Henry's Story...

Alright friends -- I'll give the short, non detailed version for those of you who aren't interested, and then the longer, specific, TMI version for those of you who I know are dying for details :)

Short version:

We went to the hospital at 10am on Tuesday, Nov. 24th for our scheduled c-section - wheeled into the O.R. at noon exactly - Henry was born. The first night we had mega frustrations with breastfeeding, so we turned to pumping and forumla supplementing together. On our last day in the hospital I decided to meet w/ the lactation consultant one more time - and now we have a steady procedure for making it work!

Our first nights home have been fantastic -- Henry's a great sleeper at night (so far) and Daddy likes to take one of the night feedings for me so I can sleep for 3-5 hours straight.

The most frustrating part is scheduling visitors -- we love to show him off and have company -- but with our feeding procedures, and having to do this every 2-3 hours, and my little piggy who likes to feed for an hour at a time most of the time -- it gets to be tricky!! I don't mind having my friends in the living room with me -- but Nick's friends either get kicked out or uninvited.

More details version:
We went to the hospital at 10am on Tuesday, Nov. 24th for our scheduled c-section - wheeled into the O.R. at noon exactly. I was not expecting to feel as much pushing and tugging as I could, and was very uncomfortable. They offered me more drugs, but I wanted to be cohearant for the birth, so I suffered through -- but only until they pulled him out, I saw his legs up in the warmer, heard his cry -- and then they drugged me up!! The drug haze only lasted about 10 minutes, but it made me see double the first time Nick held Henry up for me to see, I was very confused!

They took me to recovery and Henry to the nursery -- this separation lasted about an hour and a half :( Finally we were all reunited in the hospital room, and gave breastfeeding a go. Ouch. I had scabs on my nipples that he pulled off -- plus I have flat nipples so we tried using a shield. He ended up just nawing on the tip of my nipple, and it just wasn't good! By 2:30am, with me and Nick crying -- we finally shipped Henry off to the nursery and let them give him some formula.

The next morning we started pumping and feeding him that, along with a little formula. This set up worked awesome for 2 days, and gave my nips a chance to heal a little. Friday we tried again, and figured out a system of me pumping, giving a little bit in bottle to Henry, then tricking him to latch on. And it worked!! Now, we no longer need to trick him - but I do need to pump first to get things going. This makes it very difficult for visitors b/c I have a whole station set up in the living room -- but easy for bottle feeding once and a while b/c of the pumping I've stored up already!

We have our first doctors appointment today -- I'm anxious to make sure he's gaining weight, which I think he is b/c his little rolls are getting bigger already!!

Here's some more pictures for ya!

Henry is Home!!

Sometime soon I'll get around to posting birth story (pretty boring since it was a scheduled c-section) ~ we're home and everything is going as smoothly as can be expected!!

Here's a picture to hold you over...

The Night Before Henry...

I'm having a baby tomorrow!!

What will he look like? How big will he really be? Will his head be filled with hair? What color hair? I can't wait to find out the details!! :)

How far along? 38 weeks and 6 days
Total weight gain/loss: It looks like a grand total of +45lbs ... not a number I'm comfortable with, but also not too ashamed to admit it.
Maternity clothes? Can't wait to be done with them...
Stretch marks? Happy to say that the underbelly ones are still light in color!
Sleep: Frustrating ... at least I'm prepared to not sleep for a very long time!
Best moment this week: Getting everything settled for our big day tomorrow!
Movement: He's still shifting around like crazy
Food cravings: Mashed Potatoes ... just because I keep hoping that the hospital will give them to me on Thanksgiving!
Gender: He's a big baby boy!
Labor Signs: Nothing but some pressure, and still steady loss of mucus grossness.
Belly Button in or out? Same.
What I miss: Easily adjusting to new sleeping positions
What I am looking forward to: Holding my son and just looking at him tomorrow!!
Weekly Wisdom: "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8
Milestones: This time tomorrow we'll be holding Henry and sharing our joy with our visitors.
Realization of the week: We will always have evil in our own hearts and in the hearts of others to combat - but we are also constantly blessed with joy. This is such a blessing!!

38 weeks and 1 day

Here's my 38 week pic from yesterday -- the dark shirt makes my belly look smaller than the last picture I think...

Hopefully I remember to take one last belly photo before we go in next Tuesday!!

Our newest niece - Claire Elizabeth VandenBerg was born last Tuesday - here's an adorable picture of her!



I can't believe that by this time next week - Henry will be here!! Thank you everyone for following our journey, for your support and prayers! We are so blessed!

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." Colossians 3:15

37 weeks and 3 days

Well - it's official, he's a giant :)

Our ultrasound tech estimates that his weight right now is about 9 1/2 lbs. Yes, that could be plus or minus a 1lb - but our OB said that the mistakes on estimations are usually because the head is in the pelvis. Our other exciting news is that he's breech!! So, she got a great measurement of his head, it's measuring over 10 cm in diameter.

So - we decided we're going to just take him out! :) The earliest they'll do a c-section is at 39 weeks, so we have a noon appointment on November 24th! It's tentative because they have to confirm with OB - but she had said that day would work beforehand, so I'm planning on it as of right now.

I feel bad that the last month and a half (since I felt him switch positions) I was confident that what is his head, was his butt. But I always feel his hiccups near my hips, so I thought for sure his head would be down there -- apparently it's just cause his back and booty are low, and that's how I feel the hiccup more. I dunno. Poor guy -- I've been spanking his head when he's naughty. He's in the frank breech position - so his head is up, his legs are straight up as well (flexible!), and just his booty is down. We couldn't get any good facial pics because he wouldn't move his feet out of the way!!

Ultra-tech also said she saw lots of hair - which means the old wives tale of "more hair, more heartburn" is complete true - as I need at least 10 tums a day these days.

Whew ... November 24th ... now I'm hoping labor holds off until then!

36 weeks and 2 days

Had our weekly appointment today -- no news is good news! She did my strep b test, and then checked me -- I'm closed up and firm.

The exciting news is that since my belly is measuring 2 weeks ahead again - we get to have another ultrasound next Friday!! I'm so excited to get an estimate on how big he is -- and to get more pics of course!!

Belly Movie!

36 weeks and Pics

Here's some fun pictures for you all to enjoy and then the usual survey at the end!

36 week belly:

Knock Knock ... want to come out and play soon??

Henry's room is getting lots of stuff in it!! My work is throwing me a shower next week, that will be the end of anything I need to add!



How far along? 36 weeks ... will Henry be a November or December birthday?!?
Total weight gain/loss: I think I'm done answering this question...
Maternity clothes? Yes.
Stretch marks? Very light underbelly ones now -- but nothing too devastating yet!
Sleep: Annoying
Best moment this week: Spending Sunday working in the nursery
Movement: Is kinda starting to get on my nerves ... but atleast he's happy and active in there!
Food cravings: Butter. Anything and everything to which I can apply butter.
Gender: He's a big baby boy!
Labor Signs: A few random contractions - but nothing noteworthy. Even though I just noted it, didn't I?
Belly Button in or out? Same.
What I miss: Everything I've missed this whole time ...
What I am looking forward to: Finding out if the OB is gonna give me another ultrasound - she should tell me this week!
Weekly Wisdom: "Do everything in love." 1 Corinthians 16:14
Milestones: Entering the less than 1 month count down to the EDD
Realization of the week: I sure wish we didn't have these student loans so I could have taken the voluntary layoff ... waiting to hear if they're just going to lay me off anyways!