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Thursday, May 30, 2013

boy meets world: a birth story

::this is a long one, but i wanted to write it all down so i wouldn't forget!::

on tuesday, May 7, i had a doctor's appointment. i would be 39 weeks that friday. my doctor told me i was progressing (50% effaced, 1 cm).  she could see my belly already contracting pretty good and said "i doubt i see you at your appointment next week...i'm on call this weekend".  talk about getting a girl's hopes up!

friday night, i started having strong, painful contractions at about 7pm that lasted throughout the night. we were packed and ready to go. saturday morning i woke up to zero contractions.

saturday night, i started having strong, painful contractions again at about 7pm that lasted throughout the night....6-7 minutes apart.  nothing by the next morning.

sunday was mother's day. who wouldn't want to become a mother on mother's day?! my parents brought food down and we hung out for the afternoon.  still nothing.

that night as i was getting ready for bed, my lower back started to hurt. bad. i had trouble getting  comfortable, but managed to get to sleep. at 1:45am, the contractions started again.  stronger. but still only 10 minutes apart. i got up to use the bathroom an hour later.  when i came back to bed, i felt it. my water broke.

brian was out of bed in no time packing his last minute items, loading up the car, and sending the "here we go" text to our families.  i changed, called my parents, threw my last minute items in my bag and headed for the car.  boo had no idea what was going on but followed us around the house anyway.  the contractions were still about 10 minutes apart but were getting stronger.  brian may have driven a little fast and through some red lights (with his flashers on, of course...we did have a 40 minute drive).

when we arrived at the hospital, my parents were there- my mom to be with us and my dad to take boo back to their house.  i was taken into triage and donned a fancy hospital gown.  they first did a test to make sure my water had actually broken (apparently women come in all the time and say their water broke when it really didn't. i always wondered if i would truly know when it was happening.  trust me...you KNOW!).  the nurse also checked my progress.  i was still only dilated to 1 cm, but my mom told me not to worry, that after your water breaks you normally start progressing quickly.

about an hour later, i was taken to my delivery room.  the nurse checked me again.  still 1cm.  and then we heard a couple nurses whispering amongst themselves...she couldn't feel baby boy's head.

they brought in an ultrasound machine to verify his position.  when there was debate about where his head was, i knew this little boy was no longer (or never really in the first place?) head down and ready to go.  an x-ray was taken and the doctor confirmed that we had a little breech baby on our hands.  since my water had broken, they could not attempt to turn him...i would have to have a c-section.

throughout my whole pregnancy, i said repeatedly that i did not want a c-section, so i was crushed. i started crying and felt like i wasn't going to be able to get ahold of myself.  i so badly wanted to have the birth experience...the pushing, having brian tell me i could do it when the baby was crowning, the doctor laying him on my chest after he was born....all of it.  but everyone reminded me that the end result was a healthy baby, and that's all i really wanted too.

SO, with the crying out of the way, i asked for some DRUGS to help with the contractions that were now quite strong and two minutes apart (and completely pointless).  a few hours later, i was being prepped for surgery.  brian suited up and waited in what he says was a closet while the team got me ready.  the spinal was a little difficult...bending over my massive belly and holding still while having contractions was no fun. once i couldn't feel anything, brian was brought in and we were ready to have a baby.

it is pretty eery knowing you are being cut open and being awake for it.  it's also very strange to hear the doctor giving orders so that you know exactly what he is doing.  the whole surgery was surprisingly rough. Brian said my shoulders were rocking on the table a few times. when they were ready to pull baby boy out, the anesthesiologist let brian stand up to watch...his butt came out first, followed by each shoulder, and his head last. i watched brian's face the whole time and all he could say was "OH!" brian told me he had a full head of hair (that heartburn wives tale is totally true)!!!  and then we HEARD him....holy cow, this boy had a set of lungs.  i could hear all of the nurses commenting on how loud he was (he received excellent apgar scores ;-) Baby boy was born at 9:35am, may 13.

 after baby boy was cleaned up, brian got to hold him and show him to me....

my first glimpse....he was fabulous! Brian was so sweet looking at both of us and said "we can name him whatever you want"...if the waterworks weren't flowing yet, they definitely were after that comment. We were both in awe and in love. I am so thankful for the nurse who took our camera and captured these precious images.

brian went with the baby to the nursery to be weighed and measured while i was cleaned out, stitched up, and taken to recovery.


I was in recovery for two hours before I saw my boy again! One of our friends from the floor brought him down to nurse for the first time. I couldn't really move, so she positioned him and got him latched on and off he went...he was a natural. After he was done, he was taken back upstairs and I stayed in recovery for TWO MORE HOURS!!! I couldn't leave until I could move my legs and the spinal was taking forever to wear off! I kept asking the nurse to wiggle my toes for me to help me figure out how to do it myself. I hated that I missed my boy getting to meet his grandparents for the first time. But at least there were plenty of people to love on him. I finally got to my room after 2:30 and couldn't wait to get my arms around that precious baby. Everyone but Brian stepped out and we got some family time and decided on his name...from our short list we decided he looked like a "Will", officially Charles William - after our dads.

Still drugged but finally holding my sweet boy!



Thank you Lord for this unbelievable blessing!



Monday, May 27, 2013

2 weeks

Will is two weeks old today, which means we've survived two whole weeks! Wahoo!



Monday, May 13, 2013

My cup runneth over

Welcome to the world Charles William Webb!

7 lbs 2 oz.
21 inches.
A healthy set of lungs.
Perfect.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

the nursery

when we moved in to the house, we knew right away that the sunroom - off of the living room and our bedroom- would make the perfect little nursery.  it is not a big room and presented some challenges- no closet, a huge radiator, 2 out of 4 walls of solid windows.

this is how the room looked before we did anything... disgusting carpet, light pink walls, mauve curtains, and furniture that was left (that we have since given away). redeeming qualities: hardwood under the carpet (that needed stained and refinished), awesome french doors, lots of light.



the view from the living room is much sweeter now (even with a pack n'play temporarily shoved in the corner)...


brian refinished the floors a while back.  we had painters trim the room in white with grey walls. we decided on a color scheme -navy and lime green- rather than picking a theme.  the dresser, from ikea, was bought with a gift from my aunt betsy and aunt linda.  the glider and ottoman, ordered from amazon, was a gift from my parents...i have taken some awesome naps in it already.  the crib is from brian's sister kelly...it's in perfect condition and has already slept three sweet nieces.



the quilt hanging on the crib is a handmade gift...thanks brenda!!!  i fell in love with the floor pouf's from the land of nod, but not with the prices of up to $90! yikes! so, i searched for a tutorial and found a perfect one from living with punks...thus, the floor pouf in the lower left corner was born (costing maybe $40 for all of the materials?).



with SO MANY windows to dress, i got cheap white curtains from ikea and hot glued navy/lime green ribbon to the edges.  i was actually able to cut each panel in half because they were so large, which stretched the purchase.  3 packs x $10/pack, plus ~$15 in ribbon...I was able to cover all of those windows for ~$45! score!

the lamp with shelves holding toys was a wedding gift that got spray painted blue for the nursery. the rug came from overstock.com for ~$80.  i made the hanging bunting from curtain scraps and fabric my mom bought and used to cover tables at the baby shower. and doesn't the afghan i made look SO CUTE on the back of the glider!?

since storage is an issue, i picked up two big bins from lowes for $10 each that slide right under the crib.  they are for extra diapers, wipes, and anything else that needs to be neatly out of sight.


i mixed brown and white frames to try to tie the crib and dresser colors together, though i'm not sure it was necessary with the wood doors and white trim already in the room.  i bought the turtle and narnia prints from etsy. the "i love everything about you" print was a free online printable that i colored.  i also framed a baby shower invitation, baby boy's ultrasound, and a few of the maternity pictures jess took of us.  we also took the glass out of the frames and, after hanging, secured the frames with command picture hanging strips...since they are right over where baby boy will sleep.


i am tickled pink with how it turned out.  i think brian is too...even though he kept telling me i was making it too girly ;-)  

NOW, bring on the baby!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

happy birthday boo!

boo is a cinco de mayo baby...her birthday was this past sunday, may 5th. although she didn't actually become part of our family until 8 weeks after she was born, we definitely celebrated! she got a new bone, a little extra peanut butter in her kong, and a trip to my parent's house.  this is always a treat because their yard is huge and boo runs her guts out when she is there.

brian and i absolutely love this dog.  one of brian's coworkers had to have her dog put down today.  when brian told me that story, i think we both got a little teary (ok, i sobbed and had to get off the phone).  i'm sure this post is going to seem ridiculous after we have a CHILD!

this is the first picture we ever took of boo...when we went to see her at the breeder's....

hard to believe she has gotten so big in a year....

patiently watching out the window for brian to return from his run




what used to look like a huge stuffed animal is now a rinky-dink toy- that she still loves!....
 

happy birthday boo!

(does someone want to tell her that she's about to become #2??? i don't know that she's going to handle it well!)

Saturday, May 4, 2013

38 weeks

since yesterday marked 38 weeks, that definitely means no travel for us.  this has been a total bummer all day today, because two of our favorite people in the world are getting married in charlottesville and we are missing it!  luckily, we got to facetime for a few minutes with the bride before the wedding...she looked unbelievable....made me boo-hoo just a little!  congrats evan and lauren! we love you both so much! please be prepared for a full day reenactment the next time we see you.

WELL, 13 days and counting! the nursery is just about finished (pictures to come soon).  i'm being just a little bit obsessive about it i think.

we still don't have hospital bags packed yet.  my doctor says i'm tempting the labor gods. (i'm going to get up and pack the baby's as soon as i click publish)

as far as labor is concerned, i'm starting to make some progress-a good sign, but likely no baby this week.

this is really closer to a 37 week picture, but i had to show one where i look halfway decent....

...because 38 weeks is crossing over into miserable territory....