Henry: 6 Months

Today is Henry's half birthday, although Brett says we don't celebrate half birthdays (for mommy at least).  This past month has been busy for Henry.  He was dedicated at our church.  Brett and I committed to raising Henry to know God's love and the precious gift He gave us in Jesus.  It is our prayer that Henry comes to know Jesus as his Savior at an early age.

Henry has started to sit by himself pretty well the past week.  He still leans a little to one side, but he is getting much better.  If something is out of his reach, he is starting to put his legs under him to try to get to it.  It ends up that he does a small face plant into carpet like a seesaw.  He's one tough kid and doesn't seem to mind.  He continues to roll across the floor and loves to lay or sit next to Piper.  Piper has been our saving grace when Henry is fussy.  He looks at her and just starts to smile or laugh. 

We started some solids this month.  His favorite has been rice cereal, followed by sweet potatoes and carrots.  He doesn't seem to like fruit yet.  He has tried pears, apples, and bananas.  Henry is teething like crazy.  I think his teeth are getting closer to the surface, but still no breaking through.

Henry has his 6 month appointment in 1.5 weeks so I will update on his weight and height when that happens.  In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from Henry's sixth month!

This is what month pictures looks like with a 6 month old

This picture is hilarious to me. Henry kept on eyeing Chris while he ate these chips. And of course, Chris teased him.

Henry's Birth Story

Now that our little one is two weeks old, I feel like I can somewhat get my feet under me.  I want to capture Henry's birth story while it is still fresh in my mind.  I apologize in advance if this is a long post, but it's one of the most important days of my life.

I had mentioned in my 39 week update that I thought I was going into labor early on Mother's Day.  It ended up being really bad Braxton Hicks contractions.  I went about the day as normal, although I was more tired than usual.  Around 10:55 pm on Mother's Day, I had this horrible pain in my back and lower stomach.  The doctor had said that I would be able to tell what real contractions were because they would hurt really bad.  Well this one was definitely one of those.  For the next hour, I timed how far long my contractions were and the amount of time between them.  The contractions lasted anywhere from 45 seconds to 1.5 minutes, with between 4 and 6 minutes between. 

By midnight, I knew it was time to head to the hospital.  I woke up Brett and told him this was the real thing.  We finished packing our bags and took out Piper, who was so confused.  I felt horrible leaving her, but I knew we had to get to the hospital.  The nice thing about going into labor in the middle of the night was there was absolutely no traffic on the two lane road we had to drive on to get to the hospital.

Upon our arrival and registration, we were put in a triage room.  This is the first of three rooms we would see while at the hospital.  To my disappointment, I was still 1 centimeter dilated, which I had been for almost three weeks.  Brett thinks the nurses didn't think I was in labor.  They hooked me up to fetal and contraction monitors and watched me for the next 3 hours.  By 4 am, I was 3 centimeters dilated.  They moved me to the labor and delivery room.

I know a lot of people who opt for a birth without any pain medicine.  I am not one of those people.  By the time they moved me to the labor and delivery room, I was asking if there was any pain medicine I could have.  They gave me some medicine in my IV, but prefaced it by saying it may cause hallucinations.  Boy, did it ever.  Within a minute, I was in a daze and could hardly open my eyes.  The pain was definitely less intense.  I think I may have gotten a little sleep, but I don't really know (remember I hadn't slept in over 24 hours because I went into labor early in the night). 

At 6 am, they came to check me again.  I was 4 centimeters.  I could now get the epidural.  They ordered the epidural for me and administered it around 7:30 am.  It took some time to kick in, but when it did, it was glorious.  No more pain.  I could only feel the hardness in my upper abdomen during a contraction.

I was relaxing until all the sudden, the nurses came in my room like a swarm of bees.  There were probably six or seven that rushed into the room.  All I could gather was I had two contractions at once and Henry's heartbeat dropped to 67 bpm.  Thankfully, they were able to move him around until his heart rate returned to normal. 

Within 2.5 hours of the epidural (by 9:30 am), I had gone from 4 centimeters to 9.75 centimeters.  The nurses were in touch with the doctor because I had progressed so quickly without any help or medicine.  As I watched the contraction monitor, some of my contractions were so strong that they wouldn't even register. I was told that I couldn't push yet because I still had 0.25 centimeters to go.  The nurses looked to gravity to do its job on getting me to 10 cm.  I stayed at 9.75 centimeters for almost 3 hours. 

By 11 am, my epidural was wearing off.  The anesthesiologist administered a second dose, which kicked in right about when I was told to start pushing, which was around 12:15 pm.  Because I didn't go to any classes, the nurse was able to coach me through how to push.  I did 7 rounds of 3 pushes for 10 seconds each.  By that point, Henry's heartbeat was dropping into the 60s again so they got out the vacuum and vacuumed him out. Henry was born at 12:38 pm.

There was our little cone head, head full of hair, little boy.  I was relieved that he was alright, but I didn't cry.  Brett told the nurse that after witnessing what he did, there is no way you can deny God, the Creator.  The nurses whisked Henry away to get him cleaned up before I could see him.  Brett had to tell me what he looked like.  He measured at 7 pounds, 0.5 ounces and 21 inches long. Basically, perfect. 

Our little guy after his first bath.

Unfortunately, I obtained three tears during the process.  I lost quite a bit of blood, and it took about 30 minutes to stitch me up. While they were doing that, Brett went to share the good news with his parents, who arrived 10 minutes before Henry was born. 

While the epidural wore off, I found out that I had a fever of 100.  An hour after I took Motrin, the fever had risen to 101.4.  It was decided that I would be on two antibiotics for 24 hours.  To be sure Henry was fine, they drew some blood from him.  Man, was that heart-wrenching hearing him scream as they squeezed his foot. After I was able to walk, they transferred me to the room I would be staying in for the next two days.

Henry was up for almost 5 hours after he was born.  I should have realized then that he wouldn't like sleeping.  Hindsight in 20-20 I guess.  The nurses kept on telling me to rest when he was sleeping, which wasn't often.  Even if I wanted to rest, there were people coming in my room probably every 30 minutes to switch my antibiotics, draw more blood, give me food, run tests, or just to see how I was doing.  The hospital we were at keeps the child in the room with the mom unless the child is having health problems or needs some newborn tests.  To say the least, it wore me out.

My parents made it to the hospital the day after Henry was born.  My mom and Gail, my mother-in-love, just gushed over Henry.  Brett's and my dad were pretty excited too.

Grammy

Papa

Pops and Nana

Because I was on antibiotics through my IV, we had to stay until Wednesday morning.  I was so ready to go home and see Piper.  People told me I wouldn't miss her, but I missed her something terrible.  When we got home, Piper wasn't sure what to think of Henry.  She actually stayed away from me for most of the day.  It broke my heart.  Now, things are great with Henry and Piper.  More on that later though.

Our family

I hope you enjoyed reading about our Henry John's entry into this big world.  Be on the lookout for more pictures and posts about how we're doing.

Henry's Sports-Themed Baby Shower

On March 28th, my best friends and sisters-in-love threw me a wonderful shower.  I had mentioned that a sports-themed shower would be really neat and had pinned a couple of things on Pinterest to give them an idea.  Wow. They did not disappoint. Below are some of the amazing details.

Megan made this cute little banner. I love the colors.

Kelci had this sweet and creative cookie cake made.

I think Maggie made this banner for by the food.

Jessica and Meesh made diaper cakes! So fun.

Gail knows how much I love cupcakes from Ocean Isle, so she brought them as favors.

Because Brett's parents live pretty far from us and I would be doing the driving by myself with spring practice in gear (hello being a coach's wife), we decided to do one joint shower with my friends and family, my parents' friends, and Brett's parents' friends.  Needless to say, a ton of people were invited.  We ended up with around 25, which was a great number.  

The thing I loved most about this shower was that most of my extended family came!  We had family flying or driving from Connecticut, Boston, D.C., South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida.  It made me feel so loved that they would take the time out of their busy schedule to shower Henry and me with gifts, fellowship, and love.  Here are some pictures from before the shower.

Piper has learned what an Oba massage is from watching Sierra

Daniella and Mimi reading Goodnight Moon.

Uncle Rich and Aunt Nan seeing me with a belly for the first time. Love the reactions.

Our family patriarch. Oh, how I love him so.

Oba, because of her dementia, forgot Chris was coming. Her reaction was priceless.

The "kids" table. Just missing Brett, Kyle, Sam, Adrian, and Cassy.

My baby girl and my men, minus Brett.

Most of my family came in before lunch so I was able to hang out with them before the shower.  After lunch, most of the guys went to take naps since a lot of them had to get up early to make it by lunch time, while the women attended the shower.  The shower was so much fun!  Laura had planned a game where people filled out if Brett or I would want Henry to have an attribute from Brett or me.  For example, who did we want Henry to get his personality from?  Daddy. How about teeth?  Mommy.  Brett and I had filled out the answer key together.  There were some things where we said, "Oh definitely not Daddy" or "Definitely not Mommy."  We had a lot of laughs and fun thinking about what our little guy is going to look and be like.

There was also a there was a present with multiple layers of wrapping.  Each layer had a phrase from a poem that described a person in the room, like who has on clothing with the most buttons.  The person that matched the description would tear off one layer of wrapping, read the next line, and pass the gift to the person it matched.  At the end, the gift came back to me.  Inside was an NFL football that became the guest book!  I loved it.  The football, with names that would mean so much to Henry throughout his life, is sitting on his dresser in his nursery.  I'll treasure it forever. 

Guests also filled out little silver stars where they wrote wishes for me.  I've been a little anxious recently so reading them has given me a lot of encouragement.  They also wrote funny things on some diapers for some comic relief for me during those middle-of-the-night changings.  I haven't looked at those yet, as I want them to be a surprise.

Then came the gifts, which were more than I ever dreamed.  There were some really practical gifts, and also some really creative and heartfelt gifts.  After the gifts, we got some group pictures.

Me with the hostesses: Henry's aunts and honorary aunts (my besties)

Hickman women (and two little Hickman fellas too)

Fantastic four

Girl cousins!

The cousins that made the trek to Mom and Dad's

Silly picture

Grandchildren with Mimi and Pappaw

Henry and his great grandmothers. Such a special moment to treasure in my heart.

Laura and Weston. Me and Henry.

Henry with his Grammy (my mom) and Nana (Brett's mom).

My family stayed until the next morning, since we don't get to see each other much.  We just enjoyed each other's company and ate more food.  Isn't that what happens when all families get together?  One cute moment was when Mimi and Pappaw gave Daniella an Easter dress.  Daniella loved it!  She kept twirling around.  Growing up, Mimi always bought me a birthday dress for my birthday pictures. She still had great taste in little girl clothes. 

My bro

Daniella modeling her new dress

Excuse the tired looks. This was early in the morning.

Henry's first Easter basket (and some candy for Brett and me)

Thank you Megan, Meesh, Jessica, Laura, Maggie, and Kelci for hosting an amazing shower, and to my family and friends who made the weekend unforgettable.  I love y'all!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Girl

One year ago today, our precious Piper was born.  Little did I know that she would become one of the loves of my life.  Maybe it's because I am with her all day, but I don't know what I'd do without her.  When Brett is working late or gone recruiting, she keeps me company, gets me out of the house, and gives me snuggles at night.

She absolutely loves her Daddy.  As soon as she hears the garage door when he comes home, she runs to the door and probably bruises her tail from it hitting the wall so hard. while wagging it.  She loves to give Brett kisses.  Most of the time, she'd rather play fetch with him than me.  Even if I'm sitting on the floor throwing the ball to her, she'll return the ball to Brett almost every single time. 

Piper is a complete ham.  When I ask if she wants to go for a ride, she can't contain her excitement.  As soon as we're in the garage, she has to be picked up to be put in the car.  She spreads her feet out real far and tries not to get in.  As soon as she's in, she settles down and just stares out the window. She loves it.  When you ask if she wants a bath, she'll run into the bathroom, stand at the tub, and sort of jump when you walk up.  She then digs where the water goes down the drain.  I guess she doesn't know that the hole will fill back up every time.

We absolutely love our little girl and can't wait to see her become a big sister.  With how loving she is, I know she and Henry will get along just fine.  Happy birthday, puppy!! Mommy and Daddy love you!!

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