The first pregnancy was hands down the hardest. Looking back, it's good that it was the worst while Tom could take care of me and we didn't have little ones to manage. My morning sickness was miserable, to the point I used to crawl on the floor sometimes because I was too dizzy to stand. I once went NINE DAYS without washing my hair. If you've had morning sickness, that's not shocking. If you haven't, it sounds disgusting, I know. But it happened. Someone told me, "I didn't know you could look so bad." And she wasn't trying to be mean, it was an honest statement. I didnt know I could look that bad either. I would come home at lunch to take a nap and sometimes I wouldn't even make it to the couch, just collapsed in the entry way, on the tile, and would sleep till my alarm went off. I was a gym rat before pregnancy and completely expected to continue that. I was totally clueless. There was absolutely no chance of "pushing through it" or any of the other things people might suggest. I was doing good just to walk down the hall at work. Thankfully it passed and the rest of the pregnancy was pretty uneventful. I never felt that great but well enough to function. We moved twice during that time, so Tom did lots of lifting while I did lots of pointing about where things should go. That is also a reason our house never felt like it was super organized. I was working and pregnant when we moved in here and things have only gotten busier since then. But that is changing. The nesting around here is OUT.OF.CONTROL.
My vision of how things would go during labor compared to how they actually went is laughable. Harris was born December 1, so it was right at the end of college football season. OU was playing in the Big 12 Championship in San Antonio that night (we had great tickets that we clearly didn't use). The SEC championship was also that day, so I thought I would just kick it in the hospital and watch that game, probably have the baby sometime in the afternoon, and be all settled in by kickoff at 8 to watch OU win the Big 12. We'd have dinner, the baby would be sleeping, and it would just be a relaxing time with family. Ignorance really is bliss.
That is not how things went down.
The morning was ok, pitocin got going and my OB suggested I get my epidural right off the bat because there was "no need to have any pain if you're getting an epidural anyway." Her logic sounded great to me so I got my epidural about 10 am. It made me sick. I was nauseous and queasy the rest of the time. And irritable. Seriously, poor Tom. It had been a long 38 weeks for both of us. Things progressed slowly and there was threat of a c-section at one point. Aaaaaaagh! After 16 hours of nauseating labor, a c-section????? You must be joking. Thankfully, he was born at 9:53 pm. Whew!
He was perfect, 7 lbs, 8 oz, 20 inches long. In the end, the only thing that mattered was a healthy baby and we were incredibly blessed. It seems like yesterday and forever ago all at the same time. Holding him for the first time was surreal. And so was changing his diaper. It was the first diaper I ever changed and it ended up requiring a change of clothes for both of us, plus all new linens for his bassinet.
Also, our house has not been this clean since. And I think this might be the ONLY pregnancy picture of me in existence.
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| The night before he was born. |
I would like to point out that the hat he's wearing in that pic is a 6-9 month hat and it was snug. We sort of shoved it on there. And the chair Tom is sitting in folded out in to a bed. I remember thinking that it looked more comfortable than my bed and wanting to trade. Then I spent the night in the hospital with Harris last year. I was mistaken. That chair is more comfortable than the tile floor, probably, but nothing else.
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| Harris William Goolsby and Dad. |
My sister took some pics when he was two weeks old. Thank you Sista! I still love them! Even at two weeks, he was a solid little guy.
It's fun to think back on that time when we were a family of three. Tom took two weeks of work
and we just sat around and looked at Harris, basically. It was a sweet, special time. It's amazing how your priorities and view of the world change so instantaneously. And it's awesome to see your spouse change in the same ways and for the same reason. That was one sheltered newborn.
I'll have to write about round two next.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:16
He's gorgeous! Congrats to you and your sweet family!
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