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

Lamaze

Chris and I have spent the last 4 Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:30 at Lamaze. The class is offered at the hospital and was a learning experience for both of us! We've now seen more birthing and feeding videos than we ever thought possible, we've both learned how to "breath", and all and all learned a lot about what to expect with labor and delivery. The best thing about it being at the hospital was getting a tour of the labor and delivery wing, showing us where to park, where we'll be during labor, where I'll be to recover, etc. AND of course we were able to check out the nursery and see all the cute little peanuts that were hours and days old!


Second to the tour, I'd say the time they allotted for us to practice breathing and massages were quite entertaining. We learned a lot, but we also realized at times we still think we're in junior high and get the giggles quite a bit. I will say, any excuse to get a back rub from Chris, I'll take it!


Another entertaining moment was when every female in the class raised their hand when she asked who wanted to get an epidural. I think they always hope that you'll be open to the natural route. Our instructor was great though and tailor the class to our needs!


So, in about 7 weeks we'll see if we really learned anything from the class - I do feel much better about the entire process (and maybe a little scared!). Sorry, no pics of the class. We did meet a lot of nice people though and will likely see some of them again in the labor and delivery wing since many were due around my due date!


More to come!

Family Shower

My sister, my Aunt Adrienne, and my best friend Emily (who is really like my sister) threw me a baby shower for family and close family friends. It was so much fun and was great to see everyone. We are so blessed to have all these wonderful people in our lives and they are going to make our son's life the best it could possibly be - which is such a comfort to think about! Here are some pictures from the day. I have to say the food was really yummy, the gifts way to generous, and the company the best it could have ever been! Thanks you guys!

Granny Bobbye, Me and Mom


Sis, Me, and Mom


Karina (the best gift opener ever!), Joan, me, and Mom


This little man is going to have the best grandparents ever! The bibs say it all!




Em and Heather enjoying themselves - don't they look pretty?

This is a gown my Granny Bobbye gave my mom when she was pregnant with me.
She gave her a pink and blue one because they didn't know what I was. Mom gave me the blue one as a gift. So sweet.

Week 31

Well, it is hard to believe we only have 9 weeks left until our due date. It is amazing to me how fast the time has passed. We've been pretty busy over the past couple weeks. Over labor day, we painted the nursery and hung a chair rail. Thanks to Mom and Dad for their help! Then we picked up the baby furniture (which took 3 trips to get it all - Thanks Chris P., Kelli and Jimbo for your help!). Chris put it together last week and we put the room together. We still need to hang some pictures on the wall and do some final things, but it is very close!

We traveled to College Station the past two weekends for football games. The Montana State game was a 6pm game, the weather was pretty nice, and overall pleasant. A&M managed to win the game without too much pain on our part. The Fresno State game this past weekend, was another adventure all together! It was SUPER hot in the beginning and I spent the 2nd quarter in the air conditioned elevator bank. The 2nd half was cooler and it actually rained. Unfortunately A&M decided to let Fresno State play some football in the 2nd half and we went into 3 overtimes. We eventually won - thank goodness! Not an impressive game overall, but a good outcome in the end.

I went to the doctor last week for my 30 week check up. I am now going to the doctor every two weeks. My tummy is measuring 32cm - so it is getting rather round. My ankles, depending on the day, are non-existent or at least a little puffy. Other than that I am feeling good and getting excited/nervous about the little guys arrival. We are definitely in count down mode, but still enjoying the freedom we have now.

No pictures to share at this time, but I will post some when I have more. I hope all is going well and everyone is enjoying the fall! I am loving that it is a little cooler here this week. A very nice change!

Sonogram - Week 29

Hello all! We had another sonogram today to check on the little guy and make sure all looks well! We didn't really know what to expect, since we haven't seen him in 11 weeks. He has grown SO much! He is almost too big to easily tell what is what. He looks kinda cramped to me, but I know it is only the beginning of that! We did see a very healthy heart, a good looking brain, his spine and ribs, and several very cute yawns. I guess he was tired since we got up earlier than normal today. :)

We reconfirmed that he is definitely a he. He showed us everything he has and the doctor said, "Well, there is no questioning that diagnosis - he is a boy!". So, now we can paint the nursery blue and be fairly certain we are safe!

He weighs 2 pounds, 14 ounces and they say that everything looks to be very healthy and on track. He is head down at this point, with his head a little to the right of my belly button. They said the placenta and cord attachment look very good also.

If all goes well, we will not have a sonogram again before his due date. Hard to believe the next time we see him, he'll be here with us! 11 more weeks to go! Time seems to be flying by.

Here is a cute picture of his sweet face. His nose is in the middle of the screen and you can see his right eye and side of his face. The left side of his face is a little more shadowed. We can't wait to meet him!

Baby Shower with Friends

We are blessed with such amazing friends. I am continuously reminded of it and I know I do not thank them enough. I had a baby shower on Sunday, August 26th. It was at Kristi and Chris's house. The food was amazing, the decorations so cute, but the company was the best! Chris came by for a visit at the end of the shower and ended up getting to open a few gifts of his own and have all the attention on him - he handled it very well! To all my Yankee fans - the baby has more Red Sox gear than Yankee gear right now...I've gotta change that!

Thank you so much to Kelli, Kristi, Heather, Deanna, Emily and Amy for hosting the shindig. I had such a wonderful time! Mom and Joan, thanks for joining in with us girls for the festivities! All - thank you for the wonderful gifts. This little guy is going to be super spoiled (but that is okay!).

Thanks to Amy for all the photos! She has so many hidden talents - including making the super cute Diaper Cake (with Kelli's assistance) and taking great pics of the entire shower!

Diaper cake with Cody the Dog. He is so cute!

Cute clothes line for the little man!

The hostesses with the mostestess! Thanks ladies!


Mom and Joan were there to help celebrate!

All the girls! Thanks for coming!

Lots of prego people! Liz is due Oct 11th, me - Nov 15th, Mere - Jan 20th, Kristi - Jan 26th, and Kel - Feb 3rd. Lots of babies on the way!

Painted House!

Well, after almost two years of living in the "pink house with the blue shutters" as my sister loves to call it (because I hated the idea of it being pink) - we have changed the color! That is right - it is now the grey house with the black shutters and red door! It looks really good, is such a nice change, and will probably take us a little while to get use to, but we love it! Here are a few pics. The painters did a great job and were so nice. Painting outside in August is a tough job - well it looked like one from my air conditioned room inside. I think Home Improvement 2007 is about complete...well after we get the nursery painted, the furniture put together and everything else set up! We are getting close...

Just a reminder of what it looked like before. The flowers did look nicer in April, but the paint looks much better in August!

Rough Riders

Kevin and Emily were nice enough to host us all to a Rough Riders game last Monday. It was the first time Chris and I had been out to Dr. Pepper Park and it was a lot of fun! I will say, with the VIP treatment, air conditioning and all - we may be a little spoiled to go back and sit in the "normal" seats. Here are a few pics from the game - with of course Deuce, the Prairie Dog (who looks like a bear) mascot.

Our hosts with Deuce!



The guys with their favorite mascot!

Chris and I - look how perfect our seats were!

Belly pic, for anyone who wanted to see...definitely getting BIG!

THANKS AGAIN Kevin and Em! Was Kevin able to sneak the helmet and net out of the park?