A Few Firsts...

The days following Cormac's birth were quite eventful! He had so many "firsts".
First time being held by Uncle Taylor...

 First time being held by "the skipper" : )

 First visit to the doctor...

 First time being worn by daddy in the baby ergo...

 First time to smile and catch it on camera...

 First bath time...did not like it one bit...screamed the ENTIRE time.

 First time going to church...also his dedication Sunday.

Cormac's Birth Story

*Disclaimer* This post is extremely long. It is mostly for my memories : )

It all started on the morning of Friday, May 10th when we went for a checkup at the doctor. We had been hoping that Dr. Finkle would say, "congrats...you are in labor and need to go to the hospital right now!" Unfortunately she did not say that. She did however tell us that she would be surprised if we didn't have a baby before the weekend was over. She also told us that she could do a little procedure that could induce labor that night. We decided to let her do the procedure  and left the office excited that we would probably be seeing her again later that night! We did also decide to induce Monday morning if Cormac had yet to make his big debut...

As soon as we left we called both sets of grandparents and told them they should head up to Kansas City because we would most likely be meeting our  little guy very soon. Chris and I rushed home and started cleaning and doing some laundry. We also called Dick to come pick up Bear for the doggie farm. Within a few hours we had everything taken care of and were ready to head to the hospital at any minute. We decided it might be our last good meal for a few days so we went to Red Robin and had some amazing burgers. We also hit up Costco for a few things. It's pretty funny the looks you get when you are a gigantic pregnant lady due at any minute.

The day progressed into the evening and we were still waiting for any signs of labor. I was having a few contractions (mostly in my back) but nothing consistent. Finally it came bedtime, so we reluctantly climbed into bed just sure we would be waking up soon in labor. Well, we both woke up on Saturday morning no closer to our baby. We did however now have both of our families in town. We went for lunch at the Bass Pro seafood restaurant and did some walking around the path there...trying to walk the baby out. On Saturday night we all had dinner in our apartment together. Everyone said good night with the hopes that once again we would wake in the night and head to the hospital.

Sunday was Mother's Day and we still had no baby. We went to church and had Mexican food for lunch. I ate spicy salsa and did more walking around with Jenny and Dianna that afternoon. We went down to Summit Fair for some shopping. And once again the day passed with no signs of active labor. That night was hard to sleep knowing that we were going in to induce the next morning. I was filled with excitement, anxiety and some fear. Mostly excited to finally meet our sweet son and fear of the unknown.

We woke up at 5:15 and started getting ready to go. Chris took one final picture of my big baby belly...

and off we went! When we got to the hospital I got to put on the lovely hospital gown and get all hooked up to all sort of monitors and my i.v. We turned on the Today Show (my fav) and I remember thinking how strange it was to be doing something to trivial when in just a matter of hours we would be meeting our son.  We also met our WONDERFUL nurse Melissa. She will forever be in our hearts.

As the day progressed they started me on pitocin and around noon Dr. Finkle came and broke my water. Everyone kept saying how great my labor was going. I was definitely having contractions but they still felt manageable to me. Finally around 2pm and 8 cm...I was ready for my epidural. A very nice anesthesiologist came and put it in. I was a little worried about this hurting but it was fine! All throughout the day our families came and checked on us.  We also recieved many encouraging text messages from our  sweet friends. Finally around 4pm, Melissa said I was at 10 cm and that it was time to start pushing. Dr. Finkle finished up her office visits and came straight over to the hospital. After such an easy labor, I had in my mind that this would be a piece of cake! Ha! Little did I know, I was in for the workout of a lifetime. Right before I started pushing we asked Dr.Finkle what her guess was for Cormac's weight...she guessed somewhere around 6lbs. I told her my guess...9lbs 7oz. She said that if he was that big she would retire...hmm  : )

After 2 hours of pushing we finally met Cormac. Our sweet nurse Melissa was so helpful during those long two hours. For a lot of the pushing she held one end of a towel while I held the other and we did "tug of war" to help me push. My arms were sore for days!  He had a rough time getting out due to his size, 9lbs 15 oz, and because his shoulder got stuck. Dr. Finkle wasn't sure if I was pushing correctly and had my epidural turned off but he wasn't coming because he was stuck. Ouch! I remember thinking to myself, "why does this hurt so much??!!" No one told me they were turning off the epidural...sneaky!

 

I was only able to hold him for a few short minutes before I had to be taken back to the operating room. I was losing too much blood and Dr. Finkle needed to get me taken care of. That whole process was somewhat of a blur as they put me back on my epidural and gave me more drugs so she could do surgery. Finally around 8pm, I was all sewed up and was able to go back to my room and really meet sweet Cormac. Chris, such a good daddy, did "skin to skin" with him since I wasn't able to. 

 

 Later that night, one of the nurses came in and gave Cormac his first bath. He screamed bloody murder the whole time, but smelled so good when it was over! It was quite a long night for everyone but we were so glad he was finally here. 

Here are a few more pictures of those first few days...

Getting weighed right  after birth

 Getting checked out by the peditrician. He said, "Congratulations...you gave birth to a 3 month old!" haha He also said that Cormac was "perfect".

 Headed home!!

 

Chris was such a good daddy driving home. I asked him what he was thinking (wish I would have gotten this on video) and he said, "I just wish all these other drivers weren't on the road!"

It's the little things...

Things have been slowing down here lately. I got put on bedrest last week because I was already progressing toward labor and my doctor didn't want me going into premature labor at 36 weeks. So we I have been spending lots of time watching the today show, ellen and taking naps. Chris, on the other hand, has been defending his title as "husband of the year" and doing things like laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking...just to name a few.

On Sunday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous so we picked up some subway and headed to the park for a picnic. We are trying to soak up these quiet moments before things get crazy. I think sometimes it is just those little moments, sitting together in the sunshine, that make the best memories.

 Cormac could come at anytime now...so we're just waiting at this point!

Cormac's Nursery

Eventhough we will be moving very shortly after Cormac is born, I still wanted to make his nursery feel "homey". So we did a few small projects to make his room fun and inviting. It's not going to win us any prizes for "cutest nursery ever" but I'm really happy with the few projects did : )

 *We are planning on putting some pictures in the empty frame...although, I kind of like it how it is : )

Maternity Pics

A few weeks ago we went out to Unity Village and took our maternity pictures with Kendra at KJane Designs. We cannot say enough about her! She did a fabulous job and we absolutely love our pictures : ) Here are a few of our favorites...

Bumpdate

far along: 34 Weeks! Cormac is measuring a little big for his size so at this point he is probably in the upper 5lb range. 
Sleep: Well...I can definitely say that I have slept better in my life. I am not sleeping well at all. I'm waking up 4 or 5 times each night. It doesn't really hit me until I get home from school and want to go to bed at 5pm! 
Missing anything: Not really missing anything this week. 
Food Cravings: I am still feeling really THIRSTY all the time. And of course Chick Fil A always sounds good : ) 
Food Aversions: Salad hasn't really been agreeing with me lately. It seems to cause immediate indigestion which is horribly uncomfortable. 
Symptoms: Feeling pretty tired at the end of the day. My ankles and feet are still swelling pretty badly. I am trying to keep them up as much as possible but that's somewhat difficult when my job is to teach 25 third graders. My doctor suggested wearing those really attractive support hose : ) 
Have you started to show yet: A few people think I have started to "drop"...we'll see what the doc says when we go back on Friday. We are on weekly appointments now so that is kind of fun. 
Happy or Moody: I am trying to stay happy...but I think my extreme tiredness comes off as being grumpy at the end of the night...poor Chris : / 
Highlights: Chris has been WONDERFUL at helping me get Cormac's room ready. I know that we will be moving shortly after he is born but I just can't fight this nesting instinct. We have done a few simple projects in his room that we can easily transfer to his new room when we move. It's been really fun seeing it all come together. Bear also likes hanging out in Cormac's room which we are loving.

 We also got to see the little guy on a sonogram last week. When we went for our appointment his heart rate was a little slow and he was measuring somewhat big so our doctor sent us for a sonogram. Once we saw him his heart rate had come back up and he was looking great. He is measuring somewhat big so we'll see if we make it to 40 weeks : ) 

Another highlight this week was taking our maternity pictures!! We have the MOST amazing photographer, KJane Designs, and she did a wonderful job! She put a little sneak peak online and I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. 

Looking forward to: At this point I am looking forward to getting all the last minute things done so that we will be ready for Cormac to come! It feels like we still have so many things to do before his arrival : ) 

Bumpdate

How far along: 32 Weeks! Cormac weighs almost 4 pounds and is about 17 inches long. wow! 
Sleep: It's been touch and go...some nights I wake up 5 or 6 times and some nights only twice. I'm learning that I need to take a short afternoon cat nap when I get home from school : ) 
Missing anything: Still missing turkey sandwiches...other than that nothing else really! 
Food Cravings: I am so THIRSTY all the time. I have actually gone to Sonic a few times for a route 44 ice water with lime. Yum. : ) 
Food Aversions: No fish! 
Symptoms: I really feel like last week I dove head first into the tired stage again. Also, my ankles continue to swell pretty badly by the end of each day. It's really fun : ) 
Have you started to show yet: I have a student in my class with autism. This morning he said to me (in all seriousness) "Mrs. Branigan...why do you always have that baby in your belly?" It gave me a pretty good laugh. 
Happy or Moody: Hmm...no comment this week : ) 
Highlights: Our two baby showers were wonderful. We were more than blessed by my school and family/friends in Arlington. Now we just need to get it all put away and organized! I am also still loving feeling Cormac move in my belly. Sometimes I really think he is trying to break free. Last night I actually wondered if it was physically possible for his foot to break through haha. I'm sure it's getting pretty crowded in there! 
Looking forward to: We have a lot of special things coming up! One more baby shower, our birth class at the hospital and our maternity pics! It's all coming so quickly...sometimes I just want time to slow down and sometimes I am just ready to meet our sweet baby.