Catching Up with Pictures

This post is going to be short...sorry! Will is (finally) asleep and I've got lots of unpacking to do! I figured everyone would like to see some of the newest pictures of the little guy, though. In actuality, he's not all that little anymore! We had his 2 month Well-Baby visit at the doctor a couple weeks ago and he's:

- 13 pounds 4 ounces (75th percentile)
- 24 3/4 inches long (95th percentile)
- 41 cm head circumference (75th percentile)

I can't believe how fast he's growing and changing. He now smiles and babbles all the time and has the most adorable dimple on his left cheek. His eyes are as blue as ever and I'm pretty sure they'll stay that way. In some lights in our new house they almost look purple...very neat! He loves bath time, hates tummy time (but loves sleeping on his tummy), gets a kick out of looking at himself in the mirror, loves his activity gym, still hates his car seat, and loves to say "a-gooo" and "a-guuuk." He says both of those with a particular gusto and grins afterward. He definitely makes our world a bit more interesting :) Greg and I were wondering the other day what we ever filled up all our time with before him!


10 weeks - Getting a bath from Daddy (at the old house)


10 weeks - Loving his bath time!


10 weeks - First real smile caught on camera!


From today - playing in his activity gym while I unpack the office


I cannot get enough of that gummy little grin!


Caught this one after my run tonight...Watching a Texas baseball game with Daddy. (No, Mommy does not let him watch TV!)

Anyways, I promise I'll update with real stuff soon...including pictures of the house! It's coming together nicely!

Long Week

I can't believe it was only last Thursday that I posted last...it's been a long six days! I've got lots to post and lots of pictures. All taken with my point and shoot camera - so glad I have that to capture the everyday stuff! Let's see, where to begin.

Last Thursday we had the final walk-through on our house. Everything looked great, but Will was super fussy the entire time. Not to mention the fact that he screamed bloody murder the entire 15 minute drive over to the house. SCREAMED. I've never heard him like that before - it was awful! When we got there, my mom took him and he still wouldn't really calm down. He didn't want a bottle, he didn't want his paci. We went to dinner and this continued. When we got home (lots of screaming and fussing on the way) I took his temperature because it was so unlike him to cry like that. It was 99.9. Since he'd been crying so hard, I decided to give him a bath and see if he'd calm down some. He did, so after he was all dried off, I took it again. It'd gone up to 100.4...our pediatrician had said we needed to call for anything above 100.4 and this was right at it, so I called. Since he was so little, they wanted us to be seen right away, but of course, it was 8:30 by that time...so we had to go to the ER.

We arrived at S&W and were taken back to an exam room. They took his temp (it had gone down some...I think it was around 99?), checked his heartrate and oxygen levels. His oxygen and heartrate were a little off. We waited around and finally some nurses came in and did a catheter to take urine. We waited around some more, they came back in and did a chest x-ray. They never once listened to his chest and I never mentioned coughing or wheezing, but apparently a chest x-ray was necessary.(I got kicked out of the room, but Greg got to stay). We did some more waiting before FINALLY seeing the on-call doctor. This was around 12am. She wanted to draw blood and do a spinal tap. I declined the spinal tap and she went to get a second opinion on everything. She came back around 1 and said that as long as we followed up with our pediatrician in the morning we didn't have to do the spinal, but they did need to draw blood. Fine, whatever. (Can you tell I was kind of ticked off at the hospital at this point?) The blood draw was probably one of the most traumatic things I've experienced in awhile - same for Will. They blew out his vein and he screamed :( I hated not being able to comfort him! Finally around 2am we were sent home with strict instructions to follow up with the pediatrician in the morning. All three of us were beyond exhausted.

The next morning we followed up at the pediatricians. His fever had gone back up to 100.4. We talked a lot and Dr. Travis said that he figured it was probably viral. We decided to watch him closely for the weekend and wait for the cultures on the blood and urine to come back from Scott & White.

I came home after the pediatrician's, Will ate, and then took a long nap on our bed. Poor thing was so tired from all the poking and prodding :( My mom came over around 12:30 to watch him because I had to go close on our house! In all the craziness of the night before, closing had kind of lost the exciting-ness that it had held before the ER visit. But it was great to sign all those papers and realize that the house was finally ours!

The weekend held lots of running around shopping for appliances, paint, and furniture. Everyone was having GREAT deals because it was Memorial Day weekend so we got a fridge and a microwave for an awesome price and got all our paint for $5 off a gallon! We decided to wait on furniture, even though we found a bedroom set and a dining set at Ashley that we absolutely loved...we'll save up and get it soon :)

Sunday night we had dinner at my parent's house. Yummy grilled chicken and shrimp (thanks Matt!) and then Monday my Aunt Gena flew in from Albuquerque so she could watch Will this week...Today was my first day back at work and it was hard. I was alright as long as I was busy - recess, lunch, planning, and all those little in between moments where I didn't have a lot going on were really tough for me. I missed him like crazy and my heart ached to be home cuddling with him, nursing him instead of pumping, and watching his cute little smiles. The only thing that got me through the day was repeating to myself "seven more days." I'll be honest, though...seven days seems like a LONG time to me right now. :( Will has been nursing non-stop since I got home, which in a weird way makes me feel good. I feel bad for Greg though - he doesn't want to leave his Mama at all!

I'll try to post another update later this week, but it's going to be hard with teaching and all...Seven more days :)

Tough Guy

Will had his two week check up today! He's doing fantastically and he's such a tough little guy...he didn't even cry when they pricked his heel to do the second part of his newborn screening. He did pee on me though. All over my shirt - little stinker! I'm going to have to put a "mommy shirt" in the diaper bag just in case he does that again!

He's grown an inch in two weeks...how is that even possible? He doesn't seem bigger than he was two weeks ago but he's grown a whole inch! He's also gained back all of his birth weight and even put on an ounce - yay Will! Here's how he measures up to other newborns...

90% percentile for height (22 inches long)
50% percentile for weight (8lbs 13oz)
25-50% percentile for head circumference

So far we've got a long, lean little guy. Just like his Daddy! He had a huge day today and was awake for nearly 3 1/2 hours this morning before and during his doctor's appointment. He soaked up every ounce of everything in the room. He then crashed for the rest of the day (along with his Mommy once we got home) and was wide-eyed in time for Daddy to get home and spend some time with him. He gets more alert and responsive every day - it's been a lot of fun to watch him learn about the things around him!

Wish us luck - we're looking at some houses tomorrow. Hopefully something will stand out! And I'm sorry I haven't been posting pictures - I have a ton on my camera that just need to be put onto the computer. That will be my goal for the weekend.

Houston We've...

...progressed backwards. Ugh :( I went in today and Dr. Hancock said that I was barely 1cm dilated and 30-40% effaced. (His actual words were, "Well, I guess you could call that 1cm. Hey, that's better than being totally closed up though!") So in two weeks my body has gone backwards? What is that! Definitely not the way it's supposed to happen. After doing some research, I've learned that internal checks are a very subjective thing. So chances are, I'm exactly the same as I was two weeks ago. Which is not what I wanted to hear either, but better than my body going backwards!

Greg and I talked tonight and if Will doesn't come this week (which I don't think he will), I'll go back to school next week and that will be my last week. My due date will be the following Tuesday and if I haven't had him by then, I'll be induced by the end of the week. I'm getting so uncomfortable, swollen, and just not pretty feeling in general! I SO don't want to go back to school, especially after spring break, but I keep trying to remind myself that I'm going to want all the time with him that I can after he comes.

We've made tentative plans to make our first big family outing the Weenie Dog Races in Buda at the end of April. My parents are going to take their dachshund, Gracie, and I think it'd be a lot of fun to take Will out and enjoy the day, as long as it's nice out! Thinking about having my baby here and going somewhere fun in a little more than a month definitely makes the waiting time between now and my delivery sound a little more bearable. I think it's kind of funny, actually...you spend 37 weeks of your pregnancy praying that you won't have contractions and praying that your baby will not come early. Then you spend the last 3 weeks of your pregnancy praying that God will get that baby the heck out of you! But time is still flying fast (spring break is almost over!) and I know the big day will be here before I know it.

Greg and I drove around tonight and looked at some houses we're interested in. And we got a call on the truck that sounded sort of promising - although the guy lives up near Lubbock somewhere, so he wasn't sure he wanted to make the drive down here. But it was the first call that actually had the potential to go somewhere instead of wanting us to trade for a mini-van or wanting us to take significantly less than we're asking ;) It's a crazy, busy, but very fun and exciting time!

36 Weeks

I'm 36 weeks pregnant! Next week I will be considered full term and they will no longer take any measures to stop labor. Everything is coming SO fast!

I had an appointment today and I found out that I've made lots of progress! Hooray! Will is head down and fully engaged (aka in the correct position for a normal delivery). I'm 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. This is great news! She did say that this doesn't necessarily mean anything - you can be dilated for weeks without having anything happening. But it does give me hope that Will will decide to move out on or before his due date. Here's to hoping! :)

In other pregnancy news, I no longer have ankles. I go from foot to calf. And my calves are barely smaller than my knees. The dreaded swelling has hit and let me tell you...it is NOT fun! Thank goodness it's just swelling though. Swelling can be a sign of pre-eclampsia, which is a very serious condition in pregnancy. My blood pressure is completely normal though (122/60) and averaging on the low side of normal. So my doctor really isn't worried about pre-eclampsia, but we'll keep an eye on it.

Two of my friends threw me a baby shower this past weekend and it was SO much fun! :) We got our carseat/stroller and pack 'n play, which we were extremely thankful for! We're also all set on bottles, clothes, blankets, bath stuff, and diapers for those first few weeks. On Sunday, Greg and I went to Target and Babies 'R Us and bought a few more things that we'd be needing in the first month or so. My friend Veronica is an amazing interior desinger and she painted a canvas that matches our bedding and made curtains for us. The nursery is almost completed and it looks awesome! I'll post pictures of it after we get stuff hung up.

Not much new on the baby development front. He weighs about 6 pounds and is losing the fuzzy hair that's been protecting his skin for the past 36 weeks. His lungs will continue to mature, but they're really almost there. The position he's in (head down) is likely to be the postion he stays in for birth...yay Will! :)

And now for my 36ish week tummy picture...this was actually taken before my shower, so I'm just a few days shy of 36 weeks. I don't think I changed that much though!

Only 4 weeks left!!

Doctors Appointment Today

I had my monthly doctors appointment today, along with the Gestational Diabetes test. The test honestly wasn't that bad...the drink was a little gross (tasted like flat orange pop) and I had to down it in 5 minutes, but other than that it wasn't bad! I'll find out in a few days if I didn't pass, otherwise "no news is good news." I think that I passed - I hope that I passed anyways! I really don't want to go in for the three hour test.

Afterwords, I saw my doctor for my appointment. Will's heart sounded great (still in the 150s) and I'm measuring right on target at 28cm...You should have about a centimeter of growth for every week you're pregnant. She said that the fact that Will's feet are sticking into my ribs is a good thing - it means he's probably head down and facing the right way! We did get a little bit of concerning news...on the anatomy ultrasound I had on 11/7, one of Will's kidneys was enlarged. It is called pyelectasis. She didn't seem too concerned about it at all and said it was a very mild case. I, on the other hand, am not so relaxed about it! I've spent the better part of the afternoon on Google researching it. I will have to go back in for another ultrasound on the 21st to reevaluate.

From what I've found out through my Googling, it's very common in boys and usually resolves itself by the third trimester. If it doesn't, it doesn't mean that there will be a problem after birth, but it could. If it hasn't resolved itself, they will continue to monitor it and after he's born he will have to have some tests run. If it's causing problems then, it would mean a minor surgery procedure. It can be a soft marker for Downs Syndrome...which freaks me out a lot! I just want our baby boy to be perfectly healthy in every way. However, the chances of him having Downs are still not high because we've seen him opening and closing his hands on the ultrasound and he doesn't have any other soft markers for it.

I was a little upset at first that I wasn't told right after the ultrasound on 11/7 that there was a problem, however, thinking about it now, it's a blessing from God. If we would have found out about it right after the ultrasound, we would not have been able to have a follow up ultrasound until the third trimester...so even if we would have found out then, I'd still be waiting to find out anything about it. And knowing me, I would have been worrying about it the entire time and not enjoying life! So now we get to wait until the 21st...and I think it's going to be a long two weeks. I'm really trying not to worry. God blessed us with this baby for a reason and he knows what He is doing. I am trying to rest in His peace and trust him entirely. This is something incredibly hard for me to do; but He is all-knowing, all-powerful, loving, merciful, and my God. He will take care of me and Will, no matter what the outcome of the ultrasound is. Keep Will and his kidney in your prayers!

Healthy baby

I had my monthly appointment with my doctor this afternoon...after locking my keys in my car at school, having to call Greg and have him leave work to pick me up, and then getting to the doctor's office only to find out that they had my appointment scheduled for tomorrow, not today! Thank goodness everything worked out alright!

My doctor measured my tummy - I think she said it was around 16 inches, which she said was "tiny" for being 17 weeks. Nothing to worry about though - either it means that I'm actually due later than April 1st or I just have some catching up to do. I also got to listen to the heart beat on the doppler...it's so fun to hear the little wa-wa-wa-ing from our baby's heart! It was right around 146-149 beats per minute. Last time it was in the 150s, and she said it sounded strong and great.

She asked me if I wanted to have any genetic testing done, but I declined...it's wouldn't change anything with the way we viewed the baby, so there's really no point. Plus, there's a high rate of having false positives, which would cause me unnecessary stress and worry. I feel good about that decision!

I also scheduled our "big" ultrasound to find out the baby's gender...The big day is November 7th! Pray that the baby is cooperative so s/he can get a name, clothing, bedding and all that fun stuff! I'm putting up a poll so you can vote on whether you think the baby is a boy or a girl...I'll tell you what I think after a few days!