1 month

Ian you are 1 month or 4wks and 3 days old today (however you want to look at it).

You are 21in long, and I'm going to guess about 9lbs based your 2wks appt weight of 7lbs 3oz.

You have made the month of January fly by which is pretty hard to do when you live in the midwest and the weather sucks this time of year. You spent the first 4 days of your life in the NICU due to a multi-tasking issue of breathing, eating and swallowing all at the same time. You have since mastered that skill and added peeing and pooping into the mix. Good job multi-tasking is a great life skill. You can also eat staying fully dressed, in the beginning we would have to strip you down to your diaper in order to get you stay awake and keep eating.

This is a good thing I was getting worried that I would be sending you to school w/a note about some strange condition which requires you to strip down to your boxers (yes I'm going to assume you're going to wear boxers) in order to eat. Good job on overcoming that issue.

Now as much as we disliked not being able to bring you home 48hrs after birth the NICU did get you on a routine/schedule whatever you wanna call it of eating every 3hrs which now has become every 4hrs. You are also up to 4oz or sometimes more at a feeding. Which means you have come a long way from your NICU days where a good feeding for you was about 17-25ml (in english that isn't even an oz. an oz is 30ml). So good job on picking up the interest in eating.

You are also out of preemie clothes which who would have thought having a daddy that is 6'6" and was 10lbs at birth and a momma that is 5'7" and was 7lbs at birth that you would need preemie clothes?!?! Well your parents weren't ready for that one so some shopping had to take place for preemie and newborn clothes. You still don't quite fit into all newborn clothes either. Needless to say you have the quite the wardrode and you also have quite the shoe collection to sport as well. No pressure with the 3 pairs of basketball shoes or anything but your momma and daddy don't want to work forever:)


Here you are with your 0-3mos wardrobe there are more items hanging on the dresser behind me.


In the last week or so you started spending more time awake and taking in your surroundings. You recognize my voice and daddy's voice your not quite following us with your eyes just yet, but you will with time hey you were 3wks early. You only have about 12in of visibilty right now. During your awake time we do tummy time to work on those neck muscles.


For the most part you tolerate bathtime, in the beginning we weren't filling your tube up with enough water but now I think I have it figured out now so bathtime should become enjoyable for you.


You went on your first of many road trips and did great. You very rarely cry and seem to have adjusted to being in the world quite well dispite your early arrival. You still have a head full of hair, at birth you had blonde tips and the nurses in the NICU were very jealous of this, your hair is now more of a strawberry blonde color. You have big dark blue eyes and we're anxious to see what color they turn.

Ian, your momma and daddy love you very much your are truly a gift from God.

We will have to work on getting more pics of the 3 of us, this is the only one we have, yikes.

opinion

Ok momma's out there I need your thoughts on the topic of baby powder. The hospital says no but I got a little boy you can't seem to shake a diaper rash. I've been treating it with neosporin and desitin which cures it for a little bit. But it quickly returns. So what are your thoughts on baby powder does it help prevent and/or treat diaper rashes. What are your recipes for treating diaper rash?

slither

This is where Ian starts out when we put him to sleep:


And this is where he is when he wakes up:



**And no he didn't manage to change his jammies, I just forgot to take the after picture that day and waited till today to do it.

Aunt CiCi

This is Aunt CiCi


And I'm pretty sure she likes Ian a lot (and yes we look a lot a like):






The only problem is, she lives in Orlando and although it makes for a great vacation spot for us to go to and the fact that she works part-time for this guy:

Is a BONUS!!!
She works Friday and Sunday evenings for the Mouse driving fireworks cruises during the fireworks at Epcot.

So if you're down in Disney book yourself a Fireworks cruise w/her (don't worry that's not the boat you'll be on). She likes to have people from back home on her cruises. So that's her fun job but when she's not fulfilling peoples dreams at the happiest place in the world she is playing safety girl for Osceola County Health Department for those in Michiana Area we would pronounce this as O-CE-OLA but in Florida it's pronouced A-CE-OLA fancy I know (English lesson is over). She is the car seat inspectation go to girl, fire drill runner, CPR instructor, swim lesson teacher, tobacco educator (not her favorite duty), and all things safety related. And when she not at either of those 2 jobs then she is at the gym working out, or hanging out with her friends watching football, or going to some great concert, or shopping and finding awesome deals. You see we were taught to find great deals by our mother, grandmother and aunt. Shopping or bumming as my Aunt Judi and Granny Ree call it, is in our blood. We have gone through extensive training and every so often we have workshops to freshen up our shopping skills. Ian and his cousin Nicholas has been the main beneficaries when it comes to this department the last 7 months or so. If Ian didn't have accidents in the middle of diaper changes he wouldn't be able to wear so many of the clothes that he has received from his deal finder family members.

As I mentioned above I don't mind where my sister lives because of her part-time job and the fact that I benefit from her perks. But, I'd much prefer her to live say in Indy, Chicago or back here in the Bend area. But that requires finding a job in an area she would like. So until then we will continue to watch airfare prices and get down there to take advantage of those perks oh and to see her too. You can catch up with her happenings at safetygirl81.blogspot.com (I couldn't get the link thingy to work).

We miss you Aunt CiCi and can't wait to see and play with you again. Ian promises to play more with you next time he sees you.

shocked

That was my reaction to the Bachelor last night. I give Mr Jake credit for not dragging anyone along if he doesn't see a future with him but letting 4 go in one episode that is shocking and this may be the season with the fewest episodes ever.

I was pleased with Jake giving Tenley rose, I like her and I'm beginning to like her more than Ali. Ali likes drama and if things are a little too quiet you can bet Ali will change that. I wasn't pleased that Vienna received a rose, she is not right for Jake but apparently he can't see that yet. I feel like we've been down this road before (last season w/Jillian and Wes) as viewers we can all see who is right and who isn't. We just have to wait and watch for Jake to figure it out.

Till next week's drama...

success and never again

Our first weekend getaway was a success. Ian slept for most part of the way he awoke in need of a bottle about an hr from our destination. So I reached around from the front seat to the back seat and popped it in. Since we were driving he had to stay in his car seat which means he couldn't be burped which meant he was very gassy come bedtime and didn't sleep as well as he would have if burping could have been done. While he was eating I thought this a perfect time to my stuff ready so i can pump. I start digging around in the bag and realize i forgot to pack the breast shields which are quite necessary when it comes to pumping. No shields means no pumping which equals agony for me!!! Now you're probably thinking stop on your way down and pick some up well that is easier said then done when you take a bunch of 2 lane country roads to get down there. We don't take 31 except to get out of town other that we are on what I mentioned before 2 lane country roads with corn fields on both sides of us, thanks to my dad for finding this route (excellent I knew I would be able to put the blame on someone else). We decided that once we get into Brownsburg Marcus will drop me, Ian and our stuff off and he will go to the Wal-Mart in town to get said breast shields. Excellent I may get some releif soon the last time I pumped was around 4:30p and it is now 8 something. Marcus returns empty handed they don't sell the pump or products for the pump that we own. Lovely, I remember that Target does and Babies R Us does, only 1 problem it is now almost 9 and we need to eat the dinner his sister and Grant made and Target closes at 10 and the closest Target is about 15min away if you know where you're going. And babies r us is out of the question as the closest one is about 30min away. Gaaahhh...well i go onto plan b have Ian latch on, sounds easy right? The last time we tried this he was still in the NICU and just as we were going to try I got a call that I needed to be in my hospital room so my doc could discharge me. I was able to get him to latch on for a little while on both sides so I got some relief, we did this again in the middle of night and come 8am you can bet I was ready to get to Target. We took the pump with us so I could pump on the way home, I filled 2 5oz bottles in a matter of minutes and felt so much better. The only bad thing is that b/c of waiting so long to do so I compromised my supply so since Saturday I've been pumping like a mad woman trying to get my supply back up recall we're gonna try to do this for 1yr (49wks left).

That was 1 never again the 2nd never agsin is the childrens museum on a Saturday on top of not a good nights sleep leaving 1 to be prone to headaches. We all enjoyed it and liked different parts they had a Barbie exhibit showcasing all barbies thoughout the years it was neat to see them all and be able to pick out ones that Jennifer and I each had while growing up (I still have all mine they are dressed with their hair done packed up and stored at my parents) We weren't so much fans of all the children running around and screaming Yes, I know we went to a childrens museum, and we will go back again just during a week day when more children are in school.

Overall we had a good time and I will never leave home for more than 3hrs without my breast pump and shields!!!

EDD

Today 1/25/10 is the estimated due date we were given back in June by our Dr's in which would we become a family of three. I can't imagine still being preggers. If he was still in me he probably would be a good 9 or 10lbs instead of 6 which means I would be absolutely huge and probably bored out of my mind as I would still be on bedrest. Although, Marcus would probably have the hat I was starting to crochet when my water broke but that's really about it. Marcus and I were talking about it yesterday on our way home from Indy and we both thought how crazy it would be if I was still pregnant and how stressful it would have been financially for me to be on bedrest. Theres pros and cons working for a small locally owned business con being ZERO benefits aside from a free gym membership. I'm so glad he came when he did. Yes, we had some very stressful days after delivery with not knowing when he would be able to come home, he is home now and thriving. Everything happens for a reason and I'm glad it does.

cheater

It's true I'm cheating on my raw veggies and instead have jumped into a lovely relationship with

We are currently only seeing each other 2x a day but instead of 8oz at each date I'm doubling it. I figure if we're only going to see each other 2x a day we better make the most of it. I find it to be quite tasty I went with the strawberry banana flavor and I didn't know it until I went to V8's website but it is made up of 10 different fruits and veggies while the other flavors are only made up of 8 fruits and veggies.

There I'm coming clean and admitting to my cheating I don't feel bad about it rather I feel good knowing that I'm getting more veggies by cheating than if I didn't cheat.

Road Tripper

We are getting ready for our first road trip and weekend getaway with Ian. We are headed down to Brownsburg which is a town west of Indy to visit Marcus' sister (Jennifer) and brother in-law (Grant). We were suppose to go down for Christmas but my docs put big red denied stamp on that idea so here we are a month later taking the trek down. I may end up having to us my dad's connection at Ryder Truck Rental and getting us a moving truck for the weekend. Ian may be little but he requires a lof of stuff.

Now some of you may be thinking you're leaving home and he's only 3wks old?? Yes, we are leaving home with a 3wk old and we neither one of us thought twice about. We knew we would do it eventually, and there's no time like the present. Just because we had a baby doesn't mean our lives as a family get put on hold. My parents followed the same policy, I wouldn't put it past them that they didn't go to my mom's 6wk check-up with the car loaded to head up to their place up north at Silver Lake as I was on the beach when I was 6wks old. And the only reason they probably waited the 6wks b/c back them doc's put some crazy discharge orders on new mommas (they weren't allowed to drive for 6wks) crazy! They also enrolled my sister in morning kindergarten so that way on Friday's they could hit the road by lunch time to get up north and start the weekend.

What do plan on doing while down there?? Well we plan on eating, sharing in good conversation, making fun of me, and we're going to check out the Children's Muesum I haven't been there since I was super duper little, and Marcus and his sister don't remember ever going. I was checking out their website yesterday and I'm pretty pumped. I'm not one for muesums I dislike all educational adventures, but give me something hands on and I'm all about it. Who knows this could be one of our new tradition that once a year on one of our many trips to the Indy area we go to the Children's Muesum.

anxious

0I've got 3wks left at home with my lil guy which makes me feel sad and anxious. Now I'm only going back part-time 3 days a week, 10hr days which means I still get to care for him the other 4 days, I still don't want to go but if we want to keep our house, cars, not have creditors calling us, and give our child the life we want to, I have to go back.

I'm sad for the obvious reasons, someone else will be taking care of him and enjoying him. I feel confident in this person I'm simply jealous of them that they get to do this 3x a week and I don't get to do it everyday 24/7.

I feel anxious because I'm worried about the morning routine. I have to be at work at 5:45a which before baby I woke up at 4:15 got showered, ready, ate breakfast and was out the door by 5:25. But now we are adding feed baby and pumping into the routine. I know I could either shower the night before and just simply do damage control to my hair in the AM or wake up at 3:45 and do all it then. On those mornings Marcus has drop off duty so he too will have added duties to his morning routine along with drop off and getting to work on time. Gee no pressure at all, it might help a little if his boss had or wanted children but that's not the case so no sympathy if a rough morning is encountered. Side note I really want to be a fly on the wall the 1st morning Marcus has drop off detail I know he can handle it but I would love to see it all come together.

So not only am I anxious about that but I'm also anxious about sleep time detail. Right now b/c I'm on leave I handle sleep time detail which we only have 1 wake up, usually anywhere between 1-3a. There just seems to be a lot of unknowns and I don't operate well when it comes to the unknowns. Will our lil guy adjust to the changes, will I adjust to the changes, will Marcus adjust to the changes??? We've adjusted well to life as a family of three with some prayer and trusting so we'll continue to take on these changes following the same route. We'll also do some trail runs and I'll practice learning to go with the flow (which I'm awful at). If our trail runs don't go smooth we'll pack up and become traveling gypsies.

Donation Denied

When I was in labor I mentioned to our nurse that we wanted to donate Ian's umbilical cord. As I know of many children who have been given a 2nd or 3rd chance at life because someone donated their newborns cord. They were fighting for their lives as leukemia was taking over their bodies. Some even after transplant didn't make it but they were given more time to experience life.

She asked if I filled out the paperwork in which I was unsure if I had or not, I had told the nurses at my Dr's office that donations was the route we wanted to take and they made note of it. But I don't recall filling out any paperwork. Also remember today is 1/20 and I'm still supposed to be pregnant. Meaning back on 12/30 before 5:40(when my water broke) I thought I still had time. The nurse went to go check and came back and said we couldn't because the courrier wouldn't be in that day because it was New Year's Eve. At the time I said ok, I was in happy land and unsure if I could even write my name. Looking back though it upsets me that we had an opportunity to give hope to another family and because it was a holiday we couldn't. If you are pregnant I encourage you to look into donating your child's cord as it could change the life of someone else.

expectations

Wow, the budget for this season must be really big as helicopter rides are at an all time high this season. I remember when the show 1st started they wouldn't do helicopter rides till the very end.


Onto pyshco girl Michelle my goodness when she said she would prefer a one on one than a group date umm...i'm pretty sure we would all prefer a one on one with Jake than a group date. But hey she should be happy she got anything, she is nuts!!! She has expectations that are riduclous, her expectations for her first kiss with Jake were way out there now I could see how her expectations could be met if there was a connection and the moment was right. But she asked Jake for a kiss and he gave her what he was comfortable with. He wasn't ready for a hair pulling first kiss. She is in great need of a counselor, I hope she has gotten the help she needs since being sent home.

I still like Allie she's not one for drama and is not scared to call anyone out on their nonsense. Now, I was a little sad that Elizabeth did not receive a rose I kinda liked her but also felt she was playing a little too hard to get and sending too many mixed signals.

Not sure what to think about Ella's son being brought into the whole situation so soon. Makes me think that Ella may be there till the end as that was a very bold thing to do. Yes, it brought tears to my eyes but still very bold.

We will have to wait and see, who do you think is right for Mr Jake???

luck

Well, it happened I finally found a bra that has 2 straps, back closure, wires, and wasn't a fortune which means it met all of my qualifications!!! I only had to go to 1 store and try on 4 different bras and it took less than hour, thank you Khols. I think I spent more time debating which color to buy than I did in the fitting room. Now the 1 thing this bra is lacking is sexiness poor Marcus he has been prego pants that go up to my boobs to a very unattractive bra. It's a good thing his love for me is not dependent on my undergarments. Unfortunately I won't be needing the Victoria's Secrets catalog to order bras for a while. We have decided to try to do breastmilk for an entire year, so I know there will be a lot more bra shopping trips in my future. Needless to say as I sat down to pump last night I told Marcus only 50 more weeks of this!!!! Now I love the fact that our lil boy is getting my milk which is best for him but it's only been 2 weeks and I'm tried of pumping it's only 15min every 3-4hrs but it's honestly the longest 15min of ever. I try everything to pass the time, at home it's easy I watch TV but once I go back to work I will be taking up 1 of 2 bathrooms and have nothing to help pass the time. Hopefully Marcus, my mom, sister or another poor soul will be available for a 15min phone convo 3x a day, 3x a week to help me pass the time.

On other note the Bachelor tonight is proving to have some great material, I may re-watch it tomorrow morning just to make sure I don't miss anything.

against me

I have come to the conclusion that bra makers are against me and want me to wear a sports bra the entire time I'm producing milk. And well that doesn't make me happy. On Saturday I went to the motherhood store for them to measure me and they tried telling me that I'm still my pre-prego bra size. I laugh in their face, I haven't been able to wear my pre-prego bra size properly since I was about 32wks. But what the heck I'll entertain your measurement and try the size on that you measured me to be. I go in attempt to try on the 4 bras she so kindly pulled so I could once again laugh and give them all back to her and ask for the next cup size. Which they don't carry in the store, but you can order online. Oh, but wait you can't return any nursing bras b/c of the chance of milk discharge. Delightful, I still don't really know what cup size is going to be the most comfy and unless I want to order the next 2 sizes online for the chance that they will fit I'm still stuck with 1 or 2 bras that may or may not fit, all b/c of the chance of milk discharge. And how do you know when you handed me those 4 bras to try on that I didn't have any milk discharge (I didn't). I think their system has a flaw in it.

Next stop is JC Penney's, I don't even waste my time looking I ask the sales clerk if they carry my possible in the store and once again I get a no but you can order from the catalog or online. Delightful, I'm still stuck not knowing what cup size will offer the most support. At this point I could careless if it's a nursing bra, since Ian isn't getting milk straight from me I just figured a nursing bra would be a little more convinent when it comes to pumping than a regular bra. So at this point I'm simply looking for a bra to offer me more support than my sports bra that I had to 3x bigger than I normally wear and in order to have real support I must wear a tank with a built bra for reassurance. My mission today is to find a bra with 2 straps, back closure and wires without spending a fortune or taking the entire day to find. I can't wait for swimsuit season, that should be fun.

Wish me luck...oh the joys

2 weeks

Where has the time gone???
1 Day Old:


1 week old


2 weeks old



Ian is up to eating 3oz at the majority of his feedings, and he can make it through his feedings fully dressed for the most part. At the beginning he would start to fall asleep in the middle of his feedings so we would have to strip him down to just his diaper. Good thing we got past that I was getting concerned that he would just get use to eating in just his diaper and that we would never be able to go out to eat.

Sleeping is still his favorite activity which I'm prefectly fine with and I hope he always enjoys sleeping (at night and during nap times) I was never a good sleeper or napper. So he must've gotten that skill from his daddy. Even now I'm awful at taking naps especially during the week. Now on a weekend I can nap without a problem just not M-F.

He is also growing we are out of preemie clothes which Marcus found 4 sleepers at TJ Maxx and Marshalls on clearance so we got our use out of those and now were into newborn clothes. Although NB is still to big he's not quite long enough or big enough around to fill the clothes out. But in preemie they fit him good around but there wasn't enough in the lentgh area. My lil guy couldn't extend his legs out straight:(

We went to the Dr. again yesterday this was an unscheduled visit until Tuesday, he had to eye ickies forming, my friend Jen said it could be a clogged tear duct. So I called the Dr office and they too flet that he had a clooged tear duct but since the Dr. had only ever seen him once they decided another visit would be good. Dr. confirmed that it was a clogged tear duct and wrote out a Rx. and instructed that until we got it to use a warm washcloth to wipe away the ickies. And since we have yet to receive his social security card he hasn't been added to our insurance so no Rx just yet. This clooged tear duct has pushed back newborn pics. Since he was in the NICU he didn't get any pics taken at the hospital by a professional. So we are going to have Brittany Knox owner of Knox Photography (bknoxphotography.com) take some pics once eye issue is better. Which already we are seeing improvement.

The past 2 days we have gone into my work to play catch up there and he's been a champ sleeps practically the whole time usually wakes up for a 15min bottle and then it's back to sleeping. Tomorrow we have Aunt CiCi pick up detail from the airport. Since Ian started coming as she was boarding the plane to head back to her life in Florida after a week of being home, it's the least we can do for the extra trip home that she is making.

That's what new in the Land of Ian!!

And it continues

This season Bachelor has quite the little theme going for itself: FAKE not only do we have what I mentioned before fake boobs, hair and personality but we have now added fake tears. Oh and remember how I said that some of them don't seem to be there for the right reasons well that was confirmed this week. And now she is playing the single mom card. Are you kidding me I'm pretty sure the network did their research before asking her to leave.

Back to the fake tears, my goodness those girls had to really work to make themselves shed a few tears. Even Jake had to work a little to produce some tears. Poor guy, needs to some quality women to choose from. Although currently I'm liking Allie or maybe I just like the date she got to go on. We'll see, this is proving to be a drama filled season.

Till next week's drama...

L&D Part 3

There really isn't a part 3, I was dischrged fom the hosipital by 2p Friday so a full 48hr stay was not required and that made me happy. Nothing like trying to sleep with someone walking in every 3hrs and hello REAL FOOD. Call me picky if you want but I would look at meal options and nothing A) looked good or B) seemed as though it would be healthy. So I would pick what I felt were good options and they would bring my meal and my menu card with what I circled and a ton more items circled that they also put on my tray. The 1st night I circled lasgna, fresh fruit, and green beans. I got everything I circled plus ice cream, apple crisp, and a dinner roll. I barely touched my lasgna and the green beans left a lot to be desired, now the fruit well there isn't much one can do to make fruit taste bad. But I didn't touch the ice cream or applle crisp I'm sure they fine but I didn't want them which is why I didn't circle so the hospital wasted prefectly good food and I didn't feel guilty b/c I didn't ask for those items to begin with!

Oh our first visitors were both of our parents. Marcus' parents came in the late afternoon on Thursday and mine came in the evening on Thursday my dad was working and evening is a little easier for him to leave than in the middle of the day. We didn't have anyone in the waiting room during L&D we felt that was not required and that we would update with info via text/phone when anything exciting happened. I'm sure family members had a hard time sleeping but then again so did I, so I don't feel bad, sorry.

There it is a 3 part nutshell our labor and delivery story. Thanks for reading.

L & D part 2

Part 2 of 3:

By 5 something I started pushing, my contractions now were further apart due to getting the epi (looking back I kinda regret getting it). By 7a another shift change was happening not only for our nurse but also with the Doc. which is fine b/c I had never gotten to meet the on-call doc from the day before. The doc coming in I had meet and liked (very important). Chris our nurse from 3a-7a stayed and helped until Ian arrived as she had invested a lot of time and energy into me she never left our room once contractions started getting serious at 3:15.

I continue pushing with the encouragement of 2 nurses and then the Doc arrived. My epi was slowly wearing off which I'm glad because it allowed me to feel when contractions were coming and when I needed to start pushing. I know it's the nurses jobs to be encouraging to a woman who is having a baby but I got annoyed, I knew the 1st goal was to get his head out from under my pubic bone so as I would push the nurses would tell me "that's it, way to go 1 more like that, you're getting there" after the contraction was over I would ask did I get his head under the pubic bone and they would answer "not yet". So what they were really telling me is that those pushes weren't good enough and we were lying to you!!! But with each contraction their encouragement worked until after the contraction was over and I'd ask the same question. And get the same response.

The Dr. arrived around 7:30 and got into position, I had meet my 1st goal and my next goal was to see eyebrows so again I would push the nurses would encourage and after the contraction was over I would ask "do we see eyebrows yet" and the dr. would answer "not yet". I would constantly look at the clock and set a goal time to have this baby. That goal time would come and go and a new would be set. I was telling Marcus afterwards I was doing this and he said he was doing the samething. So at 8:39am Ian's full body arrived into the world. Kangaroo hold has begun (baby lays on mom's chest for 1st hour after delivery).



Kanga time over and it was time for Ian to get cleaned up and stats to be taken.



Once he was cleaned up it and into daddy's arms



It was then my turn. I impressed the nurses with my ability to get up without help and walk without help. Considering 2hrs prior I had zero feeling in my legs and I felt as though they weighed a ton.

Part 3 to follow...

L&D Part 1

Labor and Delivery:

This is going to be a 2 part series possibly 3 but as of right now it's a 2 parter.

Day 2 (12/30) of bedrest I awoke felt fine just as I have every morning. Got myself around Marcus headed to work. I settle into my place for the day with a nice little to do list to tackle in the resting position. The day goes on I complete my to do list all except for crocheting Marcus a hat. Over all a pretty normal day, i do my thing the dogs do theres although Lexus was acting extermely anxious and constantly coming up to me and if I got up to use the bathroom she was right behind and waiting by the door as I completed my business. During the day on a check-in call with Marcus I mention the odd behavior from Lexus we both agree that she is just being weird and go on with the day. Around 5:40ish I sit down from making (microwaving leftovers) dinner and feel a trickle I go to the bathroom and the trickle is different from anything else I have felt. Marcus calls on his way to dinner with some old co-workers asks what I want for dinner that he would bring it home I tell him not to worry as nothing sounded good from the restaurant he was going too and I had already made myself some tasty leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. I mention to him the trickle and he verifies with me that I didn't just pee on myself I confirm that I did not pee on myself and that the trickle is continuing. He suggests I call the Dr. although I was hesitate to do so b/c it was just a trickle no gushing. I do some self diagnosing on the internet and come to the conclusion that I should call the Dr. I place the call to have the on-call doc call me. He calls me back I explain to him the trickle I'm feeling and he suggests I come in and get checked out as it sounds as though my water may have broke. I call Marcus and tell him to head home as he is enroute I'm getting our bag together (that we packed over the weekend). Also my poor sister was waiting to board her flight to head back to Orlando while all this was going on.

Marcus arrives home and I set out some comfy clothes for him to change into. He gets himself around and we say bye to our doggies and head to the hospital. We arrive 7ish, they send us to triage (this is where you go to see if you earned your golden ticket to a birthing suite) I get myself in the beautiful hospital gown and wait with a trickle. The resident comes in and gather some fuilds to see if my water has broken and she also does a pelvic exam and determines that she can still feel the bag but my water has broken and that the bag has a leak. She issues us our golden ticket and we head to birthing suite #7. Our nurse Jessica comes in and get things around and explains that we can A)sit in the room and wait for things to kick in or B)walk the halls. We choose option B as walking will bring on labor. I entered the hospital at 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. We walked the halls for a total of 3hrs with serveral stops back in the room for fetal heart rate checks we had our hall walking route down to a 7min walk. By 12:30a they check me again come to the conclusion that pitocin is needed to progress things along. They weren't going to start this though till 1:30 and I asked what we are waiting for so they pushed it up to 1a while waiting on the magic medicine to arrive Marcus and I attempted to get some sleep we had both been up the entire day since 7 for him and 4 for me (remember sleeping was not the most comfy thing to do).

Waiting for pitocin to arrive:



1a arrives with the pitocin and by 2 I felt a gush my water had finally fully borken (so glad this happened in the hospital and not at home, work, or in the car). By 2:30 contractions had started they were manageable as they weren't too close together by this point. 3a brought upon a shift change we said goodbye to Jessica and hello to Chris. By about 3:15 contractions started getting serious about a minute and a half apart and unbearable I asked for an epidural, Chris checked me out and said I was up to 6cm she called the Epi man and I cried in pain. Marcus was very encouraging and I said to him I wish I was 10 (meaning 10cm) and he took it as me wishing I was 10yrs old which he found to be odd. So he got me to a laugh (a little). Epi man finally arrived and by time he finished the epi I had started some serious shaking and the chills kicked in. I asked Chris what was wrong with me and she said it's b/c I was progressing so quickly she checked me again and said I was betwwen 8 and 9cm and would be pushing soon. The epi had kicked in for my left side but not my right so they had to pull it back out and reposition it. Drugs are fully in me I'm still shaking to the point that they could no longer get a blood pressure reading from my arm and had to move it to my leg.

Stay tuned for Part 2

Back In

Back into my pre prego jeans a week after delivery. I never thought I would be in them this soon. I'm glad though cause my prego jeans were constantly falling down whenever I would stand up, walk, basically breath. I guess working out every day paid off. I'm anxious to get back into working out I got some great workout DVD's to do at home and we have our jogging stroller which was our first purchase when we found out I was pregnant, then I'll have the circuit at work. For those that don't know I manage 2 Curves facilities. So I guess in a way my new year's resolution if you want to call it, will be to to firm and tone my mid section back up and run the sunburst 1/2 marathon in June. Oh and maybe eat more raw veggies without any dip which I've tried before and I found it to be very difficult why must dip be so good?!?! I havw no doubt about the working out part the veggie part I'm a little unsure of but we'll see.

Working out and being active is something that i've been my entire life. My sis and i were both in swim lessons at 6mos of age and then continued those through middle school. We also did gymnastics which when we were in elementary we asked if we could quit cause honestly we couldn't pass like the 1st class the bar is what got us. I could do round offs off the beam, the splits (which i can still do) front walkovers, back walkovers basically everything except a hip pullover on the bar. So our parents were fine with that as long as did something else to stay active. Which is were school sports came into the picture. I tried cross country (hated it) track (disliked it just as much as cross country), volleyball, basketball, and then both my sister and I found our sport which was swimming. So we swam I stopped after highschool and my sis went on and swam in college. And now we both also run and we both like running now. I like it cause it's free and allows for thinking to occur and fresh air to be breathed in.

So with my plans out in the open I'm ready to get started and may have to call the doc office to find out when I can begin a light workout routine cause I'm not liking doing nothing. You take a girl who has been working out 6 days awake with 3 of those days doing 2 workouts a day for 3+yrs, you get a cranky girl and I feel like I'm forgetting to do soemthing. Even if I can do some squats, push ups, light ab work, something I will be happy.

Ian update: went to the doc for a weight check-up and he is back up to his birth weight!! We will go back in 2wks for another check.

Fake

I'm finally watching The Bachelor and oh my goodness where did they find these girls. They are all so fake they either have fake boobs, fake hair, fake personalities or a combo of both or all 3 traits oh and can't forget the fake trip and falling into Jake's arms. They all mentioned his looks that they like about him and nothing regarding his personality. And what's up with all the models and spokeswoman?? Seems a bit ridiculous if I say so myself and I can say that cause well it's my blog. Did someone seriously say "Jake, you can land your plane on my landing strip at anytime" are you kidding me that is very forward and scary all at the sametime. This season seems as though it will be filled with drama and tears. Till next week's bachelor...

not sure what to title it...

We all survived our fist night together, Ian woke up about every 3hrs hungry for a bottle and in need of diaper change. I did the 3a and 6a feedings and Marcus did the 9p and 12p feedings he was finding homes for all the gifts that the members from my work had given us. While he was finding homes for the homeless items I was holding Ian while working. Earlier in the day before finding out that Ian would be coming home I had committed myself to entering the month end reports online for work and since I'm one who rarely backs out of a commitment I got it all completed just took a little longer then if both hands were available but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ian's room is slowly coming together. When we found out we were expecting I started looking into baby bedding and was not happy with the choices in the stores so I expanded my search to etsy.com and found some fabric I liked but I disliked the price. I was talking to my Aunt Judi regarding it and she graciously offered her sewing services to us. With the task at hand fabric shopping had started, decisions were made and fabric was being purchased. I can't wait to see it all completed the valances were brought over today:



Pics of the bedding (skirt, bumpers and quilt will soon follow. We have the bumpers but I'm going to make you wait to see that until the whole thing is put together. We have a lot going on in our family right now. My cousin and his wife are as I type in the hospital waiting for their bundle of joy to arrive. She is 1wk past her due date and went into be induced this AM. So we are playing the waiting game once again except I'm on the other side of it.

What a day

So Marcus and I headed up to the NICU this morning with plans to talk to his Dr. We arrive and get the feeding report which was excellent. But then when we asked about speaking with Dr. White we hear that he won't be in until the afternoon. So we spend some time with the little guy and discuss our action plan for the day. We decide to get the errands that we needed to complete crossed off our list. So we head to Target to purchase some much needed baby items (diaper pail, hamper, hand sanitzer) while at Target my phone rings and I look at the number and see it's the NICU. Now of course immediatley my heart sinks to my stomach as I decide if I want to answer. I of course answer and it's the discharge coordinator who I've never spoken too heart quickly gets back into place and my mind starts whirling. She explains that going home is in the talks and that when we come for his 2o'clock feeding that we should bring his carseat in so he can get fitted and make sure he is able breath properly while in it. But reminds me that no orders have been written for his to go home it's simply in the works. So we head home to get a few items and look in our fridge and realize we are lacking adequate food choices meaning we really had no food. So back to Target we go to get some essentials and also head over to Babies R Us to make sure we have all that we need to care for our lil guy.

We arrive to the NICU and go through the standard hand washing procedures and get Ian ready for his feeding. In order to get our lil guy to eat we have found you must strip him down to his diaper. So the stripping begins and a diaper change happens. A bottle with my milk is handed over and Marcus begins the feeding in which he shows off his improved eating abilities. During feeding his nurse brings over a bag to start bagging his personal belongings and in a matter of 4 days the kid manage to go home with my purse full of items, he diaper bag overflowing and 1 hosppital bag that would barely shut. Next Dr White comes over and gives the official word of his going home and our instructions for home. So we start dressing him in his coming home outfit which was way to big for our lil guy but that's ok.


Up next is the discharge nurse who fits him in his carseat and hooks him up to the breathing monitor they monitor his breathing in a car seat for a 1/2hr before releasing. (Sorry just turn your computer or your head to look at the pic in the right direction)

She goes over more at home stuff and then once the monitoring was complete she walks us out to the car with him and his bags of belongings.

We made it home safe and sound Marcus mentioned how when we were waiting to turn on our road that he was constantly looking in the mirrors to make sure everyone saw us waiting to turn and that they weren't going to hit us.

Alright it's eating time for the lil guy.

Side Note: the Bachelor starts tonight, let's see if we like what Jake has to choose from.

Tried

**Disclaimer: my brain has turned to mush and I have lost the ability to make proper sentences and spell words correctly**

After hearing 1 more day everyday and then arriving in the morning to hear maybe tomorrow again has been tiring and exhausting. We know he is the right place and we also know that the reason he his hanging out in the NICU is for a minor issue. He is not sick with any type of infection all his organs are working properly. It's a matter of his eating light bulb turning on, he's had for him some good eats lately but not good enough for the docs. I'm thankful that he has been eating all my milk and not formula he had formula the 1st day or so but now it's strictly my milk and I've become a pumping machine. This morning Marcus are I will meet with his Doc. who is super well known throughout the world in is field and is called upon by a lot of other hospitals for advice so he his in super great care. But we were told last night by his nurse that she would see him coming home by next weekend. Now, I'm not going to hold her to that but she is the first nurse I'd say to be truely honest with us regarding a discharge time.

On a upbeat note the rest of Ian's bedding is going to arrive today. His Great Aunt Judi was so kind to personally make all the pieces and with his early arrival meant she had to go into baby bedding finish mode sooner than expected. Although, I also know that it may not arrive today and instead my 2nd cousin may arrive today and well that would be super fantastic. As he was suppose to arrive on Tuesday 12/29 and has yet to show himself to the world. So today is the day the docs have told my cousin in-law that they will induce and get the little guy out and into the world. So we will see where this day takes us. If anything I've had to become a lot more flexible and fly by the seat of my pants which is so unlike me but that is good.

Time to ready myself to go see my baby!!

No More

BEDREST that is. Our focus is no longer on me and keeping me down it's now on our new addition Ian Matthew Zarembka 6lbs 5oz 19.5" who entered our lives @ 8:39am 12/31/09. Labor story will follow for now I will update you on our little man.



After delivery at Memorial they lay baby on the mother's chest for the 1st hour, so Ian hung out with me and then once we were both cleaned up we got moved to our mother/baby room in which the hopsital takes baby to have a sponge bath and newborn screenings. I slept (attempted too) and Marcus headed home to get a few things in order after the labor story you'll understand. Our nurse and a NICU nurse came in to let me know that they would be taking Ian to the NICU for further observations on his breathing. Once Marcus returned and I had showered we headed down to NICU to get an update. They explained to us that they were concerned with his breathing and needed to observe him to see if it was a preemie issue meaning he would grow out of it or if it was something more complicated.

Onto day 2 (1/1/10) which makes Ian 1 day old, Marcus and I head down to NICU and talk with the Dr. who explained to us that the issue is related to his early arrival. And that there are steps that he has to take in order to be released. Step 1: learn to eat and breath at the same time. Step 2: prove to the Dr that he is a good eater. So with homework in hand we explain to our little guy that he needs to work on these things cause we want to bring him home. I was discharged in the afternoon and would be going home without my baby. We knew he had feedings coming up at 8 and 11p and with accomplishing Step 1 we now needed a lot of work on step 2. Not at all how this was suppose to go but we aren't in control the Big Guy upstairs is in control and we gotta go with the flow. So needless to say I was not in the best of spirits last night or had any desire to social. I attempted to return phone calls and try to stay upbeat. I called the NICU at 11:30 to get an update on his last 2 feedings of the day and they went pretty well he was eating about 22-25cc (
not sure what that means in ounces but we need him getting about 30cc in a feeding)


Day 3 (1/2/10 or also known as today) Marcus and I wake up early to a lot of snow, we both showered and got ourselves around Marcus headed out to warm up the Jeep and clear a protion of the driveway off. We headed to the NICU for his 8am feeding which was not spectacular and then I stayed for his 11 feeding while Marcus went home to prep our house for a family Christmas later in the day. 11 feeding went as well as the 8o'clock feeding. If he continues to not grasp the concept they will have to equip him with a feeding tube. So we are hoping tonight that he can prove himself and be able to come home tomorrow.

This is not easy what so ever, it's comforting to know that he is in the best NICU in the area but I still want him home. Family Christmas today was not fun we were missing part of our family. Many tears have been cried as I try to be optimistic and strong Marcus has been amazing and my rock. There's a reason for everything and we just have to keep reminding ourselves of that. We appreciate the prayers, phone calls, and texts and will try to get back to you when we can.