Breaking Out

Just another blessing of being close to family - two of my sisters were able to visit at the hospital which is a first for me because I've always been too far away. Catina is known as the baby whisperer in this family - she LOVES babies and babies LOVE her! So...even though I didn't have a bunch of friends and church family visit - we were blessed with LOTS of family visitors :).

Kennedy has embraced her role as big sister (second time over) brilliantly! She talks to him in a gentle little voice and wants to hold him and know how he's doing. Watching her with him just melts my heart:

The girls came to visit us at the hospital the day before we were dismissed and spent quite a bit of time with us. They did really well to be crammed in a little hospital room for several hours. Thanks to Nana and Pawpaw - they ate some candy and walked the halls a couple of times and that seemed to keep them pretty content (or should I say silly - as picture below).

We even had our own little in-room pic-a-nic!

On our second day in the hospital, Greyson had his newborn pictures taken in his "going home" outfit from his Honey. I'm all about a tradition and the "going home" outfit is a long standing tradition for our family. My grandmother used to buy the grandbaby going home outfits but Kennedy was my only child who had an outfit purchased by my Grandmomma. After Grandmomma passed away, my Mom took over the role of going home outfit purchases. His little blue outfit was so delicate and so sweet and I LOVED the little matching hat. These are pictures of the pictures...I think they are so sweet:

Nana and Pawpaw were such a huge help while they were here - they kept the girls both the Monday and Tuesday following the delivery after Melissa went to work, while Tim and I were still "detained". Thankfully, they still got lots of Greyson snuggles when they visited the hospital:

 

Thanks to their Aunt Melissa's care at home and their Nana and Pawpaw being here, Kennedy and Avery never seemed to miss a beat - just rolled with the flow and seemed happy as little larks:

The much anticipated day came for us to break out of the hospital (whoopee!). Here is a picture the nurse took of us before we left. With Kennedy and Avery I was all dressed up to leave the hospital...it's true what they say about each child making you more and more laid back - I was all about comfort for my departure this time around ;).

~sweet little snuggly boy~



First car ride:

Our first night home was rough, truthfully. You just forget how all consuming a nursing newborn is. We were up A LOT & when we were up we were trying our hardest to keep Greyson quiet so he wouldn't wake up my girls downstairs or my sister and her family upstairs. Honestly - it was total survival. When I awoke the next morning I felt still half asleep, but despite my zombie state I was happy to be waking up at home with all my kiddos (unlike in the hospital). This was the scene after Avery woke up: 

and then after Kennedy woke up - I thought to myself: this is what all my future mornings will look like & I couldn't be happier about that!

The day after we got home, my in-laws were planning to leave to go back home themselves. They offered a while ago to take the girls home with them and give Tim and I time at home alone with Greyson. At first I didn't think I wanted to send them because I knew I'd miss them like crazy and I was feeling a little guilty about sending them "away". Well, the closer I got to delivery and the more exhausted I got - the more I realized what a blessing it would be to have that time just with Greyson to nurse and rest and recouperate. So...on Wednesday of last week my girls drove away with their Nana and Pawpaw to spend some time in West Virginia. Here is a picture of everyone right before they left:

We have skyped with them almost every night since they left and we've talked on the phone too. Thankfully, my Mother in Law is awesome about sending text pictures and updates each day so with all of those methods of communication I haven't felt completely disconnected but oh my heavens how I miss them. I venture to tell you I almost ache for them to be back home and they return tonight after 8 days away - yay, yay, yay! Chelsea was planning a visit from PA after Grey arrived and so it worked out that she could pick the girls up in WV on her way down to visit and meet baby Grey. They should be here around 9 tonight and I CANNOT WAIT!

 

Although it was so very hard to see them go and has been so very hard to not have them here, it was very much needed. I've had some issues healing since delivery and I've just been so incredibly exhausted and emotional and it just would have likely pushed me to the edge if they had been here on top of all of those things and I couldn't play with them or take them places like usual. They have been having a blast in WV too - they may be sad to be back (ha!) but I hope not. It's been so good for Tim and I to just focus on and get to know Greyson. He's sleeping MUCH better than he was initially and I feel like I've "figured him out" a bit more which will be helpful now that life is about to get crazier. Now, I'm sure he will change and we'll further adapt as the weeks roll by, but I'm just feeling much more relaxed and prepared than I likely would have if I'd jumped right into parenting three. So: thank you Nana and Pawpaw - we love you and are so thankful for your precious relationship with our girls! =) Chelsea is in for the next few days and then my Mom comes back followed by my Dad for some visiting time. So: I'm still not parenting three alone....yet. It will come in due time, right?! For now I'm going to soak up and accept all the help I can get!

 

 



Little Brother

Right after we called my Mom to let her know I was in labor, we called Tim's parents who would be making the trip all the way from West Virginia. Nana and Pawpaw were Greyson's second hospital visitors.

three generations of Taylor men

Greysons next visitors were his big sisters (who were very excited to see Nana and Pawpaw) & Aunt Melissa.

My and my three sweet blessings...

Greyson started his birthday out right by being a true gentleman and bringing gifts for his two big sisters.

Their very own babies to take care of while Mommy takes care of her new baby.

Our first picture as a family of five.

Kennedy was talking to him and loving on him right away - he's a lucky and much loved little boy!

Avery pretty much just stared with a quizzical look - this child has SO many different expressions!

Aww...little brother

I have so many pictures to post, but so little time to do it. Today was a bit of a challenging day. Grey was really fussy and I'm not really sure why. As Moms we rarely do get an answer as to "why" when it comes to our kiddos. Why did they cry, why won't they sleep, why did she behave that way, why did she say that, etc. etc? We can guess and speculate and try to determine, but we never really know. I can think of nothing more frustrating than a crying and fussy baby that you are unable to console....oh it's so just sad and trying and I don't even know how to explain it. Anyhow - I keep reminding myself that this sleep deprived, exhausted and hormonally emotional state will be gone before I know it but when you're IN it, it's tough! Overall, Greyson is a content baby but I think we are experiencing an early growth spurt that has him a bit out of sorts. So...if I can put him down tomorrow (which wasn't possible today) maybe I can share some more pics with you!



One Week Ago ~ Today

My sweet little boy decided to make his much anticipated entrance into this world. It's funny how I have had two babies already, but I still questioned myself when labor began with this little one. There's not much of a labor story to tell, but for those of you interested it looked a little something like this:

~ @ 8:00 PM on Saturday, August 11th Tim and I went to Walmart to stock up on a few things (hoping Greyson was going to be on his way soon and therefore wanting the kitchen to be stocked for whoever would be keeping the girls).

~ After putting away all of our groceries we finally turned in for the night about 11:00 PM and although exhausted I was a tad restless. I was feeling a little sick at my stomach but couldn't really determine why/what was causing the "sick" feeling.

~ 12 AM I decided that maybe my stomach "sickness" was/were actually contractions and instead of getting up and down out of bed an going back and forth to the bathroom I would walk around the basement a bit and try to time contractions (if in fact that is what I was having). On my first few attempts to time the pain I was feeling I was getting a time interval of like 2 minutes with contractions lasting about 30 seconds each: WHAT?!?!? That can't be right.

~12:15 I woke Tim and asked him to time my contractions because I just KNEW I had to be doing something wrong. While Tim timed - I began packing my bag with the final necessities for the hospital and while I was packing I began having to lean over and breathe through the contractions (insert the moment I realized this was happening - I had no doubt at this point I was in labor...full blown labor). Tim's response to timing the contractions was "Lindsy, these are like 1.5-2 minutes a part - we need to GO TO THE HOSPITAL...we need to hurry".

~ 12:30 I paged the midwife and my Tim woke my sister to come sleep in the basement in case the girls woke up during the night

~12:45 the midwife called back and asked me several questions (when was your last appointment? how were you progressing? what number pregnancy is this for you? AND THEN: "Um, Honey...how far are you from the hospital?" Me: about 15 minutes I think Midwife: Well, you need to go ahead and get in the car and head to the hospital and I will too and I'll see you soon".

~ 1:10'ish Tim and I headed to the hospital and called my Mom (who wanted to be there for the birth, but at that point it wasn't looking promising).

~ 2:00 AM we were officially checked in, I had donned my super sexy hospital gown complete with front nursing slits (hawt!)  and were getting our initial monitoring done when the midwife came in to check my progress.

~ Truly - I figured she'd say 6-7 cm but much to our surprise or more accurately COMPLETE AND TOTAL SHOCK she said "Well, you are 9 cm and we are about to have a baby"! What?!?!? The nurses looked at me like I had 5 heads and then immediately started hustling about getting the warmer, the drape and all the other necessary items ready for "go time".

Even as I share this story I'm shocked at how it all unfolded because truthfully I'm still questioning how on earth I started labor with contractions 1-2 minutes apart...I mean, I've never heard of such.

~ 2:45'ish I started feeling pressure and paged the midwife who then came in and checked me and decided to go ahead and break my water because as she said "it's just right there and ready" and then she said "let me know again if you feel pressure, or the sensation to use the restroom" and then she sat at the end of the bed and waited (no joke) and got her supplies ready.

~The next part is kind of a blur but I began pushing at 2:58 AM and our sweet Greyson was born at 3:04....exactly 3 contractions later...weighing 8 lbs. 12 ozs. Hallelujah: he was finally here!

~ Right after Grey arrived, he was passed to the on call pediatrician because I had some meconium in my water and they wanted to take every precaution to ensure he was healthy as sometimes that can cause baby problems. Unfortunately he was having some breathing difficulty...a pattern they called "grunting" and they said it wasn't normal and that if it continued he would need to go directly to the NICU. I felt miles away in my hospital bed staring at him under the heating lamp across my room as they listened diligently to his lungs with a stethoscope and then would suction him with a bulb syringe and then listen again. This cycle repeated itself over and over again but then they moved to suction that was fed down his throat with a tube and then they'd listen again. I just sat there...watching...waiting....wondering. Thankfully the pediatrician was a stellar communicator and kept coming over to my bedside to explain what was happening and what they were doing. Basically, because he didn't spend much time in the birth canal - he didn't expel the amniotic fluid like he needed to and thus he was gagging/choking. My labor with Kennedy was quick and she had very similar issues in the early hours following her delivery. Ultimately after suction and coupage....they decided to allow me to have some skin to skin time with him to see if it helped him calm and improve his breathing. Finally - a moment with my boy:

 This boy enjoyed his skin to skin for about 1 minute and immediately began rooting around. It never ceases to amaze me how they come out hungry and knowing how to find food...it's just unreal. I asked the nurse if I could go ahead and try to nurse him and she said yes so away we went and here he is getting burped for the first time.

 I'm happy to report that the skin to skin and nursing cleared his grunting right up  - NO NICU for my boy thank heavens! Here we are with our son (still seems funny saying/typing that).

 Proud Daddy

 Because I didn't get an epidural, my release from L&D and into Mother/Baby was quick so by the time my Mom arrived (like 1.5 hours after I had him) I had already been moved to Mother/Baby and was waiting on Greyson to be returned to me from his bath in the nursery. Greyson was wheeled in and pretty immediately placed into Honey's arms:

 better late than never! =)

It's hard to believe it's been a week since Greyson joined our family.  It has been amazing, emotional, challenging, thrilling, tiring, rewarding, humbling and the list goes on. He is an extremely content baby only crying for diaper changes and trips in the carseat for the most part. He is sleeping about what I would expect him to at this point but I'm looking forward to that increasing because Momma is tired!

I have lots more pictures to share from our time at the hospital but I think this posting is long enough. More to come.....

Silly Me

I love that the title to my last posting was "Almost There"......silly me because here I sit...still pregnant! I am officially 40 weeks and 2 days to be exact and I really didn't think I would make it this far.Clearly the good Lord above has other plans for this little boys arrival and isn't concerned with a little ole thing called a due date.

Positives: Greyson is healthy and so am I...no swelling, no elevated BP, minimal weight gain & even some loss (in the last few weeks), almost completely gone is my back pain (can I get a woop woop) and my body is doing what it is supposed to be doing to get ready to deliver (I'll spare you the details).

Negatives: Greyson is ready...as in...he is super low which makes bending, going from sitting to standing and playing with two super active kiddos kinda uncomfortable, every time I do something anticipating it to be the "last time" pre-delivery I am inevitably wrong because alas I am still pregnant (grocery shopping, shaving, packing, balancing the checkbook and getting bills current, etc. etc.), the hormones that come with being at this point in the pregnancy (need I say more, Momma's?) and just pure anxiousness to meet him and get on with the next stage of our lives with three kiddos.

I keep trying to remind myself to have perspective....lots of different kinds of perspective:
-he WILL come eventually
-I'm blessed to have the help I've had thus far allowing me to ready myself as best as possible
-I have a super cautious and kind midwifery staff that will deliver me when the time comes
-The hospital system where we'll deliver is stellar and I'm sure to be taken wonderful care of
-My daughter is praying for me aloud 2-3 times daily and never forgets to say "Please make that baby come soon" and "please help Mommy's back feel better"...warms my heart
-Although he is technically "late" at this point..."late" is FAR better than "early" where his health and mine are concerned.

So...my main objective as of late (since last week when I thought I'd be going into labor at any moment) is just to try the best I can to keep our days normal...little outings, lots of play time with my girls and just getting rest when I can. Kennedy has been very understanding of my need to nap during Avery's afternoon nap (thank Heavens!). We went to the Concord Mills Shopping Mall yesterday so the girls could play in their kiddie play area and there was an indoor carousel too. Plus...Momma got some walking in! Today we are headed out to Freedom Park to play because it's a bit overcast and the temps aren't supposed to get too super high so I figure we'll get out and get some fresh air. In all honesty I just want to lay here and wait to go into labor but that's not fair to my girls and thus I am just asking the Lord to give me the strength to push all that stuff aside (those darned hormones again) and just do for them the best I can.

Here is my 40 week shot:

Although they are from my phone, here are some cute pics I snapped yesterday at the mall. this was Avery's first time on a carousel and when the ride was over...she cried!

After the carousel ride and play time in their indoor kids play area, they rode an indoor kiddie mall train (because their Honey spoils them and is incapable of saying "no"...and they love her for it).

I also had my turn at not being able to say "no" and conceded to the mini carousel ride for $1.00 - Avery cried when this was over too...poor baby: ha!

I think they had a fun time and we'll definitely go back to that mall - if I actually shopped I'd practically need ALL DAY to work my way through all those outlet stores and sales.

That's all for now...let's hope my next posting includes a baby announcement. ;)

ps - thanks to all of you who are praying, texting, calling, FB messaging, etc. to check up on me and let me know you're thinking of me...it lifts my spirits and I'm so very thankful for your love and support - {insert virtual blog hug here}!

Almost there

Yesterday marked my 39th week of pregnancy. I'd like to say that meant I only have one week maximum to go, but truthfully I never thought I'd make it this far so who knows when Greyson is going to make his debut at this point. I do know one thing...he can't stay in there for forever so there WILL be and end.....I just don't know when.

Here's my pretty little sign holder getting ready before we took my 39 week belly picture on Sunday. We took these pictures after church on and Avery was deliriously tired (as is usually the case after church on Sundays)so it's just K and I. We wanted to get the pics over with and change because we were sweating to death!

You can't tell in these pictures, but we were straight up sweating...as in running down our legs and backs sweating. HOT!

We were both literally half undressed before we even got down the steps to the basement: ha!

The kids were all playing in Declan's nursery on Sunday afternoon and I snapped some photos....love this one of Avery - she's getting so big so fast!

They are always rolling all over each other...it's cute...most of the time.

Of course I have to share one of this cutie - he has had a big two weeks around here - started walking last week and clapping on Sunday.

Yay - look what I can do?!

Sweet girl in her church dress....she looks so darling and innocent.

That is - until you try to take "her" toy: ha! They do pretty good most of the time but it never fails they always want what the other has. This exact scene plays out about 25 or 100 times a week around here.

My back pain has improved some and I'm not sure whether to attribute it to help with the kids (thanks to my Mom and sisters) or to the fact that Greyson has gotten "into position"( so to speak) and thus has relieved some of what I was feeling. Regardless of the how/why...I'm just thankful. I've remained cautious with lifting, walking, etc. despite having relief because I still need to labor and I want to be in the best physical condition possible whenever that time comes (which as I've already stated is currently coming at a much less rapid pace than I was anticipating). I digress. Monday I was trying to figure out how to entertain my girls while still staying put for the most part. Enter inflatable pool. They had so much fun and some of the pictures I snapped with my phone turned out so very funny:

Kennedy left yesterday to spend a few days with her cousins so it's just Avery here with Tim and I and although I'm sure she's missing Kennedy - she is ALL ABOUT all the individual attention she's getting. She is SUCH a ham and has Tim and I laughing multiple times a day lately. I'm glad I can give her special one on one time right now before Greyson comes because Lord knows when I'll be able to do that after his arrival. I'm so thankful, too, that Kennedy loves her cousins as much as she does because I know she's having a BLAST!

I had an appointment with my midwife today and she's predicting I'll go into labor within the next couple of days so it will make Aunt Melissa's life easier to only have Declan and Avery to cart back and forth and not all three. In other words, Kennedy's trip may be a perfectly timed blessing where kiddo transport is concerned. My fingers are crossed that my midwifes prediction is true..I'm ready to meet this little man!