Before Christmas pics

Still trying to catch up from the past month...thought I would post some cute pictures of Julia that Tiffany took. We were trying to get one for her birth announcement. These were taken around the second week of December 2007. She was 2 1/2 weeks old! The top one is a picture of her "Aunt Kris and Aunt Tiff."

New Year's Eve 2007

Today is New Year's Eve....I hardly would know it was a holiday. If I hadn't been watching the Today show, I am not sure that I would know that the ball was dropping at Times Square tonight! It's funny how my center of universe has changed so much. The past 33 years were spent trying to figure out how we were going to celebrate New Year's Eve and usually ended up being disappointed in how things turned out. This year, we will probably celebrate by giving Julia her 12:30 am feeding and smiling at her. Might be the best New Year's Eve ever......

Sip and See

Mom's friends got together and hosted a Sip and See at my house for Julia. It was a lot of fun, even though the weather was terrible and my road was flooded! Julia got to meet her very cool cousin Robin, who lives in Chicago and works for Mommy's favorite person....OPRAH! Julia met her favorite Great Aunt, Aunt Jane, at the hospital. I love it when other people love her!

December 2, 2007...Heading Home

We finally got our first night together in the room with Julia the night before we were discharged from the hospital. I guess they wanted to make sure that they could let us take this precious baby home and be able to take care of her! I can't believe they trust us that much.... The drive home was surreal. I can't believe we are taking this baby home. John had to stop and grab some caffeine after nearly falling asleep on the road. I was too busy staring at Julia in the backseat to even care that he was asleep at the wheel.

Julia's first bath

Pictures that Julia will be so happy her Mommy posted for the world to see!

Julia's first bath at around 2 weeks old! Julia loved her first bath!

She was crying and cold when I lowered her into the water, but she sort of went limp and got happy when she was in! Her Dad and I hadn't figured out the bathtub gadget yet, and after she was in for about 2 minutes, we heard water pouring out into the sink. Within 1 minute, there was no water in the tub, and Julia was back to her original unhappy state!

The Birth, continued.

Okay, back to the birth. I didn't put up too much of a fuss when she told me that I would need a c-section. Her reasoning was that I was not progressing and was really far off from having a vaginal delivery. I was never one of those pregnant women who had a birth plan and very strong ideas about how the delivery would go. So, I was happy to oblige to being wheeled down to surgery. I couldn't tell you what the OB looked like that delivered me, nor have I ever heard the voice or seen the face of the pediatrician that took care of Julia when she arrived. I can tell you about the face of the sweet anesthesiologist who was at my head and took some valuable pictures in the surgery room immediately after she came. I don't know her name, but I am so grateful for her talking to me and telling me what was going on during the delivery!

The next 24 hours were a logistical nightmare at UAMS and a nightmare for me because I couldn't leave my bed due to the dangers associated with walking while on the magnesium drip. Julia couldn't leave the nursery because of her IV. Her blood sugar was low when she was born due to my Type I diabetes. She eventually stabalized and came out, oh, so beautiful! I am attaching a picture for you to agree. So, for the statistics....

Julia Jean Shepherd
Thursday, November 29, 2007
9:41 pm
8 lbs. 6 oz.
36 weeks, c-section delivery at UAMS in Little Rock
Oh, life is so good!

And I Think to Myself....What a Wonderful World!

Well, I am giving this blog deal a shot. I have been telling myself that when I get caught up on thank you notes, I would start a blog for baby Julia. She was one month old this past Thursday!!! I am still not caught up on notes, but time is getting away from me. We have been so wrapped up in our new center of the universe!
What a JOY! I never knew what I was missing and noone could have told me. I never dreamed that I could love another tiny human being so much!
I want to record the facts of her birth so I never forget.
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
John and I drove to Little Rock for the second of our required weekly visits to Dr. Wendell's office at UAMS. I have been on bedrest for 2 weeks because of my blood pressure creeping up. I will be 36 weeks pregnant tomorrow. John and I had a great time at home for the past two weeks. We played scrabble on Direct TV, did crossword puzzles, and watched a lot of HGTV. He has taken such good care of me! This staying home business is a whole new world for me....I am typically such the go girl. I think I could get used to it!
Anyway....Dr. Wendell came in and told me that today was the day and that I needed to go to the hospital to floor 5 (Labor and Delivery) and check myself in. He says that we are having a baby either today or tomorrow. My blood pressure had spiked to a dangerous level.
Being the good employee that I am, I dropped a grant off at the health department before heading over to the hospital. WOW...that should get me a 3% raise easily! We got checked in and they started me on Pitocin and the magnesium (a terrible medicine to help me not to have a seizure due to my high blood pressure) drip around 3pm. John decided to head back to Wynne and get the cameras and other stuff that we had left behind. I assured him that he had plenty of time and convinced my parents not to come until tomorrow because I was sure that Julia wouldn't make her appearance until then! I talked on the phone to Tiffany and other friends while I was in labor to help keep my mind off of it. A nurse came in and asked if I was alone. I told her only temporarily. John got back the second they put in my epidural to help with the pain. I was having really bad back labor. A few minutes later, the doctor checked me and I was only dialated to 2. Not progressing fast enough, so she says a C-section is necessary.
Be back soon...John just came in with some Taco Bell.