Xander Gage Westbrook is finally here! It has been almost 9 weeks since he was born and it has been the biggest roller coaster of emotions that I have ever experienced! We went to the hospital at 5 am on July 30th, 2009 (which is also mine and David's birthday) to induce labor. They broke my water at 6 am and then told me that my normal Dr. had an emergency and would not be delivering my baby! That made me a little uneasy, but everything worked out in the end and I love the new doc and now she is my regular doctor. She had a smile on her face the whole time during delivery, and made me feel very comfortable. I was in labor for about 9 hours, and was only in pain for about one of those hours. After contractions started getting really painful, I got an epidural and felt nothing until right before it was time to start pushing, and then they gave me a boost of medicine and I was back to numb, thank goodness! I pushed for over an hour, which I had no idea was part of birth, I thought you just gave it a good push and it was done, but boy was I wrong! I didn't do any research on the actual process because I didn't want to scare myself any more than I already was, because believe me, I was terrified, even right up to the last minute. I told David I didn't know if I could do it, but it kinda had to be done! So at 3:06 pm on my 25th birthday, with lots of help and support from my family and friends, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy! My husband, mother, and mother in law and up to 4 nurses going in and out were in the room with me during birth. He weighed 7 lbs and 7 oz and was 21 and 1/2 inches long. I cried the moment I saw him and when they put him on my stomach, he touched my nose with his tiny little finger. David did not get to cut the cord like I thought he would, but he didn't really seem to mind! The first couple of weeks I was consumed with caring for the baby and was so scared that something would happen or that he would stop breathing the moment I took my eyes off of him. Eventually that feeling started to fade, and I was able to sleep some during the night, but even now when I wake up, I still check to make sure he is breathing! I finally got to where I could do things with him by myself, without being scared or clumsy with him, but I honestly don't know how I could have handled it if it wasn't for my mom being there whenever I needed her. I also had lots of help from Gran and other people fixing us dinner and bringing it over (although I think they just wanted an excuse to see Xander! just kidding). I finally went back to work during my sixth week off, and it has been another tough adjustment, because I was having to leave the baby for 8 hours a day, but at first it was only 3 days a week, and now I am back on a 5 day a week schedule and will be bringing him to work with me for part of the day, so I won't have to miss him so much! It is so fascinating to just sit and stare at the little life that David and I created. He is so beautiful and I never thought I could love someone so much, besides David of course, but that's really a whole other kind of love! He does the funniest things, like when he has been sleeping for a long time and he starts waking up and stretching, his little fists go back and forth really fast like he's revving a motorcycle! Also, as he is waking up, he will smile and laugh sometimes it even sounds like a belly laugh yet his eyes won't open for a few minutes. Xander doesn't usually want to take the pacifier if he is not full and sleepy, which sometimes can be stressful because at times he just wants to be fussy and it seems like there's nothing I can do about it. I am also thankful that he isn't dependent on it because maybe it will be easy to transition away from the "passy". I am so lucky to be a mother, so many people don't have the opportunity and it has completely changed my life in a way I never would have imagined. I can't wait for the many milestones that are sure to come in our lives with this little person that we have created!

Its almost time! I am 38 weeks pregnant now and will be having this baby any day now! He is already a beautiful baby as you can tell from my 4D ultrasound. We still dont have anything more than the first name picked out but we have narrowed it down and are leaning towards Xander Gage...we better pick soon! I haven't had any real problems throughout my pregnancy, but some things I could've lived without! For example, I have never had heartburn before in my life and now I have it just about every single day, and it is not fun! But thats what tums and prilosec are for so I will live. :) Also, my feet and fingers have been swelling...especially my feet, and that is very uncomfortable! They hurt towards the end of the day and I have to prop them up. I'm also to the point where I have to roll out of bed in the morning and I feel like a turtle on its back! David thinks this is funny! I'm glad he is having such a great time with it...lol. We painted my big belly like a watermelon last night, and that was really fun. We also had maternity pictures made at JC Penny so we will never forget this special time in our lives! Grayson was with us and he was very good and we got some great shots. He will talk to my tummy and tell "baby Xander" hello and ask him how he is doing! I can't wait to see how we will all adjust to our new addition...Tinkerbell might be the most jealous, but hopefully she will love him as much as she does us, even though she won't be getting as much attention..she will still get to dress up and sit on the counter right next to Xander in the bumbo seat while I get ready in the mornings! We worked on the nursery a little more a couple of days ago and I appreciate eveyone's help! Gran, Pop, Mom, Lynn, Tina, David, and David B. have worked hard on getting everything done. I think this will be a wonderful time in all of our lives and I can't wait until he gets here and we can see his cute little face!

Little Xander

I am 27 weeks (six months and 3 weeks) this week! My belly has finally started to grow enough to where I look pregnant! My belly button has started to pop out a little bit when I laugh, and its the silliest thing I've ever seen. :) I always crack up when it happens because David will point it out and I get embarrassed and that makes it worse! Haha. Here I am at about 25 weeks:

We have decided to name him Xander, but we havent figured out a middle name for him yet. Its really hard trying to decide on something that will be so important to our child! If you could see him this week, he weighs close to two pounds and is about 14 and a half inches long from head to toe. He's as big as a head of cauliflower this week. His brain is very active now and he should be blinking and "breathing" in lots of amniotic fluid so he can taste everything I eat, so he will come out loving pizza and Chinese food! :) He's gonna be the cutest little baby ever! He may be starting to suck his thumb around this time too and the nostrils are opening up...they have been plugged up until the last couple of weeks.

We have been feeling him move around like crazy and could even see the legs kicking around during the last ultrasound. It was incredible to watch and I am still amazed every time I see my belly jump when he moves. He moves a lot at all hours of the day and night and isn't shy when someone tries to feel him move. I think everybody that has put their hand on my belly has felt him going crazy and sometimes he kicks so hard that I think whoever is touching my belly is messing with me. I'll say "did you do that or the baby?" :)

We are so happy, and Grayson is excited to have a little brother!

Here are the ultrasound pictures from April 1st:

ITS A BOY!

We went to the doctor on March 4th and found out that we are having a baby boy! His heartbeat was 140 and he weighed about 10 oz. I think he is camera shy because he wouldn't turn so we could see his face, so when we go back to see Dr. Orso on April fools day we will have another ultrasound. She said they have to see the baby's face to rule out a cleft palate, which I don't really know what happens either way. I am very excited and we have decided to decorate his room with real pictures and posters of baby animals and their families. We will keep the walls neutral so the room can grow with the baby. We will also be decorating Graysons room so he can get in on the action! I have been feeling the baby move a pretty good bit lately, and David has felt him also, but he won't move around for anybody else yet! It's a very exciting feeling but also strange! It is interesting and a little crazy to think that I really have something alive and growing into a human being inside my tummy! I am just past the halfway mark! He should be about the size of a banana and is practicing swallowing a lot more now and gearing up the digestive system. Here's a picture of our son's little weewee and his precious little feet-they are crossed!

2-21-09
I'm late posting this one sorry! I can't get my pictures to load right so I'm behind!

We went to the doctor again last week and I'm still not feeling much like I'm pregnant! If you didnt know me, you would just think I'm a little overweight :( I havent felt the baby move yet but they say that should come at any time. When Dr. Orso was looking for the heartbeat, we heard it for just a few seconds, and then the little booger started squirming around and he couldn't find it again! But even though it was only for a second we still heard it, so everything's ok. All of my blood tests from last time came back normal so that is a plus! We only have about two and a half weeks left until we go back to find out what its going to be! Right now I am at 17 weeks and I have almost completely stopped getting nauseated all the time, but now I have heartburn just about every day! I'm also getting all kinds of pains in my lower tummy, but they say that's just me growing. Boo hoo...I guess if thats all the problems I have, then I should be more than thankful!

2nd Visit

We went to see Dr. Orso again on Jan 14th! They took six vials of my blood for all the prenatal testing stuff they do. The needle looked like it was as big as a toothpick and it kinda hurt!They will call me if anything is wrong, otherwise we will find out at the next visit. The baby seems to be doing great! It has a heartbeat of 175 and mine was only 75! We heard it on a microphone that he put way down on the bottom of my belly. I've been getting nauseated about twice a day now since not long after we found out, but the doc says that it there's something magic about week 14, but I still seem to be pretty nauseous sometimes and now I have been having heartburn too. I'm in week 15 now and this pic was taken at about 12 1/2 weeks. We had some problems getting the belly picture on the computer, so I'm a little behind, but I will update after the 16 week visit!

At week 13 the baby should have fingerprints and a digestive system (oh my) and is about 3 inches long and weighs around an ounce. The vocal cords are forming now - getting ready early to keep us up at night! :) All of this seems like its happening so fast! We are so excited! Mom always tells my belly goodbye and lets the baby know that Grammy loves him/her :) David is being so sweet and patient with all my symptoms, he just gives me lotsa love and support! I love him so much! He's going to make a great daddy for our precious little angel!

First Doctor Visit

This is me at 7 weeks!

This is our baby!!!

We went to the doctor on December 17th! I had an ultrasound and found out that I was 8 weeks pregnant, now 9 weeks and we heard a strong baby heartbeat and got its first cute little picture! It looks like a peanut :) David thinks it looks like ET when you turn it sideways. LoL. The due date is July 29th which is the day before mine and David's birthday and 4 days before our anniversary!

The baby is being nourished through the placenta now and all of the essential body parts including teeth have started to take shape. The sex has already been determined but we wont be able to tell for another 9 weeks or so. My belly is starting to look bigger all the time! I guess that's a good thing but I feel like its too early! Hopefully I will stop being sick all the time in a few weeks. We go back to the doctor on the 14th of January and they will run a lot of tests and do some bloodwork to see how everything's going.

Grayson is very excited about having a little sister...thats what he says he wants! I think he will be a great big brother to our new addition.

This is something like what its looking like this week.