Delivery Day!! Tuesday, May 19, 2009

This will go down as the most exciting, longest, happiest days of our lives -- the day Collier Thomas Owen was born. A brief synopsis of the day: I had been having some trouble sleeping the previous few nights and this particular night I got up out of bed after my 4th trip to the bathroom and finally just decided to sleep on the couch. Around 3:30 a.m. I started feeling a little crampy but was still asleep and then felt a little pain in my side thinking it was just a gas pain ... so I tried to relieve the gas pain and I felt a little trickle -- I just thought, "oh great, now I'm resorting to peeing myself" .... ha .. no one tells you nor do any of these pregnancy books prepare you really for that part of pregnancy ;-) ... but the trickle led to a gush of water that just wouldn't stop ... so I rushed in to our room and flipped on the light and Glenn shot up and I said, "my water just broke" ... he went from a scowl to the biggest smile you've ever seen and he jumped in to action. He got up, got our bags, took the dog out, packed him a bag and I was still in our room trying to figure out how I was going to get dressed with my water STILL breaking ... very strange feeling I have to say. Finally I compromised and put some clothes on and we were out the door and at the hospital by 4:20 a.m. ... and that's where the loooooong day started. We called my Mom on the way to the hospital and she was able to change her already scheduled flight and she got on the early flight out of Corpus Christi and she was at the hospital by 1 pm -- I was so happy she could be there. Glenn's Mom got up and was at the hospital to be with us by 5:30 a.m. and she soldiered the long day with us too. We were so lucky to have both our Mom's there. I got my epidural at 6 a.m. and we sat and waited and labored until 7 pm that night when the doctors finally said it didn't look like he was going to drop far enough down and he had been trying to make it through the birth canal and in the process kept hitting his head on my pelvic bone causing an adema (sp??) -- a big fluid cone on his head -- they said we could wait a few more hours to see if I would dilate anymore (never dilated past 5 cm) but Glenn and I decided not to cause the baby any more distress ... so we decided at 7 pm to have c section and by 7:48 pm we were the proud parents of a happy, healthy baby boy -- our son Collier Thomas Owen. I can't even describe the emotions that just poured out of me when I heard that first little whimper and then the cry and then to see them whisk him over to the table to clean him up -- I just started balling ... and then they handed him to Glenn to hand to me. I never felt so happy in my life -- to be tehre with my two boys -- the start of our growing family. I just could not stop staring at him. After they let me hold him for about 5 minutes Glenn went with Collier to the nursery for the tests, weight and measured and his bath, etc while they finished with me and I went through recovery. So I didn't get to see him again until around 11:30 PM that night where I finally got to feed him around midnight ... what an amazing experience ... by that time I was soooo exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open to feed him. I don't think I have ever been that tired. At that point we had been going for over 21 hours from the time my water broke to feeding him.

Here I am waiting for the front desk to register a couple before us .. you notice they gave me a "pad" to sit on ;-) ... can you tell how uncomfy I was and how bloated my face looked .. that should have been my first sign he was about to come.

The epidural is in and Mom and Dad Owen get settled in for a long day of laboring ... Glenn was amazing and such a rock for me this day .... he just took control and I didn't have to worry about a thing.

After we decided to do the c section -- here we are with my Mom before Glenn and I went down to the operating room

Glenn had to "gear up" to be in the room with me .... Glenn was able to watch the whole delivery .. and got some miraculous and amazing pictures of the birth (I spared you all those -- but we will always treasure them ... let me kow if you want to see them and I'll send them to you upon request)

I can't believe Glenn caught this moment -- this is right after they delivered him and they were wiping him off ... and I was just so emotional and crying I was so happy ... I have never had a moment like that where it just poured out of me when I heard that cry.

The nurses hand Collier to Glenn to hand to me ... Glenn really wanted to cut the cord but they wouldn't let him bc of it being a "surgical procedure" ... so they him do the honor of handing his son to his Mom

Me and my little boy

One of my favorite pics -- our first official family picture

Final Weeks of Pregnancy - 35 weeks and 37.5 weeks

I obviously got a little behind on the posts but things got a little wild toward the end of the pregnancy trying to get things in order at home and at work ... and good thing we were on a roll of getting everything as done as possible bc as you know by now he arrived two weeks early. And what a blessing he has been so far. I wanted to post our last two sets of belly pictures -- these last weeks I really just expanded and was down to about 3 pair of pants that were even fairly comfortable (at least to be sitting at my desk at work in) ... Here is me and Collier at 35 weeks (April 28) and 37.5 weeks pregnant (May 13) .. and then he made his appearance to the world on May 19 ....

Here I am at 35 weeks pregnant (April 28) .. can you tell how much my tummy has expanded? Just you wait and see what how he grows in the next week and half!

35 weeks pregnant -- ON April 28

And just in about 2 1/2 weeks he's stilllll growing -- this is May 13 -- just 6 short days before Mr. Collier arrives.... good thing bc I'm not sure my skin would have stretched anymore ;-)

May 13 -- 37.5 weeks pregnant .... I was down to about 3 outfits that I could wear comfortably ;-)

Transformation of the Basement to the Office

You've seen the nursery ... and here is where we put all that cluttery office stuff ... in our brand new basement office. Glenn worked so so hard for a solid 2 months on this. He originally thought he would get it done "oh, in about two full weekends" ... ha. It required a lot more detail work than he was anticipating. Needless to say he was glad to finish this project. The nursery was a sinch. I was so ready for him to get to the nursery so I could start decorating and putting things away and organizing everything to get ready for the arrival of Baby Boy O. Here you go -- I think it looks amazing. I'll spare you all the "in between/ work in progress" photos -- but here are the Before and After.

The handy man himself! Hard at work.

Before picture

Before Picture

Before picture

Final results

Final results

Final results

Wallah! Final results!

Photos! Nursery and the ever growing Baby O belly ;-)

I can't believe how fast time has flown by bc I didn't realize it has been over a month since I last posted. The last belly pics I posted were at 29 1/2 weeks -- well, here are some more -- you can see Baby O is having a bit of a growth spurt. And I've also posted some of our basement and nursery transformations.

Here is the old office -- which is what soon you'll see becomes Baby O's nursery after a ton of hard work from Glenn

We've taken everything out and put in to our NEW downstairs basement office - and here is the interim work in progress

Ta Da .. all decorated and ready for Baby O to come home ... his bed is made and ready ... the theme is dogs/puppies. We love it

A lot more spacious and open than the cluttery office, huh?

The following pics are a bit backwards -- most recent belly pics first -- but you can still see the growth of Baby O

Wowza!! Here I am on 4/21/09-- at 34 weeks - just about 5 1/2 weeks to go

I am really starting to feel pregnant as you can tell -- this past week I have reallllly felt pregnant -- but overall still feeling great. I have been sooo lucky. This is same 4/21 (at 34 weeks)

My how fast 3 weeks has gone -- and how I've grown so fast in that 3 weeks -- this is on 3/28/09 at 31 weeks ... Mom was here this weekend for my baby shower so Glenn and I actually got to take a photo together (our first family photo ;-)) ...

Backwards -- AGAIN

this blogging thing confuses me -- my photos were supposed to come AFTER the story but you get it backwards ... so make sure to scroll down after all the photos bc the story for all the pics is below that ;-)

PHOTOS!! Preparations, Belly and 4D Ultrasound

Here is my very favorite photo -- Baby "O" was smiling -- hopefully this means he's going to be a happy baby. We had just said his name out loud and we think he liked it ;-)

He was feeling just like his mommy was -- tired and yawning!

He kept putting his hands up by his face like this. So cute. He was a fidgety little guy. But these 4D ultrasounds were just amazing.

Here's my cute and handsome handy man ... he just built a little shelf on the window down in the soon to be basement office

He was finally letting me take pictures of him working -- I told him we needed to have proof to show Baby O how hard he had to work to get ready for him ... he was putting trim up around the window

This is when he was NOT wanting me to take pictures. He had been working in the basement ALLLL day and he came upstairs and was about to put the stroller together .. this was all I got "fired" off before I was told to "stop"

Belly pics -- Feb 22 -- 26 weeks!

Yep, there's definitely a baby in there -- 26 weeks

March 18 -- 29 1/2 weeks -- oh shut up! Glenn was feeling left out on the belly pics --I think he's LOSING weight and trimming up as I balloon. He definitely is not gaining any sympathy weight.

March 18 - 29 1/2 weeks -- Belly pic #2 -- he gets no more pics after this -- you'll see why below.

March 19 - 29 1/2 weeks -- just tonight -- this is me -- this is one of the times when I didn't realize just how big my belly is getting until I saw these pics

We were about to go out to dinner with some friends -- and Glenn took these of me -- then we took his belly pics -- can I say I didn't really feel like eating much at dinner after seeing my belly against HIS belly - ha ha... but I am honestly really enjoying pregnancy so far. Aside from starting to have some hip pain and stiffness I've been feeling great.

29 1/2 weeks ... Busy, Busy, Busy Preparing ....

Here we are now just 10 1/2 weeks away from Baby "O" joining us. We can't wait. However, we are using every last day to get things ready. Glenn has been holed up in our basement almost every night after work and on the weekends -- the job was a little more intensive than his originally "oh, I can get it done in a couple weekends" plan: Framing out the walls, getting drywall put up, cleaning up the mess that the drywall installation created (not fun), painting, putting up trimwork, building shelves, painting, covering holes, putting up doors, more painting.. he has been working really hard. Hopefully in a couple more weeks he'll have it completed -- then he just has to move upstairs to start the nursery (but all we have to do is paint the room) and I'll get to decorate.

I've met with 2 pediatricians and really like both of them -- we just have to decide which one we want to pick. We THINK we have a day care lined up -- one with an opening at end of August/early September (bc my plan is to take 12 weeks of maternity leave). We've registered. I've been "nesting" -- as Glenn is insisting that is what I'm doing. However, I am just really doing some spring cleaning -- not sure it's nesting.

We've had a pretty crazy few weeks here with being a little halted by "unexpected" expenses and your every day life challenges that happen -- for us they seem to have happened all in one week. Bud ruptured his ACL in his hind leg and it got too bad to put off his surgery -- so in that same week of his surgery, we had to replace our heating/air conditioner unit, Glenn had a small wreck and smashed in the hood/headlight of his truck so we had to have that replaced, the heater went out in our rental house and the day Glenn went to pick up his truck from the body shop his old roommate Todd called and said the freezer/refrigerator went out (also in the rental house) so we had to buy a new fridge... yes, that was all in one week. All the while Glenn is trying to get our basement office finished -- I really did feel bad for him. But we just trudged forward and luckily planned far enough for ahead for all of it -- I guess good training for all the little "unexpected" expenses that come up with a child ;-) .. so we feel we're getting pretty good practice on that part of it.

For my birthday Glenn bought me a 4D Ultrasound package which we finally did yesterday at 29 1/2 weeks along ... we were amazed at the detail in the pics. We got to see him smile (when we told the technician what his name was). We think Baby O likes his name ;-) .. he yawned.. I just sat there totally in awe looking at the screen.

And to my belly --- it is definitely growing. I don't think I look all that different until Glenn takes the picture of me and then I see the photo -- yes, I'm definitely widening out and have the ever growing belly -- ha ha. (see pics below of the belly).... Baby O is really moving around a lot and we can see my tummy do little jumps every once in a while.

I think that's about all the updates I have for now -- we'll keep you posted!

Busy Weekend! (26 weeks)

Glenn and I enjoyed a busy weekend. Well, enjoyed in the fact that we are moving along in our preparations for Baby "O". The basement (soon to be office) is coming along nicely -- all the drywall is up and we're just waiting to finish that up and Glenn will get the trimwork done and the doors put up this weekend and then he'll paint and put the carpet down and we'll be able to move out of our office upstairs and get to work on decorating the nursery.

We went Saturday to register at Target and Babys R Us -- I thought after doing some good prep work with my Mom the weekend before it wouldn't take us long at all but we left the house at 2:30 and we got home and almost 8 pm. Oh my gosh, we got there and it just all converged on us and I was trying to remember what we had (socks, onesies in a couple different sizes, side snap shirts, booties, bottles, pacifiers... figuring out which diapers we wanted) ... soooo, needless to say it took us a little while. We went to Target first and we were both exhausted by the time we left there and still had to face Babys R US... we got in to the truck and both just sat there with our heads back and eyes closed before he even started the truck. I was never so tired in all of my life by the time we got home. Sunday morning I woke up and cooked us a nice breakfast and sat on the couch and went through the checklist and the registries to make sure we had the things we needed and I saw some things on there that I certainly don't remember registering for (Glenn was in charge of the scanner). There were "My Daddy Rocks" bibs, "I Love My Daddy" bibs, a Univ of Tennessee baby cap and an 18 month Tennessee tshirt (he wasn't paying attn that he had to look at the sizes) and Boudreux Butt wash. (he thought that was just funny to see on the registry). Anyway, no worries the butt wash will come off the registry and the 18 month tshirt ;-). I had to look through it bc towards the end we were both so exhausted I felt like we were just scanning random things and not really thinking it out. Come to find out I think we got what we were needing. Ha.

Well, we are getting really excited. Glenn is able to really feel Baby "O" kicking around now. And of course, I can too. He's a pretty active little guy. I got back to the doctor on Wednesday 25th where they'll take all of the bloodwork to test for gestational diabetes, etc. We scheduled a 4D Ultrasound for March 17 too.

I guess that is about all we have to report for now -- I have a 26 week belly photo that Glenn took last night. I'll get it posted tonight.

Love,
Dixie, Glenn and Baby "O"

Belly Photos - Finally!

Oct. 5, 2008 - 6 weeks (we've known only for one week that we're expecting!)

November 4, 2008 -- 10 weeks (still not really showing and still able to wear my clothes comfortably)

December 16, 2008 - 16 weeks -- 4 months! -- still wearing my clothes but getting a little snug ;-) using the ole rubber band trick and/or wearing Glenn's jeans.

Dec 16, 2008 - 16 weeks -- 4 months and starting to get a little pooch ...

Dec 29, 2008 - 18 weeks -- One more week until we find out if Baby O is a girl or a boy ... last minute opp to take a photo (hence I made sure my head was cut off - ha)

Dec 29, 2008 -- 18 weeks (ok, darn, now you see it was a last minute opp - right before going to bed!)

January 24, 2009 - 22 weeks -- I am definitely not wearing my own jeans anymore. Still wearing my own shirts, etc. But you can see a much rounder belly!

January 24, 2009 -- 22 weeks (pic #2) -- starting to tell I'm a little preggers -- but some ppl not quite sure if it's pregnancy or just that my rear is really growing (which it is! a little faster than my belly... but it's been fun seeing the confusion on some ppl's face if they haven't seen me in several months).. lol

I'll post more later ... as we're now at 22 weeks but Glenn has to take some more pics.

Love,

Dixie, Glenn and Baby "O"

Valentines Day Update

Well, we're moving along in to the pregnancy -- I'm at 25 full weeks now and everything is going well. Glenn has really gotten a lot done down in the basement. He and Dan framed up the walls where the office will go. It looks nice so far ;-) .... My Mom is here this weekend and she and I went out today to do the preshopping before the actual registering. So hopefully Glenn won't be so overwhelmed while I stand there and figure out what bottles or nipples to get. Ha ha. Mom and I had a great time at Babys R Us. We spent about an hour and half in there and I think I feel better, or at least a little more knowledgeable about what we really need. Glenn will still have to help figure out some stuff. I can't let him out of all the fun. But, while Mom and I were gone today he went to his own dream store (Lowe's) and got some more materials for building out the basement office -- and he surprised me by building a set of shelves in the new "built out" laundry room downstairs. I love having a handy man around. Plus, I love all his little surprises -- they always seem to make my anal organizing self so satisfied. He knew the mess and disorganization down there was driving me crazy. Well, ok, that's about all I have for now.. it's time for dinner. Glenn is cooking my Mom and me some of his famous lasagne!

Getting ready for Baby "O"

I am a little over 5 1/2 months along now (23 weeks) and so far everything is going really well. My tummy is just now really starting to "pooch" out there -- my butt grew faster than my belly so hopefully the belly will catch up so the rear view won't look so large - ha ha. Glenn and I are getting more and more excited everyday. Baby O is starting to really move around a lot more -- or at least I'm able to feel him better. He loves it when I eat bc he becomes pretty active after I eat and he gets pretty active around 7:30 - 8 pm .. of course, when Glenn and I are winding down after dinner and getting ready for bed ...

We have started to plan for the nursery. We are buying a piece of furniture here and there -- Glenn's sister Monica gave us her crib so that was nice to not have to buy. We did buy a dresser weekend before last and we shopped for a rocking chair/glider last weekend. We think we found one but we're going to wait a few weeks before we get that. Next weekend Glenn and his friend Dan are going to start building out the space in our basement for the new office bc we will be converting our current office in to the nursery.

For fun, last weekend, Glenn suggested we go to Baby's R Us just to look around -- we walked in and first thing Glenn said was "wow, this is huge." He mentioned I could start registering and then we started looking down the first aisle and he says "I'm getting a little overwhelmed." After we passed and looked at strollers, car seats, thermometers, changing pads, pacifiers, etc and then finally made it the other side of the store where the toys were (which he of course had to turn them all on and play with them) he said "we've got to get out here. I am overwhelmed. There is so much." Ha ha ha. I was a little overwhelmed myself but he was just funny. Needless to say we didn't start registering.

I have my 24 week doctor appt on MOnday -- a couple hours before I get on a plane for New York for one of my, hopefully, last business trips. I do have the ACM Awards in Las Vegas on April 5 and have a couple artists in Los Angeles on April 1 and 3 ... however, not really sure yet if I'll do that trip ...I'll be 32 weeks along and being 32 weeks along and in Las Vegas just doesn't seem really appealing. Ha Ha. So we will see about that.

It's been really fun since we found Baby O is a boy bc we have been able to plan ahead for one specific gender. I'm not sure if I'll ever get to see my baby or husband bc Glenn has so many plans for the two of them -- fishing, hiking, walking through the woods, you name it -- maybe they'll let me go on some of those adventures.

Speaking of Baby O -- many of you have asked if we have any names picked out yet -- we have actually decided to keep his name to ourselves until he's born. We'd like to have one big unveil on the big birth day and to have something for just Glenn and I until then.

That's about it for now -- I'll keep you all posted if anything new and exciting happens.

Love,
Dixie, Glenn and Baby O

Side Note re: Pics

PHOTOS ARE ALL AT THE VERY BOTTOM (Can't figure out how to get them WITH the post)

Finally ... some Photos

Sweet sweet Glenn worked for hours while I was in New York the past couple days on how to figure out how to grab these screen shots of the ultrasound video. He even sent me two on my cell phone while I was gone. Here's a few pictures of Baby "O" .... he's cute, huh? ;-)

Baby "O" is a BOY!

Well, Glenn and I had our doctor appt yesterday where we had the ultrasound that told us we were having a little boy! We went in and I personally thought they'd do the ultrasound to just tell us if it was a boy or girl.. but the technician started taking all the measurements and about 50 different photos in different angles and we both were just watching in amazement at how much the baby has grown -- we could see the arms, legs, nose, eyes and everytime she tried to get a picture of one angle he kept throwing his hands over his face (so cute and funny). I said he was acting just like his father -- not wanting to have his picture made. And he was just moving all around, kicking, throwing his arms around, etc. I can't really feel all of that just yet ... mostly when I feel it is right around midnight (for my 2nd time getting up to go pee). Which I'm hoping is not his routine of being a night owl. Glenn and I would not do well with a night owl -- ha ha. Anyway, we were in there for a while and finally when she was about finished she hadn't told us what it was. Glenn asked "so, for the big question. Is it a boy or a girl?" She replied, "Well, you didn't ask?" ... I was thinking I didn't realize we were supposed to (neither of us have ever done this before). She jostled him around a bit with the wand over my belly and finally was able to get the angle we needed to see it was a little boy. She even showed us a 4-D image of the baby -- which was just amazing. It was like he was right there -- like a little doll. We went back to my doctor for the followup and she read all the ultrasound results and said everything looks good, he is growing like he should, etc. I've gained 16 pounds in 5 months -- which my doc says is a good place to be -- I think it's a 2-3 pounds over what I'm supposed to be but hey, considering I thought I'd already be at 30 pounds I think I'm doing ok.... ha.

Glenn and I both did not care at all what we were having -- and I had seriously not thought about what it would be like to have one over the other bc our focus has been on just having a healthy baby. And I have not started showing too much -- so until now it just didn't seem real. But laying there watching it on the ultrasound and seeing him move around, his little heart beating and hearing that it was a boy just brought tears to my eyes -- I now really feel like I'm pregnant and Glenn and i both have enjoyed talking about what it's going to be like with a little boy. He'll have his little fishing buddy, his hiking through the woods buddy and I'll be the most important woman in his life ;-) hee hee ... and funny thing -- all of a sudden it feels like my tummy is really rounding out and starting to stick out...

We have decided to keep our name for him a secret --- we'd like to keep something for ourselves for now and we do want to have at least one big unveiling on the big day of birth.

The DVD of "pictures" they gave us is actually the movie of the ultrasound we were watching in the office -- so Glenn is trying to figure out how to take screen shots to get an actual picture so we can post. I promise to have some belly pics up soon (to show the growth) and some of our ultrasound photos.

Dixie, Glenn and "Baby O"