One Week Down

Well one week plus some now. It has taken me three days to actually be able to sit down and write this. It is much harder to find time when you have the world's cutest baby to cuddle with!

So with the exception of the whole appendicitis thing, our first week home has gone really smoothly. No major meltdowns, no injuries, and a decent amount of sleep for everyone. Sounds like a great first week home to me! Jake got his first (and at this point 2nd) bath. Josh got pooped on once (through a towel thankfully!). And we have learned a bunch about out little monkey boy.

Things We Learned During the First Week:
-Jake likes to poop in a clean diaper
-Jake is a good sleeper and is almost impossible to wake before he is ready
-He won't eat if he needs to poop
-Daddy's goatee is fun to grab and pull
-He is not a fan of the sponge bath (hopefully this doesn't mean he won't like water!)
-0-3 month clothes are big even on a "big" baby
-Jake likes the car...as long as we are moving
-Socks do not stay on baby feet
-We go through a ton of diapers! (Can't wait to start using the cloth diapers!)
-Jake will let you know when he is hungry...by screaming very loudly
-We have great family and friends (We knew this before but can never be said enough)

And some pictures from this week.

First Bath

Not liking being naked and wet

Getting dry













First doctor's appointment

Nakey baby sleeping

Mommy's Little Monster

Cosmo checking out Jake

Hanging out with Grams while mommy was in the hospital

Mommy and Jake sleeping

And Home Again.

Well, we have had quite an eventful and emotional last 24 hours.

About 2:30 yesterday afternoon I started having severe stomach pains, bad enough that Josh and I decided we needed to call the doctor to see what they thought we needed to do. Josh was told to call an ambulance if I couldn't move or get me to the ER. I definitely didn't want to have to call an ambulance so Josh got all three of us dressed and in the car and we headed to the closest ER. The pain wasn't any better when we got there and I could barely walk. Once we got checked in and the doctor checked me out she wanted to do a CT Scan to see if it was my appendix, but ideally they needed to use an injectible dye contrast to get the best results, but I wouldn't be able to breastfeed and would have to pump and dump the milk for 24 hours, which I really wanted to avoid. She figured out something else for me to do, drink the dye, which would be fine for my milk, but would take a lot longer to get into my system and get the scan. Josh and I decided this would be a better option to try first even though it could have resulted in having to do the other one anyways.

In the mean time, we had called my mom to come get Jake and take him back to our house. She came and asked Josh if he wanted to stay with me or take Jake home himself. Josh (and I) had a tough time with this decision. Neither of us wanted to leave him and at this point we were assuming I was staying overnight and we definitely were not prepared to leave him overnight. Somehow it was decided that Josh would stay with me and Jake would go home with my mom and she would stay for the night if she needed to.

It took FOREVER for the CT Scan results to come back and longer for the doctor to come in and tell me what was going on (although Josh was told when he went out to ask if I could have some water). I got a pump from the hospital so I could pump so Jake would have some food and I pumped while we waited for the results to come back. When the doctor finally came in and told me (although by this point Josh had already told me what was going on) that I had appendicitis and was going to have surgery in the morning. At this point (for the third time since we had been there) I started bawling again. Not as much because I was having to have surgery, but because I just wanted to come home and be with Jake and I was upset that I would have to be dumping breastmilk for at least 36 hours which meant that Jake would be getting formula all day today and tonight. I didn't have enough stored up to feed him for that long.

They let me pump one more time before giving me an antibiotic that wasn't safe for breastfeeding. We waited for a while for a room, but neither Josh nor I had eaten in a long time so he was going to go home and get us food, take the breastmilk home for Jake, and get us some clothes. We finally got settled in a room about 10:30pm. At that point Josh and I were both upset again that we had to leave Jake for the night (I tried to talk him into staying at home with him, but he wanted to be at the hospital too). We found out I would be going in for surgery at about 10am the next morning. So we got some sleep, but I was up pumping every 3 hours and sadly watching it all go down the sink each time. And I was still in pain so everytime I pumped I took more morphine, which never helped for more than 2 or so hours.

This morning the surgeon came in and told us how he would be doing the surgery (laprascopiclly) and he said I should be able to go home this afternoon. This made both Josh and I feel a great deal better because we had been told the night before that there was a possibility that they would keep me another night. So a little after 10 this morning they took me in for surgery. It took less than 30 minutes (according to Josh) and everything went great. I woke up crying in recovery and the nurses thought I was in a lot of pain until I told them I just wanted to go home and see my baby boy. Then they understood why I was crying so much, especially after I explained that he was only 6 days old.

I finally got back to my room and asked what I needed to do to get home. They said I had to be able to walk on my own, keep solid food down, and pee. So I asked for food and water and started drinking and eating. Then got up and walked to the bathroom by myself (well Josh supervised) and peed. After I let the nurse know she started getting stuff ready for us to leave. We left there about 3pm, a LONG 23 hours after we got there.

I don't think I have ever been so happy to be home. And to hold my baby for the first time in over 24 hours. We took a nap together for a little while and my mom got dinner ready for me and Josh. I don't know what we would have done without her here to help us. Jake was well taken care of while we had to be gone. But I think he will be completely spoiled for a few days as Josh and I take every chance we get to hold and cuddle him (my mom had to pry him out of my arms earlier).

So, again, we are home. And even more thrilled than before to cuddle with our little monkey boy.

Home!

We got to come home yesterday afternoon. And I think we are all glad to be out of the hospital. At least now Josh and I only have to wake up (or stay up!) for Jake, not for all the nurses in and out all night too! So far everything is going well. And we actually got more sleep last night than we have since he was born so that was nice. Today we are on our own all day and are just taking it easy. Right now he is sleeping but he had a rough morning. He wouldn't eat from 4am until about 11am. We think he was really gassy and had a tummy ache. But now he is all satisfied and seems to be feeling much better.

Cosmo seems to be adjusting well to having Jake home. We put Jake on the floor in the carseat when we got home and she sniffed him for a few minutes, and once he was out she was sniffing him every few minutes trying to figure him out. I think Jake crying in the middle of the night scared her at first, she jumped up and did her little growl and backed up the first time Jake woke her up. The rest of the night she just looked at him then laid back down. She was cuddling a little with him this morning, which was beyond cute! We have been making sure was a giving her all her normal attention too (which is easy during the day because she sleeps all day!)

Jake has his first appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow morning so we will see how we do with getting out of the house! Hopefully it is good and not too stressful for us or Jake!

Josh sleeping with Jake before we left the hospital

All dressed to go home!

Getting ready to leave

In the car, the hat was a little big!

\

Cosmo hanging out with Grams and Jake

Trying out the swing

Cosmo cuddling with Jake

Picture Overload!

Last picture as a family of two

First picture of Jacob!

Getting to hold my son for the first time!

Admiring our baby boy

First picture of our family of 3

Josh holding Jake for the first time (I love this picture)

Grams holding Jake for the first time

Baby mohawk!

Grandpa with Jake

Grandma with Jake

Passed out baby boy, he had a hard day!

Trying to get him to wake up to eat, we were unsuccessful

Sleepy naked boy

Thinking while daddy holds him

Jacob Gregory has arrived!

Jake was born at 8:39 this morning after only 7 hours of labor! He is 8lbs 8oz (still waiting on his length) and has a head full of dark brown hair and a great set of lungs already! He came out screaming. Josh and I are doing great as well. Very emotional and very happy to finally see our son. I will post some pictures soon as well as the whole birth story (for those of you that want to know all the nasty details). For now we are relaxing while Jake is getting cleaned up in the nursery. I will update soon!

38 Weeks

Yesterday we went to my 38 week appointment. The doctor said everything looks great and it looks like Jake has dropped more. She showed us where the top of my uterus is and where he is sitting...about 6 inches below that! She checked me and said no change as far as dilation or effacement, which I was slightly bummed about due to all the contractions at the beginning of the week. I was sure that something had been happening. But the doctor did say she didn't think I was going to make it to my due date.

We actually thought we might be headed to the hospital on Tuesday because I woke up with contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart and they didn't go away when I got into the bath tub. But about 45 minutes after they started they just stopped. And I haven't had anymore timeable contractions since then. So we are just waiting! Which means a few of the guesses on Jake's birthday are already out! It seems like most of the guesses are in the next 9 days or so. I still have my guess as to when he will show up (but I am not sharing!). If you still haven't guessed do it now!

I had one more shower this week. It was at work (and they were really glad I didn't go into labor before it happened!). It was wonderful. I wasn't expecting much, but everyone was more than generous! We got a lot of cute outfits and more great stuff off the registry that we needed. Although we did get a few things that aren't really helpful, like a giant box of disposable diapers in size 3. I'm sure we can find someone that needs those though, So we got all of that stuff washed and put away too. But the nursery is a little messy now so we have to get in there to clean it up this weekend.

Side note: Big congrats to Kathleen and Mark on the birth of their baby boy, Austin, last Friday! Kathleen hasn't posted any pictures on their blog yet, but it is on the side of our page, The Goff's. I have seen some pictures though and he is a cutie! I can't wait until Jake gets here so they can meet!


Weekly Update

How far along? 38 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +35lbs (yea for less water retention and swelling!)
Maternity clothes? Almost exclusively maternity clothes except lounge clothes, this is not changing anytime soon
Stretch marks? Still nothing...please let this continue for another 2 weeks!
Sleep: Still kind of variable. But mostly I am sleeping pretty well still, except when I have painful contractions in the middle of night
Best moment this week: My shower at work. It was great and everyone was so generous!
Movement: He goes back and forth between very little movement and and lots of squirming
Food Cravings: Milk and cereal
Labor Signs: YES! Lots of contractions Sunday night, Monday night, and Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning I thought we were going to be headed to the hospital because I was having contractions 3-4 minutes apart! But I am still 1.5cm dilated, still 50% effaced
What I miss: Not pulling up my scrub pants every time I stand up. I think I outgrew them about 4 or 5 weeks ago, but I will continue to wear them once a week because I like wearing scrubs.
What I am looking forward to: Jake deciding it is actually time to come out! Not that I haven't been excited, but all the contractions earlier this week made me more excited for him to come out and less patient!
Weekly Wisdom: A warm bath is wonderful for contractions!
Milestones: Ummm....really the only milestone left is Jake's birth!

Jake's Update
Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after he's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Apparently I was more lazy than I thought. Here ya go April!

Baby Watch 2010

So at our house we are officially on Baby Watch. Not that this means that Baby Watch won't last for 2 weeks though! But I have been having contractions, the real kind, that actually are a little painful (so much for not feeling braxton hicks meaning I wouldn't feel regular ones!), off and on for the past two days. Last night and tonight I have had periods where they are timable and about 7-8 minutes apart for an hour or so. But it seems that during the day they are just completely random and not timable at all. As of now we are still timing tonights contractions, but the orders I have from the doctor are call when they are 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long for 1 hour. So we are just waiting to see if they get closer together, more intense, or if they just stop like they did last night.

I am hoping these either result in labor sometime soon or stop happening so frequently. If this lasts for 2 weeks we might be in for a tough couple of weeks! Although if it does last for 2 weeks I am assuming real labor will be fairly short because I refuse to believe that these contractions are not causing any dilation or effacement!