It's a southern thing

Around the Hewett household we LOVE us some summa time.  I mean, I would be A okay with Summer time all year round if we could have it.  One thing we like to do not only during summer time, but spring and fall as well is to grill out.  Whether we are grilling with family, friends, or just our little family of 3, we can't get enough.  I could eat something grilled EVERY night and not complain one bit.  So, lately we've been grilling out quite a bit.  Here are 2 of my favorite meals my personal chef, Daniel has made us this week.  They were both phenomenal!!!

Grilled chicken with grilled zucchini, squash, and mushrooms

 Grilled mahi mahi on angel hair pasta...my personal ALL TIME favorite, hands down. 

And they are both healthy, light summery meals.  They are easy peasy (for those of you with a 6 week old), quick, and oh so yummy!

And while mommy and daddy are soaking up the sights and smells of grilling during the summer time, little man is too! ;)  Gotta start 'em young, right?!



I'm not sure if people up north enjoy summer and grilling as much as us southerners do or not, but if I had to guess, I would say grilling out with 1 or 15 people and loving every minute of it, is definitely a southern thing. Just sayin.  :)

Life after baby...

has been crazy busy.  June has been a month of adjusting to parenthood with lack of sleep and still trying to live a sane life during the day time hours.  But, it's truly worth it and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Here are a few highlights from our fun and busy month.

Daniel celebrated his 1st Father's Day

Sunday, June 19, 2011

 So sweet...

 It also turned out to be our very first Sunday going to church with Hampton! :)

 Proud Papa with Hampton on Father's Day

Oddly enough, my 28th birthday ended up being on the night of our High School 10 year reunion, so Daniel took me out for my birthday dinner on the night before.  We went to La Parilla...SO yummy!  For once in my life, I didn't snap a picture of us that night so I'm a little bummed about that, BUT I have plenty from my actual birthday night at the reunion to make up for it. ;)

 Daniel and I at my 10 year reunion at the Art Museum

The museum was where we had our wedding reception so it brought back some sweet memories :)

 Even though I still can't believe it was already time for our 10 year, it was a very fun night where even more memories were made with good friends and classmates I haven't seen in a long time. A good time was had by all!

NHS Class of 2001 

Where's Anna?  Can you see me?  I'm to the left behind the girl sitting in the chair. haha

Not only was it my birthday AND 10 year reunion, but Hampton spent the night off for the first time!!  Yep, that's right, he spent the night with Mimi and Papa at 3 weeks old!  It was a much needed night of adult interaction, but better than that we got 7 hours of UNINTERRUPTED sleep!!! :)  Those of you that have had children understand why that word is in all caps!  It was a glorious night to say the least.

The next morning we picked up Hampton (which did great they said!) and headed for a week long beach trip.  We stayed with Daniel's parents at Emerald Beach Resort in Panama City.  The rest of his extended family also were there for a week staying in a house.  We had some much needed R & R and enjoyed our first beach trip as a family of 3! :) 

 I was so afraid he was going to become a "lap baby" by the time the week was over.  As you can imagine, between Daniel's mom, grandmother, and 3 aunts, there were very few times when you didn't see this...

 Hampton with his great grandmother, Mamaw

 Even though he didn't get in the water, I had to show him in his first swimsuit. 

It's blue and white seersucker!

 And of course before leaving, we had to take some of the infamous "all white" family beach pictures...

And we returned home on Saturday, July 2 which was Hampton's 1 month old birthday!  My how time flies...





Start off where I left off...

Well, if you're wondering if I was EVER going to fulfill my blogging duties again, I finally am.  As most of you already know, thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook, I've been a tad bit distracted over the past 5 weeks with this little guy...

Hampton Woods Hewett, June 2, 2011

7:34 a.m. 8 lbs. 12 oz. 21 inches

First of all, let me just say, I just read my last post and it was so fun to read because even though these past 5 weeks have flown by, I still vividly remember being miserably pregnant at 40 weeks and thinking this child was never going to come!  I also laughed at the fact of knowing now what I didn't know then.  My favorite line was reading about the cervadil when I said, "There is a possibility that it won't do anything."  WOW!!  Boy, was I wrong.  This is how it all went down (in a short version)  haha. Yeah right.  The term short version is not in my vocabulary even though I really wish it was sometimes.  Anyhow, the times are approximate since I was pretty much out of it for about 48 hours!  I was admitted to SEAMC about 4:00 on Weds. June 1.  After getting all settled in my room, the nurses came in and started my IV which took them about 30 minutes because my veins apparently are horrible.  Next thing I knew Dr. Scott came in and went ahead and put in the cervadil.  Well, the cervadil had basically a negative effect on my body and it started working way too much way too soon.  The point of the cervadil was to soften my cervix "overnight" and then they would start pitocin the next morning.  However, in a couple of hours, the cervadil had kicked in and I was having contractions so hard it made Hampton's heartbeat bottom out.  That's all it took.  They took the cervadil out immediately.  By now, I was on some really good pain medicine for the contractions and I didn't know what was going on.  In the meantime, they had also taken blood and sent it to the lab.  Dr. Scott came back in after taking the cervadil out and said lab results showed that my platelet count was extremely low (as in 72,000 when normal is 150,000) and of course, I had NO idea what this meant.  He explained to me that sometimes that happens to women during pregnancy and it meant that I would not be able to have an epidural or spinal for natural delivery or c-section due to the risk of bleeding.  "Excuse me.  WHAT did you just say???  I know I'm pretty doped up and everything, but I know my hearing is still good and I think you just told me I couldn't have an epidural because of some kind of platelet count."  I would give anything to have seen my face at that moment because I'm pretty sure it was priceless.  So, then he tells Daniel and I our options: for them to start pitocin the next morning and try to have a vaginal delivery with IV pain medicine, but would not numb me and wouldn't be as strong or have a c-section, but with general anesthesia.  And by the way, at this point, Dr. Patel had already described my cervix as a "stone cervix" and I was still not dilated.  Not even 1 centimeter!!!  Next, he tells us we can "discuss" what I want to do and let him know.  These were my next words, "oh, there's nothing to discuss.  I'm not a natural delivery kind of girl.  I will definitely have a c-section."  And that I did.  Even though the birth of my son was not your "typical" birth situation and not AT ALL what I had pictured or expected, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I knew God was still in control, it was His grand plan, and that was all that mattered.  After the cervadil finally began to wear off, I was able to get some much needed rest that night.  The next morning, June 2, bright and early Dr. Patel (my Dr.) came in to say hello and let me know he was there and that I would be taken back around 7.  LOTS of emotions at this point.  If the word describes any kind of emotion I probably felt it.  Excited, anxious, scared, nervous, happy, sad, etc. You get the point.  I'm not sure what the saddest part for me was, the fact Daniel couldn't be back there in the OR because of them having to do general anesthesia or me not being able to see or hold my son the moment he arrived in the world.  But, I thought to myself, as long as he is a healthy baby, I should have no worries.  At 7:00 they came in to get me and by 7:34 we had a perfect little angel.  Thankfully, one of the sweet nurses took pictures on my camera the whole time from him being born to them giving him to Daniel for the first time to his first bath and everything else they do when they got him back to the room.  I'm pretty certain that was a God send because He knows how OCD I am about taking pictures, much less of my first son being born.  Here are just a FEW of the ones she took.

Dr. Patel and Dr. Scott

 Welcome to the world Hampton!

 Everyone seeing him for the first time and proud Daddy!!

Sweet feet!

First bath...don't think he liked it too much! :(

When it felt like the world stopped turning...

Mommy getting to see him for the first time! :)

Our first official family photo! :)

We were both released 48 hours later and I've had a fairly easy recovery.  Even though I'm still recovering some, I almost feel like my own self again.  I'm looking forward to my 6 week post-op appointment next week.

One last blog before I become a MOMMY!!!

I had my 40 week appointment this morning at 10:45.  Hampton is still hanging out all comfy in my tummy and I was still not dilated at. all.  So, I will be admitted this afternoon at 3:00 and they will begin with Cervadil which will hopefully help me begin to dilate.  There is a possibility that it won't do anything.  If not, they will start pitocin in the early morning hours and then we will go from there.  If that still doesn't get him out then they will do a c-section sometime tomorrow afternoon/night.  Dr. Patel said he won't torture me too late if the pitocin doesn't work pretty quickly.  So, once again, it is pretty much a waiting game...STILL.  Which shouldn't be too hard for me since I've been doing a whole lot of waiting in the past few weeks!!  What's another day at this point?!  I'm feeling a lot of emotions all at once...excited, nervous, terrified, happy.  My feelings change every few minutes.  I know that probably sounds crazy.   I think the anticpation of it all is killing me the most, but I just keep reminding myself that we will be leaving with our precious baby boy when it is all over with and that's what makes my heart smile the most.  The funny thing is, my first doctors visit to confirm I was pregnant they said my due date was June 1.  As weeks went by they changed it to May 28 because he was measuring bigger.  And here we are on June 1 and more than likely, his birthday will be June 2.  I guess he already wanted to be fashionably late.  We will see. 

40 loooooong weeks ago...

How we told our parents we were expecting! :) 



Prayers are greatly appreciated as we wait the arrival of our little blessing!  :)

Hughes' afternoon

First of all, I had my 39 week appointment yesterday and still NOTHING.  I will spare you of "details" on here of course, but he had to do an ultrasound to make sure he wasn't breech!!!  Thank God he was not, just has decided to obviously climb back up a bit which is NOT what a 39 week pregnant woman wants to hear. ;/  I'll leave it at that.  Next Wednesday is my 40 week appointment at 10:45.  If Hampton has decided not to grace us with his presence yet or I have not progressed still at that point, I will get to go eat one final GOOD meal for lunch and be admitted that afternoon for them to get the ball (or shall I say boy!) rolling. ha!  So, in the meantime, still waiting...

On to today's events...
Believe it or not, tomorrow is Hughes' last day of Kindergarten!!!  Wow.  Where has the time gone?!?  He should be toddling around still, right?!  Exactly what I thought, but not so much.  So, this morning I thought, why don't I spend a little one on one special aunt and nephew time with the little fella before MY little fella arrives?!  So, I picked him up at 1:15 and we headed to see Rio.  And yes, I was the ONLY crazy pregnant woman coming to see a movie 2 days before her due date.  I was having some contractions throughout the morning and told Dana to keep her phone with her at all times...juuuust in case.  "My water broke while I was at the movie with my 6 year old nephew."  Now wouldn't that be a fun story to tell?!?  Haha  However, it didn't happen and we both enjoyed the movie!!

But, of course, we couldn't just go to a movie and go back home afterwards, now could we?!  So, we headed to the park to play a little while before heading home.  He had fun playing and I had fun watching him and thinking about how much he has grown.  He is SO incredibly sweet and I am so glad we got to spend some quality time together before life gets a little more hectic. :)

As promised...Hampton's room finished!

Well folks, unfortanately for myself, it looks like there will be a little more sitting. waiting. wishing. on our little man.  With so much anticipation, I had my 38 week appointment this morning annnnd...nothing.  Ahhh...are you kidding me?!  Oh. well.  I keep reminding myself (as hard as it may be) that Hampton will come in God's timing.  God's perfect timing.  The perfect day and the perfect time.  And when that moment comes, I KNOW every second that felt like a lifetime while waiting for him to arrive, will disappear. 

My sweet and loving husband and I at 38 weeks

However, in the meantime, we FINALLY have finished Hampton's room.  Complete.  Can't believe it, but DONE.  I will leave you with a few pictures of the finished product just waiting for the bundle of joy to fill the void in the room.  I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as we enjoyed getting it all put together and ready.

 The cross daddy made for Hampton!  :)

 The unfinished product.  This will hang on the hospital door and once he is born his weight, height, date, etc. will be painted on the bottom and I will hang it in his room.  Thank you Lindsay for the fabulous art work!  I can't wait for it to be complete!! :)



Sitting. Waiting. Wishing.

The title explains this whole post verbatim. 

While I sit. wait. and wish. (oh, so patiently!) on this little fella...

I've been doing a WHOLE LOT of this...

Don't get me wrong here...I wouldn't give anything up for a relaxing day at the pool, but when you're 38 weeks pregnant, very uncomfortable, can't sleep at night, can't hardly eat because you have NO more room in or anywhere near your stomach, and about to JUMP OUT OF YOUR SKIN to meet your itty bitty I find myself reevaluating wanting any more R & R at the pool. 

Enough whining though for now...I had my 37 week appointment yesterday and Dr. Patel did an ultrasound because Hampton was measuring bigger than expected.  Let's just say 'ole boy is HEALTHY and hasn't missed any food I've consumed in the last 9 months apparently in which I am NOT complaining (just a little nervous for delivery!).  As of now, he is 38 weeks and weighs 7 lbs. 10 oz.  So, as Dr. Patel put it, "it's just a waiting game at this point."  I have 2 weeks left with another appointment next Thursday where he will check to see if I've made any progress unless Hampton decides to stop being stubborn and comes before that.  Geez.  Any day now Hampton.  Any day.  Needless to say, we are still so thankful that he is perfectly healthy and could not be any more excited to meet our little guy.  My grandmother, Mama Hughes', birthday is next Wednesday, May 18.  I can so do that.  And it would be really special for Hampton to share his birthday with his great grandmother. (I'm actually secretly praying for this day).  We shall see.  Until then though, I will continue to sit. wait. and wish. :)

Oh, and any prayers that he will grace us with his presence in the next day or so are welcomed and greatly appreciated at this time!!!