New in the Garden: Asterbaby!

Guess who's pregnancy ended with a BANG! ... not a whimper?

I guess my life needed some weeding before this baby was going to come because for a few weeks- EVERY DAY something GIANT and/or GIANTLY ANNOYING was happening to me. I'm not going to list it all off so I don't sound like a whiner but- it was enough to make my blood pressure spike for each and every OB visit I had for the last month... which meant a couple trips to the hospital for monitoring.

When I'd get to the hospital, my blood pressure would dip into normal, zen-y territory after getting into that awesome hospital bed- with my feet up and the remote control in my hand.

It was getting to be a routine annoyance...

Step 1: Go to OB appointment

Step 2: Get sent to hospital for monitoring

Step 3: Watch a movie at the hospital and get sent home

Except when I got sent to the hospital on Tuesday? There was a Step 4: Have a Braxton Hicks contraction.

These are practice contractions, also known as false labor. Apparently Miss Hazel did not like these practice contractions and HER heart rate dropped, according to the fetal heart monitor strapped to my belly, from hyper baby bunny to a metronome set on "Waltz".

Everything that happened next happened FAST. They induced me , but it only further freaked out Lil' Aster, because with every REAL contraction- her heart rate dropped faster than brand-new Magnolia blooms on a windy day.

They decided at 6pm that I was going to need a c-section and at 6:50 she was born.

It was pretty rad.

She and I are home now- both healthy as Horseradish.