Ivy Kathleen Seymore joined our family  on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at  2:09 in the morning  weighing in at  7 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long
Ivy was born exactly on her "due date" (the day before our wedding anniversary)! I had been having contractions months before and still nothing was happening so I just went on thinking I was going to have her past 40 weeks. 
Friday the 13th, was just like any other day. We had just moved to an appt in Oceanside and we were barely getting through boxes to unpack. Chris was having his car shipped from Virginia and it was being delivered to our old location in Riverside that day (about an hour away from Oceanside). So I drove out there to sign off the paper work and pay the guy. To kill some time while we waited, my mom and I, and of course my active toddler duo, went shopping at a few of our favorite places then met up with my sister and her boyfriend for lunch. Time past when I finally heard back from the shipping company saying they are running behind and will be getting here tomorrow morning instead. So rather than driving to Oceanside that night and then back to Riverside again the next morning, I decided to spend the night at my mom's house then drive back home early the next morning. 
We spent the rest of the evening at my grandparents house when I started having some pain with my contractions. I wasn't having very many contractions but they were starting to feel different than the ones I had been previously having. Still so far apart, I wasn't going to get my hopes up and think that it was the night (because truthfully, I had been thinking every night was going to be the night for the past month). I went to the bathroom and noticed I was bleeding, not just spotting but actually bleeding. That was really unusual for me so we decided it would be best to go to the hospital and have things checked out. We got the kids together and dropped them off with my sister so that my mom could stay with me at the hospital. It was about 11 pm when we got to the labor and delivery. I sent Chris a text message about 15 minutes before telling him what was going on and that I would let him know if I think he should drive out from Oceanside (he was in the field the night before and was exhausted so I didn't want him to drive out so late at night if it was nothing serious). This whole time I was barely having any contractions and they were far apart without any pattern and the bleeding wasn't as bad any more so I was feeling kind of bad about setting off a "false alarm".  After filling out all the paper work and finally getting into a room the nurse comes in, asks me a ton of questions, checks the consistency and intensity of my contractions, and checks to see how dilated I am. Turns out I'm only ONE centimeter dilated, the baby is still really high and she says it doesn't even look like I'm having any contractions and apparently the bleeding is just from my cervix thinning and opening. Then Chris walks in the door and said he couldn't sleep so he drove out to be with me. The nurse said they couldn't admit me into the hospital unless I was at least 4 centimeters dilated. She suggested I walk around the hospital for an hour and see if I progressed at all. My mom went home now that Chris was with me and we were all thinking it was going to be a long night of labor...if it even was the real thing. 
As I was trying to get out of bed, I was having such intense pain I couldn't even stand. I've had two babies before and I've never felt this kind of pain before. It literally felt like my insides were going to fall out. None of my previous labor contractions felt like this so I had no idea what was going on. It was a little past midnight when I was finally able to get myself out of bed and start walking around with Chris. We talked and joked around a bit with more of those painful episodes. And like a light switch, I was no longer in a joking mood. With every contraction I thought I was going to die. I really thought my insides were all just going to come out. My contractions didn't have any kind of pattern to them, all I know is that they were long and very intense. I would hold on the Chris and just shake with pain. It got to the point where I just couldn't walk anymore and I all I wanted to do was rush to my bed to lay down. Now it was constant pain, no break in between contractions, and I was just holding onto Chris crying. I don't even remember how I got back into the room and back on the bed. I was greeted by another rude nurse with more rude remarks like "well you didn't get far" and "you're going to have to do better than that" referring to not walking for very long and thinking I'm just exaggerating my pain. Just 30 minutes ago I was only 1 centimeter dilated so I'm sure they thought I was exaggerating. Chris told her I wanted an epidural and she came back with, "we'll she's going to have to wait an hour because the doctor is busy with another patient." That was the worst thinking I'd be in this intense pain for another hour! She repeated herself and said, "you need to walk around more..." Chris told her to just check how far along I was so she did. Thats when she started believing that I was in a lot of pain and quickly admitted me and offered me some other pain medications.  I was ready to push! They told me that there wasn't a doctor available yet but I didn't care. I felt the urge and I was confident that I could deliever my own baby if I had to. Thankfully, the nurse seemed experienced and she didn't try to stop me. She just stood by my side letting me do my thing, and I really appreciated that.
With only a few contractions of pushing, my precious baby was born. The nurse laid her on my chest and I just felt so much joy and relief. The doctor walked in not much later and then I heard faint comments about how blue she was and Chris was asking why she wasn't crying. I didn't think too much of it at the time. Everything felt right to me and just so natural. I was at ease with my baby laying on my bare skin. She brings me so much joy. Words can't express the love I have for my beautiful little Ivy.

just for fun

I am now 38 weeks pregnant and I really didn't think I would even make it this far because I have been having contractions for such a long time! Every night I think, "this is the night..." but it hasn't been yet. As I'm laying on my mom's couch tonight, anxiously waiting for things to progress, I can't help but wonder what my little baby is going to look like.
I picture her with a lot dark, long hair. I've always imagined my kids being born with thick hair because my hair is incredibly thick... and part of me wants to see if that old wives tale is true; if you have heartburn durning pregnancy then that means your baby will be born with lots of hair. I'm pretty sure I had heartburn with my previous pregnancies but definitely not as bad as I have with this one. It is so intense! Sometimes it feels like a sharp pain in the middle of my chest. Both of my little ones weren't born with much hair, so we'll see if this one will be any different. It's really hard for me to picture facial features. I'm sure she'll look something like Lincoln and Ella but I wonder if she'll have Lincoln's fair skin or Ella's tan complexion; Lincoln's super thick dark hair or Ella's golden brown curls... Sometimes imagine her with Chris' bright green eyes, but both of our kids have my eyes so we'll see if my dominate trait wins again. For some reason I keep thinking, "what if she is actually a he!" I don't know if I think that because I've been hearing quite a few stories about women who delivered their baby expecting it to be one thing and it being born the opposite. Or maybe I keep thinking that because Chris really wanted a brother for Lincoln and we were so set on a boy name that we're bummed we won't get to use... I don't know... All I really care about is that our baby is born healthy! I also imagine her to be pretty small (healthy small), maybe in he high 6 pound or low 7 pound birth weight. My little Ella was 6 lbs. 2 oz. for the longest time and I loved how tiny she was (and still is) and I was able to carry her around in my sling for such a long time.
At my last appointment, a little over a week ago, I was dilated one centimeter. My next doctors appointment is early next week so we'll see how things are looking then. I'm pretty sure I'll be delivering at Riverside Medical because of our current living situation (that's where I was born)! I am really disappointed though because I really wanted to have an at home water birth, especially since this is going to be our last baby. (that's what we said the last time I was pregnant haha). At least I know a little better now that this is my third time around, so I'll be making some changes and requests while we're at the hospital. 
So back to the name game... I keep getting asked if the name we chose is for sure. I don't even know how to answer that. Yes, we like the name Ivy and I'm pretty sure we'll be using that name but It's not "for sure" until we sign her birth certificate. Chris and I are still open to other names and we still bounce them around here and  there. Some of our current toss ups are Mila. Cali and Nora(h) but the name Ivy seems to always be the top contender. I just don't like having the pressure of deciding on a name now, I'll decide once I've gotten to spend some time with her. 
In the mean time, I'm working really hard to enjoy these last couple of weeks of pregnancy, even though my aching body needs a little break! Only 2-ish more weeks to go!

belly recap

 

I'm currently 35 weeks along with our little Ivy and time has been flying by.

I am loving feeling this girl move round in my belly. I already feel such a strong bond with her and I love her to pieces! I can't wait to hold her in my arms.

 

whenever the kids see a baby they always bring up our baby Ivy. They include her in their payers and even when they play.

 

I  am also feeling the "third trimester discomforts" that come with it. the weather out here on the east coast is brutal! we've been staying in a lot lately because I start having a lot of strong contractions when im out in the heat. lucky, Chris just finished his course and has been taking the kids out a lot... they're at the beach right now!

 

we are planning to fly to CA next week some time (when I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant!!). I've studied up on how to deliver your own baby in case I need do so on the plane ha-ha! and once we land I am more than ready to have this baby!

 

I haven't been to the doctors in over 3 months so I'm kind of worried about that...thankfully she is active, very active, so it makes it easier for me to keep track of.

 

I have so much more I'd like to write about but my computer is make it so difficult for me! It keeps freezing up on me and not typing out words or letters so I'm just going to have to keep it short this time. Hopefully I can go in depth more on my next pregnancy update!

 

 

we have a name!

  baby #3 can now be referred to as Ivy! If you saw our previous name list here, then you know were all over the place with what we liked and agreed on. Chris did not like the name Ivy at all... but I won him over! (no shocker haha) It's so cute hearing him refer to the baby now as Ivy. He has really fallen in love with our little Ivy!  

half way there

 

I am 20 weeks pregnant with baby #3! I can't believe I'm already half way through with this pregnancy...I think the time is going to fly from this point on. We plan on flying out to Virginia Beach in the next week or so. then there's moving in, unpacking, and once we're kind of settled in I plan on potty 'teaching' the kids. So I'll be quit busy. We'll be back in VA for maybe 5 months... we really have no clue yet. So where will I have the baby? I have no clue! yes, the perks of military life.   anyway, back to my pregnancy update... I just started feeling movement not long ago and it's still very subtle. that's because the placement of the placenta is towards the front right up against my abdominal which explains why it's hard for me to feel much and also why I experienced a lot of cramping. besides the constant back aches and sciatica pain, there's really nothing out of the ordinary I'm experiencing. I was EXTREMELY tired and nauseous the first trimester but things have gotten better.   as far as names go...I'm totally set on a name! the only thing is Chris thinks it sounds like a stripper name!! What!? no way does it sound anything like a stripper! but I have a few months to convince him to like it...and he will like it!  

the name game

Lincoln, Ella, &              

names we kind of sort of like:

(in no particular order)

• = Emma's choice
• = Chris' choice
two dots = we both kind of like it // first color likes it more

Lily •

Mila (mee-lah) • •

Ivy •

Nora • •

Aurora .
Leila (lay-lah) •

Naia (ny-uh) •

Cali • •

Lila •
Mia •

there are names on that list I don't like but Chris does and names only I like... but we're just not in love with any of them... yet.

I know sometimes it has to grow on you. Like when Chris brought up the name Lincoln when I was first pregnant, I laughed and said no way! and when I mentioned the name Ella, he didn't like it at first either, and now those names fit our kids perfectly and we love them! so it's a matter of finding something that fits our family and imagining our cute little girl with that name.

it's a...

G I R L!

we were shocked to hear we were having another girl! both Chris and I really thought it was a boy this time. we had a name picked out and everything. I even started saving some of the clothes Linc grew out of and I completely gave away all of Ella's clothes!   I think I was about 19 weeks when I went in for the anatomy scan. Andi, my sister came along with me. I wanted to record the ultra sound or at least Skype with Chris during the procedure because he hasn't seen the baby move or even my growing belly. The technician didn't allow it though because of some law. (lame.) so I just had Chris on the phone so we'd hear the verdict together.    right as the tech was going to tell us what it was, I said I wanted to see for myself and guess. she turned the screen and as I have Chris on the phone, I said, "oh my gosh...oh my gosh... it's a girl!" Chris was silent. I told him to say something and he finally said something along the lines of, "well, that sucks." we really were both just in shock. and we were bummed we couldn't use our boy name we had grown to love.   It took me a few days to readjust my thoughts and reimagine my future, but I am more than happy to be having another girl. I think Chris has recovered too...   Now the name game... we have such a difficult time finding girl names we like. Even with Ella we couldn't find a name until about 3 days after she was born. We like short, sweet, and girly names so if you have any ideas please share!!   

 

   

baby #3

...joining us this September!