Ethan Jeffrey

It has taken me a month to write, but here it is :)

We have become a family of 4 with the arrival of Ethan on 4/25/13 at 6:03am. He weighed 7lb 14oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. The birth story begins on Saturday evening 4/20 when I started not feeling well and having lots of frequent contractions. Later in the evening we decided to have our moms come down just in case it was time. They arrived in the middle of the night and my contractions were still every 10 minutes or so. 
Sunday (4/21): In the morning we decided to head into Labor and Delivery. Of course after I got there things slowed down and they sent us home.

First time at hospital

Monday (4/22): the Moms, Jenna and I went on a long walk in hopes things would start up again and they didn't. 

Tuesday (4/23): was the day I was hoping to have him so that he and Jenna would both be born on the 23rd. I wasn't feeling well and was so thankful that our moms were here because they were able to entertain Jenna as I was trying to relax.

Wednesday (4/24): My doctor appointment was at 10:00am. I decided to put some more things in my bag just in case and leave it at home thinking it was a routine doctor visit. I asked my mom to go with me and Myrene stayed home with Jenna. My doctor was gone so I saw her partner. I was not excited about this because I didn't know her and I had told my doctor that I would probably have the baby when she was gone (guess I was right). The new doctor was very nice and made me feel comfortable right away...I am sure my doctor put in my chart that I like things a certain way :) She did a routine bedside ultrasound to check the heart rate and check the fluid levels. She noticed that the fluid looked a little low so she sent me to get a regular ultrasound. This made me a little nervous. Every thing had been so routine this pregnancy so I wasn't prepared for anything abnormal. I waited an hour and Jeff was able to come to the ultrasound. They checked the fluid and sure enough it was a little low. The baby looked great and they predicted an 8lb baby! The doctor decided to send me to L&D to get monitored and possibly induced. She said that if the baby was distress then they would do an emergency c-section (not what I wanted), but if the baby seemed to be fine then we would go ahead and induce. We headed over to L&D and I got hooked up to the monitors. The baby looked great. The OB resident came to see me (at OHSU resident doctors care for you and they are supervised by their attending...your doctor only sees you if they are on call and working; therefore you have a doctor you have never met). The resident advised me that it was go time and they would be checking me in and starting the induction. Here I was AGAIN being induced. Not really what I wanted this time but it was most important to have a healthy baby (side note: I was contracting on my own so I am sure this little guy would have come in the next day or so anyways). 

Many HOURS later I finally got a room and got the drugs started. Jenna came to visit me. I had been so worried that I wouldn't be able to see her. Jeff was able to take her home and put her to bed. Uncle Alan and Aunt Alona were so great and were able to stay the night at our house, so my mom and Myrene could be with us at the hospital. Things started to get rolling and around midnight I think contractions were getting stronger. I decided to see how long I could go without the epidural this time. Jeff reminded me that I needed to be able to sit still and that I shouldn't wait too long. It wasn't horrible pain but I was getting very uncomfortable. So at 4-5cm I got the epidural. It was AMAZING. An hour or so later the doctor broke my water...another AMAZING feeling. I felt so at peace and very emotional. I was able to rest for a bit. Then my hips started to hurt. I knew we must be getting close because this happened with Jenna as well. They gave me some more drugs and it seemed to help. 

Next thing I know it was around 5:00am and I was fully dilated. I asked the doctor and the nurse to give me 15 minutes to gather my thoughts and get ready. I was feeling so at peace but I wanted to try and remember this moment (in case it's my last) and make sure and tell Jeff how much I love him and how happy I was to be having another baby. It was one of my favorite moments. I had decided that both of our moms could stay in the room with us if they wanted. My mom was there with Jenna and Myrene was out of town. I wanted Myrene to be able to experience it with us and see one of her grandchildren be born. It was really special having both of them there and be supportive. 

This time the doctor (OB resident), medical student and my nurse were there for the pushing. With Jenna it was just the nurse (who was amazing) there helping me with the pushing until she came out. It was really nice to have so many supportive people around. I was worried that my experience wouldn't be as good as it was with Jenna, but it was.

At 6:03am, Ethan was here! He was crying and perfectly healthy. He opened his little eyes and looked right at me. It was amazing and a moment that I will cherish forever. I'm so grateful for Jeff, my mom, and Myrene. I couldn't have done it without them! 

 Here we are a month later and we are all doing great! He is a great baby and very mellow. Only cries when he needs to eat or be changed. Reminds us of his sister in many ways. I was worried about taking care of a newborn and toddler but so far so good. We are managing and practicing patience :) He is a great eater and seems to be filling out. He just started to wear 3 month size clothes. He has a sweet personality and loves to be snuggled. I am cherishing every moment with him. Watching Jenna be a big sister is so neat. At first she didn't pay much attention to him and still doesn't on occasion, but she is a great helper and likes to hold him (only on her terms). 

I am truly blessed!

Ready of Not...He is Coming!

36 Weeks (4/5/13)

I am starting to feel a little panicked that our baby boy is coming anytime. I have all of these "what ifs" in my mind:

• Will Jenna love, be interested and not hit her baby brother? We have been continuing to prep her the best we can. She has been reading a big sister book daily and we explain how she will be so important to him and be a big helper to us. She loves helping!

•  Will I be able to give them both equal attention? Then I think of my mom with newborn triplets and a 3 year old and I know if she can do it. I can too!

• When will labor start? The doctor says anytime. I was dilated to 1cm last week. Irregular contractions started yesterday. I feel prepared...mostly.

• Will Jenna be a good girl while we are away? Please god I hope so!

• Will my natural instinct kick in on how to care for a newborn again? I've been brushing up on my newborn book.

• Will we decide on a name before he is born? Not looking good. It has been challenging this time. The only thing we can agree on is that it probably won't be a "J" name. We don't really want to continue that theme and didn't want to be restricted to just "J" names.

Hoping everything will go smoothly and all my worries will go away when I see his face and hear his first cry. 

Other News:
This pregnancy has gone by so fast and pretty smoothly compared to the end with Jenna. I have had no health issues (thank goodness) and feel pretty good. My doctor has told me several times how much better I look than last time..not sure if this is a compliment or not :) As of 11:04pm last night, this is the longest I have ever been pregnant (37 weeks, 1 day)! Can't imagine waiting another 3 weeks, we shall see!

My friend Lindsay and I took a few pregnancy pictures last week. She is 4 weeks behind me and we thought it would be fun to have a belly pic for the future BFF's (like their sisters).

Left: Lindsay (32 Weeks) Right: Me (36 Weeks)

Current BFF's: Addie & Jenna playing last week

Last week we decided to sell my car (the civic is not ideal for a family of 4) and to our surprise it sold in 1 day! I was a little sad to see her drive away with new owners. Before we left I told the girl to please take care of her. She promised she would :) It was the first car that I bought on my own and I loved her. But with everything in life there is change. We ventured out in the rain and wind last Saturday planning on buying a Honda CRV. We had done all our research and that is what was the plan. On our way to dealership we decided to go to the Acura dealership just to look at what they had. My mom has an MDX and I LOVE it and had mentioned that I wanted one someday. We ended up looking at a used RDX (a little smaller). It didn't have a lot of miles and was in great condition. We left and continued on our way to the Honda dealership. We spent a few hours with the most annoying salesman ever (probably my hormones interfering my judgment but even Jeff agreed) and then drove off headed to another Honda dealership seeking a salesman we had talked to before to buy a CRV. For some reason that RDX kept coming up. We decided that we better test drive it to see. After we both drove it we decided it was the car for us (plus the salesman was so nice). Next thing you know we are signing the paperwork and driving home! Not exactly how our day was supposed to turn out but I am happy it did and I LOVE the car.

"Jenna Funny"

I know I know it has been forever. Everytime I want to post something, something else happens and I forget. I started this post in December and thought I should update it and post it!
 
I wanted to write down some current Jenna sayings...

• As the title mentioned--"Jenna Funny" followed by laughter 
• "Mama's or Daddy's coffee" pointing to mug 
• "Snuggle Mama" 
• "Kissssss" 
• Points to Cougar sign "Go Cougs" 
• "Princess Apples" applesauce with a princess on the front 
• "Mama/Dada read it" hands a book 
• "Jesus" - we got a book at the library and she has been obsessed with it. At one point I heard her talking about the book and then saying "baby brother." I think the picture of baby Jesus in the manager she thinks of her brother. 
• "Where'd the triangle go Addie?" overheard while playing with Addie and the manga-doodle (longest sentence yet) 
• While getting my eyebrows waxed last weekend. She came in as my sister was putting on the strip of paper. When she took it off, Jenna said "mama eye all better." Later she came back and pointed to the paper and wanted it on her eye. So we pretended to wax her eyebrow...next Toddler's and Tiaras :)
• "Mama go cook dinner" told this to me in the morning while trying to shove me away from snuggling her on couch when she got up. Thought I was in the 1950s!
• "Baby brother in tummy"
• "Coffee!" when she spots Starbucks or the logo (this has turned into I have to pretend to put coffee in her milk so she can have some too)
• "George the Monkey" = Curious George (loves him)
• "Papa Bear" = the Bernstein Bears books

Playing at park in January

 The memory of the child is amazing! 

• Last week she was dancing with Jeff and got dizzy and ran into the wall and hit her nose. She has brought it up almost every day to us! 
• She also took a bite of a crayon the other day and since has told me every day "no eating crayons."  
• She loves routine and likes to sing songs at night time in the same order everyday. If I accidentally skip ahead she knows :) She will randomly tell us the order of the songs during the day. 
• Today she told me about saying prayers with daddy and repeated all the family members they talk about. At first I wasn't understanding then quickly realized when she said "baby brother, Grandpa Larry"
• If I tell her we are going to see her friend Addie, she says "see Addie? see Lindsay? (Addie's mom) see Jason? (Addie's dad) 
• Randomly she will bring up something that happened a day ago or even a week ago. It is so funny to hear what she remembers

Swinging at the Park in January

 A cute story...from 12/19/12:
The other day while driving a car pulled out in front of me and out of anger I said "Jesus" (I know not a proud moment to be cursing in front of my child). A few moments later I hear a quiet little voice say "jesus." I was mortified but then quickly recovered by explaining "yes, it is Christmas a time when we celebrate Jesus!" It seemed to work. We checked out a book from the library about Jesus being born in the manager and so she calls the book Jesus. A lesson learned for mama!!

Another from 2/8/13:
She enjoys watching herself as a baby in our home movies. She looks at the still images on the computer to pick out which video to watch. She spotted a cross and said "Jesus" and I told her that was her baptism video. She wanted to watch. She sat in awe and listened to Pastor Kevin. When Pastor Kevin was saying a prayer he said "everyone say A-MEN" so Jenna and I both said "A-MEN." She turned to Jeff on the couch and said "Daddy, saw AMEN!"

It is so fun seeing her personality evolve and hear all her sayings. She has slowly started to repeat me (we are really watching what we say now). It has been lots of fun hearing her vocabulary change and adding new words all the time. I feel for the most part we can understand her. If she starts to point we encourage her to "use her words" (a tip Krissa taught me). We can't wait for her to meet her baby brother in 10 weeks or less!