Just Updating

           I guess I am just going to do a little update on here today...
           On Friday, April 16, I went to my 6 week appointment checkup. Everything was good and I was able to get 3 months worth of birth control pills. And I started taking them then. I have to wait like 1-2 weeks for them to work. We have a month left til we go to the States, I just REALLY DO NOT want to get pregnant before he leaves! Because I do not know if I will be able to handle being pregnant and taking care of baby Andrew and the stress of Drew being gone serving the Country! But seriously, whatever happens, happens. Its all in the Lord's hands!
           After my appointment we took Andrew to get weighed at the pediatric clinic on the Spangdahlem Base. And the RN guy told us it had been 22 days since he had been weighed last and he should gain 20 grams a day. So to make it easier, he just did 20 days.... So he was saying that he should have gained 400 grams since then. So I undressed Andrew and took his diaper off to prepare him to get weighed. And I noticed that he had a messy diaper! "Awe Man! He just pooped out some of his weight!" hehehe... But I layed him on the scale and the RN turned it on and weighed him. Just a reminder, the last time he got weighed, 22 days before, he weighed 7.11 pounds. Well the final weight came up, 8.7 pounds!!! I was so happy that he gained! And I was hoping the RN would say that all was good and we didn't have to being him in til his 2 month check up. But the RN was impressed with the 300 grams that he gained but he had to run it by the Doctor on duty. And it was a lady Doctor. (We didn't see her, he went to another room to see her)
And she told him to tell us to keep feeding him formula after everytime I breast feed and to bring him in again next Friday to get weighed again. Well I honestly only gave him formula like 4 times during those 22 days. I had told people what the Doctors have been telling me to do and everyone said to just hang in there and to ONLY breast feed! Everyone said that breast fed babies gain weight slower than formula fed babies. The reason the lady Doctor was concerned about him is because he is only in the 5th percentile. I think that is how you say it. I don't even know if it is spelt right either! He has been eating like crazy though! Seriously he eats like every hour! I think he is going through a growth spurt if you ask me!
            Andrew is so sweet! I love him so much! Last night Drew layed down with his son in between his arm and his side and Andrew fell righ to sleep! He loves his Daddy so much!

Andrew 3 Weeks Old

           Andrew is doing well! He is such a blessing to our little family! He fits in perfectly! We have taken him to the pediatricain 2 or 3 times in the past 2 weeks because they want to keep weighing him to make sure he is gaining weight. The first time he was 7.8 pounds, and then next time that we went he was 7.11 pounds. And they want us to bring him again this week to get him weighed again. The RN told me to feed Andrew 3 oz of formula after I feed him 10-15 min on each breast. And I think that sounds ridiculous! He can barely finish 2 oz of breast milk when I pump it! What makes him think that Andrew will be able to eat from me then eat 3 oz of formula on top of that?! Anyways, I have asked alot of experianced people about this topic, breast fed babies having trouble gaining weight... And well, everyone pretty much that I have asked said not to worry about what the RN says because breast fed babies gain weight slower than the formula fed ones. But he has plenty of wet diapers, like a healthy baby is supposed to and he eats PLENTY! lol. Lately he has been eating every 1-2 hrs! My Mom says it looks like he is about to go through a growth spurt. And she said not to worry about his weight, because it will soon be here!
            Besides that, this weekend we are going to visit Drew's Sister De-An and he husband and child. They came to visit us last weekend. And this weekend is Easter so we will get to spend it with family! Which alot of people stationed here in Germany can't do, we are just lucky enough to have relatives near! It is like a 5 hour drive. Andrew should do just fine with the car trip though! He just falls right to sleep when riding in the car! And when we sit through church it seems he sleeps the whole time! lol.

           Yesterday was our third time going to the pediatric doctor in the past 2 weeks. And we have to go back again in 3 days, Andrew is not gaining weight like they think he should. Earlier this week on Monday when we took him in he weighed in at 7.8 and yesterday when we took him in he weighed in at 7.11. So he gained! Which I was excited about, thinking we wouldn't have to go in again until his next appointment. But they said that he needs to keep drinking formula after each feeding. They want me to give him 3 oz after feeding for 10 min on each breast which I think sounds rather ridiculous! He can barely drink 2 oz when I pump and give it to him in a bottle! See, Monday they told me to give him an ounce after each feeding which to me sounds more realistic. And thats how he gained the .3.

Our Amazing Son!

           On March 2, 2010 I went in for my appointment at the Bitburg hospital and the Dr checked my blood preasure and it was pretty high (or so he said) So he asked if I wanted to just stay in and be induced, seeing that I was already 5 days past due. When he asked me I almost broke down in tears! Well mostly because Drew was not there with me, he was taking Spanky back home. (Why he brought him to the appointment, I do not know) But the car ended up breaking down in the parking garage so he had to walk Spanky home. When he finally returned I broke the news to him that I was going to be induced that day. Well I got induced but it had now effect on me so the next day I was not enduced once but twice more before it started to take effect. Drew left the hospital Wednesday evening, at about 9 PM and I turned out the lights and layed in my hospital bed at 9:30 and thats when the contractions started. I layed there trying to think good thoughts and just deal with it, since they weren't too terribly painful yet. Well I was thinking about the beach and sunny weather, trying to see if my body would allow me to fall asleep. The night before, Tuesday night, I had only gotten 3 hrs of sleep because my room mate's baby cried alot and made it impossible to sleep. ( She had her baby EARLY Tuesday morning, before I even had my appointment) Well the pains were not going away and they were getting somewhat worse so I decided to take out my cell phone which had a stop watch on it and time them. Not only how long they were but also how far apart they were. The longest one I timed was 1 min 20 sec and the shortest was 1 min 7 sec. And they were about 2 min 20 sec apart. (and the pain was getting worse)
         So not wanting to wake my room mate, who would have tried scaring my by tell horror labor stories, I put my glasses on and grabbed my phone and went out in the hall and went to the nearest doctor. I asked what time it was and said that I had been having contractions since 9:30 and I have been trying to fall asleep since I was so tired because I had only had 3 hrs of sleep the night before. Well the Dr had told me that it was 11:30. So I had the contractions for 2 hours in the room before coming out. But they were getting pretty bad. Although when I was walking down the hall the did not even bother me, like they didn't happen when I was standing. So he took me to the labour and delivery room and my favorite mid-wife was on duty which I thought was awesome! Well she hooked my IV up to some AWESOME medicane! It made it to wear my body was super heavy feeling, I could barely open my eyes! My body soon fell asleep! I could even hear myself snoring! But my mind was still alert. I could think and hear what the Dr and mid wife were saying. I could even talk back to them, but my words were slurred and I talked really slow! After all of the meds were in me the two of them helped me up and with one on each side they helped me to a room with a king size bed all to myself with no room mate! Although my body was VERY relaxed, I just could not fall asleep and I still felt the painful contractions. At about 4:30 am the mid-wife said I could call Drew and he could stay at the hospital since the time was drawing near. I called him and it turned out that he was having trouble sleeping that night because he was worried about me.
         To make a LONG story short, I had contrations for 20 hours and went 24hrs without any sleep or any food. I got the epidural at 3 cm and just layed in the delivery room just waiting. at 4:50 pm the midwife, which was a different one from the night before, and the Dr, which was the female Dr I was hoping not to get, came in my room and got things ready because baby Andrew was on his way! It was like he was a bull running full force and hitting a brick wall! At least thats what it felt like to me! It was like hard core knocking inside of me like he was trying to get out, which he was! At 5:20 pm baby Andrew arrived! The German Dr said he was 22 inches and 8.8 pounds, although they had it wrong. I will put the correct weight and length up later. I could not believe what a beautiful baby he was! Drew was in tears when he came out! It was really a special moment! All of the pain and everything really was worth it! And other mothers had always said that but I never did understand it, it is just something you have to experiance yourself I guess.
        On March 7, 2010, when he was 3 days old, Andrew and I were finally able to go home!
        On March 11, 2010, when he was 7  days old, we took him to the Dr on the Spangdahlem Base to get circumsized. The Dr the circumsized him was a guy from church, Brother Reeker.
        On March 12, 2010, when he was 8 days old, his ambilicle chord fell off. 
        On March 14, 2010, when he was 10 days old, he went to church for his first time. He smiled when we walked in the Chaple, they were singing the opening hymn! It was pretty neat!    
        I never knew I could love someone so much! We truly have been SO BLESSED to have him come into our family! He is the perfect fit! And we wouldn't trade him for ANYTHING in the world!
        It is a little past mid night now, but I needed to write in the blog before I forgot everything. Andrew is asleep in my lap right now. I will write more stuff in here another time, and anything that I may have forgotten to write tonight.

            

March 1, 2010

           So its March the 1st and still have Little Andrew inside of me. Although this evening I have felt discomfort in the lower stomach area. I have been moving around alot this evening. Yesterday I had to go in to the hospital for my check in and have the baby's heart monitored. And all was good and there were no contractions so they sent me home. I go in again tomorrow morning to have the same thing done. They did not check to see if I was any more dialated though. Maybe they will check again tomorrow, I am not sure though. My Dr said that he did not want me to go anymore than 7 days past my due date so I think that I will be induced on Friday. I am not 100% sure though.
           So tomorrow before I leave for my appointment I think I am going to walk around the parking lot here at the apartment before we leave for the monitoring. Because when I walk some I feel a little discomfort. Although it only lasts for like half a second. So if I say, "OUCH!" or something people ask what is the matter and I say, "Well I had a pain for like half a second." So it is not really even worth expressing, although it is hard not to.
          Well it is super late so I need to go to bed! I am excited about getting pictures taken of Little Andrew! My friend Robyn is getting all of these cute little ideas! She is going to be doing the pictures! I can't wait! Anyways, I need to get going. But tomorrow could be the day!

2-27-2010

           Well I did not go into labor yesterday! lol. But this morning I was able to sleep in til 12:30 pm! And I went to the bathroom and my mucas plug came out! It was nasty and I gagged! lol. Drew took Spanky for a walk and has been gone for almost an hour ago and I still haven't seen them. I told him not to stay gone for too long, haha. But I haven't had any contractions yet. So we will see what happens and when I go in to the hospital. I have my hospital bag in the car already and Drew got a new camera yesterday so he will probably be using it for pictures. I also have a video camera packed for after Andrew comes out. All I have to do now is take the carseat out to the car and throw the diaper bag in too. So he could be on his way soon! Although I do not think he will make it out til sometime tomorrow. I know this is all jumbled together but I just wanted to make sure that I got to type some in the blog before the baby came. I will write more later!~

My Last Pregnancy Post... Well Maybe

           Tomorrow I have what should be my last OB-GYN appointment. Tomorrow I will be 40, 10 months! I am not really worrying about the labor, well not yet anyways. I am sure when my water breaks, or when they induce me that I will be crying! lol. It was starting to seem more real that I was pregnant but now it is so weird because I could have the baby anyday now! Last Friday at my appointment my Dr. said that if I make it to my 40 week appointment that we will talk about when to induce me. I wish that I could have him on Monday, March 1st but I will probably just have him this weekend. The reason being is because that is when my Dr is on call and I didn't know that I would just have to use which ever Dr is on duty. And I really want to have my Dr! One of the lady Dr's wasn't too friendly when she did an appointment for me.
          I have not typed anything in the blog in FOREVER! I really wish that I would have typed in here more often! I have a journal that I wrote in a few times during the beginning of the pregnancy.
          I am probably breaking like all of the typing rules right now, like when to start a paragraph and what not, but oh well.
          Robyn Christensen came over today and helped me finish getting the baby's room organized and she re-arranged our bedroom for me too! She was such a BIG HELP! I barely did anything but apparently my body did something, I can barely move now! My body is sooo sore! I also went with her to the Second Hand store down the road and to a store called Thomas Phillips. So I did alot of walking, well ALOT MORE than what I usually do!
          I haven't had any contractions though! (At least not that I know of.) I mean, when I used to walk alot when I was like 6 or 7 months I would like get these KILLER pains in my lower stomach and would have to stop where I was til they went away. Hopefully when I go in tomorrow I will be dialated some so they could induce me and give me that epidural! I don't even know if what I just said is even possible but it would be nice! The pains of the birth are going to hurt so bad but at least I get to keep the baby. I don't see how people can give birth and then give the baby up for adoption, that would be so hard to do! (But I know everyone has different situations and there are somethings that they just have to do)
         By the end of August 2010 my parents will have 20 grandkids! I just found out that Molly and Gina/Barton are expecting too! And they are due like 2 1/2 weeks apart from each other! So that is going to be pretty crazy!
        I think after the pregnancy is over with I will keep this blog and make a new topic like, "Our Little Family" I just want to be able to have something to look back to when Drew is gone in a couple of months. Little Andrew would have just barely turned 3 months when Drew will have to leave. He is going to take us to the States a month before he deploys to make sure we get there without a problem. I am still not positive what the Baby and I are actually going to do while we are there. Spanky, our dog is going with us too! Thats one of the main reasons we are going, so Spanky would have a yard to run and play in and so I will have help on taking care of Little Andrew. I know Drew will be just fine during his deployment so I am not so worried or stressed about him. I just want to stay away from family drama. I may leave with Little Andrew for like a week or so and just get a hotel room to get away from everything. I mean, because we will need alone time! I just do not want to be smothered with things that I HAVE to do if that makes since. I just want to take it easy and try to make these 7 months go by as fast as possible!
       Well it is almost 10:30 at night and my appointment in the morning is at 8 so I better get to bed! But if I get to come home tomorrow I will try and get on here and type another entry.
        Tomorrow could be Little Andrew's Special Day!