Post #101

I was just thinking this morning that I was probably getting close to my 100th post-it was my previous post. Whoops! So I figured I'd recognize my 101st post-not that it's anything different from usual...just pictures of my beautiful children. We went outside this morning for a little while since it was 50°!!! Hooray!!! As with everyone else I know, Spring cannot come soon enough this year. Poor Isaac is suffering from Spring Fever like nobody's business, but with a newborn, I don't really think too many outside adventures in February are a good idea. Soon enough we'll be sweltering in the summer heat and wishing for Fall-we always want what we don't have, huh? Just a note on Leah's hat-I made it because I couldn't find anything for her. Luckily, I referred to Isaac's head size at birth-this resulted in cutting about 7 inches off the pattern. What a little peanut!

More Pictures

Here are a few pictures of my sweet kiddos...

Isaac had quite the adventure with some Jell-O the other day. I am certain that only about 1% made it to his mouth-the rest can be seen in the pictures. He was trying to drink it-thus the red mark on his forehead. I think his hands and face were stained for 2 days. Surprisingly, his clothes were remarkably clean considering the mess he made on his tray.

Leah is just as sweet as can be-she finally had her first bath today. I feel horrible that it took us until she was a week old to do it, but she did great-didn't love it, but that's alright. Her umbilical cord fell off yesterday (freaked me out that it was so early, but my doctor said it was fine) so that made the bath a little easier. I took her in yesterday for her 1 week weight check and she was already back up to her birth weight. Yay! Good to know she's growing because she only has a handful of outfits that fit right now.

The Long Story

Alright, now that everyone is sleeping (add me to that group when I'm done with this post!) here's the cause of our delay on Friday...
On Thursday when the pediatrician was doing her regular check-up she heard a slight heart murmur. She said it was really small and most likely she wouldn't hear it the next day and it wouldn't even be an issue. Well, she did hear it on Friday and thus the long process began. Leah had to have a chest x-ray and an EKG done. The chest x-ray came back normal, but there was a slight abnormality on the EKG. Because of that, she had to have an ultrasound done on her heart. That took like 40 minutes-poor girl! She was such a trooper through it all and hardly cried at all until they pulled the little sticker things off her-I swear they put super strength adhesive on them! Then we had to wait for the pediatric cardiologist to get a chance to look at the results and come over. His office was at Mercy and they were supposedly very busy on Friday. We waited and waited-we even asked if we could just take Leah to him-we'd even get an ambulance, but they said we just needed to wait. About a hour and a half after we finished all the tests he finally showed up. He wasn't even all that friendly or sympathetic to the fact that we were supposed to be discharged at 11:00 and at this point it was well after 3:00. He flipped through her charts some more and then came over and listened to her heart again. He said he could still hear the murmur, but it's what is called an innocent murmur so it's nothing to worry about. Apparently about 50% of babies have a heart murmur of some sort at one time or another. Great, now we can go home, right? Wrong....he then tells us that when the ultrasound was being done he noticed that there appeared to be something in/near the liver that he couldn't quite identify "because I'm a cardiologist so I can't make any positive conclusions, but it may very likely just be the galbladder." So yet another test had to be done-this time an ultrasound of her entire abdomen. That took another 40 minutes, but at least they didn't have to put those terrible stickers on her. Why they had to do an ultrasound of her entire abdomen when it was just the liver in question I'm really not sure. We got back to our room and our nurse came to ask what we found out. We said they didn't tell us anything-the radiologist was going to have to look at the results, call the pediatrician, then she would call our nurse and let us know. Our nurse was really surprised that it was going to take so long. Jake told her it better not last longer than a half hour because we were leaving at 5:30 either way (it was about 5:00 at this point and the roads were horrific as about 6 inches of snow had already fallen and it was still snowing heavily). We already had the car packed and we were ready to go when the nurse came in at 5:20 and said they had heard from the doctor and everything was fine. Woohoo! We finally left the hospital at 5:30. It took us about an hour to get home because of the weather and because we had to meet my sister and brother in-law to pick up Isaac. (Thanks Kristelle and Eric!!!!). Needless to say, it was a long, long day and I was so happy to finally be leaving. I stayed rather calm through it all except for after the heart ultrasound-then I cried and cried-mainly because the radiology tech just kept going and going and didn't say a word. The longer it took, the more worried I became. But after all those tests I think it's safe to say we know our little Leah is about as healthy as they come-and I'm sure we'll have the hospital bill to prove it!
Sorry there's no pictures with this post-I haven't taken any more today and I don't want to wake anyone up just for a picture. I'm sure we'll have more to post soon...

Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the delay in the update-there will most likely be another one later today once Isaac is taking his nap. All is well and our little Leah is just as perfect as can be. Thankfully, she is a better sleeper than Isaac was at this point and she seems to be much less demanding (i.e.-she sleeps in her own bed!!!). We are so glad to be home-about 12 hours at the hospital after birth and I am more than ready to leave. The story is a bit long so that's why I'll post it later, but we were delayed being discharged about 6 1/2 hours. Ugh! And then remember the weather on Friday....and it was during rush hour. It was a mess to say the least. But we are all home and doing very well. Isaac is loving being a big brother and can't give Leah enough kisses. He's adjusting quite well so far. Here are a few more pictures-some from the hospital and some from today. Thanks again for all your prayers and support-we greatly appreciate it!

Now a family of 4

Wow, it seems so surreal to be a Mommy of 2 children. What a blessing! I'm so glad that Jake was able to keep all of you updated through the day. It was so slow this morning that I was wondering if I'd get to see her today. But then those big contractions started-just about a hour of increasingly strong ones and then I was ready to push. It's a good thing my doctor was already here because I am fairly certian he would not have made it. 10 minutes of pushing and here she was-as perfect and beautiful as I ever imgained. She's nursing wonderfully and is now sleeping soundly. What an angel we have been given! We will be sure to add more pictures tomorrow-I ddin't realize Jake was adding pictures to the side-he's still new to this whole blogger thing. I am so grateful for him and his support today. He's on Isaac duty tonight at home. We'll see who ends up getting more sleep tonight as this is the first night Isaac will ever sleep without me at home. Thanks, everyone, for your prayers and support-can't wait to show her off in public in a few weeks when the weather is a little better! Here's a picture of Isaac and a similar one of Leah just to compare.

update

Leah is 19inches and 6lbs 10 oz. She came very quickly and Jenn did a great job. Just a half a dose of fetanyl and 20 minutes later Leah was here. Keep checking for pictures. I will get those posted as soon as possible.

13:19 She's here

1:00

It's 1:00 and Jenn is clearly getting closer. They are preping the room for delivery. They did give her some fetenayl. She will be here soon!

12:15

Jenn is having contractions about every 5 minutes now. They are also going to move us to a different room. We are currently on the casearan side of the maternity department (they were out of rooms on the other side) It sounds like some people are going home so we will be able to get into a bigger room!

11:00

The doctor has started giving Jenn Pitocin. Hopefully that will speed up the process. She is having contractions every 10 minutes or so.

8:30 am

I am new to posting on the blogspot (this is Jake) but I figure it is much easier to update Jenn's status with the delivery than to make tons of phone calls. So I will be using this website to keep everyone posted.

Jenn is not really having regular contractions. They have started her IV (I think she is happy that it only took one try) and now we are just waiting. She is also currently dialated to a 5. Keep checking for more updates.

Almost!

Just a quick update----we're headed to the hospital!!!! My water broke about 3:30 and my contractions are not super close, but Dr. says we need to go ahead in. Look for pictures soon. Sorry family for not calling everyone-there's so many calls to make and so little time and it's still quite early for some of you. Thanks for all your prayers! :)

Good-bye Due Date

Well....still no baby. Sorry to disappoint! I can honestly say that I thought I'd be fast asleep by now. Jake wanted to start watching a third show tonight at 10:00 but I requested that we just watch some of the news and go to sleep. He agreed and now he's out cold. This whole pregnancy induced insomnia thing is just not fun. I walked probably 2 miles today hoping to kick start this labor-I figured if I didn't go into labor because of it at least I'd sleep well tonight. Wrong! So here I am, just finished with my second bowl of Fruity Pebbles, having zero contractions, and looking for something to do to make it easier for me to sleep. I must say I am looking forward to seeing what my little baby widget will say as I get further and further past my due date. Today it says "It's go time." Ya think? I am really quite sure this baby will not be born on her due date-it's 11:20 and it take a little over half an hour to get to the hospital. I guess I'll even be so bold as to say I hope she isn't born today. There's always tomorrow, right?

No Baby Baby Update

Well....still no baby, but here are some updates for all of you curious minds:

As of last Thursday I am now to a 4 and 50% effaced

Jake finally agreed on the name Leah. Hooray! Our baby finally has a name! :)

If I don't go into labor on my own I will be induced on Friday (yes, Friday the 13th-good thing I'm not the least bit superstitious)

I have been feeling contractions, but that's nothing new. Although this afternoon I told Jake I felt like I was a walking contraction because I just hurt. It was weird.

I vacuumed the house and cleaned the bathroom so Jake says I'm nesting-maybe, maybe not.

That pretty much does it for now. Hopefully my next post will include pictures of baby Leah!

(Feel free to pray that I go into labor on my own-I only agreed to be induced because Jake has finals next week.)

And since a post is so much better with pictures, here's one of Isaac's belly and my 40 week belly. Enjoy!

Just something to compare to...

Several people have been asking me about my labor and delivery with Isaac. Just thought I'd post a few details and pictures (of Isaac as a newborn....not of my delivery!!!) to satisfy anyone else curious and so we'd all have something to compare to with this next baby. So, here we go...

1. I did not go into labor early with Isaac-I was induced a day after my due date.

2. I was in labor for about 8 hours, pushed for half an hour.

3. I did not have an epidural. (Same plan this time around)

4. I was to a 3 a week before my due date with Isaac.

5. Isaac was 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long.

6. He had lots of DARK hair-crazy to think of that considering his blond head now!

7. I delivered at Methodist and will do the same this time.

That's pretty much all I can think of from what people have already asked me. If you're curious about something else-just ask! And here's a few pictures of our little guy right after he was born.