Stone Harbor!

We arrived in Stone Harbor yesterday for Chase's first vacation! He is having a great time and is being showered with attention from his Nana, Great Nana & Bub, Aunt Kayla, Megan, Uncle Chip, Cousin Nancy & of course mommy & daddy!

Two Months Old Today!

Chase turned 2 months today! Can you believe it?? He had a doctors appointment and got his first shots - but he did great with it! I was so proud of him! He weighs 13lb 10oz (86th percentile) and is 21 1/4 inches long (61st percentile). He has been a bit fussy this afternoon as a result of the shots, but his fussy is another baby's good day so we are really lucky! As I write this, Chase & his daddy are falling asleep on the couch - they are so cute together!

We are headed to Stone Harbor, NJ on vacation in less than 48 hours and we are so excited for so many reasons. Matt is really looking forward to the uninterrupted time with us (I think we are looking forward to it more though!), and Chase also gets to meet his Great Nana & Bub for the first time, which we are REALLY excited about.

It's still amazing to me that we have been a family for two months now - what an amazing ride it has been so far. I wake up every morning even more amazing at how blessed we are - I really couldn't ask for any more. What a beautiful life we have.

Not so happy about the pics...



Ok..this is better..



Mr. Serious!



Ready to be a beach bum!



Happy boy at the doctors office!

Smiley baby!

Check out this video of Chase giving us his smile....can't believe he will be 2 months old this week. Where has the time gone? We spent the weekend at my dad's house and Chase loved the time with his Grampy. It was nice and relaxing, though the time always goes by so quickly! This week should go by pretty fast as well, lots going on including Chase's 2 month old doctor appointment, then we are headed to Stone Harbor, NJ for vacation for a week! He is getting his first shots on Thursday- wonder who it will be harder on, me or him??

Warm Weather!

We love the warm weather! We spent the day with Sandy & Lyla and took a walk over to Cocoa Castle the Hershey playground. We tried Chase out in the swing - check out the pics! Hope the weather keeps up for the weekend, we are headed out tomorrow to Dad's townhouse in Altoona for a couple of days!

Best Mother's Day gift ever!!!

So today I got to receive all of the things listed in my scrapbook for Mother's Day...it was SO perfect and I had the best time! The weather was perfect, the plans were made up of all of my favorite things and I had been looking forward to this day all week! I am so lucky to have a husband & son who are so thoughtful and would go to such lengths to plan a special day for me! Matt wanted to get pictures of every part of the day so we could document it in my scrapbook... so, here are the pics!

Started out the day with a Vanilla Cappuccino from Sunoco...one of my favorites!



Snuggle time with my favorite little boy:



A nice long hot shower!



Lunch @ The Highlands Grill overlooking the Hershey Links golf course:






Massage at the Spa @ The Hotel Hershey



Cupcakes @ The Hotel Hershey's Sweet Shoppe



Silly boy hanging at the Hotel!



Walking around the formal gardens:



Tired boy after shopping at the outlets for cute new clothes...for him! Guess having a baby really does change everything :)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

Where is the time going?! I can't believe that 7 weeks ago tonight I was in the hospital moving, squatting, walking and breathing - just hoping and praying that my labor would keep progressing! I thought in honor of another week gone by, I'd share my labor/birth experience. Caution - it is going to be a long winded one!!

We checked into the hospital at 10am on Friday, March 26th and were escorted to our L&D room which turned out to be the penthouse of the L&D rooms, with huge windows overlooking the river, more than ample room, jacuzzi tub, etc. We got settled in, answered a million questions, and waited for the midwife to come see us. Around noon time I received the first prostoglandin which was intended to soften my cervix to get me into labor. They hooked me up to a contraction & fetal monitor for about an hour and then I was free to roam the halls and hopefully get things going. My mom & Matt were with me, along with our amazing doula April. If you are not familiar with doulas, please check out www.dona.org. It was such a blessing to have her. We went up to the top floor of the hospital where the cafeteria was and got some lunch.

Around 5pm, my doctors office went on call and Sandy, my midwife, came in to see me and check to see if I had any made any progression with my cervix dilating. I hadn't, and was still only about .5cm with a VERY long way to go! They started me on Pitocin as well as another prostoglandin tablet and we were hopeful that as the night went on things would progress. Unfortunately, everyone in the Harrisburg area decided that evening would be a great time to have a baby and they were all flying through labor in comparison to me. Around 8pm I was warned that they may have to stop my pitocin for the night because they were shortstaffed and didn't have enough nurses to help with the level of monitoring necessary while I was on Pitocin. Within the hour, they shut it off. By midnight I was finally checked again and had virtually no progression. So...I was given an Ambien sleep aid and they said see you in the morning.

I was finally allowed to eat after nearly 12 hours of not being permitted to, so I quick scarfed down some soup broth and a couple of chicken fingers before popping my sleep aid and heading off to dreamland. At 6am, we got up so that I could shower and eat breakfast before my midwife came in at 7 to start going with the Pitocin again. By 9am, I had started to show some signs of progression and I was now dilated enough that my water could be broken. Once this happened, the contractions really started to pick up. I was able to use my HypnoBirthing techniques that I had learned with our doula April in class and I was breathing calmly and very controlled through each one. Within a couple of hours, the contractions had rapidly progressed and I was now contracting every 30 seconds for over 90 seconds at a time and the contraction pain moved into my back. I was having a really difficult time catching my breath between the contractions, but was trying to stay calm. Then I had to get up to pee, and since I was hooked up to IV's it took me longer than 30 seconds to get from the bed to the bathroom and I was caught mid walk with a bad contraction that had me shaking all over. A couple more of those before I got back to the bed and I was shaking non-stop and breathing very hard. I had not really spoken in a couple of hours and Matt & April finally helped me realize that I may need to accept that I was going to need something to help control the pain.

I decided to go with Stadol, which was a pain medication that is administered through your IV. The relief was instant - and made me feel so woozy, like I had too many tequila shots! I was quite comfortable.....for about 20 minutes. The intensity of the contractions was so strong and severe that the Stadol was doing nothing for me and I was back to where I had been 20 minutes beforehand. It was at that time that I decided an epidural was going to be necessary. So, 5 hours after going through some serious back labor, the anesthesiologist came in like a knight in shining armor and began to give me the epidural. Just my luck, the second round of Stadol had worn off and I had to try and sit still through the extreme pain as this doctor stuck a huge needle in my back...and if he slipped because of my movement, could paralyze me. Finally, after two attempts, the epidural was in and I was finally pain free. I could have kissed that man. Until I received the bill weeks after delivery for what insurance didn't cover.

Once the epidural was in full swing, I felt good, but was unfortunately bedridden and my labor was still not progressing. The nurse came in to put in a catheter and chose to use a Foley catheter. The doula explained to me that typically they don't use those ones for childbirth unless they are anticipating a C-Section, so I may need to being to consider that as a possibility should things not speed up.

Around 330pm/4pm, the nurse came in to check on me and let me know that a midwife or doctor would be in as soon as they can but they were extremely busy with other deliveries. For my own piece of mind, she checked my cervix to report back to the midwives....I was 6CM!!! That meant that we were looking good for a natural childbirth and pretty much ruled out a C-Section. I was THRILLED.

45 minutes or so later, the midwife Renee came in to check on me and as she was checking my cervix, turned to the nurse and said "how long ago did you say she was 6cm"...she was in shock because within that timeframe, I had progressed to 10cm or fully dilated, and the baby's head was already moving down into the birth canal! They told us that we had a couple of hours yet, and that they would like for the baby to labor down on his own for an hour and then I would push for about an hour until delivery.

I put on my iPhone and began listening to the relaxing mix of music I had practiced Hypnobirthing to for all these months, and we also just sat and talked and reminisced about the meaning of some songs to us. We listened to our wedding song, "When you say you love me" by Josh Groban and then "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton, which was the song I sang at my sister's funeral. Matt, myself and our doula sat and cried as we talked about how Jessie must be in Heaven watching all of this and how I would give anything for her to be at my side during this experience. Moments after the song ended, I was surprised when I felt some sudden pressure and I realized that we were very close to pushing this baby out - even though it had only been about 25 minutes since they told me I had two hours!

April called in the nurse, who didn't seem to take me too seriously, and after they allowed me to push through one contraction, she ran to the wall intercom to call in the other nurses and midwife. For the next contraction, the midwife was there and was also in shock at how far along I was. They suddenly began scrambling to get everything set up and ready and after 15 minutes of pushing through 4 contractions, my beautiful boy arrived into this world and it was a moment that I will never forget. As they pulled him out, I was able to see him take his first breath in this world and he was placed on my abdomen as Matt cut the umbilical cord. They had to take him away quickly to be checked by the neo-natologist because they thought he might have ingested some meconimum in-utero, but once that was done and he was weighed and measured, I got to hold this most precious baby in my arms and I sobbed at the beauty that had just been placed before me. He looked just like his father and the sound of his cry was the most magnificent thing I have heard.

I believe that Jessie was there with me that day, and that I defied medical opinions and predictions because of her, as well as the love that we were so anxious to share with this baby. Even now, 7 weeks later, I remember it like it was yesterday and still choke up at the memory of that first moment with my son. I now understand what a miracle childbirth is, and I wouldn't have traded one moment of the 31 hours it took to get to there, because it has changed my life in the best ways possible.

My First Mother's Day!

This Sunday was my very first Mother's Day since I wasn't even pregnant for last Mother's Day. I was even more excited for this day than I was for my birthday this year! Anything that has to do with Chase makes me so excited these days. It has been the best gift to be able to be his mommy, and it was an honor to have a special day to celebrate being that.

Chase apparently collaborated with his daddy and they planned the most special day ever! After a full night of sleep (Daddy took nighttime duty for the WHOLE night - which was an amazing gift in itself!), I woke up to my beautiful little boy wearing a "My mom is cooler than yours" onesie and my favorite vanilla cappuccino. Then I received a Sigg water bottle with Chases' picture on it and one of the Willow Tree angels that I collect. Then the best part came...Matt made me a scrapbook detailing what we were going to do the entire day next Saturday as my Mother's Day gift! I get the following:

A full nights sleep
Snuggle time with my baby
A long hot shower
Lunch at the Highland Grille (my current favorite restaurant!)
Massage at the Hotel Hershey Spa (where Matt will hang out on the property of since I HATE to be away from Chase)
Cupcakes at the sweet shop at the Hotel
Walk around the gardens

Isn't that the best gift ever?! It was so thoughtful and all of my very favorite things. I truly am the luckiest mommy in the whole world - though Chase is really the only gift I will ever need :) We also had lunch with Nana & Grampy and Aunt Kayla at the Chocolate Avenue Grill and then hung out with them until we went home to have family time. I love my life.




I LOVED Chase's outfit...and he coincidentally matched our bedspread!

Hi Nana & Papa....and babies make liars out of us!

So, we had a great conversation with Nana & Papa in Maine on the phone today and it made us really miss them and wish they were closer. So...we decided that we would videotape Chase getting his bath tonight as a hello to Nana & Papa. One of the best times of the day is usually during "tubby time" when Chase is calm, happy and completely content in the water. Tonight, he made a complete liar out of us! Here is the video, and one we tried to grab afterwards to show how calm he usually is afterwards...HILARIOUS. Enjoy!

...and to Great Nana & Papa - Chase, Matt & I miss you very much and are so glad we have this blog, email, cameras & the phone to keep in touch with you. We love you so much!!

Videos

My mom got us a Flip Video camcorder for our anniversary last year, which was right after we found out that we were pregnant. We used it (when we remembered!) to document different milestones throughout the pregnancy, such as when we first heard the heartbeat, when we told our grandparents they were going to be great-grandparents and when we found out the sex of the baby.

I keep trying to remember to take them of Chase all the time, but I never seem to have enough free hands. Here are a couple though from when Matt announced to the family in the waiting room that he had arrived (he was so excited/overwhelmed that he forgot to move the video recorder!), Chase at 2 weeks and 4 weeks. Hope it works!

Ready for summer!

It was a beautiful day in PA today! Bright, sunny skies and nearly 90 degrees! Chase welcomed the warm weather with a cute, bright outfit and Mommy enjoyed seeing her baby boy in a polo shirt and printed shorts- one step closer to the preppy son I've always dreamed of :)

We met Sandy, Chadd & Lyla for breakfast on the porch at the Hershey Pantry, stopped at Nana Krn's for a diaper change and went shopping for new bedding for our new bed arriving on Tuesday! It was a perfect Saturday-wish every day was the weekend!

Sweet Sleeping Angel

As we were getting ready for bed the other night, I looked down while holding Chase and he had his hands together like this. We thought it was just too cute and had to snap a quick photo. I'm laughing as I just wrote that because I make it sound like I don't snap a hundred "just so cute" photos a day! It's borderline ridiculous how many pics we have already...

Anyway- we loved how he looked like he was either praying or begging, and have now added this to our cell phone library of pictures I can easily send to my parents when asking for something - who could say no to this face?! So far it has gotten me gotten me a bottle of wine that I wanted from Chase's Grampy...hehe. Don't judge :)