Introducing...

Before I begin, I've literally sat down to write this post a million times. But as all you moms know...things come up. The baby cries; he's hungry; he spit up; poop explosions. You name it. I also have a birth story in the works. That too is taking me a while.

But to prove that I'm alive and that I'm not 47 weeks pregnant, I wanted to introduce my baby boy to you all.

After 14 hours of labor, 2 epidurals and 3 hours of pushing - Jordan was born on Wednesday, August 8th at 6:56am. Anything and everything that I went through was completely worth it once I looked into my baby's eyes.

Caught him smiling in his sleep!!

So far, motherhood is amazing. I'm enjoying every second with this little angel. Don't get me wrong, I have my moments where I'm so emotional that I end up crying over the smallest things; and days where I'm so incredibly exhausted and I can't even see straight. But it all goes away when my boy smiles at me. He melts my heart.

Jon has been INCREDIBLE. He's such an amazing father...and seeing him fall in love with his son makes me swoon. Since day one, Jon has helped with all the midnight wake up calls cries. He gets up with me and changes Jordan's diaper while I get ready to feed. He's been so great through everything.

Jordan is now almost 6 weeks old and I'm on a mission to get him on a good schedule. He's not sleeping through the night yet. In fact, he's still getting up every 2 1/2  hours during the night - which quite honestly, is exhausting. A good friend of mine had her baby 3 weeks before I had Jordan and her son is already on a good sleeping/feeding schedule. She owes it to the Baby Wise book. I bought it as soon as she told me about it and I'm determined to finish it and [hopefully] successfully get my child to sleep good as well.

Good luck to me!

Overdue

It's Wednesday...and we are impatiently awaiting for our son's arrival. If I go by our "original" due date of July 31st, he's only a day late. However, we've always gone by the due date the ultrasound technicians gave us; July 27th. Perhaps that was a bad idea. Either way, his due date(s) have come and gone and I am craving the sound of my son's first cry.

I'm not going to lie -- this past week has been really rough. I started to have mild contractions on Saturday. They were all about 10 minutes apart; which of course got me thinking that "this is it"...only to have them completely stop the next morning. That routine continued Sunday, but as of Monday there hasn't been any action. Last night I did however experience about 4 pretty painful contractions. Unfortunately they were all about an hour apart and then they stopped. The pressure of him being so low has been uncomfortable. I have good days and bad days and at times feel emotionally defeated. Yesterday was a good day. I got up early, showered, put on makeup and did my hair. And I didn't cry once!

Everyone keeps saying "walk, walk, WALK!". Um yea, I don't know what to tell you people...I have walked every day, sometimes three times a day! Up hills; down hills, you name it. I do daily squats and bounce on my exercise ball. I walk up and down the stairs. We've had sex. I drowned my food with chili pepper flakes. I promise you I have tried everything in the book -- the kid just doesn't want to come out. I'm now relying on the full moon tonight. We shall see...

How far along? 40wks, 5days OR 40wks, 1day

Due Date? 7/27/2012 (or 7/31/2012)

Total weight gain: Up 38lbs (161lbs total)

Sleep: Not much. With frequent bathroom breaks and the late night contractions, I don't sleep well

Movement? Still moving like crazy!!

Symptoms: A lot of pressure, on and off contractions, lower back pain and the sciatica nerve pain (OUCH!)

Hmm...August 1st. That seems like a great day for little boy to make his debut....please?!

38 Week Bumpdate

Ok, I'm a few days late -- but here is my 38 week baby bump. The picture was taken on Monday (38wks, 3days)

 

We had a doctor appointment yesterday with the midwife. I was hoping (praying) that they would tell me that I was at least dilated to 1cm...but no. Nada. My cervix is still closed. Damn! Good news is, the midwife assured me that he is super low and his head is "right there" and things could be moving along "pretty soon" - whatever that means. Until then, I've been doing all I can to move this process along; spicy foods, walking like a mother effer, walking up and down the stairs and bouncing on the exercise ball. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a girlfriend of mine for lunch. We're headed to Skipolini's Pizza for their famous Preggo Pizza!! YES PLEASE!!!

I've come to terms with the fact that sleep is pretty much non-existent at this point. Whether it's getting up to pee at almost every hour, or it's the anxiety of knowing little boy could come at any time. I can literally lay in bed for hours and just think about the experience and all the what ifs. Either my husband sleeps through all my tossing and turning; or he just loves me enough to ignore me.

Although I barely got any sleep last night, I have a random urge to clean and make sure everything is 100% ready for Jordan's arrival. Hopefully all my moving around today will help the process along [fingers crossed!]

A Letter To My Sweet Baby Boy

Dearest Jordan,

The time has finally come - you're almost here! We went from counting down the months, to counting down the weeks; and now finally, counting down the days. Your Daddy and I cannot wait to meet you and we've been dreaming about what your precious little face will look like. I can't even begin to express to you the kinds of emotions I have been feeling over the past nine months. It's been a whirlwind of all kinds of happiness - the kind of happiness that gives you butterflies. It's amazing how much we have fallen in love with you, and we have yet to even meet each other.

Since we found out that we were having you, your Daddy has enjoyed talking to you. He kisses my tummy every morning when he wakes up, and every night before he goes to bed. He is such a proud father and he can't wait to hold you in his arms.

Son, I will tell you that the moment I found out I was pregnant with you, it was an instant connection. We've been together every step of the way. I'll never forget the first time I felt you move - such a strange but exciting feeling knowing that you were growing inside of me. Even better was the first time your Dad was able to feel you move. The expression on his face was priceless; and one that I had never seen before. It was his first "bonding" experience with you...and it absolutely melted my heart seeing him so happy.

The first five months seemed to go by very slow, but these last few have flown by. Now we're here. At the end. And the anticipation is killing me. Knowing that you could arrive any day now is enough to make me go crazy. Your clothes are washed, your bed is ready and I think I've organized everything a thousand times. All we need is you, little boy!

I can't wait to hold you in my arms; lock eyes with you and meet for the first time; touch your tiny toes; kiss your little face; and tell you how much I love you.

You are, and will be, our whole world. Our little prince. This is a crazy world kid, but we will do everything in our power to raise you the best way possible. We will make sure you grow up with everything you need, but also knowing the importance of being a hard worker.

We love you "Baby J" and we look forward to meeting you!!

Love always,

Mom and Dad

New Blog Design & Pregnancy Update

Um yea...sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Aside from being pregnant, life has been completely crazy. We moved. It was painful okay...but I'm so glad we're done. We're doing our final walk-through this weekend and then we don't have to worry about it anymore. Moving while nine months pregnant is a blast...NOT. It's sad and I'm really going to miss our place, but we're moving on to bigger and better things. We're going to buy a house at the end of the year. Best decision for our new family.

 

Baby J is doing very well. He's cooked and ready to come out (PLEASE). The weather has been rather hot lately and my toes are so swollen they look like Vienna Sausages. So I continue to talk to my son and tell him to be a good little boy and come out this week :-)

 

 Also, if you haven't noticed, I have a new blog design! I love it and I'm so excited about it. Big thanks to Stephanie over at Dirt and Lace. She's an amazing blog designer and I highly recommend her!!

So, I'll be 38 weeks on Friday, and I'll hopefully try to update you then - along with a picture. Until then, here's some stats!

 

How far along? 37wks, 4days

Due Date? 7/27/2012

Total weight gain: Up 34lbs (157lbs total)

Sleep: What's that? I can't sleep at all anymore...mostly anticipation of little boy's arrival and the fact that I have to pee all the time

Best moment this week? Finishing up the baby's room

Movement? He still moves like crazy! Although his kicks are really strong and hurt most of the time

Food cravings? Still loving cereal - donuts, fruit and broccoli

Food aversions? Still not a lettuce fan (especially shredded lettuce)

Symptoms: A lot of pressure and the fact that it feels like he's going to fall out. A little cramping here and there but nothing to be concerned about

Half Baked

How is it that 21 weeks have passed by in this pregnancy? I'm officially (a week over) half baked.
We had our big 20 week ultrasound last week and everything went great. The tech actually moved me up a few days, from July 31st, to July 27th. She said they think the doctors were off by a few days. Our baby boy is a healthy 14oz and growing! He's also kicking A LOT now. I feel him all day - and I can't help but smile every time. Over the weekend we actually started seeing him move - and Jon saw him for the first time yesterday. Every time before that, the baby would stop as soon as I called Jon over...little stinker.

We've been starting to buy things here and there, as well as stocking up on diapers whenever we have coupons. Jon's parents surprised us with the travel system that we wanted and I seriously can't wait to put it together. It's a huge box, sitting in our living room - staring at me.

I've also been buying a few clothes here and there when I come across good deals. Old Navy surprisingly has some really cute boy clothes that are decently priced. I bought three outfits, each $12.99 with an additional 20% off - sweet deal...I'll take it.

I'm quickly growing out of my clothes, which ends up being an "I-have-nothing-to-wear, I-hate-all-my-clothes" ordeal. I have a lot of hand me down clothes that were given to me from friends (thank you!), but they're mostly tank tops. So, mother nature, if you can please warm this weather up, I'd appreciate it.

How far along? 21wks, 4days

Due Date? 7/27/2012

Total weight gain: Up 10.5lbs (135lbs total)

Maternity Clothes? Absolutely! I need more of them!!

Sleep: Still sleeping with the Snoogle, which is the most amazing pillow ever invented. However, I wake up a lot to go to the restroom still...

Best moment this week? Seeing my husbands face when he saw our son move for the first time

Movement? TONS! He moves like crazy!!!

Food cravings? Cereal, cereal and cereal. Mostly Captain Crunch Berries and Honeycomb

Food aversions? Salad (lettuce) - so annoying

Symptoms: A few headaches here and there

Gender: Boy!!



16 weeks.....it's a BOY!

Good morning and Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I'm 16wks and feeling great (besides the occasional headaches and bachache). We had two appointments last week; our regular check up and our elective 3D ultrasound - to find out the sex. The check up went great. Our doctor brough in the doppler machine and we were able to hear the heartbeat (a strong 150). My blood pressure is perfect and I've gained 6lbs. Doc says I'm healthy and right on track.

Our 3D ultrasound was Saturday. It couldn't come fast enough. Last week might have been the longest week EVER. But it was all worth it. Both our parent's and siblings joined us at the ultrasound. The room is big with seating for ten people, so everyone was comfortable. Almost right away, our baby gave us some great shots between his legs. There's no doubt about it that it's a boy. Jon and my Dad were thrilled! I'm over the moon. Knowing that I'm having a son is unreal. I can't wait to meet my little man! The rest of the appointment went great. I lost it of course when I heard the heartbeat (I cry every time). Just hearing my son's heartbeat is the most precious thing ever.

After we got some great pictures, he decided to burrow himself in my placenta and sleep. Little stinker. He apparently didn't feel like showing his face anymore! I can't believe that in four weeks I'll be half way through my pregnancy! I have a feeling the second half of pregnancy will go by quicker then the first...

Now, don't hold me to it, because we all know how bad I am at posting; but I'm going to really try to do weekly updates with my pregnancy from now on. I'll try to throw in some pictures too.

How far along? 16 weeks

Due Date: 07/31/2012

Total weight gain/loss: Gained 6lbs (total weight 129lbs)

Maternity Clothes? Oh yes! Started wearing them around 14 weeks

Sleep: Still having trouble sleeping through the night. However, I just purchased a Snoogle and used it for the first time last night....uh-mazing!

Best moment this week: Seeing our baby and finding out that we're having a son!

Movement? Nothing yet. Sometimes I think I feel flutters, but I'm pretty sure it's just gas bubbles

Food cravings: Nothing crazy. I love Pop Tarts (brown sugar flavor) and FRUIT!

Food aversions: Salad (lettuce) and pizza - two things I LOVE, of course

Symptoms: Occasional headaches and some lower back pain. Oh and exhuastion (still)

Gender: IT'S A BOY!!!

Happy Tuesday and Happy Valentine's Day friends!! I hope everyone has a wonderful day with their loved ones. 

Necessary Update and some BIG news!

I promise you...I'm alive. I feel like I've been in another world these past few months - so I apologize for being completely MIA.

So, before I fell off the face of the earth, I was planning for my September wedding. It came (and went) so quickly. But it was the best day of my life. One of these days I will put together a 'wedding story', but for now, I will tell you that it was perfect! Everything went so smoothly. Not one thing happened where I felt out of control. I was surprisingly relaxed and calm - very unlike me. I just couldn't wait to walk down the aisle towards my future husband. If I could, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Our honeymoon was absolutely amazing. The day after the wedding we went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for seven days. We stayed at a ocean front all-inclusive resort. My first time in Mexico and at an all-inclusive. So much fun! It was definitely hard coming home and back to reality. I'm pretty sure my first week back at work I did absolutely nothing. My mind was still at the beach.

Since the wedding, we've been enjoying married life and everything that comes along with it. We spent the holidays divided up between our family's. Thanksgiving in San Diego with my family and Christmas in Idaho with his. It was nice to finally be home once the New Year began.

And...I have some news that I can FINALLY share with you all - I'M PREGNANT!! EDD July 31st.

We found out back in November and haven't really said anything until a few weeks ago. I'm 14wks along and in my second trimester. This is our first child and we are over the moon in love with our baby already!