Photo Shoot

I didn't want to post any of these pictures until I sent out Aubrey's birth announcements. Here are some newborn pictures that were taken in the hospital. Aubrey didn't wake up or cry for the first 3 days of her life until this photographer came in. She decided during the photo shoot to wake up, move around non stop, and cry. So... we only got a few that were decent.

This is the one I used for the announcement. Love those sweet cheeks.



Love it in black and white too. We had a big print made of this one to frame.

 

 

 

I set up my own photo shoot to try to get some good shots with all three girls. All three of them were actually pretty cooperative. I got some pretty good ones. Just wish I was a better photographer.

 

 





 

 

 

 

 





The Arrival of Aubrey James Wyatt

Aubrey made her appearance on December 17th, 2012 at 10:08am. She weighed 8lbs. 10oz and was 20 inches long. The delivery was so smooth and a really great experience. At the time, I was SO nervous and anxious that I didn't think it was that great, but in retrospect it was pretty awesome. Ben and I left for the hospital early that Monday morning. Both sets of grandparents were here at the house to help with Ava and Macy. They got them dressed in their "Big Sister" outfits, took them to school, and then headed up to the hospital to wait for the arrival of their newest granddaughter. I didn't know how long I would be in recovery and how long it would be before Ava and Macy would actually get to see Aubrey, so I thought it would be better for them to go to school that morning to keep them busy. That worked out well because it let the grandparents meet her first and let me get settled in my room before they came up to see her. Anyway, when Ben and I got to the hospital, we had to wait for about 30 minutes in the waiting room which was not good for my nerves! Once we went back to the prep room things moved really fast though. The nurse started my IV, took some labs, asked a million questions, and got me ready for the surgery. Different doctors and nurses were in and out of the prep room for a while and the next thing I know, they are ready to take me down to the OR. I remember thinking, "It's already time to go? I don't think I'm ready!" When we got to the OR, it was just as scary looking as the first time I had a c-section. I know millions of people have surgery every day but walking (yes, I had to walk from the prep room to the OR wearing nothing but a hospital gown) into an operating room is SO frightening. It's so bright and white and intimidating. Anyway, they gave me my epidural and spinal block which worked this time!! (It did not work with the girls.) It was so nice to have Ben in there with me this time. He had said that he wasn't sure he was going to be able to watch the c-section but he ended up watching the whole thing. It seemed like it took forever but they finally got her out and this is what I heard, "Whoa! She's a big baby!," "Look at those cheeks!," "Where were you hiding her?" This was all before I actually got to see her so I was picturing this monster baby. Then they showed her to me, and she was really big but probably not as big as I was picturing in my head. They took her over to get her cleaned up and then brought her to me so I could meet her. It was a very sweet moment and all of my anxiety was gone once I got to hold her and really look at her and see that she was here safe and sound. A few things I remember thinking when I saw her were how crazy long her fingernails were and how big her cheeks were. Also, she came out sucking on her fingers which was funny to me that she could get her hands to her mouth and suck on them even though she was only about 10 minutes old! Once they got me all stitched up, we went to recovery. Recovery was a bit stressful because her blood sugar was a little low so they wanted her to eat immediately. Since I am nursing, I was feeling a lot of pressure to get her to eat right away. Even though it took a while, she was hungry and was able to eat and bring her blood sugar up. Mom came back to recovery during all that to meet her. The other grandparents stayed in the waiting room b/c I was practically naked trying to feed her. After a couple of hours, they put me in my room and everyone was able to come in and meet her. After getting a little bit of time with her, Ben's parents went to get the girls at school. The girls were really excited to meet her and hold her. Macy was totally freaked out by me being in the hospital bed with an IV. It was really sad, because you could tell she was worried about me. I kept telling her that I was fine and that the IV was just giving me water but she still wouldn't even come near me. Because it was all kind of a blur, I asked the girls the other day what they thought about Aubrey when they saw her for the very first time. Ava said, "I thought she had crazy hair. I didn't like her hair." Okay... not the sweet, heartfelt reaction I was expecting. Macy said, "I thought she was cute." That's better.

Aubrey, Ben, and I spent 3 nights in the hospital. The hospital was amazing! Everyone was so friendly and took such good care of us. They do a "celebration dinner" for the parents of newborns on the last night in the hospital. It was steak and lobster and it was delicious! In fact, all of the food was really yummy....not regular hospital food at all and Ben got a tray every time I did. Ben's parents stayed with the girls while we were there. They brought them up every day to see us. I know it was a hard week for Ava and Macy because things were changing and Ben and I weren't at home, but Grammy and Pawpaw stepped in and did an excellent job of taking care of them and keeping things as normal as possible for them. We came home from the hospital the Thursday before Christmas and I have to say that we are 3 weeks in and so far life has not been THAT crazy. Mom was here until last Wednesday, Ben has been home from work a lot, and Aubrey is a really good baby (thank you Jesus!) so it has been totally manageable. Things might get crazier, but for now, we are doing just fine. I will post more about Christmas and life with Aubrey during her first few weeks soon. Here are some pictures from Aubrey's birth day.

One Last Pregnancy Post

The countdown has begun. One more week until Aubrey James Wyatt makes her appearance. We are so ready to meet her. I am very glad to report that she has shifted and moved off of my sciatic nerve! Thank the Lord. I really needed to be able to walk these last couple of weeks so that I could finish up work, the nursery, and my Christmas shopping. Now that she has moved, I am feeling good and ready to tackle my to-do list. My maternity leave officially started today! (woohoo!!) We finished up the nursery yesterday, so now I just have to finish up a few Christmas errands, pack the bag for the hospital and we'll be ready to go! I went to the doctor this morning and I am not dilated at all so unless something crazy happens, there is no way she is coming early. The plan is still Monday the 17th at 9:30 am!

Here are some pictures of the nursery. I'm really happy with it. It's simple, feminine, and calming. Exactly what I wanted for her!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls "helping" me in Aubrey's room. I'm not sure playing with baby toys and covering yourself in baby blankets qualifies as helping.

 

 



Since this is my last Aubrey post before she is born, I need to give a shout out to the amazing girls that I work with that gave me 2 showers and a "last day of work" party. My school is an Early Childhood School for kids ages 3 to 5. Most of the kids are there because they have special needs and 99% of them get speech therapy, so I work with a team of 15 speech pathologists just at my school. All of the girls are so sweet and we all get along so well. The "speech team" threw me a shower after work one Friday afternoon with lots of yummy food and gifts for Aubrey. I even had a friend from last year that doesn't work at ECS anymore come to the party to help me celebrate. So special! Then, we had a shower with the whole school. The school is really big, so they do one shower in the fall and one in the spring to celebrate babies and weddings. The shower was for myself and two other girls having babies. The shower was put on by the party committee at school but my "speech team" girls still had to help out by making food and helping with decorations. Then, as if that isn't enough, they surprised me with a little farewell party (with cheesecake!) on my last day before maternity leave. It meant so much to me! I feel so blessed to work with such thoughtful, generous girls. I don't have any pictures to prove that these things actually happened but I promise they did!! 

 

 

And finally, I really can't believe I am going to do this but here are some pics of my growing belly. I HATE pregnancy pictures (of myself... other people's are okay). I think they are awkward, especially these because I took them myself and because I purposely cut off my head. And I am enormous, so why would I want to take pictures of that?!?! But... I know that one day Aubrey will want to see what I looked like pregnant with her, so I did take a few throughout pregnancy. And since I do this blog for family that we don't get to see very often, I am posting these terribly embarrassing pictures:

 

 

 

21 weeks

 

23 weeks

28 weeks (Macy took this picture for me)

 

34 weeks

 

38 weeks. I might be in denial but I really feel like I look bigger in this picture than I actually am. And Ben looks so dang skinny. He's lost like 20 pounds since I've been pregnant. That's just wrong.