Reese's first month at home

Our first month with Reese has been better than I could have imagined. We are experiencing what most parents experience... a lack of sleep and an overload of love for this little miracle. Rich worked from home for the first two weeks which helped so much. We have had LOTS of visitors, lots of dinners made for us, and so many people that have helped make this first month wonderful! Reese weighed 6 lbs 12 oz when he was born. At his one week appt. he weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz (because it took 5 days for my milk to come in), and at his two week appointment he weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. He is eating and pooping like a champ! I have had an extremely great experience with breastfeeding. Everyone told me that the first two weeks are really painful, but Reese latched right away and has done great! The only down fall is that sometimes it is hard to get things done around town. I have learned that he takes a GREAT nap usually from 11:30-2:30 and so I feed him right before we leave so that I can get my errands done. I am feeling great. I'm almost back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, but my jeans are VERY tight. I haven't done so well with staying in the house. At just 5 days, we had Reese out at Cracker Barrel. I get extremely stir crazy and have to get out for a little bit each day. We go eat with Daddy quite a bit, we walk with Gramps on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the mall, we go shopping, etc. Speaking of shopping, I have had the hardest time finding "newborn size" clothes for Reese. Premie clothes are a little too small, but 0-3 month clothes are HUGE! Newborn sized clothes fit him great, but they are SO hard to find. I need a pair of cacky pants or jeans for his dedication on December 24th! Reese is getting dedicated on Christmas Eve which we are so excited about. Enough of my ramblings and on to some pictures of Reese's newborn pictures. He was 11 days old in these pics.

Reese is here!

Reese William Hall was born on November 10, 2009 at 3:37 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. When we arrived at the hospital I was already having contractions every 2-3 minutes. They started pitocin around 8:20 am and broke my water at 9:12 am. Everything went completely smooth until it was time to push. Reese's heart rate dropped because he was on the ambilical cord, and his head was facing sideways. Our doctor said that they had to "get him out ASAP" so they had to use the vaccuum (not fun for Mommy or Reese). Poor guy had a coney to say the least, but it has already gone down a TON. Mommy has had a rough recovery though. It is officially Reese's one week birthday today. I'll be posting some blogs about his first week. It has been the most amazing week of our lives. We are so blessed that God gave us this child. I'm so in love with him and my love for his Daddy grows more and more everyday. I am taking in every second with Reese and enjoying every little thing he does. Here are some pictures of the delivery and Reese during his first day in the hospital!

Daddy was so supportive the entire delivery

Getting to see Reese for the first time. Such a special moment. We all cried!

He has some lungs! Best sound ever.His Daddy is in LOVE!

He contantly is doing something with his hands.


The first time Rich got to hold Reese Our first family photo
Rich went with Reese to the nursery and since he was the only baby in there they let him go in and take pictures.

HUGE News!!!

Looks like our little miracle is going to be joining us a few weeks earlier than what we thought. I am being induced tomorrow at 7:00am. We went to our ultrasound today and my amniotic fluid is low. It was at a 6.5, and 5 is dangerously low. Basically he has NO more room in my belly! My stomach expanded as much as it could, and he is completely out of room. I am dialated already to a 2 and almost completely effaced so my doctor said it should go pretty quickly. My doctor said he "isn't going to play around." He's breaking my water and hitting me with the pitocin starting around 8am. Please join us in prayer that everything will go smoothly and that Reese will be 100% healthy! We are just a little excited:) I really wonder how they are expecting me to sleep tonight! We'll post pictures as soon as we get home from the hospital.

Dr. appointment

We went to our ultrasound on Tuesday of this week and went to see our doctor right after. It seems like Reese has had a major slow down with his growth since week 32. He may just be out of room in my belly. He only weighed 5 lbs and we are almost 37 weeks so that is WAY to low to enduse. I never thought I would find myself praying to gain weight or to hold off on having him, but I am. I lost weight last week, but am eating as much as I possibly can! He is completely fine, just small. Sometimes I think they may just grow better "out than in." I honestly feel like there is just no more room. I'm not expanding hardly at all and am loosing weight. They are sending us for another ultrasound on Monday, and we will go back to the doctor after it is finished. He said he would enduse if my fluid drops or if there is no growth between now and then. Let's pray that Reese (and I) can put it on this week! The GOOD news is that my blood pressure was completely normal so they didn't HAVE to enduse. Pray that it stays that way. My last day before maternity leave is November 20th so I only have about two weeks left of work. I'm trying to work up until he comes. I don't think I would do very well just sitting around at home. We are officially finished with our "to do" list! We even have the house decorated for Christmas. I really have enjoyed it being done this early. I think I may start decorating every year the week after Halloween. The ONLY thing we are waiting on is Reese's comforter and chandelier which can be done after he gets here. I'm headed to go eat some more!

Hello 9 months!

I will officially be 9 months on Saturday, but wanted to make sure I got in an approximate 9 month belly shot so we took some tonight. You can tell how much he has dropped, and every morning he drops more and more it seems. Even though I am quite large, I still absolutely LOVE having a baby bump. I'm going to miss it. So far, I've made it with NO stretch marks!! I pretty much slide into bed with the amount of lotion I lather on. Well, I'm off to help Rich hang the last few things in Reese's nursery. When his comforter gets back (I had it monogrammed prior to it being stuffed and finished off), I'll post some pictures of the nursery!

36 Week Appointment

I went in for our 36 week appointment today. I am about 36 weeks now. My due date is VERY tentative so who knows for sure. We miscarried twins in January and although I had some "spotting" on Feb. 21st, my doctor has decided it would be best to gage MY due date based on the size of the baby instead of the last menstral date. Anyone with a brain knows that the baby's size can change within a day so long story short, I am just a different case that doesn't have a "set" due date. I have a wonderful doctor though that has kept SUCH a close eye on everything. We feel so blessed that we have gotten to see this little one (via ultrasound) so much due to my doctor being so thorough with us. Anyways, I will be "approximately" 36 weeks on Saturday.

I got to my appointment, and they did the usual... weight, blood pressure, etc then took me back to our room. My feet have been swollen the last few days, and I just thought it was because I am on them ALL day long teaching. Well my doctor walked in and said, "Do you have a sub lined up?" I told him that they are in the process of getting someone, and interviewed someone today. He said that he is sending me for an ultrasound next Tuesday because my belly isn't growing as much as he would like. Everyone kept saying that I didn't look like I had gained much, and I haven't, but I'm eating as much as I can. He said that sometimes when you are on the petite side that your ribs won't expand as much which pushes the baby down really quickly. He basically said that I would be lucky to make it another week without my water breaking because of all of the pressure. To say Reese has dropped would be an understatement! He is LOW! I've also started having contractions like crazy. They are monitoring these as well. His concern is the amount of stress that Reese is putting on my body. If my amniotic fluid is low (in the slightest) or my blood pressure is up at all next Tuesday he is going to either induse (sp?) me or for sure put me on bed rest for a week. Needless to say, we are excited/nervous about it all. If we have him next Tuesday/Wednesday he would be about 3 and half weeks early. My doctor said that Reese is absolutely fine, and that he delivers babies at 34 weeks all the time that don't even have to stay in the hospital for extra time. He is just worried about the stress that the baby is putting on my body, and he wants me nice and healthy for the delivery. I'll keep you all posted! Keep us in your prayers.

Any day now!

It is hard to believe that Reese will be here "any day now." I have started having contractions, but they are very sporatic. I'll have one, then another 15 minutes later, then it will be 30-45 minutes before I have another one. I rested most of the day on Saturday and only had a few that night. They seem to be worse after working all day then running errands after work. I have been VERY natious this past week though. I barely have an appetite and have actually lost 4-5 lbs this past week. I have one friend that has been quite negative about my entire pregnancy... almost like a pregnancy natzi. One of those people that tells you every negative thing that is going to happen and tries to correct every little thing that you say. She would tell me, "just wait until the last two months, you'll gain a ton." Another instance in which I just needed to listen to my doctor and realize that EVERY pregnancy is SO different. I'm so sick at this point that I literally am making myself eat just so that Reese gets his nutrients. There is no more room in this belly for anything else! I am still loving being pregnant. It is the most beautiful experience that I have encountered in life. I love feeling Reese move and getting to buy him things. I love the fact that he is with me all the time. Every time I look down and see my growing belly, I can't help but to thank God for this precious miracle growing inside of me. We are now finished with all 3 of our showers. My mom's friends threw me a shower, our Church Saturday Class threw us a shower, and my teachers at my school threw me a shower just this past Thursday. It is amazing how many people are already so in love with Reese, and they haven't even been able to meet him. We have been blessed with anything that this little boy could ever need! He has more Polo shirts than Rich and I have combined lol! He is going to be just a little spoiled! He is coming home in a baby blue Polo onesie, white booties, and a white tabogon with his initials monogrammed on it. Our bags are packed, the car seat is installed, we picked a pediatrician, and Reese's bag is packed. His bedding and drapes are hung, and I LOVE the way it turned out! We still have a few things to hang on the walls, and his nursery will finally be complete. I am headed to get his frames fixed (the backs need to be put on them) tomorrow, and after they get returned everything should be ready to go. I have been "nesting" like crazy! All of our pictures had been just thrown in a box, and we had accumulated over 6 years worth of pictures. Over fall break, I organized all of our pictures (in chronological order) in photo albums. We are decorating the house for Christmas this week so that once Reese gets here, all we have to do is is take care of him and enjoy our sweet bundle of joy! Here are some recent pictures! We had an ultrasound at 32 weeks, and Reese is now head down, face down!

The gang at our Diaper Shower!

Heart beat = 148

Rich STILL gets them to check at EVERY ultrasound to make sure that it Reese is still a boy lol!

Profiling! Rich says he has my lips and nose.

Our doctor is VERY thorough and has them check his spine at every appointment. Perfect spine!