Father's Day

What a busy Father's day we had! Just like every holiday we had lots of places to go! We started out the day by going to church for the first time with Hunter. He did great and slept through the service. Then we headed to Jared's grandma's for lunch. She cooked steaks on the grill and we had a great time visiting with Grandma Jackie, Aunt Shelbi, and great granny and papa Zerrusen.
Next we headed out to Jared's dad's... we were able to get a 4 generation picture with Hunter, Jared, Kenny, and Kenny's dad. We didn't stay long here because we still had to celebrate with my dad. So we headed out to my dad's for dinner and a little pool time. We visited with Grandpa John, Grandma Dinah, Great Grandma Rose, Aunt Kate, and Aunt Jen and her family. We headed home early because we were all exhausted from a long day. Jared wanted to relax a little on his first father's day too! Hunter and I got him a "free" night of fishing whenever he wants and I was going to let him pick out a tackle box. Jared's mom ended up getting him a tackle box so my gift to him now is money towards buying stuff to fill his tackle box. Overall we had a great father's day! I am so thankful for what a great daddy Jared is to Hunter! We both have great dads as well! <3

Learning your way around

Hunter,

You have now been to 2 baseball games, out to eat, to a wedding, and even to a movie! You are learning your way around town quickly ;)

We took you to your cousin Ben's games and of course you slept through them. You have gone out to eat already, and you went to your cousin Emily's wedding when you were just 10 days old!

I have to say, you looked pretty handsome in your wedding outfit mommy made for you! You look pretty relaxed layin on dad's lap too!

We took you to your first movie already! I was kinda nervous about this! It was a drive in movie and we saw "Brave". I was nervous because I didn't want you to be out of your norm and cry for an evening. I had a bottle and a paci ready for you when you woke up... but you slept the whole movie! So, I didn't need to worry, you were yourself, haha. Thanks for being such a good boy!

Belly Issues

Well Hunter,

you are still an amazing baby... sleeping alllllll day long. I usually have to wake you up to feed you during the day. I think since you are getting a little older I will let you wake up on your own now and see how long you last. I did it yesterday and instead of eating every 3 hours you woke up on your own about every 4 hours to eat. So, I think we'll start letting you do that. At night, thats usually how long you wait anyway.

However, the past 4 days or so you have been making some pretty loud grunting noises in your sleep. You cried out for the first time the other night and I knew something was wrong. This was not your normal whiney little cry you do when you are ready for a bottle. This was a screech type cry. I felt so bad for you. You had your little legs all curled up to your belly and you just seemed really uncomfortable. I just switched your formula because you weren't having regular enough bowel movements, but now you seem gassy or something. I hate not being able to take away your pain little man! I gave you some gas drops and rubbed your belly for a long time. I sure hope we can figure out this belly ache issue! The Dr. told me I could try switching you to soy formula. So, maybe a few more days on this one and if it doesn't help then we'll switch you to soy and see how you do on that.

2 week appointment

Look at my sleepy boy smilin in his sleep... :) I know its just a reflex, but I still think its adorable!

Today we had his 2 week appointment. She had me undress him down to his diaper, and I figured he'd be ticked, but our laid back little boy was just bright eyed and didn't seem to mind it one bit. He weighed in at 7lbs exactly! YAY! I am so relieved to know he is gaining weight! When we left the hospital he was 6 lbs 7 oz, so in 2 weeks he has gainied 9 oz. I think his little chin is gettin bigger, his double chin that is...

Do you see what I mean with the chin? :)

He is still 20.5 inches long and his head is still 35 cm. Our tiny little boy is in the 10th % for weight, the 50th % for height, and the 35th % for head size. Doc said everything looked and sounded great and she had no concerns! We'll see her again in August for his 2 month checkup, and unfortunately his shots.

Sweet boy

My boy is so sweet. I can't get enough of him! I could love on him all day long... but I don't want to spoil him too much ;) We are startin to get into a routine a little bit, although our nights are crazy and back to our busy schedule of going here and there and people coming and going. Jared and I have been blessed with a very good baby so far though! We know that Hunter will last 4 hours without having to eat at night, so we try to make his last feeding around 11, that way he'll get up around 2-3 and then not again till around 6-7. I'm so glad that Hunter sleeps well. We can just lay him in his rock and play sleeper awake and he'll fall asleep on his own. I love this. However, I know that if he stays like this, we will probably be spoiled and our next kid won't be like this I'm guessing. So, I'm going to just enjoy it while it lasts :)

He is starting to be awake more.. for the first week he was only awake for 15 minute time periods a few times a day. He is now usually awake from 7-9 a.m. and then another hour or 2 time period in the afternoon, and one more usually around 6-7ish. Other than that, he's still sleeping all day long. Today during his morning awake time I put him in his swing for the first time. He wasn't crying, but he wast just kinda restless, so I thought we'd try it out. I came back and found him like this...

At 11 days old, he finally lost his cord! YAY! This meant I could finally give him a bath. His hair gets so greasy since I play with it all the time, haha :) But here is a picture of him in his bath.. not minding it a bit!

We go back to the Dr. for his 2 week appointment tomorrow! I can't wait to see what he weighs :) I also can't believe its been 2 weeks already, dang its going fast and it already makes me sad to think he will grow up! I know a lot of people don't like the newborn stage, but I love sitting here holding my baby boy all day long! I know someday soon he won't be willing to let me hold him... So for now, I'll just enjoy it!

Pictures of our little man

If you have facebook, you've already seen these.. but here are some pictures of Hunter.

Of course my favorite thing is his chubby cheeks! I love his hair too :) I  just hope he doesn't lose it!

We love you Hunter!

It's a BOY!

...as most of you know, Hunter is here! It's a boy! We are so blessed with a sweet sweet boy! He arrived 6-6-12 at 2:52 p.m. What a week it has been! So, here's the whole labor and delivery story!!

I went off my meds Monday and knew that I wanted to get this baby out ASAP in hopes I could make it to Emily's wedding which is this next Saturday. So, Tuesday I went on a long walk in the afternoon. I had been having some contractions but not anything too serious. So after dinner, I asked Aunt Carol to go walk with me again, haha. So we walked again and after that the contractions were gettin a little stronger. I had a feeling it would be soon! They were about every 5-6 min apart and I was startin to feel them in my back and stomach so I knew they were the real deal (again). Jared wanted to play church softball that night and I was tryin to wait as long as possible to go to the hospital just to be sure it was active labor and I wouldn't get sent home! So I went and watched Jared play and then we headed to the hospital. It was around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. We got all checked in and headed up to the Labor and Delivery room. The nurse kinda looked at me with a look like "ya you dont look like you're in labor".. but she checked me right away and I was already dialated to a 6-7! I was so happy when I heard the words "you're stayin, and you're gunna have a baby soon!"
So we stayed all night, got up to walk every now and then otherwise tried to get some rest. By morning when they checked me again I was at an 8.. so I was slowly progressing. Dr. Haller came in at 8:30 and broke my water. I had a very easy labor up until this point! The contractions weren't bad at all... I don't know if I just have a high pain tollerance or what but I wasn't bothered by them too much! After she broke my water they did get stronger and I knew it was probably my last chance to get an epidural, so I went ahead and asked for one... big mistake!

The epidural caused more problems than it did help, so I did not have a good experience with this! The Dr. who put it in put it in wrong the first time, so he saw some fluid pooling back there and had to take it out and re-do it. Then the second time he did it, he tapped into the spinal fluid and caused me to have a full on spinal instead of an epidural. The difference is how you are numbed. A spinal is what they do when you have a C-section. So needless to say I was freaking out when I was numbed up to my neck! I got so scared from this feeling of not being able to feel, swallow, or move anything! My heart rate went up to 130 and my BP went down to 80-40. I was so scared!! Since it was a "spinal" and not a normal epidural they had to just let it wear off so that I could feel my legs again in order to push in just a few hours. SO, after ALL THAT, I didn't even get to reep the benefits of having an epidural! They didn't start my bag of meds because they didn't want me to get too numb again... oh well. At least I got an hour relief from contractions out of it all.

So, after all that hustle and bustle was over it was about noon and I started feeling my contractions comin back. They got stronger and stronger and before I knew it I was at a 10 and ready to start pushin! I had a LLOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG hour and a half of pushing and then we got to meet our precious baby boy! The pushing was so horrible though. I had no idea I would have to push for that long! I had it in my head that the pushing part only lasted a half hour or so... But it was definitely worth it when they said "it's a boy" and we got to see him for the first time and hear his beautiful cry! What a little sweetie he is too! I can't get over the love you can have for such a tiny little thing you just meet!

Unfortunately my pain didn't stop there though. Because of my epidural complications I ended up getting a spinal head ache/back ache after all that! THIS WAS HORRIBLE! I wouldn't ever wish this sort of pain upon anyone! Laying flat is the only way to get any head releif, and the back pain never went away no matter what I did. So, I had to go to the ER on Sunday morning and get a blood patch. This is where they take blood from your arm and insert it back into your spinal cavity where the air was pocketing which caused all my pain. So, once they filled that air pocket with blood I had instant relief! I was sent home with a 24 hour bed rest order and I am happy to say I am back to normal today! YAY! I FINALLY get to hold my baby and do all the stuff I've been missing out on! I feel like everyone else has gotten to snuggle with him more than his own mama has :(

So there it is! I had a great time with labor up until that dang epidural! I'm just so happy Hunter is healthy and here! :) We love him so much! Jared is the best daddy to him, it makes my heart melt!