Jackson Robert

Wow! Its been a long time since I have updated our blog. I have to say though, it seems like just yesterday that I was walking around, wishing our little man would be born. Yet, its been 6 weeks since Jackson Robert entered this world. He arrived on January 12, 2010 at 2:31 pm, after 12 hours of being at the hospital. The delivery seemed long but the recovery really was worse than the labor. It took quite some time to feel "human" again. Jack was 8 lbs, 6 oz and 19 inches long. Much bigger than anyone guessed. Ironically however, he still seemed so tiny! My mom was able to spend our first 6 days once home from the hospital with us. It was so nice to have her here. She spent most of the days snuggling with Jack and she taught us how to give him a bath. It was reassuring to have her (the most experienced mom I know) around. I sat in the car and cried after dropping her off at the airport because I wasn't sure how Jack and I would do just the two of us all day. She told me, "You've been a mom since you were 5, you'll be fine." I guess you learn by doing, by screwing up, by trying again. Believe me, I learn something everyday about being a mom.
Here are a few pictures of baby Jackson - I am so in love!!!

Happy Christmas and New Year

Just as quickly as the holiday season came.... it went! Because I was unable to do any traveling, we were fortunate enough to have all of my family (at least at some point) over the past couple weeks here with us. My mom and 5 youngest siblings flew in on December 20th and were later joined by my dad who flew in Christmas day. Besides my brother Jake who had to leave that day for a soccer tournament in FL, they were all here until (very early) New Year's Day. It was great having them all here. My other siblings came and went at various times, but we were able to have at least a few days with each of them. It was somewhat like a revolving door - I will say it was hectic!!! And in my current desire to clean, I believe they call it "nesting", I had to take a deep breath several times and let it go :) Primarily with cups/cans of pop and shoes - HOLY CATS!!! Good practice for the future, right?

We did A LOT of eating, and with the two doctor appointments I had over the holidays (Dec. 23rd and Dec. 30th) I was quite happy to see that I actually lost some weight at both of these appointments!!! Too bad it normally doesn't work that way.

My first doctor appointment was with the nurse practitioner because my doctor was off for Christmas. It was the first time we met her, and my first internal exam... good thing I am not so self-conscious at this point. She told me I was 50% effaced, but not dilated any cm. Overall, I felt pretty good. I did notice some increased tiredness at the end of the day and definitely increased swelling in my feet, but the contractions I did have were fairy minor, and would come and go. I was able to have off from work Dec. 21-25th. We made lots of cookies those first few days, and I am pretty sure spent at least a portion of every day until Christmas Eve shopping.

The weather hindered some planned activities, but we improvised.... bowling, movies, ice skating (indoors), games, etc.

My second doctor appointment was about the same as the first. Around 50% effaced and no significant dilation. So, despite my wishes that the little guy was going to come before the New Year (since my family was here and since Nate would have loved the tax break) no such luck!!

Besides some final touches to the nursery, I am happy to report completion of that project. We started doing all the washing of the baby clothes.... he's got a good amount of clothes, WOW! Nate and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little guy, although I am not in a great deal of discomfort so I am still able to work and get stuff cleaned back up after the whole house was up for grabs for 2 weeks without any problems. Plus, we all know my mom never went early with any of her kids so I am not holding my breath. And, with the bitter cold weather we're having lately, I don't blame him for staying put!!! I see my doctor again tomorrow, so maybe we'll know more then.

Below are some pictures of the past few weeks.

Belly Picture - 38 weeks (12/29/09)

36 Weeks

Where is December going? It's been awhile since I wrote again...On Wednesday we had our 36 week visit and our last baby class :) Besides doing the strep B test, the visit was routine. As he was checking the position of the little guy to make sure he is still head down he said, "oh, you're having a contraction now." And since then, I have been having many contractions. They come and go, and are not consistant, but I like to think this little guy wants to come early so he doesn't miss out on all the Christmas Fun!!! I guess time will tell. The contractions are usually in the evening, so it makes my relaxing time pretty non existant. Not to mention, we always seem to have things to do around the house or errands to run so I don't have much down time. Especially with still working over 40 hours a week. My ankles sure are swollen at the end of the day. Its a good thing its winter or I am sure it would be 10x worse! My biggest complaint in the past couple weeks have been my lack of sleep. I have a very difficult time getting comfortable, and when I do it seems like one of my many bathroom trips is just around the corner. And secondly, because of swelling, my hands go numb quite easily. Its difficult to sleep on your side when your hands go numb from doing so. In the morning my joints feel like an 80 year old with arthritis. They are painful to open and close because of the swelling. Let's just say that I'd much rather be up with a baby than up due to swelling and peeing :)

Tonight we had a baby shower with Nate's co-workers. We got some very nice gifts and must have gotten some motivation to get the babys room finished because dare I say it, but I think the nursery is DONE!!! It has been quite the project, which Nate has spent the majority of the time on, but I think it turned out really nice. I will have to take on the project of washing everything in the next couple weeks. I started the bedding tonight. I will post some pictures of the belly and the nursery as soon as I get around to it.
We start seeing the doctor weekly, so we'll have an update on any progress next week.
Stand By.....

34 weeks, 6 days (12/7/09 - my 27th bday)

Nursery and Third Trimester Beard Pictures

As promised here are some before and after pictures from the nursery:

BEFORE

AFTER

Please forgive the spots that appear on the photos. Our soon to be replaced digital camera has seen better days and those spots, I can assure you, are due to the camera lens and not due to my craftsmanship.

Last but not least here are some before and after beard pictures:

BEFORE (at my Grandma Helen's 90th Birthday party in September)

TODAY

Sharing in the Sacrifices

The title above is not intended to be taken literally unless you consider the growth of facial hair to be a real sacrifice. It appears that more background is required sooner as opposed to later or this post may spiral into oblivion before it gets started. About the time we hit the third trimester I decided that I need to do something to share in the physical sacrifices of a pregnancy. Karyn was feeling the baby all the time and space was at a premium in there. I cannot relate even remotely to the way a mother-to-be feels both physically and emotionally during a pregnancy, let alone as they hit the home stretch. But I wanted to do something to exhibit my support in an external sense.

My idea was to grow a third trimester beard. This is akin to the playoff beards that hockey players grow as they make their run towards the Stanley Cup. Quite honestly the process started out of laziness one weekend in October and I haven't looked back since. Once again I am currently without photos to substantiate my current physical condition and I know that owe nursery room pictures as well. So I will post the evidence this evening when I get home from work. That is assuming we don't get snowed in this evening because they predict 9-12 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.

Nursery is Done... Well almost done

If the nursery project is any indication of a hypothetical career in general carpentry I must regrettably accept the fact that I would starve. I say that not because I failed to produce a solid work product, but because it took me forever to do it. A large part of me rationalizes this by saying that it isn't my 9-5 gig so time is always limited. There is a great deal of truth to that. However, the other aspect is the number of times I simply chose to do something else, i.e. relaxing, playing video games, sleeping, etc. In the end I cannot even begin to tell you how much time I did spend in the nursery over the last month and change. Now, as the project nears completion, I can also not accurately communicate how happy I am that I did spend all that time on it.

Throughout the process I received a great deal of help from both Karyn and Eleanor. Obviously Karyn helped in a more substantive manner, but I was surprised by Eleanor's ability to paint by rubbing up against the walls. In case you were wondering, paint washes out of a dog's hair surprisingly well and Eleanor absolutely loves eating dried paint and chair rail modeling pieces.

With the project nearing the finish line we assembled the crib last night. That was easiest part of the project to far and it still took 45 minutes or so. The moral of the story is this: Every project will take longer and be more difficult than you could ever imagine. This isn't the first time I have learned that lesson. Unfortunately, it is an easy lesson to forget and that usually happens right about the time you are starting a new project.

I wish I had some pictures to post showing the finished product but I'll have to follow-up tonight when I am back at home. The room still isn't put back together because I have some touching up to do, but I'll get that done tonight.

As I mentioned above, when I looked around the room last night I was very happy to have spent the time that I did on the project. I am thankful for the opportunity to do things like this and for the opportunity to dream about baby D's first nights in his new home. It might not be the best example of high-level carpentry, but it has been completed with love and the best intentions.