We're Home!

Breck and I are both doing well so the doc let us go home a day early! We got our little boy home around 5p.m. yesterday and though I am struggling with the pain (sometimes more than others), we are all so happy to be in our home with our new little family. Breck is continuing to be a fuss-free baby. He is so calm and happy-go-lucky all the time. He has been sleeping through the night, even when I try to wake him to feed. Last night, he was just cooing so I got him up around four and he ate like a champ and went back to sleep. Seriously, when I say he's happy, I mean it. He slept, yes, I said slept, through his circumcision yesterday. Who does that? Talk about one time you are allowed to be as cranky as you want! And he is really taking to the breast-feeding now. He struggled the first few days to be interested much at all but now he is eating for an hour at a time. We have uploaded tons of pics to Walgreens.com (if you didn't get an email giving you rights to view the album, let me know and I'll send you the inf0). I thought I would add some more here as well.

Just a few pics... :)

Our Bundle of Joy has Arrived!!

Breck Dylan Boydstun is finally here! We are so excited to welcome our little one to the world. At last week's appointment, it became apparent that things were not going to go by plan. The doctor suspected that Breck was huge, way too big for me to safely deliver him. I was a bit freaked out at the idea of having to have a c-section but the look on the doc's face when she saw how big his head was, convinced me it would be very painful to try and have him naturally. As we found out yesterday, there was no way he could have been delivered naturally. Breck not only was big (8lbs. 11 oz.), 21 1/2 inches long with a 14 cm head, he also had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. So, we arrived at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on August 27th with an expected c-section at 7:30 a.m. We had a few complications along the way - the spinal block made me sick so I started throwing up causing the hospital staff to scramble and have to break scrub to keep me from aspirating it. Then, the throwing up kept the block from taking effect. After a few tests, the anesthesiologist was about to just have to put me under instead and that would have kept Brian from being able to be there. I was so sad at the thought of him missing Breck's birth, even though I would have happily been knocked out to avoid the panic that was starting to take over my entire being. At the last minute, the block worked, so everything was a go. Before I knew it, I looked over to the left (at 8:04 a.m.) and saw this beautiful baby being cleaned off. I was pretty out of it but it just hit me how strange it was to be pregnant one minute and without experiencing childbirth (I mean I was numbed up and there was a curtain keeping me from seeing anything), it was just surreal to think that what I was looking at was really my little boy. Oh, and it seemed that Breck wanted to make an entrance so the doc had to place an amazing amount of pressure on my abdomen just to pop his head out! Then this huge waterfall shoots into the air and all over the doc. As she hands him off to the nurse, he does it again and pees all over her too! They took us back to recovery where I had a few complications. After a few extra hours, they got everything under control, and we were finally released to postpartum where some friends and family came later to meet Breck.

We are now 24 hours into Breck's existence... He has been amazing! With as active as he was all the time I carried him, I expected him to be all over the place. Instead, we have this sweet little boy that is nothing but calm. I know babies tend to be sleepy their first day anyway but into day two they usually become very fussy due to digestion and other bodily functions starting to work. This child is quiet and happy still. The only thing that bugs him is being naked! So a little fussing when he gets changed but stops as soon as he's warm again. And he would have slept through the entire night last night had I not tried to wake him to feed him. I hope that is a great sign of what's to come. Regardless - Brian and I are so very blessed and in awe of God's goodness. We couldn't be happier.

Nada? Nothing?

No progress at today's appointment...this boy needs to get after it. I don't want to go back to school at all! I am spending the last week of summer (teachers report Monday) doing a whole lotta nothing though!

I ordered some cute custom stuff online... you should definitely check out inktastic.com. You can create all kinds of things. They have over 90 pages of artwork to choose from or you can upload your own (that's what I did). I ordered a Mommy shirt for me when Breck makes his debut in the hospital. Breck also got some cute newborn onesies - the one on the left will be for his announcement pictures (you can't see the back but it says: Boydstun and has the number 10 below it - get it? born in 2010??). He has a cute little hat with a cross and a B on it (though they didn't make it in a newborn size so we will have to work something out...) On the right, you see a little rocker onesie I made to match the rock hat Brian had bought months ago. And even Brian got in on the fun and designed a little football onesie - actually, this is the design he did for the football team (I think they are putting it on shirts and their promotional cards). He even added in a little hat with Summit Jags on it. Not sure the boy will be making it to any games this season but he can still dress up on Fridays in support of his daddy! Finally, in the middle you see a custom burp cloth and pacifier holder with Breck's name and of course his signature colors. I got these cute items from an online store called Curls and Dimples.

I have watched most of Felicity Seasons 1 & 2 (I have the complete series on DVD). And today I got a cute pedicure (I figure since I can't reach my toes, nor do I have the energy to care, I might as well let someone else make them look cute!). I tried to slip the girl extra to massage my feet (I've heard that can bring on labor). That obviously was a bust... at least my calves and feet feel wonderful and my toes look adorable!

Off to get me hair done tomorrow and then just veg out through Sunday evening. After going to a four-day conference last week where I merely sat for 7.5 hours a day and being so exhausted I barely dragged myself home before crashing for hours every night and then having to sleep most of Friday just to be functional, I worry that actually working the next two weeks will take more energy than I have to give. Did I mention it would be great if Breck would come early? :)

Getting Down to the Finish Line!

We are finally nearing the end! I am now 36 weeks pregnant (though I measure 37)! We have had discussions with my doctor about inducing, so we expect to welcome Breck to the world 3 weeks from today - unless he wants to come before then which we would love! Let me tell you - I have learned that not only is it miserable to be HUGE pregnant during the summer, it is beyond ridiculous in Texas. We have had two weeks of 100+ weather with Thursday reaching 108! So I am trying hard to limit my activity and stay indoors as much as possible. The problem is that it is getting to be that time of year when we have staff retreats, conferences, teacher meetings and school starting up. And did I mention that I had to move classrooms again? Well...I moved very little - poor Brian was the one doing the heavy lifting - but the worst part is that they do not run the air conditioner at school during the summer. And with us both working summer school, we had to go there in the afternoons and move a little at a time. It got to the point that I could handle an hour or so and then it would take me two days to recover from the effort and heat exhaustion. After seven separate trips, I think my classroom is finally tolerable. It's not decorated or quite as organized as I would like, but I have learned a valuable lesson - I cannot do everything. At least right now it is more important for me to take care of myself and Breck than make everything perfect. For the type-A personality with perfectionist tendancies, that is a hard lesson to learn. The great thing is that summer school afforded me the opportunity to work out my lesson plans for the first six weeks so that a sub is ready to take over with very minimal preparation. That is a huge load off my shoulders, so I feel like I can relax and enjoy these last few weeks without stressing out about school. I have my to-do list still of minor things to take care of before Breck arrives, but they mostly consist of little things around the house.

I am officially to the weekly appointments phase and at Wednesday's appointment, the doctor confirmed that Breck has turned (yippee!) but has yet to engage (for those not in the know, that just means that his head hasn't decided to work its way into my pelvis). This little boy is such a wiggle worm that the doctor was laughing out loud as she tried to listen to him. She said that is often an indication of a smooth delivery but watch out for the fun afterward with such an active little one! Right now, she is just estimating height and weight (around 20 inches and 6 lbs) but in two weeks she will do a final ultrasound to determine the final birth weight and height. The only hiccup in the plan for the next few weeks is that Brian is already full-swing into football. It makes it so much harder for him to come to appointments, let alone try and figure out what to do about Breck's birth! Needless to say, he will not be riding the bus with the boys so that if he gets a call during game time, he can get to the hospital faster. We are excited that we both get to take off 6 weeks and spend with Breck, but this is a bit more complicated for Brian. It's not like he can just not show up for 6 weeks of football, so though he doesn't have to teach, his time with us will be split between practice, meetings and games. It's still better than him missing out on 10 weeks of his son's life completely!

Just Between Friends - Part 2














Unfortunately, I was tortured at a conference all week so I missed out on getting to go with friends to the Just Between Friends sale when the doors opened at 1pm on Wednesday; however, waiting until the evening meant Brian got to come with me and experience the madness. By the time we got there, there was still tons to look at, it just was apparent that the best stuff was already gone. I think we still made out well. And somehow we walked away with more clothes! I truly don't believe this child will ever wonder what to wear. I didn't intend to buy much as far as clothes go, but the week before we spent $18 on a cute little jacket and pant outfit at Babies R Us, so when we found tons of similar outfits for $3 or so, we figured that it was best to go ahead and stock up on warmer winter things. We stuck to the 6 months or less sizes just because we don't know how quickly he will be out of that size. I would hate to assume that when he is wearing six months, he will actually be six months old and buy short-sleeve spring outfits based on that. Of course, as I'm laying everything out to take inventory, Breck's pup decides she has to be right smack in the middle of it all (though she does look adorable in the picture). Oh and if you can't tell, in the back that is a little Tigger rocking animal - too cute! So for $141, this is what we walked away with:

• 4 onesies
• 1 sleeper
• 1 pair pajamas
• 8 jackets
• 16 pairs of pants
• 11 shirts
• 1 sweater
• 1 bouncy seat (a steal at $5!)
• 1 Tigger rocking animal
• 1 dinosaur ball toy

I can't wait to return in the spring when Breck is actually here, and I know what size he is wearing. Thanks again to my parents for giving us some cash at our baby shower so we could shop away at this incredible sale!