6 weeks and growing

It's truly amazing--Harrison is over a month old now. He's already around 11.5 pounds and is a very happy baby. He's started smiling at us and lifting his head to see the world around him. He loves the new mobile we put up in his crib and has started to spend more time awake during the day and a little more time sleeping at night (we can't wait for that magical time that he sleeps through the whole night!). We can really tell that he's interested in everything around him and that he's starting to see things more clearly now. He's starting to 'coo' at us and give us little baby giggles and noises that we gladly give back to him to keep him smiling. In this short time the incredible growth and changes he has gone through have been so wonderful to watch.

Thinking back to when we first brought him home it was quite a stressful time. He was only sleeping for short hour and a half segments at a time, was completely demanding about eating (since he had a teeny tiny stomach that could only hold a teaspoon) and was unable to interact with us at all. Now to think in this short amount of time his personality is starting to come out and he can laugh and smile with us. That is just awesome!

We're doing much better too--we're getting used to our new routine and are starting to understand what some of his cries mean. The "I'm starving" cry is the easiest to identify since he make snuffly sounds that accompany it. And with Harrison there is no "I'm hungry" cry, he starts right in with the starving one every time. Speaking of feeding, we also recently decided that it was time to go 100% to bottle feeding--that was not easy. I'm definitely glad I made the decision to breastfeed for the time that I did but since I'll be going back to work very soon, it really felt like the best decision for us to get him ready now for that change. He didn't like it at all for a day or so, but now he's totally content to eat from bottles. It may have helped that we introduced bottles from the very beginning to supplement at times when he was really hungry and I didn't have enough for him (remember, he was a big baby coming out and he has a big appetite). All in all, it took a good day or so to convert him over (a very tough day or two..but completely worth the stress and constant crying bouts). Now for all my girlfriends who will have babies of their own in the future, also take note that when you stop the factory, it takes a while. I'm not sure exactly how long since we just weaned Harrison this past weekend; I'm currently still waiting to see how long it will take. Every book says 24-48 hours to stop the supply but all my girlfriends are saying it's longer than that. I'm currently on Day 3 and it's much better. Be prepared, days 1 & 2 are no picnic. Just a lot of pressure that requires wrapping and frozen bags of peas--they truly help. Again, I'm happy we made the choices that we did but the more I think about it, the more I wish I would have been given the complete utter truth about both options of feeding in order to make a fully informed decision by weighing the pros and cons. So for my friends that need to make that choice later, I will be there for you. I will be honest and open about both sides and then you can fairly decide what is best for you. I will tell you this--it greatly helps having other Mom friends to connect with. There is just so much to learn and experience. You can read all the books in the world or never open a page, but all in all, you just have to do it and it's nice to not have to do it alone (no offense to our husbands---it's just great to have a female perspective).

What else have I learned so far? Hmmm...well, you can take a baby to the movies so nanny-nanny-boo-boo to all of those who told us we would never get to see movies again at the theater...he slept through the whole thing. Bath time is easier than I thought it would be and he totally loves it. Breastfed baby poo doesn't smell at all, but formula poo does! Babies can totally burp--I mean loud, manly burps that are totally hilarious. Baby nail clippers are super important and at least one of you has to be able to man up and use them. And mobiles, swings and pacifiers rock. I mean that in every way. Sometimes we've done everything we can to soothe him and it's just not enough--well these amazing modern devices help us do the job. I have no idea what archaic things our parents had to use but I feel super bad for them because modern technology has really helped us have a few moments of hands-free time and it's worth every penny!

Steph

Steph's Point of View

So I thought I would blog about the whole labor and delivery process since I'm the guinea pig for a ton of my friends on the subject...funny thing is, here we are a month later and I'm just now able to get to the task. Maybe that's my first insight: understand that after the baby comes you will be very tired and will not be able to get to normal tasks in any urgent manner. It just takes time to figure out this whole new life and that's all good.

Anyhow, Harrison celebrated being 1 month old yesterday--it's been a whirlwind. We're still getting used to it all...we know that he's ours but it still feels so surreal that we have a child. Last night he only woke us up once (versus two or three times) so I have the energy and brain power to write down my thoughts, yippee!

Ok, labor. I was really surprised. I had heard horror stories and I tried to avoid talking or asking people for any other info on the subject. All throughout my pregnancy I refused to watch any of those gross videos of other people giving birth; we didn't go to any child birthing classes for that and many other reasons. For me, the whole situation began when Dr. New told me that Harrison was getting really big and that my edema was getting really bad...and because of that we would have to induce labor. So we were scheduled to come in the next night and begin the whole process. I was given a pill to prepare my uterus, since I was only 1 cm dilated at this time, and then we just spent the night in the hospital. I was lucky enough to get a sleeping pill. Poor Mark was not. They checked on me all throughout the night (probably why Mark got no sleep) and then the next morning at 8am they broke my water to really get it all started. And no worries, when the Dr. broke my water I didn't feel a thing. It was simple and easy. One fear abated. After this they gave me the petosin so that my contractions would really start kicking in. On the note of contractions, I have to give my husband props. For about the 3 weeks prior to all this, he kept telling me that I was having contractions and I kept telling him that it was just the baby stretching....and for the first time ever, he was right! I really did not think they were contractions--I kept waiting to feel what everyone else had told me. Apparently it feels different for everyone. Mine just felt like pressure, like the baby was really stretching out inside my belly. It didn't feel like cramps and it wasn't across the whole belly, it was mostly concentrated on my right side which is where Harrison liked to camp out. So, all in all, the whole time I was having contractions and didn't know it. How did we figure it out? At the hospital when they hook you up to the machines (pain-free process), they attach a monitor for the baby's heart beat and one for your contractions. Then you can look on the screen and see when you're having one. The nurse had pointed to the screen and said, 'Wow, you're having a contraction right now' and I said, 'Huh?.' That's when we figured it all out.

Ok so back to the labor process. The contractions kept coming, no big deal. We were just waiting around for me to reach 3 cm dilated so I could get the epidural. That took pretty much all morning and some of the afternoon. Once we got right around 3 cm the Dr. came in to give me the epidural, another one of those 'horror story moments' I thought was about to happen. Also, no big deal. After all the fear that had been shoved in my brain about this process, it was pretty funny how easy it was. I barely felt anything. It was so quick and so easy I couldn't believe it. I really thought it was going to hurt--not at all! He was finished and I was asking him if that was all there was to it! Now having the epidural in, my body just started to fill with fluid. You numb up pretty quick and it's so weird not feeling your legs. They get pretty rock solid hard from all the fluid but it's amazing, it really works because the only way I knew I was having contractions was from what the computer screen said. I could not feel a thing. Nor could I move my legs, lol. On that note, don't fret about the catheter either. That was a piece of cake and it obviously makes so much sense. If you can't move your legs, you sure as heck can't go to the bathroom. Anyways, the epidural was a breeze and made the next part of it all much easier.

Waiting. That's pretty much the next part of it. To get from 3 cm to the necessary 10 cm in order to push, that took the whole rest of the day. Pushing began somewhere around 8pm. What's also strange is that when they get you ready to push it's so not a big deal to anyone else. The nurses do this every day, it's not epic to them. So, it's you, your chosen push buddy (my hubby) and a nurse. Since the nurses rotate shifts, by this time I'd met and had quite a number of nurses involved in lots of what used to be 'private moments'. You really get used to it and they make it so easy. I know it seems like it should be so weird...like 'Hi, I just met you. Sure, let me show you my entire birthday suit' but really, they are so professional and you've had so many other nurse change overs at this point, that it's so okay. So, she helped us try a push position (did you know there are tons of different positions? I sure didn't) and it all began. You still can't feel a thing because of the epidural so it's almost impossible to know if you are pushing the right way. The nurse just tells you if you did it right or not and you go with that. But really, I would much rather not be feeling any of this nonsense, I was grateful for the epidural. (I can tell you this as truth because somewhere in the midst of our two hours of pushing, my epidural bag ran out and I felt full blown labor until they could find the Dr. to get a new bag of the special stuff back on there...and it's not something I would want to feel again. I respect but totally do not understand women that do this without the epidural!). So for us, it turned out that the baby just did not want to cooperate. Apparently his head was not facing down (chin to chest) as it should have been; his head was actually turned to his right shoulder. Dr. New said that each time I pushed, the baby would start to move down the pelvic bone area and then with every 'relax' the baby would just pop right back up to where we started. So not funny Harrison.

Time for a c-section. Not emergency, just unplanned. Oh well, I'd read up on both on the odd chance that this would happen and here it was. Mark began changing into his space suit of scrubs and I was wheeled into the operating room. That was probably the freakiest part of it all. It was a lot easier than my imagination was going to let me think at the time, so no worries to any of you who have to have one some day. They transfer you from your hospital bed onto their operating table (which be prepared--your arms are straight out in a giant 'T' formation to your body. Nothing weird. Think they said it was so the IV fluids flowed in right the whole time). Then you start to numb up. I kept worrying that I wasn't going to be 'numb enough' and kept bugging the Dr. about it. He finally asked me 'Did you feel that?' and told me he had grabbed my tummy skin with big clamps...and no, I did not even know anything had happened so that helped quite a bit. After feeling like an eternity, they let Mark in to sit by my head during the procedure. All in all, it just felt like a bunch of people pushing on my stomach. A lot of pressure and random pushing. Then all of a sudden, we heard Harrison cry. It was the most incredible sound in the world. We were both so happy that he was healthy and strong. The nurses took him over to clean him off (I couldn't see any of this--the giant tarp in front of my face blocked it all). One of the nurses did lift up a corner of it so I could see him moving around as they were doing all of the necessary tests and such--all I could see where arms and legs flailing around, but it was a beautiful sight. After he was cleaned, tested (9.9 Apgar--go Harrison!) and bundled up, they let Mark bring him over to me so I could see him for the first time. He was perfect!

So, 24 hours+ and we had our precious baby boy--healthy, strong and happy. Born August 20th at 10:38pm weighing 8 lbs, 9 ounces and 21 inches long. Our amazing family had stayed all throughout the process in the waiting room. It was a beautiful moment when Mark got to wheel Harrison out to see all of them.

He's been a joy and a struggle all at the same time! We're still learning what he wants when he wants it and we are just now getting those very sweet baby smiles from him. We can't wait for his sleep schedule to balance out so we can sleep too! He's amazing--to think that this little guy popped out of my body, super crazy! The whole process is an incredible miracle and we are so blessed to have this awesome little guy in our lives. We realize life will never be the same for us and for that we are very glad. We love him to pieces and look forward to you all getting to know him too!

Baby Harrison

There are many, many more pictures. However due to space, time, and well... time, we're going to have to leave it at this for now. We'll try to add more later.

Harrison Rhys Massey

It has been nearly two weeks since little Harrison Rhys joined the land of the breathing and dry. It has been a long 2 weeks, but we're loving it.

Before the pictures, let me recap the adventure we went on here at the end of August 2010.

August 19, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. we arrive at Baylor Medical Center of Grapevine. Steph is admitted and they begin a regimen of pills that will slowly start the process of labor. She is mercifully given an Ambien, something I was not afforded as the lowly husband who seemingly doesn't exist to begin with. Instead I was given a pseudo couch and a thumbs up. Steph fell asleep and was awoken every hour or two for a check up or more medicine. I didn't sleep much that night as I was convinced that the medicine would cause her to give birth unannounced, so I was hyper alert throughout the entire night listening intently to every beep and whir in the room.

My mother appeared the next morning at 7 a.m. with 3 pigs-in-the-blanket from Cliff's Donut shop. Yum. I devoured the three that she'd gotten me and immediately started chugging coffee, something I wouldn't stop doing for about 18 hours. About the same time, Steph was given the Pitocin to start labor and get the show on the road. From that point on neither of us ate anything and Steph was only allowed ice chips. She's still irked about that.

Friends, family, and well wishers came and went throughout the day as Steph's body prepared to do the unthinkable. Finally at 8 p.m. on August 20th the nurses decide it was time to push. After 20 minutes of trying to figure out the best position we finally started really pushing. By 9:45 the doctor had determined that Harrison wouldn't scoot past the pelvic bone. Steph valiantly pushed, but every time Harrison would slide down until she stopped pushing at which point he'd go right back up the way he'd come.

By 10:00 that evening Steph had been put on the operating table for an unplanned (not emergency) C-Section. Both she and Harrison were doing fine, but this was the way it had to be. At 10:38 Harrison was brought into the world screaming bloody murder. At 10:39 he stopped screaming and just observed everything going on around him proving he was truly my son. I was allowed to take pictures and video until he was ready to be held, at which point I was allowed to bring him over for Steph to see for the first time. Magical to say the least. We had known him for mere seconds and we couldn't fathom being without him.

After the very successful C-Section, Steph was moved into the recovery room while I was allowed to take Harrison to the nursery and push him down the hall past the mass of family who had stuck it out with us. That is, without a doubt, the proudest moment of my life.

A year ago we'd lost our little baby. We were both crushed but understood it was for the best. A year later we were holding our new little miracle. These two thoughts were in my mind a lot over that weekend.

By 1 a.m. we were both exhausted. Steph was finally allowed some fluids. The family had gone home for the night and it was just us in the Post-Partum room. Steph finally got to hold her baby boy at this time. However due to extreme exhaustion, we opted to let the nursing staff keep him for us as much as possible until we left the hospital. We'd have him for our own very soon.

On Monday, August 23rd, we were allowed to come home. Its been an adventure ever since.

I'm sure this story is similar in nature to every other parents' out there. This is our story and we won't soon forget it.

I'll upload some pictures with the next post.

Nursery Time

We're getting there...little by little, we are finishing all the prep work so that Harrison has his own little space...take that back, so that he can completely overrun our house with baby stuff. We are almost completely finished with his nursery, bathroom and travel needs (strollers, bouncers, pack-n-play, etc).

Nursery Updates: The room was painted yellow to begin with...Mark would not let me repaint it. I had to work with what I was given. I figured, I made all the other decisions about what we were going to do as far as the decorations were concerned so I guess he could have his wish on the wall color. I mean after all, the monster theme kind-of just happened for me and there was no turning back after the idea took place! Our color theme is pretty much NOT pastels. We have aqua blue, bright orange, royal blue, fire engine red, many shades of bright green and pops of yellow. It's all boy and it's a fun mismatch of the colors that will hopefully stand out enough to keep our little guy occupied and interested. Wait til he sees his bathroom!!! We'll send some update pictures on that soon; Mark is almost finished in there and it's definitely all kid-inspired.

Harrison's bedding and curtains were made by a great friend of the family, Lee, who sewed every inch of the items together (what an awesome skill that I so do not have!) and they look amazing! She made the crib sheets, baby blanket, dust ruff, curtains and is currently working on the bumper pads--what a woman!

We had some great help from my Dad hanging all the shelves not only on the walls but also in the closet. So Harrison has a horde of monsters in his room and has a closet full of baby clothes that he can hopefully all wear.

We even tested out most of his stuff already (thank you all for the lovely shower gifts!) when our friends Traci and Kevin brought over their little sweetie Reagan. The monitor rocks, she loved all his toys and those glowing/musical creatures for nap time work like a charm! It's great to know that we picked out some winners for our little guy and if he's finicky, we can always give Reagan some new great gear!

As far as the rest of the baby gear goes: We installed the car seats in each car and it's truly amazing how much room they actually take up! We must both sit way back in our cars because we had to move those passenger seats up and it's now a sad situation for whoever is stuck riding along. We also put the stroller and snap-and-go together so we each have one ready. The pack-n-play is up as well as the bouncer and swing. Like I said, it's all coming along. Now we just have to wait for the baby.

Speaking of Harrison, we had our 36 week appointment today and he's doing just great. Everything looked good and we'll have another appointment next week. It's amazing to think we have somewhere around 3 weeks left before he's here! Right now he's moving all over the place and he's got me famished and parched as always...so off I go to fill up the meter.

We'll send more updates soon!

Showered with Monsters

My amazing friends at work threw an incredible party for little Harrison--it was a true monster bash! We had a giant monster cake from my fav--Delicious Cakes! And there were even craft stations so that everyone there could make their own monster...which is currently in the process of being sewn together into an awesome quilt for Harrison (thanks to Heather and Stacy's diligent work)! Thank you to my hostesses-with-the mostesses: Heather, Leah, Amanda, Delia, Ashley, Stacy and Michele!

Update on everything...

First... Harrison Rhys

Things are progressing nicely for our little boy. He still has about a month left to go before he's ready. We had a doctor's check-up yesterday and Harrison is currently at about 5 and a half pounds. That puts his due date around the 17th of August, but at this point there are so many variables that the likelyhood of that is slim. The original due date was closer to September, so we're sticking with that for now. Of course things change quickly and unexpectedly this close to the birth, especially the first time around.

Second... Steph

She seems to be doing okay. She's very uncomfortable all the time and she has aches and pains throughout her back and stomach on occasion. She's not moving very fast which isn't that bad as we should all slow down. She has the entire king sized bed to herself as I'm still camped out on the couch. Instead of feeling like I've been kicked to the curb, I instead feel like I'm simply doing my duty.

One of her favorite video games came out last week and this time we can play together. We both have Nintendo DS's and have played them countless times since we got married. However we've never before played a game together. Dragon Quest IX recently came out with the ability to play the game together via the wi-fi capability of the little console system. We also decided to both upgrade our very out dated DS's to the newer DSXL's. Its a much larger system with two much bigger systems.

I feel I've had a good influence on my wife when it comes to gaming. Before she never really cared for them. Now she's getting into RPG's and puzzle games more and more.

I'd also like to report that she's showing glimpses of interest in baseball and the Rangers! That's been a hard fought battle on my part, but through vast amounts of watching games on TV and dragging her to the ballpark, she's slowly started to get into my favorite of all sports! Its about time!

Lastly... the house

Things are nearing completion in the remodelling arena. Both bathrooms have been completely stripped of all wallpaper. They were covered with a liberal application of primer. And with the extremely generous help of our friends Kevin and Traci, they were textured to match the rest of the house. After giving them a few days to dry completely I will prime them both twice more before applying paint.

For Harrison's bathroom, we've chosen a light orange color. I'm guessing it will be overly colorful in there but who cares. Its a kids bathroom with monster crap everywhere. He will have a new light fixture, new shelves, a new mirror, and new general fixtures everywhere.

For the half bath down stairs we're going with whatever color we have left over from all of our original paint projects when we moved in 3 and a half years ago. It will probably be a light yellow. It too will get the same upgrades as Harrison's bathroom.

Over all things feel like they're coming together. The Pack-and-Play is out and ready for use. Harrison's room is essentially ready for occupation (pictures to follow), and the other odds and ends are getting stacked into place nicely. I have quite a bit more to do, but it will get done in time. Thank God the pregnancy lasts 9-10 months or none of this crap ever would have gotten done!

Maternity photo shoot

Steph and I were contacted by a teacher friend of mine who has started her own photography company while perfecting her Stay At Home Mom skills. She offered her expertise and we gladly obliged.

Dana met us at Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine, TX so we could carpool over to the Gaylord Texan for this shoot. I had proposed to Steph there nearly 6 years ago so it seemed fitting, plus the resort is simply an amazing place to visit and take pictures.

We started at about 9:15 Saturday morning and shot until noon. I was very hungry by the end of it, but we got some great photos in the process. I think Dana took something like 700+ photos in that time!

I'm attached a couple of those shots from her blog onto here (hopefully). We plan on ordering a fair few of these and you of course are welcome to do the same. Once Harrison gets here we'll be doing the same with him. I'm sure those will be even more popular than our maternity shoot!

If anyone is interested in using Dana's excellent skills at photography, just let me know and I can get you in contact with her. She doesn't stick only to baby and maternity pictures. Check out her website at http://www.onedimplephotography.com/

Back to her old ways...

After a small hiatus from her normal pregnancy sleeping habits, I'm sad to report that Stephanie is once again snoring. This time she's returned to snoring with a vengeance! If it were an Olympic sport, she would absolutely get the gold.

Of course this means that I've got to find another place to close my eyes or risk zero sleep. Instead of sleeping on the floor in the office and the now ultra clean brand new carpet, I've opted for the much easier couch. There is less set up and take down so its the smarter choice. Alas, it all seems to be part of this wacky game of pregnancy so far, and I don't mind the exodus.

Our dogs don't seem to mind the new situation either as they've taken up residence on my pillows at night. I blame them of course, for the whole sordid affair!

On a different note...

Harrison is kicking Steph seemingly all the time now. I suppose he's starting to run out of room in there. And we still have a couple of months left. I simply can't begin to imagine how Steph is handling this pregnancy thing. Let me just say for the record that I'm glad I was born a man. With all my idiosyncrasies I'd never get any sleep. My wife, on the other hand, soldiers on like a real trooper!

On yet another note...

The house is coming along. However we've seem to hit a snag, and I blame my decision to teach summer school. Its only about 5 hours a day, but this summer school thing is the pits. My kids are great and hard working, but I get home and I'm exhausted. I simply don't want to do anything and with my chronic laziness in full affect, that is a formula for disaster! We have so much laundry piled up and the dishes are just getting out of control. The garage needs to be organized stat and don't even get me started on the "garden area" in our back yard. There is a weed that literally stands taller than I do. At this point its a pride thing and I want to see just how tall this sucker will get. Steph seems embarrassed by the overwhelming growth, but I'm fascinated! Grow little weed, grow!!!

We're rocking at 32 weeks... I think. Harrison will be here before long and then it gets easier, right?

My first baby shower!

So my friends are smart and they planned my baby shower for a time that I was still mobile and at a time when the Texas heat was not daily reaching 100! Three of my gals--Traci, Summer and Morgan put together a great party at the Into My Garden Tea Room in Plano. We had tea, of course, soup, quiche, pasta salad, chicken salad--and a delicious cake to top it all of! And the best part--Kristy came into town from Tennessee to celebrate with us. Little Harrison was showered with cute outfits and ultimately with his under-the-sea themed play gym (I have a feeling that Bella--my morkie--will be equally interested in this apparatus). It was great fun and definitely needed to be limited to a girls-only event...we had much more opportunity to talk about all the weird and strange stuff that comes with pregnancy. I'm so grateful for my friends; we are all learning and figuring this mommy thing out together!

The rest of the weekend was great too! Kristy and I received a very sweet present from my super fantastic husband--a hotel room (two Queen beds since I still have that pregnancy snoring syndrome) all our own so we could spend some quality girl time together. In his own way, perhaps Mark was giving himself a gift--his own bed, his own home and the absences of all the girl gab that ensued. Smart husband. Well, we definitely spent that time catching up and catching the sights. We spent some tourist time at the 6th Floor Museum learning all about JFK before Kristy had to head out of town. And yes, apparently my snoring is not as 'meek and mild' as I thought it was...but I look forward to that magical day when all these weird symptoms stop (apparently this occurs practically right after you have the baby).

All in all, we're still doing great. We're at 7 3/4 months right now and coming up on that home stretch. Harrison is kicking and moving more often now or maybe he's just getting huge and every little move is more apparent. My feet are a funny sight most days--little puffy sausages wrapped in shoes. I'm still waiting for that 'lustrous hair and nail' growth that everyone raves about; that actually seems like a great symptom! Why can't I have that one?! I don't have any particular cravings, although I would never turn down any sweets and avocados look good on all sandwiches at this point. Maybe I should take that last comment back...sweet tea is an absolute joy! Sorry Harrison, you may be a little adhd...but we figured with both Mark and myself, you'd probably be that way anyways. Speaking of the little guy, his kicks are now actually making my belly visually jump! Mark got a big surprise the other day when he put his head to my belly to hear him move...and he got kicked in the face! That's my boy! What have we gotten ourselves into?!

We have another appointment in about a week and we'll keep you all posted.

Love, Steph

Getting there!

Steph and I have continued remodeling just about everything in the house. To date we've updated the following:

• New Hot Water Heater
• New Stove/Oven
• New Mounted Microwave
• New Paint in all rooms
• New light fixtures throughout the entire house.
• 3 New Ceiling Fans
• New Sink
• New Disposal
• New kitchen faucets
• New fence (That was a beating as it was built in the middle of July. Thanks for the help Ralph!)
• A fixed AC Unit (fingers crossed it doesn't break any time soon)
• New inner workings of 3 toilets
• New closet shelves in two rooms
• New shelving in the laundry room
• New Laundry room French Doors
• New eco-friendly Back Door (Thanks Kevin! That was a whipping.)
• Most recently, and with the extremely generous gift by Ralph and Anita, we have brand new carpet! It makes the house smell brand new and it looks amazing!

What we have left:

• Finish the guest and half bathroom. We're taking off the wallpaper and retexturing/painting the walls. (Probably the worst thing ever in the history of remodeling). This needs to be done before Harrison is born as the guest bathroom will be his!!!
• Retile the master and guest bath tubs/showers as well as the kitchen backsplash.
• Possibly paint the cabinets. At the very least we will put handles on them.
• Do something about the countertops in the kitchen.

We've got a lot to do, but we've gotten a lot done. The house looks great though. Steph repainted the banister recently and it looks a lot better than it did. I scrubbed the tile floor in the kitchen. It was gross how dirty it was! We can think our dogs for that.

Thanks to our parents for the continued help. Most of the financial backing is from their pocketbooks and we are forever grateful for their support.

Maybe one of these days we can people over and show off some of the work we've done!

Harrison Update

We've been to the doctor twice since the last post so we wanted to send out an update to let everyone know what's going on.

Everything seems to be going well. Harrison is growing normally and is somewhere between 3 and 3.5 pounds. Steph seems to be having a hard time understanding how something so huge can fit into her belly. I usually just show her my ultra lean, ripped torso and explain that the organs don't need that much room, that the baby is taking up much of the space.

Interestingly, we've gotten a video and a picture of the sonogram in which we've been able to see a very clear image of Harrison's little face. We've seen his mouth opening and closing as well as his fist. He threw up the traditional A&M "gig 'em" sign which obviously disappointed me, though this was quickly changed to a Texas Tech "Guns Up" sign and that of course made me smile a bit more.

Steph is doing great. The third trimester has hit her a bit and she's found herself a little on the tired side. Otherwise there aren't too many things to complain about. Although, I'm sure Steph might not agree with that statement.

I've included a picture we captured from a video at 28 weeks. Currently we're at almost 31 weeks, but you get the picture (no pun intended).

Mark

PS: We are very aware that Harrison's picture looks a bit like Skeletor. Thanks

13 weeks to go!

We're now 6 & 3/4 months pregnant!
All in all, it seems to go by pretty quickly and I can't believe I'm going to do this, but here it is...the first official belly picture!

Everything has been going great for us so far. Harrison is moving around more than ever but I haven't figured out his patterns yet. I think he still has enough space to not always bump me, but I know that window of time is about to close. We're officially in the 3rd trimester and his growth is supposed to get pretty rapid over these last few weeks. We'll find out in about a week how he's doing and how big he is at our next appointment. According to all the books, he should be somewhere around 2 lbs. and ready for some major growth spurts.

I could tell we entered the 3rd trimester by some very significant changes. All of a sudden, my blood sugar went wacky--I was feeling dizzy at work every day right around the same time. Come to find out, I need to eat 5 small meals a day instead of the normal 3 to keep all my levels in check. All that rapid growth means Harrison needs more food from me, so now I just have to snack every few hours (easier said than done). Also, that infamous belly button pop has started to happen. I still have an 'innie' but now you can see a belly button bump through all my shirts. The foot swelling thing is still happening but now it runs on a schedule. When I'm working all day or out and about running errands, I'll come home to find my feet like puffy sausages, only to slowly go back to a state of normal after a few hours of relaxing.

I still cannot believe we are so close to the end...or should I say beginning for Harrison. It's a little scary to think about, so I try not to dwell on that coming day. I just know that God has us in his hands and we're along for the ride. May it be a sweet journey of a quick delivery and a blessed epidural!

Harrison Update...

Before everything went haywire in our house, we had our six month sonogram.

It was a short sonogram but the doctor had a chance to point some interesting things out. He said everything looked great and normal which is a major blessing. We saw Harrison's hand opening and closing. We have a picture of the top of his head. He's got his fist directly in front of his forehead as though he's thinking hard. I would upload it, but its at home and I'm at work. Didn't plan this very well!

We got see a very clear image of his foot and leg and the heartbeat was pounding away.

All in all, it was a great visit. Next month, Steph gets to do the glucose test. From what I understand it's a lot like drinking extremely concentrated Tang. If it's good enough for the astronauts, it's good enough for my son.

We'll keep you updated!

When it rains... everything gets hot and rusty!

So, miracle of miracles, our hot water heater is putting massive amounts of rust into our hot water. What a blessing that is. It looks like we've been able to turn water to wine, though it tastes like crap. $912 dollars later we've purchased an energy saver 40 gallon bohemoth. Install is this Saturday between 9 and 11. Until then its lukewarm showers.

I'd do the install myself but... I'm not that talented.

The other super awesome blessing is the AC unit is no longer functioning properly. A copper pipe was bent and collapsed on itself by the builder 16 years ago. It's caused our AC unit to work 3 times harder than it has to. Luckily we got a nice guy to fix it and he'll be out at 8 on Saturday morning to remedy the problem. If this works, then we're good to go. If the quick fix doesn't hold like we want it to then we have $6000 leaving our pockets to get a completely new unit.

On top of all of this we're trying to finish the remodeling in two bathrooms, finish sealing the wood on the new fence, and get the baby's room ready to go. Ah the thrills of being a home owner.

And as a final note: please don't tell us that it only gets harder or that this is the trend of buying homes... I, for one, don't care to hear it. We know.

I guess the best thing to do is remind myself of James 1:2-3 : Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

We're all loaded up on perseverence, thanks.

A bump in the night

So it finally happened! I finally felt little baby Harrison kick...or nudge...or whatever you want to call it. He moved and he's finally big enough or active enough for me to know about it.

It happened all last week (which was 23 weeks or 5 1/2 months on the preggers timeline) but I'm logical and cautious so I waited to make sure I was really feeling the baby and not just blogging about gas to all my friends! When it first happened I was laying on the couch relaxing and all of a sudden felt a weird double pop sensation or poking feeling below my belly button on the right hand side of my big ol' tum tum. It was so strange and foreign that at first I really couldn't believe that that would be what 'the baby moving' felt like. Everyone kept saying that 'it feels like butterflies' so of course I was sitting around waiting for some fluttering feeling. I didn't expect to be prodded from the inside. So, all the rest of the week I'd get home from work and lay down to relax...and would wait. The first few days it would sporadically happen once or so during the night so I felt like I wasn't still totally sure of what was going on (always the skeptic eh Steph). Well then the next few nights I was really determined to figure it out; so I'd sit on the couch with my hands where I kept feeling movement and would yell over to Mark to come feel whenever something 'swishy' or 'prodding' would happen. Harrison at first was pretty elusive and hard to catch but as the week rolled by he seemed to become more and more active. Last night I was even able to grab Mark at the right moment and he felt the baby move too. It's pretty cool and surreal at the same time. To think at this point the baby is somewhere between 1-3 pounds and just rolling around in his little watery home (that within itself is foreign and weird).

So now, it's like Harrison knows that we know and has stopped playing his elusive game of poke and hide...he's active now even during the day at random times. I've had some strange moments in meetings at work where he's just randomly awake or is sleep-jabbing me.

Like I said, it's definitely pretty cool but still so strange. At first, I really had no idea what was going on and now that I'm familiar with how it feels, it's like I have this heightened awareness and feel it so much more. It will be interesting to see his little personality continue to develop and hopefully all the kicking and prodding isn't ever so out of hand that I'm a walking freak show at work...but oh well, we'll soon enough find out!

Gravity

So I'm not a doctor and I'm not going to look any of this up...I'm just thinking out loud. Gravity...this seems to be the current villain of my pregnancy epic (I'm assuming back pain will be next...or swollen appendages). You can laugh, but I promised my friends that I would take them down this journey whether strange or embarrasing and so here we are. I never thought a human would have to pee this often. Seriously. But the gravity part, where does that come in? Well, I seem to be fine when I'm sitting down. It's the instant I stand up that I realize I have to pee again. My only logical assumption without experienced knowlege is that I stand, the weight of the baby, uterus, amniotic fluid, gross fat, and whatever else I'm missing...shifts and just sits on my bladder. And then I'm off again to the loo. Lucky for me, my office at work is right around the corner from the restroom. Honestly though, I'm only assuming that this gets worse as more weight is put on and my poor little bladder, with no defenses of its own, gets smooshed more and more every day! It probably eventually looks like a pancake inside there. So yes, it's just one more 'little thing' I'm learning about pregnancy. It's funny though, you read about ALL this kind of stuff when you get pregnant but you just aren't thinking about it happening to you until it does. Maybe you try to convince yourself that you'll be that one woman that this symptom does not occur to...now those chicks, no one has to like them (and if you were one, keep it to yourself!). 5 1/2 months as of today and counting!

The 1,000 faces of Ezekiel

In a constant search to better understand parenting and the coming of a new baby, millions of people flock to the book stores in an effort to find that tome that will impart upon them the wisdom of the ages. Steph and I have done it like millions before us.

What is less realized by those about to have a baby is the overwhelming volumes of advice heaped upon the expecting by friends and family. I'm mockingly pointing a finger at every person who currently has a child. =)

One thing I've come to realize is that everyone becomes a prophet... hence the biblical reference in the title. Everyone speaks their "truths" about babydom and those truths constantly contradict each other from one person to the next.

For one person, their baby slept throughout the night because of the formula they used... another person says the diaper genie is pointless, while another swears by it... while still others discuss the best way to breastfeed (awkward to say the least).

A famous author by the name of Joseph Campbell wrote an equally famous book called "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". I've adapted the title to the multitudes who have spoken their truths to Steph and I. Essentially Campbell discusses how the hero myth, regardless of story, uses the same cycle or formula. You can see this cycle repeated from the ancient Greek myths of Perseus to the more modern Harry Potter novels. Hence, there is one hero and he has thousands of different faces.

I am here today to say that the same is true for parents.

What I have learned from all of this advice is simple... each person has a particular way of raising their child. What worked for them might not work for others. Try everything more than once. Don't save the cord blood. Each child is different. Eat when you can. Sleep when they sleep. Don't screw them up too much. And so on...

For all of those giving advice, please don't stop! In spite of this post's mocking tone, we love to hear what everyone has to say. Even those who "speak... therefore it is so!" Steve, I'm looking at you brother!

What it ultimately means is that you care enough to say anything in the first place. Harrison's not even here yet and because of every one's advice, Steph and I can't wait to meet him and screw him up in our own way. Keep the advice coming!

The Adventures of a Light Sleeper

When I was young I had a bed wetting problem. This is something I certainly hope my son doesn't inherit. My problem was that I would sleep too deeply and my body wouldn't wake me up in time. For years this was an issue until my parents found the solution. A little buzzer would sound like a freight train next to my ear if a sensor on my undies got wet. I learned pretty quickly to sleep much lighter and this has become the newest issue.

Its great for security around the house and it will come in handy when Harrison starts crying in the middle of the night. However, the smallest noise can wake me up, so we have fans going at night to help fight off the inconsequentials that happen throughout the morning hours. This does not include my wife's newly discovered snoring.

Now, to be fair, its not that bad. She's not sawing logs like a lumberjack. Instead she lightly snores, just enough to keep me up ALL NIGHT! At first I fought the urge to run screaming into the night. I would tap her arm or jiggle the bed and that would turn her over. Not the case anymore as its become a constant thing. Plus anyone who knows Steph around sleepy time can confirm that she's a bit crabby when woken up. Sorry Steph, but it had to be said! (I'm in trouble now.)

My boyscout training kicked in one night when I couldn't stand it anymore. I ran downstairs, grabbed my gear, and set up camp in the computer room. I'm sure most of you are picturing a tent with a full blown campfire. Actually, its just my sleeping bag and a tiny air mattress I use when hiking.

I felt bad. I felt like I had abandoned my wife to a lonely bed and I think she may have felt the same way. Then Kirsten saved my life. Thank you by the way! She mentioned how the same had happened with her and the results were the same. Since then Steph has been a little more "okay" with the floor sleeping.

The moral of this whole tale is thus... the snoring is a little off-putting, but the alternative is a 33 year old bed wetter. I think we've chosen well.

5 months

5 months pregnant already!
The time is going by really fast--it's very weird to think I'll officially be a "Mom" only a few months from now.

I'm feeling great right now--I actually have energy and don't have any major food aversions. I'm not really craving anything yet either but I've often heard that happens later. I'm definitely learning a lot of funny stuff about my pregnant self. I'm out of breath a lot now. I can still paint my toenails (with effort). My feet are already a bit snug in all my size 7 shoes. "Maternal fat stores" suck! I'm still waiting for my hair to start growing like crazy as everyone says it will (I really want to be able to have a ponytail again...a lot more low maintenance with a kid in tow). Sleeping on your right side is a lot harder said than done. Sleeping with a bra is becoming increasingly necessary (ouch!). And the snoring continues, LOL, sorry Mark!

It's a boy!

We went in this week for our 20 week (5 months) sonogram hoping to confirm that indeed our baby was a boy (since we got the 80% the last time)....and it's 100% confirmed! Dr. New was great; he walked us through every little bit. He pointed out the chambers of the heart, the femur bone in the leg, the bladder, the stomach, the spine...every little part. Everything is working as it should and the baby is growing just right. The funniest part of the whole experience was trying to get that one clear shot between the legs. Our baby is very content to sit and relax in whatever is his present position (stubborn like his parents) but we were finally able to wiggle him out of his modesty. The Dr. showed us his little rump, his two legs, the umbilical cord and finally the confirming body part (which the Dr. so aptly named his turtle). So, we have confirmed and as you can see by the video--he already has a name. Harrison Rhys Massey. We can't wait to watch him grow and develop even more. It's pretty crazy to realize that we are over halfway through this initial journey already. It really does go very fast and I can only expect that it will all feel like a blur just a few months from now. So we will continue to capture these moments along the way to share with you all--we're so blessed to have such amazing family and friends to share this with. We love you all! Enjoy the show!

(Special thanks to my awesome husband for the sweet U2 tunes and subtitles provided in the video!)

Things I'm learning

So, I wanted to share with all my girlfriends the little things you learn along the way about being preggers. Here are some of those strange little details so far:

• Baby Massey gets really angry if I don't eat breakfast before 9am...and I can't get by with just a bowl of cereal either. I have to eat eggs or my little miracle makes me regret it all work day long with headaches and just all over sick feelings.
• Chicken--I just can't eat it. I can't look at it. I can't touch it. I can eat McNuggets and that's about it. All the rest of it looks so foul I don't want to ruin it for you.
• Snacking--I'm reaching that phase where I need little bits of food every few hours or so. I anticipate this will only get worse. Although, it is cool to be able to grab a cookie and not feel bad about it!
• Hmmm, how to say it....sleeping on your side as you start to grow is not super comfy. I feel like I'll soon have to develop a gigantic wall of pillows to support all the areas that need supporting. Poor Mark.
• Speaking of poor Mark...snoring has begun. He will try to tell you that it happened before pregnancy but I have my Dad and other slumber party buddies to attest to the fact that growing up all I had was some random talking in my sleep. Now apparently, snoring has started. The doctors say that your body create extra (gross) mucus and that could explain it. That also explains the super stuffy noses and dry throat.
• A lot of weird extra stuff is around, like the amount of blood in your body now--it's crazy! And I'm also thinking that causes my limbs to be totally asleep numb when I lay on them wrong in bed. It's the worst--my friend Traci lent me her arm brace to use to help out. But seriously, the amount of extra junk you need in order to sleep is ridiculous...and I don't want to even think about the fact that it's probably worse as your belly grows. It's a miracle, don't get me wrong, it's just so strange going through it all for the first time.

I think I've covered a good start to the little things diary. I'll keep thinking and will keep adding to it. I know my girlfriends will be grateful one day to know that what's happening to them is not so crazy.

The guy's input... for what it's worth.

Here I sit on a Friday afternoon, the sun is bright and it's warm enough to be outside doing anything. Like most suckers I'm stuck at my desk with a classroom full of kids who seriously want this year to be over with. I don't blame them.

Then my mind wanders to September when the little one will be here. I keep thinking about the bathrooms I need to complete, the fence I need to finish painting, the backyard that needs some serious TLC, the baby's closet that needs some work, or the carpet that desperately needs to be torn out. I sit here and think of those things and wander how much longer I can put them off before Steph starts to really get frustrated.

Then I remember that she's preggers and frustration is for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That ship has sailed and Pirate Steph is at the helm. Alas, I must procrastinate and tarry no more.

My shopping and to-do list have reached a critical state. There's simply no room to add anything else. And then I remember I'm supposed to be getting in shape for this firefighter physical test in a few weeks. When do I have time to do that!

The life of a soon-to-be father is fraught with confusion and time constraints that would make Jack Bower shudder with fear.

So what will I do tonight... probably play some playstation, read, or watch a movie. All that other junk can wait.

The beginning....

Thanks to our good friends the Boytes we now have a blog to share with you all our journey into parenthood--scary! I've promised you all that I would detail this journey...to keep you all in the loop...to give some of you a heads up for what's in your future...but overall just to keep in touch since we're all so far apart.

It all started when we took that ever important test and got the great news. So far, pregnancy for me has been slightly typical. No real 'morning sickness' but the fatigue and the incredibly hot body temperature set in; it's enough to keep you from any extracurricular. Mine was a little later than that, around 14 weeks but I have no complaints. I've heard the stories from many that had it worse. It's apparently the hormones--your body starts to except that it's just a part of who you are now and gives you back your energy. It is pretty incredible, just one day you feel like going for a walk outside or the thought of doing laps at the gym doesn't make you cringe anymore (wait...the gym has always made me cringe!). Needless to say, this is the part where everyone says to enjoy it, the second trimester. We've had a few sonograms so far and everything looks great for the little one. Strong heartbeat, big brain (was very cool--wish I had a picture of that to share), bones and organs and everything you want to be in place. Now the only part we're waiting on is to find out what the little one is. We went in at 16 weeks (4 months) and Dr. New gave us an 80% boy verdict but we won't get the 100% until we go back in at 20 weeks (two long weeks from now)! We're excited either way but I will tell you...I've already started shopping....hey, I'm saving my receipts :) For now, here's our best picture to share with you all--our making a massey.