Hot Chocolate, delicous treats, songs with sweet melodies, lights sparkling from roof top to roof top, and the smiles that mysteriously gleam on strangers faces, are just some of the warm,wonderful things I love about Christmas! This year was a particularly wonderful Christmas! Andrew and I had the house decorated early, we blared Christmas music throughout the house, had a cozy fire in the fireplace, and sipped hot cocoa on cold winter nights while Jackson nestled sleepily in his swing.
This year I took on a few big projects. I made a calendar, helped my V.T. partner do the 12 Days of Chirstmas kits for 3 families and made 3 more for Andrew to give to his H.T. families, burned copies of a beautiful Christ Centered D.V.D. for family and friends (thanks Valerie), made snowman suckers and even with all of the chaos that typically surrounds this season, we still managed to take Jackson our on a few Christmas outings. We went to our Primary Christmas Party, we viewed the Temple Lights and lights around our neighborhood and dressed Jackson up in a Santa outfit for photo's, we even got family photo's taken (thanks Ashley).
During the days preceeding Christmas I'd atempt to wrap gifts during the day while Jackson happily grabbed at bright ribbons and bows that aligned the floor, but the most impressive and ineteresting item he wanted was the wrapping paper I was working with. It was about around the 7th of December that Jackson's smiles began to apear and it was around Christmas time that he broke into all out grins and coos, melting our hearts and making the days and nights a little brighter! Even with a cold he'd smile through his tears and curl up in your arms for a sweet baby nap. He's truly a wonderful beautiful baby boy, and we are both amazed at the miracle that is our sweet son. I think his Christmas cold has been harder on me than him, every sniffle and gasp makes me whince I hope he feels better soon, I never knew worrying would be so much a part of parenting...Overall this was a wonderful Christmas, Jackson was a very very good boy this year (all of 2 months) and so he had quite a bundle of toys, clothes and surprises!
4 Crazy Nights
Once December started Christmas never seemed to lasted long enough, it felt like all clocks lost a minute every hour and the sun sank halfway before the day even would begin, but now I find that I am fullfilled with my need for Christmas and even happy to begin a bright new year and end the old one. It all started last year when Andrew and I decided to put ourselves through a fast paced Christmas to make sure we got everything in, and that included both families and a lot of driving. This year we did it all again. Andrew and I try to visit both families for Christmas and so we decided to have a Christmas Marathon or 4 days of Christmas!
December 23nd Day 1
Andrew and I got the finishing touches on our Christmas done, we then packed up Jackson and delivered some last minute gifts to friends. We visited my friend who taught second grade with me, she just got a new home and her parents were out so we visted and she was able to meet Jackson for the first time! We came home and fed Jackson, who drifted off to sleep. Andrew and I took a breather and just enjoyed the time we had with one another.
December 24th Day 2
This is the day we decided to have Christmas in Casa Grande with just the 3 of us. It was Jackson's first experience with all of the wonderful mysteries that lay bundled under the tree and away in his stocking. Andrew and I layed in bed realizing that Jackson was sound asleep and us, like two children awaiting santa, talked ourselves out of bed and into the main room before the sun was up. We awakend the baby bright and early and began sorting the gifts under the tree. Andrew grabbed the video camera and I recored him open his gifts as Jackson drifted off to sleep again in his swing.
Andrew got many different things but amongst them was a video game he had wanted, a giant tool chest for the garage, a wood working bench, church clothes and golf putting kit and a separate gopher that made comments about how well you did or didn't do while golfing. We switched and with Jackson now dozing in my lap, took turns opening all of his toys and items, my favorite was when I was trying to open a gift for him that had a soft bouncing frog that rang "Boing" every time I jostled the box, Jackson's eyes would fly open, and widen as he'd stare with amazement at the talking box. We surrounded him with his new toys and he'd look at them and drift in and out of slumber.
Andrew then video'd me, he had me open a blessed new vacume (much needed - our old one's wheel would fall off and it wouldn't suck up anything unless you used a hand tool), and then I opened a gift that had a poem in it, which sent me on a scavenger hunt of poems, each time gaining a small gift along the way. I was up a ladder, on top of our fireplace, in the garage in bins, in the office in cupboards, under our bed and outside inside of the grill, when Andrew handed me a camera that he said was broken. It looked nice to me, but I think was was going for the latter effect, when he handed me another clue that lead me to a beautiful Nikon Camera, one that I really wanted to have to capture memories and photo's of our family! I have everything I need for it too, each gift was an additon to use for the camera, a stand, extra battery,8g memory card, card transfer, and many other gadgets to use! I was soooo excited! I cried! I had no idea he had done something like that, it was the begining of a beautiful day indeed!
Stockings! Santa loved to hide the stockings of our youth. Each Christmas morning I'd awaken to the pitter patter of my brothers feet rummaging throughout the house for their stockings. I'd always ask them for hints because even from my room I could hear their excited chatter shortly followed by the groan of finding someone elses stocking. I knew they were aware of everyone's stocking location but their own. Sometimes they would give me hints, at others I was left to my own devices. Either way, I always loved the excitement that the stocking hunt brought to our home. The year Andrew and I married, I did this for him as well. It was a lot of fun. So this year he was prepared and hid mine in a great location, it was a miracle I even found it. He's too smart though, he found his pretty quickly. We took turns opening our stockings and the baby's stocking. Mine were full of wonderful things, I got two sets of play tickets, Guys & Dolls and Mary Poppins at Gammage! I love plays and can't wait to see them! Jackson got binkies and toys, a favorite being a mini stuffed animal, a polka-dotted puppy dog and Andrew got a polo tie and some of his favorite Rees'es Christmas candies and other things. All of us had an orange in our stocking, it's another tradition that I believe is in both of our families.
That evening about 4 we drove to Andrew's parents house for their Christmas Eve festivities. We had a beautiful dinner with family and both sets of Andrew's grandparents as well as some families from their ward and friends. After delicous dinner the kids played a round of Christmas Bingo, while we gathered for a wonderful talent show where each child got to share something special with us. Afterwards, Andrew, Jackson and I were able to play the parts of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, as others read and sang in the Nativity program. The children had fun dressing up in the clothes to be the wise men, angel and shepards. It was a sweet experience and is a great tradition focusing on the reason for the season. Dessert was served with hot cocoa. We are then all sent outside for a caroling, I mean kazooing! Everyone goes Kazooing with kazoo's that look like trumpets and horns, to houses in their neighborhood, humming out Christmas songs and finishing with a grand "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" song. When we return every guest leaves and it's just Julie, Dallas and the kids and grandkids. Then we all gathered in the living room and opened a Christmas Eve gift. We all recieved nice brand new pajamas for Christmas night. After which we head down stairs for a Christmas Movie (The Muppet's Christmas Carol) and then said goodnight.
December 25th Day 3
Christmas morning is a lot of fun as well. We all awaken and open gifts, lots of wonderful things, Jackson got his first John Deere Wagon! Andrew and I got loaded up with many wonderful things as well and some items for our food storage which is nice to have and to collect! Following gifts we headed for the kitchen, coffe cake, and a variety of wonderous goodies awaited. Next to each plate was a popper wrapped in various bright Christmas colors. We each took our seats and the popping persued! Inside of each popper was a tiny toy, some got whistles, others got bells, or bowling kits, but in each little gift was a paper crown and a small piece of paper with a joke and a quiz. Everyone from Great Grandparents, to children wore the crowns (myself included) and read their jokes and trivia pieces. This was my first experience with the poppers and breakfast Christmas morning at the Petersen's home and I have to say that I really enjoyed it!
We ralaxed most of Christmas day with the movie 'Up' and a nap. Jackson wasn't feeling well at all, so we tried to make him comfortable and calm. That evening we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's home (Dallas' parents). There was the ham sandwhich dinner, gift exchanges and a white elephant gift exchange game! Everyone loved seeing the baby, he had even started to act as if he felt better at this point, we were relieved because he was really starting to worry us earlier. We opend and recieved a lot more wonderful gifts! Jackson got his first Suns outfit and even a cup with his name on it! He recieve many other wonderful things as well as both of us! The white elephant gift exchange was so much fun. People each grabbed and exchanged the nice gifts for ones they'd prefer, it was a lot of fun to see what everyone got!
That night (9 ish) we drove to Buckeye to visit my Grandma Jean and wish her a Merry Chirstmas! We arrived to see Landon & Heather, and our aunt Phyllis there as well. It was nice to visit with her and all of them, she had lots of goodies left over and we snacked and visited for a while. We went to my parents that night and unloaded and settled in for bed.
December 26th Day 4
The next morning we ate mexican borito's and got ready for the day! Everyone arrived and we had a really nice Turkey Lunchion, followed by sorting and opening piles and piles of wonderful gifts! Jackson got a lot of wonderful toys including an animated Toy Story Buzz & Woody characters, lots of toys, a bunch of rattles and clothes! Andrew got a rachet tool that multi tasks & the New Super Mario Wii game, as well as lots of other items. We got lots of food storage, a quilt and blanket, a New Years kit, lots of movies and a silverware holder too!
Afterwards Andrew, Jackson and I went to see my Grandma Pat. We visited for a while and exchanged gifts, Jackson got a really soft teddy bear that is about as big as he is! Grandma got to hold him for a while and then we had to say our goodbyes and headed back to our faimlies home. There, we walked in and a card game was insuit. The men were glad to see Andrew, they kid-napped him for a game of Super Mario Bro Wii. We all settled into the living room with the babies and had a nice visit with an occational "Yeah!" from the men downstairs while playing their games. We stayed late and left tired but fullfilled. Chirstmas was beautiful and fun, Jackson had a delightful time and got to see everyone, it was a wonderful firsts Christmas!
Dec. 28th 2009
Today we broke out Jackson's bouncer and put him in it. He loved it! Every time he bounces it sings, he could barely touch the floor but when he stretches his legs he can touch and bounce up and down. He grabs the book, carrot and corn. It was fun to watch him play, he was so content and having so much fun that he wore himself out! He fell asleep in it! It was adorable! We are so excited as he begins this new phase!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
New pics of Jackson
My mom requested that we post more pictures of Jackson, so here they are.
Here's our little man looking like a stud
Most doctors agreed that he was the most perfect baby they had seen. He was awarded the Cutest Baby Born at Banner Gateway award and they said he scored higher on the APGAR than any child in over 2000 years.
Here he's showing off his gighnormous hands
Sometimes he'll fuss and fuss in the morning until he can lay on daddy's chest
Jackson's favorite show is O'Rielly Factor. It's a real pain, but we have to watch it every night.
He loves his car seat....so far
He hasn't smiled yet too much, but he does always look very ponderous
He was born with jaundice which shows real clear in the this pic. Look how yellow his eyes are.
We love this beanie my Grandma D made, but he loves to either pull it over his eyes or throw it off completely
Jackson and daddy
Jackson and mommy
Jackson's first enounter with his cousin Audrey. He was really good for their first meeting, but I love this picture of him doing his cod fish impersonation while Audrey kisses his forehead
Jackson playing it cool during his first meeting of his other cousin Peyton. Peton is 6 weeks older...Jackson is one big little man.
Daddy gave Jackson his first Mohawk
The mohawk is easier to appreciate from the side when you can see how much hair he has
First stroller ride, started off fussy
was asleep in about 30 seconds
First day of working in the yard with daddy...he really wasn't much of a help
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Jackson's Story
Jackon Carver Petersen is finally here. And it has been a long long road. Today is 10/8/09, he was born 3 days ago on the 5th. Let's go through what happened.
10/3 - we were supposed to be induced the day before but I came down with the flu so we postponed. We called on the third to see when we could re-schedule and they told us to come down any time that day. So, down we went.
We drove to Mesa with the back of my truck full of all the boxes of trash from all the new baby stuff we have. On the drive down the highway boxes kept flying out and I had to keep stopping to get it picked up. We stopped by dad's office and threw all the boxes in the trash, then went over to my parents. We had a good moment together getting blessings. Mine for health to recover from the flu and Amy to have a good experience having Jackson. After that we left for the hospital. We arrived around 4:00-5:00.
They got us in pretty quickly and hooked Amy up to a drug called Pitocin to get her contractions started. Her contractions started up pretty quick, but weren't too bad. Amy mostly said she felt like she just had bad cramps. At 10:30 they came in and said the Pitocin wasn't working very well and they needed to soften up her cervex. They waited an hour then gave her something that I can't remember the name of. it has to sit next to the cervex for 12 hours.
Once the Pitocin was off she could eat and drink again, which was nice. I ran to MacDonalds and grabbed some food. They gave Amy a sleeping pill and I tried to sleep on the couch which turned into an uncomfortable bed.
10/4 - Amy slept OK and I didn't sleep too well at all (which isn't good because I get grumpy when I don't sleep.) Amy was able to eat breakfast and lunch and take a shower before they put her back on the Pitocin around 12:30.
By 2:00 she was only dialated to a 3, but was 80% effaced. Still she didn't feel anything more than just some cramping.
At 3:30 her water broke. She was laying in bed resting. We had tried to play some Wii games, but her mind wasn't on it. Finally she felt like she had to pee really badly and that she had already gone down her leg. She rushed to the bathroom and told me that she thought her water just broke.
About 3 minutes later the doctor walked in saying he was going to break her water. We told him that we think it just broke on it's own. Dr. Faulk checked and said the it did break, and he roughed it up a little to make sure it was good and broken. He also told us that he was coming down with something and unless the baby came within the next hour or so he would not deliver. We asked his estimate on how big Jackson would be and he said between 7-7.5 lbs...he was WRONG!
Within the next 30 minutes her contractions went from cramps to real contractions. The pitocin made them come strong and quick. By 4:00 they gave her the Epidural. Poor Amy was in so much pain as they had to sit her up, position her, get her prepped and get it in. She held my hand and was as strong as can be, but I know she was in a lot of pain. Within a little bit all pain went away.
We were exhausted at this point. I had a DVD player I set up to watch the Scarlett Pimpernel. We watched it, but Amy was just trying to sleep.
By 7:00 that night nothing really had changed. She was still only dialated to a 4. Paula and Johnny had stayed the night before in a hotel to be close, but tonight they would just sleep downstairs on couches. I brought them pillows and blankets so they wouldn't be too bad off.
Also, Amy hadn't been able to eat anything for around 8 hours at this point. I was enjoying the hospital food quite a lot.
At 9:00 she was 100% effacted, but still wasn't dialting too much. Logan and Ashley had called to see if they should come out, but I told them to wait, it looked like it was going to be a long night. Oh boy was it.
The night was not a good one. Amy's blood pressure was kind of low and every 15 minutes a machine would kick on, loudly, check her, then set off an alarm that she had low blood pressure. Then I would get up, turn it off, and Amy would call the nurse. This was a 15 minute tradition till about 1:30 when the nurse just turned off the alarm
10/5 (Jackson's Birthday) - Just before 3:30 in the morning the nurse came in the check Amy. She said she was dialated to a 5 but wanted a second opinion. A second nurse walked in and check Amy, who up to now had been tired, but not in any pain. Suddenly I saw Amy tense up and knew something had happened. As the nurse was taking off her gloves she informed us that she had just manually dialated Amy from a 5 to a 7. And Amy felt it.
They called in the anesthesiologist who came and gave Amy and extra dose of something. After a while the pain calmed down.
Around 4:00-5:00 Paula came up to check on things. The nurse said Amy was now dialated to a 9-10 and it was about time to start pushing. My mom called and Amy said she could come to the delivery room also.
At 6:00ish we began pushing. It was hard for Amy to get in the right position because she was so numb she couldn't feel much. The nurse advised her to turn the epidural off to push him out and it would help speed up the process. We listened to her....big mistake.
After 20 minutes Amy felt the contractions and knew when to push. After 10 minutes more Amy felt EVERYTHING. The pitocin was making the contractions unnaturally strong and fast and Amy could feel every one. Every time a conraction came I coached her to push and counted out to 10 before she could take a break. Amy was miserable at this point with both future grandmothers on either side helping her out.
The pain got way too intense for Amy. Three times they called in the anethesiologist to give her shots of stuff to take the pain away, but it couldn't catch up to how bad the pain was. All it did was numb some of the burning between contractions. Still Amy pushed on, between contractions she would close her eyes and tears would come down her face as she quietly tried to rest. Then it would be time to push again.
This went on hour after hour. The new doctor came in to see how things were. Amy said she was so tired she didn't think she could push any more. He said it looked good, but if it took too long and he wouldn't come by pushing she would need a C-section. That was the motivation Amy needed. She started pushing twice as hard. We asked him a good guess on how big the baby would be, and he said an 8 lbs plus baby....WRONG!
We continued pushing till 8:30 and his little head was right there at the end. The doctor came back in and we started getting ready for the last of it. But Jackson's head was too big and Amy had to get a 3rd degree epesiotomy. As soon as the doctor cut her it was only 1 or 2 more pushes and Jackson came into the world. The doctor was shocked and said, "The head alone must weigh 3 lbs." He said he thought it was a 9 lbs baby....close.
They started cleaning him off and announced he was 10 lbs 3 oz. 21.5 inches long.
Amy thought she could finally rest, but the doctor started sewing her up. She could still feel all the stiches as the doctor put her together. She again squeezed my hand and cried for him to stop the pain, but they said there was nothing they could do. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he was done.
Jackson was doing great. He looked huge, but cute. They told us that he needed to be fed, but Amy was curled up in a ball on her bed and said she didn't think she could start breast feeding yet. So I gave him his first bottle on the couch, which he drained.
The next 30 minutes or so was a bit of a mad rush. The two new grandpas came in to see the baby while he got all cleaned up. Then they helped Amy get cleaned up and medicated. They then moved us up to the 5th floor for our postpartum room.
That night friends and family came by. Jackson was good as gold letting everyone hold him and talk as he slept. He was such a cute baby, and everyone fell in love with him. Especially his grandmas.
Finally when everyone had left we were so tired. It was late and we sent the baby to the nursery telling the nurses to bring him back every couple of hours to feed. Then I slept for about 6 hours. Amy tried to sleep but had a hard time. She was so cut up and in so much pain. It still wasn't a great night for her.
10/6 - The next day was pretty uneventful The grandma's came by and nurses came in to run tests on Amy and Jackson. He slept and was still just the best baby in the world. His breast feeding was not going great, but he was eating.
That night they made Amy and I go to a lame discharge class at 8:30 when Amy was already so tired and worn out. They didn't tell us anything important and wasted 45 minutes of our time, but they said we had to do it.
They told us he had a little jaundice and that feeding on some formula might help him. So that night we let the nurses completly take care of him. They gave him formula and gave Amy a chance to really rest.
10/7 - I was so eager to leave the hospital at this point it was crazy. We had to get his hearing checked again because he didn't pass on both ears the day before, but they tested him and he was fine.
Once he was all checked up on and signed out we left. It still took a lot longer than we had hoped. We didn't make it home till about 3:00 in the afternoon and we were tired.
So, there is our experiences, no deep personal thoughts on this entry, I just wanted to lay down the facts for posterity's sake.
10/3 - we were supposed to be induced the day before but I came down with the flu so we postponed. We called on the third to see when we could re-schedule and they told us to come down any time that day. So, down we went.
We drove to Mesa with the back of my truck full of all the boxes of trash from all the new baby stuff we have. On the drive down the highway boxes kept flying out and I had to keep stopping to get it picked up. We stopped by dad's office and threw all the boxes in the trash, then went over to my parents. We had a good moment together getting blessings. Mine for health to recover from the flu and Amy to have a good experience having Jackson. After that we left for the hospital. We arrived around 4:00-5:00.
They got us in pretty quickly and hooked Amy up to a drug called Pitocin to get her contractions started. Her contractions started up pretty quick, but weren't too bad. Amy mostly said she felt like she just had bad cramps. At 10:30 they came in and said the Pitocin wasn't working very well and they needed to soften up her cervex. They waited an hour then gave her something that I can't remember the name of. it has to sit next to the cervex for 12 hours.
Once the Pitocin was off she could eat and drink again, which was nice. I ran to MacDonalds and grabbed some food. They gave Amy a sleeping pill and I tried to sleep on the couch which turned into an uncomfortable bed.
10/4 - Amy slept OK and I didn't sleep too well at all (which isn't good because I get grumpy when I don't sleep.) Amy was able to eat breakfast and lunch and take a shower before they put her back on the Pitocin around 12:30.
By 2:00 she was only dialated to a 3, but was 80% effaced. Still she didn't feel anything more than just some cramping.
At 3:30 her water broke. She was laying in bed resting. We had tried to play some Wii games, but her mind wasn't on it. Finally she felt like she had to pee really badly and that she had already gone down her leg. She rushed to the bathroom and told me that she thought her water just broke.
About 3 minutes later the doctor walked in saying he was going to break her water. We told him that we think it just broke on it's own. Dr. Faulk checked and said the it did break, and he roughed it up a little to make sure it was good and broken. He also told us that he was coming down with something and unless the baby came within the next hour or so he would not deliver. We asked his estimate on how big Jackson would be and he said between 7-7.5 lbs...he was WRONG!
Within the next 30 minutes her contractions went from cramps to real contractions. The pitocin made them come strong and quick. By 4:00 they gave her the Epidural. Poor Amy was in so much pain as they had to sit her up, position her, get her prepped and get it in. She held my hand and was as strong as can be, but I know she was in a lot of pain. Within a little bit all pain went away.
We were exhausted at this point. I had a DVD player I set up to watch the Scarlett Pimpernel. We watched it, but Amy was just trying to sleep.
By 7:00 that night nothing really had changed. She was still only dialated to a 4. Paula and Johnny had stayed the night before in a hotel to be close, but tonight they would just sleep downstairs on couches. I brought them pillows and blankets so they wouldn't be too bad off.
Also, Amy hadn't been able to eat anything for around 8 hours at this point. I was enjoying the hospital food quite a lot.
At 9:00 she was 100% effacted, but still wasn't dialting too much. Logan and Ashley had called to see if they should come out, but I told them to wait, it looked like it was going to be a long night. Oh boy was it.
The night was not a good one. Amy's blood pressure was kind of low and every 15 minutes a machine would kick on, loudly, check her, then set off an alarm that she had low blood pressure. Then I would get up, turn it off, and Amy would call the nurse. This was a 15 minute tradition till about 1:30 when the nurse just turned off the alarm
10/5 (Jackson's Birthday) - Just before 3:30 in the morning the nurse came in the check Amy. She said she was dialated to a 5 but wanted a second opinion. A second nurse walked in and check Amy, who up to now had been tired, but not in any pain. Suddenly I saw Amy tense up and knew something had happened. As the nurse was taking off her gloves she informed us that she had just manually dialated Amy from a 5 to a 7. And Amy felt it.
They called in the anesthesiologist who came and gave Amy and extra dose of something. After a while the pain calmed down.
Around 4:00-5:00 Paula came up to check on things. The nurse said Amy was now dialated to a 9-10 and it was about time to start pushing. My mom called and Amy said she could come to the delivery room also.
At 6:00ish we began pushing. It was hard for Amy to get in the right position because she was so numb she couldn't feel much. The nurse advised her to turn the epidural off to push him out and it would help speed up the process. We listened to her....big mistake.
After 20 minutes Amy felt the contractions and knew when to push. After 10 minutes more Amy felt EVERYTHING. The pitocin was making the contractions unnaturally strong and fast and Amy could feel every one. Every time a conraction came I coached her to push and counted out to 10 before she could take a break. Amy was miserable at this point with both future grandmothers on either side helping her out.
The pain got way too intense for Amy. Three times they called in the anethesiologist to give her shots of stuff to take the pain away, but it couldn't catch up to how bad the pain was. All it did was numb some of the burning between contractions. Still Amy pushed on, between contractions she would close her eyes and tears would come down her face as she quietly tried to rest. Then it would be time to push again.
This went on hour after hour. The new doctor came in to see how things were. Amy said she was so tired she didn't think she could push any more. He said it looked good, but if it took too long and he wouldn't come by pushing she would need a C-section. That was the motivation Amy needed. She started pushing twice as hard. We asked him a good guess on how big the baby would be, and he said an 8 lbs plus baby....WRONG!
We continued pushing till 8:30 and his little head was right there at the end. The doctor came back in and we started getting ready for the last of it. But Jackson's head was too big and Amy had to get a 3rd degree epesiotomy. As soon as the doctor cut her it was only 1 or 2 more pushes and Jackson came into the world. The doctor was shocked and said, "The head alone must weigh 3 lbs." He said he thought it was a 9 lbs baby....close.
They started cleaning him off and announced he was 10 lbs 3 oz. 21.5 inches long.
Amy thought she could finally rest, but the doctor started sewing her up. She could still feel all the stiches as the doctor put her together. She again squeezed my hand and cried for him to stop the pain, but they said there was nothing they could do. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he was done.
Jackson was doing great. He looked huge, but cute. They told us that he needed to be fed, but Amy was curled up in a ball on her bed and said she didn't think she could start breast feeding yet. So I gave him his first bottle on the couch, which he drained.
The next 30 minutes or so was a bit of a mad rush. The two new grandpas came in to see the baby while he got all cleaned up. Then they helped Amy get cleaned up and medicated. They then moved us up to the 5th floor for our postpartum room.
That night friends and family came by. Jackson was good as gold letting everyone hold him and talk as he slept. He was such a cute baby, and everyone fell in love with him. Especially his grandmas.
Finally when everyone had left we were so tired. It was late and we sent the baby to the nursery telling the nurses to bring him back every couple of hours to feed. Then I slept for about 6 hours. Amy tried to sleep but had a hard time. She was so cut up and in so much pain. It still wasn't a great night for her.
10/6 - The next day was pretty uneventful The grandma's came by and nurses came in to run tests on Amy and Jackson. He slept and was still just the best baby in the world. His breast feeding was not going great, but he was eating.
That night they made Amy and I go to a lame discharge class at 8:30 when Amy was already so tired and worn out. They didn't tell us anything important and wasted 45 minutes of our time, but they said we had to do it.
They told us he had a little jaundice and that feeding on some formula might help him. So that night we let the nurses completly take care of him. They gave him formula and gave Amy a chance to really rest.
10/7 - I was so eager to leave the hospital at this point it was crazy. We had to get his hearing checked again because he didn't pass on both ears the day before, but they tested him and he was fine.
Once he was all checked up on and signed out we left. It still took a lot longer than we had hoped. We didn't make it home till about 3:00 in the afternoon and we were tired.
So, there is our experiences, no deep personal thoughts on this entry, I just wanted to lay down the facts for posterity's sake.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Heartburn & Hair - Who knew?
Yesterday our niece Peyton Ann Young was born weighing 7 lb 14 oz, and 19 inches long! She's a beautiful healthy baby girl! We are so excited for them!
Peyton came out with dark hair! It even was a bit curly!Now we are really curious what Jackson will look like. Will he have curly, strait, dark, blonde, brown, strawberry, or red hair or....will he be bald? We are hoping Jackson has hair when he's born, but we aren't so sure, so too keep up with his new cousin we have had to resort to a serious back-up plan and quick!
It all started when I was reading an article about newborns. I discovered that we did have hair options! Even though most newborns loose their hair in the first 3 to 4 months, (mainly due to the loss of their mothers hormone levels), that there were things parents could do to prevent a their baby from having a SERIOUS hair complex.
No matter how their hair is when they are born, they still can be the KING or QUEEN of the nursery and gather the most attention by simply being the only kid in there with the most AMAZING hair! The first thing you do is to visit this amazing website; babytoupee.com (yes, it's a real website). It offers babies all sorts of options! The second is to choose the right toupee for your child, choose carefully though, it has been known to change their personalities (I liked the Bob - see upper right)! I think it adds character! My second favorite is the Samuel and the Donald, the Samuel because it's perfectly adorable, perhaps a little too over the top and the Donald so he could practice being CEO of the nursery!
Seriously though, I just couldn't stop laughing, and thought it was too hysterical that there was ACTUALLY a baby toupee website and so I couldn't resist blogging about it!
I have high hopes that Jackson will have hair and lots of it too because the article I was reading also said that women who are pregnant and have heartburn (I have lots and lots of wonderful, blissful heartburn - got to love it!) typically have babies with above-average to average hair when they are born! The reason for this phenomenon is simply because the hormones which cause the the baby's hair to grow also causes their mothers to have heartburn! Once again a blissful bit of news that will hopefully pay off in the end so that we won't have to visit said above website! For more info. on the article I was reading see www.wondertime.go.com/learning/article
Just in case (LOL) which hair piece is YOUR fav?
Any guesses on what kind of hair, if any Jackson will have?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
CHILD BIRTHING CLASS
Knowledge is Power ..or is it?
Andrew and I went to our first of three (three hour) classes last night. We opted to take the class in Casa Grande so that it would be closer to home. There were several people there with Sept. due dates and a few Oct. and Nov. ones.
The instructor had our coaches introduce us and tell our due dates, doctors and gender of the baby. There was a mother there who said she was there to make sure her daughter had a better experience than she did, because she was on bed rest for the last 3 months and it was such a terrible experience that she only had one child. The instructor also said that with her 3rd child that she too was on bedrest for 2 months and that was her last child as well. Very motivating! There was another mother with her daughter who was pregnant who said she had twins and was shipped out to a better facility to handle the delivery.
Then the teacher did a good job of explaining every part of the birth in great detail. We watched a movie of the 3-d inside-version of the birth and then an actual childbirth. It was very ....interesting. My favorite line in the movie was when the mother was going through lots and lots of pain, in active labor, during her delivery and said inbetween contractions, that she is going to quit! I had to laugh, is that an option! A girl from my old singles ward was there with her husband as well, aparently the Chandler classes were full and so they had to drive to Casa Grande for class. The movie ended and the instrutor asked asked a stone silent class if they had any questions, the girl I know piped up for humors sake and broke the deadly silence with something like "How can we undo this?" The class laughed. The instructor said "There's only one way out of this from here girls." Dads in the room made some comments that they were sure glad they weren't women, I think at that point every women in the room would have eagery chipped in for scientific research to have their husbands roll in the delivery and their roll in it irrevocably reversed!
Andrew was great through the whole thing, we even went through the drive-through and got some Sonic soda's before going. He joked that this would be the best 3 hours of our marriage as I'm sure he was just excited about going as I was, but we both thought it would be benifical and informative and he was really being positive about the whole thing. However, during the first half of class the room became very stuffy for me, I got really warm and felt claustrophobic, soon my random nausia set in and that combined with viewing an actual birth about did me in. I glanced over at my devoted birth coach to discover that Andrew was happily re-writing my delivery manual - adding what he later refered to as "his own expert advice" like "give father massages" and "bring _____ for father." He looked up at me expecting a chuckle, but all I could do not to loose it was stare stone-faced back and turn my head trying not to loose dinner... Poor guy, he was trying to make it all enjoyable and I was so out of it. Not to mension that the instructor had acronyms like T.A.C.O. and was nibbling on dinner during the movie which I could smell a mile away, all of which didn't help with the nausia. Finally we got a break and I made it to the restroom just in time...
Andrew was awesome, he did the breathing techniques better than everyone in the class and even reminded the instructor what she was doing a few times during class. I made another fun discovery during the exercise and relaxation portion of class, aparently I'm really out of shape. The relaxation exercises were uncomfortable for the most part and I kept thinking that if these uncomfortable exercisees were to make the pain easier to handle, that I must be having to go through a LOT of pain for it to actually help! Yikes! I did however really enjoy the hypnotic-like mental relaxation exercises. I was surprised how relaxed I became and actually had a hard time standing up, I was numb all over. Overall I'm glad I went, I got a text from Andrew this morning saying that it wasn't the best 3 hours of our marriage as afore hoped, LOL for but we are hoping the next class is more empowering! Overall I was hoping to leave this class with more confidence, and to feel more in control of what was going to happen as the saying goes, "knowledge is power," but I find that I left feeling more apprehensive than before I went. I'm leaning towards another saying, "ignorance is bliss!" The class got out 5 minutes after it was said to end, we sleepily got our things and prepared to leave. "Our next class" the instructor announced before we left, "is on c-sections!"
Andrew and I went to our first of three (three hour) classes last night. We opted to take the class in Casa Grande so that it would be closer to home. There were several people there with Sept. due dates and a few Oct. and Nov. ones.
The instructor had our coaches introduce us and tell our due dates, doctors and gender of the baby. There was a mother there who said she was there to make sure her daughter had a better experience than she did, because she was on bed rest for the last 3 months and it was such a terrible experience that she only had one child. The instructor also said that with her 3rd child that she too was on bedrest for 2 months and that was her last child as well. Very motivating! There was another mother with her daughter who was pregnant who said she had twins and was shipped out to a better facility to handle the delivery.
Then the teacher did a good job of explaining every part of the birth in great detail. We watched a movie of the 3-d inside-version of the birth and then an actual childbirth. It was very ....interesting. My favorite line in the movie was when the mother was going through lots and lots of pain, in active labor, during her delivery and said inbetween contractions, that she is going to quit! I had to laugh, is that an option! A girl from my old singles ward was there with her husband as well, aparently the Chandler classes were full and so they had to drive to Casa Grande for class. The movie ended and the instrutor asked asked a stone silent class if they had any questions, the girl I know piped up for humors sake and broke the deadly silence with something like "How can we undo this?" The class laughed. The instructor said "There's only one way out of this from here girls." Dads in the room made some comments that they were sure glad they weren't women, I think at that point every women in the room would have eagery chipped in for scientific research to have their husbands roll in the delivery and their roll in it irrevocably reversed!
Andrew was great through the whole thing, we even went through the drive-through and got some Sonic soda's before going. He joked that this would be the best 3 hours of our marriage as I'm sure he was just excited about going as I was, but we both thought it would be benifical and informative and he was really being positive about the whole thing. However, during the first half of class the room became very stuffy for me, I got really warm and felt claustrophobic, soon my random nausia set in and that combined with viewing an actual birth about did me in. I glanced over at my devoted birth coach to discover that Andrew was happily re-writing my delivery manual - adding what he later refered to as "his own expert advice" like "give father massages" and "bring _____ for father." He looked up at me expecting a chuckle, but all I could do not to loose it was stare stone-faced back and turn my head trying not to loose dinner... Poor guy, he was trying to make it all enjoyable and I was so out of it. Not to mension that the instructor had acronyms like T.A.C.O. and was nibbling on dinner during the movie which I could smell a mile away, all of which didn't help with the nausia. Finally we got a break and I made it to the restroom just in time...
Andrew was awesome, he did the breathing techniques better than everyone in the class and even reminded the instructor what she was doing a few times during class. I made another fun discovery during the exercise and relaxation portion of class, aparently I'm really out of shape. The relaxation exercises were uncomfortable for the most part and I kept thinking that if these uncomfortable exercisees were to make the pain easier to handle, that I must be having to go through a LOT of pain for it to actually help! Yikes! I did however really enjoy the hypnotic-like mental relaxation exercises. I was surprised how relaxed I became and actually had a hard time standing up, I was numb all over. Overall I'm glad I went, I got a text from Andrew this morning saying that it wasn't the best 3 hours of our marriage as afore hoped, LOL for but we are hoping the next class is more empowering! Overall I was hoping to leave this class with more confidence, and to feel more in control of what was going to happen as the saying goes, "knowledge is power," but I find that I left feeling more apprehensive than before I went. I'm leaning towards another saying, "ignorance is bliss!" The class got out 5 minutes after it was said to end, we sleepily got our things and prepared to leave. "Our next class" the instructor announced before we left, "is on c-sections!"
Jackson's Casa Grande Baby ShowerMy baby shower was a huge hit! Amelia and Tanya are such an amazing creative team and really did an amazing job with my construction theme! My Mother-in-law and Grandmother D also helped make my shower wonderful, they put a lot of hard work into the shower. My Sister-in-law Juliet also helped a lot, she did a fantastic job announcing new games and activities! I loved everything about it! I had a lot of fun and many people commented on how wonderful the shower was! There was even a semi-real construction site people had to walk through to get into the house, with barricades and caution tape, the works! Once inside there were games to guess how big the baby is going to be, when he is due, how long he will be and caution tape to measure how big he is now! There was even a "dump site" where melted candy bars were in open diapers and people had to guess what kind of candy was inside of it. There was also the superstitious 7th gift, where the mother-to-be opens gifts randomly when she gets to lucky gift number 7 (the giver of the gift) is said to be the next person to have a baby. There were adorable homemade cupcakes with construction signs and tractor cakes that were given away as prizes. There was a raffle for those who gave diapers and many other great and wonderful details that went into the shower. I don't have pictures, but perhaps I can borrow some from a camera so I can post them. There were such cute games and decorations! My cousin Hollie even made a masterpiece of a cake, with construction materials, trucks, mounds, clever signs, all wrapped up in a delicious melt in your mouth chocolate cake! Thank you Hollie, loved the cake! There was also wonderful food and fun! It was so nice to receive diapers for Jackson and I love all of the adorable and sweet gifts I received. My Sister-in-law Helen is so talented in sewing, and made an amazing quiet book that everyone fell in love with! Thank you Helen, I love it! I was also surprised at the amount of people who came, they were a lot of fun and it was great to see and talk to them again. Thank you for a fun shower and for all of your hard work! I loved it! My mom and her family are also planning another shower in my hometown on the 12th of September, they are also very creative and talented, I'm really excited to go to that as well. I'm so very blessed to be apart of such wonderful families!
TALE AS OLD AS TIME
It seems that this relaxing summer has turned upside down into a summer full of activity and events. We've had such a wonderful summer, but it seems that we are constantly on the go, so when a Saturday comes that we have nothing, it's rare and it's treasured. Especially since our nights of freedom are numbered....we are super excited about our baby boy coming, but we do realize it will be a little while before we can just jump in the car and go to things like this. Andrew wasn't looking forward to attending an all day class this last Saturday, but there have been several weekends where I've had to leave him to go to events and things as well. So I was really surprised when he bought play tickets for us to see Beauty & the Beast! I love plays, and I love Disney, so it was such a wonderful treat to be able to go to a combination! He's so very thoughtful! I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful husband and friend! The play was at Hale Center Theatre in Gilbert, a theatre set on a circular stage with the audience all around. We've seen several plays here and almost always are impressed with the performances. We were really excited about this play but were curious how they would incorporate all of the scenes needed in this type of theatre. They were able to pull it off really well, and it was fun to hear the additional Broadway songs that aren't in the Disney movie. We also found out that the girl who played Belle was married to the actor who played the Beast, which made the story a little more magical. The outfits were done well, the wolves and beast costumes were a little too frightening, but served their purpose well and children in the audience didn't seem to mind them. The play was beautifully done, and the music was enchanting! I loved every minute of it and I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in plays! Thank you again Andrew for such a wonderful treat!
http://www.halecentertheatrearizona.com/
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
High Hopes for a 10 year reunion
Last week we missed Amy's 10 year high school reunion. This week my reunion is coming up and we are still undecided whether or not we are going to go. Most days when I think back on my time at Mesa High I have a sense of wanting to leave that chapter of my life closed with a mental bookmark that lets me look back on it from time to time. I have not ever really wanted to jump back into the mix and see how all the random people who wandered the halls with me have ended up.
I was thinking about how lame it is that a lot of my friends are not going. That fact also takes a lot of my motivation away from attending. I think though about how 10 years ago I would probably be too cool for a 10 year reunion...maybe my old friends are still too cool for all this. Maybe I've just gotten un-cool...or old.
Regardless I haven't been too enthusiastic about the whole scene. I just hope that if I do go I find out that I've aged significantly better than everyone else I went to high school with, and that my table looks something like this. (cowboy hat because it's at the Rockin' R Ranch)
I was thinking about how lame it is that a lot of my friends are not going. That fact also takes a lot of my motivation away from attending. I think though about how 10 years ago I would probably be too cool for a 10 year reunion...maybe my old friends are still too cool for all this. Maybe I've just gotten un-cool...or old.
Regardless I haven't been too enthusiastic about the whole scene. I just hope that if I do go I find out that I've aged significantly better than everyone else I went to high school with, and that my table looks something like this. (cowboy hat because it's at the Rockin' R Ranch)
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Real Michael Jackson Conspiracy Revealed
The media has been talking ad nadiseam about Michael Jackson's death these last couple of weeks and all the theories of how he died, why he did the weird things that he did and what was really going on in Michael Jackson's life. I found myself only mildly interested if at all in the whole affair until I stumbled across an old picture of Michael Jackson started filling in a lot of the pieces for me.
If you look closely at Michael's face you can see that it's looking a little rubbery. This photo was later re-touched by head executive studios to look like this.
So what is going on here? Well, it became pretty obvious pretty quickly after looking at this other picture I saw of the Jackson's hanging out and relaxing.
Look at young Michael Jackson on the far left! The media and everyone else has been wondering why Michael spent his life as a black man trying to look like a white woman when the truth is so obvious. He was really a white woman who wore a black mask in order to sweep the world as a black man. We've all been so blind.
So why did he look like a real black kid when he was young, but then look somewhat deranged when he was older....simple. He didn't like changing from his original mask when he was a kid and it stretched out over the years. We all know his love for masks, what we didn't know what his love for his very first mask.
If you look closely at Michael's face you can see that it's looking a little rubbery. This photo was later re-touched by head executive studios to look like this.
So what is going on here? Well, it became pretty obvious pretty quickly after looking at this other picture I saw of the Jackson's hanging out and relaxing.
Look at young Michael Jackson on the far left! The media and everyone else has been wondering why Michael spent his life as a black man trying to look like a white woman when the truth is so obvious. He was really a white woman who wore a black mask in order to sweep the world as a black man. We've all been so blind.
So why did he look like a real black kid when he was young, but then look somewhat deranged when he was older....simple. He didn't like changing from his original mask when he was a kid and it stretched out over the years. We all know his love for masks, what we didn't know what his love for his very first mask.
Why didn't we see it earlier...
Now, the really shocking part. Why did this never come out before. Why wait till now? Because the woman under the mask died just hours before the announcement that Michael Jackson died. Yep, you guessed it. It was Farrah Fawcett.
Of Course! The controversy about whose kids he has been raising because it was his male doctor who gave the sperm. It doesn't matter who the father was, Michael was the mother! Plastic surgery? No! it was that piece of $**! mask that was stretched to the limits over the years. Strange high voice for a grown man? Wake up! it's a woman! Sleeping with little boys? What elementary teacher hasn't these days? (except my beautiful wife of course). Use of drugs? No! Everyone knows Farrah was fighting cancer near the end, those drugs were legit!
And now at the end, finally the truth can come out. I imagine he/she wanted to tell everyone for years, but there were handlers too close to the situation who couldn't let that happen. So Michael, Farrah...RIP.
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