Drew, Capri & Audrey makes 3

At 2:00 in the morning Dr. Wilkes walked into the room... I distinctly remember him asking everyone in the room, what time do we think she'll be here...  You can tell in this picture around 2:27 we knew she'd be coming.... After the first push, I heard "she has a LOT of hair!" and that was followed by the second push when I remember Dr. Wilkes saying: "Capri, stop pushing she's coming out on her own" My husband looks grossly disappointed in this picture, but it was after my first push On a crisp winter morning at 2:39 AM; Audrey Kaydence Thomas  took her first breath and opened her blue eyes weighing in at 6 pounds and 11 ounces and 19 long inches. Smitten by her arrival, after Drew and I took turns kissing her and hugging her for the first time, I distinctly remember staring at her for what seemed to be hours. I was amazed by a lot of things, the fact that I had given birth within 7 hours... The fact she was white, that...

It was about 7:00 at night when I demanded to go to the hospital, at this time Drew had just made it back to my parent's house from running an errand, or a coaching meeting... one of the two... he was exhausted. This time, no winter themed cute shirt or pictures in front of a tree... just a pink maternity shirt & black pajama bottoms with I kid you not, Green & Purple fireworks on them, My grandma bought them for me when she was alive... maybe circa 2008? Drew had the audacity (clearly amidst a soon to be dad out of body experience haze) to ask "Are you going to change your clothes? or wear your pajamas with pasta sauce on them to the hospital?" now... I'll tell you this in chapter 1 when I said; " One nasty, dusty and dirty bathroom, old dirty scrubs, one sharp tongued triage nurse " I wasn't in true labor... and let me tell you why My doctor said, "Capri, when you're in labor... you will step over another woman's placenta to ge...

It started the morning of December 12, 2015... I woke up again with contractions, and began timing them on my ipad... I'd read somewhere online... if you aren't sure whether you're in actual labor or not... get in a warm bath of water and if the contractions stop... then you're good, if they intensify... go to the hospital.  so... My husband turned on Kenny G Holiday on pandora and started my bath... luckily, the contractions stopped and... I ended up filling out hospital paperwork because I knew in my heart of hearts... she was coming soon. It was a cold December evening, I was impatiently awaiting the delivery of a meal from my aunt Pam.  She made chicken Marsala when my grandmother passed away and when I tell you it was delicious,  it literally sweeps you off your feet. Any who,  I had asked her to bring it to me and she’s the type of aunt who delivers when you request… so While we were waiting we turned on a sneak peek of  Adele: Liv...

If we're truly and genuinely honest with each other... this story started actually on the Monday before she was born... on December 7... I remember waking my husband up... and being ready to go... I remember pacing the hallways of my parent's ranch style home and having enough time to put on a cute winter themed t-shirt and stand in front of their Christmas tree taking some last silhouettes of my belly, slightly rounded. with hyperemesis, I didn't gain any weight and truly didn't carry much in my stomach area and in my last days of my pregnancy... I finally had a small enough bump to take pictures of.. so my mom encouraged me to... especially if i was in "labor" what I didn't know and my mom did... was that if I had time to stop for labor and delivery pics... it wasn't happening that night. she was right... One nasty, dusty and dirty bathroom, old dirty scrubs, one sharp tongued triage nurse, and 2 centimeters later... they sent us h...

Well, funny you should ask... Absolutely nothing ... As long as I’m not dehydrated.... She's fine. She measures bigger than expected at every appointment... She has a round belly and is completely healthy... Incredibly low described as "perfectly fine" when tested for brain or spinal disorders... She kicks and loves music being played, hates it when I sneeze and when all is said and done and we can actually eat has the demanding appetite of a football player in college (she gets it from Drew.) and while all of those things are huge wins... When I don’t feel well, I don't celebrate those small things.  .. I keep saying she, by the way... it's a girl ... I'll be honest, I was devastated. sounds pitiful right? but truly... devastated to find out we were having a daughter... why? because through all of the tears, pain, agony, and prayers... I kept repeating to myself... I can only do this once... I'm not doing this again, and I knew in my heart... ...

Well drew,  He spends his weekends at home sitting next to me... watching my favorite TV shows and changing the bags in my "chuck it bucket" about 4-10 times on a bad day 1-3 on a good day. Googling how to remove bathroom sink pipes if I don’t make it to the trash can, shampooing floors and couches, blending up ice in our ninja because even water makes me vomit but sucking on snow doesn't... Picking up ANYTHING at the store I can suggest at any hour or the day knowing he may come home and offer it to a wife who may not eat it. Making my dinner 2-3 times because sometimes what goes down doesn't stay down longer than 2-3 minutes. Given me hourly medications, sets up breathing treatments, emergency trips to the pharmacy. All of our grocery shopping, He's carried me to bed, given me showers, washed my hair, does the laundry every week, and chanted time and time again "you're doing such a great job Capri, keep going," when I’m bent over in pai...