Gibsonville

Hello, Old Pal, I've missed you...

2010-04-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

After much ado, I'm glad to finally be able to post some updated info and pictures!! Luke made his grand arrival March 1, 2010 at 11:43AM after being induced at 3AM. It was a wonderful and tiring day that Jason and I got to share with both our sets of parents and my favorite sister and her husband. Luke came in weighing 6lb. 8oz, and 20 1/2 inches long!! Dr. Lawhon was fantastic as always and made it just in time to deliver the little guy. We came home 2 days later and 5 days after that, i.e. one week after getting out of the hospital, I was put back in the hospital. After much probing and blood work, it was finally determined that I had another kidney infection, and as it turns out, have a stone in the right kidney and an abscess on the left kidney. I now have a new doctor to add to my list, a urologist, who gets to see me regularly and ultrasound all my internal organs to check and make sure there's nothing new on the organs!!! Luke, fortunately, was able to go to hospital with me, as was Jason. Both were troopers throughout the whole ordeal. We came home again 5 days later, only to have Luke diagnosed with RSV two days later!! He recovered quickly, luckily!!

In more positive news, we had his pictures done by Lori Mercer, who also did my maternity pictures, when Luke was 16 days old. They are amazing! We had such a hard time picking which ones to buy!! Here are some pictures she sent that we can post on the internet...

As of April 5th, Luke is now 8lb. 11oz. and 21 3/4 inches. He's in the 25th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. Such a small fry, but perfectly proportioned and doing great per the pediatrician. Here's some recent pictures of Luke showing off his smiles for Momma and Dadda! Enjoy all the cuteness known as Luke Thomas!

Being induced Monday!

2010-02-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

After several weeks, we finally have our computer back to update everyone!! Our friend Tim worked really hard on our computer, but, unfortunately, there isn't much hope for our old, faithful computer. Saturday night Jason and I were trying to print the Sunday school lessons from the internet when the internet "crashed." So we restarted the internet, pulled everything back up, then went to unplug the computer to take it to the desk room to print the information. Literally, the instant the power cord was removed from the laptop, the laptop shut down. Apparently all the virus protection and other programs have left no battary life! Jason was not thrilled, and through gritted teeth informed me that we were getting a new computer the next day. I quietly agreed! The new computer should be in Monday...which is also the day I'm being induced!!!

We went back to the dr. for my 38 week check on Monday. After being told at the 36 and 37 week checkup that I had made no changes, we heard the same thing again Monday! Yes, 38 weeks and no changes or progress toward having Luke! Apparently, he is quite cozy and warm inside me and has no plans for coming out any time soon. Jason and I, however, have other plans! We're being admitted to the hospital at 5pm Sunday night and we should have Luke sometime on Monday if all goes as planned! I'm having a little swelling in the calves, my blood pressure is back to 98/60, and I gained another 2 pounds, bringing the pregnancy weight so far to 34 pounds! We are super excited about meeting Luke, and hopefully, Amy will be able to update everyone throughout the day with my progress since she took the entire day off to await Luke's arrival!!

Also on Monday my work gave me a surprise shower and it was amazing. We've had one shower at church and a shower at each of our jobs. Everyone has been so generous and we are truly loved! We appreciate everything everyone has done and can't wait to introduce Luke to all the wonderful people in his parents' and his life! More picture to follow soon with a new family member to show off!!

We're Back...Kinda...

2010-02-04T16:32:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. Our laptop has a really bad virus and a friend is working to try to alleviate the problem. P.S. if your online banking sign-in asks for your credit/debit card number, CVV2 code, expiration date, and PIN code...it's probably not your bank! Luckily, we realized such and didn't put it in, but it's still no good. We since ran a credit check to make sure no new accounts were started on us, contacted the bank to alert them, and are checking the account balances on a regular basis. Hopefully nothing will come of all this in the future!

Anyway, we went back to the doctor for our 34 week check-up on Jan. 25th, I think. I had gained a few more pounds, blood pressure was still great, and Luke remains in the head down position!! His little heartbeat sounds fantastic and I could listen to it all day! The doctor said we'll start weekly appointments at the next visit, which is this Monday, Feb. 8th. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone and we are so excited to meet Luke. I asked the doctor, "So when am I gonna have this baby?" To which he replied (at the time), "It's not even February!" My response, "So?" To which he laughed and said that the earliest he would induce would be March 1st, which is now less than one month away!! We can't wait!

On Saturday, Jan. 30th, I had my first baby shower, hosted by some wonderful ladies in the church. It was a brunch and we had a great turn out! They even served tomato grits...FYI I love cheese grits while pregnant. I even call my dad on Saturday mornings to request he make some since his grits are, in my mind, world famous and the best ever made! We also had breakfast casserole, donut holes, fruit, and, of course, cake. We got some great gifts and are so appreciative for everything everyone has done for us.

On Sunday, Jason and I headed downtown and met with a photographer for a maternity photo session. Let me just say, Lori Mercer is amazing and a dream to work with. She is so layed back and just takes the shots as they come, making them look fantastic. I'll leave you today with the sneak peak photos she sent. You can also check out her blog, which has the most precious newborn pictures on it. We're looking forward to meeting with her again after Luke is born for his newborn photo session. These were taken at 35 weeks.

32 Weeks!

2010-01-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

We're at 32 weeks already! Less than 2 months remain, and I'm starting to get a little anxious about meeting Luke and wondering when he'll decide to begin his grand entrance into the world. Considering I travel for work up to an hour and half away and spend most of my time in patients' homes or in my (new) car, I'm a little nervous about the timing of everything. But I know it'll all work out one way or the other and what happens happens when it comes to nature, no matter what my plans may be!

In other news, we went to a childbirth class this past weekend that was interesting and entertaining to say the least. This is just a class about the stages of labor and what to expect. They actually begin the class by ensuring that all participants are planning to receive pain medication or an epidural and not do natural childbirth! After some brief informational stuff, they show a Miracle of Life type video about childbirth with women who did natural labor. The comments from the men in this video had Jason and I cracking up. The men were the ones talking about the wonderful experiences during the different stages of labor while the women sat next to them with stone cold expressions on their faces. I kept thinking, shouldn't you ask the women about their experiences during these stages? I mean, that makes sense to me! I told Jason after watching the video that I never wanted my face to look like those women's and an epidural was definitely the way for me (which I knew all along!) And I must say, that video was a little gross and disturbing when you realize that you yourself are only a few weeks away from the situation...didn't help the anxiety any, I might add!

Anyway, we went to the doctor today. I've gained 3 more pounds and Luke is doing great. We're back on target with no UTI this month, as well. Despite some swelling that has now begun, my blood pressure is great, so no concerns there. He felt around on my stomach and announced that Luke is now in the head down position, much to my surprise and then let Jason and I feel where his head is. Luke was not a big fan of all this pushing and cramping and decided to prominently show his booty in the middle of my stomach with a huge distorted bulge about that time! Despite being head down, he is making breathing very hard. He loves my ribs and thinks my lungs are a fun playground to push against for leverage when rearranging himself! No matter how many pregnancy stories you hear, you can never imagine the discomfort and odd feelings you experience during pregnancy until you are pregnant yourself. It truly is a journey of a lifetime! Anyway, things are well in Gibsonville, we have another appointment in two weeks to check on our little guy again, so I'll see ya soon!

Life in Gibsonville

2009-12-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone, even though I'm a little late in getting that out there! We had a great Christmas and got to see both of our families, with the exception of Jason's siblings. We went to Georgia on Christmas Eve for the traditional gathering of his mom's side of the family, which is about 40-50 people in a small house playing Dirty Santa. It's always fun getting to go over there and see everyone and was funny to see everyone's faces when they saw my belly that now precedes me! On the way to GA, however, I developed another UTI, this one being the first one that I really had symptoms of. And let me tell you, this one was a beast! Christmas Eve traffic, in the rain, having to stop about every 30 minutes if we were lucky was a blast! I slept on the way home so that we could make it home and not have to spend the night in a hotel for my sake! On Christmas Day I gave in and went to PriMed, one of my least favorite places due to an unfortunate accident that ocurred there a couple years ago involving myself, a needle, a tile floor, 6 stitches, and several medical tests! Anyway, I think they now have my chart flagged to handle me with kids gloves because I was in and out of there and home with my prescriptions within an hour. This is like World Record time for this place, and I was ever so grateful!! Christmas night was another journey along the road, though. I finally gave up on trying to sleep after getting out of bed as soon as I lay my head down for the 20th time and went to the living room. I think I fell asleep around 4:30AM from shear exhaustion at that point. It took about 4 days, but it is now better.

Today was my 30 week visit!! I cannot believe I only have 10-ish more weeks to go until we meet Luke, it just doesn't seem possible! I got to hear his heartbeat again today and my doctor just smiled listening to it, which makes me happy! It sounds perfect and is becoming clearer and clearer each time we get to hear it. The doctor says Luke is measuring great, which puts him at an average weight of about 2.5 pounds right now! He has no concerns right now and said that as long as I make it to 35 weeks he'll be satisified. I think I can handle that task! As much as I'm so ready to meet Luke, I'm going to miss being pregnant and, honestly, I'm not quite ready to give up my sleep just yet! He can stay in a little longer and that's just fine with me. He's much easier to care for inside of me and I can keep up with him all the time! I gained about 3 more pounds this visit and am right on track with everything! My next visit is in two weeks, and between now and then we get to ring in the new year (wow!!) and Jason and I are headed to Tennessee with our Sunday School class for a weekend getaway! See yall in Gibsonville in a couple of weeks! I'll leave yall with the belly shots from today!

4D Ultrasound and Luke Update!!

2009-12-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

Today was definietly a case of the Mondays! It was really foggy today and rainy, and was Monday ALL day. Jason had to go into work at about 10pm last night thanks to some of his boys deciding to misbehave and not listen. He didn't get home till about 4AM, and I slept terribly without him here, worrying about him driving in the fog on two lane highways and county roads filled with deer. As it turns out, he was almost hit by a big buck, but thanksfully was not.

We were riding together to my dr. appointment this morning when my car decided to start misbehaving as well. We happened to notice my mom a few cars ahead of us and called to tell her to follow us just in case. As it turns out, my car died while I was driving down the interstate and we had to leave it on the side of the road. I am so thankful for God's provision in that Jason was with me, which he would not have been if he had not gone in to work in the middle of night, and Mom was on her way to meet us at the dr. for the appointment and happened to be 2 cars ahead of us during rush hour traffic at a traffic light! Our families are so wonderful to us. Mom loaned me her car after the appointment and Jason's dad was able to take him back to my vehicle and wait on the tow truck with him. Jason did, however, miss work do to all this today. Anyway...

We went back to the doctor today for my 28 week checkup and 4-D Ultrasound. Since it was the 4-D we took everyone we could...my mom and dad, his mom and dad, my sister, and of course Jason and me!! It was crowded, but fun. For about the first 30 or so minutes, Luke was not at all cooperative. Mainly because he stayed up all night kicking me and playing ping pong in my belly and was a wee bit tired today. After a glass of ice cold water and a Reese's cup, however, he was much more cooperative with our efforts. He is, or course, the cutest baby in my belly and the most loved Luke Thomas Gibson ever created! He has an adorable nose, big feet, my granddad's ears, and already sucks his middle fingers like all the Gibsons do! It's amazing to see all his features and get a preview of our baby. We think he has hair, but it wasn't really clear on the ultrasound. Now for the boring update stuff...once again, no UTI!!! That makes two appointments in a row, praise the Lord. I've gained 4 pounds since the last update and everything is looking good so far.

As I'm posting this it's a little after 9PM. I finally made it home from work around 7PM and finished paperwork around 8PM. I've been about on the verge of losing it all day, but have held on and will soon be able to put this day in the history books! Here's a few pictures of Luke from today!!

Baby update

2009-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

We went back to the doctor yesterday for my 26 week appointment. I had my glucose screening and passed with flying colors, thank you very much!! I was told to request orange, and I did, but was denied. Instead I got fruit punch, which was surprisingly good. Tasted just like Hawaiian Punch! The girl before me failed, bless her heart and now has to take the three hour! Luke is doing great. I measured right on track, no UTI (for the first time in about 3 months, Praise the Lord!), and doubled my pregnancy weight gain in one month, oops!! We got to hear Luke's heartbeat and it was clear as a bell and perfect, just what the doctor liked to hear. It makes me smile every time I hear it or see it. I can't believe it, but I'm already at 2 week appointments and even got to schedule the 4-D ultrasound for my next appointment, Dec. 14. We're inviting both sets of parents to be there and see our little boy and then get to take home a DVD of the ultrasound and a CD of pictures to start sharing with family and friends. Guess that's it for the baby update. Hope to have much more later this month!!

3 Years Ago Today

2009-11-18T13:05:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to tell my favorite and most wonderful husband "Happy Anniversary!!" Today is our 3rd anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been three years since we said "I do." I love being married to Jason and look forward to many more years to come as we begin raising Luke in the near future!! Here are a few pictures from this day three years ago.

I LOVE YOU!!!

And we shall call him...

2009-11-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

So, after much discussion and debate and undecideness...Jason and I finally named our little boy on Sunday. I've just been too busy for a new post and the power went off 9 times last night, finally staying off for over an hour and a half. Now to the point...His name is officially Luke Thomas Gibson and we're going to call him Luke. Luke is a biblical name meaning light or bringer of light and Thomas is after my dad, meeting both of our wants for a family name and a biblical name. Hope everyone likes it. Have a great day!

It's a...

2009-10-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

We went to the dr. yesterday for our 17 week check-up with ultrasound. Unfortunately, they took labs, never any fun. I did lay down, however, so no face plants on the floor this time!! My blood pressure was the same and I have gained 2 pounds. The ultrasound was amazing and the verdict is...

We are super excited by this news. Jackson even predicted it to be a boy. However, he thinks his name will be either Joseph, Jesus, Allison, or Spiderman! Based on the newest measurements, my due date has been changed once again, back to the original date of March 7, 2010. So I'm now 18 weeks.

Jason and I honestly tried to be equal in coming up with potential boy and girl names, nursery ideas, etc. The girl thing, for the most part, was easy. The boy thing, not so much. We cannot decide on anything boy! Go figure, we would have a boy! So now we get to begin the specifics of planning for a baby boy. At least Jackson will enjoy a boy cousin, and we can get the hand-me-downs from Jackson!!

Don't rock the boat!

2009-09-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning at 6am, the whole family is headed to New Orleans to get on board
headed for
I'm so looking forward toandand
and
But most of all, I'm looking forward to this and this!

This is my and Jason's first cruise and we are super excited. I told the doctor not to worry about that pound I lost at my last appointment because I would make up for it. And as luck would have it, I go to the doctor the Monday after we get back from the cruise!!

Nursery Furniture

2009-09-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

I think we've decided on a nursery furniture collection. We looked at it in a local store and the look, size, and height seem to be a good combination for us.

The crib is a convertible crib with guard rail included for conversion to a toddler bed.We're also looking at getting the dresser:Which includes additional pieces to make a nightstand (we'll get the darker color):And a bookcase for storage:
Not sure when we'll get it, but I think its the one!

Can you hear me now?

2009-09-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

My sister let us borrow one of those fetal heart tone monitors to try to hear the baby the other night. After forgetting to buy a 9 volt battery on two different occasions at Wal-Mart, we finally remembered! She cautioned us that she and Jeremy had no luck with it...apparently we were no different. You can, however, hear my stomach growl very loudly on the monitor and if your husband decides to ask questions while you have the earphones on it feels like you are standing in front of the speakers at a concert and now totally deaf! My heart sounded pretty cool though, but the baby's went unheard...

Until Wednesday. We went for our 13 week check-up Wednesday and got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. We've seen it 5 times on ultrasound and had the rate checked twice (164 and 184), but that was the first time to hear our little one. What a neat sound. It took a little repositioning to hear it, and once again my stomach tried to steal the show, but we were elated!

In other news from the appointment: I lost a pound. Not quite sure how that happened since I now have a baby bump, haven't had any morning sickness (exception being the kidney stone), and am not avoiding foods or trying to limit myself. Oh well...it will all catch up soon enough. My luck I'll have gained like 10 by next appointment. My blood pressure was 98/60 (woo hoo!). Dr. Lawhon tried to schedule me for the screening test next appointment, but after several questions we turned the test down with no problems from the doctor, which I really appreciated. I now have an emergency prescription for Tami-Flu as 2 of my patients decided not to tell me their families had the flu until I had been in the house about 30 minutes each time. I was very frustrated by this...come on, folks...common sense says tell people that are coming to your house that you have the flu and either don't need to come or need to take precautions! Best news of all from the appointment: we get an ultrasound next visit and hopefully will be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl!!

That's all for now...still debating on nursery furniture...I'll keep ya posted. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

Parental Advice Needed...

2009-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

And yes, I did talk to my own mother before posting this. Jason asks me on almost a daily basis if we can pick out nursery furniture. I am so completely undecided on this topic its not even funny. So, to all the parents out there: What is your opinion when it comes to nursery furniture?

1. Do we get a standard drop-side crib (I'm only 5ft. 3) and then transition the child to a twin bed later?

2. Do we get a convertible bed that goes from crib to toddler bed to full size bed (which will not fit in the room, meaning we have to get a twin bed when the toddler bed is too small, or have another child that can then use the crib)?

I have multiple dilemma's on both points. The standard crib seems a waste of money because we have to get a twin bed in maybe 2 years as opposed to maybe 4 years if the child still fits in the toddler bed. The bonus is the drop-side that benefits me in getting mini-me in/out of bed. With the convertible crib, most are not drop side for "safety reasons," and the front height varies from bed to bed, some hitting me below the belly button and others above, which is difficult. The magazines (virtually the only way to get baby furniture in our area) don't specify the front height, unfortunately. Other issues with the convertible bed are, is it really going to last long enough to eventually even be a full size bed or will it be too nasty and beat up by then to want it displayed in the house? What if mini-me decides to gnaw on the rails as my un-named sister did as a baby, leaving the foot board to the future full size bed marred? Either way, do we need solid wood, or is solid wood plus veneers good enough and durable enough to last?

As you can see, I'm pulling my hair out and have way too many options and not enough decisions. There are too many unforeseeables in my decision making process. We read some of the reviews of beds on the internet, but those are people we don't know giving opinions, but how reliable are they and what were their expectations?

Any parental advice is greatly appreciated on the topic. What kind of crib did you get? Solid wood? Convertible? Was it durable? Did it last? Would you have gotten the same thing again? Is your child old enough to convert the bed to full size and was the bed still in any condition to do that?

I'm open to all advice on the topic...

Now Hiring...

2009-08-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

So, work is nuts right now! I'm a home health occupational therapist and I love my job...until it takes over my life. Enter now. My productive quota a week is 24 visits, i.e. 6 visits per day, 4 days a week. This week has been about 9-11 patients per day, ranging in driving distance from 5 minutes away to 1.5 hours away! Can we say exhausting week and next week not looking much better. There is another OT at work, too, but she is also drowning in patients and visits. So...being the smart thinkers we are, we asked the boss for another OT.

Ahem...
Seeking full time occupational therapist for home health agency. Great job...plenty of work to keep ya busy all day.

Seriously though, if you know a good OT looking for a little extra work or a new job, please let me know. I'm more than happy to talk to ya about it and really do love my job. The other kicker is, as mentioned in the previous post and my header, I'm kinda pregnant and gonna go on maternity leave eventually. I would like to still have my other OT at work when I return and not have her admitted to a psych hospital for treatment!

They say you'll always have a job in healthcare/therapy...no arguing with that right now!

Welcome to Gibsonville...

2009-08-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well you can thank my wonderful sister over at Wade's World for introducing me to blogging. She is awesome at blogging and I in no way intend to attempt to be as good as her at this! This is just my way of keeping up with my life and amusing Amy! So here we go...

Welcome to Gibsonville.
I met my husband at church my senior year of high school, Oct. 14, 2001. We became good friends fairly quickly and he was one of my strongest backers when I went to college. We talked at least once a week and he was constantly encouraging me and praying for me. We started dating the summer after my first year of college and never looked back. He proposed while we were home on break from the summer camp we were working on July 18, 2005. He had me totally fooled and both of our families were completely in on the fun. He went all out and spelled "Will you marry me?" using dowels and fishing line across the swimming pool in my parents' back yard. We were married November 18, 2006 at the church where we met.

On July 3, 2009 we found out that we are expecting our first child March 14, 2010. We were going to North Carolina that weekend to see Jason's grandmother and had told each other we would wait until after the weekend to test. We changed our minds Friday morning and went ahead and tested. It was about 6:30 in the morning when I tested and then went and crawled back in bed, determined not to look until the 2 minutes were up. I cheated and looked early. The only sounds I made were indeterminable gasps and ooh's. Jason said, "Don't mess with me." So I showed it him. After several more ooh's and "Oh my goodness"es and "No ways" we were semi convinced. I took another test which was quickly positive and then we didn't know what to do.

We went ahead and went to NC, keeping our secret hush-hush. Sunday, when we got back home we went to my parents house where my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were going to eat supper with the family. We had snuck in the house ahead of everyone and set up our camera with a picture of our news. We told them we wanted to show them pictures from our trip and rafting, etc. My sister blurts out, "You're not making an annoucement, are you?" We dismissed that comment and proceeded. The first picture was of me sitting in the rocking chair of my grandmother's that my husband had redone. The second was me sitting in the chair with belly showing, which said, "Guess what?"

The room went completely silent. I mean, crickets chirping silent. After a few seconds I turned around to see everyone's open mouthed stares. Apparently no one saw this coming and we completely shocked them (our goal). My sister, while elated, was not so happy that I had not informed her we were trying to get pregnant.

I went the dr. the next week to confirm the pregnancy and as of this post I'm 10 1/2 weeks pregnant. So far, pregnancy and my body aren't quite sure they want to be friends. At 8 weeks I woke up with pain on the right side of my back. Suspecting a kidney infection, I got a glass of water. Let's just say that water was not what my kidneys/stomach wanted. After several hours in the ER and a follow-up appt. with my great OB the next day, I was admitted to the hospital for a week to treat a UTI and kidney infection. Unbeknowst to anyone, I also had a kidney stone which I passed the day I was scheduled to get out of the hospital. So far, no more stones or infections, but I was informed to prepare for the next one. Lucky me! I'm now on a high liquid diet, which is tons of fun while pregnant. Oh, and did I mention that I'm a home health therapist and travel for a living, sometimes up to an hour and a half away! I have stopped in some of the nastiest places known to man all for the love of my child, my kidneys, and my poor bladder!

Hopefully, I will be able to update regularly to keep myself and everyone else up to date with life here in Gibsonville. Stick around for the inevitable fun that lies ahead with pregnancy and parenting...