Cooper's First Christmas!

Even though Cooper's first Christmas was not optimal the little man and his Mommy had a great day and he looked super cute to boot!

Since Daddy was at the hospital on-call we ventured out on our own to Nanny and Pop Pop's for lunch and gift giving. Cooper got lots of great stuff (of course) and enjoyed being held by everyone and loved on. He particularly loved bonding with Pop Pop before the crowds arrived. After that we headed to Old Man and Mimi's house (aka Dad and Nancy) for some more fun and gifts. Again, he got great stuff and lots of love.

Unfortunately Cooper and the dogs decided to give Mommy a hard time upon arriving at home at 8 pm which resulted in a teary phone call to Daddy around 11 pm. Fortunately however they all three realized that Dad was on the phone and immediately all fell asleep. God love the power of Dad. And God bless Vandy for only making Daddy take call for one year so next year we can have a rockin' Christmas!

We hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday as well!!!

My Precious Baby Boy...

... has two dimples above his upper lip that only show up occasionally.

... has a thousand different faces that reflect thousand of emotions.

... was worth every moment of pregnancy.

... has made me love my husband even more than I did before.

... has so much hair on the back of his head he should be featured on one of those websites devoted to the mullet.

... lets his big brother and sister sniff him all they want to.

... must be tone-deaf because he likes my singing.

... has made me realize how fast time really flies.

... has the most intoxicating baby smell (even though he hasn't had a real bath yet).

... has filled my heart with so much love my chest can barely contain it.

Cooper Andrew Wells

Christopher and I are pleased to announce the birth of our son, Cooper Andrew Wells. Cooper was born on Sunday, December 7th at 10:57 pm. He weighed 10 pounds, 5.2 ounces and was 21 inches long.

After a six day stay at Vanderbilt, we are all home and doing well.

Time's Up!

Christopher and I will be checking into Vandy tonight so I can start the process of being induced. We will let you know when our little one is here. Please send prayers and good thoughts this way!

Warning!!! Not shot by a professional!!!!

I apologize up front if the following video makes anyone seasick. It's not my best work. It's actually my first camcorder experience. Anyway, here's a look at the finished baby's room. We are very excited and look forward to bringing him home... knowing full well the room will never be that straight or orderly again.

Thanks again to all of those who made this room a reality... Jane, Dana, Meg, Nick, Glenn, Nanny and Pop, etc. It looks amazing and we couldn't have done it without all of your help!!!!

Dayenu

Dayenu. A Jewish word meaning "it would have been enough." This word and it's meaning to people has cropped up in several blog posts that I read on a regular basis. This combined with the season of Thanksgiving has led me to reflect on my "haves" in a world that so often focuses on "have nots."

If God had only given me life, and none of the other blessings... Dayenu.

If God had only given me a job and not the amazing friendships that have sprung from that place... Dayenu.

If God had only given me Christopher, and none of the children we have been/will be blessed with... Dayenu.

If God had brought me into the Vanderbilt community, and I had only made one friend there... Dayenu.

There's so much to be thankful for. I have above and beyond what I need or deserve. What are your Dayenus???

All the time in the world... to go totally insane.

I am about to say something that I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth. I think I might want to keep working even after Christopher is done with his fellowship. At least part-time. I know things will be different when I have a child/children to feed, clean up after, bathe, shuttle around town, etc. But right now, one week into bed rest, I can say authoritatively that staying home sucks. There's only so much TV you can watch, only so many naps you can take.

I have made a list of things I can do that still qualify as "at rest" and I plan to start on those items tomorrow. We will see what happens.

Until then let me just say thank you to Mom, Nanny & Pop, Mama & Papa Wells, Dad & Nancy, Dana, Jane, Tracy and everyone who has gone out of their way to make our life easier over the last week. I really appreciate all the phone calls, food, offers of food, errand running, help organizing, etc. I know the next few weeks will be bearable because of our friends and family.

No avoiding it... bed rest is here.

My lunch plans of picking up a prescription and swinging by the bank were derailed with a single phone call from the OB's office. Long story short... protein levels were elevated in my urine and this combined with some high BP readings over the last few days got me put on complete bed rest. Preeclampsia is apparently NOT a laughing matter.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning at which time I will ask a long list of questions including... what is the master plan? Are we going for 35 weeks? 37? 40? Can I work from home? Can I take the dogs out to pee during the day? Can I attend my baby shower on the 15th?

When I know more... you'll know more.

Fun, Family and Friends

This weekend turned out almost exactly as I had planned.

Friday night was pretty low-key and included a yummy baked ziti and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters that came dressed as everything from Ironman to Raspberry Girl (?) to disgruntled Teenager with pillow case.

Saturday was my first baby shower and was so much fun! The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the gifts were just too much! The icing on the cake was a surprise guest... Mama Wells! My sweet in-laws drove 12 hours one way just to attend my baby shower and spend a little time with Christopher and I B.B. (before baby). It was a perfect day. I can't thank BFFs Dana and Jane enough... everyone was blown away by how amazing everything was.

Sunday was the day I realized there is going to be a new person living in our house... SOON. After Christopher repainted the nursery Jane and Zan came over to help assemble furniture. Jane also helped me get things organized that had been shoved into the dining room. By 7pm we had a nursery... bed complete with bedding, rocking chair, dresser and changing table. Wow... this is really happening. There are some final touches to be added... hamper, prints, curtains, etc. but this is a real nursery. For a real baby. Holy smokes.

Update

Blood work - normal
Urine analysis - dropped off this morning, will know results Monday
Symptoms - lower back pain, spotting, feel funky in general

Weekend plan - hand out candy to ghosts and goblins (note to self: don't give the Twix out); attend baby shower #1 (yay!); have Christopher fix wall color in nursery (don't ask); assemble furniture (thanks Jane and Zan for your help); put baby stuff in nursery; rest

Stay tuned...

Medical Marriages

Last night was the second Matters of the Heart seminar of the year. For those of you who aren't part of Vanderbilt let me explain...

The VHA hosts a 4 part seminar series every year for members and their spouses that focuses on medical marriages. Since medical families have a unique set of challenges it provides our members the opportunity to learn from experts and mentors about how to cope with and survive times like residency, fellowship and beyond.

Anyway... last night we had Dr. Wayne Sotile speak about the balancing act that we as medical couples have to perform day in and day out to have a successful career, family and marriage all at the same time. His speech was amazing. Really. Amazing. I laughed a lot and got teary eyed a couple of times. This is my 3rd time to hear him speak and it was awesome. There were a few nuggets of truth that really spoke to me personally and I'm sure there were others that reached out and touched other people in the audience.

One of my teary-eyed moments came when he talked about the pictures in his study. Most are of his daughters, but he has two pictures of his wife. One that is a current picture that gets updated every year or so and the other is a black and white picture from her childhood. She has curly hair with a big bow and the frilliest dress I've ever seen. He said that when he and Mary are at odds or when they are dealing with some of their chronic issues (which God knows we all have) he always looks at the picture of a 5 year-old Mary because that is the person he's really dealing with in that moment. I think that's a really important thing to think about when you are fighting over dirty dishes or long hours or in laws.

I'm looking forward to reading the Sotiles' new book and highly suggest that everyone check out their literature.

Anyone up for a Thanksgiving Baby???

Not to be an alarmist, but this is how my 32 week appointment went this morning...

Show up at 8 am, get weighed, have BP taken and give nurse a urine sample at her request. Wait FOREVER for Dr. Brown which I thought was odd given that I was his first appointment and I knew he was there. Turns out he was waiting for my urine tests. The ensuing conversation goes like this...

DB: How are you feeling?
AW: Good.
DB: How are you really feeling?
AW: Okay. Why?
DB: Well, you don't look good on paper. You have a lot of protein and ketones in your urine.
AW: Okay.
DB: I'm concerned you are getting toxemic before our eyes so we will need to do some blood work, do a 24 hour urine test and start seeing you once a week.
AW: Well, in three weeks I have jury duty, so we will have to work around that.
DB: I think things could be pretty complicated three weeks from now, so you might not be reporting for jury duty.

After my mini-panic attack (because the Dr. that is never worried seems worried) we proceeded with my exam. He did say when we finished that I looked better in person than on paper which was mildly comforting.

I left the office with a lot less blood than I came with (thanks Mr. Phlebotomist) and a big orange jug to carry around and put 24 hours' worth of urine into. Lovely.

We will just have to wait and see. In the meantime please pray that my little man's lungs develop as quickly as possible in case he arrives early.

A Great Weekend

The Wellses had a great weekend. It had all the right components... fun, relaxation, productivity, girl time, etc.

Friday night Christopher got home late (surprise) due to a 4 pm consult which he had to take. Nonetheless, I had anticipated this occurence and somehow timed dinner just right. We had a great meal and had time to chat and play with the dogs before bed.

Saturday included laundry, picking up paint supplies from Dad, going to Hunter's football game, having a yummy lunch at Casa Fiesta and a very long shopping trip at Home Depot. Hunter's team (the Una Bears) had their 6th straight shut-out beating the Wolverines 32-0. We got there in time to see a little pre-game warm up which was almost as exciting as the game. Go Bears!!! The Home Depot excursion was long, but went well. I got complimented on my color choices by a very artsy looking woman and we saw our neighbor Katie. We even got a new light fixture for the nursery.

Sunday was painting day. Glenn and Christopher got two coats of primer on the walls and sadly, it will need another. After painting and a quick lunch at Corner Pub Dana came over and we did the puppy photo shoot for the 2008 Christmas card. It went really well and we got some great pictures with minimal use of peanut butter. Thanks Dana for the wonderful shots!!! Last night was girls night with Dana and Jane. We had a great time hanging out, eating Mexican food, talking, and watching food challenges on Food Network. After seeing people try to build famous bridges out of breakfast cereal we all wondered what challenge would be next...

Next weekend... more painting!!!!

I Heart Pioneer Woman

After one faithful meal at Alyson's house last year I came to know The Pioneer Woman and her amazing recipes. I have since tried MANY of these tasty dishes and started checking her blog on a daily basis for something new to try. I have also since turned MANY people onto her, and they now sing her praises as well. Here's why she's a success:

1. The food is delicious.

2. The recipes are easy to follow (thanks to her amazing step by step photography).

3. She's not afraid of butter.

4. She's funny.

5. The ingredients are simple and easy to find.

If you aren't familiar with Ree already and would like to embark on a culinary love affair here are my suggestions about where to start:

1. Dump Cake - 5 ingredients that got rave reviews at my recent Foyer Group dinner.

2. Chicken Spaghetti - a yummy casserole that everyone will love!

3. Chile Con Queso - sadly, we can eat this with chips for dinner and be so happy.

4. Mystery Rolls - these turned Dana into a lover of blue cheese (only 3 ingredients)!

5. The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. - Truer words have never been spoken.

Christmas Gifts

This year I am faced with a Christmas gift dilemma. I have a burning desire to purchase and wrap all the presents for the 30+ people on my list by the first weekend in December, but I have no idea what to get anyone. The Xmas 2008 spreadsheet has been ready for months waiting to be filled in with good ideas but nothing comes to mind except for a few things for Christopher and the baby.

Friends have said "get everyone a gift card." I have two problems with this. First, gift cards aren't fun to wrap and don't look as festive under the tree as boxes of all shapes and sizes. Second, I'm afraid they won't get used.

I thought about getting a picture frame for everyone, wrapping it and then attaching a photo of our little man to the package once he is here... but that too seems kind of bland.

Any thoughts????

Anniversary/ 28 week appointment

First... our anniversary. Yesterday was our 2nd anniversary and it was an overall great day. Poor Christopher was post call, but he napped before I got home and we were able to sit down for some yummy Frito Pie (Chili with Frito's, cheese, green onions, and sour cream) before he needed to crawl back in bed. We talked to family and friends all passing along their well wishes and had a great night. We decided to forgo gifts this year and put the money towards baby items. We did however have an amazing dinner out on Saturday at Maggiano's. Yum-O. I love Christopher more and more everyday and really feel cleaved to him. I can't wait to meet his son and see how many of his Dad's great qualities he's inherited.

Second... my 28 week appointment. Overall great as well. Weight hasn't changed, blood pressure was normal. I will go back at 32 weeks and then again at 34. After that I will come in twice a week for a non-stress test and then a biophysical profile. He will also repeat my ultrasound around 36 weeks to get an idea about size. Dr. Brown and I bonded over a love of Double Stuf Oreos and decided we should join the DSRL. I got to hear the fetal heartbeat (woka, woka, woka) which is always fun. I also noticed on my way out that his license plate says "WOOF" which makes me love him even more.

That's the week so far...
Monday - CW on call/make chili
Tuesday - Anniversary/eat chili
Wednesday - Dr. appointment/ make rice krispie treats for VHA meeting
Thursday - VHA meeting / try not to eat rice krispie treats before meeting
Friday - Foyer Group dinner at our house (more on this later)

The FIRST day of my LAST trimester!

Praise the Lord! I made it to 28 weeks. I have had a lot of selfish moments since April 20th when I saw two lines appear on that pregnancy test, but hopefully I'm getting a little better. And I have been assured that when I hear that first little cry all thoughts of ME will turn to thoughts of HIM. I can't wait.

I have my 28 week appointment on Wednesday which will start the every two week cycle at the OB. How exciting! I'm going to try and remember to ask Terry (my favorite nurse) what Dr. Brown would like as a thank you gift. On a personal level all I know about him is he drives an old Ford pickup with a hula girl on the dash and wears amazing dress shirts with ordinary khaki Dockers... and has a great sense of humor.

Oh, and the find of the week courtesy of my BFF Jane is... THE DESIGNER HOSPITAL GOWN. Jane found this on Etsy and I can't wait to get mine. I also saw that Tori Spelling got one from a company in CA called BYOG. Bring Your Own Gown. It snaps up the back and both sleeves snap too and the belt thing is removable. Now I just have to pick which flip flops I will wear with it. Too cute!!!

Juror #02-257

Question: Does being 36 weeks pregnant when you are supposed to report for AT LEAST one week of jury duty exempt you from service? If it would, should I want it to?

Believe me... there's a part of me that wants to do my civic duty and would love to take a week off from work (paid) and finally read all those baby books that are collecting dust on my coffee table, but there's another part of me that wonders if they'll let me get up and pee as often as I need to.

I decided to call Dr. Brown and get his opinion. If he thinks it's not a good idea I will need a letter from him and then I will see if I get excused or if they will postpone my week of service until after the baby, my maternity leave, and tax season has come and gone. If Dr. Brown thinks it will be fine, I will go ahead and show up. Besides, Christopher says I'm so opinionated they will never let me on a jury anyway.

Happy 30th Birthday Alyson!!!!

My dear friend Alyson turns 30 today!!!

Alyson, may you have a wonderful birthday and year ahead. I look forward to the birth of your son and all the wonderful blessings that will come your way this year. This morning when I looked at the calendar and saw your name I thought of when you came to my 30th birthday party and lied to my face about not being pregnant :) No worries... you were very newly pregnant and without knowing, so was I! And here we are months later and many miles apart about to give birth to sons just weeks apart. God is good! We miss you, Mike and Carter so much!

A Blank Canvas (Almost)!

The nursery is cleaned out! The nursery is cleaned out! So much progress this weekend!!!

Our bedding arrived (adorable) on Friday and then Christopher and I took advantage of the gas shortage in Nashville and stayed home all day yesterday and cleaned up the rec room and cleaned out the nursery. The desk you see above is currently listed on Craigslist and the treadmill on the far right will be donated to the VHA yard sale AS SOON AS they schedule a drop off!

This week I'm going to stop by Porter Paints and match paint to the bedding and then the real work can begin. In an effort to conserve much-needed baby funds I think we are going to paint the nursery ourselves. Correction - my sweet baby brother Glenn is going to help Christopher turn the room from Turkish Coffee to a lovely shade of baby blue and then Meg and I will do the stripes. I think the striping is a job for women. And after seeing Meg's crafting skills Saturday night, I have complete faith that she can do it!!!! Besides, she's got the steady hands of a surgeon which will be very helpful.

I'm starting to get very excited!!!!!

100 days and counting!

How could I already be 100 days away from giving birth? Other than a few minor things, I haven't gotten anything ready! My friend Tracy swore I'd have my nursery ready within days of finding out what I was having, but that just didn't happen. So today I grabbed the bull by the horns and ordered our baby bedding. This single purchase will allow us to pick paint colors, get the room painted, then purchase and assemble furniture. Then I can fill in with accessories and we will be so done. I haven't figured out what to do about curtains yet, but all in due time.

Paige Elizabeth Reagan

Congratulations to our friends Betsy and Brendan on the birth of their little girl Paige! I know Kyle and Wade will be awesome big brothers. I'm going to pay very close attention to Betsy over the next 15 weeks and try and figure out just how she manages a newborn while her husband manages the schedule of a first-year cardiology fellow. I look forward to learning a lot from her as our families walk down similar paths.

24 Week Ultrasound

This morning I had another ultrasound and thus another chance to see my baby boy dance around the screen in black and white. I feel closest to him during these moments and as the tears slowly roll down my face I forget about the to do list that haunts me or the not so pleasant pregnancy symptoms that plague me. I thought the tech was just going to check the heart outflow tracks and be done, but instead she basically re-did the 20 week ultrasound and measured everything.



This is what I learned about my baby:

- He prefers to lay on his left side (like his mom).

- He has long legs and arms (like his dad).

- He has the sweetest heart beat I've ever heard... 139 bmp.

- He currently weighs 1 pound, 9 ounces (a little on the large side).

- His major internal organs were easily identified including kidneys, stomach, bladder, heart.

- He does not have a cleft palette.

All good news!!! I see my OB tomorrow morning to go over the ultrasound and do whatever else is required at the 24 week appointment. My third trimester will be here before you know it! I anticipate my next ultrasound won't be until 36 weeks when they will re-measure and size him up!

I have a DVD of the ultrasound so I will get Christopher to capture some still shots and post them later.

If you want to laugh and then drool check out...

You know how you'll come across something or someone that is so funny you laugh and laugh and then remember that you haven't laughed like that in a long time? That happened to me today when a followed a link from link from a link and ended up looking at a website devoted to professional cakes gone wrong. The most recent post is actually a sad personal note from the blogger, but if you scroll past that you will laugh and laugh. Check it out -

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

I'm also currently obssessed with Foodgawker. It's torture for a pregnant woman who's cravings turn on a dime, but I still love it.

Dear Baby CAW

Dear little one,

All the books say I should be talking to you because you can hear my voice, but I just can't. It feels silly. Plus, I don't know your name yet which complicates matters. However, for some reason writing you a letter on a blog seems completely normal. So here it goes...

In the last few days it has become very apparent that you will be here before we know it. First, I started to show. Then packages that arrived at the door were for you... not Daddy or me. Then we spent your Dad's birthday dinner talking primarily about baby preparations (and hoping loved ones will give us Babies R Us gift cards for Xmas). All of this on top of a countdown clock that says you will be here in 132 days or less. Whew... it's a lot for one week.

Let me say that you are an answered prayer, a birthday wish come true, a blessing to our house and I can't wait to meet you. We will spend the next 132 days shopping, decorating, reading, sleeping, praying and trying to get 100% ready for your arrival. You can just work on growing. We will see you soon.

Love,
Momma

I love this stuff!

Who out there loves Jon and Kate Plus 8? I'm sure most of the women readers said "ME!!!" and the men readers (if there are any) collectively groaned. I know Christopher isn't a fan, but he's a fan of me so he'll watch it from time to time.

Anyway... on the show the kids will occasionally wear these really cute custom tees or eat off of equally cute custom made plates... and being a lover of all things monogrammed I hunted them down.

If you are looking for cute tees, onesies, plates, lunchboxes, or anything that holds still long enough to have a name or monogram slapped on it check out EM Tanner Designs. Not only is the stuff TC (too cute) but it's also made right here in TN!

Does anyone out there not blog???

Within mere moments of sending out my blog email I found out that my sister-in-law and very good friend from work both have blogs as well! How did I not know this? Well, they have been added to the list of blogs to check daily. If anyone else has a blog that I don't know about please let me know so I can check it out!!!

It's A Boy!

I set this blog up months ago and waited for something to talk about. Now that the nastiness of my first trimester has come and gone and Baby Wells has revealed himself as a little man I feel there are things to be said. Since we have family stretching from Boston to Maryland to Alabama to California and many places in between this is probably the best place to summarize all the news that is the news.

In the weeks and months to come I will post more ultrasound pictures, nursery pictures, questions for mothers and anything else I think you want to read about. After the baby joins our household this will be the place to see all the great pics and videos from our new Flip camcorder. Fish and Chips might also make the occasional cameo appearance since they have such a fan base.