Food and growth

So, Jace has met some new milestones recently. He is playing with toys now, which is a lot of fun to watch and a releif for me, since I don't have to be the main entertainer anymore, he can entertain himself for a little while. He usually can spend about an hour of playtime on the floor entertaining himself with toys and his other most recent development. He can roll both back to belly and belly to back. He rolls all over the floor now, and it's a lot of fun to watch.
   His other developments mostly center around food. He is pretty vocal now, but that mostly manifests itself in spitting. He makes great raspberries and does it all the time. Especially when eating. He'll be cranky cause he's hungry, so I'll feed him, and as he fills up, he'll pause in eating to look at me and smile, then blow me some raspberries, then he'll go back to eating. He'll do this three or four times before he finally finishes eating. It's really cute to watch, and it's hard to get annoyed at it because since it's so cute. Here's one of his vocal moments, when he wasn't eating:

 Also, after the four month checkup the doctor suggested we start giving him some solid foods. Not to start weaning him or for nutritional purposes, but if he looked like he was interested in what we were doing when we were eating, then let him try it to start practicing and learning how to eat. He still nurses for all of his nutritional needs. So last night we decided to start letting him try some food by pureeing a banana. Here is his first attempt at eating:

Sleepless in... well, sleepless anyway.

Jace has had difficulty sleeping in the past month. Which means, so have his parents. Great timing to be off your sleep schedule, at the end of the semester. Well, we've been having a lot of fun trying to figure out what is wrong and how to help. It began probably about the second week of November. Jace had been getting pretty good sleep, only waking up twice every night for a feeding. He'd go to bed between 9 and 10 and be up around 8. Life was pretty good.
 Well, things were going well, we were still figuring out his naps and I noticed he was always really cranky in the evenings. So I figured that meant he needed an earlier bedtime. So we started putting him to bed at 8, then 7. And his night time wakings increased to once every hour from 2 until morning. He also added one about an hour after he fell asleep. He had to be nursed every time to go to sleep and it was driving me crazy. He was getting more nursings at night than during the day! I decided something had to be done, because I couldn't stand not sleeping anymore.
  We knew Jace could go to sleep pretty well on his own, since I could put him down in his crib still awake most nights and he would fall asleep without complaint in a few minutes. So the problem was not getting to sleep. The only sleep solution I could think of up to this point was the crying it out solution, which Rod couldn't stand cause he hated to hear Jace cry, and which wouldn't solve our problems, because it only seems to apply to the first laying down at night, and he could do that. 
    So, on the suggestion of  a friend, we went to the library and got two books. In the first, it suggested that if they were waking for many feedings at night, they were getting accustomed to getting their food at night instead of during the day, so feed them more during the day. This I implemented immediately. It made sense, because I thought Jace was done feeding, but he'd often be cranky after a feeding. He was still hungry, so he ended up waking up a lot to get food at night, since he wasn't during the day. That eliminated some of the night time wakeups. It was so successful the first night, I thought we had solved our problems. I was wrong.
    In the second book, Solve your Child's Sleep Problems, by Dr. Richard Ferber. In this book, it suggests a progressive waiting approach, which is somewhat similar to the crying it out solution, but you can go soothe the child after increasing increments of minutes, so long as you don't pick them up. The point of this is to reassure them that you are there, but for you to be out of the room when they do fall asleep. Then they are learning to soothe themselves and associating sleeping with something they can do on their own, without mommy or daddy in the room. When they wake up at night, then things will be under the same conditions as they were when they fell asleep, so they won't need to be soothed to sleep again, they can just fall asleep again on their own.
  We tried this for a week. This was successful in eliminating many of his unnecessary wakings and when he did, he was often able to fall asleep again before we got up to soothe him. If he didn't fall asleep before we soothed him, he would fall asleep as soon as we went to him and gave him his plugger. But it also meant that we had to listen to increasing amounts of crying every night. It got so wearing on the nerves that I couldn't stand to hear him cry at all. I would do anything just to get him to stop crying, because I couldn't stand to hear him cry anymore. I missed my happy baby!
   Well, the book professed to show results using this method within a couple of days. We weren't getting the results that it promised. So, something had to change. Well, I'd only read one chapter of the book by Dr Ferber, so I decided to read some more to see what we were doing wrong. At this point, Rod was of the firm belief that this book should be destroyed. I read more anyway, and realized that there was more than one solution offered in this book. Another chapter discussed circadian rhythms and natural times of sleepiness and wakefulness. I read this chapter and wanted to slap myself so hard. Jace fell into the pattern of going to bed on his own around 9 just about since he was born. He was ready to sleep at that time. When I moved the time back to 7, I was putting him to bed before he was sleepy and then he'd have to spend all night in bed, from 7 pm to 7 am. 12 hours is a long time to be in bed even for a baby. No wonder he was having a hard time sleeping. He was not needing to sleep that long. So, we shifted his bedtime to 8 so that he still went to bed when he was sleepy and before he got cranky and added a naptime between 4 and 5 in the evening. This way, he gets 4 hours of naps during the day, one 2 hour, and then 2 one hour naps. Then at night, he goes to bed when he is ready for bed, usually around 8, and he sleeps until around midnight for his first feeding and then about 5 for his second feeding. Then he wakes up at 7, so he sleeps for about 11 hours at night. He still wakes up twice a night, but this is MUCH more tolerable than what we had before! If the feedings don't go away on their own in a month or so, we'll start weeding them out, but for now, I'm fine with this. I feel pretty confident that this is a solution, because we started this last Monday, and he's been sleeping like this for the past week. Oh, to sleep again!

Gay Marriage

So, we deviate from our regular programming to briefly discuss some thoughts I've had. Specifically covering gay marriage. When Christians talk about why gay marriage is wrong, they usually quote the Bible, or mention that it's unnatural. Both are true, but if you're talking to someone who doesn't believe the Bible, well, that doesn't work. And if you say it's unnatural, so was interracial marriage, and we all know that was wrong.  In the end, a lot of the arguments I've seen have been very close minded arguments. It's wrong because it's wrong.... that doesn't help anyone, and just sounds intolerant. I believe it is wrong, but answers like that aren't helping anyone's point. Most likely, they're actually hindering. So, I've been thinking about this a lot, and this is the conclusion I've come to.
  If we want to talk about how marriage must be between a man and a woman, we have to clarify why it has to be between a man and a woman. What about marriage makes requires this distinction? This question in my mind extended to a new question. Why is it important that we get married? Most of us would say, you marry someone because you love them and want to spend the rest of your life with them. Well, that is exactly why homosexual people want to get married. They love their partner and want to spend the rest of their life with that person. So to say you're against their marriage when we're defining the purpose of marriage as a way to spend the rest of your life committed to the one you love, you are saying that you're against others' expression of love. That doesn't sound right. No Christian person would truly be against love, or showing that love towards another. Aren't we all striving for charity, which is the pure, nonjudgmental love of Christ?
   I maintain that same gender attraction is wrong, but this logic against it is also deeply flawed. So again, I return to my question, what is the purpose of marriage, and what about that makes it essential that it is between a man and a woman? This question took me a long time to find the answer to, but I think I finally have. Marriage is not about love. Yes, I said it... strange idea, considering the culture we are raised in which is so fixated on the idea of true love, everlasting love. No, the purpose of marriage is not love. The purpose of marriage is: CHILDREN.
   This is a hard pill to swallow. It was for me too. But that is why it is important to get married. In the words of Dallin H Oaks, (a man I respect deeply and an apostle of the LDS church), "[Marriage] has provided the cultural tie that seeks to connect the father to his children by binding him to the mother of his children." Marriage is for creating and raising children. The best environment to make them in involves a man and a woman. The best environment for raising them also requires a man and a woman, or a father and a mother.
    We are a rather self-centered culture. It is hard to imagine that the reason you get married is not for you, but for the next generation, the act of parenting. This is an act that I am coming more and more to know is a very self sacrificing act. But this is the true purpose of marriage. Love does and should have a place in marriage. But it is not the purpose, it is the reward. The greatest reward for raising children is having the love of your spouse. As you go through life together, raising children together, you encounter trials that can strengthen your love for each other. Your reward for weathering these trials is the opportunity to live with the person you love for eternity. So yes, we do get married because we love someone and want that opportunity, but the purpose for getting married is to raise children. Living with the love of your life is the reward that comes from getting married.
  If children is the purpose for getting married, and love is the reward, not the reason, then it is much easier to see why gay marriage is wrong. There is no way that two men, or two women can create a child. Yes, there is adoption, but that is the exception, they still cannot create a child. Gay marriage is wrong because it thwarts the entire purpose of marriage. It makes creating a family nearly impossible. They may be in love, but they cannot have a child, which is why marriage must remain between a man and a woman. This is why it is wrong, and this is why I am opposed to gay marriage.

On another note, if we accepted the idea that love is the reward of marriage, perhaps we would feel less entitled to love, and more willing to earn it, as rewards should be. Then when love waxes cold and we believe we must end the marriage with divorce, it is not our spouse's fault, but ours, for not working to earn the reward.

Also, you should know, I'm a big fan of love. I do believe it is important in a marriage. As a matter of fact, I am crazy in love with my husband and I married him because I was in love with him, and I plan to be in love with him for eternity.

If you want to read more about this, check out this talk:Dallin H Oaks "Protect the children" Or this article, by a child who was actually raised by lesbian women:http://catholicexchange.com/what-do-the-children-say/
 

Baby Shaming

I have been looking at a lot of dog shaming photos lately, I think they're pretty funny. After your dog does something bad, or has an odd habit, you take a photo of them next to a sign explaining what they did. Look for yourself here: www.dogshaming.com It makes me want to do some for Jace. Here are the photos I came up with.

BABY SHAMING!

Disclaimer: I do not plan on using this as a form of punishment for my child. I just thought it was funny and harmless since he will have no memory of this. He also had no idea what was going on in these pictures. This is most likely the only time I will do this.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Ok, three guesses, just from the title.... what do you think this post is on? :) Jace has figured out how to roll from his belly to his back. On Thursday, he rolled over for the first time. Since then, he has done it once a day. I'm so proud of my little roller.
He's also getting pretty close to rolling from back to front. Wednesday morning I was changing Jace's diaper and he spent the whole time trying to roll off of the changing table. He can get to his side ok, but it's the last bit he's still figuring out. When I hold his arm, he can roll all the way. He just needs something to brace against. No more stepping away from the changing table while he's on it! All too soon, we're gonna have a mobile baby! check out the video!

working on rolling back to belly...

Motherhood is....

Motherhood is having an enormous bladder so you can pee when it's convienent for the baby.
Motherhood is watching your child grow and cheering for each little accomplishment.
Motherhood is having a small stomach so you can eat when it's convienent.
Motherhood is smiling, even when you want to cry, because they just did something too cute for words.
Motherhood is being able to function on very little sleep.
Motherhood is looking into the eyes of someone who trusts you completely.
Motherhood is putting the baby down when you can't stand to hear him cry anymore.
Motherhood is picking him up again because you're the only one who can help him stop crying.
Motherhood is nursing with one hand and doing everything else with the other.
Motherhood is being the first one to find his ticklish spot.
Motherhood is changing diapers that make you want to gag.
Motherhood is playing with the happiest being in the world.
Motherhood is counting the hours till Daddy comes home.
Motherhood is being completely unconditionally loved and adored. (at least while they're babies)
Motherhood is catching yourself say the weirdest things you've ever heard.
Motherhood is singing during bathtime, bedtime, feeding time, and many times in between.
Motherhood is being the largest walking napkin in existance.
Motherhood is always being prepared for the worst, while many times enjoying the best.
Motherhood is knowing what the sound of each cry means.
Motherhood is the joy of making someone smile, every day.
Motherhood is saying things in a much higher and happier voice than the words merit.
Motherhood is being the cheif entertainer.
Motherhood is storing up stories to tell them at the most embarassing moment... or at least when they'll be old enough to remember it.
Motherhood is cheering over poop, burps and a flurry of excitement over spitups.
Motherhood is watching the clock, so you know exactly what they're crying about... sometimes.
Motherhood is watching your body change so that you can have children.
Motherhood is frustrating and joyful.
Motherhood is exciting and dull.
Motherhood is love.


Admittedly, this list is only for the first three months, and only from my experience as a mother, not as a father (some things relate to both).

Strange encounters of the baby kind

Jace is pretty funny.... We have caught him mimicking us a few times already. I sometimes growl at him, mimicking the way he opens his mouth all the time, and he will mimic my  mouth movements and occasionally make a growling sounds. The other day, I had the hiccups after lunch. They were really loud, so of course Jace could hear them as I was walking around the house. He started making hiccuping sounds, loud gasps, even though he didn't have the hiccups. It was pretty funny!
   Last night, I did something I KNEW I shouldn't have. Every time you talk to a parent, they talk about that one time where either they or their spouse got spit up on their face, or better, in their mouth because they were holding the baby above their head. I have heard these stories SO many times lately, I am convinced that parents should have learned by now that you just don't hold your baby above your head. Of course, lately, I've begun holding Jace above my head. He likes it, it makes him smile and I'm sure he'll start giggling over it too.... Well, last night I got my spit up story. Jace is a big time drooler. One of his new nicknames is the drool monster. Every time I hold him over my head, he will have a drool droplet hanging out of his mouth. If I act fast enough, I can wipe it off or put him down before it lands on me. Last night, I didn't.... I saw the drool coming for me, one long string headed straight for my face and I moved him out of the way just as it hit my face. I had a drool mustache extending from one ear to the other; MMMmmmMM! And no, of course I haven't learned my lesson.

He even obliged us with a drool photo for the family photo shoot!

   Jace has also begun giggling. It's hard to tell when he'll giggle, or what triggers it so that we can get him to giggle. I tried tickling him this morning and he started crying really hard.... Oops!   But there is one thing that we can pretty consistantly count on getting a giggle for. He laughs every time I take his clothes off in the morning. I have no idea why this is hilarious, especially since I stop whatever I'm doing in excitement about his giggling and then he stops giggling but it's super cute! Apparently nakedness is hilarious.
  It's gotten cold here lately, so I've had to start bundling him up. This is a little sooner than I expected, so he hasn't quite grown into his winter suit yet. It's really cute to see him in this oversize suit, and watch the confusion on his face when he can't properly suck on his fists...

New Developments!

I think one of the best things about having a baby is watching how quickly they learn and grow. It's so exciting to see each development come. Yesterday, he discovered my keys. The jingling noise they made was fascinating, and he couldn't take his eyes off of them. (By which I discovered he can now track things in a circle.) So I got out the baby toys. He likes the rattles, he enjoys watching them as they make noise. His bouncer has a bar over it that toys hang off of, and when we put this on now, he stares at the yellow elephant rattle. He loves it!
He's also discovered his fists. He stares at his fingers and fists. Kinda funny, because it makes him go cross-eyed.

Jace is the biggest drooler I've ever seen. Supposedly he's not supposed to start that for another month, but he drools so much, sometimes I call him the rabid baby...

Rabid baby is not impressed

We've also heard his first laugh! It was so cute and exciting to hear. It's so fun to see his joy because it's so pure, his whole body wriggles with joy when he grins at us. I love to see it!

See the blurriness in his hands? He is wriggling with excitement

Who knew you had to brush a baby's hair? I brush his hair to clean the scalp, but he got his first rat's nest today! I think I'm gonna have to cut it off, because I can't brush it out and I don't want to pull his hair...

A couple of things I've learned from Jace:
1 a meal is not fully enjoyed unless it's all over your face when you're done.
2 Some things are  best enjoyed through your mouth. (he's still figuring out which ones)
3 It doesn't do good to sit in one spot for too long...

The sideways plugger-sucker

Jace has been making so many developments lately! Topping the list of accomplishments are his new sleeping abilities. He can now fall asleep on his own at night when we put  him in the crib. He's done it for 5 days in a row now. He sleeps for one six hour stretch at night followed by at least another two hours. He is falling into a napping routine where we take a nap every morning around 10:30, then again around 1:30, then another one in the late afternoon. Such an improvement! He is so much happier now, especially first thing in the morning, he is all smiles.
 







Which brings us to another accomplishment of his-SMILING! He is so cute and he is just full of them for mommy and daddy in the morning. Sometimes he gets distracted from eating because he's trying to smile while sucking... doesn't work so well!

He's also getting pretty good at soothing himself with sucking. He can find his fist and suck on it when he wants it, which is really cute. He sucks on his thumb sometimes too. He's also better at keeping the plugger in his mouth on his own, except he always sucks on it sideways!

One of his latest favorite hobbies is sticking out his tongue. It's hardly ever in his mouth anymore! Between smiling and sticking out his tongue, his mouth is hardly ever closed... but the cooing sounds he makes are so cute! It's less cooing and more like he's talking! I have heard him say the words hi, yeah and daddy... but he's so young, we can't count it as talking yet.

 He's pretty good at standing too...with a little help!

The things I didn't know (or refused to realize)

The first month and a half of being a mommy has been full of revelations of what I just didn't know. Or, as I mentioned, absolutely refused to recognize or contemplate how they would affect my life. I've taken care of plenty of babies, but I've never done it as a parent... and if you're anything other than a parent, you get to hand the child off when it's too much! Some of these I heard about but refused to acknowledge. Some of these I just didn't know. Some of these I couldn't have known until I'd gone through it myself.

1. Lack of sleep! I know people tell you as you're preparing to welcome the baby into your life how exhausted you will be and how much you will have to get up at night, but this is one I just didn't make the connection to my own life. I actually refused to make that connection. At the end of pregnancy, I wanted to be human again so much, I didn't want to hear that anything would be worse after I gave birth (I slept pretty well all through my pregnancy). But I learned my lesson. Just don't plan on doing anything for the first week! At first we were waking up every two hours to feed him. Rod tried to help by waking up with him whenever he didn't need to be fed, but still, EVERY TWO HOURS! I just was not getting the sleep I was used to. I am a person who usually needs a lot of sleep.... I have learned to live without it some days, even though my body often complains. There was one night I particularly remember at first where I had been up several times in the past nights and I hadn't gotten naps in for a couple of days and I was so tired. Rod put him to sleep so I could get some extra sleep, but for that first feeding, I couldn't even drag myself out of bed, I was so tired, I was cranky and weepy. I was also dozing while nursing--not so good when that puts you at risk for dropping the baby as you drop off! Rod helped me stay awake and keep from crying by pretending to play piano on my legs-it tickled and he was so comical I could smile through the almost unbearable exhaustion. Morale of the story, take those naps! I also remember as we hit the end of the first week, he fell into a routine that was predictable. My body got used to that and began to make the most of the time between nighttime feedings, even if I was still getting up every couple of hours. Unfortunately, right as my body began to make the most of that routine, he changed the routine... There is just not enough sleep to go around that first week. And after that, you still need regular naps, I'm still taking at least a couple a week to help, although he's getting closer to sleeping through the night now.
2. How sore you are! I was sore for at least the first week. I knew people often carried a donut pillow for the first week or so, but I didn't realize just how sore you really are. I think I couldn't have known this till I went through it,  but I also just wanted to be a normal human again so badly it didn't fully connect. For the first couple of days, I was walking bow legged everywhere. After I got home, I couldn't comfortably sit on anything harder than my couch--even my bed was too hard! And standing for long enough to take a shower would make me ache so bad I'd be walking bow legged again until I could rest. Fortunately, even though that first week seems really long, the pain goes down considerably after that, so by two weeks you're doing pretty good, if you don't overdo it. Although, my body's still not completely back to normal, it reminds me of this every now and then. I am back to normal activities, but not at quite the same pace as before, yet.
3. Every trip is a production! I just plain didn't know this one. Every time you decide to walk out that door with baby in tow, it's a full scale production. You need the diaper bag, you need to put the baby in the carseat, then you need to carry the baby and carseat to the car and put them in.  You want to make sure that the car temperature isn't too extreme. And there's feeding. If you're gone for more than a few minutes, you'll need to stop at some point and get a feeding in. And if he's fussy, well, that may sidetrack your whole trip for a while. There is no such thing as a quick trip to the grocery store anymore!
4. Lots of laundry! If I'd thought about it, I probably would have realized this. But not only do you have the added laundry of baby, but you also have the extra outfits he goes through when he has a blowout, or spits up, and you have the extra outfits you go through when he does these things on you!
5. How much you love this child. There is no way to understand how much love you have for the new child until you go through it yourself. I was amazed to find within the first couple of weeks feeling like my love had doubled instantly. I love my husband as much as ever, if not more, but I have equal love for my son. I love him so much. I have times where there are guests over holding the baby and I have to restrain  myself from demanding to have him back because I love him so much and just want to hold him. I kiss his cheeks all the time, something I'm sure he won't stand for in a few months from now. I just love this baby SO MUCH!
6. How much joy he brings. There is nothing so exciting as seeing your baby look at you and smile. It never fails to put a smile on my face. There was one morning where I was feeling particularly stressed and down and when I went to get my crying baby out of the crib, he smiled at me and suddenly everything felt better. It was just such a joy to hold him and see him happy. He doesn't do much and he already brings so much joy to our family. He also has really good comedic timing, even if he can't communicate. One time we were looking at his feet and observing how he has hairy toes, which he must have gotten from his mother, and he started crying. It was so funny, and we were laughing as we reassured him that he would be ok having hairy toes. Most people wouldn't even notice!

There is a lot of truth behind the joys of a sleeping child!

What a challenge and what a blessing it is to have a child. It is so challenging, and trying and stressful sometimes. But it is so exciting and joyful at others. It is one of the best paying jobs but you don't understand how good the pay is until you start the job and stick to it for a few weeks. I love being a mom!

The importance of history

So, I've often wondered how to explain that history is important. I have never heard a good explanation for convincing those who are determined to get it out of our school systems. I just know that I feel like it is very important that we don't lose this aspect of our education. I feel like a good, educated person does need to know their history. The only argument I've ever heard of for history is the quote, "those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." And I can't even tell you who said that.
  Well, being a mother has given me a new perspective on the importance of history. I often spend a good portion of my day alone with my thoughts, which gives me some time to think about things as I am puttering around the house. I have often found myself thinking about how to take care of Jace and solving the little problems we encounter--lately that's been helping him get naps during the day. History has helped me put things in perspective. Only recently was it so easy to get laundry done. I admit, it's still time consuming, but certainly not in the way that it once was. Cooking is also a breeze now, compared to what it once was. Having done reenacting, I know that you often start dinner first thing in the morning, and bread for the next day was set to rise overnight. Pretty much you were constantly cooking for the next meal, when you weren't cleaning up after the one you just had.  So how did those parents raise new children? I figure, they probably didn't have quite so much time on their hands to spend just devoted to caring for the children. They certainly couldn't have been as spoiled as children are now. The ease of life now also explains the rise of hover-parents.There isn't quite as much to do now as there once was. So, I guess what this train of thought boils down to is, it's ok if I don't have the baby constantly at my side. It's ok if he cries for a minute while I finish getting ready for the day and then pull out the meatballs from the oven. He'll survive, and I'll still be taking care of him as much as he needs.
  Of course, there is the argument that less attention to children, as happened then, would explain why so many children didn't make it to adulthood. But I figure with the ease of life today, we can strike a balance. I can tend to Jace when he needs it, but it's ok if I'm not constantly responding to every whine. I'll make sure he has the love and care that he needs, and things will get done around the house too. But if sometimes they don't get done because Jace needs more attention, it's ok too.

Finally a mama!!!

Here's a post for the funny moments we'd forget if we didn't record them.  Early this morning, Jace was falling asleep while feeding, so between sides, I changed his diaper to wake him up some so he could finish eating. Turned out he had a blow out. So I changed his onsie too. As the changing was going on, he was getting crankier and crankier, trying to suck on everything, because he just wasn't finished yet, Mom! So as my hand passed by his face, he grabbed onto it and stuck a knuckle in his mouth and began sucking really hard! it was so funny!

Later, Rod and I were talking about how cute he is and how much Jace looks like Rod. Well, Jace was sleeping and just then he made a snoring sound just like I do as I'm waking up or disturbed in my sleep. I suppose Jace won't quite be a spitting image!
 Jace has a knack for comedic timing. Yesterday I was massaging lotion into his feet (you wouldn't believe how dry little baby hands and feet get! It's like they're molting!) and I noticed that he has little hairs on his toes. Now imagine, a little baby's toes having even littler, tinier hairs on them.  Well, I was looking at this and then comparing them to Rod's feet and my feet. I have hairs on my toes so we concluded he'd picked that trait up from me. I informed Jace of this and he let out a whimper. I burst out laughing so hard I started crying. I tried to comfort him that it wouldn't ruin his life I'd lived just fine with hair on my toes and most people didn't even know about it! About then he started crying....  If he'd been a bit older, this episode might have been insulting.
  There is no denying that Jace is a little boy... I can't count the number of times Rod has passed gas and Jace has followed suit. Once I swear he was attempting a Donald Duck impression, but maybe that was only funny because it was 2 am... The first day Rod went to work after Jace was born, Rod came home just as I was changing Jace's diaper. Rod came up behind me to hug me while I was struggling to open a new bag of diapers. Apparently this was detracting from Jace too much, or we were taking too long, because Jace decided to give daddy his own welcome home, by peeing all over the changing table and us! It wasn't the first time, nor was it the last time for this to happen!
  Yesterday, Jace was awake and just hanging out with Rod and I. I was playing with his feet, and Jace was getting frustrated. He pulled his feet out of my grasp and kicked right at my face, nearly putting his toes up my nose. I got the message... He has a mighty kick, and his aim is getting pretty good too!
  I think Jace's humor right now consists of comedic timing and slapstick humor for the most part, because there's not much to laugh about when it comes to eating or sleeping...

The grand debut!

Jace is finally here! What a pleasure it is to have him. Although the process of getting him here was tiring...
  We were overdue by almost a week when the nerve in my right leg started giving out on me regularly. He must have been sitting right on the nerve, because every now and then, I would completely loose control of my right leg and it would collapse under me. Considering the fact that falling in general is inadvisable in very pregnant women, this was very scary. I decided it was time to be induced. The next day I had an appointment for a non-stress test, which if it showed that the baby needed to be born, would result in being induced. Oh, how I hoped that it would result in that! If it didn't I wasn't sure how soon I would be able to schedule being induced.
  Well, we went in for the test, and the amniotic fluid levels were low. There was concern that if the levels were too low, then Jace would start pinching his umbilical cord and that would be dangerous. So they decided it would be best to induce. At the time, I was actually having contractions, so they said that it would not quite be inducing so much as augmenting what was already going on helping my body progress. I was so happy, I was dancing in my chair! I couldn't wait! Finally, I would not be leaving the hospital until the baby arrived. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long...
   Well, they finally got us in a room and all hooked up to monitors and an IV, so I was constrained to the bed from that point on, unless I needed to use the bathroom. It was still almost two hours before they even started inducing... The doctor was late in arriving. I was so grateful to have Rod there. This was the first time I'd ever been a patient in a hospital, and it was all a little foreign and intimidating to me. I was glad Rod was there, who's been in hospitals before. It didn't phase him, he was quite comfortable in this environment, which made me more comfortable.
  Finally I was induced, and the contractions began in earnest. At first, I could bear them without too much difficulty. Then they got more and more painful. I always expected when I actually went into labor, that the contractions would be distinct and I would experience pain but then it would be over until the next one. That wasn't what I got. Instead, I knew I was having a contraction because it was increasingly more painful suddenly, and I knew the contraction was over when I felt like I could maybe bear the pain again. I had brought items to distract me, but when the time came, the distractions were just annoying and didn't help. Instead Rod spent a lot of this time holding me as I knelt and rocked on the bed trying to get through. Happily, a nurse came in when things were really bad and offered some narcotic to relieve the pain. She said it may make me a little drowsy... she was understating it. I was already tired, and then almost as soon as she administered the narcotic, I found myself stumbling into bed so I could fall asleep. That was probably one of the most peaceful moments of labor, sleeping. Rod says that every time I got a contraction while sleeping, one of my eyes would open. Apparently it was kinda creepy...
  I woke up again as that wore off, and I hadn't yet made it to 4 centimeters. Again Rod and I were just trying to get through the pain, waiting until we had progressed enough so I could get an epidural. Before I went into labor, I wasn't sure if I wanted it, but the pain had converted me, I wanted it as soon as I could get it. During this time, I think the woman next door was trying to go through natural birth, because I could hear her screaming through the wall. I really wished someone would make her shut up, because it was not making it any easier for me to get through.... I begged another nurse for some pain relief, and when the nurse came in, she offered the epidural. I didn't realize I could get it so soon, I still was about 3 centimeters. But apparently since they were inducing, they were controlling the contractions and I could get it sooner. They weren't worried about the contractions stopping if they gave me an epidural. Happy day!
  Honestly, I don't like the numb feeling. I still didn't like it when I got the epidural, but it was preferable to the pain, so I put up with it. Shortly after that, my water broke and we found I was at 4 centimeters. Induced at 1 pm, at 4 centimeters around 4. Now we were going. Rod and I passed the time watching the Olympics, our only chance to watch it this year, without tv... We were 6 centimeters at 6, 8 centimeters at 8, 9 centimeters around 10, and then at 10:15, we hit 10 centimeters. I had hoped we would have the baby on the 30th, and also that we would have it not in the middle of the night, because that just sounded exhausting... I didn't get my wishes there...
  Instead, I took naps while watching the Olympics. It was during one of these that I got what you might call cold feet. I was waking up from a nap as a nurse came in the room to check on me and make sure everything was ready for baby's arrival. I figured she also wanted to see if I was fully dilated yet, so I pretended to stay asleep so she wouldn't disturb me. I was nervous, now that it was here, I wasn't sure I was ready to be a mother, to take on the responsibility of taking care of a newborn child! Rod tried to gently wake me up and I knew my game was up. At the time I wasn't fully dilated, so I had a little more time before Jace actually arrived. I was glad.
  But, once I was fully dilated, I was ready to go. The doctor checked and said she wanted me to rest for an hour, to help the baby descend with gravity so the pushing would be easier. The doctor was surprised how quickly my body progressed, I almost did make it to have him born on the 30th. I was eager to start pushing, although I was numb from the epidural, so I couldn't feel the urge to push. Around 11:15, the nurse came back and we began pushing.
  I had been nervous about getting the epidural because I wanted to make sure I could push properly and effectively, which I wouldn't be able to feel how to do it when I was numb. Fortunately, I figured it out quickly enough that after a couple of pushes, Rod could already begin to see his head. Jace had a head full of dark hair! Unfortunately, not eating for most of the day made me very nauseous and I was having difficulty pushing because I was so nauseous. I ended up throwing up and still unable to push very well, until they gave me an oxygen mask. The throwing up made Jace's heartbeat decrease for about ten minutes, which really worried the doctor... who was called in late so she couldn't do anything about it. She was also irritated about being called in late because I tore before she got there and she couldn't prevent it...  But, after pushing for a little over an hour, Jace was born at 12:22 am on the 31st. For those of you who think of it, yes, Jace does have the same birthday as Harry Potter. I wonder if he'll find that cool someday, or if it'll just be appreciated by his parent's generation.
  Finally, my beautiful, goodnatured little package has arrived. He was born at 7 pounds 3 ounces and 20 inches long. We were both surprised to hear how long he was... Not sure where he got those tall genes. But now we've gifted the world with a future Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. :)

Already so modest!

We made it!

Rod is such a proud papa!

First family photo. I know, you can't tell I've been in labor for the  past several hours... :)

Getting his first bath.

Sleeping, well, like a baby!

T minus 3 days!

  The due date is a mere three days away. Still getting fun contractions, though not quite as fun as they have been. Last week was a roller coaster of a lifetime with all of the contractions I was getting, but I will get into that later. We had a doctor's visit today, and with there being very little dilation going on, we may be looking at going overdue. Sad, but definitely not uncommon. So, current plan of attack- we'll see what this week brings, and if I'm still carrying Jace for next week's appointment we'll see how much I've dilated and discuss inducing options. The doctor doesn't want me to go over 7 days, apparently the risk of still birth increases after 7 days overdue. The thing about inducing is that if I'm not dilating myself, inducing could just mean a very long labor that ends in a c-section. So we will have to see what the next week brings. Best option- Jace figures he's ready to come out and starts labor on his own before we get to the next appointment. I know in my family, babies tend to be overdue, but I have so been hoping that Jace would at least come very close to his due date, instead of hanging around for a couple of extra weeks.
  Because I have been so intent on wanting Jace to come close to his due date, (even a little early!) I think it has caused us a lot of undue stress in this household. I've been so fixated on wanting Jace to arrive, I've had difficulty enjoying the time that is left. I suspect that the extra stress was a factor in there being so many contractions last week. It all culminated Sunday morning when I got up from my chair at breakfast and I had a wet spot on my chair. My water broke? I didn't want to think my water had broken, but I couldn't think of any other explanation! I freaked out about it all morning, going back and forth  in my mind. I consulted the doctor but still couldn't decide exactly what had happened. My dear husband was so good and patiently watched me waver and try to figure things out for myself because he knew the very delicate emotional state I was in. (For the first time in this pregnancy, I snapped at him!) Finally, I decided we just needed to get it checked to see if the water had actually broken. I think I should have known by my own indecision that it hadn't but we already mentioned my emotions were pretty frayed at this point. We went to the hospital and spent an hour and a half hooked up to monitors to be told that it wasn't my water and we were sent home.
   Most people find this a very disappointing experience, but for me, it was a relief to know. I just needed to know one way or the other, and once I knew, I could move on with my life. After that experience, I felt I'd had quite enough drama in my life, I could do without giving birth for a few days. So this past week has been quite a stress less week, because I had very little interest in actually delivering the baby or experiencing contractions. I'd had enough drama. I'm feeling ready again to get him out, but I'm a little more patient. I'm still hoping that he doesn't hang around for two weeks before coming out. Instead, I'm counting down for the next 10 days. I figure, he may arrive anytime in those 10 days, and hopefully sooner rather than later. I think the most difficult thing about waiting for Jace to arrive is the complete uncertainty. It really could happen at any time, but no one knows when that time will be. So for now, I'm planning on it happening in 10 days (3 days to the due date, 7 days to when the doctor wants him out) and if he arrives sooner, I will be a very happy clam. :)

Almost Showtime!!

The last two days have been very mixed emotions, both exciting and nerve-wracking. For the most part of this pregnancy, I haven't really had much in the way of contractions. I had my first ones towards the middle of this trimester, and if I had any, it was one maybe once a week. That was it, very exciting, I know.
     Well, within this last week, things have begun to change. I have had contractions a few days this past week, Wednesday and Friday, and then Sunday got very exciting. I woke up with contractions Sunday night, had some Sunday morning, walking home from church triggered the most exciting set of contractions yet. I was having contractions almost all the way from the church door to our house, and they didn't stop until I sat down and rested for a bit, allowing my body to cool down too. Sunday night--perhaps triggered by laughter, I'm not sure--I had another series of contractions that required rest in order for my body to settle down. I woke up this morning with a few, and had an uncomfortable series of them mid-morning. My body has settled down now, but these contractions are definitely more and more frequent, and there are a lot more of them. According to one of my pregnancy books, this may be a sign of labor within the next week or so... although I have heard of false labor like this a few weeks before labor begins. (which my mother confirmed for me this morning) So the good news? We are getting close, very close. The bad news, no one knows how close. Hence the mixed emotions!
   This morning were the most regular ones I'd experienced, so there was a lot of anxiety in the house, wondering how close we truly were to welcoming Jace home. These contractions are making it all seem so real, so much closer to actually taking on the responsibility of being parents! Are we ready? Probably, but that doesn't mean we aren't feeling a little nervous!
   Other new developments include a lot of swelling. I knew my mother had a lot when she was pregnant, but I hadn't had any yet, so I thought I was going to be lucky. Due to either the heat, or how far along we are, my hands and feet have swollen like balloons in the past week! It took me a few days to manage to get the swelling to go down enough to get my wedding rings off my finger so they didn't get too stuck. Now I'm just wearing some fake rings that I had that were waaaay too big for me because I couldn't stand having a naked hand. Sometimes those fit me just right lately, my hands have swollen so much!
   We are so excited, we are getting close. Technically, we're at 38 weeks, so we have another two weeks before the due date, and a family history of late births, so it may be a while yet, but it looks like my body is definitely in the process of preparing for a birth. I just keep telling myself, Soon! So soon!

9 months and miserable!

   I feel like I'm having a mother-was-right moment. In the beginning of pregnancy, I sometimes expressed concern over the ordeal labor was going to be. Every time, my mother assured me, by the time I went into labor, I'd be ready to do anything to get that baby out. Oh, man was she right! Right now, labor sounds like a welcome relief. One day of pain followed by several days of healing in exchange for constant backaches, headaches, aching joints, exhaustion and ill-timed kicks? Sounds like a great exchange to me!! I can't even sit through church anymore without a lot of back aching. I am so ready to be done with this, it seems to get more painful every week. Beyond the fact that if I go into labor, I get to finally meet this little one who is going to join our family! I know having Jace here won't be a piece of cake, but right now, just having my body back makes it sound much easier to tackle a challenge like a newborn.
    Fortunately, I have a husband who is very supportive, and helps the worst of my aches go away with massages every day--twice a day usually. We are both very grateful for my mother in law who taught him what he knows in relieving pains through massage. We are also very grateful for a working swamp cooler, which is very effective in keeping our house cool while the days get hotter and hotter here in Utah. I stay inside most of the time on these hot days, because even a little exertion outside can be very exhausting and require a nap.

Definitely looking pretty close here, right?

The Good News: (perhaps I should have started here)
   We are now exactly one month away from the due date!!! And the next three weeks look promising, as I have several things to do and keep myself busy during that time. We are so excited for Jace to come, and it really is so soon! I have several friends who are due this summer, and as I see each of them give birth, I feel like it's one step closer to my turn to meet our little boy. Earlier this week, I finished our baby shopping, getting all of the remaining little items we needed to get ready for Jace's arrival. I got burping cloths, baby shampoo, and other such odds and ends. The next morning I rearranged everything in the nursury, again... :) It was fun to go through everything and make sure they were all ready. Beginning of next week, I'm going to make sure the car is set up and pack the hospital stay bag.

Some funny experiences with being pregnant:
  One day, I was laying on the bed, with my belly towards the edge of the bed. I decided to get off, so began to roll towards the edge. But, having a large belly, I couldn't get past my belly and was soon stuck. Rod glanced at me and said, "you look stuck." "I am stuck!" I exclaimed... Fortunately he helped me get up. Watch out for them big bellies!
  The other day, I was sitting on the floor, organizing things, and I stretched to reach something. This reach threw off my balance, and after righting myself again, I flopped over backwards, unable to keep my balance. This has happened more than once now.. I feel a little like one of those rolling toys that don't stand up straight... :) The other time this happened, I actually was stuck there and couldn't get up again. I felt like a turtle who had been flipped over!
  Also, my dear husband is such a trooper. Many hot nights we have the swamp cooler going and the fan going. Rod always brings an extra blanket to bed now, and the other night, I woke up to find him completely buried under the second blanket. The fan had been blowing at his head all night, so he put the blanket over his head so that he could sleep. Personally, the room's temperature felt just right to me... he's such a trooper! Although, there have been other nights were it did get cold by mid night and I began dreaming about having a leg stuck in snow because it was cold, but I was too asleep to wake up and do anything about it.
  Many of the most amusing moments come from Jace. He often spends time sticking his feet up under my ribcage, or pushing against my belly button. One of these days it'll just pop out, thanks to him pushing on it. I'm kinda hoping it does, because I've always thought it'd be pretty cool to have my belly button pop out when I was very pregnant. The other day, though, Jace, in his effort to defend his limited space, waged war against the counter top. I was washing the counters, and he was viciously kicking the countertop that I was standing too close to. Finally, he gave a mighty push against it, and I literally felt my body rock back away from the countertop and Jace succeeded in getting the room he was looking for... I have a strong son!
   I routinely shower with my husband in the mornings, but the other day I skipped it because I'd taken a bath  the night before. So while Rod was in the shower, Jace stuck his butt out, as he usually does in the shower. It made me laugh, I'm not sure if it was because he could hear the shower, or if it was routine, but it was certainly funny!
Only a month, we're so close, I am so eager to meet this baby!

Jace's Personality

  We're hitting 33 weeks, almost time for that baby to arrive! All of this waiting is almost unbearable for me, except for the thought that if he arrived now, it'd be too early, and I don't want to pay the hospital bills for the NICU. So, I'll be patient and let him finish growing in the incubator mother nature gave us. As time goes on, I think we can begin to see some of his personality based on his kicking....
    He likes warm showers. Every time I take a shower, he presses his body right up against my belly and just soaks it in.
   He hates the mattress. Every time I lay down to sleep, he resumes a kicking fight against the mattress that he left off in the morning when I got up. I swear it must be his chief entertainment, because I get the most motion out of him when he's taking up the battle against the mattress.
   He doesn't like intrusions on his space. He's pretty diligent about kicking anything that presses close enough to my belly for him to reach. Books, laptops, my arms, Rod, countertops, etc.
   He does seem to do some exploratory kicking. Sometimes when I'm hugging or cuddling with Rod, he'll do more gentle prodding against Rod, as though he's exploring what's invaded his territory.
   He has also expressed preference for some of the outfits I wear. I know he hates the black capris I sometimes wear, because the waistband can be a little tight, and he'll spend all day kicking them...
   He gets the hiccups a lot. I'm pretty sure he gets them about twice a day. Apparently he hasn't quite gotten the breathing thing figured out. He's still ironing out the hiccups in the system. :)
   Based on where I feel the movement when he does get the hiccups, it feels like he's probably already in head down position, which is good. I guess we're not the only ones preparing for his grand debut. It'll be interesting to see if any of these theories on his personality are true when we actually meet him...

Happy Birthday for me and ten weeks left!!

I had to write a birthday blogpost because my in-laws completely spoiled me and Jace with birthday presents this year! When Rod and I got home from our anniversary trip a couple of weeks ago, there were boxes piled around our mailbox and landing, it was insane. Then I had to ignore them for two weeks until my birthday arrived so I could open them... (little did I know that no one actually expected me to ignore them until my birthday). We got so many baby things, it was like a second baby shower, but now, I feel ready for Jace to come. We have everything we need to comfortably welcome him into the world.

Some of the gifts are in these photos, the new changing table pad, the cover for the changing table, the diaper pail, a bottle warmer and a wipes warmer. In the bottom photo is a pad for supporting Jace in the carrier and a carrier cover. The carrier I actually got from my parents, but the accesories were from my inlaws. We also got a swaddling wrap, which is not in these pictures, but I was super excited about. It also had monkeys on it. I wonder where the monkey theme came from. My guess is that it's because Rod told his family that we had noah's ark bedding, but regardless, I'm thinking it's pretty cute!
   The other gift I was really excited about was the bottle set. I plan on nursing mostly, but having some bottles so that Rod can take some feeding duties will be really nice. The most unexpected gift--bag balm. I had no idea what it was, and could only guess from what the can said. Of course, the can only says that it's used for cow's udders.... so I really wasn't sure what to make of that gift. I looked it up and discovered that it's been widely used on humans as well, a great lotion basically. People who use it usually swear by it and one recommended use is on diaper rashes. Then it made sense. We got a good laugh out of that gift!
  We also got a bottle cleaner, bottle drying rack, a laser thermometer, a mattress cover, and my absolute favorite gift:

A baby bouncer!!!!

I had been really wanting one of these, a good place to set the baby down while puttering around the house, and an opportunity for him to get some play time too. I was super excited when I opened this one, and put it together right away. I'm so excited to use it! The middle toy plays the tune to a children's song (three little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away.... remember that one?) so I had it stuck in my head all morning after putting the bouncer together. I warned Rod that he might have to get used to getting kids songs stuck in his head...
 Obviously you can tell, I've been very spoiled and I'm very excited for Jace to come now so we can put all these goodies to use! Unfortunately that's a whole ten weeks away! Rod and I started the prenatal classes last night. There was a ton of information being thrown at us, it was all a little overwhelming. Understanding the process better was good, because we feel a little more informed on what needs to happen, but a little overwhelming because now we understand all we have to go through to get this baby out. Rod and I were talking this morning about how I could be in labor, but he could go to work and come back again before we actually had to go to the hospital. I've decided that waiting sounds like it might be the most painful part!
  Knowing me though, waiting might seem the most painful because it would be more of what I'm doing now, just trying to keep busy while waiting for Jace to arrive. In my attempts to keep busy, I've been trying to take on little projects. One of the ones for this week was this:

Like Jace's mobile?

I made this mobile for Jace's crib. It's made with paper, wire for hanging, wire loops for connecting the paper, and embroidery hoops to put the chains on. It's pretty cute looking, if you ask me. It was a good way to keep busy for a couple of days. Fortunately, Rod got me a couple of books for my birthday, so I have those to keep me busy to. (he's discovered my passion for reading this summer, and made my birthday cake into a book too!)  I'd say life is pretty darn good, and we are so excited for Jace to get here.... if only he'd get here. 10 weeks left!

Third Trimester!

     Well, I haven't been a very good writer for a while... So, now we're on the third trimester, the final countdown, enjoying the beginnings of the nasty aches and pains that accompany it. The end of the last trimester was very nice, I spent very little time suffering symptoms of pregnancy. Jace has become more and more active over time, and stronger too. I can now watch my belly distort as he exercises. I was talking to Rod the other day, commenting on Jace's activity and I said, "When he comes out, he's going to flex those little muscles and have a six pack!" Rod declared he'd better not, because his father would be jealous. :)
    Fortunately, it's been a very healthy, low key pregnancy so far. Lately the biggest news on the pregnancy front has been collecting things for Jace. We had a baby shower, put on by a good freind of mine a couple of weeks ago. She coordinated it with my family's visit so they could be there. My parents got us the stroller and carseat, such a big help! And it is super cute too! We got lots of clothes now, so Jace will be well dressed for at least the first month. After that, he may have to run around naked....:) No, we're going to pick up more clothes yard-saling this summer.
  We also have a crib and changing table, which we just set up. Now a corner of the bedroom is converted into something of a nursery, and it is super cute! I am so excited about it!

I actually moved them apart after taking this picture so they weren't so close. Isn't it such a cute set?

  That is definitely the biggest excitement lately, I can't wait to show it off to people, because I think it is so darn cute, and I can't wait to put a baby in there! The bedding is a little Noah's ark set, and I have a second set with polka dots on it. I'm a little torn about it, I may switch the bedding before he arrives.... I'm just so excited to have it all set up!
  Now it's just the waiting game until Jace arrives. We have the birth classes starting up in a couple of weeks, happy day! Here's a picture of me, the day before 29 weeks:

I just keep getting bigger!

And the baby is....

A BOY!!! A healthy little boy! We had our ultrasound today, and the baby is right on track, healthy and strong. Makes sense, because I certainly have been feeling him wiggling around in there a lot the past couple of weeks. At this point, I can feel him wiggle all throughout the day. It was funny, when we started the ultrasound, we could see him moving. At first, he was moving his hand, like he was trying to push the ultrasound thing away. Then he gave up there and started trying to move away from it. The technician was saying, "The baby keeps moving around, I'm having a hard time chasing him to get a shot of him." By time we got a full shot of him, he had wedged himself down into my pelvis, trying to get away. He was all scrunched up, folded in half with his feet by his head, and his arms wrapped around his head. Apparently he had no interest in his photo op, or in any intrusion on his space.

The top picture shows that he is indeed a boy, it's basically a shot of his bum, so he's mooning all of you. The second photo shows his leg, right by his head. And the third photo is a head shot. 

Now that we know his gender, we know that I am carrying little Jace Ryuu Tamanaha. And I think he takes after his father in more than just the gender. Here's another shot of his face, close up. Notice how it looks like he has almond shaped eye sockets? I bet he has his daddy's eyes, our little half asian!

His face is the top circle, I turned it so it would be easier to see. The bottom circle is his chest.  Honestly, his face looks like one of those green aliens from a sci fi movie.

It's so exciting, to imagine a little boy, wearing cute little overalls, and little sweater vests to church. Can't you just imagine? I'm so excited to actually have him here, not just in the bump. (speaking of which, here's the latest bump photo, from last week.)

So much new excitement! I can't wait for him to come, though! Now I can really start baby shopping!