Halloween is next month

So I've been debating on what to dress Bennett up for Halloween.  I knew I didn't want any kind of themed character- since he's not into any special person yet.  And since Jason grew up on a dairy farm, he really wanted to dress him up as a cow.  (I won't tell you what his first suggestion was though).  So after searching on the internet for a couple of days, I found the perfect cow costume.  Here's the outfit and little hat to match.  I'm really excited about his first Halloween.  I can't wait to see him in his first Halloween costume!!  Expect lots of pictures once it gets here!!

I'm one lucky girl!

I often look at my son in disbelief.  Sometimes it's just hard to believe that I carried him for 9 months and now he's here.  It's amazing and probably something only mothers would understand.  Throughout those 9 months I wondered what he would look like and who he would take after- now I don't have to wonder anymore.  He's, without a doubt, the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and he just keeps getting cuter and cuter.  I also look at him and know that one day he will be an adult, able to support himself and make his own decisions.  That also amazes me.  At his 8 week ultrasound, he looked like a lima bean and now he has 10 fingers and toes, 2 beautiful blue eyes, 2 cute little chubby legs and arm rolls to die for.  And in no time I'm sure, he'll be writing, reading, driving, working- I'm amazed.  Bennett, I want nothing more for you to have pure joy for life, unendless happiness with yourself and complete love for God.  Just know your parents love you more than words could express.  I look forward to watching you grow and learn.  I can only hope that you have fun along the way!

It's been 4 months!!

So a lot has happened in the last 4 months. I left with the story of Bennett's birth- which was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. Honestly, labor was a breeze (mind you, I had the epidural). Had I not had that, I probably wouldn't be saying it was easy. Bennett was born early Thursday morning and later that night they sent him over to the NICU, called Special Care Nursery at the hospital. He was having issues with his blood sugar and temperatures. I thought he'd be there for maybe a day but it turns out they kept him for 4. Those 4 days were the hardest days of my life, both physically and emotionally. I was still hooked up to my IV of magnesium sulfate (which was to prevent me from having seizures due to the preeclampsia) and hooked up to my catheter. Not only was he in the NICU, I was trying to breastfeed him, which turned out to be the most challenging thing I've ever done! So, every 3 hours we had to drag myself, with my IV and catheter (which wasn't the easiest thing to do) down to the NICU to feed him. He was being fed through an IV there so he wasn't really interested about drinking Mommy's milk, which hadn't come in yet. So there we were, in the NICU trying to get him to catch on with the whole breastfeeding thing and we would see the other parents come and feed their baby and leave. It took us at least an hour to feed him. It really didn't help my confidnece watching those parents come and leave- making breastfeeding look like a breeze. Anyway, we'd get back to our room and get me back in the bed to rest or eat and usually by that time it was time to pack all our stuff up again and head back to the NICU to see our son. I would have set up camp in there with him and slept in my wheelchair if they would have let me. I was exhausted and emotional to say the least (heck, I'm getting emotional now just thinking about it). I missed him so much while he was in there. It was the hardest thing I had to do- to leave my son in there all alone (even though I knew the nurses were taking care of him). I wanted him in our room so badly but for some reason God had a different plan for us. We did that all day (minus the 2:00 feeding in the morning- we needed our sleep) for 3 days- not exactly how I had pictured our hospital stay. He was born at 6 pounds 1 ounce and dropped down to 5 pounds 9 ounces- he was so tiny!!! I don't think I had ever held a baby THAT small. I was discharged Saturday night and Bennett was discharged Sunday around lunch. I could not have been happier to get him home!! Those trips down to the NICU were so draining. If it hadn't been for Jason helping me each trip and being there with me, I would not have been able to do it. He was my support and I made it through because of him. I know we had it easy compared to some parents, whose children are in the NICU for months, so I count my blessings- and boy do we have a lot of blessings. God is so good and he has blessed us with the most precious child!! We both finally made it home and I honestly would do it all over again in a heartbeat- if it meant having Bennett as my son!!

Here are some pictures from his hospital stay in the NICU:

So, now that we are home, life has been completely different- a good different though. The first 8 weeks were the toughest, I think because of just adjusting to our new life and still trying to master breastfeeding. No one told me breastfeeding was so hard- but it was, at first!! We both caught on around 6 weeks and it's been so rewarding. If anyone were to ask me what was the one thing I was the most proud of, it would be sticking with breastfeeding and succeeding!! I am so proud of myself for that. I almost quit twice- I came so close to giving up. But something inside me, probably my stubbornness, told me to keep trying. So after conquering that battle, things have just been getting easier and easier each day. He has grown tremendously in the past 4 months. He started at 5th percentile in weight and now he's up to 65th percentile!! Right now he is 15 pounds 7 ounces and still growing fast! Here are some pictures, month to month:

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010 

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

We have come a long way from where we started! Bennett is now 4 months and 2 weeks old!  Wow, time has been flying!!  He is now sitting up with assistance, smiling and laughing all the time, talking up a storm and rolling over! Bennett enjoys bath time and splashes all around! He's so sweet and such a good baby!! Often times I look at him in amazement- he's actually mine! He still amazes me every day!! I love him so much and would not trade him for anything! 

Bennett James is here!

The past week has been a whirlwind but it has also been the most rewarding week in my life. We are so blessed to have a healthy, beautiful son and we couldn't love him more. Here's how it all happened:

Monday, April 19, 2010: We had our regular weekly OB appointment. Everything had been going pretty good up until that point. I did have a good bit of swelling but at every appointment they weren't too concerned with it because my blood pressure looked good and baby's heartbeat was fine. So I just tried to drink plenty of water and rest as much as possible. But when I went in on Monday my blood pressure was up and I was spilling a lot of protein in my urine. Those 2 things combined with all the swelling I was having, led the doctors to think preeclampsia. So Dr. Skinner, the doctor I saw that day, wanted me to go over to the hospital to get monitored and make sure the baby was doing ok. So off I went to the MAC (Maternity Assessment Center) and got hooked up and was there for about an hour or so. Dr. Estes, the doctor on call at the hospital, came in and talked to us for a little bit about what was going on. He explained that with my slightly elevated blood pressure and all the protein I was excreting, it could be very harmful to my body- could turn into eclampsia and cause seizures or permanent kidney damage. So, I was put on complete bed rest and instructed to return for another appointment the following Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010: So, after 2 days of bed rest (which was harder than I thought) I went back to my OB at 2:30 pm hoping that things had improved. They did an ultrasound first and baby checked out really well- I guess he was doing better than mommy at this point. So we waited to see the doctor. They checked me and I was only 1 and a half cm dilated. My blood pressure was still up and I was still spilling protein in my urine so at this point I didn't really know what to expect. I had given a 24 hour urine sample from Monday and Dr. Estes walked out to find the results from that. Jason and I were sitting in the room waiting for the doctor to come back in and we could hear him talking outside of the room. I heard him talking to the other doctor on call at the hospital and I overheard him say induction. That's when I started to freak out. Dr. Estes finally came in and said we really need to get the baby out while both of us are still healthy and doing ok. I was thinking maybe in the next day or so, nope he was thinking RIGHT NOW. At this point, I didn't know what to think or do- I wasn't ready mentally to have this baby. Jason was extremely happy but I was so nervous to know that I was going to be in labor shortly. We didn't even have a bag packed yet!! We had nothing with us, but we were escorted over to labor and delivery next door at the hospital and they came and got some blood and hooked me up to magnesium sulfate for precaution. The family was called. At this point they hadn't started the induction yet. Our family finally arrived and stayed the whole night. I tried to get them to leave thinking it was going to be a long time before Bennett arrived. But, it turned out to be a good thing they stayed. Jason left around 5:00 pm to go home and pack our bags- thankfully I had already made a list of what we needed. Then, at 5:30 pm, they started the pitocin- Jason was still gone. At this point, labor was fairly easy- nothing to it. Unfortunately I couldn't get up or sit up due to my blood pressure. They wanted me lying down which helped lower it. So we wait and around 8:00 pm my water broke naturally. I think we shocked the nurse with that one. That's when labor really started to pick up. I really wanted to sit up in the bed during the contractions- it just seemed like I could deal with them better sitting up. The nurse asked me if I wanted to get my epidural yet and at that point I wanted to wait a little bit longer- I told her to just get me some IV pain meds. I think 2 contractions later I decided I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural. So I waited for what seemed like a long time but it was really worth it- it was wonderful, I didn't feel a thing. I think I actually got to sleep some too. So we waited and at this point I still thought it was going to be a while before he made his appearance. Well, sometime after midnight I felt some pressure. The nurse came in and checked me and said I was fully dilated and ready to push. I was shocked!! I pushed for maybe 30 minutes and Bennett was born at 1:57 am! He weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 inches long.  Bennett was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!

What a beautiful day!!

The weather is beautiful outside today- sunny with the high in the 50s. I'm really looking forward to springtime and warmer weather! I'm really fortunate to be due in May, when the weather is warm and can take Bennett outside.

Monday I had my 3 hour glucose test and I passed!! What a relief! My mom went with me for support and I'm so glad she was there because time would have crept by. It wasn't fun getting there so early and being stuck 4 times, but worth it knowing I passed and don't have gestational diabetes. After the 3 long hours I was starving and I think my blood sugar got too low because the sweats and shakiness started. Thank goodness we were sitting down to eat! I'm so glad I don't have to go through that again...at least til our next child. :)

I had another check up this morning and it went well. I'm measuring about a week ahead, his heart beat was in the 140's and I gained a few pounds since our last appointment 2 weeks ago. I've got to start counting Bennett's movements to make sure he's moving enough. I guess I'll do that at night after I eat. He still continues to move all day and I can tell he's getting bigger and stronger. I can't wait til I can see him!!!

Dreading tomorrow....

So tomorrow I go for my 3 hour glucose test since I failed my 1 hour. Really not looking forward to it but hopefully it will go well. I've been trying to lay off the sweets this past week in hopes that will help. We'll see. My mom has the day off from work and is coming with me to keep me company.

On a side note, Jason is working on painting the nursery today! I'm so excited to see how the colors turn out. I picked an orange color for 2 of the walls and an off white for the other 2. I'm really hoping the orange isn't too bright. We will see and I'll post pictures of it when it's complete.

Today marks 29 weeks!! I honestly cannot believe how fast time is going. Bennett is moving around like crazy still and getting stronger. My feet and hands are starting to swell, which isn't fun but only 11 more weeks!

Here is a picture from last week when it snowed!
It's kinda far away but I didn't want a close-up. :)





















So, Jason got a lot of painting done in the nursery. I think the color looks pretty good and I'm hoping it will look better once everything is in there (and when the green tape is off the walls). The furniture will be white and we've got a brown chair to put in there. And I want to find some brown curtains and maybe a brown rug. We also found Jason's sock monkey and elephant from when he was little so we'll put those in there.
Here are some pictures:

28 Week Check

Today was my day scheduled to be off from work and so Jason decided to take the day off too. We had our check up at 8:15 this morning for my glucose tolerance testing. I was kinda nervous about taking it but was sure to pass. We get there and I drink the orange sugar water (which wasn't bad), find out that I had gained another 10 pounds, learn that my blood pressure was pretty good and then we go to see the doctor. We saw Dr. Estes, which we both REALLY like. (I'm kinda hoping he's the one who delivers little Bennett) I measure at 30 cm, which is right on track and the heartbeat sounds really good. We schedule our next appointment and sit back in the waiting room until our hour is up. The timer goes off and we make our way back to the lab. My finger gets pricked and I wait some more, only to hear the girl say, "You didn't pass your test, come this way to schedule your 3 hour glucose test.". I thought for sure she was kidding me. What made it even worse was my sugar was 142, 3 points above "normal". So I have to go on Feb. 22 at 6 am to sit through a 3 hour glucose test, where they will draw my blood every hour to check the levels. I am praying I pass this time. I was upset about the whole ordeal but am feeling better now. We go back on Feb. 26 for our regular check up.

On a side note, we finally bought the paint for the nursery in hopes that we'll get it painted this weekend. With the snow coming, we might actually get it done!! Baby Bennett is moving a lot and starting to get stronger. Jason has felt him and seen him move. It's hard to believe I'm 28 weeks and only have 12 more weeks!!

That's all for now, I'll post again after my next glucose test. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

So, I admit, I'm really bad at blogging

I didn't realize it has been since November that I posted anything. Considering I'm already 25 weeks pregnant, I'm really bad at blogging! The pregnancy is going well. Bennett moves constantly now. I don't really notice it happening at certain times, it's pretty much all day. I feel him when I am getting ready for work, throughout the day and then at night before I go to bed. He's a pretty active fella! :) I have my glucose tolerance test in a couple of weeks so keep your fingers crossed that I pass!!! Everything seems to be moving according to plan and I hope it stays that way!

I can still keep up with everything at work, although I do notice I pay for it later! My feet KILL me at the end of the day. But once I get home and get off of them, they are fine. I hope I can keep up til the end.

We are starting to work on the nursery. We haven't gotten very far, but Jason has started to prime the furniture we are painting so hopefully in the next few weeks we'll have the furniture and walls done. Then we just have to add decoration. :) I bought Bennett's first thing for his room and they came in the mail today. I couldn't be more happy with them! They are personalized blocks and they are so cute! I ordered them from www.newcreationblocks.com and I highly recommend using her!

As of my last doctor's appointment, I have gained 14 pounds. I'm hoping to keep that to a minimum and I'm curious to see how much I've gained since then. Just 15 more weeks!!! Wow,
time sure does fly!! Here are a few recent pictures of my belly:

21 weeks at Christmas & almost 25 weeks


















That's all I can think of right now. I'll try to do better at blogging!!

I've been really slack

I've been slack when it comes to this blog, mainly because there's not much to report...I'm feeling pretty good pregnancy wise and everything seems to be progressing just fine. My stomach has rounded out a little bit more and now when I where maternity pants, I actually look pregnant and not just big. We go to the doctor on Tuesday and will schedule the big ultrasound, which I am extremely excited about!! I cleaned out the room upstairs for the nursery and now it's just waiting to be decorated.



Right now I am 17 weeks but here is a picture from 2 weeks ago.
















Anyways, nothing really exciting to report, hopefully the rest of the pregnancy will go this smoothly!!