Jack's Birth Day

On the morning of Tuesday, February 1st, 2011, I woke up just as I had the previous few. I had gotten up to pee three or four times the night before rather than my usual one or two, but other than that I had slept pretty well. (Little did I know that this was because my water had probably broken. Although I never gushed or really leaked, my water was broken when I got to the hospital.) Will woke me up at 7 am and I got in the shower. The first contraction hit while I was showering and it was WAY stronger than the ones I had over the weekend. When two more hit before I got out of the shower, I knew this was going to be the day. I found Will at the kitchen table in his shirt and tie and informed him that he needed to go change clothes--he wasn't going to be going to work today!

The contractions kept coming and were getting stronger. At 7:30, Will called his mom to let her know that she needed to come and get Anna so we could head to the hospital. I called Mom and texted Sarah to let them know. Mom was already at work, but had her bags ready in the car to hit the road from Wilmington. We got Anna up and Will got her ready for school and packed her bags to stay at Nannie and Pop's for the night. I got ready and finished packing our bags, having to stop and breathe through some of the contractions along the way. At little after 8, we were all ready and I was starting to really hurt, so Will called Erin to see if she could get there any quicker. At 8:30, we all were waiting in the driveway when Nannie and E drove up at the same time. I was leaning up against the brick wall by our house in some serious pain! We kissed Anna good-bye and raced to the hospital. Luckily a highway patrolman pulled up beside us as we got on the highway or Will probably would have gotten a speeding ticket!

We arrived about 8:45 and quickly checked in and rushed to triage. The nurse checked me and I was already a six! We walked around the corner to labor and delivery and I asked her to go ahead and sound the epidural police. I wanted some relief ASAP! The anesthesia resident came pretty quickly and I had my epidural in by 9:05. I could quickly feel the tingling rising from my feet, but the relief wasn't coming fast enough to my belly. The resident warned me that we may be playing catch-up for a while since I was dilated so much already. He was right. For the next hour, I labored away, trying to breathe through the pain as well as I could. At one point the nurse had to tell me to slow my breathing or she was going to have to get me a paper bag to breathe into. I was hyperventilating to the point my fingers were contracting and I couldn't move them! Poor Will couldn't do anything but hold my hand and tell me it was going to be OK.

Sometime in the 10 o'clock hour, the nurse checked me and I was already a 9! No wonder the epidural was having a hard time catching up! I finally started to get some relief and the contractions became bearable with some focusing and breathing through them. Will got a few pics of me before I started pushing. Notice me clinging to my epidural button for dear life!

I started pushing around 11:25 or so. After several rounds of pushing, the nurse called Dr. Ponder and they started to get the room ready. There was another mom down the hall that was also a patient of Dr. Ponder's who was getting ready to push, too. We were racing to make sure he got to me first, so the nurse had me doing some serious pushing! At 12:19 pm, Jackson Edward Hege made his way into the world. Our beautiful baby boy was here!

Jack weighed a whopping 8 pounds, 8 ounces and was 21 and 3/4 inches long! He was a whole two pounds bigger than his sister!

All cleaned up and ready for hugs!

Happy Mommy!

Proud Daddy!

Mimi and Sarah and Jason had all ditched school and were waiting to get their hands on baby Jack. Look at all that dark hair!

Jack, we are so glad you're finally here!

A quiet moment with Daddy

Aunt Erin came to meet you, too.

A view from the nursery window after your first bath.

Meeting your big sister for the first time.

Anna had to check out every inch of you down to your toes!

Nannie's first glimpse

Pops and Nannie with their new grandson.

A proud Pops!

Papa drove up that afternoon after work to meet baby Jack.

Our new family of four!

Anna gets to hold Jack for the very first time!

A very proud big sister!

That first night in the hospital, Daddy and Jack watched their very first Carolina basketball game together. Jack was a good luck charm because the Tar Heels won!

We feel so blessed to finally have our beautiful, healthy baby boy with us. The miracle of birth is an awesome reminder of how God works and we said huge thank-yous for our precious Jack!

Passing the Time

While I was feeling very uncomfortable that last weekend, Will did a splendid job of keeping Anna and himself occupied so that I could rest.

First, they completed a little building project. When we went down to Atlanta for the UNC/LSU game, we brought back these little kits from a Home Depot booth that made football stands. Anna and Daddy disappeared into the garage and sanded and painted and hammered. After everything dried and was assembled, they emerged with the cutest Carolina football stand. Anna was so proud! It was perfect for holding "the football with my name on it that Sarah and Jason gave me".

Then they played a little game that Daddy has named "Candy Math". Since Will is addicted to chewy fruit candy, Anna has inevitably become a fan as well. (We do a lot of teaching about teeth brushing around here.) So, instead of handing it over and letting her dig in, Will has started using it to teach her some math skills. He uses jelly beans or gummy bears or whatever he might have stashed. They do addition while pulling the candy out and subtraction as Anna eats it. They also group the candy into colors and whatever else Daddy can think of. She has learned so much! This picture happens to show Sleeping Beauty doing candy math.:)

Way to go Daddy!

The Last of Many

The Last OB Appointment

On Thursday, January 27th, we went to my last OB appointment. Anna had a 2 hour delay at school, so she ended up going with us, too. I was going to be 39 weeks on that Friday, so they checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. We talked about induction and decided to go ahead and schedule it since that's how Anna got here. Jack's due date was Friday, February 4th. Although we could have schedule the induction as soon as that next day, we decided to do February 3rd. That day is special because it's Gramps' birthday. Gramps lived with us from the time I was 12 until his death when I was in college and I just thought it would be so neat for Gramps and Jack to have the same birthday. We were scheduled for 7:30 am that morning of the 3rd. My parents made plans to come up that Wednesday night and Cathe was ready to keep Anna for us. We'll see if we make it...

The Last Weekend as a Family of Three

We didn't do a whole lot that last weekend, mainly because I kept having contractions. They would come and go and would get as close as 6-8 minutes apart at times, but would never last. We had our bags packed and ready to go. Will even gave his parents a warning call at one point because we thought we were getting close, but it ended up being a false alarm.

The Last Day as a Mother of One

I was supposed to work on that Monday, the 31st, but after the contractions over the weekend and just not feeling too great, I called out sick. I was also really afraid I would go into labor at work and did not want that to happen. I woke up after an uneventful night and felt pretty decent, so I decided it was going to be a Mommy and Anna day. We went to Panera for breakfast and then to Barnes and Noble to read books and pick out a few to take home. It was really fun. Little did I know that it would be our last day together before Jack arrived.

Sarah's Shower

On Saturday, January 15th, one of Sarah's closest friends and I threw her a baby shower for all of her Winston-Salem gals to help get ready for Baby Caroline. It took place over lunch in a private room at Big Shotz Tavern. We had so much fun and Sarah got so much stuff!

The Hostesses with the Mostesses: Me, Sarah, and Sherri

Mom and I had so much fun putting together Sarah's diaper cake!

Anna wore pink to match the decor and the Mama-to-Be!

Me, Mom, and Sarah

Can't leave Anna out!

The gifts were overflowing!

And Sarah thinks she's not going to go girly! Her college girls got her a precious pink tu-tu that I can't wait to see Caroline wearing!

I'm so excited about my little sis becoming a mama! She has been so antsy about wanting to have all of the baby stuff ready so I was glad to be able to help her feel a little more at ease. Her girls definitely came through and were so generous. And she still has three more showers to go! Caroline is going to be all set!

The Different Faces of Cinderella

Ever since Santa brought the three new princess dresses for Christmas, dress-up has been the main source of entertainment at our house. And although the new dresses have gotten their fair share of dress-up time, Cinderella is still the overarching favorite. I think it helped that Santa also brought Cinderella, the movie, so Anna now understands who exactly she's dressing up as. There have been many days recently, especially with it being so cold outside, that we have had to put on our Cinderella garb, make sure we are wearing our Cinderella big girl panties, and watch Cinderella the movie. It's so cute!

Well, the other day, she decided to add some additional accessories to her outfit to make herself Super Dancing Cinderella. What a hoot!

Milestones

We are in mourning. Once again, a major milestone has been met and we have lost something...this time, it's the booster seat. As soon as Anna no longer needed the highchair, we switched her over to a booster seat at the kitchen table. She's been sitting in it as long as I can remember. Well, before Christmas, she started wanting to sit in the other chairs that didn't have a booster in them. And for a long while now, she hasn't sat in a highchair or booster at a restaurant. So, I fought it for a while, but finally broke down and asked her if she wanted us to take her booster out of her chair. She was thrilled! So now, we have a child who is potty trained and sitting in a big chair like a big girl. Where does the time go?

Mommy to Mama

I don't know exactly where this change came from, but out of the blue Anna has started calling me "Mama" instead of "Mommy". It's not every time, but definitely the vast majority now. And since I hear her call me or say my name 1800 times a day, that's quite a bit. I don't really know how I feel about it. Part of me thinks it's hysterical because of how she says it and it makes me smile. Another part of me isn't quite ready to give up "Mommy" and is a little sad. Our little girl is just growing up so fast! And then I began to wonder if potty training came with a name change? I guess that's why it's good I've got another little one on the way who can call me "Mommy," at least until he becomes potty trained!:)