Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Jack's 1st Birthday PARTY!

Jack's first birthday party was a huge success last Sunday! I couldn't have pulled it off if it weren't for family! They brought extra tables and chairs, helped with the initial set-up, and helped do dishes after all was said and done! Jack of course got a TON of toys and clothes and was very spoiled... we are very blessed to have such an amazing family and group of close friends.

Here are a few pictures from the party:
In his new rocking chair from his great-grandma... she got me and each of my siblings a rocking chair for our 1st birthdays. Jack LOVES to rock in mine so he was excited to have his own.

Here he is playing with his crayon holder from Bapie and Dza Dza (Matt's parents)

Getting a family picture in, but Jack is too busy enjoying cake!


Here's his cake done by Michelle, owner & baker at Sauer Cakes. We love all that she's done for us (wedding cake, anniversary cake, cupcakes for our baby shower, Jack's baptism cake & now his 1st birthday cake)... the flavor this time was orange creamsicle! YUM!

He also got tones of cute clothes, books and other great gifts but I don't have very good pictures of them. Its kind of hard to photograph that stuff during the opening process, especially when the toddler's opening gifts!

We are so glad everyone who came, could make it and are so thankful for there generosity in his gifts!

Friday, June 18, 2010

One Year Ago (Yesterday)

I tried to post this yesterday, but since I had started drafting it a while ago, it showed up on the date I started writing instead of when I published it yesterday!

Today my baby boy is one year old. (This is going to be a long post!) Here is a flashback to one of the the happiest days of my life:

I'll start with the day before he was born, I had contractions ALL day about 5 minutes apart. I called the nurse at my OB's office and she said unless they started getting more intense or closer together to just stick with the regularly scheduled appointment that afternoon. I went in, to find out I had progressed to about 3 1/2 centimeters (about 3 cm the week before). My OB said to just go home and try to relax, take a walk and if I can sleep through them try and do so...
I woke up in the morning with no contractions. I was very bummed, definitely wanted to meet the little person I had been carrying for the past 40 weeks! Well, I got ready for work after a pout session to Matt about how I just wanted to have the baby already. On the way in to work I started having contractions... I remember having to tell myself not to get too excited, probably just false labor like the day before.

At work I continued doing my desk work I had been doing for the past few months, kinda boring but necessary work. Still having contractions but not necessarily getting closer just slightly stronger than the day before. I was in a conversation with a woman that sat a few desks over about how she was feeling (she was in the early stages of her pregnancy), but I realized I wasn't really paying attention to her... I was paying attention to the contractions and thinking "okay, this is different." I had been asking what labor contractions felt like throughout most of my pregnancy, people said they were hard to describe but you'll know and I'm pretty sure I did, at the time I wasn't so sure. I started timing them, 4 minutes apart... Called my boss and left him a voicemail, I was going home. I called Matt to tell him I was coming home, he wasn't scheduled to work until noon, then called the doctor's office. She said to go ahead and head to the hospital, she was going to call and let them know I was coming.
About noon: I got home, Matt met me outside with the hospital bag and we headed to the hospital. I was definitely uncomfortable the entire ride and the bumps were the worst! I don't think they caused pain, but I found them irritating!

We got to the hospital and passed on the valet parking, it was a long line and I could walk. Up to the 3rd floor, just like they told us in our class. I went to the check-in window told her my name and said my doctor's office should have just called to let them know I was coming. She asked "what are you here for?" and I think I replied "to have a baby"... the sign above her said "Labor and Delivery" so I was completely annoyed with why she was questioning me. I was HUGE, obviously a pregnant lady. She must have finally caught on because I'm sure I gave her this dumbfounded look as to why she was asking stupid questions, and she said "oh, contractions?". "Yes" and they took me back to be triaged.

I was 4 centimeters dilated and they called my OB, she said to go ahead and admit me and break my water. We got checked into my labor and delivery room by about 1:30 pm... it was a bit of a wait for a resident to come and break my water. That was definitely the strangest feeling... and pretty much the grossest! We tried different laboring positions and using the ball but things were INTENSE. I thought I was being a whimp... millions of women had done this before me! I asked for some Nubane (spelling? it was an IV medication) which I was told would help take the edge off and make me kinda sleepy. It definitely did, but only for about 45 minutes... I asked for more and was told the 2nd time around wouldn't be as helpful. Okay, more positions and breathing.

My OB had come to check on me in the mean time (I believe while I was still relaxed under the IV drugs) and told me Jack would probably be born about 8 or 9 pm. Things were getting really intense, I suspect this was when I was going through the transition part of labor. I asked for an epidural... I really hadn't wanted one for numerous reasons but this was far more than what I thought. My nurse checked me at about 4:30-4:45 pm and I could tell by the look on her face she was surprised... I was fully dilated. The nurse kind of rushed around the room trying to get all the "instruments" ready just in case they were needed, she paged my OB, then after a few minutes realized that she needed to page a resident because they'd be to the room quicker. She also brought another person in... this girl (probably around my age) was somewhere above a candy striper but below a nurse.

The resident arrived... I wanted to push really bad at this point and had actually gotten a few pushes in before he showed up. Matt was SO helpful counting and holding my Continued with pushes... I overheard the nurse ask the resident if she needed to call the NICU. I freaked out, asking over and over what was wrong with my baby. He said his heart rate was dipping during contractions, but coming back up (which I remember learning was normal from our birthing classes) but he wanted to get the baby out on the next push. He was going to use the vacuum extractor for 15 seconds (I think) on my next push... My baby boy was born!

He was placed right on my chest while Matt got to cut the umbilical cord then they rubbed him down. I remember asking if it was a boy or girl, who knows if they told me right after he was born but I was THRILLED!! They took him away to weigh him and put a stocking cap on him. The nurse said 8 lbs. 2 oz.... as close to a direct quote as I can recall was "I had an 8 lb. baby?!" He was perfectly healthy and beautiful!

Here's the 1st picture of Jack and me:

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Climbing Monkey!

So, this was technically Jack's 2nd time up the stairs, but its pretty much how well he did the 1st try too! I am very thankful we don't have stairs at our house for this reason. We spent the rest of the time teaching him how to go down safely... he did pretty decent with that too. Enjoy our little monkey!


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Friday Fill-ins!



1. Walking around on a summer day with the sun on my face feels great.
2. The solution is always right in front of your eyes.
3. Matt always jokes that we need Jack's noise maker more than he does to fall asleep.
4. How about them apples.
5. For all of those parents out there, taking a mommy-daddy date night is something I highly recommend!
6. Imagine that in 6 days, my baby boy will be ONE.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to playing Wii with Matt (Yes, I realize how goofy we are), tomorrow my plans include enjoying some Mommy-Jack time and then hopefully seeing a movie with the girls and Sunday, I want to go shopping for Jack's birthday party [food] supplies!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Friday Fill-ins!

1. Siesta Key is my favorite place to travel to.
2. When I think about my childhood, I often remember the good & "bad" of family road trips to visit our extended family.
3. Honesty and time makes for a good friend.
4. The wind in the trees, the rain on my skin, describes Wednesday night.
5. The fact that my baby is almost one is so exciting!
6. My best friend knows how much I love him.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending time with my boys and packing for Matt & I spending an overnight away, tomorrow my plans include going to Cincinnati for a friend's wedding and Sunday, I want to enjoy Brennan's 1st birthday party and spending time with Matt and Jack!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I Love Long Weekends!

Last weekend was great!! Saturday was Miss. Abby's 1st birthday party and it was crazy to think that a little over a year ago we hadn't met our babies and last weekend they were all over the place playing together (and by together, I mean in the same area). Abby was adorable of course... Jack tried to steal the gift we gave her. I guess he had been staring at it for a week or so at our house so he must have thought it was his toy! Matt had to work last Saturday which stunk we didn't get a whole long weekend, but we did get the equivalent of a full weekend together, 2 whole days of family time... which we managed to fill up!Sunday we went to Mass, I ran some errands, and then went to my coworker's house for a cook-out and corn-hole. Jack had a blast with all the people, he even attempted to climb the stairs on their patio. Since we have no stairs at home, its nothing he really has a lot of exposure to but he definitely climbs on anything else at our house.

Yesterday, we went to Matt's boss' house for a cook-out and the NCAA Lacrosse Championship game. We weren't able to stay for the whole game because Jack needed to get some sort of afternoon nap in, but they have a pool so I took Jack for a swim! Here are some pictures:

Jack & Mommy in the pool!

Jack doesn't actually know about the dog behind him, but he looks so surprised!

Really mad at Mommy for dunking him!

Relaxing with a Dr. Pepper after a swim!