Photo Shoot

Aunt Jaime came over yesterday to babysit while I went to PT. She took some fantastic pictures while I was gone! Thanks Jaime!

On another subject, I want to mention a phenomenon I like to call "paci madness"...

This child thinks that he might just die if he does not have his paci in his mouth at times. We use it to calm him down during diaper changes, baths, and during bottle preparation, but now he seems to be dependent on it. Holding and cuddling him during a crying fit (which is usually the result of the paci falling out of his mouth) just doesn't cut it sometimes. It becomes a constant cycle: paci in mouth, paci falls out, crying...paci in mouth, paci falls out, crying, and so on. 

Any suggestions fellow moms?

1st Day Alone

Yesterday was my first day alone with our little one. Mom left last Saturday, Sunday Patrick and I double teamed, and Monday it was just Mac and me. He was pretty fussy and hard to please, but besides a little frustration on my part the day was ok. He also went from going 3-4 hours in between feedings to 2. Maybe it was just an off day. He is starting to take more and more formula. He's just about 3 weeks old and taking in 4-5 oz of formula every 3-4 hours! He's a big guy with a big stomach I guess! 

This morning all he wanted to do was be held or he was crying pretty hard. That made it hard to get ready, but once he got his bottle, he was content. My sweet friend Lisa came and picked us up this morning and took me to my physical therapy appointment. She watched Mac while I did my exercises. Afterward she was nice enough to take me by the grocery store to stock up on mainly baby things. She even pulled the car up and loaded our groceries in the rain. What sweet friends I have! Before she left our house, she wrapped Mac up in a tight "baby burrito" and now he's sleeping very soundly. If I was smart, I'd be taking a nap too. I think I'll do just that...

Who could resist that face?

I just had to share these pictures with you. This is the cutest picture I've seen of him so far. There's always a part of the day when he is awake and content which is always so precious to watch. He does get a little fussy sometimes, but I really can't complain; just look at that face!

I just love it when my grandmother sings to me.

I also like it when my Daddy Ed walks with me. 

Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow. We will all miss them terribly. They have been so incredibly good to us. Mom has helped out tremendously with Mac, lost a lot of sleep taking care of him at night, and has helped me clean and organize the entire house. I will have a hard time letting them leave. 

Bum Hip

Just a cute picture to get your attention :)

Well as most of you know my hip has been bothering me for about 3 months now. It started off in the left hip and then shifted to the right during the pregnancy. I thought that surely after my nine-pounder was out of me, the pain would go away. Well I was wrong. After seeing my OB doc again yesterday she referred me to an orthopedic doctor who I went to see today. She said that my hip looked normal in the x-rays and seems to think that some tendons and soft tissue in my upper leg/hip area are inflamed. I am going to go to some physical therapy sessions twice a week for a few weeks to see if that helps. I pray that it does! I have got to have some relief. It's just too hard trying to take care of little Mac on a bum leg. He has been such a trooper as we drag him to all of these appointments. He sleeps the majority of the time. 

I'll start my first therapy session tomorrow at 9am. I hope they take it easy on me!

2 week checkup

The exam begins

He liked Dr. Israel's finger

All done.

Mac had his 1st visit with his pediatrician today, Dr. Israel. He weighed in at 9 lbs, 6oz and is still 21.5 inches long. At birth he was 9 lbs and then dropped to 8lbs 9oz when he left the hospital. 

He got some blood drawn to test for PKU and the doctor gave him a thorough physical. She said that everything looked good with him. She was very upbeat and spent some good time with us answering questions and giving advice. He'll go back in early October for his 2 month check up and shots! I'm sure that will be a fun day...

Wide Awake

Today Mac spent some more time wide awake. We love seeing him with his eyes wide open since for the past several days all he did was sleep. Today was a good day for everyone. We took him on a stroll outside twice. I needed to get some walking in to try and loosen up this bum hip, and I wanted Mac to be outside a little too. Tomorrow Patrick is back to work of course and then football practice. Mom and I will have no trouble I'm sure with the little guy. I'm already dreading the day she leaves when I'm all alone with him. Scary! We're basically just waiting on my body to heal so that I can do more around the house, drive again, and be able to bend down and pick up the baby. I hope I'll heal quickly (for everyone's sake). Patrick has been so great taking care of me while I was in the hospital and the baby. He is such a great dad and husband. And his son just loves to be held by him!

*Check out the video of his bath over to the right under "Videos"!

More Mac

Today Mac is 10 days old. He's getting cuter and cuter by the day. He is starting to stay awake for periods during the day. It's so fun to see his eyes open and taking in his surroundings. My favorite moment today was when I held him and sung to him. While I was singing he was totally focused on me (which I loved!). 

First car ride

10 days old

Watching the Olympics with Daddy

HOME SWEET HOME

Yaaaaaah!!! My doctors told me that I can go home today! I have been crying tears of joy all morning. My dad is on his way to pick me up right now. I still have some recovering to do from both surgeries (not to mention my bum hip that I thought would be gone once Mac was here), but I am SO thankful to be able to be at home. Please continue to pray for no more infection or temperatures and for pain control. I hope I see you soon!

Love, SG

Hospital Update

Well I'm still at the hospital. Labs looked better yesterday. White blood cell count was down a good bit (which is good). In the past 40 hours my temp. has been between 98 and 100. I don't know if my doctor will count the "low grade temps" as the real thing in our 48 count. I have not seen either doctor this morning (OB or surgeon), but I am anxious to see what they say.

Liz dropped by yesterday morning and kept me company while I ate my breakfast and Mom and Dad brought Mac up here and stayed all day so that was very fun to see him. I took care of him as much as I was able and tried to get back into the "mommy" role. Mom and Dad have been SO good to Patrick and I. I know they are barely getting any sleep, but they have not complained one bit. I am so thankful to have them here. Yesterday was Mom's birthday, and not a very typical one, but at least we were all together.

My nurse just came in to start me on another round of antibiotics (Gent, Cleocin, and Ampicillin for those medical people that might want to know) so I'm a slave to the IV pump for a few hours. Mom and Dad should be here in a few hours with sweet Mac and hopefully in the mean time I'll receive some good news from the doctors. Thanks again for ALL of your prayers!

Love, Sarah Grace

Appe. update

I'm sorry for not answering some of your calls or messages. I have ups and downs with this recovery for sure. When I'm not feeling good, I just don't want to talk. I was doing really well with having a normal temperature, but suddenly spiked another high one today. My doctor wants me to go 48 hours with a normal temp. so this just started the clock back over. She thinks it's just taking me a while to get over having these 2 surgeries (especially the appendectomy). At the moment I feel great. I walked the halls a bit with mom by my side and that felt good. I'm keeping my full liquid diet down so that's also a plus. I think my breakfast tomorrow will be a regular one.

My parents, Patrick's parents, and our siblings have been so good helping us out: taking care of our sweet Mac, bringing food by, and of course continually praying for us. Thank you so much for all of the prayers I know that a lot you have lifted up for us. We definitely feel them. Mac has been at home with the 4 grandparents. He is very well taken care of, but I wish I was the one doing it. We will try and keep you updated as best we can.

Back @ the hospital

Just wanted everyone to know I'm back in the hospital. We went home Saturday and I had to come to the ER Sunday morning. I had an appendectomy Monday morning. I'm hoping to be home by Thursday. I'll update more later. Patrick has been staying with me up here and all 4 grandparents are at our house taking care of our sweet Mac. I miss him like crazy! 

War Eagle!!!

Mac declared today that he was going to be an Auburn fan. We are very excited!

Patrick McCay Beverly

Mac finally came on August 6th at 5:08. He weighed 9 pounds and was 21.5 inches long. Mac and Mom are doing great. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers about our gift from God. Here are some pictures.

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Last Doctor Appointment

Monday I had my last doctor appointment. Since my last appointment (when my BP was high) I've been taking my BP a few times a day which have all been very good. Of course right before my appointment yesterday I took it and it was elevated. And when they took it at the office it was even more elevated. I must (unknowingly) get nervous when I go there. We had our bags in the car just incase she wanted to just go ahead and admit me and get the party started. She checked me and to our delight, she found that I was 2cm dilated, 50% effaced, and Mac had dropped some! All 3 of us were SO thrilled. She sent us over to L&D to be monitored again. As soon as I got there, my BP was back to normal and Mac's heart rate was good to. We only stayed about 30 minutes and then were discharged. We headed over to the grand opening of the Zaxby's on 150. Needless to say, Patrick is very excited about having one closer to us. They make a mean grilled chicken zalad! Then we headed home and just relaxed the rest of the night. 

I'm glad I just have one more night of being pregnant b/c all of the sudden I am having terrible reflux. I'm lucky it's just now happening, but I'm not loving it. I dreamed last night that I had Mac and he already had hair on his chest and he immediately started running around the room acting like a bad 2 year old. I've dreamed some crazy things during this pregnancy. 

Mom and Dad are coming this afternoon and spending the night here. Patrick and I will head into the hospital around 9pm. They will give me a dose of Cytotec (which will help my body ready to deliver) at 4am Wednesday. Usually they give 2 doses, but I guess since I'm already dilating, I just need 1. Dr. Maddox will come see me around 8am the next morning and determine whether or not I need Pitocin (to start contractions) and break my water if needed. I'm hoping to progress quickly, get my epidural, and have this baby soon! The next time I post, hopefully I'll have some cute pics of our little guy!

"Just Us"

Although I am really getting anxious to meet our precious little boy, I am trying to enjoy the last few days of "just us". The last few weeks have gone by so slow probably due to the fact that I've been around the house so much, but my body really needed the rest. I'm glad I took Patrick's advice (along with others) to lay low and not work for a little while before he comes. I have a feeling that if I had kept working like I was, my blood pressure would have shot up, etc. 

We went to church yesterday and then had a relaxing afternoon just taking it easy. Last night we went on a very short walk down our short street (my hip was definitely stiff afterward). Then we took a dip in the pool. Wow, that was really relaxing. We only shared the pool for about 20 minutes with some little girls and then we had it all to ourselves. That's only the 3rd time this summer that I've gotten in the water, and now I'm wondering why. We might even go back tonight for a late night dip. It was so nice to just spend some quality time with Patrick and talk about the upcoming days and about how our lives are about to change.

Today I'll see Dr. Maddox at 3:30 for a quick check up. We're bringing our bags to the hospital just incase she decides to admit me. I can't say that I would put up a fight. But if we don't stay tonight, we'll go back Tuesday night at some point and take things from there. I'll know what the plan is once I talk to her today. Mom and Dad are coming up tomorrow afternoon and will be here indefinitely. 

I am so excited to meet Patrick McCay for the very first time. I can't imagine how that will feel. I want to see what he looks like, hold him, feed him, burp him, change him, and just spend precious moments with him. I'm also so excited to see Patrick take on the role of a father. I know he will be an amazing one. Just thinking about it all makes me emotional. I know the next few days I'll probably be a basket case. I will be so happy to see my friends that are coming into town and the ones that live here. I appreciate so much your support and prayers over the last 9 months. I am blessed with some very special people in my life.