BIRTH STORY::

At 3:30 am on 9 Sept , I woke up to use the bathroom and that is when I started feeling some contractions. I figured they were just braxton hicks and just blew them off. When I tried to go back to sleep, I realized that they began to get stronger and wow did they hurt. I walked around the house and drank water and did everything I could to see if they might stop but they didn't. At 7:30 am I called the labor and delievery to tell them about my contractions and the nurse told me to go for a walk and then take a warm shower and see if that makes them stronger and closer together. at 8:00 am my boyfriend and I decided to go for a 45 minute walk and then we went food shopping. The whole time in the supermarket I was getting contractions about 2-3 minutes apart. We went to get some food and then I came home and took a warm shower. By that time I knew this was the "real thing". I called labor and delivery again and the nurse gave me the option to either stay home and wait it out a little longer or come in and get checked out. Well 5 minutes later my boyfriend and I were on our way to the hospital. We got there at around 12:45 pm. Right away I was monitored. At first I thought , oh man I am going to get sent back home because my contractions started to com every 7-10 minutes now. At around 6:00 pm, the doctor came in and said you are not going home tonight your having this baby. I was scared!! I got an enema(sp?) done to clean out my stomach from the food I hate earlier. At about 6:45 pm the doctor broke my waters ( I was only 2cm) and told me that if I needed to speed up my labor I would be given pitocen. At 7:15 pm the doctor came in and told me that my baby was not moving like she would like to see her move. She told me that I would have to get an emergency c-section because my baby's heartrate kept dropping with every contraction I had. So at 7:45 pm I was in the operating room getting my spinal block and at 8:26 my beautiful baby girl was born. That was the happiest moment of my life.

Gabriella Nevaeh Roff

Born 9 Sept 07 @ 8:26 pm

6 lbs 10 oz .. 19 3/4 in long

I guess I will start this page off by telling a little bit about myself. My name is Raquel and I am 19 years old. This is my first pregnancy and I could not be happier. I have been with my boyfriend Andrew for over 3 years and he is the best thing ever! In Mid January, while my boyfriend and I were stuck in tech school in Texas, We found out that I was pregnant. I woke up one morning feeling really sick so he took me to the hospital on base and that is when the doctor said, "Congratulations, your having a baby!" We were both surprised and scared at the same time. We did not know how we would tell our families, since they were all still living in the stone age where marriage always came before sex. When we did tell our families, they were super excited. My boyfriends mother started shopping the next day! I am due on 14 Sept and I cannot wait until My beautiful baby girl, whose name will be Gabriella Nevaeh. Congrats and good luck to all you mommies out there!

UPDATES ON GABRIELLA::

21 OCT - So today Gabriella is 6 weeks old. These past six weeks went by realllly fast and in the begining it was hard but now I got the hang of it. Gabriella started eating 4 oz. right away. She eats formula.. I tried breastfeeding but she has such a bad gag reflex that everytime she would latch on she would start gagging. I wish I could have breastfed but it doesn't always work for everyone but believe me I tried. She is now sleeping through the night. I put her to bed at about 9:30 pm and she wakes up at around 5:00 am which is really good considering she is not even 2 months yet. At her 2 week appointment she weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 inches long so in 2 weeks she grew a lot!! She is doing great and getting bigger and cuter by the minute!

31 OCT - Happy Halloween! Gabriella is heading into her 8th week. She is getting so big and she is just the most amazing baby anyone could ask for. Every morning she starts my day off with a beautiful smile and it just brightens my whole day. She is starting to sleep a lot longer during the night. She usually goes to sleep at around 9 pm and will sleep until 7 am which is just great. The days go by so fast so I try to catch every picture I can of her. I added more to my phtobook so check them out.

04 NOV - So today Gabriella is 8 weeks old. I cannot believe how fast time flies. She is such a great baby. She is now begining to eat about 5-6 oz of formula and she loves to be held. Daddy loves to walk around the house with her in one arm. It is so great to see how much he has changed now that Gabriella is here. He is in love with her and when he is away from home he calls me just to ask how she is doing. On Nov. 9 Gabriella has her 2 month appointment in which she will get her first set of shots. I will update on how that goes.

09 NOV - Today Gabriella turned 2 months.. Wow! I cannot believe it. It feels like just yesterday that I was in the hospital having her. She had her 2 month appointment today so yes, she got her first set of shots :( It was sad seeing her get pricked. My boyfriend had to hold her arms down and I kind of just stood to the side and I just heard her scream.. I was so sad! She did great though. She got a little bit of a fever but tylenol is a life saver! She weighs 10 lbs 14 oz!! I cannot believe she gained 4 pounds in 2 months.. the doctor said she is one healthy baby. She is 23 inches long. She is doing just great! Thank god for a wonderful baby.

25 NOV - Gabriella is 11 weeks today.. it is going by super fast. Thanksgiving was great. I got to spend time with my family and everyone got to see Gabriella, which they do not get to do much since I live far from them. She is getting bigger and bigger everyday and she is just great. Everyone just loves her. She weighs 12 lbs now.. ha!

10 DEC - Well yesterday Gabriella turned 3 months.. yes it is still going by very very fast. She is doing great.. except for the fact that she is a little congested but every morning when she wakes up she gives me the biggest smile and that just brightens up my day. I love her more than anything. She weighs 13 pounds and she is 24 inches long. Next month she has to get more shots :(

12 DEC - I ADDED NEW PICTURES TO MY PHOTOBOOK .. TAKE A LOOK AT THEM!

15 DEC - Well today Gabriella fully rolled over. She did it about 2 times. I was so happy.. She is doing new things everyday!!

21 DEC - Only a few more days until Christmas. Having Gabriella just makes this Christmas so much better. I didn't even really ask for many gifts.. since I have her. She is still rolling around all over the place and she is just getting bigger and smarter everyday!

27 DEC - Christmas was nice. We went up to NJ and NY to go spend time with the family. Gabriella got some toys, clothes and money and everyone was happy to see her. She is sooo good on the car rides up there. She usually sleeps the whole way which is about 6 hours. I love her!! I added some more pics of her from christmas!

9 JAN - Today Gabriella turned 4 months! Yay! She is getting older and older by the minute. She had her 4 month old well baby appointment. She got more shots which she did not like but she got over them really fast and ended up falling asleep. She weighs 14 lbs 1 oz and she is in the 75% for her age and she is 25.5 inches long which puts her in the 95% for her age. She is tall for her age. She gets that from her daddy cause i'm not tall! Anyways, she is healthy and still growing strong so until next time. Good luck to everyone!

19 JAN - I added a few more pics of Gabriella in my photobook. Take a look at how much she has changed! Hope you all are doing great with your pregnancies/ motherhood!!

9 FEB - I know it's been a little bit but I have been working a lot. Ughhh.. so stressful. Well today Gabriella is 5 MONTHS!! She is a big chunky and healthy baby. She is so much more active and responsive. Now I can call her name and she will look at me. I love it. She is a great baby and I just love her to death.

7 MAR - Today Gabriella got her 6 month old shots. She cried but 5 minutes later she was bouncing all over the place haha! She is 16 lbs and 26 1/2 inches and her head in 16 3/4 inches. She is doing great and will be 6 months on Sunday. Good luck to all pregnant and new mommies and lots if baby dust to all TTC.

9 APR - Gabriella is 7 months today! I cannot believe it. Right now she is staying with my aunt because her daddy is away at some training for the Military and I work all week and I have some training to go to next week and it is just a hassle to get daycare on the Military base so I asked my aunt to care for her until I am done training. She is so great! Gabriella started sitting up and crawling and 6 months and now she is standing up while holding onto things. AT 7 MONTHS!! Gosh.. I must be feeding her right haha! Well Good Luck to everyone!

13 APR - I had a couple more pictures to my photobook. Feel free to check them out!

9 MAY - Happy 8 Months Gabriella. This time last year my belly was just starting to show and I finally got to feel the real side of pregnancy. Gosshh everything is coming way too fast. Gabriella gets into things and cries when I tell her NO. Lol. I am trying to teach her that when Mommy says no, it means No! Kids are funny because even though you say no they will wait 5 seconds and go at it again lol. Gabriella is definately keeping me up on my feet.

15 MAY- I ADDED MORE PHOTOS... TAKE A LOOK!!

19 MAY - Saturday was my birthday (Happy Birthday to me!) and also Gabriella got baptized that day. I know some people believe that the child should have the opportunity to decide if they want to be baptized or not but my family is Catholic and we get baptized as babies. Anyways, we had a party afterwards and I had a blast. I enjoyed spending my birthday with my daughter and my family. I just found out that I am leaving for Afghanistan on August 2nd. My daughters 1st birthday is Sept.9th .. so yeah I will be missing that. It's killing me inside, but that's the life in the military. I have pictures from the baptism/party and I will put them up soon!

12 JUN - So Gabriella turned 9 months on monday! In just 3 months she will be a year old! I am so excited! SHe started getting her first tooth. finally! She is also starting to walk. My little girl is getting big. I am getting ready to leave to Afghanistan on August 27th now instead of the 2nd. I am still upset that I will still be missing her first birthday but I have to do my job. I love that little girl to death and just knowing that I will be away from her until the end of February is really killing me inside. I will miss her but I will have a computer over there so I will be keeping in touch with everyone!

30 WEEK SCAN!

MY UPDATES ::

JULY 5TH- UPDATE

WELL TODAY I AM 29 WEEKS AND 6 DAYS.. TOMORROW I WILL HIT MY 30 WEEK MARK. IT SEEMS AS IF THE DAYS GO BY SLOWER EACH DAY. IM FINALLY STARTING TO FEEL THE THIRD TRIMESTER SYMPTOMS. IM TIRED ALLLL THE TIME LOL. I AM GOING TO GET ANOTHER 4D ULTRASOUND THIS SATURDAY AND THIS IS MY 4TH TIME GOING BECAUSE EACH TIME I WENT MY LITTLE GIRL WOULD NOT COOPERATE AND SHE WOULD LIKE TO SHOW OFF HER LITTLE BUTT. CUTE, I KNOW, BUT I WANT TO SEE HER PRETTY FACE. 71 MORE DAYS TO GO AND I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL MY PRINCESS ARRIVES!

JULY 9TH - UPDATE

ON SATURDAY I WENT AND GOT SOME MORE 4D ULTRASOUNDS! I WAS SO HAPPY BECAUSE MY LITTLE GABRIELLA FINALLY COOPERATED AND I GOT SOME REALLY GOOD PICS. ( I WILL POST SOME UP SOON ) I WENT TO THE BEACH YESTERDAY AND THIS HEAT IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME. THE BACK PAINS ARE GETTING WORSE AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS SLEEP STILL. 67 MORE DAYS! YAY!

JULY 13TH- UPDATE

WELL I HIT MY 31 WEEK MARK TODAY. YAY! ITS GETTIN CLOSER AND CLOSER AND I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL MY LITTLE MUNCHKIN IS IN MY ARMS. MY LEGS HAVE BEEN SWELLING UP LIKE CRAZY. THEY HURT ALL THE TIME. MY BOYFRIEND AND I GO WALKING FOR ABOUT A MILE AND A HALF EVERYDAY. I ALSO DO SOME STRETCHES. I WANT THIS BIRTH TO GO SMOOTHLY LOL. WELL ILL POST UP MORE PICS AND KEEP YOU GUYS POSTED! 63 MORE DAYS .. AND I CANNOT WAIT TILL MY BABY SHOWER ON AUG. 5TH!

JULY 18TH UPDATE-

EACH DAY THAT COMES, I GET MORE AND MORE EXCITED. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE DAY WHEN I HAER THE WORDS "PUSH." LOL. I AM GOING ON 32 WEEKS THIS FRIDAY AND HONESTLY I DO NOT LOOK IT. MY BELLY IS PRETTY SMALL. I GUESS THAT JUST MEANS MY BABY MAY NOT BE THAT BIG. I HAVE MY 32 WEEK APPOINTMENT ON THE 23RD. THAT SHOULD BE FUN. I GET TO TAKE A TOUR OF LABOR AND DELIVERY AND TALK ABOUT ALL THE LABOR STAGES. IM STILL FEELING THE SAME. GETTING KICKED IN THE RIBS IS NOT THAT FUN. IM TIRED ALL THE TIMES. THANK GOD I WORK AN 8-2 SCHEDULE MONDAY THRU FRIDAY. ONLY 58 DAYS LEFT! I CANT WAIT!!

JULY 20TH UPDATE - WELL TODAY I OFFICIALLY HIT MY 32 WEEK MARK AND I EXCITED. GOSH I AM JUST COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS UNTIL MY LITTLE GIRL IS HERE. DON'T GET ME WRONG, I ENJOY BEING PREGNANT BUT THE DAYS ARE JUST GOING BY SO SLOW. I WANT HER HERE ALREADY. WELL IM STILL WAITING TO GO TO MY 32 WEEK APPOINTMENT ON MONDAY SO I WILL UPDATE AGAIN THEN. 56 MORE DAYS! YAY!

JULY 23RD UPDATE - I HAD MY 32 WEEK APPOINTMENT TODAY. IT WAS ONE OF THOSE GROUP APPOINTMENTS SO WE TALKED ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL AFTER BIRTH AND BREASTFEEDING. WE ALSO TOOK A TOUR OF THE LABOR AND DELIVERY AREA. IT FELT SO WEIRD KNOWING THAT I WILL SOON BE LAYING IN ONE OF THOSE BEDS. IM SO EXCITED. I CANNOT WAIT. I JUST NEED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THIS SUMMER.

JULY 27TH UPDATE - YAY! I HIT 33 WEEKS TODAY. IT GETS SO EXCITING WHEN I GET A WEEK CLOSER TO MY DUE DATE. 7 MORE WEEKS TO GO. I HAVE BEEN SO TIRED AND I DONT EVEN LIKE TO EAT ANYMORE. EVERYTHING SEEMS TO GIVE ME HEARTBURN... EVEN CHOCOLATE! UGHH. OH WELL. GABRIELLA FEELS LIKE SHE IS PUSHING HER WAY OUT OF MY STOMACH. HER KICKS ARE GETTING SO MUCH STRONGER. IT STILL MAKES ME HAPPY THOUGH! 49 DAYS TO GO!

AUG 6TH UPDATE - SO IM IN MY 34TH WEEK AND I MUST SAY MY STOMACH GREW A LOT FROM BEFORE. IM STARTING TO GET STRECTH MARKS ON MY BELLY BUT THEIR NOT TOO BAD. YESTERDAY WAS MY BABY SHOWER AND IT TURNED OUT GREAT. I GOT GREAT GIFTS AND IM SO HAPPY THAT IT IS OVER WITH SO THAT NOW I CAN JUST RELAX AND WAIT FOR BABY GABRIELLA TO COME.

AUG 10TH UPDATE - 35 WEEKS TODAY. I WISH THE DAYS WOULD GO BY FASTER BUT OF COURSE THEY ARE NOT SINCE I AM SO ANXIOUS. 35 MORE DAYS UNTIL MY DUE DATE AND IT FEELS LIKE IT IS NEVER GOING TO COME. I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE MY BABY GIRL. MY RIBS ARE KILLING ME STILL AND THE BATHROOM IS MY NEW BEST FRIEND. 5 MORE WEEKS UNTIL MY DUE DATE.. OH MAN I CANNOT WAIT!

AUG 17TH UPDATE - 36 WEEKS TODAY. WOW I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT MY BABY GIRL WILL ALMOST BE HERE SOON. YES, I AM OFFICIALLY GETTING TIRED OF BEING PREGNANT BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I LOVE FEELING HER INSIDE OF ME. I FINISHED UP EVERYTHING IN HER ROOM. EVERYTHING IS PUT TOGETHER AND I VACUUMED AND DUSTED EVERYTHING. IT'S SO EXCITING. I HAVE BEEN IN MY CLEANING STAGE. I FEEL THAT NOTHING CAN BE DIRTY IN THE HOUSE AND THE HOUSE HAS TO SMELL GOOD AT ALL TIMES. I AM SO TIRED ALL THE TIME AND I HATE WAKING UP AT 7:00 IN THE MORNING MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, BUT SINCE I AM IN THE MILITARY I WORK UP UNTIL I GO INTO LABOR. I WORK IN AN OFFICE WITH 3 GUYS, SO IF I GO INTO LABOR WHILE AT WORK, IT SHOULD BE A FUN EXPERIENCE. LOL! TODAY I AM GOING TO PACK GABRIELLA'S BAG FOR THE HOSPITAL AND PICK OUT AN OUTFIT TO BRING HER HOME IN! YAY! WELL I'LL KEEP YOU GUYS POSTED! 28 MORE DAYS!

AUG 24TH UPDATE - 37 WEEKS TODAY. I HAD AN APPOINTMENT TODAY AND I GOT THE GROUP B STREP DONE. THAT WAS VERY SIMPLE AND VERY VERY QUICK. HEART RATE WAS AT 146 BPM WHICH IS GREAT TO HEAR AND HER HEAD IS STILL DOWN WHICH IS ALSO GREAT AND I HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY! IM OFFICIALLY FULL TERM SO I CAN HAVE MY BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL ANY DAY NOW AND BOY AM I GETTING NERVOUS. I AM HOPING THAT SHE WONT DECIDE TO COME AFTER MY DUE DATE BUT I GUARANTEE I HAVE A HUGE CHANCE OF THAT HAPPENING WHICH IS FINE AS LONG AS SHES HEALTHY. NEXT APPOINTMENT IS NEXT WEEK AND I'LL KEEP YOU GUYS POSTED. 21 MORE DAYS!

AUG 30TH UPDATE- (( 37 WEEKS ; 6 DAYS TODAY )) WELL I WAS SCHEDULED FOR AN APPOINTMENT TOMORROW, BUT SINCE EVERYTHING IS PRETTY MUCH CLOSED TOMORROW ON BASE, I HAD TO GET RESCHEDULED FOR TODAY AT 10:15. I AM SUPPOSED TO BE MEETING THE DOCTOR WHO WILL BE DELIVERING MY BABY AND TALK TO HIM ABOUT SOME THINGS. I AM GETTING SO EXCITED. I AM SOOOO CLOSE TO MEETING MY BABY GIRL AND I CANNOT WAIT TO HOLD HER IN MY ARMS. I WILL UPDATE LATER ON WHEN I GET BACK FROM MY APPOINTMENT.

WELL MY APPOINTMENT DID NOT EXACTLY GO AS PLANNED. I DID NOT MEET MY DOCTOR TODAY, THAT IS ACTUALLY NEXT WEEKS APPOINTMENT. I GUESS THEY GOT THE WEEKS MIXED UP. GABRIELLAS HEAD IS REALLY LOW SO THAT IS A GOOD THING. HER HEART RATE IS 148 BPM. EVERYTIME I HEAR THE HEARTBEAT, I CANNOT HELP TO SIT THERE WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE BECAUSE IT JUST REASSURES ME THAT SHE IS DOING GOOD INSIDE OF ME. I WILL BE 38 WEEKS TOMORROW. COME ON GABRIELLA, IT'S TIME TO MEET MOMMY AND DADDY!

SEPT 7TH UPDATE - (( 39 WEEKS )) ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL MY DUE DATE!!! I HAD A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT TODAY AND SHE TOLD ME THAT I WAS NOT DIALATED AT ALLL AND I AM ONLY ABOUT 20% EFFACED SO BASICALLY, THIS BABY IS NOT COMING OUT BEFORE MY DUE DATE. I HAVE AN APPINTMENT ON 12 SEPT AND THAT IS WHEN WE WILL TALK ABOUT INDUCING ME THE FOLLOWING WEEK. OH BOY.. I HOPE SHE COMES BEFORE MY DUE DATE!!