He is Here!

On Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 at exactly 7:00pm, our little man, Mason Dale Hicok was born by C-section. It was definitely the most amazing experience of my life! I was really upset about having to have a C-section, but after pushing for an hour it became clear that he just didn't want to come out the "old-fashioned" way. Pushing is an interesting feeling when you cant feel anything from the waste down! They kept saying "harder, harder" and I would give it everything I had, but I really had no idea how well I was doing, I couldn't feel anything! lol! I guess I was a very good pusher, according to my doctor, buti I'll just have to take his word for it!

I will NEVER forget the sound of his first cries. Here I was, laying on the table, shaking from the raging hormones and adrenaline, Brandon talking so sweet in my ear, trying to keep me calm and all of the sudden I hear his first cries and I immediately started bawling, telling Mason how much I loved him and was so happy he was here, I couldn't even see him, because of the curtain, but it didn't matter, he was here and he was healthy!

Mason is the best baby ever. Sure, he's had a few times of inconsolable crying in the last 6 days, but nothing we couldn't handle and move past. Those small moments are overpowered by all the hours of silly smiles, funny faces and sweet dreams. He is so much like his daddy! He's a "mouth breather," he sneezes like the dickens and some of the looks he gives are just so Brandon! At first, looking at the ultrasounds I thought he looked so much like me, but turns out, I think, he looks more like his dad.

Basically, I could go on and on forever about how perfect my son is, but that would probably get a little old for all of you, so just enjoy the pictures and know that he is happy, healthy, and perfect in every way! Brandon and I could not be happier! We love him sooo much it's impossible to describe. I'm sure that's how all parents feel, especially with their first new little baby :)

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but hopefully this will make up for it! Until later...

On my way out the door, so...

I don't really have time to write much but....DID ANYONE NOTICE I MADE IT TO THE LAST BLOCK ON MY BABYGAGA.COM COUNTDOWN?!? You have no idea how I have been longing to see that last little block light up! Woot Woot, Woot Woot! (Doing a victory dance!) Only a few more weeks...I can't wait! Until later..hopefully not too much later though ;)

Our Little Man 32wks 6dys

Here's our big boy! Already 5lbs 1oz!

My Growing Belly...

32wks 1dy
The "beach ball"


Along the way people have told me how abnormally large my belly was, at first this was secretly exciting bc I wanted to have a belly so bad, now...I'm scared to see how big my belly is actually going to get before I burst! I've had people ask me things like if I have 2 weeks left(I have 8 weeks left!) If I'm "ready to have that baby yet?", and people swear that I won't make it to Sept. 28th (which I'm praying for! Get him outta me!) Not sure why I have been blessed with this freakishly large belly that makes people stare or family and friends laugh (Yes, laugh...mostly my brothers) but my doctor has finally noticed that it is somewhat off the normal track (about 10 days ahead according to the fundal height measurement) so we're getting an ultrasound on Monday to figure out if maybe I have an excess of amniotic fluid or if he's farther along than we thought, what I'm worried about hearing is if he's big...uh, how am I going to get him out if he's "big"?! AHH! I guess we'll just have to wait and see and pray for the best, of course.
In other news, this weekend is my baby shower! I'm so excited! Not only to hang out with all my family and friends, but to have a Saturday off work! ;) I'm thankful for my job, but wow, it can get tiring in about 5 seconds. I don't know how some of the girls that have gone before me have done it and actually made it to their due dates still on the floor, this is a gift I do not possess. Anyway, the shower is going to be so cute! We decided to do a beach theme since his room is all surfer boy and he's my little beach bum! It's going to be really fun! This is going to be a slow week bc of how excited I am for it!
Well, I don't have much more interesting things to report and I need to bring this post to a close because it's time to get ready to go to work! Really busy day ahead of me, first busy day in a while, a little nervous for it! I've attached some updated belly shots! Until later...

Well..okay then!

So, on Monday, Brandon woke up with an aching pain in his lower ride side that he said he had been struggling with all night...immediately I had a hunch that it was his appendix. But since I am such a hypochondriac I called my RN grandma first to get her opinion. So everything checked out and she suggested that if he felt bad enough he should go ahead and go to the doctor. So he went to an appointment on Monday where they booked him for a CT Scan on Tuesday morning. So fast forward to Tuesday afternoon...I get a phone call from the doctor's office saying that they couldn't get a hold of Brandon but that because of the results of the CT he needed to schedule an appointment with a surgeon to have it removed. I couldn't believe it, something I freaked out about actually was right! So I call the surgeon, made the appointment etc. then about 10 min. later the surgeon's office called me back saying I needed to take him to the ER immediately and he needed to have his appendix out as soon as possible! So now I'm freaking out, they totally changed their tune! So weird! So I got a hold of Brandon, told him the news, he left work and we headed to the ER! Meanwhile, both sets of parents are out of town and we have been watching my parents dogs who can't be left for a long time alone (because they would destroyyy the house!) Needless to say...I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find a place for the doggies to go, pack an overnight bag for us for the hospital and call both families to inform of what the heck was going on! Thankfully, his parents flew in to help me out and have been such a blessing during this process! I guess the reason I'm writing this all down is that it was just so crazy! One minute in was no big deal and he was just going in because his side hurt a little, next thing we know he's in surgery! While he was in there the doctor discovered a small hernia as well, which means at some point in the somewhat near future he will have to have another surgery! Dear oh Dear! BTW, oh my gosh, the nurse was SO rude when I was talking to the doctor about the hernia. I simply asked how imperative it was for him to have the second surgery, whether or not he needed to have it right away, since this surgery was unexpected and we do have a baby coming in 10 weeks. I asked this because um...hospital stays are holy crap EXPENSIVE and what do I look like...a bank?! I needed to know the severity of the situation so that I could make the proper decision! Of course we would do the surgery if it needed to be done asap, but if not then...one thing at a time! Goodness! So as I'm asking him about this and he's telling me not too stress it and take care of the baby stuff first my snotty nurse says "yeah..cause it's all about you.." and I wanted to STRANGLE her! Can you believe it? What a jurk! Yeah, cause that's what I was implying, that everything is about me and I don't care about his health and well-being?! I can't believe she'd be so bold! Later she made another comment about me again!! UGH! I couldn't wait to be discharged and not have to deal with her anymore!

....on a lighter note...

Something super funny (besides Brandon being totally loopy from meds, no filter!) happened during the night. So it's about 5am and he's just had his pain meds about 20min before and I open my eyes and see him staring at me, so I ask him if he's okay and he sort of mumbles yes and looks sort of distressed. All of the sudden I hear it...yes, he's going to barf! So I ask him what's wrong, what's wrong?! and then...BARF GOES EVERYWHERE! It hit the wall in front of him! After the first big purge he grabs his dish and finishes his business with that and I don't know what to do, laugh or cry?! I felt bad, but I couldn't believe his puke reached the wall! So I take care of it and from then on he's fine, but oh man was it funny and very impressive at the same time! ;)
Anyway, so that was our Tuesday night/Wednesday morning! Quite an event! I need to make sure I write it down in our baby book so we never forget! Boy, did my little boy make me uncomfortable! Of course it's never easy to sleep in that reclining chair they give you in the hospital, but it KILLED my back! It's on fire today! But, it was all worth it, to get to stay with Brandon in the hospital! I don't have any pics of Brandon in the hospital to post, my in-laws took some, but I don't have anything to upload them with. :( Well, that's my story for now! Until later..

Summer Lovin'

Today is the day we normally watch our friends 10 month old son, Riley, so in an attempt to have a fun, engaging summertime activity we took him to the pool and had some fun in the sun! We had a great time! Riley was a little leery at first, but after a little time he started to really enjoy it! His little bloated diaper was so cute! The whole point to my little story is that once we got home and put Riley down for his nap I started getting ready to go out to the movies tonight and I could smell the sun tan lotion still on my skin and I felt that little sting of warmness from being outside and it put a huge smile on my face! Yes, the summer heat is unbearable at times, but I just love summer anyway! Eating Popsicles and the relief of rubbing aloe vera on a sun-burn is the stuff you look forward to during an AZ summer!
Another good thing about the heat of summer is that the hotter it gets, as the months pass, the closer I get to having this baby! 13wks to go! I can't believe it! My tummy is pretty much all baby now! I'm thinking all of me is going to be all Mason soon! Lol! Okay, so probably the weirdest thing I think about, which is probably only weird to me, is that the baby can kick me on the belly button. Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like there should be something blocking that space inside your belly, I mean it's like a hole in your stomach! Watching him kick me in the belly button is just too weird!
I seem to have a new craving to add to the list, ice cream! I frequent the dairy queen at the mall a lot! I'm pretty sure the guy behind the counter knows who I am and what I want every time! Lol! Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's just cause I'm fat. Haha! Either way, oh well! I'm enjoying it!
Well, that's the latest in the Hicok clan! Until later...

Things I'm Thankful For:

Tonight our youth pastor talked about time. How to "respect" your time, etc, etc, I forgot the name of his other points, sorry Dave! But it was mostly about being thankful for that time and using it wisely. The point was kinda to encourage the kiddos to spend time growing in the Word or spending time in fellowship with their christian/church friends instead of sitting in front of Facebook or the television all summer. But what stuck out to me was just a little point he made about being thankful. Taking the time out of every day to think up or list at least 3 things your thankful for that day. So I decided to try to do this. I always say how thankful I am for everything, why not actually list it? I'm going to shoot for 5, but there may be more, we'll see! (Not that there's not an endless list of things I could sit here and write about being thankful for but I'm thinking there should be a limit for times sake :) ) So here goes:


Things I'm Thankful For Today:
1. My family. I know, a given right? But Brandon has been out of town this week and my family invited me to come stay with them and my little brother even let me sleep in his bed, while he took the couch downstairs. It made me feel really good.

2. My friends. It's really interesting to see who's around after a year, 5 years, 10 years. I've been surprised looking back to high school that people I thought I'd be friends with forever I don't even have numbers for anymore. But then there are the friends who you could totally blow off or hurt and come back to and apologize and they're there for you, instantly and you pick up right where you left off. I love that. It really is awesome. So thank you all out there, you know who you are. I'm so glad I have friends like you guys.

3. My little baby boy growing away inside me. I know, another given right? But he's really kept me company these last few days without Brandon. I guess that sounds weird, but I guess, to me, it's like, you sit there all alone and you feel a little kick and it just comforts you and reminds you, you're not alone, you're responsible for someone, you still have someone who is with you all the time.

4. My wonderful husband. It's true what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. This has been the longest week of my life and I still have til Saturday! :( I'm just ready to have my partner back. I'm probably being hormonal and whiny, but oh well, I AM pregnant after all!

5. Days off. I love having time to check off things on a list! I had that time today! I got my car washed, picked up the dry cleaning and got some stuff for the baby's room. I still had time to meet a friend for lunch and take a nap before church tonight too! It was nice, not too fast but not too slow!

Well, bottom line: I'm thankful for my life. Brandon and I are truly blessed! We know that there is no way we'd be able to do all the things we've enjoyed over the last two years without God's help. I truly love my life and I can't wait until Mr. Mason makes his grand entrance into it! So exciting, I just want to meet him already! :) Until later...be thankful!