The Cutest Laugh EVER

This is my favorite video of Leilani. She's laughing at Daddy. I lover her little billy goat laugh!

Lani Babbles

Lani babbling to her Daddy.

Leilani Diane's Birth Story

Monday, June 8th:
By this date Leilani was eight days passed her May 31st due date. I had to go in for an ultrasound and a non-stress test that morning. During the ultrasound I think Lani was still sleeping so she wasn't moving a lot. This lack of movement coupled with my low amniotic fluid prompted the obgyn to schedule me for an induction. She said that I would need to go in that evening to start the process. So, Rick and I headed back home to inform my Mom of the news. I really didn't want to be induced, but at this point it really wasn't a matter of choice anymore. We spent the afternoon at home and then when the time came Rick and I headed to Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, which is only about twenty minutes from our apartment. My Mom stayed with Ricky Jr. at home since the actual induction process wasn't scheduled to take place until the following morning. Once we got to the birthing center of the hospital, we checked in and were shown to our room. There was a fold up bed in the room so that Rick could stay with me the whole time. That night they just started me out with cervadil, which doesn't induce labor but helps to soften you up.

Tuesday, June 9th:
The next morning it was time to start the induction process. Rick left to go pick up my Mom and Ricky Jr. In the mean time the nurse worked on setting me up with my IV. If you know me then you might know that I hate needles! The nurse tried to insert the IV twice, but both times it just went through my skin. So, she went and got another nurse to try it. The second nurse was able to get it in on her first try. Once the IV was all set up, they started me on a drug called pitocin. Pitocin basically brings on contractions. As they increase the dosage the contractions come harder and closer together. At this time I was only dilated to 2 cm. I was up and about walking with Rick through most of my contractions that day. When I was in bed I tried to just listen to music on my ipod. By the time the evening rolled around they measured me again. I had been on pitocin for hours, bu I was still only at 2 cm despite the high dosage of pitocin that I had gotten up to. I was so disappointed. So, they ended up taking me off of the pitocin for the night. Unfortunately at this point my natural contractions had started kicking in. So, I continued to have contractions all night long, every ten minutes! It was such a long night. At first I would tell Rick when a contraction was coming and he'd come over to my bed, but once he got tired I just let him sleep. I walked through the contractions all night long in my room.

Wednesday, June 10:
The next morning they measured me and I was only about a 2 1/2 so it was time to start me on the pitocin again. The contractions were harder to deal with this day because I had been having them for so long and also because I had to be in my bed most of the day hooked up to the monitors. The nurses were really nice and kept saying how well I was handling my contractions. After a full day of contractions they measured me again at about 3 p.m. I was finally dilated to 9 cm! However, at this point they wanted me to rest for a while because I had been going through contractions for so long without any kind of pain medication. So, they suggested that I get an intrathecal shot that would numb the contractions for a couple of hours so that I could rest before it was time to push. They gave me the shot into my spine, which totally freaked me out, but it didn't end up hurting very much at all. It was nice to not feel the contractions and just rest. Once the shot had worn off after a couple of hours they measured me again and I was finally at a 10! I was so glad that it was finally time for me to start pushing! I was thinking that it was almost time to see my little baby! I was very excited. This birthing center encourages women to try a variety of different laboring positions. I am pretty sure I tried all of them at one point or another after I started pushing. After I had been pushing for a while I thought Rick looked either bored out of his mind or grossed out, so I told him he could leave for a while if he wanted to. So, he went outside and joined my Mom, Ricky Jr., and his Mom in the waiting room. For some reason no matter how hard I pushed, Leilani just didn't want to come. She was being stubborn (like her Daddy!). After a number of hours of pushing the midwife said that she was concerned that Leilani's heart rate had gone up and that I might want to consider getting a c-section. I agreed to it, but I said that I wanted to keep pushing until then. They started to prep for a c-section and drew my blood. Meanwhile I was still pushing and the nurse informed me that Leilani's heart rate had gotten back to normal. So, I didn't have to get a c-section just yet. Later on the midwife suggested that I might want to have Rick come back in for additional support. So, they got him from the waiting room and he was in charge of giving me oxygen after each pushing session. (I really hated the oxygen though.) Once again the midwife suggested that I might want to consider having a c-section because I had been pushing for so long, but I told her that I was okay and only wanted a c-section if there was a problem with Leilani. Soon the midwife told me that she could see Leilani's hair and I got to feel her little head. But the nurse said she was getting stuck on one of my bones. She said that the doctor might need to use forceps to get her out. I said that was okay, but I wanted to keep pushing until then. I made some more progress, and it seemed like she was just right there, but the midwife said she would need to give me an episiotomy to make some more room. So, she gave me the epistiotomy during the next set of pushing. Soon after the epistiotomy Leilani Diane was finally born at 10:53 p.m.! I had ended up pushing for FIVE hours! It was so amazing when she finally arrived. They put her right up against my skin as soon as she came out. She was already crying as she was delivered and she looked so beautiful! She did have a little red spot on her head from where she was hitting one of my bones, but it was gone by the next day. Leilani was crying when she came out until she heard Rick talk to her, and then she immediately stopped. (They say that babies can recognize their parents' voices from hearing them in the womb.) The midwife quickly stitched me up from my episiotomy while I was holding Leilani. I was able to continue holding my little angel for at least an hour before they did anything like weighing or bathing her. She weighed 8 lbs. and 7 ounces and her length was 19 3/4 inches. She never even had to leave the room and she got to sleep with us instead of a nursery. I was so happy about that! She immediately took to nursing, which I was relieved to find out. After a couple of hours the nurse suggested that I get up to take a shower. She walked with me to the bathroom, and as I was trying to get into the shower I totally fainted! Luckily she caught me before I hit the ground and revived me with smelling salts. Wow, smelling salts are strong! When I came to, I had no idea what was going on. Needless to say, we decided to hold off on the shower until the next morning.

Thursday, June 11th
I didn't sleep much the night before because I didn't want to take my eyes off of my little lady. But when I got out of bed I felt like I had been hit by a truck! I was so sore, especially my lower back. Even my fingers hurt, and some were numb. (This is due to the fact that during one of the labor positions, I was pulling on a sheet that was attached to the birthing bar.) My Mom, Ricky Jr., and Rick's Mom finally got to see Leilani on this morning. (They had gone home the night before prior to her birth.) Some of Rick's coworkers also came by to visit us. We stayed in the hospital until Saturday morning and then took our bundle of love home.

Leilani Diane Maloney

Leilani Diane Maloney was born June 10, 2009 at 10:53 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs. & 7 ozs. Leilani was 19 3/4 inches long. WE LOVE HER! (Birth story to come.)

Where is our Baby?

Well, my due date, May 31st, came, but the baby hasn't! We're still anxiously awaiting her arrival. I haven't had a single sign that she is planning on coming anytime soon - no contractions or anything else. If she doesn't decide to come on her own by next week, they'll induce me on Tuesday night. I am really hoping that she decides to come before then. Time will tell. I am still feeling just fine. Trying to get any decent amount of sleep at night is the hardest part right now. My Mom and Rick's Mom are both here visiting. Rick's Mom has to go back to work on Monday so we are really hoping that the baby will come before then. My Mom will be able to stay with us until the baby arrives. She just had to push back her flight.

36 Weeks

I decided to do a maternity shoot with a couple of the local photographers here. They were such nice people and I had a good time shooting with them.



Photo by Jeffrey Cella

32 Weeks and Counting...

Wow, I can't believe that I am already eight months along! The big day is just around the corner. I'm so excited for her to arrive! The pregnancy has been going very well and I still feel great. The only difficult thing for me right now is trying to get in a good night's sleep with all of the kicking she likes to do as soon as I lay down and through out the night. Otherwise, I think being pregnant is a really cool experience.
On Friday I got to go in for my second ultra sound. The baby is about four pounds now and everything looked good. A few weeks ago I had to do the three hour glucose test, after not passing the one hour test. I hated getting my blood drawn four times and drinking that disgusting sugar drink. Fortunately, I passed the test though. Rick has been so nice to go with me and sit in at all of my appointments. We have also been really busy buying everything that we need before her arrival. I think we are almost done with our shopping.

Trip to Arizona

For the week of my birthday I flew down to Arizona to meet up with all of my family. Rick couldn't come with me because he had to work. I was kind of nervous to fly being seven and a half months pregnant, but everything was just fine. When I met up with everyone they had just returned from Rocky Point in Mexico for Spring Break. They wanted me to come, but I really didn't feel comfortable traveling to Mexico being pregnant. Anyway, we all stayed at my sister Angie's house in Queen Creek. We went out to eat at a nice Italian restaurant called Riziatti's in Tempe for my birthday. Earlier that day we went kayaking in Tempe. (I just watched though.) I only got to see my brother Dayne and sister Krystalee for a couple of days before they had to go back home. My parents and of course Angie and her family were there the rest of my stay. Some of the highlights of the rest of the trip were getting to go to two of my niece Kami's basketball games and watching my niece Kylee's horseback riding practice. We also went swimming at the YMCA a couple of times. It was so nice to be able to get in the pool and enjoy some sunny weather for a change. I'm glad that I got to spend some time with my family while I am pregnant. I made sure everyone got to feel the baby kick! :)

Our 1st Anniversary

So Rick and I have now been married for one year! The year has flown by and been filled with so many changes - from moving to getting ready for our little lady to arrive. I didn't get a chance to write a blog the day of our anniversary, so I'm going back to write about it now. The week before our anniversary I was in Arizona visiting my family, but I wanted to make sure that I was back home with Rick by March 29th (our anniversary). I arrived back home the night before. Rick's son, Ricky Jr., also flew in that night from Florida. He stayed with us for a week during his Spring Vacation. The next day Rick gave me his anniversary present and card. He wanted to make sure that he followed the "rules" for anniversary gifts. A first year anniversary gift is supposed to be paper. So, he was very thoughtful in giving me address labels with our names on it. He also gave me a glass bell with the words "1st Anniversary" written on it and another figurine that had an anniversary poem on it. I ordered my gift from the Internet, but it didn't arrive until the next day. Rick loves the game Monopoly, so I decided to get him Lovopoly. Lovopoly is the game of Monopoly, but it is personalized. I was able to pick all of the locations on the board. I chose places where we have had memories together, like where we went on our first "date" (which was playing basketball) and where we got married (Waimea Falls). I was able to add our own pictures to the board as well.
We went out for our anniversary dinner the next week to the Cheesecake Factory in Albany. Rick had never eaten there before, so I wanted him to try it out.
I love my husband.


Rick at Cheesecake Factory.

My Baby Shower

My Mother-in-Law held a baby shower for me at her house in Fonda, NY. It was a nice little cozy shower. My Mother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, and four or five of their friends were able to attend (along with Rick). Speaking of Rick, isn't that a fabulous photo of him in his sister's jacket? ;)

Ezra Taft Benson's Warning of Socialism

And we're going to have a.............GIRL!

Today we went in to get our first ultrasound and find out if we are going to have a boy or a girl! It was so cool to be able to see our little baby's heart beating and her little arms and legs moving around. It was amazing to see how clear the images were! The doctor said she didn't see any signs of the baby being a boy, so "most likely" it's a girl! We're so excited!