We're on the move!

Will has hit a few big milestones in the last few weeks - he's crawling and his first tooth popped through! He is starting to get into everything but it's really fun seeing the world through his eyes. Everything is new and fascinating :)

I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with him. He obviously doesn't get it quite yet but it will still be fun. He loves the Christmas tree and the lights outside. We've already bought him a few gifts but his big gift is a big kid car seat (and one for grandma's car too). He's about to outgrow his infant carrier.

At his 6 month appointment, he was in the 75th percentile for height and weight. So he is a little shorter than his last appointment (he was in the 90th) and a little chubbier (he was in the 70th for weight). He sure feels hefty when I carry him around!

Here are 6 more weekly photos!

Finally Fall!

The weather is finally cooling down and Will gets to experience his first autumn season! It's so weird to think that he has never seen the leaves change or dressed up for Halloween or anything yet. Such a fun time! His sleeping has gotten better, then worse, then better. I really think we're on the upswing. I think I just needed a little humility after he slept so good the first few months :)

I can't wait to dress him up for Halloween. I know he won't be able to remember it, but it will still be a fun memory for me and I will definitely take pictures. He has two possible outfits... a lion costume and a Clark Kent outfit. I'm not sure which one he will rock or maybe he will wear one to a Fall Festival party on Sunday and one on the actual day.

In a week, he will be 6 months old! I can't believe it has flown by so fast, but it also seems like he has been with us forever. Pretty soon we will be celebrating his first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then New Years... and before I know it, his first birthday will be here. Okay, I need to stop before I start bawling. He's growing up too fast!

This Will Not Last Forever

So Will has decided to give up his good sleeping pattern. My new mantra is "this will not last forever" and it's so true. He will not always wake up every few hours and he will not always be this little, so I am trying to enjoy the extra hours spent cuddling him at night. I'll never get those back!

His new big thing is rolling, rolling, rolling! He uses it to get where he wants to be and therefore I foresee baby proofing in our future!!

Baby Boy Bedroom

Since I'm using this to remember what life was like "back in the day," I thought I would post about W's room. Once we knew we were having a boy, we ditched any gender neutral ideas we had. Daddy was a baseball player, so I threw out the idea of doing vintage baseball. He was totally on board :) We're still looking for a nice dark curtain to replace the oh so lovely blanket on his window...

I know some people love cutesy little character bedding and whatnot, but I am just not a fan. I wanted a room that would grow with him for a little while, so I decided to ditch the normal baby bedding and just make him a quilt. We went with "Americana" type colors... navy, tan, and brick reds. James helped me pick out the fabric and I loved it! I will say, I was a little bummed we couldn't do bright colors for a little girl, but everything turned out so great (in my opinion) that I got over it! I also recovered some cushions on a chair that my grandma gave us awhile back and made a few pillows.

We hung a peg board (FREE - left by the previous owners in our garage) that James painted a soft white. We put his dresser/changing table underneath it since we hung baskets on the peg board for diaper storage. My parents had a lot of vintage baseball decorations that we used. I think they achieved the vintage feel I was going for :)

We also scored some nice shelves on Black Friday at Home Depot (or maybe Lowes??) that we use for toys, books, baskets of socks and hats, and some other decorations. We, of course, have his K-State gear showcased as well! We may be in Sooner county, but we bleed purple!

All in all, I love his room and so does James! It's perfect for the little guy and I think it will grow with him. A lot of the things we got were free that we spruced up with some spray paint so it was pretty economical as well. Gotta love that!

Getting Bigger Every Day

Will has grown so much in the last few weeks! He's a strong little boy and loves to stand up and bounce around. Poor kiddo has a little infection right now (he yanked his ear and it split a little which is now infected) but he's still a pretty happy camper. There are typically lots and lots of smiles around this place - unless it's nap time... then there is screaming! At the doctor's appointment today, he weighed 16 pounds 6.6 ounces. He's a decently big guy. He's pretty tall so he looks older than he is. I definitely miss him during the day but he has a good time at my parents' place. They even took him for his first trip to the zoo this week. Here are four more of his weekly photos!

Mama's Little Man

I feel like I always say it, but I can't believe how big he's gotten! Will is such a joy in our lives and we love him so much! He finally had his 2 month appointment when he was almost 11 weeks (our doc was on vacation) and he is in the 90th percentile for height and almost 70th for weight. Pretty big kiddo :) He jumped from the 55th for weight up to the 70th because all he wants to do is eat!

He's developing his personality and it's so fun to watch him figure out things - like how to grab his toys and make different noises. He can also stand for quite awhile with us only providing balance.

He hit a rough patch with sleeping. I think it was a combination of a growth spurt and the fact that he is a wiggly sleeper. We would hear him fussing and find him against the edge of his crib. I finally watched him one night and he just shakes his head and shoulders while he is sleeping and slithers over to one side. His sleeping has been better the last few nights so I hope we're getting in a better rhythm.

I can't wait to see what the next few months hold for us but I hope he doesn't grow up too fast. I feel like I miss out on a lot of it being at work but such is life.

Here are his 9 through 12 week photos.

Memories

I definitely don't want to forget all the fun little things from Will's first few months but I seem to forget to put them online. I want to use this to document all the fun little things but I have to give myself grace when I forget - I do have a baby to take care of! :)

Will's been doing great! He's already so smiley and getting a little personality which is absolutely adorable to watch. We enjoyed our time at home together but I'm back at work as of 2 days ago :( Definitely not my ideal situation but we'll reevaluate it once James is out of school. Luckily, I have great coworkers and they've been so helpful now that I'm back.

Here's a few tidbits about Will so far...
He's in 3-6 month clothing and some of those are getting a bit short.
He loves when we use accents to talk to him. His favorite is James' pirate voice. I have no idea why!
He rolled over from belly to back a few times when he was 4 weeks old and hasn't tried to since.
He absolutely LOVES bath time. It's hilarious!
He already sleeps a 6-7 hour stretch at night. We're trying to modify our schedule to fit that (he goes to bed around 8-9 and we probably should too until he sleeps even longer).
He did great on his first few road trips.
He's getting to be a pretty good schedule during the day - eats about every 3-4 hours and is taking better naps.

Here are his 5-8 week photos. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Time Flies

I can't believe the little guy will be a month old in two days! He's getting so big :) and we love him so much! He's mostly an easy baby except he likes to sleep on me during the day. At night, he'll sleep really well in his crib (already 4-5 hours at a time!) but he likes to be with Mama during the day. I can't complain because he's so dang cute! I'm just figuring out how to do things one handed (as in blogging right now).

He's a very tall babe - 95th percentile - but a little on the skinny side - 52nd percentile - so we're trying to chunk him up a bit. He's starting to get a few rolls and I love it! I think he's over 10 pounds now and he's starting to feel a little heftier :)

He had his last extra checkup and his lungs look great! We're so relieved. We are still being very careful about introducing him to new places and mostly stay home but it made us feel so much better to be on a normal doctor schedule now. We also found a pediatrician that we really liked. Yay!!

James takes his big test on Monday and then we're both free before we go back to work/school. We have already made a list of things we want to do and I can't wait!! Most of it seems boring (i.e. rearrange furniture) but I don't care.

Here's a few photos so I can remember how small he used to be...

Isn't he adorable??

I'm hoping to take a few pictures of his room soon and blog about it and maybe do a post about our first month of cloth diapering. We'll see if that gets accomplished with Will as my little shadow.

Our Little Man

Just as an FYI: This post will contain many references to the birth process. I will try to be classy in how I explain things but just wanted to warn you all :) Also, this is an incredibly long story!

As I said in my previous post, my OB/GYN checked my cervix and I was dilated to almost a 4 and she gave me the option of either going home and waiting for my contractions to speed up or to go over to the hospital. I picked the hospital so we could get the show on the road :) James and I made our necessary calls (parents, etc.) and made our way over to the maternity ward. They got me outfitted in their awesomely flattering gown and I tried to get comfortable. If I remember correctly, my contractions were coming every 5-7 minutes so we needed to do something to speed this up. I was hoping for no pitocin but we were unsure if that was possible at this point. I did give in and get the epidural just so I could actually get some sleep before I had to push. My energy level was really low and I knew I needed to conserve what I had left. I was a little disappointed that I got it so early (my goal had been to wait until I was a 7) but I think I made the right decision for me.

After my doctor finished her appointments, she came over to the birthing suites and broke my water. I had heard that this doesn't really speed up labor but it did seem to work for me, so who knows! They continued to check my progress throughout the evening and night so I probably got less sleep than I had hoped but I was able to relax and nap. They kept losing the baby's heartbeat on the external monitor so they had to use an internal one instead.  Around 4 in the morning (I think... it's all a little fuzzy now) the nurse checked me and I was a 7 but she also noticed that I was burning hot. I hadn't felt well but I thought it was lack of sleep. James then checked my legs (I couldn't feel them from the epidural) and said they were hot and that I was sweating. They took off my blankets and gave me some tylenol and we decided to check my temperature again in an hour.  After awhile, they took my temp again and the fever had not gone down so they started me on an antibiotic. I later found out that I had picked up an infection in my amniotic fluid. This was apparently unusual because I was group B strep negative and my water had been broken in a sterile environment but I guess it just happens sometimes. By this time, I was a little delirious and sweaty. They also put me on oxygen for the baby. Great... I was dilated to an 8 and I started to feel incredible pressure in my back. I told the nurse but she said that it was probably normal.

James was my rock during the whole thing as I began to feel the contractions because the baby had dropped even lower. He helped me breathe through them. It wasn't any pain necessarily that bothered me, but the pressure was very intense. They said that it would probably take an hour or so per centimeter of dilating so I was looking at 2 more hours. I think having the end in sight really helped me because I had a slight breakdown around this time. I was able to focus on the fact that I would soon hold my little boy in my arms. My doctor was in for her rounds at 7 which was luckily when I was fully dilated and effaced. It was time to push!

I had always had full control of my legs, even though I couldn't feel them which really helped as I pushed. We tried a few positions before we figured out what worked best for me and then we got down to business! Unfortunately, the doctor and nurse told us that they could see meconium in my fluid now and they would have to take the baby to check him as soon as he was born. They assured us it was normal and just a precaution to make sure he hadn't aspirated anything as he was in a little distress. I pushed for about 45 minutes (they said I was an excellent pusher, by the way!) before he started to crown. They let us know that he had hair which was a huge shock. We were sure he would be bald!

The last 15 minutes were quite difficult as his head wouldn't completely exit. My doctor finally just did an episiotomy so we could get him out and then we figured out the problem. He was sunny side up (facing the ceiling instead of the floor). This makes pushing much more difficult as the angles aren't quite right and his bony parts (skull, spine, etc.) were against my spine. It now made so much sense why I felt incredible pressure in my back. Weirdly enough, I was also born sunny side up which is unusual. My doctor was very intrigued by this and thought maybe my mom and I's pelvis was shaped a certain way which did not make our baby's head turn during delivery. After his head was out, my doctor was able to pull the rest of him free and I heard a little feeble scream from him.

They had warned me that we might not hear him cry, especially if he had in fact aspirated anything. I was relieved that he cried but unfortunately this was not what we wanted. Because he cried before they were able to suck the meconium from his lungs, he had slight respiratory distress. They did let me hold him for about 5 minutes before they took him to Baby Care (a step down from the actual NICU) and the grandparents were able to come in and see him. Once they took him, I asked James to go with him and my mom stayed with me for awhile. I wasn't allowed to leave the birthing room until I had feeling back in my legs and I had to have most of the tubes taken out (epidural catheter, foley catheter, antibiotics, fluids, etc.). I waited on the nurse and even got a little breakfast but I wanted to see my baby so I finally called and pleaded with them to take me upstairs.

Once I got up there, they took me over to the Baby Care room and there was my little boy! We named him William Bowen... I'll explain the choice later :) and he was 8 pounds even and 21 inches long. He was being monitored and we weren't allowed to hold him and they didn't want us to over stimulate him either. However, the nurses and doctors seemd to think he would come out of the respiration issues on his own. He was breathing a bit too fast and his blood pressure was a little low but he seemed to be doing fine otherwise. We felt like we might get to hold him within 24 hours.

Unfortunately, early that evening the pediatrician assigned to his case came in to talk with us. They had taken X-Rays of his chest and found a pneumthorax. Essentially his lungs had meconium in them when he took his first few breaths and it caused pressure to build up and a small hole was popped in his lung allowing air to escape. The air was then trapped between his chest wall and his lung which caused a section of his left lung to collapse. They were taking him up to the NICU but wanted to wait and see if his condition corrected itself before they tried any medical interventions. They had him hooked up to IV fluids as he couldn't eat (I was incredibly sad about this because I had dreamed of them handing him off to me so I could breast feed him and bond right away) and he was hooked up to monitors. They took X-rays in the middle of the night and nothing had changed so they tried to put a needle in his chest to draw out the air. However, this only introduced more air into his lung and they had to put a chest tube in to slowly draw out all the air.

The chest tube went in around 4:45 in the morning on Friday and stayed in until around 1:00 in the afternoon on Sunday. It was awful not being able to hold or feed my baby. He was also on pain meds for the chest tube and was a little out of it. It was not how you want to see your little baby, but the chest tube worked and his lung reinflated. Almost immediately after the chest tube came out, they let me hold him (James had run home not knowing they would be removing the tube), and also breastfeed him. He took to it right away! I was so relieved. They had to continue with antibiotics until Tuesday afternoon when we were finally able to move into a family room and spend the night with him. We were finally able to take him home on Wednesday. It was the longest week of our lives but we are so happy to be home with the little man.

Anyways... the name. William is a play on my maiden name (Wilkins) and Bowen is a play on Boaz, since my favorite bible story is Ruth. We think he looks just like a Will too so it works out great! We love him so much! My next few entries will probably go over his room and the first week at home with him.

Weeks 38, 39, & 40

So it's been awhile since I've posted but for a good reason! Our little bundle of joy arrived on May 3rd, 2012 but that is a story for my next post. The last few weeks I was pregnant really flew by. I felt great until the Sunday before I delivered too (I delivered him early on a Thursday). My 38 and 39 week appointments with my doctor were very quick and easy as I didn't have any symptoms of labor except the fact that he had dropped. My doctor did note that he was incredibly low so apparently I handled that okay. I really didn't have too much pain, just a little discomfort, mostly while sleeping. At my 39 week appointment, I weighed in at a gain of 29 pounds, but by my 40 week appointment I was down to a 23 pound gain. My doctor assured me that this was normal as I had probably lost some water weight as my body prepped to give birth. I was happy that I hit my under 30 pound goal!

I think I became a little too smug about feeling so good because Sunday night, it hit me like a ton of bricks! I felt awful all night and had very regular contractions. I only went in to work for a half day on Monday to tie up some loose ends before my maternity leave started up and didn't end up going in at all on Tuesday or Wednesday due to contractions. On Monday night, I about had a breakdown due to no sleep and James suggested we get up and try to walk to speed up the contractions (they were coming about every 10 to 15 minutes) and see if we could kick start labor. He was so great and walked around the house for hours with me and didn't sleep at all himself. The walking worked and my contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes! I knew going in to the hospital then was still a risk because I desperately didn't want to be sent home but we went ahead and left the house around 5:30 AM on Tuesday. When we got to the hospital, my suspicions were confirmed that I wasn't dilated enough to stay and my contractions slowed again (probably from sitting in the hospital bed for an hour). I was crushed but I hoped that my contractions, even at their current speed, would do their job before my appointment on Wednesday.

It was another sleepless night but I could tell my contractions had increased in intensity so I knew if labor hadn't started yet, it was coming! I had also had some of the less blog-worthy signs of labor, yuck. When my appointment came around, I tried to not get my hopes up, but I couldn't help it. I hadn't slept in days and couldn't wait to see an end to it all, haha! My doctor checked me and I was almost at a 4! Yay! She gave me the option of going home or heading over to the hospital. I picked the hospital!!! I think it all hit me then that I was going to have a baby in my arms in less than a day. I was a little terrified and a lot excited :) I'll leave the rest of the story to my next post!!

Here is my 9 month shot!

And here are some side by sides for comparison.

Well, it sounds like someone is getting hungry so hopefully I'll be able to post my birth story sometime soon!

Weeks 36 & 37

The countdown is on, my friends! As of today, I have 18 days left until my due date :) Now for a little pregnancy rambling... Little man is growing and my stomach is noticeably farther out each week. I have also been incredibly hungry the last week and a half. I'm hoping it's a growth spurt for him and not me! We finished the last project in the nursery yesterday so it's all decorated and ready for its tiny inhabitant. At my next doctor's appointment on Friday, we'll be discussing an inducement date just to get one on the calendar. Hopefully I won't have to use it because I honestly hate the thought of pitocin but I know eventually I'll have to consider it. I won't be induced until I'm at least 41 weeks so that should give me a little more time to go into labor naturally. We had our cloth diapering class last week and our birthing class yesterday. I feel a little more prepared now. I was really impressed with our hospital's tour. The birthing rooms seem very comfortable and each one has their own tub which I heard is a great way to relax while your contractions start to heat up. I'm definitely starting to feel some pressure so I know he's at least dropped a little. However, I keep telling myself I will still be pregnant on my due date so I'm not disappointed. And that, folks, is all I got!

Weeks 34 & 35

Only a few short weeks to go! Well, probably more like 5 or 6, but still!!! We had an appointment on Friday with my doctor and she confirmed my suspicions that this kid isn't ready to vacate any time soon. I had figured that because it still seemed like I was carrying incredibly high (which has led people to remark that I "must be having a girl") and my Braxton Hicks contractions were never very regular. James and I do take a long walk most days and that really brings on the BH so now I just walk half the length of the park and wait for James and Penny to finish the rest. My doctor did a quick look to make sure he was head down and he is, so that's great news!! At least when he's ready to meet us we won't have a surprise breech baby. This was the first week that I had some regular swelling in my feet but it goes away at night and hasn't really been a problem. I have been up and around a lot of the time and it's been warmer so I think that's why it's started. I also have a very large knot in my back that we can't seem to get rid of, but that's really the only comfort issue I've had. Suits me just fine!

Weight Gain: 23 pounds. Is it possible that I'm just having a 20 pound baby and this will all go away??? But seriously, I'm so happy it isn't higher than that! My goal was under 30 and we're definitely on track!

Sleep: Well, I just like to think that this is God's way of getting me ready for nightly feedings and screamfests, we'll just put it that way.

Gender: Boy! Despite what people think!

Names: All in due time..

Feeling: Besides the knot in my back, sooooo good! Seriously, I feel so blessed!

Health: Awesome! Blood pressure is low as usual and I'm still feeling pretty awesome.

Movement: From what I can tell, he's definitely running out of room. No more flips and rolls, just occasional spins and kicks. Still, he likes to move it, move it.

Belly: Still measuring ahead 1-2 weeks but I think he's just a tall babe.

Next Appointment: This Friday. We're officially on weekly visits now!

And here is my 8 month shot... how did we get to 8 months so fast????


We've had 4 showers so far, with a small Girls Night In coming up. We seriously feel so blessed with all we've been given. He's pretty much set! I probably won't post pictures of the nursery until after he arrives so it can be completely finished (with his name up and everything). Can't wait! I love it!

Weeks 32 & 33

Looks like we have a tall one on our hands. At my appointment yesterday, my doctor remarked that she thinks he is a long baby since he is all the way from the bottom of my stomach to up in my ribs. I could have told her that since he likes to lay on my bladder and kick me in the ribs at the same time :) I'm also measuring 2 weeks ahead so we're guessing he is bigger than average. I'm hoping he falls into the 7 or 8 pound range instead of 9 or 10... yikes! My doctor said she would schedule an ultrasound to check his weight if he continues to measure ahead but said that sometimes it just freaks moms out. No one wants to hear that they have to push a 10 pound baby out! Ultimately, his estimated weight (which can be off by a pound either way) will not change my decisions for my birth plan. I'll still try for no inducement or c-section but I know those plans can change. So far, my blood pressure has been great (actually on the low side, which is normal in my family) and my weight gain is right on track (thank the GOOD LORD)! We had our first shower last weekend and will have the second tomorrow. They're so fun and we're already stocked up on clothes :) Can't wait to meet our little man!!! Here's a picture of us from our first shower...


On a non-uterus related note, my Dad and James just set the posts for our deck today. This was one project that James really wanted to do but now I'm so excited about it. I can just imagine us sitting on the deck watching the little one(s) play in the backyard with the dog. How fun! And for an awesome shot of our weird little doggy... we call this her mummy sleep pose. Legs straight out. It's exhausting to be her!

Weeks 30 & 31

Even while I am trying to rest as much as possible before little man makes his grand appearance, we have been so productive in the last few weeks. It makes me so happy! I am definitely nesting because when we're not getting a project done, I'm on Pinterest to find new projects or updating our to-do list (James is starting to hate that list!).

Here's a few projects we've completed recently...

If you remember my tie onesies from last year, I took it one step farther and added a vest. This was a Pinterest find and the original post looked so cute, I had to give it a try! We had a ton of leftover t-shirt fabric so I just used some of that. Cute and cheeeeeap!


I also made some baby legs out of socks that we got on clearance. Seriously, this couldn't be any easier. I think pairing it with the vest onesie would look adorable! Please ignore how dirty my couch looks :)


Another Pinterest find are some baby sandals. I had faux leather on hand from when my dad recovered my headboard when we moved, so this was essentially free. I thought they turned out cute but definitely not perfect :) He won't mind!


Yet another Pinterest inspired project was to hang a peg board over our changing table area (we're attaching a contour changing pad to the dresser) so we could hang some baskets for diapers and whatnot. We're also hanging some of our decorations including those pictures and vintage baseball knick knacks. I am in love with it. I think I'll also add little man's initials.


I also recovered the chair cushions in some sale fabric from Hobby Lobby. Love that place! Here is the chair with a blanket on the back. Does it look perfect? No, but that's just fine with me! I also made them removable so I can wash them if need be. You can also see our new rug!


I saw this on Pinterest as well, but it didn't come with a tutorial but it was seriously so easy to wing it! I just used some scrap fabric and elastic. Easy peasy.


One final Pinterest find (can you tell how I spend my time?) was another great way to use scrap fabrics. I used some leftovers from previous projects, the baby's room, and t-shirts. I made 2 of each below, one for me and one for a friend. They were fun and easy to make! James really liked them and thought they looked funky and cool.


On the less crafty note, everything seems to be progressing great! He's measuring 2 weeks ahead but James was a big baby so we expected that. In 2 weeks, I only gained a pound but little man moved ahead 4 weeks in measurement. Big growth spurt! Our first shower is next weekend so we're trying to get as organized as possible before then. So much fun! Here's my 7 month shot from a week or so ago.



And here is one of my favorite shots from our maternity session a few weeks ago. Seriously, Deisy did such a good job!