Welcome Hudson Gallagher Fors

We checked into St. Luke’s Hospital to be induced on Wednesday, April 28th at 6 pm – exactly one week past our due date. After a very sleepless night on Wednesday, our doctor came in to start Pitocin and get labor going on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Baby Fors was not responding well with the induced contractions (mom wasn’t loving it either), and his heart rate dropped with each contraction. So at about 11:15 am, we agreed to get prepped for a Cesarean section delivery. I had an epidural administered at that time so that I could stay awake during the entire surgery.

Rollie looks good in scrubs

We were headed to the OR around noon, and met a very healthy, gorgeous baby boy at 12:29 pm on Thursday, April 29th. I am so glad I had the spinal block and could stay awake because I loved hearing that very first little cry when Baby Fors entered the world. The first thing the doctor exclaimed was how big his feet were (I should’ve known since they’d been kicking me in the ribs for months) and the nurses showed us that his footprint wouldn’t even fit on the paper! 

First family photo!

In post-op recovery, I got to hold Hudson for a few minutes, but then my blood pressure dropped drastically and I had to give him over to Dad. We frantically called everyone while Hudson had his first exam. He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long!

In Post-Op Recovery

Our stay in the hospital was amazing and this was largely due to the incredible nursing staff. We stayed on through the weekend, so we were at the hospital for a full 5 days. It was nice to recover there at the hospital and have help with the baby (Rollie became a pro at swaddling). We even sent him to the nursery for a few hours one night to get caught up on sleep. Throughout our stay, we had a steady stream of guests (always armed with goodies from flowers and baby clothes, to meals and cupcakes!) which was really great to break up the time in the hospital and make our days go by quickly.

We were definitely ready to come at the end of those 5 days though. It was great to sleep in our own bed – especially for Rollie who wasn’t exactly loving the couch he’d been sleeping on at the hospital. I've never seen Rollie drive so slowly or carefully as he did on the way home from the hospital with our precious cargo!

Proud Papa

Perfect baby boy

Father & Son

My beautiful baby boy

Grandma & Grandpa visited us that night.

Rollie's Mom Rhonda came the next morning.

Chris & Roger (Rollie's Dad) came down the next day.

Chris & Melissa Clarkson came that night and shared some celebratory champagne with us!

Ryan & Annie Anderson brought the cutest baby Ralph Lauren outfit (that Ryan picked out!)

Robby (and Whitney) Arthur came to visit - they are expecting in November.

Erin (and Kevin) brought flowers, cupcakes and a homemade dinner!

Our Neighbors surprised us with a Welcome to the Hood banner for Hudson

My fantastic employer, VML, sent a personalized wagon filled with cookies & toys!

Past Due

Baby Fors decided he was plenty comfy where he was and just wasn’t ready to join us on our due date of April 21st. I started working from home on April 16th, which was a relief because I could only hear the “have you had that baby yet?” question so many times a day before I wanted to scream! The due date came and went without any baby, though, and I was pretty sad. We were just so excited to meet him, and had that April 21st burned in our heads as that special day for so many months. It was tough to see it come and go.

Rollie knew I would be pretty bummed by the end of the day, so he came home armed with goodies. He represents Park Place and did some great shopping out there to cheer me up. He bought a vinyl bib from Go Bug, a floral arrangement from Flowers by Emily, and two cupcakes from Cupcake a la Mode, including my favorite flavor: Strawberry Lemonade. It was a great way to make the day special. 

Flowers, baby bib & cupcakes!

When Baby Fors still hadn’t arrived that coming weekend, we set a date to be induced. We decided that last weekend would be a bonus weekend. We did final baby shopping, went to see a movie, went to dinner, and on Sunday, Rollie ran in his first ever road race – the Trolley Run.  It ended up being a fantastic weekend – our last with just the two of us!

Family Baby Shower

My aunts Pat Gallagher and Pam Gallagher hosted a fantastic baby shower for family at Indian Hills Country Club. We became members there last summer. The clubhouse and ballroom were just completely remodeled, so it was really fun to have an event there in the new, beautiful rooms. The Club took care of everything from the cake to the linens and set-up. The cake was a beautiful two-tier lemon cake with lemon filling and fondant icing. My mom made a diaper cake and board with pictures of the nursery so everyone could get an idea of what it would look like.

Diaper Cake - Fully Loaded

The room was decorated so beautifully. We opened gifts by the fireplace.

All American Dad

When we went to order our crib and nursery furniture from Nebraska Furniture Mart, the salesman asked us if we’d like the crib assembled for ten dollars. I instantly agreed – ten bucks seems like such a nominal charge for furniture assembly and placement in the room! However, Rollie would have none of this. He had them remove the charge and decided he would assemble the crib on his own. I really think it had nothing to do with the saving of ten dollars and much more with the "All American Dad" attitude of putting together his son's crib with his bare hands.

As you may have already guessed, the ten dollar charge would have been totally worth it! A bargain, if you ask me. Of course, the crib took hours to assemble, and I wasn’t much help because I have a firm belief that husbands and wives should never assemble furniture (or anything else for that matter) together. I call this the "Ikea Principle".


Molly wasn’t a lot of help , but she wanted to be right there in case she was needed. Rollie determined the perfect job for her – wearing one of those magnet bands (designed to go around your arm to hold nails and such). With a little velcro extension, Molly can wears hers as a vest and hold anything from nuts and bolts, to an Allen wrench. 

Tool Time Pug

Molly really wanted to help by reading the directions and supervising the assembly.

Finally, the crib is assembled and Molly gets to be the first to test it out.

 

The Duration

So I am behind a bit on the blogging. Those last few months of pregnancy went by in a blur. In February and March we had baby showers, hosted by generous friends, family, and coworkers. I was fortunate enough to feel pretty good throughout the duration of pregnancy – with only the exception of major pain in my right ribs (those long baby legs were kicking). My baby belly really popped out in January. Here are pictures of the last three months.

February

March

April