children – Page 49 – Myriad & Sundry

Jameson is Two Weeks Old!

January 3, 2011 No Comments

Jameson has had a busy week! Wednesday we went to the doctor for his two week appointment. He weighed 5 lb 15.5 oz, so he is probably a 6lb-er by now! We also got a referral to see an ear, nose and throat specialist to get his tongue tie cut. Then he got to meet all of Brian’s friends! We also heard good news that evening that Jason and Lisa are expecting a baby sometime in August next year. Everyone loves him, of course.

So on Thursday we went out again to the doctor. The ENT was just great, we liked him a lot. The tongue tie cut was quick and clean, barely any blood. We nursed there in the office and everything was well! Jameson is a champ. We were doubly glad we went ahead and got it taken care of because the ENT said that his was severe enough that it may have cause orthandontal problems later. Later on we introduced him to his first pacifier! He likes it, and now that he spends more time awake, it is very soothing for him (and for mom).

On Thursday, he also turned 2 weeks old! We got some cute photos of him with alphabet blocks (I stole the idea from an old co-worker!)

We took him for his first walk on Friday since it was so nice outside. There was still snow on the ground, but melting very quickly since it was a warm 50 degrees! He slept almost the whole time, which was impressive since we were rumbling over snow banks and ice on the sidewalks. The stroller is nice, it felt like a little all-terrain vehicle.

Jameson enjoyed his New Years Eve; that night, JP and Lisa came over and we had king crab legs (first time I have ever eaten crab that wasn’t already out of a shell), filet mignon, twice baked potatoes and spinach artichoke dip that Brian made from scratch. Lisa met Jameson for the first time. They are due in early March, so they are getting very excited and enjoyed holding him. He was on his best behavior! They didn’t make it to midnight because Lisa was getting tired early so late in her pregnancy, but Brian and I did with Jameson.

We had yet another visitor on Saturday! Celine, who lives in Alaska, stopped by for a surprise visit. She called that morning because she was in Cleveland! I hadn’t seen her in years, so it was great to see her and to meet Keith, her boyfriend. Her mother even got Jameson a cute duck book with a little music CD.

It’s been a great weekend. Tomorrow, Brian is going back to work, so that will be different. I have enjoyed having him home these past few weeks… tomorrow I have some goals though, so I should be able to keep busy. I will be taking down our Christmas decorations!

general life, life with baby

Jameson is 10 days old

December 26, 2010 No Comments

Today Jameson is 10 days old!

Jameson has been holding his head up and moving around a lot more. He’s spending more time awake (sometimes, to my dismay!). Often after feedings he likes to stay awake for a while. He also is keeping his legs stretched out a lot more often instead of curled up. He still seems so small, but I bet when we taken him for his two week appointment he’ll have gained a lot of weight!

Jameson has what the doctors called a tongue-tie, which means he can’t move his tongue past his bottom lip. This is starting to make breastfeeding him a lot more painful for me, and I think more work for him! We decided that we are going to have it “snipped”. It’s a simple 10 minute out patient procedure that can be done in the office by an ear nose and throat doctor. At our two week appointment this week, we’ll be getting a referral to get that done.

At 10 days, babies are supposed to start going through a growth spurt, feeding more often. Jameson does seem more awake and a little hungrier, but not extremely so just yet!

Brian and I wanted to do a professional photoshoot, however we had trouble getting a hold of the photographer and ended up trying to take pictures ourself. It actually turned out really good! We couldn’t get any good naked shots because he was wide awake, but we got lots of great basket shots which we’ll be using for our announcements. We put him next to a bottle of Jameson whiskey for a couple shots (Brian asked if it was tacky and I said who cares hah!) We also got some great shots with him in the knitted bonnet that his Great Grandma made. She didn’t know when she gave it to me that it would be a boy (in fact, she thought later that it would be a girl), but he looked just adorable in the slightly too big hat.

Jameson got lots of great clothes for Christmas, in bigger sizes for when he gets older. We had a great Christmas. I got Brian a perpetual daily flip calendar with different pictures for every day! It was a lot of work, he is going to enjoy it. “Jameson” went over budget, but apparently Brian didn’t. They got me a Pandora bracelet with Jameson’s birthstone and a rose charm; and Jameson got me feety pajamas which are just too cute! Brian’s family came for the afternoon, bringing dinner with them. We had a very nice turkey dinner!

Brian has just a week left before he has to go back to work. Life with a baby is going to be a series of transitions!

general life, life with baby

Happy Birthday Jameson Charles Thomas!

December 22, 2010 No Comments

Jameson was born on Dec. 16, 2010 at 10:06 pm, weighing 5 lb 13.5 oz and 19 3/4″ long.

On Tuesday, we went in for our follow up appointment with ultrasound to check the fluid levels. We were at a 5.8 fluid level, which is borderline being too low. The doctor recommended induction, and scheduled it for the very next day at 4pm! I finished up work for my last day and Brian and I both tried to relax a bit on Wednesday morning, though I did have Brian do a little housework in preparation for baby’s arrival.

We didn’t really know what to expect for induction; I had read that induction can mean many things, including using hormones and pitocin to start contractions. On Tuesday, I was about 1 cm dilated, which was better than the previous week with no activity, but apparently that is still not enough to start right on pitocin, so when we arrived I was allowed to have dinner and then the hormone was inserted for 12 hours. Brian and I were not expecting such a long wait! The next morning I was only at 2 cm but I was allowed to have cheerios, and then they started me on the pitocin. I began having mild cramping contractions, but really didn’t feel anything until they finally broke my water at 4 cm. Less than a minute after that, I had severe painful contractions. I did attempt for a little bit to go natural, and used pain killers and breathing for about an hour and a half to manage the pain. Then I decided to go ahead and get the epidural, for which I am very thankful!

After that, things moved very quickly. I went from 5 cm to 9 cm in an hour. Brian came back with his dinner, expecting we would have a long wait still ahead of us, and the nurse told him he better get my dinner ready too! Then it was time to push, and Brian helped hold my legs; it was great to be able to have him involved and helping during my labor! After about 1 1/2 hours of pushing, baby boy Thomas was born and Brian got to cut the cord!

Brian and I were torn between Brendan and Jameson as the first name for our son. However, after seeing him we both decided that Jameson was definitely his name. His middle name is Charles after Brian’s grandfather. They took his blood sugar level, which was a great 77, and his apgar score was also good, about an 8. I shook for a little while after his birth, which was interesting. I enjoyed dinner and then we went to the recovery room.

Thankfully, we did not have to have a roommate during our stay. Since I had already been in the hospital so long, I was ready to come home right away. The nurses were very kind and helpful, giving tips for breastfeeding and swaddling. The hospital food was great for me, though Brian did not enjoy his cafeteria food as much!

I went home on Saturday and Brian’s parents brought over lasagna dinner! The proud grandparents waited in the hospital for his birth and are so excited about their first grandchild!

Tomorrow night, Jameson will be one week old! The past week has been amazing (and tiring). I am pretty sure I must still have some great hormones running through my system because I am running on little sleep. Brian has been great staying up with me almost all the time while we got through nursing together and my milk coming in. Everything has been a learning experience, and it’s been great having my mom around since we got home from the hospital. She has helped us keep up on our laundry and vacuuming and of course helping watch Jameson, and enjoying holding him.

We did get Jameson circumcised, and today finally we stopping putting Vaseline on it, it is healing well. The past few days have been difficult changing him with just one person while we keep his legs away from his body and use warm washcloths around the circumcision. The belly button has been tough to work around too as we have to be careful while diapering him!

His first outing was to the doctor’s office on Monday, 12/20. He was 5 lb 9 oz, which is what he was when leaving the hospital, so we stopped his losing weight fairly quickly. When we went again today, he was back up to his birth weight already! He gained weight twice as fast as the doctor usually expects. We had been on a fairly strict schedule of feeding him every 3 hours, with no more than a single 5 hour stretch between feedings. While he usually stuck to the schedule himself, we did have to wake him up sometimes. After this most recent visit, we are going on an “on demand” feeding schedule. It will be interesting to see what kind of routine he has. So far today he has been awake a lot because we had visitors!

First bath (sponge bath anyway), 12/20

We had visitors on Sunday from my family; my dad, Tyler and Holly came to visit with Jameson for a day. Today, my Aunt Carol stopped by to see him.

Jameson has so many facial expressions. He does smile some, a reflex right now, but hopefully soon it will be because he’s looking at his parents! So far he seems pretty content with sleeping, eating and peeing a lot! I am excited to watch him grow. See more pictures of Jameson!

preparing for baby

Ready for Baby’s Arrival

December 11, 2010 No Comments

The closer we get to having the baby, the less I tend to call our baby-to-be Peapod, our cute nickname for baby when it was wee little and barely noticeable in my tummy. I’m more likely to say “Baby” with a capital B now, in preparation for the real name. We are at 38 weeks and 2 days today, and we are ready for it’s imminent arrival.

We have selected 2 boy first names and one middle name; we have also selected one girl name with 2 possible middle names. When baby arrives, we will make our decision after seeing him or her! We are so close now that I hesitate to reveal the names, and also because I have a preference on the boy name 😉

This week, we thought we would be seeing Baby sooner rather than later. On Wednesday when I went in for my weekly appointment, we also got an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed fluid levels to be low. However they measure “fluid”, I was at a 7 when I should be at at least 10 (my co-worked, due the same day as me, said her’s have been above average at 17 recently, for a frame a reference).

This situation was serious enough to suggest that I stay home from work and rest until my next appointment which was scheduled two days later, for Friday morning. The doctor also made it sound like if fluid levels dropped more, we might be induced early.

However, on Friday we happily (and a little disappointedly, because we wanted to have Baby!) found my fluid levels up to 8.25. Apparently, fluid level can flucuate and drinking lots of water can help! So I am now going back to work, and on the same schedule as before unless my fluid levels dip below 5, which is to continue to wait until I hit 39 weeks and then schedule induction. (Between the diabetes, and the low fluid levels, at this point it is highly unlikely that they would allow me to continue to my due date or beyond) This means Baby will arrive close to Christmas, but before it.

On Tuesday I have another appointment which will include yet another ultrasound (don’t worry, Baby is too big at this point to tell boy or girl so Brian and I are still in the dark on Baby’s gender!) to check fluid levels and an NST. I am getting anxious now, especially because for a couple days we thought we’d be meeting Baby early! We have everything ready to go, and I have all gifts purchased (though some of them won’t arrive til next week) and most gifts wrapped. I am ready for both Christmas and the Baby any time now!

house, preparing for baby

Nursery and Baby Shower

November 10, 2010 No Comments

This past weekend was my baby shower, and we go lots of great gifts. I feel almost prepared now! Just a couple more classes (like the Baby Care class this evening) and a few more items (like the baby monitor) and we will be set!

Here’s a few pictures of our Peapod’s nursery:

The baby shower was great; Brian’s mom did such a great job. It was catered by the same company that did our wedding food, so everything was excellent (I’m still eating the leftovers!). We had crescent sandwiches, vegetarian wraps, cheese and crackers, fruit, pasta salad, swedish meatballs and of course punch, cookies and a cake! I had a lot more people come than I expected. A good friend who I haven’t seen in over two years, Sasha, came to visit. Also some of my old Centerville friends and a lot of new friends! Most of Brian’s family came as well, and my aunt Carol and cousin Stacey. Sadly my mom couldn’t make it, but she did give me a gift to make me cry in front of everyone (a bonnet made from a handkerchief when I was baptized). See some pictures from the baby shower.

Yesterday I had my first Non-Stress Test (NST) and an ultrasound. I am now going to the doctor once every week and getting a NST each week because of the gestational diabetes. Luckily I am managing just fine with diet and so I am type A1 diabetes and only need to go in once a week instead of twice! The diabetes is a pain, but I have only broken the diet a couple times. I haven’t gained any weight the past two weeks since my last appointment, but the doctor says that is good and okay that I have some fat stores that are probably being burned up.

The NST is the same type of monitor they will use when I deliver. It measures baby’s heart rate and contractions. I got to watch the graph change when baby moved — the heart rate would go up. I also had a mild contraction while I was there and baby’s heart rate goes up then too. It takes 20 minutes so that is kind of a pain, and I had to wait to get the monitor since they only had a couple. But otherwise it’s painless and relatively easy!

The ultrasound was great! Fluid around the baby is normal, and Peapod is head down! The tech was nice and told us again when to look away when she was looking at the pelvis area so we still have no idea what the baby is. Brian needs to get working on some baby name ideas!

In other news, recently I got a new china cabinet which I am displaying my grandma’s glassware in! I spent about 5 hours cleaning all the crystal and it just looks fantastic. Grandma would be happy to see her glasses all clean and shining in the beautiful china cabinet, I just wish she was still around to see it.

preparing for baby

Baby is no longer see through

October 26, 2010 No Comments

My baby book says that this week, week 32 (I am 31 weeks and 4 days), my baby is no longer see through. I think Brian might’ve been a little disappointed 😉

We recently purchased a china cabinet; it was on our list of long term items we wanted, but with my grandma’s passing I have taken her glass dishes and silverware, and some other cut glass items. I really wanted to display these and even use them this Thanksgiving which we are having at our house with Brian’s family. China cabinets are expensive! But I think we got a great deal and it will nearly match our table and chairs we have right now. It gets delivered next week, in plenty of time to wash and put away the nice dishes for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I will have to be careful about what I eat 🙁 At least pumpkin pie is on the list of things I can eat! Even better if I don’t have the crust!

Life with gestational diabetes is okay. It’s not particularly fun, but I have managed to eat out a few times with no problems. I just have to be careful about what I eat and eliminate a lot of carbs. So no pasta when I eat out. The dietitian taught me carb counting in units of 15g each, and protein counting. At its fundamental, I need a lot more protein and less carbs.

I went back for a follow up on Friday to the dietitian who told me I was a doctor’s dream (because my blood sugar levels never went too far over or under). So when I visit the doctor today, hopefully they’ll say the same thing and I will not need to take medication. I’m excited to find out when I get my next ultrasound, which will hopefully be next time. We haven’t seen the baby for months! Though for sure I can feel it all the time. I also read in the book that the amniotic fluid has about reached its peak, and so there is less cushioning in there, I will feel the kicks more. The baby is very active in the mornings and evenings.

Brian and I looked at mattresses last night, so we’ll be purchasing that soon. The baby shower is the weekend of Nov. 7, so that is coming up very soon! I am so excited to get more baby things and start to really set up for Peapod’s arrival, which is only two short months away.

general life, preparing for baby

A Rough Couple Weeks

October 15, 2010 No Comments

It’s been a rough couple weeks for us. The week before last, my Grandma passed away relatively suddenly. I had only just gone to see her the weekend before, which was both good and upsetting that life can change so quickly. She was hospitalized after becoming ill the following evening. Grandma aspirated into her lungs during a procedure and developed pneumonia which ended up being too much for her. We took her off the ventilator and she passed peacefully. I spent most of my weekend then at her house with family, going through pictures, and making the memorial boards for her.

I am disappointed and sad that she will not be around to meet our baby. The weekend prior, we had just been talking about how she needed to be patient with her wrist which she had broken recently and let it heal so that she could hold the baby. She didn’t tell me, but told my aunt and uncle that after she saw me and the way I was carrying, she thought it is a girl. It was hard seeing her the previous weekend, fairly helpless without the use of her wrist, but harder and still somewhat weird to think that she will never be in that house again.

The same week, I took a gestational diabetes test. I had failed the hour long screening test at the doctor’s office, and had to go to the hospital to take the three hour test. Brian decided to spend the entire time with me which was very nice to have company. They take your blood after fasting, and then every hour for three hours after drinking the glucose solution. It came out that I do have gestational diabetes. My fasting numbers were normal, the first hour was barely normal, but the following two were undoubtedly abnormal.

So far, this hasn’t affected my diet too much, simply because I haven’t been able to meet with the diabetes counselor yet. They weren’t able to schedule me until nearly two weeks after diagnosis. I am seeing the counselor and taking a class tomorrow morning. The doctor told me that I will be given a meter which I will use to take my blood sugar levels two hours after every meal. At my next appointment two weeks from now, we will look at my levels and determine whether the diabetes can be controlled with diet alone or if medication is needed.

The diabetes is disappointing, because I very much like my carbs and sugar! So hopefully things will be back to normal shortly after baby Peapod is born.

This past weekend I spent at my parents’ and helped my sister get ready for Homecoming dance for her Senior year. Holly had a lovely dress and I straightened her hair and did her make up! It was a lot of fun and she had a blast for her first dance. On Sunday, I went to an old friend’s new house, Katie, who is also pregnant and due two weeks after me. We had a get together with a bunch of us old high school friends, which was great. Katie’s nursery is an antique and monkey theme (Monkeys were her husband’s choice!)

My nursery is just about finished; we have hung up all our photos upstairs finally and included the baby room pictures. So soon we should be able to take photos! All I need is a mattress, so that I can properly show off the bedding.

Recently I have been getting a lot of questions about names! So far, Brian has been willing to tell me what he really doesn’t like, but has not shared his favorite names. So the names I have picked so far haven’t been officially approved. However, we have decided on middle names. If it’s a boy, the middle name will be Charles after his grandfather; if it’s a girl the middle name with either be Rose (my own middle name) or Eleanor (after my grandma on my mom’s side). I did debate briefly about using my recently passed Grandma’s name which is Genevieve, but right now I am leaning away from it, for a couple reasons. 1) She hated her name and always said that and 2) I am not sure I could hear the name without feeling sad about it right now.

That’s all for now! As soon as I hook up my camera I’ll have a few more pictures of Grandma’s memorial boards and her house; I’m also waiting on some nice photos of my sister in her Homecoming dress!

general life, preparing for baby

Weekend

September 26, 2010 No Comments

This weekend has been lonelier for me because Brian is mini-vacationing with his friends. This Thursday-Sunday, he has spent touring distilleries of whiskey in Tennessee and Kentucky. Meanwhile, I have been working and visiting my grandma.

I kept myself busy in Thursday and had dinner with a friend, Teresa, who I haven’t seen in a long time. On Friday, I RedBoxed a couple movies that were on my list (but not Brian’s, haha!). I saw Prince of Persia, and The Backup Plan. I thought both were pretty good, and entertaining. Sasha has been very good with Brian away, though I am sure she misses having him home too!

The weather was hot enough to turn the air on those two days, I was happy to see it cool off today. I went to visit grandma today and was telling her about it, she didn’t realize it was close to 90 on Thursday and Friday because she hasn’t been out of the house since her surgery on her broken wrist from the last fall. The pins in her arm don’t look as bad as expected, because the arm was bandaged up. She certainly isn’t young anymore, but she has two very nice almost-nurse ladies taking good care of her.

Brian should be back tomorrow evening which is good. He will be coming with me to my glucose test Tuesday morning for part of the time. This past Tuesday, I took a glucose level (and anemia) screening test which was to test for gestational diabetes. I failed the screening, so I now I have to take the 3 hours test at the hospital. Doctor said that about 10% of women fail the screening test, and only 10% of that 10% actually have a problem. So odds are in my favor! I read up on the test, and it sounds like they will be drawing my blood four times. I also have to fast for 12 hours in advance, so I will undoubtedly be starving by the time it’s over! Hopefully, there will be no passing out. I’ve taken the morning off work entirely, so since it’s at 7 am I should have some time afterwards to walk around the mall before going to work the afternoon.

Baby is moving a lot more noticeably now, and occasionally uncomfortable. At my last appointment, the doctor said I had only gained 2 pounds, which seems really low! I swear I have grown twice the size I was in the past month! I finally put up my tree wall decal, which is super cute. Next doctor’s appointment is in three weeks, then I will be on the two week appointment schedule!

preparing for baby

Room Layouts and Colds

September 14, 2010 No Comments

Last week was a bit hectic and not so much fun; I worked late on Wednesday night, until almost 8:30, which is quite a bit more than my usual 7:30-4:30 days. I think also consequently my little cold developed into a bigger cold, and I was pretty miserable by Friday/Saturday.

Brian and Melissa and the my in-laws went to see his grandma (and some extended family) on Saturday without me. His grandma is doing very well, which is nice to hear after the ups and downs this year! Becky made a fantastic lasagna, which they were nice enough to give me leftovers 🙂

While he was gone, I attempted to put up my yellow & green owl & bird decal, which is pretty much the reason why I didn’t feel like we have to paint, and which was the base around the entire nursery theme (it was the very first thing I purchased, during a big sale). Of course, nothing goes quite as planned. I purchased it in June and so when the edges kept unpeeling and not sticking correctly, I got upset since we’re well past the return policy time period! However, on Sunday they emailed me back and since June, they have switched their decal material; they believe the new material will stick to my walls no problem. They have a long shipping period, so it will be a while before I get it. In another 2-3 weeks I will be able to try the new decal. They are allowing me to keep the old one though, so I am thinking of things we could do with it. Brian suggested we could spray on a better adhesive, so I might fill a couple picture frames with some pieces of it. As a last resort, if the new one doesn’t work, I’ll be using it to trace and paint a similar picture instead.

Sunday I started to feel better, and I’m pretty much good to go now, except for the awful sounding cough I have, which is pretty much snot drainage in my lungs. And if that’s TMI then you’ve never had a proper cold!

We did end up keeping the changing table which pretty closely matches the crib! It is made out of real wood (except for the shelves) and even has the nice curves that make it look as if it were made to go with our crib! So recently I spent some time on layouts in the room. I went back and forth, we tried a couple different ones.

Last nice, I decided to try one of Brian’s original suggestions (hopefully he won’t rub it in too much), to put the crib along the wall near the closet. Initially I was against this, because the crib sticks out pretty far and will partially block one of the closet doors. However when we actually did it, I found that I wasn’t that bothered by it at all, the closet is still very easily accessible. The room is much more opened up by this move, so I think this is how it will stay!

general life, preparing for baby

Chicago and Peapod

September 8, 2010 1 Comment

A couple weekends ago, Brian and I went on our “baby moon” to Chicago. The idea is you go on one last fling to relax and spend time together before baby gets here. I particularly wanted to go before walking around gets to be no fun! As it was, I still was far more tired than I would’ve been without the extra baby weight. The walking took it’s toll, but it was well worth it!

We spent Friday at the Aquarium, had lunch at the Goose Island bar/micro brew/pub and went to dinner at a nice Italian family style restaurant. Saturday we spent at the Field Museum most of the day and ate real Chicago deep dish pizza for lunch and a tasty French dinner. Sunday we went to the Planetarium, which I of course promptly fell asleep in. In between we walked the Navy Pier, saw fireworks, walked the Magnificent Mile and putzed around Millennium Park. We had a great time!

See more pictures of our Chicago trip >

The baby is moving all the time now, poking around and making flips in my belly. Brian felt the baby move for the first time a couple weeks ago, and since then has felt it a couple more times. For some reason, Peapod is sleeping when Brian is around! But it moves all day long at the office, which is pretty distracting.

We recently purchased our crib and glider. The glider my parents are graciously gifting us. The baby better be a rocker like me! Brian teased me recently that we would probably have a baby that doesn’t want to be rocked. Sitting still would be impossibly hard for me! The crib is lighter than we originally wanted to go, it is a honey natural color. The glider is an ebony with light olive fabric. Combined, I have a non-matching room! This was a little difficult to move past for me, since I am big on matching. However, the quality of both pieces more than makes up for the color difficulties.

Currently, we’re trying to find a matching honey colored changing table. If we cannot find one that matches, we’ll probably switch to dark wood in the hopes that it looks like we mismatched on purpose, the glider and changing table would be dark! The oak dresser that was Brian’s as a child we are going to refinish in the lighter honey color, and change out the handles and hopefully the drawer tracks as well. However, Brian is working hard on his shed, so until the weather turns the baby dresser is taking a back seat!

The baby’s room is coming along nicely; we have curtains, the crib and a glider, which must be the most important pieces, right!? Meanwhile, Brian’s mom is planning the baby shower for November 7. We are having it nearby; the previous owners of our house moved to a complex down the road and their HOA includes a very nice party room which we will be using. I’m very excited. The time is just flying by! It won’t be long before we are having the shower and putting finishing touches on Peapod’s room. Maybe somewhere in this time I can get Brian to look at a few baby names 😉

« Previous 1 … 47 48 49 50 Next »