Happy Birthday Jackson!

He's here!!! Jackson Davis Liggett is here {!!!} and I am already so in love!  He decided to make his big debut on January 25th at 7:59 in the evening -- more than 3 weeks early!  He weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 21 inches long, which is a pretty good size since he is technically considered a preemie.  He is perfectly healthy though, which is SUCH a blessing, and we are now home and doing well.

That's the short version of the story, but for those of you who want all the details...  It all started early Friday morning at about 3 o'clock when I woke up to go to the restroom.  The bathroom trip was really nothing out of the ordinary at that point in my pregnancy, but I did notice that I was cramping a little bit, which was definitely something different.  It made me a little nervous that I might actually be going into labor soon, so what did I do?  I put a load of laundry in the washing machine.  Haha -- yes, really.  I had originally planned to wash the pajamas that my mom had bought me later that weekend so that I could pack my bag but figured that I should probably throw them in just in case and then went back to bed.  I'm not really sure if I ever fell back asleep, but when Ben woke up, I asked him to put the clothes in the dryer so that I could lie there just a little longer.  I didn't want to freak him out, so when he asked why I had done a load of laundry in the middle of the night, I told him it was a long story and that I'd explain later.  He insisted that I tell him why though, and after I told him what was going on, I decided to go ahead and get up early and headed to work to get things wrapped up there.  I did have Ben snap these pictures before we left the house though because I realized that I hadn't taken my 36-week pictures yet and had a feeling that I was quickly running out of time to do so.

I called my doctor as soon as the office opened and left a message for a nurse to call me back.  I didn't hear anything for a couple of hours though, so when Ben emailed me to ask if I had heard anything, I responded: "Nothing yet.  Must not be urgent.  I'll call you."  The nurse finally called me back at about 10 o'clock that morning and suggested that I go ahead and come in.  They didn't think that I was in labor but just wanted to make sure since we were going into the weekend.  I headed up there but asked Ben to hold off in hopes that it was just "false labor".  When I got there, they hooked me up to the contraction monitor...

...and quickly determined that what I was feeling were in fact contractions.  They had me drink lots of water because they wanted to see more fluctuations in the baby's heart rate to make sure everything was okay with him, and thankfully, everything was.  Ben kept texting and calling to see if he should come up there, and I kept asking the nurse, but she told me to wait to see what the doctor wanted to do.  When the doctor got there, he determined that in addition to the contractions that I was also 4 centimeters dilated.  As he put it: "Yep.  You are definitely in labor."  He wanted to go ahead and admit me right then, but I had already explained to the nurse {in detail, of course} how I wasn't quite ready and that I didn't even have a bag, so thankfully she talked him into letting me go home to get my bags {and my husband} in order to be back at the hospital by 2:00.  On my way home, I called my mom, dad, and Holly to tell them what was going on.  Emotionally, I was doing fine until my mom asked how I was feeling -- haha.  I immediately started to ball and said, "I'm really stressed.  I'm just not ready.  He doesn't even have any clothes."  The truth is -- he did have clothes, but I just hadn't washed any of them yet.  They were sitting in bags in my car because I had actually planned to exchange a lot of them for larger sizes since we were having such a big baby later that afternoon after I got off work.  Thankfully, my mom {being the amazing mom that she is} offered to come get the clothes, exchange them for bigger sizes, and then wash all of them so that they'd be ready for him when we got home.  Looking back on it, it seems silly, but it really was exactly what I needed.  Ben was home when I got there, and he and Jason were in the process of installing the car seat when I pulled up.  While waiting for me to get home, Ben had also tried to tidy up the nursery a little bit so that we wouldn't be greeted by this disaster when we got  home from the hospital with our new baby.  Crazy, huh?

While I packed my bag, Ben made me lunch and then went to take a quick shower.  I was sitting at the kitchen table eating my grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of ramen {one of mine and Ben's favorite meals} when my contractions started to intensify, and then I felt a little "pop" in my belly.  It was about 1 o'clock at that point.  I got up and headed to the bedroom to tell Ben to hurry, and as soon as I got there, my water broke.  We both looked at the each other with big eyes knowing that it was definitely "go time".  We grabbed our things and called the hospital to let them know that we were on our way.  It took us about 30 minutes to get to the hospital, and on the way there, I used my phone to time my contractions.  The fact that they were less than 2 minutes apart worried me a little that it might be too late to get an epidural since the doctor had told us at our 36-week appointment that he wanted me coming in when my contractions were 7-8 minutes apart {instead of the normal 5 minutes} since I was already 2 centimeters dilated and he was so low.  The contractions were also pretty painful, which made Ben nervous, so in addition to his speeding, he also made jokes the whole drive there.  Needless to say, I wasn't laughing. ;)  We got to the hospital, and after following two very large ladies with canes into the elevator and then down the hall {apparently they didn't know I was in labor and in a hurry!}, we got checked in.  Apparently Ben was just a little nervous/overwhelmed. ;)

I was more excited than nervous.  At that point, I had decided that there was no sense in dwelling on the fact that things weren't going as planned and was ready to go.

Thankfully, the two nurses that got me checked in and took all of my information were quick and efficient.  One of them gave the other one a hard time about the way that she was firing off the questions, but I liked it.  I was in a hurry, too -- in a hurry to get the epidural, in a hurry to get the pain over with, and in a hurry to get this baby out of me.  Not long after we got there, I told them that I was going to want an epidural.  They asked if I was sure {and I was!} and that if so that we would need to do it right away.  They got my IV started and paged the anesthesiologist.  In the meantime, they also checked me and determined that I was 6-8 centimeters dilated.  Things were definitely moving along quickly! The contractions that I had before I got the epidural were definitely the most painful part of the entire experience, but thankfully the nurses {and Ben} helped me breathe through them, and Ben also let me squeeze on his hand so hard that he thought his fingers might fall off. ;)

Unfortunately, things were suddenly put somewhat on hold when the nurses realized that the results were not back yet from the Group B Strep test that I had taken two days prior at my 36-week appointment.  Because we didn't know whether I had tested positive or not, they had to go ahead and give me the antibiotics through my IV just in case.  They said that it would take four hours for the antibiotics to work through my system and that our goal was to not have a baby before those four hours were up because otherwise he would have to go to the NICU to be on antibiotics himself once he was born.  Therefore, even though I was dilated to 10 centimeters shortly after receiving my epidural, we had to just hang out for a little bit.

Thankfully, I wasn't in any pain at that point, so a few people from the waiting room came in to say "hi".

So excited that her baby is having a baby :)

  Kaitlin, Aunt Kim, & Mary Catherine

So ready to be Aunt Holly

A shot of everyone in the waiting room not long before Jackson was born -- Jason, Debbie, my dad, Patty, Uncle Jack, Steve, Josh, Aunt Lisa, Cheryl, Prissy, Nelson, my mom, Abby, Kyle, Kayden, Aunt Kim, Holly, Valerie.  We really are so blessed with such a wonderful and such good friends!

A little after 7 o'clock, Hallie {my labor and delivery nurse} decided it was time for me to start pushing.  I really wasn't sure what to expect, but Hallie was so good at walking me through everything.  My contractions were still about 2 minutes apart, but with the epidural, I couldn't feel them at all.  Because I needed to know when I was having a contraction in order to push, Hallie had me put my hands on my stomach and wait for it tighten.  I pushed three times during each contraction, which was tough work!  Thankfully, I only had to push for about 40 minutes though before Jackson Davis Liggett was born.  He was covered in white stuff {apparently vernix is heavier on preemies}, but even still, it was love at first sight.  

My eyes filled with tears the second that I saw him.  I couldn't believe he was mine.  It was all so surreal.

 Me & my son {how weird is that?}

With my nurse Hallie & Dr. Allison Anderson

 Our first picture as a family of 3

The pictures that Ben sent to everyone eagerly waiting out in the waiting room...

After a little bit of family time, Jackson and Ben headed to the nursery.  Everybody in the waiting room was anxious to see him, so they headed that way, too -- except for Holly who came to see me.  Unfortunately, my nurse Hallie had not yet had chance to clean things up, so in addition to seeing me, Holly also got to see my placenta and everything else on the table -- haha.  After eating a turkey wrap and some fruit {I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating}, we loaded up all of my stuff, and Hallie wheeled me over to my postpartum room.  On the way there, we talked about how well everything went {as crazy as it might sound, running a half marathon was harder for me than having a baby was} and how glad I was that I was only in labor for 7 hours {from the time that my water broke to the time that he was born}.  She commented that some women are just made to have babies and that apparently I'm one of them.  She also said that she thought I could easily have my next baby naturally {a.k.a. without the epidural} if I wanted to.  Hmmm....thanks but no thanks. ;) Meanwhile, over in the nursery, Jackson was having all sorts of test run on him while Ben took pictures.  Blood sugar, oxygen, head to toe assessment -- everything looked great!

They also gave him a bath, which he hated.  My mom said that he was the only baby that you could hear screaming through the glass, and he was on the opposite end of the nursery.

He calmed down as soon as it was over though, and everything was great again as soon as he was dressed and swaddled.

Everybody came from the waiting room to my hospital room while we waited for Ben and Jackson to get back from the nursery.  We were all dying to see Jackson, but unfortunately, it took them quite awhile to make it back to our room.  Apparently there were over 50 babies born in that hospital on that day {there was a full moon that night}, and 17 of those babies were in the nursery at the same time he was.  There were so many babies that they had to call on one of the hospitals in Round Rock for back-up clothes and nurses, which is why Jackson is wearing a shirt on the top and a shirt on the bottom {instead of pants} in the picture above.  He looked like a little hobo, but he was definitely the cutest hobo that I'd ever seen. :)  Ben and Jackson finally made it back into our room a little after midnight {more than 4 hours after he'd been born}, and as the nurse wheeled him in, she said, "Here he is.  The future president of the United States."  You would have thought it was true with the way that the "paparazzi" flocked to him.

Again, it was love at first sight. :)

That night after everyone had left, it was just the 3 of us again.  Our tiny little family.  Ben and I were both tired but also so in awe of our precious little miracle.

My two favorite guys.

I remember thinking when I took this picture that I had never before been so happy in my entire life.

Jackson stayed in our room that night, and in the morning, Ben headed over to CVS to get his Tdap vaccine {yet another thing we hadn't gotten around to doing before he was born}.  Jackson and I kept each other company and texted this picture to Ben and told him that we missed him and to hurry back.

That day, so many people came up to hospital to see us and to meet Jackson.  We absolutely loved showing him off, and Abby even made the cutest wreath to hang on our door to welcome everybody.  She actually made the wreath for the baby shower that she, her mom, and Holly were supposed to be throwing us that weekend, but Jackson kinda threw a kink in those plans.  I was also supposed to have one the next weekend, too, but apparently Jackson thought that I'd had enough showers already. ;)

"Pops"

Abby

Uncle Josh

Audrey

Ralph & Kathy

Uncle Jack & Aunt Lisa

Maria, Kevin, & Molly

Norma & Aaron

Grace & Chris

"Mimi"

Aunt Kim

Uncle Nelson & Aunt Holly

Grandma

Four Generations

"Pops" and "Big Mama"

Aggie slippers & a pacifier -- a gift from Ben's parents

What did we all stare at before Jackson was born???

That night, it was just the 3 of us again.  

We watched a little bit of TV but mostly just spent the evening staring at this sweet face.

We had a few more visitors on Sunday, and again, we had so much fun showing him off.

Abel & Trish

Lori

"Mimi"

Our nurse had told us that we'd be discharged that day, but by the time Jackson finished up with the car seat test {a test that all preemies have to take} and we'd been released, it was already evening.

We loaded him up into his car seat...

...and left the comfort of the hospital and the medical staff to start this journey on our own.

Our trip home wasn't quite what I had imagined though.  It had been raining and was dark, and we had to stop by the drugstore on the way home to pick up my pain medicine.  Unfortunately, we didn't think about the fact that it was Sunday night, so the first two pharmacies that we went to were closed, but thankfully, the third one was still open.  We went through the drive-through, but unfortunately, the guy in front of us was taking forever, and Jackson started screaming.  He ended up screaming the entire way home from the pharmacy {about a 5 minute drive}, so by the time we got home, the last thing I was thinking about was a picture of the 3 of us in front of Jackson's first home.  Somewhat of a bummer, but oh well.

A few of my family were at our house when we got there.  Holly and Nelson had stayed with Annie and Amos while we were in the hospital and had a delicious fajita dinner on the table for us when we got there.  My dad, Patty, and Grandma were also there.  My dad had bought everything that was left on the baby registry, and Grandma had brought over the co-sleeper so that Jackson would have a place to sleep that night {she had originally planned to give it to me the day before at my shower}.

That night after everyone had left, we wrapped Jackson up in his swaddle blankets and laid him in his co-sleeper.  He looked so sweet and peaceful, but don't let him fool you -- that didn't last long. 

He quickly realized that hanging out in bed with us was way more fun -- haha.  

Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep our first night home, but that's okay.  He's totally worth it. :)