Mimi's Visit

My mom, now known as Mimi, came to visit and to help me get adjusted to life with a newborn. Along with the fun of holding Jake and helping take care of him, she also did a lot of laundry, dishes, cooking, grocery shopping, and bringing me something to drink during Jake’s marathon feeding sessions. It was so great having her here, and I don’t know if we could have made it through the first two weeks without her. I was so sad when she had to leave. Thanks, mom, for all your help! We love you and miss you already.

Mimi and Jake relaxing

Stuart and Nicole sent us this really

cool welcome sign a few days after

Jake was born.

My mom babysat Jake for a little while so Chris

and I could go on our last dinner date for a while.

Jake's Arrival

Jacob Bradley Gays entered the world on Saturday, May 30, 2009, just 43 minutes shy of his dad's birthday! He weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. He is so precious and such a joyful addition to our family. We thank God for blesssing us with such a healthy and beautiful baby. Here is the story of Jake's birth and a look at our first week as new parents.

When I went to my doctor appointment on Thursday, May 28th, the doctor said she would be very surprised if I made it through the weekend without having the baby. When I told her my mom was flying in on Wednesday, June 3rd, she said I better call her and tell her to change her flight. Luckily, we took that advice.

We made our first trip to the hospital at 8:00 am Saturday morning, because I had been having contractions that were about eight minutes apart since 1:45 am. They told me to come back when the contractions were three to five minutes apart for an hour. We came home and tried to enjoy the beautiful day by the pool in between the ever increasing contractions. We all came in around 5:00 pm, and just as Chris was about to place our pizza order, my mom and I told him we better head to the hospital instead! The Texas Rangers baseball stadium is right near the hospital, and little did we know they had a baseball game that evening that would cause all kinds of traffic problems. After a very stressful drive to the hospital, we went back to Labor and Delivery, and this time there was definitely no going home! Jake was born about five hours later, at 11:17 pm. I cannot even describe the flood of emotions we experienced. It truly was such an amazing and wonderful moment.

On Monday around noon we were discharged from the hospital. Woo hoo!! After two days in the nazi maternity ward at the hospital, we were all delighted to get back to our own home! After being awake for close to 30 hours and two solid hours of breastfeeding, we asked the nurse to take Jake for a little while so my mom and Chris ran a few errands. I was definitely not in any condition to take care of him by myself. We were then made aware of the "23 out of 24 hour baby in the room policy." Apparently giving birth is not considered labor anymore!

Overall, everything has gone pretty well our first week at home. It has been wonderful having my mom here to help with Jake and with everything around the house. I am not sure how we are going to manage once she leaves! Chris' mom and dad and Aunt Pat and Karl are coming to visit the beginning of July and we are looking forward to seeing them as well! We havebeen doing a lot of sleeping (for Jake anyway), eating, diaper changing, and crying or course, and we are slowly figuring everything out.

Of course there have been a few things that have made the week more challenging (oops, I meant fun), including no TV reception in the family room for the entire first week (mom, you truly are an angel for sitting with Jake that night for four hours with no TV!), Chris and I both having bad colds, and then my mom getting a horrible stomach virus that lasted for three days. I have started referring to this first week as "Baby Bootcamp" and feel like things will be much easier once we are all fully recovered. We are feeling a little better now though, and fortunately, it doesn't appear that Jake has caught any of our illnesses.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for your prayers, kind words, and warm wishes.

The happy family minutes afte Jake's arrival.

Jake, me, and Mom (Mimi)

Surprised I don't look scared!

Last pregnant pic before leaving for the hospital. I
think you can tell this was taken mid-contraction.

I'm two minutes old!

Our wonderful neighbors and friends, Sandi, Rob, and Amy.
Thank you for everything!

Mimi and Jake

Jake, me, and Amy

Aren't I cute!

The proud papa with his new baby boy!

Jake loves his new swing.

Jake with his balloons and teddy bear.

He likes his bouncy seat too!

Molly's Last Few Weeks as the Baby

I took Molly to the groomer's today, so I figured it would be a good time to post some pics of her while she is still the baby of the househould! She is used to being the center of attention, so I am not sure how things are going to go the first few days after we bring Jake home. She is such a sweet dog though, I am sure everything will be fine after a little time for adjustment.

It's exhausting looking this cute!

36 Week Appointment Update

I had my 36 week doctor appointment yesterday, and the doctor is still very pleased with how everything is going. She said the baby is in a good position and that she thinks I will have a fairly easy labor. Gosh, I hope she is right! She is estimating he will weigh between 6.5 and 7 lbs.

At my 34 week appointment, my blood pressure was slightly elevated, and she wanted me to monitor it at home. It had been in the 100/65-70 range at home, but then at the doctor's yesterday it was 140/70. She said she wasn't really concerned at this point because the bottom number was low and that is what they are most concerned about. I am now on a weekly appointment schedule, so my next appointment will be Thursday, May 14.

Chris and I recently took the Prepared Childbirth and Baby Care Basics classes at the hospital, and I feel a lot better about the whole labor process now. I think at this point I am more nervous about taking care of a newborn. It was really funny though, after the six hour childbirth class, Chris remarked that the instructor droned on and on. I had to laugh, because I thought she was pretty concise considering all the material that had to be covered. Just shows the difference in perspective! But he was a trooper and I am so glad he went with me.

Me at 36 weeks.

Rangers Game

Our new friend, Amy, invited us to the Rangers game to help celebrate her sister Becca's birthday. There was a torrential downpour on the way there, but we had a great time and are so glad we braved the storm. Thank you to the Baumann's for having us. You all are an awesome family and were all so welcoming to us!

Me, Amy, and Regina

Girls' Group Shot!

Ladies' Bingo Club

Teresa, Jaclyn, and Claire

Julie, Amy, Regina, Chelsea, and Danielle

My friend Julie and several of her friends/coworkers came up with the great idea to get a group of girls together once a month for food, fun, and Bingo. So far we have had three Bingo nights, and I hosted the most recent this past Friday night. Everyone brings an appetizer or beverage, and let me tell you, these ladies are quite the cooks! We had veggie pizza, ham and cheddar pinwheels, king ranch casserole, pasta salad, artichoke dip, chocolate covered strawberries, chips and queso, chocolate chip cookies, tamales, and raspberry sherbert champagne punch. Makes me hungry again just thinking about it!

To make the game more interesting, everyone brings a small gift, and we do a white elephant exchange starting with the first person to get a bingo. There were lots of neat gifts, and this time I ended up with a cupcake kit including a recipe book and decorating tips. Cupcakes have been one thing I have definitely craved while being pregnant, so I am excited to try out some of the recipes!

Jake's 4D Ultrasound

We decided to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done at 28 weeks. It was so amazing being able to see Jake's facial features and little fingers and toes! He was very cooperative and wasn't shy at all for the camera.