I'm on day 2 of doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred workout video. 20 minutes (including warm-up and cool down) of strength training, cardio, and abs - the 20 minute part was what sucked me in. I'm a sucker for low commitment, quick result oriented things. :) Especially with having a 3 month old. We'll see if I make it to day 10. I hope so, because it does feel good to work up a sweat every now and then!
10 days, 5 states, 2 of the greatest grandparents, 1 kidnap-threatening auntie = 1 happy and spoiled baby!!! Will & I just got back from visiting my sister, Shauna, and her husband in Atlanta (Daddy joined us for a few days). We had a great time, and I got to do some things while PoPo watched Will - went to see Eclipse (go Team Edward!), did some outlet mall shopping, and hit up Starbucks! It was a great trip to finish up my maternity leave - only 1 more week left! God has been sweet, and I don't feel like my time has gone too fast. Don't get me wrong, I would love staying home more with my little guy, but I have really enjoyed the time we have had. Enjoy highlights below!
Here are some pics from some spontaneous photo shoots of Will.
Will with his Auntie Shauna & Uncle GW
This was both mine & Will's first time through the Smoky Mountains!
I wish I could come up with more creative titles, but I'm lucky I can spell my name these days... :) Pregnancy and childbirth really messes with your head! It should be interesting when I go back to work. Speaking of which - I'm really cherishing every day I get to spend with Will because I know it's going to be hard going back to work.
Will is great! Motherhood is crazy. I feel like I'm maintaining, but I don't function the greatest with the lack of sleep - which I was aware of beforehand. However, God is good, and provides everything we need each day. I have been very blessed to have a lot of help from parents. They have been awesome, and able to come up and visit us a lot!! :)
Something else I've been soaking up is the time I have gotten to spend in the Word while Will take's his long afternoon nap. Our ladies Bible study has been doing a study by Kelly Minter, "No Other God's." It has really drawn out where my heart has been over the last year, and the scripture we have been reading has been really relevant in life on several levels. It has been a great reality check, and has helped me start to journey back on really focusing on God, and His desire and truth for me.
William Joseph Kessler was born on April 30, 2010, at 5:39 PM. He weighed 9 lbs. 9 ozs. and measured 20.5 inches!
I think I was having contractions all throughout the night, but just thought my stomach was hurting because I had to go to the bathroom (since the pains went away after I went to the bathroom). However, I woke up at 7:30 AM and was having contractions 5-10 min. apart, so we decided to wait it out until my scheduled doctor appt. at 9:30. The Dr. said it was "go time" and that we could go over to be admitted into the hospital. She did an ultra-sound first because she had a hard time getting Will's heartbeat, and at this point she thought he was going to be about 7.5 lbs.!
Next, we went over, got admitted, and Dr. Puckett came down to break my water around noon. That is when things started getting more painful. I was wrestling around with getting pain meds around 5-6 cm because my nurse had me laying on my side, which was extremely uncomfortable, and hard to breathe... but, then I got up and she gave me a bean bag that I could lay on my stomach on, and things began progressing quickly from there. I felt better, and Will really started moving down. I began pushing, out of instinct, and my nurse didn't want me to yet, but I didn't really feel like I couldn't.
Then I pushed for an hour and half, and Will came - naturally, with a little help from the vacuum! :) I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to push much longer, and luckily Will came soon after that! It was a crazy experience, and I still really can't comprehend it.
Now, Bo & I are adjusting to parenthood, and sleep deprivation - which I think is harder for me than Bo. However, like in this entire event - God was extremely gracious and faithful, and I wouldn't have been able to get through it without remembering that amidst the pain! Bo was a great coach too!!! I was in such a "zone" during labor that I just knew that his hand was there to hold and squeeze, and his encouraging words kept me going! I pretty much stopped talking once the labor got hard...
So after all that - Praise the Lord for our little chunky monkey!!! He's so sweet.
I can't believe the end of the road is so near... Bo has been quite antsy the last few days and was hoping the baby would come this week. I have gotten more uncomfortable over the past week so I too am now ready for the baby to come whenever he is ready. :)
Bo & I have really enjoyed this journey, and are even more excited for the next step - actually getting to interact with the baby! I have had some disappointment with unmet expectations of what I thought life would look like being pregnant, but it has also greatly exceeded how amazing I thought this experience would be.
I am thankful for God's faithfulness, provision, and grace with me over these past 39 weeks. :)
It's exhausting being the photographer and the subject, but Bo & I had fun taking our family prego pics! We are so excited to meet Will, but we are enjoying our last days of "freedom" too! I'm not to the point yet where I'm "done" being pregnant. Praise the Lord it's been a pretty good ride after I got through that 1st trimester.
