my birth day

Oh my, I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote. I have been very, very busy these days getting adjusted to my new life and finally have the chance to sit down and share with you my birth story.

Let's start with the night before I was born... Mom and Dad met my Nannygoat and Granddaddy out for dinner, but what makes this dinner experience noteworthy is Nannygoat's prediction that I was going to be born the next day. She even made Mom and Dad take a picture while she said... "You're gunna have that baby tomorrow." Man, did she call it or what?

Something else I found interesting was that my Poppy (Mom's dad) also predicted I'd be born on January 27th and that I'd be a girl in Mom and Dad's baby pool. They had people pay five dollars to enter and with their entry they got to pick the day of my birth along with my gender. The person who selected the day and correct gender won 50% of the pot (which ended up being $65 in winnings).

Okay, on with the birth story... I woke Mom up at 4:14 a.m. for her normal pee during the night but this time it was different. Mom knew things weren't the same as every other time so she woke Dad up around 5 a.m. and sure enough she was right. As the morning progressed Mom kept in touch with the midwives but they kept telling her she wasn't quite ready to come in because she could still walk and talk through the contractions. Mom continued to labor at home while Dad did a great job of supporting her and keeping track of the length of the contractions. Dad called everyone to get them ready for a day at the hospital and Nannygoat rushed over to help support Mom and Dad. 



At around 11 a.m. Mom knew it was time to go to the hospital because the contractions were getting quite a bit stronger and she definitely couldn't walk or talk during them so we packed up the car and headed to TGH. Here's more exciting video of Mom laboring at TGH. It seemed to be more comfortable for Mom to stand and rock back and forth than to lay down so that's how we spent many of the contractions that day.



Once in Triage Mom found out which midwife would be delivering her and as it turns out it was the one she had hoped for, her name is Beth. This photo was taken in between contractions when Mom could actually smile. Beth is the dark haired one, the other girl was Mom's nurse in Triage.

Mom was also lucky enough to get one of the two labor and delivery rooms that has a tub for laboring in. Once she moved into her new room she labored on the birthing ball for a bit then got in the tub to try and help with the pain. When Mom entered the tub she was dilated 4 cm, when she left it she was 8 cm... almost there.

Mom had to get in the bed so they could put in her IV and also because I had rotated positions and they wanted to get me back to where I needed to be. By this time Mom was in a lot of pain and was screaming like a mad woman. Once Mom reached 10 cm Beth broke her water and discovered I had already pooped in the womb. Although this wasn't the best news, everything else was still okay. After breaking Mom's water she went down to 9 cm dilated and was very upset to find out this had happened. After all, she was ready to push me out and kept asking..."can I push?" over and over again!

Mom was lucky enough to have Connie in the delivery room taking photos right before and after I was born. Connie got to the hospital right as Mom was entering the "transition" phase of delivery. She was able to capture some sweet moments between Mom, Dad and Nannygoat as they got ready for the big push.

  

At around 3 p.m. Mom began pushing and a little over an hour later I was born. The photo below is from the beginning of the pushing. About 15 minutes in they made Mom wear an oxygen mask because my heart rate dropped. They wanted to make sure I was getting enough oxygen as well as Mom for the big moments ahead.

  

Along with Nannygoat and Dad, Aunt Tara and my Mimi were also in the delivery room. Everyone was very anxious to meet me and for Mom to quit screaming. These were taken right before I was born.

During the pushing my head would make an appearance and at one point they shouted that I had a full head of black hair. What's interesting looking back is that I really didn't have much hair at all but because of all the gunk I guess it looked like I did. 

I was born at 3:54 p.m. and up until this point no one knew if I was a boy or girl. Although they shouted, "It's a girl!" Mom and Dad didn't really even take note because they were so caught up in the moment of me being born. 

Mom didn't get to hold me until they checked me out first. Because of my little "pre-poopie" they had to make sure everything was okay.

After I was all cleaned up and checked out. Dad brought me over to finally meet my Mom on the outside.

Up to this point I still didn't have a name. Actually it was the last thing on my parent's mind. They were just happy to be holding me. They had both boy and girl names picked out but hadn't decided on one particular name for either yet.

Dad was nice enough to stop by a mirror so I could see what I looked like. I could tell already we were going to get along just fine.

My first headshot!

Mom felt like Mad Madam Mim from the Sword in the Stone after my delivery. Her face got really swollen and immediately broke out into lots of spots. She even busted blood vessels in her eyes. Here she is getting ready to give my little tootsies some smooches. I know they'll be more of those down the road.

The day after I was born Mom and Dad decided to name me Jaye Tara after my Uncle AJ (who is fondly called "J" by friends and family) and my Aunt Tara. They actually called me Cora for the first 12 hours of my life but it just didn't seem to fit.

I'd like to end this blog by thanking God for my safe delivery and to say that I feel so blessed to be born into a family so full of love. Today is my first birthday, I  can't believe it's already been a year since the day I was born!

the waiting game...

Well I don't know about you but I'm getting really excited. I can hear all the chatter outside about my arrival so it's really got me pumped to get the heck out of here.... trouble is, I guess I'm just not quite cooked enough. Now that I've reached 38 weeks I'm able to join the rest of you without any worries of having anything underdeveloped. At this stage I'm just continuing to get bigger, based on averages I should be about 6.8 lbs and just over 19 inches long by now. Mommy was really small when she was born and Daddy was quite a bit bigger so perhaps I'll be somewhere in the middle. Here's my latest heartbeat from my 37 week appointment.

As you can see my heartbeat is still in the mid 130s and much slower than it was previously. Mom's belly measured right at 37 cm so we seem to be right on track so far. Below are my two latest progression series photos by Connie. The one on the left is from 33 weeks, the one on the right, 36 weeks.

  

Lately I've been moving a lot at night, even after Mom falls asleep Daddy can still feel me moving all around. I know they get a kick (get it "kick"?) out of watching Mom's belly do the wave and try to encourage me to move by giving me sweet treats like strawberries.

This last weekend I had a very special guest come all the way from California to visit! Mom's best friend Kelly, flew in to spend the weekend with us and help Mom with last minute preps. Auntie Kelly helped Mom tidy up the room and put together my bouncy seat so it's ready for me.

I know Mom wishes Auntie Kelly had a baby in her belly too but she knows her time is coming soon so she'll patiently wait... but until then she can pretend.

Mom loved having Auntie Kelly around and can't wait to see her again when she visits Florida. It was just like old times for the two of them and I could tell Mom was really happy when she was here. I'll be excited to finally meet her in person too.

While Auntie Kelly was here she thought it was funny to walk in and see our dog Tengo trying to steal Mom's attention from my stuff so she snapped the pic below. Seems as if Tengo might have a little problem getting use to having me around.

Speaking of Tengo, I had to share this video with you. Mom and Dad recently got a very special gift from one of Mom's "other mothers" Suzanne. They absolutely love my new little teddy bear and noticed Tengo was slightly scared and curious about it each time they played with it. Mom had to record this video to share with you.



A lot of other wonderful things happened this week. The biggest announcement is that my cousin was born! Giana Marguerite Howard was born this morning, Jan 22nd at Tampa General Hospital. Her Mom, Tia, is Mom's first cousin and Giana was due just a few days before me. Mom can't wait to go visit them tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be long before I can meet her in person myself.

Today I had a very special celebration at church. Mom teaches first grade on Sundays and her co-teacher, Mrs. Shelley threw their quarterly birthday party and made it a point to include me in the celebration. It was technically my first birthday party. I got an adorable owl candle as a present and a card signed my all the kids.

Mom thought it would be fun to ask the kiddos to guess if I'm going to be a boy or girl. As you can see the votes for boy outweigh the votes for girl, but that's been typical throughout Mom's pregnancy.

Today I also I got to visit with two of my other friends who are new to the world. Mom and her friend Rachel went on a baby visiting tour and got to spend time with baby Caitlyn and baby Layla. Aren't they precious? Mom absolutely loved holding them and playing with their heads full of hair.

Last but not least this week I went to the beach... twice! The first time Mommy, Uncle AJ and cousin Brooklynne took me. This was Brooklynne's first visit to the beach. It was a little chilly so Brooklynne had to stay bundled up but she still looked cute as always.

Our second trip to the beach was with Mom's BFF Auntie Cheryl. She worried the whole time Mom was going to go into labor, Mom found it quite humorous and kept teasing her that she was going to deliver at any moment. During this visit Mom had half of her sandwich stolen right out of her hand by a nasty seagull. I can't believe a bird would deprive me of my lunch but I guess that's how they roll. I can't wait to taunt them when I head back to the beach this summer.

Oh, before I forget... Last night MiMi and ChiChi took Mom and Dad shopping to pick out my coming home from the hospital outfit! They had lots of fun looking through all the baby clothes and picked out some good stuff for me. I can't wait to show off my new threads!

I think that's all the news for now. Have a happy week and hopefully I'll be seeing you soon!

-xoxo-

Donut

the end is near... or is it?

There's so much to tell you this week I don't even know where to begin... but I guess I'll start with an update on my status. My 37 week mark is fast approaching, I can't believe it's almost time for me to leave this nice, cozy place I affectionately call Wombland.

Mom and I went to the midwife yesterday and got a good report. Although Mom isn't dilated the midwife said I'm down really far in Mom's pelvis and in a good birthing position. She said Mom's cervix is thinned out 50% (whatever that means) and that she could feel my head! I wish she could tell Mom if I had any hair, I know she's so curious to know. My heartbeats have definitely slowed down and I was only at 138 bpm. According to the wives tales that would indicate I'm a little boy... interesting.

At this point being almost 37 weeks I'm basically just gaining weight and getting ready for my journey outward. I've already begun to shed my vernix (the waxy coating that has kept me from pruning up in the womb) and from this point forward I'd be considered full term when I decide to come. I'm probably about six pounds and around 18.5 inches long.

This week was so exciting for me and some of my friends. First let me tell you about my baby shower... Sunday Mom, Dad and I found out just how loved we are. We had such a fun baby shower and got so much good stuff. I have to give a special shout out to Mom's cousins Gina and Sandia for making our day so special. Look how excited Mom was to open all the presents.

One of the gifts we received was a three foot tall diaper cake made my Mom's Aunt Susan, Cousin Dawn and her daughter Kyleigh. It took them seven hours to put the cake together and man was it massive. Mom and Dad had a lot of fun dismantling the cake and discovering all the surprises along the way. 

One of the gifts Mom knows will come in handy was an adorable wine glass for new mothers given to her by Nannygoat's dear friend Linda.

There were so many wonderful gifts given to us at the shower I couldn't even begin to tell you about all of them but I thought this one was especially cute... it's from Mom's friend Whitney. Isn't it adorable? I can't wait to wear it.

I also wanted to show you some of the details from the shower. The centerpieces for the table were stacks of books and on top of the books were little towers of blocks made especially for me with owls stamped on them. There were also yummy donuts given as party favors for all the guests along with bookmarks to go along with the books on the tables. Our cake was homemade by Mom's cousin Kenny's aunt and it was delicious with strawberry filling.

After the shower Mom and Dad unpacked all the bags full of goodies in my room. It looked like Target and Buy Buy Baby threw up all over the place when they were done. Now don't get me wrong this is not a bad problem to have.

 

Now that Mom and Dad are well equipped to handle me, Mom has started the washing and final steps to get the room just perfect for my arrival. I guess they call it nesting and I'd reckon she's in full nesting mode. I think the hardest part for her is finding a place to put everything, once again, not a bad problem to have right?

I've been waiting until I had a picture to show you... I wanted to introduce you to my cousin who is due just a few days before me. Mom's cousin Tia is pregnant with a little baby girl. Her due date is Feb 2nd and she goes to the same midwives as I do. Mom always says how cool it would be for me and my cousin to come at the same time so we can be neighbors in the hospital.

At the shower Brooklynne got to open a present too. She really loves to eat wrapping paper!

All in all the shower was a big success and Mom and Dad felt so blessed to have everyone show up and for all the amazing gifts they received. I'll be sure to thank you all when I can get out of here and actually learn to talk.

As for my friends, this was a big week for them too as they decided it was time to make their grand entrance into the world. Mary, Mom's coworker had her daughter Caitlyn Grace on Saturday night. Caitlyn was 7lbs, 5 oz and born on her actual due date.

Check out all the hair she was born with! She looks just like her Daddy.

Mom's other friend Kristy was a few days past her due date when her son Maddox was born. He was also born on Saturday but at 4:05 in the morning! Maddox weighed 8lbs, 8 oz when he was born.

And just to give you an update one of my BFFs... baby Yurcus revealed to the world that she's a girl this week. Mom and Jen took our first picture together, Jen is 21 weeks prego and Mom is just shy of 37 weeks. I think I look like a torpedo in this picture. Dad keeps saying I'm regulation basketball size now.

Also, I wanted to share some of our family photos from our maternity session with Connie. We went to Ft. Desoto beach when Mom was just over seven months pregnant and had these photos taken. Mom loves the one of Dad kissing my belly, she says it's priceless. Looking at these I realize how much I've grown since they were taken.

Well I think that's enough for tonight. This could be one of my last blogs before I'm here but I'm hoping Mom lets me get on the computer at least once more to update you with where everything stands before the big day. We'll just have to see. I know our bags are mostly packed and it's just a waiting game from here on out.

Donut out.