Happy Birthday Mattie Jayne!

We welcomed our beautiful daughter into the world on December 22, 2012, just after midnight. She has certainly made our lives feel complete and I already can't remember life without her!

Birth Stats

Mattie Jayne Wilson

December 22, 2012 

12:09AM

7lbs. 3oz.

20" long

Birth Story

Friday, December 21st, I went to my 9AM doctor's appointment and convinced him to strip my membranes.  I was already 6cm and still 70% effaced.  My contractions were still pretty sporadic, but effective.  Since my doctor was on call and knew how much I wanted to be home for Christmas, he swore me to secrecy and stripped away:)

I left my appointment and went to my office to make my final preparations for maternity leave and attended our afternoon Christmas party.  Unfortunately, I was not able to really enjoy or engage with my co-workers during the party because I was having strong contractions every 4 minutes.  My doctor said to come back when they were every 10 minutes for an hour...well I was in a bit of denial and stuck around long enough for Mr. to make it back in town from his morning depositions.

And then the contractions stopped...for hours.

I went home and packed our bags, just in case.  I got the rest of Jackson's stuff together and dropped everything off at my mom's house.  Then I went and got a lovely manicure and pedicure...and waited for the contractions to come back.

Last belly pic, 38 weeks!

It took a while, but good lord, when the contractions came back, they came fast and strong.

We were hanging out at my mom's and a little before 7pm I told Mr. he better eat fast, if he intended to eat dinner.  "It was go time!" I shed a few tears with mixed emotions of pain, anxiety, excitement and said good-bye to my Jackson.  I was surprised how hard that moment was, it was certainly not expected and I had to rush out the door!

No sooner then Mr. got me all checked in to hospital, my contractions stopped once again.

The nursed hooked me up to monitor me for an hour to see if I would be admitted or sent home once again, without a baby.

In the last 20 minutes of being monitored my contractions came back and were stronger than ever...the nurse checked me and said that I had dilated a full 1-1.5 cm in that time...it was baby time!!!

Side note: The nurse wasn't "as generous" with her measurements as she said my doctor was.  According to my doctor, I was 6cm that morning.  According to the nurse, I was 5cm when we got there and 6 - 6.5cm when she checked me again.  Either way, progress was progress, and it was finally time to meet our baby girl!

It was about 9PM before I was actually admitted and in my delivery room.  My doctor came to check on me and suggested I got my epidural before he broke my water because he was sure things would go fast.  When he told me I'd have a baby by midnight, I was in a bit of shock.

I got my IVs and signed all of the consent forms and waited for my epidural.  I have to say, my epidural was a totally different experience then I had with Jackson.  Mr. was not allowed to be in the room and it was much more uncomfortable then I remembered.  However, with Jackson I was in pain and begging for it...this time I was just in moderate pain and not really needing it at all.  My left side went completely tingly and numb, and my right side had a hot spot and was not near as numb.  I'd venture to say, I felt a good bit of actual labor on my right side. 

My mom got to my room just after I got my epidural and stayed for the delivery, which worked out perfect.  Jackson stayed with Pop, since it was so late at night.

My doctor came back and broke my water, which had a little bit of meconium in it.  At this point it was about 11PM and I was 7cm.  The nurse started Pitocin to regulate my contractions and things really sped up.  Between the epidural and the pain, I was shaking pretty bad.  The nurse came in and decided to check me and we were all surprised to find that I was complete and the baby's head was right there...no practice pushing, no pushing at all really!

We waited a few minutes for my doctor to arrive, I would have made his midnight prediction if he would have been quicker:) He got to my room and within minutes, Mattie was in my arms and my initial reaction was that she looked like a dark haired Jackson! Now I think she favors her daddy, especially with her skin and hair.

Everything was so fast that my nurse forgot to page NICU, but they quickly arrived to suck out Mattie's lungs because of the meconium.  All was good though and she checked out perfectly.  My nurse had to run off to another delivery, so I was able to hold Mattie a little longer than normal and nurse her before she headed to the nursery with daddy for her bath and what not.

I didn't need an episotomy this time around, but I did require a stitch or two from tearing.  My doctor also cut out a cyst that had built up from scare tissue from Jackson's delivery, which caused some discomfort during my recovery.

My mom and nurse got me cleaned up and moved into my postpartum room, which was a bit of a hot mess.  My left leg was completely useless and my mom may or may not have forgotten and dropped it a time or two.  Such a weird, out of body, experience.

About the time that I got settled into my new room, my sister arrived from St. Louis.  It was pretty late into the night, or early in the morning, but meeting Mattie Jayne was a must do! Before we knew, it was almost sunrise and time for bed.  We sent Mattie to the nursery between feedings, and tried to catch as much sleep as possible before the visitors started rolling in. 

The best visitor was our Super Big Brother, what a special day it was!

 

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Baby 2.0: 38 weeks

This little girl of ours must be enjoying the mind game that she's playing with us.  Here I am, 38 weeks pregnant after my doctor said there's no way I'd make it through the weekend...two weeks ago!

I'm 5cm dilated and 70% effaced, but still not having regular contractions.  At this rate, she may be falling out of me before I get admitted to the hospital.  We've tried every trick in the book to induce labor on our own (minus castor oil or anything too crazy).  But, honestly, I've reached the point that I may just be pregnant forever or she'll come when she's good and ready.

The OCD planner in me would love to have her now so that we'd be home for Christmas.  Sipping hot chocolate and coffee on Christmas morning soaking up our new life as a family of four.  And just to show me who's really boss, I'm sure I'll go into labor on Christmas Eve and miss Christmas at home.  Either way, as long as my family is healthy and together - it really doesn't matter.  Especially in light of the recent tragedy, I am just thankful I have my babies this Christmas.

Jackson came down with a terrible infection and has been sick since Saturday night.  Monday was by far the worst day with a fever peaking at 104.9 degrees.  It was incredibly scary and landed us in the doctor's office/hospital for most of the day.  Thankfully, I had stockpiled my sick time for maternity leave (which I obviously don't need now) so I spent the week home nursing him back to health.  I'm back to work today, but Pop is keeping Jackson at home because he's still coughing.  Besides, I'd hate for any of his classmates to catch this before the holidays!

Maybe now that big brother is on the mend, baby sister will come out to play on her own.  Otherwise, we are one week away from induction.  One week or less, I can do this:)

Size of Baby: pumpkin, measured 34 at appointments this week

Total Weight Gain: total since getting pregnant: +24.5

Continuing Symptoms: heartburn, always thirsty, leaking breasts, swelling in the afternoon and evening...

Maternity Clothes: pretty much all maternity, minus my pajama pants and t-shirts

Sleep: sleep was getting a little better until Jackson got sick.  Mattie Jayne has dropped and relieved the pressure off of my ribs, so I no longer need the maternity pillow.  Jackson calls is my worm pillow:)

What I'm Eating: pretty normal diet, just watching the sodium as much as possible. adding a good bit of fatty foods to plump up baby girl

Cravings: Slow churned chocolate ice cream and hot fudge...must have every night!

Movement: she's a busy girl in there, but it's slowing down a bit as the end is getting closer

Labor Signs: 5cm and 70% effaced.  Just waiting on the contractions to become regular, which never happened with Jackson.  I walked into the hospital at 7cm with him...and no contractions

Special Pregnancy Moments: knowing that we only have one week left!

 

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Family Weekend & Date Night

With the impending arrival of our baby girl we wanted to be sure and have a fun family weekend and a date night with Jackson.  He is so excited for his baby sister, but we want to make sure he feels extra special too:)

Jackson went to school on Friday and I pretty much slept the entire day, since I didn't get much sleep at the hospital.  Friday afternoon was my office's baby shower for Mattie Jayne, so we got dressed for the day and headed to my office for the shower. 

After the shower, my parents brought Jackson to meet us and we went to see the lighting of the Christmas lights and Santa! And oh my goodness, my sweet boy only thought that he liked Halloween decorations.  He is in love with all of the Christmas lights and Santa music...he really is my child:)

Jackson sat on Santa's lap and asked for a T-Rex, just like his friend Pierce has and smiled the most precious smile ever.  After all of that excitement, it was time for this momma to head back to bed.  Walking around with head in between your legs and almost 4cm dilated isn't exactly a walk in the park:)

Saturday morning we had a slight panic attack when Mr. and I discovered that the only toy Jackson asked Santa for was discontinued! A small fortune later, thank you amazon, the T-Rex was found and should be delivered to our door tomorrow.  The things we do for our kids, right?!?

After a lazy day on the couch, we were all stir crazy and needed a night out with just the three of us.  So we loaded in the car and my contractions started up again, and were coming fast and strong.  We decided to stay close to home and ate a quick dinner out before going to the Zoo to see their Christmas lights.

Dinner was pretty hard for me, but I soaked up the time with my boys in between contractions.  We debated between going back to the hospital or running out to the Zoo, and the Zoo won.  I just couldn't let Jackson down...and no sooner than we got there, the contractions stopped again.

We walked around seeing what animals we could, but Jackson was most impressed by the lights.  Then we took a fun train ride around the Zoo before heading home to eat the rest of the baby shower cake.  It was a perfect night.

After Jackson went to bed, Mr. and I stayed up and watched the 5 Year Engagement and realized that it was the anniversary of our engagement!  

 

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Baby 2.0: 36 Weeks

To say that this week in Mattie Jayne's pregnancy has been an eventful one would be a bit of an understatement. It seems as though my body just knows that between 35 and 36 weeks, it's time to prep for eviction!

It all started last weekend.  The contractions.  The take your breath away oh.my.gosh. this is it contractions.  Contraction timer apps were purchased and I was a bit surprised to see just how regular they were.  Every 2-3 minutes for about 2 hours and then nothing for days or hours.

By Monday I wasn't feeling right.  It may have been the lack of sleep and anxiety from the weekend, but I called my doctor and went in for a quick appointment and cervix check.  I was dilated to 1cm and my cervix was still towards the back (I can't remember if that posterior or anterior, sorry).  Anyway, he sent me on my way and told me it would be a few more weeks.

Monday night I had the most intense and regular contracts ever.  I was sure I was losing my mind, especially since an hour before my doctor told me we had weeks to go.  They lasted for 2.5 hours and just as I started to call my mom and say "it's time", they stopped.

My regular appointment was Thursday afternoon and I was holding back the tears when my doctor asked how I was feeling.  I hadn't slept in nights.  My rib/right upper uterus pain is getting the best of me and the contractions are messing with my head.  Well, wouldn't you know when he checked me I was dilated to 3cm with a lot of cervical change.

Off to a non-stress test I went to check on Miss Mattie and I started contracting every 2 minutes for the entire test.  My doctor thought I was for sure going into labor and sent me to the hospital across the street...where I spent the next 18 hours.

To sum things up, I am so close to being 4cm dilated, but not quite there.  Apparently that is the magic dilation number to get admitted to have a baby.  And, I'm just 36 weeks, so there is nothing they can do to speed things up.  No breaking my water bag, which is bulging.  No pitocin.  No stripping membranes. Nothing.

Keep in mind, with Jackson I was in labor for 3 weeks and dilated about a cm a week.  So, this could go on a while...or not.

I lost my mucous plug sometime Thursday night/Friday morning...it was a long night in the hospital with very little sleep in a very uncomfortable birthing bed.

My doctor doesn't think I'm make it through the weekend, but my contractions haven't picked back up so I'm not so sure.  I guess it's only Saturday morning.  He did warn me not to take my time getting back to the hospital because once things do start up, it will be fast.

Every day that Mattie cooks is better, so I'm not overly anxious for her to come out.  Speaking from a momma who finally slept 12 hours last night.  I don't have the "I'm so done" attitude this morning:)

Estimated weight guess from my ultrasound has Mattie Jayne weighing 5lbs.8oz., so I've been pigging out a bit to fatten her up!

Size of Baby: honeydew, measured 33 and 32 this week at appointments

Total Weight Gain: total since getting pregnant: +25 - +26lbs. depending on the day

Continuing Symptoms: heartburn, always thirsty, milk is in, swelling in the afternoon and evening...

Maternity Clothes: pretty much all maternity, minus my pajama pants and t-shirts

Sleep: sleep is getting hard and uncomfortable, especially due to my hot spot/bruised ribs.  my sister sent me down her maternity pillow which is helping some.

What I'm Eating: pretty normal diet, just watching the sodium as much as possible. adding a good bit of fatty foods to plump up baby girl

Cravings: Slow churned chocolate ice cream and hot fudge...must have every night!

Movement: she's a busy girl in there, but it's slowing down a bit as the end is getting closer

Labor Signs: see above:)

Special Pregnancy Moments: packing our bags and knowing that our baby girl will be here sooner than later!

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A day with my boys

Much to my Mr.'s dismay, this football season was certainly different than years past.  Sunrise at Death Valley and tailgating into the night just don't work when you're 7-9 months pregnant.  Not to mention Louisiana heat and being crammed into bleacher seats for 4 hour games.

Mr. made it to just about all of the home games and even traveled to Texas A&M.  However, I only made it to 3 home games and we took Jackson to two of those.

I'm so glad that we decided to make a family day for the last home game.  Knowing that it was our last LSU game as a family of three, we tried to make it special for Jackson.  The only thing missing from our day was seeing the real Mike the Tiger up close and personal, but the mascot was just as entertaining.

LSU played Ole Miss and it ended up being a slightly closer game than we thought it would be.  Mr. was pretty confident that we'd be able to leave at halftime, but it was a good game right until the end! Jackson was out of suckers and totally done with being confined to our seats by the third quarter.  Truth be told, this momma was about done as well.  Such is life with a toddler and a pregnant wife, so we packed up and headed to Tsunami downtown to watch the rest of the game.

Jackson absolutely loves eating with chopsticks and sushi fried fish, my 3.5 year old has expensive tastes:)  We ordered up a table full of rolls and cheered our Tigers on to victory overlooking downtown Baton Rouge.  Of course, no meal at Tsunami is complete without their chocolate dessert box, which Jackson and I devoured before Mr. had a chance:)

A fun day was certainly had with my boys.  I soaked up every single moment with my family of three and am cherishing my limited time as their one and only princess.  Mattie Jayne and I are going to be some kinda lucky to have these guys in our lives:)

 

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Roll Wave!

Let's just pretend like I'm posting about our fun football weekend in some sort of timely manner...this was oh just about two months ago!

As I mentioned in my post about Mattie Jayne's surprise sprinkle, everyone really came in town for my little brother's football game. So after the shower, we quickly changed the kiddos clothes to show our support for the Tulane Roll Wave and headed to the tailgate.

Stephanie out did herself once again with all of the cuteness. From the girls dresses and bows to Jackson's sporty tee, we had the best dressed Tulane kids hands down:)

Mr. and the guys had a nice little spread for us at the tailgate. Complete with Mr.'s amazing jambalaya and white beans, my favorite.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we were able to watch the game spread out on blankets, letting the kids run around as they pleased. Jackson tried to play a few games of football with the big kids too.  Won't be long before that sweet boy of mine is on the field himself!

Unfortunately my brother's team didn't win, but it was nice catching up with him after and the game. Jackson and the girls had a blast dancing and running around with their Uncle Cam.

Hard to image that the next time we're all together Jackson will be out numbered by 5 little girls that all adore him:)

 

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Baby 2.0: 35 weeks

Up until the past few weeks, I honestly was still forgetting I was pregnant.  Well as much as you can forget with a growing middle section and jabbing kicks from within...sleep was great, my energy was good and all was pretty normal.

Well, my friends, heartburn has kicked in.  Sleep is getting harder and harder between peeing every hour and bruised rib cartilage from baby girl practicing her toe touches 24/7.  I'm swelling and have perfected the 9 month waddle. 

Please don't take these as complaints, it's just very apparent now that we're in the final stretch.  4 weeks or less until our baby in a box is our baby in our arms!

Size of Baby: coconut, measured 33 weeks at today's appointment

Total Weight Gain: total since getting pregnant: +20 - +22lbs. depending on the day

Continuing Symptoms: heartburn, always thirsty, milk is in, swelling in the afternoon and evening...

Maternity Clothes: pretty much all maternity, minus my pajama pants and t-shirts

Sleep: sleep is getting hard and uncomfortable, especially due to my hot spot/bruised ribs.  my sister sent me down her maternity pillow which is helping some.

What I'm Eating: pretty normal diet, just watching the sodium as much as possible.

Cravings: Slow churned chocolate ice cream and hot fudge...must have every night!

Movement: she's a busy girl in there, practing her toe-touches and back-flips all the time.  the rolling tummy and feet and legs stretching out makes for odd stomach shapes!

Labor Signs: some days more than others.  mainly just BH contractions.

Special Pregnancy Moments: getting Mattie Jayne's stocking and our double Bob, scheduling weekly OB appointments, buying our first pack of diapers and wipes, loading up the diaper bins, prepping Mattie's hospital attire and cute accessories...I've been a busy momma:)

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Mattie's Surprise Sprinkle

I now know that "pregnancy brain" really exists, either that or I've become completely oblivious to the world around me...

Last month, my mom and sweet friends planned a surprise "sprinkle" for me and it totally took me by surprise!  In hindsight, I should have put everything together about a month before the sprinkle and busted everyone:)

The weekend that my brother's football team played our home town football team, my parents planned a huge tailgate inviting friends and family from afar to watch Cameron play.  This included my sister coming down for the weekend with the new baby...perfect timing for my mom to host a Sip & See to meet Baby Ellie...or so that was the story I was told...

Stephanie and her girls planned to come in town, which didn't set off any red flags because she is like our sister and of course she would come to meet Ellie the first chance she had.

My dad also planned on coming down for the weekend...which just shows how awesome all of my parents get along and enjoy seeing all the kids together.  My dad is like a second dad to Steph and wanted to see her girls just as much as he wanted to see Cameron play football and all of us kids/grand kids together...or so I thought!

The weekend of the game and Sip & See came and it was a house full of fun.  The Saturday morning of the said "Sip & See" came around and the guys all left to start cooking at the tailgate.  Mr. mentioned nothing of the surprise and I've found keeps a secret a little too well! 

Stephanie and I got ourselves dressed and ready for what I believed to be Ellie's party.  I was running late, as usual, but hey - it wasn't my party!  Stephanie got Jackson dressed and loaded the kids up in the car, as usual (she always has everything much more together than I do), so this didn't tip me off at all.  

We pulled up to my mom's house about 20 minutes late and unloaded our brood of kiddos.  I walked in the door, presents for Ellie in hand, and slowly began to put all the pieces together. A couple faces made sense, and some just seemed totally out of place for what I believed to be my sister/nieces' party.  However, I tried to not let my facial expressions make my friends feel out of place...STILL not getting that the party was for me! Oh no, it wasn't until my mom showed me the invitation (that I have inquired about a dozen times because I didn't get one) that I finally put everything together.

My dad, my family, Stephanie, my friends...they were all there for me and Mattie Jayne!

I wish I had pictures from the sprinkle because it was absolutely lovely and so incredibly heart felt.  I guess my lack of picture taking was a true testament of just how special I felt.  I never wanted to leave the party to grab my camera or be behind the lens.

It may have just been a sprinkling of pink for Mattie, but it was a shower of love for me:)

 

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Our "Rawring" Halloween

When my parents took Jackson up to St. Louis in August, my mom found Jackson the cutest dinosaur costume for Halloween. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if it would actually make it until Halloween because Jackson was obsessed and wanted to wear it all the time. I couldn't really blame him though, it was one cool costume and he looked so cute shaking his tail in it:)

 Spinosaurous Jack was no dino to mess with! 

Our neighborhood hosted a Trick-Or-Treat Fall Festival the Saturday before Halloween, which meant double the fun for Jackson. He got to "rawr" his way through our neighborhood on Saturday and then again with my parents on actual Halloween night.

Jackson's spider ride at my parent's for Halloween night

This year was by far the most fun Halloween and month with Jackson. He absolutely LOVES to look at the pretty decorations and "smooky" ones too. The bigger and nastier the spider, the more he wants to bring it home to sleep with...strange kid! 

The weather was remarkable during the weeks leading up to Halloween, so many nights were spent walking through neighborhoods checking out all the decor...which may or may not have inspired my Mr. to test out his decorating skills. He totally took it upon himself to hang a super "smooky" spider web outside our front door. 

He sure knows the way to his son's heart, and how to make me smile. I'll never forget the year of the spider obsession and Jackson's sweet voice and dialogue as we trick-or-treated. He has such a strong personality with a tender heart that always wants to take care of others too. I can't argue the fact that he is the perfect combo of his momma and daddy...and that heart certainly comes from his daddy.

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