A Noble Endeavor

Posted in: on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 0 comments  

I was going to find a baby pictures of Whit and I to compare to Field's pictures, but after we found Whit's newborn pictures, I figure it is pretty clear who he looks like! I will find one of me to post at some point for funsies but here is this one for now.

Posted in: on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 0 comments  

I can’t believe 4 weeks have gone by since baby boy Noble was born! I would apologize for the lack of posting during this time, but it turns out having a newborn AND opening a business takes up pretty much every second of the day!

John Whitfield Noble III, or Field, for short was born on Wednesday, May 26th at 5:47 am at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, GA. He weighed 7 lbs and 13 oz and was 20 -1/2 inches long. When his heart rate dropped after many hours of labor, he was delivered by c-section. He missed being born on his due date by a mere 5 hours and 47 minutes (his Daddy and Aunt Brady were both born on their due dates).

He was healthy and happy but the doctors felt he was a little “grunty” in his cries, so they wanted to keep him to get some chest x-rays. It turns out that when his lungs inflated some air leaked into the space between his lungs and chest wall, called pneumothorax, so they decided to keep him in the NICU for a few days. He was so healthy otherwise, the doctors were confident it would resolve itself otherwise a chest tube would be needed. It was a little scary, and really sad not to be able to have him with us and do all that bonding right away.

Even though I couldn’t get out of bed to go see him until that evening, Whit spent a lot of time with Field in the NICU, feeding, changing and bonding with him since I was stuck in bed. While it was really hard to not get to be with Field myself, I was so very thankful Whit got to spend those first few critical hours with him. Whit taught me how to change his diaper and feed him, etc. once I finally got to go visit him.

The air pockets had almost completely dissolved by Friday morning and Field graduated out of the NICU Friday afternoon. It tied for best moment of my life (it ties with saying our wedding vows). He was finally ours. It was so amazing.

He is a very happy and has a very pleasant disposition. Even when he gets upset his cry isn’t too bad. It has a very low pitch, so it sounds kind of like a goose honking (LOL). He loves to listen to Whit play the guitar, and just like when he was in my belly, he likes the songs that Whit and I both sing the best. He is a great sleeper so far. We usually have to wake him up to feed him in the middle of the night, and if he gets hungry before the alarm goes off he really just whimpers a little, still asleep until we pick him up to feed him. He eats A LOT!!! In the NICU he was bottle fed a few times before I could try nursing, so it was a pretty big challenge for us to get the hang of it. It took a good week before we were sure he was nursing enough to stop giving him formula, but now we are pros at it.

He spends a good bit of time during the day being awake and alert. He loves to be carried around the house so he can see things. Supposedly he can only see about 12” away from his face, but he looks around a lot and is very happy doing it, so he must be able to make out something.

By his 2 week visit he weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz and if he has continued to gain an ounce per day, he should weigh a little over 9 lbs now. His newborn clothes are getting a little small, but the 0-3s are still a little big. He had grown 1-1/2 inches by his 2 week visit also. We don’t go back until 2 months but we will try and measure him before then.

Here is a a link to the Facebook album containing the pictures from the first few weks of his life.

John Whitfield Noble III

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes. God has blessed our new little family so much!

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Posted in: on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 0 comments  

We are 34 weeks now and starting to get pretty anxious! I just want to hold our little Peanut and see its little nose and hands and feet. I'm so glad we didn't find out the sex. I am beyond excited about the biggest surprise we will ever get, not to mention its something to focus on through labor!

Peanut is such a strong mover! Even right now my abdomen is waving and jumping all around. I can't believe there is a whole baby in there that started out from the size of a poppy seed. God is so amazing.

Speaking of baby, here's what is going on with Peanut:

The Bump.com says "Baby can recognize and react to simple songs...time to start practicing your lullabies! In fact, baby will recognize frequently sung tunes after birth and probably find them soothing. " Peanut really reacts to Whit playing guitar and singing!!! Actually, I think Peanut likes it best when Whit plays and we both sing. I took a video of my belly movement the other day while Whit played, but it is long so it needs some editing before I put it on the blog.

We go to the doctor every 2 weeks and listen to the heart beat and measure my baby bump. Fun fact: the measurement of the bump should be the same as the number of weeks pregnant. So, when we go to the doctor tomorrow, I should measure 34 cm (vertically) across the top of my belly :-)

Here is how big Peanut probabally is:

and I have been told that I look like I am smuggling a melon under my shirt so I think this fruit is very appropriate for me.

Speaking of me, here is a comparison of bump shots I put together last week. It is 5 weeks, then 17 weeks, then 33 weeks:

I can't believe how big the baby is all of a sudden! How can another 6 weeks of growth fit in there?!?!

I'm low on energy most everyday, but feeling really good otherwise. Really happy and excited. Whit just wants to get his hands on this baby and is busting with excitment too. We are so blessed.

Posted in: on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 0 comments  

Peanut has a bedroom! We decided that "Gram's room" would make a great nursery with the amazing view out the back windows.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us get the nursery together. It still needs to be decorated and has a long way to go before it is ready to bring home baby, but it's getting there!

Posted in: on Monday, March 8, 2010 at 0 comments  

I haven't posted in a while, so I figured I would. Things are going really well. We go to the doctor at the beginning of every month, but there hasn't been much to report. Good healthy heartbeat, and getting bigger. I am starting to get tired pretty early at night, but I have also been very busy, so I don't think I can blame it all on Peanut. My back gives me some trouble, but overall it is continuing to be a very easy pregnancy. I have been a little more emotional lately... Whit is handling it very well I must say. He had a hard time understanding random tears at first, but now he is just super sweet to me until it passes. I started having Braxton Hicks contractions, once or twice a day around week 24. At first I thought it was the baby pushing its back against my belly button, but then my weekly emails from TheBump.com told me to watch for signs of early labor which kind of freaked me out! Luckily I had an appointment that day anyways and the doctor said it was Braxton hicks and nothing to worry about. They did a few tests just in case, but by then I wasn't worried about anymore. In general I'm not really worried about anything. Well, except I am terrified of having a giant baby. I don't have any particular reason (not much in terms of abnormally large babies in our families) but it freaks me out when I see a 3 month old baby with a head bigger than its mother!!! Other than that I think I am doing a good job of not being neurotic.

It is wild to think we are rounding the bend and before long we will be a family of 3.... well not including the pups of course. Whit is very anxious to meet Peanut, and continues to be absolutely wonderful and is taking care of us all the time. Peanut and I are so very blessed!

I guess thats it for now!

Posted in: on Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 0 comments  

So I was laying on the couch after a big bowl of pasta when *POP!* the baby gave me a nice big kick on the left side of my belly. Naturally I pulled up my shirt some to expose my peeping belly button and say hello to the baby and ask how it enjoyed dinner when *POP!* again but this time since I was looking right at my belly I could see the pop! The skin on the left side of my belly bottom actually jumped up a good 1/4 of an inch! Whit and I enjoyed the visual experience of our baby's movement for another few minutes before he/ she settled back down. What an unbelievable miracle!

Posted in: on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 0 comments  

 started feeling some movent on Monday (Jan 4th) but I wasn't exactly sure until I felt some more rolls and pokes after dessert on Tuesday. The most exciting part came tonight (Wed) after dinner when the movements were getting so big that Whit felt it for the first time too!!! Peanut reached up and gave daddy a great big high five on the top of my belly. So far it looks like Peanut likes vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips and spicy enchiladas! I guess since it has been a breeze of a pregnancy so far (knock on wood) after 20 weeks it is finally beginning to feel real.

Posted in: on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 0 comments  

We went to see the sonogram today and it was amazing!  The tech was great and we managed to not find out the sex of our little Peanut.  I have added a few videos below.  If anyone figures out if Peanut is a he or she you better keep quiet!  I'm sure Christina will be adding more when she gets home...

If you are not familiar with sonograms (as we weren't before today) it is pretty confusing to figure out what you are looking at. The view switches between looking at Peanut from the side like a profile, to looking straight at the face (looks like a skeleton face and the spine is in the middle of the screen), and looking at peanut from the top so it looks like peanut has flipped over and the spine is on the top of the screen.

Peanut says Hi!!!!! 
This video starts with showing where the umbilical cord is on Peanut's tummy but I still can't see it...? Next the red and blue shows the motion of blood pumping into and out of the heart. The view turns to looking straight at Peanuts face and then to a profile view. Watch in the top left and you can see Peanut's arm and hand moving up and down a few times like a wave. It goes into and out of focus but keep watching and you can hear when I get really excited about it :-) The Peanut waves one more time.Finally, the view shifts so that it looks like Peanut is facing downward and the spine is on the top of the view. So amazing!



Peanut's first movie! The beginning of this video is looking at the beating heart!!!! The spine is running horizontal in the middle of the screen and the heart is right in the middle of the screen- two black spots one on top of the other. The tech froze the screen and played the heartbeat; 142 beats per minute, PERFECT! The green line is directly over the heart. Next you can see the spine in the middle of the screen which means you looking straight at the baby. It looks like Peanut rubs his/ her face then the view switches quickly to a profile view. You can clearly see the jaw and Peanut practicing swallowing amniotic fluid. Yummy! Way to go Peanut! It switches back to front view after that. The thing that looks like a chicken leg is actually Peanut's upper leg! It is sticking out towards the top left corner of the screen. In the last part you can see Peanut's eyeball... weird, but great!

Posted in: on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 0 comments  

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My sister put the heartbeat to a picture and created a video file to upload. Thanks Cty!!!



Enjoy!

Posted in: on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 0 comments  

We have hit a milestone! WebMD says, "With the most critical development behind the fetus, the chance of miscarriage drops considerably after this week." so... YAY!

Peanut looks something like this:

We went to see our midwife last Thursday and got to hear the heartbeat for the second time. We were able to record it and are hoping to download it onto the blog whenever I figure out how to do that. It was so amazing for us to hear and I would love to be able to share it with everyone.

I am doing really well. I'm not getting sick to my stomach anymore (except I do get carsick sometimes) and I have a lot more energy during the day. So far I have only had one slight emotional breakdown, and thanks to my mom it didn't last long :-)

I HAVE A BELLY!!! I have never in my life had a belly, but I certainly do now! I am happily embracing it though, especially after buying some clothes that are a bit less fitted after the previously mentioned breakdown (Thanks Mama!). We have been taking profile shots every week but up until now they have not really had much to show.  This is the same pic from early in the blog, pre-bump next to the pic from today. It might not seem like much to most, but it is to me! I put writing on my belly in each pic to keep the pics straight over the course of the pregnancy :-)

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We are calling the baby Peanut for now (reference the sonogram). We had out second appointment on Tuesday. We had an untrasound and even got to hear the heart beat! It was good and strong, and SO AMAZING! Peanut's head is on the right side and rump is on the left. It doesn't really look like a baby yet, but in the next few weeks it will sprout arms and begin to take on a more recognizable shape.

About baby:

Peanut is .92 cm which puts us at 7 weeks.
Our due date is May 25
We are in blueberry status :-)


About mama:

The fatigue is unreal!!! I have a fair amount of nausea throughout the day, but I have not yet gotten sick... fingers crossed it stays that way.

Thats about it for now.

Posted in: on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 0 comments  

We had our first appointment today! My wonderful husband accompanied me.

It turns out we are not as far along as we thought, so we are back to apple seed status. More like 4-5 weeks rather than 6+ weeks as I posted last time. I had an ultrasound, but she told us that we would likely not be able to see the fetus because it is too early. We did get to see the sac that the baby is growing in though! It is the small, dark oval that looks like a jelly bean. The larger, light colored oval is the endometrial layer of my uterus, which is protecting the fetus and providing it with nourishment. Even though we didn’t get to see the fetus, it does show us that the baby is growing where it is supposed to and is on the right track! I will go back in 2 weeks (Oct. 6th) and they will do another ultrasound and we will get a due date then.

Here's our baby!

Posted in: on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 0 comments  

Baby is 6 weeks today (Saturday Sept 19th)
We think I am due May 14, 2010
We will not be finding out the sex... I LOVE SURPRISES!
Our first dr. appt is Wed Sept 23 (more accurate due date then)

Our baby is currently the size of a sweet pea.

about mama:
I have not really had any symptoms. I cried at church for the first time in a while, which should have been a dead give away. I have been yawny, but not fatigued. I don't have much of a appetite, but I have been doing healthy snacking between meals trying to be proactive about nausea. I'm thirsty all the time, so my water bottle has become a permanent fixture in my life. All the water has translated into frequent bathroom breaks. I hear that should last for the next 8 months!
We'll keep you posted!

Posted in: on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 0 comments  

Prissy after the lake

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