William Jackson Halpin Arrives Early!

William Jackson Halpin decided to enter the world a little earlier than we planned. I think we actually may have surprised him, honestly. I'm sure the minute they went into get him, he thought why are you here? I'm supposed to tell you when I'm ready, not the other way around. At least that is what I interpreted the screams to be when he was born.


Will was born on Friday, October 19, 2007 at 6:16PM. He weighed 5lbs and 7 ounces and was 18 1/4 inches long. Mom and dad found out that it was time to deliver him at 4:30PM that afternoon. Well let me start at the beginning of the adventure. For those who have already heard this, feel free to skip down to pictures.


On Tuesday, October 16th I went to the doctor for my 36 week check up. When they checked my blood pressure it was quite a bit higher than the prior week, the swelling in my legs and feet was worse and they said I had several signs on pre-eclampsia (hypertension induced my pregnancy). The doctor had me go to the lab to have some blood drawn and said they'd call me the next day. On Wednesday, they called and asked me to come back in on Thursday morning. It freaked me out a little, honestly. Heather was nice enough to come over, take me to Taco Bueno, and to CVS to get travel toiletries. At that point I figured I better pack a bag. I didn't know what would happen.


Chris and I arrived at the doctor on Thursday at 8:50AM. Again, they took my blood pressure and it has increased more. Based on that, my blood work and a couple other tests the doctor told me they were admitting me to the hospital RIGHT THEN. I was not allowed to go home or leave the building. They sent me to get a sonogram to check on little Will and then I headed to room 403 of Presby Dallas. The sonogram told us that Will was estimated to be 6 pounds and he looked very healthy. That was the first relief of the day!


We went up to the room they had assigned me and spent the next few hours getting admitted into the hospital, getting settled, etc. They took more blood (I am pretty sure they took my blood 15 times in the hospital) and told me to lay on my left side and relax. The doctor came in later the afternoon, said they were going to run a couple 24 hour tests and would know more the next day. At that point they said I'd either be on bed rest in the hospital until I went into labor OR they would do a c-section if needed.

On Friday, they nurse came in around 3:30PM and said she talked to my doctor. They told me I was MCO from then on out - which meant I could not eat or drink anything else. I called Chris - who had gone to work for a few hours - and I think he literally flew to the hospital. Good thing he has a sports car. At 4:30PM my doctor came in, told me all the tests did not look good, that I was getting sicker, and they needed to get the baby out before he started to go into distress. So, they said they'd see us at 6:30PM and we'd deliver then. Needless to say we were shocked! The doctor said, don't worry you have a couple hours, we're not in a rush, etc. 10 minutes later the nurse came with a stretcher to pick me up. I think it was more of a rush than she let on.

By 6:00PM I was in the operating room (after a crazy 45 minutes of prep I just can't even find words to type about right now) and at 6:16PM Will arrived! As mentioned above, he was a little smaller than the sonogram detected, but he was happy and healthy. They took him to the nursery for 12 hours of observation, but he never had to go to NICU and Chris was able to hold him and go into the nursery and talk to him. I spent 6 hours in recover and they wheeled me in my bed by the nursery to see him at midnight. I got to hold him for the first time the next day at 8am. Definitely one of the best moments of my life, if not the best!


We are now home and doing well. I'm monitoring my blood pressure, on a few meds, but all and all things are really great. Late night feedings are tough, but we are making it through them. He is just a joy to be around and we are amazed at our little miracle every day. Will is 10 days old today and he is changing every day. We are so blessed.

We took this picture before we went to the doctor that Thursday...just in case it was the last time I was at home. I guess we had a hunch.

Welcome Will!

Proud Daddy!

Sleeping under the warmer after delivery. So sweet.

First picture and feeding with Mommy.

After being in the hospital for 5 nights, we get to go home!

Thanks to all who have visited and sent well wishes! I will update again soon with pictures from Will first two weeks with us.

One Month to Go...

Hard to believe, we have 1 month until my due date! I went for my last 2 week appointment today and will now go every week until the little guy arrives. It is amazing how fast the past 8 months have gone and how much we still need to do to get ready for him. Last weekend we went to a Baby Care/Infant CPR class. It was very informative and helpful. We have a Breastfeeding class tonight (Chris is super excited) and we will be finished with the classes. Then the real learning begins when he gets here. All else is looking pretty good. My legs and ankles continue to swell on a moments notice and I'm pretty uncomfortable at night trying to sleep - but it is all part of it and will be more than worth it once he is here.

Baby Halpin is very active these days and likes to spend a lot of his time shoving his butt or a foot into mom's ribs. Love pats, I am sure of it. He also has the hiccups quite a bit. I heard his heartbeat again today and it sounded strong. We can't wait to finally meet him! My bag is about 1/2 packed and Chris reminds me daily that I just need to put everything in it so we are ready. He seems to think this little guy is coming early. We'll see...

We should finish up the small details on the nursery this weekend and I'll finally post pictures. I think I've been saying that for a while now, but we're getting down to crunch time. Thanks to all for the the support and prayers - please keep them coming! The biggest part is yet to come...

Go Army!

It is that time of year - COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Our last several weekends have been filled with 3 hour treks down I-45 to College Station, tailgating, a lot of sweating (anyone remember the temp at the Fresno State game?), and a lot of emotions - both good and bad! What can we say - we love this time of year! If we could only figure out how to make it 60 degrees in College Station in September, these trips would be perfect! Maybe by the Texas game it'll be 80!

With the baby arriving in an estimated 6 weeks, I went to my last game of the season last weekend. The Aggies played Baylor and I am happy to report we won the game with little drama! Much needed after that loss on National TV to Miami, but lets not talk about that. There are 3 more home games left and Chris is hoping to make it down for all of them. We'll have to see what Baby Halpin thinks of that.

Gig'em Aggies! I'll be cheering from my couch from here on out and will miss being there in person! Crazy thing is next year there will be 3 Halpins at the games!

Here are a few pics from last weekend's festivities!

Girls tailgating before the game...where are the boys? Likely downing beers as fast as they can at 9:30am!

View from our seats - yes we are WAY up there!

Chris, Kevin, Kristi, and Em cheering on the Aggies!

Heather, Kristi, Me and Em fighting thru the 4th quarter!

Guess which ankle is mine! :) My ankles provide Heather with hours of entertainment and laughter