Picture Perfect

William had his newborn photos this morning and killed it! The photographer was really excited because we were able to get so many shots in a short period of time. He just slept the whole time so we were able to get him into the positions she wanted to get the shot. I cannot wait to get the photos! More than likely will be about a week. I will definately get them posted as soon as I get them. Until then, these are the maternity photos that TJ and I took a few weeks back. Enjoy! :)

We had another pedi appt this morning and everything went great. William gained another 2 oz back so he is 7 lbs 15 oz. The Dr. did not feel the need to take his blood because he is gaining weight and his yellow has significantly faded.

Also, Will had his first restaurant outing today as Daddy and I went to Waterloo for breakfast after his pedi appt. William slept the entire time while we chowed down! Thinking I better enjoy the sleepy baby while I can. :)

Sleeping, First Day Home, Superman Light

Watching First UT Game

The Bodyguard

Cru has been the ultimate bodyguard from the second Will hit the door. He has been exausted since William has been home because he is nonstop watching him. Anytime Will makes any kind of noise, Cru gets up to go check on him then lays on the floor close to him. I think William has got a buddy for life!!

Mellow Yellow

Doing what he does best :)

Mommy and Will

About halfway through a bottle...out like a light

First day home laying with Daddy

Sorry I have not been posting updates lately but I have been a bit tied up. :)

Everything has been going great since we have been home. I was SOOO happy to get out of the hospital. William would not take to my breast for feeding so I spent two days of absolutely no sleep, literally. The nurses were relentless on the breastfeeding and yes, I would LOVE to have been able to get him to feed but it was just not happening. All has been good with Will though. He is eating and that is all I care about.

When we left the hospital on Friday, William was jaundice and his bilirubin levels were a bit high at 9. Every time it was time to eat, he would down the first ounce and then would instantly fall asleep and become really lethargic. The Dr. at the hospital discharged him but wanted me to make a Dr. appt for the next day to have his levels checked again. We went into the pediatrician the next day and his levels had increased quite a bit to 18. The pedi's office sent a home health nurse to our house that night to have us do photo therapy at home. Will had to wear a biliband around his body until his levels dropped. We called the band his Superman Light due to the glowing blue under his clothes.

The next day, Saturday, we went back to the pedi and his levels were the same so the Dr. said to keep the light on until Monday. Sunday was a good day. Will sucked down his food each feeding. We were not having to try to wake him up during his feedings like we had been. We had been having to do whatever possible to try to get him to wake up and finish his bottle. There was not magic trick to getting this done. He would sleep through everything! Cold wet washcloths, holding him in an uncomfortable position, taking all clothes off so he was cold...anything to make him fussy. This kid can sleep through anything. I laughed at the fact that I was begging him to wake up or cry. Generally it is the other way around.

Monday rolled around and his levels had dropped to 15 and he gained 3.5 oz! YEAH!!!! We got to return the light and do not have to go back to the pedi until Thursday. Will's color has gotten much better and he is not near as yellow. Hopefully, the levels will have dropped and we can lay off of the pedi appts.

It's Business; It's Business Tiiiime!

William is here!!!


I came home from work Monday and started feeling a little off so I decided to take a bath. Once I got out, I was tired so laid down on the couch. TJ's mom stopped by to drop off some crib sheets she had made. Almost immediately after she got to the house, I started feeling a little crampy. She got excited saying "this is it" but I was convinced that I was just nervous which was why my stomach hurt. As the cramping came and went TJ and his mom were keeping track of the time in between. The cramps started off at 5 mins apart. TJ's mom stuck around for about an hour and then decided to go home to get ready for the inevitable. I, on the other hand, was in complete denial pretty much until the drive to the hospital. TJ and I kept track of the contractions (I say that now because they were increasing in pain but still nothing more than really bad menstrual cramps). After another hour of monitoring, the contractions were coming 3.5 minutes apart. I decided to call the after hours number to see if they thought I should come in or not. I was not sure if what I was feeling was false labor or the real deal. I did not want to be one of those first time moms that go to the hospital several times only to be told they were not in actual labor. I decided to call anyway. The Dr. said for us to go ahead and go to the hospital since I was having back aches as well. By this time it was about 10:30pm. TJ and I finished gathering everything for our bags and headed out. We got to the hospital about 11pm. The nurse said I was 3 cm dilated and she wrapped a band around my waist to keep track of the contractions. She told us she typically checks back after two hours but she would check on me in an hour. She also told TJ they had turned away 6 women so far that night but were hoping I would be a keeper. The contractions kept coming and they sucked! :) After an hour, the nurse came back to take a look again. I was 5 cm dilated and ready to be admitted! I was sure to confirm the process for getting the epidural. I wanted to make sure I had my timeline straight so I could keep them on top of things!!

The staff at the hospital was awesome. The immediately moved me to a delivery room and started my lab work and IV so I could get my epidural ASAP. By this time TJ's mom and sister, Dyna, were both in the room with us. I am not sure exactly how much time passed waiting for the epidural. I'm sure it was around an hour and a half or so but it seemed much longer to me since the contractions were coming on every 3 minutes lasting a good minute and were getting more painful. This is where I call bullshit on the "contractions feeling like bad menstrual cramps". Uhhhh, not so much! Not sure if I could come up with a better description but they were pretty intense. I am not good with pain to begin with but I was breathing my way through them like a champ! The epidural came and that was no problem at all. I held completely still (I had been warned by others about NOT MOVING so I was a statue). The anesthesiologist commented how good I did and I told him that I wasn't about to screw this up!

After the epidural, all was good! No pain at all. The nurse told me I was dilated to 7cm and to get some rest as they expected me to deliver sometime in the morning. TJ went into the waiting room to hang out with his mom and sister so I could get some rest. It had been about 45 minutes or so since I received the epidural and I started thinking to myself that my water had not broke yet and was wondering when this would happen. Not two minutes later, GUSH! Water broke! Mind over matter I guess. I buzzed the nurse, she came in and I told her my water broke and also I could not tell 100% but I thought I was having the urge to push. She did not want to check me too much after my water broke to avoid any chance of infection. She said I had been progressing quickly all night so she went ahead and checked. Yup, we were ready to have this baby she said.

The nurse went and brought everyone back in the room. I was really nervous but ready. We began pushing and we did that for about an hour. The room was silent. TJ's mom was on the phone with my mom the whole time but it was so quiet. Of course I cracked a few jokes to lighten the mood. Uncle Slate will appreciate that when the nurse said it was time to start pushing, Business Time got sang! LOL!! Other than that, the only noise I remember is my pushing and getting cheered on my everyone. The pushing was not bad at all. Right at the end I could feel some serious pressure which was a bit uncomfortable but that was right at the end.

Will made his arrival at 5:15am on Tuesday, Sept 15th at 8lbs 3oz and 21.5 inches. He was perfect! Cried for a bit but he stopped as soon as he was put in my arms. I was really amazing. All and all a great delivery. Mommy, daddy and baby are doing great and cannot wait for everyone to meet William.

We made it through the weekend without becoming parents so onto week 39! I told TJ yesterday that I will be keeping my legs crossed until the dresser gets put together. :) Hopefully we can knock that out tonight. Hint, hint babe!

Otherwise, nothing new to complain, I mean talk about really. Still feeling good besides having the usual back/hip soreness and trouble walking. TJ and I have our 39 wk appt on Thursday so looks like we will also go ahead and pick William's birthday in case I go past 40 wks. They do not recommend going over due date by any more than 2 wks because your placenta begins to deteriate. Picking a date is a little to intense for me so I think I will leave that up to Daddy! I still feel like William will be here by his due date but you never know. The more birth stories I read, the more I think I am going to be one that does not have contractions until I am beginning to go into labor. I think that once I start feeling them that I will making a trip to the hospital that night. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Pregnancy is the ultimate unknown!

On another note, Cru got sprayed on the top of his head by a skunk Saturday night! He had to spend his first night sleeping outside. I really don't think he got much sleep because he was EXHAUSTED yesterday. TJ and I found a home treatment online which said to apply Listernine to the stinky spots so we gave that a wurl. It definately helped but when you first put it one the mix of Listerine and skunk is NOT pleasant!!!!! After we did a couple of applications, we gave him a bath and then he slept for the rest of the day. By last night, he had a very faint smell of Listerine but I looks like it worked on getting the skunky smell out.

And so it gets thin.....

We had our 38 wk doctor appt yesterday and looks like everything is progressing great. I am almost 2 cm and 50% effaced. It sounds like I might be getting really close but truth is that these numbers do not really give you any idea of a timeframe. It could be tomorrow or three weeks from now. It is nice to see that I am moving forward though. I really do not think that I will go past my due date but you never know.

Labor Day brings no labor...whew!

What a great three day weekend! William has dropped so have been having more difficulty walking from the additional pressure but nothing too bad. Just takes me a little longer to do anything these days.

TJ and I had a lot of fun Saturday morning doing our maternity photo shoot and hopefully we will get some good pictures out of it! The picture to the left is one that TJ took of me while I was waiting on the photographer to adjust the lighting. We should have the disc of photos by this weekend so I will be sure to post them for you to see.

I also was able to make it out for the first UT home tailgate. We headed downtown after the photo shoot and I made it until about 11pm!!! The weather could not have been better for my situation. It was overcast, breezy and even sprinkled a couple of times. Everyone at the tailgate was very accommodating and kept my cup of ice and belly full! TJ was offered a ticket to the game and I insisted he go since it was a GREAT seat. Of course he loves going to the games but he came back at halftime and watched the end of the game at the tailgate. We had an awesome day and I am glad I was able to make it at least one tailgate this season!!

Sunday and Monday were both pretty lazy for us both. We got some more things done around the house that have been long overdue. All and all had a really great weekend together and are just trying to enjoy some quiet quality time together before William gets here.