A super busy summer!

Wow! I just looked at my blog for the first time in a LONG time and I realized that I only made two posts in the month of July AND it's been almost a month since I posted! Really? Where did the time go?

We have been super busy and obviously this blog has taken a back seat. I am disappointed in myself because in addition to having a blog where people can see what's going on with us, I also like to use it as a journal of sorts. But, if I don't blog, obviously I won't be able to remember what happened.

So, here's a quick run-down of what's been happening with us in the past few months (in no particular order)....

1. I started a part-time job in May. I work from home about 8-12 hours a week as a Help Desk Engineer for a company called Mobile Insight. The work itself is not hard. The hard part is trying to juggle my SAHM job with my job that actually pays money. I don't really want to work, but since we need the extra money, it is a necessity right now. It is just extremely hard some days because I feel bad that Jacob isn't getting my full attention or I feel bad that I am not working more and making even more money or I feel bad because the kitchen floor didn't get washed or the laundry didn't get done. I am hoping to be able to find a better balance with all of this soon. Or maybe I'll just win the lottery and then life will be so much easier, right?! :)

2. I had a huge fiasco with my laptop over the past few weeks. The long story short is: my screen broke and Apple wanted $610 to fix it! So, I tried to do the less expensive route and order one online and install it myself (along with help from my brother-in-law, Brian). The first screen they sent me arrived cracked; the second screen arrived at my house while I was in Corolla so my mail carrier (who has become a friend of mine) overnighted it to me at the beach only for us to find out that it wasn't the right screen for my laptop! Oh and did I mention that I paid $30 both times for the company to overnight it to me? Yeah, and they are refusing to reimburse me for that shipping charge! Lovely!! Anyways, I finally decided to just send it off to iresq.com, which is the company that the Apple technician recommended to me in the first place. A week later of sending it in the mail to them and paying $400, now thankfully it has been fixed and I have it back. (Now I need a new battery, but that's definitely an easier - and less expensive - fix!!)

3. Jacob and I stay really busy during the week. We try to get out as much as possible to enjoy the nice weather (when it's not 100 degrees!) and visit with friends. We usually see Katie, Pierce & Reid at least once a week (and sometimes more). We have visited the pool every week, mostly one day per week, but sometimes two. Now that he is walking, he really likes to be outside so we play in the driveway or in the front yard. I am looking forward to cooler temperatures and Fall-like weather so we can spend even more time outside.

4. We went on our annual week-long summer vacation to Corolla, NC with the entire Stank family. My grandparents also went this year so there were 17 of us (12 adults and 5 kids) in one house. We had a blast! I really want to do an entire post about our trip, but with my recent track record, I won't make any promises!

5. Keith and I painted our front porch over July 4th weekend. He took a few extra days off of work and we got it done in three days (this included having to "fix" the mess I made while trying to power wash the porch rails before we painted them). Again, I am hoping to do a separate post about this because I have a ton of pictures I want to share (plus I want to document all the "fun" we had!). Hopefully that will happen before we need to paint it again!

Wow, it doesn't really sound like we have been that busy, but the days (and weeks and months!!) sure do fly by! I am very much enjoying life right now, but I just wish it would slow down!

Walking and Talking

Another day has gone by and, yet again, I haven't done a post about Jacob turning 13 months old. Oh wait, I never did a one year post either. Whoa....I am WAY behind!

Well, what I have been doing lately is trying to take video of Jake and his latest accompliments. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is our boy WALKING & TALKING!

WALKING

He is walking all over the place these days. As you can see from this video, he rarely crawl anymore. He has really perfected this just in the past week or so. He's also good at bending over, stooping and holding onto things while he walks. He still does fall sometimes, but he is quick to get back up and try again. Scary thing is, I think he may be running soon!

TALKING

His vocabulary has also increased exponentially in the past few weeks. He will often try to repeat what we say, like if I say "Can you say...?" The words that I hear him say most often are: mama, dada, shoes, ishies (for goldfish), no, uh-oh, night-night, this is/that (when he points to things as in "what's this?" or "what's that?"), bye-bye (although it sounds like a "d" sound instead of a "b"), tash (for trash, as in anything he picks up that needs to go in the garbage) and today he started saying what sounds like Sierra (his cousin) when we looked at her picture. He does a lot of babble and grunting & pointing to get my attention or if he wants something. He refuses to do any signs, even though I have been signing Milk everyday of his life! Oh well! I am really trying to work with him lately on please and thank you.

If you ask him, he will tell you that a horse says "nay" and he used to tell us that a bear says "grrr" (but he hasn't done it for a few weeks now). He will make truck and tractor sounds ("vroom") when he plays with his toys or when he sees them in a book. He also mimicks a grunting noise he hears Keith do when he is irritated (it's really funny!).

In this video, I was trying to just get a sampling of his babble, but it quickly turned to him getting upset because he wanted to touch the video camera. I still think you get the idea.

Playing in the pool

Since it has been so hot here for the past month or so, Katie and I have tried to get to the pool with the kiddos at least once a week. We are fortunate that my neighborhood has a pool, but it isn't free so it can be costly ($4 per person) to go too much. Katie and I shared a 20-pass booklet that she bought in the beginning of June and I had to buy another one this past Monday. It doesn't seem like we have gone that much, but I guess we have. It is a lot of work packing up the kiddos and all of our stuff (and packing lunch), but it is really nice to be outside in the refreshing water on these hot days.

I took this video a month ago and since then, Jake has become much more comfortable in the water. When we were in the baby pool this past Monday, he was jetting around in his float. He is able to move around the pool on his own and he doesn't really "need" me to help him out. He even wanted to walk around in the pool without his float, although he soon learned that it wasn't as easy as he thought it was going to be! (Don't worry, I didn't let him go under!)

I am really glad that he likes the water so much and he doesn't seem to be afraid of it. He doesn't mind if his face gets wet and he really likes to splash! Hopefully I will be able to get more video in the weeks to come so I can document his progress. He is such a joy to be around and I am so thankful that I get to spend everyday with him doing such fun things.

Let's open some doors

Jacob is changing and learning new things every day. I still need to do a post about him turning one and list all of the things he is doing these days. It seems like he does something new every day!

His newest talent for today: OPENING DOORS!

He has been reaching up for the door knob for some time now, but up until today, he hasn't been able to actually open the door. I have been trying to get a picture of him reaching up and just a few minutes ago, when I pulled out the camera, he not only reached up, but actually opened the door to the laundry room.

Reach up...

Pull down the handle...

Open the door...

Voila! Who knew it would be that easy!? And, right after he got into the laundry room, he went over to the door to the garage and tried to open that! Needless to say, doors are going to be staying locked around here. I don't need my little escape artist to get outside, that's for sure!

Jacob's Birth Story - Part III

Here is Part III of Jacob's Birth Story. To view Part I & Part II, click HERE and HERE.

Around 2:30am, Dr. Montgomery came in to do another internal exam. I remember hoping and praying that I had miraculously gotten to 7 or 8 cm. Unfortunately, I was not even close! I was 5 cm and Dr. Montgomery told me that I really should be progressing faster than that by now. He said that pitocin does make a woman’s body dilate slower, but not usually this slow!! He was also concerned because Jacob wasn’t really moving down into the birth canal like he should be. At this point, he was still pretty high up (I think he was at -1 station for a long time!).

Dr. Montgomery said that he would come back in one hour and see if I was progressing. Well, at 3:30am, I was still at 5cm! I remember feeling a bit frustrated that I wasn't dilating more and wondering what was going to happen. Dr. Montgomery told me that he could feel Jacob’s head and that he was worried about him becoming too “coneish”. This would happen if the contractions continued to push him down into the birth canal but my cervix wasn’t open wide enough for him to come out. We talked about our options and Dr. Montgomery said that a c-section was an option that we could pursue. We talked about the pros and cons and even though he had an opinion, he never once pushed me to do anything that I wasn’t comfortable doing. We agreed that we would give my body one more hour and then we would make a decision.

At 4:30 am, Dr. Montgomery came back in and checked me again – still 5 cm!! It seems as though my body just stalled!! At this point, I didn’t care what happened to me, I was just concerned about Jacob and I wanted to be sure that he was going to be OK. Dr. Montgomery said that since my water had been broken for somewhere around 36 hours and the fact that Jacob was being pushed into a space that wasn’t really “ready” for him, he felt that a c-section would be the best option at that point. I must admit I was a bit scared and I didn’t really want a c-section, but I was excited to finally get to meet our baby and at that point, I was so tired, I was glad that it was almost over!

Before they took me down to the operating room, I had to sign some paperwork and I got a nice little shave from Liz (let me tell you, once you have a baby all modesty is out the window!!). Keith was given scrubs, shoe booties, a hair net and a mask to put on. They told him to wait in the room and they would come get him once they had me all set in the OR.

Here I am...all ready to go!

I remember thinking that the OR was a lot smaller than I had pictured it. Thankfully, though, I had paid attention in my childbirth class when our wonderful instructor talked about c-sections. I remember her saying “No one goes into labor thinking they are going to have a c-section. But, you never know. So, there are a few things you should be prepared for.” (I actually thanked her in the hospital – she was working there the day after Jake was born. I told her that having a c-section wasn’t super scary because of all of the information she had given me. I felt like I was really prepared!)

When they wheeled me into the operating room, Dr. Montgomery was standing there waiting. He said to me, “So, are you ready?” And I said, “I think so. Are you?” He laughed and I said, “You have done this before, haven’t you?” He laughed again and said, “No, but I've read a lot of books about it and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night!” I laughed so hard and was glad that he was being comical because I knew that we were all really tired (he was on call all weekend and I think Jacob was like the third or fourth baby he had delivered in 24 hours!) The nurses were really nice too and they were chatting with me to whole time I was being prepped.

Once I was on the table and completely naked (again….no modesty!!), they put the blue sheet up that separates my head from the rest of my body. Dr. Weaver (the anesthesiologist) was above my head giving me a play-by-play of what they were going to do. He told me to look up and there was a big shiny metal circle surrounding one of the lights on the ceiling. I remember him saying, “If you want to be able to see what they are doing during the procedure, you can just look at the shiny metal because it kind of works like a mirror.” I quickly said, “No thanks” and he moved the blue sheet up a little bit so I couldn’t see the light anymore. Keith was brought it and Dr. Montgomery said that they were going to begin.

I remember being really scared at that point and worried that I was going to be able to feel them cutting me. I think I even said, “Ouch, I can feel that” when really all I could feel was a little tugging. Dr. Weaver was awesome throughout the entire procedure and he, Dr. Montgomery and the nurses talked me through everything they were doing. They kept me calm and not anxious and in no time, Jacob Michael Weimer was born! He was born at exactly 5:30am. Keith stood up just in time to see him being moved from my belly to the bassinet where they were going to clean him up. I wanted him to go over and make sure he was OK and he took some great pictures of his first few minutes of life.

After they checked him out and cleaned him up a bit Keith got to cut the cord (they left a good amount hanging on so Keith could get an opportunity to cut it).

Then they wrapped him up and brought him to me. I remember being so happy at that very moment. Keith and I were both crying and we were so overjoyed to finally get to meet our little boy!

I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him, but while they sewed and cleaned me up, Keith was able to go to the nursery with him. He got to see them weigh and measure him (7 lbs, 4 oz and 20 inches long) and they did his foot prints. I remember wishing that I was able to be there while they did all of that stuff, but I was glad that Keith was able to stay with him.

They moved me out of the OR and into the recovery room. It was a small room that really only had room for one or two beds. I remember feeling shaky and cold but I wasn't in any pain because the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet. And, I was very itchy on my face and neck, which Liz told me is a side effect of the epidural. Thankfully, she was still with me and she said that we would be in recovery for about an hour. After about 30 minutes, while she was doing all the post-surgical stuff (like making me cough…which REALLY hurt!) the phone in the recovery room rang. Apparently, there was another woman who was having a c-section right after me and they were wondering if I was going to be out of the recovery room soon! Liz said I was doing so well that she felt like I was OK enough to be “let out”. Unfortunately, there was “no room at the inn” and I had to go back to my labor and delivery room for a little while until a room on the post-partum unit opened up.

Originally, they were going to bring Jacob to the recovery room so that I could try to nurse him, but since I didn’t spend very much time in there, I was able to see him in the L&D room. I remember the moment they wheeled his bassinet up next to my bed. I was in love!! I wanted to try to nurse him soon since I had read a lot about the bonding that happens between a baby and a mother in those first few hours. I really had no idea what I was doing, but the nurses were great and they tried to help me. I am not sure there was much success with latching on the first try, but over time it got better!

I had quite a lot of visitors that day, both in the L&D room and once I was taken down to the post-partum room. Unfortunately, I was not able to get up and walk around and was still catheterized. I also had to have these awful compression leg massager things on both of my legs. They were similar to blood pressure cuffs (except much larger) and they would blow up and then deflate every minute or so. I understood that I needed to keep them on so I didn’t develop blood clots in my legs, but boy were they hot and uncomfortable! It was very frustrating not being able to get up and move around and the next morning, I was VERY thankful to be able to get up and take a shower!!

My recovery from the c-section was a lot better than I had expected it to be. I was able to get up and move around pretty well in the days after Jacob’s birth. It was really nice to have Keith there pretty much the entire time! We were very fortunate because the post-partum rooms at the hospital have two beds in them (in case they have to double up when they are really busy). When they aren’t busy, they allow the husband (or whoever you want to stay with you) to use the other bed. Therefore, Keith was able to spend the night with me and pretty much be at the hospital the entire time I was there. We really took advantage of the bonding time with Jacob and we tried to learn as much as we could from the nurses. This whole parenting thing was new to us and we needed all the help we could get!!

Here is Jacob - only two days old - sleeping on my hospital bed
(from day one, he liked sleeping on his side or his tummy!)

On Wednesday, three days after he was born, we brought Jacob home with us. It was so awesome to have our little family all together in our house and since then we have been thanking God every day for bringing such a wonderful blessing into our lives!

Baby steps

Jacob has been taking small steps here and there over the past few weeks. These steps have mostly been when he is standing right in front of something, like the couch or a cupboard door, but he can't quite reach it. He would take one step forward and then kinda just fall into whatever it was he was trying to get to.

Over the weekend, we saw him looking more and more like he was going to be taking some "real" independent steps. Today, when he started to walk towards me (because he wanted the phone I was holding!), I grabbed the video camera. I'm so proud of him!!

Jacob's Birth Story - Part II

Here is Part II of Jacob's Birth Story. To view Part I, click HERE.

My sister, Katie, had arrived to visit me around 8pm and she was a good distraction between my contractions. Unfortunately for her, she was there to witness me vomiting around 9pm. I remember it like it was yesterday – Katie and Keith were talking to each other on the left side of my bed while I was trying to concentrate on breathing and not on the intense pain I was having. All of a sudden, I felt like I was going to throw up and I made a comment to Keith about it. He moved faster than I have ever seen him move to grab the puke bucket from the right side of my bed and shove it in front of me before anything came out of my mouth. It was awesome (not the puking, but Keith’s actions!). He was so kind and gentle and understanding. I felt really bad that he and Katie had to witness that, but I guess those are the kind of things that happen during labor!

Around 9:30pm, Liz came in and asked how I was doing. I remember holding on to the bed rails so hard while my contractions were coming. She would tell me that I needed to relax and not tense up during them, but all I could was squeeze my hands around those rails really hard & grit my teeth – I felt like it made the pain from the contractions just a little better. She asked me what my feeling was on having an epidural and I said, “Yes!” I remember part of me thinking that I was being a wuss and that I should keep going pain-med free, but the other part of me was not having it! Liz said that the anesthesiologist, Dr. Weaver, was in surgery at that moment (there were a lot of c-sections that weekend!), but that as soon as he got out, she would send him in.

Around 10pm, Dr. Weaver came in (I remember thinking he was never going to come!). He gave me the spiel about the procedure, but I have to admit I really didn’t hear most of it. I remember thinking, “OK already, whatever….just do what you need to do so that this pain will go away.” He told Keith to stand by the side of the bed so that I could lean my head against his chest while I was bent over and he was sticking the needle in my back. Let me say, I never really imagined how hard it would be to sit still with your feet hanging over the side of the bed while you are having very painful contractions! I also felt like Keith wasn’t standing very sturdy and I was going to fall off the bed. [Note: this is the one time that I yelled at Keith because I looked up and he was watching the TV that was on behind me. I didn’t think he was paying enough attention to what was going on with me and a big needle being put into my back! And, I felt like I was going to fall off the bed!!] Anyways, after the procedure was done, they laid me back down onto the bed and I remember thinking, “OK, anytime now. The pain is going to go away anytime now!”

Within a few minutes of administering the medicine, Dr. Weaver asked me how I was feeling and I told him I was feeling the same. No relief from the pain whatsoever. So, he turned the medicine up a bit. Still no relief. He turned it up some more and did some tests on me where he would stick me with the sharp end of a paperclip and ask me if I could feel it. Yes! I could feel everything! At this point, I remember seeing Liz & Dr. Weaver talking quietly near the door. I started to worry that something was wrong. Dr. Weaver came back to me a few minutes later and explained that sometimes the epidural doesn’t take and informed me that they would have to do it again. Are you kidding me??? I remember wondering why God was making me do this TWICE!!

Thankfully, after another very painful experience (the contractions, not the needle!) the second epidural worked! Although, as soon as I knew it was working (because the pain started to go away and I started to feel numbness in my lower extremities), I also felt like a huge elephant was sitting on my chest. It was like the numbness was taking over my diaphragm and I couldn’t breathe. I remember starting to panic, but Dr. Weaver moved fast to turn the medicine down and soon, I was able to breath a bit better. And, now I was finally feeling some relief from the contractions too! Thank God!

Keith was such a trooper through it all and he even got a “bird’s eye view” of something he probably didn’t want to see! After they administered the epidural, Liz asked him to help her by holding one of my legs while she put the catheter in. You see, since I was numb from the waist down, I had no movement in my legs and therefore couldn’t keep them spread open so she could do what she needed to do. Well, Keith went along with what she asked him to do, but I think his eyes were still on the TV in the room while the procedure was going on!

Unfortunately, my poor sister was stuck out in the waiting room the entire time they were administering both of the epidurals. She had no idea what was taking so long and she even came to the door at one point and asked if everything was OK. After the second epidural, she came back in and I was much more of an enjoyable person to be around! By this time, it was around 11:30pm and Dr. Montgomery came back in to do another internal exam. He said that I was at 4 cm (if you are counting, that’s only one cm in almost three hours!!). He said that he was glad that I was progressing, albeit slooooowly. He suggested we try to get some rest since it was late and I was almost pain-free [Note: I always thought once you got an epidural the pain would go away 100%. This is not completely true. I still had some discomfort, but it wasn’t nearly the kind of pain I was feeling before the epidural!]

So, Katie left to go home…not before taking this picture:

Don't we look a little sleepy?

They turned down the lights in the room and we tried to get some rest. Keith was able to sleep in a reclining chair but I was so anxious (not to mention that Liz would come in every 30 minutes to check my vitals and re-position me), that I wasn’t able to get any sleep. I think I was a bit nervous too, wondering how this was all going to progress.

To be continued…