Friday, December 5, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Kroy's First Month
I don't even like to think that our baby boy is already a month old. But, somehow I don't have the ability to stop time and the days keep marching onward. Kroy is a really good baby. I'm sure most parents say that, and maybe it is cliché, but he truly is a good baby. The only time he tries to fuss is when I am changing his diaper and he gets cold, or when he's wet. He does not like being cold or wet! Poor little guy! He is sleeping about 3 1/2 hours a night which means about 2 feedings during the night and during the day is starting to be more & more alert. He really enjoys the mornings with us, and in the afternoon normally takes his little naps between eating. He's eating 3 1/2 ounces every 3 1/2 hours or so. He currently weighs 9 lbs. 3 ounces and is 21 3/4 inches long. He's gained over a pound and grown over an inch in his first month here with us! That makes me both proud and a little sad at the same time. My baby boy is growing up...and he's growing faster than I'd like to think about.
There are so many things I want to remember about him at this age. He wakes every morning around 6 am and goes to the living room for his breakfast and to have one-on-one time with his Daddy while I catch a few more zzzz's. I'm up by 7 and start our breakfast while Kroy and Daddy watch sports center and play on his play gym (if he isn't back asleep). He absolutely loves his bouncer and takes most of his naps in there. He also just started showing interest in his swing so we put him in there when he is restless and he watches the mobile and listens to the music. He is starting to smile back at you when you make faces at him, which melts our hearts! He does this adorable rooting/birdie/hungry face when he's looking for his pacifier or you're about to put the bottle in his mouth. It is the cutest face I've ever seen! He loves his play gym and in the evenings will lay and look up at the toys for upwards of 30 minutes at a time. He has also started to try to grab for the toys on his play gym but can't quite get his hand coordination down just yet. He enjoys tummy time but is such a strong little tyke that we really don't need a whole lot of tummy time for him because he constantly is working his neck muscles for us when we're holding him. Bath time is a real treat for us because he has so much fun in the bath! He kicks his little legs and coos at us. It's truly a treat to see him with so much joy on his little face. And while he loves taking a bath he absolutely hates getting lotion put on him afterwards. He gets so upset when I put lotion on him but its because it makes him cold and he hates to be cold. He is officially out of newborn clothes and in 0-3 month. I've started to pack away some of his newborn clothes to make room for others and it breaks my heart to think that just a few short weeks ago he was that tiny :( There are certain times during the day when he loves to snuggle with me. Generally around 10:00 am he wants to cuddle for a bit, and again about 4 pm he likes to be held. Other than that he is very content in his bouncer, swing, or on his play gym. Every Sunday he and his Daddy watch football and generally fall asleep in the recliner. I have some adorable pictures of Kroy sleeping on Wesley's chest and Wesley snoozing as well. It makes me beam with pride just looking at the both of them! While he doesn't have a set "schedule" yet because to be quite honest he's too little for one, he definitely has a bed time! He likes to be swaddled and in his bassinet by around 8:30 or so and if he isn't he will definitely let you know! He eats, gets changed, swaddled, and is in bed by about 8:30. He also LOVES his Mommy Bear that his Aunt Brittany gave him. He has to go to sleep with the womb sounds playing every night (and, now it puts Wesley and I to sleep too!).
Kroy's first Thanksgiving was so wonderful. We spent Thanksgiving at his Grandma & Grandpa Davenport's house and our neighbor Gary came over to celebrate with us too. When Grandma & Grandpa weren't arguing over who was going to hold Kroy (haha :)) we enjoyed good food, great desserts, and fun card playing. I can't wait to see how his first Christmas goes because he's going to be with is cousin Kannon for Christmas. It ought to be a grand time!
As soon as I get his 1 month pictures taken & uploaded I will be sure to share them. He is changing so much already!
There are so many things I want to remember about him at this age. He wakes every morning around 6 am and goes to the living room for his breakfast and to have one-on-one time with his Daddy while I catch a few more zzzz's. I'm up by 7 and start our breakfast while Kroy and Daddy watch sports center and play on his play gym (if he isn't back asleep). He absolutely loves his bouncer and takes most of his naps in there. He also just started showing interest in his swing so we put him in there when he is restless and he watches the mobile and listens to the music. He is starting to smile back at you when you make faces at him, which melts our hearts! He does this adorable rooting/birdie/hungry face when he's looking for his pacifier or you're about to put the bottle in his mouth. It is the cutest face I've ever seen! He loves his play gym and in the evenings will lay and look up at the toys for upwards of 30 minutes at a time. He has also started to try to grab for the toys on his play gym but can't quite get his hand coordination down just yet. He enjoys tummy time but is such a strong little tyke that we really don't need a whole lot of tummy time for him because he constantly is working his neck muscles for us when we're holding him. Bath time is a real treat for us because he has so much fun in the bath! He kicks his little legs and coos at us. It's truly a treat to see him with so much joy on his little face. And while he loves taking a bath he absolutely hates getting lotion put on him afterwards. He gets so upset when I put lotion on him but its because it makes him cold and he hates to be cold. He is officially out of newborn clothes and in 0-3 month. I've started to pack away some of his newborn clothes to make room for others and it breaks my heart to think that just a few short weeks ago he was that tiny :( There are certain times during the day when he loves to snuggle with me. Generally around 10:00 am he wants to cuddle for a bit, and again about 4 pm he likes to be held. Other than that he is very content in his bouncer, swing, or on his play gym. Every Sunday he and his Daddy watch football and generally fall asleep in the recliner. I have some adorable pictures of Kroy sleeping on Wesley's chest and Wesley snoozing as well. It makes me beam with pride just looking at the both of them! While he doesn't have a set "schedule" yet because to be quite honest he's too little for one, he definitely has a bed time! He likes to be swaddled and in his bassinet by around 8:30 or so and if he isn't he will definitely let you know! He eats, gets changed, swaddled, and is in bed by about 8:30. He also LOVES his Mommy Bear that his Aunt Brittany gave him. He has to go to sleep with the womb sounds playing every night (and, now it puts Wesley and I to sleep too!).
Kroy's first Thanksgiving was so wonderful. We spent Thanksgiving at his Grandma & Grandpa Davenport's house and our neighbor Gary came over to celebrate with us too. When Grandma & Grandpa weren't arguing over who was going to hold Kroy (haha :)) we enjoyed good food, great desserts, and fun card playing. I can't wait to see how his first Christmas goes because he's going to be with is cousin Kannon for Christmas. It ought to be a grand time!
As soon as I get his 1 month pictures taken & uploaded I will be sure to share them. He is changing so much already!
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Kroy's Birth in Pictures
Here are some pictures from our birth experience both before and after Kroy was born. Enjoy!
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| Baby's heart rate (top line) and Contraction Monitor |
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| Trying to "rest" after getting my epidural |
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| Kroy's baby warmer where he'd go after being born |
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| Happy and anxious! |
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| Someone isn't resting either! |
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| Our birth suite room number |
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| Kroy is here!! Getting his first bottle. |
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| Proud Grandma & Grandpa coming to see Kroy at the hospital |
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| Grandma helping put Kroy's footprints in his baby book |
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| First bath! Grandma got to help with the bath :) |
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| Beautiful flowers |
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| Passing the time after his birth playing Cribbage |
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| First day home with Grandma rocking him to sleep |
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| She's so smitten with him. He's a loved little boy. So blessed! |
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| Grandpa adores him equally as much! |
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| First sponge bath at home given by Mom & Grandma |
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
The Birth of Our Son
We can't believe it has been one week since we welcomed our son into this world. When everyone says "time flies once you have children" you never know the truth to that statement until you actually have a child of your own. In one short week we have fallen more in love with this little guy and each other than we ever thought possible. Before the beautiful memory of bringing our son into the world becomes a bit faded I wanted to tell the story of his birth from start to finish so we will always remember the tiny details leading up to bringing him into this world. I will warn you...this is a birth story. There will be details in there that some might not want to read (blood, amniotic fluid, IV, etc), but I want them included in our story.
November 4th started out as any other day does for me. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions since about 36 weeks so it wasn't anything new that I was having them that day as well. Wesley went to work (cell phone in hand just in case) and I went about my day cleaning the house and getting last minute things ready before his arrival. That afternoon we went to vote in town in Colstrip, then I rode home with Moo Moo while Wesley & David went to pick up a yearling of ours that was in the neighbors pasture. I noticed I was a bit more tired than normal after we got home that evening and by 8:30 p.m. we were in bed (good thing too). I tossed & turned trying to get comfortable and finally fell asleep about 10 p.m. that night. At 10:56 p.m. I noticed I was having menstrual like cramps and needed to go to the bathroom. When got up to go to the bathroom I noticed what I thought was amniotic fluid. I didn't want to wake Wesley yet because I wasn't sure that my water had in fact broke, so I tip-toed to the living room to call the Birth Center to ask them what their opinion was. After explaining my symptoms they confirmed that it was in fact my water breaking and that we needed to head straight in to the birth center since we had a 2 hour drive. So, I walked back to the room to wake my sleeping husband and tell him it was time to meet our son. I sat on his side of the bed and whispered "babe, its time...its time to go". I've never seen him pop up so fast ever. He was like a tornado getting dressed and throwing shoes on so we could head out the door. I remembered my sister telling me she wished she had taken a shower before heading to the hospital so I hopped in the shower right quick before we headed to Billings.
It was 11:15 when we were walking out the door of our house. We called his parents to come get our dogs and away we went. By this time my contractions were getting stronger. They always said that you'd know the difference between Braxton Hicks & the real thing and they were right (although when its your first baby you often wonder if you will know the difference or not...It scared me for the longest time that I wouldn't know I was in labor)! My husband went the speed limit on the creek road due to the deer, but once we got onto the interstate headed east towards Billings I believe he topped out at about 90 MPH heading that way. An hour into our drive my contractions were getting even stronger. Reminding myself to breathe, and holding my husbands hands I powered through them (like a boss as my adorable husband told me). We made it to Billings in about an hour and 40 minutes thanks to the amazing driving skills of my nervous husband. We were lucky to find a parking spot right in front of the birth center at the hospital and I insisted on walking so that labor would be sped along even faster versus riding in a wheel chair. We grabbed our suitcase and camera and hauled butt up to the second floor of the Family Birth Center (FBC). Since they knew we were coming they had all our paperwork done and all I had to do was sign my admission rights & responsibilities sheet and we were in.
We were officially admitted at 1:30 AM on Wednesday, November 5th. We were escorted to Suite 2 in the FBC and at this point my contractions were every 3 minutes apart and lasting about 60 seconds each. I remember my sister telling me she had to grab onto the railing along the walls of her hospital when in labor & walking to her room, and I had to do the same thing. In fact, as I grabbed the railing on the wall to breathe through an intense contraction the thought of her doing the same thing 6 months prior ran through my head. My husband massaged my back as I breathed through the intensity of the contraction.
Upon arriving in my room they immediately checked my cervix. I was dilated to a 4 and my cervix was 90% thinned out. The doctor came in to help thin my cervix along, and I was immediately given an IV. I also requested an epidural right away, and to my surprise within an hour of being admitted and given an IV the anesthesiologist was in my room and prepping me for the epidural. They put my IV on the fast track to emptying 1 bag (because you have to have 1 bag of fluids in you before they'll administer your epidural) and in no time I was sitting up slumped over getting prepared for my epidural. Of all the things about labor that I was worried about most, this was it. I was facing my fear of needles and receiving the numbing medicine that would help my labor be less painful. I had a wonder anesthesiologist and I do mean wonderful. He was kind, gentle, and always let me know what was going on. To my surprise and amazement, the IV catheter hurt about 10 times worse than my epidural did. He did warn me that the numbing medicine he would inject in me before administering my epidural might sting some, but I didn't hardly feel a thing. From start to finish it took him all of 5 minutes and he had administered my epidural and was taping the epidural catheter down. What an amazing thing epidurals are! While I know there are women out there that do it completely natural and pain relieving medication free, I was not one of them nor did I want to be. I wanted to be able to experience the beauty of the laboring and delivery process and not be so focused on the intense pain that I didn't get to have special moments with my husband. At about 2:30 AM the doctor came in and checked me again. I was a 5 this time, and she told us that we should try to rest if we could so that I wasn't warn out for the pushing that was to come. Try as we might we could not go to sleep at all. So, my husband put on some music on his iPhone, sat next to my bed, held my hand, and we talked.
By 6:00 AM my contractions had become a bit more spaced out, so the doctor started me on some Pitocin to help my contractions along. I never felt any more pain with the Pitocin, and really no more pressure. Wesley loved watching the contraction monitor because he'd tell me that I was having a "big contraction" yet I wouldn't feel a thing. It was pretty cool to watch. By 7:30 it was shift change at the hospital so we got a new set of nurses and a new OB doctor as well. When I first met Dr. Osborn (not my regular OB doctor) I thought she was quite intense, and a bit "in your face". As it would turn out later, that is exactly what God had ordered for us and she was a blessing. By 9:00 AM I was dilated to a 7 and Dr. Osborn told me that she was going to make her rounds and the nurses would call her when I was ready to push. She figured it would be around Noon when we would start pushing. By 9:45 AM I was feeling lots of pressure and the urge to push. The nurse came in and checked me and sure enough I was a 10 and ready to push. The baby had a little bit of descending to do so they had me push with each contraction to help move him down the birth canal. I was able to get 4 good pushes out of each contraction which the nurses were extremely happy with. By 10:15 I had intense pressure to push, and the doctor wasn't in the FBC yet. She ran from the other side of the hospital to be in the room for the birth. While waiting for her I couldn't push through the contractions I just had to breathe through them so he wasn't born without her, and that had to be the worst pain yet. All I wanted to do was push, yet I had to wait for her to come back. Dr. Osborn flew through the door of our room around 10:30 and after 3 good pushes at 10:49 AM our son was born.
Kroy Wesley was born at 10:49 a.m. and weighed 8 lbs. even. He was 20.5 inches long. As soon as Dr. Osborn pulled Kroy out of my body and placed him on my chest I was in love. He was absolutely perfect. I looked over at my husband who had tears streaming down his face. He had to walk away because he was overcome with emotion at the sight of our beautiful baby boy, and so was I. We had done it. Our hard work, waiting, and preparation had paid off and we had a beautiful, healthy baby boy in our arms. After I got to hold him for a minute the nurses took him away to weigh him, dry him off, and hand him to his Daddy. The sight of my husband holding our son for the very first time is a memory that I will forever hold on to.
After delivering my placenta the doctor got a bit concerned because she could not get me to quit bleeding. The concerned look on my husband's face said it all to me as well. Something wasn't right. My uterus had given out and stopped contracting therefore the bleeding wasn't getting any better. I had nurses massaging (rather roughly) my uterus to try to get it to contract and help control the bleeding, and the doctor removing clots the size of my husband's fist out of me. After about 2 hours of working on me they inserted a balloon into my uterus to help control the bleeding. With the good Lord on our side it worked. The doctor was able to stop the bleeding with the help of the balloon, and I was not clotting anymore. Thank God. Remember how I mentioned that when I first met the OB that would be delivering Kroy that day that I was a bit taken back? All of those concerns flew out the window when I saw how intently she was working to control the bleeding. She was amazing. Although I believe almost every nurse in that room got her butt chewed for not moving fast enough (and there were about 15 nurses in the room with us at that time), Dr. Osborn was absolutely fantastic. Because of her we were able to avoid a lot of other medical complications, and we have thanked her over and over for all the hard work she did to stop the bleeding. I was very fortunate that I did not need a blood transfusion. I was borderline with my levels, but since I never lost consciousness, got lightheaded, dizzy, saw stars, etc. I didn't have to have one. I was on bed rest for 24 hours after the delivery because of the balloon in my uterus and the multiple catheters they had inserted to monitor blood loss, clots, etc.
My amazing husband was such a trooper through the entire thing. And on top of it, the first night Kroy was born he had to take care of everything from feeding to diaper changing since I could not get out of bed and my stomach was so bruised and sore from them working on my uterus. Kroy doesn't know it yet but he has the best father and role model out there and we are both so lucky to have Wesley in our lives. He was amazing that night. He would change Kroy, feed him, rock him, swaddle him, and put him back to bed. And he did this every 2 hours. I was able to capture a few pictures on my phone of him with Kroy after he was first born, and then a photography company came in to the hospital and took professional pictures of us as a family. Those are pictures I will cherish forever. Kroy looks just like his Daddy and I couldn't be more proud of the both of them. I'm also quite proud of myself because I am normally not tolerant of pain at all. It is an amazing thing for your body to give birth to another human being. My husband is constantly telling me how proud he is of me because of how tolerant I was of the pain, the contractions, and how awesome I did when it was time to push. For a first time mom to push for right at an hour is not common. The doctor told me to be prepared to push for 2 hours because as a general rule that's about average for a first time mom. So I was pretty proud of myself for only pushing for an hour. The miracle of life is indescribable and I am so blessed to have my husband and child here with me today. I love them more than anything in this world and I would do absolutely anything for either of them.
November 4th started out as any other day does for me. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions since about 36 weeks so it wasn't anything new that I was having them that day as well. Wesley went to work (cell phone in hand just in case) and I went about my day cleaning the house and getting last minute things ready before his arrival. That afternoon we went to vote in town in Colstrip, then I rode home with Moo Moo while Wesley & David went to pick up a yearling of ours that was in the neighbors pasture. I noticed I was a bit more tired than normal after we got home that evening and by 8:30 p.m. we were in bed (good thing too). I tossed & turned trying to get comfortable and finally fell asleep about 10 p.m. that night. At 10:56 p.m. I noticed I was having menstrual like cramps and needed to go to the bathroom. When got up to go to the bathroom I noticed what I thought was amniotic fluid. I didn't want to wake Wesley yet because I wasn't sure that my water had in fact broke, so I tip-toed to the living room to call the Birth Center to ask them what their opinion was. After explaining my symptoms they confirmed that it was in fact my water breaking and that we needed to head straight in to the birth center since we had a 2 hour drive. So, I walked back to the room to wake my sleeping husband and tell him it was time to meet our son. I sat on his side of the bed and whispered "babe, its time...its time to go". I've never seen him pop up so fast ever. He was like a tornado getting dressed and throwing shoes on so we could head out the door. I remembered my sister telling me she wished she had taken a shower before heading to the hospital so I hopped in the shower right quick before we headed to Billings.
It was 11:15 when we were walking out the door of our house. We called his parents to come get our dogs and away we went. By this time my contractions were getting stronger. They always said that you'd know the difference between Braxton Hicks & the real thing and they were right (although when its your first baby you often wonder if you will know the difference or not...It scared me for the longest time that I wouldn't know I was in labor)! My husband went the speed limit on the creek road due to the deer, but once we got onto the interstate headed east towards Billings I believe he topped out at about 90 MPH heading that way. An hour into our drive my contractions were getting even stronger. Reminding myself to breathe, and holding my husbands hands I powered through them (like a boss as my adorable husband told me). We made it to Billings in about an hour and 40 minutes thanks to the amazing driving skills of my nervous husband. We were lucky to find a parking spot right in front of the birth center at the hospital and I insisted on walking so that labor would be sped along even faster versus riding in a wheel chair. We grabbed our suitcase and camera and hauled butt up to the second floor of the Family Birth Center (FBC). Since they knew we were coming they had all our paperwork done and all I had to do was sign my admission rights & responsibilities sheet and we were in.
We were officially admitted at 1:30 AM on Wednesday, November 5th. We were escorted to Suite 2 in the FBC and at this point my contractions were every 3 minutes apart and lasting about 60 seconds each. I remember my sister telling me she had to grab onto the railing along the walls of her hospital when in labor & walking to her room, and I had to do the same thing. In fact, as I grabbed the railing on the wall to breathe through an intense contraction the thought of her doing the same thing 6 months prior ran through my head. My husband massaged my back as I breathed through the intensity of the contraction.
Upon arriving in my room they immediately checked my cervix. I was dilated to a 4 and my cervix was 90% thinned out. The doctor came in to help thin my cervix along, and I was immediately given an IV. I also requested an epidural right away, and to my surprise within an hour of being admitted and given an IV the anesthesiologist was in my room and prepping me for the epidural. They put my IV on the fast track to emptying 1 bag (because you have to have 1 bag of fluids in you before they'll administer your epidural) and in no time I was sitting up slumped over getting prepared for my epidural. Of all the things about labor that I was worried about most, this was it. I was facing my fear of needles and receiving the numbing medicine that would help my labor be less painful. I had a wonder anesthesiologist and I do mean wonderful. He was kind, gentle, and always let me know what was going on. To my surprise and amazement, the IV catheter hurt about 10 times worse than my epidural did. He did warn me that the numbing medicine he would inject in me before administering my epidural might sting some, but I didn't hardly feel a thing. From start to finish it took him all of 5 minutes and he had administered my epidural and was taping the epidural catheter down. What an amazing thing epidurals are! While I know there are women out there that do it completely natural and pain relieving medication free, I was not one of them nor did I want to be. I wanted to be able to experience the beauty of the laboring and delivery process and not be so focused on the intense pain that I didn't get to have special moments with my husband. At about 2:30 AM the doctor came in and checked me again. I was a 5 this time, and she told us that we should try to rest if we could so that I wasn't warn out for the pushing that was to come. Try as we might we could not go to sleep at all. So, my husband put on some music on his iPhone, sat next to my bed, held my hand, and we talked.
By 6:00 AM my contractions had become a bit more spaced out, so the doctor started me on some Pitocin to help my contractions along. I never felt any more pain with the Pitocin, and really no more pressure. Wesley loved watching the contraction monitor because he'd tell me that I was having a "big contraction" yet I wouldn't feel a thing. It was pretty cool to watch. By 7:30 it was shift change at the hospital so we got a new set of nurses and a new OB doctor as well. When I first met Dr. Osborn (not my regular OB doctor) I thought she was quite intense, and a bit "in your face". As it would turn out later, that is exactly what God had ordered for us and she was a blessing. By 9:00 AM I was dilated to a 7 and Dr. Osborn told me that she was going to make her rounds and the nurses would call her when I was ready to push. She figured it would be around Noon when we would start pushing. By 9:45 AM I was feeling lots of pressure and the urge to push. The nurse came in and checked me and sure enough I was a 10 and ready to push. The baby had a little bit of descending to do so they had me push with each contraction to help move him down the birth canal. I was able to get 4 good pushes out of each contraction which the nurses were extremely happy with. By 10:15 I had intense pressure to push, and the doctor wasn't in the FBC yet. She ran from the other side of the hospital to be in the room for the birth. While waiting for her I couldn't push through the contractions I just had to breathe through them so he wasn't born without her, and that had to be the worst pain yet. All I wanted to do was push, yet I had to wait for her to come back. Dr. Osborn flew through the door of our room around 10:30 and after 3 good pushes at 10:49 AM our son was born.
Kroy Wesley was born at 10:49 a.m. and weighed 8 lbs. even. He was 20.5 inches long. As soon as Dr. Osborn pulled Kroy out of my body and placed him on my chest I was in love. He was absolutely perfect. I looked over at my husband who had tears streaming down his face. He had to walk away because he was overcome with emotion at the sight of our beautiful baby boy, and so was I. We had done it. Our hard work, waiting, and preparation had paid off and we had a beautiful, healthy baby boy in our arms. After I got to hold him for a minute the nurses took him away to weigh him, dry him off, and hand him to his Daddy. The sight of my husband holding our son for the very first time is a memory that I will forever hold on to.
After delivering my placenta the doctor got a bit concerned because she could not get me to quit bleeding. The concerned look on my husband's face said it all to me as well. Something wasn't right. My uterus had given out and stopped contracting therefore the bleeding wasn't getting any better. I had nurses massaging (rather roughly) my uterus to try to get it to contract and help control the bleeding, and the doctor removing clots the size of my husband's fist out of me. After about 2 hours of working on me they inserted a balloon into my uterus to help control the bleeding. With the good Lord on our side it worked. The doctor was able to stop the bleeding with the help of the balloon, and I was not clotting anymore. Thank God. Remember how I mentioned that when I first met the OB that would be delivering Kroy that day that I was a bit taken back? All of those concerns flew out the window when I saw how intently she was working to control the bleeding. She was amazing. Although I believe almost every nurse in that room got her butt chewed for not moving fast enough (and there were about 15 nurses in the room with us at that time), Dr. Osborn was absolutely fantastic. Because of her we were able to avoid a lot of other medical complications, and we have thanked her over and over for all the hard work she did to stop the bleeding. I was very fortunate that I did not need a blood transfusion. I was borderline with my levels, but since I never lost consciousness, got lightheaded, dizzy, saw stars, etc. I didn't have to have one. I was on bed rest for 24 hours after the delivery because of the balloon in my uterus and the multiple catheters they had inserted to monitor blood loss, clots, etc.
My amazing husband was such a trooper through the entire thing. And on top of it, the first night Kroy was born he had to take care of everything from feeding to diaper changing since I could not get out of bed and my stomach was so bruised and sore from them working on my uterus. Kroy doesn't know it yet but he has the best father and role model out there and we are both so lucky to have Wesley in our lives. He was amazing that night. He would change Kroy, feed him, rock him, swaddle him, and put him back to bed. And he did this every 2 hours. I was able to capture a few pictures on my phone of him with Kroy after he was first born, and then a photography company came in to the hospital and took professional pictures of us as a family. Those are pictures I will cherish forever. Kroy looks just like his Daddy and I couldn't be more proud of the both of them. I'm also quite proud of myself because I am normally not tolerant of pain at all. It is an amazing thing for your body to give birth to another human being. My husband is constantly telling me how proud he is of me because of how tolerant I was of the pain, the contractions, and how awesome I did when it was time to push. For a first time mom to push for right at an hour is not common. The doctor told me to be prepared to push for 2 hours because as a general rule that's about average for a first time mom. So I was pretty proud of myself for only pushing for an hour. The miracle of life is indescribable and I am so blessed to have my husband and child here with me today. I love them more than anything in this world and I would do absolutely anything for either of them.
Friday, October 31, 2014
About My Husband...
As we prepare to welcome our son into our family any day now, I feel I've neglected to say a few words lately about my husband. He has been my angel throughout this entire pregnancy. For the first 16 weeks I was so, so, SO sick all day long. He made sure to make me breakfast every morning and deliver it to me in bed before he went to work so that I could hopefully quell my nausea (sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't). He would come home at lunch & make us both lunch if I was up for it. Then after a long day at work he would come home and make supper for the both of us as well. He took the trash out, dusted the furniture and vacuumed the house all while I couldn't. And, he made sure the toilets were clean for me because I was using them regularly with my morning sickness lasting all day. That's love.
As our pregnancy progressed he made sure to be with me the entire way. He has never, ever missed a doctors appointment. He is engaged with the doctor at our appointments and makes sure to ask questions if there is something he wants to know. His face lights up every time he hears our baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office. I love watching his expression as he bobs his head in rhythm to our son's heartbeat each time we go to the doctor. He thinks its quite funny to poke at the baby to see if he will kick back at me, which normally he does. And most of all, he constantly tells me I'm beautiful even when I don't feel beautiful at all. He tells me what a good job I'm doing caring for myself and our baby, and he tells me how proud he is of me for enduring what we have had to go through in order to conceive our child.
We will be celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary in a little over a week and I cannot believe how fast these 2 years have gone by. It seems like yesterday we were saying "I Do". Time flies when you're having fun as the old saying goes! Although there are many times when I don't think I could love this man any more than I already do, I know that as soon as I see our son's face my heart is going to overflow with love for the man that helped me create this beautiful life. I am so blessed to be married to my handsome prince and I cannot wait to see his face when he becomes a Dad and I become a Mom. And I want him to always know that I love him with every ounce of my being. He's my partner, my soul mate, my love, and he completes me in every way that I never thought possible! I love you babe!
As our pregnancy progressed he made sure to be with me the entire way. He has never, ever missed a doctors appointment. He is engaged with the doctor at our appointments and makes sure to ask questions if there is something he wants to know. His face lights up every time he hears our baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office. I love watching his expression as he bobs his head in rhythm to our son's heartbeat each time we go to the doctor. He thinks its quite funny to poke at the baby to see if he will kick back at me, which normally he does. And most of all, he constantly tells me I'm beautiful even when I don't feel beautiful at all. He tells me what a good job I'm doing caring for myself and our baby, and he tells me how proud he is of me for enduring what we have had to go through in order to conceive our child.
We will be celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary in a little over a week and I cannot believe how fast these 2 years have gone by. It seems like yesterday we were saying "I Do". Time flies when you're having fun as the old saying goes! Although there are many times when I don't think I could love this man any more than I already do, I know that as soon as I see our son's face my heart is going to overflow with love for the man that helped me create this beautiful life. I am so blessed to be married to my handsome prince and I cannot wait to see his face when he becomes a Dad and I become a Mom. And I want him to always know that I love him with every ounce of my being. He's my partner, my soul mate, my love, and he completes me in every way that I never thought possible! I love you babe!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
37 Weeks
We've officially hit the "safe zone" in pregnancy. We're past the 37 week mark and therefore considered full term when it comes to the baby's gestational age and giving birth. HOORAY! We are very excited about this. The doctor said the baby can come anytime now and we can't wait to find out when that day might be here. At my last doctor visit I was dilating and effacing right along so it could be any time now that he decides to make his entrance into the world! I'm not sure who is more excited to meet the little guy - me or his Daddy! I'm sure it's a tie but all my husband can talk about is meeting him. Its quite adorable :)
While we anxiously await his arrival we have been soaking up the last bit of me and him time that we'll have for a while. We've went on lunch and dinner dates and are enjoying our time together in the evenings before he comes. We have all our bags packed and are loaded in the pickup so whenever it is time all we have to do is load ourselves and head for the hospital! We are both so anxious to meet him, see what he looks like, and welcome him into our family.
As my pregnancy starts to come to an end it is joyous and sad for me all at the same time. While I'm sure many of you would think I would be happy to not be pregnant anymore (and there are times that I get excited thinking about the fact that I'll be able to bend over again and pick things up off the floor!), since this was such a long journey and struggle for us I am savoring every last minute of my pregnancy and baby being inside me. I've started to slowly pack away maternity items that I will no longer wear once he arrives (because they're for the summer months) and it brought tears to my eyes thinking about the day we found out we were pregnant and how far we've come in order to have our son. Although I may look in the mirror and not like how much weight I have gained during the duration of the pregnancy, or the stretch marks that are now on my body, I realize that there is a miracle growing inside me and I am forever grateful to God that he has allowed us to be this little guys parents. I forget about the weight and stretch marks and remind myself that it took my body changing in these ways in order to grow a happy and healthy baby and that's all that matters. I'll worry about myself after he's born healthy. So many people never get to experience the kicks of a growing baby from inside, or a growing belly, stretch marks, or the way others look at a pregnant lady when in public. It is as if you have a halo over your head and you're walking on air (most of the time...there are those who make snide remarks about weight or "popping any day" but you learn to ignore them!). So for the opportunity to carry our child I will forever be thankful.
Since we have been given the "all clear" from our doctor I am going to try to start doing a little bit of walking in the afternoons/evenings in hopes of speeding the delivery of our baby along. The baby has dropped a bit more from our last appointment so we know he is getting ready to meet us. And he is definitely head down so we don't have to worry about him being breech, thank goodness!! The doctor thinks he'll be an average baby at birth with a weight of around 7 1/2 lbs. or so but he is definitely a long baby...possibly a bit longer than average. That's thanks in part to his mom being taller and his Dad being extra tall! I'm going with 22 in. long at birth and Wesley said he thinks he'll be about 23 in. long. Wesley thinks he'll be on the lighter side of 7 lbs. while I think he'll be on the heavier side of 7 lbs. I guess time will tell who is right!
I don't have any new pictures of my baby bump and probably won't post anymore until after our baby is born so stay tuned for those pictures coming (hopefully) soon!!
While we anxiously await his arrival we have been soaking up the last bit of me and him time that we'll have for a while. We've went on lunch and dinner dates and are enjoying our time together in the evenings before he comes. We have all our bags packed and are loaded in the pickup so whenever it is time all we have to do is load ourselves and head for the hospital! We are both so anxious to meet him, see what he looks like, and welcome him into our family.
As my pregnancy starts to come to an end it is joyous and sad for me all at the same time. While I'm sure many of you would think I would be happy to not be pregnant anymore (and there are times that I get excited thinking about the fact that I'll be able to bend over again and pick things up off the floor!), since this was such a long journey and struggle for us I am savoring every last minute of my pregnancy and baby being inside me. I've started to slowly pack away maternity items that I will no longer wear once he arrives (because they're for the summer months) and it brought tears to my eyes thinking about the day we found out we were pregnant and how far we've come in order to have our son. Although I may look in the mirror and not like how much weight I have gained during the duration of the pregnancy, or the stretch marks that are now on my body, I realize that there is a miracle growing inside me and I am forever grateful to God that he has allowed us to be this little guys parents. I forget about the weight and stretch marks and remind myself that it took my body changing in these ways in order to grow a happy and healthy baby and that's all that matters. I'll worry about myself after he's born healthy. So many people never get to experience the kicks of a growing baby from inside, or a growing belly, stretch marks, or the way others look at a pregnant lady when in public. It is as if you have a halo over your head and you're walking on air (most of the time...there are those who make snide remarks about weight or "popping any day" but you learn to ignore them!). So for the opportunity to carry our child I will forever be thankful.
Since we have been given the "all clear" from our doctor I am going to try to start doing a little bit of walking in the afternoons/evenings in hopes of speeding the delivery of our baby along. The baby has dropped a bit more from our last appointment so we know he is getting ready to meet us. And he is definitely head down so we don't have to worry about him being breech, thank goodness!! The doctor thinks he'll be an average baby at birth with a weight of around 7 1/2 lbs. or so but he is definitely a long baby...possibly a bit longer than average. That's thanks in part to his mom being taller and his Dad being extra tall! I'm going with 22 in. long at birth and Wesley said he thinks he'll be about 23 in. long. Wesley thinks he'll be on the lighter side of 7 lbs. while I think he'll be on the heavier side of 7 lbs. I guess time will tell who is right!
I don't have any new pictures of my baby bump and probably won't post anymore until after our baby is born so stay tuned for those pictures coming (hopefully) soon!!
Monday, October 6, 2014
It's Getting Closer!
Better late than never...right? Here is a picture of me at 33 (actually...closer to 34) weeks pregnant! While I am getting to the point where I really don't like taking pictures of myself anymore, I continue to do so to help us remember this special time in our lives especially as we are getting close to becoming us plus one!
All in all I am feeling good...just ready to meet our little man in a few weeks! I have all the normal pregnancy symptoms that most pregnant women at this stage feel. My feet are tired and swelling. My hands are swelling...well, actually, I think my entire body is swelling! But it's all worth it as long as our little man is happy and healthy! I'm starting to have more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions also. But, that's ok with me because it lets me know that my body is doing all the right things to help me prepare to welcome our son into the world. I'm so thankful that my child is head down as well! I've gained the appropriate amount of weight for my height and to maintain a healthy pregnancy so although I may look like I'm a cup of sand away from being a beached whale, I'm actually right on target for our pregnancy. Haha :) My husband hates when I say that about myself; but there are days when a complete stranger can make you feel just like a whale. It used to bother me in the beginning. However they have no idea the struggles we went through to have our baby so I really don't take it to heart anymore.
I'm hoping to get one more post in (possibly two) before the baby comes so stay tuned for more pictures...and if nothing else the announcement that our son has been born!!
All in all I am feeling good...just ready to meet our little man in a few weeks! I have all the normal pregnancy symptoms that most pregnant women at this stage feel. My feet are tired and swelling. My hands are swelling...well, actually, I think my entire body is swelling! But it's all worth it as long as our little man is happy and healthy! I'm starting to have more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions also. But, that's ok with me because it lets me know that my body is doing all the right things to help me prepare to welcome our son into the world. I'm so thankful that my child is head down as well! I've gained the appropriate amount of weight for my height and to maintain a healthy pregnancy so although I may look like I'm a cup of sand away from being a beached whale, I'm actually right on target for our pregnancy. Haha :) My husband hates when I say that about myself; but there are days when a complete stranger can make you feel just like a whale. It used to bother me in the beginning. However they have no idea the struggles we went through to have our baby so I really don't take it to heart anymore.
I'm hoping to get one more post in (possibly two) before the baby comes so stay tuned for more pictures...and if nothing else the announcement that our son has been born!!
Friday, September 19, 2014
Our Pregnancy Journey
With each passing week we get closer & closer to meeting our little man, and the anticipation is steadily growing in the Davenport house. We talk about him all the time, are constantly thinking of ways to make his life the best we can, and I can't help but look at tiny baby boy clothes on the Internet all. the. time! He is so loved already! We will be 33 weeks this Sunday and in a few short weeks will go from just us to us plus 1. I have written about the pregnancy thus far, but wanted to remember how we got to this point (not that I will ever forget, but its something that I/we can talk about now).
We started trying for a family as soon as we got married. We both knew we wanted children, and we wanted them as soon as God saw it in his master plan to bless us with them. We tried for a couple of months with guessing roughly when I was ovulating based on my body signals. After that didn't work we started buying ovulation kits. We used those for about 6 months with no such luck. After 9 months or so of trying we went back to my Ob/Gyn for answers. We had a couple of options to choose from. One was we could continue trying on our own for a bit more & see what happens. We knew we weren't choosing this option because it obviously wasn't working in the first place. We also knew that something was going on with my ovulation every month because some months we would get positive results on our tests, and some months we wouldn't. The second option we had was for them to perform a procedure on me called a hysterosalpingography or hysterosalpingogram. This procedure is done to check a woman's uterus and insure that her fallopian tubes are in fact open and not blocked causing infertility. We knew this is the route we wanted to go. We wanted answers and we wanted them yesterday. So, we scheduled the procedure to be done in December 2013 (after a little over a year of trying for a little one). If you haven't ever heard of this procedure here's how it goes: I was brought into the X-ray room because they take X-ray images of your fallopian tubes and uterus. In order to get your organs to show up in the pictures they inject a gel-type dye into your fallopian tubes using a wand inserted up thru your cervix and into your fallopian tubes. I won't tell you how it felt because its unfair to impart my experience on to someone else (especially if you are about to go through this procedure) but I will say there was a lot of cramping during the procedure...like the worst menstrual cramps of your life. There was also some mild bleeding after the procedure was done. But, with my husband by my side and my wonderful doctor at my....well you know where he was....we forged on. Within a day we got the results back - both of my fallopian tubes were open and my uterus looked fantastic. YES!! A small victory for us and a positive result in our favor. Since my tubes were open and my uterus was good, it was time for us to say goodbye to our Ob/Gyn and we had to now go to a fertility specialist in Billings because there was nothing more our Ob could do for us at this point.
Since we had to be referred to a fertility specialist we had to wait for them to call us to schedule an appointment with them. We were lucky to be able to get in to him right after the New Year at his next available appointment. So the second week of January we started going to see him. We both went through a round of tests and I had so much blood drawn from me over those weeks that I'm a pro at having my blood drawn now. And anyone that knows me know that I HATE needles...so for me to say that tells you how often I had my blood drawn at the doctor. I had every test performed on me known to mankind. My husbands tests all came out normal so we knew it had something to do with me. During the weeks of waiting there are tons of thoughts that go through your mind - from will we have to do IVF to why has my body failed me. We discussed all of our options with our doctor after my blood results showed what I was suffering from - PCOS or Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome. I had all the working parts but not enough hormone to send the signal from my brain to my ovaries to tell them to release the egg. Some months I would have just enough hormone in my body for it to show up on the ovulation kit as if I were ovulating and that's why we got positive results those months. There are lots of ways with dealing with PCOS, and our doctor told us he was going to get us pregnant no matter what it took. We had 3 options to choose from and would try them in this order. The first was for me to take the hormone Clomid once I started my next period in order to really ramp up my egg production, then between day 14-18 go to the doctor every day for an ultrasound to see when my egg was mature enough and should be "released". On that day I would have to give myself (or my husband would give it to me) a shot in my stomach of hormone to make my body release the egg. We would try soon after that for a designated period of time, then wait 2 weeks for the results. If this didn't work the next thing we would try is IUI where they would insert Wesley's goods directly into where it needed to go. And the final option we had was IVF (if all of the above failed).
We waited for me to start my period, I took the double dose order of Clomid, then started having my eggs monitored via ultrasound in Miles City. We got the news on my birthday, February 17, that it was time to do our "trigger shot". My sweet husband was such a champ. He can give cows, calves, horses, dogs, etc. shots all day long but he was so afraid he was going to hurt me. The needle was so tiny I never felt it and he had warmed the medicine in his hand before injecting me so it went in a lot easier than if it was cold. He was awesome! Then we had to wait 2 weeks from the last day the egg would be viable to test for results. I believe those were the longest 2 weeks of our lives but in retrospect they went by pretty fast.
The day came for me to test (March 6, 2014 - about 16 months of trying thus far) and I was wide awake at 5 AM. It was a Wednesday...I remember that so well. After laying in bed trying to pass the time I quietly tip-toed to the bathroom and peed on the stick. Then I waited. And waited. I didn't turn on any lights except our nightlight in the bathroom because I didn't want to wake my sleeping husband. After 16 straight months of negative results I was expecting the exact same this time around. I had gone through so many pregnancy tests and negative results that I was used to seeing them and even though I had learned to stop crying when they were negative, it was still a disappointment. So, when I saw the second little pink line pop up on that pregnancy test I had to do a double take. Umm...what did that say!? I quickly flipped on the light in the bathroom to take a closer look...and even brought my glasses in there because I hadn't put on those or my contacts yet either. There it was....a positive result. We were pregnant. HOLY CRAP WE WERE PREGNANT!! All of our hard work, tears, testing, and pain had led up to this day and we had finally gotten our positive results. I had been planning for months how I was going to tell Wesley that we were expecting a little one. From suppers to cards to little pink and blue onesies I had thought of it all. And every single one of those thoughts went right down the drain when I discovered the positive results. How the hell could I hold this in all day long?! I couldn't! I flung the door of the bathroom open, went to his side of the bed, sat down next to him, and whispered for him to wake up. He immediately flew out of bed because he thought that something was wrong with me (since I was crying). I looked at him with tear-filled eyes and said "we're pregnant! We're going to have a baby"! After a few seconds to react, his eyes filled with tears and we hugged each other as we realized that our dreams of a family were coming true...starting that day. Needless to say neither of us went back to sleep that morning as the excitement was just too much for us to handle!
I knew I would have to be monitored closely via blood work during the first couple weeks of the pregnancy so as soon as I got the orders from my doctor that morning we were off to Miles City to have my blood drawn to confirm the pregnancy. About an hour after leaving the clinic there we got confirmation...my hormones were doing as they should and we were in fact expecting a baby!
While it was a pretty rough first trimester for me I wouldn't change that for the world. We are being blessed with a healthy baby boy and that is all that matters. My husband was a champ during that first trimester because I couldn't even smell food cooking in our house without running to the bathroom to vomit. I had morning, noon, and night sickness. I would get sick at all hours of the day it didn't matter what I did. From week 6 to about week 16 I was sick every day. My doctor prescribed me some anti-nausea medicine and while that seemed to help some days, other days it didn't help at all. We started figuring out little tricks to help ease my need to vomit every 30 minutes. For about 8 weeks straight my sweet husband would bring me breakfast in bed so that I wouldn't have to get out of bed on an empty stomach because that would set me off every time. As if I haven't said it enough...he was an absolute saint. I am one lucky lady to be married to such a prince! He would also come home after a full days work and cook supper for himself (and me when I was up to it) because I could barely get off the couch or out of bed on some days. But, as I said before, I am definitely not complaining because I would do anything to ensure our little one is happy & healthy including being sick every day for 9 months if that is what it took.
By the second trimester I was feeling much better and my nausea & exhaustion had subsided. I was able to cook for my husband again!! I love cooking for him because he works so hard so that we can have the things we do so I feel like its the least I can do is to make sure he's taken care of. Plus, I really love to spoil him because its just fun!
And now here we are in our third trimester and inching closer and closer to the finish line. We have had positive results from our big fetal ultrasound at 22 weeks when we found out we were having a baby boy (including healthy heart, brain, lungs, legs, arms, etc.) and for this we continually pray to God and thank Him every day.
The one thing I want our son to always know and remember is that we worked so hard to conceive him and that he is so precious to us beyond what he will ever know...and we haven't even got to hold him yet.
I haven't taken any recent belly pictures but will in the next few days or so to continue to document our growing baby bump before he arrives. When we were at our last doctor's appointment the baby was measuring about 2 1/2 to 3 lbs and our doctor thinks he's on track to be about a 7 lb. baby give or take 1/2 a lb. As we get nearer and nearer to our due date she will be able to give us a better idea of how big she thinks he is. We do know that he is head down so we are thankful for that! I do not want to have a C-section unless it is absolutely necessary for the benefit and health of our baby and myself. I want to be able to deliver him the natural way, with the help of my supportive husband and an epidural!
While I can't promise that I will be as quick to update the blog upon our little guy's arrival, I will promise to put up pictures of him as soon as we are home from the hospital, and I will share our birth story with you. I'm sure after I get a routine down with him I will be able to blog more but please don't give up on me in the first weeks after his birth. I'll just be a busy new Mom adjusting to the new normal in her life! :)
We started trying for a family as soon as we got married. We both knew we wanted children, and we wanted them as soon as God saw it in his master plan to bless us with them. We tried for a couple of months with guessing roughly when I was ovulating based on my body signals. After that didn't work we started buying ovulation kits. We used those for about 6 months with no such luck. After 9 months or so of trying we went back to my Ob/Gyn for answers. We had a couple of options to choose from. One was we could continue trying on our own for a bit more & see what happens. We knew we weren't choosing this option because it obviously wasn't working in the first place. We also knew that something was going on with my ovulation every month because some months we would get positive results on our tests, and some months we wouldn't. The second option we had was for them to perform a procedure on me called a hysterosalpingography or hysterosalpingogram. This procedure is done to check a woman's uterus and insure that her fallopian tubes are in fact open and not blocked causing infertility. We knew this is the route we wanted to go. We wanted answers and we wanted them yesterday. So, we scheduled the procedure to be done in December 2013 (after a little over a year of trying for a little one). If you haven't ever heard of this procedure here's how it goes: I was brought into the X-ray room because they take X-ray images of your fallopian tubes and uterus. In order to get your organs to show up in the pictures they inject a gel-type dye into your fallopian tubes using a wand inserted up thru your cervix and into your fallopian tubes. I won't tell you how it felt because its unfair to impart my experience on to someone else (especially if you are about to go through this procedure) but I will say there was a lot of cramping during the procedure...like the worst menstrual cramps of your life. There was also some mild bleeding after the procedure was done. But, with my husband by my side and my wonderful doctor at my....well you know where he was....we forged on. Within a day we got the results back - both of my fallopian tubes were open and my uterus looked fantastic. YES!! A small victory for us and a positive result in our favor. Since my tubes were open and my uterus was good, it was time for us to say goodbye to our Ob/Gyn and we had to now go to a fertility specialist in Billings because there was nothing more our Ob could do for us at this point.
Since we had to be referred to a fertility specialist we had to wait for them to call us to schedule an appointment with them. We were lucky to be able to get in to him right after the New Year at his next available appointment. So the second week of January we started going to see him. We both went through a round of tests and I had so much blood drawn from me over those weeks that I'm a pro at having my blood drawn now. And anyone that knows me know that I HATE needles...so for me to say that tells you how often I had my blood drawn at the doctor. I had every test performed on me known to mankind. My husbands tests all came out normal so we knew it had something to do with me. During the weeks of waiting there are tons of thoughts that go through your mind - from will we have to do IVF to why has my body failed me. We discussed all of our options with our doctor after my blood results showed what I was suffering from - PCOS or Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome. I had all the working parts but not enough hormone to send the signal from my brain to my ovaries to tell them to release the egg. Some months I would have just enough hormone in my body for it to show up on the ovulation kit as if I were ovulating and that's why we got positive results those months. There are lots of ways with dealing with PCOS, and our doctor told us he was going to get us pregnant no matter what it took. We had 3 options to choose from and would try them in this order. The first was for me to take the hormone Clomid once I started my next period in order to really ramp up my egg production, then between day 14-18 go to the doctor every day for an ultrasound to see when my egg was mature enough and should be "released". On that day I would have to give myself (or my husband would give it to me) a shot in my stomach of hormone to make my body release the egg. We would try soon after that for a designated period of time, then wait 2 weeks for the results. If this didn't work the next thing we would try is IUI where they would insert Wesley's goods directly into where it needed to go. And the final option we had was IVF (if all of the above failed).
We waited for me to start my period, I took the double dose order of Clomid, then started having my eggs monitored via ultrasound in Miles City. We got the news on my birthday, February 17, that it was time to do our "trigger shot". My sweet husband was such a champ. He can give cows, calves, horses, dogs, etc. shots all day long but he was so afraid he was going to hurt me. The needle was so tiny I never felt it and he had warmed the medicine in his hand before injecting me so it went in a lot easier than if it was cold. He was awesome! Then we had to wait 2 weeks from the last day the egg would be viable to test for results. I believe those were the longest 2 weeks of our lives but in retrospect they went by pretty fast.
The day came for me to test (March 6, 2014 - about 16 months of trying thus far) and I was wide awake at 5 AM. It was a Wednesday...I remember that so well. After laying in bed trying to pass the time I quietly tip-toed to the bathroom and peed on the stick. Then I waited. And waited. I didn't turn on any lights except our nightlight in the bathroom because I didn't want to wake my sleeping husband. After 16 straight months of negative results I was expecting the exact same this time around. I had gone through so many pregnancy tests and negative results that I was used to seeing them and even though I had learned to stop crying when they were negative, it was still a disappointment. So, when I saw the second little pink line pop up on that pregnancy test I had to do a double take. Umm...what did that say!? I quickly flipped on the light in the bathroom to take a closer look...and even brought my glasses in there because I hadn't put on those or my contacts yet either. There it was....a positive result. We were pregnant. HOLY CRAP WE WERE PREGNANT!! All of our hard work, tears, testing, and pain had led up to this day and we had finally gotten our positive results. I had been planning for months how I was going to tell Wesley that we were expecting a little one. From suppers to cards to little pink and blue onesies I had thought of it all. And every single one of those thoughts went right down the drain when I discovered the positive results. How the hell could I hold this in all day long?! I couldn't! I flung the door of the bathroom open, went to his side of the bed, sat down next to him, and whispered for him to wake up. He immediately flew out of bed because he thought that something was wrong with me (since I was crying). I looked at him with tear-filled eyes and said "we're pregnant! We're going to have a baby"! After a few seconds to react, his eyes filled with tears and we hugged each other as we realized that our dreams of a family were coming true...starting that day. Needless to say neither of us went back to sleep that morning as the excitement was just too much for us to handle!
I knew I would have to be monitored closely via blood work during the first couple weeks of the pregnancy so as soon as I got the orders from my doctor that morning we were off to Miles City to have my blood drawn to confirm the pregnancy. About an hour after leaving the clinic there we got confirmation...my hormones were doing as they should and we were in fact expecting a baby!
While it was a pretty rough first trimester for me I wouldn't change that for the world. We are being blessed with a healthy baby boy and that is all that matters. My husband was a champ during that first trimester because I couldn't even smell food cooking in our house without running to the bathroom to vomit. I had morning, noon, and night sickness. I would get sick at all hours of the day it didn't matter what I did. From week 6 to about week 16 I was sick every day. My doctor prescribed me some anti-nausea medicine and while that seemed to help some days, other days it didn't help at all. We started figuring out little tricks to help ease my need to vomit every 30 minutes. For about 8 weeks straight my sweet husband would bring me breakfast in bed so that I wouldn't have to get out of bed on an empty stomach because that would set me off every time. As if I haven't said it enough...he was an absolute saint. I am one lucky lady to be married to such a prince! He would also come home after a full days work and cook supper for himself (and me when I was up to it) because I could barely get off the couch or out of bed on some days. But, as I said before, I am definitely not complaining because I would do anything to ensure our little one is happy & healthy including being sick every day for 9 months if that is what it took.
By the second trimester I was feeling much better and my nausea & exhaustion had subsided. I was able to cook for my husband again!! I love cooking for him because he works so hard so that we can have the things we do so I feel like its the least I can do is to make sure he's taken care of. Plus, I really love to spoil him because its just fun!
And now here we are in our third trimester and inching closer and closer to the finish line. We have had positive results from our big fetal ultrasound at 22 weeks when we found out we were having a baby boy (including healthy heart, brain, lungs, legs, arms, etc.) and for this we continually pray to God and thank Him every day.
The one thing I want our son to always know and remember is that we worked so hard to conceive him and that he is so precious to us beyond what he will ever know...and we haven't even got to hold him yet.
I haven't taken any recent belly pictures but will in the next few days or so to continue to document our growing baby bump before he arrives. When we were at our last doctor's appointment the baby was measuring about 2 1/2 to 3 lbs and our doctor thinks he's on track to be about a 7 lb. baby give or take 1/2 a lb. As we get nearer and nearer to our due date she will be able to give us a better idea of how big she thinks he is. We do know that he is head down so we are thankful for that! I do not want to have a C-section unless it is absolutely necessary for the benefit and health of our baby and myself. I want to be able to deliver him the natural way, with the help of my supportive husband and an epidural!
While I can't promise that I will be as quick to update the blog upon our little guy's arrival, I will promise to put up pictures of him as soon as we are home from the hospital, and I will share our birth story with you. I'm sure after I get a routine down with him I will be able to blog more but please don't give up on me in the first weeks after his birth. I'll just be a busy new Mom adjusting to the new normal in her life! :)
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
29 Weeks!
Although this is a little over a week old, I am so behind in updating because we have been so busy lately around here! I promised my 29 week photo so here it is!
This little guy loves to move during the day and this Momma doesn't mind it one bit. It constantly lets me know that he's still there and thriving with every little kick and tumble. As the weeks wind down with us getting closer & closer to meeting him we often find ourselves talking about what he is going to look like, who he will become, and if the schedule he keeps in utero right now will be similar to the schedule he keeps once he's on the outside. As of now he is pretty active during the day with a few little down times where he is "napping". He's pretty quiet at night, but he is generally active between 3-4 AM (I know this because I have to go to the bathroom every night between this time...probably because he's dancing on my bladder!) and then drifts off to sleep again until I get up for the day at 7 AM. The one thing his Daddy has noticed is every night at 8 PM he is kicking. Every. Single. Night. It's as if he is our little time clock at that point in the evening because every night he kicks about that time I always ask Wesley what time it is & he states back that I should know because he's moving around! So we are both pretty excited to see if he is going to be active at 8 PM once he arrives :)
I wanted to remember how much he enjoys listening to George Strait while in utero at this point in the pregnancy because I'm afraid I won't remember the small details of the pregnancy. There's a story behind him loving music too - my sister asked me if I had played any music for him by holding headphones up to my belly & letting him listen. She told me that Kannon would go crazy in her tummy when she played music for him. So, I started trying it out. The first few days I tried it I was fairly certain that I was lulling him to sleep. But, then "Stars on the Water" came on about the 4th day...and that changed everything. I played the music for him every day for a couple weeks straight to get him used to the sound. Now, every time I put the headphones up to my belly and put on George he starts dancing around and having a great time. Brittany said that when Kannon was fussy they would play music for him that they played while he was in utero and he would be calmed down. I can't wait to see if this is true for Baby D as well. He sure does love him some King George...and who wouldn't? It was quite comical the other day when Wesley and I sat down to watch George's Cowboy Rides Away Tour on CMT and we had the TV a bit loud as we both love listening to George. Evidently the baby heard what we were listening to and decided he wanted to dance away to it as well because he started kicking and tumbling. It is a pretty awesome feeling!
We have been SO busy around the ranch that there are many days that I'm not sure if I'm coming or going. Our entire August went by entirely too fast as his parents were gone for 2 weeks so we took care of everything around the ranch, then my parents came up for a week, we had a doctors appointment, hauled more hay, and had our end of year roping finals in Forsyth. What a busy month for us! This is all on top of trying to keep up with the house work, laundry, cleaning, and trying to get the baby's clothes washed and put away (because as of now his little nursery is a disaster...sad to admit but I'm definitely working on it this week). In the evenings when it has been nice (which is most afternoon/evenings lately) I go outside and help Wesley put out mineral or lick tubs, and then we go over to the ranch & him and his Dad practice roping. With fall right around the corner that means snow could come at any point starting in mid to late October so we are enjoying the beautiful weather and temperatures before winter comes to Montana. And, in a short 10 weeks we will be welcoming our son into the world! So, we are enjoying it all. I was so proud of Wesley this past weekend at the summer roping series finals. He won the overall roping year for the summer so he gets a really nice monogrammed jacket with "Champion Header" on it. He also placed 2nd in the round robin roping for a saddle, and placed 6th in the 8 steer roping after the round robin. He had a great roping season this summer and I am so proud of him! I got some really good pictures of him and the horses this past weekend at the roping so hopefully sometime this week I will get those pictures posted to the blog as well!
This little guy loves to move during the day and this Momma doesn't mind it one bit. It constantly lets me know that he's still there and thriving with every little kick and tumble. As the weeks wind down with us getting closer & closer to meeting him we often find ourselves talking about what he is going to look like, who he will become, and if the schedule he keeps in utero right now will be similar to the schedule he keeps once he's on the outside. As of now he is pretty active during the day with a few little down times where he is "napping". He's pretty quiet at night, but he is generally active between 3-4 AM (I know this because I have to go to the bathroom every night between this time...probably because he's dancing on my bladder!) and then drifts off to sleep again until I get up for the day at 7 AM. The one thing his Daddy has noticed is every night at 8 PM he is kicking. Every. Single. Night. It's as if he is our little time clock at that point in the evening because every night he kicks about that time I always ask Wesley what time it is & he states back that I should know because he's moving around! So we are both pretty excited to see if he is going to be active at 8 PM once he arrives :)
I wanted to remember how much he enjoys listening to George Strait while in utero at this point in the pregnancy because I'm afraid I won't remember the small details of the pregnancy. There's a story behind him loving music too - my sister asked me if I had played any music for him by holding headphones up to my belly & letting him listen. She told me that Kannon would go crazy in her tummy when she played music for him. So, I started trying it out. The first few days I tried it I was fairly certain that I was lulling him to sleep. But, then "Stars on the Water" came on about the 4th day...and that changed everything. I played the music for him every day for a couple weeks straight to get him used to the sound. Now, every time I put the headphones up to my belly and put on George he starts dancing around and having a great time. Brittany said that when Kannon was fussy they would play music for him that they played while he was in utero and he would be calmed down. I can't wait to see if this is true for Baby D as well. He sure does love him some King George...and who wouldn't? It was quite comical the other day when Wesley and I sat down to watch George's Cowboy Rides Away Tour on CMT and we had the TV a bit loud as we both love listening to George. Evidently the baby heard what we were listening to and decided he wanted to dance away to it as well because he started kicking and tumbling. It is a pretty awesome feeling!
We have been SO busy around the ranch that there are many days that I'm not sure if I'm coming or going. Our entire August went by entirely too fast as his parents were gone for 2 weeks so we took care of everything around the ranch, then my parents came up for a week, we had a doctors appointment, hauled more hay, and had our end of year roping finals in Forsyth. What a busy month for us! This is all on top of trying to keep up with the house work, laundry, cleaning, and trying to get the baby's clothes washed and put away (because as of now his little nursery is a disaster...sad to admit but I'm definitely working on it this week). In the evenings when it has been nice (which is most afternoon/evenings lately) I go outside and help Wesley put out mineral or lick tubs, and then we go over to the ranch & him and his Dad practice roping. With fall right around the corner that means snow could come at any point starting in mid to late October so we are enjoying the beautiful weather and temperatures before winter comes to Montana. And, in a short 10 weeks we will be welcoming our son into the world! So, we are enjoying it all. I was so proud of Wesley this past weekend at the summer roping series finals. He won the overall roping year for the summer so he gets a really nice monogrammed jacket with "Champion Header" on it. He also placed 2nd in the round robin roping for a saddle, and placed 6th in the 8 steer roping after the round robin. He had a great roping season this summer and I am so proud of him! I got some really good pictures of him and the horses this past weekend at the roping so hopefully sometime this week I will get those pictures posted to the blog as well!
Friday, August 22, 2014
Vacation 2014
Vacations seem to go by too fast these days. Heck, summer has gone by too fast, too! My parents came to visit us on the 13th and stayed for a week. We split our time between the ranch and taking a trip to our favorite gambling spot - Deadwood, South Dakota. We had such a good time in Deadwood. None of us came home huge winners, but the main thing is we had a lot of fun there. We spent 3 nights in Deadwood and gambled, played putt putt golf, and also went into Rapid City to cure my craving for Chili's!
After we came back from Deadwood we hung out at the ranch a couple days before having to take them back to the airport. It is so crazy and exciting to think that the next time we see them we will be introducing our son to them! So exciting!!
I've been doing quite well. The baby seems to be growing and moving more these days and it is such an exciting feeling to feel him move about inside me. It's a feeling like none other. It is a constant reminder of the miracles the Lord performs and the beautiful gift of life. We have a couples baby shower this weekend in Forsyth that our neighbors are hosting for us so we are pretty excited about that! We are blessed that we have family & friends that want to help shower us with baby essentials to help us welcome our new little one into the world! My parents brought with them a huge duffel bag full of baby pj's and lounge clothes for our little guy and we are so thankful for that as well! We got blankets, footie pj's, bibs, burp cloths, and little lounge pants and onesies for him. They also brought us a few cute shirts for the little man to wear for his 1st Thanksgiving holiday this year. They're absolutely adorable! I can't wait to put them on him but will resist showing pictures of the outfits until he's here and can wear them himself! I've also been preparing for his upcoming arrival by cooking meals and freezing them in advance of his birth. That way, neither one of us has to think about what we will have for lunches or suppers when we bring him home. I have a couple meals to go and then I'll have enough food cooked for about a month for us which will definitely help when he gets here!
We have been blessed with some rain here recently and we are so thankful for the moisture! Things are about to get busy here around the ranch as we gear up to preg test our heifers, ship spay heifers and steers, and prepare to process incoming calves we start purchasing. Then as soon as we are done with these things we will be welcoming our bundle shortly after! I can't believe we are almost 29 weeks along in this pregnancy. It has been such a blessing and we can't wait to meet our son in November!
Here are a few pictures from our Deadwood vacation this year!
After we came back from Deadwood we hung out at the ranch a couple days before having to take them back to the airport. It is so crazy and exciting to think that the next time we see them we will be introducing our son to them! So exciting!!
I've been doing quite well. The baby seems to be growing and moving more these days and it is such an exciting feeling to feel him move about inside me. It's a feeling like none other. It is a constant reminder of the miracles the Lord performs and the beautiful gift of life. We have a couples baby shower this weekend in Forsyth that our neighbors are hosting for us so we are pretty excited about that! We are blessed that we have family & friends that want to help shower us with baby essentials to help us welcome our new little one into the world! My parents brought with them a huge duffel bag full of baby pj's and lounge clothes for our little guy and we are so thankful for that as well! We got blankets, footie pj's, bibs, burp cloths, and little lounge pants and onesies for him. They also brought us a few cute shirts for the little man to wear for his 1st Thanksgiving holiday this year. They're absolutely adorable! I can't wait to put them on him but will resist showing pictures of the outfits until he's here and can wear them himself! I've also been preparing for his upcoming arrival by cooking meals and freezing them in advance of his birth. That way, neither one of us has to think about what we will have for lunches or suppers when we bring him home. I have a couple meals to go and then I'll have enough food cooked for about a month for us which will definitely help when he gets here!
We have been blessed with some rain here recently and we are so thankful for the moisture! Things are about to get busy here around the ranch as we gear up to preg test our heifers, ship spay heifers and steers, and prepare to process incoming calves we start purchasing. Then as soon as we are done with these things we will be welcoming our bundle shortly after! I can't believe we are almost 29 weeks along in this pregnancy. It has been such a blessing and we can't wait to meet our son in November!
Here are a few pictures from our Deadwood vacation this year!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Baby Bump Photo
Things around here lately have been pretty busy to say the least! It seems as though every other day I'm helping Wesley do something around the ranch which is fine by me...I love helping him! Moo Moo & David took a much needed vacation down south to see Wesley's sisters for a week so we have been getting things done while they're gone. From stacking hay to pulling and moving bulls we have been quite busy every day!
I haven't posted any recent roping pictures of Wesley so I thought I'd take a quick minute to do so, as well as post my 26 week baby bump photos! I'm feeling really good. I get tired more often as I progress in the pregnancy so I take more breaks. Other than that we are doing quite well here! We are very excited and anticipating the arrival of my parents soon as well! It's always exciting to see them and spend family time together :)
I haven't posted any recent roping pictures of Wesley so I thought I'd take a quick minute to do so, as well as post my 26 week baby bump photos! I'm feeling really good. I get tired more often as I progress in the pregnancy so I take more breaks. Other than that we are doing quite well here! We are very excited and anticipating the arrival of my parents soon as well! It's always exciting to see them and spend family time together :)
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