1st Week in Review

I can't say that I have the time to make this a big narrative post, so I'll just hit some highlights for both of my beautiful children. :-)

Hattie's 1st Week of Life:

- eating like a champ, surpassed birth weight (6.9) by her newborn appointment (4 days old) with a weight of 6.10... she also grew 1/2 an inch. 19 1/4 to 19 3/4

- She's also sleeping like a champ at night, she's been pulling 3-4 hour stretches already at night. It's usually the first stretch, but those after the big one are at least 2 hrs if not more. During the day she also sleeps quite a bit. We try to keep her up when she does wake up, but it doesn't take much for her to crash!

- The milk has been flowing! (probably why she's plumping up). I have 30+ oz in the freezer already and get an average of 4 oz in the freezer a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how much I can get her to eat in the daytime. We almost ALWAYS pump at night after she eats after her long stint in bed. I'm about to explode when she wakes me up and then when she starts nursing the let down makes it super worse, I survive though and it's all worth it when I get it in the bag/freezer for a later meal.

- She's had a lot of 1sts already... - 1st Chuckwagon race (2 in fact), 1st Wagon Ride (driven by her brother), 1st Shopping outing (to get her diapers and NB clothes), and 1st Fireworks display (Party in the Park- she slept right through them).


JONAH Update:
- Still massively in love with Chuckwagon racing. He participated in his first Pee Wee Chuckwagon race this weekend. He galloped the whole way, followed his wagon (even though they went the wrong way) and looked SO cute. I'm hoping to have a video on here soon.

- LOVING his little sister SO much. Every morning he has to find her right away and then give her a kiss on her head. He is always trying to help and loves to talk to her when she's awake. He's read books to her, shaken rattles for her, and sings to her. I'm sure she is getting sick of the ABCs, Little Teapot, and Apples and Bananas.

- LOVES to be outside, he's probably the happiest one about no rain as he gets to be outside playing as much as possible. He rides his trike, Thomas the Train, plays golf, runs around on his stick horse, swings on his swingset, drives his tractors around, and attempts to ride the dog. :-)

- He had a lot of fun at Party in the Park this weekend. He rode in a pony cart, in the barrel train, and watched the fireworks. He missed the rest of it due to going to the Chuckwagon races on Sat & Sun, but I'm sure he didn't mind. ;-)

Jonah at his first Pee Wee Chuckwagon Race.... not sure why the sound doesn't work? I'll keep working on that. Just glad my camera finally imported! 

Our 1st Night as a Family of 4

We got home from the hospital around noonish. Dad grilled chops, mom put things away, Jonah was bonkers,  and Hattie was sleeping.

Hattie slept pretty much the entire day and night. She got a bath which woke her up just for the bath and then she went right back to snoozing. She didn't eat much and hadn't had a wet or dirty all day- night and I was getting nervous when we went to bed at 10. I got her to eat from a medela bottle, milked I pumped earlier in the day b/c I needed to and she wasn't ready to eat b/c she was SLEEPING! She took about an ounce and then passed out again. I'm sure she found it hard to stay awake after eating that much, but we were still nervous since food was going in, but nothing was coming out.

Finally around 3am and a few what I felt were failed attempts at getting her to eat (3 min here, 5 min there) I called the OB floor at Allen. I gave them our scoop and the nurse said she was fine, that we just needed to give her a little more time, and that she's probably just really worn out from the travel, transitioning, and nursing. She assured me that if she's taken that much milk at once (the 1oz from the bottle) that she's doing fantastic and that we should just try again around 5am, that would give us a bit of a longer stretch and maybe she'd be more hungry and ready to eat then.

So I went to bed, put Hattie back in her bed, said a prayer or two... reminded myself to let go and let God... and slept until 4:45am when she woke us up. :-) I've never been more relieved to hear a cry. Josh was thrilled too, I think he was out of bed before me. :-) She ate decently well and even had a big dirty diaper! I don't think I've ever been more thrilled about a poopy diaper either! :-) She's had a few more dirty diapers again today so we've got a healthy one on our hands.

She ate on one side pretty much for 8-10 min on the top of the hour for the next couple hours. She's been awake on and off this AM. Jonah loves to hold her and give her things. While in the swing today she's been given a stuffed monkey, his nerf gun, his stick horse, and even her hat smushed onto her head.

She has super long toes like me. :-) Brandon hates them, but I think they are ADORABLE! She'll be able to run fast and jump high someday. :-)

All her clothes are too big, we found this yellow sleeper, but you could probably fit 2 of her in there. She scrunches her legs up so they don't stay in the legs part.

She'll grow though. :-)

Hattie's first 12 hrs.

A lot of sleeping, visits from family, and some good eating top off the 1st 12 hrs of life for Miss Hattie. (Both sets of Grandparents, Big Brother Jonah,  Jill & family, Brandon, and Great Grandma Oberheu).

She's endured lots of camera flashes, a super proud big brother who wants to hold her "myself," and her first "ball game" as Maddox, Aiden, and Jonah threw around Jonah's new football. :-) She's had her first bath already, several poops and a big pee, and got rid of some gunk she swallowed during birth (which scared us at first, but glad she's got it out.)

She was a bigtime sleeper and cuddler when we had visitors, didn't make a sound for the first 6hrs of life. Her cries were only 15-20 sec each and has just been super content with whatever goes on around her.

She was a good first time eater, a not so good sleepy eater, and then wide awake and all she wanted to do was eat this afternoon. :-)

Loves to be swaddled up, held if she's not, and already turns toward sounds of voices and the TV. :-)

Until later. :-)

Miss Hattie Jane Meyer

June 15, 2012
- Noon - my water breaks on the way home from work. Just a little trickle and nothing too concerning.
- 7:15pm - call OB floor at Allen to see what I should do.
-7:30pm- talked to Dr. Hintz, says we should get checked out just in case.
- 8:15pm- leave home after Joshua gets home from golfing.
- 8:22pm- leaving town after Joshua had to stop at McDonalds
- 9:30pm- checked into the hospital and up to the Triage room to check to see if my water had really broke. Some pressure every 5minutes or so.
- 10:45 into a room and Mom and Dad take Jonah to their place.
- 11:20- Dr. Hintz gives me Prostin and it gets things going fast! 11:22-11:55 pretty much a long hard contraction.

June 16, 2012
12:05 standing b/c laying down is way uncomfortable
12:30 epidural not fun, some pain with it and 1st attempt unsuccessful,
Threw up multiple 3X
3:30 7cm and 100% effaced
4:00 getting baby table ready and Dr. Hintz is around.
4:22am Baby Hattie arrives with cord on her neck. Dr. Hintz plops her right up on my chest and her big dark eyes looking up at me.
6.99lbs, 19 1/4inches, sweet and content
5:00am- spread the news to Grandma & Grandpa Meyer and Petersen. Immediate family texts and such.

She is super precious. She is very content and super cute. :-)

Girl? Boy? Girl? Many hoping for PINK!

Many family members have started to vote "girl" for the gender of the upcoming Meyer baby. We still don't know and won't until she/he arrives. Here are some definite signs that the family is thinking pink!

From Grandma Meyer
(coming soon, have to retake)

From Aunt Jodi

Sign from above for Grandma Petersen
"This morning as I was backing out of the garage I was thinking about the arrival of my next Grandchild. I started to pray that it would be healthy and come soon. As I pulled out on the road I looked up to the sky and saw the most beautiful pink sky and a rainbow. It was like God telling me that it was going to be a girl and that she is going to be just fine."

Reports that Aunt Rosemary bought girly clothes too,... even though she's been thinking "boy" for so long. :-)

Let go and Let God!

A simple reminder today of how no matter what life brings us, HE will get us through it.
More movement today by baby, thank you everyone for all your prayers.

Daily Engagement with Scripture: Wednesday, June 13

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Wednesday, June 13

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 11:00 PM PDT

John 4:43-54
The man took Jesus at his word and departed...

This summer, we're walking through the life story of Jesus in the Gospel of John. While the other three New Testament gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) overlap each other in many of their accounts and sayings of Jesus, John presents a lot of material unique to his gospel. Watch for Jesus' seven "I am" statements and other important speeches about the identity of who exactly Jesus is.

Read John 4:43-54

After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."

The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.

This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

Reflect

The royal official left his dying son to pursue Jesus, his only hope to restore his son's life. The journey from Capernaum to Cana would have taken about two days, which means if the boy had died, the official may not have seen his son alive again. He placed all hope in Jesus.

Respond

Is there something in your life that you need to let go and completely turn over to Jesus? May you have faith and courage as you pursue Jesus, your only hope for restoration.

Not a Typical Appointment

SO, I went for my "routine" 39 week appointment today at 9:00am. I got there and reported that the baby hadn't been moving as much the day before or really at all today. Heather, the nurse told Dr. Hintz and he moved me right away into the other room where the ultrasound machine was set up. At first I was a little excited to get to see baby, but quickly went to worry as he took all kinds of measurements and kept going back and forth from face to midsection on the baby. After a bit I said "Anything to be worried about here?" He responded that the fluid around the baby looks good, the umbilical cord blood is flowing well, and baby's heart is beating well. Then he told me that he's been looking for some breathing movements. Since the baby is asleep we can't see that. So he did some jabs of the ultrasound wand and shook my belly around. I moved from side to side and then he said he'd come back in a bit.

I asked Heather how serious this was when he left and she said that the baby just needs to wake up to see what he wants to see. Seeing breathing movements is one of the last checks to super sure the baby isn't in any distress. She said he'd probably send me down for a non-stress test if he didn't see what he wanted to after seeing the next patient.

So I laid there and text Josh (who happened to come with Jonah today- of all days!) about the happenings of my appointment. I wasn't the only one who was expecting a 5 min appointment. :-/

When Dr. Hintz came back he had me move around a little more, went back and forth from face to midsection of baby, and shook my belly- pushing all over with the wand. Some of it was starting to get sore as my stomach tightened and such. Baby yawned once and several times moved hands and wiggled fingers near face. No eyes opening and no breathing motions though.  Then he checked my cervix, still only 1 cm and very uncomfortable process. Brought tears to my eyes. He told me to set another appointment for next week and head downstairs.

So... we were sent downstairs to get checked in at admissions and back up to 3rd Floor- OB, to have a non-stress test.

After a few decent movements, all far and few between, we were able to go home. They gave me pretty basic instructions. Come back if:
1) you don't feel the baby move at all
2) your water breaks
3) you start having contractions

We finally left around 12:45 and I was HUNGRY! So was Jonah. He ate all the ice chips out of my apple juice cup. :-)

We went to Applebees, Walmart, and then home. Came home to take a nap (all 3 of us) and have been up moving around since. Not a lot of baby movement, maybe felt it move 3x since we've gotten home, but we're going for a walk now and hopefully that gets baby going. Otherwise, I'll call in the AM to see what they want me to do.

Prayers for baby please!

~Kim, Josh, & Jonah

Week 39!

So here are the details of the last week... 
How far along:  39 weeks
Total weight gain: up to 23.5 total so far (as of May 29).- he didn't tell me at my June 4 appt?
Maternity clothes: yes
Sleep: doing okay, had some rough nights of very little sleep on Tues & Wed, but Thurs night was great.
Best moment this week: cuddling with Jonah on the couch talking about how exciting he is about baby.
Food cravings: back to orange pop... a 2 liter every 2 days of diet sunkist isn't a bad thing is it? ;-)
Gender: ??? (hoping for a girl)
Labor signs: slower movements by baby, braxtons daily and often, a few were pretty show stopping. Like for instance, walking up the stairs- stop and breathe.... continue.
Movement: not as much movement as in the past, I have a feeling he/she is running out of room. The movement I do have are little jabs of arms or feet out of my belly.
What I miss: being able to see my feet and shave my legs
What I am looking forward to: sleeping in before too long and I'm not able to. :-)
Milestones: more than 20+ inches long- about 7 lbs, a mini watermelon, Baby Center Page  Reportedly getting plump.
Next Appt: June 12 at 9:10am  

Fun things this week: 
- Craig and Kristine's Wedding- pretty ceremony outside in the heat and then fun reception in West Union at the country club. Great seeing June in a skirt! She looked fabulous! It was a beautiful ceremony outside at her family campground and the perfect setting for the two outdoor lovers. The blue pond as the backdrop, pretty purple bridesmaids, and lovely violin and piano music were just the right touches. The fun continued at the West Union Country Club where Jonah ran and danced his little legs off with all kinds of kids.

- Birthday Celebrations at our house for the Oberheu side. The baby stayed in for the Sunday get together celebrating both my and Maria's June birthdays. It was a fun afternoon/evening getting to show that side of the family our home in Vinton, enjoying good food and good company.

Week 38

So here are the details of the last week... 
How far along:  38 weeks
Total weight gain: up to 23.5 total so far (as of May 29).
Maternity clothes: yes
Sleep: doing okay, not always comfy, but still sleeping. 
Best moment this week: my birthday weekend. :-) Out to eat, picking out flowers, painting pots, planting flowers, Josh getting the flower beds looking fantastic with clean up and new mulch.
Food cravings: back to orange pop, I also bought a big bag of gummy bears the other day, just b/c :-)
Gender: ??? (hoping for a girl)
Labor signs: Contractions on May 31 - lasting up to 3 min and kind of intense. They got me a bit worried there for awhile. Lots of Braxton hicks throughout the rest of the week.
Movement: not as much movement as in the past, I have a feeling he/she is running out of room. The movement I do have goes across the bottom of my belly or real low.
What I miss: being able to see my feet and shave my legs
What I am looking forward to: sleeping in before too long and I'm not able to. :-)
Milestones: more than 19 1/2 inches long- about 6.8 lbs, a leek, Baby Center Page  Reportedly getting plump.
Next Appt: June 5 at 11:00am.