Hudson Everett Dunlap is here!!!

Hudson Everett Dunlap made his grand entry into the world on December 18th, 2009 at 4:58pm. He weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

We were scheduled for an induction the morning of the 18th at 7 am due to "advanced cervical dilation" and my doctor being out of town the following week. I was 38 weeks and 5 days along! I still can't believe after all the problems I've had in the pregnancy that I made it that long. How amazing! So, on the morning of the 18th the hospital called and said they were too busy and they were going to have to postpone the induction. I was starting to think that after all of the struggles to keep this little boy in that we wouldn't even succeed at kicking him out, haha. They called back in a few hours and said to be at the hospital at 11 for the induction. Yeah!!!

After that everything happened pretty fast. They got me started on the induction meds and in a matter of a few hours I was contracting, dilated, they broke my water, and I got an epidural. However, Hudson wasn't tolerating the labor very well and his heart rate kept dropping. I was dilating and progressing very fast and they believe he just didn't have time to adjust. They turned of the induction medication and luckily I was still having enough contractions that it was time to start pushing! After about 40 minutes of pushing Hudson was here! It was such an amazing moment! He had a few problems adjusting to his new life outside the womb but it was just a matter of time before he was looking like a normal newborn.

He is an absolutely perfect little guy (I'm sure I'm not partial at all!) and we could not be more in love with our amazing holiday miracle! He is a wonderful little baby. He eats well, sleeps well, poops well, just an overall joy! We are enjoying every moment and are having a great time being new parents. He has serenaded us several times when changing diapers but we are slowly getting the hang of everything, and laughing at our mistakes along the way. We are so thankful to have him in our lives and all the months of bed rest are totally worth the healthy little boy that it gave us. We cannot thank God enough for this wonderful blessing he has given us.

Stopping medication!!!

So, this Sunday I will be 34 weeks! It is such a great milestone to reach and honestly, 3 months ago we never dreamed we would make it this far. (I think my doctor is a little surprised too!) What a blessing! At my doctors appointment this week she said everything is going as well as can be expected and our little boy seems to be doing really well. We had an ultrasound at 32 weeks and Hudson measured about 4 pounds! He's probably going to be a small baby but looks very healthy! She also surprised us by saying that Sunday I can stop my medications that I am on for pre-term labor. We weren't expecting that at all but she said at this point babies that are born do well and the benefits of the medication no longer out weigh the risks. Basically if Hudson tries to come no one is going to stop him! How exciting but scary! There is no way of knowing what will happen when I stop taking the meds. I have contractions even though I'm on the meds. So, the contractions may pick up which may or may not make me go into full labor. Or, I may not have much of a change at all. We'll see! It will be another 2-3 weeks before my cervix cerclage is removed and I shouldn't dilate until them. But, if I went into full labor they would have to remove the cerclage at that time. I'm also still stuck on bed rest for a few more weeks, sadly! We are hanging in there, getting more excited to meet Hudson sometimes in the next 6 weeks! If only he could tell us when he is coming. Andy is doing a great job balancing school, errands, cleaning, and taking care of me, Hudson, and all of our pets! I couldn't have done this without him!

Hudsons Room

So, Hudsons room is now completely finished! It required lots of help from our family since I am on bedrest. Andy was a trooper, and spent lots of time doing all of the things that I couldn't do. Both of our moms contributed by sewing, decorating, and organizing his stuff. It's bright, fun, and turned out exactly how I envisioned it! It is so relieving to have it finished, especially since Hudson seems so impatient and ready to come meet his family!

In other news I am 31 weeks now! We have made great progress since 22 weeks when I was in the hospital. Hudson seems to be doing great and growing. I have been having more contractions but they still seem to be responding pretty well to the medicine. The doctor did a test today that predicts the chance of the baby coming in the next two weeks and it was negative! So, it seems like Hudson will be staying put for at least a little while longer! Here is a pic of the growing belly:

3d/4d Ultrasound

Last Tuesday I had my weekly check-up at the perinatologist. Everything went very well. I don't have gestational diabetes, was mildly anemic, and Hudson seems to be growing and doing very well! He now weighs a whole 2 pounds, 1 ounce! The contractions have been at a minimal so everything is as good as can be expected. The office had a new ultrasound they were testing and thinking about buying so they used us as a guinea pig because Hudson was actually being really good! They did an ultrasound for almost an hour looking over every inch of the baby and gave us some great 3d pictures. It was so incredible to get a glance of his face and what he will look like. He is going to be so precious! I just need these next few months to pass quickly because we're all dying to meet him (but really want him to stay in for now!).

More Renovations

This blog is WAY overdue, but better late than never. We have another room in the house completely finished, yeah!!! It's probably our favorite room in the house to spend time in: the kitchen. I love the layout of the kitchen with the big island and the fireplace by the table. A little paint and some decorations and the kitchen is done! Just a few more rooms need a few more things done and the house will be complete. I can't wait!

Baby Hudson Update

It has been a while since I updated. You would think being on bed rest that I would be up to date on blogging, haha. It's been over three weeks since the initial hospital stay. I've had weekly check-ups at the specialist that have all gone pretty well! My cervix is a little thicker and the stitch they put in is holding up well. Hudson seems to be doing great, I think he is pretty oblivious to whats going on! He is growing and kicking away in there! I had a few days this week with several contractions so I went in on Wednesday for some tests and monitoring. The test predicts the chance of going into labor in the next two weeks and come back negative! They monitored me for a bit for contractions and sent me home for more bed rest. So, for now it seems Hudson is going to stay where he is and keep growing and maturing. We are so thankful for everyday he stays in because it puts us one day closer to delivering a healthy baby. Other than that my mom has been here for the past two weeks helping take care of me, cook, clean, run errands, and decorate the babies room. Andy started school last week and seems to be enjoying it!

Hospital Stay

What a crazy past week it has been! So, it all started last Tuesday when I went to the OB for a routine appointment and ultrasound. Due to a few pains I had been having the sonographer decided to check my cervix by ultrasound when I was there. Good thing she did! The ultrasound showed my cervix was getting really thin. So, they sent us straight to the hospital to be monitored for contractions and be evaluated by a perinatologist. I was started on anti-inflammatories for mild contractions and two days later we were transfered to another hospital in town for a small surgical procedure that placed a cerclage around my cervix to try to hold it together. The surgery went well and I was started on another medication to try to limit the contractions even more. They kept us over the weekend to be monitored and because the contractions had almost stopped we got to go home on Monday. I have strict bed rest, likely for the rest of the pregnancy, medication every three hours (yes, even in the middle of the night), and weekly appointments at the specialist. Everything seems to be going better but we are still not out of the clear yet! Please pray for us that Hudson can stay in for several more months! It has all been a very scary process but we are beyond blessed that the problem was caught and it seems to be responding pretty well to treatment. Next week I will be 24 weeks so we are slowly getting closer to a safer point to deliver. We cannot say enough thanks to our wonderful friends and family for all of the calls, thoughts, prayers, and support. You guys are truly wonderful! You have no idea how much everything means to us. Please keep praying!

Hudson's Room

We haven't made too much progress in the babies room but he does have a crib now. I wanted something simple, kind of modern, and really durable. When we found this one I knew it was the one. I absolutely love it! Here is a picture of the Duke helping Andy put it together, and me, Kobe, and Lela napping while he worked, haha:

Everyone has been asking me what color/theme the babies room is going to be decorated in. Its going to be done in kind of bright colors. Part of the wall decorations are going to be some bright colored photos of animals from the zoo that my dad took. Andy and I made the big wall decoration and it is the main theme for the room. So here is a picture that describes the room the best...

The elephant on the wall isn't quite finished yet, we have a few more finishing touches to add. We made it together. Andy cut the wood and we painted all of those circles together. Didn't it turn out cute?! I've ordered fabric to make the bedding because I couldn't find any that I like. In other baby news he has a first name...Hudson! We're still working on the middle name. We're now half way there...21 weeks! I started feeling the baby kick about 17 weeks, but he has definitely become more active in the past few weeks. I feel him all the time now and just this week Andy was able to feel him kick too! Its such a weird and awesome feeling! Heres a recent pic of the growing belly:

Other than that we have registered at Target, Babies-R-Us, and Wal-mart. The majority of the stuff is at Target, they seemed to have the most things we liked for the best value. Andy was excited to get to use the scanning gun (I had to keep my eye on him, he gets kind of scan happy!). We had a fun time testing strollers and picking out all of Hudsons supplies! Man, babies sure do require a lot of stuff! Heres a picture of Andy while we were testing strollers in Babies-R-Us:

Other than that we're just working around the house, trying to finish our "renovating" before Andy heads to school on Sept. 8th. We've enjoyed lots of visitors lately: Andy's parents, Martha & Steven, and my dad and Cathy this weekend. We attempted to go see the broadway play Chicago (which I have been dying to see for years!) when dad and Cathy were here this weekend. The play was showing at this awesome outdoor theatre in Kansas City. Too bad it stormed the whole time. We stayed under the awning and watched part of the play but gave up and left at intermission. But, we had a great visit anyway!

It's a... BOY!

We had an ultrasound on Friday and found out the baby is a boy! We are SO excited to finally find out what the sex is!  Everything is going well and he is a healthy little boy.  He weighs a whole 7 ounces right now.  Now we need to pick out a name. I'm now 18 weeks along, so almost half way.  I'm feeling much better than I was in the first trimester thats for sure!  We spent the weekend in Branson celebrating our fifth anniversary that is next week and shopping for baby stuff.  It was great to get away for the weekend!

So, this is a very exciting day for us... we finally have one room completely remodeled/decorated room in our new house.  Very sad considering we've lived here for over 4 months!  I guess having a baby on the way is great motivation to get the house finished!  It also helps that Andy is at home now.  There were only a few minor wounds encountered in refinishing the basement and Duke only played in the paint tray once.  All the dogs do have white ears at the moment from rubbing against wet doors, haha.  Not too bad for us!  The biggest chore of the basement was removing the beautiful maroon carpet and staining the concrete, not a process I ever recommend!  And after the basement flooded about 5 times due to various reasons (which we believe are all under control) the room is now fully functional and turned out pretty great! Here is a before picture and a few after pictures:

Where to start?

So, Andy and I currently live outside of Kansas City in a small town called Raymore, MO.  We bought our first house which has been exciting but a small disaster, everything is slowly working out though.  This is a picture from the day we moved in (yes, it is April but snowing).  We have 5 acres and a barn with the house.  We are still busy updating, painting, and decorating the house but we are making good progress.  We are getting familiar with the area and like it a lot better than Louisiana so far.  We're still not convinced that its better than Arkansas, but it will be great for the next four years.  Andy had been working for a chemical testing company called Dionex but is now my handyman/painter/builder for the next two months until he starts to school, haha.  In September he will be starting to Cleveland Chiropractic College in Overland Park, KS.  It is a four year program and he hopes to get an extra certification to allow him to adjust a

nimals as well.  I graduated from LSU Veterinary School in May and am now practicing at Banfield, a small animal clinic here in town. I love what I do very much, its an exciting job that brings new cases and challenges every day.  I couldn't imagine doing anything else! On July 30th we will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary!  I can't believe we've been married that long and can't wait for the years to come. Anyone who knows us well knows we both love animals very much, which is quite apparent with the numerous pets we own.  We have four quarter horses: Shadow, Gypsy, Tonto, and Rigby that we love to ride on trails or occasionally show in western pleasure.  We have 3 dogs - two cocker spaniels: Duke and Leyla, and a rhodesian ridgeback: Kobe. To round up the menagerie: a Lamacha-Alpine cross goat named

 Penny Layne and two rotten barn cats: Gweneviere and Biscuit.  We love our animals and couldn't i

magine life without them.  They keep us laughing, entertained, and occasionally annoyed. Most of you know this by now, but the most exciting news in our life: we're patiently awaiting the arrival of our first child due on December 29th!  Here's a picture of the little growing bump (or "beer gut" as I refer to it) when I was 12 weeks along.  We have an ultrasound on July 24th to find out if its a boy or girl!  Hopefully the little parasite will cooperate for us!  If we got to choose Andy would pick a boy and I would pick a girl, so either way someone will be happy, haha.  We are beyond excited and can't wait for December to get here and meet the little baby!  So, this is our life in a nutshell and a little update of what has been going on in these past fews busy months for us.  I promise to do my best at keeping things updated!

Ultrasounds and Heartbeat

So people have been asking to see some of our ultrasound pictures so we got super creative (and a little bit corny) today and put together a slide show of the pictures with a little sound clip of the babies heartbeat.  (I had some small complications in the beginning so they followed me closely with ultrasounds, thats why there are so many.  Not to worry though, everything is fine!)