2016 in review

Even though January is coming to an end, I thought I would do a little 2016 year in review! With the arrival of baby Jack, we didn’t get around to sending out Christmas cards to all of our friends and family.

We started the year off planning our trip to Australia for my one of my best friends’ wedding. I was lucky enough to be her Matron of Honor! Since Chad and I had already been to Australia a few times, we decided to use this trip as the perfect excuse to see New Zealand!

After the wedding we hopped a flight to New Zealand. We rented a camper van and drove along the south island. We had a blast camping out and the scenery was amazing!! We were able to visit wineries, go sky diving, and just enjoy each others company while taking in the most wonderful views! It was such an awesome vacation and I always forget how much I love camping! 🙂

Chad’s sister watched Preston while we were gone. It was so nice to get away knowing he was in good hands! We sure did miss him though! Two weeks away was definitely long enough!

Shortly after returning from ‘down under’ we found out we were expecting a baby due in December!

Chad also started traveling to Nebraska for work 4-5 days a week upon returning from our trip. I definitely had my hands full with Preston and being pregnant (and sick until 27 weeks…okay, who am I kidding?? I was sick up until the day that I had Jack). The good news was that Chad had accepted a new role in Chicagoland and, thankfully, he wouldn’t be traveling in his new role. So while he finished up his days traveling, Preston and I were at home cleaning and keeping our house in perfect condition for showings. It was a crazy 6 months filled with house hunting trips, inspections, and more house hunting trips.

{{side note, we actually made an offer on a house, it was accepted, and then we decided to back out after the inspection–this happened towards the end of October. We ended up going back to the first house we fell in love with, made an offer, and luckily it was accepted on the evening of October 30th.}}

The plan was for Preston and I to stay at our house in Iowa until it sold, thankfully, it sold in 3 weeks and we were able to join Chad in Illinois. We closed on our house November 30th and were able to get moved in and settled that weekend. We had family come over to help us unpack and organize our whole house!! It was such a blessing considering I was about 37 weeks pregnant by then.

In December I scouted out some schools for Preston. We got him enrolled in a cute little school that is just a couple miles from our house! It was a little transition for him; new house, new school, new baby brother on the way…but he’s done so well! It’s so awesome hearing him tell us stories about what he learns at school.

We were able to host Christmas for my family! They were hoping Jack would make his appearance while they were all here…but of course that didn’t happen! He decided to wait a little longer.

We finally were able to meet our little bundle on December 30th. He arrived in less than 3 hours and has had our hearts ever since! He was 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long. He has been such a good baby so far. He’s very content and easy going and gives me baby fever (is that even possible?!?! haha). We can’t wait to watch him grow–hopefully not too fast though!

Preston has really taken to being a big brother. He loves Jack so much already! He’s always wanting to kiss him and hold him. He’s been a good helper too, always fetching me things, doing tummy time with Jack, helping with bath time, giving Jack his binky, or as punk calls it, his ‘pinky’. 🙂 Although, Preston has tested me on more occasions than I’d like to admit, at least he loves his brother! My sweet boy has decided to rebel against his Mom a bit. He still loves construction sites and machinery. He’s smart and silly and the perfect mix of Chad and me. We look forward to seeing his relationship with Jack grow into something special! (I’ve already gotten them 3 matching sweaters for next winter and matching bowties for Christmas!! YAY!)

We were able to ring in the New Year from the hospital and were discharged the next day. We definitely started the year off with a bang! We were able to bring our new addition to our new home for the very first time on January 1st.

Well, that was our year in a nutshell! Can’t wait to see what 2017 has in store for us!!

We hope the New Year brings you all the happiness. ❤

…until next time! xoxo ❤

 

 

 

Jack Urban – one month!

Our little sweet potato is ONE MONTH old today!! I can’t even believe how fast his first month has gone!

Jack made pictures easy this morning because he was being so smiley and content! Jack is 11 lbs 4 oz. That is about a 4 pound weight gain since we left the hospital.

He loves looking out out the window and being snuggled! He sleeps 5 hour stretches so I feel pretty refreshed most of the time!! 🙌🏿 You can’t really tell in the pictures but it looks like Jack’s eyes are turning from grey to blue. So we’ll see what they end up being–but for now, they look blueish!

Here is a side by side comparison of Jack with his big brother, Preston.

Preston is on the left and Jack is on the right. {{you can tell how much iPhone camera quality has changed within the last 3 years!!}}

its crazy to see how much baby Jack has changed within the last month. Here are weekly pictures of our little guy!

one week: 8 lbs 4 oz

two weeks: 9 lbs 4 oz

three weeks: 10 lbs 8 oz

four weeks: 11 lbs 2 oz

the photo from ‘4 weeks’ was just a couple days ago 😛

Sweet  baby Jack has made life so much sweeter!! ❤️😊

…until next time! Xoxo ❤️

Labor and Delivery!

Well, this story goes a little differently than what I had hoped. And by little I mean very little because in the end I had everything I’d ever wanted. Another healthy baby boy.

The morning of December 30th was my induction day. Yep, you heard me, induction day. Being induced wasn’t what I wanted at all. I never thought I’d ever get to this point because my first was 4 days early! But alas, the day arrived and I was still with child.

When I woke up that morning, still pregnant as can be, I couldn’t believe I would be meeting my baby in the near future. The bad thing about being induced, for me, was the anticipation. I had no idea what to expect. I was worried that things wouldn’t progress, I was worried they’d force me into a c-section if my body wouldn’t do what it was supposed to. I had already felt like my body had let me down in a way. Why hadn’t I gone into labor on my own?? 

At the clinic I go to they won’t let you go past 41 weeks. I wasn’t upset at them about it because I KNOW they know what’s best for my baby and me. I also have way too many medical professionals in my life that wouldn’t let me go past the 41 week mark. (My sister is a pediatrician, my SIL is a NICU nurse, my Mom was a nurse, my cousin is a nurse…the list goes on…)

The positive side of being induced, was that we were able to arrange for my parents to come up the night before to watch Preston and our pup, Bentley. We just recently moved (like last month) and didn’t have anyone to call to watch Preston if I would have gone into labor on my own. I was also able to shower and put on a bit of make-up before heading in. 🙂

Okay, back to induction day:

So we got to the hospital shortly before 8am. I filled out a bit of paperwork and they took us back to my room. I changed into my gown and they took my vitals and checked my cervix. I was still 3 cm. At 9:15am they gave me the lowest dose of pitocin to get things moving and contractions started immediately. They were still pretty infrequent, but they were getting stronger and I was getting more uncomfortable as the time went on. About an hour later they came in to check my cervix again, I had dilated more so they decided to break my water (ouch). They ordered me an epidural and I got it at 10:30 since they were pleased with how quickly I was progressing. My parents came into the room for a little bit with Preston, but they weren’t in there long because I was 10 cm by 11:20. When they told me that, I just started crying! I couldn’t believe I was going to meet my son SO SOON! #tearsofjoy

They were going to have me wait to start pushing so that baby could make his way down the birth canal on his own. Around noon the nurse came in and she had me do a trail push to see where things were at. She said we’d wait until the doctor came in and in the meantime she had me laying with the ‘peanut ball’ between my legs. The doctor came back into the room and I started pushing at 12:10pm. I pushed once and his head came out. I couldn’t hear him crying even though his head was out!! The first thing I said was, ‘why isn’t he crying?!’. My doctor reassured me he would. I pushed once more and she told me not to push so hard because baby was coming out fast. One last easy push and the rest of his body came out. I pushed a total of 3 times, through one contraction, it had only been 2 minutes since I had started pushing. He made his debut at 12:12 pm. Once he was out, it still took him a bit to cry.

My doctor told me that she had to cut his umbilical cord before he could even get out because it was wrapped around his head and his arm–so it was really tight on him! Once she got that cut, she handed him to me, and that’s why I was worried because he hadn’t cried yet! He did cry just a bit later, it just seemed a lot longer to me-in the heat of things! My sweet boy had finally made it into my arms! All 7 lbs and 11 oz of him!! He was 20 inches long and got an 8 and then 9 out of 10 on his apgars.

We had decided on a name a while ago, but needed to wait to see him before we committed. Once he was born, we were sure that he was going to be our little Jack Urban. That and the fact that Preston had already told his school that he was going to have a baby brother names Jack Urban. haha! The stinker!!

The name Jack and the name Urban are both family names.

So far he has just been the best baby! He’s pretty easy going so far. We rarely hear him cry, well except for when he needs an outfit change!

The first night we brought him home, I didn’t set my alarm to wake up because I figured he’d be up every hour or so like Preston was. But he ended up sleeping a 5 hour stretch! I was so refreshing to get a good night sleep, but I haven’t let him sleep that long since. I make sure he eats at least every 4 hours to keep that blood sugar up! The good news is that he usually falls right back asleep, so I’m able to get back to bed as well.

Preston has loved having Baby Jack home. He is the best big brother. He loves kissing and hold Jack. He is so gentle with him, too. Unfortunately, Preston picked up a nasty bug over the weekend and so we’ve had to keep him away from Jack as much as possible.

So far, Chad and I are adjusting to life with two kids! I’m a little nervous to see how things go once Chad returns to work, but I’m hoping I can channel the inner supermom in me, and things won’t be so bad. :O

His first bath:

Mommy and her boys:

The welcome committee:

Heading home!!

Our sweet little baby Jack:

Perfect way to start the new year! I hope everyone had a happy new year as well!!

This is how we brought in the new year:

Well, I better wrap this up, I’ve got a baby stirring next to me looking for his next meal! 😉

…until next time! xoxo ❤

Overdue.

Well, I made it to 41 weeks with our newest addition! Let’s just say I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I actually was, until I pushed him out and I told my doctor how great I felt with all of that pressure off of my back!

I didn’t get a picture at 39 weeks because it was my 31st birthday and I had other things on my agenda. 🙂 So here is a picture of me at 40 weeks on December 23rd.

By 40 weeks and 5 days I had a lot of people reaching out to me to see if I’d had the baby, or at least any contractions. So I figured I would update them all!  Haha.

(I was 2 cm at 38 weeks and 3 cm at 39 weeks. You’d think that would have meant the baby was coming soon. It didn’t!)

And here is the final picture of me at 41 weeks! Large and in charge for sure!!

Stay tuned for my next post on the arrival of our sweet baby boy.

…until next time! xoxo ❤