At Home with Chase

It has been almost 2 weeks since we have been home with Chase.  It is quite a lot to get used to. My mom and grandmother were here while I was in the hospital, then my mom stayed for another week to help me at home since I had surgery.  When she left, I just wanted to cry!  What was I going to do with a baby all day while Jason was at work?  When would I get to take a nap ever again?  What if I messed up?  These are all moments of freaking out that I had thinking of my mom leaving yesterday. 

Last night we had the baby by ourselves in the house for the first night.  It went pretty well.  Jason, with the advice of an older guy at work, came up with a plan.  He takes the baby till 1 am and then the rest of the night is mine since he has to work.  I sleep from 9-1 (if Chase's feeding schedule cooperates) and then I am up the rest of the night on and off.  We were doing well at first with him eating every 3-4 hours, but now he is getting bigger and bigger and wants to eat every 2 hours so that is hard for me since I am still so tired from the surgery.  I hear it takes like 6 weeks to get your full energy back.   Jason took off this week to stay home with me since I still can't drive.   That is so wonderful to have him here during the day.  Next week, I will be by myself all day so we will see how I adjust to that.  

You never fully realize until you have a baby how much you will love them and how much responsibility they are.  You just want to make them safe and warm all of the time. Jason and I both are totally changed people.  I already can't remember what we did before Chase was born. The things you used to do are not important anymore.  Then there is the knowing that they solely depend on you for everything.  When they cry and you don't know why, you feel so helpless.  Chase gets some pretty bad tummy aches at night or it appears that way.   I pray he does not have colic.  It does not last long, but he still has a lot of gas, or so I think.   Today we gave him his first real bath in his tub and he hated that as much as a diaper change.  It hurts you to see them cry, but from what I have heard, they get used to diaper changes and baths and end up really liking it.   He just does not like to be uncovered!  

I haven't had time to load more pictures onto the computer, but we will get some more up soon.  Chase is so cute and is changing everyday!  

Chase's Birthday

I went to the doctor on Tuesday, April 15th (Tax Day) and got a huge surprise!  I knew there was the possibility that I would be told that I would have to have Chase that day, but I never really thought it would happen.  I expected it would be sometime the next week when I was closer to term.   At the appointment, my BP was still elevated and my amniotic fluid was low so the doctor decided to send me to the hospital.  I called Jason, who was in the middle of giving achievement tests, and we met at home at were off to the hospital to have our little boy.  

I got to the hospital around noon and got checked in.  It was the nicest room for a hospital that I have ever seen.  I was taken to surgery for the c-section around 1:40 and Chase Payne Taylor was born at 2:17 pm.  He only weighed 4.8 lbs and was 16 inches long. 

 

 The high BP restricted his growth, but luckily, he was totally perfect with no problems at all.  I stayed in the hospital from Tuesday till Friday morning and actually am feeling really good from the surgery.  We took Chase to the doctor today and he had already gained back some weight and grown over an inch!  He will be out of premie clothes and into 0-3 size soon!  

He is such a blessing to us and we can't remember what life was like before him.  Jason is an excellent dad!  He is a diaper changing, swaddling champ!  He is a lot better at it than I am.   I am enjoying being a mom and learning all of the new things.  I will admit that sleep is not something any of us is getting much of.  He does sleep for 3-4 hours before we feed him again.   My mom has been here helping out.  My grandmother just went home.  Between the 2 of them, Jason and I have had to do very little!

Here are some pictures that were made of Chase by my friend Jennifer.  The one in the baseball glove is one of our favorites. This shows just how small he is!  Jason had the idea and made one at home and then Jennifer made a more professional one!  We just love how these turned out. 

 

  

Not Long Now!

The latest developments on Baby Chase are quite interesting.  First of all, he is breech so that means I have to have a C-section.  I can't decide if I am glad, excited, or scared to death.  I am day to day with the doctor at this point.  I have to go Tuesday and Friday this week, have ultrasounds at every visit, and she may decide either day for me to have Chase. Basically, we have to be set on "go" from this point forward.  My blood pressure is better, but now with the breech position, she does not want me to go into labor!  

My mom and grandmother came this weekend for a shower 

that Jason's sister and mom had for me at Wyndike Country Club.  It was a wonderful shower.  A lot of Jason's family and our friends came.  It was a beautiful afternoon. We got a lot of nice gifts and just enjoyed the day. 

Here is a picture of me and some of my friends. The only thing missing was Brandie, who now lives in North Carolina.  Parties are not the same without her there with me!  Carissa (second from left) is 29 weeks pregnant in this picture, but she looks a lot smaller than I do!  I am hugely swollen from the extra fluid from the high blood pressure.  No fun at all.  I hate all pictures of me right now!  

Since my mom was here all weekend, we took the time to get the nursery finished for the most part.  Mom did most all of the work while I sat and watched since I am not allowed to do much. We had to get some very small clothes ready for Chase since he will be about 3 weeks early and may not weigh but a little over 5 lbs.  I even went out to Dillard's and bought an adorable premie outfit for him to wear home from the hospital as a "just in case" outfit.  I was not supposed to be shopping, but I wanted to pick it out for him myself.  There are pictures of the nursery below.

   

Now all we have to do is wait on Chase to arrive and sleep in his little bed!  Notice the big bed is still in his room for me or Jason to lay in there with him when he is first learning to sleep in his bed.   Keeping the cats out of the room will be a challenge.  Callie thinks the changing table is her bed.  The newness will wear off and I am sure once we start changing Chase there, she will want nothing to do with it!  

That is about it for what is going on with us.  Jason is still coaching baseball every night and his team is doing really well.  He is excited about the baby and can't wait for him to get here to go to games with Daddy or watch TV with Daddy!  

Bed Rest :-(

I went to the doctor on Friday and was put on partial bed rest!  We still have 4 weeks to go so I was a little disappointed to have to take off work so soon.  I can basically go to dinner, go to church, or go anywhere that requires me to sit and go back home.   No work!  Most people would be thrilled at this prospect, but I have to use sick days for maternity so now I will not have many to carry over to next school year.  Oh well!  I have high blood pressure and in addition to the bed rest, they put me on medication too.  I have never had high blood pressure in my life so this is a little of a shock!  We go back to the doctor next Friday for a ultrasound ( I will post a picture) and hopefully we will get a lot more information about what the doctor is thinking.  

It has rained so much here that Jason has not gotten to play a lot of baseball.  His team is 12-1 right now so they are off to a good start.  The 1 is from a team from Canada who they beat the first game, but played mostly freshman the second game so they could get some playing time.  We are supposed to get more rain this week so scheduling around the rain has not been fun for him.   

Anyway, other than all of that we are great!  I will keep you posted on the blood pressure and due date!  I hope Chase comes way before May 5th!