Henry turns 1!

Henry turned ONE on the 6th of October.  It's probably a little hard to believe since I haven't done many updates since he's been born. To be quite honest, I was so sleep deprived until he was 10 months, I had to take every spare moment I had to either sleep myself or cook or get something done around the house. He got up two or three times a night until 10 months. A bit ridiculous but that's how it was. 

Anyway, we celebrated his birthday with both sides of our families, which totals to 30 people! We don't have room for that many so my Mom and Dad were kind enough to let us have it their house. 

I did an anchor theme for the party. I didn't think I enjoyed this kind of thing but I actually did a lot! Probably because I have plenty of time these days and it wasn't super stressful at all. 

Elisabeth made all of the cupcakes and the smash cake. She did a great job- I could never do something like that! 

The only thing I did was cut out these sailboats. It was a free print out on Pinterest!

                  The Food table

                        Party guests!

               My sweet family 

You may not be able to tell my the pictures, but poor buddy was not feeling so well. He had a runny nose and diarrhea. A few days later he still had the same thing along with a fever. He was still pretty happy at the birthday party because he LOVES people and the attention. 

We were blessed with piles of gifts! It felt like my birthday. :)

Maybe a future nurse or medical field like Dad!?

He was just as happy sitting on his unopened present as he was opening them. :) 

Me and my boy. I never imagined motherhood being so wonderful. No...not every moment is, but every bad day or moment is SO incredibly worth it. I never knew I could love someone so much and that he could bring me so much joy!!

Now for the cake smash....

He was very unsure of it. 

In fact whenever he took a lick of the frosting he just shuddered. He was not a fan. He enjoyed the attention from everyone around him much much more. 

The aftermath. Such a pretty cake completely ruined. He didn't even actually get any cake, just frosting. So much for making it "healthy" and gluten free. ;) 

Dad being willing to give him a bath. With an apron of course. ;) 

I promise I will really try to be better about updating. If anyone still reads my blog....well thanks for sticking with me through my absence. :) 

Henry's Birth Story

I began to write this a month or two after Henry was born, but never finished it. In celebration of Henry being one today, I decided to post it. I loved re-reading this and reflecting back on that day.

I personally have always loved to hear people's birth stories, especially when I was pregnant. So I will share mine, mostly because I haven't written it down yet and I don't want to forget it. Some stories I heard before Henry was born terrified me.... like being in labor for a couple days?! Or laboring for hours and hours and then having to have a C-Section anyway.  They always say your first is the longest labor, so I was psyching myself up for the worse.
Before I start... I see mostly midwives... I saw a doctor 2-3 times during my pregnancy, but I mostly saw the midwives in the practice.

At my 37 week doctor appointment they told me baby had dropped and I was dilated to 2CM and 75% effaced. Dr. Martin told me I would for sure have this baby by 39-40 weeks, no later than 40. I carried low my whole pregnancy, but I could tell he was especially lower. Things got a bit more uncomfortable that last month...
They also told me he was 6lbs 13oz, which I was thankful for! I was really hoping I wouldn't have a huge baby.

For the rest of my doctor appointments I never changed with my progress. He was head down, but he was turned the wrong way. My midwife really encouraged me to do lots of exercises to try and get him to turn. I was very diligent for those 2 weeks I had left. I was also very diligent with walking the week before since I was off work.

So my due date was October 4th. My due date came and went. It was on a Saturday, so of course when I went to church on Sunday everyone asked me when I was due. I caught a lot of people off guard when I answered "yesterday." We went to Washington church because I didn't want people in Roanoke to know I was yes, STILL pregnant. Sounds stupid, but I almost felt embarrassed that I was still pregnant.  

Monday morning I woke up at 5am feeling a tad wet. I thought my water just had a small leak. So I got up and showered, did some exercises and ate a nice healthy breakfast just in case. I sent a text to my mom and Heidi and asked for their opinion. They thought it was probably something and definitely a sign of labor. I already had an appointment made for that afternoon, so I was going to call my midwife and see if I could come in earlier and check and see what was going on. I crawled back into bed to let Daniel know what was going on(since it was only 6am and he wasn't up yet), and laid there and called the midwife Lynette who was on call. Literally as I was talking to her and telling her I had a slow leak, I had one big cramp and my water burst. And I mean burst. It cracked me up that it happened WHILE I was talking to her. I hadn't had any contractions yet, and she said to come on in and they may need to start me on some pitocin.

I was already pretty organized that morning and had a lot done since I was suspecting something was going on. All I did was change and get some last minute stuff together and we were on the road. It was such an odd drive to the hospital. I didn't have any pain, except maybe a tad bit of a back ache. It was so nice to have the car drive pain free and not all panicky. I just sat there and texted good friends and family and let them know we were headed to the hospital and we were going to have a baby that day! We of course had lots of towels down on the seat. So glad my mom informed me that my water will just keep coming and coming. :)

Arriving at the hospital was wonderful, as they just wheeled me up to the floor totally pain free. I wasn't even very anxious.. I can't believe how calm I was. Daniel was much more antsy/anxious about it. I had thought it would have been the other way around. After all, I'M the one having the baby and HE'S the nurse. :) They put me in an "assessment" room to see if I would even be staying there. Ummm, of course I'll be staying, is that even a question?!
I was sitting there waiting for them to assess me when the nurse I had for the day came in. She came in with a middle-aged male nursing student. I looked at him, and she begin to say "he's a nursing student...." and I didn't even let her finish her sentence. No way is he going to be with you the entire day watching me. Maybe if the student would've been a cute 20 year old girl,,, only MAYBE. :) Daniel and I had already had that discussion, no med or nursing students allowed. Even though Daniel was a nursing student at the time, we just really didn't want any, especially for our first baby. Anyway, they checked me and I was fully effaced and 4CM dilated. Great I thought, since I hadn't had any contractions yet!

They got me into a labor/delivery room and literally the second they did, my contractions started. We couldn't have timed that more perfectly. :) Although I feel like they weren't true contractions... it was ALL in my back. Not exactly how I had pictured it... apparently baby hadn't turned. My contractions started fast and hard. One of the doctors told me that having your baby "sunny side up" and having your water break first is one of the hardest labors. Now maybe that's not true, but that made me feel better while trying to deal with my pain. :)
My contractions definitely got worse and worse, but if you want my opinion they just started off pretty frequent and hard They started off at 1-3 minutes apart and continued that way. I went 3 hours, and they kept getting even worse and closer together. I would barely catch my breath and another one would start. I thought surely I had progressed a lot. But they checked me, and in 3 hours I had only progressed 1 CM. I told them I wanted the epidural as soon as they would give it to me. :) I had moved positions a lot but none of them seemed to really help. Plus they wouldn't let me move too much since my water had broke and they wanted to monitor the baby all the time. I had all back labor which was not fun. I guess I'm stating the obvious... I was in labor after all right?! :) Everyone told me contractions were like bad cramps, but that wasn't my experience.

You can think what you'd like of me, but I've always been pro epidural. I've seen my sister go through 3 labors with no epidural, and that was enough to convince me to have one. I decided that before I was even married. :) A downside was that the hospital was extremely busy.. my nurse was barely in the room, and my midwife had 4 people in labor at that time and had been in the room a time or two to check on me but just for a few minutes each time. I hadn't had any help yet at that point with the labor(besides Daniel) and I figured I wouldn't be getting much more help anytime soon. Daniel was great, don't get me wrong, but at the same time I think he felt pretty helpless. He told me he did not like seeing me in pain like that. It was a little hard getting through those contractions with no coaching.

So my contractions started around 8AM, and around 11:30AM they came in to give me an epidural. They told me I had to sit extremely still while they gave it to me which I was quite nervous about since my contractions were getting worse. Praise God that they seemed to lessen during that time! For those who have never had a baby, epidurals are not scary. Maybe because I didn't see the needle, but seriously. I felt one little prick and my spine felt a little weird as I felt stuff going in, but WELL worth it if you ask me. :)

The epidural began working fairly quickly which was wonderful. It took on one side though and not the other, and I could still feel the contractions on one side. So they turned me to the non effected side but it wasn't really helping. They ended up giving me an extra dose. That helped quite a bit, but throughout the rest of my labor it would wear off on one side so they'd turn me, and then it'd wear off on the other side and then turn me again.

From about noon until 3 or so, I was able to just relax. It was so wonderful! I never slept, but I just laid there with eyes closed and relaxed. The epidural still wasn't hiding all the pain, but most of it. I could still tell when I was having a contraction, but I wasn't screaming through them or anything. :)

Around 3 they checked me again and I was already to 10CM! I was so excited it had moved so quickly. Since everyone was so busy, it took them forever to get their act together before I could even start pushing. They had me sit up to try and get Henry to drop even lower while I was waiting. Good thing I had an epidural, because it wasn't killing me to wait. :)

Pushing was a very slow process. I would push for a contraction or two, and Henry's heart rate would drop. So they would roll me to my side and made me wait until it went back up. Up to that point I just had my midwife Lynette in the room. But when his heart rate was dropping she called in Dr. Martin to help her. They put me on oxygen and everyone was just very quiet. I did not like it at ALL- no one was telling me what was going on. They tried different positions while pushing to see if that helped the heart rate but that didn't work. So it was a very long pushing process because I couldn't push constantly. I was getting quite anxious with it all; the heart rate dropping, no one telling me anything, and a small team ready in case there was problems with his breathing since there was meconium.
I had the right amount of pain during pushing- It wasn't unbearable, but I could still feel when I needed to push.

I really don't know how long the pushing process was. It really didn't seem too long to me. Henry Daniel was born at 4:47pm. 7 pounds, 4 oz and 19 inches long. Oh what a relief it was when they laid him on my chest. Tears of joy came! Such an overwhelming moment. Henry's cute pouty lip began the second he was born! Screaming with that cute lip out!

I could not believe my labor was so short. After all, I had been psyching myself up for the worse. From about 8am-4:47pm wasn't bad at all I thought! Especially with it being my first and I had an epidural. :) They found out why his hear rate kept dropping...the chord was wrapped around his neck two times. I'm so thankful things weren't worse than they were!

I have to say, Henry was a darling baby. I know he is mine so I am a little partial, but he really wasn't red or puffy at all. :) I was shocked he had blonde hair and blonde eyelashes! We were quite smitten and still are. It just keeps getting better and better!

6 Month Pictures

 Last week we had Henry's 6 month pictures taken, and while we were at it we snapped a few family pictures as well. Thanks to Kelly for doing them for us! I couldn't choose which ones I liked best, so I just included most of them! Poor buddy wasn't feeling the greatest that day so he wasn't overly smiley, but she still captured his sweetness!

A new addition!

I know my posts have been few and far between, but I just have to post this one right away.

My brother Adam got engaged to Rhea (from Pville) this weekend. I'm so thrilled to be gaining another sister! Our entire family is beyond excited. :) 

Rhea has been a friend of mine for a few years...I know her, but I know I/we have a lot to learn. :)

We had a lovely engagement dinner tonight with her family. Adam gets to be the first boy to join their family as they just have 6 girls. :)

Can't wait for July, but I know the months leading up to it will be fun (but busy) too! 

It's Official!

Ahhh, it's official, folks!

Daniel is a RN, BSN!
He took boards about a month ago, and PASSED!

What a relief. We are so thankful! I honestly never doubted that he wouldn't pass, but he obviously did. Last week was his first week of orientation. He will be working in the Emergency Room as he has been for the past 2 years, except he will be a nurse now instead of a tech {obviously}. Hopefully since not everything is so new, orientation for the next 12 weeks won't be too overwhelming or stressful for him. {Because let's face it, when he's stressed, so am I}

For the next 12 weeks he will be on day shift(thank goodness!), but he is actually hired on as a night shifter. However, we're praying that he can apply and be accepted for a better shift. I've gotten more used to nights but it's still not my favorite thing. Having Henry has helped so much. I don't feel so alone. Even though he's just a baby, he is still company to me and keeps me occupied in the evenings.
Daniel's ok with being on nights for a bit because the ER is crazy at night and you get better experience. So I guess whatever God wants. :) It could be kind of a long 12 weeks as Daniel doesn't have any say in his schedule. But I feel like it's a good time for that... after all, we are in the dead of winter with no big holidays or anything.

So blessed and thankful we are to this point and that we can get used to a new normal as a family!

Henry Daniel- 3 Months

Our little buddy was 3 months old yesterday. 

He weighed 10lbs 11oz and is just a little peanut in the 1st percentile. He wears 0-3 month clothes.

An overview of the last month:

Sleeping: He went from going 5-6 hours at night back to 2-3 hours. Makes this momma a little frustrated, and I'm hoping he will go back to the 5-6 hours! It shocked me that when he was all worn out from all the Christmases we had(4 in 4 days), he slept 8 hours! Sadly he hasn't done that again. He does take pretty good naps during the day, however. Usually at least one 2 hour nap, sometimes longer. I love that long stretch.

Henry still sleeps in our room, right next to our bed in the Rock and Play. I wouldn't have it any other way for the first few months. It's so nice when they're so little that they're right beside you. I also love the fact that I don't have to get out of bed every time I need to stick his paci back in. Today I've been trying to put him in his crib for naps, but he will. not. sleep. He doesn't like to be flat on his back. It might be a harder transition from the Rock and Play to the crib than I thought.

Eating: He eats every 3 hours pretty much around the clock since he's getting up so much at night. Once in a while he goes 4-5 hours. 

As much as I say this is his normal, Realistically, he doesn't have much of a routine down. We just kind of go with whatever. For the most part he's pretty predictable but not always. I'm just glad I finally kind of know what he likes and dislikes. 

One thing I am so thankful for is that he has really became a better baby. He used to scream in the evenings and there was nothing we could do to console him. He still has a fussy evening here and there but is usually pretty consolable. Most evenings, as long as you give him your full attention he's usually fine. Silly boy. But definitely pretty touchy.

Usually he's only fussy if he needs to eat or sleep. For the majority of the time anyway. But today? Not so much. Like I said, for the majority of the time. I guess babies can't be perfect all the time. :)

Henry is only 3 months old, but I honestly feel like he stranges. Several times I have given him to someone else and he starts bawling. As soon as I take him back, he's fine. And he always goes to sleep better for me. Fine with me if he's a momma's boy. :)

This month he started reaching and playing with his toys. It's so cute. He will lay down on his play mat and just smile and coo away at those little animals hanging down.

He pays a lot of attention to his surroundings, and is very alert. He loves ceiling fans, and notices bright colors on people's shirts. He will also smile at anyone and everyone. 

He's not a huge fan of laying on his stomach. He can roll from stomach to back, and is so so close to rolling back to stomach. He gets stuck on his side. :)

This is how he sleeps in his crib- maybe that's why he won't sleep very well

Our "little old man" as everyone says (and we agree)- he always wrinkles his forehead

We love our little buddy and he brings so much joy to our lives! 

(Sorry if these updates are boring to you- they are mostly for my records)

Thoughts of 2014

It's the first day of the new year, and I'm actually sitting down updating my blog. I really hope to update more, as I want to remember the day to day life with my little Henry. I can't believe he is 3 months old next week.

I am slowly going to play catch up month by month, but for now I am going to reflect on the past year.

Daniel and I were talking about 2014 last night and discussing the hardest and the best of times.
The best for both of us was the obvious: becoming parents and watching our little miracle grow and develop. Henry truly makes our day every day. He is such a smiley boy- when he's being held that is. He loves to be held and have attention every moment that he's awake. He just makes us laugh because he never. stops. moving. If he's laying in bed and going to sleep, he's still moving something, whether it's his leg, foot or arms. He gets it honestly... from his dad and Grandma Leman.

Daniel's hardest for the year was being in school, working, and adjusting to a new baby. That was a tough month(or two). He wasn't getting much sleep and was extremely run down so he kept getting sick over and over again.Thankfully we are done with that, because he graduated!

My hardest? Daniel thought I'd say child birth. :) Nope...being sick almost my whole pregnancy was way worse and honestly the first month or two of Henry's life was rough. Breastfeeding was very rough for the first couple of months. I think we went to the doctor every week for awhile there. I'm so thankful things are going better, Praise God! The only thing is Henry's not gaining tons of weight... he was just 10.2 pounds last week at almost 3 months. But we love our little peanut...It's kind of fun he's stayed little for longer. :)

We're both looking forward to another year of being parents and watching our little bundle of joy grow up. I don't want him to grow up, but at the same time I know every stage is so fun as they interact more and more with you.

We are thankful and blessed!!

Henry Daniel

Introducing Henry Daniel.. born on October 6, 2014 at 4:47pm. He weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long. Labor and delivery went extremely well- we are so so thankful! 

Proud Dad

So relieved to be done!

I am truly blessed by my little family!

If you want to know the whole labor story.. I will eventually post it, and I'm sorry if it's TMI for some of you! :) But for right now, I'm just trying to adjust to this lack of sleep and feeding a baby every couple of hours. :) It's gone very well actually, and we are thankful he is a pretty good baby! We are completely in love with him!