We're Home!

I'm only doing a real quick update to let everyone know Hudson, Cliff and I have all made it home! We're all doing great! Pretty sleep deprived but that's as to be expected. :)
Thank you all for your keeping us in your prayers these last few days. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives. God has truly blessed us with the most incredible gift. More to come in the upcoming days. Just thought I would update those without Instagram :)




Right before I started to push




Our first family photo :)




These two boys have my entire heart








Headed home this afternoon!
I'll update with my birth story, etc in a few days. Right now, our dog child is on her way home from her Uncle Chads house. Wish us all luck with that introduction!

Baby Taylor Update...

Well, it looks like Hudson is going to be just as stubborn as his mama..and dad for that matter! I'm headed into my 40th week of pregnancy and he's showing no signs of joining us on his own. 

At 36 weeks we had an ultrasound to make sure he was head down, which he is, and to get an approximate weight (6 lbs 15 oz with an error rate of 15 oz) At that point I was dilated at a 1cm not effaced at all. The next week was the same. At 38 weeks I was between a 2-3 and 75% effaced. I go to the dr every Wednesday and at that appointment she told me, and I quote 'I'd be shocked if you didn't have him by the weekend'. Don't say this to a lady who's been pregnant for 38 weeks unless your positive!  The Thursday after that 38 week appointment I was 99.9% sure I was in labor. I was up all night with contractions and awful back pain which went on into Thursday night and then came to a stop. Since then..zero signs of labor. 

I went back to the dr this past Wednesday and was still at the same 2-3cm and 75%. I may or may not have told her I wanted to kick her when she told me that....

Because of his size and the fact that over 2 weeks I haven't progressed anymore she wants to induce this week on the 26th. So, as of now I'm scheduled to go in Thursday am to be induced. I'm not thrilled about this at all and am still praying he comes on his own in between now and then but whatever happens I'm just beyond ready to finally have my baby in my arms. 

I haven't taken many pictures lately and hate when people take mirror shots but I did hurry and take one last week fully expecting to 'have him by the weekend'. 

Now since we have one more weekend with no Hudson Cliff and I are spending it cleaning, organizing and trying to soak up our last weekend as a family of 2 (or 3 with Missi)

36 weeks (really late)

36 Weeks

How far? 36 weeks as of 8/27 so...I'm a little late. I'm more like 37 weeks right now

Size of baby: According to our ultrasound he's 6 lbs 15 oz. BUT the error rate is 15 oz so he could possibly be 5 lbs or 7 lbs. Either way this isn't going to be a tiny baby!

Sleep: I actually sleep pretty well. I still have to get up once or twice but other than that I always go right to sleep at night and wake up around 530. 

Strech Marks: no.  I did have a dream this past week that I woke up with them ALL over me. I guess I woke up in real life and proceeded to rub a mixture of oil and lotion all over me because the next morning it was all over my shirt and bathroom counter. Luckily that was all just a dream and I was just extra moisturized that night. 

Best moment of the week: Getting to see him on the ultrasound. Although we were both slightly disappointed with how little we were able to see (due to such tight quarters) it was still so sweet to see his little face.

Movement: All the time. But, his movements have definitely changed from kicks to a slow rolling feeling. If I'm sitting or laying down I can watch him move in my belly. 

Gender: Boy :)

Belly Button In or Out? In and it seems to be staying that way

Wedding rings off or on? Still on thank goodness. However I am swelling much more in my fingers on these recent 90 degree 100% humidity days.

Cravings: Nothing. I'm starting to think that's a pregnancy myth.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope. Certain smells will get me every now and then but it's always so random.

What I miss: A lot. I miss being able to get out of bed without getting a rolling start. I miss bending down with ease. Being able to help do household chores. My tolerance for heat. Oh wait..I've never had that. I miss my overall comfort. But, I'll take it all of it any day to carry this sweet little boy in my belly.

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting him. I'm so ready to have him and to finally meet this tiny human I've been hosting in my belly for the last 8 1/2 months. I can't wait to see what/who he looks like (my guess is going to be his dad!) I can't wait to finally be able to hold him.

Labor Signs: Lots of cramping and random contractions. Nothing too intense but I guess just my body starting to get ready. 

Nursery: Finally existent and getting things done! It's definitely not going to be finished by the time he gets here but it should be quite close. Cliff is building bookshelves for it this weekend and after some organizing and decorating it'll be done!

Emotions: Good! I get tired easier these days which will lead to grumpy Kathryn but luckily Cliff knows this happens and tries to urge me to nap frequently to avoid it :) 

Last week my friend Felicia came over to paint our bedroom for me and afterward she and my other friend Jennie did a little  maternity shoot for me. If I was going to agree to any kind of maternity pictures the only thing I wanted was just simple, natural photos. I'm so happy with the turnout! As much as I don't love seeing my giant belly/hips/arms etc I think these memories of him in my belly are ones I'll cherish forever.

One Giant Post

Whoa. Where do I even begin?? I think we've finally gotten to where we can say we're 'settled' in our new home. We  Cliff has worked every day/night to get things put in a place. We closed on our house on Thursday 8/15 and had to be out of our apartment that same night. Thank God for Cliff and our family because by the time I got to the apartment from work everything was out of the apartment and in the house.

We had a Uhaul that next Saturday morning and with the help of all of our parents, siblings and friends we were able to finally get all of our stuff from the four places that it was all scattered around greater Nashville. By the time they had all left most everything was already put away for us! I actually did much better with the moving process than I had thought I would. It didn't really hit me how tired I was until this week so I've been trying to recoup! 

Oscar joined our moving day madness but was not happy about his mom leaving him or the fact that he wasn't big enough to see her out the window 

After everyone had left on Saturday I desperately needed a nap, and apparently Missi did too. She's becoming more and more attached to me and my ever growing belly with each day. 

There are so many things about this house that I love but one is the bathtub. Our last house was a house Cliff shared with 2 other guys when I met him and I had seen that tub at an all time low and couldn't seem to get that picture from my head no matter how many times I bleached. So, this is my first real bath tub in several years. Needless to say I've been enjoying a bath almost every night! However, Missi thinks it's her own personal water fountain. 

My co-worker threw me a sweet baby shower at work for Hudson 2 weeks ago. I was able to stock up on some diapers/wipes and some more cute little outfits. 
Please disregard my hair that desperately needs to be cut/redone

Tuesday marked exactly 4 weeks until my due date. Cliff and I went to the doctor for my 36 week appointment/ultrasound on Wednesday. Everything with Hudson and I are great! He's in he 85th percentile for weight already weighing in at approximately 6.5 lbs. Now, the tech and my doctor assured me that is an estimate and that those machines really don't get an accurate read. But, either way he's a big boy! His head is down and I'm dilated to 1 cm. I wish we had gotten some better ultrasound pictures but the poor guy is so cramped in there already he had to have a foot in his face. Quite the limber little man! We were also able to see quite a bit of hair on the ultrasound, not that I'm at all surprised about that!

Here's his profile picture. He was sucking his mouth like crazy so he was hard to capture! I'm starting to get very anxious to meet him. It's crazy how much you can love and know every single thing about someone but never have met them before. 

We finally got his baby furniture that we had ordered back in April delivered and set up in his room. The room is far from finished but at least we've made a dent in it. Although his room is on the other side of the house I plan on him being in his bed after a short time. I know, not everyone will agree with me on that one! 
Thank goodness for great friends. My friend Felicia came over the Monday after we moved in and painted his room, and then came back to paint a wall in our bedroom. She and my other friend Jennie also took some maternity pictures that I'm pretty excited to see! Below are a few pictures of the room from a few days ago. More has happened since but I'll wait until it's finished to take more pictures. 

I put the below picture on Instagram but it continues to make me laugh. Missi is having a really hard time resisting any stuffed animals that are for her brother. I decided to go ahead and put them out the way I wanted them and she will just have to learn the hard way. In this picture she looks like she's happy but she's actually whining. She must have been really mad because shortly after this when she went out to go potty at the end of the night she took off from both Cliff and I with no thoughts of coming back inside. After several spankings she's finally left them alone...for now. 

That little wagon his Aunt Erica and Uncle Carson made for him, isn't it adorable?

That's about all I can fit in one post for now! I'll try to get better about updating but for obvious reasons things are slightly crazy in our house right now, and soon to get even crazier!

                                         

Home Sweet Home

After 6 long months we've finally moved into our house! I've had lots of requests for pictures so I'm just doing a quick post to update you all. We don't actually get cable/Internet until Thursday. Which is actually probably a blessing since we..strike that..Cliff has been working on getting things put away since Thursday. So, a full blogpost on our adventures in moving to be continued. In the meantime here are some pictures of the house via my phone for now. Disclaimer: most of these were taken Sunday/Monday so don't judge the complete lack of organization right now!

























A lot of people have asked how Missi has done with the move..I'd say happy doesn't even describe it! On Saturday night I woke up in the middle of the night (one of my 79 trips to the bathroom) and she was upside down stretched out in the middle of our bedroom floor. She doesn't know what to do with all of this space! However she hasn't made the greatest first impression on our neighbors..more to come on that later 😁

Shower

On Saturday afternoon I had another baby shower for Hudson, this time given my sister with help from my friends. We played a few baby games, ate some good BBQ from Edley's, and I got to see some old friends and some family. Even with it being 90% humidity it was a beautiful day and once again I realized how many people this little man already has loving him. What a lucky guy! 

I have some very talented friends/family. Jennie made Hudson that chevron elephant!

I had the sweetest little helper bringing me gifts. 

But Oscar soon became much more interesting :) 

We played a game where everyone had to guess with string the size of my belly. I'm not sure what it means that everyone guessed the size being way bigger than I am! 

My Aunt Angela and cousin Lindsay and her 2 kids drove all the way from both Indiana and Memphis to come celebrate with us at the shower. I was so excited to have them both there. Thank you to you both for making the trip, I know it had to be a long day! 

The first picture of all of us together in forever! My sweet friends from high school that were some of the very firsts to know about Hudson growing in my belly and will be some awesome 'aunts' to him  

Gram and Aunt Erica :)

Although we look nothing alike she is my sister and the very best one. Thank you for such a fun shower E! 

Really though, this little guy was the entertainment for the afternoon. :) 

Be prepared for lots of upcoming blog posts because we FINALLY move in to our new house on Thursday!!! Well...technically Saturday but we will be staying in the house on Thursday so that counts! We went this past Thursday to do our walk-thru and everything is pretty much finished there's just a few odds and ends that needed fixing. Needless to say Cliff and I are both on cloud 9 this week knowing it's finally here! 

Oscar

I've had a lot of people ask me if the puppy in my Instagram pictures is mine. No! Although I would love for him to be there's no way I could talk Cliff into another one right now. Maybe one day soon though :) Elizabeth and Robert (my sister and her boyfriend) got a Great Pyrenees puppy last weekend that they named Oscar. Cliff and I got to see him last weekend but we took Missi to meet him yesterday. He's going to get rather large, probably much bigger than Missi so I wanted to see them together before he grows up too fast! He was way more in to in than Missi was. Puppies always love Missi and tend to use her as a big chew toy but she really doesn't seem to mind at all. Here are some pictures from their first meeting. 

Oscar was really into Missi. She was a little more interested in new smells and sounds to pay him a lot of attention but she did notice him a few times and got pretty excited. I'm sure the more he grows the more they'll love each other! 

 It made me a little sad looking back at pictures when we got home. I still see Missi as an Oscar sized puppy but I realized my girl is looking older these days. So to feel better I just look at pictures of when she was a baby puppy :)