3 Weeks Old

Southern is growing by leaps and bounds! He's only three and a half weeks old, but he is making a lot of progress. Last night was the second night in a row that he has slept 4 hours straight. Both nights it was from 1-5am so maybe he is finally getting a schedule!?! He is hungry all the time, and it's hard to keep up with his appetite. Right now he and Daddy are taking a nap so I have a little free time. I love the weekends when I have Dustin home to help! I can't wait for his grad school to be over with so he can really pitch in!!

Southern has been picking his head up on his own for the past week or two. He keeps it up when you have him on your shoulder, and he can pick it up for a little while when he's on his tummy. He's still kicking like crazy and is very strong. He's been able to stand on his own weight for a few seconds at a time. I just hold him up on my lap to keep him balanced. And he's starting to try to talk. We got an "Arrr" last week (probably due to the fact that we were always hearing about the Somali pirates on the news so he was trying to get "Arrr, matey" out! haha) And we get a lot of "Ohh"s and "Goo"s.

They just woke up from their nap, and my little one is hungry again so I must run - surprise, surprise!

Photos

my little butter bean Southern's 1st bath
napping buddies

what a cutie

2 Weeks Old

Southern is over two weeks old today. It sure does seem like it's been longer than two weeks though! Things are crazy with a newborn in the house. He is currently taking a nap so I have a few minutes to myself.

Southern is doing great - just eating, sleeping, and pooping. We go through a diaper change about once per feeding, and he's eating every hour to two hours except for a 3 to 3.5 hour stretch at night. We are doing a combination of breastfeeding and pumping to feed with a bottle. It is exhausting! Luckily we had Aunt Carly take over one night this week. She got me spoiled!! ;)

Dustin and I have taken a ton of cute pictures in the past two weeks but don't have time to upload them. Maybe I'll be able to get to that this weekend when Dustin's home to help watch over Southern.

Southern celebrated his first Easter this past Sunday. He enjoyed meeting all the family and was pretty well behaved. He slept the entire time in the car the way there and back.

He's becoming more aware and loves to stare into my eyes while eating. I've been able to read a few books to him and can tell he enjoys it. I can't wait til he's a bit older and can go longer between feedings so we can get more sleep!

Southern is born

Wow - it has been a crazy week! Southern is quite a handful. I hopefully have a few minutes of free time right now, so here's the story of his birth:

I had an appointment with my doctor on my due date, March 30th, at 2:30pm. I was 2 cm dilated and 75% thinned, which was no change at all from the week before. She then asked me, "okay, so are you ready to have this baby?" I said yes. Then she said that we needed to be at the hospital at 5pm that day. What?!? We were shocked. But my doctor thought that Southern was getting close to 9 lbs so she wanted to induce as soon as possible. We only had an hour and half to get ready, but luckily our suitcase was already packed. We ran to Chick-fil-a for supper since I've heard that you're not allowed to eat during labor. Then we came home to grab the suitcase and say goodbye to our kitty. I was so nervous!

We checked into the hospital, and they checked me again there. Then at 6pm I got Cervadil, which was inserted into my cervix. That was to help my cervix ripen. They said that would be in for 12 hours and then I'd be induced. So it was just a waiting game that night. We found out meals were already included in the price of the room, so we ordered a lot from room service. My nurse said I could eat the whole time unless I got an epidural. We took advantage of that!

I had some small contractions that night. I was nervous, and the nurses kept coming in at all hours of the night so I ended up only getting about 30 mins of sleep. The next morning, I was woken up at 6am so they could remove the Cervadil. Then at 6:30am, they hooked me up to an IV to start getting the Pitocin to start labor. Dustin ran home real fast to get his laptop since they said I probably wouldn't have Southern until late that night. My doctor came to check on me around 8am. She broke my water around 8:30am. I was able to eat breakfast and lunch. Then I started having pretty strong contractions a few hours later.

I was 3.5 cm dialted at the next check, and then an hour and a half later, I was 9 cm! Dustin went outside for a few mins to grab some food his sister and granny brought him for lunch. My nurse came in and asked where he was. I told her he'd be right back. She went to check the waiting room and then came back and said maybe you should call him. Turns out Southern was ready! Dustin walked into the room carrying his fajita plate, and the nurse told him, "okay you grab that leg and I'll grab this one." Haha! Dustin was stunned. He put down his lunch and grabbed my leg. He counted for me while I pushed. We pushed until Southern's head was in position then rested. They called my doctor, and when she got there, we pushed the rest of the way.

It went much quicker that I thought. We had him at 3:53pm. He weighed in at 9 lbs 7 oz and was 22 in long. A big boy! They put him on my chest and we got to meet him. Dustin took a ton of pictures. Then they cleaned him up and gave him back to me for his first meal. Dustin took advantage of this time and ate his fajitas!

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday. It was such a relief to finally come home!

Southern is here!

After many months of waiting, our baby boy has finally arrived! Dustin and I are super excited but pretty exhausted. I'll be posting more later but for now, you can check out his info on the Christus Santa Rosa website - just go to www.christussantarosa.org and click on "New Braunfels" under the Facilities tab. Then click "birthing center" at left, then on the web nursery link. Southern's password is 9722. That photo was taken right before we left for home on April 2nd.

He's healthy and happy. Right now, we're just trying to work on getting him to know the difference between day and night. Our lactation consultant put us on a plan to feed every 2 hours during the day so hopefully that will help. Sorry to any visitors if we need to cut the visit short. Once we're more in the swing of things and are less exhausted, visiting should be better.

39 Weeks

Can you believe we're here already? The past nine months went by quickly. Now it seems these last couple of weeks are slow. I'm so ready for Southern to get here and to not be pregnant anymore!

Today at the doctor's we asked about how big this baby is and will get. The doctor said babies typically gain about 1/4 to 1/2 a pound per week during this last month. So since he was 8 lbs a week and a half ago at my last sonogram, he's likely around 8.5 right now. She doesn't want wait too long and let him get over 9 lbs. But she's not worried now, and she said that I had a good pelvis. What a compliment!! ;)

So my due date is still March 30th - a week from today! I have my final appointment with her then. If I don't have the baby before then, we will induce labor. She already set up an appointment for me at the hospital for Tuesday the 31st just in case. So either way, Dustin and I will be parents in about a week!!! Wow!!! Mark your calendars, everyone!

I'm at 2 cm right now and 70% thinned. The baby's still in the correct position, and the doctor seems confident that everything will go smoothly. Hopefully he will take the initiative and come out on his own within the week, but if not at least we're not looking at a c-section. You never know what will happen, but the outlook for us is good.

Dustin and I plan on calling our parents and siblings as soon as we've headed over to the hospital either when I'm in labor or on Tuesday to induce. After we've had the baby, I will be in the hospital for 1-2 days so we'll let everyone else know about it then (after things have settled down more). Most likely, we'll just call our grandparents and have them spread the word. The visiting hours are 10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm. And of course, those who can't make it, don't worry. We'll see y'all at Easter in a couple weeks.

Here are the directions to the hospital:

From Yoakum - Take 183 through Gonzales to I-10. Head west toward San Antonio. Take exit #607 for Hwy 46 (also the TLU exit). Or you can take 90 through Seguin to Hwy 46. Head north on 46 to New Braunfels. You'll pass under I-35 and hit some stop lights. After you cross the big bridge, you'll see Sonic, Chicken Express, Wells Fargo, etc. At that stoplight (Rudy's BBQ will be on your right), you'll want to get into one of the left two lanes. You'll take a left onto Common. Follow that road down to the next stop light. You'll take a right onto Union. Follow that road til you see the hospital. There's parking to your left, and the entrance will be on your right. Once inside, take Elevator #2 or #3 to the 2nd floor and walk to the double doors ahead and ring the door bell. No one under 14 years of age will be admitted. Just let them know your name and that you're there to see us and they'll let you know our room number.

From San Antonio - Take I-35 toward Austin. Take Exit #189 for Hwy 46. You'll pass in front of Kohl's. At the stoplight, take a left onto 46. After you cross the big bridge, you'll see Sonic, Chicken Express, Wells Fargo, etc. At that stoplight (Rudy's BBQ will be on your right), you'll want to get into one of the left two lanes. You'll take a left onto Common. Follow that road down to the next stop light. You'll take a right onto Union. Follow that road til you see the hospital. There's parking to your left, and the entrance will be on your right. Once inside, take Elevator #2 or #3 to the 2nd floor and walk to the double doors ahead and ring the door bell. No one under 14 years of age will be admitted. Just let them know your name and that you're there to see us and they'll let you know our room number.

If that's a little confusing, just visit this link - http://www.christussantarosa.org/maps_main.html# You can get driving directions specifically from your starting point. See y'all soon!

38 Weeks

We had another appointment with the doctor yesterday. My tummy measured 43 cm, and the baby's heartbeat was 142. I'm 1-2 cm dilated and my cervix is 65% thinned. So it'll be awhile still. Probably close to my due date. Bummer... I'm totally ready for him to get here! We'll be going back on Monday and will hopefully have better news then.

On Thursday, we have an appointment at New Braunfels Pediatrics to meet with Southern's possible future pediatrician. My friend Tasia takes her son there, and I've heard a lot of good things about that office so it should be a good fit for us.

So it looks like we still have awhile to get things in order. We're focusing on getting my car taken care of, finishing more projects around the house, and getting as much of Dustin's grad school work out of the way as we can before he gets here.