The First Night

About 10 pm, none of the twenty visitors that came to see Graylon on his big day were still here. They had all been so helpful, and Gray loved meeting them. He had breastfed once earlier, but this time we were gonna do it without the help of a nurse. He was a little hesitant, but he began to get the hang of it. With his hesitation, and then a little eating, at about midnight we decided to take him to the nursery for a few hours while Mommy and Daddy got some sleep. They told us that they would bring him back to feed in 3 hours. I awoke this morning a little after 6 am, to the lactation nurse explaining Gray's night in the nursery. In the middle of the night, he had coughed up a little clear mucus, and the nurse said it was common. She suctioned it out and he was just fine, but it did cause him to lose his sucking reflex temporarily. He was worn out, and the nurse thought it best to delay bringing him back for breakfast until 6am as long as he was content. This morning as of now, he has eaten twice, pooped once, been inspected once, and is sleeping and resting up for the big circumcision later on today. Please enjoy a few quick snapshots I took this morning, and I'll update again as soon as possible.

7 lbs. 5 oz.!!!!!

We have a healthy, perfect baby boy. Graylon Michael LaBarbera weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz at 3:29 pm. Heather felt her first intense labor pains at about 6:00 AM. About 9 and a half hours later we had our son! 10 fingers and 10 toes...he was everything we hoped he would be. There will be more pictures to come, but in the meantime, enjoy.

Uneventful Doctor's Visit

Well, Heather and I totally expected to go to the hospital today. First of all, I called for the 18th a long time ago. Secondly, you do the math: Last Wednesday to Friday, almost an entire centimeter more of dilation. So we hoped for the big 4 centimeters today. Today, however, no change from last Friday. We had to make our next doctor's appointment before we left(it's Monday at 9:30 by the way). Walking into the doctor's office I jinxed us by saying, "This could be the last time we come here." Anyway, he could come this weekend I suppose, but there is still no way of knowing. As it is, Heather and I will enjoy a weekend of just the two of us. We will do plenty of walking and spicy food eatin' to get Baby Gray on out of there though. FYI, our doctor informed us that they won't let Heather go more than 41 weeks without induction. That means, that 16 more days is the maximum time before we get to meet Graylon.

While you wait, enjoy this photo booth strip of pictures of Heather and I from about 8 or 9 years ago. Like I said in the last post, we won't be simply two people for much longer. Graylon LaBarbera will be here soon.

Story from last Friday

I realize this update should have been done last Friday, but better late than never. I'm also beginning to realize the importance of being consistent with this blog. It'll be fun to read back on this 5 years from now. Anyway...last Friday, Heather was concerned that she wasn't feeling Graylon move during the second half of her work day. I told her to call the doctor and she did. It was after 5 pm, so the doctor's office told her to just go by the hospital, and they would contact the doctor on call.

We made it to St. Mary's around 5:30 and got Heather registered. Then we waited for what seemed like an eternity for a triage room to be cleaned. Once in there, we met a very-good-at-her-job nurse that went straight for Graylon's heartbeat. She said she could tell by Heather's face that a heartbeat was all she wanted to hear. After no success in finding one on Heather's right side, she found a strong beat on her left. Once she found it, she proceeded to hook up the two monitors: one for Graylon's heartbeat and one for Heather's contractions. She wanted to monitor her for 30 minutes, she explained the line graph on the computer screen and said she'd be back in half an hour.

What a relief! Our guts were put back into place as they had been in the process of being ripped out for the past hour. We watched the monitor like hawks, and the thirty minutes flew by. Once the nurse came back in, (Her name was Heather too, but to eliminate confusion I'll still call her "the nurse") she wanted to check Heather's cervix. At our doctor's visit two days earlier, she was 1 cm and 70% thinned out. At this point the nurse said Heather was just about 2 cm and 90%! She gave us the opportunity to hang out there for a little while longer, but we opted for dinner.

So we're THAT close. We go to the doctor tomorrow for a scheduled visit. It is also the due date I predicted a long time ago. The date is more of a hope than a true prediction. Heather and I were both born on the 18th of our respective birth months, so I thought Graylon coming on that day would be cool. Whatever day he decides to come will thrill his mom and dad though. We are beyond eager for his arrival. We find ourselves wondering each time we do something if it's the last time we'll do it without Graylon. Trips to Wal-mart, out to dinner, or even going to sleep, will all drastically change either tonight, tomorrow night or a week and a half from now. There is still no predicting the delivery time. We're secretly hoping that the doctor tells us to just go on to the hospital tomorrow. In the meantime, we'll just nest and enjoy a few more moments of being a two person family. We'll be three very soon!

We Have Dilation!

Well, we went to the doctor again today(they are every week from this point forward). We heard another healthy heart beat at 144 bpm. We then waited for Dr. McPherson, and when she came in she wanted to check to see if Heather was at all dilated. She measured one centimeter dilated. Her cervix was 70% thinned out. With all of this new and exciting info, we were still told that there is no predictability to when active labor could set in. It is 50/50 whether or not she has Graylon before or after the due date. Everyone still stay tuned.

Additionally please enjoy some pictures of Graylon's room. Grandma Sharon came to visit last weekend and put her interior decorator skills to work. Her and Heather found these sticker-like animals that are safe to put on the wall for wall art. They look as if they were painted on the wall to begin with. His room is really taking shape, and is one rocking chair away from completion. Wal-Mart tells us the chair will be here Friday. Also, I've tacked on a couple picture of Heather and I as babies, so those of you out there can begin to draw your own conclusions as to what Baby Gray will look like. Talk to you all real soon.

Week 37 Ultrasound

We've looked forward to this doctor's appointment for a while. We had not seen Gray in about four months, so the week 37 ultrasound had been circled on our calendar for some time. The visit didn't disappoint either. We were thrilled to not only see him, but to see him head down, with a healthy-beating heart, and weighing in at approximately 6 lbs. 10 oz.! We had always heard that babies can gain an ounce a day, but Dr. Thompson said it varies with each baby from .25 to .50 lbs. a week. That means if he gains the full .50 lbs. each week and he goes to his due date he could weigh in at over 8 lbs. We both want him to come sooner, but he measured exactly to his due date from today's ultrasound. Dr. Thompson said that rarely do the two dates match up, so we'll have to wait and see when he actually comes. I'm sticking to my guns though...March 18(nine days early). Heather and I were both born on the 18th of the month, so I want Graylon to do the same. We've also determined the outfit he'll come home in. It's his mama's favorite color, green, and has multi-colored polka dots on it. We'll probably pack several different ones because he could be a variety of sizes and we've been experiencing a variety of weather patterns.

All seems well though, and we both gain excitement with each new day. It seems that we spend a little time every day in preparation for his arrival. We go to the doctor next Tuesday, so that'll probably be the date of the next post, so stay tuned. While you wait enjoy this video clip from today's doctor's visit. I've cropped the 10 minute clip into a 2 minute highlight reel(Highlight reel might make the video sound like it's a little more action packed than it really is, but we like it.).

Snow in Athens!

Yep...Heather's pregnant, the doctor JUST said, "Pack your bags. He could come any day at this point."...and then we get the largest snow accumulation in Athens since we've lived here. The Lady Dogs played last night, and so Heather had to drive home in the snow. That was scary in itself. She made it home safely, however, home was without power. We bundled up and warned Graylon that if he came now he would be grounded for a month! The power came on in the middle of the night, and we survived. Here are some pictures and video clips from the snow storm.