The day my world forever changed...

I got up April 13th at 5:45, running late as usual. I went to the closet to get my towels and felt something wet running down my legs. It stopped me in my tracks - was that my water breaking? Certainly not.

It wasn't like what you see on television, so I dismissed it and decided to go ahead and get ready for work. After all, I didn't want to be one of 'those' women who overreacts.
As I got ready for work, I mentioned the earlier incident to JP, but we both dismissed it as nothing. By the time I got ready to leave for work, I was still 'leaking' a little, but still wasn't convinced it was anything. After all, I had just been to the doctor the day before and things weren't looking favorable for labor to begin any time soon. I started having a few contractions on the drive to work, but this was nothing new. I had been having some contractions for weeks.
I decided not to mention anything to anyone at work, as I didn't want people to worry, but decided I would call the doctors office when they opened at 8:30.

I went on with my morning, and was working with 3 of my students in a small group when I noticed my contractions were getting stronger. By 8:30 I had decided that this might actually be the start of something. I called the doctors office, left a message for the nurse to call back, and went on to a meeting with my teammates and principal. We were in the middle of filling out a survey when the doctors office called back. I explained to the nurse what had taken place that morning and how I had continued to 'leak' since then, and she told me she was fairly certain that my water had broken and that I was in fact in labor. She told me to go immediately to the hospital. What?

I was in total shock. I immediately called JP and told him what the nurse had said. He headed home to finish packing our bags and I told him I would meet him there.
I went and broke the news to Terri, Kathryn, and my principal. They were of course shocked and Terri was a little upset that I was driving home and not straight to the hospital. Listen, I've seen enough Baby Story's to know I had a while.
Driving home was a little surreal. I was going to be a mom today - my life was forever changing.

When I got home, JP had almost finshed packing using the very specific list I had typed up weeks earlier:) I double checked the bags, he loaded the car, we took a quick picture, and off we went to the hospital. About 10 minutes after we left, I realized we had forgotten my pillow. How do you go to the hospital to have a baby without your pillow? That's the one thing you can't live without during labor, right?
So, we turned around and went home to get the pillow. At this point I'm still having contractions, but obviously they're not bad:)

We got to the hospital around 10:30 and were immediately taken to the MAC unit where they confirmed that I was in fact in labor and that my water had indeed broken - however, I was only 1 cm dialated. From there I was taken to labor and delivery where I was hooked up to monitors and blood pressure cuffs and IV's. It was official - we were having a baby.

The rest of the day is kind of a blur for me. I know that around 2:00 my wonderful doula Jean arrived. With her assistance, we walked A LOT of laps around the second floor. Dr. Wilcox checked me around 4:00 and I had only dialated to 3 cm. At this point I was VERY uncomfortable. My contractions were back to back and I only had about 10 seconds to recover from one before another one began. At this point, I needed an epidural. About 5:00 Dr. Springs, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural - that was by far one of the high points of my day thus far. It immediately took effect and I was feeling no pain:) They also started me on pitocen.

Dr. Wilcox checked me several times between 4:00 and 7:00, but I only managed to dialate to 3 cm. It was during this time that a C-section was first mentioned. I was adamant that I did not want a C-section, and cried for 30 min. after Dr. Wilcox first mentioned those words to me. She agreed I could continue to labor as long as the baby and I were ok.

Pitocen was given again for the second time and that did the trick. I started dialating, however, I also started running a fever. They started me on IV antibiotics, but it wasn't helping. My fever continued to go up and Becca's heart rate was also increasing. By 10:30 that night I was completely dialated, but Dr. Wilcox was concerned about the baby and me. She agreed I could try to push, but explained that unless I was able to make significant progress with each push, we were looking at a C-section.

Well, obviously the pushing wasn't successful, so after two contractions the decision was made to do a C-section. I was ok with the decision at this point and just ready to meet my baby.

Everything after that happened really fast, too fast for me to remember much except that at 11:23 pm Rebecca Ansleigh Pyle made her debut into this world weighing 8lbs 3oz and measuring 20 1/4 in. long. She was here finally and she was perfect.

From the moment I saw her face, I was instantly in love. She has changed our life in so many ways, and we thank God for our blessing we call Becca every day.

i saw God today

she's sleeping like a rock

my name on her wrist

wearin' tiny pink socks

she's got my nose, she's got her mama's eyes

my brand new baby girl

she's a miracle

i saw God today

Becca,
Don't you want to come out so you can wear these sweet shoes?

Love,

Mommy

Baby Shower #4

This surprise shower was thrown by my sweet children at school - along with the help of Kellie Bates (the art teacher) & 2 of my fabulous moms.
They all pitched in and got us a gift card to Babies R Us, and we feasted on chips, cake, & soda! (Why I agreed to let them get all sugared up at 9:30 in the morning is beyond me!)
Several of the children also brought us gifts - a sweet princess pillow, a handmade quilt & diaper bag, a cute polka dot basket filled with diapers, baby wash, & a precious Gap bathing suit:)
It was wonderful and so, so appreciated!!!


We played the game 'Guess how big around Mrs. Pyle's belly is' and JaBrie was the winner - her string was the perfect length!



I also had to give this sweet boy some credit - his string only wrapped half way around my belly. Bless his sweet heart for thinking I was that small:)



I really do have the most amazing job in the world!

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Only 26 days left until Becca's due date - although we're hoping this "bigger than average" baby might decide to make her debut a little early. (That part in quotation marks would be the words out of Dr. Estes mouth on Tuesday)
As it stands now, I will work through April 16th - but only because Spring Break is the 1st week in April, so I'll get a little break:)

We'll keep everyone posted on what this sweet babe decides to do!!!! Hopefully we'll be posting pictures of her in the near future!

Much love,
The Pyles

35 weeks & counting down!




Wow!!!

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I have been asked a lot recently if we had chosen a name for this sweet babe, which made me realize that maybe I never shared her name with everyone. If I did, just play along. Haven't you heard of 'pregnancy brain?'

Rebecca Ansleigh Pyle is our sweet baby's full name, but we will call her Becca.

We chose the name Rebecca because of this wonderful lady - my Grandma.

She is one of the most special people in my life. I am honored to know her, and I count my blessings that Becca will have the chance to know her as well.

~Baby Shower~

Our first shower was given by some of my wonderful friends. It was more than I could have imagined and we were very blessed with all that we received.

the sweet favors - chocolate suckers with a pink 'B' on them

the hostesses

JP's family

my family

~Work Baby Shower~

Our second shower was thrown by the wonderful people I work with. We got so much great stuff for Becca!

my great teammates

2 of us happen to be pregnant and due about 3 weeks apart - poor Terri

one of my favorite women:)

~Church Shower~

We were blessed with our third shower this past Sunday at our church. Once again we were overwhelmed by the love and generosity shown to us by our friends.

becca's first piece of jewelry

this dress was handmade

lyndsee and I - she's due in June

We are incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love us and love our Becca. Thank you cannot begin to express the gratitude we have for all of our family and friends. We are excited that in just a few short weeks our sweet baby will make her arrival. Stay tuned for pictures of our baby girl:)

Much love,

The Pyles

I'm going to be a mom!!!!!

Ok, so let me clarify before you pick up the phone and try to have me committed.
I have known for the past oh, 30 something weeks that I was going to have a baby, but how do you really prepare yourself for that?
I don't think you can.


I had my first shower last weekend, thrown by some of my amazing friends, and I think it was there that it really hit me that I was going to be a mom.
Really?
I was at a baby shower for ME!


How did that happen?


Ok, well I know HOW it happened, but is there really not more to it than that?


I mean, should somebody interview me, or give me a test, or make me take a class, or at least make me fill out some kind of form?


You can't drive a car without taking a test.
You can't teach children without going to school for at least four years.
You can't even get a Food Lion card without filling out a form.


But in just six short weeks (or less, hopefully) I will be a mom. I will have, God willing, a beautiful, healthy baby that I will bring home and be responsible for for THE REST OF MY LIFE!

Can I do this?

Don't get me wrong, I have prayed long and hard for this child. I want her more than anything in the whole world.

I don't know - I've just recently started wondering if I can actually do this. I mean, you don't get a second chance at this whole "being a parent" thing.

What if I mess up?
What if I don't do it right?
I've never done this before.
I don't know what I'm doing.

And just when I feel like I can't breathe from the anxiety of it all, I look at this sweet face and know that with a lot of prayer, and love, and patience, we will somehow make it.

Here are a few more pictures from our 33 week ultrasound this past Saturday. Needless to say, we are absolutely in love with this little girl and we cannot wait to meet her:)

yawning - it was a little early for her to be up

sweet profile

sticking out her tongue - she's done this at every ultrasound



sucking her thumb

And, I'm sure you've noticed how 'chunky' she is. According to the ultrasound tech, Miss Becca is already weighing in at a whopping 5 pounds 8 oz. Prayers for me now would be nice:)

We are very excited that we are down to 6 weeks until our 'little miracle' will be here! JP and I can't wait to meet her and kiss on those big cheeks:)

I promise that I will post pictures from my showers....soon!

All of our love,
The Pyles

ok, ok, ok

After hearing (once again) how I haven't posted any belly shots lately, I'm finally giving in!

Check that belly out! (Please ignore my face and arms! Let's just say that my belly is not the only place I've gained some weight.)

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It's hard to believe that we are already at 31 weeks - this pregnancy has flown by. I tell JP often that I still can't believe we're going to be parents.

I know I'm pregnant, and she moves all of the time (so I'm very aware that there's a baby in there), but it's still unbelievable that we're actually going to have a baby of our own.

I don't think it will be real until I hold her in my arms:)

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We've had a busy couple of weeks which is the reason I haven't posted in a while, and I don't think it's going to slow down any time soon!

My wonderful husband planned a trip for us to Pigeon Forge for Valentine's day. Despite the weather, and the fact that we were unable to spend the weekend at the cabin we had reserved, we had a great time.

Of course the one weekend we go out of town, SC gets the biggest snow it's seen in over 10 years. And yes we got plenty of calls and pictures to rub it in, but we did get to see some snow. Unfortunately, most of the snow we saw was as we were driving through the mountains. Needless to say, our drive there and back was a little nerve wracking!

We took our maternity pictures today - thanks Josh and Aaron! I can't wait to see them:) I'm not loving having pictures taken of me right now because I feel like the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man (& yes that's how you spell it - I looked it up), but I worried that I would regret it if we didn't. So, we'll see how they turn out. We had great photographers, so I'm sure we will be more than happy.

I have my first shower next Sunday, and I am beyond excited! I will certainly post pictures afterwards, so be sure to check back!

Much love,

A & J