Welcome Samantha Ryan Shepard!!!

On June 10th, we proudly welcomed Samantha Ryan Shepard into this world. She was born at 6:29 pm, weighing 6 lbs 8 oz and she was 19 1/2 inches long... and immediately we knew she was the cutest baby we'd ever seen!

Our Labor Story
[You can skip this part if all you want to see are pictures! :-)]

The day was definitely different than we expected, but ended with her exciting arrival. When we had talked to the doctor prior to getting induced, we were under the impression that the first part of the day would be a little slow and boring (we even brought magazines and movies!), then when the water broke, the labor would probably progress quickly, with a long round of pushing since this is our first child.

Well... Samantha had slightly different plans. Sean and I showed up at the hospital at midnight to get my dose of Cirvidil. In laymen's terms, this was done to get my body in a favorable state for labor (there's no point kicking the contractions into gear if there's no way the baby can get out!). We planned on resting until the afternoon, when my doc would show up, give me Pitocin, break my water, and kickstart us into labor. Sean and I went to sleep and got as much rest as we could.
I woke up around 7:30 am with some pretty significant contractions... but I wasn't sure that's what they were because they weren't going away at all. I'd always thought you have a contraction for about 60 seconds and then you wait around 5 minutes for the next one to come. But mine were just coming one after the other... so I called the nurse to confirm that that was the pain I was feeling. Sure enough, we were having progressive contractions about 1-2 minutes apart. So much for those magazines, card games and movies!!! Although we will never know for sure, the doctors hypothesize that I was probably going to go into labor in the next 1-2 days on my own... which is why the Cirvidil did the job of kicking us into labor.

Sean helped me walk around, sit on an exercise ball, and just breath through my contractions for a couple of hours. Then the nausea hit! About every 3 contractions, the nausea would take over and I'd get sick. What fun!!! The contractions progressed for a few more hours and around noon, we ordered the epidural. Best move I've ever made!!!

It took the doc 3 tries to get the epidural in, but I gotta tell you that I really didn't care at that point. The "pain" of the epidural was like a raindrop compared to a bucket of water. The funniest part about the whole epidural process was that the doctor STARTED SPEAKING IN AN ENGLISH ACCENT during the third try... I guess he thought that voice would be more calming and soothing??? If Sean wasn't there to confirm his new accent, I'd assume I was just delirious, but Sean agrees that he did do a Madonna impression during that third attempt!

From about 12:30 or 1:00 to about 4:00, I just slept, still feeling the contractions, but no pain. Feeling contractions without feeling much pain is a very weird concept to me, but it was perfect!! My doctor showed up around 4:30 and I was dilated about 7 centimeters. At this rate, it looked like we might start pushing around 10:00 pm. Doc was going to head home and then come back as I progressed. Well, she checked on me again around 5:45 pm and I was dilated to 10 centimeters, thus canceling her dinner plans! :-)

So now it was time to push. All feeling disappeared from my hands. Even though it had taken 9 months to get here, I was so nervous and I didn't know if I was ready for what was coming! Our doctor headed to her office across the street to get some work done while the Delivery nurse started the pushing process with Sean and me. Yeah, that sounds weird, but since this was my first child, the doctors usually let the nurse take the first hour or two of pushing, and they show up for the last part.

About 10 minutes into pushing (about 4 contractions), the nurse abruptly told me to stop pushing. WHAT? But there's still a baby in there... what do you mean stop pushing? She said "I see the head. The baby's coming. I've never caught a baby before and I don't plan on starting now". So they paged the doc and we waited through contractions for 5-10 minutes while we waited for the doc to get there.

Our doctor came running into the room, jumped into her scrubs, threw some gloves and glasses on, and the pushing resumed. About 4 contractions later, Samantha showed up in all her glory. I will never forget the first time I laid my eyes on that precious face... our daughter was here!!!


PICTURES
So... since this is what you're really here for, let me post some of Samantha's first pictures. Please don't look at her mom... she didn't quite have a chance to get freshened up before the cameras started clicking! :-)

Lisa during early labor trying to work through the contractions. Nice outfit!!!

Nice hairdo!!! A little Flintstones hairstyle to get it out of the way for pushing.

You tell us, Samantha!!!

We both earned a good rest, right!? :-)

Our precious bundle

In this corner, weighing in at 6 lbs 8 oz...

Working with two laptops to try to get an email out to people...
Not something we recommend after a long day of watching your wife go through labor!

This is about 10 hours after Sammy was born...
Lisa was doing more research on how to become Baby Wise!! :-)

Affectionately termed "Our Little Troll Doll"
Give her some green pigtails, and you have to admit there is a resemblance!

Getting ready to go home from the hospital.
Samantha is wearing the hat her 8 year old cousin, Channing, made for her.

Much love from the new and improved Shepard family...
Sean, Lisa, Samantha (and of course, Charlie and Sadie)

4 days and counting...

That's right... we are scheduled to induce on Tuesday, June 10th... which means Squishee will join us on either June 10th or 11th (depending on how much torture she decides to put Lisa through!) :)

So how are we feeling? Excited. Nervous. A little scared. But probably, more than anything, we just can't get it to sink in that Squishee is going to be in our arms in just a few short days. In fact, the very next post to this blog will be AFTER she is born. Unbelievable!

We're saying lots of prayers that Lisa goes into labor naturally before Tuesday, simply because that may decrease the chance of us ending up needing a c-section. But either way, our prayers are for a safe delivery and healthy baby, no matter how she enters this world!!

On a fun note, we are posting some pictures below of a "photo shoot" we did. Our friend, Don, took a ton of pictures of us and this prego belly... and I'm posting some of our favorites (including some goofy ones!). Wouldn't you just know it that the day we did the pictures was the day my very first stretch marks showed up. Told you Squishee was going to be ornery! =) Anyway... here are some of our favorites (you should be able to click on the images to see them larger)...

Lisa Wins!!!!

Every pregnant girl needs a Maalox break now and then

Just some healthy belly laughs!

Isn't he such a supportive husband?

Squishee due a little earlier...

No fun pics to go with this post, but I did want to let you know that we're looking at a "revised" birthdate for Squishee. When we went to the doc this Tuesday, we saw that Squishee's growth is slowing down and that the amniotic fluid was starting to go away (these are two of the common risks associated with the blood pressure medication I take). At that time, our doctor told us that if today's appointment showed similar decreases in fluid (no, we were NOT at Oil Can Henry's...), then we could be looking at inducing next Tuesday!!

As exciting as that was, it definitely sent Sean and I into a bit of a tizzy! Oh sure... I have a few things on my "To Do" list that I want to accomplish before Squishee's arrival, but the big concern of ours is the house that we bought earlier in the year to fix up and sell. We aren't done remodeling it yet!!! So Sean made some phone calls and some wonderful friends have lent us some elbow grease in helping out with the house. Even in two days, their help has made a huge difference. THANK YOU!!!

Today's checkup revealed even more good news! The amniotic fluid level is back up a bit, which means we won't be inducing next Tuesday (6/3). We know that Squishee can decide to make her debut whenever she's good and ready, but we're back to looking at 6/10 as the probable date for inducing. We'll be at 39 weeks at that point and Sean and I are getting really excited.

More info (and some really fun pics!) to come in future posts... but I wanted to get this one out there since I told some of you to check back here after today's appointment!

37 week checkup

It has been a long time since I gave an update on little Squishee, so here are some details you might be interested in:

• As you can tell by the "pea pod" calendar at the top of your screen, we are 1 day shy of 37 weeks. Babies are considered "full term" any time between 37 weeks and 40 weeks, so the doc says we're all systems go if Squishee decides to make her big entrance. On the other hand, Sean and I still have quite a few things we want to get done before she shows up, so we're praying that she stays comfy for a couple more weeks!
  
• I am feeling great for being 37 weeks along... way better than I expected. I still have a decent amount of energy, I'm sleeping very well, and I'm still loving all the movements and kicks that are coming from our active little girl. Oh sure... there are some pains and strains here and there... but overall, I'm still loving this miraculous time.
  
• We are seeing the doc a couple times a week now. During these visits, we monitor Squishee via ultrasound or by doing a Non Stress Test using a fetal monitor. Every visit, Squishee (and I) have been getting A+ grades from our doctor, so we pray that continues to be the case for the rest of this pregnancy. So far, my blood pressure has been great (actually lower than normal), my amniotic fluid levels are excellent, and all the other signs point to a very healthy pregnancy. What a blessing!!!
  
• June 17th is the latest date that Squishee will join us. This is because the doctor doesn't want me to go much past our due date. Even if the blood pressure threat never rears its ugly head during the next few weeks, our doctor wants to induce when we reach 40 weeks. Reason? She doesn't want to push our luck and give the blood pressure a chance to create an emergency where there doesn't need to be one. There is something relieving about knowing I'm not going to go 2 weeks late like some women do on their first pregnancy, and it has also allowed us to have a little more info when scheduling family visits, etc. The craziest part about knowing the latest due date is the fact that we know our Orange Juice in the fridge has a later "due date" than our baby... so surreal!!!
  
• No, our hospital bags aren't packed yet... but that is on the agenda for tonight! I did spend all day yesterday washing clothes, bedding, blankets, etc. for little Squishee... so we are ALMOST ready for her to come home!
  
• Seems only fair to include some pics in this blog post, so here are some recent snapshots.
  

These are my dear friends, Julie and Stacey, who threw a baby shower for me in early May.

It was such a special day and I was thrilled to see so many wonderful friends. Although it's tough to "catch up" with so many loved ones at the same time, it meant so much to see all these amazing women in my life.

Even though Sean hasn't attended any baby showers, we both are SO thankful for the love and support we have experienced as we anticipate Squishee's arrival. We always knew we had special families, friends, and coworkers, and we are so excited to introduce Squishee to all of you!!!

So this is the fun part, right??

As we head into the home stretch of this amazing pregnancy, I have experienced some incredible words of inspiring encouragement and sage wisdom. As true as that may be, I think the words of DIScouragement and idiocy are FAR more interesting. So here are some examples of things I've heard over the last couple weeks... I hope you get a kick out of them:

• "Wow... you haven't had that baby yet?"
  Actually, yes, I did. But I think the maternity belly looks SO good on me, I decided to shove a watermelon up my shirt and pretend I was still pregnant.
  
• "You're due in 3 weeks? Just so you know, it hurts."
  You don't say! I had heard it was super pleasant and you just slept through the whole thing. Wow... thanks for letting me know that so I could prepare. By the way... did I mention that this brilliant information came from a MAN! So he must know!!!
  
• "You may feel good now, but you are going to be miserable soon. You're just going to be hating life until that baby comes out."
  Wow... you didn't do very well on the cheerleading squad, did you? Surprisingly, I have heard many versions of this uplifting sentiment. Although I reserve the right to start complaining at any time, the "misery" hasn't begun yet, so it's weird to have to convince people that you aren't depressed and "hating life."
  
• "Wow... you are huge!"
  Wow... you are ugly! Thank goodness I'll lose this belly when the baby comes out... too bad you'll always have that face! (No... I have not said that to anyone, but it doesn't mean I haven't wanted to.) :-)
  
• "Wow... you're really showing. When I was pregnant, I didn't show until I was about 8 months along."
  If you don't show until you're 8 months pregnant, that means you either wear clothes that are WAY too baggy... or you had way too much weight for that baby to hide under.

I hope you can see why I think these statements and questions were humorous. If you can't, then you were probably the one who said it to me! :-)

Is flying a cure for breech babies?

Well, we have no idea when it happened, but we had an ultrasound today and learned that Squishee has taken a dive and is now head down instead of breech! We are really excited! Sure enough, if it hadn't been for the need for ultrasounds to monitor Squishee's growth, we probably would have never known she was breech for a while anyway. So it was much ado about nothing! But we are so thankful that Squishee cooperated!!!

Speaking of growth ultrasounds, Squishee is doing really well. She's growing just fine and is currently in the 40th percentile for growth, which is totally normal and acceptable. The technicican predicts that she is about 4.5 lbs right now... and the ultrasound confirmed that she is pretty active (as if I needed an ultrasound to confirm that!).

Over the past weekend, Sean and I were in Boise for a friend's wedding. We're going to spread rumors that the flying is what caused Squishee to flip around and then maybe we can get speaking engagements on Oprah and free tickets on the airlines! :)

Here are some pics from our brief weekend in Boise

Sean and Lisa before heading off to the wedding

My 6 beautiful friends from High School
(Amy, Joy, Jaime, Katie - the bride, Caroline, Lisa and Carin)

Lisa and her mom

Watch Squishee grow in a slideshow...

Wish I'd thought of this sooner, but rather than doing a post every time we take another picture of Squishee growing in my belly, we've gone ahead and put a slide show to the right showing the progression. And to think there was a time when people couldn't tell Lisa was pregnant! HA!

After Squishee is born, not only will we burn the infamous pink pajamas and black tank top that you've seen so much of, but we promise to update the slideshow with pictures that are 1000 times cuter than Lisa's growing tummy!

SOME HINTS for viewing the slideshow:
- If you click on the scrolling images, then you can use the buttons in the bottom left to slow down, speed up, or pause the scrolling
- If you hover your mouse over one of the pictures that is scrolling by, it should pause it and tell you the caption for that picture. In this case, it will tell you what week that picture is from
- If you want to see all the pictures in this slideshow at once, you can click on the slide show or on the "View All Images" button. This may not be that exciting right now, but it will be more fun as we have more and more pictures up there for you to see!

Pics at 31 weeks... Yes, you see my belly!

It has come to my attention that a few of you out there are a little "ooged" out by seeing my bare belly. For the squeamish of you (wussies), I am doing you this little favor and posting a picture of my big ol' belly with a shirt covering it. Beware... if you scroll down too far, you WILL see pics that include my belly button! :-)

And now for the bare belly pic. Folks... there's no denying it. Lisa is pregnant. And Squishee is ready to declare it to the world by expanding that belly of her mom's! I guess we knew this was going to happen, right?

To answer your next question: Yes, Sean is afraid. Very afraid! :-)

More fun with family and friends in Portland

In mid-April, we were blessed with a beautiful spring day that ACTUALLY included sunshine. On this gorgeous day, we were lucky enough to get even more family and friends together at our house in Portland. Dad and Mom Shepard and our family friend, Robbie, flew up to gather together and join in another pre-celebration of Squishee's coming arrival. This little munchkin of ours sure has some wonderful family and friends to meet when she shows up!!!

Lisa with Sean's Dad (Bruce) and Sean's cousins
(Sarah, Shannon & Stacey)

Lisa & Sean with Grandma Shepard

Robbie and Mom Shepard relaxing out on the back deck.
(Notice Grandma Shepard's new "bling" around her neck!)

Fun with Family and Friends in Boise

There are a lot of fun things about being pregnant! And no, I'm not just talking about heartburn, ginormous clothes, and stupid comments from people about looking like I'm having twins. I'm talking about the stuff that is ACTUALLY fun!

One of those fun things about being pregnant is that it provides a wonderful excuse to get friends and family together... and we have been busy doing just that!!

In late March, we hopped to Boise for a quick weekend and managed to squeeze in some wonderful memories with lots of friends and family. Mom Shepard managed to even fly in for a day to join in the "pre-celebration" of Squishee's arrival.

Lisa with her mom (Kathy) and sister (Lorna)

Lisa with Sean's cousins (Pam, Julie & Jamie)

Lisa with Mom Broman and Mom Shepard

Sean and Lisa with their nieces, Channing and Charise
(Sean is proof that it wasn't just a weekend of girls,
although the boys did run and hide a bit when it came to talking babies!)

Of course, we were surrounded by so many more family and friends during the weekend, but we can't post all the pictures here (and of course, some of you are just plain camera shy!)

How is Squishee REALLY doing in there!

We had another ultrasound on Monday, 3/24/08 (about 28 weeks along). In the past, when people have showed us their ultrasound pictures, we've had a little trouble seeing what they were able to see. So don't worry... if this just looks like a black and white blob to you, we understand. Maybe you have to see it live in order to interpret the picture. But just in case you are one of those people who can actually see the 3-D image in those cool posters at the mall kiosks, here is Squishee's latest portrait (it's a close up!).

Squishee's face... you can't see it in this picture,
but we think she has Lisa's chin. I guess we'll find out in a few months!

Other Squishee updates:

• Not that it should come as a shock to anyone, but we are starting to think Squishee just might be a little ornery. The little munchkin is currently BREECH! In fact, she has her head tucked nicely into Lisa's rib and she looks as cozy as can be. But as Lisa's dad would say... "DON'T PANIC!" Although 75% of babies have flipped by this time, there's still plenty of time for Squishee to do a swan dive. We'll be hoping for her to make her big move in the next 2-8 weeks before we REALLY start to panic! :-)


• Squishee is slightly small for 28 weeks, but nothing to worry about (especially since both Sean and Lisa were small babies and don't exactly top the charts when it comes to height). This is good news since once of the risks of Lisa's chronic high blood pressure (and the medication she's on) is stunted growth in the womb. The doc will still keep a close eye on Squishee's growth throughout the rest of our pregnancy, but so far so good!


• Speaking of high blood pressure, Lisa's is doing great! No worries whatsoever at this time!


• Both Sean and Lisa are enjoying the little kicks and pushes that Squishee does throughout the day. Although she still is a bit of a mystery in there, we are connecting with her more and more each day. While we lay in bed at night, Lisa curls up behind Sean and without fail, Squishee starts kicking and pushing like mad. We just lay there and laugh at the fact that she is already trying to push her daddy around! :-)


• We have had many questions about names. I'm not sure, but it seems like some of you are a little tired of the name "Squishee". Unfortunately, we haven't decided on a name yet, but we look forward to sharing it with you soon... that is, in about 11-12 weeks when Squishee is born. In the meantime, if you are tired of calling her Squishee, you can always use her other nickname, Squishette!
  
  
  

  Sean and Lisa out to dinner with friends.
  "Can you please bring that dessert tray around again?"

  
  

No more false advertising!!

Lately, Lisa has been accused of false advertising because there has been A LOT of growth with Squishee in the past few weeks, and our latest posting was at 23 weeks. So it's time to get an updated pic of the ol' tummy out there!!

Here are a couple of pics of Lisa & Squishee at 27 weeks (3/18/08)

27 weeks from the side

Facing 27 weeks head on! :-)

Escape to Florida

In early March, we went to visit our friends, Carey, Vera and Laura Hobbs, who live in Orlando, Florida! While there, I took about 100 pics of dear Laura (who's about 18 months old) and a few pics of the rest of us! Here are a couple of our favorites from the trip!

Sean and Laura reading together. Just look at those adorable pigtails!!!

Our self portrait while visiting Sarasota. It was a little windy, but the sun felt wonderful for us poor Oregonians!

Lunch in Sarasota... CHEERS to Mojitos, Sangria and Virgin Mango Tangos! :-)

We definitely enjoyed some refreshing fun in the sun...

...but don't let him fool you. That water was NOT warm!!!

Overall, we had a fabulous time. Of course it was great to get a break from our Oregon winter, but our favorite part was just getting to spend time with wonderful friends! Thanks for being such awesome hosts, Carey, Vera and Laura. Can't wait until we see you again!!!

Squishee at 23 weeks

Here is a pic of Lisa at 23 weeks. Yep... Squishee is growing in there!!!

Highlights of the past couple weeks include:

- Lisa is really starting to feel Squishee kick in the past week. A few times, it has actually been visible from the outside! Within the next couple of days, we're guessing Daddy Shep is going to be able to feel one of these kicks, but we just haven't been able to time it well yet! :-)

- Lisa's sister (Lorna) came to visit and helped us get Lisa's office moved into the former guest room. Sean then built the crib and voila... we have the start of Squishee's room!!

- Lisa had her first (of many) irrational mommy panic attacks. Squishee was kicking so strong last week and then I didn't feel her at all for most of Friday and Saturday up through the afternoon. I was trying to tell myself to be logical and remember that it's still early for paying such close attention to the kicks, but hey... I'm pregnant. I get to be irrational sometimes! =) Anyway, by Saturday afternoon, I was in tears, so Sean and Lorna encouraged me to call my friend Sarah who has a doppler heart monitor rented for her pregnancy. She was so sweet and came right over to the house and did an impromptu nursing visit for me! Squishee's heartbeat was strong as can be and she's doing great. It was just a case of me putting too much importance on those continuous kicks. I'm sure this won't be the last of my new mommy worries as we go through the next few months, but we'll see!

Viva Las Vegas!!!

In early February, we did what all couples do when they're 20 weeks pregnant... we went to LAS VEGAS!! :-) While there, we saw a couple of shows, danced in some clubs and just enjoyed seeing the sun for a couple days. It was a fun adventure... and if Squishee comes out tapping her feet, we'll know where she got her dancing rhythm! :-)

We got dolled up and headed out on the town. We were up until the wee hours of dawn both nights we were in town... I guess we're practicing for the midnight feedings that are coming in a few months! :-)

Our fearless traveling partners, John, Julie, Don and Stacey made the trip with us. With Don's bum Achille's Tendon and Lisa's growing belly, we were quite the motley crew strolling around Vegas, but we had a blast.

On Sunday, we squeezed in a wonderful brunch with Dad & Mom Shepard and family friends, Russ and Robbie. It's a good thing we had such a full breakfast since our flight was delayed by about 4 hours and we got to wait in the airport for about 6 hours! We made it to Portland around 1:00 am and crawled into bed, excited for that alarm clock to go off in the morning!