Reflection

Sitting here for the past 2 hours I realized that I haven't blogged in what feels like ages. I've been reflecting on the past few months since we brought Alec home and how many changes our little boy has already made, but not only has my sweet little stinker changed but so have I. Honestly when I first got pregnant last March I never really knew if I was going to be cut out for motherhood or how anything was going to be. There's no book that can prepare you for being a mother, its really a learned instinct that we're all born with, it starts the first moment you read that pregnancy test or the first time you see your little peanut on the screen. It immediately deepens the first moment that your child is placed on your chest and you can see his/her sweet round face looking back at you and you see what exactly God has given you and blessed you with. I've been doing a lot of reflection and seeing how great of a mother I am to my little boy, the sacrifices that I make and the things I do just because I am a mother now. My thinkings changed, I'm not just a teenager anymore, I have another life to think for and to put first before myself in everyday life. I find it VERY humbling to call myself a mommy and to know that someone needs me at every moment of every day.

Welcome to the world!!!

So we came to the hospital at 6 PM Saturday November 20th to be induced due to my protein levels being so high (338) and because of my blood pressure being high as well, they FINALLY diagnosed me with pre-eclampsia. Once we got here they started my on a saline drip to get me nice and hydrated and started placing cydotech on my cervix to help thin me out. First round was placed at 7 and the second at 11 and they started doing the job and I dilated to 3 instantly. At around 12:50 I called the nurse in because I thought my water had broken but come to find out it hadn't so I rolled over on my side and asked Jake to rub my back because it was hurting really badly and thats when it happened, he said I got the deer in the headlights look and rolled over instantly, I knew my water had broken in that instant. My nurse came back in and checked and sure enough my water had broken and I was then dilated to 4cm and 90% effaced so I was progressing REALLY fast. At that point my contractions started hurting, before I was having them every minute to two minutes but wasn't feeling them AT ALL. I labored for 2 1/2 hours before finally caving and getting an epidural to help me rest a little bit so at 4 AM they gave me that and I slept till about 6 and then woke up so that my nurse could check me and then I started feeling the contractions ALL over again. They called the anesthetist back up to push more in me but that didn't work at all, they checked me again and I was 5cm though the dr said that it felt like I was fully dilated at first. She walked out and I started saying I NEED TO PUSH NOW, so Jake called front desk to let them know and the dr came in and rechecked me and sure enough I was fully dilated so they started having me do a few practice pushes cause I couldn't hold it and I kid you not that that hurt like heck without meds, I pushed about 3 times before begging them to get me some sort of pain meds. They called the anesthetists back up to see what they could do for me and they decided it would be best to do a spinal block, the first guy that was trying to do it stuck me a grand total of 40 times and as he was trying to place it I kept having terrible contractions and was pushing while sitting up on my poor baby. I was about at my breaking point because by then I was pushing 4 times per contraction and didn't know how much longer I could last so they called back down and asked the other guy to come up and see if he could get it in, first try he got it in the right spot and got me all numbed up and ready to go. They finished breaking the bed down in about 3 minutes and had me pushing, it took a grand total of 30 minutes for me to push Alec out and only came away with a 2nd degree tear. He weighed 8lbs 1oz and was 21in long and was born at 9:18AM on November 21, exactly 6 months after my amazing nephew was born! At first when he came out his cry was weak since they had me hooked up to magnesium so they watched him under the warmer for a bit to get him to crying really well. All in all it has been a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. We have an amazing little boy that has filled us with so much love and joy that its simply hard to understand. Since then Alec has taken great to breastfeeding and is a real champ and keeps surprising the nurse here! 

39 weeks!!

Dear Reader, 


I'm waiting to greet the world! I continue to build a layer of fat to help control my body temperature after birth, but it's likely I already measure about 20 inches and weigh a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of my skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath. Not too much longer till mommy and daddy will meet me!!



Alec 

38 weeks!!

Dear Reader, 


I have really plumped up. I weigh about 6.8 pounds and am over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). I have a firm grasp, which mommy and daddy will soon be able to test when they hold my hand for the first time! My organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color my eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If I'm born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If I'm born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time I'm 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after they're born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)



Alec

37 weeks!!!

Dear Reader,


I am now considered "full term," even though mommies due date is three weeks away. If she goes into labor now, my lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though.)

I weigh about 6 1/3 pounds and measure a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if my hair isn't the same color as mommies or daddies. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz. Mommies hoping and crossing her fingers that I have a head full of hair!

Alec

36 weeks!!!

Dear Reader,


I am still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. I now weigh almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. I'm shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covers me body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected my skin during my nine-month amniotic bath. I swallow both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of my first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, I will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely I'm in a head-down position. But if I'm not, mommies practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying he'll try to coax me into a head-down position by manipulating me from the outside of mommies belly.


Alec Grayson

35 weeks!!!

Dear Reader,


I don't have much room to maneuver now that I'm over 18 inches long and tip the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in mommies womb, I'm not as likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times I kick should remain about the same. My kidneys are fully developed now, and my liver can process some waste products. Most of my basic physical development is now complete — I'll spend the next few weeks just putting on weight.


Alec Grayson