Meet Finnegan Nash

Our bouncing baby boy arrived on Friday, March 20th at 7:26am weighing 8 pounds 3.3 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. He’s perfectly healthy and adorable!

His birth story begins the day before, when all the action started. Actually, let me back up a few weeks. With about a month left of my pregnancy, I was measuring big. So they did a growth ultrasound and found that he was measuring 2 weeks ahead and roughly 8 lbs 4 oz (and I was 36 weeks along.) So we were prepared for a large baby. Even the ultrasound tech said “I can’t believe how big your baby is!” My doctor said we could schedule an induction after 39 weeks if I wanted to. We went ahead and scheduled the next available induction appointment which happened to be on my due date (must have been a lot of mommies in similar situations at the time!) I really didn’t want to get induced, but we scheduled it just in case. As you can imagine, I was getting more uncomfortable by the day.

We planned to have my mom arrive on 3/19 and stay for a week to watch Harper in case I went into labor during that time. If I had to wait until my due date to get induced, my mom would have had just enough time to stop by the hospital to see the baby before heading back home. So we were all hoping for an early arrival!

My mom’s flight was a bit delayed and I picked her up at the airport around 3:30pm. On the way home I jokingly said to my belly, “It’s safe for you to come out now!” We headed to Harper’s school to pick her up and then came home and prepared dinner. We had just put the chicken in the oven and I sat down on the couch, when all of a sudden I jumped up and gasped. My water had broken! I was happily shocked! Could the timing have been any better? My water broke at home at exactly 39 weeks, just like with Harper! What a coincidence! I called Drew who was already on his way home from work. It was go time! I never did get to eat that chicken.

We arrived at the hospital around 6:30pm, got checked in and contractions started shortly thereafter. I labored for 20 hours with Harper, but second babies usually come a bit quicker. I had a feeling I was in for a long night. I labored throughout the night and progressed quickly towards the end. I only had to push for 25 minutes (vs. 3 hours with Harper!) Then there he was! In total, my labor with Finn was 13 hours. With Harper, my first thought upon seeing her was, “This giant baby was inside my belly?” With Finn, it was more like, “Wow he’s so tiny!” Funny how your perspective changes when you’ve been living with a toddler.

All along I was worried that the baby would be too big to push out, but that wasn’t the case. And he measured much smaller than we were expecting. It all worked out perfectly!

Later that day, Drew brought Harper and my mom in to meet the baby. Harper was excited, but didn’t want to get too close or touch him just yet.

My recovery and stay in the hospital was immensely easier than the first time. Drew and I were even able to laugh and relax with our new baby. So far, we think he favors me a bit. His hair is much lighter than Harper’s was. He definitely has my dimples.

I got absolutely no sleep the first night after his birth, but managed a few cat naps the second night. The first night, I sat holding my baby for hours, knowing I’d look back and be glad I opted to bond with him instead of sleep. I had too much adrenaline anyway.

Finn passed his hearing screening with flying colors.

The second day, my mom and Harper came back for another visit. This time, Harper let us lay him on her lap, but she still wouldn’t touch him.

By Sunday midday, we were ready to go home!

It’s a boy!

Our recent ultrasound revealed we are having a boy! Harper is so excited to have a baby brother!

Harper has something to tell you!

She’s going to be a big sister!

Baby #2 is due March 26, 2015!

She’s been studying up on how to be the best big sister. She practices with her baby doll – rocking her, swaddling her, taking her for walks. When you ask her “Where is Mommy’s baby?” she points to my belly. Although, she has no concept that an actual live baby will be moving in to her house. But we have a few months to work on that. When you ask “Do you want a brother or a sister?” She says “Yes!” So I think she’ll be happy with either one. Same with Mommy and Daddy – we will be thrilled with either one, but we can’t wait to find out!

I’m feeling ok for the most part. There were some rough couple weeks there for a while with nausea and major fatigue, but now I’ve got my appetite back for most of the day and I’m just basically exhausted. I think I feel it more this time around because life can’t stop when you have a toddler!

We’re so excited for a new little spud to be joining our family!

one week on the outside

The last belly pic I took was 38 weeks. Miss Harper came at 39 weeks – a week early! Thank goodness she did! I couldn’t wait another second. She came exactly when I wanted her to!

Here she is at one week old. She’s been doing well her first week and gaining weight!

turkey’s almost done

Less than 2 weeks until my due date! I’m ready to be done, but baby is biding her time.

Watch my belly grow from 12 weeks to 38 weeks:

let the countdown for baby begin

We finally made it to September! My ninth month of being pregnant. Now we’re counting down the days and hoping the baby doesn’t wait until her due date!

We thought we’d fit in a little belly photoshoot. I didn’t have the energy to do anything fancy with a photographer, so we just went outside to our yard and took a few shots ourselves. Drew needed practice with the camera since he’ll be in charge of capturing baby’s first big moments! It is soooo hot here, so we went out at about 7:30 in the evening and kept it short and sweet so we could get back into the air conditioning.

34 weeks and ready to be done!

We’re nearing the end! 6 more weeks (or less hopefully) until we can meet our little girl. She now has a name but we’re keeping it a surprise. She has a closet full of clothes and drawers full of onesies and even a few swim suits and hair bows. We installed the car seat this weekend. I even have my bag packed – yes I’m THAT ready!

I’ve been feeling pretty good for the most part – I really can’t complain. Just the usual aches and pains and sleepless nights. And in the middle of the hottest part of the year in Austin, I’m just one hot mess all the time. But I’m keeping my eye on the prize!

she may be the face i can’t forget

We’re having a girl!

Our ultrasound was a success and we not only found out that we’re having a daughter, but that she has all her parts and is looking healthy! We saw just about all the body parts – even two little feet. As they were poking around with the ultrasound wand, we even saw her kick one of her skinny little legs. They captured a video of her heartbeat and you can even see the 4 chambers of the heart. Pretty amazing considering how tiny she still is.

(There are a few more ultrasound pics on Flickr)

We are just thrilled to be having a little girl. It feels so good to refer to her as a “her” instead of “it” and to think about all the things having a daughter brings. Drew called it from day one and is very comfortable with the fact that he is already outnumbered. Now we can really get the planning and decorating started! Oh, and we should probably figure out a name for this little lady!

*Blog post title is a lyric from the song “She” by Elvis Costello

what’s it gonna be?

We’re counting down the days until we’re halfway done and can finally find out what we’re having. I’ve been doing great – coasting through the second trimester. Just a little hard to sleep at night and now the backaches are kicking in. But other than that, smooth sailing!

So what’s it gonna be? Boy or girl? I have no feelings one way or the other at this point and will be happy with either one. I just hope it has all it’s organs and major appendages.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the ultrasound pictures – I hope the baby cooperates and doesn’t hide the goods! I don’t realize how much bigger I’ve gotten until I take my picture every 2 weeks. Yowzas. And I still have a long way to go!

I officially can’t paint my own toenails anymore and I have Drew buckle my shoes in the morning. I’m down to just walking briskly for exercise which I try to do regularly to gear up for our big northwest trip later this month. I’ll start doing some swimming once the neighborhood pool opens.

Once we find out the gender, we can move forward with picking things out for the nursery and I can get to that nesting phase! Until then, I sit tight on the couch with the cats on my lap (who are happy to have a pillow on which to rest their heads.)

and then there were three…

I figured y’all would want to read about something other than my cats – so I thought I’d change it up a bit. You know those cute little squirmy things that take 9 months to make? I’m having myself one of those! The stork will drop it at our doorstep around September 28th!

Drew and I are thrilled to be adding a little one to our family! We’ve been busy reading up on all the happenings.

We’re also happy to finally make our parents on both sides grandparents for the first time. We’re looking forward to all the fun ahead!