And the winner is...

Here are his stats (finally):

12:16am (Eastern time) 8/23/09

8lb, 0.4oz

19.7in long

So Betsy gets the victory for the date (narrowly and with a little help from the time difference!)

I won the weight category! I will have to thank Mr. DeWayne for this since I actually chose 7.5lb at first and he snaked me and took it! So my second choice was 8lb and I won!

Post-feeding

Feaux-hawk

Handsome Boy

He's Here!

Hayes is on his way!

My water broke this morning about 3:30am. I have started having
contractions but they aren't very regular right now. We are still at
the house but our bag is by the door and we're ready whenever! We'll
keep you updated as best we can!

Update

I went to the doctor again today and he said that I am now 2-3 cm (making progress) and still 50% effaced. My blood pressure was also up some today and he said bed rest v. induction if it stays up....so not a stellar report card today!

His heart beat was good, he's still head down but not engaged yet, and there were no other big signs pointing to preeclampsia (other than my cankles). Joey is supposed to take my blood pressure on a regular basis at home just to make sure it's not staying high (earlier tonight it was down to 130/75...still high for me but not too bad yet).

We will keep everyone updated! I just figured out how to send a picture from my iPhone straight to the blog so we will have pictures up of Hayes nearly as soon as he's born!

If he comes too quickly to let everyone know, I have asked my Dad to make some calls for me. So if you hear from him, don't be mad! Just know that things got too crazy for Joey or me to call! Love you all.

Tick tock, tick tock

Did you know that with all the vast knowledge of medicine and science that the world has obtained over the last several decades that they still don't know what exactly happens to trigger labor?!? True business.

Of course there are theories about what to do to speed it along: spicy foods, sex, walking, excitement, etc, but I think these are probably just old wives tales and probably don't have much truth to them. I have absolutely been trying some of these (I won't go into further detail) but so far....notta.

We'll just say that he's happy in there and just doesn't feel like coming out quite yet. I know I haven't reached my due date yet, but having been nearly 4 weeks early myself, I expected my child to be at least a little early!

Oh well...we'll be here when the little man gets ready!

P.S. Joey and I changed phone numbers this week so if you didn't get an email or text from me, please let me know!

38 Weeks!

We are officially at "term"! Yesterday was the 38 week mark and there were definitely times that I didn't think we were going to get that far (some were just crazy like my 2nd trimester pregnancy dreams but also good times like last week at the doctor's office).

Some things happening with us right now:

- We are trying to get some more house things done before Hayes' arrival. I touched up the trim in his room today and got his face plates back on. Now I just need some shelves in there, to hang some pictures, and wait for his rocking chair to come in.

- Mom finished his "going home" outfit and I got it in the mail yesterday and it is too precious for words! I can't wait to take a ton of pictures of him in his little gown!!!

- We met the pediatrician and really liked her a lot.

- We found out that we are most likely not getting into the day care that we want (at least for now) so we are having to consider other options (this is very upsetting to me).

- I have to make a "birth plan" but this seems comical to me because Hayes does not really care what I have planned ;)

We have also been working hard and studying some too! Joey is definitely better at studying on a nightly basis than I am. I had a test August 7th (which I made a 100 on!) and since then I have had issues with motivation! Work is going really well for both of us and it has not been difficult at all to work this late in my pregnancy (thankfully). I am glad that I will get the benefit of taking my entire maternity leave after he gets here!

The Latest Update

I went to the doctor today for another check up. He said that everything looked good: Hayes' head is still down (he doesn't have room to make that kind of adjustment anymore), we are measuring correctly and his heart beat was good. He also checked me and said that I am already 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced! I still can't believe it and he seemed a little surprised as well.

It doesn't necessarily mean that I will deliver before my due date, but if we make it that far I would be surprised! I can't wait to meet my little boy!

I go back to see him next thursday and we are meeting with the pediatrician tomorrow afternoon. It won't be much longer now so we have to get some more things settled for Hayes!

MVF...Or Man V. Food for the non-followers

I have a new obsession (Mer, this is along the same lines as Shark Week in my opinion). My obsession is with the show Man Versus Food. I can't watch it enough! This cat literally eats his way through cities throughout the US. And since this is how I grew up (Dad would always find the local fair of wherever we vacationed) I can completely relate. It makes me want to go to these places just so I can taste some of the things that I see him eat!

But at least once on every show he takes on a food challenge. It's really one of two things: either "eat this mountain of food within said time limit" or "eat this fire hot dish of pure spice and see if you can survive without bursting into flames." But it is so entertaining to me!

One challenge he did was where he had to eat 6 hot wings and then last for 5 minutes without drinking anything. Did I mention they were covered in habenero sauce and he had to finish all the sauce and lick his fingers afterward?! Yeah, the joker attacked the wings like he was in the "mountain of food" contest not thinking strategically about limiting the skin surface area exposed to habenero flame and got the sauce all over his face. What a rookie....he completed the challenge but in his post-challenge quasi-press conference his face was beet red because the sauce had begun to eat his face off!

Anyway...watch it. I have no idea if you will get the kind of enjoyment out of it that I do but it is definitely entertaining!

Talking with God

God, do you mind terribly giving me a sign that we made the right decision by coming here to Richmond?

What's that? You say that Richmond, Virginia has a watermelon festival?

Well, surely that's already passed because it's so late in the summer, right?

What? You mean to tell me that it's in August?!

This weekend?!

That's crazy!

Richmond, VA Watermelon Festival
August 9th
Be there or be square!

Joey asked me what it is that I really want to do at the Watermelon Festival because we have the nectar of life in the house pretty often. I'm not sure but I think it could be fun! Maybe they have t-shirts or hats or something that I can show my support to the rest of the world.

Watermelon absolutely fits into the "Every good and perfect gift" category!!

Praise the Lord...we found a church!

One of the things that Joey and I really wanted to take care of before Hayes came was to find a church. Things have been a little rocky, at best, on that front. We have tried two churches close by home, and, while extremely nice and welcoming, they were less than ideal for us.

But I will admit that I had a nice list of things that I was looking for in a church:

1. Knowledgeable and well-spoken pastor

2. More than 20 members in any given service (but preferably somewhere in the hundreds).

3. A choir (I didn't even know that some churches didn't have choirs! Even FBC, Florala has a choir!)

4. Sunday School classes for Joey and I with people our age

5. Nursery for Hayes (and I'm not talking about one room to collect all kids who might happen into the church)

6. Young people that Joey and I can meet and be in class with and who would potentially have children for Hayes to play with (when he can actually play)

7. A general good vibe/warm feeling

The other churches were incredibly small (while nice, I just don't feel comfortable in a church where we can meet everyone within 2 minutes) and we were the youngest attendees by many DECADES...not really optimal for our SS potential and Hayes' nursery-time fun.

So today we tried another church, Bon Air Baptist. It is not too far from our house...about ten minutes. And we LOVED it! We went to the 11am traditional service, and they have communion on the first Sunday of every month so we got to participate in that. The pastor (who was a different man than the music minister) was wonderful and seems to be a very knowledgeable man of God. After church we went to ask about sunday school classes and the nursery, and the deacon that was talking to us will be our sunday school teacher. He was extremely nice and we are really excited about going back next week!

We were going to try another place next week but we loved this church so much that we are just going back to it!