Second Week

Our little family.

So the Corbitt family had an exciting second week with baby Troy. He's still sleeping well at night and is still very alert during the day. I noticed that when I put him on a blanket on the floor, he seemed to want to look around and "talk". He definitely coos at something. So, I bought a floor entertainer for him. He LOVES it! It has a song and light contraption and he'll just stare at it for a while, then will start making the cutest little noises at it. He also will make a little "squeak" when you talk to him sometimes. We think he's smart :o)

Also, Memama (Brian's mother) stayed with us last week. She was a HUGE help! She helped at night with the feeding schedule, changing him all the time, cleaning (a lot) and cooking (a ton). I don't see where she gets all of her energy but it was definitely wonderful! I felt very lazy at times but am grateful for the extra help and rest! We had a lot of visitors and folks bringing dinner for our family. Thanks to everyone! It was (and still is) so wonderful to receive visitors and dinners :o)

Memama and Grandy. Thank you for helping with Troy, Memama!!!!

Memama asked me if I thought some of my friends in town would want to come over for a little luncheon. I thought that was the sweetest idea~very thoughtful. She cooked a delicious lunch and we had a small group of 7 over for a little lunch last week. It was absolutely delicious! Above is the table decor. I forgot to get a photo of the ladies - oops. Thanks Memama!!!

What we do EVERY day! This boy loves outside! Was it because I exercised every morning (except for Sundays)???

So I just got a call from the "firefighters association". Has anyone ever received those calls? They use your name over and over and over. Troy started fussing so I hung up on them! I feel bad! Ugh! Why do they call after 5:00? And, our number is on the "do not call" list. Why do they call? Anyone have any suggestions of what to do? And, is that a legitimate fundraising organization? We pay our taxes!?!?!?!?

I've created a smugmug account to keep track of Troy. I've created so many other photo accounts and couldn't decide which to use. Smugmug has been my favorite of other people's photos so we'll see if I can keep up with it. I created two photos but password protected one of them and can't figure out how to change it. Ha!!

Lastly, last night was our first night at home by ourselves (as in without help). We did pretty good, I have to say. Troy is sleeping 4 hours at night and we still have to get him up to eat. During the day, he eats every 2-3 hours. As of last Thursday, he weighed 9 lbs, 2 oz. The Thursday before that, he was 8 lbs. 1/2 oz. He's a growing boy and I predict he's going to be a chunk! I love chunky babies!

Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

First Week

Troy was a week old this past Sunday, September 20th. Time has flown! We have been a busy family, though. He's already been to Target and a clothing store. He loves visitors and has had several already. We've been so blessed with our friends in Auburn and Opelika who have brought dinners for us and our moms. Thanks so much!!

Just to document what he's been doing, I have to keep it on this blog! This baby is so good. I mean, really good. Yes, he gets fussy but overall he's a very good child. He sleeps at night and we have to wake him up to feed him. He likes staying awake in the morning and takes naps in the afternoon. I just hope he keeps it up. I never heard the phrase "cool as a cucumber" until he was born and several people have made the comment about him. He smiles - no, not like gassy smiles but the real deal. I promise, see the photo below. He loves looking at faces and just wants to stay busy. That may have been my fault since I didn't slow down much when pregnant. He likes going outside and we've been on a few walks outside in the jogger.

As I said he likes to stay awake in the morning; a photographer, Grethel Van Epps came last Thursday to take photos of Troy and our family. She said she likes to take photos the 4th day after birth because babies are "sleepy". Uh, this baby isn't. He was awake the whole time and didn't particularly like being laid down in cute little positions. He can hold his head up, which he showcased proudly, and would make funny faces during the shoot. Since he didn't cooperate, we offered to go to Birmingham on Monday (the 21st). Well, we did just that. He was a good baby in the car on the way there (2 hours), he was fed before we left and when we got to her house. He stayed awake during the session also. So, our photos are mostly of him awake. The ones that look like he was sleeping is when he closed his eyes. Crazy kid! If you want to check out the photos, click on the link, go to "enter site", "clients" and the password is Troy. Out of two - two hours sessions, we got 56 photos. That'll give you an idea of how Mr. Troy was :o) Grethel was wonderful, and very patient.

KK stayed with us last week and was WONDERFUL! Thank you so much KK!!! She gave him his first bath and helped so much during the night with his eating. Brian and I have gotten a lot of rest and are very grateful that he's sleeping through the night. Makes this new mama happy! Below are some photos of last week:

Troy smiling :o)

First Bath

KK loving on Troy

My sister, Mary with her son, Colt. Colt is 4 months older than Troy.

Troy with Mamama (his great-grandmother)

Troy (sort of) cheering for Auburn against West VA (we won!).


Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Troy's Daddy Helped Born Him (our birth story)

I feel as though if I don’t document Troy’s birth, I’ll forget. For those of you who don’t want the details (no, they’re not gory), don’t read on.

First of all, I approached Brian in April or May and discussed the fact that I’ve felt so good the whole pregnancy and wanted to entertain having Troy via a natural birth. After researching, I found that The Bradley Method seemed to be the most attractive one which made the most sense. We signed up for a class, with open minds, prayed about it and decided to tackle this feat head on. It involves relaxation, exercise, eating right and determination. I felt extremely educated about pregnancy, the techniques they suggest, and birthing a baby. Looking back, this was the best decision I made during my pregnancy. The entire concept stems around the father as the “coach”. Brian did a phenomenal job!

I went to the doctor on Wednesday, September 9th. Had an ultrasound to make sure little man was still okay. At that point, we were 40 weeks and 4 days. Everything looked good and I had an appointment to come back the following Monday. Dr. Alverson told me at that time that he didn’t want me to go over 42 weeks and suggested induction at 42 weeks. This was the LAST thing I wanted but completely understood why it would have been needed. The placenta begins to not nourish the child after a certain amount of time.

Here’s the story: Started having mild cramps on Monday and Tuesday. Nothing painful, just very mild. Then, Friday morning at 2 am I noticed a little more discomfort and decided to time them: they were 10 minutes apart. This continued until 11 that morning at which time I told Brian I might be going into labor soon. At noon, they fizzled to around 2-3 per hour. I noticed later they were stronger and closer together. We started timing them at 9 pm and they were 10 minutes apart again and were lasting 30-60 seconds. I didn’t get excited because this had already happened earlier. I was praying that he would arrive within the next week. Contractions continued at the same rate, increasing in intensity every now and then through Saturday. I was, miraculously, able to sleep between the contractions. Yes, you CAN take 9 minute naps! I still felt pretty rested by Saturday mid-morning. I would rotate: walking our neighborhood, getting in the tub, laying on the bed, laying on the ground, resting on my hands and knees. I had back labor at the same time. Troy was laying sunny side up (or his spine against my spine and the back of his head against my spine). The tub gave me the most relief. At 6 pm on Saturday, Brian and I went walking again (2 miles) and I noticed the contractions were getting closer together, about 5 minutes apart and lasting 60 to 90 seconds. I wanted to get the 2 miles in to open the pelvis more for baby Troy. I knew the time was coming soon! We got home, watched the Auburn game and ate. I got in the tub to work through more contractions. Brian was packing the car at the time. I saw that the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 60-90 seconds (if you didn’t notice, that gave me a resting time of a minute to a minute and a half). I started getting a little nervous because I did NOT want to have this baby at home. We left for the hospital around 10:20 and I was in the labor and delivery room at 11 pm. I definitely began having doubts around 12:30 because the back labor was intense. Brian was working his tail off rubbing my back, helping me get up and down on my hands knees and leaning on him while on the exercise ball. He talked to me about my favorite things (the beach, swimming, running in the sun, wine country) and it helped SO much! He kept telling me how to relax and know that Troy was on his way! At 1:15, my water broke. Labor was intense but by 2:15, our nurse, Tracy, said, “push once”, I did and she stated, “girl, you know how to push, this baby is coming”. She yelled for a nurse to call Dr. Smith. Honestly, I thought she was blowing smoke because it usually takes first time mom’s a while to birth a baby, right? Wrong! I pushed through 4 contractions, or 15 minutes, and he was born! It happened so fast! I was elated and so was Brian. Our son was born pink, calm and ready to nurse! We thanked everyone for helping us through it all. Troy nursed within a few minutes for a whole hour! I felt absolutely wonderful after he was born. Within minutes I said, “Oh my goodness, my back feels so wonderful!” I praised the Lord!

I felt great and was able to walk around. The nurses insisted I hold him and ride in a wheelchair to the room. Recovery has been great and I've been able to go walking the last 2 days without any problems.

I will not judge anyone choosing not to go this route; however, it isn't easy and an epidural sure sounded nice at the end. This is a personal preference and was good for me. I would definitely do it again, and plan to!
That’s our story.

Here's a photo of Troy right after birth. No, he's not crying. Crazy, huh?

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ~ John 16:21 from NIV

We're Home!!!

Headed home

Elyse, Troy and Brian

Grandy, Memama and Brian

KK, Troy and Papa John

The new Corbitt family of THREE is finally home! We got home yesterday around 11:00 in the morning. Surprisingly, we had a great first night at home! KK (my mother) and Brian worked well together coordinating Troy sleeping and eating. We all were able to get some good sleep in between feedings. Thanks to Brian and KK for helping - I actually slept well. I'm now convinced that the 2-3 times per night getting up to go to the bathroom while pregnant also prepared my body for getting up during the night to feed a baby.

Here are some more photos of our little man. He seems to have changed a little since he was born. Brian is going to be the BEST father - he just loves this little guy to death! Of course I do, too! We still think he just looks like a cute baby and he has his own little look. It will be interesting to see how he changes daily. If not anything else, he seems to have my very long fingers, toes and feet. Bless his heart! Maybe he'll figure out more to do with them than me. A runner? Swimmer? I hope!

I'm hoping to update a story of his birth. I feel like if I don't document it, I'll forget the wonderful experience.

Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Troy Toulmin Corbitt

Troy made his debut Sunday, September 13th at 2:27 a.m. He came in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 22 inches long. God is so good and our hearts are so full!!! He has strawberry blonde hair, eyelashes and eyebrows. Here are a few photos of him. Everyone is doing wonderful and we got some sleep last night. I had to let him sleep with me for a little while - don't judge until you have a newborn! He's so darn sweet! I'll, of course, post more photos later.

Thanks to Michelle for sending these photos!

Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Yay!

The dishwasher is fixed! No more handwashing. We are spoiled to say the least (hey, at least a maid doesn't usually do it!).

And for those of you wondering, nope, no baby yet :o) I'll keep updating, though. My doctor's appointment this week yielded a healthy baby still very comfy in his surroundings with enough fluid and stuff to keep him going. Yeah, I'm okay, too - other than this extra weight being carried by my back!

We'll be pulling hard for our Tigers tomorrow - Miss. State may be a hard team to beat (or so SI says). I'm pulling for the SI curse on them. War Eagle! I love Auburn in the Fall! Too bad my pregnant self can't enjoy it as much as before. Here's to next year! Oh, and I can hardly wait to dress my child up in Auburn garb!



Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

40 Weeks

This photo was taken at 40 weeks and 1 day. As of today, I'm 40 weeks and 3 days. Baby Troy is still very happy in his surroundings and we continue to look forward to God choosing his birth day! Everything is going well. The only thing changing is this achy back I feel every now and then after sitting or standing for too long. Nothing a few back stretches or lying down won't cure. I plan on cutting the grass tomorrow...

We usually leave our guest bedroom doors closed for a few reasons: 1. to keep down the a/c bill; 2. to keep the cat off of the beds and out from under the baby's bed (yes, she likes to hide there). I accidentally left Troy's bedroom door open yesterday and this is what Brian saw when he went to shut the door:

I made cupcakes yesterday and when I was pouring the filling, I wondered if it could be a sign? Cupcakes for an upcoming Birthday? Hmmm....would be nice! But, for now, both Brian and I are enjoying hanging out together and not having any worries. Our jobs have allowed us to stay at home for now (of course we're working) which is wonderful. I cannot say how thankful I am for the entire situation. If you know me, you know how I love to plan ahead of time and don't like to do things last minute. Well, this pregnancy has kept me more laid back than I ever thought I'd be. I thank the Lord for that - He knows how to take care of me!

In closing, thank you to everyone for the calls, messages, texts and emails. We really appreciate them. We promise to update the blog and facebook when we think we may be closer to having this baby! Have a good night!

Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Musings

For those of you who have been wondering, we're still hanging out. All is well on the Corbitt Corner and we're patiently waiting for God to choose this little one's Birthday. Of course we're still very excited!

Since one of the purposes of this blog is to document the pregnancy, Troy's arrival and as a sort of a keepsake for him (at least through his first year), I thought I'd update about the most recent status. He's due tomorrow, September 5th which is also the first Auburn game of this season. Tomorrow's game won't be attended by us and will be the first one in several years we've missed. I'm not sad about it, though because we'll be able to watch from home and avoid the sweating.

As far as us being ready for him, we have finished everything we think we can for now. So, of course, I sit here, still working and thinking of what I could do next? Like, for example, I'd like to have fresh pine straw put out in our yard because it's time, right? I wasn't sure if I had told Brian about this thought of mine - did I tell him or did I dream that I told him? Those of you pregnant know that you dream a LOT and think you say things to others that you haven't. Anyway, a man knocked on our door this morning and asked if he could put pine straw in our yard. He apparently was driving around the neighborhood and realized our yard "needed it". Brian politely told him no, came to tell me what happened and I was like, "wait, tell him we want him to!". So, voila! We've got new pine straw in the beds. Hallelujah!

Oddly enough, our (5 year old) dishwasher is not working. As in, no light comes on (yes, we've checked the breaker only about a dozen times). How does that happen? It shouldn't have happened and it's not going to get checked out until Tuesday. Brian tried to use the pregnancy card but apparently everyone in Lee County has a problem with their dishwasher? We've resolved to hand wash our dishes - yes, we'll survive. Reminds me of the good 'old college days. We have found that sharing a plate or a bowl definitely cuts down on the washing!

Lastly, I have to post this and I have obtained permission from his mother (although it was months ago). Troy has a cousin, H, who is so very excited about his arrival. I'm not trying to downplay anyone else being excited because there are plenty out there (all of whom we're very grateful). We celebrated a few days after New Year's this year with H and his family in Orange Beach. He's a young boy with a lot of energy. We actually came across these beautiful organisms (or Portuguese Man of War) which we thought were jellyfish. If you haven't seen them, they're beautiful and you'd want to touch them. Well, I touched one, just a little bit. They were washed up on the beach and I'm sure were also in the water. H and his dad actually got in the water - in January! Thank goodness they didn't touch one. Anyway, they're highly dangerous and have caused deaths in people. Of course, when we get back to the condo, we look these things up and find out all about them. I was nervous just a bit since I had touched one but all is well with me. Fast forward a few months to when we announced the pregnancy. Sweet H was talking to his mother and wanted to know a few details and one of his questions included whether the Portuguese Man of War caused the pregnancy! I love it! From the mouths of children, right? H also knows that Troy's due date is tomorrow. His family usually goes to the condo for Labor Day and H didn't want to go because of the due date being tomorrow. While I still want God to choose his Birthday, it would be nice if he came this weekend, if anything, just for H's sake!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. WAR EAGLE!!!



Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Hello September

We made it to September! No baby yet but now we now know that Troy will make the cut-off for starting school so we won't have to decide when he'll start school (in another 5 years). Does anyone else think of that? When I found out I was pregnant and the due date was September 5th, that thought crossed my mind. What will we do? Who will decide? Will we think he's the smartest kid ever and want him to start early? Well, now we don't have to decide. Both mine and Brian's Birthdays are after the Sept. 1 cut off (what did the cut off used to be) so we were young for our grades. T-man will be old for his class, we think!

On another note, I've resolved myself to the fact that he really likes his surroundings and does not seem to be in a hurry to come into this world. He just keeps growing!

Brian says my random thoughts about these types of things makes me special. My mom has always said I was special. I am not sure what their true definition of "special" is.

I also like September because it's my birth-month. I'm excited about sharing my Birthday with my son. I am going to have to teach him to share because I don't plan on giving up my Birthday for his. I am his mama! And, what a beautiful birthstone we get along with this month. Yay!

Lastly, I might be crazy but I'm signing up for a race next year - in Big Sur. Check it out. I figure I might as well sign up now versus waiting until the race closes and getting disappointed. This place is gorgeous!!! I mean, look at the photos of the scenery and the runners - you can't help but get excited about it all. At least it'll give me motivation to get back into running shape. I absolutely love visiting California. I can just picture myself crossing that finish line jumping up and down - it's gorgeous on Highway One! Of course, my running buddies know that my hopes are high that I will be able to leave our little one behind for a few days to take this trip. I'll provide an update on the same next year. Whew!



Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own