The Full Story

Throughout the last few months of my pregnancy everyone I ran into would comment on how I would definitely not make it to my due date of November 23rd. I was carrying low, all belly, HUGE, are there two in there? I'm talking doctor's, women with 3+ children, our family, everyone! So, me being a 1st time mom was kind of get ramped up for baby Tyler to show up a little early. I know they also say your 1st always come on time or late and I kept that in the back of my mind as well. Scott had no doubt that I would go up until my due date...as I started getting anxious and so uncomfortable he told me I wasn't allowed to complain until after Nov. 23rd. I talked my mom into coming before Tyler came so we could have a few days to do any last minute to-do's. My brother came for the Thanksgiving holiday expecting to see his new nephew. Well, Thanksgiving came and went, the 23rd came and went...that day consisted of eating spicy wings for lunch and Jenny's spicy enchilada's for dinner...hey we were trying. The next morning I noticed some cramps but nothing significant...more like I had to go to the bathroom. Finally I was able to "go" and noticed some of my mucus plug. I was so excited...something is happening. At the same time I was so nervous about timing contractions and knowing when is the right time to go to the hospital. I prayed that my water would break so I knew I HAD to go to the hospital and they couldn't send me home. I even told my mom that day and I think even my sister in law Amy that I was hoping my water would just break. Scott and the boys went golfing and I made sure he would have an extra car "just in case." Jenny and I were left at the house alone so we went to get some lunch...Blimpee...and shopped around Big Lot's for a awhile. Then I decided I needed to go home to take a nap. Scott called and said everyone was coming over to eat left overs...since I was still napping I went into the bedroom to finish my nap. I heard everyone in the living room and decided to get up...I stretched my back and went to the bathroom. When I stood up from the toilet, I kept going and going and going. Then I realized that my water broke...I called out to Scott in sort of a panic. We got our bags together and went out to the living room and said..."Guess we're headed to the hospital, my water broke!" Everyone was really excited and I was...a little emotional and nervous!

This was us heading to the hospital! This all happened around 4:15 pm on Saturday November 24th. Once we got to the hospital it seemed to take forever for us to be admitted. They had to verify that my waters did break...the Dr. had no question because some flowed right out while she was checking. However, I was not having any regular contractions and I could barely feel them and my cervix was still 1CM and thick and high (she could barely find it!). Since my waters broke the Dr. said they would have to induce the labor process. She suggested not to let anyone "check" me until she came back in the morning due to the risk of infection. Here we are getting ramped up in the delivery room. At this point my contractions were just starting and before she even gave me the first round of inducing agents my contractions were about 5 minutes apart.

Then the night began. At first I felt this really bad back pain and told Scott to massage it, then when I realized they were five minutes apart I knew that I was in for complete back labor. I never felt a contraction in my stomach...only in my back. I made it until 1:30am before I needed something to help me with the pain. I'm not really sure what it was but it worked! I was out like a light for 2 hours with no pain. The epidural came in about 4am-5am...it had a strange tingling sensation to it (like hitting your funny bone). However, the nurse was supposed to flip me from side to side every 20-30 minutes, well, I was left on my left side for an hour and the medicine built up on the left and the medicine didn't work on my right side. So much for the epidural! I felt the right side labor the rest of the morning. Around 8am the nurse came in to "check" me. I was hesitant because of the infection warning plus I was also scared because the last thing I wanted them to say was that I hadn't changed at all. But finally I let the nurse check me and sure enough I was 90% effaced (thinned) and 6cm! They kicked up the pitocin and I was 10cm by 11am and ready to push. While pushing I just couldn't tell if anything was happening and I felt like I was pushing so hard, so I kindly asked if there was a mirror? I think Scott about passed out, he wouldn't even look down there. It really helped me, once I saw his head I knew I could do it, little did I know just how big his head actually was. I pushed for 51 minutes and without any help with forceps or vacuum a 9lb 9oz Tyler came screaming out. During the pushing I had an excellent coach (Scott) that counted to 10 for each push, fed me ice, and shot pictures of everything once Tyler came out (I'm talking 200 pictures!). Some I made him delete! The first words out of the Dr's mouth was..."I've delivered a football team this weekend...nothing under 9lbs!" I was really checking out my baby and just amazed at what just happened. The Dr. had to stitch me up a bit and I almost couldn't stand it because I felt that my right leg was going to fall off...I was in a lot of pain. She helped me out with some pain medicine and a muscle relaxer. It wasn't a pretty site in my room either...it seemed like there was blood everywhere. I couldn't believe it when they wanted me to go to the bathroom and clean up a bit...I was so swollen! Anyways, I guess women have been doing the childbirth thing forever and I am just another new mom that experienced the miracle of life.

Christmas Past & Present (unclick sound to hear music with slideshow)

This thing is cool!

"This thing is cool!"

All a baby wants is to be close to his daddy. This is yet another great gift from Scott's brother.

Memory Pictures

My mom suggested taking a picture of Tyler next to a teddy bear or stuffed animal on a regular basis to see how much he is growing. It will be easy to tell from people that don't see him everyday, but for me...well, I guess I can tell...we think he's already gained 2-3 pounds! So here is the picture I will try to take every month or so.

I just love this pose...I wish we had done it the first few days...but at least it's done now (amature style!)

5 Straight hours!

This was Tyler at our small group Christmas Party last night, he spent the whole night crying, except when nursing or being held by daddy! Anyways, it's his nightly routine to cluster feed and cry (fight sleep) from about 7-10pm. We came home and calmed him down a bit and went to bed after we took some ibprofen! He slept from 11pm-4am! I couldn't believe it! I felt so good at 4am I almost couldn't fall back asleep! See sometimes you have to take some bad with the good.

New Family Photo

Yard Progress: Before and Afters

BEFORE: Back Yard, right side bushes

AFTER: Bushes gone (except 1) mom cut down trees and vines. Very neat and clean. BEFORE: Back yard, left side. AFTER: back yard left side: that tree had two stumps! And look at that great wall of vine!

It had to be done and we get to start our bushes over. There is no question that they will grow back, it's up to us to keep up with the prickly vines and weeds that spread throughout the bushes and of course to keep them trimmed up and neat. We definitely have a fresh start so wish us luck. Here are a few more pictures of mom's handy work around the yard. These pictures do not do all the work that was done here justice, but wanted to thank my family again for all their hard work....it really is amazing and it's so enjoyable to look out at my yard all neat and cleaned up! Love you all!

Neat Flower Bed that I can play with in the spring...of course require discipline of weeding and figuring out what all is planted there now.

Tiny Fingernails

I am terrified of cutting Tyler's fingernails. My best friend and my sister-in law said they just bit their baby's nails off. I can't even bite my own nails off so I have decided to leave it to Scott. Yesterday I knew we needed to cut his nails, so I so calmly came into the living room to get some instructions on how he did it the last time. Scott took over and here are some precious pictures of daddy's hands doing the most delicate of baby grooming.

Grandma's Departure (My mom)

Today was my mom's last day with us here in Savannah. She was here for 1 week before Tyler entered the world and stayed almost another 2 weeks helping out with the baby and around the house. In the last 2 weeks she even finished the yard work, made a valance for the blinds in the living room, kept up with the recycling (evacuation scare and all!), kept the kitchen clean every night after dinner. She played with Tyler, held him when I would take a nap and Scott was really sick, she let me go on a 2 hour shopping outing in between feedings. She did this and so much more in the last 3 weeks or so that Scott and I are flabbergasted. When our motivation was drained, hers was on high alert! Oh and a special thank you for making a great apple crisp...my favorite with double the crunchy topping.

To the best mom, now grandma, in the world-THANK YOU! We miss you already.

Sickness and Christmas Decor

I can't believe how the days run together and go so fast. Maybe it's the blur of the night that jumps me through the day only to come to another night of fear. What's going to happen tonight, is Tyler going to sleep in between feedings, moan and grunt all night, cry, or want my nipple all night? He is so unpredictable but so predictable. No matter what he is still the sweetest little guy and I love him so much! I feel so bad when he struggles to either relieve himself of the last feeding or when he has a hiccup attack right after a projectile vomit. We're figuring things out and even though it's a challenge, it's all worth it. Another big challenge is both Scott and I came down with a soar throat on Monday and Scott is still sick and has almost lost his voice. So Scott's solution is to wear a mask around Tyler even though Tyler probably has the best immune system in the house. Sunday Scott and I went out and bought a Christmas tree and later that night we decorated the house with Christmas decorations. I thought that we'd better do it while my mom was here to help or it might not get done at all. My mom did great helping me put up regular decorations and replace them with Christmas decorations. The house looks great, nice and festive. She even did some festive things outside. Here is a few shots of the the tree and the family.I had mentioned during the night that I was craving frosted sugar cookies. So what did my husband do? He made sugar cookies and he even had to run to the grocery store to get powdered sugar for the frosting. They were so good and just another reminder of how great my husband is. (Sorry about the legs hanging out, Tyler likes to interrupt major activities with a quick snack).My mom was bummed that we didn't have our headbands of antlers and Christmas bulb lights but she did make hot chocolate and we found a "traditional" Christmas music from yahoo Internet site. It was a little bit tiring and kind of ran into my nap time, which is usually from 8ish-12ish while Scott is on Tyler duty (he brings him into me if he needs to be fed). Then when Scott comes to bed I take over for the night until 7 or 8am. It's a pretty good system and Scott helps if I'm having a lot of trouble but I mainly want him to sleep since someone has to make some money and be functional during the day.

My mom's stay here is winding down, I'm a little anxious about her leaving but I know it has to happen. She has been a huge help and the house and yard look great thanks to her dedicated work. She plans on leaving sometime tomorrow so today will consist of helping her get packed up and ready. I feel bad that they won't see their grandson again for awhile...maybe 6 months or so unless they decide to make another trip down. Who knows maybe we'll get restless too and decide to make a trip to Iowa next spring. I can't wait for my whole family to meet him because he is so sweet! And I have a feeling he's going to get big really fast!

Andrew is 2

Our newphew turned 2 on Friday November 30th. We all celebrated last night with a nice BBQ dinner, winnie the pooh decorations and cake and ice cream. Andrew was very excited to celebrate and had lots of help from his 2 older brothers Matthew and James. Matthew told me that now that Andrew is 2 they are taking away his passie. Then he says (6 1/2 years old) "It is going to be a real challenge!" I thought that was such a grown up thing to say! They all are getting so big! All three cousins really enjoyed getting to see their new baby cousin Tyler. Matthew said that Tyler can play with Andrew...because they are closer in age. I told Matthew that he has to be a good role model for Tyler since he is 6 1/2 years older than him.

And on to opening presents. Being 2 years old every present he opened was the best thing ever! He was so adorable! Andrew got a play doggie that he can walk around the house. It also barks and wimpers if it's being ignored.

We got him a transformer Mr. Potato Head, 2 pop up Christmas books, and a monkey paddle ball. On a side note: Between feedings I made a dash out of the house yesterday to Target where I got to explore the toy section. It was very entertaining and nice to get some fresh air. Even though I missed my little peanut!

Then Andrew got his first Big Wheel (isn't that what you call them). His mom put it together for him, in what I thought was record time. She turns to us and says are you ready for all this? Looks like fun to me, but then again maybe Tyler will be blessed with some of those hand me down toys from his cousins and then they'll already be put together!

And then there was Tyler who miraculously slept through the entire night. Even with his 3 excited and extremely hyper cousins running around the house as if their heads were cut off. Our 6 day old son has now officially been to his first birthday party!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!

Family Photo

Top Row: Scott, Grandpa Denny, Grandma Connie, and Uncle Rob

Bottom Row: Carrie, Tyler, James, Matthew, Andrew, and Aunt Amy

Cubs Fan

My mom and grandma are HUGE baseball fans. This is the outfit my mom sent to Scott for father's Day this year for our new baby boy. My grandma watched this Cub Bear be made specially for Tyler. Tyler is now officially in The Cubs Fan Club.