40 weeks...the best week yet

Well week 40 was best week by far...Maddox Thomas Giles made his appearance.

Let's start at the beginning.  Saturday night I had a dream that Maddox was coming soon but didn't think too much about it since I knew that he would be here on Tuesday. Well then Sunday morning I began having contractions. My doctor had told me to wait to go to the hospital until they were 5 minutes apart for a continuous hour and lasted for a minute each. Well these contractions went on all day long and never hit those requirements. Finally that night my contractions were about 6-8 minutes apart so we called the doctor and went in to the hospital despite the ice storm that had hit.  They admitted me and I was 100% effaced but I was still only 1cm dilated.  The doctor told them to send me home because I wasn't dilated far enough.  The nurses didn't really agree but gave me a shot for the pain and sent us home. We got home and I laid in bed to try to go to sleep and not 5 minutes later my water broke so we braved the ice again and went back to the hospital.  By the time we got to the hospital I was 4cm dilated and having a lot of pain with the contractions.  Thirty minutes later I had had an epidural and was now 8cm dilated. Shortly after it was time to push.

Labor wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected it to be. Thank God for modern medicine. Garrett was great during the delivery and helped keep me calm while he watched the whole thing...and didn't pass out.  Maddox wasn't coming out on his own very easily so they had to use the vacuum to help him out, because of this they brought in NICU which freaked me out big time. As soon as he got here (to the tune of Amazing Grace) the nurses told me to open my eyes and what I saw was a sweet little baby not making a sound for what seemed like forever, which freaked me out even more, until I heard his beautiful cry. The doctors immediately checked him over and I finally got to hold my sweet boy.  Maddox was born December 9th at 5:27am at 8lbs 10.5oz and 21 inches long.

 

People tell you how amazing this experience is and it's sort of a given that when you have a kid you're going to love him.  I was never prepared for the intense amount of love I feel for this beautiful blessing.  Seven days later and I still find myself crying daily just because I love him somuch and am so incredibly happy. A few years ago one of my friends had a little boy and her husband wrote this on their blog and it has stuck with me since then. "I am constantly amazed that God has chosen to loan us our kids and entrusted us with pointing them back to him. I am overcome by the great responsibility that God has entrusted with us and I felt honored and thankful that He counts us worthy and promises to give us the strength that we need to get the job done. (Psalm 28:7)

This past week has gone by so fast and I can only hope time slows down for the rest. Here's a look at Maddox Thomas' first week of life.


Maddox with mommy and daddy. Garrett has been more than amazing through out this whole experience. I knew he would be helpful but he has gone above and beyond. He has slept on the floor to be close to me and Maddox, he has calmed my tears when I am frustrated, and he is already an amazing daddy to our little guy. I am so thankful to have him in my life. 

Maddox meeting his grandparents.

Maddox meeting his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Going home from the hospital

Sunbathing to help with his jaundice.

Maddox's first bath

 

Maddox got to meet a lot of new friends.

Maddox Thomas turned one week old.

39 weeks

Week 39 and I'm still pregnant. :)

I had a good week off from work for Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that I was able to spend some time at home getting things done. (I still haven't quite learned how to stay off my feet.)

At our last appointment I was still 50% effaced and almost a centimeter dialated.  For now the plan is that I will go back next Monday to see if I am dialating anymore. If not, then I'll be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday where they'll give me something to ripen my cervix. Then I'll get something else to basically knock me out so I don't have to deal with the pain. Then on Wednesday I'll be induced. I was a bit frustrated when she told me that I wasn't dialating, especially since a few weeks ago she said she didn't think I'd make it to the 6th. Also, I'm done dealing with the pain in my back.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is beyond my control and Maddox will come when he is ready.

38 weeks

Week 38 started off pretty exciting! We went to spend Saturday at the Whitmire ranch where Tyler proposed to Kendall. We're excited for Maddox to have another awesome aunt!

I still have the pain in my back but after having it there consistently for over a week I'm just getting used to it, but still am ready for it to be gone!

We had another doctor's appointment and I was still about 50% effaced and not dialated. We also interviewed another pediatrician that we ended up choosing.  She comes highly recommended and we really liked her. The office has a separate waiting area for sick children. There's also a separate entrance for newborns so you don't have to be in the waiting room and exposed to the other kiddos germs!

37 weeks

This week has definitely been the most difficult of my pregnancy. Thursday afternoon I got a pain in my lower back. By Friday it had become so intense that walking was extremely painful. I've tried several things to relieve the pain but nothing  has worked.

Sunday Garrett and I were blessed with one more shower from our home group from church. It was another beautiful shower and we are so thankful for each of the individuals who contributed and prayed over us.

Monday I had another doctors appointment. She said there wasn't really anything we can do about the pain and offered to put me on bed rest. I told her I'd rather go to work and if the pain is still as bad after Thanksgiving then I won't go back. I am 50% effaced and the doctor said she didn't think I would make it to the 6th, however she wouldn't give me an idea of when to expect Maddox.

On Thursday I noticed and felt quite a bit of swelling in my ankles. I spent most of the day at work with my feet in a chair. Teaching is definitely not the easiest job to do from a chair. I'm thankful that my class doesn't seem to mind picking up things that I drop and going to get things for me!

I'm praying that next week is easier.

36 weeks

We are officially a month away from the arrival of our sweet boy.  In some ways I am so ready and in others I am not at all close to being ready.  I am totally over being pregnant, waddling around, and being flat out uncomfortable. On the other hand I don't know if I will ever feel totally prepared for Maddox's arrival.

This week has been a very productive one. I was able to take off of work Friday and mom, dad, and Sue came down and helped with more things than you can imagine. I got all of Maddox's clothes washed, we cleaned the entire house probably better than it's been cleaned since we moved in, set up Maddox's room, set up the world's most difficult monitor, and several other house projects.  Maddox's room looks so good! Everything has come together beautifully. Garrett and I are so appreciative of our parents and everything they continue to do for us throughout this process. Again, we are so blessed.

Last week I finished sub plans for when I'm out for maternity leave. This was probably one of my biggest accomplishments since being pregnant. It took months of work and I am so glad that I am finished!

Saturday, after a quick visit with Tyler and Kendall, mom helped me prepare 23 freezer meals for when Maddox comes! Believe it or not, all of this only took 4 hours and around $150! I'm so glad that she was able to come help or else this process would have taken days.

Garrett and I were able to purchase most of things that were left on our registry (which was very few) with gift cards and a few of the things we had to return. We were also able to splurge on a swing that Garrett has wanted for quiet a while. I'm not sure if he is more excited about Maddox arriving soon or this swing. :)

We started our weekly appointments Monday.  I had some kind of bacteria test...obviously I listened really well. Maddox is head down and I am not dialated yet. The process of her checking to see if I was or wasn't was extremely uncomfortable. Upon her checking all I could think was "oh my gosh I'm definitely going to need an epidural."

We also interviewed our first pediatrician.  It's funny how I can google doctors for myself and choose them based on a thing or two I read online but a pediatrician requires an interview.  We have two more interviews the week of Thanksgiving but we really liked this woman so we will see how the other interviews go.

 

34 and 35 weeks

It seems like it's getting harder and harder to blog with everything there is to prepare for the next couple of weeks. I imagine that after Maddox gets here this blog will be practically nonexistent.

Over the past two weeks a lot has gone on. Garrett, Dad, Tyler, Kendall, and many more participated in Tough Mudder...a 12 mile mud run/obstacle course. Mom and I participated in walking around and watching them. We had to have walked at least 5 miles and I'm convinced this walking was just as hard as the course. Needless to say Garrett and I were both sore and exhausted the following Sunday. I guess this was a glimpse of life with an infant. 

I went back to the doctor for a visit and everything sounded good. We were also blessed with an amazing shower from my coworkers. We got our first round of gifts and started dealing with the good problem of "where are we gonna put all of this?" I am so blessed to work with such thoughtful and caring people that are willing to spend a few of their hard earned dollars on Maddox and I. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from this shower. :( The first graders took a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum. Basically this means more walking and an extremely bumpy bus ride. I was pretty sure that after being tossed around the bus seats for an hour Maddox would just fall out but thankfully he's still right where he needs to be. This Saturday we were blessed with another amazing shower given by family and friends. I am so thankful for all of the family and friends that were able to attend and share their love with us. (Pictures of this fabulous event will be coming soon!) Garrett was also honored with a diaper poker party. He had a lot of fun and we got so many diapers that will last us for months! Now if they just came with someone to change the diapers with.

Thank you all to everyone who has blessed us over the past few weeks! Your love is definitely felt and we are so incredibly grateful for every gift, card, kind word, prayer and long trip to Sherman that you have invested in. Words won't be enough to thank you all for every little and big thing you have done.  God has truly blessed us with an amazing community of people.

33 Weeks

This week we've started having gifts arrive from some of our friends. We are already so blessed, thank you all so much! One of my former students who is now a 5th grader came to my room the other day and said, "Mrs. Giles what are you having?" I told her and a boy and she said, "Okay, I'll tell my mom." I came into my classroom and found a sack on my desk with some baby slippers and a stuffed rabbit. There was a note that said: Mrs. Giles you were my best teacher ever! I hope your baby has a great first birthday. It was super sweet.

We also worked on Maddox's room a little bit. I'm ready for it to all be put together though. I loved how this wall turned out! 

Maddox has been super busy moving all over the place. I feel like he is already about 12 pounds and NEVER sleeps. Let's pray this isn't true! Every time I see this commercial I'm convinced that this is how big Maddox actually is. 

Maddox

We spent all day Saturday at our last (thank goodness) class at the hospital. This class was over child birth and everything that it entails.  We even practiced the hee hee hoo. I didn't realize that people actually did that, I just thought it was for the movies.  The class was pretty informative but I'm sure I won't remember any of the information once labor actually starts, nor am I sure anyone but the doctor needs to know what to do.

32 weeks

We're almost at week 34 and honestly I don't remember much of week 32 but here's the gist....we went to another class at the hospital. This class was over infant safety so we learned baby CPR and some other helpful tips.  We also had another doctor's appointment to hear Maddox's heartbeat. Everything looked and sounded good. The doctor said that if it came down to it she wouldn't let me go past December 12th so we can expect a baby by then!

30 and 31 weeks

I can't believe we're at 31 weeks! It doesn't seem like that long ago we were finding out that we were pregnant. 

 Another couple weeks have gotten away from me without blogging. We've been crazy busy and the next few weeks only look just as busy! 

Maddox got to attend his third wedding in week 30. I've been experiencing quite a bit of heartburn and indigestion. It's really bad at night and I've lost a few hours of sleep from this already.  I'm hoping that it'll get better soon. There's nothing in particular that seems to trigger it other than just food itself...and I'm not at all willing to not eat! I enjoy food WAY too much. I got the results back from my glucose test and they came back good. However, my  blood tests showed that I am anemic. My doctor put me on an iron supplement to help.  Before that I noticed I was getting out of breath really easily and super tired.  Since starting the supplement both of these things have gotten better.

For week 31 Maddox got to go visit Tyler and Kendall for the second time in Lubbock.  The last time I was there I was telling Tyler I was pregnant.  Maddox got his first Texas Tech apparel and a few other outfits on this trip!

29 weeks

Week 29 was a pretty busy one for us. We started the week out by being blessed with our first baby shower for Maddox. A group of my wonderful sweet friends through Maddox and Noah (a friend of mine's soon to be son---who is due here any day now) a shower.  Everything was perfect and we were incredibly spoiled with goodies to help us prepare for these little boys.  

 

Garrett and I had our second class at the hospital which was breastfeeding.  This class wasn't nearly as informative as the first one but I'm sure we got some information in there that will be useful at some point. 

We also had our doctor's appointment for my sonogram and glucose test.  The results from the glucose test should be here any day now. The sonogram went really well! My placenta has moved to where it needs to be and everything else looks good.  Praise God! Maddox is measuring a little over three pounds which is a little bigger than average. We got several pictures of our little boy and he's already a thumb sucker.  Now I will begin seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. 

The little blob above his nose is his fist...he's sucking his thumb.

Maddox's foot

Front view of the face

His arm and hand. Again, you can see him sucking his thumb here.