Adjusting to Parenthood

We have had Joshua home for  just over 2 weeks now.  The 4 of us (Agger included) have adjusted pretty well to being home.  The day after we got home, we had to take Joshua to his pediatrician since he will be seeing a different doctor from the one he saw in the hospital.  After going to the wrong doctors office and then realizing the correct one is further away than anticipated, we met Dr. Geddes.  We agreed he is worth the drive.  The nurse weighed and measured Joshua.  He weighed in at 7lbs 1 oz and 20 in long.  The nurse couldn't believe he would have shrunk an inch and tried a few methods.  We soon remembered that right after Joshua was born he had quite the cone-head and since then it had rounded out.  The appointment went well and we will go back when Joshua is 2 months old.  The following day we had an appointment at the postpartum clinic.  Andy and I had anticipated this being a free,casual visit as the nurses made it sound.  However, we had to officially check-in to the hospital and insurance will be billed for it.  Once we got back to the room we were glad we kept the appointment.  The nurse checked Joshua again, answered a bunch of our questions, and gave some breastfeeding tips.  She weighed Joshua, had me feed him, then weighed him again.  We found out we have a good little eater on our hands.

For the most part, Joshua is a good sleeper and really doesn't cry much.  He often turns red in the face and looks as the a tantrum is about to ensue; but he quickly calms down and returns to being the happy baby that he is.  My days...well and my nights too, revolve around feeding Joshua.  I'm slowly getting a routine down and feeling less overwhelmed.

We have had various family and friends come to visit which has given me something to look forward to.  My mom came to stay for 2 days to help out.  She was great about cooking, cleaning, and of course taking care of Joshua so I could do a few things.  Mom also got me out of the house for a few hours which was truly needed.  I've been a little stir-crazy being in the house so much.

I'm sad to think that I only have 4 weeks left of my maternity leave.  I'm grateful that Andy and his mom will be able to watch Joshua while I'm at work; but I dread having to leave him.  Waterproof mascara will be a must on February 27th when I return to work.

Here are a few more pictures of Joshua.

A couple of whirlwind days

The day after Joshua was born we enjoyed holding our baby boy every chance we got.  I was still in a great deal of pain, but seeing his face made me feel better.  The pediatrician on call, Dr. Mustafa (who bared a striking resemblance to Osama Bin Laden) checked Joshua out and said he was looking great.  Our families came back to the hospital for a visit and a chance to hold Joshua.  Later in the afternoon, our friends Johnathan and Joanna came to visit, followed by a visit from Mike and Lauren in the evening.

The day flew by and we decided we were determined to keep Joshua in our room for the night.  We were successful in doing so, with some help from the wonderful nurse, Diane, who kept checking in with us.  She gave us a few "lessons" on various baby care techniques such as bathing and breastfeeding.

Joshua was supposed to get his circumcision  on Sunday, but for some reason they weren't able to.  They took him first thing Monday morning for it.  We had been hoping to go home by noon that day, but after meeting with Dr. Mustafa again, we learned he was a little jaundiced.  The doctor wanted us to stay the day and have him re-checked at 8:00 that night.  We were disappointed, but hopeful that he would get to go home with us.  Joshua spent the entire day under the lights to help improve the jaundice.  While Andy went home to take a shower, and install the car seat, his mom came to keep me company.  When Andy returned, we watched more TV and continued to talk to Joshua.

The nurse came to take Joshua for his test shortly after 8:00.  We then had to wait about an hour for test results.  We waited with fingers crossed and began packing up our things, in hopes that Joshua would do well and we could take him home.  One of the nurses came in and gave us the unofficial  news that we'd be taking our baby boy home that night.  We couldn't have moved any faster to get out of there!  We arrived home safely around 10:30 pm.  After some cuddling and a feeding, we all went to bed.  Joshua was wonderful for that first night home and we couldn't have been more excited to have our family of 3 at home.

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Introducing Joshua James Blackmer

Joshua arrived on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 9:09 pm.  He weighed 7 lb. 11 oz,  which Andy and I found to be interesting since that is our anniversary.  Joshua measured at 21 inches long when he was born, but that was with quite a cone-head.

Joshua's arrival began a few days prior, when I began having contractions.  I was getting them in the evening but they weren't regular and seemed to go away when I went to bed.  Friday the 13th I was having contractions most of the night and only got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep.  However, we didn't head to the hospital right away since the contractions still weren't regular.  I got up at 6 and laid on the couch hoping a change of position would help.  After dozing off a bit and a phone call to my friend, Ashley for reassurance, I tried to go back to bed.  I finally decided sleep was a lost cause around 8:30 or 9 am and went downstairs for some breakfast.  As I ate and talked to Andy about how I was feeling I had an odd sensation that I thought might be my water breaking, but wasn't sure.  I feared going to the hospital and being sent home so I called my doctor's office.  After explaining what had been going on, the nurse said to head to the hospital.  I took a shower and tried to remain calm.

We got to the hospital around 10 and got checked in.  The nurse then did a test to see if indeed my water had broken before proceeding.  At this point I wasn't really having contractions but the test showed my water had broken, so we would be staying at the hospital until he was born.  We sat and watched TV, called our parents, and tried to relax.  After the doctor (not my usual doctor) came in and checked me, we discovered I was still only 3 centimeters dilated.  Since my water had broken, Dr. Hollman wanted to be sure that the baby arrived in a timely manner and put me on medicine to speed things up.  Soon after this, my contractions increased with time and intensity.  I did not want an epidural but felt that it was all too much and I needed it.

By the time the anesthesiologist came in for my epidural I was already pretty worn out, sweaty, and ready to have this baby.  Andy and I  both were not fond of the anesthesiologist.  She wasn't clear with the directions she was giving me, seemed to ignore our questions, and had a hard time getting the needle in.  Another anesthesiologist was called in as the first one and the nurses decided the epidural needed to be re-done.  In addition, the baby's heart-rate was dropping.  The whispers among the doctors and nurses, and talk of a c-section, started to worry me.  They were able to get the epidural working somewhat correctly but I was still in pain from all the pressure I was continuing to feel.  At this point, Andy said I was falling asleep between each contraction.

Around 6pm it was determined that it was time to start pushing.  I was excited that things were progressing but a little let-down when I heard it could take a few hours of pushing before the baby was born.  Pushing only wore me out even more, but Andy was a great coach and kept pushing me to keep up the hard work.  By the 2nd hour of pushing, if not sooner, Andy and the nurse were holding me up to push.  My strength was gone!  The doctor came in occasionally to check the progress and when he put on the gown and stayed, I gained a small amount of motivation.  He threatened a c-section again if I didn't push him out relatively soon.  This and Andy's "cheering" forced me to work harder.  After 3 hours of pushing, our baby was in my arms.  I looked at Andy and we agreed Joshua James was the perfect name.  He was soon whisked away by the nurse to get cleaned and checked.  Andy watched over our little boy the whole time with a huge smile.

I had never felt so much exhaustion, but the amount of love outweighed the exhaustion and we held and stared at Joshua's precious face.  He was finally here.  Andy went out to tell our families of his arrival while I had a few moments alone with Joshua.

After a brief visit from both sets of grandparents and Uncle Jeff, we ate some dinner and eventually got moved to our room at 3 am.  We tried to keep Joshua in our room for a while but our heavy eyes and  exhausted bodies convinced us that we just didn't have the energy and asked the nurse to keep him in the nursery for a few hours while we tried to sleep.  I don't think I slept much though.

I predict...

My computer crashed last week and so I wasn't able to update after last week's appointment.  Andy's laptop is also out of commission so I'm having to use our TV computer.  My awesome brother, Jeff, is going to work on my computer and hopefully get it up and going. 

We had a wonderful Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years Eve. For Hanukkah, Mom, Dad and Jeff came out to our house to celebrate the weekend before it began. We enjoyed a traditional Hanukkah dinner of brisket and latkes with applesauce. My brisket didn't turn out as good as mom's and nowhere near as good as Aunt Eileen's...sorry Mom. After dinner we shared some presents and ate  dessert before everyone had to leave. On Christmas we went to Andy's parent's house to open presents, before heading to his Aunt Nan's for lunch. After a big lunch, gifts and a nerf gun war Andy and I went home to relax a bit. That evening we went up to Andy's Grandma Hart's house to spend time with his mom's side of the family. Between the huge lunch I had eaten and my ever growing belly, I didn't eat much for dinner.  Although I had plenty of room for dessert. At both gatherings we were blessed to receive more gifts for the baby. A few days after Christmas, Andy's Aunt Lori, Uncle Tracy and their grandson Aidan came down from Wisconsin to visit. The 2 year old Aidan, is one of Andy's favorite little kids to play with. This is probably because he is the son of Andy's childhood partner in crime, Katie, and they are very similar in personality.  Aidan seemed to love playing with Andy as well, and continuously referred to me as "the one who made the cookies".  We ended our holiday celebrations with a quiet evening at home for New Year's Eve.  I made homemade pizza and we watched movies.  After a midnight kiss and finishing our movie, we were happy to go to bed at 12:30.  

As for the part of the update you probably came here to read,baby Blackmer is doing well.  At last week's appointment my blood pressure was a little high and the baby's heartbeat seemed a little low, but nothing to worry about.  This week my blood pressure was fine, baby's heartbeat was back up to 138 and I'm dilated to 2 1/2 centimeters.  The doctor said everything looks great and with me being 37 weeks, which is considered full term, I could go into labor tonight....or in 3 weeks.  My feet haven't been as swollen, I think due in part to being out of school and having the chance to put my feet up more and relax.  On the other hand, literally, my hands continue to swell and finger joints are stiff.  I also have what the doctor called, temporary Carpal Tunnel. Since my hands swell, it puts pressure on my wrist causing some numbness.  In addition, I have been having contractions, pressure and cramping here and there.  I'm hoping this means baby boy is preparing to make his debut soon, and I won't have to endure these things for too much longer.  I go back to school tomorrow, but I'm not really looking forward to it.  The past few days I've been exhausted by 2 pm, so I'll have to find a way to get through the day without lying down or taking a nap.  

I've said this in just about every post, but as reality begins to hit I get more and more excited about our little guy's arrival.  Andy and I are so excited to meet our baby boy and hold him in our arms.

Still wondering what I meant with this post's title?  We have only had about 2 inches of snow total this winter.  My prediction is that we will get hit pretty hard right before I go into labor.  We'll see if I'm right.