Overwhelming

Evan sleeping as I blog and Mike plays a computer game
Tummy time, earlier today

Last week

Christmas week. I am going to start wearing makeup again soon!

Sorry I haven't posted much. In a short 2 weeks and 1 day, I am completely overwhelmed. Evan is still a great baby and a wonderful gift but it is difficult trying to get him on a schedule so that Mike and I stay sane. Mike goes back to work next week and I'm not looking forward to it being just Evan and me a few days a week. I can handle it but it is scary at the same time.

Evan's 2 week appointment at the pediatrician went well today. He is up to 7 lbs, 6.5 ozs. We are doing something right! My breastfeeding is not as successful as I thought either. I am still not producing enough for my growing baby boy so I am pumping, supplementing with formula and just trying not to get too discouraged. I have to remind myself that some is better than none at all.

My appointment with the OB/GYN yesterday went well also. Mike has done a great job of cleaning my wound (from the c-section opening) and it is starting to heal well. It is still not healed enough so Mike has to keep up the wound packing and dressing for the next 2 weeks. Maybe in two weeks, they can stitch me up.

I have driven a few times (supervised with my husband), since I haven't taken any pain medicine in a few days. We have gone out some too for groceries and more newborn sized diapers. Most of the time, we take it easy at home and clean the house and clean Evan's clothes, toys and blankets. We are still working out the diaper changing thing and trying to dodge Evan peeing on us. We haven't been very successful over the past two days. He's peed on almost everything on and near the changing table. He also hates being exposed. You take his diaper off and he cries and cries.

Overall, things are well with us. Like I said before, he is a dream baby and I love him more than anything in this world. I am trying to cherish everyday I get at home. I have to go back to work March 6 but it could be a little earlier because work denied me supplemental short term disability coverage, which means I won't get a paycheck for 2 or 3 weeks in February/March. I am still working on that one though. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Love to everyone!

Breastfeeding Success!

Today, we went all day breastfeeding only. There was no formula needed. We did have to use a little overnight last night but today it was a lot of patience on Evan's part and my part. He is eating every hour to hour and a half now but it's worth it.

Tomorrow, we are going to try and make a mini trip to Gwinnett Place Mall when they open. I want to try and get a picture of Evan with the mall Santa and get Mike one last Christmas gift. I have it planned out so that we won't have to walk much since I have my c-section issues. I took a few more cute pictures today but I have to load them on the computer. I'll post a bunch of them tomorrow, probably.

A bad night

The bad night had nothing to do with Evan! After dinner last night, I stood up and all of a sudden felt a rush of fluid. The front of my pants was soaked. I immediately took Mike and went to the bathroom and I was gushing reddish watery fluid from my c-section site. We ended up going to the Northside ER and all they did was re-dress my site and tell me to call the doctor in the morning. I was very upset and insisted on taking Evan with us. I know it's my hormones but I just can't bear to be away from him for long.

I went to the doctor this morning and one of my internal stitches have popped. It leaks through the bandage after a few hours. Mike is going to be changing the bandage and wash my c-section site each morning and evening. He really has been a good husband! Now, he has an additional MD visit with me once a week to the OB/GYN so they can assess my surgery site. Now I have to take it even easier, take an antibiotic and more pain meds. All in all, I still can't complain. I have a wonderful little Christmas gift.

Being a Mommy!

Evan and Daddy
During one of our many naps

The first swing ride. We're still a little too small!

Sorry I haven't posted since Evan's arrival. I am struggling with breastfeeding but starting to make some head way. My poor baby is already used to a bottle though and gets mad at me very easily. We went to the piediatrician today and Evan is up to 7 lbs, 1 oz and 19 3/4 inches in length. That's amazing to me at 6 days old. He is a very good, calm baby. I know it can change but I am enjoying every minute we get.

Mike is the most wonderful father. I cry happy tears just thinking about how beautiful they are together (and yes my hormones are crazier now than they were when I was pregnant). Everyone has come to see us and wish us well. Right now, Mike's dad, Dick and stepmom, Jackie are here. Between them and Christina, we haven't cooked a meal and have had lots of help cleaning the house and wrapping presents. I hope everyone else is well and I'll talk to you all soon!

Evan's Debut!

Mike, Evan and cousin Cole
Evan's First Christmas outfit from Aunt Christina

Shortly after birth

When Mommy got to finally hold her baby around 2 AM, 12/13/06

Well, it has been a very long, almost 24 hours. Evan was born via c-section at 10:45 PM Tuesday evening, 12/12/06. Mike and I were both scared to death, me more than him but things went very smoothly. I only dialated to 5 cm and Evan could be pushed back up so the doctor recommended that we go ahead with the c-section. I love my doctor and she was good to me. I shook for hours, from around 10PM when we decided to go ahead with the surgery until almost 2AM this morning. It was some cold and lots of scared. I'm already up and moving around and things are good. Evan just left to go get the circumcision. He'll be back within the hour. I am starting to pump also, since we are having a few feeding issues but things are still great and I'm so happy our beautiful baby boy has arrived healthy.

He is 7lbs even and 19.25 inches long.

Still waiting...

It is now 5;48 and I am 4-5 cm dialated. I am pain free, thanks to the epidural. All last night I had horrible cervical pain so when it came back today, I went ahead and asked for the epidural. I am hoping Evan makes his debut at a regular hour tonight but we will see. They broke my water at 10:00 AM this morning when I was 3 cm. It seems like things are taking a while. Stay tuned for his debut. I will post tomorrow.

Labor and Delivery

Well, I am at Northside. I'm going to be a mommy in one short day. They have already started the cervadil and will start pitocin in the morning. I had an amnio this morning and Evan's lungs are ready. Hopefully things will go smoothly. Mike is being very supportive and helping me out with very little complaints. He wanted me to make sure that I wrote that! I will keep everyone updated as soon as we know anything. Wish us luck!

To breathe or not to breathe

Evan has been practicing his breathing on ultrasound the past 4 weeks and he's been doing such a good job. He needs to keep it up though and improve really fast. He can come early on his own if he wants to, I won't object. If he comes on his own, it will just mean that his lungs are ready. I will probably have an amniocentesis in a few weeks to check his lungs and it scares the heck out of me. I don't want him to come if he isn't healthy enough but his size also concerns me. The doctors are definitely going to do what's best for him and me but there is so much to figure out in the next two weeks. The results of the amnio will determine if he arrives a few days before Christmas or a few days after.

On another note, the ultrasound tech said that he has a lot of hair. She didn't say it just one time either. By the way the ultrasound techs sometimes talk, it makes me believe that by the time he gets here, he'll weigh 20 lbs and have a pony tail! I can't wait to really see and meet him. Let's hope that he keeps developing his lungs!

Merry Christmas, I hope!

Today, I had another doctor's appointment and they did growth. Evan is a huge baby! He's up to 6 lbs and 8 ozs and I am only 34 weeks and 1 day! I wasn't in a hurry to get Evan here before Christmas because he wouldn't know the difference but knowing how big he is, I hope he does arrive around Christmas. I don't want a c-section nor a 9-10+ lb baby. I want him to be healthy though so hopefully his lungs will start to mature so he will be ready to come out sooner. I'll talk to my OB on Thursday and see what she says. I'm told that there's nothing that I could have done to prevent him from getting so large. My lab results from last week are perfect and I've kept my diabetes in check. I've had such a great pregnancy, I don't think Evan will want to leave his home as early as I want him to. I'll keep posting as he gets larger!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

6 Weeks to Go!

Evan will be here in the next 6 weeks, give or take a day! On today's BPP, the sonographer said that he had some hair! I didn't really see it because she was pretty quick with the whole scan. He got another 8/8 score so he's doing well in my ever increasing belly. I have finally caught up with all the graphs and charts on pregnancy weight gain, 23 lbs and growing. If I grow facial hair and dye my hair white, I could double as Santa Clause by the time Christmas gets here. I'd sure be a jolly one.

I'm looking through the house for my picture of me with Jimmie Johnson from a few years ago at a fan club meeting. He was cute then too but it was before he had a model for a wife who made him trim up his eyebrows...stay tuned!

Happy Monday!

Jimmie Johnson is the NASCAR Champ!

I stole the banner off of the NASCAR website because I'm so excited. Jimmie Johnson finally won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup! I'll change the picture later when they post a better one, because he's a hottie!

Go #48

Today is the big day for NASCAR. My boy, Jimmie Johnson, could finally get the championship after just missing it for the past few years. I've been a fan since he started racing and have every 1:24 Action diecast car that has come out since he began racing (it's quite an expensive collection and habit). I'm going to hope Evan wants to like Jimmie too. I'm going to clean the house and write shower thank you notes so that I don't drive myself crazy watching the race on TV. Good luck Jimmie!

NST

I had two appointments today, one with my endocrinologist who said my blood sugars were good and the second with the OB. At the OB's office, I had my first NST. That was an interesting experience that I have to go through every week here on out. Evan wouldn't move much during the test and the few times he gave me hard kicks, it almost made me jump off the table because it was so loud on the monitor. Since next Thursday is Turkey Day, I have to get my NST done in Labor and Delivery at Northside next Friday. Luckily, I have to work a few hours that day so it will just be a quick walk over to the next building.

This will be one of the only years I have to miss out on Black Friday shopping! I love shopping that one day of the year. The people seem to be in good spirits because they know what they are getting themselves into when they shop on Black Friday. It's just different than on Christmas Eve when the people are just rude because they procrastinated too long. Oh well, maybe someone will leave me a few specials on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Checking back in

Mike fixed our home computer and we have a new one too so maybe I will be able to post more often than I have lately. Monday started the twice a week doctor's appointments. Evan got a perfect 8/8 score on his first BPP (biophysical profile). I have another appointment on Thursday with my regular OB for more monitoring, along with another endocrinologist appointment. I'm up to 20 lbs total weight gain so I guess I'm finally on track with a normal person's weight gain. I've eaten like a cow lately! The weight gain could get worse!

Baby Shower

Evan's door hanging
Growth Chart (it will be a while, but it's cute!)
Mobile and crib
Changing table, lamp, picture frames
A lot of presents, toys, shoes, etc that will be moved over time. There is no other place in my house, especially after the shower.

This past Saturday was my baby shower and I had such a good time. At one time, there were about 20-25 people in my house and everyone had fun too. It was overwhelming and I feel so lucky that so many people attended the shower and to send their good wishes (Andrea, Heather, Rob, Kathryn, Elena, Dick, Jackie). There was very little family drama so that made everything even better!

Tonight, Mike and I took a few duplicate items back to Babies R Us and took our gift money and gift cards and bought almost everything else on our registry. I still have just enough money to buy Evan a closet organizer. I took a few more pictures of Evan's finished room tonight.

Sorry I haven't blogged much, for you all who read. Thanks to my friends that told me they read this thing but don't comment! :)

Evan Update

Profile
Semi-clear picture of Evan's face. He looks a lot like Mike!
A little bit of a smashed picture. He must have been right up against something.

Evan is getting to be quite a large baby. At almost 30 weeks, he is now 3 lbs and 11 ozs. He's in the 70% precentile for growth. Otherwise, my blood pressure is fine and I'm up to 16 lbs total, but I'm eating all of the time. I'm worried about how large he may get but we should be fine. While we were having the ultrasound/sonogram, the tech popped his picture into 3D/4D mode. It was very cool. We have determined that he looks a lot like Mike. One of Mike's coworkers even told him that Mike has the same face when he wakes up in the mornings, after his shift. I would have to agree.

$50 doesn't go far!

After work today, I had to go by Babies R Us and pick up a high chair that Mike's father, Dick, and stepmom, Jackie, bought us. While there, I decided to use a coupon and buy a box of diapers. There went the first $30. Afterwards, I went across the street to Costco. One bag of cat food, a box of cookies for my husband, and a dinner salad later, and I'm out another $20. I'm trying to go ahead and buy diapers when I can so that we can absorb a little of the cost now and not later when Evan is here.

Otherwise, it was a crazy day at work. If anyone watched the news this weekend, there was a huge story about Northside Hospital and the Transplant Program defrauding the government because of an improper financial and referral relationship. Imagine working in that program and never knowing anything! My boss didn't tell us for 2 and a half years. My coworker and I knew something was going on but didn't know the story until the top story on WSB aired Friday. Today, patients were asking us if we were embarrassed to be working for the program. I guess that's just how the world works but it is amazing how people can pull the wool over your eyes!

Long time no blog...

Mike has gotten our computer back to working at a normal speed and I am slowly working on rebuilding all of my bookmarks and stored passwords. I had to remember that I was neglecting this blog. I'll try to get better!

Overall things are great! It was a busy Friday. There were two wedding rehearsals at church and I had another couple, getting married in November, attend the rehearsals to help them see how things go in a Catholic wedding ceremony and so that they could ask me questions. The night was crazy with all of the people there but it went by fast!

Afterwards, I got to see our sponsor couple from when we were married in the church last July. Tim and Sharon are wonderful people and we've just missed them at mass lately. They were eating dinner but took a break to talk to me. Tim and Sharon have also accepted our invitation to be Evan's Godparents. They really helped guide us to learning more about each other and our faith, when we were preparing for our Catholic convalidation, and Mike and I both feel they will make good Godparents. Mike and I are attending a Baptismal Prep class on Sunday and I'm excited! Evan isn't here yet but I feel better knowing that things are falling into place.

I guess my last happy thought for the evening is that it is nice to know that you belong somewhere. I really love my church and feel honored to be a part of it. Mike and I are both in ministries that we love (though I try to quit mine often!), we have our favorite priest that we adore, and we've made great friends that have made lasting impressions on us and our faith!

Computer Issues

We are having minor computer/browser issues. Until then, my blogs will probably take a backseat. It is hard to lose all of your bookmarks and saved passwords. At least I have them written down. More tomorrow....