Saturdays with Thomas, CH 3

Hi. I'm Thomas Jackson Nugent. But my papa calls me Sgt. Poopypants.


I'm going to tell you about my own little "day-in-the-life." Seeing that I'm only about 5 1/2 weeks old, I don't do much that is terribly interesting, but considering that I'm terribly cute, I'm sure it makes up for it!

My papa and mama have me on a schedule. See, they think way too much! So, before I was born, they read ALOT of books. My mama even read books on how to push me out! And I'm thinking...what do the mamas who can't read do? Do their babies stay in their tummies until they've finished "Hooked on Phonics?" Anyway, they read this book called "Baby Wise." The authors say that it's wise to feed me, change my diaper, then keep me awake, then put me to sleep- all in that order. This usually happens in three hour segments.


This is what happens first, and it's my FAVORITE part!












Here I am on my changing table. This picture was taken right after a MONSTER poop. It was so bad that mama had to go through two diapers!
You can tell that I feel soooo much better:)

























This is me in my swing at wake-time. Other times, mama will sing or talk to me. Sometimes, I try to talk back by smiling and making little cooing sounds. I also move my mouth and stick out my tongue to try to copy what mama is doing. (Note: Mama got a little over-zealous with the overalls...I think those are meant for when I'm like, 6 months old!)

















This is mama holding me at the end of waketime. I'm starting to get a little fussy. I don't know it yet, but I'm on my way to the crib for a nap. In fact, that's where I am right now......zzzzz....

Saturdays with Thomas, CH2

Ok, so we have yet to post these episodes on Saturday, as per the title. We're still getting used to the eating/sleeping/pooping schedule, so just bear with us for a while. We'll make it one of these Saturdays....









Papa dressed me in this nighttime get-up and then said I looked like Luke Skywalker. Oh, yeah? Well, better that than Jaba the Hut, Old Man....

His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Pt II / Saturdays with Thomas, CH 1

My husband was kind enough to post the last blurb, and he promised you a more detailed account from me, so here I am. Since most of our friends and family live quite the distances, we've decided to try to post updates with pictures every Saturday so that loved ones don't feel completely disconnected with our new little addition. We've decided to call it "Saturdays with Thomas." Much like "Tuesdays with Morrie," but somehow I think Thomas is much better looking than some guy named Morrie.

Ok. So, if you want to know the gorey details (well, I'll not make them SO gorey), keep reading. If not, just enjoy the pictures and catch up with us next week.

He LOVES to sleep like this!
















After a bath....he also LOVES baths.















Hasn't Thomas grown up so fast????















He loves his mama.


































First Sunday at church.







As I said in the post entitled "His Ways Are Not Our Ways," I told of the situation we found ourselves facing a possible c-section, and how the Lord turned our baby head down at the last minute. So, we went home and waited and waited...and waited some more. On August 12th, I experienced about three hours of consistent contractions, about 11 minutes apart. We thought this might be the day, but all too soon, the contractions subsided. At my next appointment, I was dilated to five cm. I thought, "Great! I'm halfway there until I can push."

The next week was absolutely agonizing. Even though we continued to do everything recommended to bring on labor, Thomas was living up to his namesake, and proceeded to "stand like a stonewall." We were thankful not to have had the c-section a few weeks prior, but because I was approaching my 41st week, we knew that at my next appointment an induction would be scheduled. Not an exciting prospect. On the night of the 22nd (the night before my next prenatal appointment, no less!), Nick and I were finishing up devotions. As he was praying, I had the strongest contraction that I had ever had at that point, and I bolted off the couch. I didn't want to get too excited, as we had several false alarms before. But, within the next ten minutes, I had a few more just like them, and after a few more assessments, I called for my upstairs neighbor, Lydia. (Lydia is not only a good friend of ours, but also a nurse-midwife who kindly agreed to act as our doula during the birth.) She checked me out to find that I was now 5 1/2 cm. By the time we got to the hospital and I was in gown and my midwife in scrubs, I had advanced to 7 cm. We were well into labor, and until I was dilated to 8-9 cm, it was not that hard to stay on top of the contractions. But further than that point, I started recalling verses like, "There is no rest for the wicked," and such pleasant biblical warnings. All I wanted was 5 minutes to lay down so I could recoup. But lying down made it hurt worse, so I continued to stand, bent over and clutching onto Nick's hands for dear life. During this time, I heard the delivery room door open, and this plain clothes man walked in. There I was, standing in all my glory (which was not so glorious!), and he says, "I'm sorry...is this a bad time?" Then he came back a few moments later with scrubs on, announcing his title (anasthesiologist) and let me know that his services were available. I remember thinking, "Get out of here, before I change my mind!"

I knew it was getting close to the end, because I had this overpowering urge to push. I asked my midwife if that was okay, and she gave me the go-ahead. At that point, my water bag, which had been ever so faithful to remain intact to act as a buffer for pain, finally erupted. I really saw this as another mercy from the Lord, because as I was reading about natural childbirth, I came to see that the later a woman's water broke, the better. It provides a cushion between the baby and her bones, making labor...er...easier:) The midwife informed me at this point, it was time to push the baby out. At this point in the story, I must clarify that this is the stage of labor that I had been so excited about all through my pregnancy. I had read that this was the "best part" for several reasons: 1) It meant that labor was almost over. 2) It meant the mother would soon see her baby and forget all about the pain. 3) Along with the mother often getting a new burst of energy, it was usually the shortest part, and she normally felt more "in control" because she could determine the strength and pattern of her pushing.

Knowing how much I LOVE being in control, I had been right on board concerning this stage of the game. But now that it was here, I didn't feel so in control anymore. I didn't feel excited, either. I considered the reality of what was about to happen: This baby wasn't going to somehow cosmically squirm its way out- I had to physically push him out. I''ll let you, dear reader, determine all that that means.

Here are some things I found out about pushing: 1) It isn't necessarily short. I swore up and down that I pushed for 1 1/2 hours, but Lydia assures me that it was 45 minutes. 2) I found out EXACTLY why they call it labor. In between pushes, my body would sink into this half-sleep/coma until it was ready to push again. I used to run races, but I don't remember ever being so tired! 3) My mom told me that as the baby came out, there would be alot of burning, then numbness. Well, let's just say I remember the burning very clearly. I don't think numbness ever showed up. But alas, after 5 1/2 hours of this miracle called childbirth, Thomas was finally among us on Tuesday, August 22nd at 1:45 am.

Now, I know I've probably given a somewhat bleak picture of my experience with natural childbirth. However, I want to assure you that I would do it over again. It WAS worth it. No, I didn't immediately forget the pain when our precious son made his entrance into the world, but it was still all the more worth it when I saw him for the first time. He was (and still is) perfect in every way. We are so thankful for him, and for God giving us the opportunity and the strength and courage to get through what we actually asked Him for.

For Unto Us a Child is Born!

This is Nick, Rebecca's husband, standing in for her on this post. It is with exceeding joy that we announce the arrival of our beautiful baby boy, Thomas Jackson Nugent. Becca is far more eloquent than I, and so I will leave to her the wonderful narrative of how this little one came to us early yesterday morning. For now, here are a few pictures:

Here is little Thomas, just minutes after being born. He was extremely alert and responsive during the first hour after birth, as are most babies.

This is Lydia, our friend, neighbor, and (in Thomas' birth) our doula. She was of indescribable help in coaching and comforting Rebecca through the birth process. Thank you, Lydia; we are in your debt.

A little hair on his head.

A tired but delighted mama.

A very happy family.

Time to rest.

The TJN 0.01 is on the cutting edge of baby technology, equipped with pooping, peeing, crying, and all sorts of other features. Check out the specs.

A very hungy little boy looking for milk in all the wrong places.



Waking up - "I had this horrible dream that I was taken away from my dark and warm little home ... wait a second!"

Ah ... so cute!

Becca and Thomas should be out of the hospital sometime tomorrow (Thursday, 11/24/06). If you want to call us, please call the hospital phone at (615) 936-0776. We are low on our cell phone minutes. Thank you, everyone, for your incredible love and support through this long, uncertain, and difficult process. We rejoice and praise God for the gift of this little one. Hallelujah!

His Ways Are Not Our Ways

A few months after I found out that we were pregnant, my husband downloaded one of Bill Cosby's clips on natural childbirth and the experience that he and his wife had, embellishments and all. My mom had had three of the five of her kids at home, and Nick and I were intrigued by the thought of being as organic with this as possible. We read books, went to childbirth classes, talked to countless people who had experienced natural childbirth and/or otherwise for themselves. We got the birthing ball, packed all the paraphernalia for distraction and pain management. When I found out that I was 1 cm dilated, we "upped" all that we could do to keep dilation and effacement in progress, eventually bringing on labor.

On Tuesday, I bounded into my midwife's office with excitement, waiting to hear of the fruits of our labor within the last week. Great news: I was three cm dilated and nearly fully effaced. Then the bomb dropped: He was breech! My eyes filled with tears and my heart sank with disappointment. I couldn't believe that this was happening- he had been head down for the last two months! This meant no more birthing ball. No more getting to apply everything we learned. No more hope of Nick catching the baby. This meant a c-section. And I was terrified.

So, we unpacked and re-packed our bag accordingly. I felt like I had studied for the wrong test, so to speak, as I knew plenty about natural childbirth and practically nothing about c-sections, besides the horrible and gruesome video we watched of one in our childbirth classes. While on bedrest, I was able to glean information off the internet and from kind women offering their testimonies of their experiences with c-sections, scheduled or emergency. Feeling a bit better by the big day, we made our way to the hospital. My husband kept saying, "Just think, Sweetheart. This is the last time you'll leave this house pregnant. This is the last time we'll get into our car without a born baby, etc., etc." Even though the fear was great about going under the knife (having never had even a trace of stitches or I.V. or anything of the sort), it was subsiding enough to concentrate on the exciting prospect of bring our precious son home. I could tell that Nick was growing more and more excited, too.

We got into the prep room, and before the nurse brought in the equipment to start the I.V., Nick said, "Could we please have an ultrasound, just to make sure that the baby is still breech before doing the surgery?" Another twist: His head was down again! I dissolved into tears out of relief that the c-section was no longer necessary. We immediately started talking about the possibility of induction, but after much discussion and advice from the doctor, we decided to take this gift that the Lord had given us (the baby turning) and go back to our original plan of waiting for natural childbirth. It was a mixed bag of emotions, of course, because first of all, who wants a c-section?? But we had also emotionally and mentally geared up to be holding him in our arms within the next few hours. Right now, he is still kicking happily in my womb, lodging his little feet in my ribs.

Before the procedure, our pastor came to the hospital to pray with us. By the time he got there, we had just found out that the baby was head down. He said that it seemed that God was blessing us with the desires of our heart, because even when we found out that the baby was breech a few days ago and were devastated, we still proclaimed that God was good and we trusted Him. What a peculiar roller coaster ride this has been thus far! But I know that God has a reason for all that happens, and He will bring little Thomas into this world in His good time.

The calm before the storm

Full term now. 1 cm dilated and 60 percent effaced, as of three days ago.
Thomas, would you puleeeaase come out?

Wait a minute - No pleading.

This is a direct order from your momma.


...ok...any moment now.....

Updates, pictures and more pictures...

Well, here we are at about 6 1/2 months pregnant. Two weeks prior to this point, Nick finished his first year of law school with much relief. It was a tough year for both of us, but we are so thankful to God for His mercies and provisions. Obviously, one great gift is the impending birth of our sweet little boy, Thomas Jackson. (and yes, we are telling people the sex AND the name prior to his birth- -horrors! After all, he IS currently a person, is he not?) Some other wonderful mercies are Nick's two intern positions this summer: a research assistantship with a professor and an internship with the Tennessee Supreme Court. He's really looking forward to both of these, and I'm looking forward to his 8-hour days instead of his 12 to 14-hour ones:)





To celebrate a year victorious, we decided to take a much needed vacation. As you can see by the toll that law school has taken, it was imperative that we get away somewhere:


Nick suggested that we go to Arizona to see the wonderful sights, since he had never been to that part of the country. I was pretty excited, having been to Arizona three times before, visiting most of the main attractions there. I really looked forward to sharing God's magnificent handiwork with him.

We began our week-long journey in Tucson, visiting the Phil Henry family. These are friends from our former residence/church, Church of the Good Shepherd in Bloomington. In fact, they had left Bloomington a few years prior to our leaving for Nashville, as Phil had been ordained as a PCA pastor. He is now a pastor at Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church. When they left Bloomington, they had three children. Now, they have six (their sixth, Stasie, was taking a nap during this picture. She is 3 months old.) Pictured here, moving clockwise from the top is Phil, Polly (his wife), Fitch (age 8), Lydia (age 10), Noah (age 4), Maggie (age 6- she was a baby the last time I saw her!), and Grace (age 2). We had an absolute blast with the Henry's, and their hospitality was nothing short of gracious. It was really fun to get to know them again, and to acquaint ourselves with newer members of their family.







Here are Fitch and Maggie entertaining us with their musical skills.












Lydia, the up-and-coming mother hen:)
















Noah, who is definitely all boy.













Gracie, our ever-eager camera model. We loved how she always covered her mouth like that when she giggled.












Polly and me preparing dinner in the kitchen. I really appreciated her wisdom on childrearing, homemaking and childbirth. Nick and I left there with an omer of knowledge on raising a godly family.


The Henry's let us stay in their parents' vacation house, which sits at the foothills of the Santa Catalina mountains. It was truly above and beyond our expectations!


View from the front porch. Santa Catalinas in background.


The interior of our little vacation palace.













































After a day or two of getting settled in, we decided to head north, and spent the day in Sedona, which is about 3 hours from Tucson. I had been to Arizona a few times before and had visited this national "top ten" beauty, but I was more excited to have Nick experience the almost "other worldness" of it.

































We decided to hike near Cathedral Rock. According to new-age, channeling, wacko, hippie experts, there is an extremely strong vortex at the base of this rock formation. Before we got there, I joked that we would probably run into a bunch of hippies meditating or calling on their vortex god. Well, it was no joke. We ran into what seemed to be like guided meditation/yoga/whatever.... to my embarrassment, Nick immediately started taking pictures of them like they were monkeys in the zoo. I don't think they noticed, though.














This is probably the most magnificent view in Sedona. Truly breathtaking. We broke into "How Great Thou Art" when we saw it:


We thought this sign was hilarious:

After fun in the sun Sedona, we stayed about 28 miles north in Flagstaff. The interesting thing about Flagstaff is that 1) it is somewhat green and has alot of trees, where Sedona looks more like the surface of Mars, and 2) there was about a 15 degree drop in temperature! Two COMPLETELY different worlds. The next morning, we made our way to the Grand Canyon. Nick had never even seen a PICTURE of the Grand Canyon before, and I remembered how awed I was when I first saw it, so I made him close his eyes until we got to the very edge.

My Grand Canyon cowboy (who was standing about 4 feet away from death in this picture. I couldn't get him away from that edge fast enough!)

(And yes, Lauren, I've put more weight on him since we last saw you:)

The last full day we were in Arizona, we went with Polly and kids to the top of Mt. Lemmon, which is on the outskirts of Tucson. I think that the average temperature in Tucson was about 98 degrees, but when we got to the top of Mt. Lemmon, it felt to be about 68 degrees. Polly told us that in the wintertime, the summit gets a considerable amount of snow, but if you drive down into Tucson (about a thirty minute drive), it is summertime!














Views from Mt. Lemmon, looking down into Tucson

We left late in the afternoon that Sunday, so we were able to visit Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church and hear Phil preach. We enjoyed both the church and the sermon, and we are pleased to report that the sermon was thorough, but only about 35 minutes this time:) We are so grateful to the Lord that He provided this time of rest, recreation, and fellowship. We hope to share adventures like this with our children in the future, that they may see the majesty of God reflected in His handiwork.