Chloë Ann Blakey

Our Little Girl is here. Beautiful and healthy, we give thanks to God for his timing and grace.

Chloë Ann Blakey was born at home on Sunday, June 13th at 12:13pm, weighing 7 lbs, 10 oz, standing 20 1/2 inches tall. With the assistance of two amazing midwives, we somehow did the most difficult and amazing thing we've ever done. 15 hours of "active" back labor was pretty intense, to say the least. Not to mention the 50+ hours of "non active" labor, mostly on-again, occasionally off-again, since the evening of Thursday the 10th.

But we did it. She is here, in our arms, and we are still resting and enjoying her dad's week of paternity leave from work.



Just minutes after she was born. She didn't cry, but held her head up and looked around, and noticed it was just a little bit bright and cold here in our world.


A few hours old. We think she's the cutest baby in the whole world.


5 hours after she was born. We were all exhausted, but we got to introduce Chloë to all of her Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles (all officially receiving these titles for the first time that day), except for my sister, who was in Europe, and my oldest brother, who was in Oregon. They've both met her since.


5 hours old, and she already had him wrapped around her finger.


Two days old. I didn't know it was going to be this wonderful.





Two days old, and we just can't get enough of snuggling our Little Pea Pod.




4 days old. Some of the adorable little faces she makes.


Today, 5 days old. We think she's pretty great.

We still can't believe that she's finally here and that she's really ours. I think we'll keep her.

False Alarms

I have three due dates. June 15th, June 16th, and June 17th. I love it. Some women have a three or four week spread between due dates. That would just drive me crazy.

So Monday, the 7th, I had a little false alarm. I've been having lots of good Braxton-Hicks contractions for quite a while now (I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with all of the packing and moving and unpacking and nesting I've been doing). But Monday evening I noticed that they seemed a lot stronger than normal, and actually uncomfortable. I went to bed, tried to sleep, but kept thinking about the possibility of labor. So of course my brain went wild, and I had a pretty crummy night of rest, and nothing progressed. Oh well.

Then on Wednesday the 9th, I had my 39 week appointment. We're planning on doing a home birth, with an absolutely amazing midwife, and it was kind of surreal talking about labor and delivery as a real possibility of something in the near future. Our Little Girl is in the optimal position for delivery (LOA, for anyone who cares), she's "dropped," and her head is well engaged. It looks like my body just might preparing to birth a child.

The only thing is, my amazing midwife also has a life aside from delivering babies all the time, and is going to be out of town from the 13th to the 19th. And my due dates are right smack dab in the middle of those dates. I had decided quite a while ago that if things were beginning to look ready, maybe I would try to nudge nature along before my midwife leaves town. And if things didn't look very ready, I would just lay low and hope I don't go into labor until my midwife gets back in town.

So yesterday morning, Thursday the 10th, I tried a handful of labor inducers... including castor oil. Let me just say, castor oil is the most awful, horrible thing I have ever done to myself. Terrible, terrible stuff. I tried mixing and chasing it with V8 splash, and I don't think I'll ever be able to drink it again. So the afternoon passed, and not much was happening. I just figured my body wasn't ready, and I'd tortured myself for no reason. But then about the time Bryan got home from work, I noticed the contractions were picking up. He has a fancy app on his iPod Touch, so all I have to do is push a button when a contraction starts, and again when it stops. No fumbling with paper and pencils and watching a clock.

So around 9 pm, I realized that for the last several hours, contractions had been lasting 1-2 minutes, and coming every 2-5 minutes. Some were actually riiight on top of each other for 8 or 10 minutes. I thought "oh wait a second, I've seen this before... oh right, when women are in labor." So I gave my midwife a call, and she told me try to get some sleep, and to call her when I couldn't talk through my contractions. Then I threw up for the first time in three weeks. And then the contractions reeeally started hurting. I was even using some of the fancy breathing techniques I learned about in our birthing class.

I was so sure this was it. I got a few things together in between contractions, and even had Bryan set up the birthing pool. I tried going to sleep around midnight, but was waking up frequently. I almost picked up my phone to call my midwife about a dozen times, but kept thinking "I'll bet I could talk through this contraction if I had to if Bryan were awake, so I'll let everyone sleep just a little bit longer."

So I dozed in and out of consciousness for a few hours, and then woke up at 6:30 and realized I'd just slept soundly for two hours. I got up, walked around a little, tried the stairs a few times, and realized the contractions had given up. I was very confused. And extremely tired. So I went back to bed. Awoke again at 9:30, and realized I wasn't actually going to be having a baby any time soon, despite everything my body had just done. So I shook off my frustrations and disappointment, and have been mildly productive today, with the exception of a few naps.

I guess this Little Girl just isn't ready to make her grand appearance into the world. Which I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the horrible back pain and spasms I've been having (if only Ibuprofen weren't contraindicated, especially at the end of pregnancy). And if she decides to come when my midwife is out of town, there are two very wonderful midwives all lined up for back up. God is in control.

Self Portrait

I couldn't resist a little sarcasm this late into the pregnancy.

My first Baby Shower

My dear friends Katie (who lives in Seattle) and Betsy (in Spokane) threw me my first baby shower! They put together an absolutely amazing shower. I was very overwhelmed and blessed by all of the ladies who came, and all of the beautiful gifts they brought for our Little Girl.


Betsy (holding her Eva), Katie, and Bess (holding Katie's Kay).


The amazing spread of food
(and notice Katie's amazing baby pram cake!).


I opened presents for a very long time!


It was such a wonderful shower. And now I just have to wait patiently for the Little Girl to get here.

We're almost there.

On Sunday, at 8 1/2 months pregnant (37 1/2 weeks!), during one of the few warm and sunny moments we've had in the last couple of weeks.


In front of our new home!

Soon, our new family.

We're really excited to meet her!

We heart our baby.

Looking Pregnant

My dear friend Alisha Dalbey asked to take a few pictures of me with my pregnant belly. Here are a few of the shots. This was a couple of weeks ago, right at Week 35, and the 8 Month mark.

8 weeks left

Here I am at week 32. And starting to feel quite huge.

I've had a rough last couple of weeks, I think due in large part to a nasty little virus that decided to invade my body. I actually lost a couple of pounds, but have gained them back and have really started paying attention to what I eat. My appetite is pathetic, and I'm trying to make sure I don't just live off of cereal (there have been days where four or five bowls of cereal is all I've eaten). I've been forcing myself to eat things like protein bars, and adding protein powder to my smoothies, and even consuming strange things like quinoa. I know our Little Girl is growing rapidly (the books say she is about 19" long and almost 4 pounds) because my abdomen doesn't have any room left. She likes to get a foot up under my ribs, and I'm still surprised at how far to my side she kicks. And I can't really bend over to put my socks on any more.

8 weeks left, give or take. I think I can do this.

Third Trimester

Week 29. The pregnancy books say she must be about 17 inches tall, and weigh almost 3 pounds. She must be getting a little cramped in there. It seems like her movements aren't quite as karate-like as they used to be (not as much elbow room for a wind up, I guess), but when she decides it is time for dancing, B and I can't help but laugh at how strange my belly looks squirming and jumping around. Almost every night when I go to bed, she decides it's time practice her epic dance moves, and often wakes me up in the middle of the night. She got hiccups for the first time last week, and still makes me jump with her sudden movements, and I think she found my ribs with her toes for the first time yesterday.

I keep hoping that some of the inconveniences of being pregnant will slowly resolve... but I guess my body just isn't very fond of building another. The morning sickness has improved since the first trimester, but certainly still lingers. Some days I eat very well, with lots of fruits and veggies and proteins. And then there are the days when cereal and potato chips make up most of my caloric intake. I can't seem to go more than a couple of days without throwing up. And the less room I have in there, the worse it seems to get. The same goes for the heartburn. I haven't been able to sleep lying flat for several weeks now. It doesn't seem to matter what or how I eat... I can have a bowl of cheerios and be miserable for hours. And then there's the restless legs, the unbelievably sore neck and back, the muscle twitching, the headaches and migraines, the calf cramps, the sore tongue, the veins everywhere along with many new spider angiomas, the dizziness, and the general fatigue... I really don't think my body enjoys this process very much. Thankfully some days are better than others, and I haven't turned into a complete couch potato. And I know that all of this will just be a faint memory when we finally get to hold her in our arms.

Just a Complex Migraine

Shortly after B went to work this morning, I reached up to open the curtains and thought "whose hand is that?" And then it occurred to me that my vision was not normal. At all.

I immediately wondered if it was complex migraine-related despite the fact that my head did not hurt, and quickly made and consumed a double-shot espresso and went to lie down. But the vision just kept getting worse. There weren't any migraine-classic flashing or blinking lights, just lots of blind spots, making things like reading (or using my cell phone) almost impossible. I've had these sorts of migraines before, but at this point I wasn't having any of the other neurological symptoms, and was starting to get a little nervous since blurry or disturbed vision can be a scary thing during pregnancy. B wasn't answering his cell, so I got a message to him by texting one of his coworkers. I wasn't sure if the text said what I intended, but B quickly came home.

We were trying to decide if I should call my midwife, and then my left hand started tingling. I was strangely relieved. The numbness intensified, and the left side of my face (and nose and tongue) followed suit. And then the recognizable pain in the right side of my brain. I called my Dad (who just happens to be a doctor, and is quite familiar with my medical history) just to make sure I shouldn't freak out for the baby's sake. He said not to worry, "the migraine won't effect your uterus." I just needed to hear someone else say it.

Then I couldn't connect my brain with my mouth. Expressive aphasia. I wasn't using the weird word substitutions that I have in the past (B's favorite from a couple of years ago was when I said "macaroni" instead of "elbow"), but I couldn't really recognize my own voice, and it almost seemed like someone else was talking for me. That's when I just avoid talking. It's too weird to have such an out-of-body and out-of-mind experience. B tried offering some words of encouragement, and then I realized I wasn't really understanding what he was saying, either. Receptive aphasia. That's a complex-migraine first for me.

B made me some more coffee, bringing my caffeine intake up to four shots of espresso, and I noticed a marked increase in fetal movement. I told B it was okay to go back to work, and somehow fell asleep. I woke up a couple of hours later with some lingering blind spots and an ache in my head, but semi-functional, and relieved that what had just happened was no big deal for our baby. She just had a little taste of a caffeine buzz. Pregnancy crisis averted.

(My sister once blogged about a past experience I had with a complex migraine. She's such a great writer.)

Week 24

Our Little Girl is quite the athlete. She throws some pretty hefty kicks and punches for weighing in at about a pound and half, and being about the size of a large ear of corn. It really has been fun to "see" her squirming around, but sometimes I think she gets a bit carried away. I jumped in actual pain for the first time today, when it felt like she grabbed a handful of the inside of her dwelling place and twisted, while somehow simultaneously karate chopping.

I'll admit I'm just a little bit nervous for what might mean for the inside of my body over the next few months .

Week 19.

A couple of weeks ago, when I was at week 19. I think I'm finally past the beer-gut stage, and might actually look pregnant.

She's a Girl!

We had our Big Ultrasound on January 29th, revealing that we will, in fact, be having a little girl! It was a very long and thorough ultrasound, and we got to see every detail of our Little Girl, from the ventricles in her brain, to the ventricles of her heart. We even paid the few extra dollars for a DVD. We were a little disappointed at the short footage, but managed to get it loaded on YouTube, complete with a second-by-second description for those who may not know what to look for.

We got one printed picture. (I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get a few more, considering the price tag of the session.) In the second picture I outlined the profile of her actual face since it's not as easy to make out as the profile of her skull.


She appears to be very strong and perfectly healthy, with all the right parts in all the right places. Thank you, Lord. Everything is extremely proportional, with her calculated due date exactly one day earlier than the last ultrasound, and a whopping two days earlier than the first estimated date. I think we'll go with the average and call it June 16th, although we are entirely prepared for her to be at least a week "late."

We can't wait to meet her in twenty more weeks.