The 7lbs 8 oz life changer

This is my first post since Connor (our 7 pound 8 ounce "life changer") was born on March 31st at 7:57pm. Not only did he show up 4 days before his scheduled due date, but he arrived so quickly that Ross almost didn't have time to unload my hospital bag from the car. Little did Connor know that his arrival successfully validated an argument that Ross and I were having about the amount of time it takes to deliver a baby. In the weeks leading up to April, Ross had been on high alert. He began making preparations for "insta labor" to incur at any moment. I on the other hand, was convinced that we'd have hours and hours of advanced notice before the baby's arrival. While Ross was packing his stop watch for timing contractions, I was packing DVD's to keep me entertained during the 24 hours of labor that I was sure was waiting for us.

When Connor was born, I spent the majority of the day running errands, doing housework and even managed to meet my friend Teresa for a late lunch at Chuy's. I knew that I wasn't feeling great that day, but I had no idea that I was in labor. Around 2:00 in the afternoon, I phoned my friend Jenifer and described my symptoms to her. Since Jenifer has two sweet kiddo's of her own, she listened intently and then ended our conversation with "I think your going to have this baby in the next day or two". After that I called Ross to see if it was feasible for him to come home early from work. He told me that he had a few more things to finish up, but said he'd hurry. He also asked me to call the doctor just as a precaution.

Ross finally made it home around 3:30 and we loaded up the car and headed to the doctors office. Still thinking that we'd have hours before the baby's arrival, the doctor asked us to go over to the hospital for monitoring. Since my doctor wasn't on-call that day, she told me that I could likely wait until my doctor arrived the next day to deliver. Connor however, had other plans.

We were admitted into the hospital at 5:00pm and Connor arrived less than 3 hours later. When we showed up at the hospital the nurses told us that it was already shaping up to be a busy night. They said that triage was full and that they were sending me straight to a delivery room. Little did any of us know that of all the women in the labor and delivery unit, I would be the last to arrive and the first to deliver. Everything was happening so quickly and the nurses were flying in and out of the room as they prepared for Connor's delivery. I began pushing only 20 min after the epidural was administered and after pushing through just three contractions the doctor announced that we had given birth to a baby boy!!

It's true what people say about falling in love so instantly. The moment I looked into Connor's little face, I could feel my heart just melt away. Even at 19 days old, he already has me wrapped around his finger. The thing I can't yet figure out is how I can spend an entire day sitting on the couch with him in my arms. The hours just melt away as I stare at my precious little man while his sleeps so peacefully. Being a mother is the coolest experience I've ever had and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Welcome Connor!!

As many of you have seen in the pictures below, we welcomed Connor Allen McKinnon into our lives on Monday March 31st! He weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long. Lucky for him, he takes after his momma in the looks department. Leia and baby are both very healthy and we are all home right now doing our best to get some sleep and get our lives into some sort of routine it that is even possible. We are very lucky that everything went so smoothly and I will type a delivery day blog very soon with all the details of the arrival.

Thanks again everyone for your support and well wishes!

Ross

Incorrect announcement

To stop some of the emails and phone calls before they get too out of hand.. just want to put a note out there confirming that Leia DID NOT give birth Thrusday March 28th as indicated in a mass email from Tesoro. According to the doctor who we just spoke with, Leia is still very much pregnant and is still on target for her due date of April 3rd. Her co-worker Tawny Fries did give birth to a baby boy but not Leia. Some of you are probably thinking this is an early April Fools joke but I promise it is not. The email was sent out by one of Leia's co-workers and was incorrect. When the baby does get here, I will be sending out an email from my account so there is no confusion. I do appreciate the emails and calls as this is a very exciting time and no one wants this kiddo to get here quickly more than Leia and I.

A quick update on Leia, she and the baby are progressing nicely and we are trying to let nature take its course. Our doctor mentioned scheduling an induction but there is no medical reason to do that at this moment so we have decided to sit back and relax as much as possible. The doc did say baby is well over 7lbs and may be closer to 8lbs so as long as the weight is good and everyone is healthy we will just continue to keep on keepin on. According to Leia's eviction notice, there are few days left in storage so no need to rush. Leia still looks lovely as always and she has done such a wonderful job taking care of herself throughout this pregnancy. For someone that's about to go into labor, she looks so calm which actually scares me a little. Calm and Leia are 2 words that are usually not used in the same sentence. She's proved me wrong though and it helps make this easier.

As for me, I'm a train wreck. Freaking out. Holding it in is taking years off my life but that's my job is to be calm. I'll be posting another blog very soon with plans and developments next week!

Thanks,

Ross

Get out, get out, get out!!!

I’m full term today which means that our precious little bundle is technically ready to face the world. His/her legs, arms, eyes, ears and lungs are all fully developed…so what’s the hold up?
Why am I left to suffer these last few weeks if the “bun” if fully cooked? Picture finally making it to the front of the line at the post office during the Christmas rush. You’ve been waiting in line for hours and you’re really excited about being the very next customer served…then BAM – they throw up a sign that says “out to lunch”. Ugh!

Without sounding like the worst mother on the face of the planet, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. I’m officially serving this baby with an eviction notice. “Dear baby, This is your first warning to vacate the premises. Failure to comply will result in spicy foods, trampoline bouncing and other labor inducing activity.”

If the eviction notice doesn’t work, then I have a few other tricks up my sleeve. Little does this baby know that it has a very determined and resourceful mother waiting for it on the outside. Here are a few of the things that I have working in my favor right now…

Full Moon – it’s well documented that an overwhelming number of women go into labor when there’s a full moon. After doing a little research and consulting the 2008 lunar calendar, I discovered that the next full moon is on the 22nd…next Friday, so get ready baby.

Doctor on Vacation – if you guys have been following out blog, then you know how much trouble we’ve had with the doctor. So when Ross and I heard that he was going on vacation next week, our chances of going into labor increased exponentially.

My Entourage – animals sense seizures and strokes, so who says they can’t sense labor. I’m not joking when I say that I can’t go anywhere without a four legged entourage. Do they know something that I don’t know?? It’s as if I’ve turned into Evan Almighty overnight. They wait for me outside the shower door, climb in bed with me for naps and sit at my feet while I eat dinner. It’s like Ross doesn’t exist and I’m the leader of the animal kingdom.

Now while I like to think that these three things give me the upper hand, I know realistically that the baby’s in the driver’s seat for this one. What pains me the most is that for once in my life, I have absolutely no control over when, where or how this baby will make its grand entrance. But that won’t stop me from trying, so baby – if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out now.

One day - stupid people will rule the world.

What is it about pregnancy that makes you stupid? I have the same level of education now as I did before I got pregnant. If anything, I might be slightly more educated, especially considering the 9 months of medical training that my husband (the self-proclaimed OBGYN) has put me through. No joke, he literally quizzes me on the signs of labor. I guess he doesn’t want me to miss a baby coming out of my “whoha”. Regardless, this baby is sucking away all of my healthy brain cells and leaving my head filled with just the stupid ones.

Before I can give you some specific examples of my ever-growing stupidity, you have to understand the pre-pregnant Leia. Picture a person with an extreme type A personality, who maps out every waking minute and thinks it’s torture to sit still for two hours to watch a movie. Not only do I buzz through my day, efficiently mapping out everything from errands to grocery shopping but I also manage to minimize any “down time” with a quick work-out or a special project around the house.

Skip ahead 9 months, despite my ever-growing waste line, and the occasional foot in the rib, I feel like the same ole’ me. So why is it that carrying this extra passenger has caused me to do things like - get lost driving to work…I’ve driven to the same work location every day for a year now, yet on Monday I found myself driving past my office and taking an interchange exit that sent me in the complete opposite direction from where I needed to go.

Or – stealing someone else’s shopping cart at the grocery store…I reached into the meat cooler, grabbed a package of chicken, put it in “my” cart and then walked off. It wasn’t until I noticed a man chasing me down the isle (literally) that I realized I had stolen his cart full of groceries.

Or (my favorite) – yelling at Tanner for eating dog food out of his own bowl…One morning not long ago I was feeding the dogs. I put food in Tanner’s bowl then turned around abruptly when I heard him eating it and scolded him. For some strange reason in the few seconds after I fed him, my brain made me think he was stealing food out of Morgan’s bowl instead. He looked up at me with panic in his eyes and slowly began to spit the food out of his mouth piece by piece.

I’ve forgotten my cell phone at home and then been angry at Ross for not calling. At times, I forget where I am and where I need to be. I’ve walked up to the wrong car in the parking lot and wondered why my key didn’t work. All of this and the baby hasn’t even arrived yet. My friends tell me that it only get’s worse but how could it and better yet, why? I have no explanation for being stupid but for everyone reading this blog, if I was supposed to call you or we had lunch plans and I didn’t show – Please check up on me. Lord knows I need all the help I can get these days.

Holding pattern

Aside from the doc pulling a Benedict Arnold on us, the last few months have been pretty uneventful. The baby furniture is now assembled (to the best of my ability) and we are starting to accumulate the countless items that are apparently necessary to sustain life in the 21st century (will post updated nursery pics this weekend). It's amazing how many different products and blood suckers there are out there playing on your emotions and ill informed state of mind. Should we get the 5 point harness with the parachute and life support system or would the regular burp cloth be sufficient?? Some of these companies should be ashamed of themselves but $$ is $$. There are many great products out there so if you are expecting, I suggest you Google a baby essentials list and go with that before you end up taking out a second mortgage.

As I stated earlier, we had to start with a new doctor for the last few weeks of the pregnancy. His name is Dr. Villanueva. He is a very nice man and he is much more thorough than Leia's previous physician. While he is not the stud that makes most men uncomfortable when "examining" your spouse, he actually took the time to go over the test results from our previous visits that our other doctor never mentioned unless anything was abnormal. He's very professional and I think we are both going to be happy with the unexpected change. I did forget one gripe about the old doc. Ahole forgot to hit the RECORD button on the VCR when he was performing our last ultrasound. I had to pay $10 bucks for a VHS that is full of static. Okay.. that's the last of my complaining about that guy. The new doc is great. He's like a toned down version of Richard Simmons personality wise with a Latin influence. Leia disagrees but I find him entertaining.

As for the wife, she's just lovely! I am thinking about installing a few more toilets in random locations around the house b/c I think the ones we have are spread out a little too far. It's very easy to tell if she is nearby. All you have to do is listen for the nearest toilet tank filling back up. I do feel sorry for her though b/c one should not have to #1 every 15 minutes. Cruel and unusual punishment that would drive me absolutely crazy. The other entertaining part is the bedtime ritual of pillow arranging and negotiating. Well, not so much negotiating b/c she moves me as needed if she happens to like the pillow I am using. We are up to 8 pillows, 2 golden retrievers, 2 cats and 2 people in a king size bed. While this is a large bed, it's not the most comfortable of quarters at times. Leia's pillow fortress and the 140 lbs of dog make my side of the bed equivalent to that of a submarine bunk.

Other than that, everything is status quo. Just trying to keep Leia as comfortable as possible in these last few weeks. Sleep has become tough she's getting the aches and pains everyone has told us so much about so I'm just trying to help as much as possible and keep my mouth shut as necessary.

We are going to Fredericksburg tomorrow Feb 22 so Leia can take some maternity photos. It's the same photographer that did our wedding so hopefully these turn out as good as those did.

OH, new update. While I was complaining about baby products... we need to throw Sony Corp. in there too. They MADE me buy a video camera so I'll post some video on here soon. After the photography session Friday, we are headed to the beach for a quick "Babymoon" so hopefully we will have some good opportunities down there. It will probably just be the dogs swimming in the ocean but we may do some mullet hunting or something else productive like that. You never know what you'll get on the Texas coast!

All hail the baby whisperer

While Ross and I are anxiously anticipating this baby’s arrival, I think it’s safe to say that we’re completely oblivious as to how our lives are about to change. The late night feedings, the diaper changes, the instant responsibility of being a parent. I think that’s the part I’m having the hardest time imagining. Me, as a parent - scary! What do I know about disciplining a child?

All I can say is that I’m so thankful that Ross (the self proclaimed baby whisperer) will be there to help me out. He has so much more experience with kids than I do. Not to mention that his calm, laid back personality usually diffuses my high-stress, warp-speed approach to life.

My past interactions with kids have been rocky, at best. With Ross’s family alone, there was the time when I playfully tried to swipe a crisp twenty dollar bill from his 8 year old cousin’s hand only to have it rip down the middle. I’ll never forget the look on his little face. It was just a game…right? Not to Reece. The “look” was telling me that I’d just ripped his heart out and stomped it on the floor. Luckily Ross’s mom came to rescue, just as I was trying to convince Ross to turn over his 401K to the kid, she handed him a new $20. And while Beth was able to save the day, I will forever be known at the “money ripper”.

Then there was the time that I joined his cousin and niece outside for a game of catch. They were in the front yard tossing the football back and forth, so in my attempt to be “cool aunt Leia”, I asked to join. However, my first toss ended in tragedy when the ball smacked Ross’s niece right between the eyes. Ugh – I can’t win!

So while it’s already been established that I’m NOT an expert on kids, I’m happy to have Ross there to talk me off the ledge until I can find my own method of parenting. There’s no single way of being a good parent. I really believe that the key is to find that method that works best for you and go with it. The hard part will be tuning out the unsolicited advice of people who mean well, or the strangers in public who feel that they can teach you a thing or two. Ultimately, I know that I’ll need to believe in my abilities to be the best parent possible. After that the confidence will come.