Six weeks and smiling!

I've thought about blogging many times in the last few weeks but it just hasn't happened. Partly I think because I feel like I wouldn't be able to be very positive. It has been really hard being a new mom again, and I can speak for BCH that it has been quite an adjustment for him as well. Now this doesn't mean that we aren't happy about Porter being in our lives, because already I could not imagine life without him.

I've told a couple people lately that I didn't feel 'too old' to be pregnant, but there are times I feel too old to have an infant. It is really hard getting used to be being on someone elses schedule! I barely remember it from my other boys. BCH and I have spent many years being able to do what we want when we want to. We 'knew' there would be this adjustment, we talked about it frequently, yet actually going through it has been a challenge.

I feel like this week has been a turning point though. Its almost like a switch was flipped on. Porter has been so much more aware of things around him and of us. He recognizes us, responds to us, and has been smiling and making faces back at us. Its been such a reinforcement and makes play time with him so much more fun. I look forward to watching him learn and grow even more.

A blog about Tyler

Not many people can say that they are a mom of a 9 day old AND a 20 1/2 year old, but I can. Although its not a 'traditional' situation, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Tyler is my 20 year old. Last summer I got a chance to get reacquainted with him, and BCH got a chance to get to know him better when he unexpectedly moved in with us. I know that living with your mom and step dad when you are an adult is not anyones favorite thing to do and eventually he will move out, but we have enjoyed having him around the house.

I'm proud of the guy that Tyler has become. He is still young and figuring it all out, but he "has a good head on his shoulders", as they say. Somehow (and perhaps despite mine and his dads parenting) he has turned into quite the guy.

Happy half birthday Tyler!

Porter is here!

Its been eight days since his arrival, so I feel a little lame that I am just now writing a blog about it all, but honestly I haven't even thought about blogging until today. This little guy has been keeping us pretty busy.

Porter was born on his due date, after I woke up with mild contractions about 2 am. I won't go into all the details of my labor, but if you want to read a lengthy post about it let me know and I can direct you to one I've already written. As you may already know, I did have an unmedicated child birth. I've been called a lot of things (like a crazy woman) for doing so, but I have to say its one of the best experiences I have had in my life. Not that by any means it was easy or fun, but I am so glad we prepared and did things the way we did.

Porter was born February 12 at 10:32 am. He was 8 pounds 6 oz and 19 1/2 inches - my midwife had estimated him a little over 8 pounds but I was still surprised he weighed that much - he just doesn't look like it. He has way more hair than we thought he would (at my last ultrasound we were able to see a little hair coming off the nape of his neck) and is just beautiful. Of course I have to say that, but seriously, he is.

Porter left the hospital a bit jaundiced and it got worse the next day, so we had to get a bili-blanket, which is a fiber optic light you put on his back that helps pull the bilirubin out of his liver. We had a stressful few days, going to get blood draws everyday (his poor heels!) and trying to power feed to help flush out his system. He is looking a lot better now and we are done with the daily trips to the hospital.

I'll upload some more pictures later (most likely more than you care to see) but for now here is one.

If you haven't heard...

We picked a name for our new little boy :)

Countdown time!

Its been countdown time for a while now, which of course makes things go slower than normal. We are at 38 weeks now, so he is welcome to join us any time now. Especially now that he is where he is supposed to be!

Forever he was in a breech / transverse position. He loved hanging out up high in my belly, with his butt on the one side and his head on the other. We started getting really concerned about it around 35 weeks, because that meant decisions would need to be made in regards to his birth sometime after 37 weeks. So, I started spending time in an incline position - with my hips higher than my head to try and encourage him to swing that way. "Is it upside down time?" Tyler and Nathan would ask. They found the whole thing pretty amusing. I also went to a chiropractor several times - this one specialized in a technique that would adjust your hips, making it more optimal for baby to want to go down there.

Nothing seemed to be making a difference and at our appointment 36. 5 weeks, we decided to schedule a technique (called a Version) where the doctor manually turns the baby in hopes that he stays that way so we can avoid a c-section. I was pretty bummed out about the possibility of having a c-section instead of the birth we had been preparing for.

A day after we hit 37 weeks, we checked into Labor & Delivery to have the Version performed. I had been super anxious about it and not slept well. BCH was feeling horrible and had just been diagnosed with strep the night before. Lets just say we were not in good shape that morning.

Our midwife Lindsay came in and said the doctor would be coming shortly, but lets first ultrasound and see where he is. I just KNEW he was still transverse - he hadn't felt like he had shifted much to me. Shockingly though, she looked and found his head down by my pelvis. I couldn't believe it! I even said that to her, I could not believe what I was seeing on the screen. We joked about how he must have needed the threat of being physically moved to actually do it himself. What a stubborn little bugger!

He has stayed head down and we are hopeful that he won't move again. So now our focus has been on getting completely ready for him to come. When he was transverse I wasn't anxious for him to arrive because I knew it meant a c-section. Now, we are both really looking forward to it, and to hopefully having the birth that we want. I think it will still be a little while, but I anticipate he will be here before his 'due date' - if history counts for anything.

lil monkey update

We had a follow up ultrasound about a week and a half ago, so I wanted to share some pictures. We were able to get some decent 3D shots as well as take a look all over and measure him to check his growth.

Look at that cute face! He was sleeping for most of our appointment, all curled up with hands and even feet up by his head. He did wake up and yawn for us, which was pretty cute. BCH's parents came to the appointment as well and his mom said that he "looks like Brandon". :)

In this profile shot he is touching his foot on his forehead! He literally was rolled up in a ball, which did make it a little hard to check out some of the essentials. She still managed to do the measurements needed and he averaged in the 75th percentile for size at 29 weeks along, and had an estimated weight of 3 pounds 10 ounces (with +/- 9 oz margin error)! Crazy - he is a total chunker already!!

He is moving like crazy, and the hiccups have started. At my last OB appointment on Friday, I was measuring about 32 weeks along even though I am currently 30 weeks. Hopefully he will either come a little early, or slow down in his growth. We dont need him to be a 10 pounder!

Name update: We dont have one yet, although we have a short list of names we like. And no, we really haven't picked a name and are just keeping a secret. I promise.

More pictures, more names

This is another profile shot, similar to the one that I put on the last blog. My mom said "oh he looks like Nathan", which made me giggle.

Here is a 3D image we got at the ultrasound last week. Its looking down at baby Hanson; you can see his nose and his lips really well. He has his arms at the sides of his head so his elbows are poking out. He moved quite a bit during the ultrasound (I think he was pretty irritated by it all) once he woke up.

This is a view looking up at his privates - you can see his legs going out and his very definite boy parts in between. No mistaking it, for sure!

Cute shot of the bottom of his feet. Awww, precious!

Nathan is bound and determined to give this boy either his first or middle name. He has come up with quite a few suggestions. Some of my 'favorites' are: Sylvester, Quentin, Novak, Zephen, Sokka, Murray, Roger, and BeK (you spell it like that - capital B and capital K).

When we first got pregnant, we came up with a girl name we both loved without a lot of discussion. So it was a little sad to find out its a boy because we had not agreed on ANY boy names at all. We do now have a few we tentatively agree on, but nothing has been settled. Which is just fine, considering we are only half way there anyway.