five generations.

J's great-grandmother turned 100 back in November of last year. Even though her hearing and sight are mostly gone, we've all been so excited about taking a five generation picture since we announced that we were pregnant. I mean, how often are five generations of one family still around at the same time?

So, about a week after Jack was born, we got Nanny to my in-law's house for the pic! She got her hair done for the occasion and looked so pretty! The one thing she was looking forward to was kissing Jack's little feet and once she had him in her arms she did not want to let go.

J, his grandmother (Carolyn), his dad, Nanny and Jack

How cool is this picture? Definitely a framer!

(preliminary) thoughts on motherhood.

I'm a little over 2 weeks into this motherhood thing and I've already gained some insight.

• First of all ... since Jack and Jason share a birthday (is that the eleventy-billionth time I've told you that?), I got to thinking how crazy it is that my mom and I both gave birth to our first-born sons on the same day, 35 years apart. So cool!

• We had our 2-week appointment with the pediatrician last Friday and Jack hadn't gained the amount of weight that he should have (essentially, he was a week behind). She put me on a medication that was supposed to (hopefully) encourage milk supply and we went back today to have him weighed again. This morning, he weighed the exact same amount as last Friday, so, we're officially supplementing with formula and I feel so much relief! It's such a helpless feeling to have your child wailing and know they're hungry, but not really be able to do anything about it. So, now that we know we'll be able feed him, I'm filled with relief.

• My mom stayed with us for almost two weeks and I can't say enough about how much help she was! I was super sad to see her go (more than a few tears were shed ...), but I knew that J and I had to start figuring things out for ourselves. It's been a little frustrating not to have an extra set of hands to hang on to Jack so I can go to the bathroom or put things away around the house, but we're dealing. My mom has since told me several times that she's more than willing to come back up and help in a heartbeat!

• Since coming home, Jack has gone 7 hours (thanks mom!), 5 hours and 4 hours between feedings at night. I like it when we go longer stretches ... who doesn't? And, who knows, maybe now that we know his belly is full, he'll go long stretches. Knock on wood!

• There are lots of options for quieting a crying baby: rocking, singing, bouncy chair, swaddling, having grandma hold him and driving around. We've used all of these!

• And, finally, having a baby really is a lot of hard work, but the when you figure something out or something you choose to do gets the results you wanted (namely, sleep), it's rewarding. I can't wait until Jack is more responsive ... talk about rewarding, then!

wordless wednesday.

Photo by HolliB Photography

Jack's birth story.

As a record for myself and, eventually, Jack's baby book, here is his birth story!

As far back as 37 weeks, I kept thinking I was going into labor -- at a baseball game, at home on a random Thursday … I knew that it was time …. I was obviously getting more and more uncomfortable (I think Jack was all squished under my ribs) and slower and slower. 

With work winding down for the summer, I was torn between hoping Jack would come early to finally meet him (or her, at the time) and ease my discomfort and hoping he would wait just a little after the due date so I could finish my work and not have to worry about trying to work and handle a newborn. In the end, he came when he was ready and I was able to get the things done that I needed to. 

The weekend before Jack arrived, my oldest brother, Jason, texted me to tell me that I had his blessing to have the baby on Friday, May 6 -- his birthday. I thought it was funny and never really gave it another thought. Until that morning around 5:30. 

I was awake, tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, and I felt what I thought might be my water breaking. Unsure if I was right or not, I got up and waited about 15 minutes before waking J. By 5:45, I was pretty sure that's what was happening and that we needed to pack the rest of stuff in our bag and head to the hospital. We were going to be parents!!

J said I woke him up and he had to sit on the edge of the bed for a few minutes to really grasp what was happening. It was so surreal. We'd been waiting and wondering when we'd meet our baby, and the time was finally here. 

I called my parents around 6 am and told them I thought my water had broken and that I'd call them from the hospital once we knew for sure. (They must have thrown all their stuff together right then and there, because they made great time to Oklahoma and made it to the hospital 10 minutes after the Little Man was born!)

As we rushed around and took showers, the dogs were completely unsure of what was going on. We were obviously packing (which they usually freak out about) but they were more skeptical of what we were doing this time. Gus seemed to be protecting his crate, not letting us take him anywhere. Poor guy has been so stressed about all the changes and I think if we'd packed up their crates to take them to the vet it would have put him over the edge ...

So, with our bags packed and just about the whole house in tow, we hit the road for the hospital. 

Once my water broke, I started feeling contractions. They weren't regular or anything, but on the drive to the hospital, I started paying a little closer attention to how long and how far apart they were. They were lasting a few minutes and, by the time we were at the hospital, the contractions were less than 10 minutes apart. 

Thank goodness we had pre-registered because getting admitted to the hospital was a breeze. We were sent up the L&D floor where it was determined my water had, in fact, broken and I was at a 3.5 to 4. They then sent us to a hospital room to get fully admitted. The bad news was that my doctor was still out of town, so the on-call doc would be delivering the baby. At first I was a little miffed he wouldn't be there to deliver (his quote earlier in the pregnancy, "Theres a 2% chance I won't deliver your baby"), but in the end, the on-call doc (Dr. Jarvis) was great! She was so calm and helpful when it came time to push.

Our nurse, Denise, was super nice! She got me hooked up to an IV and started the Pitocin (to get the labor moving a little more) and then we waited. As she asked me all her questions, my contractions were getting a little stronger. She finished everything up and told me that when I was ready for an epidural, just give her a call. Now, it has to be said ... I have low pain tolerance. So, about 15 minutes after she left my room, I called her back and said I was ready for the epidural. Those contractions are not fun!

During my whole pregnancy, I had been really nervous about L&D, but the epidural really scared me. Not because of any horror stories or anything, but just the fact that I'm getting numbing medicine in my spine ... not exactly your every-Friday occurrence! The nurse anesthetist came in and started my epidural. Of course in the middle of that, I had a pretty strong contraction, which made it hard to sit still but also solidified the fact that I was right in going ahead with the epidural. 

After that, with the numbness starting to spread through my legs, we continued to wait. I was progressing pretty fast over the next couple of hours and then things kind of slowed. But, at about 10 minutes to 3, it was time to push. 

I have to admit, during the whole waiting process, I had somehow forgotten that I still had to push before we could meet our little guy. But, by the time we got there, I was ready and after 45 minutes of pushing, we found out we had a son!! 

Sidenote: J was a great coach! As I'm pushing, he told me he was channeling Baby Huey, the "pump 'em up" guy from the skiing events in the Olympics.

I was completely shocked when the nurses put him on my chest. I didn't expect to see him so soon, and I certainly wasn't expecting to just have him there. Wow…what a surreal moment. So, then the nurses cleaned him up and weighed and measured him … and that's when we found out I'd been carrying an 8 lb. 10 oz baby. Not the 7 to 7.5 lb one the doctor had assured me I'd have. Ha!

John rushed out to the waiting room to announce that we'd had a boy and a few minutes later the whole family came in to meet our newest member. 

I have lots of pics from the hospital. Once I go through them I'll post some of those. And, we did Jack's newborn photos this morning (sooo excited about them!), I'll post a sneak peek (a pic from my iphone) along with those!

wordless wednesday.

introducing ...

Wow ... I've been a bit MIA.

But, how fitting that my 300th post is an announcement of the newest member of my family?

I went into labor on Friday, May 6 (which also happens to be my oldest brother's birthday -- don't worry, he gave me his blessing to have the baby on his birthday) and had baby BOY, Jack Montgomery at 3:35. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz (much bigger than the doctor's 7.5lb prediction) and was 20" long!

I called my parents that morning around 6 am to tell them my water had broken. They got in the car not shortly after and made it to Oklahoma just in time to come into my room and meet their newest grandchild! I was ecstatic they made it in time!

Jack and I were released from the hospital on Sunday and we have been in the throws of figuring each other out the last couple of days. He's really a great baby, and although today was frustrating (and there are many more frustrating days ahead), I'm in love and life before Jack is becoming a distant memory.

My dad had to head back home on Sunday, but my mom has been with us since we got home and she's offered to stay for 2 weeks! So far she's been a HUGE help and I'm sure when she's out the door, J and I will be very sad.

I've been wanting to sit down and share my news for a few days but haven't found a spare moment until now. My hope is to blog as much as possible about Jack and keep a scrapbook of what he's doing. Keep your fingers crossed I actually get that done!

I have a ton of pics to go through, so you can expect a post with just pics of being in the hospital and the days since we've gotten home. And, I promise them soon!

the nursery.

I finally took pictures of the nursery this morning. I really wish the room was bigger so you could see the whole thing in one picture. Unfortunately, baby has a tiny room and I have to take pics of each little area separately.

Just keep in mind we won't have much on the walls until we know if baby M is a he or a she.

I really love the bedding!

This chair is super comfortable and was the perfect compromise between what J and I wanted in a rocker/recliner for the nursery. Oh, and do you see the Yankees Jeter bobblehead on top of the bookshelf? Yeah, that has J written all over it!

I'm thinking about taking that Happy Birthday hat with the candles to the hospital for baby's first picture! How cute would it be to have the baby in there, wearing it or something?? 

So, that's the gist of the nursery. It's really cute and I kind of think that the individual pics don't really do it justice. 

And, just as an update for any family that might be reading and doesn't already know, if baby M doesn't come on its own, we have an induction date of May 11. So, there's an end in sight!! 

Have a fabulous Thursday!

39 week pic.

Here I am, in all my 39-week glory ...

My comfort level continues to decrease with each passing day and I'm beginning to think baby M likes it so much in there that he/she never wants to come out! 

Please pray for patience ... I need it!!

belly business -- 39 weeks

How far along: 39 weeks 

Size of the baby: baby M is now as big as a watermelon (about 7 lbs. and 19-22 in.) (Thank goodness he/she isn't getting any bigger because I pretty much feel stretched to the limit!)

Total weight gain/loss:  24 pounds

Maternity clothes: Lately, I find myself back to online shopping, looking for dresses that I can (hopefully) wear in the summer that will work for breastfeeding. Have I mentioned I'm sick of maternity clothes??

Cravings: margaritas!

Symptoms: all of the really fun symptoms. I've definitely been having more and more Braxton Hicks, and each time, I wonder if they're going to last longer and start coming regularly ... 

Movement: Movement has slowed a little due to lack of space, but the baby finds ways to move and flip around.

Gender predictions: I feel a little sad that I don't have an inkling what we're having. Some days I think it's a girl for sure because so many of our friends are having girls and then others I think it's a boy. No clue!

This week's highlights are that the nursery is "finished." I use quotes because until we know if we have a little boy or girl, the room won't be completely done. I plan on taking pics sometime this week and posting them for you guys.

Also, I went to the doctor on Thursday. Unfortunately, I hadn't made any more progress. He still thinks I'll go into labor and not have to be induced, but we did make a plan if needed. So, I think, by Wednesday May 11, whether the baby has come on its own or not, we'll have a baby! 

I know I posted this earlier this week, but I'm so excited and anxious at the same time! I wake up most mornings wondering if this is the last morning we won't be dealing with a newborn and wondering what our mornings will be like soon. 

Remember those couple of lunch dates when I picked my friend's brain on all things baby? She had her second girl a month ago and we finally got to meet her on Friday! She's so adorable and so tiny. And, meeting and holding her made both J and me so excited to meet our little miracle! Soon enough, I guess!

No picture tonight -- I'll have one tomorrow, I promise!