Life after Two Weeks

Life has changed for sure....that is the understatement of the century. We can't imagine him not here now. There are things that I was so prepared for, and things that I could never have been prepared for. Those of you that have had daughters you are lucky that you get to skip the whole circumcision doctor appointment. Now that was rough. I stressed about it for a long time. I bawled the whole time, and Trevor was the one that stayed in the room with Brody! I cried myself out to the car. If you think getting your kids shots is bad, I think that appointment is worse. That cry was worse than any I had heard from him ever! Brody broke the tension in the room though by pooing on the doctor midway through the procedure.After Brody was born he lost weight and was down to 8 lbs. 12 oz. By the Wednesday after he was born he was back up to 8 lbs. 15 oz. So he had lost more weight but it was coming up. On Friday we went for Brody's two week wellness check up. It had been 9 days since our last appointment. He now weighs 9 lbs. 12 oz. He gained nearly a whole pound! Talk about good eats! He is in the 96% for his heighth (he's now 22 and 1/2 inches long) and 79% for his weight.

One thing I never even thought twice about was the amount of laundry! Holy moly! How can bringing one tiny little being into your home nearly double the amount of laundry I do? It's insane. And further more, I swear that the amount of trash we take out has doubled as well. It is nuts.

My favorite thing Brody does right now happens right after he is fed. If he got in a good feeding he usually has milk spilling somewhere on his face. He also is asleep and like dead weight at this point. It is like he is the most fat and happy and content person on the planet. I'll stroke his little face and he just grins ear to ear. It is the sweetest thing ever. Sometimes at night when I can barely keep my eyes open he'll start to do that and I'm like, "okay, I just want to hold you longer and look at your little face." It makes it all worth it.

Trevor loves being a dad. He is so good. He changes every single diaper when he is home. Well, minus the ones at night....but he did get up with me every feeding that first week. Trevor has probably said the word cute more time in the past couple weeks than he has in his whole entire life. He loves Brody and loves to hold him and talk to him. When Trevor's at work I text pictures of Brody just so he doesn't miss out on too much.

We have been pretty busy, and things are very different at home, but we are getting used to it all. I know we wouldn't trade it at all, even if there are hard days. It's been good. The last two weeks have definitely flown by!

Inherited Feet

As per request I am posting pictures of the feet. I kinda hate to do it, but it really is funny. I absolutely hate feet. I think that they are gross. I don't like anyone to touch mine or for anyone else's to touch me....with the exception of baby feet or really little kids feet. They are sweet then. When exactly do feet become gross? I don't know, but I just don't like them.

As Trevor would say, "You guys are freaks!" He thinks that my family's toes are totally bizarre and weird. Sorry Daddy....you're son has joined our ranks. We all have our second toe longer than the first. (This bottom picture is of my feet, my sister Taylor's, and my brother Kade's.)

Our Sweet Boy

Our baby is a week old! I cannot believe it's been that long! We think he's the best!

My Labor Story

For those that want all the details.....Warning: this could get lengthy.....

On Wednesday I had my membranes stripped, but felt no different. Trevor was sure that we would get home from the doctors and have to turn around and come back at 1 in the morning. He Dr. Connolly that and the doctor's reply was, "Shit happens." Haha. But we ended up staying at home.

Thursday rolled around and Trevor asked me if I wanted to go to work with him. I go with him quite a bit, especially during the summers. It's kinda fun to get in that big truck and go for the ride. It can get a little bumpy, so we did have other motives for having me go besides just going for the ride. I had gone with him quite a bit for the last two weeks, and had no change, so I was pretty sure nothing would change this time either. I am a firm believer that no matter what you do, your kid isn't going to come if he doesn't want to. However, that belief never stopped me from going on lots of walks and bumpy rides. By the end of the day I was worn out. I kinda had felt different all day. I can't really describe it...I never once even had a braxton hicks contraction or anything...I just felt different...tired or something. Trevor made an off hand comment that this could be the last time I go with him to work, and I was hoping so.

Four a.m. Friday morning rolls around and I am awakened by pain. I didn't know what it was. I have never felt a contraction before, so I wasn't sure what was up. I got up and spent some serious time in the spare bathroom. Anytime I asked someone what a contraction felt like they would say stuff about your stomach tightening up, well to me it was more like severe menstrual cramps. I pulled out my What to Expect When Expecting book and laid down on the couch timing these pains. They were VERY regular from the start. Six minutes apart regular....the doctor had said that once my contractions were about eight minutes apart to head over to the hospital (that is 45 minutes away). So about 5:15 my contractions are now 4 minutes apart and I decide to wake up Trevor. I go in and sit on the edge of the bed and I rub his arm. He's thinking that he didn't hear his alarm for work until I tell him that I think we need to go to the hospital. He asks me how far apart the contractions are and when I tell him he says, "Shit!" and jumps out of bed in a hurry. I tell him to calm down and that I am fine. He takes a super fast shower and gets ready.

In a matter of a couple minutes we are in the car and headed out of town. As we get to the corner to turn to go, Trevor turns the other direction. I ask him what he's doing and he says, "I'm going to get a drink. Is that okay?" HAHA! Here he had been all panicked, but he was more than willing to go get his morning pepsi! I told him it was fine and we went and got a soda! The manager was in there and asked Trevor if there had been any change with me, and he lied and told her no. We hadn't called anyone and told them we were heading to the hospital, so we definitely couldn't tell the manager of the gas station first. She even followed him out the door and told him to take me for a four wheeler ride to maybe help move things along.

We sped all the way to the hospital, and got there in good time. Right before reaching our destination I got a little panicked from the pain and cried a little and told Trevor that I really didn't think I could do this. I have always been such a wimp, how in the world was I going to manage? The pain was already pretty bad.

We get checked in and the first thing I tell the lady is that I want my epidural. Unfortunately the few doctors that could perform the epidural were occupied with a c-section and a trama. I was not at the top of their priorities. I was immediatley given a gown and hooked up to an IV. I have never really enjoyed needles all that much, and the thought of an IV has always made me really sick, but once your in labor...IV's are the least of your worries. It didn't phase me one bit. Then a dude came in and drew blood...once again didn't phase me. At this point I've been checked and I'm only at a three. Boo. By 9 o'clock I finally got my epidural! HEAVEN! I don't like my back to even be tickled, but the epidural wasn't so bad. He even had a hard time getting it in and ended up bending the whole needle from digging around in my back. It didn't bother me one bit. My doctor showed up then and saw that I was at a five and broke my water. Things were picking up.

The next few hours seemed to fly by. I felt human again besides the fact that I couldn't move my legs at all. They were completely dead weight. I had to have a stupid oxygen mask on the entire time we were there because Brody didn't seem to like it when I was contracting. Every time I was checked there was more progress. It meant that I was going to have the same nurse the entire time and not have to go through shift change! Yay! Candy was a super nurse and I was glad to have her there.

I finally hit a ten and things started to be not so fun. My epidural was only working partially. Now my legs were still completely dead, but I was feeling all of the contractions and the pressure of Brody. I might as well have not had the pain medication. It sucked big time. I honestly do NOT know how people do this without meds. They are NUTS! My doctor was all prepped and ready to go, but he waited for my epidural to be fixed before we moved along. I pushed through several contractions without the epidural and thought I was dying. Ow, ow, ow. I broke down and cried at this point. I just didn't think I could do it anymore. I can't even describe how strong the urge to push through those contractions, but at the same time not wanting to because I felt I was going to push out all my insides. Finally the epidural was fixed! I felt good again. Dr. Connolly had discovered that Brody was sunny side up and had his head cocked to the side as well, that is why he waited for the epidural. Babies that are that way have a way harder time being born and I needed that help.

Because of Brody being crooked the doctor got out the vaccuum to help move him. It didn't work. It ended up just giving him a big fat raised bruise on the right side of his head. Out came the forceps. Connolly adjusted Brody, and then I did the pushing. I couldn't feel once again so I wasn't sure I was doing it right. Once his head came out and I stopped for a second I started crying again! Not from pain, but just from sheer excitement and joy and anticipation. After only about 5 pushes our little Brody Jay Waite entered the world.

I had been laying almost flat on my back so I never saw any of the action. I hadn't really wanted Trevor to watch it either because I was afraid of him being grossed out by me, but he was totally fascinated. He watched EVERYTHING! He even watched the after stuff. I didn't think he would even want to cut the cord, but he did it all. He has told me quite a few times that I did so good. He knew that I could do it. He was right. I did it!!! One of the biggest pansy's around was able to give birth.

Once Brody was out the first thing I asked was if he had hair. Yes he did. Then I asked if his second toe was longer than his first like me and all my family. Yes it was. Then I told Trevor, "We are not doing this again for a while."

So a new life has begun. I feel more like a family now. Trevor, me, and Brody. It's pretty sweet, I'm not going to lie.

We are SO in Love

I don't think we could love this kid anymore! Life is good. He is perfect. He is a good mix of the two of us. Definitely Trevor's nose. His chin is shaped like mine, but if you look really carefully (pictures don't show it really) Brody has a dimple in his chin like his dad and Trevor's brothers and mom. From the second he opened his eyes though, everyone says they are like me. Overall, he is a mix, but I seriously believe that he looks more Waite than anything else.

We are so glad to have our little boy here! Life is totally and completely different, but it's good. We LOVE YOU BRODY JAY!

We are PARENTS!!!

Well our little Brody Jay Waite is here! We can hardly believe that this little miracle is our to keep. He is absolutely perfect...but what new parents don't feel that way? We are completely exhausted, so this is just the gist of it, and when things stop feeling like a complete circus we will update everyone better.

Brody Jay Waite
9 pounds 1 ounce

21 and 1/2 inches

Labor was fairly quick...it began at 4 a.m. on Friday, August 15th and we had Brody here by 3:03 p.m. later that day. There was a little trouble because he was sunny side up and even slightly cock-eyed, otherwise it probably would have gone faster and been easier on me.

We wanted to be able to go home as soon as we could, so 24 hours after Brody was born we were cleared by the hospital and got to be home. It's crazy to think that this long big boy was in me, but he was! We kinda like him and think we'll keep him around.

More Progress....but No Baby

As of yesterday afternoon this is what was going on: I am dialated to 2 and 1/2 centimeters, and I am 80% effaced. While the doctor was checking me he said he was going to make me a "little uncomfortable" and he began to push kinda hard, but then he said "okay, I'm going to make you a little more uncomfortable and strip your membranes." Uncomfortable? My hell, that's an understatement. Only a male doctor would say that stripping something from the inside of your body is a "little uncomfortable."

Any Predictions?

I noticed that my baby ticker on here is wrong. I actually have 6 days left until my due date, not 4. I am starting to wonder when Brody's actually coming, if ever.... I think it's time to make guesses though. When does everybody think he's coming? Is he going to come on his actual due date like his mommy did, is he coming early (not much time left for that), or is he going to be late? I can't go by how my mom's kids came because she had one on time, one late, and two early. That leaves no indication for my kids. Another question, How big do you think Brody will be (weight and height)? I've put on 14 pounds during my pregnancy, but at the 20 week ultra sound Brody was in the 95th percentile in size and his legs were measuring long.

Hmmm.....when's the magic day, and how big or little is this boy going to be?

A Little Progress

I am at the point now in my doctor appointments where I go every week. However, I had my 36 week check up and then the 37 week one got canceled, so I finally got in this week. There isn't much change, but I guess every little bit is one step closer to being finished, right? I had a new nurse this week so she didn't know my whole procedure of getting on the scale backwards and all that, but she soon learned. When we got in the room Trevor wanted to know how much I had gained so we asked and she said I had lost a few pounds since the last appointment, but Trevor wanted to know how much I had gained all together. He guessed 20 pounds. She told us it was 14. So not a lot of change since the last time we asked a few weeks ago when I was at like 11. She then checked my blood pressure and it was normal. And finally I asked her what my test results were from the strep B test they did, and she said it came back negative, so that was good too.

Finally, our doctor came in and examined me. He said that I am at negative one station, I'm 50% effaced, and that I have dialated to 1 centimeter. Really not a lot of change, but it is progress. I had hoped Brody would come today because he would have a cool birthday (8/8/8), but I'm fairly certain that it's not going to happen today. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's soon. I am scared to death, but I'm ready to meet this little boy!


(For Kathy--I tried to get on your site to leave a comment and was unable to, my mom actually bought me that bag at Stage on sale. I did have a friend tell me that she had gotten the same one a couple years ago at Dillards. I hope that helps you find one!)

Final Preparations

The true countdown has begun. Since I hit about 12 weeks I have always shortened it in my head by two weeks. So instead of 10 weeks I thought 8. I can't really do that anymore. If I shorten my time by two weeks I am past my date! It is the craziest thing. I feel so ready, but then when I really think about actually having Brody here I think, "Oh, I can wait..."

I flip-flop between emotions more than ever. I know that the price my body has paid for having a baby is well worth it, but every once in a while I get really emotional about how much my body has changed and won't be the same. I know I have talked about my stretch marks before, but I don't think anyone really realizes how bad mine are unless they have seen them. It's bad. I guess that's what I have gotten instead of major puking or getting huge everywhere else on my body. I went for quite a while with not much showing and then BAM! I had belly everywhere and my skin took it hard. It's really not a pretty site. Not that I had a cute stomach before, but it is a little depressing. Oh, and does being pregnant mean that all of a sudden you snore like a bear? I have never really been a snore-er, but apparently I was so bad last night that Trevor left the room and slept on the couch the whole night. I have never been so tired in my whole life. Since the 24th celebrations I have felt completely wiped out. I have like this excessive amount of saliva in my mouth lately, and so the second I lay my head on a pillow I am drooling all over the place. Pregnancy is so not the prettiest time of life.

Trevor has really got a jump on preparing for Brody. The other day he was like, "Shouldn't you get your bag ready for the hospital?" So, this week I really am going to get that done. I have narrowed down the outfit for Brody to come home in to three different outfits. I have put off washing anything because there is always the off chance that he could come out a she, but I figured I could take off the tags on these three outfits and wash them today.

Trevor has also installed the car seat base in our car, so it's ready to go. He has it strapped in nice and tight....I don't think I could get it out if I tried. I have taken the time to put in those plug protectors all over the house. I know it may seem a little early for this, but I didn't want to wait until it was too late. As a baby I took my mom's keys and stuck them in the wall socket. It created a huge black mark up the wall, shocked me, and made a loud noise even. My mom says I didn't cry because she thinks I was too scared, but I didn't want to risk waiting until Brody found the keys and tried it out himself.

It really feels like time has flown by, and yet, it seems really slow. Somedays I feel like bawling because I am so sick and tired of it all, and then other days I feel great and like this has not been bad at all. I feel fortunate that things have gone as well as they have so far, and that I shouldn't complain at all, but there are times that I just can't take it anymore. It seemed very surreal at the beginning when we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, and I wasn't showing...but the thoughts of him REALLY being here are more surreal than ever. No one can prepare us for what is coming up next no matter how much they tell us. I just can't believe it. Now if he would just come already....

Burping Brody in Style

I don't know if I just have an extremely talented and gifted family, or if I am just so severely lacking in the talent department that I think everyone is amazing. Even though I had a lot of people that didn't make it to my baby shower, there have been a lot of gifts dropped off since then. Especially with last week being the 24th and everyone was home, I received quite a few more things.

Now, my shower was pretty dang near perfect because of Julie's talents, but her sister, Jaymi, is equally talented. I can't get over how pulled together and creative the two of them are! Jaymi brought me some burp cloths that she sort of "jazzed up", and I have to say they are pretty awesome! I am a little afraid to actually use them because they are so cute. She tried really hard to make them cute and stylish without being babyish or too girly. I think they turned out great!

When she brought them to me, Trevor was looking at all of them and he said, "I would hang those on the wall, " because he thought they were such nice and fancy looking burp cloths.

Thanks Jaymi! And thanks everyone else that has sent me something or brought me something. You have no idea how much it is all appreciated.