Jaxen Kael - Our Journey So Far

From the moment I found out I was pregnant I dreamed of the first moment I would get to hold this precious little life in my arms, the smell of a newborns skin, and late night cuddles. I imagined snuggling this perfect, healthy little babe and falling so madly in love. I dreamed of seeing Shaun hold his new son or daughter, providing the comfort and security that only daddy's arms can provide. I pictured the moment when my little girl would become a big sister, and those first moments as they meet each other for the first time.

Every time I heard this song, all of these things came flooding back to my mind. I am beyond blessed to have been able to have every single one of these moments turn out just the way I envisioned them, and now I would like to share them with you. Enjoy!

(Sorry it is so tiny on blogger. You might be able to see it better here)

Jaxen's Birth Story

It's true... I'm attempting to write Jaxen's birth story down before I forget! Yay me! :o) As with all birth stories, read with caution and please forgive my sleep deprived brain for any grammar/spelling mistakes. LOL.


JAXEN'S BIRTH STORY

Well, for starters... my pregnancy with Jaxen was quite a bit different from my pregnancy with Adelyn. Both were good ... Jaxen's just had a lot more adventures (17 weeks of morning sickness and throwing up, a no-heartbeat scare, and 3 bouts of the flu running through our home ... yikes!). Despite all of that, it really was a good healthy pregnancy and it went by very quickly ... almost too quickly at times!

I was about 2cm dilated for the last month of the pregnancy, and he wasn't really dropping (which is somewhat normal for 2nd babies). Despite 3 membrane strips/sweeps we still ended up going a week overdue and were induced on Saturday, April 17th. I had only slept for a total of 2 hours the night before, because I was so anxious and nervous about what was in store for me in the morning. When we got to the hospital that morning I was about 3cm, so they started with a round of the cervical gel. I wasn't expecting it to do anything, because with Adelyn's labor I didn't feel anything from the gel. WELL ... I was wrong. I started having contractions right away. They were 2 minutes apart and lasting nearly a minute. After an hour of walking around the maternity floor, the nurse suggested that I get into the shower because my doctor wouldn't be there for another two hours ... I thought "2 more hours until my doctor even comes to check on me?!! Yikes!" Just then, my doctor walks into the room and says she wants to break my water. I was so excited because I knew that it wouldn't be long after that until this baby was born!! Yay! (Adelyn was born within 3 hours of my water being broken).

So, she broke the water and right away the contractions were INTENSE! I have bad back pain during labor, so I got into the shower to help relieve it. Once again, the shower was my friend during labor!!! I wish I could have my babies in the shower instead of the bed. It is so relaxing and so much easier to stay on top of the contractions when the warm water is on you. I'm not exactly sure how long I was in there when the nurse came and wanted to check me. I had to go back to the bed (which I HATE!!!). I was only 4cm. Boo. I was starting to get a bit discouraged.

I had to stay on the bed to be monitored for a bit, which totally sucked because the contractions were like a minute apart and where lasting nearly that long. I was starting to feel a little urge to push, so the nurse checked and I was only at 5cm. Sigh. However, given my history of going from 4-10cm in 15 minutes, the nurse decided it was time to get my doctor there and quickly. At the time, I thought she was nuts ... I thought for sure this labor was going to take forever because it felt like I wasn't making any dilation progress at all.

My doctor got there a few minutes later. I was at 7cm. Again, I was discouraged because it felt like I needed to push. At this point I had lost complete control over the contractions. They were so INTENSE!!!! Way more painful and strong than with Adelyn's labor! Yikes. I started yelling at the top of my lungs "I need to push, I need to push!!" and they kept telling me I was only at 7cm. BIG FAT BOO! Next thing I know, my doctor says "Ok, give it a try." Pushing with Adelyn had been a wonderful thing. I felt lots of relief to push with Adelyn ... this time, not so much. It burned so badly. I felt every single thing and it hurt! However, a couple pushes later and my beautiful baby boy, Jaxen Kael, was born! He was so perfect!!!

They put him on my tummy right away (which they never did with Adelyn), and it was so precious to be the first person to hold my little guy!!! They took him to check him out, etc. while I got stitched up.... 2nd degree tear this time around.... still bad, but a lot better than my 3rd-4th degree tear with Adelyn. I didn't have to go to the O.R. to be stitched up, and it was so nice to be able to stay in the room with my hubby and my new little man! I even got to feed him and shower this time!! LOL. Jaxen was born at 12:27pm after 3 hours of labor.

We had a great first night at the hospital. Jaxen slept wonderfully and we were all able to get some rest. We were able to go home at noon the next day ... less than 24 hours after his birth. Overall, it was a really great experience. I was able to experience everything that I felt I had missed out on from Adelyn's birth. God really answered prayers about that.

We are home, healthy, and doing well! Jaxen is such a good baby and we are beyond blessed to have him in our lives!!!!!!

36 weeks

We are now 36 weeks! Can you believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by!!! They consider 37 weeks "full term," so we could have a baby as early as next week. Eeek!!! This baby has definitely grown in the last 4 weeks, and I am certainly feeling it. I'm officially a waddling pregnant lady. Yikes. :o) We have a doc. appointment next week and I'm hoping that I will be at 2cm... I've been feeling a lot more pressure there lately and some braxton hicks... so hopefully they are being productive... like i said last time, I love having progress without actually being in labor!!!!


According to babycenter.ca, here is what is going on with our munchkin this week:Baby is still gaining weight -- about an ounce/ 28 grams a day. He/she weighs nearly 6 pounds and is about 19 inches long from head to toe. You may begin to feel an increased pressure in your lower abdomen and notice that your baby is gradually dropping. However, walking may become increasingly uncomfortable -- some women say it feels as if the baby is going to fall out.

The good news is that by the end of this week, your pregnancy will be full-term and you could give birth any day now. (Babies between 37 and 42 weeks are considered full-term -- a baby born before 37 weeks is premature and after 42 is post-term.)

34.5 weeks

I had an appointment today to check on the baby. It was the first time Shaun has been able to come in a long time, so it was kinda fun to have him there..... although we waited for 30 min. in the waiting room and an extra 10 in the actual doctors room (which is not exactly fun when you brought your 2 year old with you). Everytime I go by myself, I am in and out in 15 min.

It was a good appointment. They did the group B test thing (which I wasn't expecting, because it seems a bit early for that). She also checked that the baby was indeed head down (thank the Lord, because I thought I had felt it flipping around last week)...... while she was there she checked the cervix for the first time this pregnancy and low and behold, I was already at 1cm!!!! I love having progress without having to do anything for it. :o)

The heartbeat was 140 and sounded good. It is always in the 140's somewhere (which makes me think it's a boy because Adelyn's was always in the 150's). My favorite part of the whole appointment was when she said "it's definitely not a tiny baby!" :o)

32 weeks!

Here is my 32 week picture! Sorry it's so blurry... my bathroom mirror needs a good cleaning. :o)
I can't believe that we are only 8 weeks away from having this little munchkin in our arms! It's hard to imagine my belly getting any bigger... but I know it will happen. I'm still feeling pretty good, but starting to get puffy in the face and hands (which is certainly NOT my favorite part of pregnancy! With Adelyn, my face was so puffy I couldn't hardly smile. LOL.)


Here is some info about what's going on inside there this week:
Your baby now weighs approximately 3.75 pounds/ 1.7 kilograms and is about 17 inches / 42 centimetres long from head to toe. Although his lungs won't be fully developed until just before birth, your little one is inhaling amniotic fluid to exercise his lungs and practise breathing.

Adelyn's Birth Story

I've been inspired lately to write down Adelyn's birth story before I completely forget the details of that day, AND before I have another birth to write about in just a few short months. Yes, this post is about 2 years past due... but I figured it is better late than never. :o)
*WARNING: There are some details that some readers might not want to know about.... read at your own discretion. LOL.



ADELYN'S BIRTH STORY
I had a fantastic pregnancy with Adelyn. I was never really that uncomfortable, slept pretty well, and felt pretty good overall right up until 41 weeks!!!

At about 27-28 weeks I was told that the baby was really low in the pelvis already and that I will "probably have the baby early, but hopefully not too early!" At 35-36 weeks I was already 2cm dilated and baby was still down nice and low, so doctors still told me there was no way I was gonna be overdue. I didn't really care when the baby came, as long as it was after the 37 "full-term" mark. At about 38 weeks I was about 3cm and the doc could feel the baby's head "right there" and the bag of waters was bulging.... she assured us once again that there was no way we would be overdue and it would probably happen within the next week.

At 41 weeks I was 3.5 cm, with the baby's head "right there", waters bulging, and no contractions. Not even uncomfortable. I didn't mind one bit... I was enjoying my time alone at home. Our doctor was shocked that I had gotten to 41 weeks and still no baby, so she set up an induction for us at 41 weeks 1 day pregnant on Feb. 8th.

We got to the hospital around 7:15 that morning. They admitted us, went through all the details with us and checked my cervix. I was at 4cm (without contractions!!! I was so happy to have gotten nearly half way there without even noticing!). They inserted some gel to soften the cervix and hopefully bring on some contractions, then sent us to walk around the hospital for a few hours. Nothing happened. So, we went and had some lunch in the cafeteria and went back upstairs to labor and delivery.

We waited around until 1pm for my doctor to come and decide what to do next. When she got there, she decided to break my water (since it was still "bulging" lol.) Then they sent us to do some more walking around. In the hallway we passed a nurse that made a joke about how I wasn't going to have a baby anytime soon because I was still smiling and talking. Well, after walking for about 1o minutes up and down the halls, I had my first contraction. It totally caught me by surprise and stopped me in my tracks! I had to stop and lean against the wall to get through it. Once it was over, I thought "ok, that was interesting" and we kept walking down the hall. I had another little about a minute later, and then at the end of the hall way I had another strong one. I was kinda getting nervous because they were so strong and coming so quickly. Then all of a sudden I felt super nauseous. I told Shaun that I wasn't feeling well and about 2 seconds later I threw up all over the hallway... twice. Right at that exact moment the same nurse that made a joke not even 5 minutes earlier, entered the hallway to see me throwing up. LOL. I think she was as surprised as we were. She ran to get the labor and delivery nurses, they came and cleaned up the mess and rushed me back to labor and delivery.

We were finally given a birthing room (we had been in the fetal assessment are up until this point), and they rushed me in the shower. I was so happy to be in there! I was having very regular contractions at this point and it was all in my back, so the water felt wonderful! I stayed in there for about an hour, until they wanted me to come out and be checked. That is when all hell broke loose! The minute I got on the bed, the contractions were instantly stronger and unbearable. They checked me and told me that I was still at 4cm. I was so disappointed to hear that! To make matters worse, they wanted to start me on pitocin to get things "going".... I didn't know what to think of that because as far as I was concerned, things were already "going." I was also disappointed because that meant I had to stay on the bed instead of going back into the shower.

The contractions were getting stronger and stronger and I was barely able to stay on top of them because there was no break in between. I also had a terrible nurse that made me feel insanely stupid, so that wasn't helping. We had a student nurse that was trying to put an IV in my wrist for the pitocin, but she was having trouble (I'm not sure why... I wasn't really paying attention). Then the grumpy old nurse took over and by the time they got it in my wrist I felt like I needed to push. I didn't want to say anything at first, because they had just told me that I was at 4cm and they hadn't even started the pitocin yet... but I told them anyway.

They all looked at me kinda funny, but agreed to check and sure enough I was at 10cm and ready to push. I'm not sure how you can go from 4cm to 10cm in 15 minutes, but it happened. They quickly rushed to get everything set up and get my doctor there.... then I pushed just a couple times and Adelyn was born at 4:01pm after only 3 hours of labor!!!! She was perfect and healthy, with plump little cheeks! Everyone was shocked that she came so fast... one of the nurses even told me that she didn't expect us to have a baby on her shift (she wasn't off until 7pm).

I had a really bad tear that needed to be repaired in the OR instead of just in the room, so I only got to see Adelyn for a few short minutes and then I was rushed away. They had told us that I would only be in the OR for about 15-20 minutes and then back to the room, but it was more like 2 hours later until I finally got to go to our room on the maternity floor. I was so out of it for a long time and didn't really know what was going on. Plus I had a bunch of IV's and a catheter, which made it nearly impossible to take care of Adelyn since I couldn't get out of the bed. I didn't even get to shower until 2 days later... yuck. So, all of that kinda ruined the experience for us.

Adelyn was born on Friday, Feb. 8th at 4:01pm weighing 8lbs exactly. We finally got to take her home on Sunday late afternoon. We were so excited to have a healthy, beautiful little girl! We both secretly where hoping for a girl the entire pregnancy. :o)

Belly Pic

I just wanted to share this belly pic with you. My wonderful hubby took it after a recent photo shoot with some clients. The baby has had another growth spurt since then... so I will have to take a new one soon.

27+ weeks!

Just wanted to give a quick pregnancy update...

We are now 27 weeks 2 days! Yipee! The end is within' reach... which is starting to freak me out a little bit! By this point in the pregnancy with Adelyn we had everything ready to go and in it's place... with this one... not so much. We have to work on getting Adelyn down to her new bedroom and then we will be able to start painting the baby's room and getting it decorated. We also have to get our room painted and decorated somewhere in there too... sigh.

ANYWAYS.... Here is what is going on in there this week:
At 27 weeks baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on.


This is what s/he looks like in there:
This is a picture of a baby born at 27 weeks... just to give you an idea of what our little muchkin looks like now:

Sewing Projects

I've been getting antsy lately about this new baby coming, and I've had a wonderful break from photo editing... so I decided to fill the time with some sewing projects!!!

When we had Adelyn, someone bought us a few of these First Years -Easy Wrap Swaddlers. It is one of the best inventions ever! You can swaddle your baby, without fussing over receiving blankets, etc. It has velcro tabs to keep it in place, and it worked wonders!
We have a pink one and a yellow one, but since we don't know what we are having this time around, pink might not work and I'd like to have more than one (since they have a tendency to get spit up, peed and pooped on. LOL)
SO....... I decided to get some funky fabric and make my own. (Yes they look a little boy-ish, but I think that turquoise can go either way, so who cares. lol.) What do ya think?


I also took my left over scraps and made a blanket out of them....

So, those projects are completed and I just finished the new crib bedding as well! Yay! I've had the fabric for that sitting around since WAY before this baby came into our lives, so it feels so nice to finally be done!!! I will post about that soon.

-T

Belly Comparison...

I was digging through some old stuff the other day and came across a disc full of pictures from when I was pregnant with Adelyn. I thought it would be fun to compare my baby belly this time, to when I was pregnant with her to see if there was much of a difference.
What do you think? Is there much difference?...... Minus the fact that I actually had time to do my hair back then :o) LOL.

14 weeks with Adelyn
(don't mind the puffy hair please!)

14 weeks with "Sprout"



20 weeks with Adelyn
20 weeks with "Sprout"

22 Weeks!

We are at 22 weeks already, can you believe it! The last month has been a blur! Crazy.... but awesome! Since we are snowed in today (not to mention the fact that we are all under the weather, especially Adelyn... poor thing!), I decided it would be a good day for blogging.

Here is some info about the baby now:

• The fetus reacts to loud sounds.
• Baby starts having a regular sleeping and waking rhythm.
• The mother's movements can wake her baby.
• Taste buds are forming on your baby's tongue.
• The baby is 28cm long (crown to heel) and weighs over 450 grams.
• The weekly weight gain has increased to around 70 grams.

Your baby is about 11 inches long and weighs in at about 1 pound. The eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed, and the fingernails cover the fingertips. Sounds from a conversation are loud enough to be heard by the fetus in the uterus. If you talk, read, or sing to your baby, it's reasonable to expect him or her to be able to hear you.

By this week, your waistline is definitely gone. The top of your uterus is now about 1 inch (3cm) above your bellybutton.

Ultrasound Pics

So, like I mentioned in our last post, we had our ultrasound today! We didn't get to see much, but everything looked good from what we saw. This little munchkin crossed it's legs the whole time and wouldn't let us see the gender... so we get to have another surprise!

We won't find out any of the diagnostic stuff until next week sometime at our doc. appointment, but we're still believing that all is well with this munchkin. We didn't get the best pic's this time either, which was kinda disappointing, but it's all good.

Enjoy!

BABY'S HEAD AND SPINE
BABY'S FACE

BABY'S FOOT AND LEG
(to be honest, I have trouble seeing this one... so don't feel bad if you don't see it either! :o)

Ultrasound Today!

We have our ultrasound today and I am so excited to see our 2nd little one again! Eeek!
I'll be posting pics either later today or tomorrow.
If they can tell us what the sex of this baby is, that's awesome... if not we can wait. :o) We both kinda like the surprise element of it all.

Stay tuned for pics coming soon!

Random Stuff...

Since I have a wonderful week off from editing photo's, I thought I would spend more time this week blogging... however, I don't have much to blog about. lol! So, this may be boring to some of you, but i'm blogging about random stuff today.

We have an ultrasound on Wednesday, and I am SOOO excited to see our little 'sprout' again. :o) We aren't sure whether we will find out the sex or not, but we have 2 days to decide. We kept it a surprise with Adelyn, and that was really fun... however this time I think I am leaning more towards finding out. We will see what happens I guess... maybe baby won't even co-operate. :o) I can't believe we are 19.5 weeks already! It is going by pretty quickly. I can only feel baby moving once or twice a day, so I'm praying that will increase soon. Adelyn was moving a whole lot more at this point in pregnancy... but maybe this little one is just lazy. :o)

I've started decorating for Christmas and am hoping to put the tree up soon... maybe even today! Shaun thinks that it is ridiculously early, but my theory is the earlier you do it, the longer it lasts. I will post some pictures soon of all the decorations.

Speaking of Christmas decorations, I was seriously bummed out when we went to Wal-mart to buy some new decorations. They have tons of gorgeous stuff this year, however I really wanted a nice nativity set to put on our mantel and there was only 2 dinky ones to choose from. Lame. Half the store is full of Christmas decor, and yet it is all Santa Claus and snowmen.... nothing to do with Jesus' birth which is the real reason for this wonderful season. Sigh.

18 Weeks!

Today we are 18 weeks pregnant! Yay! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going lately. This little munchkin is starting to wiggle more often, it is so cool to feel a precious little person dancing around in there again! It is starting to feel more and more real!!!


Here's some info on were "sprout" is at now:
Your baby is approximately 6 inches/ 14.2 centimetres long from crown to rump and she weighs about 7 ounces/ 190 grams. Her chest moves up and down to mimic breathing but she's not taking in air, only amniotic fluid.

A mid-pregnancy ultrasound scan is often done sometime in the second trimester (usually between 18 and 22 weeks) to assess fetal growth and development, screen for certain birth defects, check the placenta and umbilical cord and determine whether the gestational age is accurate. During this scan, you might see your baby kick, flex, reach, roll, or even suck her thumb. Bring your partner along, and whether or not he's able to accompany you, make sure you ask for printouts of the baby in various poses.

Baby Scare...

Ok, so yesterday I went to the doctor's for something totally not pregnancy related and on my way there I thought "Hmmm.... I hope he listens to the heartbeat again today!" I just love that sound and was so looking forward to hearing it again. Sure enough my doc decided to check it. Yay!

Well, after 10 minutes of trying to find it, we heard nothing. WHAT!!!!???
Since we had heard the baby's heartbeat last week and it sounded awesome and he/she was wiggling around kicking the doppler, it never crossed my mind that we wouldn't be able to find it just a week later. Sigh.

My doctor started saying things like "have you had any bleeding?" and "how many miscarriages have you had previously?" etc.... I started to panic slightly and then burst into tears right there in the Dr.'s office. He said that he would try and get me in for an urgent ultrasound and then he prayed with me before I left.

I drove home and told Shaun about what had happened. We were both pretty upset about it and weren't sure how to feel. Sigh, another huge faith test. Having gone through this before 4 other times and only having a good outcome once, it was hard to be positive and to put our faith into action. I must admit, I have failed at the faith thing several times in the past.

Today was our ultrasound.... and after spending the entire morning in tears, I suddenly felt a strange peace as we were driving there.
We got in right away... the lady turned on the monitor and said "There's your baby..."
I was so afraid to look, because I didn't want to see a baby there with no heartbeat. Then she said, "...and there's the heart, beating away!" HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!

The baby was perfect. Everything looked fantastic and his/her little heart was beating away at 154 bpm!!!! He/she was so squirmy that the ultrasound tech could barely get good pictures. :o)

How awesome is God!!!

Yay!!!!

I haven't blogged here since July... I know, lazy blogger. Sorry! We've been busy with everything but our own lives, so we've really had nothing to blog about.... until now!

Today I am announcing something that I have kept a secret for a long time. I am nearly 15 weeks pregnant and SOOOOOOOO excited to be a mommy for the second time around! We were waiting until we heard this little one's heartbeat before we told the world (or anyone for that matter)... today we heard it! A strong little thump, thump, thump! What a beautiful sound!!

We are a week into our second trimester, and perhaps I will share a little bit about why we waited to long to share this exciting news some other time... but for now, I am enjoying my new little bundle!!!

I am also about %85 sure that I can feel some little movements from time to time! Yay!!!!!!!!!!