Catching You Up from Birth to Date

Baby Girl,

You finally made it!!! It seems like my pregnancy & delivery with you have both proven to be more difficult than they were with Preston. Today you are 2 day old, it’s about 3:30am and we should be going home in about 12 hours. So I thought it time to write down a few things before I forget.

As you know you due date was the 9^th of this month (a Sunday) and I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for  the following Monday if you didn’t come on your own by then, which you didn’t.  We switched to our third doctor for this pregnancy (Dr Holt) and when we saw him on Monday he asked me if I wanted to wait and see if you came naturally or go ahead and schedule an induction. I figure by the time you are reading this you will know me well enough to know that given the choice to make a plan or just “wait and see what happens” I am going to go with option “A” every time!!! I chose Wednesday 12/12/12 so that you would have the coolest birthday ever!!!!! I left out of his office so excited! Excited to have a plan, excited to meet you and excited to be done with pregnancy.

Tuesday night 12/11/12 your dad was at Criswell College (finishing his finals and completing his last day of the  semester) while I was running around like a fully hormonal 9 month pregnant lady trying to finish every last detail before you were here. After dinner and Garron and Preston’s bath (to the relief of Jeremiah I’m sure) I took Preston over to Aunt Mystie’s house. I was having contractions all through the store and all through cooking dinner so I was not a super happy camper!!! I was very thankful to Aunt Mystie for offering to keep Preston during this time though and by the time I was able to load Gare Bear and Preston up and sit down to visit with Uncle Andy and Aunt Mystie I was in a much happier (less painful place).  Aunt Dee Dee (Daphne Weidel) and Tia (Angela Webster) were headed down to Big “E” by this time and came by Uncle’s house where we all able to visit until Mimi (Sharon Webster) got close to town, at which point we headed back to our house. This had to have been close to midnight by this point. Once Mimi got there we all visited for a little bit then she went on to bed at Uncle Keith and Aunt Fer’s. Shortly after that I went on to bed as well… UNTIL I could still hear Tia and DeeDee talking out in the living room.  I laid in bed restless, anxious, excited and eager for 5am as long as I could. Eventually I had to sneak back to the living room to find out what those two were talking about and of course be a part of the convo. We ended up with a whopping hour MAYBE an hour and a half of sleep that night.

Bright and early on your birthday we were up and off to Ennis Regional. Me with Mimi and Tia and DeeDee right behind. After check in our little motley crew was escorted to our labor room.  Dad and the big boys showed up a little after that. Everything was going just as it should until they gave me my epidural. That is when my blood pressure dropped I broke out into a cold sweat, nearly passed out and was certain I was going to bid au revoir to the previous night’s dinner. Once we got through all of that non-sense things settled back down. I did eventually end up throwing up but it was only water from the ice chips I had been eating (thank the good Lord).

 

Aunt Mystie came up with all the little boys, which I was so glad to see her and Preston. I think when she came up it was early afternoon and I was probably dilated to about a 7. Unfortunately Mimi sent her home because we thought I was going to be in labor a while…but that wasn’t the case. You came very quickly after that point. Except one thing… you weren’t ready to come out! The nurses were putting oxygen on me and calling for the doctor. They thought I might not be able to have you naturally but they weren’t sure. He came in and kicked DeeDee and Tia out (well sort of) they went out of his line of vision and continued to poke their heads in the door, until the nurse saw them lurking over there and told them to come back into the room but to stay behind the curtain where they could see but not be seen (which they did).  Well a few pushes later… you were here on your perfect birthday 12/12/12.

 

Shortly after all of that we had a parade of visitors. All seemed to be going well. They planned on keeping us 48 hours. On our scheduled release day we got some bad news, you my love were jaundice. They were going to keep you another night and put you under the “Lights”. As if that weren’t bad enough when you dad and Jeremiah had come in early that morning Jer wasn’t feeling well. Dad decided to just take him to the ER since it was right there. As they were wheeling in your little tanning bed, dad called Mimi to let her know that they were going to admit Jer into the hospital and possibly arrange emergency surgery as his appendix had ruptured! As you will soon figure out being a girl comes with raging hormones (especially after a major life event like having a baby). I started balling! You were sick, Jer was sick it almost seemed too overwhelming. Long story short, all turned out well. You and I went home the next day and Jer came home on Sunday. They were able to pump him full of enough antibiotics that his surgery is scheduled for 6 weeks from now. It was a wild ride, but I was certainly glad it was over. 

 

There is so much I want to tell you. This Christmas so strange… wonderful because we had you, but the weather was bad so Christmas at Aunt Cindy’s with the Ponder family (as has been the Christmas Day tradition since as far back as I can remember) was in essence dissipated. We were already not going to be able to have the traditional Christmas dinner due to recent living arrangements for Gram. After much prayer, discussion and waxing back and forth, Aunt Cindy, Dana and Mimi had to place Gram in an assisted type living which in turn removed her from her home of over We were already not going to be able to have the traditional Christmas dinner due to recent living arrangements for Gram. After much prayer, discussion and waxing back and forth, Aunt Cindy, Dana and Mimi had to place Gram in an assisted type living which in turn removed her from her home of over We were already not going to be able to have the traditional Christmas dinner due to recent living arrangements for Gram. After much prayer, discussion and waxing back and forth, Aunt Cindy, Dana and Mimi had to place Gram in an assisted type living which in turn removed her from her home of over 40 years. This was a very difficult decision but as her health and mental capacity are getting worse this was in fact the right decision. Since no one was willing to risk it with the weather those of us in Ennis just stayed here. Christmas morning we spent with the boys opening presents and playing with toys. Preston found his cozy coupe (I am sure you will create memories in this very toy) before I was ready to give it to him and therefore had zero interest in opening any other gifts until he drove around in his car for about an hour. At that point I was finally able to convenience him to come and open the rest of his gifts. I was able to call Aunt Joy and convince her and Uncle Kevin to go ahead and come down to Ennis. We gathered at Uncle Keith & Aunt Fer’s house (which for us was not a very long trek since we live on the back of their property). We just ate chips and dip and snack type food (again not a traditional Christmas dinner). We also didn’t exchange gifts because we do my sibling Christmas the weekend after Christmas. So we ended up playing games which proved to be most hilarious! First Guestures and then Catch Phrase. Watching your Uncles acting out that first game was enough to bust a seem, but it only got better as the night went on. Of course the later it got the more delusional we all became so the funnier it all was. Aunt Joy held you the entire time we played, she just laughed and snuggled you! She said your head feels like velvet (which I agreed with her, you have the softest baby head ever). She just rubbed her face on your head and wrapped you with her love. She and Uncle Kev stayed until the weekend. The plan was for us to just leave from Ennis and head to Tias on Friday. Until we got the call Tia that our help was needed so we decided to make a midnight (Thursday night) trip to her house. Thankfully Uncle Kevin drove us because I was out within 10 min of that ride.

All of the weekend activities at Tias went well. The boys played football, we had our traditional Tex-Mex dinner, took the Christmas family photo (always a nightmare, I mean a blast!) LOL and opened presents. In our family we pass out gifts and then everyone tears into them simultaneously. Which is fun, and then we spend the next half an hour asking everyone what they got and making them get it back out and show us! After that the little ones are laid down, the boys watch tv and the girls talk until all hours of the night. This happens in this order almost every year. The next day we wake up, make coffee and start brunch (we call it that so we don’t have to make an early breakfast). I am pretty sure you haven’t been put down since you were born! You have been snuggled up in someone’s arms the entire time!

 

Well our plans for New Year’s Eve look vaguely like our impromptu plans for Christmas. We made the long journey up to Uncle Keith’s …ate snacks…played games. This time DeeDee held you the entire time. It is January 2, 2013 and I am still trying to get you and I in sync on some kind of a decent eating/sleeping schedule. Right now you eat all the time (it seems like) and sleep all day…with plenty of awake time at night. The good news is we have the rest of our lives to get it figured out. Your big brother Preston is already acting out his terrible twos. He loves you dearly, he is always trying to pick you up (which terrifies me) in spite of my multiple attempts to explain to him that he can’t. He is always rubbing your little velvety head and kissing you all over. His favorite thing to say is, “my Aubrey” especially if Garron or Jeremiah are anywhere near you. He usually calls you Aubrey Breck which is really cute in his tiny little voice. He will undoubtedly be a great big brother to you as will the other two. You look like a baby doll I am doing my very best to treasure every moment with you. Especially before you start sassing me and throwing attitude (wink). Every time you dad picks you up he gives you kisses and says, “I just love this little girl”. Funny enough you scrunch up your face when he kisses you and shake your head back and forth. I think it is because of his facial hair. How we are going to keep you from being spoiled in this house full of boys I do not know.