The past 2 weeks

Derek is officially 2 weeks old today and he is growing day by day. He is such a good baby that loves to sleep, be held, eat, etc, etc. All the things a new baby loves to do. He has a good set of lungs that seem to really get a workout with diaper changing (really only when the wipes are used). It has been such a blessing to have my Mom here the past 2 weeks and sadly she left today :(. She is the master at swaddling, baby holding, diaper changing, baby burping, cooking, shopping with me, cleaning, sewing, crafting, etc. She is just an awesome Mom and Grandma and Todd, Fletch, Derek, and I are all sad to see her go. Fletch really fell in love with my Mom and in fact, I think he listened better to her then he did to Todd or me. Anyways, it is really fun to see our family growing and here are some pictures of the past 2 weeks..

Fletch was everywhere my Mom was

Amy and her family came and visited for a couple of days

Nap time

Derek tanning

Yes, he has found his thumb! Too funny

He got his very first bath today and he loved it

Grandma and baby Derek

Spoke too Soon

Well, no need for a countdown for the baby anymore. Last week, as I wrote the most recent blog post, I didn't realize that in just a few short hours, we would be going to the hospital to have our baby. Here is the story...

11 p.m.: I head to bed after reading the latest "How big is baby this week" stuff. I was exactly 38 weeks that day and I was so excited for it to be only 2 weeks away. Todd had already been asleep for about 30-45 min as I crawled into bed.

12 a.m.: I go to the bathroom, like any other typical night at 9 months pregnant. This time was a little different. My water broke. Obviously never having a baby of my own, I wanted to make sure it was that and not just a "no control of my bladder" moment. Well, it was officially decided that it was for sure my water breaking and then I realized that we will be having a baby in less than 24 hours. Scary and exciting all at the same time. Called my Mom and told her the news, which she told me to call the doctor and head to the hospital. She then immediately told me that she was going to buy her ticket that night and head out here the following day. Then I called the doctor on call, no answer. So, we just decided to get our things and go the hospital at 1 a.m.

1:30 a.m.: Admitted to the labor and delivery unit

3 a.m.: My back labor pains were really becoming extremely uncomfortable and I requested an epidural at that time. Received the epidural around 3:30 a.m. but unfortunately the CRNA did not place the catheter correctly and ended up giving me a spinal block, which made me numb from neck down. After multiple passing out episodes, throwing up, blood pressure drops, and heart rate drops in me (and baby), the nurses and CRNA got it all under control and I was back in business

5 a.m.: Still very numb but was able to feel my chest again and I was feeling better and better as time went by.

9:30 a.m.: Spinal block is worn off by now and I was ready for the epidural dosing considering the back pain came back. (They had placed another epidural catheter during the spinal block episode but did not want to dose it until the block wore off). They dosed the epidural at a very low dose initially. I attempted to listen to some music to take my mind off things and it worked for maybe 20-30 minutes

10:20 a.m.: The epidural never really kicked in and at this moment I was ready to push. I did not anticipate doing this all without an epidural but at that point, I didn't even care, I was ready to go. April, my nurse, and my doctor were absolutely the best and by 10:42 a.m., Derek Kenneth Folkman was born. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long.

Our little man decided to bless us with his presence 2 weeks earlier than expected and we couldn't have been happier. He is absolutely perfect and we are falling more in love with him every day. Here are just a few pictures...

Proud Papa

Happy Mommy

Look at all that hair

The countdown is on

It is officially 2 weeks from today until our due date (and I am secretly hoping more like a week and a half). Yahoo! I am getting more and more ready to have our baby. Todd is continuing to like his job and I have a week left of working full time. Which is weird to think about since I have forgotten what it's like to not work at all...crazy but exciting to spend my time with our precious little guy. Still no name yet for our baby but we still have some time to decide that. We'll just wait and see what he looks like to officially decide :). Other than the waiting game, nothing new has happened. Over the past month or so, my brother Danny got married so we did spend a few days in Oregon for that and then we flew down to southern California to spend some time with Todd's family. It was so wonderful to see our families and we enjoyed every minute of it! Here are just a few pictures of our recent happenings...

Summer time fun

Who doesn't love summer? The warmth, the smell of fresh cut grass, blooming flowers, etc, etc. Plus, everyone just seems happier in the summer. We haven't really done anything too crazy so far this summer but we did go to Las Vegas a few weeks ago which was awesome! We love Vegas and even found ourselves some little DC baby shoes. Can't believe we are going to have a little munchkin that will fill those shoes in less than 2 months!! My Dad came and visited us from Boston for Memorial Day. We had a great time showing my Dad around Bentonville, barbecuing, and just relaxing. Here some pictures of our most recent happenings...

This is actually from a few weeks ago but it's the most recent "belly picture"

Fletch got a bath and came home with a bandana. Isn't he handsome?

Taking my Dad out and about around town

Enjoying the best milkshakes in Vegas at the Burger Bar. We love these shakes!

This toy is soon to be destroyed in about 1 hour, maybe less if he's really determined

Since it's getting warmer outside, we decided to buy this little baby pool and see how Fletch likes it. He loves water. He was a little skeptical at first but got used to it pretty quickly

Testing out the waters...

He did it!

Taking a few sips to cool off

Of course Todd couldn't resist this Portland Trailblazers collar. Even the dog is a Blazers fan

Dance, Baby, Spring, and more

Life here is going great. One major accomplishment, Todd just finished his entire training program and is now officially planner analyst in electronics (specifically video games) at the Walmart Home Office. I am so proud of him!! It has been a long training process and he is very excited to be in his official job now. That's my man!!!

Well, pregnancy has for the most part, treated me well. I have the off and on sciatic nerve pain (very uncomfortable), heartburn, etc, etc. Typical pregnancy stuff. I actually enjoy being pregnant to be honest but these little annoyances are pretty frustrating. Especially, the back/sciatic nerve pain. I guess it doesn't help that I am constantly bending over at work, etc. But hey, it's only 3 more months of a little discomfort. I can't believe I am almost in my last trimester. Yeah! My belly continues to grow, as do the pounds on the scale. It is so cool to feel our little guy wrestling around in there though. I love it. He especially likes anything sweet cause he moves like crazy when I eat anything with a lot of sugar. Like mother, like son.
Other updates, it's spring time here and the weather is gorgeous...despite the occasional rain fall. We are trying to spruce up our lawn and landscaping a little bit. I plan to plant some flowers in our planters this weekend if the weather cooperates. I love spring time...so does our dog. I take him on walks in the back of our neighborhood where it's just big open fields. I let him go off leash and he LOVES it. He just runs around but always stays nearby. He doesn't like to be too far away from us when we go walking. He is so cute and getting bigger every day. Todd and I now are proud owners of a wii. There is this one game called Just Dance and it is so much fun!! We played it one night and had a blast. Would recommend it to anyone!

And, yes, I am wearing the same shirt on purpose so I can compare it to the original picture

Belly dancing

Shake a shake

Todd's workin' it

New Pictures...

Here are some baby bump pictures at about 21 weeks...I literally think it is growing day by day!!

Our little baby

Our other little baby...not quite a baby anymore. He's hit the crazy teenage years :)

He is the happiest when he has little dog to chew on...look close and you will see an ear missing from his poor stuffed dog.

Todd, practicing his technique before our real baby comes along

He had quite the party that night...mountain dew, chew bones, stuffed animals. He is pooped!

Another addition to our little family!!!

I know that I have been slacking at keeping up with our blog so, here I go again...

Well, we are having a baby boy!!! That's probably the only really exciting thing that is going on in our lives right now. We found out yesterday that we are having a boy and he looks 100% healthy. It was so cute to see him with the ultrasound. His little ankles were crossed like he was lounging in a lawn chair and he was just happy as could be. I need to get Todd to scan some of the ultrasound pictures in so you can see him for yourself so I will post pictures soon. And, per others request, pictures of my baby bump (which seems to be growing day by day).

I am now in the search for a cute pair of maternity jeans...which I don't really know if one exists. I bought a pair from motherhood the other night and brought them home to show Todd. Well, this is what he said, "Now don't take this the wrong way, but they kind of make your butt look big." What every woman wants to hear from her husband, right?! He didn't mean it in any way to offend me and I told him to be honest so I was asking for it I guess. I do appreciate his honesty...I just laughed and returned them the next day. To be honest, there really isn't a pair that I have tried on that actually flatters my "behind" area. So, my hunt is still on and I guess it's a good thing I wear scrubs every day considering I wouldn't have any pants to wear. There's only so much comfort that can come out of using the ole rubber band trick with my pants buttons.

Fletch is just Fletch...active and sweet as can be. He seems to really enjoy various "delicate" clothing and other items...yarn, socks, underwear, etc. We actually have him in dog training classes and he graduates in a week. Such proud parents :) Although, he won't be the only child for long...

Todd continues to really like his job with Wal-mart, it keeps him busy and I find myself learning a whole new "business" vocabulary that I never knew existed. My job is great too...busy as usual. I am excited to see more green grass around here and less cold weather. I am ready for spring and summer!! Well, I will post pictures later this week...