Being Big Sister

Throughout my pregnancy, Audrey has been extremely excited about her new role as a Big Sister.  We have tried to involve her with most aspects of baby preparations such as washing his clothes and toys and arranging his room.  I think the effort has paid off, because I don't think there could have been any little girl more excited to see her little brother than Audrey was yesterday when she met Barrett for the first time.  Billy happened to catch a photo of her walking in the hospital room yesterday...priceless!

Once she got to see Barrett, she could take her eyes off of him.  Trying to get her to look at the camera long enough to get a picture was difficult; all she would do when he was around was gaze and smile at him.  At first, she did not want us to do anything to disturb him when he was quiet.  I asked Billy to take off his hat so everyone could see his hair, but Audrey wanted nothing of the sort because she thought he might not like it.  Eventually, she started to realize that he was not a china doll, and then she wanted to hug, kiss and hold him. 

Billy and I have had a reprieve while Audrey has been with my parents, so we've just had to focus on the two of us and Barrett for the past day.  Tonight that will change when she stays with us and Billy stays at home with her overnight and especially when Barrett and I go home tomorrow.  We are now a family of four and Audrey is officially a big sister. 

Perfect Timing

Last night we went to a wedding for one of Billy's friends from Boeing.  We had a great night with friends dancing and having fun.  After we got home and were preparing for bed, I kept praying for guidance about our plans to drive to Greenville today to spend the rest of the weekend on the lake.  Greenville is 1.5 hours from the hospital where we planned to deliver baby boy, and it made me nervous to be that far away when I had such a quick labor with Audrey.  I fell asleep praying that God would make it clear to me if we were not supposed to go to Greenville.  Well, God is faithful, and at 4:30 this morning I started having the undeniable labor contractions.  They were far enough a part I let Billy sleep a while longer while I took a shower and got my things ready.  We left home about 7:20 and arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later. 

Just 2 hours later, we welcomed our baby boy.  Barrett William Nance was born at 9:39 a.m. today.  He weighs 8 pounds 12 ounces and measures 20 3/4 inches long. So far he has been very good.  He is eating well; when I first started nursing him, he didn't want to stop.  He has also been pretty easy going; he doesn't cry a lot unless he is dirty or hungry, and those are easy things to fix.

I too am doing well.  I made it through labor without any pain medication; don't give me too much credit though, because my labor was quite short compared to many women.  I do feel much more like myself this time though, and I think it is because I do not have all of the drugs in my system.  God really was watching out for me, because as frustrated as I have been by all of the pre-labor contractions, I know that they were just preparing me to make the actual labor short and relatively easy.

As the title of the post indicates, Barrett's arrival is truly God's perfect timing.  We were at home, only 20 minutes from the hospital. Audrey was already in Greenville with my parents because they watched her so we could go to the wedding.  The delivery was in the morning, so we get almost 2 whole days (and more importantly 2 whole nights) in the hospital to recover before going home.  It also made it easier for me to get through the labor without medication because it was just Billy and I at the hospital until after Barrett was born.  Praise God for taking care of us and bringing our baby boy safely into this world!       

Passing Time

My mom had come to St. Louis Wednesday night and stayed with us, thinking that the baby was coming very soon.  When he didn’t come, she took Audrey back to Greenville with her yesterday and will keep her through the weekend; the plan was always to drop Audrey off with my parents tonight so Billy and I could go to a wedding tomorrow sans child.  The unexpected non-event just extended Audrey’s visit.

With Audrey gone, Billy and I are trying to enjoy our evenings and our time together.  As disappointing as it is that baby boy hasn’t arrived, we are trying to take advantage of these few quiet nights together.  Last night, Billy started work on a boat mobile for baby boy’s room and I worked on re-organizing Audrey’s room since the rest of her furniture was delivered on Wednesday.  I’ve also been able to get some laundry done and a few other small things, which has been nice.  I've also found time for frequent blog posts.  It helps me to stay busy and focus on what I can get done in this additional time that we have now. I guess it’s really a distraction, but at least it is productive and useful, right?

Wild Ride

The past two days have taken us for quite a ride.  I woke up yesterday morning with pretty consistent contractions and a few other potential signs of labor.  I waited until the contractions started getting stronger and closer together, and then we went to the hospital.  Mind you, these contractions were not the crazy painful ones that you have to stop functioning for the duration just to get through them.  But, given how quickly Audrey came, I was being cautious.  They were closer together than the 5-1-1 rule, which is the standard for going to the hospital. 

Once we got there, they had me sit on a bed and hooked me up to the monitors.  Baby boy's heart rate was great, but the contractions started to dissipate.  We walked for an hour which produced more contractions, came back, and they checked me again.  This time the contractions remained consistent even when I sat.  They continued while I sat for over an hour.  The nurse was convinced I was in the early stages of labor, and so was I, but nothing else was happening.  That is when she gave me a choice. First, I could stay, they'd break my water, and we'd hope that the labor picked up after that.  Second, I could go home and wait it out. 

At this point, Billy had left to go get Audrey from school, so I was on my own with the decision.  The control-freak planner in me wanted to get things moving by breaking my water, but the cautious mother in me was worried about what would happen if breaking my water didn't make things progress.  I was worried that they'd have to augment labor with drugs like pitocin, which I would like to avoid if possible.  Moreover, my due date is still almost two weeks away, so there is no health risk to the baby to wait.  The swing vote came from my stomach though; I was starving and they weren't going to feed me anything at the hospital even if it took me another 24 hours to have the baby. 

As we left the hospital a little past 7 last night, the nurse told us that she thought we'd be back soon.  One day later, I am still at home waiting.  When I had Audrey, I was so proud that I was patient and didn't go to the hospital until almost the last minute.  This time, I have to resign myself to the fact that I was wrong; however, it does make me feel a little better that the nurse was as convinced as I was.  So, for now, I am at home trying to have patience to wait for God's perfect timing.  He has really put this control-freak planner to the test, but I know in the end I'll only be stronger from it.

Final Preparations

I took the day off today to get a few last things out of the way before baby boy comes.  The dogs got their annual checkup at the vet, and I got my hair cut.  I also got a few last things done around the house and ran some errands.  At the end of the day, I visited the doctor for my weekly appointment.  The good news is that I have progressed from last week, so we're getting closer.  The better news is that I think we're ready; bags are packed for the hospital, baby boy's room is set up and decorated, clothes are washed, and bottles are cleaned.  We even put the car seat in the car tonight. 

The end of May is a busy time for birthdays with our family and freinds.  If baby boy is born over the next few days, he'll share a birthday with one of them.  I bet they'd all guess that he will be born on their birthday if you asked them. 

May 23:  My mom's cousin Louellen
May 24:  My brother Brian
May 25:  My friend Heidi
May 26:  My friend Carla
May 28:  My cousin Tim

At work I have a calendar outside of my cube where my coworkers have written their guesses for when baby boy will arrive.  As of yesterday, the next guess was some day this weekend; no one guessed earlier in the week.  They must actually want me to be at work a few more days.  I guess we'll find out soon enough! 

Is it Time Yet?

As of today, I am officially full term at 37 weeks.  Based on that, baby boy should be developed enough to be born without any complications.  He has dropped and I am starting to dilate, which are signs that the time is coming.  They also result in me even more uncomfortable; I am in full waddle-mode and can’t sit like a lady anymore because my belly is in the way.  I am trying to stay positive, but I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions consistently for a couple of weeks now, which makes it difficult to maintain perspective.  Every time I have a few in a row, my mind starts anticipating baby boy’s arrival in the near future.  Moreover, I’m getting to the point at work and home where everything is in order enough for me to maintain my sanity if he arrives now.  The combination of these elements is starting to make me impatient.

I am making a real effort not to complain or be in a hurry, but I admit that I am struggling.  I am constantly reminding myself that the longer baby boy stays inside of me, the more he will develop and the stronger he will be.  Every time I find myself wanting him to come now, I pray that God will give me patience to wait for his perfect timing.  I know that God has a plan and that his will is the best; he has proven this to me time and again.  Still, I am human, and I get impatient.  So, here’s to hoping that baby boy is healthy and strong, but that he doesn’t wait too long to get here!

One Month to Go!

Can you believe it?  We are now less than one month away from baby boy's due date.  The past few months have been absolutely crazy, but the past few weeks things have settled down.  Today we actually woke up without a real plan; it was a great day.  We ran some errands, finished getting a few things for baby boy's room, I got a mani/pedi while Audrey took a nap, and Billy got to relax and take a nap with her.  I am looking forward to a couple more weekends like this before the craziness of having a newborn re-enters our world.  Audrey frequently says that she is ready for her baby brother to, "come out and be born."  Each time she says it my body screams, "Yes...PLEASE," and my brain screams, "Please NOT yet!"  Once I reach 37 weeks and get a few more big tasks out of the way at work, I think both my brain and body will be ready; the real question is, when will baby boy be ready?

20 Weeks Pregnant-January 16, 2012       36 weeks Pregnant-May 6, 2012 

Mr. Caterpillar

The first week we moved into our new house, Audrey noticed a "worm" crawling on the sidewalk up to our door.  I quickly noted that it was not a worm, but a Caterpillar that she saw.  The next day, the caterpillar was on the stairs up to our door.  Each day for a week, she would go outside and see Mr. Caterpillar, as we came to call him, somewhere on the sidewalk or stairs.  It was almost a game for her to find Mr. Caterpillar.

Last weekend, we noticed that the caterpillar was crawling up the white molding around our front door.  Then, we noticed a second one nestled up in a groove in the molding, and he had some white strings around him...he was starting his cocoon!  At that point I started looking around the door, and noticed several more completed cocoons tucked away in the molding.  That is when it dawned on me that Mr. Caterpillar was in fact multiple caterpillars that had been making their way to our door because their white cocoons blend in with the white molding.  Today, we have 12 cocoons that we are watching intently, waiting for beautiful butterflies to emerge.