated about it. i feel like i need to be home with charlotte, and that she needs me too. it's going to be insanely difficult.. not looking forward to it!

lounging with daddy.

we are headed to the iowa state fair tomorrow for the kansas/doobie brothers concert. pending the weather, i may not be going since i basically have to take charlie everywhere i go. (this is the same reason i gave my motley crue ticket to my brother. also, i wasn't ready to leave charlie with a sitter yet!) however, if we are able to go, charlie has a sweet aerosmith onesie she'll have to wear! she's such a rocker. although, when i was pregnant with her, she much preferred the musical stylings of sublime than any classic rock. she's a ska baby! :)

her favorite place in the world. :)

alright, i feel like i'm rambling and i honestly don't have too much to say, so i'll take this opportunity to flood our blog with pictures of sweet charlie girl. enjoy!

-the mays'

4 weeks old

it's so hard to believe that it has been 4 weeks since we welcomed miss charlie into the world. it's even harder to remember what life was like before her. i can't believe how complete we feel - and how much fun she is! i have to admit, being first-time parents is pretty hectic - but it is even more amazing!

sweet charlie girl

in the past couple of weeks, we've gotten a little more brave about taking charlie places. morgan and i took charlotte to her first chiro appointment at robinson family wellness in north liberty. can i just say how much we love it there? if anybody in the area is looking for a GREAT chiropractor, let me know and i'll get you the information for dr. ron. you won't be disappointed! anyway - back to my original train of thought. charlie was found to be out of place in one (very common) place, so dr. ron adjusted her and we were on our way. i couldn't believe the change i saw in charlotte immediately, and even more so during her late night (and early morning) feedings. she is a much calmer baby now - which is absolutely wonderful if you ask me!

i also took charlotte into work to meet my coworkers. my sister came with me to make it a little bit easier - and i was so thankful she did! what an awesome help cassie was. she helped carry everything while charlie was fussing, and even sat in the back of the car with her on the way home to keep her calm. thank you sister!! we had fun, and it was nice to see everyone again!

this past weekend we took charlotte to a luau party in durant for some birthday & graduation celebrations. she was okay minus the terrible heat. we stayed inside most of the time and then decided to leave. it was just too hot for the sweet girl. but it was lovely seeing everybody - we were so glad to have gotten to go.

us at the luau party

when i became a mother, or rather when i discovered i was pregnant, i thought being a mom was going to be relatively easy. i worked at a daycare for 3 1/2 years, not to mention i've babysat since i was 10 years old. i didn't think i would have any issues or really need anything at all. but then i had charlotte. i don't want to call myself neurotic, because i don't feel like that's the correct term, but i'd definitely say i'm overly cautious and very concerned about every aspect of charlotte's life. for example, she recently started getting little bumps all over her face, and they spread pretty rapidly. yep, i freaked out a bit, only to find out that it's 100% normal and there's nothing i can do about it (except wait for it to clear up). another example, when nursing, sometimes charlotte becomes upset and pulls away. so i'd take her off, but she'd cry and act like she still wanted to eat. so i'd put her back on and it'd start over again. CLUELESS! i had nooo idea what was wrong, and was beginning to feel like a terrible mother due to my inability to diagnose my child's issue. i'm learning that it could be a number of things... one being a reaction to dairy in my diet, another being that baby's just fuss, or it could be that she just wants to "comfort nurse" but is unable to due to the fact that milk is coming out. soo... my solution - cutting dairy out of my diet completely, trying to soothe her in every way possible when this happens, and trying out different pacifiers to see if there is one she'd prefer over another. (ps - the nuk wins every time.) this is where other moms prove to be so, so helpful. i have relied heavily on my friend jenn, as well as a group of mothers who i've gotten to know through a pregnancy app for iPhone. (welcome to 2011, right?) their combined expertise makes me feel so much more sane again! i couldn't be more grateful for their advice. charlie and i are getting the hang of things - but it is still so wonderful to know that other people have experienced these things, too!

as for morgan and i... morgan has been extremely busy with work, which is typical for the summer months. they have been putting in a new runway at the quad city airport, so that is where he has spent most of his time... typically 10-12 hour days. you should see his tan! :)
i, on the other hand, have been enjoying maternity leave to the fullest. there's nothing i'd rather do than be at home with my sweet daughter. she is such a blessing!!! i feel like when it is all said and done, i will be able to publish a humorous book titled, "the adventures and misadventures of maternity leave: no detail left to the imagination." every single day is a new adventure, and every plan takes a left turn no matter what you do! (like this morning, for example, we were going to go downstairs and relax, maybe take a nap. then, out of nowhere, charlotte vomits all over my hair. okay! a shower will be fine instead.) either way, the time i spend with her is so precious, even if she is pooping and puking on me.

charlotte has been sleeping for quite a while, so i'm going to take this time to get some things done before we head into town. (hopefully we make it there - silly girl always has different plans for us!)

-the mays'

OH - her pictures are up on ben shirk's website! please check them out. www.shirkphotography.com

charlie updates

the last 3 weeks have flown by! we can't believe how much charlotte has already changed. she has already had some fun adventures with mom and dad, including a trip to see some fireworks. (she slept through the whole show, and did not even budge when the big "boomers" went off. she was more startled by the screamers.)

charlie had her first pediatrician appointment yesterday afternoon. after much research and interviewing, we went with dr. zuercher at the iowa city family practice. we are so happy with our decision! dr. zuercher supports our rights as parents to decide which vaccines/medications, etc. we'd like to give our child (if any). we couldn't be more impressed with the way her first appointment was handled (aside from the one hour wait). charlie is back up to her birth weight - she weighed 7 pounds 12.8 ounces yesterday, which is in the 50th percentile. she has already grown an inch in length - she is up to 20.5 inches (50th percentile) and her head size is also in the 50th percentile (which, so far, indicates she does NOT have a maine head). she got a little fussy toward the end because she was hungry, so we had to sit in the car and nurse for a good 20 minutes after her appointment. (the office closed while we were there so we couldn't hang out and nurse there.) we go back in two weeks to check her growth, and then we will basically be going back once per month until she hits a year.

tomorrow, morgan and i are putting on our brave faces and taking charlotte with us to go see the final harry potter movie. we decided to go to an early showing for a plethora of reasons, but mainly because she sleeps a lot in the morning hours. the movie is only 2 hours & 10 minutes long, so if she does wake up, it would likely only be to quickly nurse and go back to sleep. (hopefully she doesn't poo herself!) i'm just not ready to leave her with a babysitter yet, so she will just have to come with us. we're likely going to the 10:30 am showing, so we're hoping there won't be a ton of people there.

also - we got charlotte's newborn pictures done. omg. i can't even begin to explain how incredibly difficult it was to narrow it down to a few photos! they are not on the website just yet, but in a few days you will be able to go to www.shirkphotography.com, click client portraits, and her photos should be listed under mays newborn. they are truly the cutest things i've ever seen.

so far, being at home with charlie has been so amazing. i'm not sure how i'll ever go back to work. often times we sit in complete silence, just gazing at one another. i'm so worried that i'll miss out on some milestone or be too distracted to notice a smile. it is crazy how much your whole world changes once you bring a child into the world. even as i sit upstairs on the computer, i feel my body aching to go downstairs and grab her, even though i know she's safe & perfectly content in her daddy's arms. thankfully the baby blues have packed their bags and left my house - what a rollercoaster that was!!

i was going to add some photos to this blog but it is taking forever for them to upload onto the computer! i will just have to overload my next post. hope you are all enjoying your summer so far!

-the mays'

Charlotte Joanna Mays

i apologize that it has taken me two weeks to blog about our sweet daughter's birth, but believe it or not, becoming parents is very time consuming & exhausting! this is the first time i've been on a computer in weeks, even before charlie's birth. but, while she's taking a little nap, i decided to type up our birth story - or what i could remember of it!

on sunday, june 26 (our first wedding anniversary) i woke up at 6:30 am with contractions. i didn't really think much of it because i had been having them on and off for several weeks. but for some reason i got out of bed and went downstairs to relax. i got morgan's anniversary gift all ready for him to open (cards/cubs tickets) and sat around wondering if i should start timing my contractions. morgan moseyed his way out of bed around 9:00, and i told him what was going on. we decided we should go on a walk to try to help things along (if it was the real deal). the contractions were still bearable but i could tell they were consistent - about 5-6 minutes apart. when we got back from our walk, i took an hour nap, but was awoken by stronger contractions. i decided i should soak in the bath. i remembered our childbirth preparation teacher (who became our doula) saying that if you take a bath & the contractions remain, then it's real labor. if you take a bath & the contractions go away, it was probably braxton hicks. well, when i got out of the tub, i was still having contractions, but they had spaced out further - now 10-15 minutes apart. frustrated, morgan and i decided to go on another walk. the contractions grew more intense and slightly closer together, but the inconsistency in time had me doubting it was real labor. we decided we should head into davenport to celebrate our anniversary. first we went to vanderveer park and walked around the rose garden (where our ceremony took place). next we headed to chili's (because we're classy like that) to have some dinner. i couldn't eat...i just felt different. when we got home that night, i remembered that my chiropractor recommended i drink a glass of wine to "knock myself into labor." i decided that didn't sound like too bad of an idea. i laid on the couch and had 3 sips of a $9 bottle of moscato di asti before my contractions became suddenly intense. it was about 9:30 pm at this point. i went upstairs and instinctively started putting together last minute things in my hospital bag. around 11:00 i decided i should lay down and try to get some rest, even though my contractions were steadily coming every 3-4 minutes and were very painful. (i must admit - i was stalling. i had no desire to go to the hospital due to fear of being turned away. i was in denial that this was real labor, even though i was restless & in obvious pain.) finally, my friend heather convinced me that i needed to get myself out the door to prevent myself from giving birth at the I-80 truck stop. (lol.) so, i told morgan to make the call. (this was seconds after he had laid himself down for bed. poor guy.) the midwife gave the go ahead, we called the doula & checked in with her, and the we loaded the car up. we were on the road to the hospital at 12:30 am.

we got to genesis around 1:00 am. they admitted me to triage where they checked my progress. i was severely disappointed to find out that I was 1 centimeter dilated and 70% effaced. this is the SAME point i was at when i went to my last prenatal check-up the thursday before. so, we were instructed to walk the halls in an effort to move things along. about 2 hours later i was 1 1/2 centimeters and 75% effaced. UN. REAL. i couldn't believe it. i was in excruciating pain at this point and was exhausted beyond reason. we returned to the halls to walk, but had already had our minds made up that we were going to go home and try to get some rest after they checked me again. at 4:00 they checked me and i was 2 1/2 centimeters dilated - which gave me my ticket to a room. i remember feeling extremely worried that i wasn't progressing quickly enough, and i began having fears about a c-section. but everything changed very quickly when my water broke on its own about 20 minutes after getting into my room. i'd say that was when things got real. the pain and pressure i was feeling was unlike anything i could ever begin to explain to anybody right now. i felt helpless, hopeless, and defeated. i was already begging for an epidural - the very thing i wanted NOTHING to do with on any level. the nurse was pretty quick to tell me that if i wanted an epidural, i needed an IV and had to go through a bag of fluid before they'd give me any medication. FINE, i said. give me an IV. (intervention #1.) i then remember begging to labor in the tub. my midwife showed up, checked me, said i was 5 centimeters dilated and gave me the go ahead to get in the tub. that was where i spent 90% of my labor. our doula, char, showed up a short time later, and thank God for her. i was at my wits end and morgan was losing his grip FAST. all i remember is her face in mine telling me that i wasn't getting an epidural because i didn't want one. she told me that i could do this the way i planned and that i'd be thankful once my baby was here.

and that was all it took. the epidural as out of my mind from then on (except for one small moment when morgan and i were left alone where i took the liberty to tell him that he didn't effing understand and that i needed the effing epidural NOW. hehe.). from the time that i got into the tub to the time that our precious baby entered this world, i had absolutely no concept of time. i was in the zone. i remember morgan being so sweet and caring while char was my voice of reason. i remember them holding me during contractions and placing ice cold rags on me in between. i remember them reminding me to breathe and make deep noises with each contraction. i remember them telling me how great of a job i was doing and that each contraction was once step closer to meeting my child.

eventually the bathtub became constricting and i felt as if i was being backed into a corner. they helped me out of the tub - but with each movement came another contraction. (yuuuck.) they suggested that i sit backwards on the toilet and experience a few contractions in that position. O-M-G. never, i repeat, NEVER sit on the toilet!! i could have died! so they walked me over to the bed and had me try a position there, but i didn't like that either. then they got out the birthing ball and asked me if i'd like to sit on it and labor there for a while. all i remember thinking was - ew, how many butts have been on this ball? despite the pain & misery i was in, i asked them to put a towel on it! lol. i can't believe i had the energy to even think of that. (by this point it was at least 7:00 am - so i had been awake for over 24 hours.) morgan says i labored on the ball for 20-30 minutes, although to me it felt like 5 minutes. the last thing i tried was lying on my side in the bed. this was where i felt my first urge to push. it was unlike anything i've ever felt before - my body completely took over and was doing exactly what it knew it needed to do. (awesome!) my midwife checked me and said i was 9 1/2 centimeters, 100% effaced and the baby's head was right there. she gave me the go ahead to push. for some reason - and i don't know why - i pushed from my back. this is 100% the opposite of what i wanted to do (and what i should have done). gravity is our friend, people, and when you're on your back trying to push a baby out, you're working against the laws of physics. but, i was so drunk with exhaustion that i didn't really care. my midwife got the mirror out and set it at the end of the bed so i could see what i was doing and know how to push. what a giant help that was!! i pushed for 45 minutes - although it didn't seem that long - and at 8:31 am, little miss Charlotte Joanna Mays was born. morgan and i got to deliver her together, and morgan cut the umbilical cord. i was in absolute shock -- i thought for sure this baby was a boy! i simply couldn't believe that morgan & i had a daughter to love and cherish - such a wonderful surprise! Charlotte - or Charlie for short - weighed in at 7 lb. 12 oz., 19 1/2 inches.

we were so exhausted, but we were even more in love with our sweet little girl; we both managed to stay awake for several more hours, just staring at our baby and falling deeper & deeper in love with each passing moment.

we feel so fortunate and blessed to have experienced birth the way we planned, and to have such a beautiful result. charlie is truly the greatest blessing in our lives and we look forward to watching her grow, learn, and become her own, sweet little person. :)

-the mays'

sweet girl scratched her face up before pics :(