Baby Reed! Warning..birth details included.

Pictures of our new bundle of Joy!!!!

Baby Reed! Warning..birth details included.

Ok, so i know it has been a while but things went from cramped and uncomfortable to full fledged amazing since we welcomed Reed Haskell Howse on October 26th, 2011. He decided to grace us with his presence the day before i was to be induced. How Perfect!!

I went in for a pre-induction visit to my wonderful OBGYN and was saddened by the fact that i had not made much progress , but still had been having contractions. I was sure i was at least a 6 (just kidding), but my contractions had been pretty strong so i was shocked that i was only a 2. The weekend before my visit to Dr. Martin, i had spent in Heber Springs, Arkansas at a beautiful wedding for our dear friend Casie's wedding. I was fully ready to hatch our little chicken any time and decided the best way to speed up the process was to spend the evening dancing in high heels and on feet at the wedding. I was prepared to shimmy him out to the tune of celebrate good times on the dance floor. No such luck. The only thing i achieved were huge feet, cramps, and a bad mood. It was a great wedding, though. Nathan and I spent the next couple of days going and doing, prepared at any moment to drop what we were doing and head to the hospital, but still nothing was happening. I was continually getting more and more anxious about the delivery and pain of the whole event, but even more anxious just waiting around not knowing when or if anything was going to happen before our scheduled induction. I also was being watched like a bag of popcorn popping by everyone around me....i was over it!!! Nathan knew he needed to get all of his sub plans and parent teacher conferences done before everything happened, so he did some double duty in the classroom as i did double duty around our house getting things ready. I figured i had till Wednesday night ...and all night at that since the induction was on Thursday and i figured i would be pretty nervous. I went to the Dr. on Tuesday to hear all about the induction and get checked one last time. I was still a 2 and still bummed, but i figured at least i knew that Thursday was the day and that Nathan could get his parent teacher conferences done and be ready to become a daddy. Well lucky me, not so lucky him...after feeling pretty lousy all day after the Dr's, we ate dinner with our friends at Zsa Zsa's and decided to go to bed pretty early. Nathan had been asleep about an hour when i noticed my first really intense contraction. I laid there for another hour or so and felt like my insides were being ripped apart. It felt NOTHING like my braxton hicks contractions. Whoever Braxton Hicks is should be sued since real contractions aren't even close to what Braxton Hicks contractions are....those were easy compared to the real thing....REAL EASY!! I laid down and tried to take my mind off of things, but within about 5 minutes i felt like i had peed the bed...but just a little bit. I was so confused, since in the movies, a women's water breaks and everyone knows it. I wasn't sure if mine had or not. That's what i get for thinking anything would be like the movies. I am really not that stupid..I blame the hormones. I continued to lay down until i couldn't take it any longer and woke Nathan and told him what was going on. After some pacing the kitchen, a dog who knew something was going on, a call to Labor and Delivery, we decided to go in and get checked. I full-heartily felt like they would laugh and send me home, but we went anyway.

Howse was born into the world. He was absolutely the most beautiful thing in the entire world. He became our world the very second we heard that first cry. Nathan was able to follow him over to the warmer and count all the fingers and toes....absolutely perfect. My Doctor told me that I would never have a harder delivery since Reed accidental came out face up. She said that most of face-up deliveries end up in emergency c-section. I was so relieved that i was able to push him out without the need for a surgery. Throughout my pregnancy I knew i loved Reed, but it was nothing compared to the immediate overwhelming love i felt once I saw him. I must say, I loved the immediate feeling of weight loss as well...but that's another blog for another time. Our Doctor had to run to her child's halloween party, so the other Doctor i booted out had to come back and finish all that needed to be done to me. She was very understanding...whoops.

All our family and close friends were in the waiting room and got to come in to see him, before i nursed. The looks on their faces said everything as they all filed in one after the other. We so overjoyed and exhausted all at one time. It was such an amazing experience. A couple hours later we met with Reed's pediatrician and he delivered some news that had me scared to death. He warned us that Reed might have a condition called Cranial Stinousis and might need a cranial operation in the next couple of weeks. Basically, they thought Reed's scull had already fused together in one spot that goes lateral across the front of his head. He said that most babies sculls are flexible to allow passage through the birth canal and that Reed's did not seem to be flexible. Nathan and I were dumb founded. They said that time would be a better indicator, but that they would do x-rays the next day. He said that my delivery was so difficult because of this condition. Here is the example they gave me..."It was like you had a 14cm steel ball coming through a 10cm opening." Isn't that a pretty example?!! I was able to feel the full effects of that example once my epidural wore off later that afternoon. They had turned it back on for me due to all the damage i had going on. We stayed in the hospital for another 30 hours or so, but decided to go home the next evening so that we could get some rest.

As of right now and after a doctor's visit, the are hopeful that Reed's head might just have overlapping plates and not fused ones. They have not ruled out surgery, but they have given us the green light to put the thoughts and stress behind us for now and to just enjoy are little miracle. We are doing just that!!! Nathan and I sit and stare at him from basically sun up to sun down. We fall more in love with him everyday, as well as with each other. We are celebrating out 1 year anniversary tomorrow and we both think that our beautiful boy is the perfect present we could ever give each other. We are getting back to normal life, but still we pray everyday for the health of our baby boy and the progress of his little head. I don't know how i would deal with anything other then a good clean bill of health. We definitely would appreciate any prayers that anyone would be willing to say on Reed's behalf.

I can't believe he is here!!! Those long 9 months with all the ups and downs and everything in between was so unbelievable worth it....hands down!!!!

p.s....ignore any grammer errors...im sleep deprived!!!!!

Shower and Pumpkins and Pain, oh my!

So this weekend Reed had his first baby shower hosted by some of our closest friends as a couples shower. I was so excited about the upcoming festivities and apparently so was Reed since i had not slept in quite a while thanks to his late-night tummy parties and the ever so lovely Braxton-Hicks contractions that I have been having. I realized at this late point in the pregnancy that i would not feel great, but not feeling great is putting it lightly....and at this point there is nothing light about any of it!!! I have only gained about 15 pounds, but at this point i feel like i am weighing in at a little under 300 pounds. It is all baby belly too and so i sometimes think he might come out weighing 12 or 13 pounds, even though my doctor assures me he will not. I have about 5 weeks left if he waits it all the way out till November 2nd...which i have been trying to talk him out since about a week ago. The part I guess i never thought much about was how painful my stomach would be, but i guess it makes sense with 15 extra pounds all bundled up next to my now ever so creepy outie-belly button. For some odd reason I feel the worst in the mornings till about noon and then again in the evenings around 8:30 or so. In other words, i try to fit in all my daytime activities and chores in the 8 and 1/2 hours when i feel somewhat decent. Im telling you, not a day goes by that i don't try to talk him out already. We are talking full on bribery. After my last bi-weekly dr. appointment (can't believe we are about to start going every week!!) my doctor seemed to think he might be here a tad before the due date...so fingers crossed. The rest of the symptoms include headaches, arm and leg numbness, fatigue, and nausea. So in other words, if i didn't have 8 months of baby living in my belly i would probably be admitted to the hospital for having a stroke...same symptoms it seems!

On to the baby shower!!

We had a wonderful couples baby shower this weekend thanks to our wonderful group of friends. It was definitely a shower meant for Nathan and myself!!! We had wonderful chili and cornbread, a fire going in the fire pit, candle light, great friends and great conversation and to top it all off, a pinata in the shape of two very large testicles to represent our baby boy. Yes, you read that right!! The ever creative Ben Johnson and Luke Nipper fashioned us some very cute and larger than life pinata "itza boy" baby balls.  (pictures coming soon)! I had to litterly put on a blindfold and swing a bat to retrieve the presents inside. I must admit, it was a blast and I am pretty sure this activity was one of a kind!! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family joining us in celebrating the upcoming arrival of our 15 pound bundle of joy...just kidding

Don't forget the pumpkins....

To complete a weekend of fun festivities and since i have been itching to do this since the first leaf fell signaling the beginning of my favorite season...FALL, we spent the day pumpkin picking! Everything great is wrapped up so cozily in the next 3 months...including Reed's arrival! He is picking the perfect time to make a birthday for himself!! He will fit in with our little family so well! So this Sunday morning after Nathan had heard for the one billionth time that i need pumpkins to make this pregnancy a little easier, he took me to not one, but two wonderful pumpkin patches. We definitely would have loved a chilly day to stroll the fields, but the dreariness of the day did add some fall-like ambiance to our fun-filled outing. I am such a sucker for all things fall and halloween and pumpkins that we had to do the full pumpkin patch experience...petting zoo and all!!!

                                       (sorry, couldn't get the pic to stay rotated...im still learning!)
The petting zoo was one of my favorite stops of the day and the funny thing was that this horse kept going straight for my belly...Reed might be destined to be a cowboy! Nathan and I love animals and wouldn't mind having a small farm some day with some of these....

After our animal adventure, we got back to the dirty business that is pumpkin pickin!! We found a few biggins out at Johnson's pumpkin farm, but i had not gotten my fill of fall yet so we headed to location number two to gather a more unique set of pumpkin pretties! We ended up somewhere around 10 total, not counting the one im carrying around under my shirt for another month. We kept talking about how surreal it is that next year we will be carting around our own home grown pumpkin, Reed Haskell Howse. I have every intention of teaching him my enthusiastic need to start fall somewhere around September 1st. Who knows...pumpkin just might be his very first word and i might just be ok with that!!!  We are blessed and we can't wait to welcome Reed to the very best season of all!!!

Happy Fall, Yall!!! - Love, the Howses!

The Ten Week Itch!

I can't believe we are approaching that time of the year where summer fades to memory and fall becomes a welcomed relief from a summer that will undoubtedly be recorded in the record books. I love fall for so many reasons. I got married to the love of my life in the fall. The weather is so agreeable during the fall. The state of Arkansas becomes a painted picture in the fall...but most importantly, my baby boy will be born THIS fall. As i schedule my last bit of work before the inevitable "places i probably should not be when my water breaks" becomes foremost on my mind on daily outings, I realize that he will be here very soon!! I can't say that this pregnancy has flown by because of the unobtrusive nature of the pregnancy and its easy fit into my lifestyle. This pregnancy has been rated a 6 out of 10 on the scale of ease...and i might be over rating it simply because i am almost done. This blog is not intended to be a one sided rant of all the wrong in the world, but a truthful account of day to day life in our "Howsehold." That is why i feel so inclined to blog my pregnancy into cyberspace...

I am blessed and I know this with every kick and turn he does in my belly, but i can truly chalk up pregnancy to the likes of the movie...body snatchers...or alien. It has been a roller coaster of nausea, emotions, restlessness, discomfort, protruding body parts, congestion, and urine. I know there is more i am missing, but these were all experienced within the last 8 hours so i felt that they were easiest blogged about at this time. I hear so many women express their love of pregnancy...all nine months of it. I may understand this and even join the ranks of these women once my little bouncing bundle of joy arrives, but for the past 7 months and the next 10 weeks to come, i will just continue to let my jaw drop when i hear these women account for their nine months of glowing goodness. I will say now that I can feel him move around it is more enjoyable, but for the most part..it is just weird.

With all that said and complained about, i can not believe i have 10 weeks left. There was a point in the pregnancy where i thought i was going to be sick and pregnant forever, but the last couple of weeks have really flown by before our eyes. Nathan and I like to sit around and think about the beginning, when we both were scared out of our minds and i spent more time lying down "sick" then standing up doing anything productive. We also like to think about what it will be like being scared out of our minds when he decides to make his debut, which has led to what i affectionately call the "ten week itch." We are so not ready for Reed logistically, but we can't wait to meet him so we are in baby limbo. We think ten weeks will take forever to get here, but we aren't completely sure we can get everything done in ten weeks. Like i said..Limbo.

So for the next 10 weeks, we are going to prepare ourselves for the nine week itch, then the eight week itch and so forth and so on until he arrives. I think that each week will come with another set of fears, realizations, and pregnancy symptoms, but along with all of this will come fall. And what i know is that i love fall and everything that fall will usher in....including our little bundle of joy.

The beginning and the end.

Today marks the first day of school for most of the schools in Arkansas, including the one where my husband teaches. He is a fun- loving and fantastic kindergarten teacher that absolutely loves his job. 20 screaming, hyper-active, oblivious children is not an ideal job for just anybody. In other words, you have to love what you do to do that job! One of the perks of being a teacher is the summer break that follows the 9 months of academic trials and tribulations. Nathan and I had a summer full of road trips, adventure, and pregnancy cravings and as I am writing this, I am having a hard time believing that our summer vacation has come to an end and the inpending parenthood will soon begin. In two and a half very short months! Don't believe me....just check our baby countdown clock at the top of this blog. We are all but circling the landing strip for our little bundle of joy.

Since I am new to blogging, I will give a little background on our pregnancy. On St. Patricks day, Nathan was grading papers downstairs of our very "vertical apartment" and I was lying down upstairs with what I thought was the stomach flu. When I say very vertical, I mean that our cute newlywed apartment had three floors, a rooftop deck and loads of stairs in between. This apartment was perfect for our newlywed lifestyle consisting of us, a large beast of a dog, and an occasional plant here or there. This lifestyle came to a sudden halt on this St. Patricks day! Like I was saying, Nathan was on the first floor and I was on the third floor trying to feel better in order to celebrate St. Pattys day. I had just gotten back from working in Dallas where I spent the majority of the time feeling awful! In the back of my head I felt like something was off, a little different then a normal illness, so I did one of the scariest things in my life...took a pregnancy test.

I figured in the three minutes the pregnancy test takes to process the results, I would be able to process my feelings on the situation at hand...yes, that's right...three minutes to process my feelings on 9 months of growing a human and then raising the human for life. I guess I'm not always rational when I'm sick, but who is. Well the three minutes Clear, Blue and Easy promised me was actually all of 30 seconds before I got the digital "pregnant" reading. It would take a whole 8 posts on this blog to tell you what my emotions were while reading those 8 letters, so I'll sum it up with the word shocked!! I went downstairs to inform the second person of our little "just the two of us" lifestyle that there would in fact be three of us very soon. I made it downstairs with a look of shock plastered across my face which kind of took away from the "so let me tell you something" plan I had. In fact, I don't think I said a word at all...I just cried.

Nathan was beyond thrilled and by the looks of it, beyond scared. We were absolutely in disbelief and for the rest of the night, Nathan would stare at me like I might self-combust at any minute.

I truly don't remember too many details of that night or the several days following from the post traumatic found out we are having a baby disorder, but I do remember falling in love with my nine month body roommate and looking forward to the fun, fear, and love to come.

Like I was saying at the beginning of this post...It is the first day of school for so many schools here in the state and my husband is happily at work looking forward to a year of excellence from his new students. I usually don't put too much thought into the first day of school since I have long graduated from the first day of school frenzy, but this year with my big belly blocking several of the keys on the computer, I know that this marks the ending of my pregnancy and in the future, the first day of school for my little one. Am I ready? Who knows!!