Snow Day!

Last night we got the snow storm warning for today... so Jeff worked from home today and we just kind of chilled as a family. We're also waiting anxiously for a call about the house we put an offer on... still no word on that...

ANY WAY...

Jeff decided to go out and snow blow the driveway.

I decided it would be nice for David to come out and experience his first snow storm. He was always too little to go out before, so this snow must of been for him from God. :) He wasn't quite sure what to think of it... just kind of sat there...

Jeff picked him up after only one picture, but we decided to try a standing in the snow pose for the camera.

It may of been a short trip out into the winter wonderland, but I thought it went very well. :)

And now for the pictures. :)

New milestones...

Today was David's first real day of sitting up all on his own.

He proudly holds his toes and grins his cute little gummy grins letting us all know that he has conquered balance and gravity!

Behold my infant child in all his sitting up glory!!

the gravity takes hold yet again...

But that's okay.... he finds falling over very fun...

I love him and his cute self so very much. :)

In other news, he had a HUGE dinner tonight... 2 oz. of milk mixed with almost a full serving of rice cereal... then he got to have some apple sauce which I have yet to get pictures of, but its hilarious when he eats it. He makes these sour little faces that make me crack up while he eats... he just smiles at me in response... after he's done doing his "sour lemon" face. I'll try to capture the moment next time he has apple sauce.

Then when he was done with that... he decided he still wasn't done eating and nursed for a few minutes.

Mom and I decided he must be going through another growth spurt.

This means I better get all his 9 month clothing ready... I have a feeling he'll be out of the 6 month stuff very soon.

Another new thing is that he is spending more sleeping time in his nursery sleeping in his crib, which means he's spending less time sleeping in our room. That's good news, but sad at the same time. I still can't sleep well because I'm too busy listening for him. ;)

Speaking of waking up, I hear him now, so I'm off to another bed time adventure with my most favorite little explorer.

Goodnight friends and family and sweet dreams to all. :)

Rice Cereal

David has recently begun the journey of solid foods.

This... my friends... is his dream come true. He's been watching mommy and daddy eat with such eager need. Let me tell you, he is a PRO with a spoon. He even chews while he eats. Amazing little man I have.

Well rice has become his first favorite food. But he has also experienced apple since then. I put a few cubes in a mesh teething toy and he went to town on that. We were surprised since the apple is kind of a tart one.

But when we gave him baby apple sauce... he gives the funniest "sour" faces I've ever seen. He keeps begging for more though. Next on our list it banana. :)

The Birth Story

It's already been 5 and a half months since I had my little boy, and I haven't even told the story on my baby blog... so I figured I'd better get my butt in gear and let every one in on how the delivery went with my little David Keegan.



Starting August 1st (which is also the birthday of my dear little niece Josie who came a little early, being only 30 weeks) I began to have contractions... went to the hospital, got sent home after a day there... they told me to wait till the pain level got to a 5-6... so I waited a week, then it got to that level, so we went back into the hospital... and again, got sent home after a day there... even though the contractions were very regular, being 2-5 mins apart for up to 3 hours or more at a time.




Well.... I was getting very frustrated. I was still at a 2 cm at my last check up, she had me make an appointment for the Monday after my due date to schedule to be induced by Tuesday or Wednesday if I didn't have him by that coming Sunday which was the 16th, and my estimated due date. I tried everything, herbal teas, massage points, I walked all the time...but I had trouble sleeping, was in pain almost all the time, couldn't work any more... it was just... enough already.




Then Monday, August 17th at 3:30am I dreamed I was in pain... and to my surprise, I awoke to even more pain then I was used to... I waited it out, counting the contractions, how long they lasted and how far apart. Around 6-7am I woke Jeff to tell him things are definitely happening... but in fear of being sent home, I waited longer. I decided to call my clinic and ask if I could bump my appointment (to set up an appointment to get induced Tues. or Weds that week) to a morning one. They told me they thought it would be better if I just went to the hospital. So Jeff and I packed up yet again and headed out to the hospital. They monitored me for a few hours. I was at about a 3-4... so they let me stay a little longer... then nothing changed. The nurse came in and started talking about maybe sending me home, yet again... and I started to cry. I just couldn't handle the lack of sleep and the constant pain any more. I told her to tell the doctor on call that I had an appointment that day to schedule and induction and begged her to ask him to break my water and get this going.



THANKFULLY he decided to do just that.



Dr. Jones, my angel, came in and broke my water and started me on the pitocin. Jeff called his parents and told them to pack up and head on down. I called my parents and told them as well.



After only 2 hours my contractions started to top the charts all on their own so they took me off the inducer. My body pretty much went into over drive and eventually I accepted a painkiller that would last a few hours. When I got to about a 6 I finally accepted the epidural. The doctor said I did really well with that, didn't move a budge, which is good cause I was really nervous.



Only a little bit of time went by before I started noticing the nurses running into the room on several occasions to check on the baby's heart rate. The contractions were getting too strong, and I wasn't progressing the way I should... they decided to put me at an upside down angle to get David's head away from the cervix to give him a break from the pressure. Shortly after that I felt a pain through the epidural... it made the doctor nervous. They called in the surgeon and they decided it would be best for me to get a C-section because David's heart rate was dangerously low and the pain could be a bad sign as well. So I agreed and they stopped my contractions and numbed me up... before I knew it we were in another room and they were getting ready to get my little man out.



Jeff joined me not long after. He held my hand during the surgery and reassured me. We were both nervous... I know we had both cried at one point...



I remember I was shaking a lot... teeth chattering... shock maybe?



45 mins go by and they finally tell me that they were almost there... told me I would feel a lot of pressure ... and then... I held my breath... then there... in the clanking and clattering of the doctors, I heard the most beautiful sound... the first cry of my son, my sweet, my everything...



I cried when I heard him... I turned my head to the sound as they carried him over to the care station... Jeff looked at me, kind of torn between the two of us... I let go of him and told him to quite go and get pictures... I watched through watery tear filled eyes as they cleaned him up. The huge smile on Jeffry's face... the smile that had to mirror the smile I had on my face...

Soon they let Jeff hold him by my face so David and I could see each other... I cried... ( I cry now just thinking about it ) ... David calmly looked into my face, knowingly, lovingly... I wanted so much to hold him... I brushed my hand across the top of his head. They offered to take a picture of our new family, so Jeff handed off his camera and I tried to bend head enough to see the camera... was hard to do since I was upside down compared to Jeff and David.



After the portraits were done, they took David, and Jeff went with him... my heart broke as I watched them go... but I just kept telling myself, I'll get to see him soon... as they stitched me up I kept talking about him... about the pregnancy... anything to keep me from freaking out... I so wanted to hold him.



A few hours go by and they came to get me. I got into my room and next thing I see is Jeffry coming into the room with the tiny little hospital cart holding my precious baby boy... they handed him to me and I burst out into tears... my love, my life, everything that was within me was now in my arms... No matter how tired I was... no matter the pain... nothing mattered at this moment cept for my love for him and they way he knew.



Family came in shortly after to be introduced to him... to hold him for the first time.



We only sent him back to the nursery for that first night to try to get some sleep. From there on he stayed in the room with me unless they needed to weigh him or test him for stuff...



It was an interesting experience... and I can't wait to do it again! I know I sound crazy, but it was all worth it in the end when I got to hold him... I've been in love with him since he was just a tiny little bean and I'm still madly in love with him now that he's almost 6 months old. :)



I'm trying to get Jeffry to write down his side of what happened so I can post it here as well. Here's to hoping he'll do it ;)



Love to all. :)

Down to the wire...

Well... I'm 38 weeks and 3 (almost 4) days... and have been having contractions for the last 4 days.

We've made two trips so far to the hospital, just to be sent home because I wasn't advancing fast enough. I have my normal scheduled OB visit tomorrow so we'll find out how much further I've dilated... (last time I was checked I was almost a 3cm).

It can be hard to sleep through the contractions, but sometimes my body just gives in to the sleepiness and I just pass out. So that's at least nice.

It could be any time now... so we're all anxious to meet little David.
Everyone keep their fingers crossed for a quick and easy (and SOON) delivery!

David's 3D Ultrasound

So yesterday we had our 3D/4D Ultrasound.

I spent the entire day floating around waiting for 5pm to roll around.

About a quarter after 4 my mother, Jeffry and I climbed into our car and drove to Premier 4D Imaging in Bloomington where we were to also meet up with my father and my brother David and sister in law Erika (with the usual attachment of our little Varrah).

(Of course we were missing my wonderful mother and father in law who just couldn't make it down on a Tuesday, which was sad for us all, but I promised to bring the video this weekend, so they still get to experience the magic... best part is, they get to experience it on their HUGE tv!!!)

5pm hit and we all gathered in this cozy room, wasn't really little at all, so we all fit well.

There were screens everywhere so no matter where you were you could see the ultrasound, my favorite being the huge projector shinning down onto the wall. :)

First try at getting little David's picture failed... I layed down on my back and he turned away... so I turned onto my right side... he again... turned away.

Left side! Yes! Left side was much more promising.

We ended up doing the rest of the half hour with me on my left, just adjusting forward or back. But we were finally able to see him. :)

I'm quite surprised I didn't cry. I cried at our 5 month ultrasound... I expected it of myself to get all emotional at this one too, but I think I was just too focused and excited on seeing (or kind of seeing) my little man's face for the first time...

The big moments of watching him were seeing his tongue come out a few times... I caught a yawn in there somewhere too... rubbing his eyes and his face with his cute little hands!

It was amazing to find out that babies in the womb love to play with and suck on the umbilical cord. Why do I say this? Well... because little David Keegan was sucking on his! It was just amazing to watch with so much detail!

His eyes were blinking... mouth moving... it was just... well... as I've said, AMAZING!

The entire time there I kept stating how much he's gonna look like his daddy... with a few bits and pieces from momma, but mainly like daddy.

After that experience, I'm so excited to meet him face to face for the first time... I just gotta keep telling myself... 3 more months... 3 more months!!

Crazy.

Here are the pictures:

David's 3D ultrasound pics

6 Month Check Up

Yesterday I had my 6 month check up... (that still floors me... 6 MONTHS!?! Where did the time go??? Seriously!?!) ...I had to do the glucose test which takes an hour, but at least part of the hour is spent with my midwife going through the standard routine of questions and measurements, as well as listening to his little heart beat and the kicks of protest when she puts pressure on his little cozy home.

Jeff was able to take the day to come with me which was nice because I was expecting to go to this one alone, which I hate. So I'm glad he came with me.

The freaky thing she told me this time is that I could start feeling contractions ANY TIME from now to the due date... that is so crazy!

Next up on our to do list is our 3D ultrasound. That will be happening on Tuesday the 19th this month, so expect an update with pictures! :)

Well that's it for now, I just wanted to give a little update on how the baby and myself are doing. :)