He's Here!

Well, we made it 39 weeks and three days--a full-term baby. I did start to have preeclampsia symptoms on Wednesday, so my doctor was watching me very closely. She had me go in Saturday morning to have some bloodwork done and while I was there decided to send me upstairs to L and D to monitor the baby and me while we waited on the labs. Nurse Dawn was on duty, so I was very relaxed about the whole thing.

Everything looked great; I was having some minor contractions (which thrilled me; I really wanted to have the birth experience), and the baby was showing no signs of distress. When the labs came back though, the numbers weren't good, and my doctor decided we needed to go ahead and induce. I was so excited. I mean, I had come in to have bloodwork done, and all of a sudden, we were going to have a baby!

I had called Drason once I got upstairs to let him know what was going on, so he had come to sit with me while we waited. Once again, we did not have a camera with us--and no Curly Mommy this time to lend us hers! (Another friend did take some great pictures once the baby was in the nursery though....)

The doctor broke my water--an interesting experience since I was not dilated at all. However, there was meconium in it which meant we needed to do a c-section to get our boy out of that environment. That decision was made about 12:15, and at 1:18, we had our baby.

He was much smaller (5 lbs. 11 oz.) than anyone expected--especially me, but he's healthy and very sweet. He doesn't look at all like Smiley Boy. He's dark-haired and dark-eyed. I hope he'll look like his dad, since SB looks more like me.

So the adventure of raising two boys to be God-loving, God-fearing men begins. With His help, we'll rise to the challenge!

Counting Down

Less than four weeks to go until our bundle arrives....if he comes on time. It occurred to me a couple of days ago that he could actually be late. How amazing would that be?!

My appointment was kind of fun yesterday in that my doctor (whom I love dearly) is as excited as I am that we're going to run this whole race this time. I am constantly saying this, but I am in awe of God's allowing me to carry this baby full-term. I am really enjoying being pregnant; I wish I'd eat a little less these days, but that's really my only complaint. :)

Smiley Boy still hasn't cut those teeth that have been threatening for weeks. Poor thing. He's really being sweet considering how swollen and uncomfortable his gums are. He has discovered caps and loves to wear one around the house--forwards, backwards, sideways, he doesn't care. He loves that we tell him how cute he is with it on too. He's such a ham. He is also LOVING having Bam here all the time. She's a constant playmate for him, and the activity has been good therapy for her too. She is a tremendous blessing to us and will be even more so in a few weeks when we have an infant in the house.... God bless her.

Well, I'm off to show the house to a potential renter....

A lot going on....

Well, let's see. Since I last blogged, life has been a little bit hectic.

My mother had a mild stroke on October 27th, and she has been in rehab since then. I really wish I had been blogging about that as we've gone along, because I'm sure one day we'll laugh at it all. Right now though, it's all very sad. I'm talking about the healthcare she has received in the rehab facility. Unbelievably lacking! I will write about that another day.

Our little bundle will be here in less than eight weeks, and we are so excited. I am in awe of God's love and mercy in allowing me to carry this baby this long. Drason and I continue to be amazed at the things we missed out on with SB's pregnancy, mainly the movement of this little guy. SB had just gotten to where I could even feel him when he came at 26 weeks.

I am healthy! I haven't gained too much weight--more than I would have liked, less than I expected, so it's a balance of sorts. :) My blood pressure remains great. All is good.

I just realized this past week that I might need to go to childbirth classes. My dear friend who will actually coach me through this (and deliver the baby if necessary--she's that good) said I might as well go to the classes because they do kind of give you an idea of what's going to happen. However, I'm about to run out of time. Being in the middle of the Christmas season keeps us so busy, not to mention spending several days each week in Pensacola with my mom. After Christmas, Drason will be starting school and will be gone at least one night each week, so right now, I just don't know if we'll make it. Everyone else I've talked to has said that they forgot everything from the classes as soon as labor started, so I guess I'll do some reading on the subject and NOT STRESS! :) Sounds like a plan. :)

Smiley Boy has become Mr. Independent since I last blogged. He was just beginning to take some tentative steps then. Now, he is all over the place. He's so funny--and so proud of being able to go where he wants to and to go fast!!! He is still a sweet, smiley little guy. I never tire of that grin.

Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to stop. I do want to fill in some details of these last weeks, but I'll do that another day.