Life without Nana around

It's hard to believe that our tiny little baby is 19 days old today! That's nearly 3 weeks. He's accomplished so much in these last few weeks. For the first two weeks Nana was with us, thankfully. She was our angel. She cooked, did a ton (literally) of laundry, helped with housework, babysat, took us places. You name it, Nana did it. She was a Godsend (as she always is!) We are so honored to have her with us these past two weeks. However, on Saturday, dad flew in and decided he wanted her at home in SC for himself. So the two of them left for SC early Monday morning. Needless to say my world nearly came crashing down. We were fine Monday morning, but Monday afternoon was a different story. Little man decided to be real unhappy from about 1:30 or 2 until about 6:30 that night. I ended up calling Matt and he came home early from work (during tax season) Matt is a wonderful father and it takes love and dedication to hold a screaming baby for 2 hours. Turns out our little man was just constipated (sorry Gabriel if you ever read this) Once little man did his business he was better (of course I cried when he fixed his pants!!) It's every mother's dream to hear the sound of her child working on a package!!! It was then that I realized how much I really needed my mother, and a nap. Didn't get a nap that day so I had a breakdown on the way to Target. Reality hit, my mother was gone and it was just me and Gabriel during the day. With today being Thursday I am feeling like a new woman and not a complete failure as a mother. Last night we bathed Gabriel with Johnson's Bedtime Bath ( I LOVE THAT STUFF) and went 5 whole hours without having to eat! Normally it's a 2-3 hour cycle 24 hours a day. But mommy was able to sleep for a few hours!!! I'm looking forward to the weekend where Matt will be home with us (at least part of the time) I am ready for tax season to be over with!

GABRIEL COOPER HINTON IS HERE

Okay, sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been a little busy!!! On Saturday February 6th at 10:06 AM we welcomed the most precious baby boy into our lives. Let me take you back. Mom and dad came in Thursday February 4th because I'd been up Wednesday night with timed contractions, of course after I called mom and dad to tell them about the contractions, they stopped. Go figure. Mom and dad decided to head up to KY anyway, just in case. It's a good thing they did. On Friday mom and I went for a walk around the mall and thankfully did a Kroger run. I cooked dinner for everyone Friday night and at 12:35 am on Saturday the labor began, only I did not realize labor had "begun." The contractions woke me up, however, I didn't think too much about them (even though they were very timed and fairly painful) just because of what had happened a few nights before. I managed to sleep through a better part of early labor and woke up again around 4:30 or 5:00 am only to find myself in quite a bit more pain. I labored by myself (and with God of course) until a little before 6, when I decided I needed to wake Matt up. You see, I was still convinced they were braxton hicks contractions but they were really hurting. So I woke Matt up and he started timing them. They were so well timed that he could tell me about 30 seconds before one would start. The pain, as I recall, was bad but not unbearable. When they were 2 and 3 minutes apart Matt had to practically make me get ready for the hospital. I ended up showering and putting on my make up all before leaving. Around 7:30 am we woke mom and dad up (mom was shocked I didnt wake her up earlier) and then we headed towards the hospital. Note to everyone: having contractions (back labor to be exact) is no fun and games when it comes to having a husband who wanted to get me there as quickly as possible hitting every pothole in sight! But I survived. When we got to the hospital I was already 7 centimeters dialated. WOW! We were both shocked, I was still figuring on being false labor. In fact, on the way to the hospital I told matt that if this was false labor I was going to be "pissed." Yes, it's in quotes cause I said it!!! Needless to say this was NOT false labor. After we learned I was 7 cm dialated and 100% thinned it came time for the epidural. At one point during the pregnancy I had this crazy notion to go all natural, YEAH RIGHT. I could have done it but it would not have been a pretty sight. I decided the epidural was the way to go, as soon as they offered it, I accepted it. Matt had to leave the room while the epidural was administered, but he later told me that after he came back in (about 30 minutes later) I was all smiles!!! I do remember feeling a LOT better! Within no time the nurse told me I was 10 cm and had me to start pushing. Within minutes the doctor was there and I delivered the sweetest, most precious baby BOY in the world! Gabriel Cooper. God has blessed us so much. I had such an easy delivery.

One day at a time!

So hopefully I'm just within days of having this wonderful baby! As you can see, my timer has popped!!! It actually popped a few weeks ago, but that's okay. I go back to the doctor on Thursday (if not before) to see how things are going. Hopefully mom and dad will be giving the OK to go ahead and make the 11 hour journey to await the arrival of their 3rd grandchild. Stay tuned!

The birth is drawing near!

I went to the doctor today and things are looking great. I'm making more progress, so much progress that she wants to see me again Thursday (in 3 days!!!) So I guess when I go back Thursday I'll know more. She also said to put my parents (who live in South Carolina) on "high alert" because we could be looking somewhere around a week. So it's really a waiting game now. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. Stay tuned!