Christmas is Coming

Sunday we had Christmas with Becky's mom's family. Madison had lots of presents to open, with Mommy and Daddy's help of course. She actually tore off some of the wrapping paper, then she just stuck it in her mouth.Madison is making so many changes so quickly. It seems like something new or different is happening every other day. Monday, mommy picked her up from daycare and she started making sounds unlike any of the sounds she had ever made. It almost sounded like she was actually starting to talk. She also is starting to hold her own bottle, she never has liked being a baby. We can tell she's going to cause us a lot of trouble trying to be so independent. Tuesday, she "gave us our Christmas present that she had made". It was ornaments with her picture on them. They were adorable. The ornaments are now all over our tree. Today, Madison and Daddy had a father/daughter day where they met mommy at work for lunch then went Christmas shopping because Madison had a few things she still wanted to pick up for mommy. We can't wait for Christmas! This year we will be staying in Tallahassee.

Catching Up!

It has been a while since we made our last post so we have a lot to catch up on.

Becky went back to work in October while Madison started daycare full time. We have all been adjusting well. Madison continues to sleep through the night and Mommy and Daddy are really thankful for that. She still sleeps swaddled and in her car seat in her crib, although she works her hand out of the swaddle. The reflux is much better but we're still not ready to lay her down flat. She's definitely a morning baby. She wakes up so happy and smiley. She stretches out as soon as you release her from the swaddle blanket. Mommy wishes she woke up happy like her every day.

For Halloween, Maddie dressed up as a flower, mommy was a flower pot, and daddy was a packet of Maddie Flower seeds. We went to a Halloween party hosted by our friends Chris and Eureka. Madison made it to 2 houses and then decided she needed to go to bed. We all had a great night. Madison got her bath and went to bed easily that night.

Daddy kept Madison for the first time by himself for a whole day on Veteran's Day. Mommy had to work, so Daddy brought Madison by to visit and have lunch. It was a wonderful surprise. Daddy made it through the day without pulling his hair out. He enjoyed the Father/Daughter time together but was not looking forward to another day with her by himself.

Mommy and Daddy had their first night out since Maddie was born. Mimi had gotten tickets to the FSU/Georgia Tech game and had given them to us to use and she was going keep Madison for the night. That night ended up being a very rainy night and we gave our tickets away; however, Madison still went to Mimi's for the night. We made it through the night without feeling the need to drive to Perry and get her. We went and picked her up the next day. We missed her but we enjoyed sleeping in for the first time in months.

Thanksgiving was very busy for us this year. We travelled to Madison with Madison and Chester and had lunch with Becky's family. After our brief visit, we got back on the road and went to Port Charlotte to visit Gary's family. Surprisingly, Madison only slept for about 30 minutes on the road but remained fairly entertained and pleasant until we were 30 minutes away from Gram and Pa's. Also, she stayed on schedule with her sleeping and naps. We were so happy for that. Saturday night we headed back home and she slept for a longer period in the car, of course Mommy had to hold her arms down because she kept waking herself up. We enjoyed our visit and got to see Gram, Pa, Grandpa Gary, and Aunt Jess.

Madison had her 4 month checkup at the beginning of December. She is growing right on track. She weighed 13lbs, 1oz and measured 24.5'' long. The pediatrician recommended that we start giving her rice cereal at night before bed. So we started her on rice cereal on the 5th. She is starting to get the hang of it. I think she just wants us to get it in her mouth faster. She doesn't like to wait on her food. Hmmm, where does she get that from? She loves to laugh and smile at everyone and everything. She is so sweet and has such a great disposition. We can't imagine our lives without her.

1st Day of Daycare

Today was Madison's first day of daycare. She woke up bright and early and ready to go. I think she knew it was going to be a big day for her. This morning daddy was able to help out since he had a dentist appointment (yes folks, Gary finally went to the dentist and he got a prescription for valium for his next visit next week to fix his broken tooth). She cried all the way to daycare. Once she got there and got swaddled, she stopped crying and went to sleep. After she got calmed down, I left her and went by the office and did some shopping. I went back to pick her up around 12:30. She had just woken up when I arrived, so I fed her, then got her strapped in to go home... that's when the crying started again. She cried all the way home and again... after she got swaddled, she stopped crying and went back to sleep. She's such a good girl!

2 Month Checkup

Today was Maddie's 2 month checkup. She weighs 11lbs 8 oz and is 23 inches long. She's growing right on track. The nurse gave her the first round of immunizations and she didn't even flinch. She did get mad though when it was time to leave and I had to put her in her car seat. She hates getting strapped in.

Here's the only picture I could get of her before we left to go to the doctor. As you can see, she wasn't happy then either. Isn't she just pitiful.

Staying Put

Gary started teaching at a different school this year. He moved from teaching 3rd grade at Gilchrist to teaching 3rd grade at Florida State University School. It has been quite an adjustment especially with a newborn baby. His school is completely across town and it takes him close to 45 minutes some days with traffic to get there. We have been in our house for almost 5 years now and we thought, even with the downturn in the market, that we would at least be able to sell our house for what we bought it for and look for something closer to Gary's new school, which would make it closer for me too since it takes me about 30 minutes to get to work, and give us room to grow since we are busting at the seams now. So we called our realtor to come over and discuss our situation and give us options. Turns out, after working up some comps, that our house is only worth about $1,000 more than what we owe... and that's after paying almost $200 more every month AND... it's still expected to decline some more before it gets better, GREAT :/ However, we are in better shape than a lot of people who bought at the same time. We are very fortunate to have a home. Plus, we are going through Financial Peace University and we are on our way to becoming debt free. Knowing that we really can't afford to move has actually put our thoughts at ease and has helped us focus our efforts on paying off all of our debt. So, we are going to stay put for now.

Maddie's 2 Month Birthday

Yesterday was Maddie's 2 month birthday. She is doing so much better than she was a month ago. We have gotten her into more of a routine and she has actually been sleeping through the night. Tuesday night she slept 10.5 hours! But, on average, she sleeps 7. Her daytime napping has been good too. She is up to eat and play for a couple of hours and then goes back down for 2-3. She still hates tummy time and hasn't rolled over this week, but she is getting better at it. She does, however, like to be on her back and look at the toys hanging down from the play gym and hitting them with her arms. Her reflux has gotten better and she is not crying all the time. In fact, she is cooing and smiling a lot more. Next Thursday we are going to start daycare. We will start out part time to try to develop a routine for her and mommy so that when mommy goes back to work it won't be so hard. Wish us luck.

Big Milestones

Madison has been sleeping 6-7 hours through the night! Woo Hoo!! However, it all comes at a price. She is very fussy and won't sleep well from 5 until about 11 at night, but then she finally poops out and goes to sleep and sleeps for a long time. Madison doesn't sleep well during the day either. There's about 5 hours during the day where she just won't go to sleep. When she does sleep, she has to be tightly swaddled. She fights it, but it sure helps her sleep. She's constantly moving and her arms and hands flail around and she hits herself in the head. I am hoping she gets control of her movements soon so that we can stop swaddling her.

She's also eating like a pig. From 5-11 she will consume 10 or more ounces of formula and still wants more.

She is getting so big and strong! She has held her head up since the day she was born and this week she has rolled over from her tummy to her back 5 times; although, she only does it for mommy. She has now discovered the tv. She loves to watch tv and just look around at everything. She is so nosy. I wonder where she gets that from. I think that's why she's so hard to get to sleep.

Oh and don't try to fool her with a pacifier, she already knows the difference between the pacifier and the bottle. If you try to put the pacifier in and she's still hungry, she will tighten her lips and keep pushing that pacifier out with her tongue. She's a smart one :)
Madison has really started enjoying bath time. We have a whale tub that fits over the kitchen sink. She just sits back and relaxes while she has her bubble bath.

Our First Long Trip

On our first long trip, we went to Port Charlotte to see Gary's grandparents on Labor Day weekend. We were so worried about this trip. Was she going to sleep or scream the whole way there and back? We decided that it would be best to leave early Saturday morning. She had started a pattern where she would sleep from like 11:30 and sleep 3 - 4 hours and then she would be back up again to feed and down for another 3-4 hours and continue on this cycle until about noon. So, Madison woke up around 3, we got her fed and packed up and on the road we went. We left Tallahassee at 4am and had to stop at the rest area in Ocala to feed her, then 30-45 minutes later we were back on the road and arrived at Port Charlotte around 10:30am. On the way down, we saw some hot air balloons passing over Tampa (It made us think of our friends in Albuquerque where they have the hot air balloon festival every year in October... maybe they were getting prepared to go to NM). We had a nice visit and Gram and Pa just loved her. The car ride back; however, was not nice. We decided to leave during her 'fussy' period so that when we got home we would be able to sleep. So, we packed up and left Port Charlotte at 9pm Sunday night and headed home. She cried a lot and was just kinda fussy all the way home. But, when we got home at around 2am, she was out like a light. She slept for 6 hours. Even though the ride home was rough, it was worth it. She was going to be fussy anyway, so we thought we might as well ride... plus it kept us awake.

Madison's First Bible

We went to church and they presented Madison with her first bible and prayed over us.

2 Week Checkup

Madison had her 2 week checkup and everything looks good. She weighs 8lbs 10oz and has grown 2 whole inches to 21.5 inches long. However, we were telling the doctor about her excessive and forceful spit-ups and that she had not been sleeping well and was hungry all the time. She believed that Madison had reflux and asked that we go to the hospital to have an Upper GI done to confirm what she believed was reflux and to make sure that nothing else was going wrong. In the meantime, she was prescribed zantac and reglan. That night was the first night Maddie actually slept through the night. Hallelujah! The following week we went to have her Upper GI done (after hours of her crying because she couldn't eat for the test, so pitiful) and it did in fact confirm that she had moderate reflux. We struggled with her for several more days, she was still spitting up a lot and crying and just not sleeping well. Because I was breastfeeding, I tried making changes to my diet, but nothing seemed to help. We tried everything that you are 'supposed' to do. Elevating the bed, feeding her upright, burping frequently, mylicon drops, etc... After a couple more weeks, we decided to change her to an Anti Regurgitation formula and it finally seemed to help. She is now actually keeping her food down much better and is actually sleeping for 3-4 hour periods.
We go back to the doctor on 9/28 for her 2 month checkup.

Our Little Glow Worm

Before we left the hospital, our pediatrician, Dr. Singh, noticed that Madison had a touch of jaundice. She said it wasn't a big deal and to keep Madison near a window for sunlight as much as possible and to come back to her office in 2 days for a checkup. So we did as she asked and came back 2 days later. Madison was looking good. She had already surpassed her birth weight. However, she still looked a little jaundiced and she sent us to have some bloodwork done. On our way home we stopped by the fertility clinic where we had gone to help conceive Maddie to show her off and then went home. Later that afternoon we received a call from the doctor saying that Maddie's bilirubin level was too high and she wa sending someone out to our house with a biliblanket. Maddie was to sleep on this lighted pad until her levels decreased to an acceptable level. We had to go back to the lab every day and have her blood drawn to make sure that the levels of bilirubin were decreasing. Luckily, she only had to sleep with the biliblanket another 2 days, 3 in all. We were all so happy to take the biliblanket back.

Tweets and Commentary From the Hospital

• Madison's first car ride! We are on our way home!!!3:53 AM Jul 27th from txt
  We were so ready to go home. Madison hadn't slept as well as we had hoped. We thought that once we got home it would be better. Boy were we mistaken :)
  
  



• I'm a daddy! Baby Madison was born at 7:08 pm. She is perfect! Mommy and Maddie are doing great! Love to everyone from the THREE of us!!7:50 PM Jul 25th from txt
  We only had 2 hours to visit before we had to go to our room for the night. During those 2 hours, Madison and I got all cleaned up in the L&D room and saw several visitors; My Mom, Dad, Teena, Carla, Sean, April, Drew, Zane, and Aunt SueEllen. We finally made it up to our family care room and got some rest. Madison slept fairly well that night.




• Whoa! 10 cm came fast! Pushing is going to start any minute!6:45 PM Jul 25th from txt
  I was checked again and I was only about 4.5 cm and was told that it would probably be late that night or the next morning before I has the baby. So, Gary had asked my mom and Carla to wait in the waiting room so that I could get some sleep. While they were out, I got some sleep and woke up looking at the monitor and it started showing Madison's heartrate drop every time I had a contraction. This made me very uncomfortable so I had Gary ask the nurse to come in and find out what was going on. This was the first time that they had checked me in almost 4 hours. I was at 9.5 cm, very close to 10 and the baby was at a -1 station and we were told that it would still be several hours. Gary went out to inform Mama and Carla. While he was out, the nurse had me turn over to my left side and I asked the nurse how I would know when to have her come back and when to push. She said it would feel like a lot of pressure on my bottom. I then told her that I was feeling that sensation. Gary came back in and then she checked me again and I was at 10 cm and the nurse asked me to give her a push. After 1 push, Madison was ready to come out. This happened all in about 10 minutes. Gary went back out to tell Mama and Carla that it was happening NOW. They came back in while the nurse and midwife were getting the room ready. The pushing started and Mama and Carla left the room. Madison was born about 15 minutes later and I got to see it all in the mirror. It was such a surreal experience!!! I couldn't believe it. Gary was so good helping me breathe and focus. When Madison was born he was so proud! It was the start of our little family!!


• Thank God - the epidural is in! It was getting rough there for a minute. Becky's asleep now and contractions are getting stronger!3:45 PM Jul 25th from txt
  After the water was broken and the pitocin was started back up, the contractions came quick and strong!!! I asked for IV meds within 20 minutes and they gave me Nubain. 10 minutes after that, I asked for the epidural. The Nubain didn't do anything for me. The only problem was that the nurse anesthetist was in a surgery and couldn't leave and I still had to get through a whole bag of fluids. 'Are you freaking kidding me?!!' Gary put a blood pressure cuff around the IV bag to help it go through faster and the waiting game was on for the anesthetist. Finally, 2 hours later she comes in and has to go through her schpiel about the epidural and I needed to sign this consent form yada, yada, yada. I 'signed' the form - it was an unrecognizable signature and I really didn't even care what the form said. I sat up and put my legs over the bed and more water came out - I thought that was all done. Gary was standing beside me and I remember looking at him as the water was hitting the floor and I said, 'I promise that is not pee'. Like he really cared :) I was so scared about getting the epidural. Gary stood in front of me and forehead to forehead helped me get through it. Ahhh, the epidural did wonders! I couldn't feel a thing. Definitely would do it again, but next time I would do it quicker.


• Water is broken!!!!!!!!1:03 PM Jul 25th from txt
  At noon the midwife came in and gave us 3 options. 1.) Go home - not gonna happen, we came too far. 2.) try breaking the water again - Oh what pain! 3.) C-section. I really didn't want to do a c-section, so I opted for them to try breaking the water again. Thanks to my breathing techniques and Gary being my focus point, I was able to withstand the pain for them to break my water. I think I lost 20 pounds of water. It just kept coming and coming. The L&D nurse and the midwife said they hadn't seen someone with this much water in a long time. No turning back now!!


• Trying Cytotec again,this time a little closer to the source. Hopefully this'll give us some results. Becky's hanging in there like a champ!9:48 AM Jul 25th from web


• Just did an exam and things haven't progressed as much as we'd hoped. They were going to try and break the water, but we'll have to wait.9:46 AM Jul 25th from web
  Only 2 1/2 cm... What?!! They tried to break the water and they couldn't quite reach the cervix well enough... very painful... I thought I was gonna die.


• Cytotec is started- we'll see how this helps her to progress from here. I'm in bed now and she's already asleep. If nothing else, we'll rest10:47 PM Jul 24th from txt


• We're in a holding pattern now. Pitocin didn't do as much as we had hoped. They may try Cytotec (sp?) through the night. We'll know soon.8:16 PM Jul 24th from txt


• Mommmy is still doing great - napping at the moment. Gotta get up some energy for the exciting night ahead of us!5:04 PM Jul 24th from txt


• With the onset of the pitocin, Becky's contractions have become a little stronger and more regular. Pain is still not a big issue - yet!3:51 PM Jul 24th from txt


• Pitocin was started about 45 min ago and then increased within the past few min. They will continue to increase the dose every 30 min.3:49 PM Jul 24th from txt
  Yay, we should be well on our way now, right?!! Wrong!


• Becky's starting to have regular, mild contractions!! No pain yet, just tightening. The pitosin cocktail should be coming our way soon.2:14 PM Jul 24th from txt


• Thanks to the Newcombes for coming to visit and bringing lunch! You're the best!11:53 AM Jul 24th from txt
  The cytotec seemed to be giving me contractions, they're getting stronger but still not painful yet. Just feels like strong menstral cramps.


• Just started the oral meds ... contractions should be on their way soon!10:05 AM Jul 24th from web


• Good Morning! We're up and Becky's had breakfast. Unfortunately, the cervidil didn't work so they'll try an oral med soon.8:45 AM Jul 24th from txt
  What?!! only 1/2 centimeter more after 12 hours of cervadil???


• Had to run home to get an eggcrate to cushion the cot and a t-shirt to sleep in. No matter how prepared you are, something gets forgotten!2:30 AM Jul 24th from txt
  The nurse had actually given us an eggcrate but then realized it was for Gary and came back and took it away... how rude.


• So far only mild contractions seen on the monitor and felt, but without any pain. We'll see how tonight goes ...1:37 AM Jul 24th from txt


• Becky's mom & dad, Teena, Teri, Mandi, and Elaine came to visit tonight. We're trying to wind down now and get some rest before the big day!1:36 AM Jul 24th from txt
  We were thankful for visitors... it helped keep our mind off of what was about to happen.


• Settled in labor and delivery. Cervidil has been started. 12 hours and we'll see how things have progressed. Whataburger for dinner YUM!10:06 PM Jul 23rd from txt
  I didn't even get through eating my hamburger. The midwife came in to start the cervadil and then I was too excited to finish eating.


• At the hospital waiting to be admitted and begin our journey toward parenthood! Talk about a mixture of extreme excitement and anxiety!8:02 PM Jul 23rd from txt


• We just found out that Becky will be taken in tonight to start the induction process at 8:00. Baby Madison should be here sometime tomorrow!1:29 PM Jul 23rd from txt
  I didn't know that I was going to be having a surprise baby shower at work in an hour! I think everybody was a little nervous :)
  

Much Sooner Than We Expected!

I had noticed over the past week that I had been getting what seemed like insect bites all over my hands, wrists, and ankles. I had blamed Gary and Chester for getting fleas in the house because that was what it had to be. However, Chester didn't have fleas and Gary wasn't getting any bites either. The 'bites' were spreading down my arms, feet, legs, and belly. I couldn't figure it out. When I went to work on Monday, the general consensus from everyone that I asked in the office believed it to be an allergic reaction. So, I went next door to our nurses to ask for something that I could take, if in fact it was an allergic reaction. They told me that they couldn't give me anything and that I needed to talk to my OB/GYN about it. I had an appointment the next day, so I just waited and talked to them about it. She didn't seem to be too concerned but said it looked like a classic case of PUPPS and said to take Benadryl. She sent me off for some blood work to confirm that it was PUPPs and we went ahead and scheduled the elective induction for Monday July 27th, as I stated in the earlier post. I tried the Benadryl and didn't have much luck. Tuesday night I hardly got any sleep because I was itching so badly. Wednesday night it was worse. After trying every itching cream in the aisle of CVS (Shhh, don't tell anyone) without getting any relief, Gary convinced me to go to the hospital to try to get some answers and relief. So, we did. We went to triage July 22nd and there they gave me Benadryl by IV and Nubain to help with the itching. It worked for a little while, then I was back to itching again. Thursday morning, the itching still wasn't any better, so I called the Doctor's office. I decided to walk over to the office, since I work at the hospital, it was just a short walk. Gary met me there and demanded we see a doctor. After talking to the midwife and doctor, they decided that we could go ahead and start the induction that day since the rash would not go away until after delivery and we were going to be induced in 4 days anyway. That's where the chaos began. I didn't know it at the time, but I was going to be having a surprise baby shower at work in just 2 hours. So, I went to the baby shower and it was a surprise. Gary had to tell me in the doctor's office since they told us it was going to be later that day that we were going to be induced and there were so many things that had to be done but I needed to be there for our baby shower. So, we had the shower - It was awesome! We had to get someone to take care of Chester, eat, do some laundry, and get the rest of our bags packed. I left work at 5pm, came home, and left the house at 7:30pm. We didn't even get a chance to eat. We got checked in at 8pm and got into our room around 9pm. We called Mimi to bring us Whataburger when she came. When Mimi got there, we were so hungry. I started eating and that's when the midwife came in with the first induction method, Cervadil. There was no turning back then. :)

Before the contractions got bad :)

Trying to Catch Up

I promise I will be updating soon. I am just trying to catch up and type up everything first and then post them all when I am current. More to come soon. Or maybe I will start tweeting... hmmm :)

Parenthood Here We Come, Ready or Not!

Today, we went to the doctor and Becky hasn't made any progress from last week. However, we were able to schedule an induction for next week. Becky will go into the hospital on Monday, July 27 at 6pm to start the induction process. We can't believe we will be parents in 1 week or less! Gary will be keeping everyone up t0 date on Twitter. So if you want to be updated as it's happening, you can follow us on twitter by going to http://twitter.com/davisfamily2004 and sign up to receive an RSS feed.

We're Getting Closer

We are now seeing the doctor weekly for checkups. Last week when we went, Becky's blood pressure was up and we were sent into triage for tests. Everything turned out fine and we went home. This week when we went to the doctor her blood pressure had returned back to normal so we discussed an elective induction. Next week we get to choose a date for the induction, that is if Becky doesn't go into labor before then. She is about 70% effaced and the baby is at a zero pelvic station, but there is no dilation yet. So, it could be anytime now. Mommy and Daddy are very excited and anxious. We think Chester is getting ready too. He likes to lie on the rug in front of her crib. We think he's going to be a protective big brother.

Does Madison look more like Mommy or Daddy??

We got to see our little girl again last week during a 4-D ultrasound. She has been quite active and we finally got to see what she does all day in mommy's tummy. She already likes to smile, yawn, and play with her feet and hands. Right now she's breech with her feet in mommy's pelvis, but she's expected to turn in the next few weeks to come. This just made it feel so much more real and we're even more anxious now to have her here so that we can see her play all the time.

Our First Baby Shower!

This year, Cinco de Mayo was celebrated with diapers and baby bottles rather than chimichangas and margaritas! We had our baby shower at Gary's school on May 5th. The 3rd grade team did such a great job decorating and putting on the shower! We got lots of gift cards (always handy pre- and post-baby) as well as the boppy seat, playtime gym/mat, and lots of onesies, burp cloths, and crib bedding. One of the cutest things we got, though, was advice for the mommy and daddy-to-be from all the 3rd graders (written on cut-outs of butterflies, bunnies, and flowers). We had a blast reading them over dinner after we got home. Some of our favorites include "take a break from teaching and spend time with Madison ... you wouldn't want a baby that doesn't know its father!", "do not push the child's stomach after feeding her", "whenever Madison cries, give her a lollipop", "give your daughter $$cash$$", "before bedtime teach your child how to go to the bathroom - trust me, I have a 6 year old brother that doesn't know how to go" and, our personal favorites - Gary's: "when it comes, don't scream" Becky's: "Mr. Davis: When you have the baby, listen to Mrs. Davis". Thank you to the wonderful 3rd grade team at Gilchrist for making our first shower for Madison a memorable one!! We'll post pictures soon!

Maddie's Room is Done!!

We received all the furniture for Baby Madison's room and finally got the room finished. Daddy painted, assembled the furniture, hung the window treatments and wall hangings, arranged the furniture (several times) and installed the new blinds while Mommy supervised like a pro. Daddy is very happy that the room is done! :) We'll post pictures soon!

The Maddiemobile!

Yes, that's right, we now have a Honda Odyssey minivan; "The Maddiemobile" as we have been lovingly calling it. We needed a new car and figured that now was as good a time as any to get a family car. We will now have plenty of room for Madison and ALL of her baby stuff. Even before we were pregnant, we packed everything other than the kitchen sink for trips, so it would stand to reason that when packing for a baby, we might just pack the kitchen sink too! It will be nice to have the extra room and ALL the awesome amenities of the van. Once we get over the initial dorkiness of it all, we think the Maddiemobile will be a perfect fit for the growing Davis family! Parenthood here we come! :)

Spring Break Getaway

Last week we took a spring break getaway to Sarasota to visit Gary's family and then to the Mountains in North Georgia with some friends of ours from church. While we were in Sarasota, in between visiting family, we went shopping to find the right stroller and playard and highchair and so on. It was quite funny. We had no idea how to open and close a stroller, get the carrier out of the stroller, how to dismantle the playard or anything. So, we're standing in Burlington Coat Factory in Sarasota tearing up the strollers and one of the salespeople, Madeline, came over to help. She could see that we had no clue as to what we were doing. I think she was a little afraid that we would completely destroy all of her displays too. She was wonderful and after showing us just how easy it was to actually use all the baby gear, we felt kind of stupid. Who knew that they put the release there :) We had a lot of fun though. Then, on Wednesday, we packed up our stuff and headed to a cabin in Blairsville, Georgia with Chris, Eureka, and Kylie. We stayed there until Sunday. While we were there, we went all over the place. Thursday we went to Dahlonega, and Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland where the cabbage patch dolls are born. Friday, we went to Dukes Creek Falls and on to Helen where we went to see a huge model train exhibit and went into all the little shops around the town and stopped at the Nora Mill Granary. From there we went to Mark of the Potter and the Old Sautee store. We ended the day with dinner at the Dillard house in Dillard, GA. The view from inside the restaurant was fabulous. On Saturday, we went to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia where we had to hike .6 mi up the mountain to get to the observation deck. None of us were prepared for that hike, but we made it. We had a great time, but we sure were glad to be back home Sunday night.

And the name is ...

Mommy and Daddy, with a little help from Chester, have decided on a name for Baby. Our baby girl will be named Madison Marie. We chose this name because Marie was Gary's mom's middle name and now baby Madison will always have a little bit of Grandma with her! As for Madison, well Mommy and Daddy just really liked that name! We're all very excited to finally be able to call our baby girl by her name! Mommy calls her Madison, but Daddy likes to call her Maddie - at this point she's responding well to both :0)

Pictures of our baby girl

It's a GIRL! It's a GIRL!

This week definitely passed slowly as we waited to learn what our new little bundle would be. It helped, though, that we were able to check our blog each night (okay, actually like every 5 minutes) to see how many more people had voted and what gender was in the lead! When Friday actually arrived, we had a total of 88 votes and girl was leading by a margin of 56-32! Looks like we have some good predictors out there!

At the appointment, when we were waiting to go in, we couldn't have been more excited! Will it be a boy or a girl? We were finally called in to the ultrasound room and the nurse took the baby's measurments first because, of course, they save looking at the goods for last. When she measured the baby and checked for vital signs, everything looked great! 4 chambers in the heart beating at 138 bpm, 3 blood vessels in the umbilical cord, 10 fingers, 10 toes, and everything else developing right on track! Then, the time came to find out what we were having. The nurse casually mentioned, that she thought she already knew, but said we would go in for a closer look. By hearing this, Becky and I both thought, "ok, she must have seen something, so it's got to be a boy". But then she said, "IT'S A GIRL"! We were thrilled! In that moment, our entire outlook on our future as parents seemed to shift. Up until this point, we knew we would be raising a child, but to know that we'll be raising a girl was just amazing.

After finding out, we brought in Becky's mom, who had been waiting in the waiting room. Mimi really wanted a girl and she got one! It's a good thing too, because we had a subsequent baby shower in the hospital parking garage out of mimi's trunk. A doll, dresses, and pink outfits galore came pouring out. It's a good thing we didn't end up with a boy because all he would have gotten to use was a box of diapers! :)

Becky and I are beside ourselves with excitement and are so appreciative to our friends and family who have shared in it with us! We will keep you posted as our little girl grows and approaches that due date - it can't get here soon enough!

Love,
Gary, Becky, and Baby GIRL Davis

The 3rd Grade Perspective

Becky and I, obviously excited about our big news, decided to start telling people right away since we just couldn't keep it a secret. We told our families about the baby right after we got the news at Thanksgiving. Then, told close friends. I told the teachers on my team at school in mid-December and then told the rest of the faculty at the school Christmas party right before Christmas break. Needless to say, the word quickly spread to parents after the winter break. Despite lots of people knowing, and quick "Congratulations, Daddy" comments while walking my kids places in school, the kids in my class were still pretty oblivious that anything was going on.

I waited a while to tell them for obvious reasons, but then decided recently that, since we were safely into the 2nd trimester, it would be ok for them to know. I was meeting them all at the movies last Sunday to see "The Tale of Despereaux" and Becky was coming with us. Since she's starting to show and has started wearing the maternity tops, I knew that it would be best to let the cat out of the bag before showing up at the movies and having the questions start there.

So ... one morning during the week before the movie, I was teaching about author's purpose and the kids had to write a few sentences that informed their reader about something. I told them that I would write a few of my own sentences on the board and model what I wanted them to do, but said they needed to follow along and read it to themselves as I wrote. I wrote on the board "Mr. Davis is a 3rd grade teacher at Gilchrist Elementary. He is married to Mrs. Davis and has a dog named Chester. He is also very excited that in August he will be a DADDY!" I turned around to very confused and unsure faces. So, I told them, "yes, boys and girls, Mrs. Davis and I are going to have a baby soon!" They all clapped and were all so excited; however, not surprisingly, lots of questions followed. I was just really happy that I was able to answer all of them ... until the last question. One of my quiet, sweet girls raised her hand and asked, "Mr. Davis, I've always wondered, what do they do with the extension cord once the baby is born"? I thought I knew the answers to all baby questions, but I realized that day there was at least one question to which I definitely didn't have a clue!

This is just one of the many reasons I love my job.

Prenatal Visit - Part Deux

Gary's writing this one ... :)

We're a little late posting this, but on Friday, February 6th, we had our second prenatal visit. This one was relatively uneventful, comparatively. However, I know that that's a good thing! After waiting a long time in the big waiting room, then the sub waiting room, then the exam room, we finally saw the nurse/mid-wife. Becky didn't have to have the exam again, so she was happy about that. This time the nurse just did a heartbeat check (which was perfectly normal!) and reviewed the results of Becky's urinalysis and blood pressure check (both of which were also normal).

I say that this appointment was uneventful, but in all actuality, each time we hear the heartbeat it is definitely an event! Becky still has yet to be sick or have any crazy cravings so, other than a little bit of belly growth and some mild mood-swings, pregnancy symptoms have been slim-to-none. We're always glad to know our new little friend is in there growing and developing just like (s)he should be!

Other than the terrific news that Baby Davis and Mommy are doing great, we got some more news as well. We'll be able to find out the sex of the baby at our next appointment on March 6th! Woohoo - the days of referring to the baby as it, (s)he, and him/her will be over!

SO ... stay tuned for another installment of "... and baby makes four", coming to you in just 3 more weeks!

Our First Prenatal Visit

Friday, January 9 was our first prenatal visit. Gary and I were very excited and hoping to take another peek at our little one. It had been a while since we last saw it on ultrasound. At that time it just looked like a little piece of rice with no shape at all. We were excited to see it then, but we were getting quite anxious to see something that looked like a baby. I haven't been sick since I got pregnant, thankfully, but by not being sick it kind of made us both question again "is there really still something in there?". So, we go to the doctor and they do the normal routine... get into this gown, blah, blah, blah. So I am thinking... ok, there is no ultrasound machine in here and I'm going to be taking off all my clothes, so how am I going to get an ultrasound of the baby. Surely, they're not going to have me walk down the hall in my paper gown. So, I ask the nurse, on her way out of the room, if we were going to get an ultrasound today. She said we would get one only if she couldn't hear the heartbeat well enough. When she came back for the exam, she placed the doppler on my belly and there was this sound... it was like a quick whoosing sound. It was the baby's heartbeat! I looked over at Gary sitting in the chair with amazement and we were both smiling and couldn't stop. How cool was that?! ! The only bad part was, now that the nurse heard the heartbeat loud and clear, we weren't going to get an ultrasound. She finished up with the exam and, as she was cleaning up, I thought I would give it a try... so I asked her if she was "really sure" that she heard the heartbeat well enough, wink wink. It worked!! She only had one more patient for the day and she said if we were willing to wait just a little while that she would let us take a peek. After we got into the ultrasound room, I anxiously and hurriedly moved into position. As she started to move the probe around, we saw this thing and it was moving all around! That's it ... that's our baby, I thought. I think all Gary was able to say was, "Holy Cow". We could see it's little arms, legs, face, and even the fingers. I just kept saying, "Oh my goodness, that's our baby" over and over. We got one shot of just the face, one shot of the body (with legs crossed at the ankles), and one of it putting it's hands (showing fingers!) to his or her face. The experience was awesome and really proves what a miracle this all is! Our next visit is February 6th. We will be 14 weeks then. I wonder if we will get another peek? Can't wait until week 18 to find out if it's a girl or a boy!!!