Happy Easter! (late)

Thoughts from Mommy...

Wow, this week has been one of the hardest and most rewarding weeks of my life. No one could have prepared me for this, but thank God that I have such a wonderful husband and family to help me through it all. Ford is wonderful and is doing great, but I on the other hand have seen my ups and downs this past week. As Brad wrote we had some feeding issues at the first of the week, but thanks to Nurse Jean and all the wonderful staff at Women's Hospital we figured out how to rememdy the problem. For those of you who have called - thanks so much. Please know that I am not just ignoring you, but adjusting to motherhood has and still is an overwhelming experience to me. I cry often like right now and have no idea why. I know this is normal for after pregnancy, though. My mom left yesterday. It was so nice to have her here. Brad goes back to work tomorrow. I cry just thinking about it. He has been so wonderful to me and I am going to miss him being here all day with us. Thankfully my dad is coming in the morning to spend the week with me, so I will still have some company and help during the day. Ford still has his days and nights mixed up, so none of us get much sleep. We will try to keep posting pics as much as possible - especially for our family far away. Now I am off for a nap

Ford's first bath. Thanks Grandmomma for giving it to me!

Ford's first ride in his swing.

Thanks Nanie for my yellow outfit.

Pure sweetness!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

No Instructions!!!

Ford is now 4 days old and things are finally settling down at the Ray residence. Everything was fine in the hospital, however, life at home has proven to be a challenge. Sometimes Jennifer and I wish we could be back in the hospital. If I could figure out how to get our king size bed in the hospital room, we would definitely call to find out how much rent would be.

Ford and Daddy spent the first night getting acquainted with his room and rocking chair until about 3:00 a.m. (I think). Things are finally settling down today as Nurse Jean at the hospital gave Jennifer and Ford the final piece of the feeding puzzle. Thank you Nurse Jean. Ford is now eating every few hours for about 30 minutes. Now all we have to do is catch the poop before it gets out of his diaper. Thus far, we have not succeeded in doing that.

More to come later, but Ford and Momma are doing great now, physically and mentally. A special thank you to our family (Grand Mama, Nana, and Papa D) and friends for your help, support, encouragement, and prayers.

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Shannon, Ford said he was ready to come visit in Houston. More to come later.

Coming Home

Ford's first ride in his car seat. Yea, we came home today. Ford is finally home in his bed although he'd rather be held.

Home Sweet Home!

Brad and Jennifer were able to go home this afternoon with that sweet little boy! I went by the hospital yesterday to visit and was able to hold little Ford for a little bit and just fell in love with him! He is so cute! Jen and Brad are going to be such wonderful parents! They were such naturals with him! Congrats again on the handsome little boy!

He is HERE!!!

Bradford Coleman Ray II "Ford" was born this afternoon at 12:33! He weighed in at 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long! He is a handsome little one! He has a little patch of strawberry blonde hair on the top of his head! He was welcomed by lots of family! Brad said Jennifer did great and only pushed for about 15 minutes! I will update later! Congrats Jennifer and Brad!

Baby Boy Ray is Coming!!!

Today when we went in to the Doctor, she said that we were ready for a baby! I have dilated 2-3 cm. and thinned out more than I was Friday. This is a picture of me on the monitor as I waited for them to tell me where we are to go in the morning for induction. We are suppose to go to Woman's Hospital at 5:30 in the morning. They said all looks great! And that I might go into labor tonight. But as of right now (10:35) I am just hurting.

Here is a picture of Brad right after she told us that baby boy was on the way. He is so excited and I think was glowing more than me.

After my doctor's visit I went on into work. I wanted to explain to my kids what was going on and say good-bye to all my friends. This is a picture of my little girls right after I got there. They were so excited and very loving today. They told everyone that "de baby boy is gonna pop out tomorrow." I thought teaching them that he would "pop out" was the easy way for them to understand. They have watched my belly grow all year long. We said that my belly was the biggest today and that is why the baby will pop out tomorrow. They fought over who could hold him, but I told them they all could later. They are so sweet and am going to miss them.

Here is another picture of Brad - on the phone. We couldn't wait to call all our family and friends. We are so excited about meeting our little man and having all our family here together. Brad and I went walking around Dogwood tonight, then went out to dinner. We stopped by Scott and Chrissie's to give her a baby gift and visit. Brad has been cleaning the house and I am trying to make sure I have everything. We had a wonderful night together. I can't believe how our life is going to change tomorrow. I am now about to crash and hope that I fall asleep and stay asleep until in the morning. My friend, Cheree, will post pics of the little man and name sometime tomorrow afternoon. Please pray for us all!!!

38 Week Update...

I thought I would try to add a picture of how I'm growing these days for those of you far away. Here I am at 38 weeks. I went to the Doctor this morning. I have not dilated anymore since last week, so I am still at 1 cm. But I have continued to thin out to 80% this week which my Doc says is very good. I am still learning about all these stages and terms of pregnancy. My belly measured 37 1/2 inches and our little man's heartbeat was in the 150's. All continues to look good. I will go back next Wednesday for my 39 week appointment and we will decide at that point whether we will induce next Thursday, March 13 or the following Thursday, March 20. It all depends on how much I've dilated next week and of course whether the little man is still in there or not. So we will for sure have a baby in less than 2 weeks!!! I can hardly believe it! Brad and I are getting so excited. I will post again on Wednesday unless something new happens.