Can you help me?

Why on earth is the picture at the top of the blog so HUGE? I have tried to resize it so that it doesn't take over the entire screen and nothing is working. Can any of you bloggers out there help me out? Thanks!!!

Life at Home

The Williamson crew is loving life at home with sweet little Cal. Our first week has been filled with visitors and my mom came and stayed with us for the week (THANK GOD FOR HER!). Here are some recaps:

Saturday, we left the hospital. Eddie's sister came in town from D.C. so she came home with us and stayed until late Sunday afternoon. Eddie's mom came into town on Monday and ended up staying at our house. She was originally going to stay at my parents house across town so that it wouldn't be too crowded in our house, but my mom ended up freeing up a bed by sleeping on the nursery floor! (more to come on that in a minute!)

Monday night we had an appointment with our pediatrician. She is a family friend...well, sort of. I taught her daughter a few years ago and we became close through her. She had us come at 8:30 at night so that we would avoid all of the sick people. She is not a worrier, but she said Cal should not be anywhere that germs could be. He had such a traumatic entrance into this world and the last thing we need is for him to get sick! So, no doctor's offices, no schools, and he is not allowed to be around his cousin, Jackson, for a while either :(. That is a bummer because we can't wait for them to meet! Other than those things, she said he is doing great! He lost some of his birth weight, but was already starting to put it back on.

Cal is quite the good eater! Oh my! I had a lactation consultant help me in the hospital learn how to breast feed. It is something I have wanted to do and something I feel pretty strongly about. I don't think there is a thing wrong with not breastfeeding, but for me, I really wanted to. SO, in the hospital, he was latching on and was eating, but he needed some more calories since he was in the "special needs nursery" (even though he looked like a line backer in there!), so they gave him a little bit of formula. I kept on pushing for the breast feeding and by the time we came home, he was CHOWING down.

Our instructions for him feeding were to wake him every 3 hours until he had 2 "real" poops (they described them, but I won't go into detail here....), then never wake a sleeping baby. Well, the first night home, we had to wake him to feed him, and then he had his two dirty diapers and it was like he couldn't eat enough! We are trying to find that balance of "is he hungry?" or "is he just trying to soothe himself?". Eddie tends to want to feed him every time he cries, but I do not think I could produce enough milk for that, not to mention our kid would be the size of a real line backer by the time he is 3 months! So we are working on that...

Cal had several outstanding nights sleeping. I would feed him at 11:30 ish, 3:30 ish, and 7:30 ish. Not bad! Then, we hit a bit of a wall. He was waking up every 2 hours starving. He was sucking on his hand so loud I could hear it in the next room. My mom was sleeping on the floor of the nursery so that she could get him when he started to stir and change him before getting me up. After I would feed him and rock him, I would change him again and then hand him off to mom, who would then get him to bed. It was quite the system! Now you understand why I say my mom is a saint! He is still getting hungry every 2 hours, but we are trying to soothe him a little and hold out for at least 2.5 hours.... like that makes a big difference!

We have had a TON of visitors this week and it has been wonderful for all of our great friends to meet Cal. My friends have organized dinners for us so that we have a meal delivered to our house everyday for the next 3 weeks. It is SO nice to not have to worry about meals! I owe them all big time and I will be doing that for them when they have kids!

Now, here's where you can call me a baby. My mom went home today (she goes home everyday for a little bit)...but she isn't coming back tonight. When she left, I started bawling. I know, I know. I am SUCH a baby. She lives 10 minutes away and will be back tomorrow! We are on our own for nights now, which I am so not worried about, but it was soooo nice to have my mom here. She just knows what I need before I even ask for it or realize that I need it. Eddie and I are going to be so fine, but I appreciated having her here soooooo much and it makes me sad to know that when I get up in the night with Cal she won't be there helping me when he throws a fit. At least I know I get to see my sweet baby... that makes it all worth it!

I think this is it for now. I will try to be better about posting. We are just so in love with Cal and I don't think I can kiss him enough. He has had 2 sponge baths and did not enjoy them very much! He is rocking in his swing right now so I am going to get going on the thank you notes! We have more visitors coming in an hour.....

Bringing Home Baby

We weren't sure when we are going to be released from the hospital. Cal inhaled some meconium when he was born and it took him a while to snap out of it (their words!) when he was born, so he was in the special needs nursery right away until Saturday. They ran a bunch of tests on him to rule out infection. He had a very high white blood cell count, which could be a sign of infection so they had to monitor him and even gave him a spinal tap to rule out meningitis (talk about scaring momma!).

They wheeled him into the room on Saturday afternoon and I about died. He hadn't been out of the special needs room the entire time and I was just to happy to see him in our room! The sweet intern that had been working with us had really been trying to get us discharged on Saturday and it worked! We received word that we would be out of there around 4:30! YAY!

Here are some pics from our trip out of the hospital:

Dad carrying his car seat down the halls of the hospital. He was anxious to get him out of there!

The sign waiting for us announcing the arrival of Cal!!!

Home Sweet Home!

Pictures from Cal's BIRTH DAY!

Happy BIRTH DAY, Cal!

September 16th, 2009

Here's the story:

I went to the doctor on Tuesday, and I was fully dilated and 2-3 centimeters dilated. She "sort of" striped my membranes.

The contractions started on Tuesday night around 6 ish. They were super sporadic and very all over the place (sometimes they really hurt, sometimes they only hurt a little). We went to bed, but I was still timing the contractions-- about every 10-15 minutes. At 2:30 am, I jumped up with a KILLER contraction and my water breaking! I ran into the bathroom and made it in time to have the water break on the bathroom floor.

I called the doctor on call who told me to hold out for a few hours if I could. Eddie jumped in the shower and I started getting our bags ready to go. Well, in the next 10 minutes, I had 2 contractions that brought me to my knees in pain. I couldn't speak through them and the pain was pretty darn ugly.

We went ahead and got in the car and headed to the hospital. I had contractions the whole way to the hospital and I was not a happy camper. It was sooooooo not fun.

We checked into the hospital and I got a wheelchair and was taken to my room. Eddie had to go move the car and I was told to change into a gown. And I was left alone. I curled up on the bed and cried and the NICEST nurse in the world came in to check on me. The doctor came in to check me and I was at 4 cents. They had a anesthesiologist on hand right then, so they were willing to give me an epidural right then instead of waiting to run all of the blood work. Thank the LORD for that one! He hooked me up with an AMAZING epidural and in about 5 minutes, I was loving life.

You would have thought we were on a picnic. I was like a comedian. I was a happy happy girl. I was joking with the nurses, watching TV, and loving life!

At 9:00, I was 7 cm, and at 11:00, I was 10 cm, and it was time to push!

After two hours of pushing, the baby was making NO progress. The loving life part was no longer. I was hurting.

The doctor decided to use the vacuum on the baby. I have NEVER felt pain like that before. I was screaming and the baby was just NOT budging.

After the 3rd hour of pushing, the idea of a C-section was mentioned. Then, the doctor noticed the baby had a BM, so a C-section was going to happen...quickly. They raced the bed down the hall and doctors were running around like crazy.

I went into the OR as Eddie got suited up. They got me all prepped for the C-section and I had developed a massive case of the shakes. I couldn't stop shaking, so I decided to throw up. All over the operating room floor. Then, my nurse that I LOVED came over to hold my hand and slipped in my puke. Opps.... she didn't even flinch though.

So, Eddie came in and they did the surgery and I felt like I was open for a million ages, and then Cal was born! All 9 pounds, 3 ounces of him! No wonder he wasn't coming out!

All of the nurses came up to me the rest of the day to comment on how horrible of a day I had and they couldn't get over all that I'd been through.

You know what? I'd do it all again, the exact same way, tomorrow. Cal is such a blessing and I am sooooo happy he is here. We are so in love with him!

He is here!!!

I will write a much longer post with details later, but wanted to let you know that he is here!

Calvin Edwin Williamson, IV

"Cal"

September 16th, 2009

Born at 2:48 P.M.

9 pounds, 3 ounces

20.5 inches long

Baby Watch 09

Doctor's appointment today at 4:00

Dr. Chappell checked me and I was very nervous she would say "nothing to report!", but instead, much to my delight, she told me I am fully effaced and 2-3 centimeters dilated! YAY!

As she was finishing the exam, something kind of hurt...down there... and when I let her know that it was uncomfortable, she said she did it on purpose. She stripped part of my membrane! Her advice to make the baby arrive? Sex. Lots of sex (!!!). She said the sperm would break down the rest of the membrane, etc, etc, etc.... Not real sure I see a night like that in my future! haha!

She said the baby's head was way low (she could feel it!), and I was a minus 1.

I asked her about an induction since my mother in law is coming next week. She said she didn't think there was any way I wouldn't have the baby before her arrival, but we could talk about it.... so, I scheduled an appointment on Tuesday for her to check me again, and if all looks good, we will have an induction on Wednesday! But she feels confident we won't need to go that long.

Sorry for all of the gory details in this post. There really isn't a pleasant way to write about this!

I will keep you posted! Thanks for checking in on us!

xoxoxo

Ohhhh jealousy....

OH. My...

I am super jealous. Kim, the girl from school who has been pregnant this whole time with me had her baby this morning. I got to school today and read an email that was sent announcing the birth of her baby girl! Her due date was 2 days before mine, so we will see!!!

I am SUPER happy for Kim and her baby Charlie. Can't wait for our kiddos to be friends!

Things I have learned about pregnancy....

Things I have learned about pregnancy:

1. Whoever said it was 9 months is stupid. 40 weeks = 10 months.

2. It is SO hard to shave your legs.

3. You will soon forget what your bikini line looks like...opps.

4. The exhaustion in first trimester returns in the end.

5. The emotions....oh. my. GOSH! out of control.

6. I want to poke out the eyes of anyone who says, "I only gained 18 pounds when I was pregnant..." Literally.

7. Your stomach gets so big in the end, that there's not room to eat a full meal.

8. Getting in and out of a car without grunting is a challenge.

9. EVERYONE wants to share their birthing stories with you. Whether you want to hear them or not.

10. Everyone has advice for a pregnant woman. Some of the advice I have heard (unsolicited):

a. Toughen up your nipples now (I swear, I have heard this from someone... to whom I am NOT related!)

b. Start freezing some food now, you will need it later

c. Don't eat chocolate; it's bad for the baby

d. Put oils on your belly to prevent stretch marks

e. Stretch out your legs now to stay flexible for delivery

(I swear, these are some of the tips I have gotten! These are only SOME of them! hahaha)

11. I will never, NEVER, ask a pregnant woman how much weight she has gained.

12. Swelling can happen at any time....even if you have never swelled in your whole life!

I have loved being pregnant and it really is fun to grow a baby in my belly! I am to the point now where I think it's funny to make lists like this one so that I will always remember being 15 months pregnant...okay, 10 months....

There is a doctor's appointment tomorrow to see if there is any progress...fingers crossed!!!

Nesting away!

It's Sunday and I have been a nesting FREAK today.

Let me back up....

Eddie's dad is a football coach at TCU. They were playing UVA on Saturday in Virginia. Eddie really wanted to go to the game to see his family and to see the game too! He was going to leave on Friday afternoon, spend Friday night, go to the game on Saturday, and then come home late Saturday night.

We went to dinner with a GREAT group of friends on Thursday night. All of the women sat on one end of the table and the guys sat at the other. Well, we did what women do and talked about birth and everyone was sharing their birthing stories. I then let my imagination get the best of me and all I could picture was my water breaking in the middle of the night, Eddie being in Virginia, and me driving myself to the hospital! It might be an over exaggeration, but what if it wasn't? What if something like that did happen?

So, I burst into tears on Thursday night and told Eddie I didn't want him to go. I was scared to be left alone over night and that I really wanted him to stay the night with me. Call me selfish. Call me silly. I DON'T CARE. I wanted him there with me! I m 39 weeks pregnant, for goodness sakes!

He didn't want to do anything that made me upset or uncomfortable, so he stayed with me Friday night and went to the game early on Saturday morning. I spent the day with my parents, so I would have someone there, just in case! Eddie got home last night around 11:00. We were both exhausted, and I finally had SUCH a good night's sleep last night. I think I only got up 2 or 3 times, which is a miracle these days!

We got up this morning and went to brunch and then to Lowe's to get a few things for the house. I just went in mega nesting mode. I even washed our shower curtain!

The whole house is vacuumed, kitchen scrubbed, wood dusted, etc, etc, etc.... Eddie has been outside doing all of the yard stuff... it's all looking good! I understand what people mean when they say you get a sudden burst of energy! I am like a mad woman cleaning like crazy! Maybe this means the little guy is on his way??????

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

I love that song.... and it's true for me right now!

My bags are packed and just waiting to be grabbed to go to the hospital...

No signs of Cal coming any time soon. He's been moving a LOT lately and he feels super super low, but I haven't had any other signs or symptoms. I am pretty crampy lately (like period-like cramps), and I have had a few contractions here and there.

Not working has been AMAZING. I am soooo thankful for these last few days out of the classroom. It has been super nice to be able to sleep in until 7 (I usually get up at 6!), because I am NOT sleeping at night at all. I am running errands and I guess nesting here and there. I think we are pretty ready for this baby to arrive though!

It is now 3:25 and time for my afternoon nap...heehee.... gotta sleep while I can! Hank and I are enjoying an afternoon nap together. Speaking of Hank, he knows something's up. He is my constant shadow lately. I can't walk up the stairs without him running behind me. As I sit in my kitchen writing this, Hank is curled up at my feet.

N1H1/Swine flu

Today is 9/9/09... so far, no baby!

There was some excitement however in school today. After a night of NO sleep at all, I stayed in bed for an extra hour and went into school at 8:45 instead of 7:45. A few teachers were talking about the flu going around in the lower school, but I honestly didn't think twice about it. I was having such a productive day in my room with my replacement teacher. I actually had things I needed to do for her and it was a great day!

Well, a few teachers came in to talk to me about the 5 confirmed cases in the lower school and the current case in the middle school. Turns out, the 5 lower school sickies all had siblings that were in the middle school (they weren't sick, but they were in school). My very close colleague, Julie, has 3 kids: Lucy had a case in her class, Ida Scott had a case in her class, and Zeb is in my LA class.... all kind of scary to think of the contact that could be coming my way!

So I called the doctor to see what she thought, and she thought I would be okay to stay at school, and just avoid the "sick kids." Ummmm.... anyone who has ever been around a school knows that avoiding the sick kids is darn near impossible! There is snot and spit and....well, stuff everywhere! The kids constantly have their hands in their mouths and touching desks.

There is another pregnant girl at school with me (due on the 16th), and she called her doctor who said, "Why take the risk?" and sent her home. I followed her doctor's orders because it just isn't worth it to me, and went home too. I called my doctor back and explained the situation and he wrote me a note to stay away from school for 3 works days. I will stay away for Thursday, Friday, and Monday and then we will reevaluate the amount of sick people.

Now if we could just get this baby to come then! That would be perfect!!!

9-9-09?

Tomorrow is September 9th, 2009: 09-09-09!

There is another pregnant girl at work and we are both hoping for a delivery tomorrow... it would be too neat to deliver on 9/9/09!

Again... I don't want Cal to come before he's ready, but I am ready for him to be ready! I just can't wait to meet him!

Had a few contractions today, but nothing too big, and nothing worth timing. I will try to stay on top of the updates now that we are getting close!

PS-- we celebrated my brother's birthday tonight... had a great time at 411 West. I couldn't even eat half of my meal. I guess what they say about your stomach shrinking is true! That is so unlike me! haha

FALSE LABOR!

I went to the doctor this morning after my eventful Labor Day yesterday. The contractions stopped around 9 all together with just little ones here and there after that.

Turns out, it was false labor! The doctor said it was my body's way of getting ready for labor. He checked me and I am not dilated at all nor am I effaced. I kind of had that feeling, but I needed to hear it from the doctor too just to confirm it.

Soooo, I am back at work after a long break. I will keep everything updated as anything new happens!

Labor Pains on Labor Day

I posted last about my fear of going into labor while at the beach.... well, we made it home today around 1:00.

At 2:00, I had some stomach pains, and about 9 minutes later, I had more pains. Hmmm.... well, I started timing these "pains" in the off chance that they were something more, and they were very sporadic and all over the place. Eddie was on the golf course and I was determined not to call him off the course for nothing!

After a few hours of this, I called the doctor on call, just to see what was up. He said it definitely sounded like the onset of labor and when my contractions reached 5 minutes apart, I should call him again to go meet him at the hospital.

For the next few hours, I had a contraction ever 6 minutes (almost to the second!). I called Eddie on the golf course and told him he might want to come on home... who knew how long it would take me to get to 5 minute apart contractions??

Eddie came home and started timing the contractions for me. They were pretty steady at 6 minutes, but some were closer and some were further apart. It lost it's consistency. I got up to walk around a bit and the contractions pretty much went away.

That was a LOT of excitement for everyone in our family. My dad is now answering the phone, "BABY WATCH!", and my mother is afraid to go to sleep in case she won't hear the phone ring. My mother in law is in Texas waiting on the word to hit "submit" to purchase a ticket out here immediately.

At least I am home and with Eddie... Cal can come at any time now! On a side note, my brother's birthday was yesterday. All he wanted for his birthday was a nephew... isn't that cute?

I will update more tomorrow.... I am going to go to the doctor just to get checked and make sure everything is okay. That is....IF we don't make a run to the hospital tonight!

Labor Day Weekend...

Let me preface by saying my mom went into labor with me on Labor Day....

I went to the doctor on Wednesday and she measured me and I was measuring 2 inches smaller than I was last week. I gained only an ounce and a half since my last visit... I asked if I should be concerned (because that's what I do!), and she said it just meant the baby had dropped in to the birth canal. Yikes!

As many know, I am still teaching full time. The entire 6th grade went to Camp Cheerio for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and I wasn't allowed to go, so I ended up with an extra long Labor Day weekend! My doctor's appointment was Wednesday, and I had a few other appointments, and then Thursday morning we headed to the beach.

At my doctor's appointment, I asked if she thought it would be okay to travel (oh yeah-- Eddie was going to be in Atlanta too!), and she said she didn't have any reason to tell me not to go. She didn't check me to see if there was any dilation, since I haven't had any contractions or anything. There is a hospital down here that is AWFUL. I had one bad experience there and I swore I wouldn't go back! I think my mom was terrified that we would be making a mad dash home when my water broke. It is now Sunday night and we are heading home tomorrow morning... so far, no baby! We are all holding our breaths that we make it home tomorrow! I don't want to deliver in Carteret County, and I want Eddie there with me!

I have been relaxing and keeping my feet up and I swear, this is the best I have felt in weeks. I have ZERO swelling and other than my large size, I feel great. It is awesome!

The weather left much to be desired this weekend, with only one nice day, but I did get some great pics with my new camera!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!!! I will keep you posted on this baby!

29 candles on the birthday cake

On September 1st, I turned 29 years old! So much for having this baby when I am 28! Eddie is a few months younger than me so I was hoping we would both be 28 when Cal came to town, but now he will have an older momma! :)

We celebrated by going to dinner with the family to Mez and then opening gifts and having some cake. My big gift was an AWESOME camera that I already love love love. I have been playing with it a lot to try to learn all it can do before the baby arrives. Here are some of my favorite shots of just playing (poor Hank has to put up with me!):