December Pictures

Below are a few pictures from this month.

Nathan's BIRTH-day, Part I

I don't think I'll be able to capture this day in words, but I will try.

As I mentioned earlier, we found out Nathan was going to be big from his last ultrasound and we decided to schedule an induction five days prior to his actual due date. We were supposed to arrive at the hospital at 6:30 am. At 5:15 I hopped out of bed ready to go--this was the day I was finally going to meet my sweet boy that I already loved so much.

While I was in the shower, Stacy came in to tell me the hospital called and they had no beds available because they had an influx of women come in overnight to deliver. They would try to discharge some patients and call us back at 10:00 and give us an update. I was devastated and my pregnancy hormones caused me to lose all composure (which my husband politely suggested I regain). I finished my shower and took myself downstairs, laid down and put a cold pack on my eyes, in part to ease the puffiness from crying and in part to hide from my husband the fact that I was still crying.

Anyway, I pulled myself together, got fixed up and decided that I was going to go to the mall to buy myself a new lipstick to cheer myself up. Thankfully, the hospital called back before I realized the mall was not open at 7 am, because that probably would have sent me over the edge. They had a room ready and we could come on in!!!

We arrived at the hospital at 7:45, checked in and they started the Pitocin at 8:45. 15 minutes after that, the contractions started. We were on our way. After a few minutes my contractions were getting stronger and were about 2 minutes apart and Stacy and I got up to walk the halls to help things along. Here's how that went:

I was walking around in a hot pink robe, my husband at my side rolling the IV pole. He rolled it over my foot a few times, so I made up some story about how I would like to hang on to it so I could have it as a brace when I contracted. My husband knows nearly everyone in Tuscaloosa, so walking around the halls was a great opportunity for him to be able to stop and chat with folks and catch up on things. And it really didn't seem to bother anyone that my contractions were just booming away, so I felt good that I wasn't putting anybody out.

I have to pause to mention that I pick on Stacy a lot, but he knows how much I truly love him. He was so strong and encouraging through the whole process. I was so proud of the way he handled everything about labor and delivery. He was a total pro.

Around 10 am, the contractions were about 30-45 seconds apart and pretty intense. As my mother says, you have to be classy in everything you do, including childbirth, so I made sure to be very calm when I asked for the epidural.

I felt waaaaaaayy better afterwards. Can you tell?

This next part may be too much information, but you are reading a post about childbirth so I don't know what you expected. For some reason I was really worried about peeing on myself so I kept asking the nurse when she was going to insert the catheter. She said she had 2 hours from the time of the epidural to do it, so at noon I reminded her again and when she went to do it she checked me and I was at 10 cm and ready to push. WHA??? Of course we had no idea how short or long labor was going to be, but this caught us really off guard.

Each new step in the delivery process brought on a whole new rush of emotion, because with each step, obviously, we were getting closer to having our CHILD. I think I burst out crying when she told me I was ready to push. I'll have to watch the birth video to see (by the way, the video will NOT be posted. You're welcome.)

I pushed for about an hour when Nurse Lindsay called the doctor in and said it was time. I think I pushed for about two more contractions and then whoosh! I heard a baby crying! The only way I think I can explain the way I felt at the moment I heard my son crying is to say that it must be what heaven feels like. It was the most profound, moving experience I have ever had.

On September 23, at 1:22 p.m., Nathan Harrison McCants was born. He was the most beautiful baby and weighed 8 lbs 7 ozs and was 21.5 inches long.

Here he is!!

I think he's going to be tall like his Mama...

For those of you that saw Nathan at Thanksgiving...he is now an inch and half longer. At 3 months and 26 inches, he is officially off the chart.

First Day of School

Nathan started "school" the Monday after Thanksgiving. He is at First Baptist and so far we are really pleased. He seems to like it and we feel really good about his teachers. Nathan is not the oldest kid in his class but probably the biggest (that's my boy!). I try to tell him to be good so he is the teachers' favorite, but he keeps blowing out his diaper so we have some work to do.

I was worried that putting him in day care and going back to work was going to be tough, but it really wasn't so bad. We did half days the first week to ease him into it, but he never seemed to have a problem. And it was pretty easy for me too. I think it would have been difficult for me if he was crying when I left him there, but he is always sound asleep when I drop him off.

First day of school pics:

Nathan's First Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Nathan. While we missed seeing our family due to circumstances beyond our control (illnesses, weather, etc.), we made the most of it and had a great Christmas anyway with just our little family. Nathan was very sweet and smiley with all of his gifts, but mostly he just tried to put everything in his mouth.

We were supposed to head to Atlanta to see my family, and we actually packed up the car and headed out and about a minute into our trip it started to sleet and snow. A little while later we pulled over and checked the radar and it looked like it was going to be nasty the whole way across I-20, so we turned around and headed back home. Now what? Stacy suggested we get schnockered and watch Harry Potter and that sounded just fine with me. So we all spent the day in the living room, by the fire, snuggling with the baby, watching movies and dozing off. It was perfect.

Trying to eat his new blocks

Exhausted

2010 Recap

The Stacy and Allison McCants family has had a big year! Near the end of January we found out we were expecting, which was not so much a surprise for me , but I think Stacy might have been caught a little off guard, but nonetheless he was thrilled...I think. He is now anyway. Here is the first picture of our little peanut.
















I couldn't talk about this year without mentioning Missy. We lost her in April after her 1 1/2 year fight with Lymphoma, which was not so much of a fight. She pretty much kicked its ass until the very end. We are very blessed to have loved her and to have her love us. The same day she passed, I felt Nathan kick for the first time, we know this was not a coincidence. The Lord knows what He is doing. While losing her was hard, we had much to look forward to: The next week we were finding out if we were having a boy or a girl. Can you find the tell-tale sign in this photo?
















A couple of weeks before we were finding out what we were having Stacy had the brilliant idea that we should each write on a piece of paper what we thought it was and seal it to be opened after the ultrasound.

I thought it was a boy and Stacy thought girl. I win.

May 2, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Stacy planned the whole thing. We went to Birmingham and stayed at Ross Bridge which was fantastic. We had dinner at Bottega, which was also fantastic. And who should be dining at its sister restaurant right next door but the B-52's!! AWESOME!

Stacy and I had saved a bottle of wine from our wedding to drink on our one-year anniversary and my doctor gave me clearance to have a glass, so I was really looking forward to that too. I won't mention my doctor's name because I don't want him to get in trouble for telling me that it was ok to drink, but clearly everything turned out fine--we have a very big, very healthy baby boy.

After we found out what we were having, we got busy working on the nursery. I won't lie, Stacy did most of the working. He even carved Nathan's name out of wood his-own-self.

This summer was brutally hot and seeing how I was preggers, I thought it would be in the baby's best interest if I spent most of my time floating in a nice cold pool which my husband blew up and filled for me every single weekend. It totally rocked. For July 4th, my sis came to visit and hang out with me in the pool.

July 12th we went to the doctor and got this picture:

After I saw his sweet face, the wait was too much to bear. I felt closer to him than ever, especially since he was rolling around and kicking so much. I could put my hand on my belly and at any time I would feel his little knee or his little bottom. The third trimester was very sweet for me.

For the next few weeks, meeting Nathan was pretty much the only thing on my mind, but a lot did happen during this time. My friends and sister threw me an amazing baby shower. I had a wonderful time and was touched by all the effort that went into it and by the effort made by the out-of-town guests to come and be a part of the festivities. The hostesses did such a good job with the decorations and food. And my sister ordered custom blue M&M's with Nathan's name, his initials and the party date and made cookies with them as party favors. The cake was an exact replication of the invitation. If I think about it, I'll post pictures of this another time.

Near the end of August, Stacy and I went to the beach for our "babymoon." We stayed in Destin and had a great time, but the food really stands out (shocking). We ate at the Back Porch a couple of times; their bronzed fish sandwich was out of this world. I think I'm getting off track here. Apparently these sandwiches were an important part of my year...

At week 38 we went in for my weekly exam and the ultrasound showed that our little man was not so little...so instead of risking birthing a giant baby, we decided to have him a week early. The big day was set for September 23. I was beside myself!