Clint's Second Day

Steph and Clint

Grandma Cox, Craig, and Clint.

Papa Doug with Clint

Clint is two days old!!! Woo-hoo!!!!!! He had a good night. He's getting used to eating, which is a good thing since he is so big. Stephanie is such an incredible mother. (No surprise there) Please feel free to drop by if you'd like. We would love to see you. We are at Methodist Willowbrook in room 2315.

Clint's Here!!!

Clinton Allen Cox. Born July 4, 2009. 3:42 am

The happy Cox family. God is good!

Clint shortly after birth

Craig after finding out that delivery would start at any minute.

Stephanie after finding out that delivery would start at any minute.

Clinton Allen Cox was born very early this morning. Steph was amazing!!! Once delivery started, it only took about 30 minutes for Clint to arrive. Clint is big and beautiful. He weighs in at 9 lb and 8.4 oz, and is 21 inches long. Steph and I really appreciate your prayers, advice, visits, and friendship. Be on the lookout for more frequent posts going forward along with pictures and videos!

Plan E

Yes, E.

I was talking to Lynda on the phone this evening, around 10:30, and an unfamiliar number beeped in. I thought to myself, "I bet this is the hospital calling to confirm our appointment to be induced tomorrow morning at 5am. (because don't they always make those calls late at night?) Surely they are not calling to tell us not to come in at 5am." As it turns out, they were calling to tell us not to come in at 5am tomorrow morning.

I went into the bedroom to inform Craig of Plan E, as dictated by Methodist Willowbrook, and I completely fell apart. Craig kept it together so I could have a breakdown. He's a rock.

I was told they would call us when they have availability tomorrow. She said the hospital discharge time is 10am, so maybe we'll get a call around that time. Who knows? I'm so glad we received a good report from the non-stress test today, so we can at least relax about Clint's health and safety.

The contractions I was having have eased up in frequency and intensity. I'm not sure what that means, but Clint is still moving around in there, so I'm not going to worry about it. Hopefully, that just means that I can get a good night's rest tonight. (I actually just called a nurse at the hospital to ask about it, and she said since my contractions had not been consistently 5 minutes apart for two hours at any point, the change in frequency is nothing to be concerned about - Whew! Sleep it is!!!)

So tomorrow, we wait. What a rollercoaster of a week! Our families have been so supportive and have done well to keep us busy during those times when our plans had been cancelled. Tuesday night, we had dinner with Trent and Rachel, and then played Monopoly till all hours of the night. Last night, we went out with Craig's parents for dinner, and by chance, we ran into Stacey, Parris and Ashlee, so we had a whole family dinner! Today, Jenn spent the day with me - Craig went in to work for a little while after our appointment this morning - and then John and Trey and my parents came over to spend some time this evening.

We really hope we get to meet and hold our little boy tomorrow!

Plan D Still on Track

The non-stress test went well today. Clint is perfectly fine. We were there a little longer that normal because the machine that records the results ran out of paper, and then it kept getting jammed. But I was with two of my favorite people, so I didn't even notice. Clint was a champ! He moved a bunch for me, and it was really cool to hear the change in his heart rate when he moved.

We are still planning to go to the hospital tomorrow morning at 5am to be induced, assuming we don't start having more consistent contractions on our own. I've had them all day, since 3:30 this morning, and mostly, they have been about 6-10 minutes apart, with a few longer stretches thrown in from time to time. I'm sure I won't sleep much more tonight than I did last night, but I can't imagine that I would have slept much anyway, anticipating Clint's arrival. Tomorrow is the 41 week mark. I wonder how big he will be. :-)

Plan D

So today was fun. We went to the hospital at 2pm, as we were instructed. When we got there, we went to the nurse's station to check in, so we gave our name, and the nurse kinda had this "oh no" look on her face. She said our doctor was supposed to call me, to which I replied, "Oh, do we need to come back later?" She said we were on the schedule for Friday morning at 5am.

I don't know if our doc was supposed to call us or not, but truth be told, it was only a couple of hours between the time we left the doctor's office and the time we were supposed to be at the hospital, and one of those hours was lunch. Besides that, our poor doctor is mourning the loss of a close family member, and trying to take care of us at the same time, in addition to all of her other patients, so I don't fault her. It was disheartening to be sent home, but we just kept reminding ourselves that things happen. Evidently, the amniotic fluid was not low enough to be of great concern, or we would have gotten that one last bed at the hospital, but alas...we didn't.

Before we left the hospital, we had to sit down and regroup so we didn't fall apart, and as we were sitting in the waiting room of Labor and Delivery (with my overnight bag), I overheard just enough of a conversation from another family to remind me of how fortunate we are. I don't know what was going on with their situation, but it sounded like there were some concerns, and they could use our prayers. I am uncomfortable at times, but that is the extent of it.

Tomorrow, I am going in for a non-stress test. Basically, they'll hook me up to a monitor, much like they would if I were laboring in the hospital, and just monitor Clint's movements and heart rate for 20-30 minutes, and of course, we had the ultrasound today, so they'll be able to take a good look at how he's doing in there. Jenn is going with me, so that should be fun!!! I told Craig he might as well go to work...if he wanted to...so he's going to try to put in a full day and get some things taken care of, rather than waiting around. Jenn can wait around with me! Thanks Aunt Jenn!!!!

So unless these contractions pick up and register at a Category 5, we'll wait for Friday morning, and do it the good ol' fashion chemical way!!!

On the plus side, Friday is July 3rd, which is my Dad's birthday, so IF we actually get into the hospital, and IF it doesn't take more than 3/4 of a day to make things happen, then Clint and Papa Doug will share a birthday! And if Clint is really stubborn, then maybe he can share a birthday with Grandma Ruth (July 9th). Ha ha ha!!!

Plan C, Part II

Ok, so we went to the doctor this morning, and as it turns out, Clint is just fine in there, but my fluid is a little low, so the doctor wants to go ahead and induce. WHOO-HOO!!! Last night and this morning, I have been quite uncomfortable with random contractions that don't seem to be doing much.

We are going to the hospital at 2pm today. There are currently no beds available, but they expect someone to deliver any minute now. The doctor said if we don't get started at 2pm, we WILL still do it today, so we are happy with that.

Craig will be updating Facebook because he can do it from his phone, and when we have a chance, we'll update this blog.

That's all we know right now. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!!!

Plan C

"Plan A" was to go into labor on my own within a few days of my due date. Not likely, given my family history, but it was worth a shot.

"Plan B" was to be induced today. We were on standby at the hospital, so as soon as some other family took their new member home, we could come in and be induced. But, unfortunately, my doctor had a death in her family, so she had to be away. Evidently, it was very unexpected, and I feel sad for her. I'm sure her family would appreciate prayers of comfort. We were still on standby at the hospital, but the doctor on call was not able to fit me into his schedule, so we were not able to induce today. The nurse did not have the July call schedule yet, so we could not make any plans for tomorrow yet. She said she would see what information she could gather and call us today with the new plan.

So here is "Plan C": We have an appointment tomorrow with our doctor at our doctor's office. We will have another ultrasound, and we'll get checked out. That's all we know for sure at this point. We are HOPING that the ultrasound will reveal that Clint is perfectly fine, but big enough that he needs to be delivered sooner rather than later. He measured at 8 lbs, 12 oz on Friday, so odds are he is bigger now... We are a tad bit concerned about availability at the hosptial, due to the upcoming holiday weekend, especially since we were only on standby the first time around. The nurse told me that since we are past the due date already, the further we get into this week, the more of a priority we become at the hospital. I'm hoping after our appointment, they'll just send us over to the hospital, but we'll just have to wait and see.

I've been having contractions since Sunday night, but they have not followed a pattern of any kind. I'd like to assume they are doing something, but who knows??? Yesterday, my mom and I went to the grocery store, and today, Craig and I went to the mall to walk for a while. We're just waiting, and trying to have fun in the meantime. We have dinner plans tonight with Trent and Rachel. Then, we'll just see what the doctor says tomorrow!

Update on Clint

I am still pregnant.

Family Camp South (FCS)

I am a big supporter of Family Camp with our church family, but since I was due the weekend of Family Camp, we didn't get to go. It was a really hard decision to make, or rather to accept, I suppose. I guess we could have, since we still don't have a baby, but I have a feeling that as much good as we would have gotten out of Family Camp, I probably would have been fairly uncomfortable. Jenn, John and Trey stayed in town, too, in anticipation of Clint's arrival. We were disappointed that we were going to miss all the fun, so I planned a party at Jenn and John's house. We called up a couple of other families that had wanted to go to Family Camp, but weren't able, and had a fun evening. We played some Guitar Hero, ate some good food, and...YES, we even had s'mores!!! Harry and Trey had fun playing together. Hayes and Clint would have played together, had Clint decided to be born yet, but Hayes played with the big boys this time.

We were glad to have something fun planned for the weekend, since there was no hospital trip for us. I was almost hoping that if we made plans, they would be interrupted, but that didn't happen, and we had fun with friends anyway! Thanks to the Oliverios for opening up their home for Family Camp South!!! (If we missed anyone who couldn't go to Family Camp, I'm sorry.)

We are looking forward to Family Camp next year when Clint will be big enough to play!!!

Clint's Pad

Here's a combination room/belly shot for you. This pic was taken when Craig was just finishing painting back in March when I went to Ft. Worth to see Summer.

Here is a little progression for you:

There is actually more in the room than these pictures show. I didn't realize we didn't have "completed room" pictures, so we'll have to rectify that. This next one shows the corner where there is now a gliding rocking chair and a curtain on the window.

Clint's room is all ready for him, and Momma and Daddy are more than ready for him!!! We are now two days past his due date, but given some immediate family history, I really did not anticipate otherwise. We are on "first standy" to be induced on Tuesday. Basically, that means we get to wait by the phone on Monday for the hospital to call us and say they have a spot available for us on Tuesday. They may call us and tell us they don't have anything yet, but keep waiting, and maybe we'll get in later that day. We were told that since we are "first standy," it is unlikely that we will get bumped to Wednesday, but I suppose it is still a possibility. At this point, inducing me is considered elective, so there is no priority rush for us. As much as we are ready to meet Clint, this gives us more of an opportunity to begin labor naturally, which would be ideal. Our only concern is that the ultrasound on Friday (6/26/09 - our due date) measured Clint at 8 lbs, 12 oz. Our doctor told us that this particular ultrasound person is consistently accurate with her measurements. So we're looking at a big boy!!! On the plus side, Clint looks very healthy, and I haven't had any problems, so we don't have any reason to be concerned...except for the poundage...

Update???

Hi Jessie,

I hope you enjoyed your vacation!!!

Clinton's Room

When we bought our home two years ago, one of the major selling points was the interior paint job. All of the common areas - downstairs and the stair hallway, and the upstairs hall - are a lovely shade of green. Our room is some sort of textured-looking brown. Our bathroom is a tan color with leaves etched into the texturing of the wall - very creative. Lynda's room is a very pale yellow. Our powder bathroom downstairs is green with flor de lis designs painted on it, and the ceiling looks like the sky with scattered clouds.

Then there was the pink room.

I'm not a big fan of pink. It has its place, but I'm a purple girl. A soft pink might have been nice. This room was painted with Pepto Bismol. From downstairs, looking up, you would see an erie pink glow coming from the door.

I went out of town for the weekend to see Summer, and Craig conquered the Pink Beast.

We picked up a sample of the color we liked and tried it out on the wall a couple of weeks ago.

Before I left, we laid down paper to protect the laminate floor, and then Craig went to town! He had to prime the pink surfaces first so that color would not overpower the color we actually wanted in Clinton's room. There were also little flowers all around the bottom of the walls, so he had to prime that, too. He worked all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, taking short breaks to watch the paint dry in between coats. On Saturday, Ashlee and Parris came over for a little while to help.

Craig did a really good job. He taped off sections since we were using two different colors. The room has a chair rail all the way around, so we decided on a nice green for the top, and white for the bottom. He painted all of the trim, and both doors (to the room and to the closet). The door also had flowers on it.

Clinton's room looks SO good now!!! There are some places Craig wants to touch up, and then we'll pull up the paper and get all of the painting supplies out of the room. (Thanks, Dad, for the painting supplies and tips!!!)

Once we are completely finished with painting (after the touch-ups), we can move on to furniture and decorating. We have the crib in the garage, disassembled, from when Ashlee was a baby (thanks Stacey, Parris, and Ashlee!) and a brand new mattress (thanks Mom and Dad!). We'll also have to put together the dresser we got at Ikea (thanks Frankie and Becky!). Those are the big things. Stacey also has a glider rocking chair and ottoman for us, so we'll need to pick that up as soon as we have a place to put it.

I'll be glad to get the furniture assembled and in place, so we can start putting Clinton's clothes away. You wouldn't believe how much stuff he has accumulated already! We've bought a few things for him, as I suppose parents should, and he has also gotten lots of new stuff from friends and family. Besides that, when I went to see Summer in Fort Worth this past weekend, she gave me TONS of clothes for Clint!!! I'm honestly not sure if he will ever have time to wear them all. At least we'll have more time in between laundry days...or maybe laundry hours...

It is exciting to have a starting point now for our son's room! I can't wait to get it all finished!!!

Thanks, Craig, for all you hard work!!!!

Happy 40th Anniversary to Becky & Frankie Cox

Craig here. I wanted to wish my parents a Happy 40th Anniversary. Becky and Frankie Cox celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary today, March 15, 2009. They have provided an incredible example to my sister, Stacey, her husband, Parris, my wife, Stephanie, and me. My parents have taught us all the value of love, teamwork, and faith.

Friend and Felon Filled Weekend!!!

Last Thursday, Lynda and her precious little boy, Levi, came into town from Estes Park, CO, and stayed with us for a couple of days. Clinton and Levi are very good friends. (They had a good time playing together this weekend, though neither of them are all that aware of the fun they had.) I picked up Lynda and Levi at the airport and took her to Bunko with me to meet some of my friends because I believe that all of my friends should know each other. We didn't stay to play, but we at least got to say hi, and Lynda got to see Jenn for a few minutes.

We had an easy, relaxing day on Friday. I had a check-up appointment, and Clinton is looking good! I really enjoyed having a couple of days to spend with Lynda.

Friday night, around 3am, I woke up and heard Craig and Lynda talking, and when I was awake enough to understand what they were saying, I figured out that there was fighting going on outside. Lynda and Levi were sleeping in the two front rooms, so Craig advised Lynda to relocate the sleeping fellow until this issue outside was under control. Evidently, one of the guys outside pulled something from under his seat that one of the girls told him to put away. We haven't been able to draw a definitive conclusion as to what that object was, but we have a couple of guesses. Craig called 911 and in a few minutes, there were four sherriff cars outside our house. Like any good neighbors, we huddled around the little bathroom window upstairs to watch what was going on. Some of the folks had left by this time, but the officers still had to get one guy under control. With that accomplished, they left one by one, and we hoped to be done with drama for the night. I found out from Lynda the next morning that they continued to talk in the street for another hour or so after the officers left, which explains why Roscoe felt the need to bark periodically the rest of the night.

Later that morning, I took Lynda to her parents' house. Then, Craig and I met up with some friends for lunch. Melissa and Michael came down with a couple of their friends for a wedding in the area, and they ended up staying really close to us, so we were able to hang out for a little while. Craig and I thought it would be a good idea to take them to this great little hamburger place on Louetta. We know the service is generally slow, but the food is good, so it more or less makes up for it. There just happened to be a car show in the Vintage Park parking lot that day, so people traffic was higher than normal. The wait was about 30 minutes or so, which wasn't bad, considering the circumstances. What they don't tell you is: they'll seat you in about that time, but they'll wait a lifetime to bring your food to you. We sat down around 12:45, I think, and it had to be after 2pm when we got our food. We were given all sorts of different stories about why it was taking so long. I really didn't care - I just needed to eat. I had to beg, yes - BEG - the waitress to bring me some food before I passed out. The manager didn't seem incredibly concerned that I am not only pregnant, but also hypoglycemic. Poor Clint!!! If Craig hadn't made breakfast for Lynda and me that morning, I would have been up a creek! We finally got our food, and I promise you, I have only eaten that fast one other time - also in a passing out situation.

Craig and I felt horrible about suggesting this place, especially with these strangers (who turned out to be a lot of fun, and we hope they come back to see us!). While we waited for our food, we debated leaving, how much we would pay, etc. But after so much time invested, we really wanted our burgers!! Also, we kept thinking we would be served any minute now...

The manager said he would adjust our bills accordingly, but that was a mess in an of itself. We felt badly for our waitress because she was left in the middle of this whole situation. Not one of us paid the correct amount, not even with supposed discounts, but that is to be expected since not all of the correct food was delivered. (Btw, thanks for the fries, Tim!!)

I was glad to get to hang out with Michael and Melissa, and to meet their friends, Tim and Stephanie. We had a good time at lunch, despite lunch.

With lunch over with, and mine and Craig's patience with the public worn thin, we decided to go down to Ikea. No people there, right? We took Frankie and Becky (Craig's parents, for first time readers) because they had never been there. It is much like going on a field trip. There is so much to see, and you have to actually plan to go there and spend some time. We wanted to get a dresser for Clint's room, and Clint's paternal grandparents were so sweet to buy it for us.

After shopping, we went back to Frankie and Becky's house to play games for a little while. Then we went home after a loooong day, (and a short night before) and called it a night. It was one of the busier weekends we have had in a while, but all in all, fun. Sunday afternoon, we rested.