A few weeks ago, Nic bought me a new Medela Freestyle Pump. Earlier in the day on Sunday, I became curious and decided to try it out. So I did and had some success pumping some milk. So that evening, I let Nic feed Bryce for the first time. Fortunately we have not had any problems going between nursing and the bottle.

I was a little concerned about Fara and how she would react when Bryce was born. She has pleasantly surprised me because she has done very well with the new man in the house. She does not act jealous at all nor does she bark when he cries. Mostly right now she's just curious. Monday morning I caught her staring at me and Bryce while she was sitting with Nic.

Just a cute photos taken Monday evening.

A cute shot of Fara watching Bryce in his bouncer seat.

Monday evening Nic and I attempted to give Bryce a "bath"...okay actually it was a sponge bath. Until his umbilical cord stump falls off we are only to give him a sponge bath. It didn't go exactly as planned. As soon as we undressed him, he started screaming, and continued while I tried to quickly wipe him down. It was quite traumatizing not only for him but for me. Needless to say, this in the only photo I got.

Sweet photos

Here is Bryce trying out his swing for the first time. He seems to like it just fine, however right now it seems it swings to fast so we just manually push it.

Today was our first day to leave the house since we came home Saturday evening. Bryce had his first checkup with the pediatrician, and I got to have my staples removed. Here he is ready to go out. It was too bad, this outfit didn't last past the doctor's visit because it got wet.

It's funny how before Bryce was born, Nic didn't like the hats with his outfits, but today now that Bryce is here and wearing them, he likes them.

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This evening while Bryce was in the swing Nic was bent down talking to him and I saw Fara sitting there, I could not resist the cute photo. I think Fara really likes Bryce. Unfortunately all I had to take a picture with was my Blackberry, so please excuse the quality.

Settling in

So yesterday morning when the OB came in to check my staples he asked us if we wanted to go home that evening or the next morning. We didn't hesitate to make the decision that did we wanted to go home that night. So he said we'd be discharged between 6 and 8pm.

The only thing on the agenda for the day was that Dr Knippers was going to do Bryce's circumcism. In the meantime Nic's Grandma and Grandpa came up to see us. Besides them our only visitors for the day were my Mom and my sister Melissa. Melissa brought us lunch from Arby's, which was one of my favorites during my entire pregnancy. Mom showed up while Bryce was still in the nursery after getting his circumcism.

The circumcism procedure itself only took 10 to 15 minutes. Bryce weighed 7 lb 2 oz, he only had lost 4 oz from birth, which really good for a breast fed baby. Dr Knippers came in after he finished and said Bryce did great, he didn't cry once, but Dr Knippers said he himself almost started crying when he saw his work of art! He's a pretty funny guy! He then told us we were free to go. We didn't realize he meant pretty much right then. So after my mom visited a bit, we packed up, I got a tetnus shot and around 5pm we were out the door! After a stop at Walgreen to get a presciption, we were home around 6pm.

Here's Nic and his boy on Saturday morning.

Here's little man dressed to go home.



Our family.

Bryce in his bassinet for the first time when we got home Saturday evening.




Today was our first full day home. Our first night at home was very similar to the nights in the hospital, up every couple hours to nurse and change diapers. However I did miss the recline of the hospital bed that would help me get out of bed.

Our day was nice and quiet, Bryce got to sit in his bouncee seat for the first time. He's seems to like it pretty well.

This evening my Mom, Todd, Melissa, Audrey and Kell will be visiting us.

Bryce is here!!

Bryce Owen Guthrie was born Thursday November 19th, 2009 at 10:18pm via c-section. He weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was a whopping 21 5/8 inches long!

First off here is my final belly shot taken around 7pm the evening before we went to the hospital, so a little over 27 hours before Bryce was born.

As I had posted earlier in the week we had scheduled an induction and arrived at the hospital as planned at 7:30am (actually a little before). The two evenings prior I had gotten acupuncture which targeted some points that would help labor. Who knows if it really helped, but I had dilated 2 cm when I first arrived. They started my IV after blowing the first vein they tried, then my Doctor broke my water around 8:50am. That its self was quite an experience. We soon learned that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, which meant Bryce was possibly going to have it in his lungs so they said they would have neo-natal in standby, but I did not need to worry. Surprisingly I didn't at that moment.

Around 10am they had me start rocking with the aid of a birth ball because they suspected that he was face up because I was feeling my contractions in my lower back. I did that as long as I could, and I started to feel contraction pain in the front.

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As expected and intended my contractions got stronger and stronger. After being asked many times if I was ready for my epidural I finally caved and got it around 1pm, at that point I was dilated 4 cm and was 90% effaced. All I can say about the epidural is WOW! I can't imagine why anyone would turn that down. From that point labor was pretty effortless...but long. I was able to go back to smiling and visiting, and relaxing. I'm sure I even got a couple naps in. The picture below was taken around 2pm, and trust me before my epidural it was getting really hard to smile and visit.

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However, a couple hours with the epidural I was put on oxygen because Bryce wasn't as excited (based on his heart rate) as they would have liked him to be. My blood pressure also was really low, going as low at 90/44. After flipping from side to side we found my blood pressure was better and Bryce's heart rate activity was better on one side than the other.

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Here I am with the annoying oxygen mask, probably also getting a little bit of rest.

At some point they took me off the pitocin because I was having regular contractions (2 to 4 minutes apart) all on my own. Regardless I stalled at 5 cm for hours. Around 6pm they started me back on the pitocin. Slowly I dilated to a 6 then to a 7. Then around 9:30pm, while we were all watching the OSU/Colorado football game (that for some reason was being played on a Thursday night), the doctor came in and looked at the monitor and frowned and decided Bryce was going to be born via c-section.

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I was definitely upset because a c-section was the last thing I wanted, but the first thing I wanted was our baby to be born healthy and I was willing to do whatever that took. Of course I cried to myself even though everyone who was in the room when the announcement was made knew I was. Now that I look at the picture below, Nic may have been crying as well. From the moment they told us, Nic was absolutely wonderful holding my hand and stroking my face.

Here is Nic, prepared for my c-section.



Shortly after they took me away to get me prepped and medicated for the c-section. Then just before they began they went and got Nic and he held my hand until he began his role as daddy and Bryce became his responsibility.




After a long day that surprisingly went by really fast with my Mom, Nic's Mom, my Dad, Melissa, Kell, Nic's brother Brian, and Amanda sticking it out until the very end, our beautiful baby boy was born into this world.






We are very thankful for everyone that visited and helped the day go by.




Bryce just a couple minutes after taking his first breaths. Despite having to have the meconium vacuumed from his lungs, they worked perfectly. There is also a video at the bottom of the page.





Here he is weighing in at 7 pounds and 6.4 ounces.

He made really good use out of his lungs, I remember laying there while they were sewing me up and just smiling hearing him scream and scream. It's a reassuring sound, especially when there's nothing else you can do.






His Mamo and Uncle Brian watching and waiting.



Right from the beginning he was very bright-eyed and alert.






When I was laying in the operating room, Nic briefly brought him in and showed him to me. Below is the first time I got to really study him and of course hold him over an hour after he was born.

He was soon out of my hands so I could rest and recover and quickly met everyone. Here he with his his Granny.

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Here Bryce is with his Mamo.

With his aunt Melissa.

With his Aunt Amanda.

It was worth all the wait and all of the work.

The first night wasn't too bad. I couldn't get out of bed for 12 hours after my c-section, so Nic was the one who had to get up and hand him to me. He was really great. Of course I still had to wake up and nurse him.

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Friday was the day for visitors. One of our early visitors was our friend Trisha. It was easy for her to come see us because she worked in the hospital. Here she is helping Nic change Bryce's diaper.

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All of our visitors for Friday were: Nic's dad, my Mom, Melissa, Audrey, Amanda P, Trisha, Joey, Melanie, Kristi, Carolyn, Amanda A, Ashley & Cambrey, my cousin Angela, my Grandpapy, my cousin Evan and his wife Channing, our friends Jesse and Amy with their daughters Jacy and Ally, our sister-in-law Wendi, Nic's Grandpa, Bryan & Frankie, and Steve.


Me and our baby boy.

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The video taken minutes after his birth.

Could it be my last prenatal Doctor's appt???

It's very likely that it was!

We went in on Friday for potentially our last prenatal Dr's appointment. Unfortunately we had no change in dilation, but the cervix is soft. I gained back the 1 1/2 lbs I had lost on my previous weigh-in, in fact I weighed exactly what I weighed 2 weeks prior. So my total weight gain is 20.4 lbs. He measured my uterus, but at this point I didn't care to ask what it was...the end is near. My blood pressure was back down (thankfully) to 128/79. Once again the nurse said Bryce's heart rate was 150 bpm. I'd wish Nic would have counted it, but he was too busy mouthing what he expected the nurse to say behind her back (and he was right).

The Doctor did go ahead and schedule to induce us on the 19th, 2 days before the due date. I know there are mixed feelings about inducing and I'm in the middle of the road on it. I'll try to focus on the advantages: it's corresponds with how I like to be in control of things and avoid uncertainty when I can. It somewhat guarantees that it will be my Doctor that delivers Bryce. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, where we get to hold our baby boy in our arms.

We did ask if we could try to do it later (after the due date), but apparently with the Thanksgiving holiday they had no other openings. The Doctor did put us on a cancellation list in the event there is a later date that comes open before Thanksgiving. He also said the scheduling lady likes him, so she'd definitely let him know. In the reality of it, there is a small chance we won't be induced on the 19th if there is a cancellation and we choose to take it, and of course there's always a chance he comes on his own before then. It's pretty crazy to think this is probably the last weekend that Nic and I will be considered a couple, by next weekend we will be a family and be taking on the most important role of our lives as parents.

So other odds and ends...

I've been working on a Belly Book. The Belly Book is a journal of my pregnancy. It has places for weekly belly shots, as well as a spot for my favorite maternity outfit. So last weekend before I went to lunch with my cousins, Cristi and Angela, and my sister Melissa, I decided I would take a picture for this place in my book since I was wearing one of my favorite outfits. Being a blue jean girl naturally jeans would be part of that favorite outfit. They are Old Navy brand and super comfortable. There are also a couple shirts that I really like to wear with them. Below is that picture.

Last night we had dinner with our cruise group from a year ago. In fact a year ago on this date we were on the last day of a fantastic cruise : (. We all wanted to get a dinner in before I had the baby, because 3 out of the 4 couples that went on this cruise are pregnant. The other couple actually welcomed their first grandbaby at the end of August. So we made a point to get a picture of the 3 pregnant gals while we were pregnant together... barely.

Trisha on the left just found out a couple weeks ago that she was pregnant and right now her estimated due date is around July 8th. Kristi in the middle is due April 2nd. Then of course there's me on the right, wearing no makeup and looking a lot like my mom if I might add. I'll also note this is one of my other favorites shirts to wear with my favorite Old Navy maternity jeans, which were being worn but not pictured.

Nesting has definitely been in full effect this week, I'm trying to get as much laundry done as I can. I've also been sweeping and mopping the floors, vacuuming, cleaning the refigerator out, thinking about tackeling the pantry, and finishing odds and ends in the baby's room and around the house.

We did install the car seat base in my car Wednesday evening. I wasn't completely happy with it, so I tinkered with it some more on Friday. Still I wasn't happy with it, so Nic and I finally got it how it needed to be Saturday afternoon. So the car seat is ready and I've got my back packed and in the car too.

Doctor's visit...

Today I went back for my weekly visit. Baby is definitely low in my pelvis, as the doctor put it he is "locked, loaded and ready". I was pretty certain he had moved down since I have some relief of frequent heartburn/indigestion and some new and unusual pains. I lost a little over a pound from last week, so my total weight gain is back below 20 lbs. From what I've ready at this point in the pregnancy the weight gain does level off and as always if there was a problem my Doctor would definitely let me know. My blood pressure was the highest that it has been (probably ever) at 142/83. I'll probably have Nic check again to make sure that it was just nerves. No dilation worth mentioning...but that's okay he'll come when he's ready. The fundal height was 36 cm, again consistant growth.

Two weeks and two days until the due date. I really hope I don't have to wait any longer than that, I'm getting REALLY anxious to see him.

Doctor's visit, Halloween, and birthday...oh my!

Last Thursday (Oct 29th) was the first of my weekly doctor's visits. I was 36 weeks and 5 days on that visit. I was so lucky to get to have my Group Strep B test done (imagine sarcasm). I'm sure I'll get the results at this week's visit. I'd gained 3.2 lbs since last visit, so about 1 lb a week. My blood pressure was 120/79, a little higher than normal. The baby's heart rate according to the nurse was...150 BPM...surprise! The fundal height measurement was 35cm, so his growth is consistent.

They told me they had the H1N1 vaccine and offered it to me. Once again my nurse was against it, but my doctor thought it was a good idea. I had been comptemplating for a while about it, even after I thought I had decided against it, but I continued to research and reading the facts. I really liked the fact that some immunity would be passed to Bryce, because he wouldn't be able to get the vaccine until he was 6 months old. So Nic and I decided I should go ahead with it. The nurse said I was the first to take it. Look at me, someone who hates needles has voluntarily taken 2 shots...oh things we'll do for our children. I have no doubts and am very glad I went ahead and got the vaccine...and better yet I'm still walking and Bryce is still just as active as ever... however his movements are getting a little painful in my crowded torso.

This weekend was Halloween. This year we skipped out on hosting our own traditional Halloween party for obvious reasons. I did still get myself a 'costume'. My costume was simply a black skeleton t-shirt with a baby skeleton on the belly. I got a lot of complements on it, and I even think Nic liked it. Nic was on duty Halloween, so I went trick or treating with Audrey and Kell. Audrey was dressed as a little indian princess and Kell was a boxer.

 

Once we got Kell in his costume and he got the hang of it, he really enjoyed it. He would go up to the door and start knocking and yell "Knock, knock" then he'd say his rendition of "trick or treat" which was something like "tricky treat" (see pictures and video below). He would inspect each piece of candy he received and even try to eat it right then. Toward the end he started saying "more" after they would put candy in his bucket. We told him no, but it was still very cute.

Audrey the Indian Princess.

We walked a little slower than everyone else.

Audrey being really good about helping Kell.

Kell's chasing Audrey like he's a monster.


Kell wanted to ring the door bell, but wasn't quite tall enough.



The video

After a short rest after trick or treating, Melissa and I went to my friend Kristi's halloween party. Kristi is also pregnant (due April 2nd) and is definitely far braver than I was to host a Halloween party.

Melissa was dressed as Britney Spears if you couldn't tell.

Kristi and me, the pregnant gals.

Melanie, Kristi, me and Melissa

Sunday was my birthday. I didn't want to make a big event of it, so Nic and I just went to dinner with my friend Amanda and her boyfriend. As become the tradition we went to Shogun's. I've actually been craving it for a while, so I'm surprised I was able to hold off this long. It was everything I expected.

Today we had my little birthday party at the office. Below is the pretty cake Becky got me. 5 of the candles represent 5 years then the 4 that are closer together represent one year each to make the grand total of 29, yea they improvised a little. Overall I had a great birthday, but it definitely wasn't the date I'm looking forward to most in the month of November.