My Cheap Photography

I attempted to play dress up with the little man a couple of days ago.  The moment  I laid him down on the cream blanket that was going to be used as a backdrop, he whizzed everywhere.  It was the only solid colored blanket I could find so we merely re-folded it in half and positioned him again.  No judgement.  The blanket has since been washed. :)

A hat made by MFT

 A hat made by a sweet teacher at my school

 A hat made by SSR

 This outfit was my dad's when he was born

 The hat that I originally bought before we were ever preggo.  J was getting tired here :)  (WE LOVE OWLS!)

Auntie Kait!!!

It's a day early, BUT!

Interview Pt. 2

1. How are you healing physically? It's a SLOW process, that's for sure.  I just now feel comfortable walking around.  I still can't sleep on my sides due to swelling.

2. How are you feeling emotionally? Better!  I cried pretty uncontrollably for half the day on Tuesday (we came home from the hospital on Saturday) but other than that, I'm doing okay.  I've got a lot of anxiety that comes and goes about random things - if night times are going to be terrible, having visitors, Grey going back to work...etc  I'm assuming it's all postpartum stuff and hopefully it'll die down a little.

3. How is James doing? He's a TROOPER that poops constantly. Seriously. We get a poopy diaper every time we change him. :)  He's a good little sleeper too.  We're blessed for sure!

4. Are you loving being a mommy? It's definitely different than I imagined.  I don't know that we're doing everything right but it's currently working for Grey and myself right now so we'll stick with it.  Being a mommy definitely comes with much uncertainty - is he sleeping enough?  Is he eating enough?  Should I be holding him now while he sleeps or laying him down?  I'm wet - did I pee on myself or did he pee on me? :)

5. How's breastfeeding going?  I'll admit that I don't love it.  I think James has a latch problem so we're scheduling an appointment tomorrow morning with a lactation consultant to try and help us out.  It's a quite painful at times and he easily feeds for an hour if I let him.  That takes a lot out of you when you're supposed to be feeding him every 2-3 hours after he starts that initial feeding. 

6. Have you already forgotten about labor? (Insert cuss word here) NO.  I'm telling you - we'll adopt from here on out. I'm not strong enough to have to go through that again. I'm a wimp when it comes to pain and I'm okay with that.

Sorry the picture is turned, I can't figure out how to get it upright.  This was taken last Thursday, on his 1 week birthday!!  (He favors Grey in EVERY aspect but those cheeks baby!! Those are from his momma!)

Little J's story and pictures!

We're totally in love :)

Snuggling after getting fed

Thuggin' it up

He's so expressive with his hands! :)

 Doesn't he look like a little old man?

 Right before we left the hospital

I'm currently attempting to breast feed and this is usually the reaction I get when I try and burp him in between

The quick birth story: 

We checked into the hospital at 5am on Thursday, Jan 9th.  They hooked me up to monitors and just watched me until 6:30.

8:00 - Dr. Giep came and broke my water.  For those of you that don't know, after your water is broken, the contractions intensify tremendously.

10:00 - I asked for an epidural

12:00-12:30 - I finally got the epidural. :(  The nurse actually cut off my pitocin prior to that because I was in so much pain.

12:30 - laid down for a nap

1:00 - I had INTENSE right (lower ovary) pain.  I called the nurse in and told her about it and she said she'd get the epidural guy.

1:30 -He comes in and gives me more epidural medicine.  No relief

2:00 - He comes back in and gives me 1 round of another pain medicine.  No relief

2:30 - I'm actually in so much pain on my right side that I've vomited and I can't stop crying.  The drug guy comes in and just stares at me.  He offers to take the epidural out and try and put another one in but I can't sit still long enough for that to be done.

3:00 - The pain is literally unbearable.  Grey has just resorted to holding my hand and starring at me.  The nurse comes in to check me and realizes that on my left side, I'm 8cm and on my right side, I'm at 10 cm. 

The drug man comes in and I beg him to at least change out the bag of epidural medicine. He does it and pulls out the epidural 1 cm.

3:45 - No relief still but my left side has finally caught up with my right side and I can start pushing.  At that point, the new medicine finally kicks in. (Apparently the epidural was put in crooked so the medicine was only getting to the left side.  Once he pulled it out a tiny bit, the medicine was allowed to flow to both sides.)

4:23 - James is born!!!!! 

5:25- It takes them quite a bit of time to stitch me up and we're finally allowed to let parents come in and see him. 

For the record, I didn't cuss or yell during labor at all. :)  I merely cried, begged for lots of medicine, and threw up.

We're adopting from here on out. :)  Hats off to you women who either choose to have a completely natural birth or who end up having a similar experience.  

We'll keep you updated!

An Interview

My little man-you're DUE the week that we have record breaking low temps? 
You're DUE the week that if you go outside with skin exposed, you could have frostbite?
You're DUE during the middle of flu season?
You're DUE during lows of under 10 degrees with winds blowing at up to 30 mph?
You're DUE during the week that schools are delaying school just because of the cold weather?

Mommy and Daddy didn't plan this very well, did we? :) 

Sigh. We're officially on the count down.  If I'm not allowed to go past my due date (so say the doctors) then we're looking at 5 days or less before our lives change forever!

Some questions you might be thinking...
1. Are you ready?  Yes physically and no emotionally
2. Is the house ready?  Yes.  I've vacuumed, dusted, and done laundry every day for the past week. :)
3. Are you scared about labor?  Only getting the IV in my hand
4. Do you have stretch marks?  Dang it - yes. I've got 2 little ones (about an inch in length) on either side of my belly button.
5. Do your rings still fit?  Yes (but it's cold outside so I think that's helped)
6. How much weight have you gained?  I'm looking at 23 big ones.
7. How much should James be weighing right now?  Considering that he was a tad over 6lbs at 35 weeks, we should be well in between the 8-9lb mark.
8. Are you huge?  I feel like it. Grey can't hug me anymore without leaning over. :)  They actually measured my fundal height for the first time last week and I was actually measuring a week behind. We got a new neighbor last week and she thought I still had 4 months to go.  
9. What will little J be coming home in?  A white long sleeved onesie with his name in camo embroidered on the side with a matching hat and orange striped leg warmers.  (Although...we most likely will have tons of layers on top of that due to the temps)
10. Can I hold James? Only if you've had a flu shot! 
11. What are you most looking forward to after he's born (other than having him there)?  Oh man. Where to start - bubble baths, laying on my back and belly, getting up off the couch quickly, not living in constant back pain, being able to eat whatever I want whenever I want, not having to pee every 15 minutes, not peeing in my pants, staying home from teaching, wearing regular (non maternity) clothes, fitting into my old shoes (due to feet swelling), and getting my balance back.  Did I ever tell you that 2 days before I said goodbye to my kiddos, I bent down to pick up a pen that I had dropped and fell over frontwards?  My kids screamed, thinking I had gone into labor. :)  

We'll keep you guys updated!  Thanks for praying for us and for cheering us along!!

AH!

(Momentary frustration...and go!)
I'm ready. Let's have this kid. Bring on the spicy foods and the exercise.
I had an appointment today - still at 80% but I finally progressed 1 whole centimeter to 2 cm.
Boo you body.
You're not getting my memo.

Menu Planner!

I think instead of nesting, I've gone into total and helpless craft mode. This is my newly made weekly menu planner!  I've also added some things to the bathroom and I'm working on a new wreath!  I'll try and post some pics later!