Been Busy...

The kiddo is sleeping so I am finally sitting down to write this entry. Our baby boy was born at 10:15am on Saturday October 30th. He weighed 8lbs 5oz and was 21 - 1/2 inches long.

I went in for my regular check-up on Friday October 29th (my due date) and everything was good except my blood pressure was a bit high - very unusual for me. My doc felt that I should head straight to Labor and Delivery at Zion and be induced. We were not thrilled with the idea so we asked some more questions and decided that Dan would go to work for a couple of hours, I would go to lunch as planned with my friend, Wendy, and then we would get our stuff and head to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital about 3pm and went straight to the lab so they could do some blood work and then up to L&D for blood pressure monitoring.

When all was said and done, they still strongly recommended induction. I was admitted and induced that evening. Intense labor began about 10pm, by midnight thirty I was asking for the epidural. After the epidural we were able to get some shuteye. Dan in the chair by my hospital bed with a towel as his blanket and mom in the chair across the room. My blood pressure was checked every hour and progress was checked every three or four hours. By 7am, I was fully dilated and effaced. Of course that is the same time for shift changes at the hospital. We waited until 9am and the pushing began. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

Our little Jacob Henry was born an hour and fifteen minutes later. There were tears of join, lots of relief and joy by all. My dad listened to the birth over the phone since he was out of town at the time. It was all very special.

After we had been moved to postpartum, one of the nurses noticed that Jake was having breathing troubles and sent him to see a doctor. He was then admitted to the NI CU. That was a hard thing to deal with especially since I was confined to my bed because of the blood pressure meds they had me on. Jake recovered quickly but because of the antibiotics he was on, he was not released until Tuesday November 2.

It took several weeks of being home to discover that Jake was allergic to breast milk. Once we got that figured out and got him on a special formula, we had a much happier baby.

He is doing great! He is cooing often and smiling all the time now. He has been sleeping pretty much through the night for the last few nights which has been wonderful. His last appointment he weighed in at 12lbs 5oz. He is a very happy and healthy little boy and we are crazy about him!

Jacob Henry

Lessons...

I am not a very patient person, my dear husband can attest to this. If you ask him, we would not have married when we married, bought a house when we bought a house, or be having a baby when we are having a baby. He is very methodical and patient. He thinks through things and researches them and sits on them quite awhile before he makes a move. Sometimes (okay, often) this makes me crazy. I make a decision and know what I need to do or what needs to happen and I am ready to go. We balance each other out rather well. God knew what he was doing again! Anyway, back to my impatience...I have always known that being a parent is a constant lesson in patience, what I didn't anticipate was starting that lesson before the kiddo pops out! I know he is well "cooked" and head down and that he has dropped and yet we are playing the waiting game. I hate the waiting game! It makes perfect sense to start such a lesson before you actually have the kid in your arms, but again no anticipation on my part.:-)

In other news, Jacob's due date looms closer and closer. Only 2 more days, of course that is to his due date not necessarily the day he will decide to grace us with his presence. Dan and I are anxious to meet the little guy. We want to know what he is going to look like and watch his little personality develop over the coming months. We want to both get a chance to hold him in our arms and not just see my belly moving around strangely. We are excited and nervous to start this new adventure of parenthood.

Thanks for being part of the journey with us.

Nursery

Well I started maternity leave this week. I have been sleeping in which is great since I wake up every couple of hours. I have had dinner on the table for Dan every day this week which I felt was pretty impressive. We are just kind of playing the waiting game. I had an appointment today and the doc says that I am 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. We are hoping the little guy decides to come on Monday (my doctor is working in labor and delivery that night). I thought I would share some of our pregnancy pictures and pictures of Jacob's room. It still needs some things on the walls and a few other things but it is pretty ready for baby.

What?!

I have started my countdown to b-day! We have about 11 weeks left (give or take) and we are working hard to finish the nursery, have baby showers, and finish up our birthing classes. We have had 5 of the 9 classes so far and we are getting to the good stuff now. Last night we starting really talking about the stages of labor and different labor positions and ways to relax and distract yourself during contraction. Our goal is to have this baby naturally, with no medication, so we have a lot to become educated about.

We are looking forward to meeting this little guy. We can already tell he is going to be and already is one VERY active little boy. He starts karate class about 4am each day. He does gymnastics usually about mid-morning, and then the rest of the time it is periodic rough-housing. He is getting bigger and stronger. I am pretty sure that he is using my stomach and my spleen as bunching bags. I keep trying to remind him that I need those to function when he is done in there but I don't think he understands! :-)

I had another check up today and all looks good. No gestational diabetes or any other health problems and the belly is measuring 30 cm. Which is apparently right on par with where I am in the timeline. I can't see my feet unless I lean forward a bit and I make a lot of noise when I bend down to get anything. I have a tendency to walk a few feet and then forget where I was going and what I was going to tell whoever I was going to tell what! I entertain myself frequently with such forgetfulness.

That is the update for now. I can't wait for you all to meet our Jake!

Birthing Classes

On Monday, we had our first birthing class. We have chosen to go to Bradley Method classes, which is basically to prepare you for a husband-coached natural childbirth. I would really like to and believe I can give birth naturally. We are hoping these classes will give us some great tools and prepare us for the painful unknown. It was so strange to be a part of the class. Everyone was in a pretty different place in life and philosophy etc. The one thing we all have in common is that it is all our first pregnancy. Through the course of the class we will be watching different birthing methods. We started with a tub birth. To be honest, it freaked me out. I have never seen a birth before and really had no good concept of what it looked like or anything and it FREAKED me out! I am a pretty modest person so watching another person naked in a tub giving birth with all sorts of people around and being videotaped....AAAHHHH! I am hoping and hearing that I will feel different about the situation when I am actually participating in bringing this new life into the world. The course is 9 weeks and we are excited to be learning so much and getting prepared for this new life coming in just 3.5 months.

Jake has been moving around a lot. He doesn't really have a pattern except to kick a lot when I am trying to go to sleep. His movements are getting more pronounced and definitely stronger. Instead of feeling like a bubble popping inside me, it feels like some kind of alien creature trying to push its way through my abdominal wall!

Dan and I have finally figured out the whole registry thing and have completed registering at Babies R Us. I think that is the only place we will register. It is so overwhelming and crazy to try and figure out what you need for a baby, especially when you have never had one. I think it was a ton easier to register for our wedding than for the baby.

Dan and I have been talking about what our paternity and maternity leave will look like and we have started really working on what happens when we go back to work. We have some ideas in our head but we will see what we decide. We are hoping a friend of ours will be Jake's childcare provider. She is an at-home mom with 3 kids of her own and I would love Jake to be in that kind of environment. Plus she is such an amazing mom and it would also not cost as much as a daycare facility. We just keep praying that the Lord will lead and guide and grant us wisdom as we move forward. This is His child more than he is ours and I have to learn to let go of all these unknowns that freak me out. (easier said than done:-))

Well there is the update for now. Hope you are all doing well and I can't wait to meet our little Jacob and have him meet all of you.

Traveling

Dan and I spent last weekend in San Jose. Dan's mom picked us up from the airport on Thursday evening and we spent that first night with her. It was fun to catch up after so long. For the rest of the weekend we stayed with Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue. Dan was the best man so he had a few responsibilities for the days leading up to the wedding. I was able to spend time with Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue and just relax. It was so delightful.
Friday we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The dinner was at the Cheesecake factory - soooooo good! Cheesecake makes me melt into happy land! Saturday was a day of leisure for me. We ran a couple of errands but that afternoon and evening I spent time in the pool and had dinner and just relaxed. Dan met up with the guys for a bachelor party and I spent my time getting to know Sue and Larry better. It was so wonderful.
Sunday was the big day. We started the morning at the local Farmers Market and had breakfast. Then Dan was off and running again. I took a nap and then got ready for the wedding.

The wedding was held at the Eagle Ridge Golf Course. It was beautiful and seemed to go off without a hitch. Dave and Kerri looked so happy. It was such a blessing to be a part of their big day.
Break for a funny story---I was told to sit in the family section (the first three rows), well I sat down and realized NONE of the rest of the family were sitting there. I looked around and sure enough they were all seated several rows back. It took me a minute to convince them all that they were supposed to be in the family rows but once I did, they all moved up and I was no longer sitting alone in the family section. Thanks Aunt Sue for helping me get everyone moved into their family seating!

The reception was a blast. Everyone danced and it was a great party. Congratulations again Dave and Kerri, we wish you all the happiness and love in the world.

Monday was breakfast and some goodbyes and then back to the airport. I was stung by a bee in the airport for the first time since Jr. High. It flew in while we were in line to check in and landed on my head. Without really thinking I went to swipe whatever was tickling my forehead and my finger met the stinger of a bee. I, of course, yelled out and made a little bit of a scene which caused Dan to whip around and wonder what the heck was happening. I was crying! It hurt, what can I say. By the time we were checked in and made it through security my finger and hand were swelling up. We found the first vendor we could and asked for ice to I could try to get the pain and swelling to go down. Behind us in line was one of the flight attendants for our flight. She took such great care of us. She got me a bag of ice (to replace my cup) and some anti-sting cream and a Benadryl. I really felt so taken care of. It is cool to see how Jesus provides just the right people to help you when you need it. It was such a small thing but to have one of our attendants right behind us and offer to help was so good for my heart. Anyway, the rest of the trip was delightfully uneventful. It was a great time with family!

Next week we start birthing classes!