Sullivan is here!

On his exact due date, Monday, January 19, 2009 Sullivan Cross Carrigan entered our lives at 3:02pm, weighing in at 8 pounds 7 ounces, and 21 3/4 inches long.  I was originally scheduled to check into the hospital later that night for induction the next day, but Sully had other plans.  Around 4:30am that morning, my water broke.  Now that is an experience.  No matter what you do, you can't stop or contain it!  I called the hospital to let them know we were coming in.  We arrived around 6am, just in time for my contractions to start.  Wow, let me tell you how much contractions suck.  They were pretty much on top of each other, lasting from 30 seconds to a minute, and being about 30 seconds apart.  I was only about 4 centimeters dilated, so I knew I had a while to go.  After I had a 2 minute contraction that brought tears to my eyes, I knew it was time for an epidural.  In what what seemed like forever, I finally received my epidural at 8am.  Oh man, what a relief.  Though the pain had finally subsided, I could still feel the contractions.  I was able rest briefly, for the ordeal ahead of me.

Due to the epidural, the strength and length of my contractions slowed down a bit, so around 10am, I was administered Pitocin to help the contractions.  Several hours later sometime before 2pm, I was ready to push.  This part is somewhat of a blur, as I concentrated so hard every time I had to push.  The next thing I knew, the Doctor let me know that Sully's head was facing towards my hip, and his head was large.  His heart rate dipped down every time I pushed, which they don't like to see.  Basically, there was no way to tell if he was alright, and I could push for many more hours.  The Doctor recommended a C-Section.  And when the decision was made, people flooded my room instantly, preparing me for surgery.  It was a like a well oiled machine, I was impressed at how efficiently and smooth things went.  James entered the room a few minutes later, and before I knew it, at 3:02pm, Sullivan was born.  

He is so amazing, and James and I feel truly blessed.  I have never known such instant and deep love, and we are so thankful for the love and support we have received from all of our friends and family.  Here are some pictures, and I promise I will do a better job of updating this on a regular basis!

38 Weeks and counting!

38 Weeks

Any day now please!

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rocky, Molly, & Loki

Sullivan "Sully"

Snow! 12/10/08

We got a snow storm last night! What fun!

32 Weeks

32 Weeks

I can't believe I'm already 8 months! So many things are happening with the baby, it is truly a miraculous thing. He is constantly on the move, I think he might be in the UFC one day! James says it looks like there is an alien inside of me. . . . I think it is so cool to watch my stomach move up and down. We finally have all of our furniture set up in the nursery, but I feel like I want to rearrange it. So when we have everything where I like it, I'll take pictures.

Our second to last trip of the year was on the 20th, to see the mighty METALLICA in concert in Houston. It was awesome, of course, and the baby was rocking out the whole time! I got a lot of stares, but as you know, I haven't missed seeing them in concert in the last 12 years, and I wouldn't have missed them this time unless I was in labor!

This weekend will be our last out of town trip until the baby comes. We're heading up to Round Rock to see my sister and her family. We hope everyone is safe this coming weekend and has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Carrigan Thanksgiving - Reunion

It's been about 3 years not only since James and I got married, but since we've seen most of the Carrigan side of the family. It was decided to have an early Thanksgiving/Reunion in Round Top, and it was great to get to see everyone. We don't do it as often as we should, but it has been great visiting with our families and friends, as mush as we've been afforded to this year. We feel truly blessed to have those people in our lives.

Baby Shower - College Station

Thanks go out to my great friend Char, who threw me the greatest baby shower I have ever been too! It was a ladies brunch held at Martha's Bloomers in Navasota, and the food was amazing. The table decorations were so cute, and every centerpiece was a toy for the baby. Thanks to all the ladies who attended, you made my shower complete, and I had a wonderful time! Thanks for everything!

Me & Mom

Me & Char

My mom bought this 5 years ago!

A pee pee protector!

Baby Shower - Dallas

We had an early baby shower in Dallas in October, before my mother in law moved out of the country to Abu Dhabi! It was great, we got to visit with family and friends that we will be unable to see at Christmas, since I will be on travel restrictions. Thanks to everyone who came.

26 Weeks

26 Weeks

Well, I'm now 26 weeks along! Geez, where did the time go? I guess time flies when you're sick! I am so happy to report that, for the most part, my nausea is gone and so are my headaches. Occasionally, I'll wake up and feel a bit queesy, but that usually goes away in an hour or so. I have been feeling the baby move for about 6 weeks now. Just recently, in the last 2 weeks, have his movements become obvious and I can feel them with my hand. I'll call James over when I feel the baby move, I'll put his hand in the right spot, and then nothing. Ha ha, it is so funny, though I feel bad that he hasn't been able to feel him move as of yet. Sleeping has become difficult, so I finally ordered a maternity pillow, and it is magical!

Thanks for the reccomendation Diana!! I have to be careful though, as the dogs have taking a liking to it. I have to make sure and put the covers over it before it gets covered in dog hair.

Loki

Last weekend we decided to have a huge garage sale. It was a big success! We sold lots of furniture, and the typical stuff people seem to hold onto through the years. I learned something very interesting about garage sales that I didn't know before: When you advertise that your garage sale will begin at 8am, people will show up at 6:15am! Holy cow! I couldn't believe all the people we had showing up so early. We sold most of our furniture by 8:15am! We had to clean out our guest room, which will become the baby's room, because most of the baby furniture was also delivered on Saturday. It is so cute, and I am really happy with the furniture. A couple of pieces were missing, so I'll post pictures of the nursery when I have everything set up.

Loki helping me clean for the garage sale

Not much else going on around our household, besides what the vet thinks are Rocky's new allergies to his dog food. Poor thing has been scratching his face so much that he's drawn blood, and contorts his body when I scratch his toes for him. So we are trying a new protein source of dog food, one with Venison and Potatoes. He just loves it, but it apparantly takes up to 6 weeks to see if it is helping or not. He is on a steroid to help immediately with the scratching, and that has seemed to work, though side effects include drinking a lot of water, and unrinating a lot. I don't want to talk about what I had to clean off of my new bed this morning. . . . Since there was yeast around his toenails, causing the itching, I have to bathe just his feet, make him sit in the tub for 10 minutes, twice a week. Who says I don't already have kids?? Anyway, here are some picutres of my beloved kiddos.

Rocky & Loki

Molly

Rocky & Loki

Loki, Gabby (Mom's Dog) & Rocky

Us & Molly

Rocky

Loki

20 Weeks

I'm officially half way! We went to the doctor this morning to evaluate my ultrasound from last week, and everything looks great! We got to hear the baby's heart beat again, and we also got to hear him move!

I ordered baby bedding last week and got it today, it is so cute! It's always scary to buy something you haven't touched, but I am really happy with it. It is better and nicer than I had hoped for.

NoJo Jungle Tales

We're planning on ordering our baby furniture this weekend. I found out it will take 6-8 weeks, yikes!! I guess that will give us plenty of time to figure out what to do with everying that's currently in the baby's room. We're going with the Cinnamon color. I'll post pictures when we get everything put together!

Baby's Dream Generation Next-Cinnamon