Home Sweet Home

We came home on Monday afternoon after Will was born. We were welcomed with some great balloons on our mailbox, decorations on Maggie's kennel, and a box full of blue "It's a Boy" bubblegum cigars - thank you Karen and Jamey! JT's mom and aunts stocked our frig with groceries to save us a trip which was very helpful.

Once JT got Will and I settled in, he went to pick up Maggie from daycare. She had been there since Friday, so we were hoping for a very tired dog...mission accomplished! JT took Will's hospital blanket with him and let Maggie nap on it while driving home to get her used to his scent. Maggie didn't really notice Will too much at first, she was exhausted and more interested in visitors because she thought they were coming to see her.


We had several neighbors come by to see Will. My mom stayed with us the first night, and I'm glad to say we all survived. JT worked some half-days the rest of the week and our moms took turns staying with me while he was gone. I felt like he had baby-sitters lined up for me all week.

We decided that even though Will's bedroom is just down the hall from us, we wanted him in our room for a few nights. We moved the bassinet by our bed, got everyone situated, and turned out the lights...and Will started crying. JT made a good point that in the hospital nursery it was always bright and noisy. So, we moved the bassinet into our bathroom, turned on a light, and turned on his sound machine. Perfect! After a few nights, we moved the bassinet to his room, and a couple of nights later we turned off the light in his room. Eventually we will get him to his crib.

Will and I just hang out on the couch most of the day. He just eats and sleeps, and I try to take naps with him. He is like my own personal space heater when he is curled up on my chest. I love it! Notice Maggie beside us - she isn't too sure about Will yet, but I think her protective nature is already coming out because she never gets too far from him.

JT and I gave Will his first bath. He loved it! Especially getting his hair washed.

So we are all adjusting to this new life. We are sleeping a decent number of hours, it is just interrupted sleep. But that is better than no sleep at all!

Getting to Know Will

We spent 4 days at Baptist Hospital which was a wonderful experience! It was scary to leave, especially giving up the convenience of room service, wonderful nurses, and of course the nursery at night. And it was crazy to think that they would just send us out into the world with this sweet little baby - how do they know we can handle it on our own?

On Friday we got to our room around noon after I finished up in recovery. All of Will's grandparents were there to meet him. The spoiling began immediately! Everyone was having so much fun watching him.

NeeNee

MAO
MAO. Gramps, and Pops - Will has some pretty great guys in his life!


Will was awake for almost the entire day. I thought newborns were supposed to sleep about 20 hours a day!?!?

He has great facial expressions. He was already holding his head up and lifting off of my shoulder

And he has a strong grip!

His startle reflex is hilarious! I call it "thriller" because it reminds me of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. His little hands start on his sides and he raises them up to his head kind of shaking them the whole way up! I hope to get a video of this to post on here.

The pediatrician came by Saturday morning to check on Will. Because of the kidney issue seen on the prenatal ultrasounds Will needed to take an antibiotic until he could have an ultrasound of his kidneys which was supposed to be in about a month. He arranged for it to be done that day and we could stop the antibiotic if the results came back good. As expected, his kidneys checked out just fine. Yay! No more antibiotic and no worries about his kidneys. On Sunday Will had his auditory screening. He passed with flying colors! JT is already calling him and overachiever.

Over the weekend, Will had many more visitors. He is a very popular little guy!
Lauren and Robby - Will can't wait to meet his besties Max and Grant!

Rob, Andi, and BAMA the elephant - Rob is trying to brainwash Will already!

John and Heather


In our few quiet moments, JT and Will had a chance to spend some quality time together. I love this picture!

I have to admit that I did not have the instant "bond" with Will the second they handed him to me like I expected to. He was here so fast and I was trying to process it all - it's a boy, he is healthy, he is huge, he has tons of hair, etc. Later that day while I was holding him, I felt his arm wrapped around my shoulder and his little hand gripping me the best he could. My heart melted and at that moment, I fell in love with my perfect little man!

On Monday they let us out into the world with our little man. We put him in his car seat, and had the nurse check it out to make sure we did it right which resulted in a lesson on how to correctly put Will in the seat. Seriously, I can't believe that let us leave with him!
Goodbye Baptist Hospital...Hello World!

It's a BOY!!!!!

William Clark Livezey was born April 15th at 7:40 AM. He weighed 8 lbs and 10.7 oz and was 20 inches long. He has a head full of dark hair. He is absolutely perfect in every way!

My due date was April 10th, and on April 12th I went for my weekly doctor visit only to find out that I had not progressed at all in the past 3 weeks. The baby hadn't even dropped yet. Dr. Crowe sat down with me and said there was probably a reason things weren't going forward, and there was an 80% chance that I would have to have a c-section. She was willing to induce me if I wanted but I needed to be prepared that we would still most likely end with a c-section after laboring for hours, or we could just schedule a c-section. I just couldn't make the decision right then, so we planned to come in on the 15th and get an ultrasound to check baby's weight and see if there were any issues that could be seen. I left the office, got in my car, called JT and started crying. For the first time in 9 months, I was having a breakdown. JT was of course amazingly supportive and said he would be OK with whichever way I was most comfortable with. I called several friends and asked their opinions and decided to sleep on it. The next day I had come to the conclusion that if I wasn't dilating and wasn't having any contractions then I needed to schedule to c-section. I called the nurse and asked if there was any availability for the rest of the week and she said Dr. Crowe could do it Friday morning.

Thursday night JT and I went to dinner and enjoyed our last night together with just us. We came home and repacked our hospital bags. JT took one last picture of my baby bump.
I was so emotionally exhausted that I was sound asleep as soon as I went to bed at 10:30...and then at midnight I woke up and could not go back to sleep. JT and I joked that my inablility to sleep lately is all just preparation for what was about to come. We got up and were at the hospital at 5:30. JT was a little diappointed that we weren't driving like maniacs down the interstate in a rush to get to the hospital, although he did turn on the emergency flashers for a few seconds just for fun. He was also sad that he didn't get to time contractions that he was so prepared for. We got all checked in and then the preparation began. It was all so calm - like we went to a drive-thru and ordered a baby.


Dr. Crowe came in about 7:10 (early, just like the nurses said she would be) ready to get started. She said we should have this baby by 7:40. Off we went to the operating room. JT had to sit outside for about 15 minutes while I was getting my epidural. He said it felt like hours to him! Once I was all set, they let him come in and sit beside me. Everyone was so excited that we didn't know if Baby Livezey was a boy or a girl, and Dr. Crowe said JT could make the announcement to me. I remember hearing a little baby sound (not crying) when they got the baby's head out. Dr. Crowe said that the cord was wrapped around the neck twice and the c-section would have been the only way to go. At exactly 7:40, Dr. Crowe told JT to look over and he said "It's a BOY!". Now the baby was crying and the nurses took him to the scale. JT got to go with him and take pictures while I was being put back together. He scored a 9 on the APGAR test - perfect!

He got all cleaned up and JT brought him over to me. Here is our first family photo.


I had to go to the recovery room for 2-3 hours. I couldn't leave there until I could move my feet and legs. Julia was my nurse and she was amazing. JT sat beside me holding Will and we just stared at him. After about 15 minutes, JT decided he should probably go out and tell our parents that Will was here. What a fun time - I wish I could have seen that moment!

What an amazing day! We are so blessed to have our healthy baby boy!

Pregnancy - I might actually miss this...

I've said it many times before, but this has been the fastest 9 months ever! I can not believe I am at my due date. When I went to the doctor last week, the nurse asked "Are you tired of being pregnant?" When I really think about it, I'm really not. It has been such a fun time in my life. Of course I can't wait to meet Baby Livezey, but I really have enjoyed being pregnant. Since I am still not miserable, I thought now would be a good time to look back on the past several months and remember what all I have enjoyed. (If I become miserable and then try to write this post, I probably won't have anything good to say.)

I took a pregnancy test at the end of July for the sole purpose of proving that I was not pregnant so that I could call my Crohn's doctor and tell him that I needed to start back on medicine (which I wouldn't be able to take if pregnant). I didn't even look at the test until about 10 minutes later and was SHOCKED to see "Pregnant" so clearly on it. Even though I know you don't get false-positives on pregnancy tests, I couldn't believe it. So I told Maggie to get in the car so I could go to the store to get another one. Positive again, so then I had to wait for JT to get a couple of hours later so I could tell him. I tried to come up with some cute way to tell him, but I couldn't stand it and told him when he walked in the door. Telling family and friends was definitely the most fun! What an exciting time in our lives! Family was of course ecstatic, but JT and I were both overwhelmed by the excitement of our friends. We are so lucky to be surrounded by such great people!

So just a little recap over the past 9 months...things I've liked and disliked, things I've had to give up, and what I'm looking forward to. I know this isn't interesting to probably anyone but me, but I want to remember this time in my life.

Morning sickness - This didn't really apply to me. I had NIGHT sickness from about weeks 8-13, which I guess is better than the alternative. Luckily I was never sick at work. I would get home at night and get in bed, and within 5 minutes I was laying in the bathroom floor telling JT that I was pretty sure this baby didn't like me. It wasn't every night, but most of them. And there was definitely a pattern where I was sick every Saturday night which I finally realized was caused by sugar. Cupcakes, cookies, etc. were not my friend!

Acne - I can't use my usual face medicine while pregnant, so my skin has gone crazy! Emily says this means that Baby Livezey is a boy - we'll see.

Heartburn - Yikes! This is seriously annoying. But I've always heard heartburn means the baby has hair, and that I am hoping for! I didn't have any hair until I was 2 years old. At my 32 week ultrasound the technician said she could see lots of hair, so I will continue suffering through this. TUMS have been my best friend, and my body is getting more calcium than ever before!

Swelling - This has been my latest issue and probably the worst for me. It is really only in my feet, legs, and hands thank goodness. I have cankles and I can't wear any of my shoes - UGH! Luckily the weather has been decent so I don't look to super crazy wearing flip-flops. Flip-flops are not very supportive though and are not good for standing for 12 hours while at work. I can't wear my rings anymore which really bothers me - I always wear my wedding rings and I feel so weird without them. I tried to wear them as long as I could, but JT finally convinced me to take them off and put them up. (I still check on them daily to make sure that they are where I left them...I am afraid JT is going to run off and sell them!) Luckily my grandmother has a ring that looks just like my engagement ring, but it is bigger than my normal ring size. Now I can wear it!

Turkey sandwich - Jersey Mike's #7 on white with cheese and mayo only. Oh my goodness, I can taste it now! JT has specific instructions to make sure that I get this before leaving the hospital. You aren't supposed to have deli meat while pregnant because of listeria and possible food poisoning. (On a side note, it really surprises me that I was so willing to give up my turkey sandwich, but I refused to give up my Dr. Pepper thanks to a new study that says caffeine is not a problem in pregnancy. I did cut back so I didn't drink it daily.) I have broken down a few times and had a sandwich, but I had to heat it up in the microwave, and it just isn't the same.

Zumba - I can not wait to get back to my Zumba workout!!!! I think I did pretty good going as long as I did. I made it to 32 weeks, and then decided that the room was getting really crowded and I was afraid I might trip and fall. Also, I can't wear tennis shoes now and dancing in my flip-flops is probably not the best idea.

Mood Swings - You'll have to ask JT privately to tell you the truth about this, but I really don't think I had a problem with this. JT agrees with me (to my face), but he may feel like he has to say that! I know I got a little less patient at work and didn't handle stupidity with a smile on my face like I normally do. I never got upset with anyone, but I could tell that I got annoyed a little quicker than normal. I haven't had the emotional breakdowns yet either. I'm wondering if all of this is headed my way after the baby gets here.

Cravings - Never had them! And I was so hoping that I would crave tomatoes and all of the other foods that I won't eat. I figured if there was ever a time in my life that I was going to get out of my picky eating habits, this would be it. No such luck! I have lived off of apples and ginger ale, but I never had a fierce craving for them, that is just what I like to have consistently everyday. I haven't sent JT to the store in the middle of night for anything crazy - I feel like maybe I should come up with something just for fun because that is what husbands are supposed to do for pregnant wives, and I would hate for JT to miss out this fun!

And of course what I'm looking forward to the most is finally meeting Baby Livezey!