Nathan Richard arrived 7/1 at 4:21pm. He was 8lbs 6oz and 20 inches.
It was a successful homebirth - with a twist. He ended up surprising us and arriving in a frank breech position. It explained why it was taking so long and why it was so painful (torture!!!!!)! But
everything worked well. I'm so proud of myself for enduring it so well and my midwife and her apprentice were absolutely amazing! I only needed one stitch! He needed resuscitation but never experienced any drop in heart rate and needed a little help to get started after such a rough ride. He never was without oxygen and is perfectly fine and beautiful!
I did end up going to the hospital after about 2 hours because only part of my placenta came out. The mw tried to reach in and get it (OUCH) but couldn't and she didn't want to risk doing anything further as I was stable. So we went to the hospital and they did a manual removal.
By the time we got there, I was actually starting to hemmorhage from it (I was awake but getting woozy) and they sent me to the OR to do the removal and gave me a couple of units of blood. I was released after several hours of stabilization - I came back real fast and never felt weak or sick afterwards so I'm doing well!
I will post the full birth story once I'm done with it and post some pics as well!
ETA:
Pictures: http://www.ourbabynews.com/livesoftw...=nathanrichard
LONG birth story:
I knew that he was going to be born over the weekend. Marc did too. I had been cramping so much that it just seemed impossible to keep going longer. We went for dinner for my bday Friday night. While there I kept feeling like labor would start at any moment. Later that night we were having sex and my water broke (same thing happened with Aidan)! That was approx 11:15pm on June 30. I knew at that point he wouldn't make it on my bday but figured it wouldn't be far off if he followed a similar pattern as previously (Aidan was born in 3 hours). We called the midwife, Beth, and she agreed trying to get sleep would be the best option. We did lay down and I drifted on and off for an hour or so before I felt contractions around 12:30. (We did scramble a bit right after the water broke to set up additional things, put the plastic sheet on the bed, get out supplies, etc).
Transactions started around 12:30 and around 5 minutes apart for 30 seconds. They quickly progressed to every 3 minutes for 45-60 seconds. Thought for sure it wouldn't be long at that point. Convinced Beth she needed to come over because I didn't want to be alone. Poor thing had just done a long birth for the previous 27 hours and hadn't slept yet! Marc started filling the birth tub to feel like he was doing something! She ended up arriving around 3:30 and had her apprentice Jennifer with her. They immediately set to work setting up their equipment, such as putting blankets in the stove (I had 3 sets of 3 blankets in tin foil as part of the birth supplies), setting up hot water on the stove to keep the birth tub warm, etc. The entire time from 12:30 - 3:00-ish Aidan was awake. He could sense the excitement and heard the music I was playing. (Joshua Kadison). I spent most of the time on the birth ball and it made the contractions so much easier.
At this point I kept thinking how easy the whole thing was - and how peaceful. I absolutely loved being at home without worrying about when to leave to the hospital. It felt so relaxed and easy...little did I know!
The contractions kept right on going at the same pace throughout the night. I wanted to get in the tub but Beth wouldn't let me until 5-6 cm as it can slow labor if I went in too soon. So I asked her to check me and I was at 5cm. Decided to keep laboring instead of risking slowing things. I was honestly shocked to only be that far after about 4-5 hours. I already had Aidan by that point!!
Around 5:30 I started feeling really sleepy so I decided to see if I could sleep. I did for about an hour or so. That completely stopped the contractions. I went and took a shower, ate breakfast and generally hung out for a while. Around 9:30-ish, we did some nipple stimulation and things started kicking in. The contractions became much stronger. I continued to labor on the ball and it was great. Aidan would periodically come in and check on me - he was so sweet! He was allowed unlimited video games during the process so he kept coming in and out. I started having bad back labor and I noticed things getting more painful. I asked if I could go in the tub. Beth said I could but if things slowed, I needed to get out. Deal! The initial entry into the tub was *heavenly*...it felt soooooo good. Then the contractions really started. And the back labor was like nothing I've ever felt - and I had some with Aidan. It was 1000 times worse. It felt like my back would explode. I really wanted to cry through each contraction. They tried different things, like pushing on the back, using a ball on the sacrum, squeezing hips, etc., but man, it was just too much for words. They put a birth stool in the tub for me to sit on and that did help some, but it took everything I had to get through each contraction. At one point I said, "I hope I'm almost at transition because I really feel I'm at the point where women say they can't do it anymore!!!!" After awhile I felt too confined. I really needed to pace to get through the back pain. It was too much. So I decided to leave the tub - in retrospect, it was the best thing I did. Even though it was so painful I felt I could do it and never waivered.
This gets hazy but I was then pacing around, holding on to the edge of the bed, labor ball, etc. Then I started feeling the urge to push. I think it was sometime between 12:30 and 1:30pm but I can't be sure. I was sitting on the stool and pushing but it didn't seem to be doing all that much. I noticed my midwife wiping brown onto a towel on the ground but didn't think anything of it - I thought I pooped. After a few minutes she asked if she could check me. She did - I could feel her reaching waaaaayyy in so I knew that pushing wasn't doing much. She said she thought I had either a baby with a seriously molded head or he was breech. She got the sign of him bring breech from all the meconium coming out. (That was the brown). It wasn't normal staining - it was full, tarry poop coming out from the butt being squished. We were all VERY surprised as when they checked his heart tones, they had to go way down to my pubic bone to hear them. We were convinced his head was down there. (Note: I had been checked recently my the midwife, the backup CNM/OB and they all thought head down!) She told me I could go to the hospital if I wanted. She said his heart tones were fine and never dropped. They were great the whole time, so if I wanted to stay home we could (as long as he was okay, obviously). My main words were "I don't want a c-section!" so she said we could stay as long as it was safe. I had complete faith in her judgement. If she said we have no choice but to go, I would have gone.
I kept pushing and he was making some progress but it was slow. I can't describe the pain. I honestly don't know how I did it. It felt like forever (it was) and I was so shocked at the length of time. Beth suggested I change positions because it didn't seem effective. I tried holding the edge of the bed and squatting and hands and knees. I swapped between the two. Nothing felt good because of the back pain. His heart rate was still going well and I finally felt like he was low enough that something was going to happen. I got on the bed in hands and knees and begin pushing with all my might with each contraction. I literally had sweat pouring off of me. It is a bit hazy thinking back on it, but I remember feeling very primal. I could start finally feeling some burning as if he was close to crowning. It literally felt like a bowling ball - so big - and that I was tearing open from the inside. I was thinking that I didn't see how he could fit - that he must be a 12 pound baby. He finally burst through and the midwife confirmed he was breech and that his butt/testicles had come through first. She had to reach in and pull his arms out as they were straight up. At this point, things got really intense. She told me that now I needed to get him out *immediately* because only his head remained. She put me into a special position for this type of delivery, kind of hanging off the bed on my back. I no longer had the urge to push and I was exhausted from several hours of pushing. But she kept saying, "You need to get him out NOW!!!" so I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. I don't know how I did it. Sometime before this Aidan came in and was watching the whole thing - and wasn't scared! Baby's head finally popped out. His body was pink but arms and legs were blue. He would only take every third breath on his own. His apgar was 3 I think. Beth told Marc to call 911 so EMTs would be there in case they couldn't get him going. His heart rate was still completely normal through all of this!! He was getting oxygen through the cord so I was not panicking at this point, plus they were giving him air. I just felt like everything owul dbe okay. The EMTs arrived in about 2 minutes as they are right down the street. At this point they wanted Beth to cut the cord so they could take him to work on him. As soon as the EMT picked him up, he was PISSED and started screaming and breathing completely normally! They stayed a while to evaluate him and all agreed he was absolutely fine. Their recommendation (as it had to be) was to take him to a hospital but we declined. The EMTs were totally cool - one of them had several homebirthed cousins so she wasn't phased.
I was FINALLY able to hold the baby and really look at him! I immediately thought he looked sooo much like Aidan! He was sooo cute! Lots of wavy black hair. And chubby. He has a "stork bite" right across his forehead! And wow, those legs look pretty bowed from his positioning! I thought he looked smaller than Aidan though. She weighed him and he was 8lbs 6oz and 20 inches long. An ounce bigger than Aidan. I was checked for tears and only had a tiny one that would need one stitch! After all of that!!! I tried pushing a little to see if the placenta would come out. After pushing so long, I was wiped. I could barely push. I got up and went to the toilet to see if that would help. Finally it plopped into the toilet and I went back into the bed with my family. My bleeding was completely normal and not a concern. The apprentice examined what came out in the toilet and realized it was only a very small part of the placenta. Beth had me lay back on the bed and basically stuck her arm inside me to try to manually remove the rest. OUCH!!! That was not fun! She got some but couldn't get all. At this point she said that we really need to transport as I could hemmorhage if it didn't all get out soon. I couldn't believe we'd have to go to the hospital for ME after all Nathan went through - you'd think he'd be the one! So we called 911 again to transport. We got different EMTs this time but they had already heard all about everything as this is a very small town!
They loaded me onto the ambulance and I was still fine. Aidan, however, was freaking out. He was worried sick about me. They wouldn't let him ride with me as they didn't have proper seat belts. He rode with Marc and followed us. Beth and Nathan came with me. I was fine and alert the whole ride. I said to Beth, "One of the reasons I wanted a home birth was privacy. Um, looks like that didn't quite work out!!" As they were unloading me off the rig, I started feeling extremely hot and woozy. Everything started sounding far away and in slow motion. I saw Aidan standing there and it took everything I had not to pass out so I could wave to him and make sure he knew I was okay. That's probably the only reason I didn't pass out! As I entered the hospital, I was greeted with a blast of cold A/c and I snapped out of it and felt sooo much better! I was brought to a room where I started feeling a bit woozy again. I heard them say my BP was 60/30! They gave me all sorts of IVs and told me they were taking me to the OR to do a manual removal and if that didn't work, a D&C. The doctor was extremely rude to me once he knew it was a homebirth. He wouldn't even speak to me - just *around* me to the nurses. I had to repeatedly ask for information and advocate for myself. It was so frustrating! I remember waking up from the removal to hear the docs/nurses saying they had left gauze inside me but the x-ray showed it and they removed it. YIKES. I also remember asking what was done and they said just the manual removal. I was brought back to my room and no one could find Marc/Aidan so I thought maybe they went home as it was almost midnight. Finally they were found and came to visit. Marc was a wreck and Aidan was too. Apparently he had been crying quite a bit since he was so worried. Add to that being up so late (and up late the night before) and he was just a mess! They all went home to sleep and I had to stay at the hospital to stabilize for a few hours. It was sooo hard being away from my family and new baby! They wouldn't let the baby stay with me! I asked for a pump and at least felt like I was doing something for him by pumping as often as possible.
In the morning, I was deemed okay and we all headed home. They told me I would be weak and a mess from the tranfusions. However, I was GREAT, looked great with full color and had no pain whatsoever. It was such a long labor, delivery, and saga after, but I felt good as new immediately! What a difference with not having a tear. Looking back, I'm so thrilled with how everything turned out. I'm not thrilled I ended up in the hospital of course, but the situation was handled appropriately and that's what makes a successful home birth. I'm so glad it all worked out!!!
Breastfeeding has been quite a learning process for us. After his birth he had no interest in latching at all. He was too discombobulated. He couldn't even suck! He was in a horrible state of either screaming or sleeping - no in-between. The poor guy!!! Luckily I had hired an awesome IBCLC. She came to the house as soon as we got home from the hospital. She said he need some regressive therapy, to essentially be "reborn". She had us both get into a bath, skin to skin, and put some Bach flower remedies in the water. We spoke to him that it was all okay now and he could let go and be safe with me and that I wasn't leaving him anymore. I was a skeptic at first. But WOW. He completely changed after being in the water again. He was calm and alert and tried to latch. Marc was floored - his words were, "You've made me a believer!" She thought he would also need some chiro work as his head and neck were very tense from the delivery. We went to that as well and again, WOW. She basically massaged him and played with pressure points in the head and neck. We could literally see him melt in her hands. He was in heaven. The LC was also convinced he had a tongue-tie as he was not extending his tongue and was rubbing the tips of my nipples raw. We had him evaluated by an ENT and he agreed and cut the tie. It was very simple and didn't seem to bother him for more than a minute. We are seeing improvements each day but it is still painful as he is still not realizing he can extend his tongue and he is fighting opening wide for a latch and wants to just hang on the nipple. Interestingly, this is why I ended up exclusively pumping for my first ds - he also rubbed the nipples raw - it is very possible he was a tongue-tie too! Wish us luck!
It was a successful homebirth - with a twist. He ended up surprising us and arriving in a frank breech position. It explained why it was taking so long and why it was so painful (torture!!!!!)! But
everything worked well. I'm so proud of myself for enduring it so well and my midwife and her apprentice were absolutely amazing! I only needed one stitch! He needed resuscitation but never experienced any drop in heart rate and needed a little help to get started after such a rough ride. He never was without oxygen and is perfectly fine and beautiful!
I did end up going to the hospital after about 2 hours because only part of my placenta came out. The mw tried to reach in and get it (OUCH) but couldn't and she didn't want to risk doing anything further as I was stable. So we went to the hospital and they did a manual removal.
By the time we got there, I was actually starting to hemmorhage from it (I was awake but getting woozy) and they sent me to the OR to do the removal and gave me a couple of units of blood. I was released after several hours of stabilization - I came back real fast and never felt weak or sick afterwards so I'm doing well!
I will post the full birth story once I'm done with it and post some pics as well!
ETA:
Pictures: http://www.ourbabynews.com/livesoftw...=nathanrichard
LONG birth story:
I knew that he was going to be born over the weekend. Marc did too. I had been cramping so much that it just seemed impossible to keep going longer. We went for dinner for my bday Friday night. While there I kept feeling like labor would start at any moment. Later that night we were having sex and my water broke (same thing happened with Aidan)! That was approx 11:15pm on June 30. I knew at that point he wouldn't make it on my bday but figured it wouldn't be far off if he followed a similar pattern as previously (Aidan was born in 3 hours). We called the midwife, Beth, and she agreed trying to get sleep would be the best option. We did lay down and I drifted on and off for an hour or so before I felt contractions around 12:30. (We did scramble a bit right after the water broke to set up additional things, put the plastic sheet on the bed, get out supplies, etc).
Transactions started around 12:30 and around 5 minutes apart for 30 seconds. They quickly progressed to every 3 minutes for 45-60 seconds. Thought for sure it wouldn't be long at that point. Convinced Beth she needed to come over because I didn't want to be alone. Poor thing had just done a long birth for the previous 27 hours and hadn't slept yet! Marc started filling the birth tub to feel like he was doing something! She ended up arriving around 3:30 and had her apprentice Jennifer with her. They immediately set to work setting up their equipment, such as putting blankets in the stove (I had 3 sets of 3 blankets in tin foil as part of the birth supplies), setting up hot water on the stove to keep the birth tub warm, etc. The entire time from 12:30 - 3:00-ish Aidan was awake. He could sense the excitement and heard the music I was playing. (Joshua Kadison). I spent most of the time on the birth ball and it made the contractions so much easier.
At this point I kept thinking how easy the whole thing was - and how peaceful. I absolutely loved being at home without worrying about when to leave to the hospital. It felt so relaxed and easy...little did I know!
The contractions kept right on going at the same pace throughout the night. I wanted to get in the tub but Beth wouldn't let me until 5-6 cm as it can slow labor if I went in too soon. So I asked her to check me and I was at 5cm. Decided to keep laboring instead of risking slowing things. I was honestly shocked to only be that far after about 4-5 hours. I already had Aidan by that point!!
Around 5:30 I started feeling really sleepy so I decided to see if I could sleep. I did for about an hour or so. That completely stopped the contractions. I went and took a shower, ate breakfast and generally hung out for a while. Around 9:30-ish, we did some nipple stimulation and things started kicking in. The contractions became much stronger. I continued to labor on the ball and it was great. Aidan would periodically come in and check on me - he was so sweet! He was allowed unlimited video games during the process so he kept coming in and out. I started having bad back labor and I noticed things getting more painful. I asked if I could go in the tub. Beth said I could but if things slowed, I needed to get out. Deal! The initial entry into the tub was *heavenly*...it felt soooooo good. Then the contractions really started. And the back labor was like nothing I've ever felt - and I had some with Aidan. It was 1000 times worse. It felt like my back would explode. I really wanted to cry through each contraction. They tried different things, like pushing on the back, using a ball on the sacrum, squeezing hips, etc., but man, it was just too much for words. They put a birth stool in the tub for me to sit on and that did help some, but it took everything I had to get through each contraction. At one point I said, "I hope I'm almost at transition because I really feel I'm at the point where women say they can't do it anymore!!!!" After awhile I felt too confined. I really needed to pace to get through the back pain. It was too much. So I decided to leave the tub - in retrospect, it was the best thing I did. Even though it was so painful I felt I could do it and never waivered.
This gets hazy but I was then pacing around, holding on to the edge of the bed, labor ball, etc. Then I started feeling the urge to push. I think it was sometime between 12:30 and 1:30pm but I can't be sure. I was sitting on the stool and pushing but it didn't seem to be doing all that much. I noticed my midwife wiping brown onto a towel on the ground but didn't think anything of it - I thought I pooped. After a few minutes she asked if she could check me. She did - I could feel her reaching waaaaayyy in so I knew that pushing wasn't doing much. She said she thought I had either a baby with a seriously molded head or he was breech. She got the sign of him bring breech from all the meconium coming out. (That was the brown). It wasn't normal staining - it was full, tarry poop coming out from the butt being squished. We were all VERY surprised as when they checked his heart tones, they had to go way down to my pubic bone to hear them. We were convinced his head was down there. (Note: I had been checked recently my the midwife, the backup CNM/OB and they all thought head down!) She told me I could go to the hospital if I wanted. She said his heart tones were fine and never dropped. They were great the whole time, so if I wanted to stay home we could (as long as he was okay, obviously). My main words were "I don't want a c-section!" so she said we could stay as long as it was safe. I had complete faith in her judgement. If she said we have no choice but to go, I would have gone.
I kept pushing and he was making some progress but it was slow. I can't describe the pain. I honestly don't know how I did it. It felt like forever (it was) and I was so shocked at the length of time. Beth suggested I change positions because it didn't seem effective. I tried holding the edge of the bed and squatting and hands and knees. I swapped between the two. Nothing felt good because of the back pain. His heart rate was still going well and I finally felt like he was low enough that something was going to happen. I got on the bed in hands and knees and begin pushing with all my might with each contraction. I literally had sweat pouring off of me. It is a bit hazy thinking back on it, but I remember feeling very primal. I could start finally feeling some burning as if he was close to crowning. It literally felt like a bowling ball - so big - and that I was tearing open from the inside. I was thinking that I didn't see how he could fit - that he must be a 12 pound baby. He finally burst through and the midwife confirmed he was breech and that his butt/testicles had come through first. She had to reach in and pull his arms out as they were straight up. At this point, things got really intense. She told me that now I needed to get him out *immediately* because only his head remained. She put me into a special position for this type of delivery, kind of hanging off the bed on my back. I no longer had the urge to push and I was exhausted from several hours of pushing. But she kept saying, "You need to get him out NOW!!!" so I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. I don't know how I did it. Sometime before this Aidan came in and was watching the whole thing - and wasn't scared! Baby's head finally popped out. His body was pink but arms and legs were blue. He would only take every third breath on his own. His apgar was 3 I think. Beth told Marc to call 911 so EMTs would be there in case they couldn't get him going. His heart rate was still completely normal through all of this!! He was getting oxygen through the cord so I was not panicking at this point, plus they were giving him air. I just felt like everything owul dbe okay. The EMTs arrived in about 2 minutes as they are right down the street. At this point they wanted Beth to cut the cord so they could take him to work on him. As soon as the EMT picked him up, he was PISSED and started screaming and breathing completely normally! They stayed a while to evaluate him and all agreed he was absolutely fine. Their recommendation (as it had to be) was to take him to a hospital but we declined. The EMTs were totally cool - one of them had several homebirthed cousins so she wasn't phased.
I was FINALLY able to hold the baby and really look at him! I immediately thought he looked sooo much like Aidan! He was sooo cute! Lots of wavy black hair. And chubby. He has a "stork bite" right across his forehead! And wow, those legs look pretty bowed from his positioning! I thought he looked smaller than Aidan though. She weighed him and he was 8lbs 6oz and 20 inches long. An ounce bigger than Aidan. I was checked for tears and only had a tiny one that would need one stitch! After all of that!!! I tried pushing a little to see if the placenta would come out. After pushing so long, I was wiped. I could barely push. I got up and went to the toilet to see if that would help. Finally it plopped into the toilet and I went back into the bed with my family. My bleeding was completely normal and not a concern. The apprentice examined what came out in the toilet and realized it was only a very small part of the placenta. Beth had me lay back on the bed and basically stuck her arm inside me to try to manually remove the rest. OUCH!!! That was not fun! She got some but couldn't get all. At this point she said that we really need to transport as I could hemmorhage if it didn't all get out soon. I couldn't believe we'd have to go to the hospital for ME after all Nathan went through - you'd think he'd be the one! So we called 911 again to transport. We got different EMTs this time but they had already heard all about everything as this is a very small town!
They loaded me onto the ambulance and I was still fine. Aidan, however, was freaking out. He was worried sick about me. They wouldn't let him ride with me as they didn't have proper seat belts. He rode with Marc and followed us. Beth and Nathan came with me. I was fine and alert the whole ride. I said to Beth, "One of the reasons I wanted a home birth was privacy. Um, looks like that didn't quite work out!!" As they were unloading me off the rig, I started feeling extremely hot and woozy. Everything started sounding far away and in slow motion. I saw Aidan standing there and it took everything I had not to pass out so I could wave to him and make sure he knew I was okay. That's probably the only reason I didn't pass out! As I entered the hospital, I was greeted with a blast of cold A/c and I snapped out of it and felt sooo much better! I was brought to a room where I started feeling a bit woozy again. I heard them say my BP was 60/30! They gave me all sorts of IVs and told me they were taking me to the OR to do a manual removal and if that didn't work, a D&C. The doctor was extremely rude to me once he knew it was a homebirth. He wouldn't even speak to me - just *around* me to the nurses. I had to repeatedly ask for information and advocate for myself. It was so frustrating! I remember waking up from the removal to hear the docs/nurses saying they had left gauze inside me but the x-ray showed it and they removed it. YIKES. I also remember asking what was done and they said just the manual removal. I was brought back to my room and no one could find Marc/Aidan so I thought maybe they went home as it was almost midnight. Finally they were found and came to visit. Marc was a wreck and Aidan was too. Apparently he had been crying quite a bit since he was so worried. Add to that being up so late (and up late the night before) and he was just a mess! They all went home to sleep and I had to stay at the hospital to stabilize for a few hours. It was sooo hard being away from my family and new baby! They wouldn't let the baby stay with me! I asked for a pump and at least felt like I was doing something for him by pumping as often as possible.
In the morning, I was deemed okay and we all headed home. They told me I would be weak and a mess from the tranfusions. However, I was GREAT, looked great with full color and had no pain whatsoever. It was such a long labor, delivery, and saga after, but I felt good as new immediately! What a difference with not having a tear. Looking back, I'm so thrilled with how everything turned out. I'm not thrilled I ended up in the hospital of course, but the situation was handled appropriately and that's what makes a successful home birth. I'm so glad it all worked out!!!
Breastfeeding has been quite a learning process for us. After his birth he had no interest in latching at all. He was too discombobulated. He couldn't even suck! He was in a horrible state of either screaming or sleeping - no in-between. The poor guy!!! Luckily I had hired an awesome IBCLC. She came to the house as soon as we got home from the hospital. She said he need some regressive therapy, to essentially be "reborn". She had us both get into a bath, skin to skin, and put some Bach flower remedies in the water. We spoke to him that it was all okay now and he could let go and be safe with me and that I wasn't leaving him anymore. I was a skeptic at first. But WOW. He completely changed after being in the water again. He was calm and alert and tried to latch. Marc was floored - his words were, "You've made me a believer!" She thought he would also need some chiro work as his head and neck were very tense from the delivery. We went to that as well and again, WOW. She basically massaged him and played with pressure points in the head and neck. We could literally see him melt in her hands. He was in heaven. The LC was also convinced he had a tongue-tie as he was not extending his tongue and was rubbing the tips of my nipples raw. We had him evaluated by an ENT and he agreed and cut the tie. It was very simple and didn't seem to bother him for more than a minute. We are seeing improvements each day but it is still painful as he is still not realizing he can extend his tongue and he is fighting opening wide for a latch and wants to just hang on the nipple. Interestingly, this is why I ended up exclusively pumping for my first ds - he also rubbed the nipples raw - it is very possible he was a tongue-tie too! Wish us luck!
Welcome Nathan! Glad your recovery quickly from the near hemmorage.
Welcome to the world baby Nathan! 
Nathan! I'm glad that you're doing okay and I can't wait for pics!! 
