Holy Crap We're Parents

Warning...This is the story of Sutton's birth. There might be some details that you never needed to have, but I wanted to keep it real. It's also super long, so you have been warned! Lots of my friends have asked about how everything went, and functioning on 2 hours of sleep makes responding to texts low on the priority totem pole. I also included some things I learned through this process, which will hopefully help someone else out!

For months (after having a front row seat to my sisters c-section) I begged my doctor to just let me go in for one. The whole thought of labor terrified me, plus I had no confidence I could actually birth a child. Side note- turns out I couldn't. Despite my whining and moaning she didn't budge, and the day after my due date, we went in for an induction.

These people have no idea what they're in for...but does anyone really?

Walking into the hospital that morning, I can only describe my emotions as a dorky 5 year old walking into kindergarten for the first time. You know there's no way you're getting out of going into this building, but every instinct is telling you to run home. I was terrified and cried a little. Let's keep in mind here that I am a classic over reactor and incredibly dramatic, so if you have not had a bambino don't let that scare you too much.

Around 7am I was hooked up to all kind of monitors and the party got started. They broke my water immediately and then told me scary news #1 for the day. Sutton decided to go ahead and poop before he came out, so there was meconium swimming around in there with him. We were informed we wouldn't hear him cry when he was born so they they could make sure to clear his airways. Cue emotional breakdown #2 for the day. No one wants to hear from the get go even the smallest thing is wrong.

 I made it until about 10am without asking for the good drugs, I was pretty proud of myself. They asked me a few times if I was ready, but I wanted to "feel labor" for some idiotic reason. To anyone who thinks they can do it without the drugs... more power to you. When my contractions were lasting a minute each and were only 2 minutes apart, let me just tell you that this labor business is no joke.

So I got the drugs. They asked me if a student could do my epidural. I refrained from cursing at the nurse that asked, which I considered a win. The lovely nurse who did the epidural missed the first time, so I got to experience that fun twice. Despite this discomfort, it was welcomed. I proceeded to watch a Pretty Little Liars marathon for the next several hours, because I am a 15 year old trapped in a 28 year old's body. After the epidural you can't feel anything, so it's pretty easy going.

Let me just say that our little meatball has been a bit on the lazy side from the get go. At 38 weeks I had an ultrasound he refused to wake up for, so they hooked me up to all kind of monitors and scared the crap out of me...just to tell me he was only sleepy. He continued onto his path of being dramatic like his mom throughout the day. As soon as I got the epidural, my blood pressure decided to hit the floor (which is common). They brought in the nice lady with the drugs, and she gave me something to help that, which made it go up too high. "Short people are just hard to regulate"... sorryyyyyy for that lady. Well during this process Sutton's heart rate decided to play a game of hopscotch. At one point it got so low the nurse called in my doctor and the doctor on call in the hospital. At this point I was hysterical, even my sister (the normally emotionless one) was crying. Just as my doctor, who literally sprinted from her office across the street, arrived they got him to wake up. At this point I had already had 3 emotional breakdowns and it was only 2pm. I started begging for them to just get him out where they could take care of him, and again... my lack of Md lead them to ignore me. Instead, they just gave me a sweet oxygen mask to wear...which did not include the laughing gas that I asked for.

Around 4:30 or 5, I really have no idea what time, my sister started pacing around the monitors looking all serious. This is never a good sign. The nurse came in and told me Sutton's heart rate had now gone way up and was staying up. I also decided to spike a fever which was fun. At this point, I was totally over it. I had been at 6 cm for 3 hours, so this little guy was refusing to play it cool. My doctor came in and set on my bed and told me she thought the c-section I asked for since 30 weeks was our best bet. (Told ya so). Now, you'd think I would've been happy. Nope, panic attack. Started again balling uncontrollably. (If you haven't caught onto a trend here, I don't handle stress and hormones well at all...I feel really bad for my nurse Sarah Beth, who was great). All of a sudden there were 10 people in my room all asking me questions and talking over one another and it totallyyyy freaked me out.  Here is Jacob after they wheeled me out...he missed the meltdown completely.

In the OR, I finally calmed down when the nurses started complimenting my toenail polish. I guess I just needed something to take my mind off of the fact that I was about to be ripped open. Now, they tell you you don't feel pain, just "tugging"...HA. If tugging means you're pretty sure someone is standing on the bed pulling your abdomen across the room, then sure. I made a huge mistake at this point by telling them I could feel pain on my left side (probably due to the whole 2 epidural thing). My lovely anesthesiologist right by my head wasn't about to let me feel anything, so she told me she was giving me something that "might make me sleepy". Understatement of the century. Luckily, I remember hearing Sutton cry (and I started crying again, only this time happy tears), and that is about it. Apparently I was pretty coherent here, but unfortunately I don't remember. 

As all of our family met our baby for the first time, I was unconscious (snoring according to my sister, thanks) in the corner. This absolutely broke my heart. I remember fighting the sleepiness and trying to look at him. I had my sister walk up and then back so I could try and focus on him opening 1 eye at a time, no luck. It would be about 2 hours until I could actually process the person I gave birth to. I would've much rather felt some pain than missed this, but we made up for lost time. I have the most beautiful little boy in the world, and no, it's not up for debate!

I hate that his birth story isn't a unicorns and butterflies story, but I wanted to share it because I was only prepared for some of the scariness based on stories my friends (or random pinterest blogs) told me. The 3 nights in the hospital weren't a breeze either, but I'll spare you those details. Here's some things I would highly recommend though if you are having a baby any time in the near or not so near future.

• Don't freak out. Take it from me, have someone with you that can calm you down and not over react and scare you even more. My husband is great, but I really needed my sister there. She just went through this process 10 weeks ago, and she is pretty much the most level headed person I know. Along with this, don't plan to have a room full of people when you're in labor, unless you think you can handle it. Things can get dramatic quickly, and if you have a ton of people it can scare them, which will scare you. I didn't let my sister or Jacob tell anyone what was going on until after, because I couldn't handle anyone else being as worried as I was.
• Over share time: Invest in these 2 gems, especially if you have a c-section. DO NOT attempt to put on in the hospital while your belly is still super tender. I made this mistake and it was terrible. The day after we got home I put them both on and wear them 24/7. It seriously helps with shrinking your tummy and helping you sit up, sit down, and pick up the baby with your incision. I think it would still be great for a vaginal delivery as well.
  
• Send your baby to the nursery. A lot of people disagree with this, but you cannot heal (and no matter the route you will be healing) if you aren't sleeping. The nurses will bring the baby back when they are hungry, but you need some rest! One of my nurses made it clear she didn't support this, and it was really hard for me to ask for them to take him. The first night I was so out of it they had to. The second night I felt bad asking so I literally did not sleep. AT ALL. The pediatrician came in around 7am and I was balling (seriously, notice a pattern). She told me to send him and not feel bad about it. 
• Bring a paci to the hospital. They will not give you one, and they will tell you not to use it for 2 weeks. However, when they are screaming at 3am and not hungry, you'll be glad you did. Again, if you really disagree... don't bring one. I just know I found it helpful, and I have several friends who were breast feeding that did as well.
• If you feel like your baby is extremely hungry, don't be upset if you need to supplement. My awesome pediatrician also recommended this. Our little boy was having plenty of diapers, but I knew from his screaming something was wrong. Turns out he lost more than 12% of his body weight in the hospital, which is more than normal. When I asked the nurse to give him a little formula to supplement, she literally argued with me and I had to push the issue, which is upsetting. We started supplementing at night and he gained back 10 oz in 4 days. Breast feeding is fantastic, but it doesn't make you a bad mom if its not going 100% according to plan and you need to change things up! I've had to end up only pumping and giving bottles and a little formula at night.
• Ask for help and stay on top of your pain medicine. My wonderful nurse Heather...shout out you were amazing, wrote on my dry erase board what time I could have each drug next. If she didn't come in I would always call. There were a couple of times when I missed a dose in the middle of the night because I was too tired to call...bigggg mistake. She also made me feel like I wasn't crazy when I cried and actually hugged me when I was having a breakdown. She was just so sweet and calm and it's exactly what I needed. Not all nurses are as great as Heather.

Basically, don't be scared to do what YOU think is best if your baby and yourself. You are also in the hospital as a patient, and you need to follow your instincts. It's like your wedding day, something is bound to go not according to plan, and you just have to roll with the punches, because at the end of the day you will have a perfect tiny human being who you will love more than anything. You will be overwhelmed and feel under prepared, but its crazy how naturally everything will come.

Nursery!

The nursery is finally complete! As soon as we found out Sutton was a boy, I knew I wanted a Louisiana theme! Hey, if he can't live there he should at least know where he's from :)

Click here for the fat belly bump picture and the update on life!

The lamp, curtains, and laundry hamper are Pottery Barn and the table is Target! One of my best friends, Kim Swart, made this bulldog when she worked at Tech! I obviously had to include it in the nursery!

Our crib was previously owned by my sweet friend Chelsea! The chair and blanket are Pottery Barn and the pillow is from Townsend House in Ruston. It has a little heart where Ruston is on the map :)

Of course he had to have a monogram, but I tried to make it manly ;) All of his bedding is from Pottery Barn!

Of course Trigger had to be in a picture. He stood and posed like this until I took the picture, and then he walked out. Heaven forbid he be left out!

The bear on the bookshelf was given to us at StorkVision of Nashville when we found out Sutton was a boy! If you squeeze it, you hear his heartbeat when he was 15 weeks! The owner actually graduated high school with my dad at Ruston High! Sometimes the world is crazy small! 

Love this frame that Aunt Michelle bought!

I saw this quote on Pinterest and fell in love with it! I'm sure we don't even understand how true this is yet!

Stop Being Jerks

So the other day, I saw something on Facebook that really irritated me (shocking, I know). I waited a few days because I felt like I've ranted about a lot of things during pregnancy, but this one really stuck with me and bothered me. It was a simple question posted by someone I don't know, I happened to see if because one of my Facebook friends commented. The question read "two piece swimsuit eight months pregnant, yes or no."

Well being eight months pregnant currently, I obviously had to click. I should probably disclose that at this moment I'm driving 8 hours in a car with a husband who purposely downloaded karaoke versions of songs to sing the entire way, so my state of mind isn't fantastic. However, still several days later the comments bothered me deeply. Why is this even a question? Why do you even care what someone else is wearing? Some simply said yes or no, and some were straight up butt holes (to use my big girl words).

First off, if you are a man, you have absolutely nothing to say in this argument, and many were, including the poster. Can you grow a freaking human being in your body? No? Oh that's what I thought... So end of discussion. No one would EVER dream of telling a man with a beer belly to "cover up" or "put a shirt on" at the beach! Why? Because that's straight up rude.

This brings me to my second point. Men and women of the world, you're perfectly fine showing off a few extra pounds of McDonalds at the beach, so why in the world would a woman growing a human being be expected to cover up? It's a freaking miracle that's happening over here... Not just too much sodium at lunch. If anyone should be embarrassed, it's not the latter.

Last, women of the world, can we agree to give each other a mother freaking break?! A woman actually commented "at home it's ok but you should cover that up in public". Are you kidding me?! I'm going to assume you have terrible self esteem because no woman should ever shame a pregnant woman for the way she looks. We should be supporting one another and encouraging each other, not making women feel as though something is wrong with them for the dang miracle of life. Women are the harshest critics of other women, we've known this for a while. But MAN wait until you're pregnant... It goes to a whole new level.

Ok, now I feel better. Sorry if my blog posts are obnoxious, but I decided to just tell it like it is. No one prepares you for the rudeness of others during pregnancy. As my wise sister said hours after giving birth "man, pregnancy just kinda sucked... But this is what makes it all worth it" as she held my extremely perfect in every way niece (fact).

Until that moment, I will continue to entertain you with my hormonal rants of an 8 month pregnant person who has a little boy trying to break her ribs daily. ;) I will also continue to wear a two piece until I (there's the only word that matters in this sentence) feel uncomfortable and don't want to.

Week 28

The 3rd trimester has been good to me in the first week, mainly because I no longer have to work and can nap whenever I dang well please! This is probably the last time in my life this will happen, so trust me, I am enjoying it! Click here for all of the fatty baby belly pics ;)

Sutton is measuring at exactly 28 weeks and is perfect! In her words, however, "dang, he is up there, I mean he is really high in your ribs". Thank you, I hadn't noticed! *By hadn't noticed I mean I'm fairly certain one of my ribs is consistently bruised!

On a fantastic note, probably as a product of this child hanging out in and around my ribs, my acid reflux has been off the charts. I've had this for as long as I can remember and its like it took steroids and hung out in some nuclear waste to get 1 billion percent worse. I finally got a glorious prescription that has basically eradicated my acid reflux completely, which is the greatest gift I could've received...besides cupcakes.  I mean, waking up covered in vomit and only sleeping 20-30 minutes at a time was fun and all, but I'm pretty pumped that's over for now. I've also been having Braxton Hicks contractions which are just real weird. I get them almost every night now. I google a lot to make sure I'm not dying or in labor or something.

I also turned 28 on Saturday. That just seems real old guys. I knowwww if you're reading this and you're over the age of 30 you are saying cuss words at me right now, but 28 is just very close to 30. Now, there is nothing wrong with 30, it's just that I don't feel a day over 23 and I'm just really not sure how that happened or what really occurred during the last 5 years. I also had a grey eye brow situation happen, which I may have cried about. My day of birth...27 weeks 5 days preggo.

All in all we are getting really excited for Mr. Sutton's arrival. I still feel 100% unprepared to be fully responsible for keeping a human being alive and making sure he turns out to be a decent human being and stuff...I'm hoping everyone feels like this. If not, please do not call DCFS on me, I promise I'll get my life together in the next 2 1/2 months. 

Also, I'm pretty nervous given my husbands current occupation of being the most awesome drummer in existence, that he will be away when I go into labor. I have been promised if he is, they will get his hiney back here asap, but I reallyyyyy do not want to experience even a tiny part of this without him. So if you wouldn't mind, say a little prayer or 12 that Sutton's entrance into this world will not be 1/10th as dramatic as his mother is.

Anywho, all and all May has been a great month and I can't wait for my niece's arrival any day now! 

The Second Trimester

So Monday marks the end of the second trimester! I can't believe my due date is in exactly 3 months! I reallyyyyy can't believe that in 3 weeks or less I will have a niece! I can't wait to spoil her! Pregnancy has been weird for me, and I think it's different than a lot of people expect it to be!

Highlights of weeks 12-26:

• Obviously finding out we were having a little boy at week 15! Storkvision in Nashville is awesome, seriously.
• Finally naming said little boy about 2 weeks later
• Seeing him again at week 20 and since he was so uncooperative getting to see him again at week 25!
• Around week 23 really feeling him kick and around week 24-25 actually seeing him move! Super weird
• Highlights also include being tired and having acid reflux so bad I randomly throw up on myself in my sleep. Pregnancy isn't as glamorous as stupid Kristin Cavallari makes it out to be kids. ;)

I won't lie, I've felt a little disconnected from pregnancy up until a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't until about week 23 that I really started to feel him kick (like I'm positive that wasn't my digestive system it was a kick, kick). We also weren't able to start putting everything into his room until yesterday, which lead to the "is this really for real feeling". I never felt the 2nd trimester "burst of energy" and started feeling great like most people say. Either they are liars, or I am weird. Either way, I have still felt like a nap at any moment and cranky as an old man. All that being said, now that we've been able to start actually preparing, it all feels real! I've been so excited the last few days putting things together! Jacob has been gone basically the entire month of May, so it was really special to get to paint and put together furniture yesterday.

Also, pregnancy does weird things to your mind. I'm just speaking for myself, but you do not feel cute (note- getting a spray tan did help significantly, no my baby shower pics aren't just the "pregnancy glow"). No matter how many people tell you how good you look, it's still very hard to look in the mirror and embrace what you see! It also doesn't help that other people feel the need to make down right rude comments. I've been saying this basically since day 1, but please think before you speak! Pregnant women feel all kinds of emotions, and most of the time your comments aren't necessary. For example:

• "wow you're showing so soon"- thanks a ton, that makes me super excited to gain the 25 more pounds I need to gain for my baby to be healthy
• "you must be having a girl, you're carrying wide"= nope it's a boy but I appreciate your non medical opinion on my body
• "I don't know how you're going to get any bigger!"- see #1...who wants to hear this when then KNOW they have to get a lot bigger?!
• "You have to be about to pop!"- nope, 3 months left but thanks for making me feel huge.

I've had close friends and my sister tell me even worse stories! A jerk of a man told one of my friends she didn't need the icee she was buying because her baby was about to fall right out. Are we serious right now, sir? Also, NEVER and I mean NEVER under any circumstances refer to a pregnant woman as fat, even in a joking way! This followed up with "oh you know what I mean" in no way makes it better. Guess what, that's exactly how it feels sometimes. Basically everyone has some story of some rude, thoughtless person who hurt their feelings when they were pregnant. I go back to my very first pregnancy post rule of thumb. If it's a compliment (you're so cute), fantastic! If it's a comment (I just don't know how your belly is going to get any bigger), keep it to yourself.

I will say, I recently got over my phobia of people touching my belly. Someone asked (good etiquette) to touch my belly. She told me she couldn't get pregnant and loved to feel other people's bellies. This really hit me hard. It's truly amazing what your body can do, I mean I'm growing a freaking human being! Sometimes that significance gets lost on me. I get so carried away in everything else that I don't stop and realize what a miracle all of this really is. Don't get me wrong, I don't love people rubbing me, but this dude is pretty cool already and I'm good with sharing him every now and then. :)

On a positive note, some amazing friends also threw us a perfect baby shower! It was precious and we can't thank everyone enough for their love and support!

Thank you Nancy Whittenburg for an amazing cake!!!

Pregnancy glow brought to you by a spray tan by a dude named Steve (seriously)

Root beer and bow ties, because obviously.

The most amazing shower hostesses ever

Jacob's Mummy (his great- grandmother) Sutton's middle name is after her husband Davis.

My wonderful mother in law and sister in law! Just missing Aunt Shelley!

Lily Cate at 35 weeks, I can't waitttttt to spoil her! She's named after our great grandmother on my dad's side and the best aunt she could ever ask for ;)

My mom and grandmother 

My besticle and Sutton's future wife, Sally Jean Avinger. No, they do not have a choice. They just need to embrace it from early on. 

I'm going to be someone's mom soon....

Sutton Davis

I haven't updated our blog since we found out we were having a little boy! I finally looked at a snapshot of the last 23 weeks, and it's so cool to be able to see the belly grow! Notice I said cool, even though it hurt me a little because watching yourself get big is the least fun thing I've ever done! It will all be worth it when a healthy little boy is here though!

About 6 weeks pregnant when we were in St. Croix New Years Day... shhh it was still a secret!! (Sighhh, hi skinny self. I didn't appreciate you like I should have!)

Normally you wait 12 weeks to announce, but after we saw the little wiggle worm at 8 weeks it was hard to keep it a secret much longer!

Valentine's Day 2014! 

14 weeks was when I really started to feel like I was showing! (Now I think I was insane) but people definitely started with the comments at this point!!

We went to a great place called StorkVision in Brentwood, TN to find out the gender of our little bambino! I can't say enough nice things about them, they were fantastic! After lotssss of back and forth, Sutton Davis Simmons was set! Davis was Jacob's great grandfather's name, and his wife is still with us!

Sutton flexing his muscles when we found out he was a boy!

Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jacob came to visit, and Sutton and Lily Cate got their first picture together! This is the first of about 10 million I am sure!!!

April 7th Sutton was 1/2 way there! I get plenty of comments at this point about my size :) plentyyyy...no really, I get it! I'm showing a lot!

Chaperoning Prom at 22 weeks... what is wrong with me?! It was super fun to remind all of the teenagers as they were leaving the consequences of certain after prom activities though ;)

The last week of April makes 23 weeks!! I definitely feel large and in charge and strangers comment constantly! I can feel him move and kick on a regular basis now though, which is really fun! I'm sure in another 5-10 weeks I will look back and call myself crazy for thinking this is huge! At this point I'm getting some hip and back pain, but overall feeling good and sleeping well! Sleep is actually my #1 favorite hobby. To everyone who had the "magical 2nd trimester" where they felt so energized, I'm jealous! 

May 26th- 27 weeks, the last week of the 2nd trimester! Loving that I am out of school for summer and real pants are not required for daily life! Click here for week 27 update

Every week I think I'm hugeeeee.... it's not until I look back at these that I realize I was not, in fact, huge...and now am! See above and below comparison haha

June 30th- It was really weird to me at this point that Sutton would have weighed more than I did at birth! (I was 3.5 pounds). I felt like I had sooo much longer to go, I couldn't imagine him being this early like I was! 

July 21st- It has been awesome being home all summer! I'm sort of dreading working the last 4 weeks, but I really can't complain! I've had 8 weeks to rest and take my sweet (read lazy) time getting everything ready for Sutton!! Sleep is like a unicorn at this point. I want to believe it exists, but at this point I have my doubts. Big guy is getting extremely heavy and my feet, lets and hips feel it constantly! He also continues to hang out in my ribs, which used to just be uncomfortable but now is making breathing pretty difficult. I'm definitely to the point where I feel like I'm about 35 years pregnant, instead of 35 weeks!

Jacob started a radio tour last week, so he will be gone for around 2 months and only home for about 24 hours on the weekends. He's been away basically every week for a few days since around April, but this is the longest stretch for sure! It's definitely been challenging having him gone so much, but I'm so proud of him and even more excited that he gets to live his dream. :) When I tell people this, they look at me like I'm crazy! I'd be lying if I said it's easy and I'm 100% fine with it, but I would much rather miss him and know he gets to do what he loves as a career, than have him here working a job he hates! That's what I signed on for from day 1, and that's what marriage is! It's not easy, but it's definitely worth it!

The anxiety is reallyyyy setting in about delivery at this point, so please pray that he will be here and everything will be stress free! I do not need a dramatic birth story, I'm great with a boring one! I'm dramatic enough for all of us :)

Love,

Caty and Sutton

Simmons, Party of 3!

It's true! In about 6 months, these two people will be parents! Weird! (Trigger already looks less than thrilled).

Since we're so far away from everyone who probably cares about the progress of this little nugget, I'll keep you updated here!  We've seen him or her once already... I was in complete denial. I was positive there would be nothing to see and the doctor would call me insane! Nope! I'm not just getting really fat...there is, in fact, a baby growing in there! You can see the big head and little arm right there!

So far I've been lucky, I haven't really been sick! At least not pregnancy sick. I've just had a sinus infection for around 6 weeks and counting. Now that I'm passed my first trimester, I wouldn't say I have tonnnns of energy like people say, but I at least don't feel like a walking zombie.

So far I just feel like I look like I've eaten 7 pizzas, not pregnant. Ahhh the joys of being only 5 feet tall. I'm looking forward to when I actually look pregnant and not just fat! Serious comment, not looking for compliments here!

On that note, in the last 13 weeks, I've noticed a dramatic change in the things people say to you. It's like a switch flips and people think they can say whateverrrr they want to you in terms of what you look like. Call me dramatic, or hormonal, or whatever you'd like, but there are certain things you should just keep to yourself! A good rule of thumb:

• compliment (you look so cute) great! 
• comment (you're showing early, I can't believe you're already wearing maternity pants, I think your having a girl because you're carrying wide already) pleaseeee keep to yourself!

I'm just speaking for myself, but I think a lot of pregnant ladies would agree... You don't feel very cute, you don't feel very well, and your hormones are all over the place. It's not a great time for ANYONE to be commenting on your appearance!

On a lighter note, my students are hilarious and want to be the ones to name the baby. I might be zombie-like tired, but don't worry...I'm not that crazy! They ask me about the baby basically every day, which I think is funny. I really didn't think they would care one bit! They also ask me about "Mr. Simmons" all the time, which is reallyyyyy funny to me. If you know Jacob at all, the fact that anyone refers to him as Mr. Simmons is just really funny!

Oh and also, we got a new car! A car seat wouldn't exactly fit well in a 2 door car! I'm prettyyyy excited about it!