Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Can We Go Home Yet???

Soo...once we knew we had a happy (I think happy but how do you really know yet) and most importantly HEALTHY boy all I could think about was get me out of this hospital!  Anyone who knows me well or actually even a little knows a hospital is not where I want to be - too much blood and germs and all that stuff to be comfortable.  Not to mention the complete lack of privacy and sleep that is pretty much inevitable with any hospital stay.  Luckily because Graham Graham decided to make his debut at 12:15 am - the doctors said if all was going well they would let me out on Tuesday.  Thank goodness because both Jake and I were ready to blow that joint...So...after a whirlwind 36 hours we were on our way.

The ride home was great.  Graham slept pretty much all the time the next week or so.  He slept through the dog barking, the doorbell, lots of visitors etc...so naturally we assumed we were the lucky ones who were blessed with one of those babies who slept through the night and never fussed...haha...yeah right.  I honestly think babies act all perfect for all parents right at the beginning and then BAM - out of no where (and to be funny I suppose) they don't sleep and all they seem to do is cry - except for when they are eating - which Graham Graham was OFTEN :)  We will get into all that later.

The first week we were home we decided to have newborn photos done - which turned out to be OH SO adorable and def. worth it but ended up being very stressful.  LUCKILY Emme was staying at the house helping out or I am not sure we would have gotten any photos!  First the photographer makes you turn your heat on - which remember this was June in Texas so it was already 100+ outside...(if this sounds strange it is because the heat makes the babies sleepy which you need to get a good shot in.)  Then we went through a series of props and positions etc. and I was only peed on twice...something that now happens so regularly it really doesn't phase me at ALL:) - BUT the pics were fantastic and I couldn't be happier.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Jake is not crazy about the silly hats but I happen to think they are the cutest!  I'm pretty sure we have the cutest most handsome baby ever...I know your thinking all parents say that about their babies...but seriously - we WIN - just love that little boy to pieces :)









Monday, August 13, 2012

Are We In Labor?!?!

Being the typical new parents to be Jake and I decided to attend all of the classes our hospital offered that were supposed to get us prepared for our soon to be new arrival.  If I had to rate the classes on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best) I would have to give them a big fat 2.  To be honest the only thing we got out of the classes were a laugh or 2 (especially one particularly strange lamaze course that consisted of partner massage with house hold objects...humm)

The most disappointing piece of advice given in this class was the answer to the question most first time moms have..."how will I know I am in labor?!?!)  The standard answer (and extremely confidant) we got was "OH YOU WILL KNOW"...UH Yea right!

Sunday June 17th 6:00 AM (Father's Day) - 

So most days during the last couple weeks of my pregnancy I had TONS of energy - often getting up at the crack of dawn (first to eat bec lord knows I was always starving) but then clean house, run errands, walk Elvis, gripe at Jake to work on something off of my never end of nesting list - pretty much run around like crazy while my sweet husband stayed in bed snoozing because this was after all the weekend.

BUT this morning was different and I was in no hurry to get out of bed.  I started having pain about every 30 minutes or so that would seem fairly consistent and then decide to stop all together.  I really didn't think I was in labor - just thought my stomach was upset or something to that nature.  I went on like this until about lunch time with (Jake asking me about every 15 minutes if I was in labor) to which I am sure (kindly) responded I HAVE NO IDEA!!!  So we did naturally did what all couples in the same situation would do - we got out all of our pregnancy books (four different versions I believe) and of course our friend google (because he always has the answers) and proceeded to try to figure out what was going on.

After another hour, a bath (which I made Jake sit in the bathroom with me during) and several popsicles (yumm) later we finally decided to call the doctor and see what the heck they thought was going on.  To be sure they said we should go in and get checked out so we grabbed our bags and headed up there fully assuming we would be coming back home...By the time we were heading up the hospital I stopped having pain and Jake started to get concerned.  You would think the concern was about me and how I was feeling, however his concern was that we might look silly if I wasn't having any pain anymore so he so sweetly recommended that I put on a sad sick face and fake it!  Ha!

Once we checked in and were all hooked up to be monitored we asked the nurses how long we could expect to be there and they responded 2 HOURS!  UHHH at that point we immediately regretted calling the doctor and were more than disappointed to be missing the US Open golf tournament for nothing!

Then...we overheard the nurse talking to the doctor on call (something about contractions being 5 minutes apart) and when we finally realized they were talking about us we couldn't believe we were actually going to be meeting our little boy so soon!

Once admitted to L&D we started sending out the message and a few hours later the fun began.  I made it to about a 6 (this would be the point where I knew I would start to cry if I waited any longer) and ordered the epidural.  This pic was definitely after the epidural kicked in...Although this one is not so lovely you should see the before...NOT a good look for me:)



I seriously have no idea how moms go without that lovely little life saver.  From there on out it was smooth sailing - we finished the golf tournament which Webb Simpson won (thank goodness or Graham - you would be spelling your name Graeme...make sure to ask your daddy about that one later) and hung out until it was go time.

Determined to have a fathers day baby we sure did try but our little miracle was born at 12:15AM on June 18th 2012 - otherwise known as the day that would change our lives forever and my new personal favorite day in the world :)


Thursday, August 9, 2012

9 Months Starts Now

If I had to find one word to describe my pregnancy it would be for lack of a more eloquent word - easy.  For whatever reason I lucked out - no morning sickness, no real pain, no complications and no excessive weight gain...hopefully I will be able to say the same after the next one - which there will be at least one:)




Not only was the pregnancy easy on me - but I think Jake would also agree he had it pretty easy as well.  I have heard all kinds of stories about crazy emotional soon to be moms who make their husbands run out to the store for a variety of disgusting cravings at all hours of  the night...and he was in my opinion fortunate to not have to experience most of that.  I'm not gonna lie - I may have gotten a tiny bit emotional at times, stressed unnecessarily over the nursery decor and asked him to run out to the grocery store at times (not really because I was having an actual craving but more so because I felt like we weren't truly embracing the pregnancy if I didn't make him do this at least a time or two - sorry babe:)

Another really exciting thing about this pregnancy was that I got to experience it with one of my best friends (Megan) who was also expecting about 6 weeks before us - which was nice to have someone to bounce questions off of.  Towards the end of our pregnancies we both decided we needed to have a photo shoot to capture our big bellies (I mean capture the beautiful experience.)  Photos are crazy expensive and we weren't sure we would ever even use the pictures so we decided we would be our own photographers and headed to the stockyards.  4 hours later...we ended up with some pretty cute shots and Jake loved ever moment of it (yeah right) but he was a great sport and we got to have a little fun and try out a new restaurant.  Here are a few shots...I put the kissing one first because Jake just loves kiss shots :)










Thursday, August 2, 2012

Our Journey to Parenthood



Since I am new to this blog thing AND want to make sure to capture all of Graham's special moments that are sure to come I think it is best to back it up a bit to when Jake and I found out we were expecting...


WE'RE PREGNANT!
October 11th 2011 AM - Took a test and it was +!  Well of course it was one of the cheapo tests that gave you 2 pink lines if your pregnant and only 1 if you are not.  AND as most of you ladies know who have been down this road before that dang second line is so faint and your excitement is so high that you really can't be sure your really seeing a second line or you just think you are.

SO after a lunch trip to the grocery store to buy the tests that come out and spell it for you - pregnant or not pregnant (can't really mess those up so it seems) it was official we were going to be having a little baby Tapp!  

Of course I wanted to do something special to break the news to Jake so I ran up to the golf store and bought some pink and blue tees which I used to make a heart in the backyard.  When Jake got home I took him in a the back yard and showed him this.

I thought my little crafty announcement was obvious...apparently not so much:)  Jake was so confused and kept asking did he forget something - an anniversay maybe?!?! Of course the pink and blue didn't give anything away???

Well once he read the card he was pumped and we knew our life would from that day forward be very very different - in a wonderful way of course:)