Merry Christmas!

Santa came to see Will!!!

Look at all of those presents!

 

Our first Christmas as a family of 3

 

 

 

After checking out all of the cool things Santa brought, we loaded up the truck and made the journey to Augusta, GA to spend a few days with MawMaw and Papa.

It's about a 3.5-4 hour ride and Will did so great! Thankfully the car seat puts him to sleep, so he was snoozing most of the way down. When we finally arrived everyone was excited to meet Will (I've quickly learned that no one is no longer excited to see Joseph or I.. lol). Mawmaw out did herself and cooked up a fantastic supper for us. We ate, laughed, and enjoyed spending time with our family.

 

Here's Will and MawMaw (who is his great grandmother)

 

We headed back home on Friday and stopped to see Granny Mayo on our way back. Granny Mayo is Will's great great grandmother (that's right, 5 generations)!

 

 

Will and Granny Mayo

 

 



A Doctor's Visit Leads to a Hospital Stay

On Friday, December 13th Will had his newborn appointment with Dr. Gary Ray. Dr. Ray said that Will's skin looked really yellow and he had jaundice. Dr. Ray wanted to check his bilirubin level and see how high it was. The lab technician came in and pricked his foot to draw blood. Will didn't seem to mind the prick, but he did NOT like his foot being held down!

When we got the results back, Will's bilirubin level was 19.2. A normal level is around 11 or lower (Will's level was 10.5 when we left the hospital on Wednesday). Dr. Ray said this level was way too high and Will would need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment. At this point, this poor hormonal momma had to cry! I knew that jaundice was nothing to be too concerned about as long as it is treated, and I've known tons of people who have had jaundice (myself included). Nonetheless, I was upset that I just got my sweet baby home and now I've got to take him back to the hospital. :(

All I have to say is, thank God for wonderful nurses! We were so blessed to be surrounded by sweet ladies who took exceptional care of Will (and me, too)! Will had to have an IV and 3 nurses came in to help. One was rubbing his head to calm him and the other 2 were working together to get his IV.

Here's Will with his nurses

 

After they got him all squared away with his IV, it was time to go under the light. He could only wear a diaper and a mask over his eyes. He had to stay under the light at all times, with the exception to eat and change his diaper.

 

My poor baby under the UV light

 

Since Will was basically naked, we had to keep the room very warm so his body temperature could stay up (it had dropped down to 95 at one point)... and Joseph and I stayed sweaty the whole time, but I would gladly be a sweaty hot mess for the sake of my baby! 



Dr. Caballero was the doctor on call for the weekend, so he's who we got to see Saturday morning. He told us that Will's bilirubin had gone down to 12, but that he would rather us stay one more day since it was cloudy outside and we wouldn't be able to give Will much sun exposure to bring his level down just a smidge more. He left the decision up to us and, of course, we wanted to stay and make sure our boy was one hundred percent before we took him back home.

On Sunday afternoon Dr. Caballero came to let us know that Will's bilirubin was down to 9 and we could go home!!

A Birthday for One, A Day of Birth for the Other

December 9th has always been a day to celebrate since I started dating Joseph - it's his birthday. But this past year, the day was filled with excitement for more reasons than one.

We were scheduled to arrive at RMC in Anniston at 6:00 in the morning on Monday, December 9, 2013 to get ready to meet our little man. Joseph and I got up early (well, Joseph got up early... there was no need for me to "get up" because I didn't sleep that night), got ourselves ready, loaded up the truck, and made our way to the hospital. Of course, it would be our luck that the computers were down when we went in to be admitted so they couldn't get us checked in and get the process started until this problem was fixed... great :s But our sweet nurse went ahead and put us in our room and let us get comfy and settled in. We finally got the ball rolling around 8:00. They got all of our information, got me "hooked up," and started Pitocin by 8:30.

My contractions started pretty quickly, and while they were uncomfortable, they were tolerable. Dr. Moersch (who, by the way, is the absolute best ob/gyn in the world in my opinion) came in to check on my progress and break my water at 9:45. My nurse had warned me that my contractions would become more painful after my water had been broken, and boy, was she right! Shortly thereafter I decided I wanted my epidural! I will admit that I was a big baby and I am amazed at women who can give birth with no medication - you ladies truly are amazing!!!

So now we wait... and we wait... and we wait some more...

My momma, daddy, and brother got to the hospital around 11 to sit with us and anxiously wait on Will. The conversation helped the time go by faster, but time still seemed to crawl. Every time the nurse came in to check my progress I was hoping to hear "okay, it's time to push!" Instead, I heard "you've dilated a little more." This went on literally all day.

Joseph's momma came around 4 or 5 that evening to sit with us, too. I still hadn't made very much progress at this point, especially considering I had been in labor for 7 hours. Dr. Moersch came back to check on me after her clinic had closed. At 6:30 she told me that I had only dilated 4cm. She did not want my water to be broken for more than 12 hours, and since I had only dilated 4cm in 10 hours, she didn't feel I would dilate to 10cm in 3 hours. She asked me if I wanted to wait and see if I made more progress or if I wanted to go ahead and have a C-section.

Um, after not eating since midnight and waiting all day, I was more than ready to meet my sweet baby. I didn't hesitate in giving the okay to cut me open! ;)

Gampy, Molly, and Molly's boyfriend Eric arrived just in time! They got to our room as the nurses were getting ready to wheel me back for surgery.

Mom (aka, the photographer) snapped a few quick pictures before our lives changed forever!

The last picture as a family of 2

 

 

Joseph in his "hazmat suit"

At 7:01pm William Bradley Byars was born. He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.

 

 Love at first sight <3

 

 

 

 

 

Joseph kept telling me that he wanted a baby for his birthday, and that's exactly what he got. :)

We had lots of friends and family come to visit us and our boy while we were in the hospital, and we are so happy that they came by!

We got to take our boy home on Wednesday, December 11th.

Let's hit the road, Jack!

We Are Who We Are

So who are two guys, a girl, and one big dog?
Allow me to introduce you!

Guy number one: Joseph

This handsome fella is my wonderful husband. We met in high school, started dating in 2007, got engaged in 2009, and finally married in July of 2012. I don't think I could handle life without him.

Guy number two: Will

This sweet boy is the best thing to ever happen to me and his daddy. I always thought Joseph had stolen my heart, that is until December 9, 2013, when I first laid eyes on the most beautiful baby God has ever created.

The girl: Katie (that would be me!)

As you can see, I am the wife and mommy to two of the best looking men on the planet ;)

And last, but certainly not least, the big dog: Gus

This big guy is a full blooded Great Dane, and he is the sweetest, kindest, goofiest, big baby you will ever meet. I am so glad I get to be his doggie mommy!

Well, that's us! Put us all together and we're the Byars family!