A week with family...

Sorry it has been so long. We have had the pleasure of spending the past week with Tom's family who all came to us from their respective homes to spend Thanksgiving with us. We also celebrated Christmas together. It was really great fun to have everyone together. We also had fun having our little niece here and watching she and Nathan together. Nate can't really participate, nor was he even aware of her, but it was fun to watch what a big difference 6 months can make. She was somewhat interested in him. Tom's sister, Amy, took some great pictures of them this week. I am sure we will be using one or more of those as Nate's birth announcement/our Christmas card.

Nathan with Grandpa Nathan.

Jessamyn & Nate with Uncle Adam.
The whole family.

Jessa & Nate

The best gift!

Grandma and Grandpa had a wonderful time loving on the cute little grandbabies! Now Nate has met 3 out of 4 of his grandparents (not counting 3 great-grandparents). Pappy is scheduled to visit in about 10 days. Nate will also get to meet the 3 great-grandparents at Christmas time. He sure is one loved little boy.

Learning to be a Mom...

Wow. So I know everyone always says that babies don't come with a user's manual...but they should. I have spent a lot of time in my life baby sitting and caring for babies. But wow, it is a lot harder being the parent. I have always been the one following the schedule set by the parents, not the one setting the schedule. I feel responsibility to make the decisions about when and where he sleeps and running his schedule. I also read a book called "On Becoming Baby Wise" before having Nate. It suggests a schedule for the day with the idea of helping the baby sleep through the night by 9 weeks. I have been trying to follow this schedule, but it is harder than I thought it would be. I keep thinking that this should come more easily and naturally than it does.
I love being a Mom and it is worth it, but it is harder to make the decisions for Nate than I ever thought it would be. Hopefully it will get easier and easier...although I know there will be new challenges.

Speaking of loving being a Mom....it is amazing how quickly you fall in love with a little tiny baby. I have never fallen in love so quickly in all my life. I never really pictured myself with a son, I always pictured myself with daughters. When I got pregnant I just knew that it was a boy, so he wasn't really a surprise. The thing that is surprising is that I love being in my little house full of men. I am having great fun hanging out with Tom and Nate. They are the light of my life!

Did you know that after having a c-section you can't drive for 4-6 weeks? I didn't. So here I am hanging out alone (with Nate) at the house. So I may write more than I would otherwise.

A week with Nana

Well we took Nana to the airport this morning. I think we were all a little sad to see her go. What a big help she was! She and Trina had a schedule down pat and were up and down all night with our little man. It was such a huge help for me to be able to catch up on school work without having to worry about sleeping through the night. I was a bit behind but during the last week I have been able to make up everything I missed. I also had 3 quizzes and a practical exam this past week so Nana's help was so much appreciated. I did fine on all of them thanks to all the help. Thanks to Pappy for letting his wife be gone so long, we know that was tough for both of them to be apart. Thank you guys so much!! We love You!!

So on the way home from the airport Trina and I are realizing that Nate isn't leaving, we're actually parents! Wierd! Funny how that takes so long to sink in.

Trina had her first adverse diaper changing event this afternoon. Evidently our little guy is also a fountain impersonater and hit mama twice during one change. He got Nana and I the other night. Sneaky I tell ya! We are learning.

We are looking forward to having my family here the week of Thanksgiving. It's gonna be a full house but should be fun. Grandma and Grandpa will be here (my folks) and Uncle Joe & Aunt Amy and cousin Jessa, and also Uncle Adam. Should be a whole lot of fun with the whole family. We are stoked! Well enough playing around back to the books for me...well how bout 1 more video before I go..hehe

A Miracle

Wow, today is a good day. Nate's one week birthday was yesterday. The first week was a hard one for me, but it is getting much better. Last time I wrote I was having headaches...those lasted through yesterday. Yesterday Nate and I had our second follow-up with our doctor, who called the hospital and got me in to have a procedure done for those headaches. I am glad he took the initiative to do so, as I obviously wasn't able to make myself do it. I had convinced myself that the headaches were just about anything but "spinal" headaches and I just wasn't giving in mentally to the idea :) Stubborn! But anyway, he suggested that I at least try and see if it eliminates any portion of the headache so that we could at least rule it out. I was seen nearly immediately at the hospital in the "pain clinic" for a blood patch. Essentially they gave me another epidural, but this time instead of injecting medicine into it, they injected my own blood. The blood was drawn from my arm and put into my back. They have you lay flat on your stomach during the procedure, which made me nervous, but actually didn't end up hurting. Then after you lay flat on your back for about a half an hour. I guess the blood clots around the spot of the epidural and seals the puncture site. This stops the leakage of cerebral spinal fluid that is causing the headaches. They all seemed to think that I should feel better immediately, I didn't. However, today has been a new day. I haven't had a headache today and have been able to get up and walk around and get out of the house. We even went out for bagels and coffee this morning!!! What a good day. I have been able to do more in the way of taking care of Nate today as well. I want to be able to function on my own by this weekend, when my mom leaves.

So here are some pictures of our last few days....I know that is what most of you tuned in for anyway :)

Nate's first Doctor's appointment. He seems to like Dr Stephens, although he did fill his diaper just in time for his exam!! He wanted to see what Dr Stephens response would be :)

Sleeping with Daddy is pretty fun stuff!

Mama had headaches for a week. It was easiest for her if Nate just slept on her chest, so that she didn't have to get up.

Nate's Halloween costume.

Feeling normal enough to go out for bagel's and coffee!!!! Yippee

Mama and Nate in the nursery.

Yeah, Mama feels pretty good today!

Nate's a big boy. He likes sitting up in his boppy pillow.

Back to Work

Well life has been a bit of a blur but things are finally beginning to slow down. I am beginning to get beack into the swing of school, though it has been a bit of a struggle. Med school goes at a pace that makes your head spin so missing four days really put me behind-not that I don't always feel behind-so I am trying to play a little catch-up. Luckily I missed a "good" week to miss. Trina is feeling much better today and so we are all enjoying life a little more than usual this morning with a trip to get some bagels and coffee.

To be continued....
Tom

I am a MOM!!!

Sunday night / Monday morning at 12:30 I woke-up to go to the bathroom and my water broke. We packed up our stuff and headed to the hospital. Once at the hospital they started me on a pitocin drip to start contractions. By 5:30 it was working and i was feeling it. At 9:00 am they tried to give me an epidural....I have scoliosis and am not sure if that plays into the story, but the epidural was not done as planned. I got a "spinal" rather than an epidural, meaning it was inserted deeper and has a few more risks....and had to be "re-dosed" every hour or so. At 3:00pm they said I was almost completely dilated and would start pushing soon. Well it wasn't then until 5:00 pm that the last fraction of my cervix was done and they let me start pushing, which felt better than trying to stop that urge. I pushed from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm with essentially no progress. My doctor, who is a family practice physician, called in another physician who was the chief OB/GYN in the hospital for consultation. He decided that Nate was not turned up or down, but was rather facing sideways. His head was down and stuck in the birth canal, but no going to go any further. At that time they decided to do a C-section. Now the accidental "spinal" was kind of nice, as it could give more complete block for the pain. Nate was born at 9:10 pm on Monday, October 29th. He was 8 lbs and 6.8 oz. I was in recovery to really see and kiss my son by about 11:00 pm. I was in my private room at about 1:00 am - 24 hours after the process started.

Wow what an amazing experience. I think I strained my shoulder, neck and head muscles during the 3 hours of unsuccessful pushing, which has left me with am amazing headache. I have a hard time sitting straight up, walking or straining. The difficult thing is that one side affect of a "spinal" is a "spinal headache" when spinal fluid leaks from the insertion site. I don't think that is what this head ache is, but it had the physicians and medical personnel a little worried. They let Nate and I go home today, but I am still struggling to even bathe myself or go to the bathroom by myself. Luckily my mom flew out yesterday to help. She and Tom are having to care for me and little Nate too! Hopefully in the next few days I will be more able to function and help care for my new little son. I can hold him in bed and am trying to nurse him, but can't change his diapers or clothes or do much else for him. Luckily we can still cuddle. Any way, just wanted to share and show you some pictures of my CUTE little boy, who by the way has a round head....not all squished like most babies :)

This is Nate under the UV lights as he was a little jaundiced. As I feel better and am have time to figure out our new life together I am excited to write and tell you all about it!

In Love with Nathan Rodger Willson....

His Mom