Jimmy turns one!

Jimmy Michael

Well, we've got a baby! He's 4 months old now and our life has been turned upside down since he decided to come three weeks early via c-section.

My blood pressure was dangerously high so they admitted us and got me started on drugs to help me deliver, but then his heart rate starting dropping to they whisked us away to get him out.

Our little turkey came June 13th 2013 at 12:13pm weighing in at 5lbs 5oz, 19 in. long. He came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but other than that, he was perfectly healthy.

You can see how tiny he is compared to Steven's hands! Such a little thing. We didn't have any preemie clothes so he had to drown in newborn clothes for a while.

His favorite place on Daddy's chest :)

A few days old. Not quite fitting into his skin.

Drowning again in his clothes.

He always holds the bottle "position" for a bit after we've taken out the bottle.

This swing is the only thing (other than Steven) that would save my sanity. I could sometimes get him to sleep in it (day or night) other than that, this kid DID NOT SLEEP. Never more than an hour at a time and no more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period. FOR A NEWBORN! Let's just say those first two months of no sleep were the hardest of our lives. This kid is a crier and will not be put down under any circumstances. He has to be held or it's screaming bloody murder all day long.

After we added a head support, it was still too roomy in his car seat. He was such a little guy!

After a month and a few days he started to chunk up a bit and was wearing newborn clothes at last.

 

 It's still SO difficult to get anything done or go anywhere because he's still our little inconsolable screamer who has to be held 24/7. Thankfully he has started sleeping 8 hours through the night so we have our sanity back.

We sure love our little drool monster and wouldn't trade him for the world. Some day soon I'll get back to blogging, but not until this little man gives me some time on a regular basis :)

Counting down the days!

How Far Along: 37 weeks. Should have 3 weeks left, but sudden super high blood pressure is making this baby come in June! 2 weeks left and I"m getting induced. Pray I don't get a C-section :(

Baby Size:  19 inches, probably 6 lbs

Total Weight Gain: I think I'm at 15 lbs now. Possibly 20. Yikes! 

Maternity Clothes? Yes and YES.

Stretch Marks? OHHHHHH yeah.

Sleep: HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Best moment this week: Getting the car cleaned out, the wallpaper down, the changing table set up, and all the baby clothes washed. My to do list is almost finished!

Miss Anything? Being able to walk without my pelvis hurting, and being able to do things. I was on partial bedrest, then pretty much full bed rest now. BORING! Although, I don't mind the naps!

Movement: Slowing down, but when he does move, I can tell he's big and running out of room.

Food Cravings: Gushers :)

Anything making you queasy or sick? Mornings. I wake up everyday now and take a vitamin B6 which usually helps. bleh.

Gender:Still a bouncing boy!

Labor Signs: nadda

Belly button in or out? Almost an outie. about 90% there. 

Wedding rings on or off? On, but the CTR ring which is a size smaller has been off for weeks. Stupid swelling hands and feet.

Happy or Moody most of the time: TIRED

Body Changes: I'm exhausted, constantly have a headache, and am DONE! 

Looking forward to: Tomorrow's stress test to make sure he's still okay.

28 weeks!!

Michelle is about to pop! Just a couple more weeks! It's so fun to both be pregnant and consult each other on everything. I'm glad we'll have our kids so close so they can have a friend.

How Far Along: 28 weeks. Third trimester here I am! Only 2.5 months to go!

Baby Size: 14.8 inches(wow, long!), Chinese Cabbage

Total Weight Gain: 6-7lbs, but Jimmy is measuring right on schedule! 

Maternity Clothes? Yes and YES.

Stretch Marks? Still just by the belly button.

Sleep: Hard to do because my back hurts all night and the usual bathroom breaks. Oh, and constant restless legs and occasional leg cramps. Pregnancy is FUN!!!!!

Best moment this week: Getting kicked so hard it hurt. I know he's strong and healthy!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back, STILL

Movement: Steven laid his head on my belly to listen for the heartbeat. Instead he got a big kick in the face. It was awesome ;)

Food Cravings: Lots more salad and Arctic Circle Cherry Toppers! I ALWAYS want one!

Anything making you queasy or sick? Still meat once in a while. And elevators. I used to love the anti-gravity feeling, but now I feel like puking or passing out every time I ride one.

Gender:Still a bouncing boy!

Labor Signs: Possibly Braxton Hicks?  either that or just some serious random pains in my stomach once in a while.

Belly button in or out? Almost an outie. about 80% there. You can now see my appendectomy scar poking out.

Wedding rings on or off? On, but tight some days. Must remember to drink more water and move around!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but wow, watching Cars almost made me cry last night. EMOTIONAL. 

Body Changes: I have a bump that gets in the way of kissing Steven and also itches like mad from the stretching. 

Looking forward to: A family baby shower next week. and almost at a point where we can paint the nursery and then fill it up with everything!

February and still snowin'!

We're walking zombies at our house right now. Both of us have colds and I'm trying to survive on almost no medicine. Fun stuff. Thank goodness for humidifiers, nose rinses and nasal strips.

The other day I found our stash of Halloween candy. All chocolate...... Perfect combo for a pregnant chic! Little by little, all food sounds worse and worse to me. Just unappetizing except when I get a craving once in a while for a steak and potatoes kind of meal. Pregnancy sure changes things!

For a family update, Rachel got the shingles a couple weeks ago but recovered quickly (My mom and I both got it two years ago), Michelle is 7 1/2 months pregnant with their little girl that is due in May. My parents just went on a snowmobiling trip to Yellowstone with Randy and Becky. Never thought I'd see pictures of my mom on a snowmobile! 

 Steven is hard at work in school every night working towards his networking certification while I hack away at getting the house perfectly clean(HA!) before our baby comes. I promised myself I'd get everything cleaned and put in it's "place" so all I have to do is maintenance cleaning after that. It's just taking me ten times as long with my back slowing me down, but I'll get there! I've got four and a half months to do it!

Time for my (not so weekly) baby stats!

How Far Along: 20 weeks. We're halfway done!

Baby Size: 6.5 inches, a small cantaloupe

Total Weight Gain: Still none from the beginning of the pregnancy at my appointment last week. 

Maternity Clothes? Yup, and they are getting snug!

Stretch Marks? All around my belly button where the baby is kickin'

Sleep: Getting better, still get up multiple times a night for the baby kicked bladder.

Best moment this week: Feeling my first kicks!!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back.

Movement: 3 kicks on Sunday morning with Steven sitting next to me, then 2 more in the evening with Steven next to me again. I think the baby kicks when he hears Steven's voice

Food Cravings: Salad! Meat makes me queasy most of the time, but any time of day I could go for a salad. I keep calling our baby a vegetarian. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Still meat.

Gender: Found out last week it's a boy!! I'll have a little Steven following me around and I can't wait! And I can finally buy baby clothes! Everything else we've already been getting is in neutral colors so we can reuse it.

Labor Signs: Nope, thankfully! Everything has gone great and baby is healthy.

Belly button in or out? Surprisingly not as deep as it used to be. I might be getting an outie at the end. Steven will be "thrilled" about that! I think I'll rub it on him to freak him out.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but emotional. Stuff makes me cry all the time. Dumb things too.

 Looking forward to: Feeling kicks more consistently. I only get a couple nudges a day, if that.

It's a baby, baby!

Our lives have been consumed by everything baby and Christmas the past few weeks. Christmas because we went through a MILLION boxes of Steven's family's christmas stuff, then our own. We finally have everything organized, D.I.'d, and ready to put out in the shed. We're trying to get the house all organized and efficiently running before the baby, and that is NO small task. Housing our stuff (which we have way too much of), Steven's mom's stuff, and some of his brother's stuff is just too much. I'm glad we have the nine months to work on it. Although we're down to just 5 months now plus Steven starting school 4 days a week, I hope we can do it.

The day after Christmas I screwed up my back and it's been impossible to do anything at my regular pace of things. I'll do the laundry, then go lie down for 30 minutes to recover while icing my back. So everything takes 10 times as long, and that's if I last the whole day. I usually quit by 7pm and lie in bed the rest of the night because I can't walk anymore. Sure has made this pregnancy "fun". 

This week has been "fun" in it's own right as well. Our car decided to burst a line from the power steering pump and is un-drivable. Steven can't drive his work car anywhere but for work stuff, so that doesn't help us. So he goes out last night to start up the truck to get it registered and it's battery is dead. I'm stranded at home and we're car-less. And school starts next week. Should be interesting.

This is all getting a bit depressing, so I'll switch over to my weekly(ish) tracker of pregnancy stuff that I wish I started long ago. I don't even have belly pictures! They'l start soon though, promise.

How Far Along: 17 Weeks. Almost to the halfway mark! Time has FLOWN by.

Baby Size: Sweet Potato and 5.5 in. 

Total Weight Gain: None technically. When I had the stomach flu I lost a bunch of weight, was scolded by the doc and hubs, and now am trying to eat on a regular basis. It's only going up from here!

Maternity Clothes? Yuss. My pants are too tight and push my tummy down on my bladder. Not that I wasn't running the bathroom enough already. LOVE my stretchy maternity pants!

Stretch Marks? Nadda.

Sleep: I've been waking up a few times each night, and Unisom is my best friend. Every once in while I'll wake up lying on my back as Steven pushes me or tells my to roll on my side. I call him "the back police".

Best moment this week: Getting a package from Old Navy with maternity clothes. They fit and I can breathe in them! Oh, and all the spoiling I get from Steven :)

Miss Anything? My migraine medicine IMITREX. I'd sell my arm to be able to take some when I get a migraine. Oh, and being able to bend. The back hurts and never quite seems to get better.

Movement: Not yet. I'll lie in bed sitting really quiet and focus on my stomach waiting to feel any kind of flutter, but nothing yet :(

Food Cravings: water, water, WATER! and crazy bread. Every.stinking.day.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Meat. I'll cook something, start eating, and end up throwing it away because it will make me sick to look at it. I've been wasteful the last couple of weeks.

Gender: Unknown. My mom and I both think it's a boy though!

Labor Signs: Just the usual stretching of ligaments, no labor.

Belly button in or out? I'm pretty sure mine will stay in no matter how big my belly gets. It's wedged deep in there.

Wedding rings on or off? On. The cold weather makes them fall off all the time.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy about being pregnant, frustrated a lot because of my back limiting me .

Looking forward to: Probably buying the crib this week!

Coming July 2013!!

  We got the best Christmas present ever this year (a few months ago) and found out we are finally expecting our first child!! It took some faith, a couple doctors, fertility help, lots of patience, and great love for each other and now we've got a little Thacker on the way! We are so excited and nervous about it all but so unbelievable happy.

  I had already planned on how I would tell Steven by making a red onesie with a Star Trek logo on it. Since we were first married we watch 2-4 episodes of Star Trek each week to relax after work (usually eating dinner at the same time too) so it's just become our "thing". Although since we hadbeen trying for a while, I figured I had loads of time to make the onesie. So, that day (thankfully I had work off) I ran to Michael's, bought some fabric paint and rushed home to make the onesie and hoped it would be dry by the time Steven got home.

  I put the onesie in a box and the positive test underneath. When he got home from work and we were about to sit down and eat and watch our show I said I had something for him. He opened the box, pulled out the outfit and said, "Oh, that's REALLY cute!!" Then paused, looked at me kind of curious and said, "Wait, is this an announcement?" I had just started treatments a month and a half before, and we weren't expecting anything for 6 months to a year, so he REALLY wasn't expecting me to say yes. So when I DID say yes, I have never seen his eyes get wider! Then a long paragraph of, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! REALLY?! YOU'RE PREGNANT?! REALLY?! OH MY GOSH?! REALLY?! - ensued for a good 5 minutes until he came over kissed me, rubbed my belly, kissed me again and said in utter disbelief, "WE'RE PREGNANT!!! HOLY COW!!!" over and over all night long.

  I told myself  when we found out it would take a while to get pregnant, that I wouldn't buy anything baby related until we were actually pregnant. So now I was going nuts scouring the internet, looking at all things baby, FINALLY going through the baby aisle at stores and loving every minute of it. It's definitely a new thing for me!

  We found a travel combo on sale with the stroller made by the bicycle company of Schwinn oddly enough. We couldn't help it and bought it the first month. Here's Dax testing to make sure everything is safe.

  Our little one is due July 2nd (REALLY hoping they don't come on the 4th!!!) so we only have 6 more months to prepare. It's already going by so fast!

Shell & Spencer's shower

Shell was about to pop so I threw a baby shower at our house! She got such cute gifts and we had lots of fun and amazing(if I do say so myself) food.

One of the games we played was making a baby out of playdough. Shell chose the winner.

This one won (obviously!) Holy sculpturer! !

My mom made this alien-looking one. We got quite the kick out of it!

It even had bum cheeks!

Rachel's that looked more like a monkey than a baby :)

 

Homemade Chinese food for dinner. It was a lot of work, but everything turned out perfect! I got to try out a lot of recipes I had saved up for something like this! Shrimp eggrolls, ham fried rice, sesame chicken, potstickers and wontons.

 Rachel won the name guessing game. You write down everyone's name attending the shower, look up the meanings, and whoever matches up the most correctly, wins!

Shell opening her gifts. My sister Michelle made the super cute diaper cake that was our centerpiece and shell's gift.

 Shell and her loot.