rushley & crew

Since I was a bit loopy during Ada's delivery, I asked Russ if he would be willing to write down details of the birth as well as his thoughts and feelings surrounding her birth :) Here's what he had to say. *    *    * When I got the confirmation that Ada was going to be born on Friday  morning, my initial reaction was what I thought was excitement, and I told everyone in the office that I could think of. It was an exciting idea, because I knew Ashley had wanted to have Ada that day, so I was happy about that, but I hadn't really considered what having her would be like, nor how the process would affect my feelings. As the work day ended and I went home to Ashley, my feelings seemed to change to more of fear and worry. I didn't know how to take care of a new baby, nor did I know what it would be like to have a new baby since I hadn't really been around a new baby in a way that would be comparable since Chan [his younger sister] was born. I was scared that I...

Some Background Info Throughout my pregnancy, friends and family would often ask me about my birth plan. The truth was, I didn't really have one, and I definitely didn't put a ton of thought into the one I did have. Mostly, I just figured I wanted a vaginal delivery if possible, and though I was open to trying without an epidural, I figured I would end up getting one. But like I said, this plan wasn't super concrete. This is because I'm diabetic (always, not just when pregnant), and I knew that there was a high likelihood that my plans would be forced to change when delivery time came. I didn't want to get my heart set on any certain way, since there were definitely no guarantees that I'd get that. When I was around 30-35 weeks, I started asking my doctors what they thought my delivery would look like. They kept stalling and saying we'd wait to find out X information at Y appointment before we could make a more concrete plan. At one point, my OB said we w...

Ada Charlotte   · born September 23, 2016 at 9:42am eleven pounds · twenty-one inches long (I got everything done more nicely {especially lighting} for the second photo, but unfortunately it took me a while to do so, so she's a lot older {like older than one month} in the second photo. Therefore, I kept the first one to show my sweet baby girl as a newer newborn)

scared? or excited? a little bit of both, really ;) How Far Along:  38 weeks, 3 days Size:  A Pomeranian dog or a spaghetti squash. Or perhaps something much bigger, since she's measuring so big! Gender:  It's a  girl ! :) though I'm still pretty paranoid that she'll come out a boy and her nursery will be all wrong! Haha :) Name:  Ada Charlotte :)  Movement:  Miss Ada is definitely running out of womb ;) while I certainly still feel many kicks and movements, she also puts a lot of pressure into specific parts of my stomach at different times, which is quite uncomfortable. Those pressurized times are the times when I'm most anxious for her to come out of there haha. My favorite times are when I'm watching TV or a movie and I just rest my hands on my bare stomach, waiting for any kicks or movements that come. I love to feel those and think about holding her hands or feet when she's on the outside. I'm just so excited to see our tiny litt...

My final baby shower was thrown by my sister Rachel. I was looking forward to this one in part because I knew it would have the best turnout, but I was still blown away by how many people came! It was a mix of Russ's family, my family, and a few very close family friends. At the start of the shower, we chatted and people filled out " wishes for baby " cards. When I grabbed one to fill out, I kind of got overwhelmed, as I was making wishes for my own baby who means so much to me! Russ and I had so much fun reading them later, though :) Our favorite mayyyy have been "I hope you get: immunized" by Granny B (Russ's mom). It was too funny! Haha :) this pic was just too funny to not  post. As more people came, Rachel directed them to keep filling out the cards, but to grab some food as well. Rachel made tasty mini muffins (blueberry and strawberry), my sis-in-law Amy brought strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and fruit dip, and my mom made amazing quic...

A few months ago, my visiting teaching companion, Cynthia Hallen, sweetly offered to throw me a baby shower! I was so grateful and excited about it because I find it difficult to have one big shower with a wholeeee bunch of people from different parts of your life, so it's nice to have those people broken down into more common groups -- hence a friend , neighborhood, and family shower for me. Because there were so many people I wanted to invite and because the shower was on a Saturday, Cynthia and I opted for an open house shower, where people could come and go as they were able. The shower was wonderful. For food, there was a hashbrown casserole, fruit, arroz con leche, and eclairs. Many people helped Cynthia out by bringing milk and juice. For the first bit, we all chatted and munched on the yummy food. After a bit, Cynthia asked people to share mothering advice with me. I've heard a lot about how people don't want mothering advice from other people, and while I can u...