A Million Things I Want to Remember...

Today my sweet baby boy is ten days old young.  Words cannot even describe what the last week and a half has been like for Guy and I.  We are in constant amazement of our son. 

Already I am feeling a bit sad at how fast he is changing and how time is flying.  I know, crazy - he was just born.  I'm SO excited for his future, but I feel this overwhelming need to remember/record/document every little thing that happens.  I don't want to forget a single memory. 

So, here are the highlights:

Driving to the hospital last Sunday night was surreal.  It didn't seem real to me that I was about to have a BABY.  I was excited, but I was also really nervous.  I had gone to the ER a few times as a kiddo, but thankfully I have never had major surgery or medical issues. 

When we checked in I had the NICEST nurse.  I only had her for one night, but she really made me feel at ease.  In fact, the entire 5 days that we were at the hospital I was surrounded by the most professional, patient, sweet, and sensitive people - everyone from the cleaning ladies to the nursing staff to the ladies who brought me meals (I will elaborate on hospital food later).

Contractions SUCK.  Big time.  They started around midnight Sunday night and lasted until the sweet relief of the Epidural came around noon the next day.  That anesthesiologist was my best friend.    I had been in tears from the pain and was completely relying on Guy to get me through it. 

A catheter is kinda gross, but it was my other best friend too.  Preggo ladies go to the bathroom ALL THE TIME.  Really, I could have used the catheter the last few months of my pregnancy and been pretty cool with it.

After each contraction the nurse started to notice a pattern that Beckett's heart beat would drop.  This pattern progressively increased until my doctor suddenly came in the room and said that a c-section would need to be done.  And soon!  Guy barely had time to let our families know and get in his blue gown before I was wheeled off to the OR room.  I felt scared, but I was also SO drugged that it didn't even seem real to me.  I remember just asking Guy to make sure and take pictures and video.  He did!  Good job, hon.

I will never forget hearing his first cry.  It was just a couple of quick, soft cries.  Mind you, this was all over the Britney Spears and Fergie music that the doctors were jamming out to....seriously?!?  I listened to Guy and the doctors talking about him - surprised at his small size, Guy saying he had a cone head (it went away after a few hours), there were a few extra twists in the umbilical cord.  All the while I was dying to meet him.

When Guy finally brought him to meet me all I wanted to do was kiss him.  My euphoria didn't last long because just a few seconds later I was throwing up :(. 

Soon we were wheeled off to the recovery room.  There were bouquets of flowers waiting for us, which was so sweet.  After doing some measurements and a quick clean up, they laid him on my chest and he started to nurse.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, beats the skin to skin contact of a baby on your chest.  I swear that feeling is better than any other experience in the world.

Our little peanut weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19.25 inches long.  We had been expecting a much bigger baby!  In so many ways he has surprised us. 

While all of this was going on, everyone was anxiously awaiting the opportunity to meet Beckett.  They finally had the chance when we were wheeled from the recovery room to our new hospital room.

Shortly after Beckett had his first bath.  He didn't mind too much.

Ok, I was patient up to a point....now bath time should be over!

Happy now that bath time is over and everyone is lovin' on me.

Between a million visits from nurses and doctors, our family and friends coming for visits, and

 all of the drugs they were giving me, five days in the hospital actually flew by.  We had the best time getting to know our little man.  A few things we quickly learned - he LOVES to suck his fingers or anything else that can get into his mouth, he sleeps on his side and not on his back, and he is a good eater and sleeper, he has one little dimple on the right side of his mouth, and he scrunches up his forehead for most of his expressions. 

He also does not enjoy dress up.

In the hospital, Guy changed ALL of the diapers.  He didn't gag once!  Guy got lots of practice because Beckett had 23 dirty diapers in his first day and a half of life.  The nurses were very impressed. 

We were fortunate to have many family and friends come to visit us in the hospital.  Beckett finally got to meet his future wife, Hadley!

 

Our first family picture.

 Isn't he handsome???

Our hospital stay was actually pretty enjoyable.  On several occasions Guy and I said that we almost didn't want to go home.  We loved being in "baby land" and just enjoying getting to know our son and being a family of three.  The outside world seemed very distant!  In fact, there were severe storms with tornadoes and hail in our area and in Oklahoma City/Norman on Tuesday.  Guy is a complete weather NERD and didn't even realize this until I mentioned that I saw something about it on Facebook.  Of course after that he had the laptop and TV on constantly to watch the news!

Back to the hospital food - Due to the c-section I wasn't allowed to eat until I passed gas.  Yes, you read that right.  Never have I been more anxious for that to happen!  We ate a delicious dinner Sunday night and I didn't get to eat a real meal until Tuesday afternoon.  I could only eat popsicles and juice :(.  When the big moment finally arrived and I was presented with my celebration meal, it was a Thanksgiving turkey dinner.  Sick!  They followed that up with some nasty meatloaf concoction.  I will give them credit for making a mean dinner roll, but that is about it.  Not surprisingly, my husband gobbled up almost all of my hospital meals. 

On Thursday it was finally time to take our little man home.  Guy was more than a little anxious to get checked out.  We tried to put him in his tuxedo, but it was WAY too big :(. 

We are finally home and things are going great! Right now, Life on Autumn Trail is pretty darn good :).



T-Minus 7 Days!

One week from today we will get to meet Beckett!  Guy and I are beyond excited.

Here are the 37 week details:

How Far Along: 37 Weeks as of yesterday

Size of Baby: A week and a half ago he was weighing in at 6 lbs. and 7 oz.  At this point he is probably growing 1/2 to 1 full pound a week! 

Total Weight Gain: Gained 29 pounds (and feeling every bit of it!)

Maternity Clothes: I'm getting pretty tired of them!  I have a limited wardrobe, so I feel like I am wearing some of the same things over and over again.  I live in basic cotton t-shirts and comfy flip flops or tennis shoes.

Movement: Wow!  During the past week and a half Beckett has been moving around a LOT more.  For a while there his movements weren't as hard as they had been.  Mostly I think he would just shift around a bit here and there.  Now he seems to be making up for lost time!  I am getting his feet up on the left side by my ribs and his rear in the middle of my right side.  As soon as I touch the spot, though, he will curl back up and stop kicking!

Sleep: I feel lucky because most nights I am sleeping great.  I think it's because I have been SO busy and on my feet all day, so my body is just exhausted.

What I miss: My size 8.5 feet!  My sausage feet just aren't fitting into most of my shoes.  My ankles can get really swollen by the end of the day. 

Cravings: I haven't really been craving anything too badly.  I definitely have given in to some bowls of ice cream though!

Best Moment this week: On Saturday night Guy and I went out for our last "fancy date."  We went to Cool River Cafe in Las Colinas and it was delicious!  We ate calamari, salads, prime rib for Guy and shrimp for me, macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes, creamed spinach, french fries, bread, and creme brulee for dessert!  Yum!

On our way to date night!



Busy, Busy

As I mentioned earlier, our lives have been CRAZY BUSY.  Here's a quick wrap-up:

I had my 34 week appointment.  Our little guy weighed in at 5 pounds and 14 ounces!  I love, love, love these pics!  We have a hairy headed little thumb sucker :).

He already needs a hair cut!

My parents came to town for a quick visit two weekends ago.  We went to Taco Diner, Sprinkles Cupcakes, and Northpark Mall.  It was all a hit!

I actually had TWO showers at work the next week!  So fun to celebrate!  The first was my work shower thrown by my sweet team.  Then I had a little class shower from my students.  The kids were SO excited... especially all of the little girls.  Pretty cute :). 

We then had my 35 week appointment.  Unfortunately, the sonographer found fluid on Beckett's kidneys :(.  This means we will have to head back to the Perinatologist (high risk doctor) soon and also talk to a kidney specialist at Cook Children's Hospital.  The good news is that it's actually somewhat common (especially in boys) and can be managed through medicine, etc.  Everything else looked great - fluid levels, heart, and weight (6 pounds 7 ounces!). 

The next day we were off to a quick Oklahoma trip.  Alex (Guy's brother) and Jessica had their post Mexico wedding reception, so we had to celebrate! 

Who says pregnant ladies can't dance?  (Just maybe not gracefully...)

Finally, today we went back to the doctor for the 36 week appointment.  And....WE SET AN INDUCTION DATE!  Yippee!  We are set to go in Sunday the 22nd at 7:00 pm.  I will then be induced the next morning.  We absolutely cannot wait to meet Beckett!

Maternity Pics

As promised, here are a few more of the maternity pictures that we took at 32 weeks.  I am so glad that we did them!

Weekend Craziness

It seems like our weekends have been on overdrive lately!  Guy makes jokes all the time about our family calendar, but it's been so crazy that I don't know what we would do without it.  We are both busier than ever with our jobs (pool season for Guy and packing/TAKS for me), getting ready for Beckett, and usual Spring Time Madness.

The good news is that it's all been FUN!

Here's a weekend wrap-up for the month of April....

1st weekend:

Friday night we went out with David and Patty to Mi Cocina.  That's where the night started.  For Guy, it ended like this...

In short, large quantities of beer + several Mambo Taxis = Guy deciding to "camp out" like he did when he was a "little boy." (his words)  Yes, he really did sleep outside.




Saturday morning we were off to Austin for a mini "babymoon."  It was important to us to take one last little weekend getaway before Beckett arrives.  To sum it up, we pretty much ate, shopped, ate, slept, and ATE.  That's pregnant lady heaven.

2nd Weekend:

Cori came Friday night and stayed until Saturday evening.  I love her visits!  Hayden didn't come, so we were able to do some serious shopping.  She found some cute clothes.  I pretty much stared enviously at the size small t-shirts that she was purchasing.  Buying a size large to fit over the preggo belly is just not as much fun!

Saturday night we had a team dinner.  I have been so fortunate to work with some amazing ladies the past six years.  I will miss them!

On Sunday we were finally able to take maternity pictures with a photographer.  Here's a sample :).

3rd Weekend:

On Saturday we went to Carter's 1st Birthday Party! Perfect weather, yummy food, a precious sock monkey theme, and the cutest kiddos you have ever seen.....what's not to love?  I'm so bummed, though, because Zach and Charlsi have now moved to a new neighborhood :(.  They're not far, but nothing beats walking across the alleyway to see your buddies.

The BEST part of the weekend happened first thing Sunday morning.  I got a 7:00 am call from Emily to let me know that it was BABY TIME!  We rushed over to take care of Teags while they rushed to the hospital.  Actually, no one really thought it was going to happen that day - especially not in such a short amount of time.  Just a few hours later (11:55 am) Miss Hadley Jane Stoner was born!  She is beautiful, of course!

We had the best time taking care of Teagan on Sunday.  She had a good time playing with the dogdogs, investigating Beckett's room and toys, and playing the "what's that?" game. 

We took her to the hospital to see her baby sister.  On the way we kept trying to talk to her about Hadley.  Here's what she had to say....

Hahahaha!  "No want it!"  Classic!

4th Weekend:

Ahhhhh!  I had Friday off for the Easter Holiday, which was SO NICE.  We were able to get a TON done around the house - especially in Beckett's room.  It's not finished, but we are close.

Remember our crafting project?  Here is the finished product.  Ta da!

Next weekend is technically the last weekend of the month.  My parents are coming in town on Saturday.  I think we are going to go out to dinner and just hang out around town.  It should be fun!

Well, that about wraps it up for the month of April.  Time flies when your having fun!  Can't wait for May :).

A week and a half ago today, I did something kind of crazy....

I QUIT MY JOB! 

Not that this was an unplanned event, but it IS a really big life change that I am still struggling to get my head wrapped around.  When you work hard to get a college degree, move to a new state for better pay, and pour hours and HOURS into being the best employee you can be, it is pretty strange to sign on a dotted line and walk away.

Guy and I made a pretty crazy decision exactly six years ago - we decided to sell our house, leave all of our family and friends, and start a life in a town where we didn't know a single soul.  Everything fell into place - our house sold in a matter of days, we both quickly found jobs we were excited about, we discovered that we picked a great little town to live in, and the rest is history.  In a lot of ways this feels very similar.  So much is falling into place, in a million different little ways - a sign to me that everything is meant to be.

Here is a little tour of my home away from home....

Welcome to Room 406!

I am haunted by the thought of packing all of this up...

Of course, I'm really not quiting work altogether.  I'm just trading one job for another.  Instead of teaching and interacting with other people's children, I am getting to do the most important job I can imagine...be a mom.  And I am SO excited :). 

What's also exciting is having a partner in crime...

I'm 30 weeks in this pic.  In some ways it seems crazy that we will have a baby in just 8 short little weeks.  And then I start thinking that my belly will continue to grow for 8 more very looonnnnggggg weeks.

oh BOY!