One Week into the Miracle

Grayson is 1 Week Old exactly today.

Some people talk about how the first week is always the hardest, but I disagree. Only 7 days, and this has already been an amazing experience. Grayson is such a great baby. I know people would like say, "Oh just wait...the fun hasnt begun yet", as an attempt to try to scare me or make me worry that things are going to start to get really hard and they make it all sound so negative....it doesn't get to me though. Preparing for parenthood, I knew that some nights would be very long and some days would be hard, so I am prepared for it and not at all scared about it. Even if Grayson does start to become more fussy or things get a little harder, it will not bring me down and I will not be negative about it.

This is parent hood people, EMBRACE IT. All of it.

Week by week, month by month, things will be changing...Grayson will be changing, so the way I see it, I am going to take in every little funny face, whimper and cry, nap times and tummy times, poopy diapers and spit ups...every litte thing because one day he isn't going to need the attention that he needs now and he won't need us to take care of him the way he needs now. To change his diapers, and hold him through the night while he cries (if he begins to do that)....to me...that is an honor and I should be so thankful that God has blessed me and trusted me to care for a such a precious life.

I believe every parent should feel that way. I think that if every parent felt that way, and continued to keep that mindset through the late nights and frustrations, things would be so much easier and they wouldnt feel so stressed.

Yes, of course, every parent...including myself, is going to feel like they dont know what they are doing, or that they are not fit for parenthood...but that is completely normal and I think we can all agree in that feeling only last a moment..yes it seems like it last a lifetime and we get overwhelmed with that feeling...but it doesnt have to be that way. The hard times make us stronger. It might put momentary strains on marriages, but if handled the right way, it will only make that marriage stronger, and as soon as that stressful moment is over with you realize that you just overcame another obstacle -together. That is something to be proud of. My husband and I have grown so much closer this past week than I could have ever imagined. And I know that we will continue to grow so strong and so close as husband and wife and as friends and partners...so I am not scared of anything to come. I am not in this alone. My husband shares the same attitude I do when it comes to our new life and parenthood that I know we will never fail.

I say:

Just breathe. No matter what is going on, take a deep breath, look at the beautiful little baby, and smile....you are holding a miracle.

One week down, and I cannot wait for each day, week, month and year that is to come.

Grayson Goes to the Dcotor

On March 21st Grayson had his first trip to the doctor.

I have to say, that was a pretty fun experience.

It was just simple check up to make sure he was doing well after delivery...no biggy.

We arrived at Peds and the nurse took us into a room, had us take off his diaper to weigh him ---he was 6lbs 14oz, almost back up to his birth weight.

When she left the room, we put his diaper back on him and laid him on the table to wait for the doctor. We were just hanging out playing with the little guy when we heard the sounds of the poopy diaper. Zak lifted him up to see that he had pooped outside of his diaper and all over the paper that covers the treatment table, and soaked through that paper onto the actual treatment table.

It was hilarious.

We couldnt stop laughing.

We realized when we put his diaper on, we did not pull it up high enough in the back because I guess we figured he would taking it back off again.

...I am wanting to crack up right now just thinking about it...

Zak was rushing to change his diaper while I pulled off the soiled paper and cleaned the treatment table all before the nurse or doctor came back in, even though I am sure that wasnt the first time that has happened in that office :p

That a boy Grayson!

As crazy and gross as it all sounds, it was the perfect first experience at the doctor...at least for our family. We loved that. Maybe we are weird...I dont know.

Grayson is doing well though the doctor said, Gaining his weight back. Had good strength in his back and arm muscles. Skin is looking good. His tear ducts are a little clogged but they said that is simply treated by warm cloths and gently massaging the eye. But he is "perfect" the doctor said.

I couldn't agree more :)

We have his 2 week check up on April 1st. So we will see how he is doing then!

My St. Patricks Day Grayson!

It has been a few days since I have posted on here but I have been busy busy having a baby! I checked into the hospital Tuesday the 16th at 3:31am and checked out of the hospital Friday the 19th at 11:30am. So I was unable to get online, and have been cherishing every little moment getting him settled into our home since then.

I thought I would share our story of the labor and delivery so here it is :)


Grayson Cole Faircloth was born on March 17, 2010 at 1:29am. He weighed in at 7.0 lbs and 19 1/4 inches long.

I woke up at 1am on March 16th with very painful contractions 3-5minutes apart and waited until 2:30am until I woke up Zak and my Mom to tell them I think it is time to go to the hospital.

We checked into Womack Army Medical Center at 3:31am where not even 5minutes into being examined the mid-wife told me I was still only 1cm dilated (barely) and they would just be sending me home after they watch the baby on the monitor for a bit. This upset me greatly because I knew it was time and we live 40minutes away from the hospital I did not want to keep coming in and getting sent back home.

Zak then mentioned that one of our worries was that we were told a few days prior that I had low amniotic fluid so the mid-wife got one of the doctors to come in and perform an ultra sound. After measuring the amount of amniotic fluid I had the doctor came to the conclusion that it was borderline "too low" and that I needed to be admitted and go ahead and be induced to start the labor.

I was told that being induced is more painful than going into labor naturally and since I was not really dilated much that it would be a long and painful process so to be prepared.

They were right. It was very painful. They had to insert a foley catheter into my cervix (with out pain meds at the time) to manually dilate the cervix. They said once it falls out on its own that means I am dilated to 3-4cm. Then they started me on Pitocin to make contractions stronger and stronger and more frequent to help the labor process. Having both the Foley Catheter and the Pitocin was more painful than I can explain and at first it was very hard to handle but the breathing techniques they have you learn to use actually made it all so much easier. Because you are still relaxed and concentrating on breathing and allowing it to happen instead of the screaming which makes you fight it. I eventually asked for pain medication but not an epidural yet because they said there is a 15% chance that the epidural COULD ware off within 6hours and then they can only increase it a few more times which may add up to about 10hours and that I could be in labor much longer than that. So I wanted to wait until I absolutely needed it.

I have to say though, without Zak, everything would have been 100x worse. He helped me through every contraction, he helped keep me comfortable and believed in me and kept saying how strong I was and how proud he was of me.



Since it was a Tuesday, Law & Order SVU was on...and a marathon at that, was wonderful for us because that is one of our favorite shows so that helped distract as well :)

Surprisingly I dilated to that within about 2 hours so we thought things would really start moving along.

We were wrong.

I asked for the epidural. Which by the way, is not as painful as people make it out to be. I didn't think it was bad at all.

I started to feel a lot of pressure in my pelvis and "bottom" and they thought this was a very good sign, but when they examined me I was only at 5cm and was beginning to get a fever (99.4).

I had a very hard and long contraction that did not stop and made the baby's heart rate drop very low for a long time and they rushed in, stopped the Pitocin, put me on oxygen, I threw up and was shaking uncontrollably because of the medicine given to stop the Pitocin, and then they had to give me medicine to stop the shaking....it was very scary.

It all passed and baby's heart rate was looking fine, so they started the Pitocin back up again but I continued to feel pressure in my pelvis and "bottom" that was getting worse and worse and very painful and the baby's heart rate kept dropping from time to time.

The mid-wife came in to talk to me about the possibility about having to have a c-section within the next hour or so if I was not progressing and if baby's heart kept acting up. She said since I was adequately contraction for 2 hours that was a good thing but the fact that I had not changed at all for 2hours in dilation was not a good thing so she was going to take the scans to the doctor and see what he thought we should do.

Right before she walked out the door Zaks mom took my temperature again and it had went up to 100.9 and the mid-wife got more worried and said the possibility of the c-section had turned into a most likely thing.

As soon as she walked out of my room, the baby's heart rate dropped into the 60s and would not get higher than 80.

Next thing I knew the mid-wife, doctor, nurses and anesthesiologist were rushing into my room, putting more medicine into my epidural, having me drink down some medicine, putting a cap on me and having Zak put on surgical scrubs and having me verbally consent to an emergency c section because of all the concerns. My family kissed me as they rolled me out of my room and into the OR. I was yet again shaking uncontrollably because of the medicine they gave me which made everything more nerve racking as I was laying on the table, but the oxygen helped and they kept putting alcohol swabs near my face because the scent would help me to breathe easier.

After the first incision they let Zak come in and he sat right at my head helping me and encouraging me which made everything so much easier. I could not have done it without Zak.

At 1:29am Grayson Cole Faircloth was born.



It was amazing!

We had a St. Patricks Day baby!

Zak cut the umbilical cord and gave Grayson his first bath while they finished with me in the OR.




Seeing my son for the first time...I was speechless, and still unable to find the words. It was just....amazing.






After delivery me, Zak and Grayson stayed in the Mother/Baby Unit from 4:30am on the 17th until noon on the 19th where my friend and fellow 1-38 Cav wife was my nurse and I was so happy to have her on my last day there. She was wonderful and so helpful and adorable with Grayson.

We took a lot of pictures from the time of delivery until time of check out.









I know it all sounds scary and like it was a bad experience but I wouldnt have changed it for the world because it made me feel much stronger than I ever thought I was and going through this experience with my amazing husband made the bond that we had a million times stronger. This experience made me fall in love with Zak all over again in new ways. how strong of a man he is shined through and seeing him as a father and him with Grayson is a feeling that makes me smile ear to ear every time I think about this experience.

I just felt like writing this because many people have asked about the labor and delivery so I figured I would share the whole experience with everyone.

Thank you to everyone who has called and written to us and also to all of those who came to the hospital to visit and share the whole experience with us.








We are home now and Grayson has been absolutely amazing. My family has been in town helping out since I cannot do much of anything --rules of recovery after c-section. So it has been much easier with the help.



Zak and I could not have asked for a more amazing son and every day, quite a few times a day, are taken back in awe of how happy and lucky we are.

Our lives are now complete :)


We cannot wait for everyone to get to watch him grow and for him to get to know everyone!

We will keep everyone updated!