I haven't posted anything in nearly a year. Life got the best of me. Between working 50-60 hour weeks, being pregnant and all the other chaos that comes with fixing up a house, I just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down and write. Not that I didn't want to, but because I was so tired.
Since I got pregnant and since Eloise arrived, I have been asked many times over and over to start blogging again. So, I thought, why the hell not!
With family and friends being 9 hours away in Iowa, I thought this would be a great time to start posting again to continuously share photos and stories of Eloise so that family and friends don't ever feel like they are missing anything. And so my Facebook friends don't kill me after my 20 shared pictures of Eloise in 2 hours. (Sorry, by the way!)
To begin, here is Eloise's birth story...
It took a weekend in Fayetteville during the end of February for me to realize I was pregnant. While there, we went out for margaritas. When I took my first sip, I gagged. Ummm...No. Margaritas don't make me gag. They make me dance. At that moment I knew something was up. When we got home, I snuck into the bathroom and took not one, not two but three pregnancy tests. Low and behold, shit was about to get real.
I sat in the bathroom for awhile contemplating whether or not I should go out and tell Jordan now (who, by the way, was minding his own business watching ESPN) or if I should find a cute way to surprise him with the news. I realized after sitting in the bathroom for awhile that I couldn't hold it in. I walked right out to him not saying a word, handed him the pregnancy test and that was it.
He immediately jumped up and started pacing the house, hugged me, cracked open a beer, hugged me again and started a long to do list for the house. He was the definition of an emotional roller coaster. One minute pure panic and the next extreme excitement.
That to do list sat up on our fridge for the next 9 months and I'm happy to say everything got checked off....except the last one. "Go fly fishing at least 30 times..." Yeah - he didn't even go once. Sorry Bubba!
After our first Doctor's appointment we found out that Baby Lindaman's due date was November 6th. I was so excited that she was due so close to Halloween. For the remainder of my pregnancy I would joke and give Eloise stern talks about arriving on Halloween. I told her she would be the best baby ever if she did that for Momma. (If you don't already know, I LOVE Halloween!)
Well, she did just that!
A few minutes before midnight on October 31st, I wake up to the feeling that I've peed myself. Yep - my water broke. That girl sure does listen!
I immediately woke Jordan up, he rushed to call and text our parents who immediately left Fayetteville and Iowa and packed the truck while I cleaned myself up and got dressed.
By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were 3 minutes apart. Because my water broke, the hospital had to transport me via bed to the maternity ward. The minute I got on that bed, I turned to the nurse and said, "I want an epidural!" she laughed and said, "Honey, I'm just the transportation!" At that point I thought it'd be a good idea if I tell everyone I came into contact with that I wanted an epidural. I figured at least one person I told would be the one to get me what I want. Yep - I was that crazy lady! But damn, those contractions hurt!
After they checked me they put me in my room and immediately started hooking me up to everything. I felt like a robot but didn't care because like I said, those contractions hurt! Jordan said that for an hour and half I sat still, looking down, squeezing his hand and not saying a word. I was focused. I didn't want anyone to look at me, talk to me, move, breath, exist! I just wanted this baby out.
Jordan said at one point while he was watching the machine, I had 4 contractions on top of each other without any breaks and he felt so bad for me.
Side note: For those of you who haven't gone through the experience of child birth yet, the nurses will ask you a million and one questions while your in a crazy amount of pain. Make sure your husband is informed on everything about you and your pregnancy so he can answer for you. Otherwise, you're going to want to ring that nurses neck after the 23rd question!
Finally my Doctor arrived and gave me the epidural. Jordan said at that point my whole demeanor changed. He said I went from hating life to cracking jokes in 15 minutes.
After 3 hours of pushing, my epidural being turned off, Eloise camping out behind my pelvis and my Doctor worried about having to do an emergency c-section, Eloise finally arrived.
Since I got pregnant and since Eloise arrived, I have been asked many times over and over to start blogging again. So, I thought, why the hell not!
With family and friends being 9 hours away in Iowa, I thought this would be a great time to start posting again to continuously share photos and stories of Eloise so that family and friends don't ever feel like they are missing anything. And so my Facebook friends don't kill me after my 20 shared pictures of Eloise in 2 hours. (Sorry, by the way!)
To begin, here is Eloise's birth story...
It took a weekend in Fayetteville during the end of February for me to realize I was pregnant. While there, we went out for margaritas. When I took my first sip, I gagged. Ummm...No. Margaritas don't make me gag. They make me dance. At that moment I knew something was up. When we got home, I snuck into the bathroom and took not one, not two but three pregnancy tests. Low and behold, shit was about to get real.
I sat in the bathroom for awhile contemplating whether or not I should go out and tell Jordan now (who, by the way, was minding his own business watching ESPN) or if I should find a cute way to surprise him with the news. I realized after sitting in the bathroom for awhile that I couldn't hold it in. I walked right out to him not saying a word, handed him the pregnancy test and that was it.
He immediately jumped up and started pacing the house, hugged me, cracked open a beer, hugged me again and started a long to do list for the house. He was the definition of an emotional roller coaster. One minute pure panic and the next extreme excitement.
That to do list sat up on our fridge for the next 9 months and I'm happy to say everything got checked off....except the last one. "Go fly fishing at least 30 times..." Yeah - he didn't even go once. Sorry Bubba!
After our first Doctor's appointment we found out that Baby Lindaman's due date was November 6th. I was so excited that she was due so close to Halloween. For the remainder of my pregnancy I would joke and give Eloise stern talks about arriving on Halloween. I told her she would be the best baby ever if she did that for Momma. (If you don't already know, I LOVE Halloween!)
Left: 4 months along // Right: 6 months along
29 weeks
Left: 32 weeks // Middle: 35 weeks // Right: 37 weeks
A few minutes before midnight on October 31st, I wake up to the feeling that I've peed myself. Yep - my water broke. That girl sure does listen!
I immediately woke Jordan up, he rushed to call and text our parents who immediately left Fayetteville and Iowa and packed the truck while I cleaned myself up and got dressed.
By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were 3 minutes apart. Because my water broke, the hospital had to transport me via bed to the maternity ward. The minute I got on that bed, I turned to the nurse and said, "I want an epidural!" she laughed and said, "Honey, I'm just the transportation!" At that point I thought it'd be a good idea if I tell everyone I came into contact with that I wanted an epidural. I figured at least one person I told would be the one to get me what I want. Yep - I was that crazy lady! But damn, those contractions hurt!
After they checked me they put me in my room and immediately started hooking me up to everything. I felt like a robot but didn't care because like I said, those contractions hurt! Jordan said that for an hour and half I sat still, looking down, squeezing his hand and not saying a word. I was focused. I didn't want anyone to look at me, talk to me, move, breath, exist! I just wanted this baby out.
Jordan said at one point while he was watching the machine, I had 4 contractions on top of each other without any breaks and he felt so bad for me.
Side note: For those of you who haven't gone through the experience of child birth yet, the nurses will ask you a million and one questions while your in a crazy amount of pain. Make sure your husband is informed on everything about you and your pregnancy so he can answer for you. Otherwise, you're going to want to ring that nurses neck after the 23rd question!
Finally my Doctor arrived and gave me the epidural. Jordan said at that point my whole demeanor changed. He said I went from hating life to cracking jokes in 15 minutes.
After 3 hours of pushing, my epidural being turned off, Eloise camping out behind my pelvis and my Doctor worried about having to do an emergency c-section, Eloise finally arrived.
Eloise Lill Lindaman
October 31, 2016 // 6:14am // 7lbs 1oz // 20 1/4 inches long
Our ride home from the hospital
At this point I was running off of 2 hours of sleep and exhausted. I was wobbling everywhere but couldn't stand to sit in that bed all day. While Jordan napped, I cuddled my sweet bundle of joy still in pure shock that I made her. Me! I. Made. HER!
We are now a day shy of 7 weeks old and I still can't believe she's ours. God sure does amazing things!
