My mothers' day Present

Nana Elise came right on time. Just in time for mothers' day 2009. Mothers' day was May 10 and she was born on May 7th. She was the perfect gift for mothers' day. I could not ask for a better gift. She was a real present sent from Heaven. She is such a good baby and has made my motherhood experience thus far a great one. There are some bumps along the way but the joy that she brings up overcomes everything. She is not fussy( except when she has gas problems) and does not cry unless she is hungry. she is so sweet and content. She now weighs 7.4 and is 20 and half inches long. She still eats well and she got her first real bath on saturday after her cord fell off. She loves getting baths. She does not like the soaping part but she loves the warm water during rinsing. She also likes to be massaged. I learned about this baby massage that the chinese do with olive oil and that puts her to sleep. At the moment she is sleeping about 2 hours stretch and then it is time to eat. It was very frustrating when she started having her gassy episodes at night normally around 10pm which started when she was a week old. We did not know how to soothe her. She would be very uncomfortable and gassy. No position or anything would help. Now we are better at knowing what to do. I take her upstairs before it is 1000pm, give her a sponge bath and put her in her crib and dim the lights which works most of the time but not all the time. Sometimes playing some calming music works. Her pediatrician approved for her to get Mylicon( gas relief medicine) which I use as last resort if all natural attempts fail. That always works but I hate to give her medication so I try all other tricks first. So far she is healthy and everything is well. We thank God for our blessings each day.

Our Little Princess is finally here-Introducing Nana Ahenfoa Elise Corey

It is so surreal. It still feels like a dream. I do not want to click my heels in case it is a dream. Our baby girl is here and she is perfect. God has been so good to us. On May 7th around 2am, I started feeling some cramping but I did not thing anything of it. I went back to sleep and then around 330am I had been to the bathroom and returning to bed when my water broke. I could not believe it. I was joking around at work that I was not showing up for work that day because I was going to have the baby. Well, it turned out to be real. James was so excited when I woke him up to tell him we had to go to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at around 500am. My contractions were strong but tolerable. I did not want to get an epidural because I wanted an all natural birth. James helped me use breathing techniques to get through the contractions. Apart from the contractions, I had very bad cramping in my legs and a very severe heartburn and this was making my labor even worse than it was supposed to be. My nurse, Ruth, was very helpful too. She gave me massages, encouragement and she was doing energy kinesiology which was surprisingly very helpful. James thought the use of energy kinesiology was weird and funny. It was helping me so I did not mind it at all. At about 1000am, I was 5cm dilated and the pain was unbearable so I opted for an epidural. I was so disappointed with myself and felt as if I was putting myself before my baby's. The epidural helped me relax and took all the pain away in about 15 minutes. I could feel the pressure of some of my contractions but no pain. I felt numb from the waist down and was afraid I would not be able to push since I had no feeling. At 1200 noon, I was 8cm dilated. At 200pm, I was still 8cm dilated and the baby's heart rate was dropping with my contractions. The doctors were concerned that I had not progressed in 2 hours so they gave me Pitocin to help make my contractions stronger and progress my dilation.I was also given oxygen to prevent the dropping in the baby's heart rate. I was upset because I knew the epidural had slowed down my labor, caused the drop in heart rate and was scared it was going to cause other complications. After I received the oxygen and pitocin, everything was fine. At 4pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push. I was scared and anxious about the pushing to the point that I was shaking. I thought it would be horrifying and long. Fortunately, it lasted only 15 minutes in 3 contractions and Nana Elise was out. She is the most beautiful and precious baby we have ever seen. She was born at 418pm on Thursday May 7th, 2009. She weighed 5.15 and was 19 inches long. She did not cry much when she came out. She is very calm and content. She is a good eater, and a wonderful baby. We are so in love with her.

Home stretch...almost there....

We almost there...we now have 2 more weeks to go. In the pictures, the one I'm wearing grey and black was when I had 4 weeks to go. The picture with the brown dress was yesterday and now we have only two weeks to go. We feel like we are ready. We can't wait to see Elise. It is going to be life changing. People who have kids always tell us it is hard work but they always end it with " but it is worth it". To be continued, I have to go to work.....

Baby Shower

Last saturday, James and My sister Sandra hosted a baby shower for us. It was supposed to start at 6pm and end at 10pm but you know how Ghanaians can be with their timing....Well, let me explain. Ghanaians abroad turn everything into a party. Bridal shower, baby shower etc is a BIG PARTY. Men are invited to everything....there were men at my bridal shower and at my baby shower too. Having a the start time as 6pm means 10pm. So the baby shower did not get busy until around 10. There was a lot of food, drinks and merry making. I was so impressed with how it turned out. There were a lot of friends and gifts except for a few friends who disappointed me. You know how there are some friends that you expect to be at everything. We got a lot of gifts for Elise and we just wanted to say thanks to all my friends who cooked the meals( Sandra, Elsie, Ewurakua, Mimi) and the cake( Yram). Also thanks to Aina who did the decorations. And above all James and Van who ran so many errands getting drinks and ice and plates etc. It was a great night and we all had fun.

Ha Ha Ha Hooo- 10 more weeks

If you are guessing what Ha Ha Ha Hooo means, well that is one of the breathing patterns we learned in our birthing classes. I started my birthing classes on tuesday. Well, we only have 10 more weeks to go so we have to get prepared. The first class was so exciting and I was looking forward to that. We met a bunch of couples just like us. I think there are 6-7 more couples in the class. It is an interesting mix but we are all going to be first time mothers. Interesting enough, we are not the only mixed couples. We always get excited when we see that. There is an American/Japanese couple, American/Indian couple, and then us, American/African. We are all due in May. Running from May 1st to May 28th. It was so funny because we were all checking each other's belly out wondering when the other is due or what they are expecting. I guess the instructor noticed this and mentioned it too so before the class even started we all introduced ourselves and talked about our expectations and our due dates. Some bellies were tiny, other were huge...everybody is built differently. One thing we all had in common was excitement and anxiety at the same time. All the husbands were very supportive and did not look like they had been dragged there. They were actually enjoying the breathing and excercises. The class was very informative and now it is up to me to practice my relaxation breathing and my Ha Ha Ha Hooo!!!!!!

7 months and counting---

Oh wow, it is already 7 months. Well every 4 weeks is a month so we are counting on a ten month schedule. That means we have 3 more months to go. Before I got pregnant, I thought it was supposed to be 9 months but I found out otherwise. Well, I have been enjoying my pregnancy thus far. I had not been sick since my first trimester until about 5 days ago. I felt like I was back in my first trimester. I think I was coming down with a cold or something. Well, it lasted for 2 days and it was over. I was scared my third trimester was going to be like my first, but thank God it is over with. We feel much more relaxed now, we comprising James, Elise, and I. We found a babysitter that we are all very pleased with. She lives right next door to us. We have known her since we moved to this neighborhood and have been friends for a while. We feel more comfortable with her and we feel we know her more than anyone else. I am still growing but many people find it hard to believe that I am seven months now. They claim they cannot see anything. My sister Sandra, thinks the baby does not have enough room in there. I think she has plenty because she does not stop moving. She moves 24/7 and sometimes she makes my belly look weird with her movements. She is doing great in there and Mummy and Daddy are also doing great out here. I saw my doctor last monday. Everything is fine. My blood test and everything is fine. Elise is measure what she is supposed to be, my gestational diabetes test was negative, and my weight is fine too. I have gained about 16 pounds so far and know I will gain more. I thank God so much for this smooth ride. I went to a party the other day and everyone commented that I look healthy and good. Well, I guess all my healthy eating and exercise are paying off. One of my friends commented....you have a superstar pregnancy....that was nice to hear. I have put up pictures that I took last weekend. I know you are all not here so I want to keep you updated so you can recognize me next time you see me. My belly is almost missing in the pink dress but the red dress really brings it out.

Antepartum get-away

It was so nice to go away for a while. James and I decided to take off some romantic time to enjoy our time alone in this romantic cottage at Williamsburg, Virginia. That is the first British Colony in America. The place is beautiful and wonderful. We also visited Jamestown which is the first English settlement in America. The museums and historic sites were amazing. We stayed in a cottage that almost felt like home. We went to the movies, swimming, for ice-cream, for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we went shopping too. They had these outlet malls with great deals so we did some wise shopping. We took this trip because it is probably going to be our last trip or vacation alone for a long time. And even if we get to go away alone, we have to make so many plans before we can leave home. This time we just got up and left and we did not have to carry diapers or formula or strollers. We wanted to do this for one last time. I'm glad we did because we had a fabulous time.