Christmas Fun

Hi everyone --


This past week has been pretty busy with time spent celebrating Christmas with family and visits with friends. We spent Christmas with Dan's family on Saturday, which was fun with four kids under the age of four! It was nice to have everyone in one place as well. We took a picture of the four grandkids together, which is attached. The other baby is Dan's older sister's - she was born in early December. It was amazing to us how much Jacob has grown since he was born after seeing him next to her. She is the size that he was when he was born!!


We celebrated with my family at our house on Sunday. I have also attached a photo of our family picture, which has been a tradition as far as I can remember. We took Jacob to the Christmas Eve service at our church on Monday and he did so well!! I was so nervous about him crying or belting out these elongated grunts that he has now started doing when he needs to go to the bathroom, but he kept quiet. It was great to be back in church and be there as a family - we hope to start taking him to church each Sunday now that he is a little older. Since we saw both of our families prior to Christmas, we were able to have a quiet and relaxing day on Christmas day. My dad came up again and we watched movies and learned how to make my dad's famous mostaciolli. Overall, it was a great Christmas!


Jacob gave us a great Christmas gift and slept in his crib the entire night on Monday (with only two feedings). Just when we thought that was great, he slept ALL night without waking up on Wednesday night. Dan and I woke up around 5:00 am in a state of shock that he was still asleep. I went in to make sure that he was still breathing and then we went back to sleep. He made it all the way to Dan's alarm at 7:00, which was eight hours straight. It was probably just a fluke, but we'll take it!!

Jacob smiled at me for the first time yesterday, which was so exciting!! He has smiled in his sleep since he was born, but this was the first time he did it when we were "talking" to each other. He is exploring his voice more and more and it is fun to try and get him to talk to us. Since he has gotten bigger, he no longer fits into his newborn clothes so I have put those away and gotten out his next stage of clothes. It's fun putting new clothes on him, but sad at the same time to say goodbye to his newborn clothes. I'm just about done decorating his nursery and will post pictures of it once it is done.

I have two weeks before I go back to work and I have a whole list of things to get done. Mainly though, I want to soak up my one-on-one time with Jacob. I'm looking forward to going back to work but will miss spending so much time with him. I know every working mother faces this dilemna, but I hope that it is an easy transition for both of us. I'm tearing up just thinking about it :( I'll just have to load up my desk with lots of pictures of him!!!

Blog at you all later!!

Angela

Movin' On Out

Hi everyone --

Well, as the title of this post mentions, Jacob has been moved out of our bedroom and into his nursery. No, he isn't sleeping in his crib yet, but we have put his bouncy seat on the floor of his nursery so that he can get used to the sounds in there and hopefully transition him to his crib soon. He still takes short naps in his crib during the day, but night is a different story. Right now he sleeps about three hours at a time, four if we're lucky.

Nothing else is really new with him except that he is growing like a weed! We weighed him the other night and he came in at whopping 10 pounds!! He has outgrown his first outfit which is just crazy to us. It's amazing how quickly they grow :)

I must have jinxed Rascal in our Christmas card letter because he suffered another setback over the weekend. He herniated his last spinal disk next to his tail and is in a good deal of pain right now. Thankfully, his nerves that affect his rear legs are not affected so paralysis is not an issue. However, his back legs must be sore because getting up from a lying position seems to really hurt him and he won't let anyone touch him in that area of his body. It is so devastating to watch him go through this but we are optimistic that he will recover quickly. Dan added up his vet bills for the last couple of years and the figure is pretty high when you total it all together. I know that some people think that we are crazy for putting so much money into him, but I can't imagine putting a dog to sleep when he has the ability to recover and not be in pain for a long period of time. The first couple of days are always the worst and then he feels back to normal and doesn't understand why he is stuck in his crate. At some point, you would think that he would run out of disks to herniate! Here is a picture of Rascal for those of you who have never seen him.


We had a beautiful snowstorm over the weekend and got several inches of snow - my guess is about eight inches. It is really pretty outside right now and we were wishing that Jacob was older so we could take him outside and play in it. That will be a reality next year, so we just need to be patient :)

I ran for the first time on the treadmill yesterday and although I am really sore today, it felt pretty good! I only ran one mile to start out but I was impressed that I could go that far since I haven't worked out since last March. Hopefully my body will continue to allow me to run so I can squeeze into my jeans again soon! I'm horrible at dieting and have yet to give up the sweets, so exercise is my only hope at this point.

Not sure if I will post again before Christmas, so I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and safe travels!!!

Angela

Several Firsts

Jacob has accomplished several things for the first time recently. I suppose that when you have a newborn, everything is a first, but we are still excited about them nonetheless! The first picture is of "rapper" Jacob as Dan has titled this picture. Thought I would share this since I thought it was both cute and funny.

Onto the firsts.... We submitted to using a pacifier for the first time a week ago and he took to it immediately. I have no idea why we waited so long to try it, but it is the greatest thing! Now if Jacob won't settle down with simple things like rocking or swinging, in goes the pacifier. We use it all the time now :)

The same night we started using the pacifier, we gave him his first bottle. Our pediatrician recommended introducing this now so I can begin gaining some freedom back. Dan now gives him one a day and he gulps it down like he's a starving child. I love having one less feeding to do a day and now feel like I can leave the house and not feel pressured to be back in two hours. The other picture I attached to this blog is of Dan feeding Jacob last night and Jacob is actually holding the bottle himself. This is probably just a coincidence to where he put his hands, but it was exciting to us anyways!!


Another great first is that Jacob is starting to sleep in his crib for short naps. I have been trying to lay him down in it off and on during the day to practice for nighttime. We tried putting him in his crib last night, but it only lasted maybe 15 minutes. We're anxious for him to become comfortable in his crib at night, but we may have a long ways to go :( We are still not good at letting him cry. He may get five minutes tops before one of us picks him up to soothe him. Hopefully this won't make him spoiled!

One other first relates to me. I got permission to start working out again and I walked two miles on the treadmill the other day and did great! It felt so good to work up a sweat and use my muscles. It has been a long nine months of lethargy and my muscles are so flabby. I would love to be able to run again soon. I'm desparate to fit into my regular pants again and to put away the elastic pants!! I have about 12 pounds to go, but I also have several pounds of muscle to regain. My goal is to get back into my regular clothes by the time I return to work in five weeks.

Jacob's umbilical stump has been working itself off the past couple of days and I think that it will be completely off by tomorrow. The exciting part of this is that once it is off he can have a real bath. We can't wait to see how he does in a tub of water!

Well, I know that there are a lot of firsts yet to come, but these are still exciting to us right now :)

Angela

Only a Diaper Change a Mother (or Father) Can Love

Hello --

I'm just going to start out this post with a warning - for those of you who are faint-hearted or are eating, you might want to skip this!

Up until now I have painted a picture that Jacob is this sweet and rosy baby that is the light of our lives. Well, that was until yesterday! I have mentioned that Jacob is a great eater, which is great, but that also means that his volume of poop is in excess. Here I am thinking that everything is going well yesterday and I am changing him before feeding him with the hope of having some time to myself afterwards. He had a very loaded diaper and is wiped clean. I lift him up slightly to readjust his clean diaper before I fasten it to him and in that split second, he decides to surprise me with a poop explosion that has the force to launch the space shuttle! I'm not kidding, his poop sprayed six feet. It landed on everything in its path - me, changing table, bouncy seat, carpeting.

It took me a half hour to clean it all up and I called Dan at work to tell him. Self-proclaimed diaper extraordinaire's response is that I lifted him up too high and need to be careful next time. Fine, maybe he is right. Well.... Dan changed him at 2:30 this morning before I nursed him and tells me when he brings him to me that he needs to go back and clean up the wall in the nursery. Apparently Jacob is an equal-opportunity poop exploder and unleashed on Dan. It got all over the wall, blinds, carpeting, and Dan. Bless Dan's heart, he cleaned it all up and then was so awake that he couldn't get back to sleep and went into work at 4:00 a.m. I didn't get much more sleep either, but at least I don't have to work all day :(

Is this normal for a baby to do this? Maybe we just don't have it down yet on knowing when he is pooping and need to be more patient before changing him. I'm wondering if this is a normal thing for a baby to do. If anyone has advice for us, please let us know!! I almost want to call the nurse to see if there is something wrong with him.

We love him to death, but we didn't think that we signed up for this when we decided to have a baby!! Maybe we need to start changing him in the bath tub :)

Angela

Growing Boy

Hi everyone --

It is so hard to believe that Jacob is already two weeks old! Today was his due date and it is crazy to think that he may not even be born yet. We had his two-week check-up with Jacob's pediatrician on Friday and Jacob is packing on the pounds! The goal was for him to be back up to his birth weight of 7 lbs, but he weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs 14 oz. I was concerned that since he doesn't nurse as long as recommended that he wouldn't show improvement in weight, but it turns out that he is just an efficient eater and gets his milk within the first five or ten minutes of nursing. What a relief! I'm so glad of this because this makes my life easier in not having to nurse as long, although he sometimes nurses once an hour during certain parts of the day.

Jacob continues to do well at night. He sleeps for about three hours at a time and is going back to sleep right away after nursing. I've become immune to his crying at night and I am so thankful that Dan is getting him up for a diaper change and then brings him to me to nurse. We're hoping that he continues to make our nights smooth because we're all about getting lots of sleep!!

We've had a pretty low key weekend, which has been nice because the weather here was pretty sketchy all weekend. We had a small ice storm yesterday and it has rained all day today. I spent a good part of my free time this weekend sorting through the hundreds of pictures stored on our digital camera. I finally figured out our picture software program and have created and e-mailed everyone a link to a set of pictures of Jacob during the last couple of weeks. Please let me know if you didn't get an e-mail and I will send it to you again.

Well, I need to start getting ready for bed and spend some time with Jacob before going to sleep. Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Angela

Sweet, Sweet Jacob

Hi everyone -

As everyone probably knows by now Jacob Daniel was born on November 17th. He was born at 7 lbs even and is 19 1/2 inches long. His delivery was pretty eventful and somewhat trying at times, but having him finally here makes everything worth it.

For those who are interested in the details of his delivery, here is a summary of the chain of events. I went in to the doctor on Friday (Nov 16th) for a blood pressure check and was taken straight to the hospital after my blood pressure would not go down. Once checked into a labor and delivery room, I was officially diagnosed with Preeclamsia. I was immediately given a mix of IVs to help treat it and the doctor on call (Dr. Nord was out of town) recommended induction of labor. I was given medication every few hours over night to begin to get my cervix ready. I was already dilated to 1 cm, but he said it would be easier for me if it was more prepared when he broke my water in the morning. Once my water broke, the contractions intensified and were coming about every 1 1/2 minutes. I got an epidural around 3 cm dilation which was the greatest thing ever. They started to notice that that every time I had a contraction, Jacob's oxygen level dropped too low. It was quickly decided that a c-section was the only option for both Jacob's and my safety and the rest is history!

I was dead-set against a c-section, but now I see why people opt for one. Sure the healing time is longer, but it went quick and I don't know how well I would have done through a long labor. Now the next time we will be able to plan the birth a lot easier and my nerves are already severed, so might as well go that route again :)

Now onto the more important reason for this blog! Jacob is doing so well and we just can't get enough of him. I could literally sit and watch him all day. We feel so blessed that we were given this precious gift after such a long time wanting this. Other than a couple of fussy bouts in the hospital the first couple of nights, he spends his time sleeping when he isn't nursing or pooping. I was very lucky that he took to nursing right away and it seems to be his pacifier. Dan jokes that I will continue to feed him food long into his teenage years everytime he cries just to make him feel better. Dan took most of last week off and it has been so nice to have him home during these first few days at home. Dan now considers himself a professional diaper changer and I will miss having him here when he goes back to work on Monday. We seem to have everything in control at this point and it almost seems too good to be true!

He is definitely Dan's baby! He has so many of Dan's features and is unmistakenly a smaller version of him. We have taken lots of pictures of him and I plan on creating an online album to share with everyone sometime soon. In the meantime, here is a link to the hospital's web site if you would like to take a peek at him. http://www.bromenn.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=275&action=detail&ref=88681

Well, I have gone on and on and should probably attend to Jacob now, not that I mind!! I'll let you all know when I have pictures up online to view and thanks to everyone for your warm wishes.

Angela

Getting Closer!!

Hi everyone -

It has been awhile since I have posted anything. I am now 36 1/2 weeks along and feeling every bit pregnant. I was officially taken off of bed rest on Sunday and was able to also stop taking the medicine that was preventing contractions. I really haven't felt any contractions since then, although I do get crampy from time-to-time, which is normal.

I had a check-up with my doctor yesterday and discovered that my blood pressure was high. They had me lie down to retake it and it returned to normal, but Dr. Nord is still concerned because this is the stage where Preeclampsia can occur. I have been experiencing a few signs of Preeclampsia on a minor level - dull headaches, swelling, weight gain - so he has once again assigned me to rest. I was so excited about getting to do normal things again like clean the house (of course with Dan's assistance) and even put the Christmas decorations out this weekend since I know that this won't happen once the baby arrives, but once again my plans are put on hold.

The good news is is that we are definitely ready for the baby's arrival. The nursery is mostly done, baby supplies are purchased, baby things are washed and put away, hospital bag is packed, car seat installed, child care is basically set up, pediatrician chosen, etc.... The only thing that Dan and I would like more time on is getting our work at our jobs in better shape before I go into labor. I also found out that Dr. Nord will be out of town for a week starting this Saturday, so our new goal is to make it to the 38-week mark, which is Sunday November 18th. Of course, we know that this isn't in our control and if the Preeclampsia develops fully, I will have to be induced right away because the only cure for it is to deliver the baby.

We're hoping to make it out this weekend to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Hard to believe that it has been seven years! Nothing more exciting planned other than dinner and a movie. I have been craving Olive Garden a lot recently and Dan wants to go see the new Bee movie (he got free tickets). We're a couple of party animals!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall colors. The trees seemed to really have turned this week as the temperatures have become more fall-like recently. It's really pretty to be out driving around town and being able to see all of the pretty trees. We are just thankful at this time of year that we don't have large trees that dump lots of leaves that need raked every other day!

Well, hope everyone is doing well and maybe the next post will be a baby announcement :)

I have attached a picture of myself that was taken at 35 weeks for those of you who have been wanting to see how big I have gotten. It's not a pretty sight!!

Take care,

Angela

Pieces Starting to Fall Into Place

Hi everyone --

Well, another week has passed and things are still going well. Dr. Nord did another ultrasound on Tuesday and checked everything out and the baby still looks good. He is now recommending that I stay home from work until the baby is born, which surprised me a little. I was planning on going back in a couple of weeks, but I talked to my boss and she is okay with me continuing to work from home. I do get my driving privileges back on Sunday, though, so I plan on taking a few short trips from time-to-time.

Our baby furniture was delivered and set up on Wednesday, so we can finally start to get the nursery together. Sharla and Kristen threw the most perfect shower for us on Sunday and it was great to see family and friends all in one place. We got so many cute things and I am anxious to start organizing the nursery (although it will have to be just a little bit at a time since I am still on bed rest). Dan is busy buying things that we still need and is traveling to Springfield tomorrow to load up the car with things from Babies 'R Us.

I'm feeling much more relaxed these days now that we have most things that the baby will need when we bring him home and especially since it appears that I won't be delivering prematurely. We picked out a pediatrician this week and plan on working hard next week on selecting a child care option. Now that I can venture out of the house on short trips, I can make some visits to some of the places on our list. Right now, I am leaning towards a day care center, but who knows how we will feel once we start our visits. I always thought that we would send our baby to an in-home day care, but now I am not so sure. If anyone has opinions, we would love to hear them!

Onto our other "baby" - Rascal. He is doing great and mostly sleeps during the day when I am home. Since he has been on his own sort of bed rest the last six weeks, we took his toys away so he wouldn't be tempted to get active in the house. Well, last night I gave him back his favorite red ball and he acted like he had never gotten anything so good in his life! He must have played fetch a half dozen times last night. It was great to see him have so much fun again.

Well, that's all for now and I promise to post pictures of the nursery once it is completed!

32-Week Ultrasound

Hi everyone!

We had our 32-week ultrasound yesterday and it was so great to see the baby (it has been 12 weeks). Dr. Nord did lots of measurements and checked the baby over and said that the baby is doing really well. We were amazed to hear that he is measuring two weeks ahead and already weighs 4 lbs 15 ounces! There is a margin of error of about one pound but the nurse mentioned that Dr. Nord is typically right in his measurements. I thought for sure that we would have a small baby since both Dan and I were smaller babies in the six-pound range. He could weigh more because he has longer limbs, which is entirely possible if you look at Dan's mom's side of the family. Anyways, it is encouraging to know that he is growing well and is at a healthy size, especially if I deliver early.

I am now supposed to be on bed rest through 36 weeks, but I can begin to be more active after 34 weeks. I am hoping that the baby will stay put until my restrictions are lifted so I can get some things done before he arrives! In the meantime, we need to pick out a pediatrician and make child care arrangements for when I return to work. It is all pretty overwhelming and hard to know where to start. We have a list of child care providers in the area, but how do you know which one will be the best? It is such an important decision to make, especialy knowing that this person would be helping us raise our child, which is so hard to accept.

We have finally picked out a name! It is one that we have continued to go back to even when other names were thrown into the mix and it has just felt "right." For all of you who have asked us about the name, we are keeping it a secret until after he is born! During the ultrasound yesterday, Dan asked Dr. Nord to check one more time to make sure the baby is a boy. He is without a doubt certain that it is a boy and even pointed out the parts to us. We pretended like we knew what he pointing at, but truthfully we had no idea :)

Well, that is all for now. I was planning on posting the picture of the ultrasound, but I don't think it is a great picture and by the time I would scan it in, the image would be even more grainy.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Inaugural Post!!!

Hi everyone --


Well, I decided to join the blogging world. Several of my friends have blogs and I find myself completely addicted to them, so I thought that I would start one of my own. I originally planned to get it started once Baby Engel is born, but as some of you know I am currently on bed rest and suddenly have a lot of time on my hands! I will try and keep it updated periodically and will add pictures from time-to-time, so stay posted!


For those of you who don't know, I was placed on bed rest last Thursday as a result of contractions that I was experiencing that were brought on by a urinary tract infection. Thankfully, I was able to trust my maternal instinct that I have heard so much about (and doubted that I had) and go into the doctor when something just didn't seem right. After being monitored by the hospital for three hours, I was treated with medication for my contractions and sent home with strict orders of bed rest, which has been my dread this whole pregnancy.


I have now adjusted to the routine of simply not being able to do anything and have Dan wait on me for things as simple as getting a glass of water. Most people think that this would be a dream to lie around all day and have someone else take care of all of the mundane tasks of day-to-day life, but it is just the opposite! Dan has been great and keeps reminding me that I need to relax and get my feet up for the baby's sake. I am also really thankful that my boss is so understanding and is allowing me to work from home, which will help keep my sanity :)


I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and my doctor wants me to continue my bed rest for another three weeks, at which I will hit the 34-week mark. The baby appears to be doing well and I have started to see his hand or foot doing the wave across my stomach for the first time during the past few days. I am used to the frequent punches, kicks, and somersaults, but the wave is exciting to see!!


Nothing else is really new with us right now except for baby planning. Dan has been working a lot and then gets to come home and do household chores. We're enjoying the new TV season and are trying to soak in the shows as much as possible because we know that shortly our TV time will be cut back dramatically. Thank goodness for DVR - the best invention (in my opinion)!

Rascal is doing good. He has been recovering from a disc herneation in his neck for the past month and seems to be doing better. This is his thrid episode of having problems with discs in his spine in the last two years. He has a disc degeneration disease and we keep praying that the next time he has a problem, it won't be serious enough that we have to make a hard decision. He is so young (five years old) and constantly wants to go on walks and play and we have to restrict him so he can rest and heal. His world is about to be rocked in the coming weeks and it will be interesting to see how he deals with a new human being in the house that consumes our attention.

I just wanted to update everyone on how the pregnancy is going. I apologize for my lengthy ramblings (most of you know that I can get a little wordy)!!


We hope that everyone is doing well and is enjoying the beginnings of fall!