Our Baby Is Here!

Jaxson Strauss Wood

7/18/2007 7:23 am

8 lbs. 11 oz. 20.5 inches

Only about 17 more hours!

The stress and nervousness has set in. Yes, I admit it! After all these months that I had off of work and had time to prepare myself for everything, nothing could prepare me for today. I am getting nervous about
1) having a healthy baby
2) epidural/ spinal
3) will I be able to breastfeed
4) everything else!!!
I know that it is crunch time and I am nervous. I have been through this before, but Brantley is 5 now. Maybe that is why it has been so long! TK is great support and I love him dearly and I know that he is here with me every step, I am just being a big baby today! All of TK's family is coming tonight and my family is driving up in the morning. So not too many people to get stressed out about. We will post pics from the hospital when I am up to it after surgery. Pray for us!!!

Only 2 more days!

It is hard to believe, but only 2 more days! All weekend we relaxed and rested very well, getting ready for the big week! I am starting to feel very uncomfortable, so TK has been helping me around the house a lot! I think I can say that I am finally ready! Everything is washed and sterilized for the baby, and all of our shopping and groceries- I plan on finishing today. Brantley is so excited- It is like asking when Santa is coming to him! I agree with one of our great friends Katie- the more we are at home the more I find I need to do, so no resting. We have family coming in tomorrow afternoon and I hope my house stays clean for them! Only 1 more post before the big day!

4 days to go!

4 days to go and 4 more nights! We can't wait! I think it has all hit me at once. I can barely walk and my feet are starting to swell. This morning TK and I were able to go to Pepper Place for the Saturday market today. Neat place! It is downtown Birmingham in the lakeview/ pepper place district. There they have farmers bring in veggies, fresh flowers, fresh food and a lot of organic things. TK bought me a lot of fresh cut sunflowers and daisies, so atleast we will have fresh flowers for our guest this week!

5 days

Only 5 days to go now! we are excited! Poor TK was at work until 11:30 last night trying to get everything ready for the merge today, then he had to be back at 7 am this morning. I know he is tired. All we want to think about right now is the baby, not work, but I guess we have to pay the bills somehow. Last night while he was at work, I worked on a blog for Cafe on Main. Check it out sometime!!! I will post the menus on there the night before. So if you are ever in Columbus, stop by and get some great food and see our family!

6 days

Today we went to the doctor for our last visit. Baby Jaxson weighs 8lbs and 13 oz- give or take a few, and still 6 days to go! We are so excited!!!! We have to be at the hospital at 5 am on Wednesday and the OR is reserved for 7 am. So hopefully he will be born before 8 am on Wednesday. We are ready! I am running out of energy. My iron was way low this week, even after changing the rx last week. Maybe that can explain all of the weakness!

7 days to go!

Today starts the countdown of 1 week until the baby gets here! We go to the doctor tomorrow for our final ultrasound and visit before the scheduled date. I will have to post all the news tomorrow after we get home! Today, I was bored so I went to Micheal's and bought some things to make picture frames for some of the family. I love the baseballs, but I think that the women might like the frames. The frames were cheap and I just painted them blue ( in a well vented area) and placed some scrapbooking stickers on them. I thought they were cute for a last minute favor and very cheap to do!!!!

Brandi and Sam

I feel horrible about not posting this already! TK's sister, Brandi, is getting married!!!! She is getting married on August 4, 2007 to Sam Shober. (Pic Above) We are excited for her!!! (A lot of excitement in our family for atleast the next month!) Here is also a picture from her shower. We were all so busy socializing that we didn't get many pictures, but everything was beautiful and she got a lot of great gifts!!!

8 days to go!

Now we only have 8 days to go! It has already been a crazy week. Brantley is at the beach and yesterday he jumped into the pool and cut his foot, after a trip to the ER and 7 stitches later, he is doing much better! Feeling horrible and not being able to make the trip to see him (6 hours away and 39 weeks pregnant- Dr. wouldn't approve) I had to keep myself busy. I went to get all of his school supplies, in the Cars theme that he wanted! Then I finished up our favors for the hospital. At our wedding over 3 years ago, we gave the groomsmen Rawling's baseball bats that were engraved, so for our little one we wanted to give out Rawling's baseballs. Here is a pic. I thought they were cute.

9 days to go

We now only have 9 days to go and I am still getting things together. Without sleep at night, I have no energy during the day, so 1 hour of errands makes me feel like I have been in a marathon.

My friend Ashley made these cute signs for the boy's rooms. Her link is on the side of our blog- Studio Sixteen Six, so check it out sometime! Jaxson's room is now complete with this new canvas and the one that our good friend Katie Rose made Jaxson for his door.( you can view the door sign on a previous post) Thank you girls for all of your hard work!

Now is also crunch time with trying to make sure we are all stocked on everything, diapers, wipes, bath stuff, medicines, etc. Tomorrow my plans are to go and get all of Brantley's school supplies. Have you seen the list that they need for kindergarten these days? Very Long and complicated!!! I am just glad that I have time to go before the baby gets here and hopefully beat the crowd.

TK has worked so hard this week already and it is only Monday. He works for Regions downtown B-ham and Friday is the big merge! I know that he is stressed with the merge and the baby coming! Maybe he can get some rest this weekend coming up! It will be our last weekend before baby- sounds kinda scary!

10 days to go!

I guess I keep thinking that I need to post everyday, because soon I will not be able to post at all!!! Only 10 more days. I am trying to get everything done, but do you ever feel like everything is done? It has been raining a lot here, which is great for the drought, but bad for my tan! I came across this picture today, one from one of our anniversary trips. (Probably the last trip we will ever take alone! (For atleast 10 years)

Only 11 days now!

Since we are counting down days and almost to single digits, it scares me! If any of you out there, have any advice I am up for it! So many changes in the next month! We will meet little Jaxson, Brantley will become a big brother and start kndergarten. I already start to cry when I think about how much of a big boy he has become. I am looking into school again and I will have to find a new job after the baby gets here, (one that I can keep the baby from having to go to daycare and Brantley from after school care and where TK can watch them while I am at work) I am thinking about working Baylor 2 weekends a month. Kinda scary. Needless to say, I am becoming stressed, but at the same time over flowing with great joy!!!!! TK is taking it all well, he is a great and supportive husband!

38 weeks!!!

Today we went for our 38 week appt. No change from last week. Still looking forward to the 18th! Only 12 more hot summer days!

37 weeks and counting!!!

Today we went for our 37 week check up. I am already dilated to 1, already showing progress! Baby is in great position, but still having a section. I measured right on 37 weeks and we are still scheduled for the 18th. I have no energy! Today I was in the grocery store and I just got sick all of a sudden, I was about to panic! TK works all the way across town, Brantley was with me. Right when I was checking out, my phone rang-it was TK. He was on the side of town that I was on running an errand, and just wanted to check on me. (Whew) GOD SENT!!! So my sweet, wonderful husband was able to pick me up, get my groceries and make me feel better! I could never make it without him! I cant wait until our sweet little baby gets here and I hope that he is just like his daddy!

Only 3 more weeks!!!

I cant believe we only have 3 more weeks left. It seems like it was yesterday that we found out, but 3 weeks seems like forever away. We are already scheduled for a section on July 18 at 7 am. We are excited that we have family coming into town the night before(maybe we can all eat a good dinner) and then the next morning off to the hospital at 5 am for pre-op. Kinda nervous, not about the surgery but that everything will be okay with the baby. I keep hearing horror stories and reading tons of prayer request from our church about babies. Just everyone that reads our blog, PLEASE PRAY FOR US! Today we will also find out when our good friends- Katie and Lu will be delivering. She has been measuring ahead and today they find out what they are going to do since it is so close! We are excited for them! We wanted the babies to have the same birthday, but it seems as if Baby "Mac" will be here first!!!

Another long weekend!

This weekend was a lot of fun, but now we are all worn out! Friday night we went to movies in the park. A local park where we live plays childrens movies on a big screen and sells food like a real movie theater and Brantley loved it. This week's movie was Charlotte's Web. We packed our lawn chairs and sprayed down with bug spray and off we went! On Saturday, we went to Atlanta to see the Braves play. It was Brantley's and my frist MLB game. It was too hot to get a true rating of the game, but we had a lot of fun! Then on Sunday we went to see the Baron's play- which is right near our house and they had a beautiful fireworks display after the game. Needless to say, today we are at home resting and poor T.K. is at work, but our lovely neighbors have asked us over for dinner, so maybe he can rest and go to bed when he gets home. I think it is safe to say that this is the last trip that I can physically make since we only have 23 days (or less) left in the pregnancy.

Hot Summer!

This summer seems to be so much hotter than in the years past. Maybe it is because I am 9 months prego- I dont know! The only way to cool off seems to be in the pool. This was just a cute picture that my neighbor Jennifer took last week after the boys went to the pool. The littleboy on the left is Caleb, Brantley's favorite pal!

"The Baby News"

We went today for our 36 week check-up! Everything is great, measuring just right, the baby is positioned well and already starting to see progress with dilating! We will see if he comes early, probably not!!! Brantley is so excited and cannot wait! He walks up to me all the time and kisses my tummy and hugs the baby and then he will talk to him. I know that he is going to be a great BIG Brother! Now we are just waiting on the little brother to get here. As you can see in the picture I am getting very BIG!!!!!

Meeting "The Baby Doctor"

Today we went to meet baby Jaxson's future doctor. He was so nice! His name is Dr. Walley at Redmont Peds at St. Vincent's Hospital in the Women and Children's Center. www.stv.org
His wife is the Hospitalist at Children's Hospital here in Birmingham. They even have Saturday hours!!! Anyways, the joy of living in a big city. He will also be Brantley's new doctor. For those of you who know us, Brantley has horrible allergies, asthma, eczema, etc. So a good doctor that can treat all of that and help keep the symptoms away is a great one! Only 4 weeks from today is when we will meet this little one and Brantley has a little brother!

Happy Father's Day T.K.!

Here are a few pics of T.K.'s Father's Day. I made him a few picture frames and he has a cute chocolate cake with a tie on it, he got some Brooks Brothers cologne and a few other things.

The BIG Birthday Celebration

We went to Nashville this weekend for T.K.'s Grandfather's 80th birthday celebration. All of his family was there and we had so much fun. We ate way too much and are still trying to catch up. The events began on Thursday night when we all went to dinner at Kobe, in West End in Nashville. Then on Friday we went to lunch at The Nashville City Club downtown- great food, then we had the wonderful party Friday night. At the party on Friday night, it was at Old Natchez Country Club with about 125 people for dinner- BIG Birthday dinner! Then, on Saturday we went to this wonderful Italian restaurant in West End called Maggiano's. Dinner lasted 4 hours! Last but not least, the weekend ended with a wonderful Father's Day Brunch back at Old Natchez Country Club. This was a great weekend, we shopped a little at Green Hills Mall and Cool Springs Galleria. I learned that my traveling days are over until baby Jaxson gets here!!! These pictures are T.K.'s brother and sisters and one of the Italian restaurant.

Last trip before baby!

Today we are leaving as soon as I can get packed and we are going to Nashville. It is T.K.'s grandfather's 80th birthday. We are excited because we have family coming in from Atlanta, Phoenix, Miami and of course B'ham. Looking forward to seeing everyone, but not hearing about how BIG I am. It will be fun. we are staying with some of our friends, Wesley and Katie Sanford. They have been married for a year now and found out they will be expecting a boy in September. Everyone is having boys! We are happy for them! This is our last trip away and since I had to have semi-formal attire for the party, I went crazy!! Being pregnant in the summer, the last thing you want to do is wear dressy clothes. Luckily- My favorite store, white house- black market, has a lot of empire waist dresses and shirts this summer. I read our friends Katie and Lu McCrary's blog yesterday and I agree, Ann Taylor did us wrong!! Only 4 more weeks to go I dont want to invest in maternity clothes, I want somehing cute to wear after baby Jaxson gets here! We hope everyone has a great weekend and we will have to tell all about the party when we get back! (I wanted to leave this post b/c everyone keeps thinking I am in Labor b/c I have not been on in a while, we are not in Labor-just out of town. Ha!)

Doctor 's Appointment

We had our 33-34 week check up today. We measure 33-34 weeks. I have gained 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Blood pressure is great, iron is back to normal and we are just waiting for July! We are set for July 18th at 7 am for the OR. Kinda scary, but not too nervous! Baby's bag is packed and ready for the hospital, carseat (carrier) is already in my car, my bags are packed and Brantley's overnight arrangements with our wonderful neighbors are set! We also went down today and set up an appointment to meet the pediatrician. TK is thier office's banker so since he knows them, we wanted somewhere that we could have a great doctor and get in when our baby actually needs to! (maybe it is the nurse in me, to have to meet the doctor first!) Now we are just waiting on little Jaxson to get here!

Thank you Katie!!!!

I wanted to give a special thanks to our friend Katie Rose McCrary! Thank you for all the beautiful work you did on our page!!! Thanks so much!!!!

Big Boy Toys

When we were little, our toys never seemed to be as BIG as kids toys today. I remember our pools were the plastic ones from walmart and if we were lucky, our parents would pull the swing set up to them so we could have a "waterslide". I loved this picture so I just wanted to post it!

Brantley and the pool

We love going to the neighborhood pool here. Brantley really likes it when the ice cream man drives by and he can get his treat for the day! He gets mad at me when I make him wear his floaties, but you can never be too safe!

T.K. and his hobbies

T.K. loves working in the yard these days so I wanted to brag on him for being such a wonderful husband and "yard boy". He keeps everything looking great around here and has been great help inside too, since my energy levels seem to be on the down side these days! Thanks for all that you do T.K.!

Barons Game

One afternoon last week we went to a Barons game. Brantley had so much fun! He was so excited that he got a foul ball. It made his day!

Shower at The McCrary's

we had a wonderful shower on 5.26.2007. We had so much fun and a special thanks to Katie McCrary, Mrs. Gay McCrary, Erika Allison and Brandi Harmond. Thanks for all of your hardwork! Everything was decorated so cute and we got a lot of needful things for baby Jaxson! Thanks again!

So much to do, so little time!

I have been so busy and I have so much to post and update! From the wonderful baby shower to the barons game to all the yard work that T.K. has done. All new post coming soon!