Morgan Helen Hertel

Well, I guess I just wasn't meant to have normal deliveries. Morgan Helen Hertel was born March 26, 2010 at 12:12 AM. She weighed 5 pounds 3.4 ounces and was 18 inches long. We chose the name Morgan because it was a name we both liked. Her middle name, Helen, is after Trey's Oma, Helen Bishop. We love, love, love her! I also found out today that my mom's favorite grandmother's first name was Helen as well. Wow! A two-fer!

Let me tell you a bit about how Morgan came into this world. . .

It was a great Thursday - I was enjoying my time with my students and we were starting a new unit. By the end of third period, the back pain I had been experiencing the past couple of days was joined by sharp, shooting pains. At the beginning of fourth period, one of my students (who is also a new dad) asked me what was wrong. I told him I was having some pain and he suggested I start keeping track of the times. I thought it was crazy, but I complied. He watched me like a hawk the entire class period. The pains were happening about every twenty to twenty-five minutes. At the end of class, I sent Trey a text telling him what was going on and that I was going to call the doctor at lunch. I called, but Thursday is his day off, so I had to wait for the nurse on call to call me back. I went to lunch, had a lunch meeting with my team and at their urging, called the front office to see if someone could cover my 5th period so I could lie down a bit, hoping this would ease the cramping. 5th period started and I reminded my students of the severe weather drill we would be having and went over procedures. In the middle of all of that, an AP came running into my room to see if I was ok and if I needed anything. My cell phone rang, it was the nurse on call. I took the call while the AP took my students to the weather safe room. The nurse originally thought I was simply having some braxton hicks contractions and should take some tylenol and put my feet up for the rest of the day. However, near the end of our conversation, I had a shooting pain and apparently made a noise that told her the pain had to be worse than I was letting on. She told me to come on in. Cue the water works. . .

I called Trey to let him know I needed to go to the doctor and was going to drive myself there. On my way to the doctor (a 30 minute drive) I called him back to ask him to pack a bag for me just in case. I hadn't even finished packing my bag, folks! That's how unprepared I was for all of this! So, Trey packed my bag as I drove to Austin. I got to the doctor and saw one of the partners. I explained to her the drama of Grace's birth and my fears of this delivery being similar. She checked me out and believe it or not, I was 3 cm! She said, "You're 3 cm. What I need you to do is drive directly to the hospital. Do not stop at the store, do not stop anywhere. Go directly to labor and delivery." Wow, this was really happening. Thanks to Oscar, who told me to start timing my pains! I called Trey and let him know. This sent him into panic mode. I could almost picture him running around the house trying to pack everything he might need. I drove the two blocks to the hospital, checked in and waited for Trey to arrive. The nurse checked me and I was 4 cm. Wow! I thought. This is going to move quickly. I hope Trey gets here in time. There was a traffic fatality on the major highway and it was shut down. He was actually stuck in traffic!

Trey arrived at the hospital and began plugging in the cameras, etc. We watched TV until they checked me again. No change. It seemed like it took forever for me to make it to 5 cm.
Once I did, I asked nicely for the epidural. I wanted to make sure I got one this time! The nurse asked the doctor, who I will now be referring to as Dr. Scrooge, and he said he wanted me to wait.

Here is Dr. Scrooge. As you can see, Morgan isn't too fond of him either!

He still wasn't sure I was in real labor. Ok, the pain wasn't too bad. I thought I could wait a little longer. An hour or so later, the contractions were getting stronger. When my nurse asked me to rate my pain, I told her it was a 7 and I wanted the epidural. She asked Dr. Scrooge and he said he still wanted to see that I was progressing a little more. I was still 5 cm. Dang! No drugs. A little later, Trey went looking for him. He could see I was in pain and said I was being too nice about all of this. Dr. Scrooge shot Trey an angry look and took his sweet time coming to my room. He checked me himself, but I was still 5 cm. Again, he wanted more progress. The nurse came in after he left and said I could have a sedative, but nothing more. "FINE! I'll take it!" I said. Let me just say, this did NOTHING for the pain, but it knocked me out so I could sleep between contractions.

I was so out of it I didn't even realize Trey was watching the basketball game.

A couple of pain- filled, bed- rail grabbing, contraction- riddled hours later, my wonderful nurse checked me and said I was at 7 cm. GREAT! Now get me my epidural, I thought. She said she had to ask Dr. Scrooge. He FINALLY gave the ok. Gee thanks, Dr. Scrooge!

Here's the kicker - the anesthesiologist was "tied up" with something and couldn't get away. They had to call another one in to take care of me and I had to wait for her to arrive to the hospital. OK. At this point, had I had sharp objects nearby, I would have been throwing them at anyone in eyesight. I was in A LOT of pain. By the time she arrived I was 9 cm and she had to rush to give me the epidural before it was too late. There, finally, I got my epidural. I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes. The next thing I know, the nurse is telling me to push and Dr. Scrooge is sitting on the end of my bed. I pushed two times and boom, there she was, Morgan Helen Hertel. I guess it happened faster than they anticipated because the NICU nurses hadn't arrived yet and my nurse had to call for extra help. I got a quick glance at my little girl and they rushed her off to the NICU. Dr. Scrooge congratulated us and left the room. My nurse apologized profusely for not getting me the epidural sooner. She said she kept asking for it, but he kept telling her no. I think she must have apologized at least six or seven times before I changed rooms.

Enjoy the pictures!

I think I was able to hold her for about ten seconds here.

Look at all of that dark hair!

I haven't seen her face since this picture was taken.

Trey, reassuring his new little one of her temporary NICU home.

Meeting Grandpa Dave

Meeting Grandma Slabaugh a.k.a. Grandma Wee

Look at those toes!

Somebody needs a manicure!

Such tiny hands!

Enjoy the following video! Happy Birthday, Morgan!

WARNING: Long update!

Ok, I really need to take the time to update this more often. Let's just say life's been a little busy lately. I'm up at 2:37 AM, wide awake and HUNGRY! This little girl is very opinionated already. When she's hungry, I have to eat RIGHT NOW! Oy! Can I handle another head-strong little girl? I'm now at 29 weeks. This pregnancy has gone much better than my first. I haven't had any problems with high blood pressure, my feet aren't giving me as many problems, and I don't feel like I'm as puffy as I was with Grace. I am, however, completely exhausted. I thought I was tired with Grace! Try being seven months pregnant and chasing after the fastest, most on-the-go toddler in the world. That's exhausting!

Trey has been home for almost a month straight now. It took a while for Grace to get used to having Daddy here. She's been such a Mommy's girl for the longest time. She's really enjoying having someone to get down on the floor and play with her. Daddy can get up off of the floor MUCH easier than Mommy can!

Trey was laid-off last month. It came as quite a shock to both of us. God has really helped us through this! I can't even begin to tell you! From the minute Trey got home, I felt nothing but a sense of peace about the whole thing. I was actually almost happy about it. Strange to say, I know, but feelings are feelings, right? Trey had spent the better part of a year trying to make things work for this new company. He was traveling more than ever, working longer hours than ever and it seemed like he was getting nowhere. We were growing apart, Grace was having issues, I was exhausted and resentful, we had lost our focus. Then, it happened. Suddenly, we were leaning on each other, leaning more on God and our church family, and were having time to re-evaluate what it is that we want. With the little one's arrival around the corner, having a strong family unit seems to be the most important to both of us. Money is nice, yes, but being together as a family is more important. We are praying for the right job to come along that allows Trey to stay local, one that utilizes and appreciates his gifts, and most importantly, one that he enjoys!

In the meantime, we've made some serious cut-backs. We cut our cable. We cut back on phone packages, and got rid of all of the non-essentials. There's this line from one of our favorite movies, The Peaceful Warrior, where Soc tells the kid to, "Take out the trash." He's telling him to get rid of everything he doesn't need so he can focus on what is really important to him. This line keeps resonating with me. God is truly working!

Anyway, let me give you a little update on Grace, the sunshine of our lives right now. She's almost two, but you'd never know it. She thinks she's much older. She never stops! She knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it done. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She is very talkative. She's been interested in the potty ever since Angie, Scott, and Noah were down to visit last month. My mom bought her an Elmo potty that she insists on sitting on every day, but someone has to sit on the potty next to her as well. Heaven forbid I try to go to the bathroom by myself! I'll head in that direction and she'll say, "Wait for me!" She loves playing catch! However, she has to put you where you are supposed to stand. She loves to draw. That girl can color and doodle on paper for what seems like hours.

She has started singing songs she makes up while she's in the bath or playing with her toys. It's so cute! I'd get it on video, but every time she sees a camera, she stops whatever it is that she's doing and becomes obsessed with seeing herself in the camera. Thankfully, she seems to be out of her Handy Manny phase. I was beginning to go crazy! She's now in a Dora phase, or as she calls her, "Doot Doot." Thank God for technology, because we have at least a couple of all of her favorite shows downloaded on iTunes and are able to hook the laptop up to the TV so she can watch. Without that, we wouldn't get to eat! It keeps her entertained while I cook.

It's after 3 and someone has finally stopped kicking me, so I think I'll go back to bed. I'm sure I'm forgetting cute stories about Grace or some other important details, but at this point I can't even think straight anymore. I'll have to fill in the gaps later! Night all!

First Haircut

Grace got her first haircut today! There is a cute new place that opened recently that caters to kids, so I figured let the professionals do it. I'd probably screw it up! They had a cute play station for the kids while they wait with a Thomas the Train set and even a movie board for the kids to choose what they watch while they get their hair cut. Grace had a tough time deciding between Handy Manny and Dora, so Mommy had to make the executive decision and go for Dora. Grace did great! You'd never know it was her first haircut! Miss Mary did a great job! There is a bit of length missing in the back, but it looks much better! Miss Mary even put a cute little bow clip in her hair after she blew it dry. Here are some pictures of our big girl:

Not so little anymore!

Grace spent this past weekend at Nana Lana and Grandpa Dave's while Mommy and Daddy went to the Lone Star Rally in Galveston with Grandma and Grandpa Slabaugh. She had a great time and even took time off from her busy play schedule to pose for this great picture!

Quick! Time to catch up while I have a free moment!

Yes, yes, I know, my updates have been missed. I apologize. For those of you who don't already know, Trey and I are expecting baby number two on May 4. This pregnancy has really kicked my butt. I don't remember feeling this miserable with Grace! Thankfully, the first trimester has finally passed and I'm feeling more like a human being again. Grace has been such a trooper! She pretty much entertained herself with her books and toys while Mommy took an after school cat nap. She made sure to wake me up when she was out of juice, though!

Trey is working harder than ever now, trying to provide for our growing family. He and Grace are starting to have phone conversations while he's on road, which, I have to say is hilarious to hear! Grace jabbers these long sentences, pauses, and then shouts, "Hi!" This repeats several times before she gets bored and says, "Bye!" She loves talking on the phone. EVERYTHING is a phone! Last weekend her lunchable was a phone the entire time we were at the grocery store. She loves HEB! She says hi to everyone. This past weekend she said hi to a lady and the lady responded, "Hi, how are you?" To which my social butterfly of a daughter responded, "I'm good." I looked at Grace and the woman looked at me like, did she just say that? Wow! She's only 19 months old!

Grace's Big Day

We had Grace baptized today at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wimberley, Texas. I was quite a nervous parent to say the least. Not so much about the baptism part, but more about the toddler in a white dress that needed to say clean until the service part. She did great! I picked her up from the nursery five minutes into the sermon as instructed and wouldn't you know, it was right at the beginning of snack time. She wasn't exactly excited to leave the table. So, I picked up a few goldfish to go and off we went. I walked in as Rev. Jennifer was talking about my family and our Mennonite heritage. It was such a wonderful message!

We were so thankful to have Trey's parents, his Oma, Eric (Gray's Godfather) and his girlfriend, Laurie with us to witness this wonderful event.

Gray was watching Father Patrick and the water very closely. She was very curious about the whole thing.

After the first drops of water, Grace looked at Father Patrick like, "What do you think you're doing?" The drops that followed she thought were funny. THEN she saw the crowd of people standing around watching her and realized that this was all for her and she shot the crowd a huge smile!

She was perfectly content being rocked in Father Gahan's arms.

Posing for a picture with "Uncle" Eric, her Godfather.

I don't know why this crazy thing wouldn't let me move this picture into the correct order, but here we are after the service today.

Firsts!

Grace had her first lollipop yesterday! She LOVED it! I had to take it away after a bit as she was a sticky mess! HEB passes out balloons to the kids and weighs them down with little lollipops. MMM. . . thanks HEB!

Grace went down the slide today all by herself! She thought she was such big stuff!