Hello World!

Gage David Burton - 5/19/11 -3:23 am - 6 lb 10 oz - 20 1/2 in

 

Labor Days...

This is how the (first) day began...

 With a scheduled trip to the doctor for my weekly check-up.  I was exactly 38 weeks on this day.  Thank goodness we did have enough wits about us that morning that we decided to go ahead and load the packed bags and pillows in the event that my doctor had me stay at the hospital.  Mom was still in town and decided to take me, as I had not been feeling well and was still on "strict" bed rest.  These are some pictures that mom wanted to take before we left.  Notice that I do not look amused.  Ha ha.  Little did I know that these were going to be some of my only and last maternity pictures.  Woo hoo...look at that belly!!!

I love my expression:  I am huge, uncomfortable, huge, have a headache, am grumpy and feel really huge.  Please do not stand there and ask to take my picture again.  Let's get in the truck and go.  Following my appointment and ultrasound we were told by my doctor that due to the teetering blood pressure I had been having, the beginnings of a headache and the results from the biophysical profile they had from the ultrasound that had just been done, they were going to keep us at the hospital overnight and induce labor first thing the next morning.  

Ha ha...the next phone call I made was pretty funny.  It kinda went something like this:

Me:  Hey babe!  Well, we just got done with the appointment and the Doctor says that she is going to admit me and wants me to stay here.  She is planning on inducing me first thing tomorrow.

Lee:  What?! Tomorrow?  But I have a herd to work tomorrow.  Could we wait till Thursday? 

Me:  Um...okay, well regardless of that...we're having a baby tomorrow.

Lee:  ...Huh...Ok, well let me make some calls and get some guys lined up to cover for me and I guess we're having a baby tomorrow.  Wait...how are you?  Is everything okay?  What do you need me to do?

It was so funny listening to my husband switch from "work mode" to  "husband/soon-to-be-a-daddy mode" in a matter of seconds over the phone.  Little did we know that he would have had plenty of time to work that herd and still make it for the grand finale!  Ha ha.  He just might not have had a happy wife at the end of the day. 

Here are some pictures and a little commentary on how the next 48 hrs went:

This is Lee getting to the hospital and us being soooo excited about what was to come!  

Taken:  5/17, 8:33 pm

Me...feeling GREAT!  I have been having contractions for about 2 1/2 hrs now
and still doing pretty good.

**We are missing a few pictures in here that we took**

Unfortunately, as time progressed, my body really had not.  I had been given Cervadil, which is a prostaglandin, the night before to get things going and had been on Pitocin since 6:00 am to induce labor.  My body was just not responding at a very promising rate.  It was very slow going for everything but my contractions, which continued to build throughout my labor.  I cannot tell you how many times I prayed and thanked the Lord throughout this time for anesthesiologists.

This is me on 5/18 at 10:33 pm.  It had been a long day.

Did I say long...I mean very long day.  This is on 5/19 at 12:44 am.

At this point, these guys had been kicked out of the room.  This was the family waiting in the lobby/waiting room to get the big news.  Lee's parents actually flew in and arrived around midnight.  It was a long (and obviously uncomfortable) night for everyone.

My dad

Lee's dad

My mom

This, my friends.   This was my very best friend during my stay at the hospital.  This is the bag of drugs that ran into my epidural and the machine that would administer a bolus when I pushed a little red button.  It helped A LOT early on.  Towards the end...maybe not so much.  I was the first patient the anesthesiologist said he had ever had to refill their bags.  Ha ha.  Like I said...it was a very long day.

This next one was taken around midnight on 5/18, and this is my doctor.  To say that she was phenomenal was an understatement.  She pulled an all nighter and stayed with us through the whole entire thing ladies and gentleman.  Saw me at 4 pm on Tuesday for my appointment and delivered my baby at 3:23 am on Thursday morning.  She did whatever she could to keep me from having a c-section, while ever-so closely monitoring both myself and my unborn child.  She would see something on our monitor from wherever she was (her office, break room, nurse's station) and would be in our room in within seconds, round the clock.  She encouraged me, supported me and was stern with me...whatever the  situation called for.  We laughed later at her lack of a poker face.  It's true.  We all knew when she walked into the room, she meant business.  But...she would smile and love me right back to OK with a hug when I needed it too!

When I saw her later on Thursday morning, she had already performed 3 surgeries.  She loves what she does, and it shows.  I am honored to be her patient.

 

We don't have any "immediately after" pictures of Gage because everything happened so fast!  I was being checked every 2 hrs (odd hrs) by the nurses and my doctor, and at 3:00 am, we were finally there!  It was also at that point that the fetal heart monitor started going crazy and it looked like we were both beginning to be a little stressed from the long labor.  When those kinds of things start happening, you see everyone (nurses, doctors, etc.) jump into a different mode/speed.  After all the hours we had spent making such slow progress, even contemplating a surgical delivery at one point because my body seemed to be regressing, we had a baby in our arms in 23 minutes!    

This, my friends, is the first picture that Lee took after the delivery.  This was exactly 3 minutes after Gage David Burton breathed his first breath of air.  Thinking back to this time, makes me a little sniffly.  To think of all that we had been through in the last 30-something hours and knowing that our precious little boy was being whisked away to the Neonatal ICU downstairs to check out things we didn't understand the names of.  Lee was told to go down with him while the doctor finished taking care of me.  This period of time is somewhat a blur.  I remember some of the conversations and things that were taking place, of some of the things that happened but I was extremely dazed.  Looking back now, Lee and I agree that this experience has most definitely deepened our relationship in ways we never expected.  We shared more than I ever imagined possible.  We laughed, cried, faced fears, tried things we had never tried, did things we never thought we'd have to do and saw things we thought we'd never have to see.  I'm convinced that it's those times that we really grow.  I know we did.

 

Several hours later, once we were both stable and I was able to move, we got to go down to the NICU and see our son for the first time.  I remember this being quite surreal.   At this point, we could not hold him, but could touch his tiny little body with our fingers.  It was hard to believe this was our little baby.  This is all 6 lb 10 oz of him on a warming table with all his little tubes.  Surreal is all I can say.  

This was the first time that Lee and I got to go down and hold Gage.  I think we were both still in shock and amazement that this little guy was here and he was ours!  Oh, he was sooo precious and sooo perfect!  This picture was taken later in the day on Thursday.  There are some funny stories of Lee trying to ever so gently roll me around the hospital in the wheel chair. If you think of it one day, ask me about them.

Amazement

 This is a picture (of the picture) that Gage's NICU nurse took of him and gave to us to keep in our room.  He had to stay in the NICU Nursery the entire time we were at the hospital, so we never got to have him in our room like we had planned.  I loved having this picture out on the table in our room. That way, at least all the visitors we had, had something to see. I also have to say here that the NICU nurses that we dealt with were AMAZING.  I don't know how they do they job that they do, but know that they are special people.  We were blessed by each one of them. 

Speaking of blessings....that's one big one, right there!

 

  

Feelin' the Love

Man, those East Texans know how to do it right!  These are the gals from Lee's family.  We are all at a shower for his cousin, Rileigh, who is in the orange sweater in the middle. Precious, I say, precious she is...and is going to be one beautiful bride!  We are unfortunately going to have to miss the wedding, as Baby B is due 2 weeks prior, but I cannot wait to see and hear all about it!  I tell you, this is one heck of a group of girls.  I could not imagine any other people I would rather be in-laws with.  From L to R:  Kristin Walker, myself, Jeni Adair, Randi Beth, Rileigh Barber (soon to be Watson), Robin Cohagen and bridesmaids (shout out - we are missing Natalie, she's livin' life in Cali and couldn't make it).

 (cousin-in-law) Kristin, Luke and I.  Kristin is pretty much the shower queen of the family and does it up right for every one!  Man, are we blessed.

Krisin Wilson & I.  Kristin is Lee's best man's wife (who is gorgeously pregnant with baby #4 in this picture).

Rileigh, Vicki & I.  Rileigh is Lee's cousin and a beautiful bride to be.  Vicki is her super awesome momma...who is pretty much Awe-some!

My rock-star sis-in-law, Randi Beth.  Need I say more?

These pictures are from my BFF from 6th grade, Jaime's casa.  She and her mom pretty much out did themselves and turned her house into a baby shower wonderland.  Not a detail was missed.

This cake was a vanilla cake layered with champagne/strawberry/custard filling.  It is the same cake that  Jaime had at her wedding....and I believe I had several servings back then and again this time!

It was OH MY GOODNESS good!!!

Gage's first Aggie clothes!  Look at those super sweet hightops!

My man's son's wardrobe would not be complete without some Baby Wrangler onesies (oh my goodness...teeny tiny pearl snaps)!

Sue, Momma Jeane, myself and Mom

Lee's aunt & cousins:  Lauren & Nancy L'Amie and Sarah Mayfield

My gals:  Toni Sneary, LeeAnne Meyers,and Shannon Poutinen.  These are truly my soul sisters.  I love every single one of them and am a better person because of knowing each of them.

My gal, Tonni & I, bumping it up! (she is exactly 14 wks behind me)

One of my "other mothers", Vicki Barker.  This was my 4-H mom and was pretty much responsible for getting me into the horse thing.

Shelley & I

Shannon P & I.  Not only is this one of the sweetest people I know, this girl made some of the cutest little gifts that I have gotten thus far.  She is a budding seamstress and is sooo incredibly creative!

LeeAnne Meyers, a woman who I am truly proud and blessed to call a friend.  One hell of a woman.

Party in South Texas 

at Dodson Casa

Diaper cake from Lori McDonald

Friends from college:  Cody & Dawn Fry

College gal Pal, Angela Bull, her daughter Grace & I

My sweet buddy and friend, Anna

Lap full of kiddos:  Grace & Faith Fry and Abby & Anna McDonald

Buddies:  Nick & Andrea Henley

A week after this picture, these guys moved to North Carolina for Nick to finish 

training as a pilot in the Marines.  We miss them!

Addie Barrett and I and the cutest little wipe carrier ever!

Church buddies:  Don, Cheryl and Josh Parker and I

Javier, Leilani, Andres, Lee & I.  This is a precious little family from Puerto Rico 

and their handsome little man.

Leilani gave me this absolutely beautifully hand crocheted outfit that her grandmother made.  

It is one of the sweetest little outfits I have ever seen and I am honored to have it.

Cilla Donovan, Lee & I

Church friends and Pamper Parties

Sunday School girls:  Emily, myself and Maddison

One of our favorite church mommas and huge blessings in our life, Leslie Pullin

More of my Sunday School girls:  Emily and Raven

Laredo, myself and a sweet picture she drew for us of our "new" family

Sloan family and myself.  This is one of the sweetest mommas with 3 of the cutest girls ever!  (L to R) Laredo, myself, Brenham, Lucky and Abilene (Abby)