Breastfeeding, Funny Faces, and Tummy Time

Sunday marked the beginning of Gray's 7 week. This is my last full week as a stay at home mom. I have next week off until Friday, but it will be pretty busy with errands outside of the house to get ready for the impeding beginning of the school and my return to work :0(. Never thought I would actually say this, but I am a little sad that my staying home is coming to an end. I am not 100% in love with being at home all day by myself with the baby, but it is going to be hard to give up my morning cuddles/naps and watching his every little development. Feeling very thankful that Brett is taking the little man to the first day of daycare!

I took Gray by the doctor for another weight check-in. His feeding habits had changed, and he had started to sleep 5-6 hours a night. This meant that he was making it through the night without a feed until about 5 or 6 in the morning. He also seemed to be feeding differently through the day as well. He came in at 7 lb 6 oz, and he was basically gaining an oz a day. That is a good average weight gain according to the nurse so I must be doing something right as far as breastfeeding, or at least, I thought I was doing something right. Later that day, he had bright green stringy poo (I know TMI), and I found out that this meant he had had an imbalance of foremilk (thirst-quenching low-fat milk at the beginning of feeds). Since it is high in lactose, it makes the poo change. Apparently, it was just one time because he hasn't had the weird poo again since last Monday.

Speaking of, breastfeeding has been an interesting experience thus far. I know it has been said before, but I really never thought something that our body does by nature could be so hard. It has been a bit of a struggle on and off the last 7 weeks. It is hard to not worry that he is getting enough despite knowing that things are well-established at this point. I am not sure what I thought the process would make me feel like. I want to say it is an awesome bonding experience with my son. It is in a way, but at the same point, I will feel a little bit on the happy side when it stops. I am really proud that I have made it this far because it was an extreme struggle with pain and crying thanks to sore nipples and bad latch. Based on the research, I know I made a good decision for my child. However, I can't lie and say that I haven't second guessed it or questioned switching to formula. Usually, these thoughts come at 2 or 3 in the morning when Gray is being a bit of a pita during feeding mind you. I am sure someone will shot me for saying this, but my biggest issue with the whole process is time. It takes at least 30 minutes at least to feed him, but a normal average is more like 50 minutes to an hour. This includes burping and him taking breaks during the process. Then we have to have him in a upright or inclined position for 20 minutes or so to attempt to curve spitting up. After that, we might get lucky if he is awake enough to get a little bit of playtime, or he takes a bit of a nap. Then, before you know it, it time to start all over. I swear there are days when he is feeding every hour on the hour. Along with the pumping, it does make me have the feeling of a milk cow. I also have difficulty with oversupply according to the LC at the pediatrician's office, and it doesn't seem to want to fix it self. I sometimes have to pump in between feeds to keep from having sore breast, and then there is all the freaking leaking. I don't know which causes me to change clothes more per day, Gray's spitting up on me or my breast becoming Niagara Falls. I have to keep towels handy when I am feeding him to keep from making a mess on the couch. Oddly enough, my breast leaked as I was writing this. I have tried several suggestions to help the oversupply problem, but much like Gray's spit-up problem, nothing seems to completely correct the issue. Sadly, I am starting to think that the oversupply is probably the culprit of the major spitting up since he doesn't spit-up with the same volume when he takes a bottle unless it is straight from the frig.

I know someone's response to this might be to give it up. Well, you have your son's adorable eyes with a glint of mischief in them  look up at you, and it will definitely change your mind. Even with just 7 weeks, I can tell there is bond that has developed between us, and for every difficult time, there is a time with connection that I don't get with the short bottle feed. I know I sound like I swallowed the Kool-aid of pro-breastfeeding browbeaters, but this part is definitely true for me. I am not saying that people who formula feed are doing something bad for their kids and don't bond with them. Theirs is just done differently. Once again, their decision is the best for their kiddo, and my decision is the best for my kiddo.

I am still not sure how this will all pan out once I go back to school. I get a bit of a creepy feeling about the fact that in 2 weeks from now I will have to pump in my classroom, and I am not sure how to get over it other than just gritting my teeth and baring it. Thanks to my oversupply, I have managed to get a fairly good supply frozen so far, and I will most likely have to pump 3-4 times while at school (once before, twice during school, and possible after school if I am doing tutoring). I will feed from the breast while at home and only pump when I really need it. I am hoping this plan along with picking up some herbal supplements helps to keep my supply up. I want to make it at least until we start solids, but that won't be until late December. 4 months is a long time from now. I would prefer the year, but that might be a cross your fingers kind of event.

Gray's major milestones of the week were that he rolled over along with smiling with stimulation. We also discovered he is very interested in having you blow in his face. He seems to attempt to return the favor, but all he gets is sticking his tongue out or blowing bubbles. The smiling is right on course, but the rolling over is a month and a half early. I was the only one who saw it, and he hasn't done it again since. The roll over was from his tummy to back, and Brett doesn't believe it was intentional. Of course, I haven't been able to get a repeat performance since he hates tummy time. When we started out, he was very happy doing tummy time, and now it is like murder to get him to stay longer than a minute or two. I think it is because he gets frustrated that he can't move or crawl yet. Yeah, I know-high thoughts for a baby huh? After some research, I discovered the movements he does on the floor are pre-crawling movements and show he has excellent reflexes. Yah for great reflexes since Brett and I weren't exactly blessed with them ourselves, but it does have me worried about the near future. I am worried about an early crawler, and I think we are looking at a very active toddler for the future. I guess I should be research sports and activities to help with that. Of course, this could spell weight lose and healthier activity for Brett and I both, which would be a good side effect, but I can just envision the wreck my house will be in. Of course, this might all be useless worry if I don't get him to like tummy time.

I had my doctor's check-up this week, and I got the all clear to everything. It was so nice to finally take a bath again for the first time in 7 weeks. Almost as good as that first post-birth shower. It also means I can start an exercise plan as well. I have lost most of the baby weight, but the last 10 pounds are being stubborn to come off. While my pre-pregnancy pants fit again, they give me a horrible muffin top so I will be in maternity pants for the first couple of weeks of school. I also need to still take off quite a few pounds as well. Won't mention how much yet since I am a bit embarrassed by it!
This week chair pictures had two guest and a new prop. I guess that makes up for the fact that Gray slept through them the whole time. Here are my favorites.

Daddy and son together

My three boys

Trying out Daddy's hat

Gray hanging on his blanket from C and A. This was the first quilt A made, and it turned out awesome.

Family, Friends, and Date Night

Week 5 went by before I could get a post typed out, and we are now at the beginning of week 6!
Since last time, things seemed to be on hyper-speed! Grayson and I had been on a playdate with some friends of mine from work the day of my last post. Even though he can't interact yet, it was still nice to get a chance to ask questions and catch up with friends. The next day my cousins came into town on their way home from a visit in Colorado. We haven't seen them in a bit since one set lives in Alabama and the other in East Texas. It was a wonderful visit, and the oldest two kiddos were so cute since they wanted to hold Grayson so much. Here are some pictures from that visit.

Gray with his cousin B
All the cousins together
Gray with his cousins C and T

Brett's cousins from Kansas were also in town for a tennis tournament so we got together with them to have lunch on Saturday. It was another short visit, but it was great to see them. Luckily, they will be down again at the end of this month for another cousins wedding along with more of Brett's family. Some we haven't seen since we got married, and I am excited about getting to show Mr. Gray off. Sunday we made a visit to my paternal grandmother. She enjoyed getting a chance to finally see Gray.

Last week was a bit on the difficult side. Gray felt the need to keep himself attached to my breast on several days. I thought maybe it was his sixth week growth spurt sneaking up early, but when I had him weighed today, his gain wasn't anything out of the normal. Gray and I did have fun hanging out in bed to snuggle a bit before getting up for the day. I will definitely miss that time when I go back to school. We did make a visit to out to see my mom and sisters mid-week, and then I went to a dinner with some teacher friends. It was the first time I had gone somewhere other than a quick trip to the store. It was nice but strange to be out without the baby. On Friday, Brett was off so I got to go shopping without dragging the baby around. This was great since the temps were almost to the triple digits by the time I finally got out. I got a ton of great stuff at this huge consignment sale done by Just Between Friends. They have several in different cities around Texas, and two actually were going on this weekend. I went to the one in Mesquite on Friday, and then I went to one in HEB on Saturday afternoon. I had hoped to find something for Gray for the upcoming wedding, but I am not 100% sold on what I got. Everyone swore to me that newborn clothes wouldn't last long, but Gray is a 1 1/2 months and still in them! We are pretty sure he will still be in them by the end of the month, and the outfits I found were just a on the bigger side. Length wise they would be fine, but Gray is so lean that it would swamp him. It also made it hard to pick out something for Halloween as well. There is another set of consignment sales at the beginning of September so I am hoping to have a better idea of his size.

This weekend was the first time we had a chance to hangout with some of our friends. We invited a group of friends over to grill hot dogs. It was great to have none family company and be social with people. Of course, people were still afraid of holding Gray since he was so small. Sunday we had our first time out together without the baby. Brett's mother came over to watch Gray, and we finally got out to see the new Batman movie. I did manage to make it through the whole movie without calling to check on him. I did check my phone once in the movie to make sure there weren't any messages or texts. Of course, everything was fine, and I know my mother-in-law is very ready to have another chance to sit again.

Our biggest milestone since last post is the introductions of pacifiers and bottle feeding. Bottle feeding isn't 100% new since we had to supplement with formula and breastmilk since day 2, and it makes nipple confusion less likely to happen. Gray has no problem taking a breast even after being given a bottle several times in a day. The pacifier is completely new though. It really is a hit or miss with him to take it, but I have noticed that he is only fussing when he is truly hungry rather than trying to use me as a pacifier so to speak. Gray also dropped one of his nighttime feeds so he is going sometimes 5 or almost 6 hours between feeds, and that sometimes equals more sleep for the both of us. We have also started using the Swaddle Me blankets, and they have been a lifesaver. Things are still a little rocky at times, but it has been better enough to make a difference. I took Gray to the mall today for a walk since it has been triple digits, and he really enjoyed the change of pace. He was awake the whole time and fussed only a bit. Breastfeeding seems to be still going well since he weighed in 7 lb and 3 oz today at the doctor, and he is still growing at about 1 oz per day, which is normal. I would like more, but you got to take what you can get. Since we were busy Sunday, I only got a handful of chair pictures for the readers to check out.

Week 5

Fingers are very interesting at this point

Loving on our bear
Week 6

Saying hi to his peeps

Musical Beds, Colic, and Girls

It is so hard to believe that the last four weeks have flown by. The little man is officially a month old now, and it is amazing to see how much he has already changed in a month. He is starting to stay awake more and pay attention to different things. His favorite so far is the ceiling fans. He has also started making sounds and cooing to us. My favorite thing is to watch his facial expressions throughout the day. He has this one face I call the duck face because he looks purses his lips together so they look like a duck bill. He has also developed the old man face when he concentrates really hard. I swear he is missing sometimes, but Brett thinks it is just gas.

While it has been an amazing experience with Grayson, we have had our fair share of difficulties. One of the major ones is the curse of the bed. Even in the hospital, we had trouble with keeping him in the consistent sleeping place. I had to have him sleep with me during our hospital stay, and that continued when we got home. We could put him down most places while sleeping during the first week in the daytime, but nighttime was a completely different. He would be fine for the first few minutes of being in the pack-n-play, but it seemed that once he figured out that he wasn't with us that he was screaming off his head. We could only get sleep if he was sleeping with us in the bed. This made us a bit nervous because he was so small, and we worried about something happening to him while in the bed. To help with that, we got a co-sleeper bed, and this worked for a short time. Suddenly last week, we started having trouble again with him sleeping. He started being extremely fussy about being in the co-sleeper. He was also having issues with sleeping just with us in the bed. However, once Brett took him to the living room, he would fall asleep instantly on the couch next Brett. Plus he had developed a horrible spit-up problem, which will come late. Needless to say, we had several very rough nights. We took the weekend to recharge, and I managed to get a copy of The Happiest Baby on the Block dvd. We had been told about the 5 s's, but we were still unsure about somethings. The dvd was great at explaining all the elements to us. We implemented it Sunday night, and it has been much better at night. We also made the decision to make the transition to him sleeping completely in crib. We could have gone to the pack-n-play, but we felt that it was better to have one transition rather than having to make another one while I am back in school. I wasn't thrilled by this option because I was worried it was a little soon, but as Brett pointed out, it is more logical to do it while I am still home and get extra sleep than when I return to school and need more sleep. The first night was really rough on me. I had trouble sleeping because he wasn't an arms reach for me to check-on. So far, things have gone fairly smoothly thanks to the 5 s's. Brett is definitely better at using them than me. There are still some rocky moments, but it looks as if we will be on smooth path hopefully by the time I head back to school.

Last week also saw his spitting up become a problem. He had had what we considered normal amounts, and he was nursing like a little piglet so it was nothing to write home about. First, he started to spit up more after feeds, and then he was spitting up during feeds. He also became really fussy and difficult to feed, and he also started have more volume, coughing, and wheezing when he was spitting up. I finally had it and called the nurse at the doctor's office on Saturday. She said that it sounded like a possible case of acid reflux. Since we had company on Saturday, I couldn't take him in until Monday. They weighed him first to see if he was gaining weight, and he weighed in at 6 lb 5.5 oz. This meant he had gained 10 oz since his last weigh-in, and he was up to an oz gain a day, which was fantastic. After a quick exam, Dr F came to the conclusion that Grayson has colic. He said since Gray had gained weight along with the major fussiness and spitting up happening at night. Unfortunately, colic seems to be just a classification for fussy babies from what we can tell, and there isn't really a solution. Colic can be caused by other sources, but the doctor didn't seem to think anything major is going on. Dr F gave me a lesson on burping (thank goodness because I was doing it wrong) and made a suggestion of after eating placement. The only other hope we have is that he should outgrow it by 3 to 3 1/2 months. Here's to crossing our fingers that this does happen.

Tuesday was the last day of cheer camp, and the new varsity coach invited me to come to their afternoon performance. She kept it a surprise from the girls so they were really shocked when I walked in the door, and Gray got his first taste of girl adoration. They all wanted to hold him over and over again, and they couldn't help but coo over how little and cute he was. One of the girls swore to me he couldn't be real since he was so little. Two of them also told me they were taking him home. I said go ahead and see how they liked the 2:30 screaming matches! It was great to see them and the improvement they have made. If they can keep it together, I am sure this year will be great for them. I am a bit sad I don't get to be apart of it as their coach.

This week is half way over, and then I will only have three more weeks left with my little man full time. Since things were timed just right, my doctor's leave ends the week before school starts. I would love to take the remaining 4 of my 12 week FMLA, but since I can't use any of my days and get docked pay, it wouldn't be financially responsible. The time off will come in handy later in the year. It is scarey to know that soon I will have to take some time to prep for the new school year. At least I don't have to put together stuff for a sub, which is one of my least favorite things about being a teacher. Well, I guess I will leave this evening with some new photos of Mr. Grayson.

Week 4 Chair Pictures

Mommy's fingers are the best

Up close and personal

One last one of what I am saying is him smiling

Week 1-3

I actually started this post about a week ago, but unfortunately, the internet decided to eat it instead. I had written it on Monday since it was our original due date. Still hard to believe that rather than celebrating just one week of life, we are celebrating the beginning of week 3. I had hoped to keep this up once a week, but with someone clustering feeding and being a cuddle bug, I haven't had much time with free arms lately. So I am playing catch up with the last three weeks.

Week 1

Most of week 1 was spent in the hospital due to my c-section. We were in the hospital for 4 days and 3 nights. The worst day for me was the first really. I had to remain in the bed due to the anesthesia, and that meant having to have a catheter and these leg things to keep my circulation going. I was also not allowed any solid foods since the anesthesia can cause problems with the bowels, and since my water broke early in the morning, I didn’t get a chance to eat anything before we left home. Needless to say, Monday morning couldn’t come fast enough, and I was very thankful that I got the okay for both regular food and a shower the next morning. The nurses were actually pretty amazed about how well I was doing since I was up and about without pain meds about 24 hours after the surgery.
The first night with Gray was a little rough. Every time we put him in the bassinet, he would be okay for a few minutes and then start screaming his head off. Honestly, some things haven’t changed much yet. We finally caved and had the baby nurse take him early in the morning so we could get some sleep finally. While in the nursery, they checked his weight and blood sugar. They discovered that his weight had dropped down to 5 lb 1 oz, and his blood sugar was low. Babies naturally drop some weight after birth due to lose of water after birth, but since he was already a bit small, the 6 oz drop was a cause for concern. At this point, they started having us supplement with formula to help improve his blood sugar and weight. The formula thankfully helped with the blood sugar, which stabilized later on Monday, but he continued to lose weight. He actually managed to hit the 10% max they are okay with babies losing when he dropped down to 4 lb 14 oz. We had to keep supplementing my breastfeeding with formula until my milk came in, and once my milk came in, I could start pumping to use the breast milk instead. We also started having him sleep with me during the night to see if that would help with his crying fits. So even though I hated being in the hospital and will hate the bill when it comes, it was ending up being a good thing that I had had a c-section because of the issues Mr. Gray was having. I was terrified that they wouldn’t let us take him home with us if he didn’t put some weight on. I was relieved when the nurse let us know early on Wednesday morning he was back up to 5 pounds, and minus some sore nipples, I seemed to be getting the hang of breastfeeding.

They released us from the hospital in the early afternoon on Wednesday, and Brett and I were thankful to be home finally. We had worried that our dog Dante would not take well the baby so we had spent some time working with him on that. While he was a bit excited, we were thrilled to see that he took positive interest in the baby rather than getting aggressive. In fact, his behavior the last three weeks has reminded me of the dog from Peter Pan oddly enough. He constantly wants to be near us when the baby is near, and he has been doing very well with commands. We took Gray for his first visit to the doctor on Thursday. We discovered that he had put another oz on since leaving the hospital to be 5 lb 1 oz and had grown ½ an inch to be at 17 ½ inches. The only major problem the doctor could see was his weight so far, and he made some suggestions about feeding and supplementing. I started pumping when we got home because I would rather supplement with breast milk than formula. We took him in to be weighed in Saturday, and he did gain another 1 oz to be 5lb 2 oz by the end of the week. Breastfeeding at this point was still a bit rocky. One minute I had it, and then the next I didn’t. We did discover that Gray was a fan of music during this time. Other than that, he spent most of the day napping.
Here are his week 1 chair photos:

Week 2
Week 2 was definitely more of an adjustment period than week 1. Brett had seen something that was a cause for concern for my incision so my doctor’s appointment got moved up a week. Dr. L luckily said things were fine, and she cleared me until my 6 week appointment. She also said it was okay for me to start driving and caring things again starting the next week. We took Gray into his 1 week appointment with Dr. F on Tuesday, and we discovered that he had grown another inch, and his weight was up to 5 lb 3.5 oz. The weight gain made me feel better since breastfeeding had been difficult, and I was worried he wasn’t getting enough. We also got a chance to talk to the lactation consultant briefly, and she said some of the things we were experience were normal. Since he was having a good schedule with his bowel movements and colors, she didn’t seem too worried about things. She did suggest getting him weaned from the nipple shields as soon as possible and not to pump as often as I had been to help slow down milk production a bit.

At this point, he was starting to wake up a bit more. Brett and I had been enjoying getting to watch the little faces he was making. It was so funny to see him develop little by little. I followed the LC’s suggestions, and I seemed to get him weaned from the nipple shield fairly quickly. He did well without them most of the first day, but I started having issues again the next day. I spent an hour and ½ fighting to feed him in the middle of the night on Wednesday, and it sent me into frazzled mess. We made the decision to try this Baby Café place Brett had heard about on the news the next day after we took him to have some testing done. We got up and cancelled several of the scheduled visits we had the next morning, and Brett called and made a tentative time for us to go in that afternoon. After getting ready, we took Gray to the hospital to have his PKU testing done. I am still not sure what this actually is for, but it was hard to watch them poke his foot to fill the card for the testing. I am assuming that things came back clear as of right now because we have not received a call from the doctor in regard to something bad, and it has been over a week. Once that was finished, I attempted to feed Gray, and he wasn’t having any of it so we went ahead and went straight to the Baby Café. I am very grateful we did, and the woman who worked with us is a god-sent! She was able to quickly figure out that his latch wasn’t good, and she helped reteach him. With her help, I was able to get him back on track. Since making the visit, the only problem we have really experienced with feeding him is that  he wants to eat all the time!
Here are his week 2 chair pictures:


Week 3
Week 3 has been a much better week. Gray seems to have the hang of eating finally-maybe a little too well. He is also starting to stay awake more now. We are still having issues with him sleeping in the pack-n-play at night, and we are having to sleep with him in the bed. We did finally cave and purchase a co-sleeper bed for him to sleep in while in our bed. We had tried to use the travel bassinet for this purpose, but it was a little too big. We were hesitant to purchase one due to the cost, but it has actually been one of the better purchases we made so far. I got the Snuggle Nest Surround by Baby Delight, and we have both slept better having him in it while in bed with us. We are just hoping that that the review that said it helped prep the child for a bigger alone sleeping area like a pack-n-play or crib are true. Gray had been sleeping well in his crib during the day, but he has suddenly developed issues with it similar to the problems we had in the hospital. He will be fine for a short period a time, and then he gets upsets for no reason. He can sleep fine on his Boppy pillow or co-sleeper near us so we think it might be a noise thing. It seems as if he prefers some noise to keep him comforted and asleep. We may try to use some white noise or classic music to see if it helps him stay in bed. Since he is awake more, we have started using the play mat and doing a little bit of tummy time. He seems to actually like his tummy so far. He only gets mad or frustrated with it when he begins to get tired. I took him into the doctor’s office for just a weigh-in, and he was up to 5 lb 10.5 oz and 19 ½ inches. I guess my womb was just a bit small for him, and we are happy that he is over his birth weight.
It was a good thing that we had a good week with Gray because my recovery has been more of a struggle this week. I work up Wednesday more to my incision having a clear drainage, and we had to make an emergency  trip to my doctor. While little bit nerve racking to us, it turned out to be something that isn’t uncommon, and Dr. L was able to fix it with only opening a small part of my incision and prescribing antibiotics. While it isn’t abnormal for some women to have this problem, she suspected it was a problem with a skin problem I have. We figured that it most likely over after that, but unfortunately, it happened again. Things seemed to be clearing up on Thursday, but I woke early Friday not once but twice with more drainage. Brett discovered what seemed to be another spot so I called the doctor office. I went in, and Dr. L quickly found the spot and took care of it. I have an appointment on Monday to see how things are going.
Here are his week 3 chair pictures:

The last three weeks has gone by so fast. I am thankful that Brett’s company gave him both paternity leave and a chance to work from home because it has been a big help. Tomorrow is going to be the first day I am going to be home without him, and it is going to be hard and probably a bit lonely. I am just glad that several people have asked to come visit, and my Maga is also going to come help me out a few days this week. Next week will definitely be an adventure.

Surprise Arrival!

Last time I posted, I was 36 weeks along, and one would think that I would be making an update about the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy and our plan for week 39 and 40. Well, that was apparently not to be so since Mr. Grayson decided that 1 day short of week 38 was time to come into this world. So here is my record of his birth.

I had made progress with finishing cleaning the house, and on the night of the 12th, I got a call from coordinator for ELA for the district I work for. She asked if I would be willing to work on curriculum for the new school year since a situation had come up with the people working on the 9th grade curriculum. Being asked to work on curriculum is a pretty big honor, and we could use the extra cash. So I ended up answering yes, and I worked on curriculum Wednesday and Thursday of that week and Monday-Thursday the following week. It was fairly interesting, but I won't bore you with the details.
Monday, the 18th, was my 37th week. This meant I had made it to full term, and I was definitely feeling it. I had been luckily enough to have a fairly easy pregnancy minus a few hiccups, and I hadn't gotten that I am done feeling. However, by Tuesday of that week, I had started getting that done and finished feeling. I had told my mom that I didn't think Grayson would make it to July. I felt horrible on Friday, and everything I was doing took double or triple times to do. Saturday, I felt much better, and we got the house ready for our friends, the Martins, to come over for dinner. We had a great time visiting with them and their four kids. Of course, we talked about Grayson coming early for them see him before they were going on their cruise.

At about 6:50 in the morning, I got up because I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. This wasn't abnormal since I normally got up at this time to do this activity. This time was different because I didn't make it before having what I thought was an accident. I started cleaning up and noticed things were clear rather than yellow. Something flicked on in my brain, and then I was like "nah, it can't be my water." I hadn't had any contractions at this point. I cleaned up and got ready to get back into bed. On the way to bed, it happened again, and I figured that this must be my water. I woke Brett up to let him know that my water broke, and we got ready to go to the hospital still not 100% sure it was my water.

Since it was so early Sunday morning, we headed to the ER entrance of the hospital. When we arrived at labor and delivery, we were taken to a room, and I was asked to change into a hospital gown. At this point, we were still thinking it might be a false alarm. As I was putting my gown on, there was a huge gush of water, and there was no denying what it was at that point. All I could do was stand there and laugh, and then I started trying to clean the mess up. Brett convinced me that being in the bed was a better idea instead thankfully.

Once in the bed, the nurse gave me a test to make sure it was my water and check to see how far along I was, which wasn't much. The test did turn fairly quickly to assure the nurse and us that indeed my water had broken. They hooked me up to the monitors, and we started calling people to let them know that Grayson would be arriving sometime today. We told people not to rush since we figured we were in for a long haul. I was having contractions, but they weren't very bad. We were kinda left alone because there was a c-section going on along with another woman who came in 9 centimeters dilated.

When two nurses came rushing in, I knew something was up. They check the monitors and got me to put an oxygen mask on. They tried to put a monitor inside, but Grayson was too far up to do that. I also noticed that my contractions were getting strong. After things settled a bit, the nurses let us know that Grayson had gone into distress with my major contraction, and his heart beat had gone down to 80 beats for 8 minutes. If it had continued, they would have had to knock me out and take me in for an emergency c-section. I hadn't had an epidural because I had hoped to go as natural as possible. The main nurse let us know that most likely my doctor would be performing a c-section especially if he went into distress again, and if I didn't have an epidural, they would have knock me out. That meant Brett wouldn't be able to join me. So I got the epidural-not a fun experience. Shortly after speaking to my doctor's partner and getting the epidural, Grayson went into distress again. They came in to give me something to stop the contractions and prep me for the surgery.

Things in the operating room are a little fussy due to the medication. I do remember I got to pick the pandora radio station, which was Glee of course, but I couldn't hear it. Everything happened so quickly it seemed. Within a few minutes, we heard Grayson come out crying. They showed him to us over the curtain, and then they took him over to the side of the room to get weighed while I got stitched up. He came out weighing 5 lb 7 oz, and he measure at 17 inches. Plus he came out with a full head of dark hair-so I had at least one prediction right. After a little bit, they did let me hold him for a bit before they took him to our labor and delivery room. I followed shortly. When I got back, they let me begin breastfeeding, and it was amazing to finally get a chance to hold what I had been cooking in my tummy for almost 9 1/2 months! He was perfect in every way.

Hard to believe it has already been 1 week since we brought him home. We are already have seen so many changes in just one week. That update will have to come later sine I am going to attempt to get some shut eye before dinner and the next feeding.

Baby update and Nursery-Progress part 2

I actually started this blog like a month ago, and it was never finished since our mac was having issues with internet connection. Plus there was getting ready for the baby and finishing up the school year. I am at least finished with the school year now. Today, we are officially one month away from our due date. Things are looking fairly good. Grayson has a good strong heart beat and is in the head down position, which means no breech baby and less chance of a c-section. The only major problem seems to be his weight. On my 34 week sono, he was only measuring 4 lb and 10 oz, which is on the small side. However, the doctor is okay with it for the most part since he has been in same growth pattern. He is just going to be a smaller baby, and that is probably going to better on me for labor. My guess is he is going to be about 6 1/2 pounds and either 21 or 22 inches long. Doctor has said he could come at anytime now, but if he hasn't come by week 39, they will be inducing me sometime that week.

Anywho, last progress blog we had just finished painting, cleaning out, and putting the furniture in. We have now added some wall decals, and I made tree trunk footstool to go with the theme. We also got some great storage items thanks to a gift certificate from my paternal grandmother. We just need to finish the storybook art wall, and we will be finished completely. Here are some pictures of our progress.

The definition over the changing table with the storage in the background

Grayson's name decal over the bay window

The side of the tree trunk footstool with The Giving Tree reference

More pictures of the tree trunk

Baby Shower

Brett's mother, Sherry, and Aunt Paula very generously offered to throw me a baby shower. It was such a wonderful time. It was exactly low key and comfortable like my wedding shower. I got a chance to catch up with some old friends, and we were generously gifted with some adorable stuff for baby Gray. Brett even got involved toward the end.

Chesnut Tree in Denton

The adorable centerpiece Paula made for me

The diaper cake my friend M made me

Blankets made by my great aunt

My best friend, T, knows me all too well!

Brett getting in on the action

Hanging with little Miss S who was super excited about baby Gray

Batman stuff for our future superhero

Must have for any Apple houshold like ours

Some computer jokes for Daddy

Something for Mommy's vampire addiction

Last Monday, I got to celebrate the first day of my last trimester along with the first day of the last six weeks. Last week was fairly fine until the last part when the evilness that is discomfort set it. Grayson has decided that he likes to sit pretty firmly on either my bladder or sciatic nerve. Needless to say, I am happy to mark off 1 more week down. Only 11 more to go!

Tonight, Brett and I can celebrate being halfway through the nursery decorating insanity. He says more, which he is probably right since most of the hard work is finished. After we picked out furniture, everything was in a bit of limbo until we found out the sex of the baby. I did start picking out different gender neutral themes and stuff I really liked for both genders. I had pretty much fallen in love with the idea of either elephants or woodland creatures. Brett had fallen in love with a dinosaur pattern that had cute dinosaurs but horrible colors, and later he found an adorable monster pattern. When we found out the sex in mid-February, it was game on.

Thank goodness for pinterest, or I don't think this would have been easy to do. There are all kinds of different patterns out there, and since it is possible that this might be our only nursery, it was hard to pinpoint one particular pattern we liked. Plus Brett and I don't exactly see eye to eye all the time. It finally came down to three different patterns, and then the final decision really was a money thing. The baby item industry has some major prices attached to it. The pattern of woodland animals I feel in love was discontinued, and we lucked into a floor model at a Baby Depot near us at a reduced rate.

Our next step was to pick paint colors. The red seemed like a bit much for the walls for a nursery, and the browns were a little too much on the blah side. I was worried about how the green would look since our guest bathroom was a green that looked like pea soup vomited on the walls. That left us with the logical choice of the blue. I am thankful for a friend who works at a local paint store. She did an awesome job of helping pick paint and creating just the right color of blue. I brought the paint home, and my lovely mother-in-law and Brett painted while I went to visit my parents for the day. They did a great job of getting the room done. Brett later went back in for some touch-ups and finish the area near the top. The  results are below.

Brett also decided to switch out all of the outdated eighty style fixtures. When the painting and fixtures were done and installed, Brett cleaned the carpet, and once it was dry, it was time to put all the furniture back in the room along with putting it together. Crib and Rocker from the doorway along with a Dante tail.

• The bench we got at target in the bay window

Dresser/Changing table with the start of the tree trunk ottoman I am making
Crib and rocker from the window
Whole room shot from the doorway

We really just need a mattress to be complete before Grayson comes along, but of course, things wouldn't be perfect without accessories to give it a complete finish. However, that will have to wait until things come in. Off to bed I go now.