Cody Owen has arrived!

A little late but here's the story:

Wednesday June 10th I stayed home from work. I felt crampy and just "blah". Mark was home, as it was the start of his vacation time, which he had to use before the end of June or he would lose it. But he had signed up for an overtime shift that night 11pm - 7 am. By nightimte I was feeling OK and told him to go ahead and go to work, I was fine. Hehe Famous last words. So 1:30 a.m. I am still awake and having contractions about 20 minutes apart. Called Mark and let him know, but told him to stay at work. Then 3:30 a.m. rolls around and contractions are down to 5-7 minutes apart, so he gets someone to come in and cover for him and gets home about 4:00 a.m.

OK, first of all: contractions SUCK. And we called the doctor and she said to stay home until them are consistently 3-5 minutes apart. I'd be "more comfortable at home" There is NOTHING comforting about it!!! So about 8:30 we had gone for over an hour and a half with 3-4 minute contractions. Called the Dr. and she said go to the hospital. So off we go......

We park in the Stork Parking, get me in a wheelchair and up to the maternity floor. Check in to this triage-like area for my vitals, etc. Get all hooked up to the monitors..........the baby goes to sleep!!! Contractions go back to 12+ minutes apart. Tried drinking apple juice to wake him up, but no avail. SO THEY SEND ME HOME. GRRRRRRR.

So back home to suffer "comfortably". LOL First we stop at Duchess for some breakfast. heheh Then once we got home I actually got to take a little nap since I'd now been up since about 4:00 p.m. the day before. But that only lasted about an hour..........then the contractions came back hot and heavy. By 3:00 they were back to 3-4 minutes and now they were lasting for 1-2 minutes, which did I mention that this part SUCKS!?!?!? So call the Dr. back and away we go BACK to the hospital.

But this time we're not messing around. We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for Mocha Coolatas - not letting the baby go back to sleep this time!!!!! And chocolate always made him active.

So bcak to Stork Parking, wheelchair, etc. Hooked up to monitors, Dr. came in and I was 3 cm dialated, so I get to stay!!!! Whoo hooo! Head upstairs to the birthing suite........

Hook me up to more monitors and put in my IV - after three attempts they finally got a good vein that didn't "curve" or swell up when the needle went it. That was fun as well.

Once that circus was done and my vitals all recorded for the 13th time I get to get up walk around "the track". Which actually was better for me than laying in bed. So Mark and I did our laps stopping every few minutes for me to grasp the railing with all my might while I breathe through a contraction. Then back to bed.......

Now it's about 8:00 and my Dr. has FOUR other women in labor tonight. So she checks in on me and the nurse then tells me I am good to go for the anesthesiologist. Thank heaven! So he comes in and explains all the dangers to me and blah blah blah. Tells me to sit up and gives me a pillow to hold onto - and Mark - and he's telling me to arch my back.........just as the nurses station comes on my speaker system: "Mrs. Pastor, you have a visitor and I need you to verify their identity.....it's your sister". Are you kidding me?!?!? Nice timing. So Mark responds to them and just as I am getting my epidural put in Diana walks in. I'm sure she wasn't expecting that! (Sorry Di!!!)

But that wasn't really bad. Didn't really feel anything, was more anticipation than anything.

So now Di is here and Mark has been up for over 24 hours, so he heads downstairs to get some food.

I still cringe every once in a while and the nurse say I am not supposed to feel anything, am I feeling pain or pressure? How the heck do I know? Seems like the same thing to me! She says the epidural blocks pain, but not pressure. Pressure could be the baby's head pushing. OK I think that's it. Then i said to my sister that my back was sore. And the nurse said I wasn't supposed to feel that EITHER - is it pain or pressure? OK, now I"m on to her and I answer PAIN. So she calls the anesthesiologist back so he can up my dosage. Dr. comes and gives me pitocin (sp?) which makes me have contractions on a steady basis, but now I don't care, I'm not feeling anything!

About 10:30 my other sister Stephania arrives and the Dr. said I was 7 cm dialated and to rest up to get ready to push. Mark still isn't back with his food. So Diana gets to locating him (he was just on his way up).

Everyone starts getting in place and I'm getting my instructions and about 11:30 I start pushing. Oh yes, another fun joy of childbirth! It wasn't painful, just tiring. I am really bad at breathing in through my nose anytime, let alone during a situation like this! LOL

And then at 12:18 am on June 12th our precious angel Cody Owen came out screaming with his arm up next to his head and the umbilical cord wrapped around that arm. Same way he was in all his ultrasound pictures! Loves having that arm up. Hehe.

He weighed in at 7lbs. 8 oz. and 21 inches long. Absolutely beautiful with a full head of hair! Mark and I couldn't be happier and we both instantly fell in love with this little boy:

Baby Pastor has a name!

I do believe we have settled on a name for our little boy!

Cody Owen Pastor

We've tossed and turned over names for this little guy for so long and this one seems to be sticking. ;) We are so very excited to meet Cody and are hoping that it is sooner than later! But with Mark's birthday coming up on Saturday (the 13th) I am told it has to be before or after that - he doesn't want to share! LOL But if I do go into labor then, I don't have to get him any other presents right?!?!?

Doctor Appointment Today

So we are getting down to the wire with appointments! Last week was an exam with some tests, etc. This week were the results - everything is fine and on schedule!

Since last week I have gained 3 lbs.!!!! That's the most I've gained between appointments my whole pregnancy - LOL - and it was ONE WEEK! This little sucker is definitely growing and ready to come out. :)

They measured my belly, as usual, and this time said they can tell the baby has "dropped" due to the measurement. Well, I could have told them that! I've definitely been breathing easier, but my maternity jeans aren't fitting too well (which is all I've really been wearing up to now). Ahhhh the miracle of stretch pants. :) Lovin' those things right now!

I guess now it's just a waiting game. I can't wait to meet our little boy! I know it's best for him to stay in and "cook" as long as possible, but I am so ready to have him NOW! lol

First Nursery Pics!

Not completely done of course - the walls are completely bare! We are searching for a rug and still waiting on the chest of drawers, but you get the idea. :)

Nursery DONE!

This weekend was a stressful finish of the nursery remodel! LOL But in the end it looks beautiful! Mark did such a great job on the panels and the chair rail and the crown molding - it just looks so nice!

We got the crib put together and all the cutesy "stuff" put in there. The changing table/dresser is set up with all my cloth dipes and wipes stashed inside. :)

We are still waiting on the chest of drawers from The Baby Depot to come in. Ordered on March 21st and they still don't have it. But calling there and trying to get any kind of info is like pulling teeth, so we have to suffer through long "on hold" times and people who "don't know" what to tell us. Hopefully it will be in soon so we can complete the room.

I will definitely take pics ASAP of what is done so far and post them here.

Will the nursery ever get done?!?!

So Auntie Di Di came over early last Saturday and we tackled the painting of the nursery. Two coats of primer on the walls, paint the 2 doors and inside the closet. *whew* Sunday we got two coats of paint up and I think we're almost set with paint! The doors need another coat, but that shouldn't be too bad. So now Mark needs to get the crown molding and wainscotting up and finally cover up the horrid 1970's metallic pink floral wallpaper for good! I wish I had pictures of this room when we first bought the house - there was pink shag carpet on the floor too! That got ripped up before we even moved in! LOL

So this weekend we will hopefully get the painting and installing DONE so I can finally finally finally put the crib together!!! I'll probably grab Steph and Diana and make a Babies R Us run to get the last of the crib set and some stuff for the walls. So the next pictures I post of this room will look much better!

Baby legs!

My newest obsession (aside from cloth diapers, which will take a whole separate post to get into!) is BABY LEGS: they are little leg warmers so baby can wear just a onesie or a t-shirt (for easy diaper changing!) and still have protection on his legs, for crawling or when it gets cold.

But I just think they are too darn cute! I hadn't seen these in person until I went to Target the other night and I couldn't resisit - bought a pair of green ones with a frog on them. :-)

The pictures I've seen of babies wearing them are just too precious. Little chunka chunka baby legs covered in these crazy patterns and designs!

Ahhhhh, just one more thing I don't think Mark agrees with me on........LOL

Nursery - work in progress

So we still have work to do in the nursery. *sigh* Do you know what a pain in the @$$ that painting windows/window panes can be? Trying to get all the windows and trim work done so we can just slap the primer and paint on the walls!

We did pick up our crib and dresser. They are sitting nicely in their box in our garage! So my poor car has been banished to spending it's time outside. lol I am so anxious to open them up and put everything together. I think it's that "nesting" thing people talk about........it's driving me nuts!

I've received some cute little outfits already and some toys and "stuff" for the baby and it's all sitting in bags and boxes in the corner of our bedroom. Of course I take everything out once in a while to just refold it and put it back. Hehe

So hopefully, hopefully, HOPEFULLY we can get this painting out of the way this week and weekend and start making this room into BABY LAND!!!!

Crib Set

So we went out this past weekend and ordered our crib set! And were told if the items weren't in stock it would take 10-12 weeks to order. YIKES! So the baby may come before the crib!!!! LOL Thankfully the actual crib is in stock with the small dresser/changing table. Just had to order the tall chest of drawers. So he may be without that when he comes home. hehehe

We put the 2 in-stock pieces on layaway until we're done making a mess in the nursery with the sanding and painting, etc. But now that we've actually made a "baby purchase" I WANT IT NOW! I want the room to just be done and I can get everything all set up cutesy. :)

Here is a pic of the crib set:


And here is a pic of the bedding set we chose:

He's moving!

Definitely feeling a lot of movement in that belly now. He's a squirmer, that's for sure! And when we are at DJ shows - I swear he's in there doing the Macarena! He goes crazy with the music. So either he loves it or he hates it and wishes we were home in bed! I used to only be able to sleep on my right side or he'd get mad, but now I've been able to sometimes roll this body over to the left for a little bit without much protest. Poor Munchie has to make room on the bed though for this belly. She's used to snuggling up close (usually right in between Mark and I) and there just isn't as much room in that area any more! LOL

Belly pics - finally!

OK so I finally got belly shots to show everyone. Me at 25 weeks:

Baby Registry

So I've been very good at not going out and buying every cute little baby thing in sight......so far. But I did start to look up things on BabiesRUs.com and couldn't help myself - I started a registry. Mark and I have to go to the store in person for most things, since we want to see them in person, but other things.......yeah, you just gotta have 'em! LOL

I can't believe the cute little outfits and teeny socks and cool toys. Mark doesn't yet seem to share my passion for all stuff "baby". He's interested in the stroller/car seat system, the pack-n-play, the crib set, stuff like that. But little onsies that have animal feeties just don't do it for him! LOL

So he said he hopes I didn't register us "for anything stupid" that the poor child will have to wear. Hmmmm, does this count:



Because I LOVE IT and Baby Pastor will too! LOL

Stork Parking

Had another doctor visit this week. Gained 5 lbs, so I'm right on track there. :) They gave me a whole bunch of paperwork for the hospital. I have to "pre-register" and send the hospital any "directives" that I have. I think I will direct them to get the baby out quickly and painlessly.

Also, got a map of where to park: yes, there is designated "Stork Parking" in the emergency room lot! We park there and someone will come right out with a "special" wheelchair for me and whisk me into delivery. (we'll see how smoothly that really goes!) Then once I'm "comfortable" (I'll let you know when that is as well during labor!) then Mark - my significant other - is to go move the car from Stork Parking to the regular garage.

Then there was the blue sheet of paper entitled "If you are having a boy...." If? Weren't we pretty sure about that? This notice then goes on to tell me all the lovely details of circumcision. I'm to discuss these facts with my significant other and let our doctor know our decision. :)

So next visit will be my blood glucose test. Quest Diagnostics is right next door to my doctor, so I go there first and get "the drink" (sounds very ominous to me) and then wait an hour to be tested. Yay.

Team Blue!

Yes, Baby Pastor is a BOY! I sent out this exciting news in an email, but neglected to post here and have been chastised for that, so there it is! lol

We are soooo excited! On a Friday after we found out the good news, Mark called me from home (he gets out early on Fridays) and said "someone" has been in our house, but he wouldn't tell me why. So I got home and walked inside to see blue balloons floating from our staircase, a huge NASCAR balloon and a blue "Baby's First Bunny", which Munchie was soooo mad that she couldn't have! Along with a hand-made "Congratulations - It's A Boy!" sign. Only could be the work of Auntie Di-Di. She had told me she was stopping over the house to pick up an extra microwave we had - she's a sneak! It was great.

About two weeks ago I got my baby belly. Overnight. Literally. I don't remember having it on Friday and by Sunday my pants didn't fit. I have also been harassed about pictures of said belly, but I don't have any yet! I will get Mark to take some this weekend and try to get them up here.

All doctor's visits have been perfect. I went to my LAST visit at the hospital last Wednesday (I was going every 2 weeks). The Dr. said that the "risks" I may have had are no longer high risks anymore - especially at this stage of the pregnancy. So just regular office visits from now on. :-)

I have gained back the 10 lbs. I lost in the beginning and probably more since! So Baby Pastor is definitely growing into a healthy boy! At the last ultrasound they had trouble keeping an eye on the heart to get a measurement - little sucker kept flipping over! Eventually I had to lay on my side to contain him! LOL Told Mark his son was NOT behaving at the doctors.

We're well underway with the nursery transformation. New doors are installed and 75% of the wallpaper is removed. One more day of steaming and we should be good. Then we have to agree on a paint color! Decisions, decisions.....

Hmmmmm, Boy or Girl?

We had an appointment yesterday at the hospital for check-ups and the "anatomy scan" - whoo hoo! I can finally start buying cute little outfits and "baby stuff" without it being green! lol

So at the hospital I get scanned by a student - so she's learning and taking a little extra time to get the measurements, etc. That's fine, I don't mind.

Then we ask about the anatomy scan and we're told that we "might" be able to do that today if the baby cooperates, but the doctor will do that.

Doctor comes in and does his thing. We ask again - he thinks it might be too early but we'll try.

Up comes a lovely picture of my baby's heiny - with the legs closed tightly! Can see the little feets moving and everything! But no good visual of what we wanted to see! At one point the doctor said he thought "blue", but the scan tech girl said "pink". So that didn't help at all!

So back in 2 weeks for more testing anyway - we'll try again to see what this stubborn little Pastor Baby is!