hello again!

Well, for those of you who keep up with my husband's blog, you know that on April 9 I gave birth to Benjamin Lang via c-section. It was quite an experience. We went to the hospital at 6 am that Monday morning for the doctors to induce me. They got all the meds going quickly and I was actually already having contractions before they even started so things were looking good. Around 9 am Dr. Murthy broke my water and that's when the contractions became more painful, but nothing I couldn't handle. I eventually got some pain meds through my IV and they completely knocked me out. From that point forward I was in and out of it and don't really remember a whole lot of pain or anything like that. I do remember, however, that it took the anesthesiologist THREE tries to get my epidural in and he took a phone call in the middle of it all...that was not fun and Jeff was seriously peeved. Then, because after you get an epi you can no longer walk, I had to get a catheter....that took a lot of tries also. Yuck.


Anyway, I dialated to 4 centimeters and then my body decided that was all it wanted to do. At 8:30 p.m., after being in labor for 14 hours, Dr. Murthy decided a c-section was my best bet. I agreed because at that point I was just ready to do something different. It was scary. The anesthesiologist came back and re-upped my epi. Jeff had to put scrubs on some scrubs and I think he was even more scared than I was. I heard later that the moms (mine and Jeff's) were in the lobby crying and calling family and just trying to think positive.

They wheeled me down to the operating room and things started quickly. Ben was born at 9:07 p.m. He weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long. He was adorable.




Soon after I was sewn up and back in my room. I had the shakes from the epi for hours and that was horrible, but not unbearable. They brought Ben in around 11 p.m. for me to ty to breastfeed him, but I had no idea what to do and neither did he. Ben spent that night in the nursery while Jeff and I tried to sleep in my room.

We went home on Friday. It was scary to go home but I was healing great and walking well and Ben was doing good too!




Well, I am not sure I can catch you up on everything that has happened in the last 4 months, but I can say that Ben has been a wonderful baby. I ended up not being able to breastfeed (Ben kept losing weight on my milk), but he is thriving on fomula, so we are okay with that. At his 4 month doctors visit 2 weeks ago, Ben weighed 16 1/2 lbs and was 25 1/2 inches long. He is not little anymore! He sleeps like a champ (8 1/2 - 10 hours a night!). Jeff and I both truly appreciate that! :-)

induction, labor, baby...oh my!

So, yesterday my doc decided to induce me on Monday!!! Jeff and I will head to the hospital by 6am Monday morning, April 9. Baby Ben weighs about 8 lbs right now according to yesterday's ultrasound and since I am already dialated 1cm and am 50% effaced with a soft cervix, she decided to go ahead with an induction. We don't want him to get too big and at this stage babies gain about 1/2 lb a week. And also, his head was measuring about 1.5 weeks ahead, so we want to go ahead and get that thing outta there!! :-) When the doc told us that it would be Monday, I thought Jeff was gonna pass out! But he held it together. :-)

Anyway, I was planning on working through today, but with this new development, yesterday was my last day. :-( I am gonna miss working at UGA and in Student Affairs very much, but I will mostly miss my wonderful, awesome friend and boss, Jan. She has been such a blessing to me. Thankfully, she will be coming to the hospital on Monday to help me and Jeff. :-) She just had a baby in Novemebr, so she has fresh memories of how all this works.... She'll be there to hold both of our hands!

Well, as soon as we have a baby, I will tell you all about him and post his pics for the world to see!

Baby Days Are Coming Soon ...

On Saturday, I'll be 36 weeks. Even though 37 weeks is technically considered "full term," at this point, Benjamin can come at any time.

I had a baby shower at work today and it was totally and completely awesome. Jeff came and that was super fun because this is the only baby shower that he'll be able to attend. We were blessed to recieve a lot of really big, expensive items such as our stroller, our monitors, a boppy, and a cute personalized onsie that says "Made by Heather and Jeff in Athens, Georgia" or something like that. It's very cute. My boss Jan was so sweet to plan and execute all of this.

I have another shower on Sunday from some of the ladies from my church, and I think that it will be fun and intimate. I'm really looking forward to it.

I started putting all of Benjamin's stuff away today when I got home from the shower and Scout was completely overwhelmed with new things to sniff and explore. She may be jealous of Benjamin's growing stash of belongings. But, she'll be a good big doggie sister. I just know it.

Jeff feels poopy because he has a cold as well as a bad case of hay fever. So I am trying to take care of him so his pouty bottom lip will go back in :-) Right now, he's my baby to take care of. I'm happy to lo0k after him because he's been doing such a good job of looking after me.

The house hunting saga has been a long and arduous trial. We put an offer in on a home that was almost immediately taken off the market by the owner. We've not put a second offer in on a different home and hope to hear something positive early next week. We had no idea that finding a home to buy would be so labor intensive. Please keep us in your prayers.

Well, I think that's it for now. I'll try not to be so lax in updating my little spot on the web. But once Benjamin Lang Newberry makes his appearance, there are no guarantees.

due date change

So the doc decided to move my due date forward to April 21 -- my original due date and coincidentally the date I was due to be born on as well! With the change of due date that means Ben is only measuring about 1 week and a few days ahead, so that's not so abnormal or scary. :-)

Jeff and I completed our Childbirth class and the Baby Basics class and just have one more left: Breastfeeding 101. I think we learned a lot. We got to take a tour of the Family Birthing Unit (or whatever fancy name they call it!). It is very nice. This is an exciting time and its so hard not think 24/7 about Ben and what having him (in all senses of the phrase - labor, delivery, bringing him home, living with a newborn day-to-day, etc.) is going to be like. I am so glad that we will have family and friends around to help us after Ben is born.

We have two more baby showers coming up - one is being thrown at work, and one by some friends from our church here in Athens. I am sure they will both be great!

Anyway, sorry if you wanted to learn about things other then the baby...there simply isn't anything else in my head!! :-)

lots of love for lots of baby

Well, Ben is a big baby. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday (28wks 5 days) that confirmed that he is still growing ahead of schedule...2 weeks and 2 days ahead to be exact. They estimated that he weighs about 3lbs 11 oz right now which puts him in the 81st percentile...he should weigh about 2lbs 10oz. Dr. Rosemond thought that by the time we get to 37 wks Benjamin will be over the 90th percentile. If that is the case, then they may want to induce me to ensure that he does not get too big. I go back for another ultrasound on April 5 to determine how big Ben has gotten and whether or not we need to do anything to bring about labor.

In anycase, we got some great shots of little Ben that we want to share!

Ben's face and arm - 3d/4d

Ben's foot - 2d

Ben's profile (he looks like he is laying on his back with his hand over his head) - 2d

Enjoy!!! :-)

healthy after all

My Doctor's office called yesterdy to say that I don't have Gestational Diabetes! Yay!!!!!! What a load off my mind! Here are my numbers vs what they needed to be under:

Fasting/75/105 or less
1 Hour/141/190 or less
2 Hour/117/165 or less
3 Hour/91/145 or less

:-) Yay for me!!!!

In other news, Jeff and I bought a new bed! A king size Sealy Posturepedic with a pillow top. It is awesome and we can't wait to get it. It will be delivered on Wednesday! We are very excited for that first night's sleep. Now we have to buy some more king size sheets. We have one set right now and actually the quilt we bought over a year ago is also king sized because we knew that we eventually wanted to get a king size bed. :-) I'll let you all know how well it sleeps for a full-night!

hello there

My state of mind is much improved today compared to my last post and even to how I was feeling yesterday. I was supposed to take the 3 hour gestational diabetes test today (I failed the 1 hour test by 1 point!). However, because of the winter weather forcast which included sleet and freezing rain, my doc's office called yesterday to move my appointment to next Tuesday. If I do have it, which is not the end of the world but won't be fun either, then I will likely see a nutritionist who will establish a new diet for me...

Anywho, things are trucking right along with the rest of my pregnancy. I am 26 weeks today and I have been feeling Benjamin move quite alot in the last few days. I think he is getting stronger and starting to get more cramped in there! Jeff has even felt him kick on three different occasions! Its been pretty cool. The only concern right now is that Ben may be a ginormous baby! When we had our 20 wk ultrasound he was measuring almost 2 weeks ahead. So...we have to have another ultrasound on Feb 6 to find out if he is still growing at that rate or if he just hit a growth spurt sooner than the average baby. If he is still as large, my docs may consider adjusting my due date. However, biologically speaking, I don't see how they could move it ahead of April 21, but we'll see!!

I also feel as if I have neglected to post some of Ben ultrasound pics for you all, so here you go!

Ben @ 8 weeks (2D)

Ben @ 8 wks (3/4D)

Ben @ 19wks 6days (3/4D)

Ben @ 19wks 6days (2D)

I will post again soon! Y'all hang onto your horses until then! :-)

tired and worried

I got very little sleep last night as a result of being unable to get comfortable and not being able to turn my brain off. I finally moved to the couch at about 5am and got some sleep then. I was (and continue to) worrying about money, Ben, buying/settling into a home, moving, my pregnancy, and money (again!). I am trying not to stress too much, cause that will just make things worse. Still, it is difficult to stop once you get started.

It has been a slow day here at work. I have gotten a lot done, which is nice. Jan, my boss, will be back from maternity leave next week. it will be nice to have her around again!

At this moment, Jeff is sitting in the very first day of his very last course. I hope that it is going well!

a new year

Happy 2007 everbody!

This year promises to be a memorable one for our little fam. We hope to buy a house, have a baby, perhaps replace my car, and move back to Tifton all by the end of May. In the mean time I will continue working and making baby Benjamin while Jeff will be finishing up his final classes, studying for a Portugese reading comprehension/translation test, and reading/studying for his Comprehensive Exams! Whew! What a semester this will be!!

I hope that you all have a great year and that it will not be near as hectic as our year is shaping up to be! :-)