Sofia's Birth...

Sofia Lane Beall was born early Thursday morning, February 7th, at 0104am.  She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20.5 inches. 

Her birth story begins Wednesday morning, Feb. 6th, at 930am when the doctors first induced me with a pitocin tablet.  Over the next few hours labor slowly progressed.  Around 2pm the doctors said I had progressed to 2cm (I guess I wasn't already a 2 as one doctor had predicted weeks ago...) and was fully effaced.  At this point the contractions were about 10-12 minutes apart and uncomfortable, but not strong.  Hot showers, walking, and rocking on the large exercise ball helped a lot.  I also played angry birds with Josh and listened to some music he prepared for me.  :)  By 5 pm I hadn't changed any further, but the contractions were stronger and about 5-6 minutes apart.  They decided not to give me any more medicine but to let the labor continue as it was.  More walking, rocking, waiting...   It all gets a little fuzzy after this point so you'll have to forgive me for not remembering all of the details.  I bet my Mom, Josh, and his Mom remember them much better than I do!  I'm thankful they were all able to be there with me despite the ban on visitors due to the flu.  I had some amazing nurses who were very, very kind!  So, somewhere around 10pm the doctor decided to break my water and take it all out at once.  That helped labor progress very quickly after that.  By midnight I was 10cm and ready to push.  By this time the contractions were 30 seconds apart and lasting about one minute.  It was intense but Josh and my Mom let me break their fingers through each one. ;)  I felt very quiet, very focused, and ready for her to come out and give me some relief!  I also felt mean a few times when they were coaching me through them and I felt like I was already doing everything they said.  I guess that's how it goes. :)  They said I was actually polite and said "I'm sorry" a lot after I told them I was already doing all they asked.  I guess that's good.  I don't remember.   So, the nurse told me I was a 10 and I could start pushing if I wanted, and then she left...

I was a little shocked and just looked to my Mom for guidance since she's a labor and delivery nurse herself.  She and Josh talked me through the pushing and we went for it.  With each push they saw progress which encouraged me to keep going knowing Sofia would soon be here.  The nurse came back in a bit with a full support staff ready to deliver Sofia.  With some help she came out crying and beautiful at 104am and I immediately was able to hold her and be with her.  That was an amazing moment I will never forget.  They let Josh cut the cord, which is not something they typically do here.  I'm so thankful he could be there for her birth since our story with Jakub's birth and the c-section is completely different.  For the next 2 hours we were able to stay in the room all together and spend time with Sofia and each other before they moved me to my recovery room.  The following week is another story for another time. 

At her birth I remember thinking:
- She's crying! Yeah! She can breathe!
- She's beautiful!
- She looks like Jakub.
- She has a lot of dark brown hair (which I thought she would have).
- She has the longest, skinniest, feet, toes, and fingers I've ever seen.
- She's already calm, sweet, and gentle as she just laid on me so peacefully.
- She's big - how much will she weigh?? (8 lbs 5 oz, 20.5 inches)
- I can't believe it's over and she's here.  What a long day and night.  I can't believe we did it. :)

Ok, that's all for now.  She's about to wake up.  She's so, so sweet.  Thanks for all of your prayers, well wishes, and messages.  Love you all!

Coming soon... Sofia!

Hi everyone!

Sorry I don't have any pics for this post.  We've taken several recently, but I don't have them uploaded yet.  I just wanted to write a quick update and ask for your prayers as we will be going to the hospital in the morning around 8am to be induced.  I'm 40 weeks and 6 days according to ultrasound measurements of Sofia, even though my due date is the 16th, so the doctor would like to go ahead and induce tomorrow.  I've been having lots of contractions, some are even pretty uncomfortable and happening around every 10 minutes for a couple/few hours, but then they get further apart again and always stop during the night while I sleep.  I'm already making some changes so that's also good.  Hopefully with a small "jump start" in the morning we'll be on our way to having a healthy baby girl by the early afternoon.  I can hope, right?  :)  Please pray for us and for Sofia.  Please pray I'll be able to have her well and we won't need a c-section in the end.  No matter what I know God is over all of this and I will have peace knowing it's in his control and all we can do is pray about it and pray for her.  I look forward to seeing what she looks like!  And I can't wait to show her to everyone who's been waiting to see her and so kind to keep up with us and support us through this pregnancy.  We love you all and hope to have great news for you tomorrow! :) 

37-38 weeks!

Well, this MAY be the last time I'm able to post for a while so I thought I would put a few more pictures up and give an update on Jakub and Sofia.  Firstly, thanks for your thoughts and prayers after my last post when I mentioned that I was not feeling well.  Little did I know it was going to get a lot worse for both me and Josh.  We both caught a terrible chest cold with all the things that go with that.  It was hard on both of us to keep going with all of the work that needs to be done right now- inside and outside the home!  I've never been that type of sick with a pregnancy before and boy did it make me exhausted beyond belief and feeling like I couldn't get a single thing done.  Thankfully, we're both almost back to completely great health and I am thankful to God that it's passed and that Jakub never caught it other than a slightly runny nose. 

Here's a picture of my boys from this week.

You have to love that awkward-smiling phase kids go through. :)  Jakub's started noticing the recent, baby-related, changes going on around the house and has been having a hard time with listening, discipline and other things lately.  He never seems bothered by anything related to Sofia, or her coming soon, but in other areas of life is showing that he's sensitive to the changes around us.  I'm sure it's normal, but it's hard sometimes for Josh and I to know how to best handle it all and help him, while also disciplining appropriately and being consistent with him.  He's begun wetting the bed a little this week, started talking back to me if he's embarrassed by my getting on to him, and not listening at times and repeating bad behavior that's not usual for him.  I'm sure it will all ease in time so we're just being as patient as we can be and trying to give all of the attention and discipline he needs as best we can.

It's definitely not all bad, though, not even close.  He's a lot of the time really a great kid and very loving as well.  He's constantly been kissing on my belly and talking to Sofia.  He's told her he's ready for her to come out so they can play and so he can show her all of the toys we have at home.  He likes to look in her new bed and to see all of the little clothes and blankets we've been given.  If I make a move or grimace that he interprets as painful or anything he asks if she's kicked me and if she and I are ok. :)  I hope his eagerness to see her and his desire to tell her he loves her and wants to talk to her will continue once she's here! :)

** Warning**  Too much personal/pregnancy information coming up soon.  Feel free to skip ahead. :)
Last Monday, at 37 weeks I went to the doctor for a normal check-up and found out that Sofia is getting ready to come "soon."  I was already thinned out a lot, though by their measurements here it's unclear how much that actually is, and 2 cm dilated.  The doctor said he believed I would begin labor or my water would break within 1 to 7 days.  Yikes!  I have to admit I got a little teary-eyed and a little flushed with the sudden realization that she could come very, very soon and even earlier than I ever thought she might.  Of course we talked with our Moms to let them know and let them make their own decisions about whether to come sooner or not.  They were supposed to come Feb. 8th for a Feb 16th due date.  Well, I guess Sofia might have other things in mind.  And our Moms changed their tickets and they will be here Tuesday afternoon.  Yeah!!! :)  So, I'm doing my best now to keep Sofia calm and not wanting to make her debut until after Tuesday.    Every day I notice more minor changes that seem to indicate she's barely holding on  We'll see what the doctors say tomorrow as I have my first hospital check-up and monitoring in the morning.  This week I'll be 38 weeks, which is when my water broke with Jakub.  Hopefully our Moms make it in time! :) 

Oh, and the beautiful cake above is one that my friend made for a small baby shower they wanted to give me at our weekly Bible study. 

 

We also received a very beautiful and generous gift-package this week from Scott and Denise Karnes- dear friends of ours who live and work as missionaries in Ireland. Denise made all of these things for Sofia and they are gorgeous!  I love all of the different colors and patterns.  It's just the look that I love for little girls.  The quilt is now waiting for Sofia in her baby bed.  Thank you, Denise!!!

 And this might be the last picture I take pregnant, except for hospital photos.  We'll just have to wait and see what the doctors have to say tomorrow.  If I have time to update again I will.  Thanks for all of your prayers and please keep them coming.  I pray Sofia will be healthy, that Josh and I will do well through delivery, that God will give us peace and comfort while I deliver and then we welcome her into the world and her family, that our Moms will get here safely and in time for the delivery, and that Jakub will love his baby sister.  I'm excited about and thankful for our growing family.  I don't take it for granted and even with the minor bumps and illnesses I know I have truly had a blessed and healthy pregnancy.  I hope recovery will be the same!  Sofia Lane is almost here!

Ježíšek and Winter Snow...

Well I'm laying around on the couch today with a bad cold and some chills, so I thought I would add a couple of videos from our holiday time.  Hopefully baby Sofia will not want to come any time soon because I imagine giving birth feeling like this would be pretty miserable... not that it's going to be a walk in the park anyway. :)  However, I would like to be able to breathe through my nose and not have a sore throat when that time comes.

It's an interesting day outside as it's really cold and going back and forth between beautiful sunshine and downpours of heavy snow.  It isn't snowing for long enough at one time to really accumulate, but it's beautiful all the same.  It's snowed a little bit every day this week and it's been nice.  I enjoy snowy winters here very much.  In fact, on the heavest snow day this week, when we ended up getting about 3 inches, I sent Josh to pick Jakub up from school with the snow sled so Jake could have a ride home in it. :)  Here's a video of the fun they had.  I wish I could have pulled him home- I miss doing these things with him right now!

They ended up staying outside for one hour playing in the snow and sledding down a nearby hill that's perfect for children.  One of Jakub's good friends, another Kuba. was outside so they were able to sled together!



I also have a Christmas video to share from Christmas Eve.  We took a ton of videos over the two days, but I still need to sort through most of them.  Grandparents, this one's for you.  It's a little long, but we thought you would enjoy seeing his excitement.  We started our family Christmas celebrations this year in the traditional Czech style since this is where we live and it's truly Jakub's home for now.  Most all Czechs celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th.  They have a long-standing custom of Ježíšek (baby Jesus) bringing the gifts on Christmas Eve when no one is looking, and then you hear a bell ring to signify he's visited.  You can read a little more about it if you want here:  Ježíšek

We decided this year, since Jakub actually understands what is happening now, that we would like to incorporate some of this tradition into our family since this place has become and will always be a huge part of our lives, and the place where Jakub was born.  So, we celebrated Ježíšek on the 24th and also a traditional American Christmas on the morning of the 25th.  Throughout it all, and all of the holiday season, we tried to keep an important focus on the meaning of the season and giving thanks to God for all of our gifts in life, because they come from Him.  The greatest gift is of course Jesus and celebrating baby Jesus bringing some gifts on the 24th seemed to fit in perfectly with our family focus.   Here's a video of him just after bath time and when he hears the bells ring.  It was a very sweet and peaceful time for our family. :)

More to come later from Christmas morning.  We hope you all had a happy and blessed holiday season and are having a nice start to the new year.  Thanks for all of your prayers for baby Sofia and please keep them coming.  Hopefully she'll hold out until our Moms arrive on Feb. 8th.  I have another doctor's appointment on Monday and then will hopefully update the blog and add some more pictures then.

School Craft Time!

These pictures are from earlier in the month, but I didn't realize that Jakub's school had a new, updated website and that his teacher was taking so many photos of their daily activities for the parents to see.  I'm so glad she does and so thankful for the awesome and involved teacher that she is!  Here are a couple of pictures of some crafts Jakub made for the holiday season.  It was great to see pictures of him at school with his friends!

I love this ceramic fish he made us!  It's a classic Christmas symbol here in the Czech Republic because their traditional Christmas dinner includes a carp-fish soup and some form (fried, baked, grilled...) of Carp for the main meal, which is served with potato salad and other things.  When the Christmas markets open here and it gets close to Christmas time you can find in the square and near large shopping centers large tubs set up with live Carp in them.  You can then buy one and take it home live or ask them to kill it for you before you leave. I hear, though none of my friends do it, that it's tradition to take it home live for the children to see and then put it in a tub or a bathtub for a while for the children to watch before cooking it up for dinner. :)  We do not participate in this Christmas tradition- mostly because I don't usually like to eat fish and this one is particularly fishy and very boney.  I like to stay close to our tradition of ham and turkey. :) 

I hope you have all had a blessed and merry Christmas and that you will continue to enjoy some holiday time with friends and family!  We have been very blessed with many visits from our Czech friends and a lot of family time at home.  :)

Merry Christmas and God bless you and your family!

Free digital greeting card created with Smilebox

Baby Girl - 32-33 Weeks

Here's a picture of baby girl at 32 weeks, which was last week at my final genetic-ultrasound examination.  I know most everyone has been able to see what's in the picture, but, just in case, it's a picture of her side profile of her head/face only, which is looking up.  She's so big now that you can't get a very good picture of her.  This is her as if you are looking at her side profile on the left side of her face, with her nose being at the top, center of the picture dipping down from the curve of her forehead and then back up to her nasal bone.  Just below the nose is her mouth, which looks like it's spraying up water and bubbles.  In the top picture I tried to outline her head, but sorry I'm not a web-painter and it was shaky. :)  Hope you can see it! 

Thanks be to God that everything looked great at that appointment and he doesn't want to see me again!  She was healthy, had all organs accounted for, and measured one week further along in size.  I just realized that today as I was at the regular OB for a check-up and she measured 33 weeks and 4 days when I should be 32 weeks now in time.  So, we'll see if she keeps this up.  She weighed today 4 lbs 9 oz and looked very long.  She was in the perfect position with her head down, centered, and facing away from us with her long legs up high near my ribs.  Everything looked good today, as well, and so we've entered the time when I begin going every 2 weeks for check-ups.  Next time I'll go for my first 30-min session of monitoring the baby's movements, heartbeat, and any contractions or changes.  I'm excited about that.  I always loved laying there feeling Jake move around and listening to his heart the whole time.  I can't wait to hear hers and she moves even more than Jake ever did!







These were taken last week at 32 weeks.

I'm definitely starting to look and feel a little swollen in my face and fingers.  Otherwise I'm doing pretty good.  It's amazing how different pretty much everything has been with this pregnancy, including her head-down position, which is causing some lower back aches I didn't have with Jake and some painful rib kicks and strange belly movements I didn't have with him.  He was just too big at this point to move much I guess, and with his head up high  I felt more shortness-of-breath, but not this painful and strange kicking and weird tickling of toes or knees or something as they move across my belly.  It's so strange to watch and to feel.  I know it won't be much longer, though, so I'm trying to enjoy it all. :)