the day the wee babe was born...

Daniel Vern Spillers

6 pounds 14 ounces

20 inches long

yes its true... our baby is now here! he decided to come a little earlier than planned.  we were scheduled to go to the hospital monday feb 6th at 5:30 am for a c section since my doctor, after doing 2 other surgeries on me, decided i needed to have a c section if i ever wanted to have more than one kid since i am apparently freakishly tiny.  saturday feb 4th was your typical lazy saturday.  we cleaned the house a bit... i mopped and swept the floors and chris cleaned the bathroom and we generally tidied the whole apartment.  throughout the day i had been having more and more contractions but nothing regular and nothing too painful.  at 3 we went down to my moms for a minute to visit and while there i started having some fairly painful contractions.  i still didn't think anything of it since they weren't regularly coming.  by 4:30 they had started to come more regularly i think but i am no good at telling when one ends and the next begins.  i decided i had better go ahead and take a shower and get ready to go just in case.  by 6:00 chris was getting really excited thinking i was actually going into labor so he jumped in the shower and once he finished packing we headed off to the hospital.  i called my mom at 7:30 pm to let her know we were going to the hospital and i would call her to let her know if we were having a baby that night.

we get to the hospital and they have me change into the oh so cute hospital gown and hook me right up to the monitors.  sure enough i was having contractions every 3 min... glad to know i wasn't crazy.  the nurse thought they might just give me something to make them stop and have me come back monday when we were scheduled... but she was going to call me doctor and see what he wanted to do.  he of course was like "she's 39 weeks.. why would we send her home??" haha so she came in and said congrats we are going to have a baby in an hour! whoa.  i called my mom and she headed over... my sister emily also decided to come and wait to see the baby.

here is where the real fun began.  the nurse came in and was getting ready to put in my IV and i warned her that i have tiny deep veins that like to roll.  she couldn't even find a good vein and when she finally got one in my hand to pop up she missed it because it rolled away.  she decided not to stick me again and went and got the anesthesiologist.  he started flicking my wrist and hands and other places trying to find a vein... i came home with a nice bruise and lump on the side of my wrist from him trying to get a vein to come up there.  while he was working the phlebotomist came in needing to draw some blood for labs... wow really??? so there i was with one on each side... the anesthesiologist tried going in through my wrist which was really painful and i just cringed and the phlebotomist was going in through the side of my wrist at the same time... crazy! finally the IV was put in on the back of my right hand and heavily taped so it wouldn't get pulled out accidentally.

here's the anesthesiologist and phlebotomist working on me... and the last picture taken as the "doors close on my pregnancy" haha

after this we headed off the the OR.  we left chris behind on the hall while they got me situated.  they were doing a spinal block since they wear off faster than an epidural... he had me sit crossed legged on the table and hunch over... hahaha hilarious since i was huge and pregnant.  unfortunately my back is similar to my arms and he had a difficult time finding the place to go in.... he ended up sticking me at least 5 times... each one was really painful.  i didn't say anything i just breathed deeply and held onto the nurse that was supporting me.  the dr. felt so bad and was amazed he had never seen anything this difficult before.  he finally got it done after 40 min of trying. meanwhile we had left chris in the hallway to wait while they got me all situated and after a while he wondered where the heck we were and if they had forgotten him...

chris came in, my dr put on some music and off they went.  chris was excited my doctor let him stand up and watch the whole surgery.  which was nice for me too since he would tell me what was going on... i could tell when the moment was getting closer because chris started bouncing on his heels and then he whipped out the camera and started taking pics and pretty soon at 10:28pm we heard the most bizarre and exciting sound... the baby crying.  the doc brought him over real quick so i could see him and holy cow... the kid had tonz of black hair... yep... really dark dark brown hair!! that was the first thing i said when i saw him "look at all that hair!"  the next shocker was when they weighed him and said 6 pounds 14 oz...  20 inches..what?! really?? my whole pregnancy they had said the baby was measuring really big and would be at least 8 pounds... ha! not even close.  he's a string bean with long arms and long skinny frog legs.  i was a little choked up after that... there was now a baby... chris said he got a little choked up too while they were cleaning him up.  i got to see him one more time they brought him right up to my face for a couple min.

then chris left with the baby and i was left to be closed up... from then on i was listening to the hilarious conversation about pinewood derby cars.... haha yep it was real exciting.  eventually they took me back to the room where my mom and emily were waiting.  chris took them to see the baby through the nursery window and then they left.  by 2 am they finally took me from recovery to our room for the next couple days and then they brought in our baby.  i can't really say i ever went to sleep that night cause i just wanted to hold the baby and stare at him.  what an exciting night and soooo surreal.  you know a baby is coming for 9 whole months but then he's actually there and its mind blowing.  nothing can prepare you for the feelings that instantly come when he is actually in your arms.  and i must say he is one beautiful baby with the sweetest little face.

we are parents.  whoa.  very awesome and exciting.

accidents happen...

i have been meaning to write this blog and keep forgetting... back in december while chris was on break he came with me to one of my doctors appointments and then after we went to babies-r-us to register.  he was an awesome sport to look at all that baby stuff with me.  i think it helps that i have him doing all the scanning with the cool scanner gun haha and i'm fast.  we were only there maybe an hour and a half.  after we went to dinner at sweet tomatoes.  we were having a good time even though i wasn't feeling the greatest and was super tired... next thing you know BAM!!! chris spills his completely full glass of dr. pepper on himself.  he amazingly spilled it so it fell towards him right into his lap.  i could not stop laughing... he stood up to show me and from the front and the back it totally looked like he wet his pants.  hahaha how awesome is that?! we had to sit there for a while to let it dry a bit before he would leave or get up to get more food.  i think he did it on purpose to cheer me up... isn't he the best? haha

this pic was taken with my phone so it is a little hard to tell just how wet his pants really are.

the wee babe's room...

i now have everything put in its place in the baby's room... and last week i decided it really needed a mobile so i took the fabric that i used for the bedding and made one!  i cut out the animals from one fabric and put a little stuffing in it and hot glued it shut and put a ribbon in it and hung it from the hoop... and then from the smaller hoop i hung strings of small circles from various fabrics from the bedding... and then hung it from the ceiling.  i think it turned out way cute!

i also repainted this rocking chair i got from my mom... i have memories of her rocking me in it when i was a kid so it was fun that she let me have it... i sanded it down and painted it white and grey to match the bedding and crib.  i then found a cushion at lowe's and took the cover off and used it as a pattern for a new cushion from the fabric i had from the bedding so it would all match... it turned out way cute! 

we are also so limited on space in our house and closet space is what we have the least of so i took chris's old bookcase and took out the top shelf and put in a closet rod and turned it into a tiny closet!  i then bought these cute crates from lowe's to use as drawers on the other shelves.  i really liked them because they are sturdy... not just canvas that can collapse. they are milk crates.  my sister saved all her tiny hangers from her baby so i used those to hang all his tiny clothes... i plan to pain it as well... but not anytime soon.... eventually after he's born... maybe after we move to north carolina.  i also moved my dresser into the crib room to use the top as the diaper changer... i bought one of the contour pads and then it had a strap to screw onto the back to secure it and then i bought a cover and wa-la!  baby changer!  i also emptied out the top drawer for diaper/ other random baby supplies.  

seriously can't wait to add a baby to this room! 

the baby shower...

my awesome visiting teachers (and friends) threw me a really cute and fun baby shower!! they decided to go with a western theme... cause what's more boy than a cowboy??! here's the WAY cute invitation:

isn't that so cute?! and the decorations were so cute! they had a pie bar with lots of choices and they had a candy bar where you could fill a goody bag and a little cowboy hat for the guests to sign in on and barrels of popcorn to take home.  it was all super cute!

here's the decorations: 

i was surprised how many of my friends and family came... it was a fun group with lots of talking and laughing and whatnot! 

i spent most of my time opening presents... which was fun of course but i always want to talk to people more... 

everyone was so generous and gave me lots of really cute things!! i love baby stuff! they are so tiny and just dang cute! 

the whole night was really great and i was truly grateful to everyone that came!! 

you say its your birthday...

i had a birthday!!! i turned 28! woo hoo!! it wasn't a big deal though... we went to dinner with my mom and niece amanda to tgi fridays (i had a coupon for a free dessert) and chris got me a few little presents!  he got me the last 2 harry potter movies and both of adele's cd's and then this little lap desk thing that had a light and cup holder... its way nice to use when i'm sitting on the couch reading not to have to hold the book!  there was a man at the restaurant doing balloon animals so he made amanda a little dog and he made me a birthday cake!

it was a really nice low key day!! 

on another note... chris and i had our actual 1 year anniversary on the 22nd this month and TOTALLY FORGOT!!!! haha i hadn't felt good that morning so chris went to church alone and we went to lunch at my moms and were just hanging out and at 9pm i realized... its our anniversary! we forgot since we celebrated it back in december!! haha we then laid in bed and shared our favorite moments of the year... but i thought it was too funny we nearly let the day pass with out saying anything! haha 

38 weeks... the end is here

here we are... at the end!! i am really excited and completely ready for this little guy to be here! feb 6th they are going to take him and it cannot come soon enough.  i feel like the last 9 months have gone by fairly fast and these last 2 weeks have been torture!!! once the baby shower was over it was like... now what??!  wait wait wait.  here are somethings i'm experiencing these days:

- i no longer have heart burn because of the best pill ever invented called nexium!!! if any of my friends out there suffer... ask your doc for this pill!!! its amazing.  i haven't had any heart burn in a month.

- sleeping is becoming more sporadic. i wake up often for the bathroom and sometimes once i am awake i get a little insomnia crazed.  luckily chris is a heavy sleeper and i can turn on the to to entertain myself at 3 am.

- i am having contractions all the time.  sometimes they are more uncomfortable than others and lately they are down right painful.  i'm not in labor but they sure do hurt.

- it is also comical to watch me move around. i walk with a huge waddle... i need help getting off the couch... rolling over in bed takes an unbelievable amount of effort... and i simply put am completely constricted by this giant ball hanging off the front of me.

- this weekend i think they baby has dropped down... which has been really really painful.  i could hardly lift my leg to get in the car... haha... 

- i haven't gained any weight in the last 2 weeks... but baby bump has super grown... 

i have organized all the babies things and put them away in his room and gotten the whole room ready... big time nesting.  its been really fun.  except for the part where i broke grandpa's washing machine washing baby socks... beware... they flip up into the barrel and get sucked into the drain pump... and then it costs $$$ to fix it.  i bought a mesh laundry bag to put all tiny things in from now on... lesson learned.  

my weekly appointments go by so fast as i go in and they take my weight and blood pressure and send me home... its pretty nice.  i'm definitely ready to move onto the next phase of motherhood!! chris is also ready but nervous that i will go into labor before feb 6th... which is not a big deal... but it will not be part of the plan! the other day i was getting out of the car and stepped wrong on my foot and got shooting needle pain throughout the whole foot and i yelled out really loud and chris jumped out of the car and was like "did your water break??!" hahaha i guess i'm going to have to be more careful around him when i wince in pain.  he was getting really nervous the other night because my contractions were more painful than normal... but never consistent so i told him no biggie... even though i was secretly worried too haha.  

here is the progression of the belly growth: 

i will definitely be surprised if this boy isn't at least 8 pounds as he has been measuring... we fight over space all the time.. i lean over and he pushes me hard in the ribs and i retaliate by pushing back on him with my hand... i know... i'm fighting with my unborn baby.  oh well...  one more week!! (plus a day or two)

  

the cute potential...

i was looking at baby pics today of chris and i and decided that our baby has a pretty good chance of being dang cute... here's the proof: