1/6/02--Debi "passes" the home pregnancy test and calls the next day to set a doctor appointment.
1/10/02--To the doctor.
Debi calls from the car to say that the test came up positive. Shea was a
little disappointed when Debi got home. She thought Debi was going to the
doctor to take the baby out. This is Shea wondering why the baby is still
in Mama's belly. It's gonna be a long nine months for Shea.
1/31/02--Doctor appointment. The only thing they did was a blood test to check for abnormalities. Should have the results in about a week. They only call in the case of something bad, so hopefully we won't hear from them. (Feb 7th...one week and no call. That's a good sign.)
2/28/02--Doctor appointment. Shea and I stayed home. (Who's awake for a 9:00am appt?) All is going well. Even with Debi having trouble sleeping, they said that the baby's heartbeat sounded strong.
3/4/02--Week 15
3/28/02--Doctor visit. Checked heartbeat, which was fine. Baby was active and kicking. Shea wasn't excited. Gained four pounds. Complained about nausea (no vomiting), and they gave a prescription for a vitamin supplement.
4/25/02--Doctor visit. It's
no longer an "it". He's definitely a boy! Ultrasound technicians
can't always tell the sex of the baby because of the position of the baby.
"G3" moved around so much that there was no hiding his boy pieces.
Looks like we've got another gymnast on our hands. He appears to be healthy
and active. He also has a freakishly large head and sucks his thumb. We were
told before that these were signs of above average intelligence, and Shea
seems to be evidence of that. His heart rate was normal at 153. Debi gained
another four pounds, making a total of eight so far. Debi has been sleeping
a little better lately, and her nausea has disappeared, which has helped her
appetite. The ultrasound showed an estimated due date of September 11th (no
terrorist jokes, please), which is about a week later than earlier predicted.
That wasn't enough to change the "official" due date.
5/16/02--Doctor visit. Measured the baby. Checked heartrate. Did a diabetes test. Checked Debi's weight. Everything came up fine. Debi and the baby are progressing normally. Debi is sure that she's much larger with this pregnancy than with Shea, but her weight doesn't reflect it. The results of the diabetes test will be given at the next appt.
6/13/02--Doctor visit. All is well. Debi gained 7 pounds since her last appt for a total of 18 overall. She should start gaining like a Jenny Craig flunkie now. She hardly gained a pound until her third trimester with Shea. The diabetes test came up negative. Measured the baby and Debi's belly, and checked his heartrate. Lil' Garrett had the hiccups today during the exam. Also, he's been very active and kicking quite a bit lately. Debi has been having leg cramps. The Dr advised eating two bananas a day and calcium supplements. So far, so good.
7/18/02--Doctor visit. Everybody keeps asking Debi if she's about to give birth. When she says that she's due in early September, they ask if she's carrying twins. Nope. The other comment she gets is that she's carrying the baby very low--and getting lower all the time. Well, the midwife did say that she's starting to drop. Little Garrett (that has a familiar ring to it) is already head down. He's approximately 5 lbs and should weigh about 7 lbs at birth. Debi has gained 26 lbs so far. They said that they don't worry until somebody hits 50 lbs. Debi gained 40 lbs when she carried Shea.
8/2/02--Doctor visit. Not much news from this short appt. A couple of tests. They said that she's almost to the point (one week from now) where if she goes into labor, they won't stop it. Since we're getting so close, they want us to go ahead and preregister at the hospital to make check-in go much faster. The statistics say that most babies are born between 37 and 42 weeks, with the first child taking longer than the others. We'll be entering the 37th week when we go to our next doctor appt. In the next week or so, we'll be going to mom's house to pull the baby stuff out of storage. (The next house will definitely have a basement.)
8/15/02--Doctor visit. Gained 2 pounds for a total of 28. They still expect the baby to be about 7 to 7 1/2 pounds at birth. The nurse said that you're "real" due date can be anytime after 37 weeks, which is tomorrow, so he could come anytime now. Next week they will start checking to see if she's dialated. Appts will be weekly from here on out.
8/22/02--Doctor visit. Checked for dilation. She's not dilated yet. Debi said that the baby hadn't been moving around too much lately (a bad thing), so they hooked up a fetal monitor and found that he was moving around just as he was supposed to be.
8/29/02--Doctor visit. Hooked up the fetal monitor and said that all is well. No dilation yet.
9/4/02--Felt some mild pains that could be the early signs of labor. Finshed packing suitcase.
9/5/02--Doctor visit. Dialated 3cm. Felt the baby's head. Said that Debi wasn't drinking enough water. Midwife was excited and said that we're having a baby soon!
9/5/02 8:20pm--I think she's starting labor. She's starting to have regular pains about 45 minutes to an hour apart.
9/5/02 9:30pm--Debi and Shea have gone to bed. Let's see if they stay asleep all night.
9/6/02 4:10am--This is it, baby! The contractions woke Debi up. Contractions are four minutes apart and we're getting ready to go to the hospital! Soon after we call Debi's mom to come sit with Shea and load up the Suburban.
9/6/02 4:45am--Leaving for the hospital. Contractions are two minutes apart. During the trip Debi felt the urge to push. I turned on the hazzard lights and floored it. Came to a stop then ran a red light in front of a cop who never batted an eye.
9/6/02 5:15am--Arrive at the hospital. Contractions are one minute apart and Debi's water broke while walking in. Debi opted for the epidural soon after. When they checked the dilation, we were disappointed when she was only dilated about 6 cm. But unlike last time, she progressed well. Finally they said it was time to push. Debi pushed for about one hour and fifty minutes.
9/6/02 11:56am--He's here! Garrett Edward Kirkland III weighed 8 pounds 3.5 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.
9/7/02 4:00pm--We're home now. And that's about all I have the energy to write.
Check back soon for the new Garrett
Page. I'll post plenty of pictures in the next day or two.
