Sweet Jack

Just a few more random pictures of Jackson... He's still too little to tell me he doesn't want his picture taken, so I am taking advantage of that!!

6month appt and a TOOTH!

So we had Jackson's 6th month appointment today and he's 28inches long and 21pounds. He's above the 95th percentile for everything so he's totally perfect and at a healthy weight for his length (which the Dr said was really long ) I'm sure he's going to be really tall, my DH is almost 6'3! His head size went up a little bit but she said it's starting to come back down with the curve So we still have to see his neurosurgeon on the 25th for the follow-up, but she's sure everything will be fine with it's size!

She said she can tell that we have been working with him a ton on his head shape and that she can already see an improvement and it's starting to round back out again (although it's still off) she said that we probably won't need to do the helmet, but wants us to ask our neurosurgeon about it on the 25th... so IDK what he will say about it, hoping he thinks he won't need it!

Also kind of funny, she was checking his gums and I asked her if she felt any teeth because I thought I could see one under his gums and she said "oh no, no teeth here yet, not for a long long while probably!" No joke, 2.5 hours later he cut his first tooth His gums split open and there it is in all it's tiny white glory! So does that mean we have to brush it now??

Random Jack Pic

A new just random pic of the love of my life... God I love this boy...

Jackson's Physical Therapy

We went to Jackson's Physical Therapy this morning (and then the fair, so I was away all day). It went pretty good, she showed us different ways to help stretch out his neck and strengthen it because of the Torticollis. She did a "measurement" and he only has a 10% tilt, which she said wasn't bad, but we still need to correct it. So we need to do the stretches and really get him to turn his head up and to the side to help neutralize it.

She also checked out his head shape and said it's misshapen (duh) we've been trying to work on it, but she said we should really think about getting him a helmet She said to talk more about it with our Pedi at our next appt and also to our Neurosurgeon at CHOC when we go back for his follow up on the 25th of this month. I know it will help his head, but I don't know why it makes me so sad if he will have to wear one! Just the combo of the Torticollis, and him having a massive head has all tied together causing the bad shape to his head.

If he gets the helmet, he has to wear it for 23hours a day, taking it off to bathe and clean it, and we have to go in every week or 2 to get it refitted to keep shaping his head back to normal I don't even know how long he would have to wear it for. We've been trying so hard to keep him on the left side of his head to even it out (and DH and I think there has been improvement) so we will see what our Pedi says when we see her for Jack's 6 months appt in a couple weeks.

The other thing that worries me is the cost of the helmet... the helmet and all the fittings are upward of $1,000+ and most insurance won't cover them, no idea why, I guess it's considered cosmetic?? IDK We don't have that kind of money just laying around right now so I'd have to ask my parents for help, which they would do in a heartbeat, but I just hate having to ask.

I don't know why I'm so sad for him if he has to wear the helmet. I don't want people making fun of him or anything, and I've even looked them up and babies actually look really cute in them and I know it's for the better..IDK I'm totally rambling, sorry for all of this, I just needed to get it out.

Well, this is new...

Hey bloggies!! Hope everyone is well!

If you've followed me for a long time you know how crazy my cycles are. You know that they are typically about 6 months long or longer and only start with the help of Provera or something else along those lines.

Well guess what?

June 13 I got my first PP AF.




And guess what else?

I got my second AF on July 16th!!! *doing a happy dance*


I had a freaking 33day cycle!! A normal cycle!! One with real AF and real cramps and everything!! I haven't had one of those since I was about 14 years old!! I have no idea if I ovulated or not, but oh God to have a normal cycle!?!? It's the stuff dreams are made of!

Heck yeah body!! I know this is so silly to most people, but you have NO idea how excited that made me to have a regular cycle finally after all these years!

Jackson Video

Sorry it's been so long! I promise to update more, I've just been soo busy! To make up for it, here is a video of Jackson about a month ago!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee582ccZCq4

xoxo

New Photography Blog

Just wanted to post that I started a blog for my photography. If you want to follow me it's www.AClemonsPhotography.blogspot.com

Back form the Neurosurgeon

Okay we're back... We were actually only in there for like 10 minutes tops...the neurosurgeon said he thinks Jackson will probably just have a big head, but we won't really know unless we keep watching it or if we had an MRI done. He said since it's hard with little ones and the MRI (since you have to sedate them) he likes to save that as a last resort type thing since he doesn't like to sedate them if he doesn't have too (which I totally agree ) He also felt his head and said nothing has fused prematurely so that's good. So he want's us to come back again and see him in 2 months when Jackson is a little over 6 months old and re-measure everything and if it's still growing rapidly and off the charts then we will do an MRI then, but most likely it should slow down and come back on the chart. So we will wait and see, but we're pretty assured that everything will most likely everything will be okay. Time will tell, but I have faith. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes!

Referral for Neurosurgeon went through

Thank you all so much for the prayers form my last post. Our hospital called today to let us know the referral for the Neurosurgeon went through at CHOC, so we can call CHOC tomorrow to schedule Jackson's appointment. We've had everyone in our family measuring their heads and we are all above average, so that's positive, I just think the concern was the speed of growth he's growing at. I wonder what the Neurosurgeon will check and how he will do it. I'm assuming he will do a CAT scan or something? I have faith that everything will be okay...but I'm still praying with everything I have for my guy.

4 Months Appt...

Well we had Jackson's 4 month appt today. He weighs 18lbs 10oz, and is 27.5 inches long.

They measured his head, and it's off the charts which concerned our Ped. She said since he's been born at every appt (birth, 2mos, 4mos) his head has jumped up 2 lines on the percentile chart each time which is strange to her. She said this could just be that he's going to have a naturally big head or it could mean something else. He also still has a flat spot on one side of the back of his head which he favors to lay on, and he has a little Torticollis which means his head tilts more to one side sometimes and he doesn't hold it straight all of the time like he should. She wants us to go to physical therapy for the Torticollis but before that happens we have to figure out why his head is growing so fast... so he's sending us a referral to one of the top Neurosurgeons at CHOC... I just want him to be okay. I'm scared. I asked her what could cause the head growth and she said it could be a genetic thing (Mike and I both have large heads) but we have to just make sure. I pressed her on what else it could be, because I know she didn't want to tell me, and she said since I asked it could also be fluid in his head/brain that could be causing it BUT neurologically he was right on target with his development (cooing, laughing, grabbing, lifting his head etc...) so she said that is really good because if it's fluid along with the head growth, it could hold him back a little big developmentally so it's most likely he's just going to have a big head naturally, but we just have to make sure.

I'm sorry I know I shouldn't be freaking, chances are that everything is okay, I mean he is a huge kid anyways really long and weighs almost 19lbs, but to have to take him to a neurosurgeon at CHOC I am just scared.

She was going to try and put in the referral fast so we can get him in quickly, and we have to have all of our immediate family have their heads measured to see if genetically we are all above average and take that with us, and then if everything is okay, then we can go see another specialist about the Torticollis.

I'm scared. I just love him so much...

Well this is new!!

I started AF all on my own, no Provera, no meds, NOTHING but my own body! This is such a huge thing for me!! Take that PCOS! I hope my cycles regulated after having Jackson! I've heard that can happen! Now let's see if this will be a normal cycle or a 200 day cycle like they use to be! I'm so excited!

Jackson's 1st Disneyland trip

Today was our 3 year wedding anniversary so we decided to take Jackson to Disneyland for a couple hours and he LOVED it! He was so good and smiled at all the characters we met. We only took him on two rides, Snow White and Pinocchio and it was soooo fun to watch his face he was so wide eyed the whole time and even let out a loud "OOOH!!" in the middle of Pinocchio Adorable! I can't wait till he gets older and really "gets it"

I did tear up many times today because I'm a total sap, but especially when we met Mary Poppins and Bert, and Mary Poppins made a comment about how Jack will grow into his Mickey ears, and then she whispered to Jackson "try not to grow up too fast though, stay small for as long as you can and if you need help, a little trip to Neverland never hurt anyone." Way to get the water works going Mary Poppins! <3

I will post pictures a bit later.

Dear Jackson

It's the night of my first mother's day and I sit here in our dimly lit living room holding you close while you sleep. Your chubby little hands squeeze my arm every now and then and just feeling you close makes me want to cry the happiest tears I have ever shed.

It's no secret we had to go through so much just to bring you here so I cannot tell you what a joyus occasion this first mother's day is to finally be crying tears of happiness and love instead of tears of sadness and heartache. We will have many more mother's days together, possibly (hopefully) with your future brothers or sisters, but this is my only first one. The most special of mother's days and I get to celebrate with you...my miracle.

I love you Jackson with everything that I am and everything I have. You and daddy are my entire world and you have made me the happiest I have ever been, just being my son. Women become mothers everyday, but not all of them get to be the mother of a true miracle.

Always know how wanted you were. How we prayed for you for years and dreamed of you...and you are better than our dreams.

Thank you for coming into my life...you have made it worth living.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Mommy

First laugh

Jackson just did his first little laugh!! Oh man that was soooo cute!! He's always done a fake one before, like when he smiles he will do a "haaaaah" sound but this was was "haaaah ha ha ha ha" lol Oh my gosh it was so cute! He did it twice and now wont do it anymore lolI hope he does it for DH when he gets home later! It was so funny too, Jack was screaming and crying and all the shushing wasnt working so finally I did a high pitched silly fake scream like mocking him and he stopped crying so I kept doing it and he started smiling and eventually laughed lol swoon swoon SWOON!!

World's worst mom award

....right here, give it to me. So we are still supplementing during the night since my supply is so low around then Jack gets pissed and is starving. Before bed, I will put 4 bottles out on the counter in our master bath with premeasured powder in them so when I wake up and need to feed him, I just pour in the water and mix, it makes it super easy for us. Last night I woke up for his second feeding around 4ish dead tired, we had only slept like 4 hours the night before and I honestly can't remember the last time I had felt so exhausted. Jackson's crying because he's hungry and DH woke up to hold him while I made a bottle. I pick up one of the bottles, pour in the water, shake it up and hand it to DH so he can start feeding him so I can potty. Well I come back out, and wash my hands and look at the counter where I keep the bottles and notice 3 bottles with powder in them. He had already eaten once around midnight so there should have only been 2 bottles with powder in them, one dirty bottle from the last feeding and the bottle Jack was eating from at that moment....you can see where this is going...

I FREAKING POURED WATER INTO THE DIRTY BOTTLE AND GAVE IT TO HIM! I ran over and grabbed it from DH and Jack had eaten like an ounce and a half of it my poor baby! DH didn't notice it because it was so dark in the room...ugh! That's my confession, now hand over my award!

6week pp and a bittersweet moment

I had my 6week pp checkup this past tuesday. She said everything looked great and I was healing nicely. I'm still a little sore but she said because I'm breastfeeding my skin is really dry and it may still be sore from all the tearing that went on. I asked about the next time we want to TTC and the good news is since I already have the PCOS/Infertility diagnosis with my RE down the hall from her, we don't have to do the year of TTC and can just go straight back there which made me really happy. The totally crazy part? Walking right past my RE's door pushing my 6 week old son in his stroller. I peeked in through the window wanting to see my RE or our nurse so they could see Jackson but I saw a patient in the waiting room and didn't want to go in pushing a stroller. It was just so crazy...looking in there and remembering the times we sat in that waiting room...but standing outside the door with my very own child...it made me want to smile yet cry at the same time. Just one of those crazy moments...

Some firsts!

Jack gave me his first REAL smiles today! Not the little fake ones he's been doing since he was born but real real smiles! He was nursing and I started talking to him so he pulled off and just looked at me so I made a funny face and he gave me the BIGGEST smile! Then he stopped and I made the face again and he did it again!! He did it like 2 more times right after that too every time I made the face and on the last one he made a little squeal noise! Oh man I cried my eyes out it was the most precious thing I have ever seen in my entire life and I think it made me fall even more in love with him if that's possible! Also after he was smiling I was trying to get him to do it again and get a picture (which didn't happen lol) BUT he was able to follow my camera with his eyes/face when I was moving it around! Gah! My big boy is growing up!!

Been a while!

So sorry I fell off the face of the earth! This new mom stuff is alot harder than I thought it would be and little man has kept me extremely busy! I don't have time for a lengthy update, but I promise to post more lately! Jackson is almost 5 weeks old now (that went really fast!) His last Dr's appointment was when he was 2 weeks and he was in the 99th percentile for height and 97th percentile for weight! I am officially raising a linebacker! He really is a good baby and is slowly sleeping more at night! Okay I gotta run but promise to post more! Here's a quick pic of my big boy!

The Birth Story of Jackson Carter

I woke up at 5am Sunday February 20th to get ready for my induction that day and we were checked into our room at the hospital at 7:30am. I got changed into my hospital gown and just hung out for a little while waiting for the nurse to come in and get things started.

The nurse came in, and we signed what felt like 100 papers and forms and I was checked and was still only 1cm, so we started the Pitocin at 8:10am. I was really really scared to be induced and I was scared of the pitocin contractions, (to the point of almost throwing up in the parking structure of the hospital while walking in) but I was scared for nothing! They start you off on a very very low dose and gradually bump it up during the day, so gradual in fact that in the beginning I couldn’t even feel the contractions as they were happening. My Dr came in around 9:30ish and I was still like 1.5 cm, so she broke my water to help speed things up a bit, which was the craziest feeling ever. It didn’t hurt, it just felt like I peed myself lol.
Our families slowly arrived and hung out in our room for most o the early labor process which was nice because it took my mind off of the fears of labor pains I had.

We watched the monitors for contractions to see how big they were getting.

Mike talked me through the ones that were too big to talk through.


And would tell me when they were almost over


Time in between contractions were spent joking around and spoon feeding me ice lol

Finally the contractions were getting more intense and while they weren’t lasting for long, and I could get through them, they were coming so close together that I didn’t have much of a break in between them, so I asked to be checked and to start my epidural. The nurse came in to check me about 1:00pm and I was at 4cm so she called the anesthesiologist to come down and he was there pretty quickly and we got the epi going. It didn’t hurt although I thought it would. The needle just felt weird and I kept hearing little like popping sounds as he was going through my back (I have no idea what he was going through to make those noises?) The epi felt amazing and I couldn’t feel a thing even though my contractions were getting stronger which was awesome!

I was able to rest and joke around for a while and I sent Mike off to have lunch since he hadn’t eaten anything and my room was full of family. While he was gone I started feeling more and more pressure in my back and in my rectum and finally it got to the point where it felt like I had never had an epi at all, but only in my butt, so the anesthesiologist was called in again to give me a bolus shot. My dad had to hold me up since Mike wasn’t there and as soon as the Dr injected it, the room started spinning, my heart was racing and I was super dizzy, and I knew I was about to faint. This picture was right as I was about to faint

I remember looking around the room at my family and all of them having super scared looks on their faces. My dad and the Dr holding me up and the nurse running over to strap the oxygen mask on my face and I could feel the blood pressure cuff tighten on my arm. They kept telling me to lay my head back and for some reason I was fighting them and trying to sit up and stay awake which I did and finally the faintness went away but talk about scary!

Sometime around 6:30pm I was checked again and had only made it to 90% effaced and 5.5cm. I was also given a shot (I can’t remember the name of it) of something for anxiety since they were trying to get my pelvis to loosen up and I was clenching up and Jackson wasn’t making his way down fast enough.

Checked again around 8:15pm and I was only 6cm and 100% effaced. Progression was SLOW and I was really starting to get exhausted.

The night started to be a blur at that point but I know I was checked again and was complete but he was still at a -2 station and wasn’t coming down. His head was just molding into the birth canal and not coming down under my pelvic bone. The nurse sat me up in bed and had me try and labor down to get him to drop. It was right around then they had mentioned the word “c-section” in case he wouldn’t come down on his own since my pelvis is smaller than they thought and he was pretty big. I started pushing on my own through contractions when the nurse left just to try anything to help. Finally the nurse came back and said I had moved him down to almost a 0 station and even though I still needed to get to a +2 we could try pushing if I wanted as long as his heart rate was okay but we may need to really think about a section just in case. I think she was just preparing me.

We pushed

And pushed

And pushed

I pushed for over 2 hours. My epi had worn off again sometime in there and I had another bolus but it only lasted for about 20 minutes and wore off again so I felt everything there afterwards and felt just like this

Okay okay that picture was me just being funny with my sister in between a contraction but I’m sure that’s what I looked like while actually pushing too lol

Finally my Dr was called in and the nurses started breaking down my bed FAST. I could tell things were happening and I was about to finally give birth to my son.

And then chaos lol. My OB came running in, nurses were trying to dress her as fast as they could, she told me to give her a tiny push then yelled to stop pushing and I remember yelling back “you have got to be kidding!” because he was crowning at the biggest part of his head and I knew that one tiny little push would have him out completely so I breathed as best as I could till she ran over told me to go ahead and I felt his head come out, immediately he turned super fast (he was sunny side up which is what caused all the horrible back labor)and then I felt her guide his shoulders under my pelvic bone (that part hurt the worst) and then I felt complete relief…

…and my life changed forever…


And I saw my whole heart get lifted onto my belly

And he was screaming and crying and the first thing I said to him through my sobbing was “you are SO chubby” and he immediately stopped crying and peeked one little tiny eye open and our eyes locked, and I felt like he was looking into the depths of my soul.

I will never ever ever forget that one tiny moment in the delivery room when our eyes locked…it was unreal. Our miracle that we had waited almost 3 years total was finally here and we just met face to face.

Jackson Carter was born at 2:59am February 21st 2011 weighing 8lbs 15oz and was 21.5 inches long. He scored an 8 & 9 on his apgars.

I was finally a mom


My husband was finally a dad


Our lives were finally complete

Jackson's newborn pictures

I do a little photography and I took Jackson's newborn pictures yesterday and just wanted to share a few that make me swoon!

little bear:




rawr:

So sooo sorry to have gone MIA!

I have just been so soo busy and overwhelmed with being a new mom!

I will write a real birth story later but to just give a quick rundown, I was in labor for 19 hours, and even though I had an epidural I had the most intense back labor. He was too big for my pelvic structure and was sunny side up, so at one point they started bringing up that I would probably have to have a C-section since I had gotten to 10cm but he wouldn't move past a -2 station. They wanted me to labor down but said they would only give us 2 hours, well when nurses left the room even though I don't think I should have I tried pushing during contractions w/o anyone knowing lol, well I think it helped a litte bit and my nurse let me "try" to push when she came back later...after pushing for 2 hours and my Dr literally running in telling me to stop pushing right as I pushed out the middle of his head (and holy cow I knew birth was painful but o.m.g!) Jackson Carter was born at 2:59am on feb 21st weighing 8lbs15oz, just one oz shy of a 9 pounder and was 21 and a half inches long. I had a 2nd degree tear trying to push him out so that got stiched up which was loads of fun (and still is ) but it as all so so worth it.

We are SO in love with our little man.

Today I meet my Miracle...

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~Psalm 118:24

This day has finally come...

The day I feel like I have waited my entire life for....

I am consumed by so many different emotions, and even though today is the day our lives change forever, for the better, it still does not seem real. I sit here in the dark. In the quiet of my home and reflect back on the past almost 3 years now of waiting for this miracle to enter our lives. This sweet, wonderful, tiny miracle created by the hand of God. My miracle!

This is the child that we have longed for....the child we prayed for and begged and pleaded for....the one we dreamed about over and over...the one we cried for and fought for....the one I have loved for almost the past 3 years of my life, even before he existed... and I am about to meet him face to face. My miracle that has been in the making for so long is finally made and is finally ready to enter my reality.

Today I will speak silently to God, prayers of thanks always on my lips and in my heart. I will sit here alone in the dark for a short while and feel my son kicking from within and cherish these last few moments in solitude of my miracle pregnancy before we are swept into a whirlwind of chaos and overwhelming emotion. I will remember everything we have been through to get to this exact moment in life and I will be thankful for the rest of my days that this is how our story ends...with a beautiful new beginning.

Well...

I'm back from my OB appt.

Our Ultrasound went well, but he's still measuring really big, today they are guessing he's about 8.7 After our u/s we went next door for our OB appt and got checked and I'm 80% effaced (which is awesome) but still under 2cm dialated and she said he's pretty high still. So high in fact that she actually tried to strip my membranes while checking me and she said she could barely reach and maybe did it a tiny bit but just couldn't get it because he hasn't come down any because he's so big.

Sooooo she said her profesional opinion is that if we don't go into labor by friday she would like us to come to the hospital Sunday for an induction!

I am feling so many emotions...scared, excited, happy and unsure I think are the top few. Knowing that for sure by Monday we will have him here in our arms is a crazy feeling. She is afraid with the rate he's growing if we wait he's not going to come down and just get even bigger and then my risk for a C-section will be even greater. So for sure if he's not coming on his own, he will be here either very late sunday 2/20/11 or monday 2/21/11.wow.

OB appt Dialating!

I had my OB appt today and got checked for the first time...yowza! That wasn't the most fun thing in the world lol but not too bad. But I am 1cm almost 2cm dialated and very thin and she said she could feel his head! (which made me cry lol) I'm pretty sure I lost part of my plug this morning too when I went to the potty.

Hopefully I will have progressed by my next appt next week!

I'm going to give birth to a sumo baby

Back from my 36w6d u/s and OB appt. He is measuring in at 39 weeks already (and was sucking his thumb the entire time). He has CHUBBY CHUBBY cheeks! Since he's measuring so far ahead they estimate him to be anywhere from 7lbs6oz-7lbs11oz right now. So we have to have another u/s in 2 weeks to check his growth because of my pelvic structure to make sure I will be able to deliver him and try and avoid a c-section, we may have to set up an induction date which I would rather avoid, but I guess anything for a healthy baby. I do love my Dr though she said she won't ever (unless for emergency) take away my chance to at least try to deliver vaginally. She said it's still early and we will talk more about it next week and the week after that.

Here's my chubby buddy, tilt your head to the right, his eyes are on the right, you can see his chubby cheeks and he's got his thumb in his mouth


Sorry I haven't been updating as much, I've been so so tired!

35weeks, OB appt & BF class

I had an OB appt today and my breastfeeding class.OB was good, she told me basically I need to rest alot more and should take maternity leave earlier (I'm done with work Feb 2 which would put me just over 37 weeks, she said 36 weeks, but I don't see a huge difference in 5 days) and that if I go into labor anytime after 36w she's not going to stop it YIKES!...we'll see how that goes, I may be having to spread out some clients appts so I'm off my feet more since I've been having some pretty good BHs. She didn't seem TOO concerned but she did start to say something and then paused and said, "well you have an ultrasound in 2 weeks right? I'll look over everything then" I'm assuming she was maybe wondering about his size or about my cervix? She said she won't start any of the internal exams till 38 weeks since they aren't alot of fun She said next appt will be pretty much the same as always plus the GBS swab whatever what needs to be done has to be done I guess lol

The BF class was pretty good. Very informative, we practiced all kinds of holds (I think my fave if football), we learned the breast support positions "c hold" "u hold" and "L hold". We learned about baby has to be lined up on his side and how his ear, shoulder and hip must be aligned for proper feeding and how to support his neck and not hold him by the back of the head. We learned how to get him to latch, stay latched and how to get him off (alot trickier than I thought lol) We learned hand expression and feeding times and freezing and yadda yadda yadda lol There was ALOT of info and I am so tired from it all. But all in all good class


And here I am at 35 weeks and I am pretty sure I have dropped a lot! lol

L&D class

Was last night and was awesome! I love our teacher nurse and all the couples in our class are pretty awesome. We had to go around the room and kind of talk about ourselves and our pregnancies and stuff and out of the 10 couples that were in there, 3 of us are infertility survivors! It just made me so happy to hear there were others who struggled for years to finally become pregnant (one of them 4 years total) It was just kind of cool to connect with complete strangers on that level. We were one of the last couples to speak so when I did and told our story a bit, my eyes locked with one of the other once infertile girls and just in that moment, for just a few seconds, from the understanding smile on her face and that "knowing" look in her eyes, it was like she spoke, with no words, and I felt her say "I understand". *happy cry*. I don't think you get those moments often in life, but that is one I probably will never forget. 2 once infertile girls sitting in a Labor and Delivery class room of couples complaining about aches and pains and surprises, and we connected from across the room.

Anyways, we watched some videos, one being a live birth and I'm so proud of Mike for not being squeamish at all! Although I did hear some moans and groans from other dads around the room, even a few moms Some of the class was just basically about the actual birth, where the baby has to go, how he has to turn, what happens if this happens yadda yadda, and she had a "dialation chart" and holy cow, 10 cm is pretty big She compared it to, something the size of a fruit loop going to the size of the outside of a bagel. I don't know why I guess I never really thought of it.

Most of our class last night though was more for our "support person" which were the dads, to help them understand what they need to be doing during labor and how they need to help us, by giving words of encouragement and things like that. We also practiced massage/relaxation techniques which was pretty nice. All 10 couples laying on mats around the room with our blankets and pillows and the nurse was teaching the dads how to massage our backs and hands and stuff, so that part of the class was awesome! We got to try birthing balls too and she showed the dads different ways to hold us in early labor to support us to help baby drop and stuff. They also practiced pushing on our hip/lower back bones in case of back labor it's supposed to dull the pain.

She talked a little about what the hospital will want to happen after birth and stuff, like at my hospital we have what they call a "Baby Moon" which is 1 hour skin to skin just mom and dad directly after birth and I love that! I had put that in my birth plan anyways.

So that's basically what we learned last night. We have 2 more L&D classes the next 2 wed and this coming monday we have our one and only breastfeeding class. A+ if you got through all of that!

Couple Nursery Pics & 34weeks

We've been working hard on getting Jackson's room all done...It's not done yet, but it's slowly getting there (and we are having so much fun doing it!) I just wanted to update with just a few pictures (which are really really bad pictures taken with my cell phone lol) When we're all done I'm going to take good shots of his room to document, but for now here are just a few.

I just put this wall decal quote up over his crib yesterday. I have always felt a special bond with Hannah in the bible (which I'm sure every other Christian-Infertile does also) so I thought this quote was so so fitting and now makes me cry every time I look at it.



"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him" ~1Samuel1:27

I love love love it sooo much. So fitting and will always remind me of this miracle we have been blessed with.

And here are just 2 pics of his bedding that I washed and finally got on his crib. I thought now that I'm 34 weeks we need to get it together and wash everything and at just get it all done!




And just for kicks, here's my belly pic I took the day of my shower just a couple days ago at 33w4d


Also we start our Labor and Delivery classes tomorrow! I will update on that later!

Jackson's Baby Shower

We had our shower this past weekend and it was so beautiful! My sister and 3 of my cousin's wives threw it for us and they made it so special. Walking in it was just so strange and felt so surreal finally being at this point (or any point in a pregnancy for that matter) I had such a great time and was surrounded by the people that mean the most to me. Jackson got tons of gifts, clothes, toys, exersaucer, jumper, his stroller, carseat, baby monitor, high chair, Moby wrap, ring sling, sound machine, humidifier etc... Here are just a few pics from the day!


DH and I

The girls who threw our shower














It was such a beautiful day!