Introducing Sydney Anne Shannon

Sydney Anne Shannon was born on May 1, 2010 at 11:35pm. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She is as sweet as can be and is perfect in every way!

I was in labor for 12 hours and we almost thought Sydney would be a May 2nd baby! The joy was overwhelming once we held her for the first time. I would go through labor every day for a month to have something so wonderful and so incredible. The pain and tears throughout that day seem like nothing compared to the happiness felt at that very moment. I will never forget that feeling. It truly is God's work and His miracle. We are so, so blessed and we thank God every day for this little being that has mesmerized us.

One of my favorite moments the first week was when Sydney would look up at me as if she were saying, "I've wondered for so long and now I know what you look like!" She looked at me as if she were taking me in. It was so wonderful!

We are so proud!

Mimi and Ole

What a proud Daddy!

On our way home ...

Roxie and Harley got to meet Sydney for the first time.

Scotty introduced Sydney to his family in California.

On Mother's Day I received this email forward from a friend and I thought it was so true!

Before I was a Mom

I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom

I had never been puked on

Pooped on

Chewed on

Peed on.

I had complete control over my mind

and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests

or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew something so small

could affect my life so much.

I never knew I could love someone so much.

I never knew I could love being a mom.

Before I was a Mom

I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside of my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes, to make sure everything was ok.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,

the wonderment

or the satisfaction of being a mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a mom.

May Baby!

I had a dr. appointment this morning to check if little Shannon is ready to come out and if we should induce tomorrow morning. Well, she has progressed a bit since Thursday, but it's not enough to induce tomorrow. We're going to wait to induce on Saturday. Finally, we'll get to see our sweet, beautiful baby girl! I can't wait! Please keep us in your prayers!

Due Tomorrow!!

Well, she's due tomorrow, but I don't think we'll see her until next week. There was just a little bit of progress yesterday at my dr. appointment, but there's nothing that shows that she'll be here soon.

The Game Plan:
I'll go in on Tuesday to see if there's any progress. If there is, then we will induce on Wednesday. If there is not, then we'll plan to induce on Saturday. My dr. is on call that weekend, so it should work out great!

That's our plan - we'll see what God has in mind for us though! :)

We just can't wait to meet her!!!!

39 Weeks

Are we there yet???? Evidently we aren't. We had our weekly dr. appointment yesterday morning and Baby Shannon is still not ready to join the world. My dr. said, "I'll see you next Thursday!" As if we weren't going to see her in the delivery room before then.

I'm uncomfortable and the nights are tough, but I'm hanging in there. I truly think I've been blessed throughout this entire pregnancy. At this point the throwing up on the bus episode during my first trimester seems so long ago .... and yet so worth it once this baby is in our arms! :)

Until next week .....

37 1/2 Weeks Dr. Visit

Well, we had another dr. appointment this morning. There's nothing new to report. I'm not dilated and little Shannon still hasn't dropped. If nothing happens within the next few weeks, we may have a May baby on our hands! :)

37 1/2 Weeks

Whew! I can't believe we have 2 1/2 weeks left! I had a little break down the other day. I told Scotty that I was so scared. Scotty said, "Honey, you are going to be a great mom!" I told him, "I'm not worried about being a mom! I'm worried about how this baby is going to come out of me!" We both kind of giggled and Scotty assured me that he would be by my side and that it would be fine. I sure hope so! This week has been a bit tough with the braxton hicks and hip pain. Other than that though, I've been trying to get things in order for her arrival. We're almost there!!!

Ultrasound

It's getting closer!!!!! We finally had another ultrasound on Thursday. We were so excited to see our little girl, but at the same time we were kind of bummed that she was being so shy. We didn't get to see her face at all. She's head down and face down. I guess she's getting ready to join the world! It will be a mystery what she looks like until the big day! According to the machine, she weighs 6 1/2 pounds. We even got to see that she has hair!! And they reassured us once more that she is in fact a girl! Oh we just can't wait to meet her!!

Baby Shannon's Nursery

The nursery is finally finished! Now, all we need is our little bundle of joy to complete it!

36 1/2 Weeks

Wow! What a journey this has been! I can't believe we have almost reached the end of the rainbow. Scotty and I are so excited about our little one's arrival. Although I think I'm a little freaked out about the 'actual arrival.' We will have an ultrasound tomorrow morning. We can't wait to see our little girl again! It's been 16 weeks since we last saw her. Hopefully I will have more pictures to post at that point.

These days I'm moving a bit slower and making plenty of stops to the restroom. I'm so glad we've gotten so much accomplished before this point because my energy level is slim to none. We've washed all of Baby Shannon's clothes, blankets and sheets. The rocker came in this weekend and I'm so glad it didn't take 12 weeks as we suspected! Whew! We're still fixing up her room, as it isn't finished yet. We plan to make the final touches this weekend. My hospital bag is packed, for the most part. So, I think at this point we are just waiting for our little girl to make her way into this world!

36 Weeks

Here's a sneak peek at the nursery!

Baby Shower

On March 20th my mom, sister, sister-in-law and two friends threw a baby shower for me. It was so great! It was one of my favorite days. Everyone was so generous and they made me feel so special. Our little girl is set now! I am so blessed to have so much support and love from friends and family. I really, truly appreciate it.

Hostess with the mostess

Michelle, Ely, Liz, Leah and my mom

My Grammie crochetted a beautiful baby blanket for Baby Shannon!

Liz, my sister, made this really cute bow frame for all of Baby Shannon's bows!

My mom made this really sweet night light for Baby Shannon's room!

My mom also made a first year scrapbook for Baby Shannon!