Topher's 2-Month Check-Up

What a brave little man. Topher got his first set of shots today. I think mommy had a harder time with it than he did. But he got through it just fine...and so did mommy. =)

Topher now weighs in at 10lbs 12oz and is 23 inches long. The doc says he's long and thin and has a big head...just like his daddy. ;)

Here are some more pics...

Topher smiling and talking to Mimi.

Check out my Slide Show!

He's 7 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast he's growing. =)

Click on this link to see Topher smile... =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qiXUicbtZQ

Topher and mommy chillin' at the lake...

More pics...

So sweet...
Bath time...

All is well...

The Padgham family is adjusting wonderfully. It hasn't all been easy, but it has all been worth it. Here are some new pics...

IT'S A BOY!!!

Christopher David Padgham entered our lives at 4am Tuesday morning, February 6th. He's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I can barely keep my eyes off of him. Bryan and I are so blessed and so very proud.

It all started at around 2:45 on Monday afternoon. I had to have a follow-up sono to check my amniotic fluid level because it measured a little low the week before. The doctor that performed the sono told me she was going to send me straight over to the birthing center and would call the Cecily, the midwife, to let her know that there was minimal fluid left and that they needed to get the baby out asap. That scared me a little bit. I called Padg to let him know and asked him to meet me at the center. He helped me to calm down and told me everything was going to be fine and to just keep in mind that we were going to meet our baby very soon. We called our parents and my two sisters to let them know to get on the road since they all had very long drives to make. I got to the center at about 3pm. At 3:15 I had my first dose of a pill called Cytotek, which is what the midwives use to bring on labor. Well, an hour later labor still had not started. So they sent us home to rest for a bit and get some dinner and told us to come back for the second dose at 7:15. And we did. And an hour later, still nothing. I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen that day after all. The midwife gave us the 3rd dose to take home with us with instructions to take the pill at 11:15pm. At 11:15, I took that dose and at about 11:40 I had my first contraction and WOW!! I knew I was in for it right then. There were no easy contractions to start off with for me. They started off hard and fast at about 4 minutes apart. So we called Cecily and told her it worked and we were heading back to the center. The drive to the center is only about 10 minutes at the most. It was the longest 10 minutes of my life. The pain was tremendous. I almost told Padg to skip the birthing center and go straight to Baylor hospital because I was already wanting something for the pain. But I hung in there instead. We got settled in at the center at around midnight. Cecily checked me and to my amazement I was only dilated to a TWO!! I think my exact words were "You have GOT to be freaking kidding me!" But complete dilation (ten centimeters) didn't take long. By 2am I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. I was in the jacuzzi tub at this time (oh my goodness it felt so good!). I pushed for about 30 minutes in the tub before I decided to get out. I won't go into all the details about all the postitions I tried for delivery, but there were quite a few. I had to push for 2 hours. I really didn't think the baby was going to be able to come out. But just before 4am, Cecily called in my mom, Padg's mom, my sister, and my friend Chandra to come in and witness the event. Cecily told me she needed one more push and I gave it my all. Little Topher came right out and Cecily immediately placed him on my stomach. Words cannot describe my feelings and emotions at that moment. I was the happiest person alive.

Topher weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and was 21 inches long. However, he had a pretty nice size conehead because of the length of time he spent in the birth canal and by the next day when his head started to reshape, he lost 2 of those inches and was down to 19 inches. Now that's a long head! =)

So that's our story. Topher is doing wonderfully. Bryan and I could not be happier. And I have to say how impressed I am with how wonderful my husband has been. He's taking such great care of me and the little one.

Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers. Here are a few pictures.

Due date...

Well it's 11:30am on February 4th...my due date, and nothing is happening. :( I'm hoping and praying that things will start happening any minute now, though. I'm pretty sure we'll be all done with the nursery by the end of the day today. So hopefully Baby Padgham is just waiting for his or her room to be done and then he'll/she'll come on out. If not, I've got a midwife appointment tomorrow morning and hopefully I'll get a better idea of how things are moving along if at all.

Here are some pictures of the almost finished nursery. It's really looking great. YEA!!

A long-winded one...

Oh man. I haven't posted in over a month! Sorry about that. Things have just been kindof crazy with holidays, new buildings, and remodeling. Here's an update on things:

#1) I'm doing great at almost 35 weeks in my pregnancy. Only 2 weeks until I'll be considered "full-term", but still another 5 weeks until my due date of 2/4. I'm getting more and more tired as the days go on. In fact, I'll be starting reduced hours at work as of January 2. I'll only work 6 hours a day instead of 8. I'll be using those extra 2 hours to get in extra rest and sleep. Also, not sure if everyone knows this yet or not, but I won't be returning to work after the baby arrives. I'll be making a career change to full-time mommy. Padg and I are very, very excited about that. Here's a picture of the little one at 34 weeks and 4 days...

#2) Padg and I are debt-free!! We started our debt payoff last December and have managed to pay off two credit cards, two vehicles, a school loan, and a few other smaller debts since then. We worked really hard at it all year. Our goal was to be debt-free before the birth of our first child. And we did it with a few weeks to spare. It's because of this accomplishment that I'm going to be able to make the above-mentioned career change. ;)

#3) The tool shed is done! And it's beautiful. Well, it's done enough for now anyway. All that's left is a little painting and a window installment, but that's it. Here are some pictures of the masterpiece. Special thanks to all of our helpers: Bruce & Shari, Jon, Rob, Scott, Chandra, and Eric. We could not have done it without you all.

#4) Nursery renovations have begun. Bruce & Shari came back to Dallas for Christmas and are here through New Years to help. Jon has been a big help as well. Turns out there's a whole lot more to do than we anticipated. So we're hoping and praying that we'll get it done before Baby arrives. Here are some pictures of the progress so far...

Before...

In progress (I'm so excited at how beautiful the floors are)...

#5) I've had two more baby showers since my family one in Houston in November. My friends Chandra, Karen, & Laura threw one for me in Dallas on 12/2. It was beautiful and so much fun. And my co-workers threw me another one at work on 12/13. I had such a great time. Thanks to Sarah, Stephanie, Ruth, Viki & Tamara for the very special day. I'll post pictures from these two showers as soon as I receive them.

Let's see...what else. Have I left anything out? I don't think so. I guess that's enough, isn't it? ;) I promise not to wait so long before my next post. Hope everyone is doing well and that you all had a nice holiday. Love to all!

Baby Shower #1: Houston with Family

Our first baby shower was absolutely wonderful. Of course the best part was getting to see my family and spend some time with them. I'm so thankful that so many were able to make it. A special thanks to my sisters, Teri and Maggie, for hosting such a great party. And thanks to everyone for all the beautiful gifts.

GO WILDCATS!!!

What a game! It was the greatest, most exciting game I have ever been to. In case you live in a cave and haven't heard yet, the unranked KSU Wildcates upset #4 Texas Longhorns (or t.u. as we Aggie fans like to call them). And Padg and I were there!! It was AWESOME. I think it took us about a week to come down from the high we got. Here are some pictures of the mayhem after the game...

Progress...

Let's see, where should I start? I guess I'd better start with an update on Baby. All is still going great. Baby is a little over 2 pounds now and about 14 inches long. He/she is growing like a beautiful little weed. Movement is pretty much non-stop and I'm loving every second of it. News from my midwife visit earlier this week...the heart rate is at 156 and sounds healthy and strong. She drew blood for the diabetes test and a complete blood count to make sure I have no infections or anemia or any other complications. She said she'd be really surprised if any of the tests came back positive. They'll only call me with the results if there's something wrong.

Update on me...I'll be 7 months along this Sunday, 11/12. And other than my huge feet and non-existant ankles, I'm doing really well. ;)

Update on Padg...He's more than half-way there on his way to becoming a Licensed LA. He passed all three licensing exams he took at the beginning of October. He'll take the other two exams next summer and then he'll be all done. It's not very common to pass these tests on the 1st try, but he did it and I am so proud of him. ;)

Update on tool shed (see pictures below)...We've gotten as much done as possible to prepare for the "Big Build" scheduled over the Thanksgiving holidays. So far, Padg and Rob have broken up and removed the existing concrete slab (which at some point in the past served some sort of purpose). Then they dug a deep trench and installed a drainage system. Our backyard used to get inundated with rain water flowing in from the property behind ours, but now it flows right down the drainage system and into the street. Works like a charm. This past weekend was the fun part. A concrete truck barely squeezed through our very narrow driveway and poured the concrete for the new slab. Padg and Rob certainly outdid themselves shoveling that heavy cement into place. I tried picking up half a shovel full just to see how heavy it was, and well, it was pretty heavy. I couldn't lift it two inches off the ground. So they definitely got a good work out that day. They made it look so easy. Rob, we simply can not thank you enough for all your help. We'll sure try to, though.

So now we're ready for the "Big Build" and we're really looking forward to having the Padgham's here to help us. In the meantime, we'll be in Kansas this weekend for the K-State/t.u. game and then we're off to Houston the following weekend for my first baby shower. Can't wait!!

Well, that's all for now. Hope you're all doing great. Until next time...GO WILDCATS!!