On the road with Dad

I got this in my email this morning.

I Love Bathtime!

The one constant we can count on every day is that Porter will love his bath. You can just take him in the bathroom and lay him on a towel and he gets happy. Sometimes we have just given him a bath to end the fussiness. He might like it because he knows that he gets to eat right after his bath.
Also, I have seen a picture with a face like this somewhere else..... Maybe my baby book. I'll have to get Mama to scan a 29 year old picture that looks just like this. He does not have my brow, though. That's Jared's.

Adjusting...

We are 10 weeks into this parenting thing now, and are completely re-learning how to do everything, because now we have to do it with this little thing.  We went over to the Mason's house this afternoon--something we used to do all the time--for the first time since Porter was born.   We had to wait until Porter was fed, clothed, happy, and with a clean diaper before we even thought about walking out the door, and have plenty of whatever it would take to feed him, cloth him, keep him happy, and clean his booty when we left.  We took 2 cars because Porter goes to bed at the same time as my nannie and pappie--well, maybe a little later--and I was going to end up leaving the party for Leigh's birthday right about the time everyone was just getting there, and definitely before the food was ready.  We had a good time, but Porter was tired of the party about 6:30pm, so I packed him up and headed home.  Without supper.  Now, anyone who has met me once or twice would have figured out in that short a time that I like to eat.  I really like to eat.  I enjoy it like a hobby.  Sometimes I eat because I'm hungry, but most of the time I eat because things taste good and it's fun.  Thank God for good genes.  And stretchy jeans.  Not eating like I used to might be the biggest adjustment of all.  The change in my sleep allowance is the biggest.  Eating comes in a close second.  Porter has sucked the life out of my appetite.  Too bad I don't have my pre-pregnancy body with this appetite.

Another sunrise

This is another sunrise from work. It's prettier than the one the other day.
I'm going to have to bring my real camera to work one day and see if I can get a good picture.

Porter's Birth Day

So here is the L&D post. It took a few days to get together, but finally it is finished....

One of the last known images of me while I was pregnant. Take a good look...... You may never see me this way again. Not that I don't love Porter to death, but I just need to have a little distance from the pregnancy memories and get a little more sleep.

I guess the "labor" probably started on Tuesday, November 11th. I woke up and felt like I was going to puke. Jared and some of our friends had been sick over the weekend, so I thought I must be coming down with what they had. I had my 38 week prenatal visit that day, so I had to get up and get going. After I was up, I didn't feel as bad, so I just blew it off and didn't mention it at my appointment. My regular doctor was on vacation (fine time for me to go into labor), so I saw Dr Bodie instead. He's a family friend and is super nice and an excellent doctor, so I didn't mind. He "checked" me and said there was no way in hell he would even discuss induction. I wasn't favorable.... It could be a week or 3..... Go home and kick your feet up.... The going home was going to happen, but not the kick my feet up part. I had an agenda for the week. I had taken maternity leave starting the previous Saturday, and was going to use the next week to go into nesting overdrive---clean out the cabinets, and even tackle the dreaded junk drawer(s) in the kitchen.

Back to Tuesday. I spent the rest of the day sleeping on the couch and feeling pretty miserable. I didn't even eat anything (very strange for me). Jared had to wake me up that night to tell me to go to bed. I tossed and turned for several hours, couldn't get comfortable, and still felt queasy. About 11:30pm I finally decided I would medicate myself, so I took tylenol with benadryl and sat on the edge of the tub eating rolaids until I felt like I had taken an adequate dose for my illness.

I woke up around 3:30am and felt a little funny---and I'll just leave it at that. Soon thereafter I came to the conclusion that my "water" had broken (that looks weird seeing it in writing). I promptly went back to bed and told Jared. For the next 30 minutes we layed in bed in the dark not sleeping. Then we got up and did the dishes and then we went back to bed again. Around 6:00 am I called my mom and told her not to get dressed for work, but for baby birthing. Then I called Dr Owens at home and woke her up from her vacation. Then I got a shower while Jared packed our stuff (interesting) and we headed to the hospital. Dr Bodie saw me in the screening room and confirmed what we already knew, and we were on our way to a room for and epidural and pitocin. By the end of the day (5:05pm) I looked like this.....

This was right before I completely unwrapped him to survey everything.
Daddy getting acquainted with his new full time job......


You know how everybody has that aunt that smells like moth balls??? Well, this is Porter's "Aunt Moth Ball."

Can't leave out Nana....

Ready for the first ride home.....

First bath.

Sunrise at USA Medical Center

I drive to work in the dark, go to room 722 for checkout and then head to the patient floors to get started. When I walk out of room 722 and go toward the stairs, this is what I see most mornings. We have a beautiful sunrise. It always makes you feel a little better. I've taken lots of pictures of this view for the last 3 1/2 years, but none of them ever come out as pretty as the real thing.

Today is the day!

No, I'm not Mel Fisher. I'm just starting a blog. As I am still miles from my family, and there is a constant ebb and flow of people who are in our daily lives, it's just time. Mostly it's to show off Porter though. The creature has turned our lives upside down quicker and more than anything else, and much more than we could have imagined. Porter Ingram Harden was born on November 12, 2008 at 5:05pm in Mobile, AL. I'll have to post an L&D post at some point (sparing the TMI details) to catch everyone up. Otherwise, life is exactly as it has been for the last 3 1/2 years---we live in Daphne, AL. I am a general surgery resident at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, and Jared is an account manager for Hospira Worldwide. This will continue for another 18 months, and then it's Andalusia or bust. We will be moving back home for me to join 2 other general surgeons in private practice. So, here it is---our life for all the world to see from January 20th forward.