6w5d

6 Weeks 5 days, that was how far along we were the first time we saw our sweet baby for the time. I remember that appointment like it was yesterday. Every emotion, every concern, every fear, and every bit of the joy we experienced that day. Robby and I drove to Brookwood Medical Center with very little to say, when we did talk it was something encouraging. After all the paperwork was completed, they took us back.  As we waited patiently on Dr. Taylor to come in with more nerves than anyone could ever imagine. It was now Robby nor I could talk, to say we were nervous and excited was an understatement. All the worries in the world came flooding down on me... Would there be a baby? Would there be a heartbeat? If there was a baby, would it measure what it should or would it be behind which would only end one way?... And just like that, it was the moment of truth. After a few a few clicks and looking at the monitor, Dr. Taylor exclaimed, "There it is!". She explained that she had a terrible poker face and was thrilled to say that our baby was there and everything looked good. She turned on the sound; it was then Robby and I heard one of the sweetest sounds ever, a sweet little heartbeat that was beating 186 beats per minute. Dr. Taylor then turned around the screen and that was the very first time we saw our baby. "It" looked like a little bean but there was this tiny dark spot in the middle that was fluttering away in-sync to the heartbeat we were hearing, that was our baby's heart! Oh the joy we both felt!! The other emotion was love. An abundance of overflowing love. We already loved our baby before the sonogram but seeing and hearing "it" just confirmed everything we already knew we felt. We left the appointment feeling hopeful and very joyful.
I could never have imagined how perfect that little bean would turn out to be or that the amount of love I felt during that appointment could grow to be the love I have now, it's inconceivable. Soon our little bean that was an "It" turned into a HE and he turned into Aizen Kemp Winslow. And now 6 weeks and 5 days after September 1st, I am writing this with our wonderfully sweet little "bean" on my chest while he naps :) Having him here and seeing how he has grown from that little bean with just a tiny dark spot fluttering for a heart has been nothing short of amazing. We have a whole new set of fears than we did that day in the doctors office but I pray daily (more like hourly lol) about those fears and for our son. He has taken over our world from the very beginning but of course, we don't mind ;)
It being 6 weeks since Aizen was born means that I have had my postpartum check-up with Dr. Taylor and I will return to work on the 19th, tomorrow... :'( I have enjoyed every moment spent at home with Aizen. I will truly miss being at home and being able to be with him all day, every day. So please remember us in your prayers as I head back to work and Aizen heads to daycare for the first time.
Now for the best part, pictures!!

The famous Dr. Taylor with Aizen. His onesie says "for this child I have prayed" and that couldn't be more true!

Fun at the pumpkin patch

We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch with Aunt MaeMae, Uncle Rickey, and Cousins Levi and Coy!!

Hard to imagine next year these babies will be running around too

Our little pumpkin head peaking out lol

Smiles for days :)

The many faces of Aizen that Mommy and Daddy are always obsessing over

Be still my heart!!

Happy 6weeks and 5days Baby Boy!!! I am so thankful for our first meeting on that day!

Aizen 1 month old

What everyone tells you about time speeding up and slipping by after you have a baby is completely true. The past month has gone by faster than any month of my entire life. It has also been filled with more love than I ever thought possible. We've gotten lots of visitors and also spent a lot of time just three of us, it has been absolutely WONDERFUL!! And the time I've gotten to spend at home with our little fellow has been indescribably amazing. I have no idea what I'll do when I have to go back to work in just a few weeks :( on a happier note... Let's talk about Aizen's first month!!

one month mini photo shoot ;)

at Aizen's one month checkup   

maybe my favorite picture so far!! I am so in love with his big gummy grin!!!

At one month old Aizen:

• wears size newborn clothes and diapers.
• weighs 9 pounds 9 ounces
• 22 inches long
• eats every 3 hours. Since we are breastfeeding, he takes bottle at least once a day and does wonderfully with both :)
• is an excellent sleeper; he sleeps from 11 pm to 4 am every morning. On the night he turned one month, he actually slept from 11-7 but that only happened once so I really don't count that ;) 
• seriously LOVES his paci!! I always said I would never, ever give my child a pacifier... I am eating my words for sure lol. We are convinced that he was sucking his fingers in the womb because he came out trying to suck one (or two) of them, hence the paci. We would both rather he use a pacifier than suck on his fingers... It's always easier to take away a paci than hands ;)

as you can tell, paci is never far away ;)

•  hates the baby swing but likes the bouncer. Weirdest thing! Maybe it's because the bouncer has little toys closer to him and he can actually hit them to make them move, I'm not sure but he'll just look around, kick, throw his arms to hit the little toys, and smile the whole time! Put him in the swing and the crying isn't far behind :/ maybe when he gets older he'll like the swing too. 
• loves his play-mat; whether he's on his back watching the toys and lights or doing tummy time, he loves the play-mat.

  

  and sometimes he just likes to sleep his mat

  

   

  

  watching football on his mat

• has a tiger that rattles that he also loves to play with. We get the biggest smiles when the tiger "gets" him! (If you can't tell, this boy loves to play!!)
• stays awake during the day for normally 2-3 hours at a time, there has been a few times that he stayed awake for 4 hours but that's rare. 
• hates bath time... but we make up for it by using the blowdryer (we are very careful) to dry him and his head full of hair and letting him be nakey for a while after bath time. Those are two things he loves!!

And he's secretly an angel! lol. No but seriously, Aizen is a really good baby. He rarely has a bad night where he doesn't sleep good and normally only cries when something is wrong. 

as you can tell he wasn't too amused lol

always has those hands moving :)

We love him more than words could ever express. We are so thankful and blessed to have him!! So, Happy ONE month to our little man!!

Aizen's Birth Story

This will undoubtably be an extremely long post and emotional so just bear with me but I am finally going to share Aizen's birth story!

It all started the week before; I was having contractions at random times so I tried everything to try to naturally induce labor... walking, squats, pineapple juice, spicy food, everything expect castor oil. After all this I was sure we would meet our baby boy soon but then at our doctors appointment on Monday, we found out I progressed from the week before not not much... :/ But there was hope still! Dr. Taylor decided to strip my membranes since we were 39 weeks & 3 days (not to mention she knew I going crazy waiting on our little fellow). Well that was all my  body needed!! By 9 o'clock that evening I was having contractions every 8-6 minutes apart! Knowing the contractions needed to be stronger and closer together, I decided to try to get some sleep. LOL... sleep definitely didn't happen. From 3-3:45 am I timed the contractions and they were 5 minutes apart!! That's when I decided to get out of bed. I read all the information the doctors office had given me about labor and called the hospital and spoke with Dr. Taylor who told me to relax, keep timing the contractions and try to take a warm shower to see if it eased the pain so I did just that! It was after I took a shower that I decided to wake Robby up. I didn't want the poor fellow to freak out so I tried to very calmly tell him we needed to get ready to head to the hospital. Want a man to immediately wake up? Apparently all he needs to hear is "We need to get ready to go to the hospital, I'm in labor"! They'll pop right outta bed lol. We left the house around 5; stopped at Jack's for drive thru breakfast and the convenient store for me a Dr. Pepper and Robby a Redbull since we didn't know how long labor would be so we wanted to be prepared!
We arrived at the hospital a little after 6:30, by this time contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart! We met our labor & delivery nurse, Brittany, who in our opinion must be the best nurse ever. Literally, she was amazing! Since Dr. Taylor had been on call the night before we found out that Dr. Adcock would be our doctor; we were perfectly fine with this because Dr. Adcock was our second choice to deliver anyways. It wasn't long before Dr. Adcock came in to check me and decided to break my water, weirdest feeling ever! Labor really started to progress then. I wasn't getting a break between contractions and they were extremely strong so I decided to go ahead and get the epidural. I had the best anesthesiologist and Nurse Brittany was there with me so I barely felt a thing. Soon after I got the epidural we found out I had a hotspot on left side so I had to have a "boost". It wasn't long after we took care of the hotspot that our families started to show up. During this time we got some very exciting news, Dr. Taylor was going to come back to just to deliver Aizen! We were so thrilled!!  Dr. Taylor had been with Robby and I throughout our entire pregnancy so it really meant a lot that she was making a special exception for us. Our families didn't get to visit long before we needed to be checked again. Much to everyone's surprise, it was time to push!! At first it was just Nurse Brittany, Robby and I pushing. It was actually just the environment we had hoped for! It was very calm and I had the best support system with Nurse Brittany coaching me and giving me encouragement through every step and Robby giving encouragement (and kisses) with every push. 20 minutes into pushing it was time for Dr. Taylor and the rest of the nurses to come in. Even after the room was full of nurses, it still remained a perfectly calm environment and more encouragement coming from Dr. Taylor. 10 minutes later, our perfect angel Aizen Kemp Winslow entered the world on September 1, 2015 at 12:31 pm weighting 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches long!!
Now here starts the real story... As soon as Aizen was born we were allowed to do skin to skin after they weighed and measured him but not for long. There were several times the nurses had to take him over and give him oxygen  during this time. Robby got to hold him for the first time, which completely melted this momma's heart, but then they started telling us that Aizen had fluid on his lungs and was having trouble breathing... They told us he needed to go to "Transition", an area were babies re taken to determine if the baby needs to be taken to the NICU or if the baby can stay with mom in her room. The nurse was very reassuring and looking back I realize she was trying her best not worry Robby and I too much. Before we left the delivery room our families were allowed to come in just to see Aizen for the first time; no one was allowed to hold, touch, or take pictures with a flash for fear of stimulating him and making him breathe harder or gasp for air he couldn't get. While in Transition, family member were allowed to go in by two's with Robby to see him. I was the only one not allowed because well, I was recovering too. It wasn't long before we got the full explanation; while most babies receive an extra squeeze during the birthing process, Aizen was born faster and didn't get the extra squeeze he needed so the fluid he had been inhaling and swallowing during the pregnancy was still on his lungs. This meant that he couldn't get the air he needed into his lungs and needed help and monitoring, he needed to be taken to the NICU. At this point they brought Aizen into my room for me to see him one more time for a few hours since I was still recovering and it would be a bit before I could see him again. This was my breaking point. I was terrified and heartbroken that my baby wouldn't be with me. But I knew the doctors were going to do what was best for Aizen. I knew he would have plenty of people praying for him and God would heal my baby.
From that moment on, the only time Robby left Aizen's side was when the nurses or doctors needed him to and then he came to check on me. he went 36 hours without sleep and even then he only slept for 3 hours when I could go to Aizen's room. I couldn't have made it through this if it weren't for him. He was there for both me and our son. He is already, without a doubt, the best daddy ever to our little guy and the best partner I could ever hope for.
Aizen's treatment started with him wearing an oxygen hood, an IV of antibiotics just in case he had any kind of infection (they took cultures everyday but wouldn't have the results for 72 hours) and gave him the nutrients he would normally get from milk, a tube in his mouth that was helping remove some of the fluid on his lungs, and lots of monitors. We weren't allowed to hold him at first but we could touch his hands, that may sound small but for brand new parents who wanted to only be floe to their baby it was a lot! After a little more than 24 hours they removed the hood!! That same day we were allowed to "feed" Aizen the colostrum I had pumped. Since he still had fluid on his lungs and couldn't quite breathe steadily, we had to feed him by dipping a q-tip in the colostrum and rubbing it on the inside of his cheek. On our second day they removed the tube from his mouth, were allowed to finally hold Aizen and Robby fed him his very first bottle!! Soon, Aizen and I breastfed too!! I was discharged on time so Robby and I officially moved into Aizen's room. We got the news late that evening that Aizen's X-rays were finally clear and the fluid was gone!! AND the cultures were all negative so he no longer needed an IV either!! Our prayers had been answered!! Unfortunately our little man couldn't catch a break, he had jaundice and needed to be placed under a special light to help. He got to come out to eat and to be changed but that was it. He spent a little more than 24 hours under the light before his levels were low enough to get the news we had been waiting for... on September 5, at 4 days old we were finally going to take our sweet baby home!!!!!
During our stay at Brookwood, Aizen and I both had the absolute best nurses ever. The nurses made sure to tell us what was going on and let Robby and I be completely involved. Robby and I were allowed to change all his diapers and feed him every bottle after the tube from his mouth was removed. We cannot thank the nurses and doctors enough for what they did for our son or for us during those 4 (5 total) days. We also want to thank everyone who prayed, sent positive thoughts and supported us through what was by far the hardest but best time of our lives. We appreciate every one of you more than you know!
Now to the fun part... LOTS of pictures!! :)

Our last selfie just the two of us!

Daddy holds Aizen for the first time!

Our very first photo of the three of us!! 

We were having a good conversation

Aizen's first bottle

Aizen's first time in clothes and in a regular crib! Here you can see he had a bit of jaundice.

All my hopes and dreams and prayers came true when he was born. He is perfect.

This was the one night Robby was able to sleep through the night but I stayed up all night... Luckily for me I got to be between both my wonderful guys! Robby is on the couch to the left and Aizen was asleep under his light on the right.

Going home outfit!! Thanks Aunt MayMay for the awesome onesie!!

Our little family of three finally ready to head home!

I still think I had the best view being able to see both my handsome guys!

Thank you again to everyone who has supported us, prayed and sent positive thoughts for our title guy during this difficult time. We really do appreciate each and every one of you mire than you can ever imagine! And if you made it through this entire blog post, you're awesome and thank you so much for reading!!! 

XOXO

Aizen's name explained

In case you didn't know, naming a child is *extremely* hard! Luckily for us, Robby and I agreed on a name fairly quickly (like wayyyyy before we found out if we were having a boy or girl lol). BUT with deciding on a name came all the questions... so I'm going to answer a few now and explain all about our Aizen's name :)

The most common question we get is how do you pronounce his name and how do you spell it... -Aizen (eye-zen); normally I just tell people the "a" is silent. Yes, we realize that he will get called a million other names before people get the pronunciation right but we love his name and couldn't imagine it being spelt any other way :) 

The next question is usually where did we find his find name or how did we come up with it... Welllllll, Robby watches anime's (Japanese animated tv shows). On the anime Bleach there is a character named Aizen, the character Aizen is actually a vilian on the show but super bada** ;) The only downfall to this is that "Aizen" doesn't actually have a meaning, it is literally a made-up Japanese name to sound American so the character would appeal to the American audience of the show. I just tell people it's a Japanese name to avoid the long explanation though. ;)

Believe it or not, deciding on a first name was the easy part! For us, deciding on a middle name was the hardest part. We both knew we wanted to use a family name, that was the easy part. Neither one of us wanted to let anyone down by not using their name but in the end we picked a name that Robby liked and meant a lot to me. Aizen's middle name is Kemp; Kemp is my grandmother's maiden name. Some girls grow up being "daddy's girls" or "mommy's girls" well I grew up being a "Mawmaw's girl", quite honestly I still am and I will always be a Mawmaw's girl ;) Another huge part of my childhood was hearing stories of my grandmother's father, "Big Daddy". Unfortunately, Big Daddy passed away before he met most of his great-grandchildren. My grandmother was very close to her father and from all the stories I've heard of him, he was quite a wonderful, hard-working man who loved his family dearly. In using the name Kemp, I feel like it is a tribute to both my Mawmaw and Big Daddy. And like I said, Robby actually liked the name because it means so much to me and because it's so unique. 

So that is the story of how and why we decided to name our son Aizen Kemp Winslow! Thanks for putting up with my rambling and I hope you love his name as much as we do! 

Welcome to the family Coy!

Welcome to the family Coy Blake Denson!! Coy was born on Wednesday July 29, 2015 at 9:39 am, weighing 7.3 pounds! You can read Coy's birth story by Meredith here.

Look how precious he is!!

We could not be more thrilled to welcome this handsome little boy to our family. Coming from an aunts point of view, I'm always amazed how much my heart grows with each nephew and niece. Each one holds a special piece of my heart and Coy is no different. Being an aunt is one of the best things in the world and being able to spoil and be "KK" to Coy, is one of my greatest blessings.

34 weeks and Maternity Pictures

Since I'm a late posting this just consider the date between July 24-31 ;)

How am I already 34 weeks pregnant?!? Time has flown by in a way but then again, it hasn't lol. At 34 weeks my uterus is measuring right on track and my doctor is happy with everything so far which means I'm thrilled! Only 6 weeks to go!! And when I think of it in those terms... WOW!! We have just as long left as we were far along as we were when we got to see our sweet baby for the first time, give or take a few days!! That is truly amazing and exciting! My how things change in just a few months :)

We took our maternity pictures during week 34 with what I must say is a pretty awesome photographer and all around person, Abigail Butler who owns Kana Avenue Photography. Check her out on Facebook! 

Even though it felt like a 100 degrees and I was sweating like crazy, Abby did amazing and Robby was very patient and helpful (I'm so lucky!). 

 -This is my favorite so far!! 

-I love these two for the simplicity of them... And I'm always loving on my belly ;)

And for everyone that has asked if Meredith and I planned on taking pictures together, here ya go!

Of course Meredith and I had to take some pictures together! We are twins and this is probably the only time will ever be pregnant at the same time, much less this close together! We are both pregnant with boys and they are **DUE** 4 weeks apart. In the picture of us together Meredith is 38 weeks and I am 34 weeks! This is truly is something very special to us both! 

Enjoy! :)

Q&A

I get asked all the time how my pregnancy has been... well this is a loaded question! So let me answer a few common questions about my pregnancy with Aizen thus far...

• Have you been sick? -During the first trimester I was somewhat sick to my stomach. I wasn't sick every day but if I threw up once, guaranteed I would be sick the rest of the day. I honestly think the sickness I did have was more the progesterone I had to take rather than the actual pregnancy.   
• Do you still workout? -No :/ this is my own fault... my doctor was completely ok with my continuing to workout after we conceived but my mind would play tricks on me and if you know me, you know I worry entirely too much. I was so afraid of doing something to harm the baby, I didn't have the "want to"... Plus, its hard to workout 5 days a week when all you want to do is sleep! lol but all joking aside, I know I will regret this later because I fully intend on working out again after Aizen is born. 
• How far along are you? -35 weeks and 2 days (yes those 2 days count ;) ) I finally understand why pregnant women refer to pregnancy in weeks and not months! Because that's how it's measured. Other than the obvious months (12 weeks=3 months, 20 weeks=5 months, etc). But for anyone wondering about the months instead of weeks, Weeks 33-36 are considered 9 months!
• How much weight have you gained? - I will never answer this question! Not because I'm ashamed but because it is rude to ask. Why would anyone think this is an appropriate question anyways?! 
• Where are you having the baby? -Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham. 
• Why not RMC? -Well my ob/gyn is located at Brookwood and I wouldn't change that for anything. I have used a doctor in Anniston and I changed doctors because I didn't feel like he or his office treated certain situations with the care and concern that was deserved. I got a recommendation from a friend (you know who you are ;) ) to my current doctor and let me tell you; she is amazing!! I have never been to a more personable doctor in my life. She has explained every step of this pregnancy and put up with my endless questions. She makes every patient feel like her only patient. She jokes and laughs but is serious about the right things. I have called her my guardian angel throughout this pregnancy and I honestly could not believe it more! She's simply amazing. I feel very blessed to have heard about her and to have her as our doctor.
• When are you due? -September 4th
• Do you know what you're having? -It's a boy!! 
• Will you be induced? -Hopefully not! We haven't had any problems so far and our doctor doesn't think we will have any problems in the next few weeks so **hopefully** I'll go into labor on my own. If for some reason I go over the due date, we have decided on a day to induce. 
• Does he move a lot? -YES!! And I love it!! It's the oddest yet most amazing feeling to have something move inside of you that isn't you and you know it is this little baby that you've been "growing". I will say sometimes it can be quite painful though lol. He likes to play with my little rib every now and then; that is painful. I wouldn't trade that little pain though, I know he is worth it :) He also lets me know when he isn't happy... he kicks, punches, and rolls when I get hungry; when he gets a taste of something sour I drink or eat, he balls up really tight! Needless to say, I say away from sour stuff (cranberry juice, crabapple,etc). He also lets me know when I eat something he likes; tomatoes, watermelon, chocolate are just a few. He also loves to have his little bottom rubbed! He'll stick his bottom out and just let me rub! I so love all his kicks, punches, and rolls!  

I think I answered all the normal questions! Thanks for reading and I promise to update as we get closer!! 

Hello blogging world!

Well hello there blogging world! Yes, I caved and started my own blog... Why? I have no idea really. I wanted a place to keep family and friends up to date on how Aizen is doing (before and after he arrives) and a place for me to talk to myself (lol).
I know I've started  a little late in my pregnancy on keeping anyone updated but ya gotta start somewhere! Truth be told, I created this blog WEEKS ago but just now getting around to write a post :/ Sorry y'all! I look forward to writing more later. By the way, please bear with me; I'm very new to this blogging thing and I'm half hoping no one reads these anyways ;)
XOXO