Sweet Jack is finally here...

Jackson McCullough Hale

Born: Monday, April 16, 2007

@ 9:52 am

Weight: 6 lbs. 7 oz.

Length: 19 inches

Thank you for you well wishes! We're adjusting to life, small spurts of sleep, setting boundaries w/ a VERY eager big sister who is MORE than willing to help out, and learning what life is like as a family of 4. Life is good, Jack is healthy, Hadlee is ecstatic, Mommy is enjoying life via perscriptions and Daddy is mowing the yard while both babies nap.

T minus 44 hours and counting...

We check in to the hospital on Monday morning around 7:00. Dr. M said that Jackson would be out, cleaned and ready to love on by 10:00. Funny, on Thursday that was a comforting thought. Today, it's a bit overwhelming! I'm trying to spend as much one-on-one, quality time w/ Hadlee as is humanly possible before I'm away and she's being schlepped around by "Amma" and "Tita" while her Daddy and I try to get over a surgery and welcome our son. Heavy, heavy thoughts...

Sooooo, in other news... Brandon closed on his first property Thursday afternoon! Yea, honey!!! We're so proud of you and the family you represented ~ it was great getting to live vicariously through them as they purchased their first home. You are an incredible, caring and honest man and we are all blessed to have you in our lives. I love you.

My hands are shaking and my palms are sweating... I'm really nervous about things. Having time to think about them during the baby's nap time isn't really fun. So I'm gonna end here and look at your lives and try to forget the whole "life changing thing" for a few minutes. Please keep us in your prayers! I'll attempt to post pictures late next week, not sure how long we'll be in the hospital (hoping to leave Wed. and counting on it Thur.).

Tootles and blessings,
Signed: Overwhelmed (very incredibly near) future mother of two under two.

Bring on the old wives' tails (tales? I know it's not tells....)! Can you tell my brain cells are incredibly depleted?

I am SOOOO stinkin' ready to have Jack here in person. TWICE we've been to the hospital and TWICE they've sent us home (at 4:30 and 5:00 in the AM. Seriously, you can't let us sleep until 7:00?). I'm researching ways to induce labor, but have yet to find any new info. Tomorrow B and I are going to Carabba's to eat egg plant parmesan. Today I've had a boat load of chocolate and caffeine and well... I really have zero desire to drink caster oil. Come on fellow bloggies ~ share your ideas and let me know what's worked for you, other wise I'm miserable unitl 7:00 next Monday morning!

In Hadlee medical news.... all is clear and she's doing well. She's finally sleeping and eating regular meals. Hearing her ask for specific foods is wonderful. Unfortunately the antibiotics are having an awful effect on her tummy which is causing a horrid diaper rash, but we can deal w/ that any day over seizures and a catatonic baby! The doc called today and said her urine culture was completely clear. We don't know what the source of the infection was, but thank the good Lord above it is completely gone!

Terrified beyond belief

Last night was a horrowing experience that I pray we never have to live through ever again. Hadlee has been teething for going on three weeks. When she teeths she cuts a minimum of 4 teeth, sometimes gets an ear infection and always runs a fever, and it lasts for what seems to be ever! I was in the Boro at an Arbonne training and got a text from B asking me to call him. HAH wasn't feeling well when I left, slight fever, but doing ok. When I talked to him he was concerned and on his way to my parents w/ her ~ temp 99, snoring w/ eyes open, in and out of it and then sleeping very soundly. I told him not to worry, everything sounded normal, she'd had a rough day, etc. Fast forward to 12:41am. We're all sleeping after the tornadic winds and storms came through (all's well 'cept for one little magnolia). I'm in bed w/ all of my pillows (6 to be exact) and B and HAH are in the living room on the couch and big chair / ottoman. I hear Hadlee making a choking type noise and ask B if she's ok. We both race to her and she's having a febrile seizure ~ complete convulsions, eyes rolled back into head, no color, non responsive, fever (102.7) ~ SCARRY. It's litterally the most freightening thing we've ever seen in our short time as a family. I call 911 while he dresses to see what we should do. The operator is doing her best to calm me down and get me to make the decision to either wait for an ambulance or for us to take her to the hospital... HELLO! I'm 28 years old, 37 weeks pregnant and my 19 month old is having seizures, white as a ghost, and completely unresponsive ~ can you PLEASE make the decision for me???? We get in the Expedition and head off, closest hospital is 5 miles away... not the best care, but still, it's a hospital. B is actually DOING THE SPEED LIMIT!! GO FASTER! I call my parents (did I tell you I'd been having regular contractions for several hours and that Jack's bag is packed? They finally stopped around 4:30 this morning.) who come and pray, sing, and help pacify Hadlee.
We are all there for a little less than 3 hours. It takes Hadlee a while to respond to anything... finally they do a Tylenol enema and that makes her cry.... THANK YOU LORD!!! MY BABY IS CRYING! They do numerous tests, x-rays, poking, prodding, and give an overall thorough exam. Doc says it's an ear infection and gives her a shot and anitbiotic and we go home. Follow up w/ pediatrition this morning who does much more testing... including a cathetor ~ not Hadlee's favorite thing and gives us more statistics than we ever imagined. He was great. HAH does NOT have an ear infection, but white counts are high, must follow up on Friday morning. Give us a NEW antibiotic and tells us to throw the other one away and to keep a close eye on her and to treat fever immediately w/ meds. (I'm just not sure I could do the Tyelnol enem thing. )Turns out B and his mom both had seizures as well and it's definitely an inherited gene. She has a 33% chance of having another one. They are not know to cause any brain damage or affect children in any developmental way and will stop sometime b/t the ages of 5 and 7.
All the clothes an objects that entered the hospital have been through the washer or diswasher and HAH is playing downstairs w/ her Daddy. We've all had a rough day and are trying to re-coup. Keep us in your prayers!

ThE eNd Is NeAr!

Jackson will be here is just under 13 days. Monday, April 16 around 7:45 a.m. I will NO LONGER BE PREGNANT... just a mother of two children under 20 months. Ain't no thang... right??!??!!!

The emotional roller coaster (along w/ losing brains cells everytime I blink) is alive and well. If I can actually go for more than 12 hours w/out crying it's fabulous!

My daughter is so stinkin' funny. Last week B was in some other state, oh wait, just Memphis (which for those of you who are not aware is directly above the geographical center point of Hell), and HAH slept through the night in her own big girl bed for the first time EVER!!!! (She's been in it since the week of Christmas). Mommy decided that sleeping was more than worthy of a strawberry sundae from Sonic and a trip to the park. My friend Tricia pulled up in front of us and decided to join in on the celebration. We were happily playing in Toddler Town when Hadlee looked over at the zip line where a few big kids were playing and of course asked "THE" question, "Momma, z'at?" My ever lowering braind cells could not put together the words "zip line" so I said, "I don't know Hadlee, it's just a play thing." and waved my hands at it. At this precise moment Hadlee gave me a Mae Anne look (chin down, eyebrows together, mouth in a slight pout, hands on hips, head cocked at a slight angle) and then ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!!!! What the heck??!?!?!?! This child is 19 months old ~ SERIOUSLY???? Tricia was just rolling. That CAN NOT be a learned behavior, it's definitely a genetically predisposed tick of some sort... at least that's what I'm telling myself, just to feel better. :)

Ok, nap time is coming to and end and my blatter is being used as a trampoline so I'll end here. Keep us in your prayers! I am supposed to stop taking my Terbuteline (the med that stops labour) on Thursday so JMH could be here earlier than expected... but that just isn't going to happen. Mommy has plans! :)