Dane's birth announcement 2011

Welcome to the world // Dane Austin Hill // 10-13-2011

Yes, I have been off the grid for a few weeks. I had something going on... welcoming our newest sweetness into this world. Dane Austin Hill was born October, 13th at 8:46pm. He weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long. We are so blessed. I have spent the last few weeks just soaking up the sweetness of this little boy. He is a WONDERFUL baby!!!

The story of his birthday is a good one, let me tell you! We started at the beginning of the week at the doctor's office. It was the typical appointment but with my due date (17th) right around the corner and the contractions that had been with me for weeks (literally) we were ready to get this show on the road.  Dr Birch didn't want me to go past my due date so she threw out the option of induction. I had heard wonderful stories from my friends -- basically checking into a hotel and little to no pain -- so I said "YES, when??" She gave me the options of the 13th, 14th and 17th. Ryan and I decided on the 13th for multiple reasons--- it would be easier to have him on Thursday as Chaz could go to school Thursday and Friday, less stress of trying to shuffle him around, we thought it would be cool for him to have some "Friday the 13th" birthday's throughout life, especially since it is in October and we could decorate!! and I was really tired of having contractions! Bring on baby Dane!!

This is the last preggo picture of me, 39 weeks. The night before he was born. I kinda miss my bump :(   My parents came up the night before and we went to dinner. Ryan referred to it as my "last meal." We enjoyed pizza at Guidos! MMMMMMMM!!! Mom and Dad were nice enough to take Chaz back with them so I didn't have to worry about him in the morning -- at 6am!!

Good thing because as we were trying to get out the door and to the hospital by 630 we ran into a bit of a snag.. Dead battery. Are you kidding me? I mean seriously, I can't make this stuff up! After a quick jump start we were on our way.

If you know Ryan and I (and Chaz) you know we are not really morning people. We really don't even get up until 7:15 or so everyday so this morning was really early for us. I was in some pain but my hubby was a little more relaxed. Clearly.

While he was napping I was able to enjoy my new, comfy, fuzzy socks and catch up on my celebrity gossip magazines.

I was also able to find some humor in this hospital room. Really? Preggo sick figures?  Bahahaha!!

Looks like one of the Three Stooges. HA! I have to give credit to Ryan on this one :)

And we waited.. and waited..

Then the day got a little more interesting. Dane started getting a little stressed, my oxygen levels dropped and my blood count came back with less than stellar results. My platelet levels were extremely low. They kept adjusting my fluids, Pitocin and pain meds. Turning things on and off and monitoring me for HOURS!!  I didn't know what this meant so I just kept hanging in there and having some good old contractions. I was in major pain and ready for my epidural! I sent Ryan out to get a nurse and ask when I could get it. What I didn't know is that went he ventured out to the nurses station he encountered something he wasn't wanting to hear.. He asked my nurse when I could get my epidural and was quickly met with "She can't" He literally said "Oh Sh!t, this isn't good"

Ryan returned to my room and if I was paying a little more attention I would have noticed the look of concern on his face but instead I noticed several nurses following him into the room. I was thinking "oh goody, I am about to get my epidural!!!" But no. Instead the nurse said "I'm afraid we have bad news, due to your low platelet levels, we can't give you an epidural."

"WHAT?!?!" **insert instant waterfall of tears**  I was immediately terrified and didn't know how I was going to make it through this. Yes, I know. Women have been doing this "naturally" for years. Blah Blah Blah. That was NOT part of the plan. I have done this before and I wanted my epidural!! After I cried and physically shook from nerves, they sent in the Anesthesiologist to discuss the turn of events with me. He was wonderful and explained why we couldn't move forward with the epidural. The risks for me were very high-- the biggest would be internal bleeding. The problem is, they cannot detect it until it is too late which would require emergency surgery and is a BIG health risk to me. We decided to let the nurses and Anesthesiologist leave and we would discuss our options. The nurses decided to take my blood again just to see if they could get my platelets up.  Soon the Anesthesiologist came back in and decided to quiz me. Yes, quiz me. Have I had nose bleeds? bleeding gums? etc? After a long discussion he decided that due to my good history, perfect first delivery and small physical frame he would do the epidural as long as I was aligned to the risks. I decided to pull in Dr Birch to discuss. I mean, as much as I wanted the epidural, I need to be around for my kids and my husband.  Dr Birch and I discussed all the options -- leaving the hospital and seeing if nature would take over, coming back in and re inducing Monday morning, going through the birthing process with pain meds only -- no epidural or going ahead with the epidural.  After much deliberation we went ahead with the epidural. 

OH HAPPY MOMMA!!!!!

But it wasn't over. I did get my epidural and it went off without a hitch but after many, many hours of labor, Dane became stressed. He wasn't really moving down and his heart rate was decreasing at the wrong time as it related to my contractions. Dr Birch came in and basically told me that if we couldn't get him out within 30 minutes of pushing we would need to do a C section. At this point it was about 830pm and I was exhausted. I knew if I was tired, so was Dane and I refused to put him in any jeopardy.  Then it was time. Time to push. I was determined.  And after 10 minutes of painful pushing and a little help from the "baby vacuum" he was here!! Happy, healthy and beautiful!!! Thank you Lord!

We were instantly in love!!

This is a picture from when Chaz was born. I tell ya, you never know how much you love your husband until you see them lay eyes on your child. Melt.my.heart.

LOVE Dr Birch! As you can tell from the story above, I totally trust this woman 100%. She is an excellent doctor.

And then it was my turn to love on him. Forgive, no glamor shots here... it was a looooooooooooong day!

We were just going to send Chaz home with mom and dad and let him meet Dane the next day but he wasn't having it. He refused to go home before he got to see his new baby brother. Who can really blame him? He has been counting down the days for "Dane to come out" for months!

and even though it had been a very long day and it was getting very late, we did have some very special visitors. Gaga and Papa got some good snuggletime.

Mah and Dah couldn't wait to get their hands on Dane!

Aunt Meg even drove all the way from Rogers to snuggle on our new little guy!

and of course, Uncle T had to come take a look.

I simply cannot get over how much my little guys look alike. Dane looks like a clone of Chaz when he was a baby.


Our newest little man- Dane.

And our first born -- Chaz.  I mean seriously, could they look anymore alike???

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Welcome to the world little man. It took a LONG time to get you here but it was worth every minute. You are precious and perfect. You are one more piece of the puzzle to our little family and we love you so very much!!!

New rooms!!

I have mentioned a few times that we were redoing Chaz's room and I am finally getting around to showing you what we did! We had to do something with Chaz's room so we could "steal" the furniture to use in Dane's room --the full size bed converts back into a crib, we planned ahead!

We decided to go with a Razorback theme, not that this is a shocker to anyone. We had many things we had been collecting over the past year or so in preparation for this switch. My in-laws got Chaz this sweet painting for his birthday. So in this corner we have the painting, Razorback chair, football and jersey signed by Darrin McFadden, "Go Hogs Go" and "Touchdown Arkansas" signs, Razorback football helmet, first game day tickets and of course the Razorback Mr Potato head football player.

We decided to get Chaz a bunk bed as he has a bunch of cousins and friends that will likely have sleepovers in the years to come. But we didn't get the standard ol' bunk bed. No, we went with one that had a staircase on the side and a bookshelf. It is supercool!! The stairs have storage drawers and there are more drawers under the bed. Ryan also installed lighting above the bottom bunk with push button switches so Chaz can work them himself.  LOVE IT!!!

The other "must" addition was a desk. Our little boy is getting older and we figured a desk was something that he will use and love for years to come. He already loves it so much!! He has specific things that go in each drawer. We have been schooled ---Paper in the top drawer. Pencils, markers, crayons, etc in the second drawer. Finished work in the bottom drawer. We covered the back panel of the desk with cork so he could put his latest artwork on display.

You will notice the canvases in both the above picture and below. We pulled these from the theater room and I think they fit perfectly in this room!! We also reused the suede picture frames --above. I love how it has all pulled together! I can't wait to add little Razorback pieces as the years pass. Chaz LOVES his room!!

Now onto Dane's room. There is a little bit of a back story with this one. We originally planned for my mom to recover all the baby bedding from Chaz's room --Yes, I kept it in storage as I didn't know what to do with it and honestly couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Anyways, I found a very cute fabric online and ordered color swatches. It was green, blue, red and brown in strips, dots and swirls.  When I got it in everyone was on board and said it was very cute. Unfortunately, we discovered they were back-ordered on several of the patterns bringing the production of Dane's bedding to a screeching halt.

After many hours on the Internet and several visits to every fabric store in NWA--I was at a total loss. UGH!  Then I came across sock monkeys. This was originally one of my ideas with Chaz's room but I didn't want to "over theme" in Dane's room. Then Ryan mentioned he never really liked the original fabric I picked. I guess when it is not an option, the real opinions come out :) 

Anyways, I jumped on board with the sock monkey theme and I am sure glad I did. I heart his room!! We also saved some time and money because we found the bedding on Etsy (LOVE Etsy!!) and it was actually cheaper than having my mom buy the fabric and recover the old.  We did buy some fabric to make changing table covers, pillows, a cover for the lamp, etc.  What do you think???

 

Mom bought me these cute metal monkeys YEARS ago. I have always loved them but couldn't find a good place for them in the new house. I think the lamp may be one of my favorite things in the room. My mom and dad recovered it for me. LOVE!!

I also purchased the vinyl lettering from Etsy.

I reused the shelves from Chaz's room. No, I haven't put pictures in the frames yet. Ryan points this out daily! I'll get there. I promise.

My mother-in-law had this picture painted for Dane. Something else I love!

And the creme de la creme--my Dane's lanterns. This was a project, let me tell you! But after MANY hours of work (my sweet friend Sally slaved away with me!) they were done... and yes, I LOVE them!!!

I hope you enjoyed a little look into the rooms that hold two very special little boys!

Pregnant and snarky..

With tomorrow starting an entire new chapter in my life, I have gathered some "brilliant" comments that have come out of fellow coworkers, family, random people in the mall, etc.  I know it is hard to find the "perfect" words to say to a woman who is 9000 months pregnant, I'm not judging.. I just think these are hilarious. 

I also decided to add what would have been my snarky comment if I was quick or rude enough to respond. Instead, I just giggle inside. Thank you people for providing some comic relief to this VERY pregnant momma!!

 

Question: Have you had that baby yet?  

Snarky answer:  Yep! Had him and am back to work. Don't mind this bump --it is all for show.

Question: I bet you are ready

Snarky answer: No, I think I want to be pregnant for the rest of my existence

Question: You are about to pop!

Snarky answer:  I don't really have a "snarky answer" to this one. I just have to say, I love that the verb "POP" is used when describing a pregnant woman. Really? Pop??

Question: You are still here?? (work)

Snarky answer:  Nope, I'm just a pregnant figment of your imagination

Question: Are you excited?

Snarky answer: Nah..

Question: Are you having him naturally?

Snarky answer: No, I was thinking about having aliens abduct him out of my uterus. I think it would make for a great news story!!

Question: What time/when do you think you will have him?

Snarky answer:  12:39 and 22 seconds.   Really? Haven't you heard these baby things are a little unpredictable? It kind of adds to the excitement.

Question: Still pregnant?

Snarky comment: I really can't even come up with one here.. just REALLY?!?!?!?!

 
I really wish I would have started this list early into my pregnancy. The list would have been MUCH longer. People have no shame when it comes to asking a pregnant person a question. But again, it is all in good fun and I appreciate the laughs!!!

Preggo vs non preggo

Things I will miss about being Preggo

1) Using my belly as a plateau to fold laundry
2) Feeling my little guy move
3) Having Dane all to myself
4) I kinda like my ever growing bump :)
5) People who go out of their way for the pregs. Opening doors, giving up a seat, etc.
6) Pretty finger nails and full hair -- thanks prenatal vitamins!
7) Being able to eat what I want
8) Having a legit excuse to have a million pillows on my bed
9) Going to bed as early as I want and having zero guilt about it
10) The journey of pregnancy. It has been fun, scary and ever changing --and I have loved it!

Things I will love again after Dane is born

1) Sleeping on my belly
2) Sleep in general.. oh never mind
3) Getting back to regular occurring potty breaks
4) Maybe a drink?
5) It taking less than 5 minutes to put my shoes on
6) A bigger wardrobe (I am currently down to 3 pairs of decent -- non sweat pant -- pants)
7) Not being hungry all.the.time
8) Being able to move around like a "normal" person
9) Being able to wear my rings again --this is new this week :(
10) Getting back my pre-preggo brain (I know this is a slow process and I may never come back 100% but a girl can always dream, right? ;)

To the little brother Dane

To my new little bundle,

          You are so loved and you are not even here yet. I always say every little one is a miracle but you are something special. You have no idea how much we have wanted to add you into our family. Your daddy, brother and I have been anxiously awaiting your arrival. I can't wait to hold you in my arms, although that means I will then have to share you with everyone else. I don't know that I am quite ready for that.

You are coming into a family filled with lots of love. Not only the people in our house but your grandparents, meme, great aunts, great uncles, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. Everyone is waiting to hug and kiss on you.

Now I gotta tell you, you have a tough act to follow. Your brother is something special, too. He has promised me that he will teach you everything he knows. He has talked about teaching you to walk, talk, read and potty. I think he will find a ton of other things to teach you along the way. You will be like two little peas in a pod.

I can't wait to see what you look like, how you act and what kind of personality you will have. I am so excited to see you grow and become your own little man.

I want to welcome you to this crazy life, I hope you journey in is smooth and peaceful

I will see you soon little one.
I love you

Mommy