Hudson Allen Johns has arrived!

The night continued on at the hospital and things progressed quite quickly! I was finally "complete" and the room was cleared and ready for delivery at 10:50 pm. Hudson joined us into this world at 11:23pm. He weighed 6 lbs 4 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. The delivery went very well and he was very healthy. We spent Thursday night and Friday night at the hospital. The hospital stay was wonderful! The staff in Labor/Delivery, Postpartum, and the Nursery were all so great. We could not have been at a better place. Cody did an amazing job taking care of Hudson and I in the hospital too. Thank you for everyone who came to visit us and for all the sweet gifts. We left the hospital Saturday at around 4:00 pm.


Saturday night we had dinner with my mom, Roger, my dad, Stacia, and Alexis. My mom and Roger cooked a Mexican fiesta for us. We had yummy chicken and beef tacos followed by brownies and ice cream :) Hudson sleep through the entire celebration!

Stacia, Dad, Hudson, Alexis

Mom, Rog, and Hudson

The first night at home went very well. I went to bed at about 11:30 or so. Hudson has been so sleepy I decided to set my alarm to feed him. Good thing I did because he did not make a peep all night! I woke him up at 1:00, 4:30, and 8:00 to eat. It was a successful night.

While we were in the hospital the pediatrician on call saw Hudson. We ended up loving her! She had great bedside manners and made us feel very comfortable. We decided to choose her as Hudson's pediatrician. We will have our first visit with her tomorrow morning.

Tonight Cody's parents will come over and join us for the Super Bowl and some pizza. Who are you cheering for? The Saints for us!!!

The time has come...

Me and Nurse Kelley

Well.. I had a headache the last 2 days so decided to check my blood pressure last night.  It was pretty high but we decided to wait it out and take it again this morning.  Took it again this morning at home and it was still high... thought maybe my cuff was not accurate.  I thought I will have the school nurse take it when I get to work the old fashioned way with a cuff and stethoscope. It was very high at school so the nurse arranged a sub right away.

I called the doctor and was instructed to go ahead and head to the hospital so they could at least monitor me and check on the baby.  The registrar had to drive me to hospital, Cody was downtown already.  We arrived at the exact same time as Cody...8:00 AM.  

They connected Hudson to the monitor and he was fine, did lab work, and monitored me.  About 10:30 they called Dr. Welborne and  I saw the doctor at around 11:00. She decided to induce. She checked me and with no medication I was already dilated to a 2 with a favorable cervix. 

The epidural and Pitocin officially went in at 12:30 PM. I was induced and ready to go! The epidural went very well and was not near as bad as I had expected. Felt like a shot followed by some pressure. At 2:15 I was dilated to a 3. At 4:30 I was almost at a 4. Then Dr. Welborne came back at 5:30 and broke my water. So now it is 6:30 and we play the waiting game :) My mom, Roger, Cody's mom and dad are all here with us. Abbie came to visit for a bit too! We can't wait to see him in just hours now! We are predicting midnight or so but we will see!

My bags are packed I'm ready to go...

This post is long overdue! So much has happened in the last two weeks. I feel bad for not keeping everyone updated. Sorry! The picture above is from the baby shower that my school held for me. The library was decorated very cute and I got many practical and thoughtful gifts from all of my co-workers. Thanks to the first grade team for hosting such a great shower and the hospitality committee for such a cute cake. Thank you to everyone who was there and could celebrate with us! Kid quote from this event: The girls in my class noticed the library was decorated and asked if I was having a baby shower. They were very excited for me! Another student in the class then told his friend "A baby shower is when the mom and the baby take a bath together."--I will let you know there were no baths at this shower! :)

I have been so lucky to be surrounded by crafty people during my pregnancy. These are two things that I can't wait to see Hudson in. The picture above is a beanie that a good friend (and great substitute!) Melissa Norris made for me. Hudson is going to wear this home from the hospital. Below is a picture of the quilt that Cody's Grandma Vi made for Hudson. She hand stitched the entire thing!
This picture is where my title comes from this week! Over the weekend I tried to prepare just a little bit more for the big day to arrive. I washed all of Hudson's blankets and his sleepers. I also packed our bag for the hospital. There are still a few things I need to add last minute but should there be an emergency the essentials are ready to go!
The final piece to the nursery is now complete. We were in Canton a few months back and found these old magazine ads. At first we were just looking for vintage transportation pictures to match the theme of the room. Then Cody's dad found these!!! Did anyone else know there was a car in the 40's called the Hudson? Now we do! These are actual magazine ads that were cut out of magazines from the 40's and preserved. Pretty rare find! We found the three that we liked the best but being that they are from the 40's they were a very irregular size so Cody's mom took on the challenge of trying to frame them. She found the perfect frames, did a little trimming, and here they are up on the wall.
Another thing I have slacked on is taking my belly pictures. I looked back and realized I hadn't taken one since 32 weeks. Ahhh! So here is one below at 36 weeks 3 days. He is a big boy now! I also had an appointment last week. I am dilated to one centimeter now and his station is at a -1. I will have appointments every Thursday from now on so I will keep you posted on how things are coming along. Everyone asks "how are you feeling?" To be honest I feel great! I am a little bit tired when I come home at night but I feel great throughout the day. I imagined being much more uncomfortable than I have been. I am just ready now, not because I'm uncomfortable but just because I'm impatient and want to see his precious face!


Kid quote/question to leave you with...
Student- "Mrs. Johns what is your baby going to look like?"
Me- "What do you mean? Is it a boy or girl?"
Student- "Yes, I know it's a boy but what color will he be?"
Me- "I bet he will be close to the same color as me."
Student- "Oh ok"

The things they wonder about!

Baby Shower=lots of pictures!

Yesterday my mother-in-law hosted a baby shower for me at our house and it was wonderful! It was so good to be able to share this special day with so many friends and family members. Thank you to my mother-in-law for putting so much time into this event...it definitely showed! Thank you to my mom and nanny for making the drive to share this day. Thank you to my step-mom and sister for taking the trip also! Thank you to all my family members and friends for taking time out of their day to come and share it with me. It was truly way more than I could have asked for! I shared many hugs and laughter that day and I will always look back on it !

My mom

Danica (brother-in-law's girlfriend) and my friend :), Teresa (mother-in-law), Sheree, Lisann, and Sara (family friends)

Reeka and Dylan (neighbors and friends)

April and Jane (friends...since Waco!)

Stacia (step-mom) and Alexis (sister)

The Baker Crew! Abbie, Amanda, and Brandy (and baby Brody)

Nanny and Missy (my aunt)

Dez (great friend, her husband is a UPSer!)

Today we had a lot of work to do! We had plenty of unpackaging and putting together to do. Here is a before of Cody putting together Hudson's swing.

And the finished product!

I wish we would have taken some before pictures of Hudson's bedroom. You literally could not see the floor! We had all the gifts spread out and ready for organizing. It took all day! Here are the items all tucked away in their places.

Nursery is coming together!

The nursery is now looking more and more like an actual nursery! All of the furniture came in last week and we went and picked it up on New Year's Eve with the help of Cody's friend, Richard, and his truck. Cody spent that day putting together furniture and arranging it. We also got some decorations hung on the wall. I got all of the clothes and things people have given us so far organized and put away. Thanks to all of our friends/family who have babies and have been so nice to pass things down to us. It looks great and I am so excited!!! I know that Hudson is going to love his bedroom and it will be a great place for him to sleep and play in the many days to come.

By far the most comfortable rocker you will ever sit in! We found this at a hunting/country furniture and accessories store in Athens, TX.

The walls and molding look so great now with everything in place! That's Cody's old rocking horse in the background that he had as a little boy.

Crib and bedding...no mattress yet so blanket doesn't lay just right yet. Pug dog from Cody's brother and his girlfriend :)

Dresser with his outfit ready to go!

Shelves and decorations we found at Hobby Lobby.

Tins on the wall we found at McKinney trade days. Cody's mom found these wooden toys at the church where she works and then his uncle fixed them up and stained them for us.

Good day to blog!

It's way too cold to want to go anywhere that I have to go outside for. I am hanging out on the couch by a warm fire off from work. So... I thought today would be the perfect day to blog! Then I started thinking about the pictures I want to add and I ran into problems! I can't get the scanner to work to upload the picture from today's sonogram. The photographer for the belly picture is at work. So...I will write now and you can expect pictures later tonight when Cody gets home to help! (Cody came home now we have pictures!)

32 weeks, 3 days

Sonogram news. Everything looks great! This is a good thing :) I was a little bit nervous going into this sonogram. To remind everyone my doctor requested this sonogram because my uterus didn't measure as much as she wanted it to at my last visit. Good news is no worries! The sonogrammer said sometimes the uterus can measure differently from the outside depending on how the baby is laying. So Hudson measured just right for 32 weeks. She measured his head, belly, femur, etc. Also, she checked the levels of the amniotic fluid and those are right where they should be as well. So we have a healthy uterus and a healthy baby weighing in at 4 pounds and 1 ounce today.

Sweet profile picture. No hands covering his face today!

Shopping news. We found the outfit that Hudson will wear home from the hospital! May seem silly to some I know but we have been on a real hunt looking. I will post the pictures later tonight with the rest :) We also got the baby crib and bassinet as Christmas gifts. The bassinet was delivered and we will be picking up the crib this week. Once all the furniture is put together I will let you have a peek in the nursery. I'm not going to promise a date on that as we haven't seen yet how much work it will be to put everything together!

I try to picture what he will look like sleeping in there every time I walk by.

With accessories to match!

Appointments and important dates. Our last night of childbirth class is tonight (assuming the roads are safe to drive on...they say we are going to get some snow again!) I am also taking an infant care class next Wednesday at the hospital. This class is supposed to go over infant CPR, feeding, swaddling, etc. My next appointment with my OB will be next Thursday, January 7th. And then what I'm looking forward to most...Baby Shower on January 9th!!! I can't wait to see everyone :)

I forgot to leave you with my weekly student story from the last week before the holidays. So here it is for some laughter! (Think it's my favorite so far)

I was walking some students out for dismissal when I overheard this conversation going on behind me.

Child 1: Is Mrs. Johns having a baby?
Child2: Yes, but not right now. See the baby is growing inside of her.
Child 1: Yeah, do you know how people have babies? (I got a little nervous here!)
Child 2: I know!
Child 1: See a person has eggs in their body (right so far) And then those eggs inside her tummy hatch and a baby comes out!

LOL! So maybe we are reptiles after all?

Ultrasound pictures

Today was our 3d/4d ultrasound! It was very neat to be able to see him this way. As with the last ultrasound he was not the most cooperative little boy. He had his hands covering his face most of the time. He even managed to cover his face with his feet! We tried pushing and moving all around but he just wanted to kick me and not move his hands. He is going to be a soccer player! Here are a few of the pictures from today. We were able to get a few good ones! I think he has Cody's nose :0)

Full body shot...his arm and legs both crossed.

Pucker up!

Mouth open!

Sweet boy!

He's grabbing his foot here. He may have big feet like me!

That's his foot beside his nose!