Charley Ryan Nichols

So I decided to give everyone a little insight as to why we chose Charley Ryan for the name of our son.  Some people just like names and they go with it.  Some people however put some thought into it.  You see... Shauna and I had a list of names for both boys and girls, that we made in California a few years back.  The funny thing is, we were so set on the names, and the order in which we would use them, but neither Charley or Ryan were on that list!

To side track for a brief moment...  growing up I never really liked my name. (Ryan) Everyone I know said I was a perfect Ryan.  I hated that.  I only realized in the past couple of years what a name can really mean to someone.  Me not liking my name is an insult to my Mom and Dad.  They named me Ryan for a reason.  They gave me my middle name of James for a reason.  No matter their reason, it's the name they gave me.  I can honestly say I love my name now and I respect the process of how they might have gotten to my name.

Okay... little bit more side information...  For those who read this and do not know, I am the only male to carry on my last name. (Nichols)  As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I have only recently learned to love and honor my name.  I am proud to be a Nichols and am proud to be able to pass that name on.  So moving on...

Charley Ryan is named so for a few reasons...  Charley comes from both of his Grandfathers.  Both Shaunas and my fathers first name is Charles.  Since I was the only male to carry on the name, I wanted to make sure that if I had a son and he ended up being the only boy Shauna and I have, that he had a good strong and honorable name.  We also went with Charley because we were wanting to eliminate any confusion as to what to call our son.  Now I would understand if we named him Charles and you might ask what we will be calling him, but we thought of all the names that could come from Charles and we really love the name Charley.  We chose a sub name or nickname from Charles so that no one would call him anything but Charley.  So no: Chuck, Chucky, little Chuck, or any other name you can come up with for Charles will be used.

Ryan for the middle name was not our first pick, after a lot of thought and asking around we decided to choose the name Ryan.  Ryan was chosen in part because Charley's first name came from the first name of his Grandfathers.  It was also chosen because Shauna was intent on having part of my name a part of our sons name one way or the other, and I recently came to appreciate my name.

So in a short story long, that is why and how Charley Ryan got his name!!!

Our new chapter... cont. again, again

Our new chapter... cont. again

Our new chapter... cont.

Our new chapter...

Soooooo... to catch everyone up on things, here we go!!!

Tuesday morning at approximately 12:15 AM Shauna's water broke.  We went to the hospital and she was in labor (mind you they were barely even phasing her) till a few minutes before 5:00 AM little Charleys heartbeat dropped down betwee

n 40-60 for 6-7 minutes.  During those few m

inutes the nurses all charged in and 

kept moving Shauna around in different positi

ons trying to get the babys heart rate back up.  The

y managed to get his heartbeat back up to around 120 and at 5:00 AM the doctor came in and told us they were going to have to do an emergen

cy c-section.  Long story short of what happened next, at 5:15 AM Charley Ryan Nichols was born.  He was born at 6 lbs, 8 oz & 19" long.  Please enjoy t

he following pictures of our son, our new ch

apter in life!!!

Pictures...

Monkeys!

And a not-so-flattering picture of me at 39 weeks.

39 Weeks...kind of...

So I'm 39 weeks along! Yay! I had my weekly doctor's appointment this morning and am 70% effaced and 3cm dilated. The doctor is very pleased with my progress...as am I. This just means that my body is doing what it needs to do. I went from not being effaced and barely 2cm last week to this week. My fears of inducement are diminishing...slowly. SO, we are plugging right along.
Aaaannnndddd, yes it took me an extra day to get this blog out. :) I'm officially 39 weeks TODAY. Feeling kind of tired and I think I may be getting sick. Bbbbbooooo. I've packed my bag and the baby's bag (finally). I have to pack my office at work because they are moving us. Considering it took me a month to get myself packed, I'm dragging my feet on my office packing. Probably shouldn't, but I am. I've had a little bit of pain this morning but not consistent and really not that bad. We shall see if I make it through this day. :)

The home stretch...

So I've finally gotten to the point where I'm noticeably swollen...at least in my feet...or FOOT rather. It's the same foot that I'm having arch issues with. Go figure. At least I can wear flip flops to work! :) Actually I don't know if I can, I just do. I'm pretty much 2cm dilated and am just floating through this. We keep talking about inducing. I am trying to avoid being induced. I hear it's more painful and I'm avoiding an epidural. The whole tube in my spine thing...not so much. But apparently I'm looking like I'm going to pop. Everyone keeps saying so. I had a doctor's appointment Monday morning and I got a text asking if I was at the hospital having a baby. And when I got to work, I got the "I thought you were having a baby..." It's starting to get old hearing the same things..."When are you going to have that baby...", " You're still prego???", etc...Fun times. I have an appointment Monday morning again and we'll see if I've progressed any. It'd be nice to be further dilated...even effaced so I know that my body is preparing. I haven't had any contractions, at least none that are noticeable. 

We FINALLY got the crib in. The baby's room is almost done. Missing one shelf and the decals. Yay! Once I get the linens on the crib, I'll post a picture of it! Until then, these pictures will have to do... :)