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

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!

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...

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!

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

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!!

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

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!!