Jackson is 1 Week Old Today

Time is already going by too quickly. Its hard to believe Jackson's already one week old.  Hes so precious. Words cant describe how in love I am.

He had his one week visit at the Pediatrician today. The Dr. said hes doing great!!

Needless to say he didn't really like this. Hopefully he grows to like it a little more as the weeks go on. 

Jackson is here!!!

I am so happy to announce that Jackson was born October 20th at 2:59 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 12 ozs.and was 21 inches long. We are so in love with him.

Unfortunately, my labor and delivery didn't go as I had hoped. As you recall, my last post said we were going in to be induced on the 19th at 7 a.m. Well that is what we did, however, he was born 20 hours later by cesarean section. Nevertheless, it was all worth it and we are so thankful and blessed to have a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

I plan on sharing his birth story as soon as I have the time. He's keeping me very busy as I try and type this one handed. LOL. Here are a few pictures from his birthday.

Tomorrow is the BIG Day!!!

I'm so excited to tell you all that tomorrow we will be meeting our precious Jackson Thomas!!

I had my 39 week Dr. appt. yesterday and we discussed induction due to this PUPPS rash I have that has been driving me crazy. The rash started on my stomach about a week and a half to two weeks ago and has now spread to my hips and feet. The bad thing about it is, it will only go away after giving birth. She gave me two alternatives... we could try steroid shots to help with the itch until the baby is born, or go ahead and induce labor. Being as my due date is Thursday, I chose to go and ahead with an induction. So the Dr. said she was on call Wed. and we could set it up for that day.

So we will check in at the hospital tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., and will meet our sweet baby boy sometime later that day.

Its so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that Jackson will be here tomorrow. It was starting to feel like he was never going to get here. I have a whole range of emotions going on right now. Of course I'm so excited to be meeting Jackson tomorrow, and I can't wait to hold him in my arms for the first time. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Nervous about the labor and delivery and nervous about becoming a mom for the first time. I would guess that most, if not all, women go through these same emotions when they're about to have a baby. Thankfully, I know God will be there with me through it all, and the prayers and support of my family, friends and church family have been and will continue to be a blessing as Jake and I start this new chapter in our lives.

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog during this journey through pregnancy and I can't wait to share the next step as I journey through motherhood.

39 Weeks + Final Baby Bump Collage

Pregnancy Highlights

I'm really hoping this is the last week I have to take this picture.

How Far Along: 39 Weeks

Size of Baby: He weighs a bit over 7 lbs. now (the size of a mini watermelon) and measures about 20 inches long from head to heal.

Total Weight Gain: 38 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes, I'm still feeling him move around in there. Not quite as much as before as I'm pretty sure he's run out of room.

Food Cravings: Not really craving anything in particular.

What I miss: I miss a lot of things, like just feeling normal again. But its all worth it and at least I don't have much longer to go! :-)

Sleep: I've slept a little better the last couple nights, however, I think its because I've been sleeping on the couch and taking a benedryl before bed. The bed was just getting too uncomfortable for me with the dogs and Jake and having to get up so many times in the middle of the night. So I've been sleeping on the couch and that seems to be working out better. I've also been taking benedryl before bed because I have a rash on my stomach called PUPPS and it had been keeping me awake at night because it itches so bad.

Symptoms: This PUPPS rash on my stomach is so itchy and driving me CRAZY! My feet and hands are swelling too. :-( I also, occasionally, have a stabbing pain in my pelvis, which the Dr. said is just the pelvis widening to get ready for childbirth. I'm also having some Braxton Hicks Contractions occasionally and a little bit of cramping.

Best Moment this week: There are a couple... First, my baby nephew Mason was born on Saturday. He's so sweet and cute.

Second, I found out at my Dr. appt. this past Monday that I was 2 c.m. dilated and 50 % effaced. She also said he had moved down and she expected him to be here very soon. She said if he wasn't here by my next appt. on the 17th, that we'd talk about scheduling an induction date for after my due date.


What I am looking forward to: Meeting baby Jackson in just 1 (+/-) more week. I can't believe we're so close to meeting him. Come on Jackson, Mommy can't wait to meet you!!


 And just for fun, here's a collage of all of my baby bump pictures throughout this pregnancy!

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

I thought since Jackson will be here soon and we'll be wanting to take LOTS of pictures of him, I would make this post about super cute baby photos I'd like to try once our little J.T. is here. I found all of these on Pinterest, which is so helpful.

I thought this would be super cute since he'll be born in October.

I just love this picture, with the baby's hands in the shape of a heart.

So sweet!

Love this.

So soft and sweet.

My mom actually bought the pattern for this little turtle photo prop and made it for Jackson. Can't wait to take this picture.

My mom also got a pattern for a football hat similar to this one, only the one she made has red and yellow strings that hang down over the ears. The yellow and red is for the KC Chiefs and I want to take this picture with his little hat and a KC Chiefs football my husband has.

My new baby nephew is here....

My sweet baby nephew arrived this past Saturday, October 8th, 2011 weighing 7lbs. 13oz. and measuring 18 1/2 inches long. Mason is so sweet and adorable. Here are just a few pictures of him from my sister's facebook page until I have time to unload my camera's memory stick.

Baby Shower at Work

Last Tuesday, my co-workers through me a fun little baby shower!! It was so cute and so sweet of them. They all pitched in and got me a gift card to Target to spend on the baby. I was able to get a pack n play for him with the gift card. Here are some picture from the shower.

Jackson's Nursery

Jackson's room is finally finished!!!

But first, the before:

This is what the room looked like when the previous owners lived there. They had a son and daughter and this was their son's room.

When we moved in, we didn't have any children. So we made the room our spare bedroom, which looked like this.



Now I'm so excited to have transformed this room into a sweet and fun nursery for our baby Jackson!

Jackson's crib and changing table.

Jackson's crib. The white blanket was a gift from my aunt Lisa and her 3 girls. Another of my aunt's has an embroidering machine, so she embroidered Jackson's name on it. It turned out super cute and is really soft!

Close up of his name. The letters were sold separately at Hobby Lobby and were already painted white. I just used mod podge, scrapbook paper, some ribbon and my cricut to decorate them.

Inside of the crib. 

A close up of his crib/changing table.

The quilt/comforter that came with his bedding set. 

I took this picture from the door of his room.

Glider and side table. 

Glider. The blanket hanging on the back of it was a gift my mom made for Jackson.

Close up of pom poms I made that hang over the glider.

Wall canvas' hanging over his dresser that match his bedding set.

Turtle night light, frame with his sonogram and one of our maternity pictures in it, my pregnancy album and his binky jar all sitting on top of his dresser. 

Clock I bought and decorated to match his room.

38 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 38 Weeks

Size of Baby: He weighs around 6.8 lbs. now and measures over 19 1/2 inches long from head to heal, (like a leek).

Total Weight Gain: 38 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes, and I'm even growing out of most of the maternity clothes I have! I will be so happy to wear regular clothes again.

Gender: Its a BOY!! Jackson Thomas Smith

Movement: Yes!! He is still moving quite a bit, even though he's running out of room.

Food Cravings: Not really craving anything in particular.

What I miss: I miss a lot of things, like just feeling normal again. But its all worth it and at least I don't have much longer to go! :-)

Sleep: Not sleeping well at all. I guess I should get used to it though. Its probably my body getting me ready for motherhood.

Symptoms: Feeling REALLY tired lately and just down right uncomfortable. My feet and hands are swelling now too. :-( I also, occasionally, have a stabbing pain in my pelvis, which the Dr. said is just the pelvis widening to get ready for childbirth. I'm also have some Braxton Hicks Contractions occasionally and a little bit of cramping.

Best Moment this week: Finding out my sister is going to be induced to have Mason on Saturday, Oct. 8th. I'm so excited to be an aunt again in just 2 short days!!!

What I am looking forward to: Meeting my new baby nephew on Saturday and getting to meet baby Jackson in just 2 +/- more weeks.