Cole Trying to roll over

Video Updates

Two Months Old

I can't believe how much Cole has changed in the last week - let alone in the last month! During this past month, we have had Cole meet my brother and his girlfriend, Jason's brother David and his fiance Jourdan, and we even took a weekend trip to St Paul, so Cole got to meet all of our friends in MN. Cole did great on his first road trip, he slept the whole way. We just got a pack and play and absolutely love it! In fact, it is up in our room and he sometimes sleeps in it at night. It is funny because he likes the mobile on that (just a wind up mobile) more than he likes his fancy one (that even has a remote control)!

As you can see in this video, he has found his hand. He has never taken to a pacifier - even though we have tried every different kind they have in Aberdeen. Cole is a very happy baby. He smiles all the time - especially when he is getting a diaper change! He only cries when he is hungry and whimpers a little when he is ready to sleep. He still only sleeps 2-3 hours at a time, but is usually pretty good at night, usually falling asleep on his own in his crib.

I have officially returned to work, but Jason is home this week with him, then my mom will be staying with us for a while. It is nice to be able to go home and nurse him at lunch time. He did give us a scare when he started boycotting bottles a week ago, but we found out that he just boycott's them from me. He will be going to the YMCA daycare, where my friend's kids go too. He got his 2 month vaccines a couple weeks ago and only cried a little. At that time (he was 7 weeks old) he weighed almost 12 lbs. He is in size 2 diapers and 9 month clothing already. Our lab is the dog that follows him (and me) the most. She usually gets up with us at night and makes sure to give him kisses during the day. We are currently finishing our basement and Cole has been helping us (he can sleep through almost anything). I will try to update more pictures soon. We are looking forward to the trip in July for David's wedding and some other weekend camping trips around here.

How time flies

I cannot believe our little Cole is about to be one month old. How time flies when you are sleep deprived! And how things have changed so quickly in a month. It was wonderful to come home from the hospital with the support of Jason's parents and my mom. His parents (Granny and Grumps - their names for now) stayed for 5 days, while my mom (Gram) stayed 2 weeks. And since then my sister has visited, as well as our good friends Kate and Jeffrey. I would love to say that we have a routine, but really, we never know how the day (or night) is going to go.

After a struggle, I am still breastfeeding and very happy with the decision to stick with it. I am getting the hang of it and now am able to breastfeed in public (fully covered of course) if need be. Some days Cole will eat every hour on the hour, then go 3-5 hours with out eating. I am pumping at least a bottle per day so Jason can feed him at the 3 am feeding. He is a growing boy, by our best guess, weighing about 10 lbs already! He has also out grown his 0-3 month stuff and is quickly becoming too long for 3-6 month onesies! So, at least I know that my hours of breastfeeding are doing what they are supposed to.

After spending the first few weeks either in our bed or in his bassinet in our room, Cole is now loving his crib. I think we are all sleeping deeper now. Cole is finally getting the hang of using his nuk (pacifier) to get to sleep instead of always latching on to me (however I can only rarely stand to use it!). He is definitely seeing more of his surroundings these days, finally liking his little jungle gym. His woofers (what we call the dogs) have adjusted well to him. He doesn't hear them when they bark and they don't hear him when he cries (except Faith, who will check on him if he is in his crib).

In between naps, diapers, bottles, baths, and laundry, I will try to post some more pictures, as well as our online photo website. All in all, parenthood has exceeded our expectations. We are totally in love with our "monkey man" and can't wait for him to meet everyone!

Cole James

We can begin the story with me thinking that as soon as I got off of bedrest that he would make an appearance. With many times of me telling Jason "I think this is it", the actual time seems a little anticlimactic. It began on Sunday, when I thought I might be leaking fluid, but didn't want to be the girl that cried labor too many times. So we went to the doctor on Monday morning and they tested to fluid to be the outer amniotic fluid. We were so excited to hear that we would be having a baby-finally! My mom still laughs at how excited we were.

At 12:30pm the doctor broke my actual bag of water, which was very interesting to say the least. The real contractions started almost immediately. I did not need any medications to further my contractions. I dilated to 4cm by 4pm and unfortunately stayed at 4cm for quite some time. The contractions were painful and I was very interested in an epidural. Jason was a great coach, walking the halls with me and laughing along with me when every time I stood off the birthing ball, more amniotic fluid would gush out.

By around 7pm, I still hadn't advanced much, but my great nurse came on duty and helped me get going. At about 9pm I had finally moved to 7cm, but was in so much pain and was finally told the bad news. I would not be able to get an epidural because of my spina bifida and herniated disks. And I was informed that if I needed a C-section that I would have to be put completely under and would not be able to be awake. That at least was some motivation to continue on.

I was given some muscle relaxers, that took the edge off, but I sure could still feel contractions. Jason could probably tell you the many times that I said that I quit and didn't know how this baby was coming out. Jason was awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better husband to get me through. Finally at 12:15am on January 27th, I could start pushing. Cole was turned to his side, so it took a lot of maneuvering to get him facing the right way to come out. 2 hours later he was so close to being born, but needed the assistance of the vacuum, which also lead to an episiotomy for me. But, it was all worth it when he finally was put on my chest. I instantly said I would do it again.

Cole James was born on Jan 27, 2009 at 2:37am. At 37 weeks gestation, he weighed 8lbs 1oz and was 20.5 inches long. Cole is a name that Jason came up with and James is Jason's grandpa's first name. We have been blessed with a wonderful baby and can't believe we waited to so long to have one.

Here are some more pictures of him:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=276269432/a=80698619_80698619/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink

35 week Ultrasound

This is a picture of his arm over his face.

If you can see it, this is a picture of his super chubby cheek and his nose (Jason's nose!).

The doctor did the ultrasound just to check his positioning, he is a little crooked right now. It is hard to get a clear picture because he is so big and he had his arm over his face the whole time.

By the way

Just to tease everyone, we have decided on a name! Of course, we aren't telling until we put it on his birth certificate! But our time in the hospital really gave us a good feeling about what his name should be, so you will just have to wait and see!

6lbs 14 oz!

We went to the doctor (again) yesterday. It is funny because I have to go so often they usually don't have any appointment times open for me, so I get to "pick" a time, then sit and wait (usually an hour) before I actually get in. I have been on biweekly appointments, until last week when we started going weekly. Yesterday was one of the most exciting appointments though. She scared us at first by saying that I was 2cm and 75% effaced, but wasn't sure if what she was feeling was Peanut's head. She also concluded that with the side effects that I was having from the Terbutaline and the fact that I was continuing to dilate, I could stop that medicine. So of course, I start crying, thinking that Peanut will be born with a low birth weight and health problems. Our doctor decided to do an ultra sound to see the positioning of the baby and to check his weight. He is head down (off to the side a little) and weighs 6 lbs 14oz! A lot of people think my date was off, but all along his measurements have shown his due date of Feb 13. It just seems that he has really put the pedal to the metal on growing this last month! Everything else looks good too, the placenta and the amniotic fluid look good. I know Jason will kill me for this, but I have been worried about it ever since Jason told me about an article he read on how drinking bottled water leads to undescended testicles in babies (I used to drink a lot of bottled water). The doctor confirmed that his family jewels are in place! Jason, you should have never told me about that article!

So, what does this mean? It means that she would still like me to carry him as long as possible (read: continue bedrest) but that we are taking it a day at a time. My contractions continue - every 7 minutes or so, but no other signs of labor right now. It could be a week, it could be tomorrow.

My doctor has this great way of scaring me in a different way at each appointment. This time, she wants to make sure that I really count his movements and get to the hospital if it slows down at all. So, last night, in the middle of a very restless night, Faith wakes me up by nudging me, then she goes and lays down. At first I think nothing of it, then, as I am laying there in hip searing pain, I start to time my contractions. While they were coming fast, they weren't painful or regular. So, I, always thinking that Faith and I are telepathically linked, start thinking "the baby isn't moving, maybe Faith could sense something is wrong and is saving the day." I get up, move around, eat a yogurt, lay in his favorite position (on the couch!) and he starts moving as usual. It is 3 am and Jason comes out to the living room, "Faith was whining, does she have to go out?" So I tell him my theory, which has just been disproven by movement. He doesn't reply to that and goes back to bed. I let Faith out, and of course, that is what she was really trying to tell me, "let me out." Moral of the story, I give Faith too much credit!

Bedrest

Just to keep everyone updated, I have been put on bedrest again. Last Friday, we had a normal appointment, which I expected to be very routine. I have been having contractions since 26 weeks, but they were getting more painful, but still not regular. I probably have 4-6 contractions an hour, with only a handful that take my breath away a day. I have been dilated 1cm since 30 weeks, and still continue to be only 1 cm dilated. At my appointment, while my doctor was measuring me, I had what was a typical, non painful, contraction. However, apparently that contraction was pretty strong, so she sent me in for observation.

They hooked me up on a heart monitor for the baby and a contraction monitor. I was having contractions about every 10 minutes, so they started giving me shots of Terbutaline. Terbutaline helps slow the uterus from contracting, but it also makes my heart rate increase. My doctor's plan was to get my contractions to slow, give me two doses of steriods, then send me home on bedrest and oral Terbutaline. The steriods were a really painful shot administered 24 hours apart. They are meant to help Peanut's lungs mature, in case he does want to make an early appareance.

All of this was preventative. It is hard to know what is normal for me and what is really going to happen. So, I got to meet a lot of the labor and delivery nurses, stay in a labor and delivery room, stay overnight in the hospital (for the first time ever), and really get know how things are going to go on D day! As stressful as the hospitalization was, getting poked every 3 hours, feeling like I was on speed, and poor Jason being horribly uncomfortable, it turned out ok. I was released at 5:30 on Saturday and have been laying on the couch or in bed ever since.

The plan is for me to continue on the oral Terbutaline until Jan 16. At that time, I will be 36 weeks and my doctor feels that that would be a safe time for me to go into labor, if that is what Peanut has planned. I will also get to come off of all my restrictions then (get to go back to work, shopping, etc). I suppose we will see what the next few weeks will bring! Peanut is loving the bedrest - it means more time for him to practice his karate!

33 Weeks

Picture of my 33 week belly! It is getting huge! I have given up on wearing shoes that tie!



Hopefully this video works, it is just a short clip of Hooch cuddling on the couch while Jason is sleeping! I think this was on Christmas Day night!


Christmas just wasn't the same this year. Although my parents and sister came out for Christmas, both Jason and I think that our best present is yet to come! Peanut is moving a ton, and actually on the video, I was trying to capture him moving. We have his carseat in the car and we practice with the dogs. We also just borrowed a doll from a friend and practice with that. I am sure the dogs just think that I am crazy! Faith finally doesn't sleep on the bed anymore, which has been a huge adjustment to me, since she was always my baby. The bassinet is set up in our room and our bags are packed, since at any doctor's appointment I could told that I am not going to be able to go home. It is hard to stay patient during these last few weeks, but we are trying to enjoy our last few moments of peacefulness. Oh, but the contractions continue...

Baby Shower

These are a couple pictures from the loot that I got from Peanut's shower.

I am thankful to Trinity (my sister) and my good friend Kate who planned the shower for me. It was held at Kate's house and her husband, Jeffrey, did most of the cooking for it. We had a great time. The dogs did great visiting with Kate and Jeffrey, on Saturday the dogs got to go visit their favorite kennel in New Richmond. Both my mom and Jason's mom were able to make the long trek to MN for the shower, which we were also so happy for. Jason's mom brought out the baby's crib (which my mom and Jason put together the day we got back to Aberdeen!) and my mom outfitted us with the baby's carseat and stroller. I figured that we had the basics covered and thank goodness the shower was when it was, because since then I haven't been allowed to travel. During the shower, the boys went out to eat. After the shower some more of our friends stopped by and we had a great time visiting and playing Guitar Hero late into the night! A huge thanks to Kate and Jeffrey for hosting, my mom, my sister, and Jason's mom for helping out! It was really great too, to visit with all of our friends. We can't wait for Peanut to be big enough to make the trip back to MN to meet everybody.