Badge of Honor

Week two has been just as wonderful if not better than week one! I have earned the 3 P Badge of Honor this week! Peed on, pooped on AND puked on. All three taken care of so soon....I'm very grateful. We're starting to establish some sort of a routine but nothing set in stone. Feedings are going well, I think, and we seem to be getting plenty of sleep. I was actually able to get a shower in today and start a laundry by 10:30am this morning! Successful day, if you ask me! Weather is warming up today (60s) so maybe I'll introduce Lily to her stroller and go for a walk. This sounds awfully ambitious to me....I'll let you know how it turns out.

Mama and Lily

Kisses and hugs sent via monkey from Texas

Snow babies are SOOO cute!

Snuggle time with daddy

Hat and sweater from Lily's excellent, wonderful, oh...and Great Aunt Jerry. Tons of compliments on the handwork. Thank you!

Meeting Uncle Robby for the first time

First Week at Home

I always swore I wouldn't be one of "those parents" who take a picture for every little thing her newborn does. I'm eating my words and I don't care. She's just too precious not to record each special moment! This first week has gone well. We actually slept VERY well last night.....two four hour spurts! However, I managed to wake up with a fever that still hasn't broken, so I pray I don't get her sick.

First bath

Our little ET
Papa, Lily and Bear

Bear taking in a sniff

Nana and her two latest addictions....Lily & her laptop

p.s.

A quick congratulations to Gabrielle who guessed the correct birthday, and to Aunt Wendy for being the closest to guessing Lily's weight!

Home sweet home

They let us take this perfect, little baby home! We forgot to ask for the instruction manual so we're just kind of winging it right now. It baffles me that a routine will eventually be set but it seems so far out of reach right now. Lily is The Most Perfect Baby (sorry to all the other parents out there, but it's true) and continues to be so despite pulling an all-nighter last night. Sure felt like the old days of working the night shift. However, I'm extremely thankful for my mom who took over at 5:30am and let me sleep until around 8:30am. Plus I got a shower today which makes me feel like a new person each time. Lily has her first doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so I'll update her stats then, but I'm a tad bit nervous about getting out in the freezing cold weather with her. Think warms thoughts for us!

Here are some pictures of Lily's first friends and going home....ENJOY!

Who just gave birth? Papa John wishing to be more comfortable to watch the football games but he seems to be missing something.....

Now he's complete.

Lily Grace Thompson Arrives!

I think I can say that labor technically started late Wednesday/early Thursday. I managed to drag myself into work on Thursday for a few hours with contractions coming every 20 minutes or so. I honestly thought I might be back the next morning....like these contractions would go away or something. Not so much. We (and by "we" I mean Lily and I) stayed awake all Thursday night counting the timing of the contractions. Once they got to be about every 5 minutes, I contacted the doctor who said to go on in to the hospital. Here are the main events:
1. Given option to go home to progress or stay and walk around
2. After walking around, go home or stay and get pain meds to sleep/relax and reassess
3. Continued to progress slowly but surely
4. Received epidural at 6pm
5. Water broken around 6:30pm
6. Developed a fever
7. Lily wasn't really tolerating the contractions that well
8. Instilled amnioinfusion to help Lily be a little more cushioned
9. Got another 1/2 dose for my epidural because I was a moron and forgot to use my button for the medicine
10. Could no longer feel my legs or anything else for that matter
11. Medical team was concerned that I was so numb that I wouldn't be able to push Lily out effectively since she was starting to show some signs of distress
12. Pushed her out in only 23 minutes!!!
13. Lily Grace was born on 1/10/09 at 12:44am!

She came out floppy, pale and with a fever, but she has perked right up and doesn't even have the "newborn" cry. It's a real baby cry already. It has been the most incredible experience ever and we thank everyone for their good thoughts and well wishes. Will obviously upload more pictures once we get home, but here are a few to start. (I think she's the MOST beautiful thing in the world!)

Our little pale beauty

First bath. This is the little butt that kept sticking out of my belly!

The new, happy family!

No progress...

I went for my weekly doctor's visit today and found out nothing. Lily will come out when she's ready, I suppose, but I'm not a fan of waiting. No dilation, no rupturing of any membranes and not really any dropping to speak of. Due to an "issue" that occurred this morning, I did get to have an ultrasound to check on the fluid status surrounding Lily. All is well and I got to watch her practice breathing, sucking and what looked like gulping! If she hasn't arrived yet, we'll get to see her again next Tuesday to get an estimated weight. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to try the eggplant parmesan trick sometime this week. Cross your fingers that it really works!

New Year's Day was a blast! We had our dear friends Farrah, Cory, Bird, Erin and Brett over to watch football. All day. Two tv's going. All day. Geesh! Ended the day with a low country boil, thanks to Bird, and a nice fire out back.

Bird, Cory, Johnny, Brett

Old friends for the new year!

Me, Erin, Farrah
Profile of baby Lily

She has the Smith nose, bless her little heart.

39 week belly shot

Mama Mia!

38 weeks. 9 1/2 months. Wow! I honestly never thought I would be so lucky to make it this far. Although there are pains and a definite lack of sleep, I've had it so easy that I really can't complain. Funny thing this week......I actually managed to somehow LOSE weight. I lost 2 pounds, over Christmas! I couldn't have done that if I tried! I can only assume it's due to my limited intake because of Lily taking up so much room in my monster gut. The doctor didn't seem concerned.....surprised, but not concerned.

Lily's heartbeat is still fast and strong but she's not giving any indication of providing us with a tax deduction for this year. I'll get to see how things are progressing again next Tuesday. So until then, we'll be taking Bear on lots of walks to try to get things moving along.

Love to all and happy new year!!!

Christmas Time

Happy Holidays, everyone! Here's a picture of our cute little tree. Saying it's 6ft tall is being generous. I seriously think this is probably the smallest tree I've ever had, but I think it's cute and it serves its purpose without being too much to deal with with Lily coming so soon.

I think I'm bigger than the tree at 37 weeks.

9 months along

My lovely tennis team had a combined baby shower for me, Heather and Katie on Friday night! We had lots of fun (except the baby food sampling) and, as always, it was great spending time with everyone. Both of these lovely girls are having baby boys and are due about a week apart in March.....right when I have to go back to work. Grrr. The timing could have been better, ladies! :o)

Didn't we coordinate well? Even with the wall color!

Then Deb came over last night to help me hang shelves and decorate Lily's room. I think it turned out well, if I do say so myself. It's just missing the most important decoration of all.....the sweet baby girl!

"My colahs are blush and bashful."

"Her colahs are pink and pink!"

~Steel Magnolias~

As a kid, I collected Precious Moments so I'm pleased to find a use for them.

Crib and toys

Today started my weekly OB visits. All is well with no indications of Lily arriving anytime soon. I'm getting anxious to see her and bring her home, but it's also nice to know that she's in a safe place and with me all the time.

John is off tonight for a much deserved boys' night out. They were going out to eat at a nice steak restaurant and wrapping up the night at the AC/DC concert. Personally, I didn't realize they were still alive but there are a lot of people who were excited about tonight's show.

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! We are skipping Christmas cards again this year but will definitely be sending a little something out just after the new year. So please don't remove us from your distribution lists! We love getting cards from everyone and I promise to restart the tradition next year.

Just over a month to go!

What an incredibly fantastic weekend! I have the greatest friends who showered Lily and I with such love and generosity on Saturday. We are very thankful and love each and every one of you. Nana (my mom) was not able to make it because of mechanical problems with the plane, but she showed up (after finding her lost luggage on top of it all) just in time to hang out with the hostesses and a nice bottle of wine. There's nothing a little pinot grigio can't fix!

Despite our childbirth class being cancelled (John's response, "There is a God!"), I still feel much more prepared for the "event" and confident that Lily will come home to a warm, loving, CLEAN home. The nurse in me understands that it's best for her to remain right where she is and cook a little longer, but the new mom in me is ready to see her angel face, kiss her chubby cheeks and share her with the world.

Belly shot at 34 weeks

Little Nana, me/Lily & Auntie Sa

The lovely hostesses: Erin, Sa, me, Deb & Kristy

Thank you, girls, for a wonderful day!

Fun gals at the shower: Erika, Dawn, Olivia & brand new mom Courtney

The beautiful Sa & large Aud

32 Weeks

Only 54 days left until we get to meet Lily!!! I don't feel the least bit ready but I can't wait to see her face and kiss on her cheeks. She's doing well, measuring perfectly with no indications of an early delivery (yet). She's moving around every chance she gets and it's fun to watch her little feet/hands/butt shake around in my belly. She's definitely an active one.....at least one of us is starting to work off the quarter pounders with cheese.

Fall

I wanted to share our beautiful tree with everyone. It's gorgeous this time of year!
Happy Fall!

Our first....

How many moms does it take to work a stroller?

The mommy and daddy! Yes, John got suckered into coming for the beginning.

He's such a good guy!

The gracious hostesses, BJ and Maxine.
Thank you, ladies, for a wonderful afternoon!

I don't think it's for me to wear, but I can try anyway.

PICTURES!

So I realized that I actually HAVE been doing things. I just forgot I had pictures of some of these things. I've also included an updated belly shot!

Tennis gals at Lisle's Southern Living party. (Katie, Kindra, Lisle, Heather and I)

My sweet friend Kristy and I at Courtney's baby shower.

My personal man slave starting to paint the crib. Can you see the "supervisor" in the background?

Closer shot of the handsome supervisor.

What a tough day of painting. Does anyone wonder why I think Bear is going to have a rough time when Lily arrives? Do other dogs get treated like this? Pathetic, if you ask me. But he is sorta kinda irresistable.


30 weeks! The countdown has begun!

Long time no blog...

Other than a growing mid-section, there really hasn't been a whole lot happening in Thompson Towne. John continues to do well at work and has even been approached with a couple more job offers. (Easier to find a job when you have a job, right?)
Lily and I are doing just fine. We had a check up this week and all is well. Our next appointment is in 3 weeks and then we move to every 2 weeks! The countdown has begun! And I don't feel the least bit ready. The room just has pieces of cribs in it, nothing on the walls and several packs of diapers. The closer the time gets, the more John and I feel that Bear is going to have quite an adjustment period. Any suggestions out there of how to best prepare him? (I sound like he's a human baby for goodness sake.)
I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! I can't believe it's November already. Where did the summer go? I think I missed it. Will hopefully have some new pictures to post fairly soon. Stay tuned....