Noah's Letters

Since we thought that Grant was arriving early last week we quickly wrote his welcome letters and I didn't get to post Noah's welcome letters.  Grant is arriving tomorrow (!) and I am trying to get everything completed before our little bundle arrives at 7:30 tomorrow AM.  Here are Noah's letters that we wrote almost three years and one month ago to our first little bundle of joy. Hopefully, I will have time tonight to post pictures of Grant and Noah's new rooms and bathroom and some final thoughts.  

July 17, 2008

Dear Noah,

This is your dad!  Today is Thursday, and it’s already been quite a week.  On Tuesday, I took my State Nursing Boards and passed!  On Wednesday, mommy worked her last day at Liesch Southwest; she’s retiring to stay home with you full-time!  I gotta say, that sounds like the best job in the world.  We’re supposed to meet you in two days, but just now your mommy was in the pool and felt like she was having contractions.  That’s a fancy way of saying that you might be coming along early.  We timed the contractions and they were coming 15 minutes apart, but your crazy mommy wanted to go run errands around town!  We went and returned the two movies we saw last night (Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp and Dan In Real Life with Steve Carell).  Then we went and put gas in the Santa Fe, and I got mommy a Coke flavored Icee drink.  Right now we’re sitting in the study, and she is having another contraction!

We’ve been waiting for you to get here for quite a while.  It’s been the longest wait of anything I can ever remember.  Me and mommy would work every day, wondering when we would finally get to see you and crossing off the days left to your original due date of August 1^st.  Mommy and Grandma even helped paint your room, which I have to say is THE coolest room I’ve ever seen.  Now that I’m writing this, I don’t know how I made it every day just waiting for you to get here.  You are going to have so many opportunities that I never had, and I want you to enjoy them all and do whatever you want to do.  Mommy and I are going to give you the best life we can, and love you every second of every day.

One day you’ll be reading this, and hopefully you’ll come give us a hug and know that we love you even more than we can describe.  We’re gonna have so much fun, Noah!  

Love,

Daddy

July 17, 2008

Dear Noah,

Hello my dear, it looks like you are going to make your grand entrance in two days and your dad and I are so excited to meet you.  We have been waiting a long time to have a little one and you have been such a blessing to us and you are not even here yet.  We both love you very much and can’t wait until we can hold you.  Being pregnant with you has been an experience unlike anything else.  I remember the first time I saw your little profile on the ultrasound screen at 6 weeks and saw your little heart beating and I was amazed and excited.  Now that I have carried you for nine months and have felt you kick and punch I am still amazed by you and the joy and happiness that you have brought into our lives.  We have had a little bit of a tough time in the past few weeks, but you have been a tough little fighter. 

Some of the things that you really seem to like were having your daddy read to you, any kind of fruit, going in the pool, baths and any type of music.  You really seemed to be an afternoon and evening person (like your mom) because that is when I felt you move the most.  You didn’t really seem to like the mornings and you never woke me up at night with your kicking.  Things your really didn’t seem to like where hot, spicy foods and you especially disliked wasabi, curry and jalapenos. 

I was convinced that you were a girl and I even called you Ava for a while.  You always kicked me when I called you Ava.  When I found out that you where a boy I was shocked but very excited and I remember looking down at my tummy and saying, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were a boy?’ Well I guess you were trying to tell me with all your kicking.  Your dad and I are so excited to meet you and we both have so many plans for your and our new lives together.  I can’t wait to meet you my little man. 

Love you,

Mom 

More waiting....

Last night John and I were pretty sure that Grant was going to be born and we were all packed and ready to go to the hospital.  Before we left I decided to call my doctor just to make sure.  Now I am very glad that I did since he told me that he wanted my contractions to be 5 minutes apart and at least one minute long for at least two hours before I went into the hospital.  Since the contractions were only about 30 to 40 seconds long he told us to wait and see.  So we watched some TV and kept track of the contractions and then decided to go to bed after a couple of hours of the contractions staying about the same.  I woke up a few times with some contractions, but had a pretty good night of sleep.  

Today the contractions have been about 10 to 12 minutes apart and have been less than a minute long so I think it was false labor.  We will see what happens it kind of a waiting game now.  Unless, I go into labor then Grant will be born on August 15 at 7:30 AM! Its nice to know that we have an end date after all this waiting and worrying.  I personally feel like he will be born next Monday, but this pregnancy has been very unpredictable so we will see what happens.  John is on pins and needles, but I feel pretty calm and peaceful about the whole thing, which is strange because I am very far from a peaceful person, but the peace is nice and makes me feel like no matter what happens everything will turn out perfect.  

37 and 38 weeks

As I type this I am officially 38 weeks along! Its feels like it's been a long adventure we have had these last couple of months.  I think the journey will be coming to a close very soon however.  Yesterday, I had a stress test and the contractions were about 5 to 7 minutes apart.  I could not really tell a difference pain wise, but the doctor wanted to check me and see if I was dilated.  If I was dilated to at least 3 cm they could do a C-section that afternoon, if not I had to go home and rest and see what happened.  I was not dilated at all.  So the doctor told me to go home rest and come back if anything major changed.  

Yesterday, it was more of the same, but today the contractions are getting more painful and I am not really feeling myself this evening, i.e. I am not hungry and I just feel kind of dizzy and out of sorts.  Its hard to tell if it's just the stress of not knowing, the waiting game we have been playing lately has been kind of hard on us all.  But if I am not moving around and just sitting still I can tell the contractions are starting to get harder.  So I think we are going to go to the hospital pretty soon.  My parents were up in Flagstaff today seeing my sister, my brother in law and new baby Mason who was born last Saturday at 3:30 AM, he was 7 pounds 10 oz and my sister had a drug free and natural childbirth, she is my hero.  Everyone is doing amazing and I cant wait to see and hold Mason.  So we are waiting for my parents to come home and watch Noah and then I think we will head into the hospital.  

I am still a little bit worried about Grant's weight, at our last ultrasound on July 26, he was 4 pounds 14 oz, which was wonderful and very exciting.  Hopefully, he has put on a little bit more weight and if he comes tonight then he will be fine.  If I am okay to come home then we do have a planned C-section all set up for August 15 so the end is in sight.

If we do end up having Grant tonight, I wanted to write him a little letter, I did the same thing for Noah before he was born.  I don't think I have the time to type it up into the blog right now, but I will add it later.

Dear Grant,

We might be meeting you tonight my dear baby and I am so excited to finally get to hold you.  Its been a long road, but you have been a fighter and have done such a good job putting on weight.  We cant wait to meet you and see if you really have my nose and Daddy's chin and your brother's beautiful brown eyes.  We already adore you and cant wait to welcome you into our little family.  Your big brother already is so proud that you are his baby brother, he tells everyone that his brother is baby Grant.  We all love you and we cant wait to meet the newest angel from heaven.

All my love,
Mommy


To my son Grant,

It seems like it has been such a long wait to finally get to meet you.  It's all I've been thinking about (and LSU football) this whole year!  We have been praying and hoping every day that you will be coming soon so we can shower you with all of our love.  Your crazy big brother, Noah, is especially excited to see you, and plans on telling you "Merry Christmas!" the first time he meets you.  Daddy and Mommy have been working and worrying and planning and celebrating, all because you are about to come into the world.  You will be the most loved little boy around, I promise you that.  We are so proud of you for hanging in through a tough time in mommy's belly, and behaving like a good little boy during that time too.  I can't wait to hold you and kiss you goodnight for the first time.  See you soon, my little boy!

Love,
Daddy